My Magic Has No Upper Limit

The north entrance of the village.

Beneath an old tree.

Zelir leaned against the trunk with his arms crossed, feeling the chill of the late autumn wind.

Mage Haddley, meanwhile, tightened her sun hat and hid behind Zelir to block the wind.

"Apologies for the wait, esteemed Mages! I've brought the men!"

As Village Chief Reed called out, the sound of two pairs of heavy footsteps rapidly approached.

Just as the village chief had said, both Todd and Reddy were incredibly sturdy, powerfully-built men.

Todd was on the left.

Judging by his build alone, he was every bit as brawny as Marcus. A bushy beard covered his face, giving him a ferocious look.

Reddy was on the right.

He was slightly shorter than Todd but also very stout. His shoulders were even broader than Todd's, making him look like a solid wall.

Both men wore hard leather armor and carried double-bladed axes.

This was likely the best armor and weaponry the village had to offer.

"Gre... Greetings, esteemed Mages."

Todd and Reddy walked up to Zelir and gave a clumsy, unconventional bow.

Their words and actions seemed awkward, completely lacking the commanding presence their physiques suggested.

"That's enough."

Zelir gave a slight nod. "Lead the way."

They left the village outskirts, heading down a gentle slope to the north.

The end of the slope was like a dividing line, separating the lands tamed by humans from the primeval wilderness.

The moment they stepped into the woods, the light dimmed abruptly.

It was the cusp of late autumn and early winter. The forest had long shed the vibrant hustle and bustle of summer, and the noisy chirping of cicadas could no longer be heard.

The dense canopy that once blotted out the sun was now just a tangle of bare branches reaching for the sky.

A thick carpet of decaying leaves lay underfoot. Every step produced a CRUNCH, creating an inexplicable sense of desolation.

Zelir was fine.

But Mage Haddley was completely unsettled by the gloomy atmosphere.

She stuck close behind Zelir, not daring to fall a single step behind.

Todd and Reddy led the way. After passing through the outer Forest Area, they stopped in a clearing.

"We're here, Master Mage."

Todd pointed to a patch of woods ahead. "The footprints were discovered here."

Zelir walked over, crouched down, and began to investigate.

There was indeed a messy trail of footprints.

But after just a glance, Zelir chuckled softly.

"Heh..."

"Master Mage, do you know what kind of creature these footprints belong to?" Reddy asked, a little uneasy.

"Goblins," Zelir said succinctly.

He'd killed his fair share of goblins; he could recognize the tracks left by those green-skinned mongrels in an instant.

The overall shape of the print was a distinct, three-toed triangle. The front part of the foot was wide and splayed out like a fan, while the heel was quite narrow.

All the goblin tracks Zelir had ever seen looked like this, and it matched their anatomy perfectly.

"So they're goblins..."

Todd's expression changed slightly, and he instinctively tightened his grip on his axe.

Reddy also looked as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

"You've never seen goblins before?" Zelir asked, surprised by their reactions.

"No..." Todd and Reddy shook their heads in unison.

They had only heard about demons like goblins in the stories passed down by the elders.

When they were just shooting the breeze, they'd always boast that a single goblin was so weak you could kill it with a pitchfork.

But now that they had actually run into them...

They felt completely out of their depth.

"I thought these kinds of demons were pretty common around villages," Zelir said.

'Life in Kenta Village must be really peaceful...'

Zelir was reminded of those other villages that had been harassed by Giant Winged Bats and Minotaurs.

'What a miserable fate.'

"How about I run back for reinforcements?"

Todd said hurriedly.

"We can get Old Hart from the west side of the village! They say he was on the Security Team in town when he was younger, and he's an amazing archer!"

"Right, right!"

Reddy nodded repeatedly, adding, "And bring some thick wooden planks! We'll need Shields to hold up the front!"

"And what's-his-name…"

"There's no need."

Seeing the two men act like they wanted to call in the gatekeeper's grandpa for backup, Zelir felt a bit helpless. "We can just handle this ourselves. Too many people will just be a hassle. A quick fight is best."

Besides, judging by the number of tracks, there weren't that many goblins.

He could clean them up easily, finish the mission, and head back.

"Master Mage... Are you sure?"

Todd asked cautiously. "Those are demons. Shouldn't we prepare more thoroughly?"

"This is enough. My profession is exterminating demons."

Zelir replied.

"However, the problem isn't how to kill the goblins, but how to find them... I don't have time to search the entire mountain. It's too much trouble."

Hearing Zelir's words, Todd and Reddy exchanged a look, then Reddy raised his hand.

"I can do it."

Reddy was an experienced Hunter, exceptionally skilled at tracking prey.

Never mind goblins, which hardly bothered to cover their tracks.

Reddy could even track the most elusive snow hares back to their burrows by following the faintest of clues.

"Be my guest, then," Zelir said with a gesture.

Reddy got on the ground and sniffed the footprints, then sniffed around in a few other spots, a contemplative look on his face.

He stood rooted to the spot, not saying a word for a long moment.

"Would it be better to go back to the village and get a dog?" Zelir asked, turning his head toward Todd.

"There are no dogs left, Sir. The village's hunting dogs were all killed by Elias's magic experiments..."

Todd shook his head. "But don't worry, Master Mage. Reddy's nose is better than any dog's."

They didn't have to wait long. A moment later, Reddy pointed confidently in a certain direction.

"This way."

Following Reddy, the group quickly passed through a final thicket of bushes.

The view ahead suddenly opened up.

A grayish-brown rock face cut through the forest like a scar.

At the base of the rock face, a pitch-black cave entrance about two meters high came into view.

No weeds grew around the entrance, only a few blackened stones that were stained with long-dried blood and some kind of excrement.

This saved them the trouble of even confirming it, as the foul, acrid stench wafting out of the cave was impossible to ignore.

"This is it..." Reddy's expression was grim.

"Tsk." Mage Haddley frowned slightly.

'What a horrid smell.'

It was clear this Goblin Community wasn't very large. It was poorly organized, without so much as a single sentry posted outside.

Truly formidable Goblin Communities would carve out their own small settlements in the forest rather than hiding in caves.

"Let's go," Zelir said with a wave of his hand.

Before entering the cave, they arranged themselves in the formation Zelir typically used.

Todd and Reddy were still at the very front, with Mage Haddley in the middle and Zelir bringing up the rear.