Lydia quickly clamped her hand over Nova's mouth.
"You fool, shut up," she whispered urgently, her palm pressing against his lips as she scanned the surroundings with cautious eyes.
"Hmmm!" Nova struggled, prying her hand away. "Pttf! Pfft..."
He spat out the grit and sand that had gotten into his mouth. "You didn't even wash your hands!" Nova complained under his breath.
"Stop yelling, you dumbass," Lydia hissed, keeping her voice low. Her body was tense, every muscle coiled as she kept watch. Ready to strike.
Nova rolled his eyes inwardly. "She couldn't even say sorry. And what the hell am I doing in the God's Ruins? How did I even get here?"
Hahahahaha!
Before his thoughts could spiral further, an eerie laughter echoed through the forest. It sent chills racing down their spines. The cackles multiplied, growing louder and closer, as if coming from every direction.
"What the hell is that?" Nova muttered. He knew the laughter wasn't human, and whatever was making it definitely wasn't friendly.
"Seeker goblins," Lydia replied, her voice shaky but steady. She kept scanning the trees, ready to bolt. "I told you to shut up, but no, you had to throw a tantrum like a little girl."
Nova exhaled sharply. He knew this wasn't the time to argue, so he asked politely. "What are seeker goblins?"
Lydia shot him a disdainful look. "Are you serious? This isn't the time for jokes." She sounded serious, she thought Nova was just using this to get in her nerves. Even a newbie Channeler would have been taught about creatures like this before entering the God's Ruins.
"Is she serious?" Nova thought. "I'm not joking." From her perspective, he probably seemed like he was messing with her. But in reality, he knew nothing about these "seeker goblins," where he was right now, or how and why Noah had somehow dumped him in the God's Ruins.
"I really don't know what they are," he said sincerely.
Seeing his genuine confusion, Lydia sighed. "Seeker goblins are a pack that hunts for their tribe. They scout ahead, find prey kill them, and bring back food. Anything that looks edible ends up on their menu... including humans."
Nova understood instantly. Humans were fair game. He wasn't scared. He had trained since the age of four and could handle a group of goblins. But he still needed more information."So, how many in a pack?"
"Around a hundred. Maybe more." Lydia answered absentmindedly.
As she spoke, she snatched her dagger back from Nova's hand and hurled it straight into a high branch. "Why throw it away?" Nova wondered. "Wasn't she the one begging for it earlier. Then a piercing scream rang out"
Ahhh!
A loud piercing scream of agony rang out as a four-foot-tall, dark-green, ugly creature tumbled from the tree, with a dagger embedded in its skull. It was clearly a goblin, and the blade obviously belonged to Lydia.
Nova stared in shock. He had thought she had casually tossed her weapon acting like a spoilt girl, but she'd precisely targeted a hidden goblin at a distance. That was not something anybody could do. That kind of terrifying precision definitely took years of training. And he hadn't even sensed the thing until it was killed.
What surprised him more was that no killing intent leaked from her as she lunged the blade, it was clean as professional. Now, his view of this girl started to change.
But before he could speak, a swarm of goblins poured from the trees like a green waterfall. Goblins landing, snarling, and charging straight at them. Nova immediately activated his combat rod. With a sharp click, a sleek blade extended from the metal handle. He readied both weapons, clearly ready for a fight but then Lydia's voice cut through.
"Hey, dumbass, get out of my way unless you want me to cut you up." It sounded like a threat.
He was about to open his mouth to retort, but she drew a longer dagger from her back and dashed forward.
Spurt!
One goblin collapsed. The second lunged at her back, Lydia immediately twisted, her dagger flashing.
Spurt!
Spurt!
Spurt!
Spurt!
In seconds, more than five goblins dropped to the ground, their throats slit. She butchered more as they rushed in. Some veered toward Nova, before he swung his blade to kill them, Lydia had already flashed in front of him, slaying them.
Nova stared, stunned. "Wasn't she just over there?"
She shot him a smug toothy grin, she'd clearly stolen his kills on purpose. And this happened more than once , Every time he moved to kill a goblin, she would swoop in and finish it first. Nova just ignored her, it would be childish for him to race to kill goblins that were about a hundred or more.
Since she wanted to do all the work, Nova decided he wouldn't help. But the goblins didn't think that way as they lunged at him from behind. Nova sensed it and spun, only for green blood to splash his face. Lydia had beaten him to it again. "Too slow"
"She must be using a movement skill." Nova thought. And looking at the girl in front of him she really was a sly fox. Just moments ago she had been crying over her pet. Now she moved like a professional assassin. What stunned him more was how she had racked up kills effortlessly with only a dagger. She kept killing the stupid creatures as they rushed toward them.
"But why didn't she fight me when I killed her pet?" Nova suddenly thought. Truly, anyone this strong wouldn't let that slide.
What Nova didn't know was that Lydia's first dagger had actually been meant to kill him. She had assumed he was just another arrogant Channeler she could eliminate easily. But to her shock, Nova sensed the attack, deflected the dagger, and killed Tim—her pet. That wasn't something an ordinary Channeler could do. Even she knew that without a movement skill, she wouldn't be able to replicate such a feat. That was why she held back and instead vented her anger through insults.
The more Nova watched her carve through the horde, the more his impression of Lydia, shifted.
"Are you not going to be a gentleman and help a lady out, or are you just going to stand there like a terrified child?" Lydia called, sounding a bit winded now.
"Oh, you need my help? Didn't think you would," Nova replied, sarcasm dripping.
"Hmph. Fine, don't help, you scaredy-cat."
"Haha." Nova laughed, then took his stance and vanished.
Lydia's eyes widened. This was no ordinary speed; it was a movement skill and definitely a top tier one at that. She had seen movement skills before, even top-tier ones from the MPU. But this? This was something else entirely. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Nova.
"Who... exactly are you?"