Of course, the idea of taming those creatures seemed appealing to Arthur; after all, it could mean a new mechanic tied to his class.
As far as he knew, summoners were rare, but there were still a few scattered among the great families. Now, taming a beast? That was far more uncommon.
Arthur began to reflect on his class, which allowed him to connect to dungeons. That was precisely why the goblins were friendly toward him.
"Since I'm connected to this dungeon… could I tame the creatures inside it?"
The idea had some merit, but unlike the goblins, Arthur didn't possess a specific passive—something akin to Goblin-like—that would ensure the bears were even somewhat friendly toward him.
In the end, despite wanting to tame the bears, Arthur knew that, at that moment, it would be impossible. He had no idea how taming even worked, so for now, the only option was to kill them.
"Prepare for battle," Arthur said.
His summoned goblins felt no fear; they would only feel it if Arthur himself did. The goblins of the tribe who lived within the dungeon, however—those did feel fear—and they had no desire to fight the bears.
"Are you sure fighting is the only option?" the tribe leader asked as he watched the bears from afar.
The tribe's warriors were afraid as well. No one wanted to fight. Those bears were like legends passed down from their ancestors. Many goblins had died beneath their paws.
And it made sense. The highest-level goblin Arthur had seen was level 6—maybe 7 at most. That was far weaker than a level 10 creature.
Arthur knew he had to act first. If he didn't show courage and the will to fight—and win—the goblins of the tribe wouldn't show it either.
"I need to be their leader," Arthur thought.
At that moment, he was still level 2, nearly reaching level 3. His individual combat power was quite weak.
What would make the difference in this fight were the thirty summoned goblins. He decided to act before more bears appeared. If that happened, things would become far worse for him.
Arthur commanded his goblins to attack the bears. The orders were issued mentally—it was as if they were connected.
All thirty goblins moved at once. Some wielded bows or hurled spears from afar. These maintained favorable positions, keeping their distance to avoid the bears' attacks.
The others, however, had to move in close, as their weapons only worked at short range.
Arthur didn't remain completely still. He had to help in the fight somehow, even if it was dangerous. That was the only way for the goblins to truly see him as their leader.
Moreover, if he felt fear, his goblins would feel it as well. But if he showed courage and the will to fight, his goblins would become even more ferocious.
He glanced back and noticed that the goblins of the tribe were still unmoving, merely watching the battle that was about to unfold before them.
Arthur approached them and asked one of the goblins for his bow.
"Lend me that if you're not going to use it right now," he said, extending his hand.
The goblin removed the bow from his back, along with the quiver, and handed them over. Arthur equipped the bow. Fortunately, it worked.
"Looks like my class doesn't have restrictions on weapon types," he thought. "Great."
That opened up many possibilities for the future. On one hand, it was a huge advantage—but on the other, it left Arthur even more confused about how he should distribute his points and which weapons he should focus on.
In any case, that was something to think about later. With the bow in hand, Arthur chose to attack from a distance. As a level 2, his body was still quite fragile. Fighting those bears in close combat would be extremely difficult.
While Arthur and some of his summoned goblins drew their bows, the others had already reached close combat.
It was two bears against roughly twenty goblins in melee. The remaining ten attacked from a distance.
One of the bears let out a ferocious roar, and Arthur noticed that it seemed stronger afterward—almost as if it had received a buff. Both bears looked even more savage. Arthur could have sworn their bodies appeared larger, though that might have just been his imagination.
The bear swung its paw, striking one of the goblins head-on. The wooden shield shattered under the blow, and the goblin was sent crashing to the ground, gravely wounded.
From afar, Arthur watched his goblin lying motionless, life slowly fading. He tried to convince himself that they were merely summoned goblins, not real lives being lost.
Deep down, he knew they were lives—but he didn't want to dwell on it.
"Fire!" Arthur shouted.
The command wasn't necessary, but he wanted to push them harder—and perhaps encourage the tribe's goblins to join the fight.
A rain of arrows flew toward the bears, Arthur's arrow among them. The bears looked up and tried to evade. They were clearly intelligent creatures.
Despite their impressive speed, they couldn't avoid everything—especially since the goblins continued firing after the first volley.
The reason was simple: the bears were massive. Their bodies made perfect targets. Several arrows struck home.
Arthur expected blood to pour from the wounds, but from what he could see, very little did.
"Their fur is so tough that the arrows barely pierce the skin," Arthur realized.
The thought worried him slightly, but he forced himself to stay calm.
Taking advantage of the distraction, one of the goblins wielding a stone sword managed to land a solid strike near the neck of one of the bears.
The bear roared in fury and retaliated immediately, overpowering the small goblin in a single brutal motion.
The battle had barely begun, yet two goblins were already dead. It wouldn't be so easy to end the lives of those bears.
Still, despite losing two goblins in such a short period, Arthur was confident in his win. He had to, or else no one would.