This forest is dense. We"ve been wandering around inside of it for a few hours now but aside from trees and birds, I"ve only seen the occasional deer. I have yet to see a monster. What"s the deal? Even Tael is getting antsy, much to my dismay."Jeez! Are there any monsters in this place at all? Come on people! I need to level up!"
"Shut up! Do you have any idea what could be in this forest?"
"Yeah! That guard said there would be wolves, goblins, slimes, and maybe some undead! I doubt we"ll have much trouble with them so I want to get this over with!"
"That doesn"t mean you should look for trouble! Unlike you, I don"t have magic. We also had trouble with a single slime earlier so I don"t understand where your c.o.c.kiness is coming from."
"We only had trouble with it because we didn"t know it had a core! Once we had that figured out it was a piece of cake! Honestly, Kenji you"re way too tense."
Instead of responding to his banter, I simply grimaced and continued walking. Though he"s not going about it in the best way, he"s still correct. That firebolt contained a notable amount of power. With him by my side I doubt the things we were told about will give us real trouble.
We continued walking in the forest until the sky had turned a rich amber color. Since the sun had gone down, it is now much harder to navigate the forest floor. Although I cannot see the sun, it is probably close to time to make camp.
"Tael, let"s call it a day and make camp. I don"t want to wander around in the dark."
"No! I don"t want to stop!"
"Quit acting like a child! Not everything works out the way you expect it to!"
"Nooo!"
"Giri giri."
"Wait, stop, shut up for a second. What was that noise?"
"Eh? What"s going on?"
I can hear the noise of some creature. From the sounds of it, it"s not alone and it is communicating with others.
"Giri giri."
"Tael, get close to me and watch my back. I don"t know where these sounds are coming from but I doubt it"s friendly."
"Huh? O-okay! I"m right behind you!"
We got back to back in a spartan style as I drew my broadsword. I watched Tael"s back while he watched mine. If something was going to sneak up on us it would have a hard time of doing so.
After a few moments of hearing nothing but the nonstop noises of these creatures, three short humanoids that were roughly 80 centimeters tall emerged while brandis.h.i.+ng weapons from the treeline. Each creature was wearing a loincloth and had light green skin, pointy ears, and beady eyes.
"Goblins... " I heard Tael mutter as the creatures emerged.
Two of the goblins had short swords of low quality and one had a spear.
"Geeeee…"
These goblins look like they"re ready to fight. They"re only around 4 meters away so we don"t have much room to avoid them. I doubt that we can run. The worst case scenario is that these are just the ones that revealed themselves and there are more waiting in the nearby treeline.
After a moment, the 3 goblins began to approach us. I am the frontliner, so I steadied my wobbly legs and approached the goblins. I need to do threat a.s.sessment.
The two goblins with short swords are most likely less dangerous than the goblin with the spear. These goblins are short and stout so I have a range advantage. The spear equalizes the range advantage, however, so I need to handle that one first.
I firmly held my broadsword in front of me and prepared to battle with these 3 goblins-
"Firebolt!"
Tael fired a firebolt at the goblin with the spear. The bolt struck the goblin in the head as it fell to the ground like a ragdoll.
I firmly held my broadsword in front of me and prepared to battle with these 2 goblins. I don"t exactly know how to battle, but I know that footwork is important so I"ll try to position myself in a strong stance.
"GRAAAH!" One of the goblins shouted out as it charged me with an overhead strike.
I dodged the attack and came up behind the goblin that charged me. I readied my sword to strike the goblin as I felt a dull thud against my back.
As it turns out, the second goblin had swung at my back with their short sword, but thanks to the low quality of the blade mixed with my leather cuira.s.s, I am unharmed.
I stabbed at the stumbling goblin with my broadsword and felt my blade pierce its flesh. I put my body weight into the attack and drove the sword deeper into the monster.
"Gwagh!" The goblin bellowed out. Its crimson blood splashed onto the ground. I could feel the goblins strength quickly leaving itself as it slowly collapsed to the ground.
The final goblin began to back away as it quickly realized its situation. As I began to turn around to fight the last goblin, it started to run away as quickly as it could.
"I"m not letting you leave! Firebolt!"
Tael"s firebolt missed the goblin by millimeters as it escaped into the treeline.
"d.a.m.n!"
"Is that the last of them?"
We stood prepared to battle for a few minutes before we eventually agreed that the goblins were gone.