Goblin
The dense forest towered over us, small pockets of sunlight beaming down from the leaves, just enough to give the forest its green luster. I spent my time walking through Zarmen Forest, and yet I was taken aback by the beauty of this forest. The air lacked the cold, harsh smell of decay; instead, it had a fresh, earthy scent of wildflowers.
It felt otherworldly, like there was an ethereal presence here. It made the forest all around me shine. Resonate. I couldn't even put it into words, like a soft touch that hasn't happened yet. But welcoming. Like a secret between friends was about to be whispered into my ears, following the soothing breeze that pressed against my face.
Walking behind Markus, with my father and Dimmal following, I sidestepped a large rock and called out, "Is the forest always like this?"
Markus turned around, bringing his finger to his lips. "Shhh. No need to shout."
"Sorry," I answered, my father smacking the back of my head softly.
My father just shook his head at me. He nudged me forward along the narrow path and finally said, "We're hunting goblins, Will. They're a lot smarter than you think. It’s best to catch them off guard."
"I know, I know," I agitatedly responded, giving an annoyed look at my father.
Markus told me about goblins while on the way here. They're small and green, about the size of kids, with long noses, pointed ears, and wart-covered faces. They smell awful. People say they have better senses than humans. They're stronger than children but not as strong as adults, and they rely on their numbers.
I stopped to breathe in the surrounding air. The absence of a metallic smell from blood or decaying flesh had become a new, refreshing norm for me now. Going back to such ways of living, even for a moment, would be the worst.
My attention snapped back to the quests on hand. "And why are we killing goblins again…" I asked softly, but enough for everyone to hear. That's one thing that always confused me.
Markus turned around and spoke. "Because Willy, Goblins have a unique ability to reproduce with any female humanoid species and are extremely hostile especially those outside the city, Zion. And there was a war a few months ago back in Liane. Now there are extra goblins running around. So the horde needs to thin out."
The war that Lianes had with goblins. The war lasted a few months, resulting in numerous deaths. It was also where Markus became the Immortal God of War.
"Especially with the Blight now. Easier to spread with goblins alive," Dimmal added on. His comment made it more perilous to me that the goblins needed to die.
Killing the goblins makes sense. The goblin population being too high is already a problem, given their hostile nature. Plus, with the Blight spreading, a higher population of goblins will mean more biomass for the Blight to use. Not good for anyone. But then again, I don't think goblins would dare invade any town in Drakelene unless they want to face a dragon's wrath.
I sighed as we walked down the path, hoping someone would answer my question. I just couldn't shake the feeling around me—it was actually nice.
Soon Aurum's thoughts flowed into my head, her words echoing with comfort I always appreciated.
Aurum was telling me that there's more magic here than anywhere else we have been, which makes sense since Asgard's ether was denser. I must be feeling that. It's Ether. It's magic.
Taking in the breath of the fresh air, my father ran past me and towards Markus. My father crouched on the floor, gesturing towards a trail of footprints that we hadn't noticed.
Part of me was nervous. I never really fought monsters outside the Heraraptors and Blight creatures. Another part of me was also excited—the thrill of fighting something new put an involuntary smile on my face.
While my father and Markus discussed their plans, Aurum came up to me, rubbing herself against my side. Trailing next to her was Dimmal. Aurum's emotions flooded into me while I scratched her head—emotions of content and pride.
Aurum's voice echoed into my head. Memories of the guild of striking Markus earlier played in my head.
"Ya, I did," I answered back. That's when it clicked. I immediately turned to Dimmal. "Lord Dim.. I mean Dimmal. Aurum tells me I used her magic. What does she mean by that?" My voice was soft, not to disrupt Markus and my father's little conversation.
"Riders get their magic from their dragons," Dimmal answered quickly. It was straightforward, as I had already known. "Dragons get theirs from the dragon force. If it weren't for Aurum, you wouldn't be connected to the dragon force. So you are using her magic." I see. So I'm not using Aurum's mana specifically. That's a relief. I was worried I would be using her mana. It would be inconvenient if she ended up powerless because of me.
I let out a sigh of relief. Looking ahead, I saw my father stand up with Markus, a big grin spreading across his face.
"You're up, Will," my father spoke. "Goblins are five minutes ahead of us."
Frowning at them both, I gave my father a serious look. Leaving Aurum's side, I felt her thoughts poke my mind, sudden waves of discontent from the lack of contact. Walking up to both my father and Markus, I voiced up. What was the plan here? Send me to fight a bunch of goblins by myself?
"What am I supposed to do, fight a horde of goblins by myself?" I asked, bushing shrubs and tree branches out of the way. I focused on the path where the supposed goblins were hiding.
Markus patted my back a bit hard, making a loud smack. Wrapping his arms around my shoulders, he led me farther up the road. "That’s exactly what you're going to do Willy," Markus said with a jitter in his step. "You see, I need you to focus on evading with a simple dash. So you get used to using your magic."
"But my magic doesn't operate normally," I responded. Then I realized, they all dragged me out here without a sword. "What will I use to kill them with?"
"Well, you see, you properly just kill them in one punch, Willy," Markus answered with a bit of a hic in his voice. "And we don't want that for you. We want you to have the right training, and nothing is better than actual combat."
Matching Markus's pace, I gave him a disturbed look. I don't doubt that I could kill a goblin with my hands only, but I was more worried about getting stabbed.
"Plus, if you were to get hit, most of their weapons wouldn't hurt you," Markus said with a gleeful grin, poking my arm with his finger.
Well, that answered that question at least.
Letting out an annoyed sigh, I gave Markus a final look over.
"Where do I go?"
Following the trail deeper into the forest was simple enough. The sun never once blocked my view, but I could feel the tension in the air. The forest grew quieter, only with the occasional cricket and chirping from birds. The world felt slightly darker than before.
Taking note of the ground, I crouched onto the floor, looking at the indents in the ground. It was a footprint, that of a child's bare foot. I can see about two trails of footprints leading farther in.
Standing back up, I kept moving forward. Slightly leaning ahead, I refused to lower my guard. Not even for a moment. Each of my steps snapped and triggered nerves, keeping me on edge. I scanned every bush and tree I passed, vigilant for any movements or noises that seemed out of place.
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But there was nothing. It felt like being awake at night, hearing only the background sounds outside and the occasional creak of an old house. All I felt was unease.
Everyone else was behind me, a few minutes out. Heck, if I listen closely, I can hear them moving as well, but only softly, if not faintly.
Aurum's thoughts flooded into my head, like a very soft, gentle touch placed upon my skull. "They approach and we watch." Her voice was soft, yet I could tell she was excited. I can also tell she was excited for me to use her magic.
I readied myself for whatever these goblins planned to do. But when I looked around, there was nothing. Not even cricket. The once pleasant breeze is now gone.
My breathing quickened as I started to feel anxious. My body tightened, my hands squeezed into fists, while I tossed and turned my head around. My muscles tensed up with every second that passed while I waited.
But nothing comes.
I tried to send a message to Aurum. How could she tell where they were? Maybe smell.
The moment I uttered a thought to her, a green blur lunged at me. I yelled while we fell onto the forest floor. Grabbing hold of the creature's neck, I saw its dark green twisted eyes. A green sickly skin with a long pointy snout, sharp ears, and a wicked face riddled with warts. And its nauseating stench.
I threw the goblin off of me with ease. Rolling up onto my legs, I turned towards the goblin. It charged at me, letting out a scrawky warcry, with a makeshift sword in hand. I waited for it to get close, then sidestepped its attempt to hit me.
It swung wildly, making it difficult to get close. Being put on the defensive, I kept sidestepping the goblin attack. It growled in frustration, lunging at me with more ferocity than before.
I wanted to develop as quickly as possible to understand how my body operated, but this goblin didn't make it easy. Also, I couldn't tell if I was improving or not.
Leaping back from another swing, I decided to channel magic through my body once more. I know that it made no difference, but I wanted to be sure of what I was looking for. I felt the warmth surge through me within seconds as I waited for the last second for the goblin attack.
My vision tunneled for a moment as the goblin blade grew close to me. Then, with a blur, I side step, my body moving at extreme speeds, evading the goblin's attack completely and leaving it disoriented. Catching myself quickly, I charged at the goblin and grabbed its arms. Without any resistance, I lifted the goblin like it was a simple loaf of bread into the air. It squirmed for a moment until I slammed into the ground with a loud crunch.
The warmth of my magic faded. I focused on that feeling, trying to remember it. I needed to use it without thinking so hard about it, since my body was already channeling magic—the warmth, the speed, the strength. I just had to use it naturally.
Letting out a breath of relief, the once-tense feeling was now gone. Thank god, the silence was getting to me.
Turning back around, a sharp pain shot through my chest immediately, making me grasp a sudden arrow that had hit me. "Fuck!" I shouted, pulling the arrow away. It didn't pierce me or injure me, but it felt like a quick, needle jabbed my chest, but didn't break through..
However, not as much as I thought; still, it hurt.
The arrow's poor design left me confused yet relieved. A simple stick with a now chipped rock. Tossing it to the side, more screams cried out. Looking out into the forest, more goblins leaped out from cover.
Moving towards one of the goblins with a handmade axe, I slammed my foot into its chest. I could hear the air fleeing from its mouth while it crumpled onto the ground. Quickly readying myself, growls came from behind. I moved swiftly in time to evade another goblin's attack.
The goblin swung madly just like the others. It made it hard to predict, leaping back with each wide arc. More goblins came rushing in while I was on the defense. Weaving to the side, I forced our position so that no goblin was behind me, keeping the group in front of me, something my father told me once.
"If your going to fight a group, keep all of them in front of you. Don't let any flank you." My father said.
My heart pounded as I lunged forward. My muscles tighten, the wind pushing my hair back, and I grab the goblin's arms at the last second. The other goblins arrived in time to strike. I rolled onto the ground the last second, still keeping the goblin in front of me in hand.
The goblins were incredibly light and weren't as strong as I was. So, the goblin I grabbed had no choice but to roll with me.
My vision spun from the roll, feeling the damp ground against my body while the goblin in my hand screeched. Arrows flew past us as I returned to my feet. I quickly laid the goblin onto the ground and slammed my fist into its face. Blood spewed out of its mouth, lying limp and breathless.
Taking the monster's makeshift knife into my hand, I stopped an incoming attack from the approaching goblin. It, however, leaped onto me, making me grab its rugged cloths while it dug its grotesque claws into my skin. Another goblin approached, and I would rather keep this as a one-on-one fight.
Looking out into the trees, I finally saw the goblin archer. It readied its bow, aiming at me. I turned the goblin on me towards the archer as the arrow flew at us. The goblin howled in pain, shot by its ally.
Taking advantage, I lifted the goblin off of me and slammed it into another goblin. With both of the goblins down, I looked over to the archer and threw my knife. It missed and embedded itself into the tree next to it, leaving a huge crevice. That alone scared the archer into running.
Moving to the final goblins, I grabbed one of their legs and flung it into the tree branches. The branches snapped and broke from the goblin's impact. The sound of broken bones echoed out for all to hear.
The last goblin stood up and charged at me, empty-handed. Without hesitating, I back-handed the creature. It turned into a green blur in my eyes, taking off the ground and into the air. Ignoring where it landed, I turned to the running goblin in the distance. But to my shock, it was already dead.
"Not bad, Will," my father's voice came into hearing. Bowstaff in hand, it was apparent he was the one who killed the goblin. "Not bad at all, how do you feel?"
Stretching out my arms and shoulders, I felt my breathing even out and my heart no longer pounding from the anticipation. "Startled the hell out of me, that's for sure," I answered my father.
My father chuckled. "Ya, sorry about that, we wanted you to be more on edge. We figured if you were just training regularly, you wouldn't develop as fast." I start to remember the small training moment I had with Markus, how he showed me [Trickster] and [Step-Dance].
I still wasn't unhappy with my father, so I was a little tense about his answer. Watching him walk past me, I asked another question. "Why wouldn't I develop as fast?"
Markus appeared next to me, patting my shoulders. "It's your body, Willy. We need it to know what it can do, just throwing you around when you know we aren't trying to kill isn't going to help." Markus smiled at me and looked around, securing the area. His answer does make some sense, although not entirely, but I decided not to question it.
Aurum came running to my side, and her emotions came along. She was happy to see I was fine. Scratching her head and neck, she pressed her body against me. No matter when or where, whenever Aurum comes, it's like all the anger or stress I had vanishes. Perhaps it's because someone else's thoughts are in my mind.
"Yo Willy, you left one alive," Markus yelled out, drawing my attention. Looking at him, he pointed towards a scared goblin that took off running. "Use your Vambra this time."
Letting out an annoyed sigh, I moved to his side and held my hand out. Channeling magic to the vambra, I felt the surge of my mana. Its warmth flows to the vambra and out of my hand. Golden lightning appeared and condensed into a jagged javelin with sparks zapping out every so often.
Grabbing the javelin, I aimed at the goblin and threw it. However, my form was god awful, given that I was using my non-dominant hand. My face flared up, embarrassed as my javelin struck the tree to my right about 5 feet in front of me with a thunderous boom, destroying the tree trunk in its place.
Markus just looked at me with disgust. "You never threw a rock in your life before? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Furrowing my brows and my teeth clamping down onto each other, I answered. "It's not easy using my non-dominant hand."
"How the hell did you hit me back at the guild?" Markus asked, giving me a perplexed look.
"You were closer to me," I responded.
"Ok.. Well, just make the spell and use your other hand," Markus instructed.
I was confused. "I can do that?"
"Yes."
"Why didn’t you tell me before?"
Markus turned to me with an exaggerated look, appearing to be annoyed as he shouted. "Well, I didn't think you would need it?"
"It would've been very helpful," I argued.
"Well, now you know," was Markus's answer, with a hint of sass in his voice.
"Will you two stop arguing," my father intruded. "I had to crippled the goblin while you two ladies argue."
Markus gave a pouty look, which confused me. But now wasn't the time. Raising my hand once more, I channeled magic back into the vambra. Repeating the process as before, another sparking jagged javelin appeared. But this time, I reached for it with my other hand and grabbed it. It didn't feel any different from before, but this time, I could feel the sudden pops of sparks against my skin.
Taking position, I threw the javelin, this time without issue. It flew in the air with as much grace as a lightning bolt-looking javelin can have. The moment it struck the goblin, it erupted with a thunderous boom, turning the goblin into ash.
Aurum jumped around with delight. She was happy with me using her magic. "You used it, you used it," she said in my head.
Smiling, I moved back to Aurum, petting her head. "I used your magic," I said. "Thank you."
Aurum's emotions flooded into my head, like a tidal wave that threatens to drown me. It practically did for a moment. I couldn't think until Dimmal bumped Aurum's head. I let out a loud sigh of relief, but I was unable to stop smiling.
"Easy girl," Dimmal told Aurum. "Don't overwhelm William."
Aurum whined but stepped away, feeling rejected but understanding.
Markus slapped my back. His gleeful smile gleamed at me. "Nice throw. I didn't think you would hit it."
I felt offended, so I slapped his hand. "Hey, I can throw."
Suddenly, a soft sizzling sensation appeared on my jaw, where the Servant Mark is. The Servant Mark that bound me to Azrael. Placing my hand on it, it didn't feel different. But the sensation remains, along with a tug in a direction back to the town.
Markus looked at me and gave me a creepy smirk that left me on edge. "What?" I asked him.
"Looks like your girlfriend is summoning you," Markus said.
"Lady Azrael is calling?" Dimmal asked.
My father looked back at us. "Now?"
I thought about it for a moment. "That's what's happening to my mark?"
Dimmal nods at me. "Yes. A Servant Mark like yours will allow you to sense your ‘masters’ call and presences whenever they request you. Where is she?"
"How would I know," I answered. "Last time I saw Azrael, she was back in town."
My father spoke up. "That's where we are going then."
