Discovery

Freya slung her bag strap over her shoulder, and it visibly shook her. She packed heavily, a lot heavier than usual, after buying supplies. When I offered her a questioning look, she said,

“It’s times like this that I wish I were a physical type. Heavy or not, it’s best to be prepared when adventuring. You never know what might happen.”

I tugged at the bag, It feels light enough. I lifted the bag from her shoulder and freed her from the weight.

Ocean blue eyes turned to me with surprise, “Oh, thank you.” Her voice softened.

Has she always had such a cute side? I didn’t know Freya had such a meek side to her; it was actually kind of funny.

The quest we received from Harvey was based in the town where we got it. Apparently, monster sightings had been erratic in the last few days. Near nightfall, they would randomly appear and steal people from the town, then disappear again.

It sounded like a typical monster hunt, so I didn’t understand why it wasn’t dealt with until now. I saw plenty of adventurers in the street and in Harvey’s store, so why hadn’t anyone dealt with it?

“The woman I spoke to says her child went missing three weeks ago, and still hasn’t been found.” Freya walked away from the door of an older woman's house. “That’s most of the people on this street. I think we’ll have to camp out and catch them in the act.”

Catch them in the act? Does she think this is a cop show or something?

Freya went around asking people, but she got the same story more times than not. Every other night, strange monsters of different sizes or shapes appeared and snatched people, attacking the guards who’d defend the town, and took people away.

It sounded pretty spooky, kind of like a horror film. I almost wanted to call things off, but I had a feeling we were past the point of no return with this. Plus, Freya was more than nice enough to let me tag along with this adventure, so it would have been impolite to try to weasel my way out. I still planned to have her take me to a city where I could register as an adventurer, so I needed to get on her good side as far as possible.

Once the evening air had settled and the last whisper of sound had ceased, I woke Freya up, and the two of us got ready to investigate. We decided beforehand to let me keep watch until enough time passed, so we could explore at night together.

“Yawn~ Why couldn’t the monsters come out during the day…!” She cupped a hand over her mouth. “Did you notice anything while I was asleep?”

It had been hours, and not even so much as a rabbit came near me during that time. If anything was nearby, it didn't plan on attacking. I shook my head in denial, and Freya frowned.

“Well, I'd better speed things along then.”

She waved her staff out in front of her, “Spirits of nature, here my call and deliver your sight on this land. Detect Enemy!” Suddenly, the orb attached to the curved end of her staff shifted from its usual light blue and lit up in a deep purple glow. Small footsteps made from the same glowing energy appeared on the ground in front of us, actually, all over the place.

They were all sorts of sizes and shapes, some with shoes, some with claws.

Are all of these footprints from things that have been here before? Whoa… so this is the stage of magic Freya can use. A proper spell.

I admired the tracks around me and caught a glimpse of her smug grin, which she quickly put away once she noticed me staring.

“It’s a spell to detect movement in the area. The brighter something is, the more recently it was placed there.” Her eyes glared past me and pointed. “Like those.” She rushed over and examined the burning purple tracks sprawled out between the bushes.

They didn’t look human. I wasn’t sure exactly what they were, but it looked smaller than me, thankfully. Freya seemed more sure than I was.

“It’s a goblin by the looks of it.” She responded gloomily.

Isn’t that great news? They’re small, weak, and for the most part, no smarter than a child. This should be a cakewalk for the two of us! Based on what I read in my books, I was sure this world had a similar concept to what I knew in my previous world's games and media.

“Something’s not making sense here… From what the villagers said, guards had been dispatched to fight the monsters in each attack, but were either killed or kidnapped.” She ran her finger under her chin, deep in thought. “What if it’s not just a goblin, but something else?”

An eerie presence loomed over my shoulder in the distance. I followed it with my eyes, but didn’t see anything initially. It wasn’t the same as when I detected enemies, but rather, like a warning. I felt weary of something, something far away.

A burst of red light radiated from Freya’s staff as she jumped to her feet, “Goblins! Get ready to fight!” Freya suddenly screamed. Her face contorted with worry as the first wave of them approached us from the bushes.

Beady yellow eyes pierced through the darkness. Their bodies were only half Freya’s height, not much shorter than me, but their bodies were skinny enough to reveal a visible rib cage.

“There’s a few of them, we can’t give them the chance to retreat.” She called out to me, then began casting her magic.

Why’re they showing themselves to us now? Do they think we’re so weak they can take us? Surely they know they can't take on a mage and a golem? I'd better appraise one, just in case.

{Field Goblin Lv. 5}

{Condition: Frenzy}

Frenzy? That’s one I haven’t seen before… they all seem to have that status effect, is it something I should be careful of?

I carved out a heavy handful of dirt from the ground and reeled back, my body slumped back, a bit of balance. Once I returned to even footing, I launched the dirt forward like a catapult.

Piercing Stone!

The dirt blew through them and tore the arm off one, as another collided against a tree, dead.

{35 Exp gained}

Not bad, these guys are pretty easy to kill. I guess that status is just for show.

Just as I relaxed, a massive clump of fire hurled over my head and into the fray of goblins. Crimson light erupted from the mess and engulfed them in a small inferno. Freya stood confidently behind the staff where the fire emitted.

{10 Exp gained} {10 Exp gained} {10 Exp gained} {10 Exp gained}

Hey, I got experience even though I didn’t kill them? Is this like some kind of party function? That’s pretty cool, so I don’t have to land the kill, as long as I contribute to fighting it. I held out my hand and channelled a small tornado of wind over the flames.

“Skyaaaaaa!!” Their horrid cries echoed between the bushes that caught light.

Only one left, looks like we’ll wrap this up a lot easier than I thought. Wait, why’s he running? Come back here!

I chased after the little guy, but there was no doubting that its speed was higher than mine. I was so close to catching him, but compared to the speed of a goblin, I might as well have been walking in slow motion.

A sudden surge of energy raced through my arms and legs as I dropped on all fours, using the tremendous weight, I carried myself forward at ballistic speeds.

{<Bulldoze> Activated}

There was a time limit on the skill, so my window was small. I had to catch it before it got away. Freya had just finished lighting up the last of the goblins when she chased after me. I felt bad for leaving her behind, but I couldn’t let even one goblin escape.

Weaving through the trees, the goblin rushed towards a solid wall. The edge of a mountain, in fact. The green creature ran full speed into the cliffside and vanished like there was nothing there in the first place. Its tiny body disappeared behind the small ripples in the air, and a moment later, I froze in front of that spot.

Did it just…no, surely not? Is that some kind of magic? Can goblins use magic in this world? I inspected the mountainside and saw nothing strange about it, so I decided to give it a poke. The end of my finger vanished behind a ripple in the stone; the more I pressed, the more of my hand vanished behind rippled air.

It’s a trick! I crossed through completely, and darkness consumed the world around me. Small flames of purple lined across the walls ahead, where a corridor led deeper into the unknown. I had crossed through some kind of door or portal and found myself in a whole new world, a dungeon.

I felt the sharp strike of an arrow hit my face. The cracked metal tip of an arrow dropped to my feet, followed by more. I didn't receive any damage, of course, but it was still annoying.

Small figures covered in dark rags pulled back their makeshift bows and aimed another wave of arrows at me. Larger beasts marched behind them. Ones I had never seen before. I focused as far as my limited eyesight could manage and discovered a whole new wave of monsters poured out from deeper in the dungeon ahead.

{Goblin Archer Lv6} {Goblin Archer Lv10} {Hobgoblin Lv12} {Troll Lv15} {Hobgoblin Lv13} {Vine Witch Lv14}

Crap– I walked right into their domain!