High-stakes

A red creature was standing in the middle of the trees, it just got thrown off from the branch where it was sitting, scouting the area around it. A single primitive bow was in its hands, its eye searching for the cause of its fall. It was one of the Sentinels we kept hunting during that day.

The monster cried and other two Goblin Sentinels appeared from nearby bushes. Their heads were covered under a mask whose design was different from the others. A rock smashed into a nearby trunk and the 3 of them looked away for a split second.

I dashed out of my hiding spot and split one of them in half with a slash. Its last sound alerted the other two that they were being ambushed. I found myself with a pair of arrows pointed at my face. And axe smashed the skull and body of one of them while the other fell after a dagger stuck in between its eyes.

“And that makes 20” Brad announced our Goblin counter of the day.

He reached the corpses and tore a necklace off the bodies. It was a talisman each Goblin carried with itself and if presented to the Guild was proof of the kill. After my battle that day we had begun hunting the reconnaissance team of the tribe and secured ourselves a hefty sum in doing that. Gray looked at the arrows the two were about to shoot.

“Poisoned...Those bastards go heavy with this stuff”

It was common for Goblins to coat in poison anything that could do some damage to living things. Their poison wasn’t strong but gave them the opportunity to kill their target if it was not prepared enough.

We took everything of value from the Goblins and headed back to the tent since it was almost dark. In one of the Goblins pouches, I found some herbs and a small pot with poison and decided to bring it with me. Learning how to make such things might have come in handy in other battles.

“You did a great job for your first hunt” Lua was walking back beside me

“I got a bit surprised with that Warrior but the rest was better than I expected” fighting the Sentinels had been easier since they were not as intelligent.

“As I said before, just try not to get yourself killed ok?”

“But then you don’t get to do your job healing me” she punched my shoulder “Ouch”

“I’m not a portable Healing Potion, Rei!” she pouted and distanced from me.

Back at the village, we grilled some of the Bovur’s meat the villagers gifted us and had dinner around a campfire. Brad took out of his sack all the necklaces we had gathered and begun counting. We decided to divide the pay between ourselves based on how many kills we each got and then giving a small percentage of our bounty to Lua who healed us during the hunt.

“To Rei’s first day as a mercenary” Brad toasted with the tip of a tail in his hand

“The first of many” added Gray who was already munching the meat.

I offered some of my meat to the Bovur roaming around our tent. It might have seemed cruel but they were omnivores and didn’t budge when eating their own kind. Many times the villagers used excess meat to feed the big lizards. The Bovur looked at me happily, I think, as he bit down on his treat. I tried petting his rough skin and chose to stick close to him during that night to protect his adorable horned crocodile face.

“Night Rei” Lua entered the tent following Brad and Gray

“Night…”

I decided to stand guard since I couldn’t sleep. I kept myself busy keeping the campfire alive and reviewing my notebook. I studied the poison I found trying to ingest some of it, it wasn’t lethal. I had found that out when I got hit by an arrow in a previous fight. The poison made your eyes blurry for no more than 4 seconds but was enough time to land a clean hit on anybody. The herbs I found in the pouch were common in the forest and I had seen plenty growing at the feet of trees.

“I’ll try this out tomorrow hoping it doesn’t damage my sword”

I updated the information I had about Goblins in my notebook. Just as Units, even Goblin tribes had different roles inside them. The quick ones that were not really strong became Sentinels. They sat all day hidden on top of trees and alerted the tribe if something happened or if someone crossed into the territory. They had the habit of checking before asking for help and that was what we used to lure them out.

The strong Goblins became Warriors, just like the first one I fought against. They had the privilege to wear “armor” and had a self-made weapon that they made themselves with stuff stolen on found around the forest. Most of their weapons were made out of bones and metal was rare.

The strongest of the tribe, decided through a series of duels, was the Chief. It could be possible to find him fighting with equipment from mercenaries who died to the tribe. He was the hardest to fight out of the other but if taken alone it wasn’t that scary.

The strong point of Goblins was pack tactics. Fighting a Goblin or two by themselves was not hard if you had enough experience, but being surrounded by twenty or more monsters was enough to make even a Unit struggle to survive.

We had killed the entire circle of Sentinels around the tribe and since they were nocturnal monsters, for the most part, attacking the camp first thing in the morning was the best.

The light in the tent was still on and I could hear strange noises coming from behind me. They were probably coming up with a new way to implement me in their strategies. The Bovur I had made friends with decided to use my laps as a pillow and slept quietly over me. Its tummy was warm and helped me fall asleep.

That night I dreamt about running around the wheat fields chased by hundreds and hundreds of happy Bovurs with their tongues out. I suddenly stumbled on one of them laying in front of me and found myself submerged in cuteness,

“Rookie wake up” someone shook out of my dream “We have to go”

The sun was almost rising, the bonfire had been put out and the Bovur on my lap was nowhere to be seen. Gray had woken me up and the Unit was ready for the assault. I recomposed myself and followed them.

We got to the Goblins camp while still checking for any remaining Sentinels we had missed the day before. A few sleepy Warriors were guarding the entrance to a wooden hut. Smaller houses were scattered around. Some normal Goblins were sleeping on the ground, others used branches as beds.

“Do we just raid?” Lua asked, keeping her voice as low as possible.

“What do you think, Rookie?” Gray didn’t even look at me.

“Considering they care about the survival of the tribe more than themselves, I think we should smoke them out” many mercenaries told about how they used this strategy when dealing with group-based monsters.

“Clever” Brad already understood my words and lit up a torch.

He threw it on one of the houses in front and it almost immediately caught on fire. The flames spread easily to the surroundings and a series of cries could be heard coming from inside. The guards woke up and started alerting the others to help with the fire. A bunch of torched Goblins came out from the houses.

“This seems cruel” commented Lua

We had to fight them one way or the other, the safety of Corola Village depended on this.

“Oh man, we might lose some necklaces in the fire” Gray cried about the money he could see losing in front of his eyes.

“3...2…1”

Brad counted down and we jumped out of the bushes starting to hack the Goblins we had on sight. They were still trying to put out the spreading fire and didn’t hear us coming. My sword cut through a couple of bodies with ease before I got the first resistance. One of the other Warriors noticed me and headed my way wielding a bone shortsword.

We traded blows, it was a fierce battle over our lives. Predicting its movements I dodged an incoming lunge and managed to wound the monster. The poison I had previously coated my blade kicked in. The Warrior spaced out and was cut by my sword in the chest. It fell lifeless on the ground. I was already used to killing Goblins but I could still feel my hands shaking subtly.

Brad was slashing down on monsters with his weapon spilling blood and pieces of bone everywhere around him. His expression changed to that of a beast hunting for blood, Gray was the same, using his daggers and knives as projectiles on the Goblins that were still engulfed in flames.

“Blinding Light!” an explosion of white rays came from behind my back, flashing a Warrior who had found me not paying attention “Keep your head on your shoulders Rei” Lua shouted

Another Warrior joined his comrade leading me into a 2 versus 1 fight. I was tired already since I was not used to fighting at all. My sword felt heavy in my hands. I dashed towards the blinded Goblin only to get blocked by the other’s dagger. I lowered my sword forcing the Warrior to lower its weapon as well and using that opening I kicked him in between its legs. The monster let out a cry and fell to his knees. I finished him off with a quick slash leading into a block for the other Goblin’s weapon.

My arms shook and I lost grip on my sword letting it fall on the ground. The warrior missed a stab and I immediately grabbed its thin arms to block its movements, before Brad lowered his axe on the monster.

Most of the tribe had been dealt with and Lua had the time to heal our superficial injuries before continuing the fight. Some Goblins took the weapons of the fallen comrades and joined in the battle only to be overwhelmed by Brad’s might and Gray’s quick blows. The whole place fell silent in just half an hour.

“Great thinking” Brad high-fived me “You took a lot of work off our shoulders”

“We should do this more often keke” Gray laughed as he poked a corpse with one of his knives.

“Let’s take the necklaces and head back, I need a bath” Lua was drenched in sweat. She was wearing a full cloak in the middle of summer.

“I still hear something” Gray prepared himself for combat again.

Something was coming out of the hut of the tribe. We hadn’t seen the Chief at all during the battle and that sole fact was worrying the Unit.

A sweet aroma began filling the air.

The ground trembled and trees were shaken by a loud roar coming from inside the hut. Followed by a crunching sound of bones. A tall and muscular figure made its appearance on the battlefield. Its hands were holding a rusty iron axe bigger than Brad’s. Wooden armor worn over a body covered in scars. A mask over his face was slightly raised showing a dead Bovur was torn in half in its mouth. The rest of the poor creature was hanging from a belt around its waist. The mask was more detailed than the others and vaguely remembered the face of a dragon. The color of its skin wasn’t red like the Goblins we just fought, it was shining green soiled in dried blood. The stains were looking like tribal tattoos. It was way bigger than the hut he was coming from, almost twice my height. His head was searching for something around him and then pointed his eyes in our direction.

“Oh shit, this is bad” Gray had dropped his knife surprised.

“Is that the chief?” I had never seen a creature like this, not even in the bestiary.

“It’s a Goblin King” answered Lua with a trembling voice.

“We have to take him down, if we lead him to the village many innocent people will lose their lives” Brad tightened the grip on his axe.

The feeling of fear the beast instilled in my heart was ten times bigger than the Warrior’s. I could think of just one thing...Death.

The King spit his chew toy on the ground and moved his arm. We couldn’t even react. The axe sunk into the ground between me and Brad, he had missed on purpose to show his superiority over us. Do I run? Do I fight? It all led to the same scene of me splitting under that guy’s sheer force. Just his pressure kept my feet glued to the soil.

“Blinding Light” another of Lua’s spells saved my life and brought me back to reality.

We can do this. I convinced myself that if there was even a minuscule chance to bring that mountain down I had to have the courage to grab it. The King was stunned by the sudden light and was busy lowering his mask over his eyes. I ran towards him and slashed one of his legs with all the power I had left. The blade bounced off leaving a shallow wound in the side of the calf. I connected another slash in the same place and was able to make the wound a bit deeper. The poison didn't seem to work on him and that was bad news.

“We can’t let the Rookie bring home all the glory” Gray threw both the daggers in his hands at the King, managing to stick them in his abdomen.

At the same time, Brad ran towards the other leg and twirled his axe, knocking the Goblin on one knee. He raised his weapon to strike the thigh, the big hand of the King stopped his movement. Gray’s knives stuck in his hand and freed Brad from the bind, making him land his attack. He cut deep in the leg and in response, the Goblin King grunted and sent the two away with an arm swipe launching them far away. I continued with my attacks.

I was quicker than his attempts at stomping me and slashed whenever I had the chance to do so. Lua was continuously healing me and the others. The King understood that she was the focus of the party and directed one of his swings at her. Running as fast as I could I pushed Lua to the ground as a gigantic axe cut the tree behind her in half. I found myself over her.

“S-Sorry” I got up as fast as I could.

“Thank you for saving me” she said while using the opportunity and the lack of attention from the King to heal me.

“I was repaying you for before” I started running back, “I think I have a plan, just wait for the signal”

I couldn’t explain the details since there wasn’t even enough time to rest. I hoped she understood what I was trying to do. Lua’s spells kept me going, without those I probably would have lost my energies already.

The King was big and that made it easier to slip in his multiple blind spots. Since it was all I could do, I kept double slashing his legs, trying to hit the previous spots to deepen the wounds again. After another couple of hits, the giant fell on his knees again. Brad and Gray were still recovering from the fall. I jumped on his kneecap and boosted myself on his head. He swung his axe at me while I was in the air but he luckily missed me by the hair. I stuck my sword in his mask and using it as a lever I detached it from his face. The wooden item fell to the ground raising dust and smashing the remains of the tribe.

Lua understood that was the signal I was talking about and cast another Blinding Light hitting the Goblin King completely. He tried to shake me off of him but punched himself while doing so. He was now slashing back and forth rubbing his eyes. Brad ran under the monster and swung his axe at the arm carrying the weapon, cutting the flesh open and stuck the blade in the bone. The King screamed again in pain and aimed his giant axe at Brad. Other flying knives came from Gray in the clutch and unbalanced the monster making his weapon fly over Brad’s head.

From the top of his head, I let myself fall and aimed at the flat of the blade sticking out from the King’s arm. I landed with both feet and after a cracking sound the forearm detached partly from the rest and Brad’s axe was freed.

Our Unit regrouped in front of the monster. He had now regained vision. He saw what happened to his arm and without thinking twice, ripped it off. He then grabbed his axe with the other hand and glanced at us. Hot steam came out of his nostrils, his face reminded that of a human. His eyes were noticeably in pain. He grunted again, spitting against Gray, and then fled into the forest behind it.

“That...that was intense” Brad was catching his breath

“Keke, I saved your ass back there” Gray mocked his friend.

“We were blessed by the Gods” Lua was panting, using her staff to support herself from fainting.

“Your strategies saved our lives Rei, we’ll never forget this day” Brad patted my head “We have to inform the Guild that a King appeared, if he roams freely the chances that he builds an army of Goblins are high”

Gray decided to take the detached arm as a trophy since I didn’t want it. He decided to have Roxy hang it in the main room with his name under it. It was a pretty macabre thought and I didn't know if he was joking.

We packed our stuff back at the tent and disassembled it for the trip back. We loaded the cart and started returning to Lyria. My Bovur friend licked me one last time when he understood I was going away and he couldn’t use me as a pillow anymore. The villagers thanked us for our work there. The cart moved just as the sun was reaching its zenith.

No one talked on the way back. We saw our life pass in front of our lives many times in that fight. I dedicated an entire page of my notebook to the Goblin King, his attacks, behavior, and how we managed to escape. Brad was polishing his axe drenched in blood while Gray was counting his knives seeing if one was missing. Lua fell asleep from the fatigue and leaned on my shoulder.

“Hey Rei, how did you think of that?” Brad spoke to me out of the blue “You know, taking his mask off”

“You said they were nocturnal, so they didn’t adapt well to light. I thought that wearing a mask for their entire life had to keep them in the dark even during the day. Lua managed to flash one of the Warriors and I decided to try that for the King as well”

“You sure are something else” he was trying to find which words to use “I-I just feared for my life, and you had the time to find a strategy…”

He must have felt at loss for being the captain of the Unit and having felt lost during that high-staked battle. I stayed silent and kept writing.

[Magnus, Corola Forest]

“HOW WAS THAT POSSIBLE?!” I screamed in the air after the battle before my eyes ended.

Standing behind a magical barrier we had seen the whole combat from start to finish. The battle, which had a previously decided and calculated outcome, suddenly turned around when that stupid, worthless, garbage human, Rei had the genius and brain-dead idea to jump on the head of a giant.

That brat had managed to survive a battle with a Goblin King...A GOBLIN KING, not a little, insignificant, ugly, trash of a goblin...but a damned Goblin King, the fiercest monster we had raised just to get rid of nuisances like him.

“He’s way better than we thought...It seems you underestimated him again Magnus” a female voice got under my skin.

“Shut up wench!” I directed my anger towards the lady beside me “You bred that monster and it failed its only purpose. Now only the Gods know where he went. You even let the boy fall like a dumbass for you, but couldn’t kill him on the spot”

That woman, the so-called ‘Man-eater, Clara was standing there aroused by what just went down. She was a strange one, with kinks I couldn’t even begin to imagine. She had joined the Skulk when she was just a kid and we basically grew together. Staying with her every day made me hate her more and more

“You know I have a thing for men like him. And I didn’t want to ruin my precious books with blood” she pushed her chest out, it was a bad habit she had when things didn’t go her way “Besides I can make him fall for me whenever I want, even without using my perfumes”

“How can a woman who uses illusions to make her breasts bigger make men fall at her feet?” I stabbed an open wound. “I heard your previous pets left you when hearing about that”

“Good luck reporting to the Boss”

I got flipped off as the woman vanished in pink smoke. Clara always liked to use fancy illusions to make her appearance better. No one in the Skulk knew what was under layers and layers of magic and the ones who knew were not here anymore to talk about it.

“Another plan gone to shreds...We had even fooled the Guild with a fake quest this time” I had to find soon a way to eliminate that bastard once and for all

The Nameless girl in the Unit was using Lux magic, she could have been something useful to please Greed. I already had guys with eyes on her inside the Full Moon so I didn’t need to worry much. I just needed to say the word and she was ours...the only problem was that Rei joined her Unit. How unlucky could this get for a bad guy like me??

“He was pretty cool fighting there, not gonna lie” said one of my subordinates, backed by the others.

“Yeah, he was...And that’s what pisses me off even more!”

I grabbed a stick from the ground and threw it in the face of the one who had just talked. I had to think of something new, if we created another fake quest, Roxy might have caught up with our plans. I had to be more careful in choosing my moves.

“Let’s go find the big boy before he gets lost”

I moved back into the forest followed by my group.

Hey! Ecspo here. Hope you liked this chapter!

Since this is my first serious work and also my first work in English I would very much appreciate any tips, critiques, comments of any kind. Tell me if the chapters are too long, short, or whatever, it would mean a lot to me.