Chapter 30-Goblin Village

The beast’s chest fell forward, creating a loud thud as everyone grouped back together to conquer the next trial, the maze. The entrance to the maze was a large stone door that was already open; beast-like noises radiated from inside.

“Let me take the lead,” Astrape said proudly, taking charge.

“Go right ahead,” Tasim responded with a bit of snarkiness.

Astrape took the lead in the dark, receiving the torch from Tasim. The entrance was a long and straight shot, not turning for a few minutes, and the first crossroad soon came up, left, or right. The cohort unanimously chose left for their direction, and after turning, torches now hung on the walls, finally lighting their path. At the same time, Astrape marked their directions on the parchment, handing the torch back to Tasim, who was standing behind her.

As they walked, they stumbled upon red moss that seemed to be breathing, growing, and shrinking rhythmically. Random red handprints littered the walls and floors, trails of blood painting the ground. Eventually, they found themselves at another fork in the road, but this time, they didn’t need to choose.

A small group of goblins sat around a fire, children, eating the flesh of an unknown creature. They were small and frail, as would be most creatures if faced with the predicament of living inside a dungeon that received no visitors. Tasim was the only one to question how they had survived, but he didn’t think too much about it, as these goblins were enemies.

The goblins looked up to the live humans standing before them, their gloomy expression becoming renewed vigor. Before them stood fresh meat, a beating heart that would be quite nutritious, a brain that would help their own develop, and powerful gear that they could use to kill the other creatures in the maze to survive longer.

The goblins stood up, their weak, frail legs somehow supporting their own weight, and then they ran forward with makeshift spears made of bones as the handles and rocks from the dungeon walls as the head of the spear. The goblins, though, were quickly shut down, not by Astrape, nor Tasim, nor anyone a part of the cohort, but purely by gravity. The goblins collapsed, face-planting onto the stone, and their decrepit ribs shattering upon the fall, killing them all instantly. The only goblin to live was a singular, healthy goblin who sat beside the fire still, eating heartily.

“I’m sorry,” Astrape muttered before dashing over the corpses, her blade beheading the goblin, ending its life instantaneously. Blood painted the covered her blade, and she swiped it through the air, forcing the blood off, and in the process, she created a line of blood covering the wall.

Astrape put her sword away as Anemone and the rest of the cohort fully entered, standing over the fire.

‘Warmth in such a cold place, it’s quite ironic.’ Tasim mused.

In the corner of the room stood a chest, a beaten-up, raggedy chest which had the same red moss growing on it, bolting the lid down. Father stepped forward, using his own small blade, and he cut the moss away and opened up the chest as it creaked. Inside was a singular scroll, which was battered and torn, a blade made from stone, and a decrepit white shirt, which was the size of a child.

“Tasim or Astrape, can either of you read this runic language?” Father said, opening the small scroll.

“No, sorry, Father.”

To Anemone, Astrape, and Father, the language inscribed on the scroll meant nothing. It served no purpose, but-

“Slightly,” Tasim responded.

“Would you mind telling me what it says?”

“It says it was for commoners, so it must contain a low-tier spell. But it says.. something.. something… warm, something, inside hands, something. I can’t read the rest.”

“Well, maybe someone inside the city will know more then, thank you, Tasim.”

“Mhm.”

Father shut the chest, and it created a loud thud which resounded in the room, then they stepped out, continuing their journey. They continued their journey, turn after turn, mapping out already a large portion, but they found themselves back at the beginning portion, where they unanimously decided to go left, but Astrape, who was marking down what she was capable of, kept it to scale, and only a quarter of the maze was mapped.

Upon going the other direction, they found booby traps. Arrows flying from in front of them or behind, but as everyone had been sticking to the walls, the arrows zipped right past them, piercing the stone at the end of the hallway. They turned multiple times, feeling as if they were going in circles, but according to the map, which was being actively drawn out, they weren’t.

They soon found themselves in the exact center of the maze, where a large open area was located, with a horde of goblins and monsters living there. The area was open, with even a singular goblin guard patrolling, looking around; these goblins truly lived here. There was grass, water, a full village with crops, there were families, children, mothers, fathers, workers, everything needed to thrive.

“W-what the…” Astrape muttered before shutting her mouth so as not to be caught.

“Get ready for a fight,” Tasim announced quietly, summoning his staff.

“Th-those goblins earlier were outcasts…”

The guard, who was patrolling, landed his eyes upon the cohort, glaring at them for a moment, deciding whether this was lunch or a random pest. The goblin picked up his spear, using it to chant and grunt, awaking every goblin in the vicinity while beating his chest with the free hand, along with ogres, wolves, and the cattle they had living with them. The cows stood at the sudden awakening, along with the pigs and sheep.

The goblin guard who stood at the forefront had a small crown made of red feathers adorning his skull, along with silver, battered armor, and a red loincloth and cape. The goblin charged at the cohort while grunting. Astrape, using her newfound power, counteracted the goblin in an instant, severing its head from its green body as it collapsed to the ground. A singular goblin was no threat, but before them stood an army.

To the cohorts left, there was a group of goblins mounting wolves, to the front and right were an army of goblins with four ogres mixed in.

“Father Hatheway and Anemone, take care of the wolves so they don’t mount, Astrape, and I will face the goblins ahead of us for now. Once finished, Anemone, create a scythe and sweep at the army’s legs.”

Anemone and Father quickly got into action. Anemone fired Wind Barrage at the mounts, killing half of them instantly without a struggle as the bracelets she now owned increased her lethality. Father, using Water Jet, did the same for the rest of the wolves, killing the entirety of the mounts instantly.

“Anemone, try to sweep at the legs.”

Anemone stood back, focusing on trying to create a new ability, a wind blade, but spinning quickly, and after a few seconds, she succeeded, but during this time, Astrape and Tasim were pushed back by the sheer number of goblins, despite already killing hundreds. Anemone now had the spell ready, releasing it at stomach height for the goblins, and it swept through the army, slicing every goblin who wore no armor, separating their waist from their legs as a fountain of blood formed at every corpse.

Anemone, already feeling tired, stood back for a second as the rest of the cohort took advantage of the new death count. Tasim, no longer casting spells but instead trying to invent them, made a whip of water. It quickly depleted his mana, but in this dire situation, he needed power. The whip sliced through flesh like butter. Now the army was down to the ogres and the hundreds of mighty warriors clad in metal armor.

As the army lost the majority of its troops, a firing squad was born in the back of around twenty small, frail goblins whose only strength lay in their ability to fire a bow. A new wave of goblins suddenly formed, their green skin glowing in the light, some with dark verdant flesh that seemed to absorb light. The verdant goblins were holding daggers; they were slow, but hard to see as they made their way through the army.

At the very back, stepping out of goblin buildings, was now a new fleet of goblin warriors, with muscular builds, glinting armor, wooden shields covered in red paint that was scuffed in places. Their shields were locked in formation, creating a wall of enemies that would be sturdy enough to stop even a nightmare of a monster.

The new infantry goblins marched forward, actually pushing their own forces into the cohort just for them to perish, until the shields stood at the forefront of the army. The goblin army had now taken on a true formation that created an indomitable wall.

The cohort backed away slightly as they had become overpowered, Tasim cursing beneath his breath. Astrape was no longer to purely be on the attack as the new wall created a defense that was currently unbreakable, allowing their attacks to be launched nonstop.

The first group of arrows soon rained down on the cohort, not falling with much speed due to the ceiling of the open cavern. Tasim’s water whip was beginning to struggle, eventually dripping and disappearing due to it being an improvised spell that had never been practiced or stabilized.

Up until now, the ogres stood menacingly, looking down upon the cohort with their large, lusterless eyes. One of the ogres stood, much scarier than the ogre seen earlier, and then picked up a large club, stomping as it walked forward. The ogre didn’t even look down upon its allies; instead not caring if they were stomped on or kicked as the ogre walked. The ogre loomed over the cohort, then smashed its club down. Everyone dodged in time as a massive gust of wind made their hair fly back. The aftermath of the singular swing caused goblins to die, and half of the front line was now perished.

Now being so close to the ogre, the monster before them was easily four and a half meters tall (~15 ft). The cohort backed away some more as they were pressured by the goblin front line and the singular ogre. Another group of arrows rained down upon the place where the cohort had once stood, piercing the ogre’s back. The team was slowly realizing that these goblins may have looked strong together, but they lacked coordination.

‘Was that the first goblin the leader? No way. Those dumbasses are sending their leader alone.’ Tasim let out a chuckle, causing everyone to turn in his direction.

“What’s so funny?” Anemone said, her voice full of worry and anger.

“Don’t worry about it, as long as we dodge, we can just watch as their formation collapses.” He said, chuckling again as he realized that this situation was now going in a good direction, and that if the leader of the goblins hadn’t been patrolling alone, they might already be dead.

Another group of arrows rained down, exactly where the ogre stood again, and the ogre’s back now resembled a porcupine. The ogre collapsed eventually, creating a loud thud, splashing blood up and onto the bodies of the cohort members along with all the green goblins. In the background, the cows mooed again as the battle continued.

The other ogres sat stationary, not moving. Tasim summoned another whip made of water with his little remaining mana and killed many instantly, but not enough. The gap was quickly filled, but finally, the cohort could see the back of the army. Suddenly, the dark goblins appeared out of nowhere, flanking the team, and a dagger clipped Anemone’s ankle, opening it up immediately, making her collapse to one knee involuntarily.