None of the Rogue trainees moved. Shock, horror, fear; all of these emotions could be seen on their faces.
"What are goblins doing in this forest?"
Kairo was the first to control himself. Handing off Brion to Claire, he drew his sword once again and pointed it at the three green skinned creatures.
They laughed at him, drawing weapons of their own.
"Give answer now, no fun."
The goblin in the middle answered his question, but not in a way that made Kairo happy. They took a step forward but were stopped by a line of icicles.
Claire glared at the goblins, gasping for breath.
"Get away from us you disgusting creatures!"
Seeing that the group had magic at their disposal, the goblins immediately became more cautious. However, Kairo knew that Claire had one more volley before she passed out from excessive use of magic.
"You guys get him to a healer, I'll hold these things off and run when I can."
Zoe looked at him with wide eyes.
"But thats suicide?! Besides, you were the one that told us to turn back, and we didn't listen!"
"That's why I'm staying with him."
Adon handed Brion to Zoe, pulling his spear out of the sleeve he had for it on his back. He spun the weapon before pointing it at the goblins standing in their way.
"I'm the one that got us into this mess, so I need to help get us out of it."
"But you two-"
"GO!"
Adon's shout at Zoe was the final push. Claire tugged at Zoe's sleeve and glanced into the forest, toward Differentia. Biting her lip, Zoe set forth with her friend, Baron's feet dragging into the forest behind them.
The goblin that had been in the front started chasing after the three of them. However, a fist sized stone hit the back of his knee, sending the green skinned creature tumbling into the bushes.
"Not so fast ugly."
The butt of Adon's spear slammed into the ground. As he opened his mouth to say more Kairo stepped up next to him and spoke instead.
"You'll have to kill us to get to them."
Adon's brow furrowed in annoyance as he spun his spear and pointed it at the goblins again.
"What he said."
The other two goblins, who had been staring at the spot their comrade ate shit, snarled and went on the attack.
With a leap, the one on the left charged toward Adon with a hatchet raised. The other goblin rambled toward Kairo with a sword poised for the kill.
Kairo back stepped then shuffled to the right. The goblin re-angled his approach before wildly swinging his sword.
*SCREEEE*
The chipped edge of the monsters short sword scraped down the side of Kairo's leaf shaped blade.
As the goblins attack shot off to the side Kairo took a step back again. The tip of his blade darted forward, aimed for his enemy's throat.
The goblin rolled it's shoulder in the way of the strike.
With a shriek it leapt back as it held it's shoulder.
Taking a deep breath, Kairo set his gaze on his opponent before charging in.
On the other side of things, Adon was furiously stabbing at the goblin jumping at him. While it used a similar weapon, the monster was a lot less coordinated than Brion.
However, it was much faster.
He hadn't been hit yet, but every one of Adon's attacks were also being dodged or blocked.
The only strike that had gotten through was a whack to the goblins side, which it shook off effortlessly.
At this point, Adon knew that whoever ran out of stamina first would be the loser.
And that couldn't happen.
As he blocked an overhead swing, Adon's spear locked up with the goblins weapon.
The creature smiled at him as it pressed the head of the axe towards Adons forehead.
"YAAAAAAH."
With a shout, Adon pushed the goblin back and held his hand forward. The goblin shook off the shove and jumped toward him, only to be shot backward mid leap.
The basic spell known as 'Rock Blast' had slammed into the goblins chest, leaving a bloody hole next to its heart.
It disappeared into the bushes. The absence of movement told Adon he had finished the job.
Panting from exertion, he turned to see how Kairo was faring.
The goblin wielding a sword lay in a heap. Cuts covered its body, purplish blood leaking from the plethora of wounds.
Kairo had shallow cuts here and there. He wiped a sheen of sweat from his brow, taking deep breaths in an effort to regain his stamina.
"Did you finish yours?"
As they walked closer to each other, Adon shoved his thumb towards the bushes.
"Magic'd him out of here. Looks like you could only use your sword?"
Rolling his eyes, Kairo sheathed his blade.
"Yeah yeah, you give me enough shit about it. Seems to me like you had to rely on magic. With all your bragging, I thought you were good enough with the spear?"
Now Adon's eyes rolled, a grimace flitting across his face.
"Whatever, you unmagical troll dung. Let's get going."
"Should we check the bodies before we leave?"
Adon shook his head and waved it off.
"Nah, we need to get back before we get into even more trouble."
"You mean you get in more trouble. I was trying to stop your idiocy."
With a sigh, Kairo stood and followed Adon, leaving the bloody scene behind. The two were silent as they walked through the trees. Kairo followed in the back, giving him room to check out the system messages that had popped up.
[Congratulations! Quest: Survive Gremlin Assault Complete!]
[Rewards: 250 exp, +2 Agility, +2 Constitution, +Fortitude]
[Congratulations! Quest: Defeat first Goblin Complete!]
[Rewards: 50 exp, +1 Strength, + 1 Mana]
[Congratulations! Level Up!]
[Reward: +10 Open Stat Points]
Kairo grinned at the unexpected quick gains.
'Now my physicality is better, along with getting a small increase to what I'm thinking is magic related stats. I also wonder what I can do with those open stat points?'
As Adon walked in front of Kairo he was appreciating the nature while he could. Thinking about the punishment he would receive when they got back was upsetting his stomach, so he decided to focus on the present.
Sunlight streamed through the branches. Insects were buzzing on the leaves as they searched for more food. Birds could be hear chirping through the canopy, seeking to prey upon insects with their guard down. A lone snail slides down the stem of a flower in a bushel.
The unnatural sound of creaking branches drew Adon's gaze to behind them. A shadow flitted over Kairo's head and Adon's eyes widened.
"Kairo move!"
Adon jumped forward and shoved Kairo out of the way. As he did this, an axe that had been flying through the air buried itself into Adon shoulder.
"AHHHH!"
"Shit, Adon!"
Kairo quickly regained his balance, spun around, and drew his sword.
The goblin Adon had first hit in the knee dropped down about 10 feet behind the two of them, his grin growing broader at the sight of blood and Kairo's pale face.