Bursting from the edge of the forests, ten goblinoids made their presence known with rock throws and saliva-dripping yells. Charging towards the duo-party were eight of a new variant, Logan gave a quick Identification to see if he needed to worry.

“Goblin Berserker - Goblinoid. Level 3: 15/15 HP, 0/0 MP. The bulkiest of goblinoid that is leaving adolescence. Standing at just over 3' 6", these goblins sport thicker muscles than their younger kin and often go on to become leaders in adulthood. Often subordinates directly to hobgoblins, you'll easily find several of these with the higher-ups in goblinoid factions. Skills: Rage, Damage Reduction 1. Wields: Mace 2-4 dmg.”

Nothing too drastic over what he had faced previously, but the addition of skills gave Logan a slight bit of worry. This was also the first foe he could see that had damage reduction, aside from the hobgoblin several days ago who he was unable to identify.

The trio of adventurers started to shake at the edge of the forest, pulling out what ranged weaponry they had, the Fighter with a bow, the Knight picking up nearby rocks, and the Rogue readying some throwing daggers. Logan was sure their aid would be far worse than Marsh and his allies from the previous hobgoblin quest. Marcus readied his crossbow to the side of all his allies to get a good line of sight, as well as able to heal Logan at a moment’s notice.

Wanting to deal with the easiest targets first, Logan shot off two volleys of Force at the two joining muscles, killing them quickly. The berserkers were angered by the death of even more kin, and the eight ferocious enemies charged at Logan. Arrows, bolts, rocks, and knives all started to fling from east to west, accompanied by Force micks. What would normally deal 13 damage, dealt 12 due to the damage reduction of the berserkers, but with the amount of firepower at their beck and call, the adventurers were able to down 3 berserkers before the mass got to the Spellthief.

Backstepping and drawing up his blade, Logan began to dodge, parry, and stab out at the berserkers. The goblins were faster in combat than their kin, their red eyes showing off their rage-induced carnage. A slam into an arm, nick of a leg, crash into the stomach, Logan was stricken several times, receiving 2, 3, 3, 3, and 3 damage, all being reduced by his armour.

His dagger continued to let out slash after stab, dealing a range of damage from 13 to 17, killing a few of the berserkers in a single strike. With a gap in the mess of flesh, Marcus shot a Heal towards Logan, bringing him back to max health. Eventually, the last berserker fell, ending a portion of the second wave.

The crashing of wood, stomping of large feet against dirt, and another roar erupted from the western forest, followed by an explosion of wood splinters as the hobgoblin emerged. “Identify.”

“Hobgoblin Leader - Goblinoid. Level 5: 37/37 HP, 0/0 MP. A large and dominating force of nature, the hobgoblin leader sports a large great mace and more than enough muscle to utilize it. Often leading bands of other goblins and hobgoblins, the leader has a higher intellect and can order his troops easily. Skills: Rage, Damage Reduction 3. Wields: Great Mace 3-6 dmg. Wears: Metal Protection, +5 Defence Rating, 2 Damage Reduction.”

“No wonder Marsh and co needed magic, that’s a total of 5 dam red! That mace will definitely do more damage than listed, that’s only the weapon damage”, Logan worried in his head. Though this hobgoblin seemed a bit weaker than the previous one he had encountered, there was no red skulls and crossbones topped with a golden crown like the last one.

The hobgoblin was tall and thick, a 7’ mass of muscle and ugliness. It was close in resemblance to a goblin if it had eaten 3 cows. Dark green skin with patches of lighter green, its face had a snout-like nose on it, its left ear mangy from being bitten off. It wore patchwork metallic armour made up of several sets, most likely taken from dead adventurers and crudely bashed together.

“Flame”, Logan began to cast, but the hobgoblin was able to act fast, throwing its oversized mace at the Spellthief. The hunk of wood and metal plummeted through the air and crashed into Logan, dragging him to the floor and flying off behind him as he made a crater.

“Logan, you have received 12 damage, current HP 64/76”, the System alerted him.

“Yeah, I got it”, Logan replied in his head.

Looking to his hand he saw the embers dying out as he miscast his previous spell. “Fuck sake, Gaia it is then.”

Standing back up, Logan could see the trio of adventurers practically fainting at the sight of the hobgoblin, he didn’t have the time to sort them out, however, as the hobgoblin started its charge to the Spellthief.

Bringing up his dagger, Logan was treated to a massive fist into his blocking arms as he was sent sliding backwards on his feet against the dirt, receiving 5 more damage. His arms vibrating from the force he retaliated with a spell due to the distance, “Gaia Shot!” he shouted out, a shard of earth forming in his palm and darting across the sky to hit the hobgoblin in the shoulder for 25 damage.

The newcomers gained some form of morale seeing Logan quickcast his spells yet again, as well as the hobgoblin taking a heavy hit, and proceeded to continue their ranged assault though Logan could see it all did 0 damage.

Readying another spell, Logan was accosted by the hulking mass once more. This time, instead of a fist into his blocking arms, Logan was grappled by the huge hands of the hobgoblin gripping tightly around his body and pinning his arms to his side. He would have let out a cry of pain if not for the air being squeezed from his lungs. Getting crushed dealt him another 6 damage, a clench of the fists another 5, Logan was in big trouble.

“Logan!” Marcus called out, moving closer to the hobgoblin. Throwing out a hand to the side he began a new spell. “Dirt-bound allies, rise to heed my call. Gaia Shot”, he incanted, rock and mud forming in his hand, shooting towards the overgrown nuisance of a beast. The shards of the earth dealt a measly 13 damage to the brute, but it was enough to loosen its hold over Logan.

As Logan fell to the floor he brought up his dagger again and threw it into the head of the hobgoblin, not wanting to waste time on another spell. The dagger dug deep into the head of the foe, dealing a decreased 9 damage but adding into the shot from Marcus to reach -10/37 HP. With the power of the thrown weapon and blast of the spell, the hobgoblin fell backwards, crashing down to the dirt road.

Logan could only speculate as to the hobgoblin surviving at -1 HP that it was due to its rage ability, the final strike of the dagger being enough to overcome whatever kept it standing. Its body convulsed for a few seconds before lying still on the ground, everyone would have been on the edge of their seats, if they were sitting, but Logan knew the encounter was over as he saw the floating experience numbers popping up, even the ones deeper in the forest seemingly got closer to alert to Logan what he had gained.

In total, Logan had gained 4,002 experience from the encounter, the NPCs all received 870 each. It left Logan at an infuriatingly close 27,600 / 28,000 XP, and Marcus up to an equally frustrating 5,990 / 6,000 XP. The better outcome from the fight though was that the Knight had risen to level 3 and the Rogue to level 2, sponging off the hard work that Logan had put into this encounter.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Logan snapped his fingers just in case the experience numbers were false happiness, it pinged a few small dots on the mini-map but weren’t large enough to be anything other than squirrels and birds.

“It’s fine, that’s the last of what followed us, for now”, Logan explained to the others, still tense from the now-defeated horde.

The newcomers all looked at one another but accepted the information from the more experienced hunter. Smiles, laughs, and high-fives were given all around as they survived a fight that would have certainly ended with all of them dead. Unbeknownst to them, they had also gained levels from the engagement.

“Wonderful, sir mage, your magic was a dazzling display, and that knife work, an enhancement expert is just what we needed”, the female Fighter spoke.

Logan assumed they thought he used magic to fight better in melee, similar to what his adversaries to save the Mova’s had.

“We were only meant to scout, but you dealt with the main horde all on your twosome. Amazing work!” the younger Knight added.

Marcus moved over to Logan, using his two other charges of Healer’s Caress to bring his ally up to 54/76 HP.

“An amazing follow-up from you as well, honoured Devout”, the Rogue chimed in, retrieving his thrown daggers that had almost snapped in half from hitting the hobgoblin.

“You said there was at least 40? I counted 42 and a hobgoblin. Any more than that?” Logan asked, wanting to push himself and Marcus over into the next levels. A nagging feeling in the back of his head blossomed into curiosity surrounding level 8.

“Truly? 43 in all?! Bless the above you came when you did, that is the whole force from what we scouted. It is possible they have more further in that we didn’t eye up, but they are meaningless numbers now you’ve done this to the main portion”, the Knight answered.

“There was no quest to quell them though. Just scouting, I am unsure if the hall would pay you for your work”, the Rogue spoke, almost worried that their saviours would leave angry.

“We’ll take our pay in their parts and items. You can take any reward that would come up from their eradication. You could use it more than us”, Logan offered. “Their gear needs updating, the money from that kind of quest will make sure they survive longer”, he thought.

Through Identification Logan was able to see that the three weren’t affiliated with any bad groups, just fresh or a few months experienced adventurers. They also had little discrimination against casters, though that could have just been down to him saving their lives.

The trio had their jaws almost dislocate at Logan’s offer, the symbols for coins envisioned in their eyes to Logan’s imagination. He knew it was a lot of silver for not a lot of work on their part, but they did almost die, so it could have been thought of as compensation for their near-death experiences.

“We can’t possibly take that, even if they do offer a reward it’d be countless silver, we could all update our gear. It’s too much”, the Knight spoke. The Fighter and Rogue also reiterated the same.

“You almost died, and we don’t aim to stop off again, just use the money to better serve your town. Also, take this as a sign that casters are valuable party members, invite them on quests more often”, Logan instructed.

Marcus turned his head to his ally, a glint in his eye and a smirk on his face. This was a sign that Logan was working to build up casters as equals amongst the adventurers, something Marcus hoped for, but also prayed upon to his deity.

“Can we at least give your names so they know who did this? I am sure a reward would come your way eventually”, the Knight continued.

“Not needed. We didn’t help with the aim of fame or riches. You can just say a passing caster aided you and saw fit to deal with the approaching goblins.”

“It’s better we don’t draw too much attention before our reassessment, I am unsure if a rank 7 or 8 Wizard would be someone they expect could take down that number of foes with little aid”, Logan rationalized in his head.

“A caster is certainly a valued member of the party after seeing this display, the charity is just a cherry on top”, the Rogue spoke.

The adventurers spoke for a while longer before they eventually agreed to the overpayment. After collecting their effects, and tending to any wounds, they began their journey back to Fowp. This left Logan and Marcus to their own devices, the Spellthief beginning his Harvesting of the goblins but leaving their weapons across the floor as they weighed too much for how little they were worth.

In all, Logan gathered 30 shoddy ears, 11 commons, and 1 high-quality, the hobgoblin ear was of common quality, the most expensive of the lot. The coin pouches of the goblinoids totalled 86 copper, 26 of which went to Marcus. It took a good 10 minutes to finish the collection, allowing Marcus to heal his ally three more times for 12, bringing Logan to 66/76 HP.

Discussing their next actions with one another, Logan persuaded Marcus to delve just a bit deeper into the forests to clear out any remaining goblins from the area. Logan played it off as if they were making sure it was safe for the others, when he really just wanted to hit level 8 as he was within arms reach.

Spending a good half hour in the forest, using Tracking and Echo Radar, Logan was able to find three more archers hiding amongst the trees, probably hoping to avoid the conflict and deserting their “army” of goblins. Quick work was made of the remainders, dying to blasts of Force from Logan who was antsy to see his rewards.

“Level up! Gain: 8 HP, +1 Str, +1 Agi, +1 Con, +1 Int. You have gained one additional level 1 spell slot and three level 2 spell slots. You have 1 attribute point to spend”, the normal levelling window detailed to the Spellthief.

“Finally!” Logan cheered in his head, not wanting to shock Marcus with his excitement at receiving access to level 2 spells, or even just more slots per day.

With the unlocking of second-level spells, Logan’s status expanded the spellbook section, allowing him to ready his casts per day. He wanted to wait till they were in a safer location to test out the new spells, so he resigned to inspect his ally. Marcus had gained 60 XP from the hunting trip, bringing him to level 4 and gaining +1 Str and +3 Wis. Seeing this, Logan was sure that Marcus was gaining partial attribute points like he was, seemingly in the odd-numbered levels.

“Logan, my spellforce. This army has proved to be a great enough feat to grant me more. Could you investigate it?”

“That it has, you’re rank 4 now, Marcus. Do you want that Wisdom increase as usual?”

“Of course, it should also help my offensive spells when you’re grappled again”, Marcus responded with a bit of a chuckle.

Placing Marcus’s point into Wisdom didn’t grant anymore MP, but the level increase did add 2 points, bringing the total to 9. At the same time, Logan spent his additional point into Intelligence. Testing the new power of Healer’s Caress, Marcus found it now healed 4 HP per use, and used all three on Logan to bring him up to 86/86 HP.

Collecting the ears as they went, Logan added 3 more common goblin ears to his inventory, the 5 copper that was gathered went to Marcus. With the half-hour spent, if there were any other scouting parties or people from the hall of Fowp approaching the forests then the pair only had minutes to spare if they didn’t want to be spotted. Heading northeast through the forest they eventually returned to the road.

With a long dirt road ahead of them, the pair began to talk about the recent events, Logan being the one to begin the conversation.

“As a heads up, Marcus, just as you reached rank 4 I also reached rank 8, so expect to see some second-level spells when we’re back at camp.”

“Rank 8, what is that now, two weeks or so? You are remarkable, Logan. What do you plan on doing with your rise in power? The last Wizard oracle we spoke about was the one to make the Magi’s Tower. Will you also work to better the lives of other casters?”

“Getting a bit ahead of ourselves, aren’t we? It’s on the list of things to do, yeah, but I feel like everyone should be treated fairly regardless of class, lack thereof, or even species. Hopefully, this kind of power is enough to change people’s views.”

“My soul is warmed by your words, you are truly sent here by one above to make this world a greater place to be.”

“Should I tell him I plan to go home? Or even that I come from elsewhere? I need his help, but he may depart if he thinks of me as an alien or something. But he seems on board with the whole equality goal”, Logan fought with his thoughts.

“I must ask though, Logan. Do you know how you gained these oracle powers? Have you spoken with any of the ones above or below?”

“Well, you see. I believe it was Vokka who granted me these powers, I had a sort of… message from them I guess you could say.”

Marcus could not contain his excitement, a wide open-mouthed smile as he spoke, “Yes! I believed it to be so! If not my OAB then Vokka to be sure. What did they say?”

“That they granted me their protection, but not much else besides that. I wanted to find more oracles so I could possibly learn more about these powers and how to contact Vokka.”

“A noble cause, hand-in-hand with your journey to bring happiness to the lands. You can count on me, Logan.”

“Now I can’t help but feel bad. I’ll tell him if I do find a way back, but for now, he is way too into the idea of me saving this world from discrimination”, Logan reconciled in his head.

The long walk continued for a while, the discussion shifting between their new powers, skills to obtain in the future, possible quests to take on, and the mission they had set themselves. Logan’s guilt was put aside, as he hadn’t much choice in the matter, being thrust here without as much as a how-do-you-do from Vokka. When they eventually reached their camp for the night, Logan began his second-level experimentations.

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