Logan’s body was drenched in sweat and blood, his wounds had closed up but the scars across his frame were mounting. No more had become apparent on his face, though his arms and legs had several thin lines accruing with every battle. Accompanying his addition of scars, Logan inspected the reward window that had appeared in front of him.

“The reward for your quest completion is as follows:

Goblin-Killer*⁴. Goblin trinket recipes (All). Goblin tools (+10% chances for crafting trinkets that include goblin components). SKoL - Call to War - Goblinoid. +731 reputation with Gauntlet. Spark - Bolt Skill.”

Thankfully, Logan’s new rewards were placed into his inventory and didn’t appear in midair. Checking over his new dagger he was happy at the power it held, though curious as to its further use if he had dealt with the goblins already. The guards that had approached were securing the local area, so the Spellthief had ample time to inspect his own effects.

Glancing at his crafting menu showed it had several new recipes with the note of his bonus to their quality tier chances. Looking to the new skill he was further perplexed at its usability, though assumed he gained it from fighting their leader.

A skill that could be used to storm a camp, or maybe abuse to kill the creatures for experience and components. Regardless, Logan would keep this one secret until he could determine if other classed beings had access to such an ability. Since it was a Skill of Life it was available to any class, so if it were available it would be widespread.

The mention of reputation piqued Logan’s interest but he wasn’t able to find any window relating to any sort of honour system. Spark’s new Bolt skill was just the lightning variant of Celsius’s Ember Shard skill, and would be a great addition to the team.

“Hey, you good there? Logan was it?” Cassius spoke as he looked at a somewhat distant Spellthief.

“Huh? Yeah, just processing”, the Spellthief replied as he reflexively closed his windows with mental commands.

“You did some good work in that fight, taking out the leader’s arm made the battle easier to be sure.”

The sounds of shifting metal and casting in the background disturbed the conversation for a few seconds, the army securing the area further.

“It didn’t seem as if he was showing his true strength though, those teleportations…” Marcus drifted off.

“Looking for some entertainment probably. The number of rings he had speaks to how many teleports he had up his sleeve. I’ll have to look over it all later, or, can one of you magi do that?”

“I can”, Logan responded. He wanted to see them for himself regardless.

“Good, tally it up for us. Your work at the walls, bridge, and here definitely earned you an equal share”, Cassius responded as he watched Logan approach the corpse, “been some time since I worked with a Grasp expert, and a summoner to boot. You on break from the MT?”

Darting his head from the trinkets to Cassius, Logan thought about his response. “Neither of us are with the MT. We’re new in Gauntlet, working as hunters.”

“Wow, non-MT magi of such prowess. You’re not guildless too, are you? You’d be a welcome addition to the one I am part of, both of you even.”

“What guild is that? You’re Cassius right?” Marcus asked as he held out his hand.

“Yeah, you are?”

“Marcus, the unconscious one is Tenn.”

“I’ll remember both. The guild I am in is called Lightbeam, the guild master was Woevenk, currently under the sub until the hero returns.”

“It might be a good idea to be in a hero’s guild, their clout might grant us further protection”, Logan thought to himself.

“We’ll keep it in our thoughts, this whole goblin ordeal is going to take some time to sort out though”, Marcus replied.

“I’ll tell our doorman to have your names written down on the allowed list.”

The trio talked for a little while longer as Logan inspected the goblin hero’s gear fully, Logan was about to explain it all but was interrupted as the nearby guards had a portion of their forces move from the defence of the local area to approach the group and hero corpse.

A stocky man clad in blood-spattered plate mail spoke to the group with a demanding voice, “Is this the leader? Reports spoke of one towards the west, and the lower forces had signalled a retreat.”

“Yes, sir. The nearby corpses aided in the fight and the foe fell to the team before you. Fighter Cassius, Wizard Logan, Devout Marcus, Rogue Tenn, and a Knight we didn’t get the name of”, Cassius spoke as if he was used to this kind of situation.

“A well-balanced team, though quite small for such a feat. You say the fallen aided you? The loss is a shame though their efforts bore fruit, we shall mark their graves well if they lack any death insurance or are dead-workers.”

“We plan to sell the leader’s weapon to pay for the Knight’s revival and the regrowth of our Rogue’s hands lost in battle”, Cassius noted before the Knight could be moved.

“That is your right, hand me the blade and I will-” the man spoke before getting cut off.

“Lurne, you know that isn’t your jurisdiction”, a man draped in grey robes spoke as they approached the team.

“Eighther, how wonderful to have you interrupt me as usual”, the stocky man Lurne responded.

“As the effects of the leader will be wanted for research and reasoning, it will be bought from the victors by the royal family and their magi. We don’t want another invasion if this was only a portion of their full force”, Eighther spoke as if he was all too versed in dealing with the full-plate wearing man.

Lurne showed off a face full of rage towards the mage, “Two armies are not enough for you? You wish for a third?”

“Wish and preparation are not the same. I shall take over here, return to securing the city, please.”

Turning around, Lurne’s frame went up and down as he showed vivid anger and frustration towards the mage who dismissed him.

“Sorry about that, Lurne was most likely looking to take your fame from you.”

“Quite alright sir mage. Will you be taking the body from us?” Cassius asked.

Marcus and Logan took a backseat to the conversation, keeping an eye on Tenn and the hero's corpse. It was probably best for them to keep quiet and let the seemingly professional one take the helm.

“And yourselves if you do not mind. We shall go to the keep and debrief within one of the rooms there. If we’ve faced two armies such as these in such close proximity, it would be prudent to make sure none await us on the morrow.”

“Quite the walk”, Cassius spoke.

“I can teleport us all there, the fleeing goblins should pose no further threat. I do wish we were granted more forward knowledge of such an attack, otherwise, I could have aided in it.”

“They similarly teleported here.”

“Ah, more to discuss in the debrief. May I?” Eighther asked as he held his hand out.

Cassius picked up the goblin, Logan picked up the Knight, and Marcus picked up Tenn. Placing a hand on each other’s arm, they linked up with Eighther who began to chant a spell.

“Place us else, place that where. Teleport.”

Their bodies shone a bright purple as constricting lines caressed their bodies. Cutting their bodies into shreds of matter, the strips of matter shot upwards and disappeared.

Appearing instantly within a stone corridor, the strips of matter flew to the floor and reformed all of the participants of the teleportation spell.

Marcus once again showed signs of distress from the teleportation, though the others had no outward detrimental effects. As if to answer their arrival, several well-dressed men and women appeared from nearby rooms and hallways. Religious symbols of the deities dangled from their necks and wrists, showing them to be Devouts.

“Welcome Eighther, are we to heal these few?” one of them asked.

“Yes, prepare them for a debrief. These are the victors of the goblin invasion.”

Shocked faces donned the Devouts, mixed with sincere thanks for the team, though two would not see the response just yet.

“Sort out the healing and revival with the royal healers, after that we’ll talk about what occurred”, Eighther instructed as he walked away.

“I love royal treatment”, Cassius spoke yet again as if he were used to this.

The group were healed to full, comforted by other magics, and had some of their lesser scars mended. Alongside healing, they received cleaning magics and trading off the items of the goblin they did not need. The sword was eagerly bought up as the Knight was taken away for revival, Tenn having his hands regrown whilst he slept in another room.

Divvying up the rewards, Tenn and the Knight receiving the leftovers after the trio’s choices due to their healing services, Cassius took the first pick from his contribution to the fight. Marcus and Logan were nowhere near disappointed though, the rewards they had been given far outclassed their previous gear.

Many of the items worn by the hero were the second step in attribute bonus items, Cassius had taken the higher variants and gave his lower ones to the pair, meaning they still got a grand reward alongside the other items they got to pick from.

Marcus obtained “Hobgoblin Wristband” and “Shaman Necklace” which gave a +6 to Strength and Wisdom.

Logan obtained “Dexterous Belt”, “Earring of Gobtree”, “Monstrous Advisor Earring” and “Commander's Headband”, which gave a +6 to Agility, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma.

Trading their other items to cover the holes in their bonuses, Logan also received four new rings that held a spell he was all too familiar with at this point.

Slipping the rings onto his fingers revealed that their charges had already been used, but four teleports extra a day would make hunting far quicker and easier, alongside normal adventuring benefits.

Selling off the items they no longer required, or couldn’t make much use of from the goblin, Logan gained a further 1 gold and 57 silver with Marcus getting not far off from that himself. The teleportation rings on their own would give Logan a heaping 20 gold in value, though he was sure he’d never sell them.

After sorting their healing and rewards out, the group were called into a nearby room to discuss with Eighther about their conflict with the goblin leader. When it came to Logan’s turn he noticed that no truth magic was at play during their talk, allowing him to speak freely on the matter.

Talking about the hero’s words, Eighther combined the testimony with the others and showed concern at a goblin knowing how to speak the Ava tongue. He did mention in return that their aim was most likely that of a newly born hero as no signs of any oracles were shown in recent days. Culminating the stories, it seemed that further attacks would not be a concern, however, a call back of the stronger adventurers was going to be issued just in case.

The mage seemed to have no worries or qualms with how Logan spoke, at least the Spellthief couldn’t detect any mistrust. It was just nice to talk to another caster who wasn’t aiming to turn him into a trinket for his powers.

Returning to the hallway, Logan was greeted by Marcus and a newly-handy Tenn. Tenn’s hands were a shade brighter than his normal skin colour and Logan noticed the Rogue was touching his thumb to each finger.

“Good to see you back to normal, Tenn”, Logan announced.

“As close as I can be. These new hands need to be broken in properly. I didn’t think I’d get them back so soon.”

“The Knight’s revival will take a while longer, Cassius has already left to scout the outskirts of the walls and forest for any other goblins”, Marcus informed.

“He doesn’t have much to worry about now the leader is dead, though he might just want to make some extra money from the event”, Logan replied.

“No complaints on whatever he is doing it for from me”, Tenn added.

“What happened to your scouting missions by the way?” Marcus asked.

“All finished, that was a week ago I told you about them. Surprised to see me in town?”

“I wasn’t expecting it. Any word from Iimi or Kreya?”

“Iimi passed me one day and mentioned she was going north to acquire some materials for a new weapon. Kreya is helping Moella. If they were in the fight I might’ve kept my hands”, Tenn followed, holding his hands up.

“Fewer rewards for us though”, Logan chimed in with a smile.

“I suppose. I got handed some coin, no doubt our names will be on the streets about our efforts against the leader.”

As the group were speaking a loud bang of an opened door interrupted them, a Devout rushing down the hall to the debriefing room. Slamming on its wooden barrier, the door opened wide to the frightened man.

“Hero! The goblin was a hero!” he yelled at Eighther.

A stunned mage stared at the Devout for a few moments before composing himself. “Are you sure? Did his blood-”

“Yes, it was bright and sang in the normal process”, the Devout continued in interruption.

“Damn, Madamra take us to the pits. Show me.”

Eighther was led by the Devout in a hasty walk down the hall to what seemed to be an inspection room, several other Devout standing around the open doorway.

“A… hero? A monster was a hero?” Tenn spoke in a shunned stance.

“Pondress save us. If monsters can be born heroes we’ll be doomed to further dangers”, Marcus added.

Marcus turned his head to Logan, showing he now fully believed Logan when he warned of the attack before it happened. The Devout wasn’t totally convinced back then, but having it confirmed by the royal casters was more than enough for the native of Avanar.

“Fuck, is it time I retire?” Tenn spoke under his breath.

“We’ll have to be vigilant against any further goblinoids, if one can be a hero that means others could be too”, Logan said sternly.

“The G-Hall will be full of conversation on this topic, no doubt there will be investigation quests popping up to search for the cause of monsters becoming heroes”, Marcus informed.

“More scouting missions, damn, those are my speciality. Why couldn’t this have happened elsewhere, I didn’t want to engage in such grand schemes.”

“Well, they are calling in the stronger adventurers, those will probably get the important quests surrounding this event”, Logan added.

Tenn turned to the Spellthief, his face showing even more of his attitude that he didn’t want to deal with this. “I hope so. Maybe I will follow Iimi’s footsteps and gather up stronger materials to get better gear to survive what’s to come.”

“What’s to come?” Logan repeated as a question.

“Well, the last time I heard about a hero we had that war with the demons, sending off four of our only heroes to stop their invasion. Goblins don’t measure up, but if the goblins have heroes on their side we could be on the losing side without heroes of our own.”

“Thirteen months back now, right?” Marcus asked.

“And they still have yet to return. I sure hope this army did arrive because of a new hero being revealed, at least then we have a chance of winning.”

“Would a hero really tip the balance so much?” Logan asked as he looked around the hallway.

“Yeah, their ability to grow far outstrips normal people. A rank 10 hero can easily take down a rank 15. Aside from that their number of spells is higher, they often learn more varied skills, among other qualities. The only thing better or on par is an oracle, but there has been no word of one of those either.”

“We both come from a smaller settlement, are there ways to find the arrival of heroes and oracles?”

“Heroes have a blood experiment to test their power, many instinctively know they are one. Oracles, their power is hard to mask as it is normally aberrant, they often announce themselves too.”

Logan thought for a second as he looked between a knowing Marcus and a sorrowful Tenn. “They may tip the scale, but they aren’t necessary.”

“I can’t stick around if whatever is giving me these quests is going to have me fight more heroes and armies. It is too dangerous”, Logan thought to himself.

He did feel selfish at the thought of running away, but he wasn’t meant to be here anyway. Though, if he was given the choice of saving a country for losing some blood would he have accepted it? Desperate times calling for desperate measures and all that.

“Well, what’s done is done I guess. I’m gonna turn in I think, need to sort my head out from all of this and it’s late”, Tenn announced.

“Thanks for your help. I hope we can work together again”, Marcus said.

“Same from me”, Logan added.

Placing hands on one another’s shoulders, the group parted, leaving Marcus and Logan alone, with Celsius staring upwards to await the end of the adult conversation.

“Back to the inn?” Marcus asked as he turned his head to Logan.

“Yeah, I need to sort things out too.”

The walk back to the inn was long, mainly due to coming from the King’s keep at the western side of the capital. People were hiding away in their houses while guards and low-rank adventurers patrolled the streets, looking for hiding goblins most likely or to just give some sense of protection to the citizens.

Rooftops were lined with archers, whereas magi kept spells readied for further attacks. Quite a few elementals and undead also filled the streets, the bell from the walls allowing them to use their abilities freely until the all-clear was called. Both the water elementals and magi were using their watery effects to douse the flames started by the flying goblinoids while the earth elementals helped to level roads and move debris.

Carts full of goblin bodies could be seen and heard moving the corpses to the component houses to harvest the resources from them. It seemed that the goblin shamans and hobgoblins would be used for further experiments, while the basic goblins had their ears removed and carted outside the city.

Logan remembered reading that monster meat wasn’t the best to eat, but for animals and other monsters, it was mostly fine. Dumping the corpses in the forest wouldn’t cause too many issues, or even using them as fertilizer in the rebuilding Moella.

No matter the income from their victory, plenty of people lost their lives in the conflict. Revival magic was expensive, and the blade of the leader was only going to cover a single revive and regrowth. Unlike normal spells, both required magical components to function, meaning it came with quite the price tag to be cast.

As the pair were reaching the inn as the night moved into the early morning, they could see small squads of guards and adventurers being formed to scout out the nearby forests and roads for potential threats. Groups of about a dozen were eager to strike back at the goblins who had arrived without any forewarning.

Seeing the power held by the royal guard, the army, and the higher-rank adventurers, Logan felt a large portion of guilt. Had he told them earlier they could have been better prepared and arrived at the frontlines earlier, though he knew that they’d either not believe him or find his oracle status. He had done well to hide from any further Magi‘s Tower interference, and the first taste of their ilk soured his tongue for anymore.

Entering the Meek Moat Inn, Logan saw the interior almost devoid of life, if it weren’t for Yetveka behind the counter with a crossbow atop it. The gashriek jumped slightly as the door opened but lowered her guard as she noticed two of her regulars enter.

“Thank the above a friendly face came through that doorway, I’ve been hearing yelling and explosions for ages”, she spoke with a drawn-out sigh.

“The attack is over, the goblins sounded the retreat after we took down the leader”, Marcus mentioned.

Yetveka’s eyes lit up at the announcement, “You? The two of you took on that army’s leader?”

“Along with the help of others, though it might be more apt to say we aided them. A Rogue friend of ours by the name of Tenn and a Fighter called Cassius, he pulled most of the-” Logan started to explain but was cut off.

“Cassius? No wonder you won, with most other adventurers out and about he’d be a good vanguard to have at our defence.”

“You know of him?” Marcus asked as he sat at the counter.

“He did some minor hunter work, but he is mostly an adventurer. In the 20s area for his rank last I recalled. Has a legendary arm from a dungeon he helped clear a while back.”

“That sword of his? With all the flames?” Logan queried.

“Yeah, explodes 'n' all.”

“That explains how well he held his own, teleported me a few times too so he has a fair few spell rings.”

“Sounds like you worked with him for a long time out there, how’s about we chat about it over drinks”, Yetveka announced as she started to pour ale into three tankards.

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