“Javelins for you,” Ava said to Edgar.

“Javelins?” Edgar asked, frowning. “Not a sword or a spear?”

“Oh, and it’s not just for someone at the back of the team or something,” June said. “You can throw it or use it like a normal spear. I recommend it as well.”

“Well...alright,” he said.

“Just don’t throw it at one of us in a fit of rage,” Ava said.

“Obviously I won’t.”

Raine and Kayden stood a few steps away from them, looking at some swords displayed on the wall. But Kayden soon wandered off; something else had grabbed his attention.

“Ooo,” Kayden said, staring at a bow displayed on the wall. “Ava, can I get a bow instead?”

“Well, if you want,” Ava said. “But you’ll have no chance to use it in the first two weeks. Do you really want to spend money on it right now?”

“Okay, nevermind.”

Edgar was looking at shields, while Cecily was roaming the store with a bored expression. She already had free weapons and armor from Hopkins because her team had been second in the competition. A long sword was at her hip, and she carried a stuffed knapsack on her back.

“Get a spear instead,” Ava said to Raine. “It’s cheaper and easier to use.”

“But isn’t it more convenient to carry around a sword?” he asked.

“It’ll be less than worthless to you until you spend another two or three months learning how to use it.”

“Alright then,” Raine said, heading for the spear section.

He spent little time picking a spear. He just grabbed one that Ava said was decent. He spent 50 vurs on that and a shield. Kayden got the same things, while Edgar bought javelins and a shield. Then the team headed for the armor shop.

It was just as big as the Kingswood weapon store and had everything from gambesons to helmets, gloves to belts. Raine walked around and saw the same word repeated wherever he went: Kevlar.

The price tags of some of the items with Kevlar frightened Raine, but the store was owned by Hopkins and every new employee received significant discounts on their first three purchases.

A Kevlar gambeson normally cost 700 vurs, five times the price of a normal cotton gambeson. Ava said it was because of transportation costs. Kevlar gambesons certainly weren’t five times better than normal ones, but for most hunters, the extra protection was worth the cost.

Raine picked one up. It wasn’t light. Damn, Hopkins probably passed on bringing thousands of dollars’ worth of spices for this.

The discount let Raine, Kayden, and Edgar each buy a Kevlar gambeson for 150 vurs. They also purchased Kevlar gloves and arming caps, which looked somewhat ridiculous but provided excellent protection. Ava said it was overkill, but Cecily still bought a barbute, a steel helmet with a T-shaped opening for the eyes and mouth.

Raine wanted one too just in case a great orc popped out of nowhere and swung its axe at his head. But he wasn’t going to fork over 200 vurs for it.

Cecily’s reason for wanting the helmet was different from his.

“It looks good,” she said. “And the arming cap alone looks weird.”

With their new weapons and armor, the team was ready to go to the Irin Forest. June and Ava dropped by a stable near the edge of the city and came out with two horses.

“This is Myu,” June said. It was a chestnut riding horse. “She’s very nice.”

Myu did seem pretty friendly. Ava’s black horse, Guard, was less so. He didn’t take kindly to petting from anyone but Ava.

The six of them loaded much of their stuff onto the horses and headed for the city’s western gate. They expected to return to Rialis City before dinnertime, so they didn’t have much more than the essentials: food, water, armor, and weapons.

Ava checked her watch.

“We should get there by one o’ clock,” she said.

“What time is it now?” Raine asked.

“11:20.”

“Shit,” Kayden said. “A looong walk.”

It really was one. Everyone took turns riding on the horses, but Raine’s injured leg still started aching before they were even halfway there.

The journey wasn’t that interesting. They saw some hills, lots of grass, and plenty of trees.

A little over an hour after leaving Rialis City, they reached a small village called Orinbeck. It was surrounded by stone walls about four feet high, and two cannons stood atop the wall facing the Irin Forest.

In the village itself, there was a small hospital, a bathhouse, and a smithy. Cheap restaurants were scattered about the place. According to Ava, the place was mostly reliant on hunters for business.

Ava told everyone to grab what they’d loaded onto Guard. Then she left him in the stable there.

“Why aren’t we bringing him along?” Kayden asked. “Does he charge at goblins when he sees them or something?”

“Nope, it’s because horses attract goblins,” June said. “We’ll be fine if we bring one horse, but bringing two is pushing it.”

“One horse has a lot of meat,” Ava said. “Three people to one horse is a ratio goblins might attack us for. Bumping that up to six-to-one makes it unlikely that we’ll get bothered with how well-armed we are.”

“Goblins are smart enough to weigh risk and reward?” Kayden asked.

“No shit,” Ava said. “Even cats and dogs do that.”

About ten minutes after they passed the village, they saw the edge of the forest.

“Alright, grab your stuff,” Ava said.

They wore their gambesons and arming caps and grabbed their weapons. Raine slung his shield over his back with its leather strap and held his spear in one hand like a walking stick. Kayden did the same, and they waited for the rest to finish getting ready.

Cecily put on her barbute, and Edgar strapped his shield to his forearm and carried his javelins in a quiver on his back. June helped Ava put on her cuirass. Both wore arming caps and carried one-handed swords at their waists. They left their swords in their sheaths as the team continued forward.

“Don’t be too worried about getting attacked, but keep an eye out for anything unusual,” Ava said. “No matter what you see, don’t attack. At all. Just tell me about it, and I’ll deal with it. Remember, you don’t have all this equipment to actually use it. The point is for you to get used to carrying it around.”

Ava went to the front of the group. Cecily and Raine were at the back, while Kayden, June, and Edgar were in the middle.

They entered the forest.

The path was wide enough for five people to walk side by side, and any tree within three yards of it had been cut down.

Raine’s grip on his spear tightened while he looked around. Cecily and Edgar were as tense as him. Kayden looked more relaxed, but his eyes were still scanning the area constantly.

Ava glanced back at them.

“Jeez, calm down,” she said. “Keep an eye out, but quit being so nervous. You’ll just tire yourselves out. Although goblins aren’t slow, they also aren’t cockroach-fast. You’ll see them if they’re around.”

Raine nodded and took a deep breath. He quit gripping his spear like he was trying to choke it, but he stayed alert. His gaze swept the trees over and over again as they walked. Sometimes, he saw something move, making his heart miss a beat. It was just a bird or a squirrel every time.

As the minutes went by, Raine relaxed just a little. He kept his eyes open as Ava had told him to, but the knot of nervousness in his chest was loosening up.

They soon came upon a smaller path that diverged from the main one. A sign right beside it said, “I.F. 2, Molotov Path.”

“Here it is,” June said. “We’ll be clearing this path.”

“Molotov Path?” Raine said. “What kind of a name is that?”

“Are goblins going to fling Molotov cocktails at us?” Kayden asked jokingly.

“Obviously not,” Ava said. “It’s named after a famous hunter, Yasha Molotov.”

“Every path in this forest has a unique name,” June said. “It’s essential for people to know exactly where things happen. Just so you know, about a mile from here, the main path forks into the Gambler’s Path and the Arrow Path. Do not take the Gambler’s Path until you have at least a year of hunting experience.”

Forget the Gambler’s Path, even this place looks dangerous, Raine thought. The Molotov Path wasn’t as safe as the main path; that was obvious with just a glance at it. The path itself was still wide enough for four people to walk abreast, but the trees were closer to it and the surrounding part of the forest seemed less tidy. There was more undergrowth, keeping Raine and his teammates from seeing very far.

Okay, no panicking. If I see a goblin, I will calmly tell Ava about it. Very calmly.

They saw a fallen tree ahead almost as soon as they got on the Molotov Path. It only partially blocked the way. The trunk was still connected to the base, but there was so little wood keeping them together that one or two blows from an axe could probably separate them.

They approached the fallen tree and stopped a few feet from it. June reached into a bag on Myu’s saddle and pulled out two sheathed hatchets.

“All we have to do is cut off some branches, separate it from the stump, and roll it out of the way,” June said. “The rest should keep an eye out for goblins, since we’ll have to make a decent amount of noise.”

Edgar and Kayden volunteered to do the hacking. Kayden put a leather sheath on his spear tip and laid the spear on the ground. While he and Edgar chopped off the branches, the rest watched the forest.

“Pay attention to the trees,” Ava said. “Goblins don’t just roam around in the open. They sneak around and scout out their targets before attacking. Even though they almost always attack in groups, you usually see scouts in ones or twos.”

She was about to continue when she suddenly snapped her fingers, and a metal sphere appeared in front of her. It elongated into a long rod, one end of which tapered to a point. She grabbed it, took a few brisk steps forward, and flung it into the trees.

Moments later, they heard a shriek of pain. Raine spotted the goblin then. It was over sixty feet away, desperately fleeing.

Shit, I had no clue it was there.

“You aren’t going to go after it?” Edgar asked with a frown.

“It’s a waste of time,” Ava said, watching as the goblin ran. “I already let it and any other goblins around here know that we’re dangerous.”

“Won’t it come back with its friends and try to take revenge on us?” Raine asked.

“Goblins don’t do that kind of thing,” June said. “That’s more orcish behavior.”

“Well, elites can be vengeful,” Ava said. “But it’s alright. Elite goblins don’t roam around here.”

Edgar continued hacking at the fallen tree. He and Kayden were almost done cutting off the branches.

“Isn’t the wood worth something?” Raine asked.

“Yeah, but good luck carrying enough of it back to Rialis City to get more than five vurs for your trouble,” Ava said.

Once Edgar and Kayden were done cutting off the branches, they separated the trunk from the base of the tree. Then they passed the hatchets back to June. She and Raine helped them roll the log off the path.

“Where do we put it?” Kayden asked.

“Wherever. As long as it’s off the path, we’re good,” Ava said without taking her eyes off the forest.

They rolled it a few feet off the path. Then June clapped her hands, and dirt came out of the ground and started piling up to her side.

June stepped on the middle of a branch and snap it in half by pulling one end. She threw both halves into the hole she’d dug.

“The log can’t really be helped, but we shouldn’t leave the branches out in the open,” she said. “They can be a bother to hunters, and goblins can make weapons from the larger ones.”

Kayden and Edgar split the rest of the branches in half and threw them into the hole. Then June covered it up, and the team continued down the path. Whenever they came upon some leaves on the path, Ava blew them away with magic.

“This makes me feel like a walking, talking leaf blower,” Ava said. “Thank god I don’t normally do this kind of work anymore.”

“Well, what do you normally do?” Kayden asked.

“I kill shit. Mostly orcs and elite goblins. Sometimes great orcs, when I have help.”

“No dragons?” Cecily asked.

“No dragons. They wisened up a few years ago and left Rialis.”

“Where’d they go?” Edgar asked.

“What, you want to try fighting one?” Kayden asked with a grin.

Edgar frowned. “I’m just curious.”

“They went into the Blackheart Forest,” June said.

“Is it dangerous there?” Kayden asked.

“That forest can’t just be described as dangerous,” Ava said. “It’s a place of death and despair.”

They reached the second fallen tree soon, cutting short their conversation.

By now, Raine wanted to escape his armor. His gambeson was thick, so it would give him excellent protection in a fight, but that also meant it was hot and uncomfortable.

Cecily and Edgar obviously had the same thoughts. Cecily took off her barbute and arming cap and carried them in her hands. Edgar loosened the straps on the front of his gambeson.

“Quit being such wimps,” Ava said, glancing back at them over her shoulder. “The protection is worth some discomfort.”

“It’s goddamn hot,” Edgar said.

“Yeah, and what do you think it’s like for me with a cuirass over my gambeson?” Ava asked. “Get used to it.”

That’s not how you do it, Ava.

“Think about it this way,” Raine said to Edgar. “Any injuries will eat into your pay damn fast with how expensive healing is. If you can just bear the discomfort and keep the gambeson on, you’ll be helping out your wallet.”

Edgar groaned in frustration.

“Goddammit,” he said. He started fastening the straps of his gambeson again.

They reached the second fallen tree. It was smaller than the first, but Edgar still had to stop before he was done cutting off the branches. He unstrapped his gambeson again and fanned himself with one hand.

“It’s fucking hot,” he said.

He passed his hatchet to Raine, who promptly stuck it in the fallen tree so he could put a sheath on his spear’s tip and lay his weapon on the ground. Raine grabbed the hatchet and, after getting some instructions from Kayden, hacked at a branch.

They soon cut off the last of the branches and were ready to roll the log off the path.

“Hey, what’s that?” Cecily asked.

“Be more specific,” Ava said.

“I can’t see what it is.”

Raine looked back at them and saw Cecily pointing at a certain spot in the woods. He stepped closer to see what she was talking about.

“Aw shit,” Ava said. “Get the fuck down!”