Feeling sweat trickling down his back, Tobi glanced back to the farms disappearing in the distance. One of those farms would be Daiyan’s, but he didn’t exactly have the time to make a detour and even if he did, he wasn’t sure which farm it was to begin with.

“How are you holding up?” The mage asked, noting Tobi’s laboured breath and increased perspiration.

“I’m OK. I didn’t think it would be this far.”

“We’re only half way. Are you sure you will make it?”

“I’ll be fine.” Tobi laughed without humor, looking at his stat window and confirming that his energy was still over 50. He still had the minor energy potion too, so he could still drink that if his energy dropped too low. The real worrying part was how fast his energy was dropping. He wasn’t sure of the distance between each drop, but he could practically count it by the seconds. While walking through the city, his energy drop wasn’t that noticeable. Marching through the countryside was, by comparison, much worse. It seemed that the further he walked without stopping, the faster his energy dropped.

“It’s a problem all squishies face.” The mage smiled helplessly.

“Squishies?”

“It’s what the Travellers call people that wear light armour or robes. We die easily, they say, so...Squishy.”

“And all squishies have a problem with what? Walking?”

The mage chuckled, shaking his head slightly and looking toward the sky, “We have a problem with stamina. Unlike the Warrior’s—and a few others—we don’t have the benefit of Strength or Endurance. I have enough agility to match half the warrior’s here, but if I were to run for my life, I wouldn’t make it back to the farms, let alone the city. The Warrior’s on the other hand could run back to the city, do a lap around it, and still have energy to spare.”

Knowing already that classes such as Knights, Paladin’s, Mercenaries, Bounty Hunters and various others all belonged to the Warrior classification, Tobi didn’t think too much about the unspecified ‘others’. Instead, Tobi wondered how far he could run himself before his own energy ran out. Considering it was so draining just to walk, he doubted he could get very far. That being said, Merchant's do have Endurance. Mages don't, but Merchants do. Would he still have bad Stamina like the other 'easily killable' squishies? 'And what does he mean by his agility...?'

“Does agility let you run faster?” Tobi asked, guessing the answer before the question even occurred to him.

“Kind of…” The Mage hummed thoughtfully, “Reflexes and motor functions are faster, so you can move your legs faster and therefore run faster. To truly gain speed though, you also need Strength to push your legs harder. Still, we all have our own advantages too. If I were being chased by a Warrior for example; I would turn the ground into a swamp. I’d raise stone walls to act as barriers. I’d rain missiles from the sky that he would have to defend against. I could walk ten feet in the time it takes him to run five.”

“And so the Mage beats the Warrior.” Tobi said thoughtfully, remembering the Triangle of Power described by the fairy during the tutorial.

“It’s only that simple in theory.” The tall healer grunted in dissatisfaction, turning to the Healer girl by his side as he continued, “Tell me, Selene, what would you do if you were being chased by a Warrior?”

The girl in the brown robe that cut off above the knee contemplated the question in silence. It seemed like quite a while passed before she formed an answer she accepted, “I guess it depends on the circumstances. If I were out in the wilds, I would cast Holy Shield on myself and run away. I’d attract the attention of any beasts in the area that I could and then cast Absolute Peace. The aggro would then turn away from me to the next nearest target. While the Warrior fought the beasts, I would attempt to get away.”

“Callum,” the Priest called to a warrior ahead, “What would you do against Selene’s plan?”

The warrior chuckled and shook his head, “Depends on the beasts she threw into my path. Chances are that I would run in a different direction and lose their aggro. I’d then circle around to cut her off. Her stamina has a limit, so I only have to get back on her trail and I would eventually catch up to her.”

“And what would you do against the Sylar’s plan?” The priest asked, indicating toward the Earth Mage.

“Swamps and Stone Walls? The swamp spell has an area of effect limit. I’d throw my shield into the center and use it as a stepping stone. I’d use the walls he conjures to shield against his missiles while using Shield Break to smash through them. I’d undoubtedly take damage, but as long as I can get close, I can interrupt his spells and finish the fight quickly. It all depends on how long he can keep me away.”

The Priest nodded happily at the answers and turned back to the dark-haired girl by his side, “Your plan of escape was not bad, but you would have only delayed him. You acted as the prey and got caught. You must think like the hunter to defeat him. You don’t try to escape, you outsmart him and leave at leisure.”

“So how would you ‘leave at leisure’ if Callum was after you?” Sylar asked the priest, seeming affronted by the fact that both the Warrior and the Healer were satisfied that his defenses would be breached so easily.

“We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. I would not try to leave at all.” The healer said, smiling with self-assurance and staring at the warrior ahead. Callum only smiled back and gave a small dip of his head.

“Magnus is not your usual class of Priest.” Callum said, answering the question on everyone’s mind, “He belongs to the Unholy Order and can fight rather well. Any warrior that sees him would assume he is a normal Priest and let down their guard. Magnus would then cast the curses Spite, Doom and Penance. Using his rather unique staff, the unsuspecting warrior would be in a world of trouble.”

“All of that is just for those of similar levels though, right?” Tobi asked, rejoining the conversation.

“Quite.” Magnus agreed seriously, “Tell me, young Merchant, how would you get away from Callum here?”

Tobi shrugged, “I’d probably get as far as turning around before he chopped me in two.”

Callum laughed at that, as did several others. The only ones who didn’t laugh were the two Healers and the Earth Mage.

“I heard that Merchants have their own way of handling danger. What is the motto again; Money is the Answer, the Answer is Money.?”

Facing the Priest with a ‘who cares’ smile on his face, Tobi spread turned his palms upward and answered, “But I don’t have any money.”

Taking Tobi’s answer seriously, the Priest gave a single nod of his head and turned back to the girl at his side, “Remind me when we get back to teach you about Torren the Fallen. His domain is now known as Hartleypool, but before that, he was the God of Wealth. While he has fallen, his followers are still able to use his blessings. Hearing his story, maybe you will finally understand why you must choose only one God to follow.”

The girl bowed her head and kept it there, her eyes and face out of sight behind her hood. Tobi didn’t know how the Healer class worked but he was definitely curious. If he’d chosen to be a Healer himself, would he too have to choose one of the Aevitas Gods to follow? Did even a Unholy Priest like Magnus follow one of the Gods?

While Tobi was busy mulling over his own thoughts, the company of soldiers and their reinforcements subtly changed formation. Tobi only moved with the flow of bodies and didn’t even notice the shift until after they all stopped moving. In just a few seconds, the columns of people had formed a rectangular formation from left to right and came to attention.

Directly across the field at the base of a small mountain was another large formation. Well, more like a large mass than a formation, but it did resemble some sort of order and ranking system. The front lines were made up of scattered pawns in groups of 8 to 12. Bunched together as they were, they massed an easy two-hundred and were almost entirely facing the approaching company of soldiers.

Behind the front mass of green bodies was a slightly more ordered mass of green. Like the people surrounding Tobi, they formed square groups and held a relatively tight formation. The creatures in that group, though hard to see, were varying shades of browns and greens with some very obvious differences from the Goblins in front. Even without the horns as an obvious difference between them; there was also the fact that they wore various types of armor and held a better standard of weapons.

“That’s a lot more Hobgoblins than we were told to expect.” A soldier ahead of Tobi muttered to Callum, at his side.

“Meh. Just means the healers will get some action as well. Rayne, can you see how good their equipment is?”

“Hard to tell,” an archer that was part of their group answered, “looks like its weapons and armour they looted from other battles. Most of what I can see is either worn, broken or rusted.”

“Is that a Goblin King?” The archer on the opposite side of the group’s formation asked, sounding confused and doubtful.

“No.” Rayne answered confidently, “Just a Hobgoblin posing. It’s still odd though; why are so many Hobgoblins gathered in one army without a King?”

Seeing that all the Archers within view were giving reports of their own to their group leaders, Tobi turned his attention to the mass of green opposite and shielded his eyes from the sun. He couldn’t make out anything too well, and certainly not a would-be King or leader among them all. At best, he could only guess at their numbers and nothing more. Around two-hundred of the smaller ones without horns, and maybe sixty of the bigger ones behind.

Continue to scan the mass of green from left to right and back again, Tobi spotted a movement in the shadow of the mountain on the right—or the opposing army’s left, depending on one’s perspective.

Keeping his eyes focused on the shadow of the mountain, Tobi slowly raised his hand and pointed a finger, “What are those?”

All eyes rushed to follow the direction of Tobi’s aimed finger. No matter how much anyone looked though, none were able to see what he was talking about.

“I don’t see anything,” Rayne admitted, directing his comment at Callum who’d been looking in his direction.

“Me neither,” The other Archer added, turning his attention to Tobi, “Can you still see it?”

“Them.” Tobi corrected, “I still see them. I’m not sure how many. They are kind of blurry. It looks like an animal of some kind with people riding it.”

The Archer turned to look again before facing Callum and shrugging. Callum fell into silence for what felt like a very long time. It was only seconds in reality, but as all were waiting on his command, it seemed to take forever before he made his decision.

“Are there any Scouts with us?” Callum finally asked, his question directed at Rayne.

“I didn’t see any, but if you want a Flare, you better let the commander know before he decides on how to attack.”

“Do it.”

Rayne fled through the Army toward the center faster than Tobi could react to his movement. One moment the archer was there, and then next he was gone.

“Are you sure there are riders in the shadow of the mountain?” Callum asked Tobi, his voice stern as well as serious.

“I am sure I can see something…” Tobi answered uselessly.

Rayne returned as silently and effortlessly as he disappeared, appearing almost exactly where he’d been previously, “The Commander said not to send anyone to check. If there really are Gorg in the shadow of the mountain, it’s better not to let them know that they’ve been spotted. As long as they think they’re hidden, they will wait for a chance to strike. We can use that to our advantage. That’s what he said.”

“So we have to fight a horde of goblins and hobgoblins without committing our right flank to battle?” Callum cursed. Just as he opened his mouth to speak again, a horn sounded from the center of the army. Two more horns sounded from the sides, followed by horns blasting from the other side of the field. It seemed the first battle was who could sound their horns the loudest. Sadly, the goblins won that battle hands down.

Following the sounds of horns, the entire army moved forward in unison; the Warrior’s at the front readying their shields and weapons while those behind ready themselves as well. Whether Archer, Mage or Healer—all looked ready to face the Goblins ahead. Only Tobi appeared to be a bystander among the many.

“What do I do?” Tobi asked, suddenly unsure of himself.

“Stay in formation and pick up all the loot that you can.” Magnus answered sternly, “Isn’t it in the contract you made before joining the army?”

“I didn’t make a contract. I wasn’t even supposed to join in.”

“Well, too late now, we’ll just have to trust you. Give all the loot to Callum after the battle and he will make sure we all get our cut.”

Tobi gave readily gave his agreement, his body automatically moving to the space left open for him to occupy.

After the army moved forward twenty paces, the Warrior’s in front let out a unified yell and planted their shields solidly in front.

“Archers!”

The command for archers were echoed repeatedly down the line. A large flag rose up on either side of the army with a bow and arrow symbol.

“Volley Shot!” A second command shouted, immediately followed by multiple twangs of bowstring. More than twenty arrows rose into the air before multiplying in mid flight. Twenty quickly became a hundred as each arrow split into five. All hundred arrows seemed to float on the air in slow motion before turning down at gravity’s will and falling like rain.

Tobi couldn’t guess how many Goblins were hit by the volley of arrows but only a small portion fell to the ground. Even of those that fell, at least half rose up again and rejoined the charge.

“Mages!”

Twenty spells lit-up the air above the army before flying through the sky. Colours of all kinds rushed forward to meet the enemy. Blue globes of water elongated into spear-like shapes before icing over and piercing into whatever blocked their path. Balls of raging fires exploded on impact, knocking Goblins off their feet and causing horrible screams among their ranks. Earthen rocks fell from the sky like meteors, crushing whatever they landed on.

Almost a quarter of the charging Goblins fell to the Mage attacks, and yet still half rose back up to continue on. Tobi only stared in wonder at how anything could have survived what he just witnessed.

Several commands rang out at once. Archers and Mages cast various abilities and spells, punching deep into the Goblin ranks. The Goblins had crossed two-thirds of the distance and as far as Tobi could tell, not a single one had been killed.

Ten bright lights rose from within the army, spreading rapidly to encompass the army and cover them in a dim barrier. Tobi instantly felt a lot better. He suddenly felt invigorated and confident, with the strength of ten men and the confidence to crush any enemy.

You have received the blessing ‘Stout Heart’ by Acolyte Selene

+10 Mind for 5 minutes and a 1 minute imperviousness to Fear and Stun effects.

Warning!

It is not recommended to use notifications during battle.

Quickly closing both windows, Tobi tried to remember if there were any commands to turn off the notifications and failed, “Turn off Notifications.”

Not sure if it worked, Tobi waited to see if anymore notifications appeared. As nothing seemed to have happened one way or the other, Tobi hoped for the best and continued watching the battle. In the few brief seconds of looking and getting rid of his notifications, the Goblins had finished closed the gap.

“Hold the line!” Callum shouted, echoing a command that came from somewhere else in the army. The loud bang that followed as Goblins crashed into shield defense set Tobi’s ears to ringing. Screams and Warcries called out on all sides, filling Tobi with fighting spirit and the wish to see blood pouring out of his enemies. It took everything he had not to rush passed Callum and dig his fingers into the eyes of whichever Goblin he met first.

A gentle hand touched Tobi’s shoulder briefly, his mind and heart calming down rapidly as warmth spread from the pit of his stomach and filled him up from the inside.

“Thanks,” Tobi panted to the girl at his side. The Priest Magnus seemed to have disappeared. The girl barely acknowledged Tobi as a staff in her hand lit up and illuminated the Warrior’s up front. Tobi in turn saw how small wounds healed at visible speeds—blood drying up instantly and evaporating into nothing.

Right after the light illuminated the men in front, one Goblin after another began to fall without getting up again, only to be replaced by another Goblin a moment later. Copper coins and various junk began littering the floor where the dead bodies lay.

“Push!” Callum shouted, almost at the same time as other leaders along the line. The entire front line attempted to push forward as one; only half of the army managing to gain any ground.

Staying in step within the formation, Tobi stepped forward too; quickly bending down to pick up everything within reach. He didn’t bother trying to move the bodies to find whatever else they may be hiding. Although he knew he was probably missing out on a good portion of loot, he didn’t dare get in the way of the people around him or mess around for too long.

The command to push came again as more Goblins fell to their wounds. Spells continued to crash ahead of the army as Mages picked out their targets. Archers continued to fire between whatever gaps they could find, occasionally firing a volley of arrows to cause a wider range of damage. Stone walls rose from nowhere, filling gaps that opened in the defences and funnelling even more Goblins to their deaths.

“Push!”

Tobi continued picking up all the loot he could see. He barely had time to see what was happening anymore. His mind didn’t seem to be working properly either, as it wasn’t the blood from the Goblins on his hands that was bothering him, but the curious wonder of how the warriors could continue fighting so easily while stepping on and over dead bodies. Didn’t they worry about tripping or slipping?

Finding various ways to hold his backpack in order to quicken his progress, Tobi finally settled with putting the pack on backward. With the pack at his chest and his arms free, he found it much easier to quickly deposit everything that entered his grasp. He didn’t even know what he was depositing anymore as he just threw everything into it. The only exception was the coins, which he managed to constantly slip into his satchel. Not only was it easier to deposit the coins into his satchel, it also kept it separated from his own money in his pouch so he could hand it all over to Callum later.

Suddenly finding that there was no more loot to grab, Tobi took the chance to look up and see what was happening. He must have looted and stepped over twenty bodies as they moved forward, yet now there was only noise. If the same was happening all along the lines, then the 200 Goblins must surely be dead, right?

Just as Tobi guessed, most of the Goblins were dead. Many were running back to the horde across the field, only the field wasn’t nearly as big as it used to be. In fact, it seemed that the two armies were now very close to each other.

His head swivelling to the side, Tobi looked toward the shadow of the mountain. The shadow that was so close that it practically touched the right side of the army.

“We’re too close.” Tobi mumbled to himself, before repeating his words louder. Nobody seemed to hear him so he tried again, this time deliberately calling out to Callum, “We’re too close to the mountain! Those riders—I can see them!”

Callum’s head spun toward the shadow before quickly glancing at Tobi and off again toward the center of the army, “We’ve gone too far forward. Rayne!”

Rayne quickly fired a volley of arrows toward the shadow of the mountain. The arrow only split into five, but the area they spread was rather large. Each arrow hit a space more than five feet from the next nearest arrow.

None of Rayne’s arrows managed to hit anything but the arrow still served its purpose. It reminded the army of the danger. The right flank changed formation, quickly forming a new line of defense.

Magnus suddenly appeared among the men on the right side of the army holding his staff in the air. He seemed to be shouting something but Tobi couldn’t make out the words. The clouds overhead churned slowly and a bright beam of sunlight burst through and lit up the area. The flash was only brief but it broke the stealth of seven Hobgoblins on what appeared to be wolf-like creatures.

“Gorg Riders!”

The warning repeated itself several times. The riders themselves only reacted a second later, charging straight toward the defensive line that tried to prepare for their attack. Tobi could see a lot more than just seven though, and pretty soon, so could everyone else. Forty riders broke from the shadows, crashing into the defensive line like charging bulls. Warrior’s fell under the shear strength of the charge leaving the men and women behind open to attacks. Swords and Clubs hacked, bashed and slashed everywhere as the Gorg themselves bit at throats and any flesh they could find.

Two Healers and a Mage quickly fell to the onslaught, items and loot dropping at their dead bodies. A warrior repeatedly trampled, stabbed and bashed died a moment later, his chestplate disappearing from his body and reappearing at his side.

The Gorg Riders didn’t stay to fight it out where they made their opening. They charged straight through and circled around. They split into two groups of ten as they spread behind the back line, ready to charge back in.

Warcry’s rang out from in front as the Hobgoblins began a slow run toward the army. The slow run quickly increased in speed as weapons were raised and excited shouts filled the air. The Goblins still alive quickly turned around, returning to the fight they just fled from.

“Circle!”

The formation of humans reacted as best they could, quickly adjusting their line to form a defensive circle. The Gorg Riders continuously harassed the outer edges, trying to prevent the circle being completed. One group of people at the outer edge got separated from the army, quickly circled and slaughtered by the Gorg Riders.

Taking down 200 Goblins had seemed relatively easily to Tobi and no losses were made. It took less than two minutes for the situation to reverse and almost forty of their own to fall. A single mistake and now they were facing death. Tobi knew that he couldn’t get out of it either but he wasn’t really bothered by his own death. NPC’s had only one life. Tobi knew this from Niamh who once cried when an NPC she knew had died. He didn’t think he’d be bothered about an NPC dying, but now he wasn’t so sure.

The image of the Earth Mage Sylar lying with cold, dead eyes entered Tobi’s mind. He was lying a few feet from a broken wall that he’d tried to use as a last line of defense. Callum was dead too, lying with a sword in his chest after trying to protect the Acolyte girl, Selene.

Just as the image of Selene’s dead face began to form in his mind, Tobi felt a familiar warmth wash over him and his mind calmed down. He looked toward Selene thankfully and suddenly felt ashamed. He came to this battle knowing that it didn’t matter if he died. Not once had he considered the danger faced by everyone else in the army.

‘Where were all the players? Why didn’t they come to kill the Goblins?’ Tobi cursed, only thinking about it now that he actually didn’t want to see the NPC’s die.

A loud boom vibrated the air as Goblins, Hobgoblins and Gorg Riders crashed into the army. Screams and shouts filled the air as Warcries and Encouragement bolstered courage, stats and whatever else they did. Various colours of lights from spells and abilities filled the air. Tobi watched with resignation as there was nothing he could do about any of it except stand and watch.

“Merchants!”

Hearing the commanders shout, Tobi turned to look in his direction. He didn’t know what kind of miracle the commander was expecting, but he doubted he wanted the Merchants to buy their way out of this mess.

While Tobi remained confused, the various Mercenaries suddenly looked very excited. Twelve beams of Golden light flew into the air, quickly forming a golden globe as dozens of Gold Coins flew into it. The Golden Globes quickly transformed into an enormous Gold Coins before shattering into thousands of pieces. The pieces rained down on the Mercenaries and stuck to them like glitter on glue.

The Mercenaries laughed with wild glee, their eyes bloodshot and their smiles unending. They rushed out from the protective circle like mad dogs, crashing into the Hobgoblins and Gorg Riders and slashing with complete abandon. The Hobgoblins fought back as best they could but to no effect. Any attack that landed seemed to do no damage at all. It didn’t even knock the Mercenaries off balance.

“What’s going on?” Tobi mumbled to Sylar who was panting heavily while his hand fished in a satchel at his waist.

“You don’t recognize the spell they used? What level Merchant are you anyway?”

“One.” Tobi answered straight-faced. Sylar stared at him for a full second before his jaw flopped open.

“Even if you’re level one, you should still recognize a spell that belongs to your class. That spell is Sacrifice. For one minute your hired guard will be unable to die. The penalty is really harsh though.”

“Penalty?”

Sylar nodded his head solemnly, “For the Merchant it costs 20% of their Fortune and an equal amount of Gold. The minimum price is 20 Gold. But for the guard… Well, if any of them are alive after the minute ends, we could count that as a miracle.”

Understanding what Sylar meant when he used the words ‘unable to die’ instead of invincible, Tobi looked toward the Mercenaries. As soon as they knew what was going to happen, they’d practically cheered. Were they so happy to gain a minute of invincibility? Even now, they fought like men possessed without a shred of fear.

“Healers!”

Twenty heals quickly fell on the twelve Mercenaries. At the same time, all twelve Mercenaries rushed back into the defenses of the army. The Mercenaries didn’t turn back toward the Hobgoblins though, they quickly pulled out potions and drank them while their Merchants were applying bandages or using other methods to heal them.

The minute ended and all twelve Mercenaries lost all colour to their faces. Several collapsed to the floor while two others coughed up blood. One only dropped to a knee before shakily standing back up again. Countless methods to save their lives were used, constantly battling the accumulated damage they received while they couldn’t die. After another ten seconds passed and the fighting returned to full chaos, the Mercenaries finally stabilized. In the end, only one of them failed to survive.

A cheer sounding out among the warriors, Tobi turned toward the commanders group. The cheer spread quickly as the Gorg Riders turned their attention in another direction and half the Hobgoblins turned in the opposite direction.

“What’s going on?” Tobi asked, directing the question to Rayne—as the archer seemed to have the best vision among them all.

“It’s the Miners!” Rayne said, almost laughing as he did, “Lots of them!”

“Not just Miners either,” Magnus said, appearing from nowhere and breathing twice as hard as anybody else there, “The mines had all sorts of people inside. Mercenaries, Warriors, Blacksmiths… They also had their own guard stationed there. It was probably the Guard who convinced the Miners to come out and help.”

Another cheer rose from the Army as attention was directed back toward the city. The cheer redoubled as a man dressed completely in black appeared beside several Gorg Riders. His body bent low and flashed forward at unbelievable speed. Dark crimson lines were left in his wake. All seven Gorg Riders and their mounts fell to their deaths, loot and gear dropping around them. The man in black burst forward again, a long black line trailing behind in a zigzag pattern. The man rose into the air and seemed to hover there for a second. In the next moment, he was on the other side of the Riders with five more lying dead at his back.

A low rumble shook the ground from in the distance, quickly followed by another and then another. The low rumbles became louder and faster as all eyes turned toward the west. Tobi couldn’t see what was coming at first but the tip of a tree quickly came into view. The tree soon came into full view and no longer looked like a tree at all. It’s huge right leg lift into the air and stomped down, cracking the floor and causing a dozens to fall over—Hobgoblins and Humans alike. The giant tree-ent didn’t stop there either, stomping down with its left leg and crushing three Hobgoblins at once.

The Tree-ent roared and slammed both fists onto as many Hobgoblins as it could reach. Not a single Hobgoblin that was hit survived a single hit. Even a glancing blow sent loot scattering along the ground, proving the target dead.

The remaining Hobgoblins and Gorg Riders tried to flee without hesitation. The tide had turned so quickly that Tobi couldn’t begin to comprehend what was happening. Men and Women from the original army gave chase as the Miners and everyone else from the mines blocked as many escape routes as they could. The large Tree roared again and looked around the area. A moment later, it began to shrink in size. In almost no time at all, the large tree was a regular man, brushing dust, dirt and leaves from his clothes.

While Tobi stared at the man that used to be a tree, he couldn’t help but think he resembled someone he knew.

“Tobi! Are you here?” The man shouted, looking at every face he passed while moving in Tobi’s general direction, “Tobi!”

Another call for Tobi came from the opposite direction. The man in black that easily disposed of the Gorg Riders was shouting his name as well, heading toward the man that used to be a tree as he did.

“Are they looking for you?” Sylar asked, looking somewhat worried while staring in the direction of the man in black.

“I’m not sure,” Tobi admitted, “but if they are, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. They wouldn’t save us from the Goblins just to kill me themselves.”

“Oh. Yeah. Haha. That’s true.”

“Tobi?”

Before Tobi could answer, the former tree hugged him so tight that Tobi felt as though his ribs would crack.

“Bloody idiot.” The man half sobbed into his shoulder. It was only then that Tobi realized who the man was.

“...Dad?”