AN:

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4 hours had gone by since nightfall, and Marc was still vigilant on the roof, his senses sharps, his head mobile to take in all the surroundings. If not for his improved physical abilities, he would already be very tired mentally from this constant state of caution. There wasn't anythin noteworthy until that moment. He felt a change in the overall atmosphere.

'… Silence... Things are too silent, the forest has never been completely silent...'

Marc jerked his head toward one side. He didn't see, smell or hear anything there. But there was something, or rather, many things. How he knew? He didn't understand at first. As he focused his attention there, he recognised what spooked him. There were slight fluctuations of mana there. Whatever was there perturbed the mana in its immediate surroundings. It was a very negligible, but more than enough to know that something had entered the slowly revolving vortex of mana that covered his home.

“... I can't see you” whispered Marc. “But I know you're there” he added as he silently got into a shooting position. “Come out, come out, wherever you are...”

The things that entered his property were definitly cautious in their advance toward the house. From what Marc could tell, there were 28 intruders, and they were deployed in an arc. It made him sweat because it was a clear sign of tactical intelligence. What was even more worrying is that he felt another wave of disturbances opposite to the position the first intruders were coming from.

“I was wondering why you came from a single direction instead of surrounding me from the start...” he told himself in a low voice tinged with irritation. “It turns out that the true attack would be initiated by a second group from the other side. The first group is just a decoy...”

'Maybe there is even a third group, who knows... I hope I won't have to use too much magic or I'll be done if there is another intrusion soon after' He though with a bit of bitterness in his heart.

Once the first group of intruders reached the 150m boundary, Marc was finally able to make out their shapes. His heart almost skipped a beat and his guts started to hurt when he saw them. They were definitly humanoid. And he was pointing a gun at them. His hands started to shake a little as he was confused.

But before he could do anything else, the intruders had advanced another 20m. More of their features could be noticed, and Marc's panic receeded as swiftly as it had started, replaced by confusion, surprise, recognition, and then confusion again.

'… Too shorts, ears are to big and pointy, the eyes that started to reflect the light are too big, and they are all yellow... Some kind of goblins? Why would such weaklings be in the area where a dragon lived? I guess I can deal wi-... Hmm?'

3 of the shapes at the back of the group were differents. 2 of them had features similar to the other weaklings, but they were taller. From what Marc could tell, as tall as a human. The last one was even bigger, more muscular, with more fat on the body. While all the other intruders seemed to have some kind of short sword or dagger in their hands, the big one had some kind of staff. As Marc concentrated on him, he realised that there were a lot more mana particles around him than the others.

'… Hobgoblins, and an orc mage? … An alliance between goblins and orcs? Or is it normal for them to act together in this world?' “… Wait, I dont have time for that!! Those barbarians are going to plunder my house!”

BANG!! BANG!!

The silence of the night was broken by 2 consecutive detonations. Rifles usually have an effective range of more than 300m. Marc had regulary used his MAS-49. For him, hitting a target at less than 200m wasn't hard. Especially a target moving so slowly it could be considered static. And with his improved physical ability, he had better control over his movement, better senses and better overall coordination.

The first bullet went through the skull of one hobgoblin. It made a small hole when it entered, but left a bigger one when it exited the head, accompanied with red pieces of brain and bones. The creatures were so surprised by the sudden noise they didn't notice the death of the first hobgoblins. But when they did, the second one received the bullet in his mouth, and it exited at the back of his neck, breaking the spine at the same time.

There was no third shot. After the second, Marc had leaped of the roof. While the creatures were looking at the dead hobgoblins, Marc landed on the ground. The first sign of his appearance was the shadow his body casted as it passed in front of the light. That was all the orc needed to recover his battle readiness. He had been surprised because he didn't understand how the other 2 died, but now that the enemy had appeared he had recovered.

'Come on, show me what you can do' though Marc as he rushed toward the goblins with his machete.

The reason why Marc didn't shoot the orc was because he was a mage. And Marc was someone who could see mana. By seeing someone use magic, he would better understand how it worked in this world. The goblins were small fries for him so he didn't hesitate to get close to them, not only to preserve his amnutions, but also to be closer to the orc when he would start to use magic.

As he rushed toward the goblins, he alwayskept an eye on the orc. He lightly infused his machete with mana to make it more durable. The goblins were wearing leather armor after all, and some had shields on their backs that they equipped. The blade of his machete would be too damaged without the reinforcement.

There were 25 goblins, and Marc was looking forward to killing them. He was shocked when he though he was about to kill humans, but when it came to monsters, even those with intelligence, he didn't mind at all. When he killed the 2 hobgoblins, he was very satisfied. Almost happy. He had enjoyed seeing their heads break under the power of the bullets, and now he was itching to cut them down.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!”

Marc closed the 90m between him and the goblins in 5 seconds, and laughed as he slashed the throat of the first goblin. They weren't more than 150cm tall at best, skinny yet athletic, but still very weak compared to himself. When he clashed with the short sword of the second goblin, he realised the difference in power.

The goblin was blown toward one of his comrades, his short sword broken along with his arm, and a deep bloody gash on his leather armor. Marc swore he saw the guts of the creature within the wound, and was unconsciously displeased they didn't spill. He didn't realise it, but he wanted to kill all of them in a gruesome way, he wanted to slaughter them. His heart was beating fast due to the blood lust and excitation.

A goblin got beheaded, and the head was kicked toward the face of another one. He ducked under the blow of a goblin and grabbed his ankle. Using hissuperior strenght, he lifted the body and used it to beat up his nearby comrades. There were sounds of bones breaking, leather armors being cut, shields being smashed, metal weapons breaking, blood splashing on the ground. The goblins were screaming in either pain, terror, or both.

The orc had been trying to coordinate the attack, but Marc was too fast for him. The death of the 2 hobgoblins had been a severe blow to the group. Within 10 seconds from the start of the battle, 7 oblins were killed and 7 more were seriously wounded. At the rate things were going, they would be anihilated within 30 seconds. He started to cast magic, and targeted the injured goblins.

'Finally, you've made me wait! … Hmm? … Support magic, no... Healing? This is interesting... Hmm, the surrounding mana is reacting? It looks like the power of the spell got boosted by the ambiant mana. It looks like my house really is a power spot.'

Marc could feel the movements and transformation of the mana within the orc. It was so clear he could almost see it. He observed the flow of his mana, going to the staff in his hand and shooting toward the group of wounded goblins. It expanded into a small area where the goblins were, then equaly entered each of their bodies. He observed how the mana interacted with their bodies to heal them. He could feel the magic at work on the bones, flesh and skin.

Marc had slowed down his killing spree for the duration of the spell, then he infused mana into his body and increased his speed to get rid of that group. He had realised that the other group had come close to around 200m of his house, they were in higher numbers, and there were several mages with them.

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AN: I feel like I still have trouble with writting battles