A screech erupted within the forest, as it struck one of the attackers—but they remained out of sight.

Han tsked as he pulled out a rock this time and threw it into one of the people. Alas they dodged! Where was a sword when you needed one? [ Unerring Throw ] could only do so much if they were standing still, unfortunately they dodged and moved back and forth. His skill was useless if the target was a moving one that anticipated his attacks.

"They're going to run our stamina out." They needed to quickly apprehend the enemies...but they couldn't even see them while remaining camouflaged within the shrouds of the trees.

"Duck!" Timothy shouted and he quickly ducked down.

Instead of arrows flying through the air towards him, something else came from behind him. A volley of small flames erupted and shot towards the forest, catching the leaves on fire. Han whipped his head back to see Timothy standing up, small balls of fire shot off his palm.

It was no giant fireball nor some explosion technique but it managed to lick up flames of fire on the trees. He then quickly ducked down as arrows flew in the air, shaking his head. "It wasn't enough to draw them out."

"Can you do it again?" Han looked at his companion who seemed a bit pale now in color.

The young man sniffed but nodded, "I can but it's—"

"Throw it around them when I count to three." He directed his gaze around the forest, he could hear shrieking but they were quickly regrouping after the initial shock.

"What, can you at—"

"One. Two. Three."

Another series of mini-flames shot around the forest.

Creating a quick diversion, Han jumped off the crate and hurtled into the ground. He rushed towards the forest, already clasping the familiar weapon in his hand: stone. He leapt towards one of the distracted attackers and pounced on them.

The stone met a horrendous sight that was immediately identified: Goblin

With a stone smashing into its skull, Han could hear a cracking sound as the creature toppled down into the forest floor. Its entire body beneath his own as Han quickly pulled himself up.

It was too quick—it didn't even struggle as it died. A misshapen wooden bow crushed underneath it.

[ Han has gained 50 XP! ]

The notification sound was missed as a painful sensation formed on the back of his leg. He looked down and saw something dug inside his flesh. It was a dagger, a rusted one at that… and the owner?

The goblin was almost humanoid except for the sharp teeth, sharp nose and the pointed ears as it shrieked at him and savagely pounced for him. Han couldn't understand a thing it shouted but it was enough to make him throw a punch at the creature.

If it weren't for their disproportionate sizes, the knife would have pierced itself in his flesh before his fist connected with the creature's face and sent it tumbling backwards. He could feel his knuckles split open as the creature recovered and slinked back up to its feet.

How many of them were here?!

His hand held the stone in his hand as he tried not to move. He couldn't pull the dagger out by himself could he? He doubted some goblins could invest in poiso—He stepped back and felt another stab of pain in his leg, dodging the knife by a few centimeters before he crashed the stone into its face.

Another delicious crunch sounded in his ears as the creature pulled back.

Its sharp nose now crooked and deformed and also very bloody.

They shared a silent look before the creature spat out some blood and then ran away from him—looking every now and then to make sure that a stone wasn't thrown in his way.

Han stared at the retreating figure, the stone felt light in his hand and if he threw it—he had a feeling that it would hit his mark.

He didn't.

He limped out of the forest, but not before he grabbed the dead goblin's body and pulled it out of the forest. Mustering some more strength, he threw it in front of the open road. And that was where he'd noticed that some other bodies lay lifeless on the ground. Small goblin humanoids with small sickles sticking out of their bodies.

Old Man Joe Light was still flat on his seat, but there was no doubt that the attacks were from him.

And Timothy?

He was out of the cart, a plank of burning wood in his hand as he swept it back forth against the remainder of goblins as some fiery deterrent. "If you don't want your forest engulfed in flames—fall back!!"

There were still a decent number of goblins, but they seem to have gone wary as their brethren had been felled down already. Han could even see the one with the bloodied nose. They shrieked at Timothy and he fell back one step but then mustered up another bravado and formed another small ball of fire in his hands. "If you do not want to be burned into ashes, stand down!"

Once again, Han's gaze connected with the goblin he encountered.

It nudged at his companions and spoke in gibberish, with a final shriek in his direction; the goblins retreated back into the forest.

"Don't think of coming back!" Timothy yelled out as he threw the plank of wood into the ground—before he quickly picked it up again, not wanting to lose his single edge against their enemies no doubt. He looked back and jumped back in shock before a smirk formed on his face. "You should have seen what I did! You look tattered though, are you alright?"

Han tried not to squint at the sight, the man seemed kind of woozy now that he thought of it. The edges around him were blurry and kind of dimming which was funny. The last thing he saw was another notification screen.

[ Congratulations! You Have Reclaimed [ Human ] Territory from [ Goblin ] Clutches! ]

The world turned dark after that.