Denz's plan was simple.

"This is a house robbery! Hand over my sword or we'll burn this place TO THE GROUND!" Denz yelled.

We barged in through the front door of a cave hideout. There was but one surprised mole goblin. His leg was bandaged.

How did we find it? Emilia had expertly planted a magic marker on the mole goblin in their initial encounter. From there, clairvoyance led the way.

The three of us wore masks as we charged in. Emilia was heavily against the idea, but Denz convinced her somehow.

It took but an hour of convincing. Lightwork for Denz, the powerful persuader.

I mean the powerful swordsman.

The mole goblin flinched. Then it stared at us with cruel eyes that twinkled a midnight black.

Denz ripped of his mask. "It is I, Denz, the powerful swordsman! I'm back, you fool!"

The mole goblin frowned.

Emilia shook her head in disdain and removed her face covering. I followed suit.

The mole goblin crouched and made a hasty retreat underground.

It tried to.

"...Telekinesis!" Emilia chanted.

The mole goblin floated up out of its hole before it could escape.

However, it could still move in the air. It scrambled about, flailing, scratching, and rolling in place.

Denz followed up with a punch, his hand glowing beneath the glove he wore.

The punch landed,

square in the face.

The mole goblin launched backward.

"Haha! Take that! Oi, Emilia! Battle tendency is such a sick enchantment!" Denz yelled victoriously.

"Aren't you glad now that we bought magic books instead of fried frog skewers and alcohol?" Emilia replied.

"Yeah, this is some crazy stuff. Love you bunches, Emilia!"

"Wha-!"

The mole goblin bounced back.

It jumped from wall to wall of the sunlit cave entrance.

Then, it dug into the wall itself.

"Gah-! Watch out, party!" Denz called out. He moved back to defend Emilia and I.

We looked around, covering eachother's 'six'.

This was my first team combat opportunity.

Moving fluidly with others, coordinating attacks with verbal and nonverbal cues...

Huh...

From the center of our watch-triangle, behind our cover, the mole goblin sprouted up.

"Geh!"

"Ah!"

Denz and Emilia reacted first.

The mole goblin won the jump on us.

It could attack either Denz or Emilia square in the face. It was at eye level for both of us.

It ignored me, the shorter and evidently weaker one.

I snapped my fingers. With cold eyes, I commanded a rock spire to shoot from the ground.

Yes, the same ground in the same exact spot from where the mole goblin surprised up from.

In a mere moment, the thin brown icicle skewered the mole goblin in the stomach.

The spire pierced right through it.

"UruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUU!"

I wasn't finished.

We coudn't let it die, or escape.

I reached my hand forward, scooping up clean air.

In my hands, fit like a puzzle piece, was the mole goblin's leg.

It struggled to escape, covering its wound with its hand.

From this position, it looked less like a monster and more like a poor, dying animal.

I frowned.

My other hand clenched into a fist.

However, I didn't punch it.

"Elias! What the heck! That was amazing!" Denz yelled.

"I've never seen a rock spire so sharp and so accurate. And in such a short amount of time? What..."

Emilia stopped.

"Wait a moment, wait a moment. Hold that thought. We have business to take care of first."

With those words, Denz waltzed up to the mole goblin. He bent over and looked at it square in the eyes.

The mole goblin was too preoccupied with its own pain to mind Denz.

Denz grinned from ear to ear. "Oh my, oh my, what is this? A poor mole goblin, helpless within the clutches of the very human adventurers that it so foolishly shamed? Feeling regretful now? How could you not? Not when you're dancing on the brink of death!" He mocked.

He laughed maniacally, despite not wearing a lab coat. "I almost feel sorry for you. Almost."

The mole goblin growled, before succumbing to a whimper-groan.

"I only somewhat feel sorry for you!" Denz said.

The mole goblin couldn't help but heave deep breaths.

"Okay, I kinda feel sorry for you. I will save the exposition for later and cut to the chase. Emilia!"

Emilia readied her staff. "What is it?" she said.

"Heal the helpless thing."

"... Excuse me? What?"

"I said heal the mole goblin. Do you not understand Engarian?"

"I heard you loud and clear. But... why? What are you thinking? Healing a monster? Are you out of your mind?"

Denz wagged his finger presumptuously. "Emilia, Emilia. My mind has been lost ever since I chose the route of the adventurer. Heal the monster. We can't find my sword if we don't do so." He scanned the inside of the cave. "At the very least, it's definitely not in this dump. Hurry. It's bleeding out."

Emilia frowned. She hesitated, then lifted her staff, chanting a few phrases under her breath. The goblin glowed with an evanescent light.

Its wound was gone.

"Oh. I'm surprised that worked. I didn't think light magic worked on monsters. I thought maybe it would burn up or something," Denz remarked casually.

"You gambled on that chance?" Emilia asked bewildered.

"Yep. And it worked! Remind me to hit the town casino when we get back."

"That is not happening."

Emilia glared at a laughing Denz.

"Anyway, how do you feel, little guy?" Denz asked, smiling a smile and grinning a grin from eye to eye and ear to ear.

The mole goblin was silent. It couldn't move, even if it wanted to.

My hand constricted it so.

Very specifically.

One wrong move and the leg's twisted and gone.

Denz stood tall and crossed his arms. "There's no playing dumb here. I know you can understand us," Denz said. "Where's my sword?"

The mole goblin avoided Denz's gaze.

It half-shrugged.

"Don't want to talk? I see, I see..."

"I don't think it can talk, Denz."

"Perhaps. But, maybe this'll change its mind." Denz held up his fist. It glowed beneath the glove.

The mole goblin hastily pointed outside. It slumped over.

"Oi... I don't know if you're a good guy who saves monsters, or a twisted guy who tortures them," Emilia sighed.

"I'm both!" Denz proudly declared.

"You're way too carefree to be a proper adventurer..."

"I'm both!" Denz proudly declared.

"Right, right. You're both."

We followed directions of the defeated mole goblin. Before we left, Emilia patched up the inside of the cave, returning the spire I shot into the ground and sealing the cracks.

"You could be pretty nice yourself," Denz snarked.

"What are you saying? I'm always nice." Emilia retorted.

"Right, right. You're demonically nice." Denz winked.

Emilia glared at Denz.

The mole goblin glared at Denz too. It seemed to ignore me, its current trapper, and Emilia, the benevolent healer and home repairer.

The tag-team continued arguing as we left the cave.