“Hah… Hah… Let’s take a break…”

“Ah… agreed…”

By a mattress of lavender, at the wake of dusk, stood three people. They were none other than Denz, Emilia, and I.

After a little excursion in dreamland, I led the group to my starting point.

They decided upon a little competition to see who could capture the most tibbars.

Rather, Denz provoked Emilia with the declaration. Emilia grudgingly accepted.

They had yet to capture one. There was only one, the same one that provoked me was running circles around them.

I feel a little better about being bested by a rabbit. It wasn’t just me.

In contrast, however, they feel much worse.

The scurrying little thing kept showing up with more purple, and kept escaping even the most dangerous grapples and spells by the skin of its buck teeth.

How one little tibbar could manage such evasions was beyond us.

What was I doing, you ask?

“Elias, let us handle this! I have a score to settle with Emilia, anyway.”

“You think your guerilla tactics will best my city-destroying magic? Think again.”

“Please don’t destroy any cities with any magic.”

Time passed.

“This tibbar quest is pretty tough.”

“Elias, give us a little more time. We’ll catch one for sure!”

Time passed.

“Emilia… any luck?”

“No… You?”

“No…”

Time passed.

“Emilia, I’ll watch this side. That damn thing is going to rear its ugly looking head once more. I’ll be ready.”

“I have pitfalls set around the perimeter here. Yell if you see something.”

“Will do- AH!”

“Did you find it!?”

“No, but I did find this crazy looking bush! Look at that! It looks like old man Rim. Ha!”

“Stop playing around!”

Time passed.

“I… am losing hope…”

“Why! Why why why! Why can’t we capture one meager tibbar!”

Time passed.

“I’m gonna do it, Denz. I’m gonna do it. Fire inferno is ready. Just give me the word, and I’ll burn this whole forest to the ground.”

“Please don’t destroy any forests with any infernos!”

And so, I left it all to them.

"Soon..." Denz coughed.

"Soon," he continued. "the damn tibbar will be coming back with more of that purple crap. Emilia. Are you ready?"

"Tch." Emilia scowled. "As a backup measure, I've set up a telekinetic ring. One paw in, and it's a finished capture," Emilia lauged evilly.

"... Why didn't you do that before?" asked Denz.

"Shut up. I thought of it now and that's good enough."

It appeared Emilia wasn't as sharp as she was kind.

I suppose Denz wasn't any better.

But then memories returned of when the tibbar launched a full force kick into me, so strong that it launched me backward a couple of feet.

Just remembering it knocked the air out of me.

"All this work for one hundred PSO... We should've gone back like I said-"

"Shhh. Don't get distracted, Denz. Focus. It's almost here." Emilia flicked her head from side to side, watching carefully...

We waited.

We watched carefully.

Then, the appointed time came.

A creature got caught in the ring.

As Emilia declared, one paw in, and the creature was finished. It floated helplessly.

Victory was ours.

Except, what was in the ring wasn't a small, four-legged rabbit-like creature. It wasn't your typical lavender-loving game sold for 100 PSO per kill.

The creature caught in the ring was bald, green, and small. It lacked its dagger, but it had sharp enough nails to compensate, possibly more than sharp enough.

It was the mole goblin. The same one from before.

"Eh?"

Denz and Emilia looked up with confusion at the floating mole goblin. It flailed in the air.

Its nails were not pointed at us.

Its gaze was not a gaze of revenge.

There was no trace of killing intent. Rather, it seemed to scrunch in.

It was surprised.

It moved frantically, its arms twirling about in circles.

It looked like it wanted to tell us something, but couldn't.

What left its mouth were indecipherable grunts.

Denz walked up to it. "What the heck are you doing here? Haven't you learned your lesson?"

The mole goblin flinched.

"You weren't coming back for revenge, weren't ya? I don't believe you're that stupid."

Denz frowned.

"You're not that stupid," he stated. His eyes paced around. "What are...

"Denz..." Emilia muttered.

"Right... Well..." Denz said, calmly and cooly. "You aren't here for revenge. If you were, you would've scratched my eyeballs out already."

He pulled out his sword.

Footsteps.

From the trees.

They grew louder.

Lots of them.

Emilia dropped the telekinesis magic. She readied her staff.

The mole goblin fell and hugged its knees submissively.

We waited. The wind blew and the sun was setting.

Out from the bright orange light peeking through the leaves was an army.

A large, menacing army of small, green monsters.

I turned around.

My face met the end of a dagger.

In mere moments, I was restrained by two mole goblins. Two larger mole goblins. Relatively larger.

Not relative to the small mole goblin shaking on the ground in fear.

Relative to us.

Humans.

They were giants.

They held that dagger end up to my throat.

"Crap! Elias!" Denz exclaimed.

"Ahhh! No!" Emilia panicked.

They held me hostage.

"Well well well well well. What do we have here. Humans? Rogue Kvar, you weren't betraying us, weren't you?"

It was an innumerable mass. There was more than enough to fill a small town. There was much, much, much more than what our party could handle.

We had trouble dealing with child mole goblin. Denz and Emilia spent an entire day chasing a tibbar. They were unsuccessful.

Now, there were many, too many mole goblins to count.

Out from that fray was one wider mole goblin. It fashioned a horn with ornaments. It wore a feathered robe. Its nails were extra long and extra deadly.

More strikingly, it could talk.

And talk it did.

"Answer me, Kvar. Are you committing treason against the Kippup clan?"

Kvar didn't make a sound. It was silent, and shaken. It only looked the clan's leader in the eye for a moment, before shying away again.

"To sell your kind out to wretched humans... Your parents would be quite displeased, wouldn't they?"

Kvar stopped. It suddenly looked up and scowled furiously. Its sharp nails protracted.

"Ha! Did that bother you? Goblins like your parents aren't worthy getting angry about. Their time has passed. I lead the new age. In due time, our territory will expand to the nearby human settlement." The mole goblin leader eyed Denz and Emilia. "And would you look at this. We've happened upon quite the opportunity. I can only thank the goddess Natura for this." It smiled.

"Cut the crap. Who are you, what are you doing here, and where did you get such a nice coat?"

"Ah ah ah," the mole goblin leader said, savoring every utterance as if its words were verbal gold. "You are a strange human. How can you be so nonchalant in this situation?"

Denz smiled with gritted teeth. "It's just my nature. Don't mind me. More importantly, let the boy go."

"Who could you possibly mean?" the mole goblin leader said, feigning ignorance. It, too, smiled, mischeviously.

Denz readied a stance.

With one kick to the ground, he launched forward.

Toward me.

My restrainers tightened their grip. They edged the dagger blade closer to my neck.

Denz forced himself to a stop.

"Tch."

"How brave! Humans sure are interesting things!" it said. "When was the last time I encountered humans face-to-face like this? Oh, where are my manners."

The mole goblin leader twirled. Then, it bowed courtly. "I am Istus, leader of the Kippup mole goblin clan."

Istus snickered. "Now that I've made my name known, I shall state my demands."

"Demands?" Denz asked.

"Yes. Demands. The situation for you..." Istus looked around. "... is pretty bleak. You're all in danger of dying. Oh, don't worry about the female mage over there. I've already cast a sleep curse on her."

Denz turned around. Lo and behold, Emilia was indeed sleeping, seemingly without a care in the world.

Denz squinted his eyes and spoke in a low, deep voice. "You bastards. What did you do to her?"

"I've put her to sleep of course. Oh, I didn't kill her. Not yet, at least. The antidote to the curse is here." He pulled out a vial. "Thanks to rogue Kvar over there, the curse from him transferred over to the girl when she cast telekinesis on him."

Denz glared at Kvar. Kvar shrunk even more so.

"You made the perfect bait. We of the Kippup clan thank you for your service, rogue Kvar. You'll make a gallant martyr. Follow in the footsteps of your parents down to the grave."

It snapped. A dagger flew at an incredible speed toward the tormented Kvar.

In a moment,

it was there.

Then, it was stopped.

Denz's sword blocked it.

Rather, it tipped it off course.

"Lucky..." he muttered.

"Oh oh oh oh oh? Defending the exiled? How brave." Istus laughed.

"Is this really how bad I sound when I make long, pointless speeches? I'm both glad and humbled to have learned from this experience," Denz said. There was no more playfulness in his voice.

He gaze coldened. His smile was nowhere to be found.

Not to the east.

Not to the west.

Nor as far north or south.

He took the form of a different person.

Like dropping an act.

"Right, the negotiation," Istus said. "Not that you have any leeway to refuse, of course, but I thought I'd follow proper procedures. Unlike humans, we mole goblins treasure formalities. Us real mole goblins, of course." Istus's eyes met Kvar's, and it laughed self-satisfyingly. "This is our demand. Give the town that you call Saturia to us. We require its underground territory. We are giving you humans a chance to evacuate. It'll make things easier for the both of us. I'm trying to avoid bloodshed, if possible. We don't want human carcasses dirtying our new expanse."

Istus laughed. "How nice of us!"

"Don't you guys live underground? Why do we need to evacuate?" Denz asked.

"You seem to think that we live entirely underground. You are mistaken. True, mole goblins spend a significant time shielded from the natural light, enough to make you question whether we are vampires. We assure you, we are not. We are a much more elegant group." Istus smiled. "We seek the resources aboveground. The lake's freshwater is, as you know, more than delectable."

Denz lowered his head. "Kvar, or whatever your name is... Leave this to me."

Kvar put a hand on Denz. He held him back.

"I'll be fine." Denz stared at Istus. "I'll show you why they call me Denz the powerful swordsman!"

"I suppose that's a no? That's too bad," Istus said. "Let us see your power, human."

With a wave, Istus sent a few grunts forward. They were small, like Kvar, except a little less nimble.

They ran a straight line forward.

It was an easy target.

More than easy enough for a powerful swordsman.

Denz swung

and missed.

Apparently it wasn't easy enough for the powerful swordsman.

"Oi... What is this?" Istus said alarmingly.

Denz flailed his weapon about. His movements were fluid, but when it came to the sword...

He missed every swing.

The grunts were just hopping back and forth. Of course, if they stayed still, they would get hit.

One tested this theory. It proved wrong.

Denz missed even stationary targets.

"Oi... Really?" Istus said disappointedly. "This is all you got? The female mage over there seemed the most dangerous so I went through the trouble of casting a spell. This boy over here..." Istus looked at me. "I sense extraordinarily low levels of magic and physical power from him. Plus, he's restrained."

Istus looked back at Denz and sighed.

"I thought I could enjoy an exciting fight. I had some faith in you. Don't you have some hidden technique or something?"

Denz didn't speak. He breathed heavily as he swung at empty air. His movements were still sharp yet his arms were sluggish.

"... Fine. Let's end this." Istus smiled. "Kippup clan."

All non-human heads turned.

"Attack him."

With two words, every mole goblin except for the two restraining me, Kvar, and Istus himself charged toward Denz.

Denz was no longer to be seen.

"Hahahaha! Well, I suppose force is the best method for us monsters. That's what the humans call us, right? Monsters..."

Istus was looking toward me and my restrainers, his remaining audience.

"I tried to settle things a bit more peacefully. It just goes to show. Monsters are made for fighting and causing ruin."

Istus sighed.

"So," Istus said. "You're the last one that's left. When the human man is dead, I suppose I'll have these two slit your throat or something."

Istus shrugged. "Just wait your turn, alright?"

Istus looked at me expecting me to say something. I didn't meet his expectation.

"Hey, human boy. What's with that look?"

I didn't know what he meant. I wasn't making any look in particular.

Did I perhaps offend him?

Or it..?

Wait.

"Why do you look so uncaring? Is there no sorrow in your heart? And I thought humans were empathetic creatures."

"..."

"I sense absolutely nothing from you. There's no shred of anger, frustration, fear... absolutely nothing."

Istus blinked his wide, black eyes. "What are you, a monster?"

Those words struck me.

I was a monster?

No no no.

That can't be.

Of course I'm a human, just like any other. I grieved for my mother. I am considerate of those around me. They told me not to get involved and I obeyed.

What more could you ask of me?

I have power now. I was given power and another chance.

Yet why do I still feel so empty?

Why don't I feel anything for Denz and Emilia? For these two kind strangers who happened to get involved in something much greater than them? Who happened to get involved with me?

Ah...

I see...

That's what it was.

Just like before.

It's my fault, isn't it?

Like it always was.

It's always been and it always will be.

Power makes no difference.

I could blow them all away, right here and right now.

Yet that wouldn't change things.

I waited for a response from the voice in my head.

Silence.

Where was that old, comfortable enemy?

Why would it leave me now?

Because I have changed?

"Ha... haha..." I laughed to myself. "It makes no difference. It doesn't matter."

"... Did the human boy snap?" Istus asked warily.

"Whether or not I can feel... Whether or not I am sane, or kind, or submissive, or human... It doesn't matter. I have the strength to do whatever I want."

Power flowed through me. I could feel the air growing thicker, my blood vessels growing stronger.

With every heartbeat, more power seeped from my palms.

"Hey..!" Istus exclaimed. "What in the-!"

It was too late for him. The blade that was at my neck? I knocked it away with the back of my hand.

My restrainers were frozen.

They were frozen in place.

The dagger was frozen in the air too.

I walked a few paces forward, then turned around.

"How..." Istus said. "Are you an illusionist? How did you hypnotize them without looking them in the eyes?"

"Hypnotism?" I asked. "This is telekinesis."

"This strong and this precise? They are practically stuck in place!" Istus exclaimed.

"That's obvious," I said.

Istus was frozen himself.

It wasn't due to magic

but fear.

"... You are a monster. How can you do such a thing with such a small mana trace? How great is your mastery?"

I chuckled. It was a hollow chuckle.

Istus pointed the prism in his hand toward me. "Firestorm!"

From the prism was a swirl of intense fire. Like the eye of the storm, it centered and gravitated around in the compact reflection of the prism.

Then, it shot out.

It reached but half a feet out of the prism. The fire was stuck. It burned, desperately trying to expand.

However, it was frozen in place.

"You..! Even this..?"

Istus's whole demeanor had changed. His attention neglected his kinspeople and the other, defeated humans.

His hauty attitude had disappeared.

Like an act.

"... Are you going to finish us all?" Istus asked in a low voice.

I was silent for a while.

He must have a lot of faith in me. One unarmed boy against an army?

The mole goblin army was still clobbering over Denz's spot. I pointed in his direction.

"Not me. Him."

Out from the mass came a man himself burning with passion. His sword swung, and all of the mole goblins were flung away. They were not cut, but rather, smacked.

His whole body, from head to sword to toe, glowed an intense light.

The glow was like a strong candle flame that stretched into the evening sky.

He shined.

"Set the stage, 'cause Denz the powerful swordsman makes his real appearance."

Denz's physical prowess was multipled many times over.

He was a completely different fighter.

All of the mole goblins, including Istus and Kvar, were struck with fear.

"Denz," I commanded.

"Letting your true colors show now, huh? Way to be fashionably late," Denz replied smugly.

"Take care of the mole goblin army. Don't kill them. Just knock the wind out of them. I'll take care of Emilia for you."

"Thanks a bunches, boyo."

I turned around. "Oh, before I forget."

I pointed toward Kvar.

"He'll be taking care of you."

Kvar suddenly glowed with a similarly intense light.

Kvar met my gaze.

Kvar smiled.

Then, Kvar disappeared into the ground.

In less than a moment, Istus was pulled into the ground out of sight.

I smiled.

It was an empty smile.

Hollow.

As great vessels should be.