When I was half way to the village, I turned around and headed to the tavern to eat since my stomach made weird noises again. Oh yeah, does Kyle have any money? Since I’m the one holding our funds, then she probably doesn’t. Ah whatever!

Anyway, I also went back to my house to pick up some stuff. Then I soon realized that I have no useful stuff in my house… I’ll just take a pee pee.

The village of Flores is quite close here. Actually, it can be seen if you used the front gate to leave the Kingdom. Unlike the village where Kyle and I often take quests from, Flores actually has a name and is much larger than that village but only request hard quests so I seldom go there.

But not in this case as I have a quest to subjugate the nearby goblin tribe in the forest. Although goblins are quite secluded, they often attack villages with numbers and are incredibly annoying.

Quests regarding on the elimination of a spotted group of goblins are almost always being requested. Since these groups of goblins are most likely scouts. And once the scouts are killed, the guild then request for more experienced adventurers to find and subjugate if there are any goblin tribes.

More often than not, there isn’t. Although, they would be compensated for their conformation though.

Something I’ve heard in the streets a few years back.

But I do like if what I’ve heard is something more useful than how the goblin quests form.

Well, I guess I’ll have to go in blind and think of a strategy along the way.

And I will, as well, bring my dragon with me so he can eat the roasted meat of the goblins after this.

Too bad that I still don’t have a staff or even a robe for that matter but at least I have a hat so people would know that I’m a magician and its pretty dark too!

The mark of an experienced magician! But people are less than impressed at me than what I would have expected…

It’s not like I need their approval. It’s would just be nice if people would appreciate the effort as it is.

Enough with the blabbering!

I shook my head left and right and slapped my cheeks as hard as I can to the point that it made a red mark on my cheeks…

My… it hurts actually…

And then I put on my shoes and placed my dragon on my shoulders and went off. For real this time.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ͜ʖ ͡°)ʖ ͡°)ʖ ͡°)

I did say that I’m heading towards the village of Flores but in actuality, I’m just there to inform the mayor that I’m the one to be doing the quest. Although he looked at me with doubt since I’ll be doing it alone, he nonetheless wished me good luck with an uneasy expression.

Why doesn’t people have any trust on me doing this? I mean, I can manage, right?

Now I feel nervous.

Welp, no time to weep and cry and regret to why I took this quest. I guess I’ll head out to the forest and try to locate where the heck the tribe is.

Upon entering the forest, the sound of singing and flattering birds came to my ears. The scent of wood and the damp ground which I’m so familiar with, embraced my nostrils as if welcoming me. Yes, the sight of a pair of wolves copulating just made it all better!

Let’s avoid those two and give them some privacy…

After that, I headed towards the heart of the forest.

The forest is, like any other forests, is full of magnificently tall trees which had been around for more than 150 years since the King had forbade anyone cutting any of the trees down. So I guess it isn’t like any forest since the trees are a bit older but I digress. Although there are some who tried to and sell the old wood for a great sum, they’re reprehended quite unnaturally quickly.

This forest too has its own ecosystem. The animals are quite varied and there have been sightings of more powerful creatures residing in the middle of the forest which I would like to avoid.

But since I would be going deeper into the forest, I guess it’s inevitable if I encountered a few on my way.

After walking for a few minutes whilst dirtying my shoes in the process, I’ve finally seen some signs that the tribe is nearby.

The guild had given me directions to where it is but certainly, it’s not that accurate. It’s more of an estimation to where the tribe is. I have thoughts of doubt that I may be going nowhere while I was about half way there but the doubt was quickly swept away.

So the signs to look for to know if the goblin tribe is nearby is the carving in the woods and if it’s a nest, then the unnatural design of the cave. As said by some people I’ve talked to on my way here.

The carvings also tells where the tribe is and all I have to do is just follow where it would lead me.

And just like that, I finally see the tribe.

Now time to strategies. I should’ve done this earlier but whatever.

“What do you think?”

I asked my dragon in a whispery voice and he nodded his head. Well it’s not like he can think of anything. And I couldn’t think of anything either since this is practically my first time doing a quest solo. I’ve only started adventuring a few weeks ago so I only know the ropes because my dad was an adventurer when he was young and had told me stories about his days.

Enough with the origins stories I need some plan on how I would do this.

First off, observe. And with that, I have to get closer.

Sneaking a tad bit closer towards the goblin tribe, hiding behind the conveniently wide trunks of trees, I made my observation…

Crap…

They aren’t any regular goblins. They’re freaking hobgoblins! I’m so freaking dead!

How the heck can I take even a single one of them down!? I never fought a hobgoblin before, let alone seen one! All I know is that they’re very tough and hit darn hard…

Hmm…

Should I just burn them all? Ah… they might be fire resistant… also it will burn the forest in the process which would lead me to getting executed when I return.

Should I just cut them all using wind? Ah… they might be resistant to that too… and will also hit the trees which may lead me to getting jailed.

Should I just drown them all? No wait, that’s stupid.

Should I just summon an earthquake? Might affect the roots of the trees and possibly break them and may affect the kingdom as well which would get me jailed again on top of having to destroy a couple of trees in the process, also the earthquake won’t be effective anyway. They might make them throw up and ruin their homes but that’s about it.

Freaking trees… why are they so precious?

The cons of having to know only basic spells… they’re all elemental. I can’t recreate special spells like void and light. Well except for illusion which my dad thought me so I got that going at least.

Also using illusion is pretty stupid as well since I do need to kill them and all. Plus I’ve heard that the leader and some shaman goblins can actually see through the illusions which would make them completely useless anyway.

Hmm…

Strike some lighting on their heads?

Maybe…

Moving to get a better sight of the tribe, the numbers are pretty low and I could very well differentiate what hut their leader is residing in since it’s bigger, fancier and has 2 guards standing at the front.

Should I just blow up that one using a lightning spell? I mean, if they have no more leader then they would inevitably fall into ruin until the next leader take control.

No, I’m exaggerating. Of course they won’t go too crazy if their leader died but they would surely be suspicious and conscious if some lightning were to suddenly hit their leader and killed it but they would surely be at lost when that happened. Also, casting lightning using a combination of spells is very straining and I could only do it at most, 4 times. Especially since I would be using it for combat then the mana cost and the brain power to concentrate on trying to conjure a lightning is higher compared to when I’m not using it for combat.

Ugh! I should’ve just been an entertainer then…!

Alright, I’ve thought about different ways on trying to wipe them all out and they are all either incredibly straining to do or there’s risk that they are resistant to it.

So it’s decided. Let’s hit the leader with a lightning.

And so I summoned a mass of clouds using water and wind spell and try to compact them close to each other. Having half of the clouds warm and the other half cold, it a snake of lightning is forming on the clouds.

As expected, the hobgoblins are startled with the vents occurring so suddenly.

Eventually, sparks of light, shot out of the clouds. Just a little more and aim for the leaders’ hut…

My god, this is harder than I thought! Using this for combat is 4 folds more difficult than conjuring it in a whim! When I said I can cast this spell for like 4 times, that’s actually a lie hehe… ha…

And like that, a bolt of lightning hit the leaders’ hut and essentially blew it up.

Man, what a spectacle! Sure wish I don’t have a massive headache right now…

This also started an uproar on the hobgoblins. Which is nice.

If it were cloudy then this would’ve been easier.

With that, they don’t have a leader which would make them at least less coordinated and would just attack like monkeys. I was hoping to attack them right then and there when I killed their leader and try to wipe them all out one by one using lesser bolts of lightning but I think that would be iffy to do…

I mean, just trying to cast the big one had already put a lot of strain on me, If I were to produce a lot smaller ones continuously then I would pass out after just having to cast 3 or 4…

Well at least in that massive one, I’m able to take out the 2 guards and one passing by… I’ll continue this tomorrow and just try to wipe them all out using a big lightning or something. I really hope it would rain tomorrow too.

Even with this headache, I at least can walk properly without stumbling to random objec—

*Crack*

Spoke too soon? Yeah, I just stepped on some twig and it made a pretty loud sound too.

When I looked back, the hobgoblins had stopped their panicking and looked straight at me…

Crap! They’re running towards me!

This is bad! This is very bad!!!

You…! Freaking twigs! Why do you even exist!? You useless tw*ts!

I created a moderately thick layer of water to where they’re going to in a few seconds but the water just got observed by the soil! And now when I tried to freeze it, it didn’t stop their movement at all!

I tried to soften the ground too while I’m running and it did take one of them down, but the others just walked through the guy without even helping him!

You cruel creatures! Have you not have any sympathy towards your kin!?

Oh wait, someone helped him… okay.

I conjured a few more quick sands which hardly makes any difference and now my head feels like I’m being pecked by a woodpecker!

It hurts!

*splash*

Crap! I tripped and fell on a puddle…!

I can’t get up! My head hurts too darn much!

I’m dead! I’m so dead!

They’re already here…

I noticed that my dragon isn’t with me. He must’ve fallen off while I was running…

Good. At least he will at least live.

Well, I’m done for. Death comes in different times. Mostly after one did something incredibly stupid. Looks like I’m the stupid one this time.

Ha… I couldn’t even manage to meet my father after 16 years now…

The last thing I felt is a blunt object hitting the back of my head. And then I was greeted my darkness.