“You think he will be alright?”

Amber chewed her lip, a nervous habit the entire team recognised instantly. While they may not all have been friends, they had all spent enough time around each other over the years for certain traits to be obvious.

Paul, the teams archer and self declared leader, snorted. “On the last day of the tutorial, doesn’t even know where the goblins are, and is still on the single monster quest? Nah he’s dead for sure. Probably won’t even live long enough to see the goblin that kills him.” He never even saw Davids punch coming until it hit him in the arm.

“What did you have to say that for? Now she will want to follow him to play guardian angel”

Amber scowled at her team mates. Unlike them, she wasn’t so comfortable with the idea of her fellow humans being killed left and right simply because they weren’t lucky enough to be here with people they already knew. She had been terrified when the guild had first assigned her as a warrior, and had only started to calm down after bumping into Mark in the merchant area. He had sat with her, explained how these things worked in the video games and books he read, then suggested she spend her money on a healing spell and join him in a party. That way she could get experience but wouldn’t have to fight monsters herself. It seemed ideal. They then found Laura, Amber's twin, who was already with Paul & David. The 5 of them had all been students together in high school, and while it had been a couple of years, they knew each other enough to make partying up to survive the madness of their new world a logical decision. Now as they approached the end of the tutorial, they had each made it to level 6, completing numerous quests each day. The money they earned had gotten them each armour or weapons to suit what Mark called their combat class, and despite certain comments, she had managed to level up with the others, healing their wounds after each battle. She also healed others in the general camping area each night, charging 5 copper each time at Paul’s insistence.

“Come on then.” Amber looked up and saw Mark was already looping his giant wooden shield (called a kite apparently) over his left arm. He looked over and smiled at her. “He seemed like a decent enough guy, and I wouldn’t want his death on my conscious either. We will keep him alive until the end of the tutorial, then he can take it slow and catch up with everyone else once everyone is out hunting for higher ranked monsters. Its only been 7 days after all, not like we have years of experience ourselves.”

She quickly hurried to her feet, brushing off the dry mud that had collected around her armour, before joining him. To her surprise Laura also got up.

“What? Even if I don’t overly care about some random guy, a few more kills is just extra experience at this point. I still need over 1000 experience before I get to level 7, that’s a lot of goblins. Might as well kill a few now if you are heading out anyway.”

Hearing her words, the other 2 grumbled and also climbed to their feet. Amber frowned but didn’t argue. She was glad for the extra combat strength, but didn’t like that her party were so happy to leave some poor man to die. He only looked a little older than them, and if she hadn’t been lucky enough to find Mark then she could be in the same situation he was right now. She wasn’t sure, but if he was rushing out to complete the quest this late, maybe he had been told by the guild that everybody had to complete at least one? With the entire party now geared up and ready, they set off along the main path. As they had told the stranger, hardly anybody walked this route anymore. The goblin patrols were all level 1, with no higher ranked members in the groups. If you went off to the sides you could find some level 3, or in the deeper parts they had met several level 4. Even for the parties lower levelled than her own, fighting only level 1 goblins was a waste of time.

“So do you guys think it will be all goblins back on earth?”

Groans filled the group.

“David I swear, how many times do we need to go over this. None of us know anything. Hell, Earth could be nothing but goblins. We could go back and find all our towns and city’s overrun with 3 foot tall goblins. For all we know, there could be a goblin orgy on your bed right now.” Laura didn’t have the most patience, even back home. After a week of camping in a forest, with no cosmetics, well it was fair to say she was quick to anger. The look of horror that came onto David’s face made his thoughts on that comment obvious, but before he could comment he was interrupted.

“Form up!” Mark suddenly shouted. Sure enough there was a group of 5 goblins off to the left of their path. Clearly a patrol just wondering into the area. “Lets deal with them quickly. We don’t want to get left too far behind.”

The team split into their usual fight positions. Mark at the front, with David just behind him. Amber, Laura & Paul all stayed at the rear with range attacks or healing support. Using his oversized shield, Mark let the first goblin club come. His shield absorbed the weak attack, and in a move practised time and time again, David used the opportunity to stab his sword forward and end the goblins life. While this was happening, Laura had launched her own attack, wind blade, and Paul fired an arrow off. As quickly as the fight had started, the 5 goblins had dropped to 2. Not wanting to be left behind, Mark stabbed his own sword forward and ended the penultimate monster, and a second arrow from Paul ended the fight entirely. As expected, level 1 really wasn’t much of a challenge.

“Er, is everyone okay?” Amber's nervous question her first input to the fight.

“Yeah we are good Amber. These things are too low level to be an issue for us. Save your mana until we catch up with the newbie. He might need your best.” Mark smiled at her as he answered, while the others just stayed silent. Amber wasn’t stupid, she knew she wasn’t putting as much in as the others when it came to the fighting, but Mark had pointed out that all of them had needed her healing at some point, and that as the monsters got to higher levels, they would likely need it more and more. Still the fact that even her sister seemed to resent her for it really didn’t help her confidence.

“Lets get back to it. Every second we waste standing around is another that poor guy could be in trouble.” Mark said, already on his way back to the path. Only Amber, who was at the very back, saw the glare Paul was giving him in reply.

The party battled 3 more random patrol groups before they finally called a stop.

“This is crazy now. There’s no way that guy came this deep into the forest. He must have gone off the path, otherwise we would have seen him.”

David’s caused Mark to run his hand through his hair, before turning to Amber.

“He’s right, the guy probably saw a straggler goblin nearer the camp and went off to deal with it. Even if he didn’t. We should have seen some sign of him by now. We all levelled up our strength at least twice, so our walking speed will be faster. Plus our stamina recovery means we haven’t had to even pause for the last hour. I say we head back.”

Amber bit her lip, but nodded. She knew her party was probably right. Even if they weren’t, she at least knew they tried to save him. That helped.

“Great, well at least we all got a little more experience. It all helps.” Mark’s eternal positivity was a true bright spark for Amber, but the scowls everyone else gave told their own thoughts. Without another word, the party turned and headed back to the camping area. They had journeyed for around half an hour when it happened. A rock came in from nowhere and impacted with the back of Marks head.

“Shit, attack!” David called, as he scrambled to pull his sword. While the others panicked and started their own combat preparations, Amber had already started running to Mark. Diving to her knees beside him, her healing spell was already ready and waiting and she didn’t hesitate to cast. There was an ugly wound on his head, with blood pouring from it.

“Get him up, we need his shield” Ordered Paul, pulling back his bow and firing. “Fucking hell there’s dozens of them.”

Amber reapplied her spell, grateful to see the wound knitting together as she did so. Her instincts told her without healing magic Mark would probably have died and she had to use all her willpower to force back a sob at the thought.

“Amber look out.” Laura’s voice was shrill. And Amber turned just in time to see why. A rock was flying toward her. As fast as she could she moved, but sadly it wasn’t enough. The rock collided with her flailing leg, instantly breaking it. She screamed from the pain, unable to focus on anything else. Desperately she tried to heal herself, only to remember she couldn’t do that yet. Healing spells were limited to others until D rank. Trying not to cry, but knowing she was failing, Amber did the only thing she could. Her dive hadn’t taken her far, and she could still touch Marks foot. Reaching out, she pushed her healing spell into him again and again, until finally she heard him groan. Depleted on mana, and in shock from a broken leg, that was Amber’s last contribution to the fight. Exhausted on a level she didn’t know possible, she fell to the floor, and blacked out.

While this was going on, her teammates were in a fight for their lives. Goblins were swarming out of the surrounding trees. They were thankfully still low level, and were so clumped together that Laura’s wind blade spell was actually killing several at once, but it wasn’t enough. David was dancing around his two ranged attack party members, stabbing and slashing desperately as he killed anything that got close.

“We need to find where those rocks are coming from” Paul barked as he released yet another arrow. Thankfully the quiver he brought was a type of spatial storage. It cost 5 silver, but that was paying for itself now as he took out goblin after goblin. They were so grouped together he barely even had to aim. For the first time he regretted his weapon choice, knowing that killing one at a time wouldn’t cut it here. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mark starting to stir

“Mark get your ass over here.” The tank, as he insisted on calling himself, was now on his hands and knees, clearly disorientated. “Mark, theres no time for that we need you.” Finally he looked up and seemed to realise the shit they were in. Taking an obvious inhale, he grabbed his shield from the floor and climbed to his feet. Before he moved, he spotted Amber and fell once more, immediately taking her pulse

“She’s alive.” The others weren’t sure if he was talking to them or himself, but it didn’t matter.

“That’s great, but we won’t be without some help Mark. We need your shield if any more of those rocks come.” He nodded and hurried over, joining David in shielding the two ranged fighters.

“I’m low on mana.” Laura’s words killed the brief optimism the group felt at having their 4th fighter back up.

“Here.” Mark pulled his short sword and handed it to her. “At least it will keep you alive. Pointy end at the green things please.” Laura scowled at the sword, but accepted it. She clumsily swung it towards a nearby goblin, nearly slicing her own ponytail off as she did. “No, Laura do like David usually does. When I block a goblin, stab them from behind me. Quick in and out okay?”

“Incoming” Paul shouted, the group spun to see ahead and sure enough another rock was flying in. Mark rushed to the front and braced his shield, taking the full impact as it pushed him back on his knee. When his leg was stable her turned to Paul.

“We need to deal with whatever is throwing those. If we don’t this is going to end badly”

Paul nodded, knowing that was true. “Okay we push forward as a group, leave Amber here. If we are lucky they will think she is dead and focus on us. Either way, there’s not much we can do right now.” He said that mainly for Mark, who he knew would be against the plan. To his surprise, there was no argument, only grim acceptance. With Marks shield at the front, ready to protect from any incoming projectiles, the team relied mainly on Daniel and Paul for their kills, with Laura trying to contribute when she could while her mana slowly recharged. Despite the massive numbers, far greater than any they had seen before, the party was making progress, leaving more and more goblin corpses in their wake. All the while Mark stayed ready, protecting his party members whenever another rock would come flying their way. Each time the part would adjust their direction, determined to take out whatever was targeting them from afar. After what felt like the thousandth rock was deflected, Paul finally spotted their foe, a goblin easily 3 times the size of its brethren. Now that it was within range, he questioned their decision to hunt it out. Maybe fleeing would have been the better solution.

“Laura, any mana you have left aim it for that big guy. Mark and Daniel protect us while we aim ranged attacks.” He didn’t wait for an answer, loosing his first arrow and already preparing another. The arrow struck true, straight though the monsters oversized chest. Sadly it didn’t seem to have a huge effect, the monster actually didn’t even seem to notice he was hit. Laura’s wind blade soon followed, and that at least left a visible mark.

“That’s all I have left until I recharge.”

Paul cursed and continued firing arrows.

“Okay let’s take out all the little ones quickly, then deal with the boss as a group.”

They agreed and started chopping down goblins, all the while the giant simply stood and watched. Like he didn’t care his fellow monsters were being killed, and was just waiting for his turn to fight. Finally, the 4 party members stood panting, surrounded by piles of goblin bodies. They were exhausted, but still had the giant to kill.

“Okay usual style, but Mark shield both Laura and Dan. I’ll hang back and do as much damage as I can. Try and target his chest area, it’s already damaged so it might be weaker.”

As soon as Mark raised his shield, the giant grinned and drew a club seemingly from nowhere. The first impact, a seemingly casual downward swing of the oversized weapon, tested every fibre of Marks now increased strength. The shield took the blow but forced its wielder down onto a knee just to stay alive. Not missing his chance, Dan drove his sword forward, leaving a wound that logic dictated should be fatal. Laura’s own attack, far less polished, left a scratch along the goblins arm but did nothing else.

“Everyone back up.” Marks words were audibly strained, as he clearly struggled to right himself. The goblins next swing, a little wilder and almost like a baseball bat from the right, once again made contact with the shield. This time however Mark didn’t have the ground to brace himself, and lacked the strength to absorb the blow. As the club made contact it simply kept going, and Mark found himself flying several feet away. Despite this, Daniel darted forward and stabbed again while the skin was still swinging away from him. Rather than dart back, he followed up his attack with a side step so he was behind the monster, hoping to split its focus.

“Laura focus on dodging. Paul aim for an eye or something.”

Daniel focussed on his opponent, not checking to see if anyone actually listened. He knew Mark would be trying to get back up, but he doubted it would help. Whatever this monster was, it was clearly a much higher level than them. Thankfully it was slow, which meant they could dodge it’s attacks rather than absorb them as they had practised. When the next club swing came down, Daniel stepped back and dodged it, letting the goblins attack throw it off balance, and once more stabbed with his sword. He was a little proud to see Laura had also attacked, clumsily swinging Marks short sword and leaving another cut along the monsters back. Before that wouldn’t be anything, but they were fighting in a world with health points. Every attack at least did something to whittle them away. If they could keep dodging they might just stand a chance. Mark was now finally on his feet, but clearly not up to doing much else. He was leaning heavily on his shield, using everything he had just to do that. Sadly Dan couldn’t help his friend, and instead concentrated on the fight in front of him. The goblin was strong, but evidently stupid. It swung the oversized club around with little care for accuracy, and seemed to put all its weight behind each swing, leaving it open for quick attacks from the two swords. Finally it was beginning to visibly struggle, the sheer number of wounds on its torso clearly having an effect. Laura made another slash with her borrowed blade, missing the torso and instead leaving a cut down the monsters exposed thigh. This left her off balance, and Dan honestly wasn’t sure if the goblin aimed its next attack, or if it was just reacting to Laura’s own sword, but it kicked out and landed a heavy blow against the young mages stomach. Laura had little to no protection, and went flying through the forest, the impact coming so quick she didn’t even have time to scream. Mark roared as he saw this, finding strength from somewhere and charging the monster. Daniel tried to back him up, but any thoughts of strategy or co-ordinated attacks were gone from the tanks mind as he swung his shield as an offensive weapon over and over, pummelling the large goblin. For the first time Dan had a chance to catch his breath and realised what was missing.

“That useless piece of shit” Paul had obviously used their fight as a distraction and fled. Daniel readied his sword and joined Mark in his attack, carefully targeting already injured areas. Despite its superior strength and level, the goblin monster could not defend from two motivated attackers in its now injured state. If it had been even a little more intelligent there may well have been options, but goblins, even larger ones, were low tiered monsters, limited and incapable of higher reasoning. Before long it had died, leaving two exhausted warriors to collapse into a pile of notification screens. Sadly only one of those mattered

[Party member Laura Wilson had been defeated]