An hour later the three of us are sitting on the first wagon out of town. Luckily we managed to catch one just before it head off. One mention of an urgent mission, and the driver accommodates us as much as possible. However, due to lack of space, Kira needs to sit on my lap the whole way. Normally I would like this, but the wagon ride isn't comfortable even without someone sitting on you. My legs might get tenderized.

Several hours later we arrive at another frontier village and set off on foot. There must be a string of them along the frontier, with several times as many farmhold settlements further into the wilderness. There is no clear line of where the wilderness starts or ends, but beyond the frontier villages it is clearly less safe.

Both the village and the subsequent farmhold is not as far away as my last mission. We arrive late at night. The farmhold invites us in and tell us about the last group of hunters that passed by. As I suspected, Kira and Carna's friend is the only female in the group. By her equipment, it sounds like she is an archer. The settlers reported sightings of goblins nearby, and the hunters came to inspect. They were never required to exterminate a large group of them, but should have requested reinforcements if needed.

If the party fell afoul of goblins, there must be a decent amount of them. From what Carna tells us all the members of the party were D rank. Two frontline fighters and one archer. One on one, goblins or hobgoblins would not stand a chance. A dark cave might give the goblins a home advantage, but in the open, there would have to be many of them.

In contrast to them we are three E ranks. I sit down with the girls to talk it through. I know Kira has full confidence in me, so I ask Carna how she feels about our odds. "You fought Brute right." "Yes." Not sure what that has to do with it. "He is a B rank. If you can give him a good match it means you are far stronger than E." Great, they are fully relying on me in the up and coming fight.

At dawn we set out to the last location of the missing party. I keep close watch on my menu map and regularly plant the alert marker ahead of us as I suspect an ambush is likely. Probably by luck I find one lone goblin scout. Keeping the girls well behind me I stalk him back to the nest. The nest is like a lot of goblin caves. It is a sharp dip into the ground followed by a cave into the bedrock. It is at least partially man or beast made. From a distance it can't be seen as the whole cave is under ground even the entrance.

Looking at the steep dirt path up from the cave, I am already calculating how much water is needed to make it a major obstacle for the goblins attacking from the cave. "Should we sneak in while we have the surprise?" Carna seems eager to get started. "The cave is their home ground. If we attack, we will eventually be spotted and we will be at a disadvantage. I would be more comfortable with luring out as many as possible into a killing ground outside the cave." Kira nodes.

Continuing with my plan I explain. "We can empty water onto the sloop up from the cave and make it almost impossible to climb. Only when their bodies are piled up will they get good footing." Carna seems on board. "Where do we get enough water?" Fair question. "I got plenty in my soul storage." Anticipating the next question I continue. "As for luring them out, I have a few options, but I want to start be using a type of magic I saw on my last mission. It is a form of echo magic that will allow me to determine how many opponents we have and how many prisoners they have."

"Why not just use the echo magic and head in. It sounds really useful, and would give us an edge." Carna jumps into my explanation before I finish. "The problem with echo magic is that any mana sensitive beast can sense it, and a magic user will immediately know what it is. I know goblin mages are rare, but this should help us determine if there are any in this nest."

Everyone agrees with the first stage of the plan. I empty a couple of barrels of water down the slope, it turns nice and muddy. As I position myself direct above the entrance I send a mana wave into the cave. Even though I only saw it once, the principal is so simple that I get it right on the first attempt. The waves spread deeper into the cave bouncing off the walls and creatures within.

The full cave is quickly marked out, and I can read two human prisoners at the deepest level. I also sense something I have never sensed before, a goblin with magical powers. My alert goes off as goblins in the area around the goblin mage starts rushing towards the entrance. "They are coming!" My warning is noted by the girls standing at the top of the muddy climb facing the entrance.

The plan is to let the goblins spot the girls as goblins seem to loose all their rational thinking when distracted by a female. Kira will start picking them off as they rush up the slope, and Carna will take care of any who come too close. I will be in reserve. If the pressure of goblins becomes too much I will add my firepower from the opposite side of the slope.

The goblins storm out of the cave. Kira uses her fast shooting crossbow with great effect. She will definitely level up after this mission is over. Carna has nothing to do for the first few minutes. Then she gets to deal with one, and then two. As she is starting to struggle I add my arrows to the bolts Kira are loosing. The ranks of goblins stepping on the corpses of their brothers starts to dwindle. There are now two or three layers of goblins covering the slope. The flood stops, and the last goblin shot by Kira is standing inside the entrance.

"Was that it?" Kira is asking the question. "Nope, the goblin mage and about a third of their original number are waiting for us within the cave." The mage must have pulled them back. Goblins aren't known for making tactical retreats. We are now faced with one of the most difficult scenarios, a large number of goblins waiting for us and lead by an intelligent hobgoblin.

Next we go to meet them. They should be too few to overrun us now, but it is a huge gamble. Using the map to the best of my ability I make a note of all the goblins inside. Because of the echo magic I have a full overview of all the goblins and the cave as a whole. There should be no room for them to surprise us. We advance inside.

Kira and me go first as long as we have good clearing in front of us. As we approach a corner around which I know there are goblins waiting I push Kira back and indicate for Carna to move forward. Armed with short axes we round the corner and take out the goblins who were planning to ambush us. It is the only ambush set. Probably not planned by the goblin mage as he would probably know that I can use echo magic. I am unclear as to how knowledgeable he is.

Before we reach the main gathering of goblins, I stop the girls to explain. "Almost all the remaining goblins will be around that corner. The goblin mage is at the back. Kira, try to get him first. Me and Carna will engage in close quarter combat." As we round the corner we are faced with a wide long corridor sloping upwards. Good defensive position.

Me and Carna focus on killing goblins, wave after wave throw themselves forward. We are pressed so hard that Kira needs to help us by thinning down their numbers. That might have been a mistake. In the distance I spot the mage conjuring up a ball of lightning as he throws it directly at me, I instinctively throw my right axe in return while shouting for the girls to take cover. The axe slices through the ball of lighting, and it explodes in sparks and light. It explodes too close.

As my sense start coming back to me, I realize that I am still standing. With arms in front of me, but with so many convulsions surging through my body that I can't move anything. I can sense the girls close by fighting a new wave of none stunned goblins. They are being pushed back. Carna looks slightly affected by the stun as well. Kira has dropped the crossbow and is throwing all her knives at the incoming goblins. I see one axe, two spear points and a couple of clubs heading in my direction.

Non-rationally I expect pain, but all I can sense is the impact of five goblins attacking me. The clubs glance off my arms and body armor, the axe cuts into the main body of the armor around the belly. The spears are the worst. Both penetrate my armor and cut deep into my body. I can hear Kira scream. Unless I gain control of my body now we are as good as dead. In the distance I see the goblin mage treating his wounds. My axe injured him but he is far from out of the fight.