"The first skill I'm gonan teach you is called 'Dash' and it's easy to execute."

Zel cluthced her sword tightly while I took a few steps back.

"Okay, I'm standing at a safe distance now."

Zel simply nodded before looking straight ahead. She breathed through her mouth one last time before taking a low stance.

In a blink of an eye, all I saw was a white blur and the glimmer of steel. I looked again and she was standing at the other side of the alley sheathing her sword.

"It's not a flashy skill but it helps get you out of tight spots."

"What does it do, exactly?"

Zel wiped off a few beads of sweat trailing down the side of her face before leaning against the wall.

"It just raises your speed and helps you dodge things. It's useful as a gap closer for ranged enemies."

"Ah, a gap closer. So it's supposed to be used with other abilities then?"

Zel nodded while I checked my Adventurer's Plate. Sure enough, there's a new skill there ready to be learned.

"1 skill point and... there! Okay, how do I activate skills?"

"For me, I just picture it in my head. Sometimes, I yell it out to sound cool but usually you just need to evoke the skill with a mental image of it or saying it out loud."

Ah shit. I'm gonna sound like those anime protagonists, aren't I?

Well, at least it might help me out in the future...

I stood at the same spot where Zel stood earlier while I held my sword tight. All I needed to do was picture the move in my head and do it. Picture the move, picture the move...

My mind was immediately filled with thoughts about my character's moves back in the game I played as well as some scenes from anime and manga. The scene of my sword flowing around me as I dashed forward flowed through my mind, it felt calming in a way.

But thinking about it and doing it are two different things.

With a heavy breath, fresh air filled my lungs as I focused on the image in my mind. A simple combo that I always relied on back in the game, a very simple combo anyone could do.

"Here I go!"

Immediately after saying that, I leapt forward and swung my sword to the side before immediately thrusting it forwards with both of my hands. My body moved at incredible speeds as I felt something course through my body before vanishing immediately as my body came to a stop.

Behind me, I could hear Zel clapping while she walked over towards me.

"You're a natural! You might be a few levels behind me, but you might be faster than me."

"Oh, uh... Thanks. Did I do it correctly?"

Even for a simple move like that, it felt like all the air in my lungs was squeezed out.

"It was perfectly executed if you were to ask me. I'd give it a.... 9/10."

Zel patted my shoulder while I lowered my sword.

"You do look like you're having trouble with the speed and stopping it, but you'll get it eventually. Besides, it looks like you already know how to chain different skills together! Good job!"

With a pat and a thumbs up, she readied herself to show me another move.

"Okay, this time I need you to attack me."

"Okay, sure."

By the way she's standing and holding her sword, it must be a defensive move.

"Huh. Usually, people would be like 'What?!' or 'I can't hit a lady!' or something like that."

She chuckled as I prepared myself to hit her with an overhead strike.

"Anyway, the next move I'll teach you is called 'Block' and it's basically a way to raise your defense in combat. A more advanced form of this move is called 'Parry' which I'll show you later. For now, let's focus on this."

I gave her a nod and we both readied ourselves. My hands trembled slightly as I held the sword over my head, readying myself to strike it down at Zel, who hasn't even lifted her shield nor her sword to defend myself.

"Okay, here it comes!"

I held back a little as I brought down the sword towards Zel.

The sword was immediately deflected by her sword and it slid across its surface, sparks flying as it did. I took a look at my Adventurer's Plate while Zel inspected her shield. The skills Block and Parry appeared on it and it cost me 5 skill points all in all to learn both.

"Okay, I basically got the basics on how to use skills. What else should I learn?"

"I could teach you a few other skills, but let's stop at that for now."

Zel smiled and gave me a nudge on the shoulder. 

"But hey! You're a quick learner! Are you sure you never held a sword in your life before?"

Zel smiled brightly and excitedly while I chuckled at her nervously. I was about to tell her I picked it up from a few games that I played before, but how do I explain what a videogame is to someone living in a fantasy world?

"You pick up a thing or two from people around you, I guess."

Zel pouted at my answer but didn't say anything else about it. She simply turned away, and walked back to the entrance of the alley.

"Well, let's go train on some other day. The others might be waiting for us at the guild."

"S-Sure."

I followed after her as she murmured something.

Olivia was holding a piece of paper in her hands while Maria and Jin ate their breakfast of bread and soup. The Priest looked excited as she placed the paper down on the table.

"It's a good quest! A great one! No Goblins, no Orcs, no Giant Frogs or animals! And it pays good too!"

Yup, she's definitely excited to do something.

"Good morning. Hmm? What's this?"

Zel casually slid into the chair beside Maria before picking up the piece of paper. It looked like-

"A quest! We just have to gather some medicinal herbs from the forest!"

Hold on, something seems off.

"Eh, I'm not really in the mood for gatheirng some plants today. You guys go without me."

Jin's unenthusiastic voice dampened Olivia's spirits while Zel pondered on it.

"Ehhh?! Why not? The other quests have already been taken and the only ones left are either the hard ones or the super easy ones like this!"

Her puffed out cheeks made her look like a kid throwing a tantrum, but I kept my mouth shut while I sat down with them.

"Maria, thanks for lending me your cloak by the way."

"A-Ah, of course."

Her bashful smile was nice to look at, but I felt something hard hit me on the forehead.

"Oi, stop flirtin' with her."

"J-Jin!"

The Thief must've flicked a piece of bread at me, but I'm more concerned with the Archmage across from me. She must've crit with that attack since Maria's currently stunned and looking more like a tomato.

"Look, it's nice to see you guys getting along, but please be nice to Arthur here."

"Hmm? Oh! It's you again! Wait... Oh! You're registered now! Nice!"

Olivia beamed at me while Jin and Maria looked on as well.

"Is he part of the party now? Man, it's good to finally have a Swordsman on the party again!"

Her bubbly personality and energy made me feel guilty that I'm only gonna be joining them for one quest.

"Olivia, I'm-"

"Arthur's gonna be joining us for one quest. It might not be a good idea to drag someone into something they have no experience with."

"Yeah, should've said that the last time you pulled a stunt like this. What was his name? The boy who almost got mauled by some wolves?"

"If my recollection is correct, I think his name was Steven? Wait, no, Stefan! That Nordling child that almost got eaten by Gobl-"

"Okay, that's enough you two. It's all in the past now, let's forget about Stefan for now and focus on the matter at hand."

Jin and Maria just shot Zel a tired expression while she completely dodged the topic. By the looks of things, that incident is pretty well known around here.

"Well, I'm sure those things won't happen to Arthur, right guys?"

Olivia tried to lighten the mood, but Jin and Maria was still uneasy about me being me in the party.

The two of them exchanged uneasy glances with each other before looking back at Zel. She raised a brow at them ass Jin stood up from her seat with a serious expression. Immediately, she pointed at me before slamming down a fist onto the table.

"Look, this guy might not be prepared to deal with monsters! It'd be pretty fucking reckless if we just throw him out there with a sword and some armor."

Jin genuinely sounded like she was concerned. And she looked concerned too, which was odd.

I thought she didn't like me around, but I guess it must've been Maria.

"I understand your... concerns, but trust me. Arthur here is talented."

Zel, like always, sounded calm and collected. Jin sighed before shaking her head in dismay. 

"Fine. Fine, let's go on a quest right now and show me that this guy is capable. I don't want to deal with another idiot trying to be a hero so if anything goes wrong, I'm blaming you for this. And you!"

"Huh?!"

"Don't 'huh?' me! You better not get in the way or be dead weight for us, got it? I don't want to deal with damn shit like that again so you better pull your weight around here or I'll fucking kill you myself."

Usually, I'd be pretty irked when someone talks to me like that. This time, it just felt strange seeing a little girl angrily threatening me.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. You know, you'd look cuter if you weren't so angry."

"W-What?! What did ya' say to me?!"

Zel laughed while I tried to dodge a pissed loli's swings. Maria was holding back her laughter while at the same time trying to hold back Jin from throwing knives at me.

"Hey! It's not nice if you two can't get along!"

Olivia finally stood up and stopped Jin from trying to rip apart my face.

"Everyone in this table should be friends, and fighting between friends is not allowed here."

I stared at Olivia while she glared at Jin with a pout. She reminds me a lot of someone...

"I-It's his fault for- Tch, nevermind... Fucking-"

"Well, now that we've settled that... I think we should go on an easy quest for today."

Zel clapped her hands together before standing up and grabbing the bounty. We all looked at her while she equiped and fastened her small shield with a smile on her face. 

Noticing this, she turned to us with a curious look on her face.

"What? Those herbs aren't gonna pick themselves you know? Let's go before it hits noon, I don't want to miss lunch."

Zel said before walking off towards the front door. 

The sound of rustling leaves and birds singing made me question why I never went camping. If nature was this nice, why the hell did I stay-

"Oh! Hey! Hey! Jin! Look at this cute worm I found!"

"Wha- Eeeeeaaaah! What the fuck! Get it awaaaaa- Hiiiiiiiiyaaaaaa!"

The ear piercing screech of Jin might've deafened my ears, but at least I still have my sense of smell. The flowers around me looked pretty colorful and their gentle scent wafted through the air. 

"Olivia, please put down the caterpillar and stop chasing Jin."

Zel sighed while we watch Jin yell at Olivia from atop one of the trees. 

"You know, this things are just lying around everywhere. I wonder why they had to put up a quest for this."

I wiped off some off the sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand before picking the flowers and herbs around me.

"Well, the forest is usually a dangerous place to be in. Dire Wolves, Giga Boars, Iron-Claw Bears, and other monsters. Hopefully, we don't run into those things."

Zel's basket was nearly full with herbs, edible mushrooms, and some berries. 

"Zel, I've finished filling up mine. Do you need help with yours?"

Maria walked over to our spot, carrying a basket filled with-

Wait.

"M-Maria, where's the herbs?"

I pointed at the basket she was holding.

"Hmm? Oh, they must have been buried beneath the mullberries I gathered."

She dug through the pile and pulled out a large handful of the green plant we've been collecting.

"I... I... don't think that's enough but I thinnk it's fine."

I glanced over my shoulder to see Zel with staring at the large pile of mullberries Maria's holding.

"Are they ripe?"

"Of course! In fact, they're pretty sweet."

I could feel Zel restraining herself as she took a deep breath. 

"Okay. I think we're finished with the quest. We just needed a basket full of Vitality Plant but we've got...."

Zel looked at Olivia and Jin's baskets, which are only half full. 

"Three baskets! I guess we're done with the quest already."

She placed her hands around her waist while she smiled proudly. 

"That's a first, usually things would go wrong-"

I immediately glared at Olivia while she snacked on the mullberries Maria picked.

"Dude! You shouldn't say things like that!"

That right there surely must've triggered some flags. I drew my sword immediately and got into a defensive position.

"Oi! Oi! W-What the fuck are you doing?!"

Jin immediately dropped her basket and pulled out a pair of twin daggers.

"What do you think I'm doing?! Something's gonna pop out of those woods any second now!"

Everyone immediately raised their guard while Jin crouched doww onto the ground, pressing the palm of her hand onto the soft earth.

"L-Look, if something's coming, my Detect Presence skill would've picked it up instantly. And right-"

Her body stiffened up as she jumped back close to us, raising her daggers close to her face as she landed close to me.

"How many?"

Zel stepped forward, her sword and shield raised in the direction Jin was facing.

"3, and closing in fast!"

The three of us braced ourselves as the sound of bushes rustling grew louder and closer. 

The bushes erupted into a cloud of twigs and leaves as three raccoons the size of a large dog came rushing out towards us. They seem to be chasing each other, one even tried to swipe some mulberries but Zel threw scared it away with some rocks.

Nothing really happened other than a few berries got stolen by some trash pandas. Everyone let out a sigh of relief while we all watched the three raccoons scamper away into the forest with a handful of berries in their arms.

"G-Guess I overreacted there, haha!"

Jin glared at me before picking up her basket.

"Idiot."

She muttered out under her breath before walking away.

"W-Well, I guess that concludes today's quest. Let's go deliver these to the guild."

The tension in the air was still pretty thick and we were all on guard for the rest of the walk down the path after that incident. Olivia was walking like nothing happened and she's now moving onto the strange looking berries in her basket.

I felt a rock hit my leg as we walked down the path. I ignored it for now, it's probably Jin still pissed at me. A few more steps later and I felt it again, this time there was more force behind the throw. Once again, I tried my best to ignore the damn bitch and just walked forward while I bit my lip.

I'm definitely leaving this party.

For a few minutes, nothing happened. I was about to let out a sigh of relief when a fucking sharp rock hit and cut my shoulder. This time, I finally decided to turn around to confront Jin.

"Jin, can you stop throwing rocks at my feet? It's getting annoying now!"

"What the fuck are you talking about? I'm infront- Duck!"

The weight of her entire body came crashing against my chet as she tackled me to the ground. Seconds later, arrows came whizzing by around us, a few grazed Jin and one nearly hit her in the shoulder if I didn't block it with my shield.

"Goblins! Goblins around us!" 

Jin yelled out as a fucking fireball exploded beside us.

"Shit, are you okay?!"

I immediately got on my feet and activated the skill 'Block' to deflect some of the incoming arrows.

"I'm fine. Thanks."

Her angry tone was gone, replaced by a more serious and cold one as she took out some knives from beneath her cloak.

"Arthur! Jin! Are you okay?!"

"We're fine! How about you guys?"

"We're doing alright, I think!"

Zel blocked a few arrows with her shield, lodging themselves deep into it while she covered for Zel and Olivia.

"I'm sensing an entire pack of Goblins! I think they have a sha-"

Before she could finish, she immediately dashed to the side as a ball of flame was hurled towards her.

"Shit, a Goblin Shaman! Olivia!"

"O-On it!"

While the Archpriest casted some spell, Maria threw back some magic of her own. Compared to the fireball thrown at us earlier, Maria's magic looked more like a barrage of devastating artillery.

"Illyria, Grant us your Blessing! Barrier! Divine Protection!"

A familiar, white light wrapped around us and the grazes and cuts we sustained were healed by the holy light. At the same time, a large barrier engulfed us as we took a more defensive formation inside its safety.

Arrows bounced off the walls of the barrier but Maria's spells still pssed through unimpeded. The Archmage was burning away at the trees around us with her fireballs.

"Goblins. How are there Goblins here?"

Zel angrily dislodged the arrows in her shield as she said that. 

I could glimpse the shapes of the little bastards as they weaved through the trees. They seemed to have stopped firing for now, the barrage of fire being rained down upon them made them busy. An unlucky few got burnt to cinders after failing to dodge the massive ball of flame shot at them.

"First Orcs, now Goblins! What's next? The entire Demon Lord's army?!"

Zel's angry voice was pretty fucking terrifying as she gritted her teeth in anger.

Goblins armed with crude swords and spears emerged from the forest, their eyes locked on our positions. They hollered in a high pitched screech as they slowly surrounded us. They were now blocking our path out of the forest.

"Arthur! You take the ones on the right, I'll provide support for you on your left. Jin, stay here and cover Olivia and Maria's backs."

Everyone nodded at Zel while I readied myself to charge at the Goblins.

"This is fucking crazy."

I murmured out as the two of us readied ourselves.

"Kekekekeke! Ree! Ree! Tir kur kulu! Tir kur kulu!"

One of the Goblins raised its spear and pointed it at us while yelling out something incoherent.

At that moment, a barrage of arrows peppered our barrier once more while the group of Goblins blocking our way charged at us with their weapons raised.

"Go! Go now!" 

Immediately, the two of us charged the approaching mass while Zel shot some shards of ice ahead of us to pick off some of the Goblins.

I couldn't really see Zel through the chaos, so I kept pressing forward instead. One of the Goblins took a swipe at me which fortunately missed me. With a heavy swing to the right, its head flew and the Goblins body dropped to the ground.

"Shit! Arthur!"

Zel yelled out s she shoved some Goblins with her shield.

It seems I was surrounded by Goblins. I gripped my sword tightly as I blocked some of the attacks thrown at me from multiple angles. I was about to thrust my sword forward when a spear was suddenly chucked at me, breaking the shield on my arm and leaving a nasty wound.

"F-Fuck!" 

I cussed out as I took a swipe in front of me, slashing three Goblins in front of me.

"D-Dash!"

I envoked the skill as I prepared to dash through the small opening I made.

"Dash... Animation Cancel... Auto Attack... First Skill... Auto Attack... Second Skill... Auto Attack... Animation Cancel into Another Dash and Extend Third Skill with Blink..."

I mouthed the familiar combo while I did my best to remember how it looked like in the game.

I breathed through my teeth before leaping forward and immediately slashing around me. I followed it with another skill, Empowered Strike then chained it with another called Extended Thrust. My body moved fast, my movements were much more light and fluid than I expected but it made my arms ache with every move.

With another Dash, I could feel the muscles in my legs cramp as I lashed out in front of me. But it did the trick, I broke through the encirclement and I'm now standing beside Zel.

"S-Shit... We... need to... do something... about this!"

I said between heavy pants as I deflected some arrows shot at me. 

The Goblins around us are now weary, keeping their distance away from us after my attack. Zel seeed pretty tired as well, but she looks like she could still hold out unlike me. 

"We need to take out the Shaman."

"Okay, so where is- Gwah! Fuck off!"

"You alright?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Some Goblin threw a rock at my knee but I'm good."

The Goblins around us were definitely keeping their distance. I gritted my teeth as I threw back the stone at one of the Goblins.

"We just need to kill the Shaman in the forest. But first, we need to break through them!"

Zel glared at the wall of Goblins blocking our path. They cackled with ther annoying laugh as they tried to jab their spears at us.

"We just... We just need to breakthrough, right?"

"Yeah... why?"

A smug smile formed on my face as I raised my sword.

"I have a plan."

Zel looked at me with a concerned yet intrigued expression.

"W-What is it?"

"Pro-Gamer move."

"W-Wha-"

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck iiiiiiiiit!"

"Arthur?!"

Zel trailed behind me as I charged headlong into the swarm of Goblins. Boy was she angry at what I just did and boy were those bastards confused!

The Goblins raised their weapons in a futile attempt to defend themselves, but with one slash...

I found myself in the midst of a pack of Goblins.