I Met Her First... The Mid-Grade Spirit Undine
Once we reached the clearing where Sein and I had washed the dishes, he stepped forward with newfound confidence and began leading the way to the colony. It was quite a sight—Undine was clearly feeding him detailed directions, as he kept glancing back to throw out lines like, "I think it's this way," or "I see tracks here," successfully earning the trust of the rookie mercenary.
As we pushed deeper into the forest, a small cave entrance came into view, just as Sein had said. Seeing two goblins clumsily clad in looted armor standing guard, there was no doubt this was the goblin colony. I hadn't doubted it anyway, knowing Undine was guiding him, but since Sein was staring at me with wide, expectant eyes practically begging for praise, I patted him on the shoulder a few times.
"Good job. We were in such a hurry to leave earlier, when did you manage to memorize the location of their colony?"
Startled by my question, Sein's eyes darted around as he tried to fumble for an excuse. He scratched his head and finally answered.
"Uh... I saw some of the goblins that were hiding flee in this direction. Hehe."
It was a laughably transparent lie. But pressing him further would only make him defensive, so I decided to let it slide. Hiding behind the thick brush, I signaled the rookie mercenary and Sein with my hands. There were currently two goblins on guard. I would take one, and the two of them together should be more than enough to handle the other.
I folded my fingers, counting down three seconds. Gulp. The rookie mercenary and Sein swallowed hard in their tension, their eyes glued to my hand. Three, two, one. I closed my fist and lunged forward. At the rustling sound, one of the goblins turned its head. The moment our eyes met, I sliced its throat clean through. Its head flew off, rolling away limply like a kicked soccer ball.
"Ugh...!"
Sein braced his shortsword with both hands, struggling to push back the goblin's longsword. While he successfully locked blades, the rookie mercenary swung his own longsword in a wide, clumsy arc, barely managing to slash the goblin's neck. Leaving behind the goblin as it collapsed, clutching its dangling head, I signaled the two of them to keep quiet.
Peering inside, the cave was dead silent. It was dark, but a faint, flickering light deep within suggested there was definitely something inside. After quickly looting the dead goblins in hushed silence, the two of them pressed close to my back as we peered further into the cavern.
"Keep as quiet as possible. Let's go."
We moved slowly, stepping carefully through the dim cave.
Step, step.
How far had we walked? The long passage finally ended, revealing a sharp turn ahead. Beyond the corner, torches were mounted on the walls, illuminating the path. Sensing something was off, I pulled the group back a few steps and whispered.
"There are torches mounted on the walls. This isn't a simple colony. Let's pull back."
The rookie mercenary stepped in front of Sein, protesting immediately.
"What are you talking about? We've made it all the way here, let's just get on with it."
"Goblins carry torches around; they don't mount them on walls like that. Our scouting mission is a success, so we should head back and report."
"Man, for a Silver Rank, you sure are quick to tuck your tail. They're just lousy goblins. Go ahead and run if you're that scared."
"Stop acting like a fool and listen to me. Unless you want your skull crushed, follow me out."
"Yeah, yeah. Did you get your Silver Rank by selling your ass? You're a total coward. I'm going to secure my share, so feel free to head out first~"
The rookie mercenary scoffed, stood up, and began marching forward with arrogant strides. There was always one—some idiot who treated warnings like a joke and did whatever the hell he wanted. The fact that torches were mounted on the walls and the guards were properly equipped meant these monsters possessed a degree of intelligence. There was bound to be a higher-tier goblin than a Hobgoblin here.
If a Goblin Shaman or something similar showed up, there was no way I could defeat it while dragging two deadweights along. But since he was practically begging to throw his life away, I had no intention of stopping him. I gestured to the hesitating Sein to follow me out, but he stood there, fidgeting, and refused to budge.
"Hyung-nim, let's not leave him. We should bring him back... I have a bad feeling about this."
A throbbing headache bloomed behind my eyes. I covered my face and let out a heavy sigh. An arrogant blockhead who wouldn't listen to a damn word, and a naive brat sticking his nose where it didn't belong. I wanted to leave them both behind and just go back. Peeking through my fingers, I saw Undine clinging to Sein's face, praising him with a "Good boy~" look. Pathetic.
Looking at the determination in Sein's eyes, he wasn't going to back down easily. I quickly calculated the consequences of leaving them. If I abandoned the rookie, Sein and Undine would likely harbor resentment toward me, and the merchant caravan wouldn't look kindly on me leaving a companion behind either. It would be easier if the idiot just died, but I doubted Sein would keep his mouth shut about it.
"Sigh... I don't have the luxury to babysit you. I'm not joking."
I lowered my voice and glared at him. He needed to learn when to give up; I absolutely detested cleaning up after children. Despite the suffocating tension, Sein kept his eyes on me and nodded resolutely.
"Y-yes! I-I'll take care of myself!"
Talk is cheap. Annoyed, I flicked him hard on the forehead before pressing myself against the wall and moving forward. Wiping away a tear from the sting, Sein clung close to my side as he followed. As we rounded the corner and pushed deeper, the clashing of weapons echoed from a short distance away. The rookie mercenary was definitely in a fight.
Quickening our pace, we found the rookie surrounded by four goblins, his body already covered in shallow cuts. The shield strapped to his left arm seemed to be purely decorative. He was completely overwhelmed, flailing helplessly as the goblins lunged at him from all sides with their daggers.
I lunged toward a leaping goblin and slashed diagonally.
Whoosh!
With a sharp whistle of parting air, the goblin's upper torso was sliced clean in half. I kicked the corpse aside with a wet thud, dashed forward, and drove my gauntleted fist straight into the face of another leaping goblin. Unable to redirect its momentum, the goblin's nose collapsed under the impact of the metal. Dropping its dagger, it rolled on the ground, clutching its shattered face.
"Squeeeak! Kiek, kiek..."
I stomped on the goblin's head and drove my blade straight through its heart. A fountain of dark blood soaked the stone floor. I turned to clean up the remaining two, only to see the rookie mercenary finishing one off by bashing its head, while the last one was locked in a frantic struggle with Sein.
"Ugh...!"
Sein did his best to parry the daggers, but when he saw an opening after deflecting the goblin's arm, his thrust with the shortsword went wide. Instead of piercing the throat as intended, his blade slipped and stabbed the creature directly in the eye. Blinded and driven into a frenzy, the goblin began thrashing wildly, swinging its dagger with reckless abandon. Though none of the wild swings connected cleanly, they carried terrifying force.
"Kikikik! Squeeeak!"
Unable to close the distance, Sein was slowly accumulating minor cuts. His clothes were torn, and blood was beginning to drip from his arms. Realizing he would get seriously hurt if left alone, I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, threw him backward, and severed the frenzied goblin's head in a single stroke.
"Squeeeak!"
I caught my breath, trying to steady my racing heart. Other goblins could swarm us at any moment, drawn by the noise. Yet, the rookie mercenary was already busy looting the goblin corpses with a gleeful grin. Seeing this, Sein hesitated for a moment before joining in to help. I couldn't take it anymore.
"Fuck, we need to get out of here right now. Pack it up! Are you out of your minds?"
"Come on, boss, you're here now anyway. We should go deeper. Look! These guys are nothing."
The rookie untied his cloak, laid it on the ground, and tossed the severed goblin ears onto it. Then, he drove his knife into a goblin's chest, slicing it open to rummage through its chest cavity. After digging around for a while, he let out a loud laugh and pulled his hand back. Clutched in his bloody fingers was a small magic stone.
I stared at him, seriously contemplating whether I should just kill him myself, when Sein approached me after finishing his own looting.
"I-I'm sorry."
"Forget it."
Her chiming in to mock me from the side was incredibly irritating. I suppressed my rising anger, keeping my eyes on the rookie to see how far he would push his luck, when I suddenly sensed something highly unusual coming from the direction where he had gone to retrieve a severed head.
Feeling a sudden wave of intense heat even from a distance, I slammed my hand onto Sein's head, forcing him to the ground, and screamed.
"Get down!!!"
"What nonsense are you talking ab—"
BOOM!
A massive fireball erupted from behind the rookie, who had been posing with his hands on his hips. The flames instantly enveloped him, swallowing him whole. The magical fire clung to his flesh, searing deep into his very bones.
"Aaaaargh!!! H-help me! Help me!!!"
He immediately threw himself onto the ground, rolling frantically to extinguish the flames, but it was useless. He tossed aside his shield and longsword, thrashing and screaming for help, but the fire showed no signs of dying down. Instead, it only burned hotter and brighter.
I grabbed the cloak laid out on the ground and began beating it against the mercenary's body. With no water nearby, this was the only option.
"Water skin! Get the water skin!"
I barked at Sein, but he was too busy dry-heaving at the sight of the burning mercenary. Like the child he was, the horrific scene had sent him into a panic, leaving him completely paralyzed.
Undine urged him from the side, but Sein, currently emptying his stomach, didn't seem to hear her. As I frantically beat the cloak, I suddenly felt a massive spike of heat. Sensing danger, I immediately dropped the cloak and rolled to the side.
BOOM!
Another fireball slammed into the wall, shattering the rock. Shrapnel flew everywhere, and a thick cloud of dust kicked up from the falling debris, obscuring my vision. Through the haze, something began to approach from the far end of the passage.
Step, step.
"Keeereek... Hu... man..."
It wore wolf pelts draped over its waist and shoulders, with a necklace made of strung-together human skulls. The staff in its hand was clearly no ordinary piece of wood. There was only one type of goblin that collected human skulls and could speak broken Common.
A Goblin Shaman had appeared. Standing beside it as a bodyguard was a Hobgoblin, drooling as it glared at us. It was even larger than the Hobgoblin that had raided the carriage earlier, and its face was covered in strange, glowing runes. It was undoubtedly a buff cast by the Shaman.
I stayed as low to the ground as possible, holding my breath. If I waited for them to get close enough, I could use all my strength to instantly assassinate one of them. After that, I just had to find a way to deal with the remaining one.
Glancing back, I saw Sein had finally stopped dry-heaving and was frantically rummaging through his pockets for a magic stone. Undine was watching him with desperate eyes, suggesting she could temporarily manifest her power if she had one. However, Sein couldn't seem to find any. He stared down at his turned-out pockets with a look of utter despair.
Spotting a magic stone lying near the charred corpse of the rookie mercenary, I gestured frantically to Sein. He caught my eye, looked in the direction I was pointing, and immediately began dry-heaving again. Fuck, look at the magic stone, not the corpse!
The Goblin Shaman and the Hobgoblin were now dangerously close. They licked their lips as they stared at the retching Sein. If I hesitated any longer, I wouldn't be able to take down either of them. Now!
I lunge forward in a flash, unsheathing my longsword and aiming a decapitating strike at the Goblin Shaman's neck. But just as the blade was about to connect, a massive club swung in from the side, blocking my sword and throwing off my trajectory.
Thud!
My longsword bit halfway into the wooden club before losing its momentum. Having sensed my killing intent, the Hobgoblin grunted and began pushing me back toward the wall. As I struggled to maintain my balance while being forced backward, I saw the Goblin Shaman's eyes glow in the background as it began chanting a spell.
I threw all my weight into the blade, momentarily throwing the Hobgoblin off balance. Startled by the sudden surge of pressure, the beast faltered. In that split second, I unleashed a punch straight into its face. My heavy metal gauntlet completely crushed the Hobgoblin's nose.
Crack!
"Squeeeak!!!"
As the Hobgoblin clutched its face with one hand, I ripped my longsword free from the club and slashed diagonally. The blade severed the beast's wrist, sending the massive club clattering to the ground along with its hand. I didn't stop, immediately aiming another slash at its neck, but a sudden wave of intense heat washed over my face. I curled my body and rolled aside just in time as a fireball grazed the Hobgoblin's head and blasted into the wall behind me.
Rumble...
Covering my mouth to block out the swirling dust, I roared at the dazed Sein.
"Find the magic stone and feed it to her, now!!! You said you'd take care of your own fucking self!"
Snapping out of his daze at my roar, Sein jerked his head up. With trembling eyes, he began crawling forward. Grabbing the dead mercenary's shield and longsword, he swept his hands across the dusty floor, desperately searching for the magic stone.