Everyone Has a Plan
There exists a book titled On the Ecology of Monsters.
According to that book, monsters of every kind act alone. Modern research suggests this habit arose because any encounter between them inevitably turns into a fight over who gets to impregnate the other.
They love impregnating more than anything — and hate being impregnated themselves.
Talk about a double standard, Freyja thought.
"Hup!"
Anyway, if monsters operated solo, then the only thing she needed to watch out for right now was the goblin right in front of her. Creatures with virtually zero sense of teamwork — even if another one heard the noise and came running, the two of them would more likely start fighting each other.
"It dodged that?!"
Watching the goblin weave past a cascade of lightning spears, Freyja clicked her tongue.
"Blast!"
Flame erupted from the staff aimed at the goblin. A powerful beam of fire tore through the forest, scorching everything in its path.
"Tch."
The goblin burst through the black smoke and broke into a sprint. Freyja tracked it and kept firing Blast after Blast.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Beams of flame melted trees and ground alike. Black smoke billowed upward, and the sparse patches of grass still clinging to the earth caught fire in a wash of red.
"…"
Lowering her staff, Freyja cycled her mana. There was a saying: a mage grows stronger the more she prepares. It was the phrase that defined mages best — because the more thoroughly they prepared, the stronger, more complex, and more varied the magic that protected them became. That was why, unlike magic swordsmen who charged monsters with a single blade, mages preferred to dig traps and lure their prey into designated kill zones.
"Hoo."
But there were always exceptions, and real combat was full of variables. In a sudden fight or an ambush, proper preparation simply wasn't an option.
"I can see everything."
Laying groundwork even in the middle of a sudden battle — that was the basic discipline of a first-rate mage.
"Kieek!"
The goblin burst from the ash-choked underbrush and charged, aiming for Freyja's back. But as she'd said — she could see it all.
"I told you, I can see everything."
Shhk.
A short, sharp sound of severance, followed by the rush of wind. Writhing in sudden agony, the goblin's eyes found Freyja's staff pointed at the ground.
"Ground Hole."
The earth collapsed. An earth-element spell that opened a massive pit — a shaft plunging dozens of meters underground. The goblin's heavy body began to fall.
"Well, this alone won't kill it…"
At best, it would wear the thing down.
"Air Slash."
Raising her staff high, Freyja chanted. Blades of wind materialized in the air and poured down into the pit. Of every school of magic, wind magic boasted the finest cutting power — a spell capable of slicing even a monster's tough hide, weakened though the creature already was by ambush and attrition. Dozens, hundreds of blades rained into the hole.
"Hoo. That should have drained enough of its strength."
Defeating a monster through external blows alone was all but impossible. To take one down, you had to detonate it from the inside. And this — this was the work of wearing it down so that internal assault would go more smoothly. Freyja kept attacking until she felt it was enough, then let out a small breath.
"Did I overdo it a little?"
Maybe it was because she'd been firing off Blast in rapid succession — a spell that already guzzled mana. She hadn't expected the thing to dodge every single one…
"Hoo. All right, time to pull it out. The mana I scattered into the air is gone, too…"
She stopped her barrage and peered down into the hole.
"Huh?"
What she saw was not a battered goblin, but an empty floor.
Did it… die?
"No. No way…"
She banished the thought and scanned her surroundings. Not the sky — her attacks had definitely landed, and if the thing had leaped upward she would have seen it. Stealth, then? No. She'd never heard of a goblin using stealth; that was orc territory. Which left…
"Below?!"
The word burst out thick with shock — and in the same instant, a dirt-caked green hand punched up from under her feet.
"Aqua Wall!"
The goblin erupted from the earth, clawing its way up. A barrier of water caught its follow-up strike, and Freyja scrambled backward.
"Kiiiek!"
"Lightning Spear!"
"Ki—kieeeek!!"
Lightning spears slammed into the water-soaked goblin. Aimed dead at its heart, the spears should have dropped it — but the goblin only staggered for a moment before calmly walking toward her.
"Air Slash."
Freyja's staff carved a straight line from high to low. A slash of wind shot toward the goblin at high speed — and then,
Clang!
A sound like metal on metal, and the slash rebounded.
"What…!"
The goblin had swatted the slash aside. The deflected blade of wind carved through trees and rock before vanishing.
It deflected that?! No — more importantly…!
That arm just now…?
"Ah."
Complacency? Or had she simply failed to notice? In a blink the goblin was right in front of her, clenching a hand it shouldn't have been able to use, drawing it back for a punch.
"Aqua—!"
Thud!
Before her magic could form a defense, the fist drove clean into her lower belly.
"Oof—♥"
With an undignified cry, Freyja's body went flying.
"Gh… ghk… o-ohh…♥"
She slammed into a thick tree and coughed, wheezing for air. Trembling hands pressed against the ground as she forced herself up, eyes fixed on the goblin walking slowly toward her. The Aqua Wall she'd barely managed to deploy had acted like an airbag, absorbing some of the impact — the only reason she could still move.
"Hoo… ngh…"
Her vision swam. The shock hadn't fully dissipated, and her head was foggy — but even so, Freyja's eyes raked over the goblin's body.
"The scars on its wrists… ah. So that's what it was…"
Damn it…
I completely screwed up…
The scars that should have been there — at the wrists and elbows — were gone. Those scars were why the goblin couldn't use its arms. Probably a curse of irreversible damage. With a regenerative ability that could even regrow severed limbs, there was no way ordinary scars would have stayed unless something was actively preventing healing.
And my Air Slash cut off those 'unhealable arms.'
Once the arms were severed, the goblin would have started regenerating them — and the newly grown arms could be used freely…
"Damn it…"
I had it completely wrong…
"Hoo."
Freyja clicked her tongue and looked up at the goblin. It was grinning down at her. What came next was obvious without looking.
"Shit… I wanted to wear it down more if I could…"
The goblin seized her by the throat and lifted her. Apparently deciding she was spent, it spun her around, pressed her against the tree, and snickered.
Gripping the thick, rough bark, Freyja naturally pushed her hips back.
"Damn it…"
Feeling her dolphin shorts slide slowly down, she squeezed her eyes shut.
"Ngh… hwoo…♥"
The goblin's massive cock pushed in, inch by inch. Expansion magic and protective magic activated, wrapping her womb — and her entire pussy — in a layer of defense.
"Augh…"
I wanted to take the lead in my first real fight at least… Nothing's going my way.
"Nngh…!"
The cock pressed hard against her womb, filling her pussy completely. Freyja clenched down around it.
"Kieek…!"
"Shut… up…! The initiative… is mine, got it…?"
"Ki—kieek!"
Slap!
A stinging heat bloomed across her ass. Freyja's face twisted slightly as she cried out.
"Augh…! Seriously…"
Her ass flushed red in an instant. Staring at the clear handprint left behind, Freyja's face burned.
Slowly, the goblin's hips began to move.
"Nghik…! N-nhoo…♥"
The jolt of her womb being crushed. Even with magical protection, the pleasure rising through her was beyond anything she'd imagined. Goblin fluids were said to have mild aphrodisiac properties — and this felt stronger than any of the training compounds she'd used. Her head went blank.
"Nghik…♥"
Lost in a white haze of pleasure, Freyja reflexively clenched her pussy tight around it — the product of countless mornings of practice and training.