2 Chapter 2

Dusk began to settle on this new world. The free trial was now over, and the monsters were real. Luckily, we didn't run into any monsters on the way back to my apartment. We made our way quickly inside and locked the doors. Once we felt safe, sleep came easily even after everything that's happened.

I woke with a start not long after falling asleep. There was a banging sound on my door. "Maeama?" I called. No response. I approached the door with a fireball at the ready, and I slowly twisted the knob. The door opened slightly and I was knocked off my feet as a monster pushed through the door.

I quickly stood back up and readied another fireball. The monster lunged at me, but I dodged just in time and counterattacked with my fireball. The fireball flew through the air and hit the creature square in the back. The monster fell to the back, rolling in pain. The rolling continued until, finally, the creature let out a shriek and died.

When I was sure the creature was finished, I went to check on Maeama. I knocked on her door and heard her sit up. "Good morning," she answered, "Give me a moment." I went back to my room to get ready for the day. I pulled my clothes on, grabbed my weapons and tablet, and finally headed out of my room to wait for Maeama.

She emerged, some ten minutes later, from her room. "I'm ready for a new day," she said enthusiastically. I nodded and followed, as she lead the way out the door, into the open world. Not far down the street, I spotted another monster. It looked just like the one that attacked me this morning. It was a skinny, green creature. It had to be a goblin.

I stopped Maeama. "There's a goblin up there, do you think you can show me some of your rogue skills?" I asked her. She nodded and signaled for me to wait here. I watched curiously as she got into a low crouch and slowly crept towards the goblin's backside. The goblin was completely oblivious to her presence. She got within striking range, and with a swift swing, she cut its back open, causing it to fall dead onto the floor.

She got up and walked back to me. "Impressed?" she asked with a smirk. I nodded. "You have to show me next," she teased. We continued walking, hoping to arrive at the village soon.

The sun was high in the sky when we spotted the village. Excited to start our journey officially, we picked up the pace until we were almost in a run. There was an uneasy feeling building up when we entered the village. Maeama grabbed my arm. "Something's wrong... It's noon, but nobody is out. Keep your guard up," she advised.

Almost immediately after she said that, we were rushed by four goblins. My hornet swarm materialized beside me, as I readied my staff. The hornets swarmed the closest goblin, and I hurled a fireball at the second. The goblin panicked and lead the fire to the other goblins. Within seconds, there was a group of burning goblins falling to the floor.

Maeama hadn't moved a muscle by the time the goblins lay dead. She applauded me for making quick work of the goblins. "You were right, it must be that rogue sense," I teased before heading further into the village. We walked into the town hall, and once again, Maeama stopped me. "I feel eyes all over us, get ready," she warned.

We walked a few more paces into the building, and sure enough, we were ambushed. Queen Hornet led her army to the archer goblins, giving Maeama and I a chance to fight the ground troops. I sent a fireball into the middle of the ambush and readied my dagger.

Their numbers were large, but our strength was larger. The first wave rushed me. I side-stepped the first goblin's lunge and plunged my dagger into its head. Another goblin dived at me, but I pushed it away as I freed my dagger from the prison that was a goblin skull. I spun around and shot out another fireball, hitting the closest goblin. The goblin flew back into the crowd and burning two other goblins.

I turned to check on Maeama as she hurled a goblin off into the crowd. When I turned back to my own fight, there were three goblins charging me. I raised my dagger in defense, but I was still knocked off my feet. I quickly raised my staff, deflecting an attack thrown at me. The Queen and her horde had finished the archers and began helping me with my goblin pile.

After a long battle, Maeama and I laid there, exhausted. Our bodies sore from all of the fighting. I stood up slowly, using my staff as a support. "Give me one moment," I said to Maeama. I chanted the words for my healing spell. A green aura formed around me as I wobbled over to Maeama. She grabbed my extended hand, and I raised her to her feet. All of her wounds and bruises were slowly fading away. "Thank you," she laughed.

After resting a little while longer, we left the town hall. The air had cleared outside, and we could see the beautiful sunset. We walked down the street to the abandoned inn and fell asleep in one of the rooms.

When we came to the next morning, we walked out of the inn and saw a mysterious stranger waiting on the steps of the town hall.