Goblin Battle

I snap out quick orders as the horde eyes us. "Millie, we need AoE effects as soon as you can. Switch to buffs when they get close. Elva, make sure she doesn't die. Kodian," a savage grin crosses my face, "you're with me in tearing them apart."

"Um, what are 'aoe' and 'buffs'?" Hearing the question, I groan. There are goblins pulling back on their bowstrings, and she's asking questions!

"Things that affect an area, and things that benefit your allies. Now start singing NOW!" The goblins loose, and I watch as at least ten arrows fly towards us. Seeing as I'm the only one who can use magic, I use wind magic to create a downdraft that causes the arrows to land in front of us.

Elva has her daggers drawn and is standing just behind Millie, watching the goblins with a nervous expression. Millie is trying to think of what song she can sing, and Kodian has transformed his weapon into a two-handed sword. My claws are coated in wind, making them sharper and slightly increasing their reach.

Seeing their arrows fail to reach their targets, the goblins start moving forward, screeching for blood. Thankfully, Millie finally picks a song to sing.

"Love~, is a burning thing~! And it makes a fiery rain~. Bound by wild desire~. I fell into a ring of fire~." Her song causes flames to erupt in front of us, encircling the front ranks of the goblin horde. Some of them are unable to stop and rush into it, coming out the other side still screeching, though now in pain.

Those behind them try to skid to a stop, but the ones in the back continue to push forward, causing more of them to burn. Of course, just because they're on fire doesn't mean they're dead. But it does mean none of us want to get close to finish them off. But that's what magic is for!

I launch some weaker wind blades at them, cutting into their chests. That, coupled with the damage from the fire, is enough to end them. The kill notifications pop up, but I push them aside for the moment to focus on what the goblins are doing.

They're watching us with hatred clear in their red eyes. Completely red, with no sign of any other color. But my attention is drawn to the ones outside of the flames that are approaching us.

Kodian steps with me as we cautiously approach the group, matching their movements. I used one hundred mana on the flaming goblins, which leaves me with three hundred-sixty left. Though it sounds like a lot, given the amount of enemies I need to ration it. That's not even counting the twenty that's been reserved for my claws. So in actuality it's three-forty.

Once we're far enough away from our other two members, the goblins seem to gain the confidence to take us on. They charge forward, a variety of weapons raised. They mainly consist of large pieces of wood that are being used as clubs, though there are a scattering of metal weapons as well. Though they're mostly rusted to the point I expect them to break the moment they strike something.

And then I don't have time to see more as they're upon us. I step forward as I swing my claws, taking out the throats of the two front runners and avoiding the swing of a particularly large goblin's club.

Spinning on my heel, I stiffen my fingers and drive my claws into its chest, piercing through up to my wrist. I swing my free hand and launch the wind on my claws at another goblin wielding a rusty kitchen knife. It's not enough to kill it, but it does fall back from the surprise and pain.

As I pull my hand free from the goblin corpse, I chance a quick look in Kodian's direction. I'm just in time to see him behead a goblin with an almost disdainful flick of his sword, joining the seven bodies of its allies on the ground. He's got this handled.

I finish off the wounded goblin, bringing the amount of goblins I've dealt with up to four. With no others attacking me, I take stock of the rest of the battlefield. The flames around the rest of the goblins are starting to die down, though they look torn between going into a rage or running for their lives.

With Millie and Elva, I see them standing above two more goblins. Millie's face is pale, while Elva is looking at them a bit queasily while breathing heavily. They'll definitely need a rest after this. The flames die down and I fully focus my attention on the remaining half of the goblins.

The two groups stare at each other once again, and for a moment it seems as if the previous events will repeat themselves. But instead of charging at us, a deep screech from the center of their group rings out and they turn around and run.

Blinking and ears twitching in surprise, I watch them go. One goblin, larger than the rest and holding a surprisingly unrusted cleaver, looks back and meets my eyes. But as quickly as they meet, they continue past me to instead focus on Kodian, who glares back at it.

And then they're gone, leaving their dead behind. As well as the experience we've gained from killing them. But again, I push the notifications aside in order to take stock of our situation. The goblins may have left, but that doesn't mean that they'll stay gone. A quick count tells me that there are twenty-four bodies on the ground, which means the horde that attacked us started with fifty goblins.

Now, I'm not sure if that's considered 'normal' or not, but for a group of four that sounds more than a bit unreasonable. Even if we did manage to fight them off without too much trouble. A quick glance reveals that I ended the fight with just over three hundred mana. Since I doubt launching the wind claws took more than ten mana and the last air slash cost an additional ten, I'm guessing that when I coat my claws they automatically take more mana from me to maintain their shape and power.

But that's not important right now. I sigh in relief that the fight is over and make my way over to the other girls who are still staring down at their own dead goblins, quickly followed by Kodian who's keeping his eyes on our surroundings. It's a good thing he was here, or that would have been a much more difficult fight. We might have even lost someone.

"Are you girls injured?" They shake their heads numbly while I give an absent nod. "Good. That's good. Kodian, do you mind keeping an eye out while we check our gains?We'll do the same for you in a few moments. Getting a brisk nod in reply, I nod back.

"Good. That's good. Accept your gains, distribute your points if you've leveled up." And so I finally let my own notifications pop up.