Goblins

Along with the other guards, we had been walking for over half an hour now. I wasn't tired yet, however, the armor that I was wearing made me use up my energy at a more taxing pace than I would have normally. During this time some of the guards opened up to me and congratulated me for passing the formation stage. Kaelen, who was the youngest guard at just seventeen years old, couldn't stop asking me how I had done it. I learned that he didn't form his core until he was thirteen years old and even then he was known as being lucky since he was a commoner, right now he was nearing the peak of the expansion stage.

The Blackwood family had taken in Kaelen after he formed his core and tutored him to the point he's at now, he got offered resources and gold for being a member of the guards and he became loyal to the family ever since.

"Eyes up!" One of the crystallization stage guards who were leading our group burst out, everyone had put their hands on their swords to prepare for a fight. I quickly followed and gripped the handle of my sword on my side. Roving my eyes up and around us, I spotted three green nasty creatures, "It's three goblins, Kaelen you get one and I'll get the other. We'll follow the third one to find their camp."

I saw Kaelen draw his sword and run to the other guard as they both engaged with the goblins, they were over four times as big as the goblins whereas I might just be a bit bigger than two goblins. The goblins were truly frightened as they were in a small group, they quickly drew their crude weapons which seemed like they tied thicker sticks and rough metal together in hopes of wielding a semblance of a weapon. It would pale in comparison to the armaments of this patrol.

With just one slash Kaelen had chopped the head off one of the goblins, my eyes could only catch him suddenly going from the starting position of his strike to the finish. His strike was fast and clean as you could see the head start rolling with its tongue sticking out and the body simply falling.

On the other end, the crystallization stage acolyte had also swiftly dealt with the second goblin, the third goblin simply dropping his weapon and sprinting into the foliage.

In that instant, I felt as if my whole body needed to heave. If I had eaten anything today then it would have probably come out unpleasantly.

"Just some foraging goblins, we'll follow the last one to their camp as it shouldn't be far." I realized that the crystallization stage acolyte was most likely the field leader as Uncle Darius didn't even bother to uncross his arms at the back of the group and simply followed the group of guards.

I let go of the handle of my sword and proceeded to follow the front of the group which had sped up to not lose the goblin throughout the dense forest. Unknowingly I had fallen to the back of the group where Uncle Darius was. After a few minutes of running between the dark trees I could sense not far away a concentration of mana, it must have been the camp of goblins.

"Don't let any escape!" The crystallization stage acolyte shouted and everyone drew their swords and started to fight the goblins.

"Wait here." Darius spoke to me when I already had my sword drawn and before I could even ask him why I was waiting he disappeared from my vision. I held my sword out in front of me like I was taught and observed the camp. Some of the guards were slaughtering the goblins without problem whereas others were in tough battles.

A number of the goblins must have known basic combat skills and could contend with weaker acolytes, however, after a moment their demise was the same as the rest of the goblins. In the distance, I could see Uncle Darius simply picking up one of the goblins by its neck and bringing it towards me.

He dropped the goblin down in front of me as it looked directly into my eyes with terror, it knew it couldn't run anywhere but straight ahead as Uncle Darius would have it dead without it even knowing what happened.

"This is your fight today." Uncle Darius had a smile on his face, I knew if I messed this up then I would be in deep trouble.

The goblin started to run at me with its crude sword in hand, I could see that it was preparing to simply swing from above its head downwards. I was not expecting the goblin to be so fast, I quickly moved my sword to the diagonal position to take the attack. Nonetheless, the attack did not come too fast. Due to training with Uncle Darius and him never holding back, I had gotten good at predicting where his attacks would come from and now I was one step ahead of the goblin. 

When the goblin's sword had been reflected by my blade I simply used its position to quickly take a step forward and slash from the side. I couldn't feel any resistance in the path as the goblin had ducked, it used its small size to its advantage and it was already going for another attack on me. I wouldn't allow it.

I changed the direction of my blade right away and lunged at the goblin, before it could prepare its attack my blade was already closing in on it, the goblin simply took a step back and I grazed the goblin slightly, I could see its murky blood slowly dripping from the shallow wound on its chest. 

I finally let out a small breath, my focus was heightened and I knew I had the advantage over the scared goblin. I could see it starting to shake and look for ways to escape, I knew I had to strike quickly before it could plan another strike.

While it was distracted I pivoted and thrust my sword into its chest, I thought I had the drop on the goblin, however, it managed to deflect the blade making it miss its heart clumsily but still make contact with its chest. This was still a devastating strike that guaranteed my victory.

When I withdrew the sword from its chest I could see the outpour of blood from its small, frail body. My stomach yet again started to feel heavy as I saw the open wound on the goblin. It had fallen on the floor and held out its crude sword towards me which was on the verge of breaking.

It was clear that its fate would be decided in moments.

"Finish it off." Uncle who was still behind the goblin with his arms crossed told me. He wasn't bothered about anything going on behind him and was simply focused on my fight.

Knowing the goblin wouldn't be able to strike me, I took up my sword for a powerful slash and I went for the finishing move on the goblin's neck. I made the largest arc I could to maximize speed and power. The goblin tried to block the strike from its position but all it did was simply slow my attack by one degree. I could feel the resistance meeting my blade as it cleaved through the goblin's neck.

I simply watched as his arm flailed down to its side, the crude sword dropping. The head rolled to the side and its body fell backward. I had killed it. My vision started to blur as I let out another breath, that swing had taken a lot of energy from me. I simply observed as the goblin's eyes dimmed.

I could no longer suppress my stomach, I had thrown up whatever was in my body at this time. "I'm sorry, Uncle Darius." I wiped the side of my mouth and apologized for throwing up.

"Don't worry about it, well done on beating a goblin. That'll be all for today, rest up." As Uncle observed the battlefield he could see how all but one of the goblins had been defeated. He turned back to me and walked up to the goblin lying on the floor.

Crouching down, he stabbed his dagger into its chest and plucked out a small crystal. Its multifaceted array of colors caught the sun's shining light. "This is yours, keep it safe." He then chucked the crystal into my hands.

I sat against one of the trees and inspected the crystal. All monsters had one within their body and based on its size one could tell the power of a monster. For example, this goblin wasn't very strong so it had a dim and small crystal. Acolytes and mages could absorb the energy in these crystals to speed up their cultivation or use it as currency.