The Reality of Overconfidence - I

Meanwhile, deep inside the goblin cave, even light refuses to shine. A mysterious shadow sits on a throne, worshipped by goblins.

His enormous body oozed with filth, holding a huge hammer of bone to his right. 

"Zula, Kem Tek Invadon?" The voice of the strange creature echoed, not even words, closer to sounds and body language.

"!?!"

"Zutak! Zutak! Fema!! Wiztsh!" a leading goblin repeated while the others seemed reluctant to speak or move, their heads pressed against the ground, trembling.

The shadow seemed to examine the goblin messenger closely. His eyes with black sclera and vibrant red iris lit up, and two crimson beams penetrated the poor goblin's head.

"Nip Non-! Manad?" the dark entity asked, but the goblin shook its head...

"Manad Ria!"

"Zoknon, Tek Nan-..." the creature mumbled, his glowing red eyes displaying confusion as it looked around the cave. "... Tek Hasdrubal... Kill!"

"Gruh!?" a goblin shrieked and fell over when it heard the monster's command.

"Kill- Tek Nan-..."

"Zug Zug- Uda Gaga Gruh!?!?"

The goblins surrounded the leader and began a mysterious chant as they all wore armour and rushed to the upper levels of the cave through complex and winding tunnels.

***

Sigurd's blade sliced the chest of a goblin shaman, his eyes narrow, watching as the pale green eyes almost seemed to mock him the moment it died.

'Orcs are ruthless, but these goblins... There is something more to them. A certain intellect or craftiness!'

He frowned as he witnessed Eva slash the goblin in two, noticing its eerie grin before the room shook.

"No, could it be?"

An explosion began somewhere on the lower floors of the cavern as a cave-in occurred. Dust and smoke filled the hall before it became difficult to remain standing.

The ground shook, rocks covered the entrance, and a powerful suction extinguished the torches.

Within an instant, the cave became pitch black.

Eva, can you see? Sigurd knew elves had night vision. His vision improved as a half-devil, but he remained uncertain about half-elves.

"A bit!" her voice trembled. "But not well."

"We need to find a torch," Sigurd responded, taking Eva's hand as he helped her walk. To him, the cave appeared bright and filled with vibrant colours from the magic in the air, reacting to his devil eyes. 

"Something created such a unique trap... Goblins can escape easily, but humans can't."

Sigurd's mind began racing because something powerful awaited them below.

Eva's feet felt unsteady from the shockwaves. They both exited the hall and headed towards the passageway leading to the lower floors of the cave.

"Waa!" Eva fell backwards and nearly took Sigurd with her as a pair of vivid blue eyes stared at him. 

"Shh! Can you hear that?" Sigurd stopped her from speaking, his hand holding her buttocks to keep her standing while the rumbling of rock and stone echoed in the deep, along with the call of goblins.

Eva's heart pounded in her chest. 

She noticed Sigurd's firm hand on her ass squeezing tighter as the number increased, and her mind raced with questions and worry, but she couldn't think the fact it felt good stopped her panic.

"Hmm?" Sigurd watched her blue eyes regain their glow, helping her up as he stepped forward, an aura of magic flickering from his body. "We will have to fight for dear life, Eva. The horror of Agmar, I believe we took it too lightly."

"We should never have come here," Eva admitted. She wanted to impress Sigurd because other elves would soon flock to him, learning of his abilities—a selfish desire.

Yet, her eyes beamed when Sigurd grinned.

"Are you afraid? Do you want to return home? Go somewhere else? Or do you want to raise hell with me?" his eyes scanned the hallway, the uncovered entrance to the lower levels of the cave filling with goblins.

"Sigurd! Let's fight together!" Eva replied, taking her stance, a fire burning inside her.

"Very well, then. You're in charge of keeping the goblins away from me while I cast magic; remember, no matter how much I suffer, do not stop!"

They both understood what he meant, overusing his mana and relying on the foreign mana to kill goblins, yet his gaze overwhelmed her.

He was so powerful and filled with devilish confidence as the corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk, almost captivating her with his narrow eyes, which turned pitch black with golden pupils.

⁜ Sigurd POV

Sigurd's body felt a lingering pain from the previous battles. Yet this feeling of being against the wall and brushing the veil of death caused his heart to flutter with a sense of delight, pushing him to the limits like when he was a mere slave knight!

'Pushed around and barely scraping by in the cold, fighting bandits, demons, and monsters, I'm a hybrid, and the only way to grow stronger quickly is the tried and trusted method—hard work and recklessness!'

His ears sharpened, his muscles tightened, and his bones adjusted, growing several centimetres as his devilish eyes watched the goblins coming in perfect vision. 'I can see the flow of their magic, their aura.' 

Two lights floated faintly in the bodies of each goblin. 

A royal blue like Eva's eyes danced around them slowly, thin and weak, likely their mana. The other was a red, violent thread intertwined with their muscles, focused on their arms and legs.

'I can see the movements of these goblins, their desire to attack and the method of using magic!'

"Eva, we are going to fight. First, allow me to help you!"

Snap!

With the snap of his fingertips, a bright emerald flame exploded from a pile of wood in the corner. Its light was so bright the entire room almost became void of shadows. "Now then... one, two, three..."

A violent burst of flaming shards shot at the four goblins' throats from his fingertips!

Swish!

"Keee!" they screamed and covered their necks. Their throats melted and opened into holes that spilt dark green blood down their chests.

"?!"

Sigurd grinned, his eyes fierce, yet he didn't stop or slowly watch Eva from the corner of his mind. He sculpted his magic, forming dozens of shards, constantly sending barrages into the crowd of goblins that seemed endless. Their bodies melted from the intense heat while Eva stood before him, holding her Elven glaive, waiting for them to close in.

'Slowly, they are getting closer... Ugh...' 

A sharp pain assaulted Sigurd's mind as he flicked another wave of deadly spikes towards the goblin archers stowing in the back, waiting to fire upon the pair.

His concentration remained unsteady, and his chest tightened as if out of breath.

'Their weakness is their confidence and their numbers. But since they have bunched up so tightly, that will all change if I am quick.'

"Eva... prepare for another explosion!"

Sigurd didn't know the correct way to perform this. He remembered seeing Medea's flame, that beautiful azure magic similar to his emerald flame, swirling in a ball... as she condensed it, it exploded violently.

He dragged the mana from his stomach, forming a sphere in his chest. He constantly forced the black mana away, forming spikes and shards while collecting the embers together, burning.

Eva nodded.

'Now, if I explode this inside the room... The intensity will be off the charts!'

Sweat oozed down his brows as he felt a powerful aura and heard a woman's laugh from inside his mind—the strange creature that had approached him in the past, Lilith. It was her voice. 

—Good boy, you've impressed me again. Able to copy that woman's spell with a glimpse. Fufu, just as I hoped you would be.

Let me help you complete the slight errors.

"You're back," he sighed, aware she was nowhere nearby, knowing she watched him somehow.

The next moment, images of runes and language written in elvish flooded his eyes as the flames grew faster. His ice and flame now separated the moment his mana became magic.

'Like imagining a doorway or fence... allowing only one element on either side.'

—That's it. The more basic and simple you keep the image, the easier it is to complete. But remember, spells need more detailed and complex imagery to complete, not just fire and big fufu.

Her voice sounded provocative and teasing and filled with pride, making it harder to concentrate on the task.

'I wish you would just teach me the spells... would make this so much easier!'

—Na-ah, that's no fun for me, baby. I have faith in your ability, My Sigurd!

The woman's presence faded as Mammon stopped vibrating, and the emerald flame in his chest flowed towards Sigurd's palm. The once small embers expanded violently. "Eva, cover your ears."

"Ah!"

Eva's face turned white with fear from the immense amount of magic Sigurd gathered, stepping backwards, holding her glaive forward protectively.

'So much mana, yet I don't feel tired? Hmm... just how powerful is this body?'

The goblin's eyes filled with terror as they witnessed his transformation, and their fangs pressed into their lips, gnawing at them nervously.

However, the huge fireball shot towards them before they could even turn to flee, and their screams erupted in a deafening roar.

Boom!

The ground shook as the goblins, cave walls, and entrance trembled, rocks and dirt collapsing as the cave shook.

Rumble!

Eva's ears hurt from the volume of the explosion.

She held her ears shut as she found herself in a cloud of dust and smoke, unable to see. Her Elven eyes were useless because of the sudden shockwaves of the explosion. "Sigurd!?!?"

"Hmm?" Sigurd hummed, looking at the destruction, unable to see even a trace of goblins in sight, but he suddenly sucked his breath as the pain from using almost all his magic in one spell caused a pain like someone tore out his heart, and stomped on it while he still felt the pain.

"Gah..."

Then, at his worst, the mass of mana from the dead goblins flooded his weakened body and if that wasn't enough... There was a sudden growl from the depths. A roar of something far bigger than a goblin or orc.

"Ngh.....!"