Beginning of Expedition

 A loud bell was soon heard ringing. For the regular citizen, it was a shocked one, as the bells are only ringed when there is great danger threatening the city, the last time the bell rang was when 2 black dragons came forth from the desolate continent and laid waste upon the town.

 While the ringing bell is a bad omen for the citizens, it is the sound to call out every person who joined the expedition.

 Without a word, those who agreed to join the expedition and had signed their name began making their way to the clearing near the town.

 For support personnel, if they decided to run at the last moment, there would be nothing that would happen to them, except for their reputation being ruined and they likely never being able to open any store ever again but nothing fatal.

 For the adventurers, they will lose all of their points if they decide to back out now without a good reason. So, most adventurers begrudgingly join the expedition.

 The strictest group would be the town guard. They are the defenders of the town. If any of them deserted, if the said former town guard was caught, he would be executed immediately. Such is the duty of the defenders of the town.

 The three different groups gathered in their respective group, with the adventurers forming the majority of the manpower for the expedition, the town guards to aid them and the support personnel to ensure that their supplies and equipment will be maintained.

 The adventurers take the center, while the guards and supporters take the right and left spots respectively. Aside from the three groups, there are also some mercenaries hired by the mayor to help add more fighters into their ranks, just to increase their chance of success by one percent more.

 The group of Ian and Kell are at the front of the adventurers' detachment, to much of the veteran adventurers' resentment. To which the head cared for as he knew they could not hope to come close to the Thorn Wallz much less rampaging inside the depth of the Thrine Forest.

 The expedition force is currently waiting for the mayor, who will give a motivational speech, before sending them off. The head of the adventure Guild branch will be the one to lead them, as he is one of the very limited personnel who managed to enter the deepest part of Thrine Forest.

 Soon, the mayor arrived, flanked by the head of Thrine City Adventure Guild, who was wearing armor that protected every important part, and the advisor, who was currently watching them all with one could-tell as pity.

 As he got on top of the makeshift stage, he spoke, "I will not try to say any lies during my speech. The expedition will no doubt, be dangerous and treacherous with likely only one-third of you coming back alive,"

 'What kind of speech is this?!' was what was inside everyone's head, including the head of the Adventure Guild branch.

 "However, remember why you did all this? Whether it is because your family lives here, or you want to earn a lot of coins in this trying time, as long as you slaughter the monsters that threatened our survival, then go forth and end the monsters' threat for now.

 Go forth, and slay all monsters!" the mayor's yell seemed to lift the spirit of the people, all of them clamoring to kill the monsters, some even saying they would do so with their bare hands.

 After the expedition force calm down, Mr. Grul greet them. "I will not give you any speech. All of you have been given your position and your work before we engage the goblin army. So, let's not waste our time and head towards the forest!"

 As he said that, the expedition force roared before heading into the forest. Surprisingly, they maintained their formation, as they entered the path created by several scouts to make the expedition easier.

 -x-

 Their run has been smooth, with no monsters blocking their way, which is of course the job of the adventurers. The guild had sent several groups to clear the path they would use, making sure no monsters were blocking their path.

 As they walked to the depths of Thrine Forest, some of the adventurers could not help but begin to badmouth whom they perceived to be the dead weight.

 "That group, from the beginning of the week to now, they never once helped clear the forest,"

 "Hah, they must be slackers or someone who tried to get their rank up without doing any work,"

 "But they are always with the head, so he must know of them being slackers,"

 "They must have bribed him or something. Oh well, if they face danger, they run away scared, showing the others their pathetic side,"

 As the adventurers talked, they soon reached a veritable wall of thorns. The head called to them all, "This way!" before leading them away. While some questioned the fact of why they don't just destroy the thorn bushes, the head must have their reason.

 Sure enough, the older man answered their unspoken question, "Those thorn bushes are powered by mana from the leylines. Even if you burn it, a new one will grow almost immediately, so it is not worth it trying to make a new path than just following the only path,"

 Soon, they reached the only path, though it was only 30 feet wide. The worst part was that a camp was there, filled with goblins. To some of the adventurers' horror, they were even a lineup of 6 hobgoblins. Sure, they have the numbers but it will be hard to press on their advantage when they are forced to fight in such a choke point.

 "I think we should handle this one,"

 "Yeah, I am starting to get bored,"

 Suddenly, both male slackers did a quick stretch before walking to the goblin's line. Some of the Iron-rank adventurers scoffed. To think those slackers want to-

 The slacker appeared in front of the goblins so quickly one would have missed it if they blinked. He then swings his blade, cutting 17 goblins in half.

 As the other adventurers watched in shock, the head merely shook his head. Oh well, as long as they killing goblins.

 Two hobgoblins charged at the man, who met their attack head-on. To their shock, he held them easily enough, before a stab at the eyes blinded one before he beheaded it, the other one being punched in the face and sent flying, before it was killed by a thrown spear.

 However, the man was then forced to retreat as a hail of arrows rained upon him. However, he soon stopped moving, to which the arrow... did not hit him?

 "Ian, your turn!"

 "I know, Kell," Ian, the mage they now realized, fired a white orb into the sky. Before it could do anything, the mage then created multiple Arcane Shot, all being held through his impressive control.

 "Multiple Arcane Shot," the Arcane Shot rained upon every ranged goblin, from shamans to singers and archers, all of them wiped out by the mage.

 "Now all that is left is the camp," Kell said before Ian coughed and pointed at the white orb. At that moment, the white orb exploded and rained smaller white orbs upon the camp, exploding goblins' heads into pieces of meat.

 "Now we are finished, let's see if anything changed," Ian said before walking towards the camp, followed by Kell, and later on their three teammates, and the head.

 The adventurers who badmouth the two tried to not look at each other, afraid of being seen by the two.

 "As they say, don't judge a book by its cover," one of the older adventurers said before following the head, the rest following suit.