Part 30

"I only managed to get a few HP potions and a few MP potions," Hazel said as she opened her bag to allow Jonathan and me to peer inside, "The guild shop has a policy that limits available items for F ranks, so we won't be able to get buy more until we're higher ranked."

"That's okay," I said as looked back to Hazel, "We're just going after goblins, so we'll be fine."

"I sure hope so," Jonathan said as he leaned away from the bag. Hazel quickly closed the bag, then looked at me.

"We're ready to go whenever you are," Hazel told me. Jonathan and the others looked to me, their emotions full of excitement. I nodded as a small smile appeared on my face. This was my first adventure. I would have to make it count.

To find the goblins, we had to travel outside of the city and deep into the smoke forest nearby. I was pleasantly surprised to find that we were heading south, to Pyre and coincidently also my dungeon. However, we only needed to walk half a day to get to where we needed to go, so there was no chance we would accidentally end up in the dungeon.

The walk there was simple and uninterrupted by anything.

"It makes sense," Jonathan said, "After all, goblins are the weakest creatures in the world. Even Kobolds are stronger than them, despite being extinct."

"Extinct? Kobolds are extinct?" I asked, shocked. I stopped and looked to Jonathan, who turned to me and tilted his head as if confused.

"Yeah. Didn't you know?" He chuckled, "They went kaboom a few centuries ago, along with all of the other dragon-like creatures. Dragons themselves are the only ones that still exist, so that's why finding a dragon is so rare nowadays."

As the words left Jonathan's mouth, my feet began to feel heavy. The shock of this revelation was enough to halt my breathing for a moment, and I subconsciously turned to Hazel. She was also staring at me, shocked to the core.

"What? You two didn't know?" Jonathan laughed. He turned back around, then kept walking down the path with Evelyn toeing him. As the two of them walked further away from us, Hazel walked over to me and hastily began to whisper in my ear.

"Just what is going on? You have kobolds in your dungeon?" She asked, quickly picking up on the meaning behind my expression. I turned to her, then slowly nodded.

"Salamanders too. Aros himself is what is called a Dragon Warrior," I whispered, "I wonder how he'll take this information."

"I don't know. I don't really want to find out," She sighed. Then she took a few steps forward before turning back around to face me, "C'mon, we're getting left behind."

I nodded, then began to follow Hazel as we continued walking through the forest. We soon caught up with the twins and found them crouched near a tree trunk and a few bushes. As soon as we saw them, we also went down to the ground and made ourselves hidden.

I peered over the bushes, where I saw three small creatures walking atop a small slope crowded with trees. The small creatures were all bipedal and ugly, with green skin and frail bones. Their heads were bald with a sharp nose, ears, and even sharper teeth. Each of the three creatures carried no weapons and only wore a small loincloth.

Currently, the three were fishing through a small pile of leaves, hoping to find anything interesting.

"They're not in the nest," Hazel whispered. We turned to her, wondering what she meant. She looked to us, then began to explain what she meant, "When goblins are found outside in such low numbers, it usually means they aren't in the nest. However, when they aren't in the nest, that can only mean one thing. Then nest doesn't have enough room for them."

"It's full?" I muttered, conflicted. A full nest would mean we would have to fight more than we bargained for. Sure, it was possible, especially with Hazel and I tagging along, but it might be difficult if a large number of them swarmed us. Suddenly, I got an idea. I turned to the twins, then nodded. The twins stood up, then slowly made their way through the bushes toward the goblins.

The twins didn't walk through the bushes quietly, as they didn't have skills suitable for stealth, but the goblins didn't seem to even notice. The twins continued to crouch across the ground, slowly making their way to the three goblins.

As they continued walking, the goblins still hadn't noticed them. I squinted my eyes, suspicious of the goblins' incredibly bad sense of perception.

Then, I realized there was a chance these three goblins were just acting as bait for the unwary adventurer. Other goblins could have been waiting in the trees. After realizing this was possibly a trap, I looked around, hoping to find other goblins hidden in wait. I searched the surrounding flat ground, the bushes, and then finally the trees.

I eventually found what I was looking for. Two goblins, both with small blowpipes, waiting in the trees directly above us. They were focused on the twins, their blowpipes already connected to their mouths, as they waited for the twins to get closer to the three goblins.

"Hazel," I whispered, grabbing her attention. After she turned to me, I slowly pointed upwards, bringing her attention to the two goblins with the blowpipes. She looked back at me, then nodded. Once the two of us were aware of the goblins in the trees, we began to climb.

The path up the tree wasn't difficult, but it was hard to stay quiet while making my way up. I was sure to climb slowly, but also as fast as I possibly could. Those blowguns were possibly poisoned, so I didn't want to wait long enough to give the goblins the chance to kill the twins.

I made it up the tree quickly, still somehow unnoticed by the goblin with the blowgun. Then, with a quick strike to his nape with my hand, I separated his head from his body in a quick explosion of blood and fire. The goblin blood immediately began to smell like a river of waste, stinking up the forest around us.

As soon as the smell made itself known, I heard a swarm of screaming around us. The goblins had noticed my presence, as the smell of their comrade's blood had made themselves known.

'Shit,' I thought to myself as I jumped away. I made my way into the air, directing myself toward the other goblin in the tree as I left the twins on their own. The twins, who were now facing three goblins, began to prepare themselves for battle. I had no doubt they would succeed, but I didn't want to risk having a goblin with a poison attack us when they weren't known.

When I jumped across the treeline, I was met with Hazel, who had already taken out the other tree goblin.

"You stink," She laughed as I landed in the branches next to her. Hazel had a giant smile on her face as if she was having the most fun she had ever had, as I got near her. As soon as I landed, I noticed the other tree goblin huddled over the branches like a wet rag, black blood covering its body. Her sword, which was still in her hand and covered in a black gooey substance, was grasped tightly in her hand. I noticed a portion of her body was also covered in the goblin blood, giving a similar stink to my own body.

"So do you," I laughed as I looked at her. Then, after a moment of staring at each other, I realized the twins were still fighting. I turned away from Hazel and looked toward the twins, then found them fighting the three goblins down below.

Icarus was with them, fighting with a ferocity I hadn't yet seen from the dragon. Two of the goblins were already dead and the third was heavily injured. Then, before I had the chance to drop down, a large arrow suddenly struck the goblin's face, jerking its head back and causing its body to go limp as it fell to the ground.

"Good job," I said as Hazel and I jumped off of the tree. The twins turned around, revealing their bloodied equipment as they looked at us. Even Icarus had been bloodied by the goblin blood, but he luckily had the foresight to only attack with his tail.

None of the goblin blood had made it into his mouth, so he had been spared from having to taste it.

"This shit stinks!" Jonathan roared as Hazel and I walked up to him. Then, as he turned to us, he asked, "How are you two bloody as well?"

"Tree goblins," I answered, "They had blowpipes, which means these goblins aren't complete dumbasses. We'll have to watch out for traps as we move further."

"Shit," Jonathan sighed. He looked at the goblins, then back to me, "We have to kill two hundred of them for this quest, but we'll have to harvest one of their ears for proof."

"We'll do that then," I nodded, "You two handle these three. Hazel and I will get the two in the trees."