11 - Incoming Horde

The group of merchants and adventurers had been traveling on the road for a few hours without any issues, they had not run into anyone else, nor any monsters or beasts. Leo had caught a lone rabbit and killed it, and Val had stored it in his pouch, planning to drain its blood when they stop for lunch. The caravan consisted of 2 carts and 3 carriages. The merchants traveled in the carriages, Becky traveled on the left side and Mark on the right. Drake, the burly man who used a large shield walked at the front, and Margret, the lady with green hair, rode on the last cart. This way they could defend the caravan from all directions if they were suddenly attacked.

Leo traveled on the left side with Becky, this way he would not have to converse much because Becky was not much of a talker, similar to him. Leo would also be able to attack any wild animals, as the left side was the forest side.

Once it was midday, the caravan decided to stop briefly for lunch. When they stopped the merchants left the carriages to stretch their legs and one of them began preparing food, his name was Luke and he was a very good cook, thus the entire caravan had designated him to prepare every meal. He did not mind, as he enjoyed cooking.

As the food was being prepared Val took this time to remove the blood from the rabbit that Leo had caught. They would be leaving the caravan tomorrow and would have to go back to using their own food, so it was very useful to have Leo catching wild animals and increasing their stockpile of food.

The food took another 20 minutes to be cooked, once it was ready everyone was getting ready to serve out. Everyone was excited about the food as there was a delicious smell in the air. As the first merchant was serving himself, suddenly Leo growled loudly, it was not as high pitched as it had been yesterday but was still not intimidating. Though in this circumstance Leo was not trying to intimidate anyone, he was trying to warn them that they were being targeted by monsters. The merchant looked at Leo confused, thinking that the young lion cub wanted to be served first, however, the adventurers understood better, they could tell this was a warning and that something was about to happen. They began looking around, searching for what Leo had noticed. Mark was the first to notice, he saw a small horde of Goblins rushing over from the forest and notified everyone immediately,

"A small horde of Goblins approaching from the forest, estimate approximately 35 of them. Prepare for battle, protect the merchants, carts, caravans, and horses."

Everyone moved into position, the merchants moved inside the carriages, Drake moved to the front, drawing his big shield ready to stop the goblin's charge, Mark and Becky draw their weapons also, and both of them stood behind Drake, ready to face the small Goblin horde head on. Margret stood on top of one of the carts, Val assumed she was a long-range Magic Skill user. The powerhouse just stood there observing the situation, it did not seem like he would act unless it was necessary.

Val observed his surroundings, thinking about how he could best assist in this situation. He did not know how strong Mark and his party were, but they did not seem that worried, they were alert but not scared so Val assumed they could handle this small horde. Val decided he would support them without showing his Spatial Talent or Ice Talent unless he had to. The reason for this decision was that he was worried about the powerhouse that was watching over the caravan. Val had heard rumors that powerful groups would enslave kids who awaken to multiple strong Talents so that they could control them. Enslavement items were common, and though there were conditions that had to be met to enslave people, powerful groups had easily found ways around this. If he was enslaved now, he would be controlled for the rest of his life.

This was something he had thought about since he awakened, and he knew that he could not show too much of his talent around other people, at least not until he had enough strength to defend himself.

The caravan was aware of two of his talents so he would only utilize them in this fight, he would fight using his duel wield short swords and have Leo attack from range. After deciding on how he would fight, he moved behind Mark and Becky. Mark looked at Val and commented,

"Oh, you're pretty gutsy for a 10 year old, this will probably be your first big fight, stay close so we can help you if you are struggling."

"Oh and don't die"

Mark gave a slight chuckle and returned his focus to the battle that was incoming.

Val gave a wry smile and also focused, Leo was a few meters behind ready to fire [Lazer Roar] when needed. Val decided to activate [Mana Eyes] to understand his opponent's power better. He was also slightly hoping for another Skill Orb but knew that that was extremely unlikely. A lot of adventurers go years killing beasts and monsters without finding a single Skill Orb. Val was also slightly regretting not giving Leo the Light Skill Orb as he realized that Leo's strength could also be considered his strength, and he was hindering his team and his own growth due to his greed for money. Money does not matter if you are dead.

As he was sweeping his gaze across the horde of Goblins, he noticed one particular goblin who was on the left side of the horde, he had a short sword drown and was more cautious than the other Goblins. This particular Goblin seemed to be more intelligent and aware than the other Goblins and when Val focused on him he noticed something unbelievable.

The Goblin had a clump of denser mana just under its heart. If it was the same as the Light Ray Lion then it would be a Skill Orb. Val could not believe it, it was only the second day of being an adventurer and he had already found two Skill Orbs. He wanted the Skill Orb and was wondering how he could secure it. He decided to ask Mark a question,

"Hey Mark, I have a question for you, how does the loot get split?"

The horde had gotten fairly close to them, the horde was only 35 meters away so Mark did not shift his gaze from the front but still replied,

"When two parties are both fighting against a group, whoever makes the kill gets the loot from the kill, if two people from different teams work together to secure the kill then the loot is split based on your contribution."

Val smiled, thanked Mark, and prepared for what he expected to be the toughest fight of his life so far. Val shifted to the left and made sure he fought on the left side. He wanted to make sure that he killed the special Goblin and secured the Skill Orb. Val knew that the type, attribute, and rank of the Skill Orb were all related to the beast or monster that it came from. The special Goblin was using a short sword and Val could tell from his [Mana Eyes] that it did not have a Magic Talent, therefore he was hopeful that the Skill Orb would be a Short Sword Skill Orb.

If it was a Short Sword Skill Orb he would use it himself, and he had also decided that it would be in his best interest to give the Light Skill Orb to Leo. The more strength his team had, the safer he would be. He knew that the Skill Orb the Goblin had would be of a lower rank than the Light Skill Orb but that did not matter, even getting an F-Rank skill would be beneficial for him, and would help him significantly. After all, he currently did not have an active skill for his Short Sword Talent.

It is important to note, that Martial Talents are different from Magic Talents. A Martial Talent will give you a basic and fundamental understanding of the weapon, scaling based on the rank of the talent. So someone with A-Rank Talent will have a greater understanding than someone with F-Grade Talent, of course, this is just a starting point, someone who has F-Grade Talent and 20 years of experience will have a far greater understanding than a 10 year old who has just awakened an A-Rank Talent. Talent is potential and a better starting point, it is not straight-up power.

Magic Talents can give you small buffs in your senses or movements. For example, Leo has improved eyesight because of his Light Talent, which allows him to perceive light more efficiently, and Val's Spacial Talent gives him better awareness of his surroundings.

Once the Gobline got to 15 meters of the group, Drake shouted,

"Get ready, they will be here in a second, this should not be too hard, they are just ugly, disgusting Goblins. Everything should be fine as long as nobody gets sloppy and takes them lightly. Little Val, be careful, we will help you if we can but in a large fight there is no guarantee we will be able to rush over and save you if you get into a tricky situation."

As Drake finished his speech, the first Goblin arrived and...