Chapter 32 On the Hunt, Part 1

"You know, I regularly hunt Hobgoblins, right? So I do not think it is fair of you to put me on their level," moonshine critiqued.

"Ye~ah, well you're bare~ly able to hunt like 2 of them every day, and you almost die from it, too!" Godspeed rebuked.

"...Hmph!" Unable to come up with a good comeback, Moon just turned her head and exhaled furiously.

'Man, sometimes I question whether this guy is actually a dude.'

"Whatever. Let's just get to hunting!"

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"So, this is the place you usually hunt right?" asked God.

"Yes. I usually wait for a couple of minutes in hopes of them appearing over the horizon. They should be appearing any minute now," explained Moon.

And sure enough, she was right. Not too long after what she said, a squad of six Hobgoblins appeared, each splitting off into their own directions.

"Okay then. Now that we have our prey in front of us, this is what we're going to do: Since I've been teaching you about One V. Ones all day, you're gonna attack each one of these guy one at a time," he explained.

"Wait, do you mean that I am going to fight all of them today?" Moon asked in return.

God gave a quick reply.

"Yep."

'This guy is crazy. First, he was trying to get me collapsing from heatstroke, then he tried to kill me in a fight! Now seeing that that didn't work, he's trying to get monsters to finish me off for him!'

"I don't know..." she replied meekly.

She was clearly overreacting. Then again, she had a point. She's never hunted more than 2 Hobgoblins in a day, and that was when she was at PEAK energy. She was still breathing with difficulty from everything that's happened earlier today.

And even God noticed her discrepancies.

"Ok. I get it. You're tired, and it's also you're first day. It would probably be difficult for you to hunt so many monsters, so let me shave the quota down for you."

He put up 3 fingers.

"So how about this? You just gotta hunt 3 Hobgoblins, we cool down, and then we're done for the day. Sounds sweet?"

"Haaaaah.... Okay."

Although reluctant, Moon and Godspeed made their way to Hobgoblin prey number 1.

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Staying low behind the risen sand dune, God issued Moon his orders.

"First off, no shield. You practiced with no shield earlier because this was strictly a sword-only training, and I'm not planning on ditching that limitation so late in the game. Second, try not to lose more than 20% of your health. Even if the fight feels long, don't drop below 80%. It'll help keep you paying attention and predict your enemies. Hobgoblins shouldn't pose much trouble to you, but try not to get cocky.

Finally, don't move past these dunes. I want to keep my eyes on you first off, and also it'll keep you from making any unnecessary movements.

Now Then: Are You Ready?" With a big smile on his face, God announced his last phrase loudly, just catching the oblivious Hobgoblin's ears.

"Au, Au, augh..." Looking for the sound, it turned around and detected both human bodies.

"Haaugh!" With a war cry, it began running towards them.

"Aaaaagh." With a groan being her only reply to the monster's declaration of war, the beaten and battered Moonshine got up from her hiding spot and ran to meet her opponent.

'He really just had to open his big mouth...' Tired on the outside, she was also enervated on the inside, particularly from God's chatterbox self. The whole way to the hunting grounds, he talked non-stop about various things, all being summed up as 'useless.' Her mind could barely take anymore.

But she had to hang in there, as her opponent wasn't going to cut her any slack. 5 yards away from her, the Hobgoblin raised its wooden mace and attacked with a downwards smash.

'Well that's easy.' The move being clearly televised, even the green Moonshine could dodge it. Waiting until the last second, she hopped out of the weapon's way, and hopped back in, cutting the monster's side as she passed by.

[You have dealt 120 damage to the target.]

"Graah!" Outraged by its attack being read, the Hobgoblin turned to face its adversary.

Wielding its mace again, the monster this time attacked in an uprising curve, putting all of its strength against gravity.

'What to do... Do I jump back or to the side? If I jump back, then---!' Too hesitant to make a proper decision, the enemy's attack skid right off of her chest-plate, barely leaning back in time.

[You have suffered 60 damage.]

"Stop being so hesitant, Moon!"

From the dune above, God cried out his help. "Just go along with your body's instinct! Whether it works or not, you'll find out soon enough, and then you just gotta change whatever failed!"

"What kinda advice is that!?" she yelled back, dodging the Hobgoblin's next blow right after.

After the lean back, Moon left herself off balanced. The Hobgoblin took advantage of that. Instead of letting her get steady on her feet again, it went on a rampage and threw attack after attack. Quickly and surely, the pushed back Moon began succumbing to the pressure and stumbled into the ground. Seeing its prey helpless, the grinning Hobgoblin gave out its final war cry, mace high in the sky.

"Auuuuug!"

Its mace fell from heaven, like a meteor in tow.

'Shit! Now what do I--- Screw it!'

She tried to take a page from His book.

On her feet she springed forward and let her blade glide along the mace's form, pushing it off course.

"Raugh?!"

Her blade still gliding, it rose up and up, all the way until it met the orange skin of an unfortunate victim.

"Warrior's Strike!"

With the empowering light harnessed in the blade, its glide continued, unobstructed from anything, neither monster nor air.