Change of Plans

Jack groaned as his consciousness returned. His MP had dropped to zero thanks to his bloodline skill, exhausting himself so quickly that he weakly fell unconscious. Now that his MP had maxed out thanks to the two elixirs, Jack opened his eyes to the unfamiliar darkness.

"You okay kid?" asked Rydel, responding to Jack's sudden groans.

"Yeah…" answered Jack. "I just used too much mana too quickly, that's all. That was my first time trying that skill, so I had no clue that it would use so much MP."

"How do you feel?" Brunar's unexpected concern startled Jack. "That skill was like your fox's, just not as strong. How'd you do that?"

"Umm…" Jack was hesitant to reply. "It's because of the mutual seal, so I'm just lucky I guess."

"Well it was amazing, know that I'm jealous," chuckled Brunar. "You'll make a great rival after all, but don't expect me to make it easy for you to pass me. I'll do whatever it takes to stay stronger."

Not sure how to take the sudden compliment, Jack asked the group, "We're in the clear now, right?"

"Yeah, they shouldn't be able to find us anytime soon," answered Rydel.

"Good, then you were probably waiting on me to discuss the plan, right?"

"Ya guessed it," said Maynard. "So, what do ya think? Now that we've been found out and the goblins are aware of our threat, what should we do?"

Jack let out a deep breath before he shared his thoughts. "Stick to the plan, that's the best solution. We'll have to alter our expectations and some minor things, but our aim is still the destruction of the goblin city."

"But how can we possibly face the entire goblin city? Just those two captains were lv. 30's. If there is a goblin king, what level would he be? How could we possibly beat so many goblins?" Troni let loose a flurry of questions, somewhat panicked.

"That's simple," smirked Jack. "We just need water."

"Water?" Troni and the others were dumbfounded.

Suddenly, Rydel laughed, "So that's how it is, I knew I'd like the way you do things kid."

While everyone was distracted by Rydel's random comment, Jack explained further, "The key to our victory will be water, or better said the goblin's water supply."

"You mean to poison them?" asked Maynard.

"That's exactly what I plan to do," said Jack. "Why else would I have wanted so much neurotoxin earlier? It won't be enough to fully paralyze a full city of goblins, but if we can successfully poison their limited water supply, I'm sure they'll be slowed or partially stunned. There's no way they'd be able to fight at full strength, making it even easier for us to deliver quick killing blows."

Only Troni continued frowning amidst the small crowd of smiles, but no one could see it. Hearty chuckles and laughs broke the silence that followed Jack's elaboration, changing the party's attitude gradually.

"Well, that's not too bad an idea," said Brunar. "I'll pass you all my neurotoxin too, the more the merrier right?"

Slivia remained silent, but she was relieved. She had mentally placed Jack on a pedestal as a summoned hero, so she was glad that he was able to come up with a solution during dire straights and keep good on the mental image she had created.

"So, will that be a new phase in the plan?" asked Rydel.

"We'll call it, phase zero. It'll have to happen before the actual raid begins, so I think it's fitting." Jack reached into his cloak pocket and felt the soft fur of the sleeping Bowser. To his surprise, the ears perked up and reacted to Jack's combing fingers. "It seems like Bowser's feeling a bit better. As long as we don't start the raid in the next few hours, he should be ready in time for the plan."

"I'm glad to hear that, he was a huge help earlier. If it weren't for him, those lizards would've done more than just poison my leg," praised Brunar.

"Still, it'd be safer to retreat temporarily and return with the branch chief and more reinforcements. Why should we risk our lives now with only slim chances of success?" asked Troni, still bargaining to flee.

"You don't get it, do you?" Jack stared at the source of Troni's voice. "The more time we give these goblins, the stronger they'll get. Of course, I wish that old fart could join us, but we'll just have to make do without him. Any real adventurer understands that there's a risk in every mission and embraces those odds with everything they've got."

Troni remained silent, unsure of how to reply. Jack didn't allot Troni much time to respond before he continued, "I'll admit it, this mission has plenty of dangers and unknowns. But that's why I decided to become an adventurer in the first place, to achieve things that everyone else thought impossible. Also, if the Royal Court is really behind this, then wouldn't they ensure that the association is too occupied to give a full out assault?"

Gasps escaped the party's mouths; they hadn't considered that idea. The Royal Court was openly on bad terms with the Adventurers Association, so why wouldn't they find some excuse to keep the association busy.

"The Royal Court has a hand in this. I've gathered a number of the goblin's weapons and all of them carry the royal crest," confirmed Maynard. "I'm not sure if this was done by official orders or in the shadows, but either way the Royal Court will want this to stay silent. I'm certain they wouldn't let us charge in and blow the cap off the incident."

"Then it's best for us to continue our plan and handle the issue without drawing much attention. If a battalion of adventurers left the capital, the entire city would be on edge without a proper explanation," reasoned Rydel. "We're the best option to complete this mission while maintaining the most secrecy possible. Anyone want to object?"

No one replied, each for their reasons. Jack spoke up, "Good, then let's hurry and find this goblin city. Slivia, where did you find it last time?"

She flinched but answered nonetheless, "It's in the center, but I don't know where we are now."

"Leave that part to me," said Rydel. "I've got a rough idea of where we are, but I can't guarantee that we'll be able to sneak past each outpost on the way."

"We need to attack any outpost we find," said Jack. "We won't be able to tell whether the outposts notice us and notify others to try and surround us. It's best if we just strike first and wipe out each outpost we meet. With you two working together, a lv. 30 goblin captain shouldn't be too much trouble and you can pick him off before the rest of the goblins have a chance to act."

"Great! Then I'll distract the other goblins while Master slays the goblin captain," said Brunar, anxious to grow stronger after seeing Jack's meteoric rise in strength.

"Then it's settled, we'll move forward from here." Jack ended the discussion and slowly stood up, still a little weak after having gained consciousness. As he got to his feet, Jack felt a chill pass over his body as the cloak opened while in motion.

"Oh yeah, and you should know that your special move destroys your clothes. We'll have to figure something out for that later. For now, hurry and change," Rydel commented as he stood up.

Embarrassed, Jack turned away from the party and put clothes on under the cloak. He then turned and asked, "Who should I return this to?"

Slivia answered, "You can keep it. I'm sure it'll come in handy."

With red in his cheeks, Jack nodded and readied himself to leave like the others.

Rydel made sure Jack was tied in like the rest and they set off. They followed Rydel blindly, trusting the hunter's experience. With his eagle eye ability, Rydel was still able to distinguish some shapes in the darkness within a couple of dozen meters. This was very helpful to the party as it let them quickly find a nearby outpost.

"It seems to be almost empty. Maybe it was one of the outposts that ambushed us earlier," deduced Rydel. "Scratch that, it's not empty but all the goblins there are gathered awkwardly to one side."

"They're probably from a different outpost and are investigating the deaths of their allies," whispered Jack. "Do you have a clear visual on the captain?"

"Yeah, he's atop the watchtower. If we don't act fast, he'll be sure to notice us."

"Good, here's what we'll do." Jack then explained a brief battle plan to the party and everyone nodded in agreement.

Atop the tower, the goblin captain was peering into the distance, trying to sense any signs of life. Suddenly, a few bright lights appeared a couple of dozen meters from the outpost. The goblin captain grunted and commanded his troops to charge the invaders, certain that they must be the culprits of their comrades' deaths.

It watched as the goblin troops charged the four lights in the distance and were met with resistance. Not happy with the goblin's chances of victory, the goblin captain activated a storage necklace and retrieved a contact crystal.

Just when it was about to send a message to nearby outposts, a light appeared to the side of the goblin captain. Startled by the appearance of what seemed to be a samurai, the goblin captain drew its sword to block the surprise attack.

The goblin captain pushed back the enemy blade and prepared to inform the other outposts, but an arrow stuck itself through the goblin captain's throat. Unable to speak or communicate, the goblin captain felt fear.

A second strike from the samurai swung towards the captain, who struggled to defend. Like before, the second swing of the katana was followed by a second arrow. It lodged itself in the goblin captain's arm and rendered it unable to wield its heavy longsword. With an easy opening, Maynard's blade glowed red as it was thrust forward into the captain's chest and heart.

Before any other goblin within the outpost had a chance to aid their captain, they watched as their captain fell to the sword. Those goblins quickly met the same fate as a rain of arrows claimed their unguarded lives.

Maynard rushed to the rest of the party, who was holding off the other goblin defenders. The battle wasn't very dramatic, but it proved that the best defense was an even stronger offense.