Chapter 3 - Section 6 - First Jobs

The following day as we'd agreed I met up with Raisa and Ruby for breakfast in town, during which Raisa once again dropped an enormous bag of white gold coins onto the table before us.

"Ok so this is half what I owe you for those potions you'll have to wait a bit for the other half, since we need to sell off some stock before I'll have enough to reimburse you" <Raisa>

"Wha only half…" <Satou>

Quickly I deposited the bag into my inventory allow the thousands of white golds to join the others milling around already in my inventory.

Our food came and we sat in relative quiet enjoying the food until Raisa broke the verbal stalemate.

"So what are your plans now? Going to keep making potions?" <Raisa>

"Well I would but I'm out of ingredients, so if anything I'll head into the forest again to collect more, and see if I can find better ones to level myself up to producing standard potions rather than minor ones, that and I have a job from the guild to complete in the forest as well" <Satou>

Flipping her knife around in her hand.

"That so, well in that case I'll just have to join you" <Raisa>

"J.. Join me? But why?" <Satou>

"I need to protect my investment after all, if anything happens to you then I lose my source of those superior potions" <Raisa>

"But if anything happens to you or ruby…" <Satou>

"Oh don't worry about us from what i know i'm already a higher level than you should be, so we can take care of ourselves and worst case we'd have you and Kurama there to protect us" <Raisa>

"Thought you were the one protecting your investment, not having your investment protect you" <Satou>

I let loose a verbal jab.

"Hmph! So you going to let us join or not?" <Raisa>

'deet deet'

An alert went off when she said this so I pulled up my menu.

<Raisa wishes to join your party to you allow <<Yes>> / <<No>> >

"Fine I agree" <Satou>

Clicking Yes at the same time as my verbal agreement, in my menu Raisa and Ruby both appeared as party members with Health, Stamina, and Mana bars similar to Kurama's showing up in my menu.

[Hm, I can see more detail than with the heads up display but still not much more than general knowledge, I still can't see her skills but to think she's actually a level 9 I wouldn't have guessed she was around the same level as me considering she's only ever expressed to be a merchant and didn't get involved in any combat on the journey so long as I've been a part of it so far]

Once I'd agreed Raisa quickly finished eating before running off down the street with Ruby in tow, declaring she'd meet us at the western gate in one hour.

Kurama and I meanwhile just casually ate our food since we didn't have any shopping or preparing to do.

"Hmm hey Kurama. You fight with your claws and biting right? But do you want a weapon?" <Satou>

"aroo" <Kurama>

Shaking his head up and down with eyes visibly pleading to be given something.

"I see, well we can't give you anything to big due to your size, but perhaps a dagger or two would work, since you've got higher agility, or else a bow or sling for ranged combat" <Satou>

Kurama made a couple quick stabbing motions with his paws.

"Hmm I see, well then here" <Satou>

Pulling the two daggers out from my storage I slid them over to Kurama who grabbed them up and quickly slung the belts over his shoulders in a criss cross allowing the daggers handles to stick out only a little over his shoulders.

"hmm needs a bit of an adjustment" <Satou>

Pulling out the leather armor I had in my inventory I ripped a couple strips from it, and used them along with my sewing set to modify the belts to be far more fitting and preventing slipping or movement making them into proper gear for the kobold.

As I was working on this I heard another ding ring I my head.

[Well I would assume I just gained the leatherworking profession, but without the leather itself there's not much I can do about it right now]

"Alright that should do how does that feel?" <Satou>

Kurama moved around in a couple of different directions before drawing both blades quickly.

[Now that's menacing he's more like a Ninja fox now than a Kobold hah]

After having changed into our equipment my own standard leather armor, mantle, and twin swords. Kurama meanwhile wearing some modified light leather armor and the daggers slung across his back.

We made our way to the gate the time for our meet up with Raisa and Ruby was close at hand, so when we got there I flashed my guild card to the guard standing by and informed him that we are most likely not going to be back from our assign quest for a day or two.

"Oh yes the guildmaster did say we was giving a special request to an adventurer with a kobold, that means it must be you then" <Gatekeeper>

"Satou! Sorry to keep you waiting" <Raisa>

"Huh Miss Salide?" <Gatekeeper>

"Oh hey Raisa, you're not really late" <Satou>

[I mean I know pocket watches aren't a thing here but my heads up display display show's she's actually 10 minutes early]

When she finished running over, I noticed she'd completely changed her gear, when traveling she wore what I would describe as comfortable travel clothes, at home and in town she was dressed like a proper young lady though probably not by choice, but now she's dressed up in a white cloth robe, and holding a silver metal staff, does this make her a priest… er rather a priestess, or did she choose the coloring to match with Ruby?

"Um you look like you're ready to go, but are you really sure about this? I mean I do plan to go ingredient hunting but I do have a request from the guild to do as well" <Satou>

"Yah course I do silly, nothing can stop a powerhouse team like us" <Raisa>

"Um…" <Satou>

[is it just me or is she acting really weird right now…]

"Miss Salide are you joining this adventurer on his quest?" <Raisa>

"Yup that's right, me and Ruby here are going to be assisting him for today" <Raisa>

"But… wait you also have a kobold Madame? I had heard the rumors but even still it's much too dangerous for you to leave the city" <Gatekeeper>

"Then try and stop me if you want but I'm leaving let's go Satou" <Raisa>

With that she just marched off through the gate ruby tagging along behind, dressed in a white kimono and red ribbons tied to each of her ears dutifully walking hand in paw with her master.

Kurama and I gave chase as the guard continued to shout out after her retreating figure.

The run through the grasslands outside the city went by pretty quickly though we were only moving at half my top speed, though if I was guessing I would say Raisa could've moved faster I bet since we had made it all the way to the forest without her becoming exhausted or winded.

She must have pretty decent Stamina rank, along with at least the same for her agility, I'd bet Ruby's stats are pretty close to Kurama's as well.

"So you never did say what is this job the guild gave you?" <Raisa>

"Oh uh well cause of me and Kurama hunting in the forest since we arrived we were requested to take down a suspected Goblin settlement that's in the forest, though this is kind of due to us turning in ears we also earned back in the kingdom, though we did kill more than a 100 yesterday" <Satou>

"What over a hundred goblins!" <Raisa>

"Yeah I mean between the four of us we were quite busy but they were dealt with in pretty much no time at all so it wasn't too bad." <Satou>

"I see... four so the golems also helped, well hopefully we won't run into too many but if we do, we'll do our best to contribute!" <Raisa>

Her declaration sounded more like a way to pump herself up than to make the declaration itself known

"So before we get started can I ask what class's you two are?" <Satou>

"Class?" <Raisa>

"What I mean is how do you and ruby fight? From what I can see, I would guess Ruby is going to go with her claws like Kurama did in the beginning, and then from your equipment I want to say you're either a priestess, or some sort of mage?" <Satou>

"huh, well I honestly don't know how Ruby fights so you're probably right about your guess, but as for me, I've never actually been in a fight before so I dressed accordingly for a summoner since I am one now." <Raisa>

[I'm sorry what!! That's no different than just choosing your equipment on a whim with no real intent]

"Uh hmm…" <Satou>

"What! I didn't do something wrong did i?" <Raisa>

"Well not wrong persay, but there really isn't any gear or equipment for summoners since that's more of a sub-class to compliment your original class, I mean sure there are probably relics or artifacts that can increase the power of one's summons, but otherwise you and Ruby are completely separate so you can fight as individuals, like how me and Kurama do. He's a rouge who attacks from the shadows, while I duel wield and attack head-on, Summons grown in tandem with their summoner so as you level up so shall she." <Satou>

"Oh… oh I see, so what should I do then, as I am now I'm kind of worthless aren't I" <Raisa>

As she finished I could see tears having swelled up in her eyes as she realized her mistake.

"uh well if you don't mind I can help out with this, just give me a moment and I'll see what I can do for you with my skills ok" <Satou>

Diving headfirst into my menu I'm sure I looked like a loon to Raisa whose sadness was starting to subside as both kobolds had approached and comforted her.

Opening the party window I found I could further expand the Raisa's profile.

[Hmmm let see, she's got pretty crazy high Stamina, Dexterity along with higher Agility, but is low on Strength, and HEALTH so the best build for someone with stats like her's would be a rear line fighter such as an archer or mage. But she's got lower rank Mana, and Intelligence than even I do so mage is out so I guess an archer will have to do. The forest can give her plenty of practice, and I'm sure I can find some gear in the store to boost accuracy and what not]

Having decided I opened the in-game store filtered the store contents and started handpicking gear that would be usable for someone of Raisa's level and would boost her ability as an amateur archer.

The gear I'd chosen for Raisa was;

[[Ferocity Bow of The Night, Netherstrand – a Dark Elf bow that gives 20% boots to accuracy on all attacks

Tempest Arrow quiver – A Quiver that holds 300 tempest arrows that are imbued with Wind Magic boost the arrows flight speed

Greenwood Mantle increases Dexterity and Agility

Quick shot bracers that give a boost to attacking speed

Elven boots that allow one to walk unimpeded through the forests

and finally Light Leather armor of the rangers]]

Providing ample protection from slashing weapons, lastly I selected;

[[A simple cloth robe and metal caestus's with accompanying claws to give to ruby since she's already opting to take on a sort of Monk role]]

Having chosen out their gear I transferred more funds into my game account and purchased them, before dragging them all out of my inventory and presenting them to Raisa, of course when I provided the names of them all she had a supreme look of shock which she later told me was cause everything I just pulled out was top level gear that's found only on the deep levels of dungeons since most of it was gear with the title of Something Elven which is extremely rare to find with elves being almost something of legend on the Western continent and having little to no interaction with the other races.

Kurama and I turned our backs to the forest as Raisa and Ruby entered just enough to be sheltered from sight by the tree's returning before us fully geared up after a couple of minutes.

Raisa looked stunning in here full complement of Elven ranger gear, even her hairstyle had changed before she'd left it loose but now it had been woven into a simple single braid almost like a ponytail, her new bow clutched tightly in her one hand and her previous gear in the other.

Ruby on the other hand came out wearing what looked like a Qipao style dress with two silver overhand gloves on both paws with almost foot long triple claw like knives protruding from them.

"I know I can't thank you enough but thank you so much for this Satou, and err… well do you mind.." <Raisa>

"Oh your old gear no worries at all I'd be happy to store it for you until we get back" <Satou>

In a flash the items in Raisa's right hand were absorbed into my inventory where I moved them into a sub folder I titled as Raisa's stuff.

Lastly I pulled a quick change quiver of 100 plain iron arrow's I'd purchased while they were changing, and handed it to Raisa.

She cocked her head to the side not understand why I was handing her a second quiver.

"But you already gave me arrows will I need more?" <Raisa>

"Oh well actually the first set I gave you are called tempest arrows their imbued with magic, and there are quite a few of them, but Iron ones would be better for practice since it doesn't matter if you lose them or they get damaged. Plus it'd give a good chance to try the different ways to equip a quiver, the first one is the standard back wield one where you draw arrows over your shoulder but for quicker firing you can draw from this quiver that hangs from your belt the drawback being it hampers your ability to run, since the quiver can get in the way of your legs some plus as a quick change design you can quickly replace the hopper with a spare i can toss whenever you run out of ammo." <Satou>

"Oh wow there's a lot to know about being an archer, ok well if we're not planning to run then I should equip it" <Raisa>

"Yup course if we do have to run, then you can always unclip it since it doesn't matter if you have to abandon it, but to start with we should give you some target practice since you've never wielded a bow before" <Satou>

I honestly don't know anything at all really about archery but I knew the basics so I just taught the process for drawing, nocking the arrow, how to target, about how the further away the target is the more incline to use, and the importance of focus even when in battle.

The first couple of shots went far left or right of the tree we had selected as the target, Kurama, and Ruby chased after and retrieved these arrows for us.

After close to an hour of practice though her proficiency in the bow was competent enough that she was striking the tree with every shot, though accuracy was still and issue, but for someone who had only an hour of practice the result was very impressive.

Gathering our party up I informed everyone of what our party formation would be like, first was Kurama who would act as our scout ahead of the group, and would attack from behind the enemy in combat, next was myself who would act as the front line, or tank pulling the enemies aggro, then Ruby would act as the rear guard with the primary focus of protecting Raisa from anything that slips past me, and lastly would be Raisa who would target any open targets, I did repeat a few times never to shoot in the direction of an ally on the off chance she'd miss and hit any of us instead, she agreed to only take 'clear shots' and whenever we stopped for breaks she would continue to practice if she still could.

With that our party finally set off into the depths of the forest, Kurama while scouting also collected all the herbs he came across occasionally returning to drop them off for me, to store while I collected the dropped herbs I could find as we followed after the path Kurama led us on.

Raisa meanwhile just followed after us her attitude completely bubbly as she bounded her way through the forest following after us.

[I think this is the first time she's ever been on an actual adventure, I mean sure traveling between towns is one thing but this time she's the one actually doing the adventuring rather than being just the protected one]

As I was thinking this Kurama ran back towards us, stopping before me and drawing a character in the ground before jumping straight up into the trees.

"Ok looks like we have 5 on their way towards us now" <Satou>

"… 5 what?" <Raisa>

"Oh sorry 5 goblin's, so you needn't worry at most one might slip past us but Ruby can take it for sure, but this will be good for practice so I want you to take aim and fire until I saw switch at which point we all will attack ok" <Satou>

"Uh um ok" <Raisa>

With that ruby and I stood on raisa's sides to not interfere with her ability to see everything in front of her, drawing her bow she nocked an iron arrow, opting to go for rapid fire over damage this time.

'rustle rustle'

The sounds of the oncoming enemy grew louder, beside me Raisa's breath likewise grew heavier her shoulders grew tense, and the look of worry increased by the second on her face.

"Don't worry, everyone gets nervous before a fight even the S ranks, one who faces an enemy free from fear is bound to lose due to their overconfidence" <Satou>

[Looks like that worked]

With my one statement the tension that was building up escaped all at once she looked a lot more calm and composed now.

"Rahhh!" <Goblin>

The first goblin burst forth in front of us.

'Fwassh'

Raisa loosed her first arrow which sailed right past the gobin's head.

"ha ha uh oh no" <Raisa>

Her hands started to tremble as she attempted to draw and nock her second shot the panic building quicker as 3 more goblins appeared, still not having fired a second shot as the goblins were approaching 20 feet away I finally called out.

"Switch" <Satou>

On my command Kurama lept down from the trees and attacked the goblin furthest back, while I charged the ones in front.

'Swish, clang' 'Crack'

My swinging dual swords first blocked then drove into the goblin skulls, in almost no time at all the four had been killed two by me, and two by Kurama.

I wiped off my blades before sheathing them, turning towards and walking to Raisa as Kurama retrieved the ears from the goblins.

Turning back briefly.

"Hey Kurama I thought there was supposed to be five?" <Satou>

Upon my say so, he headed off towards the direction the goblins had come from.

When I reached Raisa she was heaving a bit stifling the desire to cry.

"Hey don't worry about it we're all fine right? And besides you did way better than I did in my first fight, you managed to get a shot off, for me I froze and got clobbered instead" <Satou>

[Course for me, my first fight was back in middle school and there wasn't really a feeling like I was going to die because of the fight]

'rustle'

Both our eyes turned back to the bushes where Kurama emerged clutching an armful of goblin ears and a bloody iron arrow.

After handing the ears to me, I counted them up.

[1,2,3,4, and 5 wait five but we only killed 4, but then again that arrow was bloody so]

"Congratulations!" <Satou>

Turning round to face the pair pumped up excitement in my voice.

"For what, I didn't really do anything to help in this fight at all" <Raisa>

"That's not true, look at the arrow Kurama retrieved for you, you might not believe it but you actually took down the 5th goblin that was supposed to be coming towards us, you just killed it before we got a chance to see it isn't that right Kurama" <Satou>

'nod'

"What really?!" <Raisa>

"Yup, you're a full fledge adventurer now, well maybe not fulled fledged I guess till you get a guild card but you know what I mean right?" <Satou>

"I think I get what you're trying to say thank you Satou" <Raisa>

"So we good to keep going or do you want to take a break for now?" <Satou>

I asked this with a look of concern since she had just killed a humanoid creature for the first time so it may be weighing heavy on her, but rather her face brighten up.

"Let's keep going, we've got a job to do afterall" <Raisa>

Our first battle as a party over we returned to our formation and continued the journey deeper into the woods heading towards the foothills in the distance, since Kurama knew we were looking for goblin's I assumed he knew just where to find them, the mountains would provide security due to location, and since the goblins had only been seen in the forest they must be using it to source food until their numbers grow enough to attempt a raid on the town or surrounding regions.

Our journey continued on, ever two hours we stopped for a quick break during which Raisa practiced the entire time, we encounter multiple parties of goblins on our journey and though she still only managed to hit once per encounter the rate at which she was firing was increasing however.

After the first break, we carried on the further in we went, the more knowledgeable Raisa seemed to get.

Where in the beginning only I and Kurama were collecting herbs, now Ruby and Raisa herself had joined in picking up what they found during our walk, though half the time what they turned in was just simple weeds but the extra help was not mocked even with the occasional failure.

The journey carried on like this for a while mixing fighting with herb gathering until the suns were high in the sky, checking the clock in my heads up display I saw it was quickly approaching noon.

"Ok guys let's take a break here for lunch" <Satou>

"Arooo!" <Kurama>

"Sounds good to me, I didn't want to say anything but all this walking is making me hungry" <Raisa>

[Well she's not pulling out food or anything so I know where this is going]

I pulled up the menu and quickly made a full purchase of food and drinks, to save time I also grabbed up some items that would make for good supper and breakfast as well.

Pulling out a platter of halved sandwiches, along with a bucket of opened bottled drinks, we all dug into the food I had provided, Raisa raved about how tasty everything was only stopping after she had tried 4 different sandwich halves, Kurama, and Ruby however stuck to the primarily meat sandwiches that looked like smoked meat, or reubans.

"Hey Kurama are we close to the Goblin settlement" <Satou>

'nod nod'

"Do you know how many there are?" <Satou>

'scritch scritch'

Drawing a simple answer of 100+ in the dirt.

[Thanks buddy but I kind of figured that out already]

"Well alright then when we get close let me know so we can observe the village and make changes if needed, or even setup some traps to start the guerilla warfare that the guild master asked us to perform" <Satou>

With lunch being wrapped up rather quickly we carried on our walk, with the sight of the foothills and mountains now looming into view Kurama came scampering back into view, so we halted the march.

"More incoming?" <Satou>

"shake shake"

"So we've finally arrived then?" <Satou>

'nod'

'Gasp'

"To think that within less than a half days walk from the city was a goblin settlement this is terrible" <Raisa>

"Don't worry Raisa that's why we're here to get rid of them right?" <Satou>

Now moving forward we need to do our best not to make a sound and prevent them from knowing we're here alright? Kurama, and Ruby should do just fine since they have the Hide skills, but for us two, we need to be extra cautious." <Satou>

"ok" <Raisa>

Having switched from talking to whispering Raisa realized the seriousness of my tone.

"Now about our strategy we're going to scout out the target first, after that we should pull back where we can talk at length and come up with a plan on how we're going to deal with thing, I mean I could always just endlessly summon and wipe them out that way but I'd wind up losing most of my summons." <Satou>

'Gasp'

"Nonono you cannot do that, no harm can ever come to Kura!" <Raisa>

"I can agree to that I don't want to see my trusted companions falling in battle if I can help it" <Satou>

After this Kurama and Ruby melted into the forest where we could no longer see then, but I know their watching over us, as Raisa and I made our way slowly towards the settlement Kurama pointed out. After walking carefully for a bit we can to a small plateau that overlooked the goblin settlement below in a valley.

Close to 50 shabby tribal huts were organized within a pathetic looking picket wall that looked like a stiff breeze could blow it over, numerous green figures were moving about within the walls, and only 2 entrances could be seen, the closer of which had two guards.

[Damn from here I can't properly make out how many goblin's there are, but at a guess I'd say 5-10 goblins per hut meaning 250-500 total goblins, minus the hundred or so we killed before, plus the additional 53 we already took down today, so once could assume their already at half strength]

Signaling with my hand to Raisa the two of us slowly crepted back from the precipice and retreated a ways away, once we stopped Kurama, and Ruby dropped down from the trees before us.

"This could be tricky, from what I've learned at the guild already goblins are confident in their numbers but at the first sign they could lose they become cowards and run, that's the worst case scenario if they scatter they'll run off and create a new village elsewhere, but since they have the two gates, we'd need to attack from both sides to prevent any run-aways… I'd like to leave that task to Kurama and Ruby" <Satou>

'Nod' 'Nod' <Raisa><Ruby>

"But that also means it's up to Raisa and I to attack the main gate, even if I summon Rocky, and Creed most likely 200+ goblins will pour out to target us first before thinking of using the other gate to run away…" <Satou>

"It's less like 4 of us storming the village but rather only 3 with your plan since I'm not much help until I get much better with this bow you gave me" <Raisa>

"You're getting better with every encounter trust me once you get more experience you'll become a master, but for now we should stop for a break while I consider other plans we could use." <Satou>

I served up food which was another Realm Sandwich platter with various juices.

[To attack a settlement, we could do hit and run raids on them but if we're even a second late they'd follow us with the full body, or we could try using siege tactics and firebombing them perhaps]

Idea after idea flowed into my head as I consumed the food before me, ultimately I pulled up my menu scanning through my Monster cards, and even turning to the in game store looking for potential bonus's or methods to get this job done.

[Wait what's this… hmmm it's pretty expensive but I can purchase a pet that would act like a summon, but in a supporter role… hmmm there's quite a few ones to choose from but for this situation I like the sound of this one's abilities, the power to use healing magic, holy magic, and barrier magic, if it's like I think it is, we can have it create a defense barrier but in reverse to force the goblins to remain within the barrier while we pick them off from a distance with Raisa's bow, and the others and I can wage ware within the village without having to worry about runaways]

"H..... Anyo...… Don't...…. God's Save...…." <???>

"Does anyone else here that?" <Satou>

Raisa cupped her ears meanwhile the two kobold nodded affirmatively, before staring off in the direction the sound came from.

"Lunch is over let's go see what's going on" <Satou>

The four of us made our way as silently as possible towards the sound of the voice i'd heard crying out, once we got close we could see a party of 20 or so goblins, walking along with a pair of bound up human girls, one was wearing priestess robes similar to Raisa's outfit when we first left Bobel, the other was wearing much flashier red robes with yellow patterns drawn all over.

As the goblins marched on ever closer to the village the girls continued to cry and scream out for salvation, the goblins meanwhile just laughed at their pitiful attempts to summon a saviour.

Raisa rose and was about to rush out before I grabbed her arm, she looked down at me dejected with fire in her eyes.

[I know you want to save them but we're too close to the village if we fight now they'll know we still have time before they make it to the village so we need to prep fast and then attack]

Ruby and Kurama joined in each grabbing one of her legs to keep her rooted.

"I know why you want to save them, and we will just give me a second" <Satou>

I quickly pulled my menu up selected the pet I'd previously chosen and selected checkout.

Next I whispered

"Summon Ziluan" <Satou>

*Bzzzzzeeeerrt*

A great white pillar of light shot out and rose high into the sky, when it finally settled their standing… er rather floating… flying?

Before me was my purchased summon a Ziluan in the flavour text Ziluan's are a type of chimera exclusively found in Vannaheimr they have the body of a snake, the wings of an angel, the head of a dragon, and a halo truly worthy of being considered a divine beast worth the 5000 small gold price tag. From my menu the popup appeared requesting I name my new summon.

[Uh let's see gotta make it quick, he's a holy snake dragon so probably has the power of resurrection or something right… oh I know from now on your name with be Shenron]

"Sa.. Sat… mmmph" <Raisa>

Raisa stuttered attempting to say my name aloud before Ruby clamped her paw over her mouth.

"Shen if you can please erect to barriers one around the goblins over there, but do it so they cannot leave the barrier, the other over that village in the distance there so the goblin's cannot run away" <Satou>

{{Understood, it shall be done}} <Shenron>

A regal but terrifyingly powerful voice rang out from within my head, Shenron meanwhile turned away flying up high over the tree-line, in the distance the goblin party had stopped probably curious about the beam of light they had just seen, from where we were hiding they hadn't yet decided what to do until a dome of rainbow color light appeared enveloping them, a few seconds passed and an enormous rainbow dome likewise appeared over the goblin village.

"Ok now for stage two, Raisa I want you to start shooting at the goblin party, don't worry they can't get out of that dome, I just need you to draw their attention. Kurama, Ruby get ready on my signal charge in and attack them." <Satou>

"What will you be doing Satou?" <Raisa>

Still stunned and bewildered Raisa in autopilot loosed a comment without any sense she was the one who'd come up with the question.

"I'm going to sneak around behind them while their distracted to rescue those girls and pull them out of the barrier" <Satou>

"Got it so we need them to think they've got a chance at another girl so they focus all their strength on getting to me?" <Raisa>

"That's right sorry don't mean to make you bait but it's all I got right now" <Satou>

"It's a price I happily pay if it means we can rescue them plus it doesn't hurt that I won't be harmed at all" <Raisa>

Flashing a smile before jumping out onto the beaten down walking path the goblins had just walked down, nocking a tempest arrow and firing quickly, in an instant the green arrow rocketed forward before penetrating a goblin's head and imbedding itself in the goblin behind as well.

Ruby, and Kurama joined me as we ran closer, until they stopped taking up and ambush position, I continued to run, having seem the goblins drop the girls harshly towards the ground all eyes gathered on Raisa, with their low intelligence the goblins had begun to swing and pound at the barrier in an attempt to break free to scamper forth and capture the new human prey.

[Now's my chance]

I dashed out from the tree's quickly running into the barrier and grabbing the bound girls each with my hands, dragging them as quickly as I could back towards the rear edge of the barrier.

"Grahhhhh!" <Goblin>

[Damn one of the goblin's noticed me]

{{Fear not Master for I shall protect thee}} <Shenron>

*Pfffttt*

A flash of white light shot past my face blasting a hole clean through the goblin's torso, before it fell backwards to the ground.

{{These denizen's who've strayed from the light shall fall before my purifying lance}} <Shenron>

Continuing to drag the captive girls into the safe zone, once the barrier was crossed, I shouted out.

"Now!" <Satou>

Ruby, and Kurama leapt into the flank of the goblins who were either focused on Raisa, or the newly slain goblin corpse among their numbers. Raisa meanwhile began running towards me and the girls who were still lying on the ground, I released their robes before drawing my own blades and charging into the battle with the goblin's.

*Shhhhttttkkk* *Shhhhttttkkk*

Plunging both my shortswords through the backs of two goblin's immediately pulling back before performing a cross swipe on both their necks, the semi-decapitated goblins immediately fell to their knees, Kurama was deftly using his twin daggers and speed to run around targeting every weak spot he could find on the goblin's, Ruby was engaging three goblin's at once, in what could only be seen to me as some funky form of dance as she kicked a goblin with one leg while simultaneously smash two others pelvis's with her metal clad fists.

Shrieks and cries of pain rang out for no more than five minutes until silence reined, one the last goblin was dead the barrier surrounding us faded back into the air.

"hooooo that was fun, wasn't it?" <Satou>

"Aroooo!" <Kurama>

letting out his victory cry while making his now standard triumphant pose.

The three of us quickly wiped off the blood from our weapons and sheathed them, before heading over to Raisa with Ruby, I asked Kurama to retrieve the ears before joining us.

"How are they doing?" <Satou>

"They're still in shock but otherwise doing well, they've been injured a broken ankle, and a broken leg it looks like, it was probably done by the goblin's so that they couldn't run away if they wanted to" <Raisa>

"I see, well we could use a potion to heal that right… oh wait I have a better idea" <Satou>

"Huh?" <Raisa>

"Shenron are you there?" <Satou>

{{I will always come when you call}} <Shenron>

The majestic voice sounded as the divine form slowly lowered itself to once again…. Hover just slight above the ground.

"Can you please cast healing magic upon these two?" <Satou>

{{It has already been done}} <Shenron>

"What?" <Raisa>

"He… hey my leg doesn't hurt anymore" <Rescued Girl 1>

"No way… mine feels good too!" <Rescued Girl 2>

The three stunned voices behind me all sounded out before a new overbearing silence occurred, turning round I saw all three of the girls staring with their eye's bugged out, and mouth's held so agape I could see all of their teeth.

"Something wrong?" <Satou>

"Sis… isn't that an angel?" <Rescued Girl 1>

"Ye.. yeah It must be" <Rescued Girl 2>

"Why's a messenger of the gods here Satou?" <Raisa>

"Messenger of the gods?.... You mean this guy?" <Satou>

Pointing a finger to Shenron

"This is Shenron he's one of my Summons" <Satou>

"WHAAAAAAT!!!" <Rescued Girls> <Raisa>

Even Ruby joined in by performing a jaw drop, Kurama on the other hand just stood by my side and nodded his head proudly, as if to say "I'd expect no less of my master"

{{Master I do not advise we stand around here, the Village over there is aware of our presence and is attempting to escape the barrier to get over to us}} <Shenron>

"Oh right ok, we'll get started on attacking right away" <Satou>

{{There are more of these, innocents being held as captive within the village}} <Shenron>

"What! Then we need to hurry up" <Satou>

{{There is no need to panic, I erected a third barrier around the hut they are being held in so they shall not come to further harm Master, though with my current mana that barrier will only last for an hour, less if it is attacked}} <Shenron>

"What is it Satou what's going on" <Raisa>

Worried she finally snapped out of her shock upon hearing half of my conversation.

"Oh Shenron here was saying there are even more captives in the village but he's already protected them with another barrier" <Satou>

'Phew'

"Oh thank the gods" <Raisa>

"Wow" <Rescued Girls>

"Ok so the barriers won't hold forever, at least I don't think they will so we should get started on our siege to eradicate this village and rescue the others" <Satou>

"Mister… Mister" <Rescued Girls>

The pair of girls we'd rescued we now each gripping one of my sleeves.

"What is it you two?" <Satou>

"We want to help as well, those goblin's killed our friends when we were captured! If you have a weapon we can borrow we want to join in on the attack" <Rescued Girl 1>

As they asked for this favor I was already working my store to purchase an arcane staff of burning flames, and a silver scepter of cleansing light.

"So you wish to join us in the rescue of the others who were captured?" <Satou>

"Yes!"<Rescued Girls>

With both hands I materialized the purchased weapons holding both staff's out to the girls. Their eyes sparkling looking at them.

"Whoa! This staff is so awesome, and it's radiating with so much magic power!" <Rescued Girl 1>

"This scepter it must be a divine weapon it's aura is so pure, and white" <Rescued Girl 2>

[Huh? They look like two regular old weapons to me, what this about seeing aura's and mana, well that's a matter for later I guess i haven't used anything like magic other than my skills so far so maybe that's why]

Now grasping both their provided weapons, I turned to address the newly formed party.

"Ok here's what we're going to do!" <Satou>

All eyes were drawn to me.

[Uh gods why did I just take charge I hate public speaking, It was fine with our small group but by the end we're sure to have a dozen or so in numbers *Sigh*]

"Uh… Raisa you and the girls here will attack the main gate of the goblin village" <Satou>

"WHAT!!!"<Girls>

Pressing fingers in my ears till the noise subsided.

"Shenron's barrier is still up so you're just gonna be bait again, plus the three of you can attack from a distance right especially with the weapons I leant you right? Meanwhile the fighters (Kurama, Ruby, and I) will infiltrate and attack from the rear, resulting in a pincer attack" <Satou>

"Hmph using me as bait again huh Satou..., if it wasn't for those other's being held captive I'd be giving you a piece of my mind right now, a beautiful young lady such as myself can be more useful than always just being monster bait!" <Raisa>

"Lady don't worry it'll be fine" <Rescued Girl 1>

"Yeah miss your boyfriend doesn't mean it" <Rescued Girl 2>

"B.. bo… BOYFRIEND!!" <Raisa>

Her entire body of visible flesh turned beet red, with her voice echoing throughout the valley.

"Uh well... best to act quickly here, so we're off, oh and Shenron, if you can please attack from the air as much as you can without getting injured yourself, and if anyone get injured please preserve some mana to cast healing magic if needed." <Satou>

{{Understood}} <Shenron>

With that, the four of us left Raisa, and the two girls who were now deep in an argument that I had no place being in, since my mere presence seemed to make things worse already.

[Though it does bother me some as to Raisa's response, I could understand her refusal of that statement, but to become that flushed, was she that embarrassed by the idea of dating someone like me? **Sigh** Oh well guess that old, damsel in distress being save and falling in love with the saviour trope isn't effective in this world haha, though come to think of it I really haven't saved her at all have I, that night was all my summons handiwork while I was snoozing away…. Huh oh we're there already]

Lost in my thoughts the three of us had already run an arcing path towards the side of the goblin village leaping over the fence, before splitting off, meanwhile Shenron had flown up high into the sky circling above. As I continued to run on, drawing my blades and steeling my nerves for the next battle to come.

'Swing' *Thud* 'Swing' *Thud*

"Hah hah" <Satou>

Panting after having killed another two goblins, sweat pouring down my face, clothes soaked in blood.

"Just how many of these things are there!" <Satou>

The village fight had already been going on for more than thirty minutes now, and countless goblin bodies lay hewn upon the ground.

Charred corpses, and bodies pierced by projectiles lay in a pile at the gate, as the rampaging mob climbed on the fallen who had been killed by Raisa and her cohorts.

"If they keep coming, we're going to have to fall back I'm so close to being out of stamina, and with no time to drink a recovery potion" <Satou>

"GRAAAHH!" <Goblin>

'Swing' 'Clang' 'Shhhtttkkk' *Thud*

"Hah ooooo..." <Satou>

My body grew heavy and my vision faded, the last thing I remember is the blue sky with cloud wheeling overhead before everything faded to black.

"AHhh Gobins!!!" <Satou>

Jolting upright screaming out.

[… Wait a minute where am I?]

I scanned the room I was in; it looked like the inside of a hastily made tent, while the bed I had been resting on was just a pile of grass.

[Wasn't I just fighting goblins]

{{That was yesterday Master}} <Shenron>

"Gah!" <Satou>

[That voice… wait I know that voice, Shenron?]

{{Yes Master}} <Shenron>

[So you can hear my thoughts I thought I could only hear your own? What is this telepathy...? I mean I know I could hear you before but I didn't know you could also hear my thought like our own private 2-way cell-line]

{{We are a bonded pair, so our fates are intertwined}} <Shenron>

[Uh… alright then, sounds more like something a love struck teenager would say though… wait did you say yesterday?]

{{I did}} <Shenron>

Jumping to my feet I burst through the simple cloth that was hanging down acting as a door.

As my eyes adjusted to the light straightening my body standing tall, I saw before me that I was in centre of the goblin village… or rather what once was the goblin village formerly.

Looking round I could see numerous girls, and women walking about.

Some with downcast eyes full of sorrow, others with beaming smiles stretched across their faces, every single person I saw was busy carrying tiny green bodies or pieces of them off somewhere.

"Wha… what's going on?" <Satou>

Later on Raisa had explained to me that in this world the worst fate possible was to be captured by Goblin or Orc's since their races are Mono-gendered and can only reproduce through the use of other races females, but they take a special liking to Human women over all the others, their sadistic pleasure in the screams, and pain they inflict

"SATOU!" <Raisa>

A piercing voice rang through the air, as I turned to look I saw Raisa rushing towards me with tears streaming down her face, she continued to run still crying before tackling into me and shoving her face deep into my chest, rubbing her tear soaked cheeks into my shirt, the dried blood being wetted once again rubbing off onto her face.

"I was so worried you just collapsed all of a sudden after the fight was over, and nothing we did could get you to wake up!" <Raisa>

"Uh... oh, sorry to worry you, I mean I think I just used up all of my stamina and was exhausted so I passed out" <Satou>

[Wait at the end of the battle? I don't remember it being the end, if I had to guess I passed out in the middle of the battle… or perhaps the latter half but there was still quite a crowd of goblins last I checked]

Raisa continued to cry into my chest for a couple of moments until she finally stopped and pulled her face back, not to be rude or anything but she looked like a mess, blood smeared across her entire face, her nose running, and her eyes absolutely bloodshot.

"Umm… sorry for worrying you?" <Satou>

'sniff'

"You're so reckless you know that." <Raisa>

"I am? Uh this probably will sound weird but just what happened? I can only remember up till the first few waves of the goblins when we'd charged into the village." <Satou>

"huh!" <Raisa>

'Whooosh'

Shenron's form dropped before us, causing a cloud of dust to rise up.

{{I shall relay your actions for you master at a later time as I was watching the battle unfold from the air, in the meantime I have something to report, a suspicious stairwell has been located at the centre of this village}} <Shenron>

"A stairwell?" <Satou>

'hic hic'

"Oh yeah there was that stairwell, I got a really bad feeling just looking at it, so for now, we've got Kurama, Ruby, Iskra, and Iglika watching the entrance as guards, just in case" <Raisa>

"Iskra… Iglika?" <Satou>

"Wha oh right, those are the two girls we had rescued before assaulting the villages, they've been a big help around here while you were sleeping" <Raisa>

"Oh those two" <Satou>

[Right the ones I gave the fire staff, and silver scepter to, well good to know they're earning their keep since I was out of commission]

"Miss Raisa we need you over here!" <Girl>

In the distance a young girl was calling out to Raisa while standing on guard looking wary towards me.

"Oh sorry Satou I need to go, we've still got a lot of preparations to do before everyone is ready to start heading back to town" <Raisa>

With that Raisa did a quick wipe of her eyes before dashing off towards the young girl, I turned to Shenron since he had remained behind.

[So that stairwell do you know anything about it?]

{{No… but there is a dark aura emanating from the entrance that place is one of evil no doubt about it, it would be an ode to the world for us to cleanse such a place}} <Shenron>

[Well certainly something we should investigate huh? Perhaps that's the place the goblins came from originally, seeing as how the guild seem surprised about just how there were goblins in these woods, since they'd have had to travel here from somewhere but with this being a high traffic area for them to arrive unnoticed is shocking]

{{Indeed}} <Shenron>

[Then while we head there you tell me what went on during the battle ok? I can remember the first 30 or so minutes of battle once we'd entered the village but there were still a hundred or so goblins when my memory faded, just how long was the fight?]

{{You cannot remember anything after 30 minutes in? That is troubling, but the battle itself really only lasted for another 5 minutes after that point, from where I was I saw you had fallen onto your back, at first I thought you'd been knocked down or tripped, but then you just disappeared… All over the village goblins were falling dead on the spot no sign of wounds or that anyone had come near them, after no more than five minutes had passed not one goblin remained alive, and you were standing wreathed in a dark light before the largest of the goblins bodies, once the light had faded you collapsed once again but this time you did not rise again so we placed you somewhere you could rest}} <Shenron>

[...…. So I took down the half of whole goblin village in five minutes.... While unconscious?]

{{That's what it appeared to be, but at the same time it looked like divine intervention where something had taken control of your body to finish the task you had set out to complete}} <Shenron>

[Huh, well I mean it's a good thing the goblins were dealt with and we were able to do it without any casualties but still creepy that someone or something else was driving my body while I was passed out.... Will that happen every time I go unconscious?]

{{It is difficult to say, perhaps the conditions were just right this time to allow it?}} <Shenron>

[Well still… anyhow I guess we should do introductions shouldn't we everything kind of was rushed right after your summoning]

{{There is no need Master, as your Summon I have access to all your thoughts and memories so you can think of me as just an extension of yourself}} <Shenron>

[… .... All of my memories, Let's keep a lock on "Those" ones got it!"]

{{Understood Master}} <Shenron>

[By the way, since you have my memories does that mean you can also "speak" human languages?]

{{Well that's a tricky question to answer, as it stands right now I can speak, and read the languages you know from Earth, however I cannot understand the languages the people here are speaking unless they are speaking to you, then for some reason I can understand it through your memories}} <Shenron>

[Ah ok that makes sense, I guess I should take some classes then to actually learn the language I've been just getting by with some sort of automatic translation that's allowed me to read, write, or speak anything I've come across so far, though words that don't exist here seem to come out normal, or well normal to us]

{{That would be appreciated Master since then I can converse with other humans and perform your will even when we are apart}} <Shenron>

[Wait so does that mean that you can be separate from me? My other summons can't be in a different zone from me, every time I left an inn, even if I told him to wait in the room, Kurama would just sort of appear next to me.]

{{That is correct in terms I suppose you could refer to me as an none player summon, so though I am bound to your account, errr rather soul I am free to perform independent action based on your orders, or commands or even per my own free will}} <Shenron>

[That is so cool, not that I don't mind you being around your super powerful from what I saw in the store, not to mention the complete regal air about you, plus is it just me or is everyone looking at you with more fear and wonderment than would be expected to see a dragon?]

{{From what you know of this world, I cannot say, but they do seem more religious than those of earth so, perhaps they are mistaking me for a prophet of sorts?}} <Shenron>

[Hmm that right, those girls did call you a Messenger of god or something before right or were they talking about me for having you as a summon?]

{{True, my presence may cause you issue master… if they are religiously fanatic I could cause a panic or uproar}} <Shenron>

[I could always try dispelling you and then summoning you again when I need you I suppose]

{{That would be best, but since I'm different from your other summons I don't know if that is possible}} <Shenron>

"Dispel Shenron" <Satou>

*fzzt*

{{See, it seems any none player summon is stuck with you, or wherever you place us until the day we perish, however as of yet untested would be whether non-playable characters (NPC) or even yourself for that matter could be revived with resurrection magic or items like in the game?}}

<Shenron>

[That is good to know and certainly something we should look into later on, but in the meantime I should be careful I don't buy to many NPC's then, not like I need to draw attention by having a full raid party of Gamer NPC's, especially if their all as awesome as you, the countries of this world would lose their minds trying to gain us as a special ops group or something like that, not to mention the "Heroes" would most likely learn of my whereabouts no matter where I am, and might target me since I could be perceived as a threat to the world or even their own selfish desires... I mean they are kids after all who knows what they'll do unshackled and blessed with more power than they'll know what to do with]

{{Be it man, beast, or nation of this planet I shall prevent any of them from stopping you. From living free however you wish, and should they be persistent we can remove their ilk from this world if all they can do Is spread malice, and ill will to force someone's submission to do their own dirty work}} <Shenron>

[Oh hey actually I was going to ask since you've been around and share my mind or whatever but I haven't seen a single item drop the entire time we've been walking now, did they all disappear after some time?]

{{Hmmm oh the drops from the goblin's no no, I collected them all for you, if I understand the system correctly you should see all of those items in your inventory}} <Shenron>

It was true, when I opened my inventory I received a system prompt telling me my NPC had collected drops, along with the one's I'd collected from the forest, and goblin party's my inventory increased by a ton:

Collected[[ 448 common Goblin Cards, 36 Uncommon Goblin Cards, 4 Rare Goblin Cards, 1 Epic Goblin Card, 489 Goblin Ears, 247 Goblin fangs, 341 Silver coins, 3,874 copper coins, 20 arcane rods, 2 poison daggers, and lastly a bunch of goblin clothing (This went straight into the shredder)]]

[Nice, it's good to know I don't have to be the only one to run around picking these up I tried it before and Kurama must not be able to see them because when I told him once to pick up the drop in front of us, he just looked at me confused since he saw nothing there]

((Perhaps I should summon an non-player character or two whose entire job is just to collect drops, nah they might be npc's but that's just cruel, I'll just have to make do for now, Shen was expensive to purchase but I've still got more than a couple hundred small gold's to live on for now, plus I'll make more back selling the drops this time, and then from the potions I'll make with the herb collecting, not to mention the reward money for the quest plus, extra I'd assume for saving all the captives))

Wrapping up our telepathic conversation there we had finally approached the stairwell, Kurama walked up to us doing a simple chest tap salute, meanwhile the two girls took one look at Shenron before prostrating on the ground, Ruby just stood there watching everything.

"Uh ladies please stand, Shen here says he doesn't wish for anyone to grovel and dirty their clothes just because of him" <Satou>

"But but… he's a divine beast to not show respect to him would incur divine retribution" <Girl>

"But isn't that avoided if he's the one telling you to get up? I mean not listening to him would also incur this divine wrath wouldn't it" <Satou>

... after a moment of thought both girls got to their feet but kept their heads bowed choosing not to look at Shenron floating there.

"So this is the stairwell everyone is worried about? Has anything come up from below yet?" <Satou>

"No sir… we've been guarding but there hasn't been anything… though" <Iskra>

"Though what?" <Satou>

"well it's just that every now and then we hear these voices on the air, coming from the hole" <Iglika>

"I see well since I have nothing to do I was thinking of checking it out, even if only a little bit" <Satou>

"But it could be dangerous!" <Iskra>

"But sis he's super powerful, plus he's got his summons who are just as strong right?" <Iglika>

"But miss Raisa said no one was supposed to enter…" <Iskra>

"No she said to stop the other's from entering she never said anything about him!" <Iglika>

"Well I'm going to go in either way so if you're going to try and stop me, better do it now, just if you do stop me then I'll be taking those staves back" <Satou>

'Gasp' <Girls>

Both girls pulled their weapons close to their chest hugging them tightly to their bodies.

"Alright Shenron, Kurama let's go do some spelunking shall we" <Satou>

'Nod'

{{Agreed Master}} <Shenron>