Raid (3)

The solid, meaty thwack that sounded out when I whacked the Goblin in front of me was rather refreshing and sort of hilarious in its own way, though the crunch that followed and the way the Goblin slumped the ground, its neck twisted in ways that should not be possible... was slightly funny, mainly because my hatred of these little bastards remained incredibly potent.

If anything, it had grown now that I knew this world was real and that I was real inside of it; there was going to be no saving someone who fell into the clutches of these monsters, and there would never be any dark, morbid curiosity on my part that seriously confused me for the weeks afterwards...

Curiosity killed the cat in that regard, figuratively, literally and metaphorically with what had happened in those few days, and it was something that was locked away inside my mind, something I had willingly subjected myself to because of a human's innate desire to understand and know, even if that knowledge would be detrimental to your mental state going forwards...

Anyways, as I broke the neck of the last remaining normal Goblin inside the Den, I breathed out a sigh of relief as it fell to the ground limply, the blood that was splashed against my boots and caking the edge of my wooden blade displaying the things I had done over however long we had been inside this Den.

Just because I was finished though, it did not mean that the others were anywhere near done, and I was still expected to aid them even if I was far weaker, so I stepped over the corpse of the red skinned bastard and approached the remaining monsters, which were... rather dangerous.

A towering, muscle bound mountain of red flesh that was snarling and swinging around a boulder tied to a tree trunk like it was nothing was being fought by the four guards and Young Master Qin, whilst the others were battling hard against a host of Hobgoblins, Ogres and magical Goblins called Crones.

Alessia was currently carving away at a large Ogre with Trania's help, the two Talonmaster's working together to turn the bulky, muscular red skinned Goblin evolution into a large pile of bloody meat, while Paci was battling alongside Hildrai, the red head likely trying her luck at interesting the dark skinned hunk from Valrock into 'using her like a rag'...

There was a short supply of free enemies, so I just shrugged and dashed forwards, joining the two Talonmaster's that I knew and giving them support with my Nature Magic, utilizing [Root Spiral] the most, and occasionally popping out [Vine Whip] as well.

[Root Spiral] is just that good of a spell even at lower levels - a bread and butter spell, if you will, in the same vein as [Firebolt] and [Gust], or even [Minor Heal] - while [Vine Whip] was something that required a tad more finesse that I couldn't always utilize.

Something I needed to do soon was sit down and study the intrinsics of my spells and understand them in a more intimate manner, so that I could tweak their structures and improve them for my needs.

Then I also needed to train and strengthen my body some more, raise my stamina, make some money, improve my gear, dabble in some of the 'arts' like enchanting, smithing, or alchemy, then I should...

Damn...

There is a LOT to do, and not a lot of time to be able to do all of those things huh...

Stabbing the foot of an Ogre with the ever reliable [Root Spiral], I watched as Alessia raised her giant claymore and cleaved it down into the red skinned monster's shoulder, while Trania darted forwards and cut the monster swiftly with her dual blades, chopping it down and killing it as quickly as possible so that we could move on to the next monster.

Without the ability to see how much experience I was gaining, this raid was rather intriguing since I was trying to gauge the numbers in my head and keep track of my experience that way, but I realized rather early that I was not adept at that whatsoever.

Utilizing the roots that were rather abundant inside of Yngrave Forest, I pierced the calf of the next monster and watched on as Alessia chopped its head off cleanly, before sending the root shooting out towards a wiry Hobgoblin that was leaping towards Trania, its thin lips pulled into a wide grin as it raised the club up high, hoping to knock out the Catkin with a single blow.

Sadly for it, my root was faster and stronger than it could anticipate, and when it punctured its stomach and began to unwind inside its torso, the Hobgoblin could only scream as it felt the roots wrapping around its bones and organs before squeezing them into a powder and paste respectively.

Trania just glanced back at me after lopping its head off, the Catkin narrowing her eyes before giving me a small curt nod, the only acknowledgement I had gotten from her in a long time.

The rest of the Den was cleaned up rather quickly, and Young Master Qin stood at the front with a smirk on his lips as he looked around at us all, taking in the bloodied and battered visage of his troops and nodding as he said "Well done. That's the first Den of many out of the way. Fifteen minute break; eat, rest, heal up. Get ready to head back out soon!"

With that, he turned and began to talk with his guards, who all nodded as they listened to their Master, while the rest of us broke off into small groups and began to do as he suggested, finding some clean rocks to rest against before using our mana to clean off our gear.

"Alessia..? Can we pray together for a moment?"

The golden Dogkin was sitting down against a rock, sipping from her waterskin and chewing on some dried fruits and nuts that she had brought with her, so when she heard my question she glanced at me and shrugged.

"Guess you're the religious type then Kira? Asked for the temple too back at Qingrad when you first came in."

She didn't say no, instead gesturing for me to sit beside her and fumbling around beneath the collar of her tunic, revealing the golden rose pendant that she wore and adding "I don't mind either way."

Smiling at her, I took a seat beside her and and closed my eyes, hoping that I could level up here with her via prayer, and as soon as the system screen popped up, I held back a relieved smile as I began to pray alongside her, maintaining appearances as I watched my level rise.