Kaelen drew in a slow breath, the cool forest air filling his lungs as he steadied his nerves. "Then we pick our moment carefully."
Mari smirked, nudging him with her elbow. "Oh, come on—have a bit of fun! They're just goblins. No need to be soooo serious all the time. I get being careful, but you're making this sound like a funeral march."
He gave her a tired look and let out a long sigh. "Hhh… what am I going to do with you?"
She grinned, eyes gleaming with that reckless spark, something he both admired and feared.
"Alright," Kaelen said, lowering his voice to a firm whisper. "Just follow my mark. I'll shoot the one with the slingshot."
He raised his bow slowly, fingers brushing the string.
"That one there, by the broken wagon wheel," he nodded.
"You go in and take out the goblins closest to us—quick and clean. Then we move in together."
Kaelen's gaze sharpened, locking onto Mari's eyes. "And—do not get surrounded."
Mari's smile faltered for a split second.
"Saving your ass is going to be annoying," he warned, voice low but serious, "and I'll never let you live it down."
Mari's grin returned, but now edged with teasing resolve. "Mhh, but then how will you finally get to be the hero for once."
Kaelen rolled his eyes, sighing in defeat. "Whatever, let's just get this over with."
They crouched low behind a thick cluster of brambles, hearts pounding but movements deliberate. Kaelen nocked an arrow, careful to stay hidden in the shadow of the trees. The goblins were restless, their ragged voices cutting through the clearing as they fought over scraps and cursed one another.
The one with the slingshot was pacing near the back of the camp, looking bored but alert.
Kaelen drew back the bowstring, the tension humming in his fingers, and exhaled slowly.
Now.
The arrow flew, a whisper in the quiet morning. It struck the goblin square in the throat, and the creature crumpled without a sound.
Chaos erupted instantly.
Mari sprang forward, her aura surging through her body increasing her speed and power, bastard sword gleaming in the filtered light, cutting through the closest goblin before it even had a chance to raise its crude blade. She ducked under a wide swing from the other goblin next to the fist one, its eyes wide in shock, its swing purely reactionary and pitiful really. She responded with a brutal thrust through its stomach.
Just like the first three goblins were down.
Kaelen fired again, his second arrow punching through the eye of a goblin that had begun to raise a horn. It collapsed without making a sound. Another shot a moment later caught a goblin climbing onto a boulder for a vantage point—Now the ranged goblins were gone and only the melee ones remained.
The remaining goblins screamed and surged forward, brandishing jagged spears, rusted blades, and crude axes. Mari carved a path through the goblins like a battering ram, her bastard sword flashing left and right in wide, forceful arcs. Her sword arced wide, knocking back one goblin and cleaving through another's collarbone into its neck, spraying blood across the clearing.
Kaelen dropped his bow after shooting one last arrow at a goblin with a spear trying to get behind Mari piercing its shoulder, stalling its charge and quickly drew both of his shortswords, sprinting forward to back Mari up before she was fully surrounded by the goblins.
He met the spear-wielding goblin and parried a spear thrust from it, easily knocking it away with his superior strength due to his aura, and using the opening he moved up stabbing the goblin through the jaw into its skull.
The creature screeched and collapsed as Kaelen twisted his blade free, "Seven down!" he shouted
The goblin tried to surround Mari, moving in. She quickly realised this and tried moving away, but then a goblin lunged with a jagged dagger, with she dodged, but then another thrusted a spear towards her. She managed to deflect most of the blow, but the tip grazed her cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. She hissed and drove her foot into the goblin's chest before finishing it with a vicious slash. "Little bastard," she muttered, however she was able to avoid being surrounded.
Kaelen slipped in to her side, his blade moving like a whisper. He slashed a goblin across the chest, then just as he was about to bring other sword up to cut the goblin.
Mari moved and kicked a goblin into the one kaelen cut and ended both of them with a single, brutal stab through their chests "That's ten" She smirked
The remaining goblins hesitated. The momentum had turned. There were only five of them left now.
"Keep pushing!" Kaelen barked, moving in on the nearest two. He dodged a jab from one of their bone daggers and punished the opening with a swift strike to the knee, followed by a merciless thrust into the goblin's chest.
Mari charged in beside him, swinging her sword in a wide arc that caught one goblin across the chest and slammed into the other's arm. One dropped instantly, the other tried to stagger back, but Mari pressed forward and ended it with a clean stab through the gut.
Kaelen parried a wild swing from another goblin, gritting his teeth as he twisted around the crude blade and countered with a slash that nearly decapitated his foe. Blood sprayed across his cloak.
"Two more!" he yelled, locking eyes with the final group.
One goblin turned and bolted, its courage gone.
"Oh no you don't," Mari growled and sprinted after it. The goblin flung its rusted blade at mari as it was running, missing by a wide margin. She slammed into it with her shoulder, sending it sprawling, and pinned it under her boot as she drove her sword through its back before it could crawl away.
Kaelen closed in on the last one. It shrieked and rushed him, weapon high. He ducked low, drove forward, and slammed his shoulder into the goblin's chest, knocking it flat. He finished it with a precise thrust to the heart.
They stood for a moment, the clearing quiet but for their breathing. The forest slowly began to reclaim the silence, birdsong returning, the wind rustling the trees.
Mari wiped her blade and grinned. "Fifteen. That all of them?"
Kaelen nodded, crouching beside a corpse. "That's all."
She turned to him, face streaked with sweat and blood. "Still think I need saving?"
He gave her a flat look and nodded toward the small cut on her cheek. "You're the one bleeding."
Mari reached up, touched it, and winced. "Tch. Just a scratch. Doesn't count."
Kaelen smirked. "Mmhmm. Tell yourself that. Pretty sure I killed more of them."
"In your dreams, pretty boy."
They both laughed, the tension finally easing.
Kaelen began searching the bodies. "Let's see if these rats had anything useful."
Mari stretched, cracking her back. "Think this was a scout group?"
Kaelen shook his head. "No. This was their main camp. E-rank quest, fifteen goblins—it checks out."
Mari gave a tired huff. "Well, anything worth our time?"
He held up a bent iron dagger and a moldy pouch. Nope, unless you count, these completely rusted scraps they used as weapons"
"Welp, what'd I expect? Just a bunch of dirty little goblins. all those hours of walking for scraps and a fight that lasted maybe three minutes."
Kaelen chuckled. "Don't you worry now. After a few more of these, we'll rank up. Then we can pick something deadlier. Just for you, my battle-crazy friend."
She grinned, her scratch having already stopped bleeding with the help of her aura. "Now that's a quest I'm looking forward to."
Kaelen finished cutting the left ears from each goblin, stuffing them into a small pouch which now hung off his belt, guild receptionist had asked them for their ears, as proof of their work.
He turned to Mari, "Well, let's head back to town."
She nodded, and the two began their trek back through the forest. They walked in companionable silence, following the stream they'd used earlier. Eventually, the trees thinned, and the town came into view, the sun beginning to set behind them.
At the gate, different guards from before checked their adventurers' licenses and let them through. They made their way to the adventurers' guild.
They walked up to the reception desk, where a young lady in her early twenties with blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail and sparkling emerald eyes, wearing the guild uniform greeted them.
"Hello, welcome to the adventurers guild, what can I do for you today"
Mari leaned forward 'Hello,.. Elise" looking at the name tag on her blue blazer. "We're here to hand in our first quest" As Kaelen put down the stamped quest request and the goblin ears down on the table.
Elise smiled and looked over the quest paper, seeing the stamp proving it was infact given to them from this branch. "Alright, please give me a moment while I confirm your reward and mark the completion of the quest."
Kaelen and Mari nodded and simply waited for her to finish.
Less than a minute later, Elise returned. "Here you go—fifty-five coppers, or rather, five silver and five coppers." She placed ten coins on the table. "Three coppers per goblin, plus ten extra for clearing out the entire group as requested."
It was a quite the sum really, at least for a single day's work. An average peasant made maybe seven to ten silver a week—enough to feed a small family. Five and a half silver in one day was nothing to sneeze at, though it wouldn't make them rich any time soon or ever really. And they couldn't do this every day—goblin quests weren't endless. Maybe in a few days, another one would pop up. Goblins always did.
"Thank you, Elise" said Kaelen as he grabbed the coins and proceeded to leave, with Mari following behind repeating his words.
By the time they reached back to Mari's home it was already starting to get dark. They enter the through the shops front door, as they walked inside they saw mistress harrow at the counter counting coins for the day's sales like she usually did.
She stepped out from behind the counter as soon as she notice them approached, wiping her hands on a cloth. "Finally Back? You two look like you rolled through a battlefield."
Kaelen offered a tired smile. "That's not too far off."
Her father gave a short nod as he peeked into the store from the back. "No serious wounds?"
"Just a scratch," Mari said, brushing a hand over her cheek.
Kaelen's mother emerged from inside, her eyes scanning him carefully as she rushed to him giving him a tight hug. "I hope you didn't do anything reckless." She said as she checked him all over for any wounds.
He shifted in embarrassment and was about to opened his mouth, but Mari cut in. "He was the careful one. I'm the one who ran in swinging."
Kaelen sighed. "As usual."
Their parents exchanged amused looks.
"Dinner's almost ready," Mari's mother said, already turning back inside. "You're both staying."
Mari grinned. "We won't say no to that."
Kaelen nodded, and the two followed them in, the warmth of home already washing over them as the door shut behind.