"Okay. We don't know how many of them there are, but we can a.s.sume that it's not too many. It would be best if we could do some recon though. Kany would you-"
"Kenji-san, I can use my fireflies for this now! Please let me do it!" Erana stared directly into my eyes with fierce determination. It seems that the rest of us demonstrating our abilities has driven her antsy as well.
"What do you mean?"
"I can see through my fireflies now. I just need to stay within a certain range and I can look through their eyes. It's much safer for me to do it than Kany."
"I see! Well then, let's get within range for you to do that then! How close do we need to be?"
"Within around 100 meters."
"Well how close are we now?" Tael asked.
"Uh… I dunno. Probably 150 meters?" I poked my head over the mound to check.
"So then let's get 50 meters closer!" Kany stood up and declared.
"Hey hey hey wait, we don't need to send her fireflies into the camp, just close enough so that she can count a general number."
"Wait… so how close then?"
I looked at our nearby area. There were several small mounds that we could hide behind if we stayed low.
"I'd say around 40 meters. Erana will send her fireflies to their maximum range and from there it shouldn't be hard to count the goblins from the air. What do you all think?"
"I don't like getting my robes dirty."
"I'm fine with it, Kenji-san."
"Whatever makes you feel safe Onii-san."
"Sounds like a plan then. Let's move."
We began to slowly move between mounds. It took us around 2 minutes to get up to the 40 meter mark.
"Whew… Okay. Fireflies!" Erana held her tree branch upwards as 20 fireflies emerged from the magic circle that appeared.
"Woo! New record!"
The swarm flew towards the camp while Erana kept one eye closed. I could see her tick her finger as she counted goblins one by one.
"Okay. That makes 14. I bet there are more inside the tents, but I can't see inside."
"I doubt there would be that many more. Did they have any equipment that stood out?"
"None that I could see. They seemed to be carrying standard gear."
"Okay. That means-"
"Let's go!" Kany interrupted as she bolted up and disappeared.
"Yeah. That." I stood up and drew my broadsword as I began to walk towards the goblin camp. Erana and Tael followed closely behind me.
May as well try my hardest here. This is the true test of my abilities.
"Ability Boost: Speed!" I shouted. Suddenly my steps carried me much further. It felt as if I was flying on the ground. I arrived at the outskirts of the camp in next to no time. Erana and Tael were far behind me by the time I arrived. I released the ability boost and returned to normal.
Okay. Now that I'm here, let's try it out.
"Magic Skin!" I shouted. A thin membrane of mana formed itself around me. I didn't need a magic focus to cast this spell fortunately, so I was able to pull it off without any issue.
The goblins seemed to have been alerted to my presence as they immediately began drawing their weapons and approaching me. Unlike how I was a week ago, I'm no longer afraid of these creatures. I'm simply ready to destroy them.
"Hmm… What would be a good song for this?" I asked myself out loud. Thanks to my bard skill I can play music now… Wait, I know the perfect song!
I took a combat stance as I squared myself towards the closest goblin. Waltz Number 2 by Dmitri Shostakovich began to play as I looked towards my enemy. I first heard this song when my parents took me to a concert as a child. Ever since then I've always been a fan of cla.s.sical music. My unwavering confidence and the music must have shaken its resolve as it slowly began to back away from me.
"If you're not coming to me then I'll come to you!" I shouted this cliche line as I charged forward. The goblins all tried to form a wall to stop me in futility as I swung my sword sideways. A goblin head went flying as a result of my attack.
"G-Gaaah!" Another goblin shouted as it began to run away. Before it could get very far, a dagger was shoved into its back as Kany re-appeared.
It didn't take long for the goblins to begin frantically panicking.
Tael walked towards a group of 3 goblins slowly. They looked at him as they frantically raised their weapons in a futile resistance.
"Lighting: Chain!" Tael pointed his wand towards the group as a bolt of electricity pierced each of them. They all fell to the ground as the sickening sound of burning emerged.
A few goblins made a break for it towards the mounds that we had come from, but Erana was there to stop them.
"No you don't! Wall of Thorns!" She yelled out as a meter thick wall of thorn covered vines grew out of the ground in front of them. Their escape route was effectively cut off by this.
"Nice going Erana!" Kany ran towards the would-be escapees and cut each of them down with 3 swift strikes. Their bodies. .h.i.t the ground with a sickening thud.
"Okay… How many does that leave?" I thought out loud. The ground was littered with goblin bodies as we began to move through the camp.
"I think that makes 6 left that Erana counted." Tael responded as we got back to back.
"Okay. I'll take 3 and you take 3. Sound good?"
"Hah! I'll take 4!"
"Nope I already took down another!" Kany ran up and shouted.
"So… That leaves 5 then. Tell you guys what, you leave one for me and you take the rest. I need to test something."
"Really? Are you sure Onii-san?"
"Positive. Maybe leave one for Erana too while you're at it."
"I… don't think there's a need for that." Tael pointed towards Erana as he said this.
"Solar Beam!" Erana shouted out as a laser blasted out of her wand and set a goblin that had run away on fire. I won't deny that I was somewhat terrified.
"Okay. Let's roll!" Kany shouted out as she sprinted forward. Tael closely followed her lead. I sheathed my broadsword as I approached a nearby goblin. It readied itself to face me.
Honestly, I have to hand it to this guy. By now I would have probably peed my pants and ran. I can't say I dislike this confidence.
Come to think of it, where do these creatures even come from? Are they natural? I haven't seen any babies around, nor have I seen any female goblins. Is this even a guy to begin with?
The goblin charged me as I pondered this conundrum. I easily dodged its attack as it stumbled past me. Truly I take pity on this creature. If it would just surrender then I wouldn't kill it. Why does it insist on fighting? Surely it knows it can't win.
I stepped forwards towards the goblin. It tried to swing its sword at me, but I grabbed its arm and poked its eye with a spear hand. I used this opening I created as it recoiled in pain to disarm it. I need to ensure that I can do this in case a situation arises where I will need to disarm a more difficult opponent. Practice makes perfect after all. If this goblin surrenders then I'll stop, but until then I'm going to be using it as a practice dummy.
We continued this faux battle where the goblin would attack me and then I would strike a vital point to make it drop its weapon in pain. It didn't take long for me to figure out exactly how it would move about.
"Yo Kenji, you having trouble?"
"Nah it's fine. I'm just practicing disarming techniques." I kicked the sword out of the goblins hands for the umpteenth time. It began to scramble towards the sword, but I intercepted it as I grabbed its head and looked directly into its eyes.
"You know, all you need to do is surrender." I spoke to the goblin as if it were a child. In response, the goblin simply began to swipe its hands at me.
"Nah man, they won't ever listen to reason. They're monsters after all. No matter how hard you try they'll just stay the same."
"What do you mean?" I asked as I held the goblin by the head. It kept trying to run towards me but it couldn't get past my grip strength.
"Well, some monsters are natural, but these guys are sp.a.w.ned by the demon king. They're just essence of evil pretty much. You could do nothing but kindness yet it would still turn out evil."
"Oh, I see. Well then, I guess I don't feel bad about this." I said as I drew my dagger.
"Firebolt." I shot the streak of flame into the goblins head as it fell to the floor limply.
"That takes care of that!"
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