~X~
I sighed as the three of us walked down the road, looking around at the destroyed village I came from. Nothing I see is sparking any flashbacks.
Cloud had a severe frown, while Alfia crossed her arms and glared around.
We eventually came across the goblins I killed yesterday at the market crossroad at the center of the village.
"Hm, these are the first dead goblins we've seen so far," Cloud went to a knee and observed them. "Looks like they were killed with magic."
"I killed them," I said, and Cloud and Alfia focused on me. "I woke up not far from here, and some goblins found me. I ran for a bit before I made a stand here."
"I see," Cloud said and stood up. "Alfia."
"I don't hear anyone else around," Alfia said, already knowing what Cloud was about to ask.
Cloud nodded. "We came in from the west so, there are three directions other directions to check, north, east, and south. Let's split up. We'll cover more ground that way. I'll go north."
"I will check south," Alfia said.
"I guess that leaves me with the east," I said.
"We'll meet back here when we're done," Cloud said.
Alfia and I nodded, and we all went in separate directions.
.
I explored a few houses, but there wasn't anything of interest. I didn't know what I was looking for. My Predator Skill wasn't picking up anything, either.
I headed back outside and looked at the footprints in the dirt. It was easy to tell goblin footprints from the human ones. The problem was they were going all over the place. One thing I could tell was the goblins didn't enter or exit the village this way. No goblin footprints were heading outside.
I suppose that made sense. There are mountains to the north, and Cloud pointed those out on the map yesterday since they had caves that could hide a nest.
I decided to head to the market crossroad early. There wasn't much to find on my side of the village. It may be better for me to find some useful items in the market.
The first place that caught my eye was a potion shop. It seemed out of place in a remote village.
Heading inside, I saw the shop doubled as the local doctor's office. There were a couple of exam rooms and a large room with multiple beds for patients who needed to stay overnight rested.
Searching around, I found some healing potions. However, the real prize was the books. There were books about different ingredients and what their effects were. And there were beginner books into alchemy. To clarify, alchemy in this world was more akin to Skyrim alchemy, not like something in Full Metal Alchemist. All of that went into my Bag of Holding.
I walked out and waited around for the other two to come back. It didn't take long, only about ten minutes.
"Hey," Cloud greeted. "You two find anything?"
I shook my head. "Just a bunch of destroyed buildings."
"Nothing of note," Alfia said, then tilted her head in thought. "Strange."
"You noticed that too, huh?" Cloud smiled.
I looked between them while trying to figure out what they were getting at.
"Are you two saying the fact we found nothing is very strange?" I asked.
"Yes," Cloud said. "If there was a goblin attack, there would be some very obvious signs. Yet, all we've found are goblin footprints everywhere and the dead goblins you killed. There are no other goblin bodies, no bodies of the people living here, no blood... heck, no signs of fighting at all. The only thing are destroyed buildings, but it looks like nothing was taken from the places."
"It's too clean," Alfia summarized.
"Essentially, yes," Cloud nodded.
"So, what does all that mean?" I said.
"I don't know," Cloud said. "And I don't like it."
The three of us stood in silence as we thought about the implications of our findings.
"Come on. Let's head north," Cloud said. "I saw the goblin footprints leading out of the village that way. That way also happens to be where some caves are where they can build a nest."
~X~
After a couple of hours of walking, we arrived at a large cave entrance on the side of a large cliff.
"This is where the footprints lead," Cloud said as in peered into the entrance. "It's pretty dark in there..."
.
Classroom...
Mana in hand...
Let there be Light! ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ
Really...? (¬_¬)
.
Another memory flashed through my head.
I stepped toward the entrance, which Cloud noticed, and gathered Mind (Mana...) in my hand. A small pale blue ball started glowing in my hand, which I focused on and aimed down the cave. The ball shot from my hand and illuminated the walls as it traveled down it. It hit a wall and bounced off it, then rose higher and started hovering in place.
It reminded me of the Magelight spell from Skyrim.
"Huh..." Cloud stared at the light in the distance.
I fired off another ball of light, this time hitting Cloud. It bounced off him and started floating above him. He took a few steps back to get a better look at it, and it followed him.
"Well, that's pretty useful," Cloud said as I stared at my hand. "How long will it last?"
"Ten minutes? I think?" I replied, not entirely sure. "That sounds about right."
I shot another at Alfia, but before it could reach her, it dissolved into nothing.
"Huh?" I looked confused.
"A spell of mine. It's a magic nullifying field that I keep on around me," she explained.
"I see," that sounds very useful.
"All right, here's how we will do this. I'll lead us in. Ithil, you'll be behind me. Alfia, you take the rear and watch our backs," Cloud said.
I nodded, as I had no problem with this setup. Alfia didn't either, so the three of us went on in.
~X~
Cloud
Cloud moved forward through the cave as his two companions followed close behind. They've been following the footprints on the ground that were easy to see thanks to Ithil's light spell. Although, it wasn't that hard as there's only one path to follow.
Cloud took a quick glance behind him to check on Ithil. She was well-composed for someone going through what amounted to something similar to a dungeon dive.
She was focused, her eyes were trained forward, looking ahead of Cloud. Her hand was also switching through magic spells. Sometimes, glowing wisps were coming off her hands, cold blue embers, or even red sparks. She was subconsciously cycling through each of these spells, probably anticipating any kind of situation.
He's only known for a short time, and he can already tell she was a very skilled magic caster despite her lack of memories. He's only seen her use two spells, but if the cold fire and red sparks are any indication, she knows more.
Soon, the three of them entered a large cavern. Or it seemed like one as Cloud could not see any side walls or the ceiling in the darkness.
"There are goblins in here," Alfia warned. "I can hear them."
Ithil's hand started glowing brighter than ever before. She aimed at the ceiling ahead of us and shot the ball toward it. It flew, barely lighting its path until it hit the ceiling and exploded in light. Cloud had to cover his eyes. When he opened them, he saw the entire cavern lit up like it was daytime and the sun shone in there.
He saw the goblins had set up a kind of wooden wall with a gate. The goblins themselves were on the wall, flailing around and covering their eyes. They were so used to the dark that the sudden pseudo-sun had temporarily blinded them.
Alfia moved in front of Ithil and Cloud and held her hand out.
"Gospel."
A blast of Alfia's sound magic flew forward and crashed into the wooden barricade, reducing it to splinters and sending the goblins flying everywhere. Cloud used his impressive speed to finish off the ones still alive before they hit the ground.
"That was quick..." Ithil muttered.
"Surface goblins are easy to fight for us," Cloud commented.
"I hear movement further in this cave," Alfia said. "They sound like goblins but... there are other sounds I don't recognize."
The group heard the sounds of footsteps getting closer.
"Looks like we'll find out for ourselves," Cloud said.
He readied his sword, Alfia had her spell ready, and Ithil drew her sword and cold blue flames were coming off the blade. Cloud glanced at the feat of magic but turned his attention back on the coming goblins.
There were the usual that you would expect, but what followed behind them was something he hadn't seen in a long time.
It looked like a goblin, but it was larger and stronger.
"What is that?" Alfia said.
"A hobgoblin?" Cloud said, surprised. "What's a hobgoblin doing here? More importantly, how is it here?"
"Figure it out later," Ithil said. "They're charging."
"I'll take the hobgoblin. Alfia, clear me a path. Ithil, watch my back," Cloud gave out his orders.
"Gospel."
A large sound blast tore through the center of the charging goblins, smashing and killing them. It kept going toward the hobgoblin and slammed into it. The hobgoblin had no time to dodge and was slammed into the wall, where there was a loud crunching sound. The hobgoblin's broken body slid down the wall and lay there.
Dead.
Everyone, including the goblins, stood there, frozen that it had died so quickly.
"So much for that plan," Cloud muttered. He and Ithil started killing the rest of the goblins.
During this, Cloud had time to think.
"That hobgoblin was a lot weaker than I remember. No, it's more accurate to say that Alfia is so much stronger than it, and now so am I. Right... there were no Falnas back then. Only the heroes blessed by Iris had something similar.
The ordinary person would have a lot of trouble with a hobgoblin. And so did I because of that stupid curse... I must have subconsciously overestimated it because of the tough fights I had with it before I arrived in this world.
Still... What is one doing here? I never saw one in the dungeon or on the surface so... How?"
"Cloud, what's wrong?" Alfia said. She always seemed to know when something was troubling Cloud.
"It's this goblin," Cloud motioned to the hobgoblin. "It's something I never thought I'd see again."
"Something from your past?" Alfia said, and Cloud knew she was referencing his life before he came to Orario.
"Yes," Cloud said. "If goblins like these are here, then it makes sense why they would be bold enough to attack a village."
"You know what's going on?" Ithil said.
"I'm getting an idea," Cloud said. "If a nest attacked a village, they must have, at least, a goblin champion."
"What's that?" Ithil said.
"Something dangerous," Cloud said with a frown.
"How dangerous?" Alfia said.
"Well, the two of us could handle it easily. I would say it's a level 2 monster at the highest," Cloud said. "So, Ithil, don't get involved when we run into it. Alfia or I will deal with it."
Ithil nodded in agreement.
"Let's keep moving."
The group moved forward, killing any goblins they came across. Cloud still had his mind on the presence of the hobgoblins. He hadn't seen any goblin variants since he arrived in this world six years ago. And now he runs into hobgoblins and a potential goblin champion?
Cloud quickly dodged a fireball that surprised him because of his deep thinking. He looked down the cave and saw a goblin shaman in the distance, with goblins in front of it.
"So, goblins can use magic now?" Ithil said as she shot cold fireballs, killing almost all the goblins.
Cloud used that opportunity to dash forward and kill the remaining goblins and the shamen before it could fire off more spells.
"A shaman," Cloud frowned. "I don't like this. There are so many variants in one cave. ...Let's move."
The group continued again. Once more, they came across another large open cavern. Cloud glanced at Alfia, and she nodded, indicating there were others in the cavern.
There was some sort of clunking sound, and torches on the walls lit up one by one. Although, the light from said torches didn't reach the ceiling.
"Above," Alfia said.
The group looked up, and a group dropped in from the dark. This was followed by a final big goblin. It was bigger and more muscular than a hobgoblin. It had hair on its head, a beard, a huge slab of a sword, and was wearing leather armor.
"Tsk, there's the goblin champion..." Cloud identified it.
The group got ready to fight but...
Something could be heard, and it was running. The sound was coming from the corridor opening behind the goblins. Whatever it was, it sounded big, heavy, and it was getting closer.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Cloud said.
The goblin champion turned behind it to see...
*CRASH!*
And a huge blur crashed right into it, kicking up the dirt, and obscuring the group's vision.
When it cleared, the small goblins were dead, and the goblin champion was crushed underneath a giant paw.
The group looked up and saw the monster now in front of them.
Alfia was surprised and barely managed to keep the surprise off her face.
Cloud didn't bother hiding his surprise and was openly gaping.
And Ithil? She looked on in disbelief and more than a little fear.
For in front of them was a hulking four-legged beast with purple skin, two large curved horns on its head, and many spikes running down its back.
"Oh, shit... A behemoth..." Ithil whispered.
~X~
Author's Note:
As always, constructive criticism is appreciated.