Preparing Before the Dusk

"What do you mean she has a name and you don't have any?"

My mind feels puzzling now that I have realised such an obvious matter, yet I did not pay it any attention.

The wolf looks at me in the eyes, surprised that I sincerely show a confused face after asking a common question. He turns around and sits beside his sister, watching her with a worried look painted on his furry face.

"A named monster has more arcane capacity than to those who are nameless," The Alpha wolf utters as if it was second to his nature. "The name comes from the one who gave it, taking away a slight difference from that individual's power."

"Then how come she got a name and not you-the leader of the pack?" I do not want to beat him around the bush as I direct him with my simple quiz. "Isn't it obvious that they should grant you a name to protect everyone who is in need.?"

A moment of silence fills the area, making it difficult for the wolf answering my query.

I lived in a world where people and animals have their names, which makes this hard for me to adapt. Even inanimate objects such as stuffed toys have their titles and cherished as if it has a life.

'Could it be that Markus and the others find it suspicious that the three of us goblins have names?' I ponder to myself while thinking back on my introductions towards the people that I have met. They had some doubts about hearing my epithet, but eventually, they concluded and accepted the occurrence.

"There was a mysterious figure who kept rallying down the wild and vicious monsters in the woods. At first, we thought it was incredulous, but after some time, the individual shares his power and gave us names,"

The Alpha wolf reaches out its paw and gently strokes the head of his sleeping sister, unable to wake until now. Looking closely, I can see a teardrop racing down his eyelids as he continues his unfinished story.

"He kept blabbering about freedom and war, but I never wanted to play a part in that. All I want is to protect our kind from the adventurers hunting my kin to strengthen themselves." The dog resumes his story, trying to describe the things that had happened before meeting me here. "So, I thought my sister would need power more than I do. She needs it more than anyone because of her physique and condition."

"What about her circumstance?"

"At that time, a shaman was sticking by his side and told us that my sister's heart is fragile. 'She has a few days to live,' he said, and suggested that he should name her rather than us. I unhesitantly agreed, curing her malady during the process."

Amidst everything, my blue screen appears in front of me, alerting my senses about the recent information that I have received.

[Shaman]

-An developed form of a hobgoblin that learned the arts of magic and rituals. They practice witchcraft alone and use their own kind as experiments, making them the most troublesome and gruesome foes.

"Have you recalled the features of this figure who spoke of?"

"No, Unfortunately, I have not," The wolf responds with his eyes drooping on the ground, embarrassed about his unreliable answer.

"Don't sweat it," I assured. "What's important now is that everyone would be okay."

"I hope you are right, Master,"

After some time, I head outside to gather some fresh air and exercise my stiff muscles. My body needs some training to enhance my archery skills despite having my handy [aimed shot]. I do not want to rely on my abilities alone. I thought it would be better to understand the rationale behind my system.

Along the way, Natalia spotted me going to an isolated road, where fewer soldiers and villagers have seen harvesting the field. Judging by her actions, she was also in the middle of preparing her usage of arcane using the hays as her target practice.

"Lake, where are you headed this time?" She said while blowing off the smoke hovering from both of her hands.

"Like you, I wanted to train somewhere quiet," I replied while looking at the distant place where I had planned to go.

Natalia leans her body close to me with her eyes broaden, moving up and down as if non-verbally saying something. She wiggles her body and hops around my body, unsure of what to react to her absurd movements.

"What? Do you want to come?"

"Finally! I was waiting for you to say that!" She gaily chanted while unnecessarily skipping some pebbles on the grassy meadow, making her way near the willow trees. Natalia has completely forgotten about me as she dashes forward, uninterested in waiting for me in the back.

"We don't have all day, you know!"

"You are not entirely wrong about that, princess," I commented.

"And what did I tell you about calling me a princess, goblin?" She said and averted her gaze, acting annoyed and mad after saying such a thing. Candidly, she doesn't mean all the things she says to me, especially when we are horsing around. However, some events may trigger her a lot, and one of those reasons is calling her a princess.

"You told me I should refrain from calling you a princess and think of you as a normal living being. Anything less and anything more will cause a disastrous event with my body lying in the ground," I uttered while mimicking her tone of speech whenever she sermons me about this topic. "Am I correct, Natalia?"

She could only pout after hearing my jest and took it as an insult. What happens next is a fist flying in my direction, accompanied by a phrase 'you deserve it,' from the girl.

"Ouch," I remarked while caressing the area where Natalia hit me. "It was just a playful sarcasm."

"Sarcasm?" She repeated as if she did not know the meaning behind the word.

"You know what, nevermind what I have said. You already won, so can we please proceed to our training?" I insisted while prepping and materialising the quiver and recurve.

At long last, we arrived on the spacious plain with nobody that can bother our exercise. Wasting no time, Natalia summons her unique bow and quiver that has identical features to her father, Elanor.

"The rule is simple. Whoever lands a hit wins the game," I announced while stepping farther back to leave a sizable distance between my opponent and me. "We will use twigs instead of the usual bow, just in case we don't accidentally kill each other."

"Aye. Ready when you are, Lake," Natalia utters and awaits my signal.

"Begin!"

As soon as I shout the word, the battle begins in a flash. We both fired our arrows parallel at each other and sprinted to find a better position for our match. The bolt clashes in the middle, creating a sudden shock wave powerful enough to force us back.

"I thought you said these branches are safe!" Natalia regards while reloading her recurve with another set of darts between her fingers.

"Then I suppose you have any better suggestions?"

"No. The higher the stakes, the better," The long-eared elf declared and discharged the readied bows towards me without a hint of dithering in Natalia's eyes.

I hastily leapt from the other side and hid behind the boulder, eluding the arrow directed at my location. The shaft had almost pierced my body in just breadths length, impaling the sturdy stone in front of me.

I let out a sigh of relief after realising that my life was in danger if I am not careful. Instead of running away, I charged one quarrel and fired from the opposite side, above my head.

"Has he finally lost his mind?" Natalia bitterly reacted as she witnessed the reed flying across the sky with no sense of direction. With a smirk bathed on her face, she continues her attack and marches forth on my place, confident that she could win this match.

"I found you!" The princess exclaimed while aiming her recurve at the empty place.

Luckily, she instinctively lunges onward and rolls towards the other side, dodging the wandering arrow I discharged moments ago. Wiping the cold sweat dripping from her hair, she proudly laughs to herself, thinking that I have already lost the skirmish.

"You're all out of traps, Lake. You missed your chance!"

"Have I?"

I emerged behind the bushes and trees and aimed my weapon behind her back at point-blank range. Even with her dirty tactics, she can never escape my latches.

"I give up," Natalia proclaims while raising both of her hands and materialising back the recurve into specs of dust.

With a wide grin carved beneath her face, she turns around and smacks the recurve away from me while pouting her lips.

"You made it look easy, stupid!" She ejaculated while stomping her feet on the ground. Despite her loss, she learned a lot from this battle that there will always be someone stronger than her in strategic matters.

"It was simple. Did you remember the bolt flying upwards?" I point my finger at the clouds, following the line of sight of the arrow I had discharged.

"You mean the decoy?" She answered, tilting her head in uncertainty.

"Half of the purpose was to trip you over. But the strong point that I want you to consider is that," I position my body in a battle stance and aimlessly eject the shaft deep in the forest.

After a few seconds, the bolt comes hovering back to us, hitting the ground from where we are standing.

"I can control the direction of these bows where they are going to head on to,"