Time to Slay Some Goblins

[Ceobe POV]

It's been several minutes ever since Cliff had temporarily joined our party and we're still walking along the riverside of Milis up until now while looking for goblins.

We haven't seen any sights of them, which is quite disappointing. That is until I smell something with my beast nose after a few moments later.

*sniff* *sniff*

"What are you sniffing at, Ceobe?"

Eris questions me when she saw that I'm whiffing the air, in which I informed her that I caught the scent of goblins somewhere nearby.

"Is that so, then where are they?"

Cliff on the other hand, inquired for the direction of where the goblins are, so I kept on tracking down their scent.

Once I successfully pinpoint the exact location of their whereabouts, I couldn't help to grin excitedly.

"I found them~" I eagerly said as I point at a certain direction.

Eris and Cliff nodded at the information I gave and told me to lead the way, which I complied and escorted them towards the location of the goblins.

---------------------------

Upon arriving at our destination, I could see the group of goblins on the distance. Judging from what I can see, there were at least ten of them and were mostly equipped with rusty swords and tattered clothing.

Seeing those goblins causes my primal instinct to kick in and I suddenly have the urge to hunt them down. I unconsciously reach for the spear from my back and I held it tightly.

"The hunt begins..."

I thoughtlessly muttered to myself and proceeds to charge towards my prey. The goblins noticed me coming and they all assume their battle stance.

Once I caught their attention, I begin winding up my spear and pour some mana to the weapon, causing it to glow brightly red. And then....

"[GAE BOLG ALTERNATIVE]" I shouted as I strongly hurled my spear towards the incoming goblins.

*Whoosh*

As the spear flew rapidly, it managed to impale three goblins simultaneously, penetrating them through their chest area and end up being embedded to a tree.

"""Arrghh!!""" The three goblins screamed in agony as they slowly perish.

The other goblins were shocked by the demise of their fallen comrade and they all charge at me in a fit of rage.

Upon seeing them approaching, I immediately took out the Leviathan Axe and unwrapped the cloth. Then I gripped the axe tightly and applied mana to it, causing the blade to freeze.

"Come get some, filthy goblins!"

I taunted the approaching enemies, making them angrier and one of them lunge at me. So, I proceed to wind up the axe and prepare myself to swing at them.

*Slash*

But then a red blur swoops into action and slashed the lunging goblin in half. This surprises me, so I look at the culprit and realized it was Eris who did it.

Eris looks at me with a smirk in her face and she gave me a nod. Upon seeing that gesture, I nodded back and we both charge at the enemies with our weapons ready to swing at them.

"Time to slay more goblins"

---------------------------------

After several minutes of goblin slaying has passed, something horrible suddenly happened.

"[Exodus Flame!!]"

I heard Cliff voice echoed behind me, so I turn around just to see a huge ball of fire was heading towards my direction.

"Holy shiitake mushroom!!"

I was utterly shocked by what I am seeing that I panickily slam my hand to the ground and chanted a counter spell to protect myself.

"[Water Shield!]"

Upon chanting the spell, I created a defensive wall made out of water and the fire spell collided with it, causing a huge explosion of steam that blows away the unprotected area of the wall.

After the steam has subsided, I peek out of the water shield and saw that Cliff was unconscious on the distance with his back against a tree.

"Hey Cliff, are you alright?!"

I call out to the boy as I run towards him and check if he is okay. Fortunately, his condition is perfectly fine and there were no serious injuries from the explosion.

However, in order to ensure his heath and survivability, I voicelessly chanted an intermediate healing spell just in case.

"[X-healing]"

After I finished healing Cliff, he finally opened his eyes, which is a huge relief. However, once he glances at me, he immediately gets up and pushed me away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Cliff angrily shouted, blaming me about something and because of that, I was perplexed on why he was upset at me. So, I asked him for the reason to know why.

"What did I do to you?"

"Not only you blocked my attack, I almost died from the explosion because of your spell!"

Cliff accuses me because of what happened earlier, which is quite annoying. I couldn't believe that he is being an ungrateful brat again.

"First of all, it's not my fault that the fire spell is aiming at me. Secondly, you're fine, don't be such drama queen"

"What did you just call me?!"

"It doesn't matter. The point is that your spell forced me to defend myself while it caused harm to you at the same time"

When I explained to Cliff the errors of his action, he was quite baffled. However, he covered and tries to argue with my reason.

"You could have just move out of the way"

"That's a good point, but then again, it would just burn the goblins instead"

"It's the most effective way to kill-"

"Also, don't forget about the goblin ears. If you burn the goblins, we have no proof to show that we subjugated them"

"..."

Cliff was speechless after I told him the reason why he was wrong, which demoralizes him from arguing with me.

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Once I finished my argument with Cliff, Eris come towards our direction with my spear on her hand. She then gives it back to me and looks at the both of Cliff and I.

"Are you two done chatting with each other?"

"Yup, we're done here. Also, how's the goblins?"

"I killed them all. They were all knocked down by the explosion earlier, so took advantage of that"

"That's awesome, did you get the goblin ears?"

Eris then pulls out a sack from her cloak and she opens it up, revealing us a bunch of severed goblin ears stored inside of it.

"Nice~"

It's a good thing that I could depend on Eris to handle the subjugation, while I busy dealing with this boy,

Later on, Eris walks towards the trees and enter the forest. Curious on the reason why she went there, I decided to follow her.

"Hey buddy, let's get moving"

"..."

"Oh, don't be such a downer, buddy. Come on, cheer up"

I also called out to Cliff who still looks dejected by what I said earlier. He reluctantly walks towards me, we both followed Eris afterwards.

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After Cliff and I catch up to Eris who is casually strolling through the wood, the three of us continue walking towards to who knows where.

"Hey Eris, where are we going?"

"To find more goblins"

"Haven't we already collected enough of them?"

"It's not enough, we need more to buy another honey biscuit"

I was intrigued by Eris's answer because the number of goblin ears we collected is enough to receive 2 silver coin worth of money to buy honey biscuits for the two of us.

"Who will you give the third honey biscuit, Eris~?"

I cheekily asked, wanting to know who is the receiver of the pastry. Upon asking the question, Eris glances at me with a huge blush on her face.

"It's for Rudeus...."

"Ah, I see now. How lovely~"

Eris pouted at me when I teased her and snorted as she looks away from me. Ah yes, the youthful love of this lovely maiden is quite strong for you, mister Rudeus.

"How about me, where's the payment for my effort?"

Suddenly, Cliff meekly asked us after I finished my conversation with Eris. We glance at the boy who is quietly walking behind us, waiting for his question to be answered.

"Hmph, you will get your share if you do your job properly"

"Don't be like that, Eris. He only did one mistake"

"Mistakes can't be paid with money"

Cliff became more upset by what Eris said. So, in order to appease with his demoralized state, I will try to cheer him up.

"Don't worry, buddy. You will get your pay soon"

"Really?!"

"Yeah, just don't burn the goblins again, okay?"

"Okay"

I nodded at Cliff's confirmation and continue to walk forwards. This is until I heard something with my beast ears.

"Help!!"

With the sound of someone calling for help ringing in my ears, I immediately stop walking in order to focus my senses.

"Hey Ceobe, why did you stop?" Cliff asked, wanting to know why I stop walking.

"I heard someone is in danger"

"Really? Where?"

Eris told me to find the person requiring assistance, so I complied and proceed to track down their location using my senses.

Then once I found the whereabouts of the target, I quickly run towards the direction where it came from and my two companions followed me behind.