WERE THE SAME FREAKIN PERSON!!!

Stark's confidence surged as he felt the heavy sword connect with the goblin's head, cleaving through it with a satisfying crunch. "Hey Tark, you said there are only three goblins, right?" he asked, catching his breath.

"That's what I was told," Tark replied, his eyes scanning the room. "But goblins usually run in groups of five or more. It would be unusual if there were only three. Plus, there's always a leader among them. If you kill the leader, the others will lose their will to fight. The problem is, the leader is usually at least twice as strong as the others."

"Well, that's great," Stark said, his concern growing as he looked around the cellar. "So, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying the one you just hit is not the leader," Tark explained. "Goblins are tricky. There's always one who hangs back, waiting in the shadows. If you pay attention, the leader will be the one using a better weapon and moving less."

Stark began to observe the goblins more closely. He noticed that out of the initial three that attacked, one had been sent out first to test their strength. The second two, being faster, were there to finish them off. The goblin in the shadows, however, was staying back and seemed to be the leader.

"So how are we going to handle this?" Stark asked.

"We're going to distract the other three while I go after the leader," Tark said confidently.

"I don't know, Tark," Stark replied. "Three against one isn't exactly a fair fight."

"Bro, trust me. It'll be fine. I'll take care of the leader, and then we can go eat," Tark assured him.

Stark took a deep breath and charged toward the remaining goblins, trying to draw their attention. As Tark moved stealthily toward the leader, the goblins turned their focus onto Stark. The first goblin swung its sword at Stark, who deftly stepped back to avoid the blow. He saw another goblin preparing to strike and quickly thrust his sword forward, piercing the first goblin's chest.

The second goblin stood stunned for a split second, which was all Stark needed to spin around and decapitate it with a mighty swing. He then scanned the room for the third goblin, catching sight of a shadow darting around the dark corners of the cellar.

"I think he knows he has a speed advantage," Stark said, bracing for the next attack. "Well, I can't out-speed him, but maybe I can out-think him."

Recalling Tark's advice about the goblins' lack of intelligence, Stark watched the pattern of the goblin's movements closely. Left, left, right, left, left, right… Stark murmured as he followed the rhythm. He noticed a break in the pattern and swung his sword in the direction of the gap. The massive blade sliced through the air, cutting the goblin in half with a single swing.

"Not too shabby," Stark said to himself, feeling a surge of pride. He glanced across the room to see Tark locked in combat with the goblin leader. "Hey, the kid's not half bad," Stark noted, making a mental note to avoid getting on Tark's bad side.

He called out to Tark, "Need any help over there?"

"Help? Nah, I'm good," Tark replied, dodging a powerful blow from the goblin leader. "You should be busy enough dealing with the little guys."

"They're all dead," Stark said, grinning. "Feeling pretty proud of myself."

"Dead? There ain't no way," Tark said, narrowly avoiding another swing. "Well, maybe you can check for pulses once you're done with the big guy."

Stark laughed, feeling the adrenaline rush. "I expected something like this from Emery with her training and all, but you should've struggled at least a little bit."

"Hello, Tark," Stark said, exasperated. "Emery and I are THE SAME FREAKIN' PERSON!!!"

With a final, decisive blow, Tark dispatched the goblin leader. He wiped his brow and turned to Stark. "Yeah, well, maybe you're not as useless as I thought. But keep this up, and we might just make a great team."

Stark nodded, looking around at the now quiet cellar. "I'll take that as a compliment. Now, let's go get some breakfast before it's all gone."