Chapter 17: Improving and Adapting

On the way to their destination, Rylan mentally organized all the information he had about goblins and hobgoblins. It wasn't much, which was why he kept asking Sarah questions about them. She answered every question calmly. After nearly half an hour of questioning and thinking, he came to a conclusion.

It's possible.

He was prepared to retreat at any point. With mana empowerment active, he should be able to almost match the physical capabilities of the hobgoblin, given that it wasn't a particularly powerful creature. His skill would likely more than make up for the difference. Roland's unshakable confidence was tempered by Rylan's self-awareness. He knew that this could prove to be dangerous, so he kept his guard up at all times. He spoke.

"Sarah, protect the soldiers if things go south."

She retorted immediately.

"I can't do that, young master. My duty is to protect you."

He frowned. Sarah was more than his attendant or observer. She was also a Mage of considerable prowess. It was necessary for those who wished to become an attendant of one of the children of the Flameheart family. She was the backbone of this expedition, even though she would only act in the worst-case scenario.

"I am directly ordering you to disregard that."

"I can't and won't. The Family Head's orders were clear."

Rylan clicked his tongue. There was no point in trying to convince her. Gerard's words outweighed anyone else's in the family. It meant that he would need to prevent the situation from getting too dangerous.

This might be harder than I thought.

At the same time that he frowned, a mysterious feeling bloomed within his heart. It took him some time to finally identify it.

It's anticipation.

Roland had been a born fighter who thrived on the edge between life and death. On his quest for absolute power, a good fight had been what he lived for. The more disadvantageous a situation, the greater the feeling when he overcame it. Fighting against armies while seriously injured, battling powerful creatures to the death, and putting his life on the line were a matter of course. This had been true even in his days as a novice.

Once more, Rylan realized that the bleed-through was greater than he imagined. Rylan, with the life he had led, had no reason to anticipate a difficult battle against a hobgoblin and a group of goblins. Something had fundamentally changed within him.

He was lost in his thoughts, but still led the group properly. They waded through woods, covered in the shade of the dense canopies. Soon, traces of the goblins' presence could be seen. Scratched trees, carcasses of small animals, tree branches lying on the ground. Rylan raised his hand, making the party slow down. They proceeded carefully. As they walked, loud snarling became clearer.

The trees opened into a wide clearing, displaying the entrance to a cave. Outside, small gatherings of stone and wood could be seen. Most importantly, strange creatures stood and growled at one another. Rylan observed them attentively, comparing them to the information he had.

The creatures were the size of children and had green bumpy skin and long, pointy ears. They were bald and wielded crude clubs, which seemed to be simply thick tree branches that they had picked up. Once he looked at their lower bodies, however, his expression darkened. Covering their groin and thighs were bloodied human clothes. Some clearly belonged to women, while others to men.

All likely had once belonged to a victim.

The others seemed to have realized this as well. Jack gritted his teeth and grabbed the hilt of his sword. Rylan shook his head. It wasn't time yet. He did a quick head count. There were eleven goblins.

At that moment, two of the goblins parted from the main group. Snarling, they walked to one end of the clearing and almost disappeared into the woods. It was the perfect opportunity. Rylan quickly beckoned the rest of the group, following the goblins. Once he judged that they were far enough, he stepped out of the shadows. The goblins immediately turned to him, baring their teeth. He spoke.

"Jack and Scott, you're up."

Both men stepped into the light with determined expressions. They were the ones most used to fighting. The goblins screeched, but thankfully, they were far enough away from the main group that they wouldn't be heard. Rylan noticed that Jack was gripping his sword's hilt far too strongly, to the point his fingers had turned white.

"Calm down. Just do it as we practiced. You're ready."

At the same time, he unsheathed his weapon. He was prepared to step in at a moment's notice. Jack nodded grimly before relaxing his grip. Scott lunged forward, aiming straight for the left goblin's neck. The goblin swung its club at the incoming sword, managing to slow it down at the cost of its weapon. The club left its hands and fell powerlessly to the ground as the sword cut into its shoulder, slashing through skin and muscle with a sickening sound. It screeched once again, this time with a pained edge.

Scott pulled out the blade, making blood gush out of the wound, and readied another attack. With bestial ferocity, the goblin dashed at Scott, swinging its sharp nails. The wounded shoulder hindered its movements, but it seemed to be capable of powering through the pain. Without hesitating, Scott slashed at the incoming attack. The sharp blade cut through the air and landed on the creature's right forearm, severing it. The monster screeched in pain as blood unceasingly flowed out of the injury, dyeing the earth beneath them. It took less than ten seconds for the goblin's head to fall to the ground. Rylan nodded to himself.

He's decisive.

He turned to Jack, who was still battling. Sweat still flowed down his brow, but it seemed that he had gotten used to the idea of fighting a monster. His movements had grown more accurate and deadly. After fifteen seconds, he managed to pierce the goblin's chest right between its ribs. The creature fell to the ground in its death throes, drowning in its own blood. After it went still, Jack looked at Rylan and muttered.

"It's different from fighting people."

Rylan nodded, then turned around and looked at the others.

"We'll try to find a few stragglers for you guys too. Daniel and Raniel, you're up next. Also, remember to collect their ears."

Unusually pale, the two nodded at the same time. Jack and Scott started cutting off the dead goblins' ears as proof of kill. At that moment, one of the soldiers spoke up tentatively.

"Young master, have you… done this before?"

Everyone focused on him, including Sarah. He flashed a smile.

"You could say that."

Sarah's look seemed to drill a hole right through him, but she said nothing, and neither did he. The soldiers traded looks but ended up merely nodding. They returned to the main group's location and waited for a bit. As Rylan expected, another duo broke off and went on its own path.

Are they hunting for food?

He followed the same procedure as the past duo, with a single difference.

"The two of you will try to fight as a team."

The brothers blinked, but there was no time for them to process what had been said. The goblins swung their branches at them, making them raise their swords to block them. Steel and wood collided. With surprising swiftness, the goblins pulled the clubs back and raised them for another attack.

They're too stiff.

The twins had no experience in real battle. Rylan tried to guide them.

"Relax your shoulders. Lower your center of gravity if you aren't sure of your ability to block the attack."

The brothers followed his directions, covering for each other and for the gaps in their swordplay. From Rylan's perspective, their coordination was good, as he expected. Raniel pressured the goblins with fast attacks. As their clubs were knocked away, Daniel smelled this moment of weakness like a bloodhound. His sword sunk deeply into the neck of one of the goblins, making blood gush out, while the other was quickly finished off by Raniel. Holding bloody swords, the twins smiled at each other despite shaking slightly, and then at Rylan, who nodded, satisfied. The goblins' blood pooled underneath their feet. Broken carcasses surrounded them. Daniel and Raniel seemed to become a shade paler as they took in this sight, but they still returned to Rylan's side. Rylan spoke.

"Good work. We'll keep fighting."

Their group returned to the goblins' main forces and aimed for the duos or trios that separated themselves from them. If the goblins stuck together, Rylan would throw a few stones at the trees on the edge of their camp, trying to draw their attention.

Soon, all that was left from the original group of eleven were three goblins in the middle of the camp. They looked around, seemingly confused. Rylan spoke.

"Let's go."

Every soldier had fought at least once. He had even managed to sneak in some team exercise against the last duo. All in all, he was already quite satisfied with this trip. It was time for him to put himself to the test, as well.

"Who is going to fight this time, young master?" Jack asked.

Rylan let out a smile as his heart thumped in his chest. It looked more like he was baring his teeth.

"I am."

Sarah snapped to attention nearly instantly. She spoke.

"All three of them, my lord?"

"Yes."

"I will assist you."

"No, you won't. That's an order. You said your duty was to protect me, so only step in if it looks dangerous."

"It might be too late by then."

Rylan looked at her with narrowed eyes. She stared back at him.

"I won't compromise on this. I am going to fight uninterrupted."

His voice was so firm that it surprised even himself. She frowned. Before Sarah could say anything else, he stepped into the goblins' camp. Immediate protests came from the soldiers behind him, but he didn't care. The three goblins immediately turned to him and screamed. His mana flowed through his body like a tide. The whirlpool around his Mana Core was more powerful than ever. It was as if the goblins had gotten slower.

The goblin on the left swung its club. To Rylan, it looked nothing more than a child playing with a toy.

So simple.

He spun around the diagonal blow, letting it graze his clothes as his sword flashed. The goblin's head dropped to the ground amidst a burst of scarlet before it could even blink. The corpse fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

One down.

He had felt about as much resistance from the goblins' muscles and bones as he expected. He was confident in his ability to do this. The other two were throwing themselves at him. One was mid-air, jumping at his face while swinging its club horizontally. He kicked the nearer one in the throat, feeling its structure crumble under the force and pushing himself and the enemy backward. The one in mid-air landed, missing.

A heartbeat later, his sword went through its heart, digging right between its ribs and sinking into the organ. The monster shook with a gurgle. Rylan decisively ripped the weapon out of its body as it fell, avoiding the blood. The remaining goblin was still coughing and holding its neck, seemingly struggling desperately to breathe. Even in such a situation, it grabbed the fallen club next to it. Rylan gave it no time to recover, stepping closer and precisely slashing the goblin's throat, going through the small hand that held it. Blood sprayed as it dropped down.

Five seconds.

Rylan had a heavy frown on his face. Roland would have been able to make short work of them in a single move, even without any Aura. He still needed to get used to fighting in this body. His soles became wet with blood. He turned around. The soldiers were staring at him, completely shellshocked. Sarah wasn't much different. One of them muttered.

"…Holy shit."

He scratched the back of his head. He understood their reactions given his past actions, but he still felt that they were unwarranted. To him, he had put on an extremely poor performance. Jack bowed.

"I'm in awe, my lord."

The others hurriedly bowed as well. Rylan let out a sigh.

"Rise. This was nothing."

The soldiers flinched before looking down. He realized the undertone of his words.

"There's nothing to be ashamed about. You all performed well. My parameters for myself are different."

It was then. The sound of branches snapping and leaves being crushed rang out to their right. Rylan turned in a flash. He faced a group of five people who were walking into the camp. The man at the head spoke in a slimy tone.

"Oh? What's this?"