Chương 125: Chapter 117-A Chosen Goblin Colony

A step to the left. A step to the right. A couple of steps this way. A couple of steps that way. Penelope and I glide seamlessly in the Gazebo. With a smile, I dip her perfectly, or at least it would've been perfect if I had dipped her lower. It always throws me off that she's so light. You wouldn't expect it from how strong she is. Pulling her back up, I let her go.

"What do you think?" she asks as she fixes her hair.

"Beautiful… The stars are beautiful," I say as I look up at the Gazebo roof.

"Yes, I guess they would be. I was talking about our groups for tomorrow," she says, leaning against the Gazebo railing.

"I think they'll work out. After all, we did spend three days trying to figure out who went where and why. Speaking of groups… You going to be fine without Hopper and me," I tease. Penelope shakes her head as she looks up at the blue moon.

"I'll survive. It's the AOE Squad. The chances of us actually doing any direct combat are slim to none. Much to my displeasure. I still don't see why I couldn't be on the Head Hunter or even Cave Squad." Sitting on the railing across from her, I feel the cool wind of spring.

"We both know that you'd excel in any of the squads, but we need a heavy hitter on the AOE Squad. Someone who can get up close and personal if the need arises. Can't have the whole back line getting wiped out now, can we?" I ask as I rehash the same talking points as the last couple of days.

"Yeah. Yeah. Are you going to be okay?" she asks.

"Penelope, are you worried about me?" I ask with a smile.

"I'm more worried about the people you chose to come with you. Clint, Clara, and Adiline are skilled, but they're not the best fighters you could take to deal with the Deblin," Penelope says with a hint of hidden concern.

"I would take Hopper, but he has to lead the Head Hunter Squad. Either way, don't worry. I always have a plan," I say with a wink.

"You always do… What's your plan if you're caught?" she asks out of the blue.

"Scream for help," I joke.

"I didn't mean by the Goblins. What are you going to do if you get caught?" she asks again more pointedly.

"I always have a plan," I say, choosing my words carefully.

"Well, it better be a good one, because if you go down there's a good chance I'm going with you." The spring wind picks up and blows Penelope's drills all over the place. Flustered, she tries to pull them back, but misses one of the smaller drills behind her ear.

"You missed one," I point out.

"I did not," she says, as stubborn as ever.

"Fine. I'll get it," I say as I walk up to her and pull the drill from behind her Half-Elf ears.

"Oh, uh… Thanks," she says as I realise how close I've gotten. Both of us… then stand there without saying a single word. All that fills the space around us is the cool spring breeze and the beautiful blue moonlight. Her green eyes flick to mine. I almost instinctively look away, but something that I don't understand doesn't want to. As the silence ticks away, my heart beats louder until it's the only thing I can hear. Penelope… for whatever reason doesn't move away. It's almost like she's expecting something.

"I… I wanted to-" I begin to say, but am cut off by an odd sight behind Penelope. Penelope recognizes the surprise on my face.

"What is it, Charlatan?"

"There's a red string coming out of you," I say as I watch the red string float listlessly out of Penelope.

"Where?" she asks with a hint of curiosity.

"Here," I say as I grab the string, or at least I thought I did. The string slips through my hand as if it were never there to begin with. Is this what the [Fate Breaker] was talking about? The strings of fate?

"Are you okay, Charlatan? Maybe we should head in for the night."

"It's a bit early, isn't it?"

"Yes, but you've already exceeded my expectations for where I expected you to be after two weeks of practice. We can take an early night," she says as she gives me a worried look. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

"Yeah. Maybe it's a good idea to call it a night. We're dealing with the Goblin Colony tomorrow after all. You go on ahead. I wanna see the stars for a second," I [Lie].

"Have a good night, Charlatan," she says as she walks away. The moment she's out of sight, I sigh. Rule 4 exists for a reason, CJ. A very good reason… Fuck. The Whisperwood Forest. A place filled with Giant Spiders, Worgs, and Giants. Now home to a very large colony of Goblins. So, how do you deal with hundreds of Goblins? The answer is simple. You have someone who has AOE deal with it. Standing on the cresting hill, I line up my sight with the Goblin Colony down below.

Heavily reinforced wooden walls surround the colony along with wooden watchtowers. Further in, I can see multiple buildings that aren't shoddily put together. As a non-house-owner, I can't tell you how good these are, but as a prospective-house-owner, I can say that I'd definitely buy one of them at a deep discount. Then there's the cliff wall that the colony is built against.

"Do you see the cave entrance?" I ask Clint and Clara. Clint gives Clara a nod as they get rid of their barriers.

"We can see two entrances. One towards the east and one towards the west," he explains as his grey hair catches the sun.

"They are small. They would have a difficult time traversing through," Clara clarifies without a hint of emotion.

"I see. So you're saying they might connect to the main tunnel, but they probably aren't the main entrance. Adiline, are you picking up on anything?" I ask the human woman in the far back.

"Uh… yeah. The way the wind is blowing gives… credence to what you said, Chosen One. I don't sense the entrance outside of the Colony either," Adiline says with a hint of shyness. A brown-haired puppy would perfectly describe Adiline. That is to say, she seems overly eager, but shy at the same time. Based on the fact that Clint, her group member, doesn't seem worried tells me that she's always like this. I guess with Talon being in their group, they wouldn't usually have to worry about any silence. Unlike now.

Clint doesn't talk much unless it's about barriers, Clara is… Clara, and Adiline is far too shy to get a sentence out without getting embarrassed. Which leaves me…

"Ok. That's all I needed to know. We'll head in from the west after the AOE Squad starts their attack," I say as I flip the Leech Dagger in my hand. Yes, I know… Leech Dagger? What's that? It's the name I gave the S-shaped daggers Vivi modified for me. Why did I call them Leech Daggers? I thought it was cool, plus they suck up blood from anything they stab, so… Maybe it was a little bit of both. Although I should probably give Vivi some credit as well.

She wanted to name them Mosquito Daggers, but that seemed like a mouthful to say. Then I suggested Vampire Daggers, but Vivi shot that down, saying something about it being a bad look. That's when we came up with the idea of calling it a Leech Dagger. The rest is history. I am a bit peeved that I only have one, though. I gave the other two to Axel. With his [Skill], he should be able to use them better than I could. Plus, he was lacking in the range department.

This should be just the jump in confidence that he needed. Well, at least I hope it is. Either way, I asked Hopper to keep an eye on him in the Head Hunter Squad. The sound of thunder suddenly ripples through the Whisperwood Forest. Looking up towards the sky, I can see the rumbling red clouds. This should be a sight. The lightning suddenly strikes the wooden wall of the Goblin Colony, causing a large explosion. From the same cloud, liquid fire rains down on the colony. A Garus+Penelope special.

A [Inferno Storm Call]. Who knew you could combine [Skills] if they were compatible enough? The me from a couple of days ago certainly didn't.

"AOE team is going full swing. Time for us to move. Try not to draw attention to yourselves," I say to the three of them.

"Barriers are great for hiding," Clint says with enthusiasm.

"I concur," Clara says without a hint of emotion.

"Me… too," Adiline says shyly. This is going to go well… I hope. The Goblin slumps to the ground as I cut its head off with The Chosen Blade. There are a lot more guards to the west than I thought there would be. Luckily, we've been able to get them before they could call for help, but it was still an unnecessary detour in the plan.

"There's a… gap over there," Adiline says as we reach the base of the wooden wall.

"Okay. Let me know if there's anymore Goblins in the area," I say as we stay close to the edge of the wall.

"Wait!" Adiline whispers as we come up to the hole in the wall. Clint immediately places a barrier in front of us as a pair of Goblins walk out of the hole. They must've noticed the hole that was made during the AOE attack. Thanks to Clint's camouflage barrier, we aren't in immediate trouble. One of the Goblins looks right at us, but doesn't seem to notice us at all. Taking the opportunity, I stab the Goblin in the neck. Then, before the other one can notice, I cut its head clean off.

"Good work," I say to Clint and Adiline. Not having enough time to celebrate, we quickly push through the hole in the wall and make a break for the western cave entrance. In the distance, the sound of thunder and fire rips through the air. Based on the quick glance I just made… they're doing fine. Pushing through the mostly empty colony interior, we eventually make it to the cave entrance without much trouble. The moment we do, I turn to Adiline.

"It's clear. I don't sense anything," she says with a hint of shyness.

"Can you sense where the main entrance may be?" I ask as I watch a Hobgoblin appear in the distance.

"I can certainly try. Give me a second," Adiline says as she sends a small breeze down the tunnel entrance. As she focuses on that, Clara looks behind us.

"I sense a Hobgoblin," she says with an eerie amount of calmness.

"Yeah, I saw it. It's being taken care of," I say with full confidence.

"I found it!" Adiline says as she opens her eyes. At the same time, an arrow whizzes through the air and finds itself in the invisible Hobgoblin's head. Killing it instantly. Turning my attention to the rooftops, I catch a glimpse of white bunny ears.

"Where is it?" I ask, ignoring the dead Hobgoblin.

"Over by that building," she says as she points at the most evil-looking building in this colony.

"Of course."