Chương 7: Chapter 6 – Field Trip

Granny Kurz had dramatically understated what happened to the fence. It was not simply pushed down like one would expect from an animal invasion. Rather, it was utterly destroyed, taken apart violently. Whatever had done it had targeted the fence posts in particular, breaking chunks out of the old wood while avoiding the electric wire. Definitely not the work of a wild animal.

'It's probably Goblins,' Kai's father had warned. And Kai was inclined to agree now. Goblins. He remembered them from the bedtime stories that were, in retrospect, adventuring memoirs. Small, nimble creatures with nasty spears and even nastier bows. The bane of farming villages and newbie adventurers. Prone to form colonies consisting of dozens to thousands, growing in numbers exponentially due to rabbit-like procreation. Ravenous omnivores. Kai knew he shouldn't be looking forward to this, but he was.

It was literally a childhood dream come true, going on adventures and fighting fantasy creatures sword in hand. Though it would be a lot more fun if his party members weren't his mother and sister of all people. Lena was bouncing in place next to him, even more excited than he was. If not for Laura's insistence, she would have long since stormed off into the forest. Their mother was still inspecting the cow carcass lying at the forest's edge, growing more concerned by the minute.

"The bite marks are way too small for something capable of killing a cow. I think I can see some knife cuts," she muttered.

"What on earth could have done this?" Nothing on earth. So far, at least. Kai decided against voicing his thoughts, though. He'd only get a snarky response, and he'd deserve it. Instead, he told her, "Goblins, probably. Like Dad said."

"Damnit," she cursed.

"Let's go back. This isn't worth getting hurt." He strongly disagreed.

"I need skill points. With just four more I could get the Fighter class." His mother glared daggers at him.

"I don't care about classes. I just don't want my kids to–""I get hurt all the time during training," he shrugged.

"I'll take point in case they jump us. Lena can stay back and throw spells. And you can heal us, right, Mom?"

"... You put a lot of trust in spells we've had for a single afternoon."

"The rhododendron looks fine again."

"You're not exactly a rhododendron," she chided.

"I haven't had the chance to test Regrowth on a human yet." This isn't going anywhere. With growing impatience, Kai drew his sword and placed the blade across his lower arm. The outside, of course. For safety reasons. Then, before his shocked mother could intervene, he cut. The diabolically sharp edge met little resistance and immediately drew blood. … Somehow, I feel stupid now, Kai thought as the pain started to hit him.

It wasn't as bad as some of the training injuries he had suffered over the years, but it was still far from pleasant. After initial shock, Laura shot him a withering look.

"[Regrowth]." Watching his flesh knit itself together was more than a little disturbing. The wound… grew little flesh tendrils and just pulled itself together. Then the two sides fused together. Ten seconds later, nothing was left of the cut besides a strip of pale, fresh skin.

"If you do that again, you're grounded."

"Mom, I'm twenty-three."

"I'll find a way." Kai was inclined to believe her.

"Still, that proves your spell works. Let's get ready." This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"Ready!" Lena chirped immediately. Kai checked his own interface briefly. ~ ARMOR ~~ Torso: 3 Unfortunately, his HEMA gear, the next best thing he had to armor, was still at the club, so he was wearing the robe he got from the Wizard starter kit. It had an armor value of three, which, according to his father, was 'better than nothing'. He pulled up a small window occupying a corner of his vision, displaying the combat resources at his disposal.

~ EN: 9/10 ~ MP: 5/5 EN, or Energy, was supposed to be something like a measure of physical stamina. It was sitting at 6 when he checked after the integration, but having a snack had refilled it almost to its maximum of 10. MP, or Mana Points, were more difficult to grasp conceptually. They were used to fuel magic spells, and exhausting them caused slight nausea and a sluggish mind. What bugged Kai most about MP was that he only had five.

Both Lena and Laura had ten, and he would easily catch up by increasing his Intelligence to five when he reached the next level, but it meant the system evaluated him as… slower than them. Feels bad, man.

"Ready," he said, shaking off his annoyance.

"Now wait a second," Laura ordered.

"I managed to heal a single, clean cut. Who knows what's actually waiting for us? And worse, Dad can't help us if we go too deep."

"We need SP," Lena replied matter-of-factly.

"It will never be safer than now. Not if goblins breed as fast as Dad said."

"True," Kai supplied.

"If we find something we can't handle, we'll run away. In the worst case, we'll signal for help like Dad told us." He did harbor doubts about Lena's ability to run in any meaningful capacity, but that wouldn't change any time soon, so they would just have to deal with it.

"…Promise that you'll give the signal the moment something bad happens. Even if it ruins the quest rewards."

"Define 'bad'," Lena mumbled. Laura snapped.

"You know exactly what I mean," she hissed furiously. Lena shrank back, mouth pressed shut.

"We promise," Kai intervened.

"Just give the word, and I'll signal Dad." Their mother clearly was not pleased, but reluctantly accepted with a sharp look towards the evening sky, where Daniel was hovering just out of sight. And so, the trio set off into the forest. Kai vividly remembered walking among the very same trees as a child, fighting imaginary monsters with a wooden sword. There was something macabre about being here with a very real sword, a wizardly robe, and actual monsters potentially lurking behind the next tree.

It was eerily quiet. They all jumped when Lena accidentally stepped on a branch, and again when they heard the distant honk of a freight train. After a mere fifty meters, Laura urged them to stop.

"Something is wrong," she whispered. She knelt down and pressed her hand on the moss covering the ground. A strange ripple passed through it, briefly rustling all plants it touched. She froze.

"There is something in that bush," she breathed.

"It's… small, and green. And–" She cursed under her breath.

"It's waiting for us. [Thorn Whip]!" Kai could not see what happened behind the dense foliage, but judging from the surprised shriek of pain, the druidic spell had worked. He immediately followed up with his own attack before the creature had a chance to retaliate.

"[Fire Bolt]!" His MP dropped by two as he threw a flaming bolt of mana. It worked almost too well. The shrub went up in flames, and an inhuman screech rang through the air. Two greyish-green creatures the size of children broke through the burning leaves, eyes gleaming with hunger and malice. They wore furs that still had bits of meat attached, one had wrapped a piece of black and white hide around its muscular arm. Both of them carried spears, nasty-looking things made of wood and bone.

Kai noted with concern that they would outrange his sword despite their much smaller stature, a fear that was proven entirely true when it gave him a painful cut on the side without giving him a chance to parry. The second goblin managed to land a hit on Laura's arm, and she immediately retreated into another bush that seemed to move its branches out of the way to allow her in. Kai briefly inspected the creatures with the system. ~ Goblin Fighter, Level 4 ~ Goblin Fighter, Level 6 Manageable. I think.

"[Mana Beam]!" A sizzling ray of silvery energy ripped through the air and into one of the goblins. Kai looked over to Lena, who stood a few meters behind him, hand still raised from the cast. Her usually shifty eyes were focused on her target, and her expression betrayed none of her earlier excitement. She did not move, probably trying to regain mana through 'Battle Meditation'. She did not seem to be in any immediate danger, so Kai turned his attention back on the goblin in front of him.

It was slowly backing up, trying to keep distance. Unfortunately for the little green bastard, Kai had experience fighting spearmen much bigger than it. Granted, none of them had ever actually tried to kill him, but some things remained applicable. He waited for the goblin to attempt a stab, then pushed its weapon aside with his sword and closed in.

He followed up with a quick diagonal strike from the lower left, but the nimble little shit managed to twist out of the way just enough for the edge to not do any serious damage.

"[Regrowth]." He felt his wound begin to knit together thanks to his mother's spell and prepared for another strike– An arrow missed his head by a hair's breadth. Heart racing, he found the culprit perched on top of a large boulder, taking aim with a crude bow. Fuck.