1

  Horse-drawn carriages rattled along the stone-paved streets of the town. Fresh fruits and vegetables along with various meats were being sold at various stalls. A nearby bakery exuded the smell of fresh bread. Children were playing in the streets, buying themselves candy, and admiring the work of the dwarven blacksmith.

  For Lily, the humble town of Grandoria was the destination she had been seeking for months. For the other traveler, she was just following the cheerful elf into a town straight out of those role-playing games she used to play all night.

  Lily went up to an elderly lady and asked for directions to the adventurers guild.

  “Oh! You two are looking to become adventurers? No other reason to come to this town, after all.”

  “That’s correct! It’s been a life-long dream of mine.”

  “Well, in that case, it’s just down this road at the center of town. You’ll find the Iron Hawk Adventurers Guild there. Be careful, you two. I hear they’re being unusually strict with applicants lately.”

  “I understand. Thank you, ma’am!”

  Lily led the other woman by the hand down the road that had been pointed out to her but stopped when she realized that she still didn’t know this stranger’s name.

  “What?” she asked, confused.

  “Your name. You never told me.”

  “R-Right. Suzue… Kobayashi.”

  It was an unusual name but Lily still smiled brightly when she heard it. She was certain that she had just made the first steps to making a new friend. She grabbed her by the hand again and ran excitedly towards the guild hall. Suzue was still trying to process everything she had seen.

  -The Iron Hawk Adventurers Guild-

  Lily and Suzue stood and admired the three-story building. There were two statues on either side of the entrance. One was a bearded man with a hawk in one hand and an axe in the other. The other statue was a proud and majestic griffon. Surrounding their bases was a bed of red and white roses. The sounds of a rowdy group could be heard from where they stood.

  With a deep breath, Lily opened the doors and was immediately greeted by a cheerful waitress.

  “Welcome! If you’re here for business, head to the front desk. If it’s a meal you want, just grab any open seat.”

  She was way too beautiful for such a simple job with flaming locks of auburn hair and emerald green eyes. Her red dress showed off a generous cleavage that gave her a mature look.

  People in armor were simply lounging about, not appearing especially busy or out to cause trouble. There was even a group of children playing games.

  The two women walked over to the receptionist and waited for their turn in line. Patrons made comments about Suzue’s strange outfit, in particular about the strange object she was carrying and the six slender boxes strapped to her chest containing pointed metal cylinders. Were they religious items or some kind of foreign armor?

  Soon enough, it was their turn in line. They both noticed that the receptionist looked exactly like the waitress. When asked about it, she said that it was a magic spell called “Doppelganger” that allowed her to create copies of herself to perform various tasks around the guild.

  She gave both girls a welcoming smile.

  “My name is Jolene! How can I help you two? Would you like to post a quest? Or perhaps you just need general information about the town?”

  “We would like to join the guild, please.”

  Everyone in the building glared menacingly at the duo. Lily broke out into a nervous sweat while Suzue was completely unfazed.

  The receptionist pulled out two cards and two forms.

  “I need both of you to fill out these forms. Please provide your height, age, distinctive physical features, previous occupation, and place of birth.”

  They each picked up a pen and began writing.

  Lily Valentina

  Height: 160 centimetres

  Age: 122 years old.

  Distinctive Physical Features: Black hair, red eyes.

  Previous Occupation: None.

  Place of Birth: Anvil, Capital of Summerset, Third Empire of Waywrest.

  Suzue Kobayashi

  Height: 193 centimetres.

  Age: 25 years old.

  Distinctive Physical Features: Black hair, brown eyes.

  Previous Occupation: Enlisted Soldier.

  Place of Birth: Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States of America.

  “Now place your hands above these cards. They show your stats so that you can pick a class that matches your abilities. For example, if you have high Magic and high Strength, you go for a class like the Spellsword that specializes in combat and spell casting.”

  Lily gasped her card with excitement. Her heart was beating with anticipation to see what her stats were. Suzue touched her card simply because she was told to.

  “All right. Lily Valentina… Strength, Agility, Vitality, Endurance… all average. Your Intelligence is quite high. So is your Luck… Oh wow! Your Magic is extremely high. As for your inherited skills… a basic Fireball spell. Advanced Summoning Magic? That’s pretty impressive. What kind of summoning spells do you have?”

  Lily’s ears wiggled with joy at the thought of being considered impressive.

  “I can summon some basic animals and creatures. I also have four Mythical Spirits.”

  “That’s incredible! I think the Summoner class would be a perfect fit for you.”

  “That sounds perfect!”

  “All right… There. You are now officially a member of the Iron Hawk Adventurers Guild! To complete your registration, you will be given the official mark of the guild.”

  Lily’s left hand glowed brightly. Once it cleared, the back of her hand bore the insignia of the guild. Her ears wiggled even faster.

  “Now it’s your turn, Miss Kobayashi. Let’s see… Your Strength, Luck, Vitality, and Endurance are all exceptional! Same with your Intelligence. Hmm… Agility is about average and your Magic is below that. Now your inherited skills are… Woah! You have so many! Marksman, Enhanced Perception, Advanced Martial Arts, Cooking, First-Aid. You can be Archer, Knight or perhaps a Crusader! I think that one would be a good fit for you!”

  “I’ll be an Adventurer,” Suzue mumbled.

  “Are you sure? The Adventurer class is more of a jack-of-all-trades. People with it can learn a variety of skills from the other classes but they won’t be nearly as effective as when someone of the proper class uses them.”

  “That’s fine.”

  Jolene was taken aback by how dead Suzue seemed. Her eyes weren’t really focused on anything in particular but they were so intense that she couldn’t help but be intimidated. Her height and previous occupation didn’t help to ease her nerves.

  “O-Okay… Adventurer it is! N-Now to give you our official mark. Just hold still… Ah! Oh no! Uhh… I-It’s just a small error. Nothing to worry about!”

  Suzue didn’t take notice to the receptionist’s sudden panic and took her guild card with no words.

  Jolene gave them both a sincere welcome to the guild. Lily thanked her and immediately went over to the quest board to pick out a job, only to be stopped by a tall white-haired man in a black leather jacket.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he questioned in a cold tone that sent shivers down the girl’s spine.

  Jolene spoke up and explained, “I forgot to mention that we recently adopted a new policy that dictates that all new members are required to be accompanied by a fellow guild member of A-rank or higher. That’s Jack, one of our S-rank adventurers.”

  “I already have a quest picked out. We’ll be exterminating a goblin nest that’s been causing trouble for a village to the north. You will do everything I tell you to do and I’ll be watching very carefully to make sure you’re not trying to cause harm to our guild in any way. Any questions?”

  Lily stood as rigid as a statue at Jack’s cold words while Suzue casually raised her hand.

  “Where’s the restroom?” she asked.

  Jack pointed to the back and she went there. Once inside, she began hyperventilating. Her heart was pounding at such a rate she thought it would explode. She was experiencing the worst migraine she ever had and gritted her teeth to keep from vomiting.

  “What the hell is going on?! How did I get here?”

  With no definitive answer or any memory prior to waking up in that field, Suzue breathed deeply to compose herself. Once her heartbeat slowed to a comfortable pace, she wiped the sweat from her brow and followed Jack to embark on her next mission.

  2

  The three adventurers walking along a dirt road were only a few kilometres away from the village.

  While most new adventurers would be enthusiastic about going on their first quest and fantasizing about their future exploits, this group was suffering through an awkward silence. It was mostly due to the tall woman in strange attire and her unwillingness to engage in basic conversation with Lily.

  “So… Suzue. Anything interesting you can tell us about your home?”

  “No.”

  “T-That’s fine. How about your favorite food? My favorite food is coleslaw! It just seems to go well with almost anything. Uh… no? W-What are your favorite hobbies? I-I like to practice my magic.”

  This was how it played out for the past two hours. Aside from the brief glare that had a sense of murderous intent at the mention of coleslaw, Suzue refused to engage with Lily.

  Even Jack felt uncomfortable. In fact, for him, it was unbearable. Just being in the proximity of a one-sided conversation is enough to make him pray for death.

  Having enough of it, Jack spoke up so that Lily would have someone to talk to.

  “Why don’t you two tell me what you know about goblins? How do you clear out a nest? What are their strengths and weaknesses?”

  Suzue admitted to not knowing much about goblins but Lily provided a decent explanation.

  Goblins are cruel creatures known for their greed. They attack and kill anyone for something as little as a piece of moldy bread.

  While generally considered to be unintelligent, they are capable of making rudimentary traps that can catch people off guard. They are also at their most dangerous in large groups.

  It is also believed that the most effective strategy for dealing with goblins is to attack from a distance. Goblins are extremely unhygienic and thus carry many diseases. They can vary from simple severe diarrhea and vomiting to bone rotting and muscle decay.

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  While they are one of the easier enemies to fight for novice adventurers, it is a good idea not to underestimate them.

  At the end of that explanation, Suzue thought that goblins were way more dangerous than she anticipated.

  Jack went on with his quiz and asked what was the best way to eliminate a goblin nest.

  “I’m not sure,” Lily admitted.

  “Dunno.”

  “The best way to get rid of goblins is to kill the shaman. They’re the leaders and can use basic magic. They’re the most intelligent and keep the others in line. So, when you kill one, the others will either run away or start fighting each other to be the new leader.”

  “Where is the shaman usually located?” Suzue asked.

  “Usually at the center of their nest. We’ll know more once we get there.”

  Just before they all arrived in the village, there was a small rustling in the grass behind them. Jack and Lily didn’t take notice of it but Suzue immediately turned around and aimed her weapon at the area where the noise was coming from.

  She placed her finger on the trigger, ready to kill whatever was moving, and stopped herself when it was just a small rabbit.

  She returned to a relaxed stance and followed the others to the village.

  3

  The village was in a terrible state of disrepair. One of the houses was completely scorched, wood splinters from the perimeter fences littered the ground, and crops were ruined.

  “This is worse than I thought,” Jack remarked.

  He went over to one of the inhabitants to get an understanding of the situation.

  The short version was as follows: For two weeks, the villagers had endured daily raids by a large goblin clan camped out somewhere to the east. They have not only been trying to protect their homes and families but also trying to raise enough money to pay the guild.

  “You should have come to us whether you had the money or not,” Jack scolded.

  Before anyone could start feeling sorry for themselves, Suzue pointed out a person running towards them.

  It was an older woman with two cat ears poking out from the top of her head and wearing torn clothes.

  She collapsed to her knees and in between deep breaths were desperate cries for help.

  “Please… they… they took Shira..! They took my daughter! You.. you have to help her! Please!”

  Jack kneeled down before her.

  “Calm down. Tell us what happened.”

  “We were fishing just outside the village and they hit me on the head and knocked me out. When I came to, she was already gone.”

  Without another word, Jack made his way east with Lily following close behind. They were both determined to rescue the girl from the clutches of a deplorable enemy. Suzue, on the other hand, was surprised by their actions. She stopped them to ask what exactly they were doing.

  “We’re going to rescue that girl.” Jack answered.

  “You’re not even gonna come up with a plan?”

  “Goblins are cruel creatures. They could be doing unspeakable acts to that girl as we speak. We don’t have time to strategize.”

  “We don’t even know where they are.”

  “They said the attacks were coming from the east. We’ll search around that general area and rescue her. Now, let’s go!”

  Just before they ran off again, Jack noticed Suzue giving him a look that he did not appreciate. Her face was blank with no readable emotion.

  “Is there a problem?”

  “No. No problem at all.”

  4

  There were two goblins that were lazily standing around. They were just as one would picture them to be. Sickly green skin, scrawny bodies, and bright yellow eyes.

  They appeared bored. One lied down and fell asleep. This angered the other, who went over and kicked him awake.

  Judging by their behavior, Jack was positive that this was the entrance to their nest. While he was glad they were able to find it, it took a whole hour to find the entrance.

  This only made Suzue more irritated and made it more likely that the girl would be dead. She began to think that maybe they should just abandon the idea of a rescue mission all together. She didn’t say it out loud, lest it cause more conflict with her current team. Besides, they were already there, might as well kill them all.

  Suzue asked Jack what the plan was. If there even was a plan.

  “We’re going to engage them in a full frontal assault. We need to save her as quickly as possible.”

  “The goblins are likely to kill her if we make too much noise. Moving in quietly would provide a better chance at survival for both her and us.”

  Jack put his hand on his chin and carefully considered Suzue’s suggestion.

  He admitted that he had no talent for strategy. It would be likely the goblins would attack all at once if the adventurers made their presence known.

  “Alright, Suzue, you lead us through this. Show me what you’re capable of.”

  “Are you sure about that, sir?”

  Jack nodded.

  “Right. Do either of you have anything that can take out those two guards silently at this distance?”

  “Can’t you use that thing you’ve been carrying around? I’m assuming it’s some sort of ranged weapon?”

  “It’s called a rifle and it’s loud.”

  Lily looked the weapon over and asked how it worked, to which Suzue let out a frustrated sigh in response.

  “Are you gonna kill them or not?”

  A vortex of cold air manifested in Jack’s right hand. With a thrust of his arm, a large icicle shot towards one of the goblins and went through his eye.

  Lily threw a ball of fire at the other goblin. Half of the creature’s face exploded sending bits of charred flesh and bone all around.

  The adventurers moved up towards the entrance and took notice of the foul smelling brown blood that was pooling beneath the goblin corpses.

  Jack explained that it was a disease called Blood Rot. As the name implies, it causes the victim’s blood to rot while they are still alive. It works slowly and is highly contagious. Luckily, there is a cure available due to how many adventurers use goblins for training.

  Turning their attention back to the nest, the entrance looked like a perfectly normal trapdoor that you would see in a regular house. Suzue opened it and immediately gagged. The underground air reeked of rotting skin and fecal matter.

  Anticipating how dark the nest would be, Jack packed torches for each of them and passed them around. Just as they were about to light them, Suzue threw her’s away and urged the others to do the same.

  “What are you doing?”

  “If we use torches we’ll lose the element of surprise. They’ll see us before we know where they are.”

  “Torches are our only option if we want to see where we’re going. Unless you have something that lets you see in the dark?”

  Suzue pulled out a set of short black tubes attached to an elastic head strap. She took off her glasses and placed the tubes over her eyes. She adjusted the strap until it was a tight fit.

  “What are those?”

  “Night vision. They let me see in the dark and the goblins won’t be able to see me. I only have one pair, so don’t bother asking to borrow mine.”

  “Then how are we going to see where we’re going?”

  “I’ll go down first and you hold onto the back of my vest. Lily can grab your belt or something.”

  With a moment of hesitation, Jack and Lily did as they were told and went down into the cave. The smell was even stronger than it was on the surface. Each of them did well to hide how much they wanted to vomit.

  For Suzue, the walls of the cave were seen with a green light only visible in the infrared spectrum. Because of how dark it was, she had to increase the luminance gain, making the image more grainy.

  For the other two, it was pitch black. They had to hold the edges of each other’s shirts so that they wouldn’t get separated.

  While they were moving through the nest, they stopped a few times. Jack and Lily thought that Suzue was simply making sure they weren’t under threat of being spotted but her next comment put that idea to rest.

  “Goddamnit.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “My damn night vision. If I move around too much the batteries get loose and it turns off and I can’t see shit.”

  Lily asked where she got them and Suzue answered that it was a standard issue piece of equipment in her country’s military. Jack made a point that a professional army should give their soldiers equipment that should function reliably.

  A few minutes later, they spotted a goblin holding a torch. He was patrolling and keeping an eye out for intruders.

  To maintain silence, Suzue unsheathed her knife and slowly approached the creature. When she was within reach, she slammed him into the wall of the cave. There was an audible crack heard and the goblin fell to the ground.

  Before she could plunge her knife into his flesh, Suzue noticed that the goblin was already dead. A stream of discolored blood poured from his mouth.

  The adventurers pressed on, moving closer to the center of the nest. Jack could tell they were going the right way by the worsening stench.

  The smell got so bad to the point that Suzue started dry heaving with nearly every breath she took.

  They kept moving until they finally arrived at the center. There was a large hole in the ceiling of the cave that cast a bright ray of sunlight on a collapsed mansion.

  The roof of the building was completely caved in and based on the elaborate decorations, it must have once belonged to a prestigious noble family.

  Judging by the state of the stone and level of vegetation, the mansion collapsed a few years ago.

  Lily hoped that the family was unharmed while Suzue hoped for the opposite.

  From the rubble, the group could hear some goblins cackling and what sounded like a young girl.

  Jack gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. He was sure that they were using the missing girl like some sort of toy.

  The adventurers moved to a ledge overlooking the area and saw that the girl they had come to rescue from the clutches of inhumane monsters was being treated like a normal house cat and seemingly having a good time.

  One of the goblins was using his dagger to reflect the sunlight for her to chase. She was even making happy cat noises.

  Jack and Lily were confused at the sight but Suzue looked on with a hint of envy. She thought the scene was quite cute. It had been ages since she last saw something like it.

  It continued like this for a few more minutes until the cat girl ran into a wall and knocked herself out. The goblins were laughing so hard that they started bleeding from their mouths.

  Suzue let out a small chuckle before taking aim at the group of goblins. She asked Jack to point out the shaman but he replied that none of them were. The shaman was likely somewhere else, performing a ritual or resting.

  “The moment I fire, I want you two to go down there and keep them away from that girl.”

  They both nodded and waited patiently for Suzue to take a shot. She chose a slightly more stout goblin wearing bits of rusted armor as her target. He was rolling around on the ground from laughing so hard.

  She waited until he stopped moving, carefully lined up the reticle of her holographic hybrid sight and pulled the trigger.

  The sound of the shot reverberated throughout the cave system and caused Jack and Lily to cover their ears out of fear of going deaf. They could barely hear the sound of something metallic hitting a nearby rock.

  Within a second of pulling the trigger, half of the goblin’s head was blown off, sending foul blood, bits of brain matter and shards of fragile bone across the cave floor.

  The projectile that caused the damage had travelled through the goblin’s head and hit another in the lower back. The exit wound caused his intestines to pour out and he let out an ear-piercing scream. Suzue silenced him with two more shots to the chest and head.

  Without wasting another second, Jack and Lily ran down towards the young girl while Suzue continued to lay down covering fire. The goblins were screaming and frantically looking for the person killing their allies one by one.

  With a swift motion of his left arm, Jack raised a wall of ice between him and the goblins while Lily made sure the girl was unharmed. Once she was finished checking her for injuries, she lifted the girl up and back towards Suzue, who was still firing off deafening shots. It wasn’t long before her ears started to ring.

  Jack began casting ice spells that froze the goblins in place from atop the ice wall he made, making Suzue’s job way easier. Before she knew it, she had already emptied an entire twenty round magazine.

  Jack cast a spell that summoned an ice storm that tore through the skin of the remaining goblins. With all the goblins in the room dead, he went back towards the group to discuss their next move.

  “How is she?”

  “She’s unconscious but there are no severe injuries.”

  “That’s a relief. The shaman might be hiding deeper within the cave. Because of the noise we made, they’ll have fortified their defences. I’ll need some help. Lily, it’s time to show me what you can do.”

  “Right! I’ll do my best.”

  “Suzue, you take the girl back to the village and keep her safe.”

  Confused at his words, Suzue raised her night vision goggles to look at Jack directly.

  “Are you fuckin’ with me?”

  “I… don’t speak that language.”

  “You want me to go by myself while carrying somebody? There might be enemies still lurking in the shadows.”

  “That’s why I want you to go. With that device, you can see them and you have clearly demonstrated that you can handle it. Now get moving. Come on, Lily.”

  With that, Jack and Lily ran off before Suzue could argue against a decision that, in her eyes, was illogical. She let out a small growl of frustration and carried the cat girl over her shoulders back towards the entrance.

  Not long after separating, goblins began obstructing her path. Every time one appeared, she’d have to put the girl down, which would alert them, and quickly take it out. She considered herself lucky that they were slow to figure out what was going on, as those few seconds in between dropping the girl and aiming her rifle were crucial.

  She thought she wouldn’t have to stress over a few seconds if she had someone with her.

  Suzue was, to put it simply, frustrated at the lack of support she was given. To be sent into hostile territory alone and with a wounded person of interest went against everything she was trained for. In this environment, in the same situation, her old team wouldn’t even be able to use the bathroom without at least being in earshot of each other.

  However, she found it strange that she was not scared at all. She was simply doing her job like how she was trained. In a way, it wasn’t that much different than her previous occupation.

  She thought that maybe it was because the goblins have not exactly proved to be a formidable foe. This wasn’t unusual for her given the fact that goblins were always one of the weakest enemies in a fantasy setting. But that couldn’t have been the reason for her unusual lack of fear. It was just her against dozens of them and she can only shoot in one direction at a time.

  Before she could ponder her question any further, she was suddenly hit in the head with a blunt object that sent her goggles flying off her face. Luckily, her rifle was hanging from her arm via a sling so that she didn’t lose it.

  Suzue fired three shots in the direction she thought the attack came from and saw nothing in the light of the muzzle flash.

  Knowing she would not win if she can’t see, Suzue pulled out a flare, lit it and threw it out in front of her.

  She waited for something to reveal itself but nothing ever did. She moved forward slowly, being extra cautious around the corners.

  Suzue heard heavy footsteps coming from behind and turned around as fast as she could and saw a goblin considerably larger than the others with a wooden club raised high above his head. She didn’t even have time to react before it impacted the side of her head.

  Blood poured from her scalp and into her eye. She tried to aim her weapon but was far too dazed to even stand up straight. She fell to her knees and felt something impale her throat. She tried to inhale but only ended up breathing in her own blood.

  A dangerous amount of blood was gushing out from the wound in her neck. It wasn’t long before half of her torso and entire arm was drenched. It felt like she was drowning.

  As she slowly started to lose consciousness, Suzue began to realize that she felt this way before. The blood filling her lungs was something she had already experienced.

  Suzue made no effort to stay awake. She didn’t even try to keep herself from bleeding out. She just closed her eyes as if she was falling asleep.