[Feather Fall level 45]

  Vel floated down to the last branch at an agonizingly slow pace, watching as Sigurd wrestled with two goblins half his height. He ripped a spear from one of them, or rather, tried to. As he pulled it, the attached goblin came with, flying through the air as he slammed it into the second one.

  Meanwhile, Amalia was laying on the ground, thrashing as one goblin pinned her head into the ground, another attempting to hold her arms still, and a third wrapping thin rope around them. The group of seven goblins had been quick to eliminate the singer after she blew number eight’s face off in a sickening song.

  Vel’s feet finally touched down, and she looked at Aden as a goblin latched onto his neck in a jump that seemed impossible for a being of that size. She gulped, drawing the dagger Sigurd gave her from the cog earlier, holding it in a tight grip.

  They’re taking out the weakest and most important first, she thought, feeling a pang in her heart. Then anger settled in, writhing and twisting her chest, then burning into her face. She jumped, towards the second goblin toppling Aden over. She started with [feather fall], which allowed her to go further than she could have jumped.

  [Feather Fall level 46]

  Then she free fell, dagger poised. It slid with ease into the back of the goblin’s neck, squelching and screeching as it slid past bone as she crashed with it, Aden, and the second goblin on the ground. Had she the time, Vel might have gagged, but . . . No, I’m past that. I am so avenging past that! she thought.

  The world needed a hero, a warrior, and she was it.

  “Die, accursed vermin!” she hissed, gaining her footing and ripping the dagger from the creature. The second on Aden scowled, releasing him and jumping away from her, the healer gasping for air.

  It pounced, soaring through the air with unnatural grace for the ugliest, nakedest little monster Vel had ever seen, save for its flapping loincloth.

  [Skill gained: Spry Jump]

  [0.5 Dexterity added]

  It swiped its own stone dagger at her, forcing Vel back. But then it moved further through the air than Vel expected, and she twisted to get out of the way while throwing up her own dagger in an attempt to block. The daggers clinked as they clashed, the goblin’s sliding past hers and twisting as it slid down the length of her forearm.

  A scream escaped Vel, horrified as she saw her skin split first, then felt the pain. She stumbled, dropping her blade. Blood gushed, staining her sleeve. She grimaced, using her other hand to hold the wound, hopelessly pressing against it in a lame attempt to stop the bleeding.

  The goblin landed and grinned, sharpened teeth glinting in a small ray of sunlight. It ran its tongue over those teeth, Vel staggering back further.

  Despite her pain, she held her arm up, still holding it. She felt a brief reprieve from the heat, even the pain, as [fireball] stole her warmth and centered it in her palm. The flame erupted from her hand, the goblin dodging it just as quick as it had left Vel’s hand.

  [Fireball level 57]

  It rushed her.

  Vel yelped as it swiped with its dagger again, jumping back as far as her legs could take her. In a knee-jerk reaction, she pushed against the ground with [rock throw], flying much, much further than expected. So far that she even swayed her legs in the air to activate [feather fall], landing between two massive leaves.

  [Rock Throw level 41]

  Blinking at all the distance she made, Vel smiled. She might have lost her dagger, but her options were endless. You are so dead, she thought, looking into the black eyes of the goblin, who looked more confused than excited now. His face soured, and he wasn’t looking up at Vel, but rather straight at her.

  A warmth emanated from her injury, soothing it, and Vel looked down at her wound on her arm, seeing the skin knit together, mending as if it’d never been there to begin with. She glanced at Aden, the healer holding his hand out towards her, barely sitting up. Sitting right next to the enemy.

  Vel could see what the goblin was thinking before he even did it. She rushed forward, too far to prevent the creature from stabbing his dagger into Aden’s shoulder. The teenager howled, voice breaking. He collapsed back to the ground, and the goblin reeled back for another attack.

  “No!” Vel cried, leaping through the air again, pushing against the ground and throwing her full momentum into the creature as she tackled it to the ground.

  She struggled to pin it, grabbing at its neck with one hand and searching for its dagger in its hand, only to feel a sharpness in her gut. She was too late, gasping. The creature beneath her as it hissed, her grip on its throat loosening. It twisted the dagger in her gut, and Vel coughed. She collapsed, rolling as the goblin pushed her to the ground.

  While it kept her dagger lodged in her stomach, the gremlin hovered over her, then grabbed at her loose lavender hair, pulling it harshly as he smiled. Vel shivered, shaking uncontrollably as she felt herself grow weaker.

  This was bad. Really, really bad. She’d been stabbed somewhere vital, and although there was still a dagger inside her, she could still feel the warmth of her blood as it leaked over her form. She whimpered, hand shaking as she slowly moved it towards the dagger. She paused, hopeful when she saw Aden, now healed, standing up with her dagger in his hand. But just as he raised it, he was tackled by another goblin.

  No . . .

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  The goblin atop her leaned in close, wrapping his hand, small as it was, around her throat and right against her jaw. He shifted her head, forcing her to look at him as he sneered, “Your scalp . . .” he licked his lips, “will look so good over my mantle.”

  Vel trembled. She shifted her eyes, searching for Sigurd. The hunter was dealing with two goblins still, but the two from earlier were now dead on the ground. Sigurd, however, was bleeding, broken speartip protruding from his left shin, a leg the man clearly didn’t dare put hardly any weight on.

  They were beat. Vel should have felt the weight of that, the expectation that they could die here. Yet, when she looked back at the goblin above her, reveling in its defeat in her, and felt the pain in her gut, sharp with every shallow breath, she felt nothing but ire. It burned, flaring like a dragon deep within.

  This thing was in the way. It was preventing her from finding Edard, from saving her friends━her family. And there was one thing she knew she had that they didn’t. With a scream, guttural and painful, Vel pressed her hands against the creature’s stomach. Her body iced over as the remainder of her heat fled, pouring into the flames that burned at her hands and charred through the goblin’s stomach with an unexpected force.

  [Fireball level 58]

  The goblin howled, scrambling away and holding its blackened skin that oozed with crimson, the fire having pierced into its gut. With her own burned hands. Vel grasped the dagger in her stomach, then scowled as she slowly drew it out. She gasped, a bead of cold sweat dripping from her brow. Shuddering, she pushed herself up, then turned to the sprawling goblin beside her.

  [Warning: Death imminent. Would you like to use Total Renew?]

  Yes, Vel answered, thrusting her dagger into the goblin’s eye. It froze, jaw locked in an open position like the thing’s final scream unsung.

  [Dagger Stab level 27]

  A glow wrapped around Vel’s form, warm and inviting as it soothed her pain and reinvigorated her.

  She ripped the dagger from the goblin’s eye, standing up as the goal slowly faded. Beyond the light, Vel could see the horrified goblin that had only just finished binding an unconscious Aden. It scrambled to its feet, peeking up its spear. As it thrust it towards Vel, she used the available shade provided from the setting sun, the last ray of light abandoning the brambles above. Vel rolled her foot against the ground.

  [Skill gained: Spear Thrust]

  [0.5 Strength added]

  Vel fell into the shadow realm, and without wasting a second, she raced across the glass ground, moving past the goblin. Rolling her feet, she flipped back up into the real world, dagger jabbing at the goblin just as he spun around.

  [Shadow Sneak level 23]

  It slid into his throat, a horrible gurgling sound escaping it as she ripped it free.

  She watched the goblin fall with animosity, then looked towards Sigurd, the hunter slicing through the throat of the final goblin. He turned, looking worse for wear as he gave Vel an angered look. “Damn twats,” he growled.

  Sigurd grimaced, dropping his dagger to hold his leg with both hands as he slowly lowered himself to the ground. “Don’t you ever almost die on me again,” he said, sparing a hand to point at Vel.

  Vel stared for a long moment, letting the burning wrath within slowly die before she asked, “You saw that?”

  Sigurd grunted, nodding. “Couldn’t kill them fast enough to get to you. One mistake cost me my leg,” he said.

  Nodding, Vel crouched beside Aden. She sliced through tight ropes, then paused, looking at the blood running over the back of Aden’s head. Holding out her hands, she created a large square of silk fabric.

  [Create Silk level 38]

  [Create Silk level 39]

  Taking the clean cloth, Vel pressed it against Aden’s wound before turning him over. She was particularly careful with his head, setting it down gently once the teenager was on his back. Then she patted at his face.

  “Wake up,” she tried.

  “Give him a moment,” Sigurd said when Aden didn’t stir.

  She sighed, and looked at amalia, the singer wide awake from where she laid, ropes binding her arms. She also had a massive cloth tied into her mouth, muffling any sound she made. As Vel approached, she was glad to find that Amalia looked to be uninjured, save for a bruised eye.

  Vel freed the singer, who coughed out the cloth, then shivered. “Ew.” she said, then continued, “ew, ew, ew. Oh gods!”

  “Goblins,” Sigurd said.

  “I never knew they were so,” she shuddered, “ew.”

  “They’re normally not,” Sigurd noted, expression darkening. “And these ones were trained.” He grimaced, holding his leg tighter. “Okay kid, I’m ready for you to wake up again,” he said.

  “How are they normally?” Amalia asked, taking a longer piece of rope that survived Vel’s dagger. She moved to Sigurd, then tightly tied the rope above his wound, the hunter grimacing.

  “Really?” he asked, eyeing the singer. “Really?”

  “You’re welcome, or would you rather I pull the arrow out next?” Amalia replied.

  Sigurd sneered. “Loot the little bastards instead, maybe one of them has a map.”

  “A map? In loincloths?” Amalia huffed. “Don’t answer questions, give commands instead! Who made you boss?” she mocked.

  Vel sighed, watching the two interact. It wasn’t so bad this time, at least, but . . . well, she wished they’d still just get along. She reached a hand back, grabbing at the comb that’d been falling out, and pulled the remainder of her hair free only to wrap it back up and secure it back in place.

  “Fine,” Sigurd hissed. “Goblins are normally a lot more civilized.”

  That gave Vel pause. These things, despite their humanoid forms and use of language, hadn’t been associated as people in her mind. More like wild beasts. And she killed them, killed them with ease. He was going to scalp me, she thought, looking towards the goblin that had stabbed her. She shivered.

  They were evil, she told herself, convincing herself, once again, how necessary their deaths had been, and how necessary more death might be going forward. I have to do what I have to do, she said, reminded once again of her quest, the one she’d have to pursue after finding Edard━the one that loomed constantly in the back of her head.

  Reforge Godbreaker . . . A weapon, from the sounds of it, to kill gods. That meant killing people.

  Aden stirred, cringing. He held a hand up to his head, hovering as he worked his magic. Once his own problem was fixed, the teenager righted himself, first looking at Vel straight across from him. Then he looked at Sigurd and Amalia.

  “Finally,” Sigurd muttered.

  A smile slowly stretched across Aden’s face. “Awesome,” he said, looking at Sigurd’s injury. “There’s no way that bone survived that.” He crawled towards Sigurd, regarded the tourniquet, then ripped the broken spear from Sigurd’s leg without warning, the hunter howling with a jolt.

  Amalia tackled him, holding him down while Aden fixed his leg.

  “We should loot ‘em,” Aden started as he healed, sweat dripping from Sigurd’s brow. “Find a map.”

  Vel smiled, looking between Sigurd and Aden.

  “They’re wearing loincloths,” Amalia enunciated.

  “I’d still hide a map on me,” Aden said.

  “In your underwear?” Amalia asked.

  “Of course. Best place for valuables.”

  “What?” Vel blinked, warmth coming to her cheeks. “You can’t be serious.”

  “They have too much propriety, kid,” Sigurd noted.

  “Fine, I’ll loot them,” Aden said, finishing Sigurd’s wound. He left the tourniquet for Amalia to untie.

  Not long later, Sigurd, Vel, and Amalia hovered over Aden, a map in his hands. Vel tried hard to not think about where it was stored, finger hovering over the parchment as she pointed to the drawing of a large building on the map. Under it was written “Free Temple Ruins”.

  “That’s the building I saw,” she said.

  “It ain’t a city,” Aden said, then pointed at a city a bit north of the ruins.

  “Good news, we’d have ran into town anyways following Vel’s directions,” Sigurd said. “We’ll rest up and make our way there tomorrow.”