He didn’t linger until the fight finished. There was no point. They got it handled, and him trying to climb a building to kill a pair of goblins was honestly an overkill. More than that, stealing their scraps of exp felt a bit unsportsmanlike, and he really didn’t want to bother with climbing.

  Okay, he just didn’t want to climb on that roof.

  He could’ve stayed for a chat, but it’s not like he had anything to chat about with the group. Also there was a risk of Michael finding out that big and scary Dennis interacted with the party during the battle and making a fuss over it. He was overly paranoid like that, thinking of Dennis like he was some kind of psycho who was one stray arrow away from killing everyone near him. Dennis didn’t know what his problem was, it was like the dude held a grudge or something.

  More than anything, he wanted to go back to the grind. Trying to talk his skill into working was a frustrating and mostly fruitless experience, but the tidbit of knowledge that he managed to get from it was promising. It was too small, and it could do more if it was more.

  Okay, it sounded silly when he thought about it like that. Well, duh, of course skills are better when you level them up, he didn’t need mythical cosmic insights to know that. But he didn’t know that! At least, not in the way it meant. He thought that leveling up the skill would make the numbers go up, and yeah that was cool and everything, but the important bit was the fact that leveling up the skill could somehow increase its scope. Make the rules a bit looser. Maybe even allow him to kill the goblins as a way to save people. That was the dream, at least.

  To be honest, Dennis was a bit desperate and grasping at straws. Exponential growth was fine and dandy until it hit exponential exp requirements. In other words, once he gets to the next level he will be stuck. Just… softlocked out of leveling up due to the dwindling supply of goblins and the sheer amount he would need to kill. Sure, he will be a bit faster, but it wouldn’t be enough to make a difference. The only way out of the choking grasp of the growing leveling requirements was to exponent all over them. To grow faster than they demand of him. And the only thing that could do that was to bet on Heroic Dash, because it gave two stats for the price of one, and every next stat point had more impact than the previous one. The activation requirement was stifling as hell, but the power it gave… Oh, sweet, sweet power, it was good.

  So the sort of kind of confirmation that he could loosen the requirements a bit was the sweetest thing he heard since the apocalypse started.

  Though if he misunderstood it, he was fucked.

  Oh well.

  He decided to not dwell on it too much because he couldn’t do anything about it. He returned to the grind with enthusiasm that he lacked before the news.

  A few hours of goblin killing passed like a blur before he got bored again. Despite his newfound enthusiasm it was still a grueling affair, and it wasn’t like being enthusiastic about it sped things up. Finding goblins was still a chore with little in terms of entertainment. It was so boring that he actually got excited when he found another dead goblin’s body with a piercing wound. The bloodstains around it were still wet when he noticed it, and when he crouched to inspect the wound closer he noticed something else.

  The body was still warm.

  Those random dead goblins were a somewhat common thing to find, but this was the first time when he found one that was killed so recently. It was noteworthy enough that he decided to investigate a bit more, feeling some of that detective-ish itch. Besides, he didn’t have anything better to do. Or, well, grinding was a better thing to do, but sometimes a small distraction was welcome. Knowing that the next level could bring something more exciting than just a few stat points made him want to get it faster, and that somehow made the slow grind feel even worse. Like, he couldn’t get that level fast enough, he really wanted it, and that made the slowness of getting there feel even worse than it was before. So, a distraction.

  Like most of the bodies of this type, it had a piercing wound in its head, like from a gun. Only, it wasn’t exactly like a wound from a gun. Dennis was quite familiar with those at this point. Gunshot wounds were typically either pretty small holes, or… explosive. This was neither. The hole was wider than what he used to see, and a bullet of that caliber would usually make the head basically explode, and that didn’t happen. Another weird thing was the fact that the wound was made pretty much directly straight in the face of the creature. Goblins were small. Like, children-sized small, so shooting them was usually done from above, just because of the height difference. Whatever was killing these goblins was most likely goblin-sized. Like another goblin. Or a child.

  He heard a dull twang of a bowstring and jumped to the side, locking on the source of the sound. No arrow flew at him, which was a pleasant deviation from how those things usually went. He couldn’t see any goblins either. He carefully observed the house from which the sound came from. Usually goblin archers loved getting as high as they could, like on the second floor or the roof and shooting from there, but the sound was too dull for it to come from the roof and all the windows were closed.

  So, something shot an arrow inside the house. Interesting.

  Well.

  He wasn’t one to ignore the mystery when it stared him in the face like that. Maybe just sometimes.

  He unsheathed a dagger and went to the house. The door wasn’t locked, and he tried to open it slowly and without making any sound as he peeked inside.

  It was dark, which was basically the norm inside houses nowadays since there was no electricity. He closed the door behind him and went deeper into the house, carefully scanning everything. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he noticed the body on the floor.

  It was another dead goblin. What was different about this one was the fact that it had an arrow sticking out of its face.

  Ah, yes. The arrows. Kind of dumb of him to not think of those before. Though to be fair, straight to the face was a bit of a rare location for an arrow to hit. Especially inside the house. The shooter would have to be basically right in front of the goblin to pull that shot, and there wasn’t any distance to make it before the goblin would rush the attacker.

  He shivered as a draft of wind washed over him, strong enough to somehow force the door open behind him.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Hmm. Dead goblin. Archer. Wind.

  “Must have been the wind,” he murmured, looking at the body. “Lily! Do you think I’m that stupid?! I’m not a fucking skyrim guard! Get over here!”

  The girl appeared beside the door. There was a bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows strapped behind her back. She fidgeted and looked anywhere but in his eyes, like he caught her stealing cookies when it was past her sleep-time.

  “Emm…” she mumbled. “Hi, Dennis.” She awkwardly waved her hand and offered him an uneasy smile. It vanished barely a few seconds later as she took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut, gripping her bow so tight her hands trembled. “Okay, I’m ready,” she whispered.

  An awkward silence stretched for a few moments.

  “Ready for what?” he asked, confused.

  She opened one eye, glancing at him meekly. “For you to yell at me?”

  He glanced at the dead goblin.

  “Is killing goblins illegal now?” he asked.

  “No?”

  “I mean, even if it is, I’m not Michael’s goon, you know. You can’t imagine the depth of the fucks that I don’t give. You’re sneaking out of the fort?”

  She relaxed a bit and gave him a small nod.

  “Partying up with others didn’t work out, I guess?” he said.

  She shook her head.

  “They keep lying to me,” she said quietly. “There’s always a reason why I can’t go, and it’s always stupid. Or when it’s time to go, someone in the fort suddenly really needs my help. They think I’m too dumb to understand that they don’t want me out here. So I just… stopped trying to ask.” She suddenly clasped her hands together like in prayer and made a puppy eyes at him. “Please, please, please don’t tell anyone!” she nearly shouted.

  Yeah, that’s what happens when you try to forbid someone from doing things when you can’t stop them. The people in the fort were quite lucky that Lily didn’t go with the ‘assassinate the leaders’ route. It was the one he would’ve picked if he was in her place. It was like the people in charge couldn’t wrap their heads around the concept of personal power. Lily was the second most deadly person in the fort. If Dennis didn’t have his buff on, she could arguably be the first. Who could contest her if she decided to kill them all? She was the stealth archer with ‘sneak 100’. Clearing out bandit hideouts was basically her specialization, and the fort was remarkably similar to a bandit hideout, just without bandits.

  “Have you tried threatening Michael until they do what you want?” he asked.

  “What? No!”

  “You should try that,” he suggested, sharing his personal wisdom. “It works amazingly well. You’re not any good in a direct battle, but you could try putting a post-it note on Michael’s forehead with a handprint drawn on it. I bet he will get the message, he’s a smart guy. And if he won’t, you can kill him and his goons. Just don’t kill Nancy and we’ll be good. And maybe Jenny. You can totally murder Lucas though.”

  “Dennis, what the fuck?” the little girl whispered. “Are you making fun of me? Killing people is bad.”

  “Not if it’s a revolution against a totalitarian dictatorship,” he countered. “I’m pretty sure they’re allowed. I won’t help you because supporting a revolution is a somewhat gray area for a hero, but fighting the revolution is totally a villain thing to do, and I’m not a villain. You’re good. Don’t forget about Lucas though, the little shit keeps getting on my nerves.”

  “I… will not do that,” she said slowly. “But thank you for the suggestion, I guess? So you won’t tell anyone?”

  “I honestly don’t give a fuck,” he said. “So I’ll just use this knowledge as blackmail in case I need something from you.”

  “Ah.” Her shoulders slumped. “I see. Okay…”

  “Wait a second.” He raised a finger when he felt his heroic compass tingle a bit. He nodded to himself. “Yeah, forget about the blackmail. I don’t blackmail little girls who may or may not start a revolution. Your secret is safe, I won’t tell anyone, no strings attached.”

  Lily smiled. It was a weak smile, but it was genuine.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, I guess,” he said, passing her and leaving the house. He never understood small talk, so in his mind there wasn’t really anything else to do here. The mystery was solved, and the grind awaited.

  His leisurely walk lasted for only a few minutes before he couldn’t help but wonder.

  “Why are you following me?” he asked as they passed a crossroad.

  “Why not?” the girl replied beside him. “It gets really boring when I’m alone. So I thought it would be more fun together? No one wants to have me, but you said that you don’t mind.”

  Well yes, he didn’t care that she sneaked out to grind, but it didn’t mean that he didn’t mind having a tagalong. Protecting her would be a bit annoying, and sharing exp… He shuddered.

  Okay, he needed a plan. How to get rid of a little girl so she won’t steal his exp?

  “It’s really dangerous out here,” he said the first thing that came to his mind. “You may get hurt.”

  “I will stab you,” she said casually.

  Abort. She figured out how to threaten authority, and he wasn’t as stupid as Michael. He had no counter for her invisibility bullshit, so trying shit would be detrimental for his health.

  “I will tell everyone that you’re sneaking out,” he said.

  “You said you won’t. Did you lie?”

  Fuck.

  “Welcome to the team. I’m glad to have you here with us,” he gave her his best customer service smile.

  “Thank you,” she smiled. “Who’s us?”

  “The team. Me and Muramasa.” He gestured at the katana behind his back.

  “But you’re usually fighting with the dagger,” she said.

  “Muramasa is mostly an emotional support katana nowadays,” he said. “My right hand is injured, and my left hand is weaker than my right, and swinging a sword with it gets tiring fast because that thing’s heavy. I don’t really need the reach when I just dodge shit anyways. Nevermind. How did you know that I usually use the dagger?”

  “I usually sneak out with you, so I’ve seen you fight a lot.”

  Creepy.

  “Like, you’re following me?” he asked warily. “Why?”

  “Mhm,” she nodded. “So I have someone to run to in case I get in trouble, I guess? I tried following Gary’s group a few times, but they move too fast so I don’t have time to restore my mana. But with you it’s much easier, you walk like a grandma.”

  Dennis didn’t know what to think about that. On one hand, having a backup even when the backup didn’t know about it was a surprisingly wise move from a he-didn’t-bother-to-ask years old girl. On the other, she was stalking him because he was too slow? He?!

  Okay, fair, the raiding groups usually had plans and destinations and timetables and all that stupid boring shit, while he was just kinda going wherever without much thought, and maybe he actually started to enjoy the pleasant stroll, it was literally the only pleasant thing in the sheer boredom that was grinding, but still. She was following him because he was slow enough?!

  Wait a second.

  He squinted as he looked her over, trying to get a feel for her presence.

  “Lily,” he said slowly. “You got to fourth level?”

  “Mhm.” She nodded.

  “Lily…” he said even slower. “Are you the reason why I get attacked so rarely?”

  “Umm…” she fidgeted. “Maybe? You’re not mad, are you?”

  Was he allowed to smack people outside the fort? Was smacking little girls morally right? He had a lot of questions that needed to be answered.