The question of goblin intelligence has been raised many times. All we can say for sure is that no one has demonstrated conclusively that they are capable of understanding human speech. While various circuses and so-called ‘freak-shows’ have occasionally counted ‘trained’ goblins among their attractions, actual investigation has shown that these goblins merely respond to command words without broader understanding of the language, just as other animals do.

  The most interesting thing about goblin speech is that they communicate exclusively using hissing sounds. However, when observed in secret in the wild, it has been recorded that young goblins are capable of making sounds resembling human vocalization. Whenever they do, they are severely punished, soon learning to only reproduce the soft hissing sounds of their tribe.

  - Bonnie, Level 41 Beastmaster, Bonnie’s Bestiary

  My burger was tasty, though clearly not as good as the one I’d had at the inn in Sunland. To be fair, I was sure that one had been much more expensive. We stuck around chatting with the soldiers for another couple of hours as I slowly sipped at my second beer. I was sure Madzi had drunk at least six in the same amount of time, but she seemed unfazed.

  It was interesting learning a little bit about life in the Army, though it just reinforced that I was much better off as a Delver. Sure, Mason might train us even harder than the Army would, but at least he didn’t give a shit about how our bedrolls were laid out or uniforms or saluting or all the other bullshit that soldiers had to put up with. When we’d finally had enough, Block paid for the food while the soldiers cheerfully waved off our attempts to pay for any of the beer.

  “Your lot hardly drank anything,” Madzi said with a smile. It was true, even Block had only had maybe three glasses and I wasn’t sure Elin or Zaire had even tried a second. Thanking her, Laier, and the rest of our new friends, we headed out onto the street.

  Like Sunland, East Bank used mana lanterns to light the streets at night, and also like Sunland they skimped badly on the lighting. The saloon was on the main street, which had a light every few buildings, but the streets and alleys leading away north and south were dark, except for the rare building with light coming out through a window. Unfortunately, the barracks wasn’t on the main street, and when we made what we thought was the right turn, we found ourselves on a dark street with only a bit of moonlight to see by.

  As the four of us debated whether we’d gone too far west or not far enough, we heard raised voices and a group of men came stumbling into the dark street behind us. They were between us and the main road, and as we turned to walk past them, one of them stepped into our path.

  “Ey! I recognize dese kids! They’re t’ ones as came into town with that mutie!” he said, pointing a thick finger at us.

  “Filthy mutants!” another one added, spitting on the street. “We don’t want none of them around here! Look at that grey one, he must be a mutie too!”

  “They’re only Tier 0, let’s show ‘em what we think about mutie lovers!” the third man added, coming to stand by his buddies.

  This is going downhill, quickly… Identify, Identify, Identify.

  My throat went dry as I saw that we were facing a Tier 1 Farmer, a Tier 2 Laborer, and a Tier 2 Blacksmith. They were all dressed casually in shirts and jeans, but each of them was over six feet tall and at least two hundred pounds of mostly muscle. The Laborer had to be at least 6’4” and pushing 250, though some of that was in his gut. Each of them had a pistol on their right hip, though none of them had made a move to draw one.

  

  Raylan smiled and raised his hands as he stepped next to me, Elin and Zaire drifting back a step.

  “Come on now gentlemen, we’re just passing through. No need to start anything, we’ll be gone in the morning anyway.”

  “Hah, you’ll be gone tonight, more like!” replied the Laborer, smacking one meaty fist into his other hand.

  “You really want to mess with the Delvers?” Elin’s voice came from behind me, challenging, and when I glanced back angrily I saw she’d summoned her armor and weapons.

  

   she hissed back at me.

  My mind was racing as I turned back to the three drunks. I’d seen brawls like this before once or twice, and I knew that we’d probably get away with a beating if we’d kept our weapons out of it. Now, though, I really wished we were still in the Squad with Mason so that –

  “You’re gonna regret that, girlie,” the Blacksmith said, and suddenly he was holding a big, heavy hammer casually in one hand.

   “Hey assholes,” Block said simultaneously over the Comms and out loud, stepping out of the shadows against one of the buildings. I barely had time for a choice mental curse or two before all three men had whirled to face him.

  All three started moving at once, ignoring us completely. The Farmer was the closest to Block, and the Delver worked him over like a punching bag. Jab, cross, hook, uppercut – a classic combination, and one where I’d never actually landed all four hits while sparring. Block did, and the Farmer’s barrier shattered on the third blow, the uppercut snapping his head back and literally taking him off of his feet. I doubt he even knew what hit him before he was unconscious.

  The Laborer awkwardly dodged the falling body of his friend and charged at Block, intending to grapple him. Block slid out of the way and stuck out a foot. The big drunk tipped comically over it, smashing into the wall behind Block with a flare of light from his barrier. The Blacksmith raised his hammer and started towards Block. The Delver’s shield materialized on his arm, and I caught a flash of gold – some kind of design on a dark background – as Block drove forward behind it.

  The hammer came down with brutal force, but Block’s balance was superb, and he pivoted just enough to deflect the strike to the side with a crash, before slamming his shield into the man’s chest – once, twice, three times. The first two blows took down his barrier, and the third sent him stumbling back, clutching a broken nose with his free hand.

  The Laborer, getting his bearings after bouncing off the wall, turned to come at Block from behind, when suddenly a Pain Bolt flashed by me and his barrier flared. Then Elin cast again, shattering his barrier, and again, and again. The man dropped to his knees with a howl of agony as I jumped in front of her and pushed her back with both hands on her shield.

  “Let Block handle this!” I snarled, as she stumbled and whirled on me. I thought she was about to strike me with her scepter when Block interrupted.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

   he barked into the Comms, and she came to an abrupt halt. I noticed Zaire stepping closer to us, still in his casual clothes, and I risked a glance back to the fight as I heard the sounds of fists striking flesh. By the time I turned, all three of the attackers were on the ground, and Block was marching up to Elin, his shield back in his Inventory.

  A shutter banged open on one of the second story windows above and someone shouted for the guard even as Block got in Elin’s face.

  

   Elin replied angrily.

   Block snarled.

   she retorted heatedly, and Block laughed in her face.

  

  Before Elin could continue, the sound of booted feet running on the street interrupted us, and moments later a Guard patrol was standing in front of us, their Light Cantrips illuminating the scene.

  The patrol leader sighed as he recognized the unconscious men on the ground and motioned for one of his men to check them over. He muttered something under his breath before looking to Block.

  “What exactly happened here, Delver?”

  Block smoothly explained what had happened. I noticed that he didn’t stumble or hesitate once during the story. He’s done this before, I’d bet, probably more than a few times. Shit, didn’t Mason tell us to keep him out of trouble? Great job, us!

  He didn’t mention the Pain Bolts though, and obviously the Guard noticed the gap in the story.

  “I heard one of them scream from two blocks away, Delver. What was that? None of these three are new to giving – or receiving a beatdown. From the sound, I expected to find at least a broken arm, maybe a knife in a belly. Care to enlighten me?”

  Block sighed. he complained on the Comms.

  “One of the recruits here,” he gestured to Elin, “hit that man with a Spell when he was behind me. She’s new, never been in a little dust-up like this, and thought he was getting the drop on me.”

  The guard raised his eyebrows and stepped closer to Elin, who still had her weapons and armor on. He looked her up and down, then looked at the unconscious Laborer.

  “I don’t see any burns or other marks on him. What exactly did you cast on him, young lady?” he asked sternly.

   Block exclaimed before she could open her mouth. Wincing, she glared at him, before turning back to the guard.

  “It was Pain Bolt,” she admitted. I had to restrain myself from commenting that it was actually four Pain Bolts, but I kept my mouth shut.

  The guard’s eyes narrowed and I saw the other guards looking at Elin with distrust and anger.

  “That is… not an acceptable Spell for a little brawl, miss,” his voice now icy. “Do you know what the penalty is for using a Spell like that on someone? I’ll give you a hint, it’s the same as you would get for burning him with a Firebolt.”

  The gravity of the situation finally got through to Elin and she swallowed nervously. “But he’s a Tier 2, and I’m Tier 0! I didn’t think it would work on him!”

  “Lie.” The patrol leader’s voice was flat and Block sighed. “Store your weapons and armor Elin Summers, you’re coming with us.” The other three guards – two men and a woman – moved towards Elin and she looked at Block in a panic.

  

   he responded derisively.

  Her shoulders slumped, and she finally obeyed. One of the men produced a pair of manacles, connected with a thick steel bar, and clamped them on her wrists.

  Squad Update:

  Squad member Elin has left the SquadStolen from RoyalRoad. Support AzureInk by reading the original.

  I looked more closely at the restraints they’d used. Those must be enchanted, to cut her off from the Squad like that. Or did Block kick her out? I tried to Identify them.

  Item: Restraints

  Level: ?Stolen from RoyalRoad. Support AzureInk by reading the original.

  Well, whatever it is exactly that they do, she’s not getting out of them by herself…

  “Good, a couple of nights in jail will give you time to reconsider your actions,” the guard leader said calmly. “The Magistrate will see you Monday, and we’ll settle things then. As for the rest of you,” he turned to face me, “I need you to confirm that you did not participate in this fight in any way, by body, weapon, Skill, or Spell. Do you attest that this statement is true?”

  I swallowed. “Uh, yes sir. I didn’t fight anyone. And I, well, I tried to stop Elin once I realized what she was doing.”

  He just nodded, as if he could tell I was speaking the truth. I remembered being scolded by Hazel once for lying to a Guard about a harmless prank I’d pulled. She’d told me that some Guards have Skills like Sense Truth, so I should never lie to one of them. Curious, I Identified the man while he repeated the same question to Zaire, and then Raylan.

  Name: Alric Eammons

  Class: Veteran Guard

  Tier: 2Stolen from RoyalRoad. Support AzureInk by reading the original.

  Tier 2, maybe he can tell when we’re lying. Either that, or he’s really good at reading people. Maybe both…

  Alric’s Squad also cuffed the drunk men before removing their pistol belts and hauling them to their feet. The Blacksmith was waking up, and he looked around blearily but didn’t protest, seemingly resigned to – or used to – the situation. Alric re-questioned Block briefly, confirming that he’d used no Skills or Spells and only used his shield against the armed man.

  Seemingly satisfied, he pulled out a small container from his Inventory and cracked it open near the mouth of first the Farmer, then the Laborer. Each man started as they inhaled, and I winced as a bit of the sharp smell made it to my nose. I guessed he’d been telling the truth about being familiar with these men, because he didn’t bother to question any of them. He took charge of Elin and the Guards marched their four prisoners back towards the main street.

  Block sighed again and looked at us, muttering, “I’m gonna get so much shit for this! It was just going to be a fun little brawl!” He gestured for us to follow, then led us back to the main street and to the barracks, which was two small streets down from where we’d been.