Cindi halted, sensing Banst slip away from her grasp, and turned to him with an inquisitive look on her freckled face.

“Adventurer Banst?” she prompted, cocking her head sideways, ginger hair bouncing.

“I’m sorry,” Banst apologized, beginning to back away, “I left my potions in the wagon. I’ll need to go fetch them. Battling without them would be ill-advised.”

“Would you like me to come with you?”

“Don’t mind me, sincerely. I won’t be long.”

Cindi's expression scrunched up. “Wouldn’t you want to at least meet the team first…?”

Banst’s smile held only wariness. “Of course! Like I said, I won’t be long. Please, prepare them well to meet the one and only ‘Weakest Adventurer!’” He displayed the type of self-deprecating humor they’d been using during their trip here. However, Cindi wasn’t laughing this time around.

Emotionless, Cindi responded, “I would rather you met the team. We even have potions to spare. It is but a triviality to gift you a few.”

“Alright, you’ve caught my lie.”

“Lie?”

“I only aim to relieve myself in the most smelliest of ways. Please, I only need a few private moments to excavate these dreaded bowels of mine. I apologize for my lie as I was rather embarrassed to admit it outright.”

Cindi nodded and allowed Banst to walk back where they had come from. But he soon moved far away, as if he wasn’t only relieving himself but leaving entirely.

“Banst?” she called out.

At the sound of her voice, Banst began to sprint with all he had. Despite being labeled the “Weakest Adventurer,” he certainly wasn’t the least fit and could run for miles if needed.

“Damn,” Cindi cursed and turned to the Adventurers at camp. “Heed me!”

They turned their heads up curiously to spot her but became confused. One of them responded, “You were supposed to bring Adventurer Banst!” That was their agreement.

“He’s onto us!” Cindi pointed and directed their attention to the thin figure wrapped in iron armor running off in the distance.

The brow of the man in black furrowed deeply before he broke away from camp to give chase.

“If we lose him, it’s on your head, little herbalist,” hissed the man in black as he passed Cindi.

The others moved past her as well, one saying, “You had one job, and that was to seduce a weak man. Our mistake was believing a commoner’s charms were dependable enough to set a plan around.”

Cindi kept pace with them and spat, “It wasn’t I who failed. It was one of you he recognized!”

Cindi Applestone, a Rabbit-Ranked Adventurer with less strength than Banst, her herbalist skill being the only factor why she wasn’t ranked the weakest in the guild. Having lived a life filled with struggle and scrounging for scraps, Cindi desired something—anything—better. She became an Adventurer and, with her looks, became somewhat of a mistress or plaything for an Adventurer with noble blood, Gerad Winser. He allowed her to accompany him on quests, contributing to her rise in status within the guild.

She’d been tasked by Gerad with luring Banst into a trap, but it had failed. Cindi’s eyes became downcast as she struggled to recall when she had started involving herself in such dark plots. It had only ever been about obtaining coin before. Now, she seemed unrecognizable even to herself.

Ahead of them, Banst ran into a gathering of Adventurers, and the man in black who was nearest him in the chase became wary. He slowed down to a stop before entering the crowd.

“He’s not an Adventurer!” Banst shouted and pointed at him. The Adventurers around him turned to face the man in black as he took a step back. “His goals are unknown, but he has pursued me this far!”

The man in black spat, “Would your guild mates truly help a coward - an outcast?” Marching feet sounded as the Adventurers surrounded him. “Huh?” Spinning frantically to see that he’d been surrounded, he felt a sudden chill.

“That idiot,” said an Adventurer with Cindi. His name was Tereb, a friend of Gerad’s and the man in charge of the plan to get Banst. “Everyone knows the guild protects their own from outsiders.”

Tereb, Cindi, and their group had to watch the man in black become brutally beaten and tied up to a post. When the crowd returned to addressing the oncoming battle, only Banst remained at the post, smiling at the man in black, who was bloody and missing teeth.

“That coward is too arrogant!” Tereb growled. Though his group could do nothing but watch, forced to witness Banst taunt one of Gerad’s most loyal servants. The true identity of the man in black was Oliver, a warrior from a branch trained to guard Gerad’s family, the House of Winser—allies to Tereb’s family, House of Tuldric.

They tried to surround Banst as to trap him while the leaders of this quest were speaking, but they were soon called out for disrupting the processions.

Night finally fell, and mages and clerics conjured spheres of light to float above the grassy field, revealing to the Adventurers their surroundings. As the light illuminated the area, they soon beheld what would soon come - the goblin horde. Hissing and growling, the horde approached with ill intentions, clattering their rusted weapons together in a cacophony that served as their wartime song.

“I…eat…human flesh!” cried out a goblin.

The crackly voice of another goblin, “Human…meat, tasty!”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Kill…all…humans!” roared another.

The Adventurers guild lined up for battle, the nobles in no need for guidance to form ranks with Defenders at the front, Slayers close behind, ranged Slayers further off, Healers at the greatest distance, and Support roles sprinkled throughout. Only the commoners were left to be gathered in a mash of disorganized chaos meant to crash into goblins and sow discord among them. With no formal training for such sizable battles, they could only be employed in this manner.

Banst, among them, happened to be positioned near Cindi.

“Just accept your fate, Adventurer Banst,” Cindi whispered, glaring at Banst. “We’re commoners. There’s no escaping the nobles.”

“Ah,” Banst replied, somewhat disappointed. “I had hoped you were under some kind of threat or undeniable pressure in trying to trick me into my death.”

Guilt fell upon Cindi like a sudden rain shower as she shook her head. “I do what it takes to survive. You’d do the same if you were me.”

“I’m already worse off than you, Adventurer Cindi, and still, I haven’t sunk so low as to become part of a plot to murder.”

Red-faced, spittle flying from her pretty mouth, Cindi rasped, “You don’t know me, Adventurer Banst!” Her words were a poor defense for uncouth actions, yet she had none else to say. She wasn’t always like this, but she did what was necessary to survive, or at least that’s what she told herself.

The goblins began their charge, setting off the Adventurers to start their assault in retaliation. The ground trembled in their march toward war. The clash of metal and wood in their collision sounded like ships crashing during a storm.

Banst moved carefully with immense wariness, keeping his blade between him and the goblins, but most importantly, keeping an eye out for Cindi and Tereb’s group. They continually stalked him like wolves, cutting through the battle to try and get to him, their eyes as focused as an archer with a drawn bow.

In the wake of dying goblins, there came floating souls, bright and gray, alluring to Banst’s “Soul Sight.” None Banst could take as he had to step lively over obstacles to avoid being encircled completely by his hunters.

“Remain still and we’ll make it quick,” Tereb threatened, locked in combat with two goblins. He had started out the battle with the other nobles and would’ve ended things sooner with Banst if he had been placed where Cindi was, nearer to his target.

“Hana Winser,” spoke another noble trying to gang up on Banst, “You will pay for her death and your cowardice, Adventurer Banst.”

“I had no hand in her demise. Your anger is misplaced,” Banst retorted but soon wished he hadn’t, as his words only spurred them on further.

The magic light spheres floating above them reflected off the goblin blood that slicked the grass in swaths. Soon the battle would end, cries of goblins dwindling, Adventurers corralling them to finish them off in one fell swoop. Banst held his arm, having been injured by goblins, as he navigated through the green and red dotting the landscape. Behind him still stalked Tereb and the other nobles wanting his head.

His encirclement nearly was at hand. Their weapons were poised to strike, and their faces filled with malice. A single opening remained for Banst’s escape from death, and he took it without hesitation.

“The fool!” a noble cried out, a malicious smile creeping onto his face. “The path leads him into the goblin ranks!”

How true the noble had spoken, for Banst had made a mistake and leapt from the frying pan into the fire. A cruel fate awaited him, they were sure of it.

“My friend Gerad wants Banst dead,” declared Tereb, “and I will make sure his wish comes true!” Muscular like a wild beast, clad in steel, Tereb tore through the grassy field, past the last remnants of battle toward Banst. To ensure Banst died, he had to bear witness his demise.

None else followed. Tereb’s team had noble blood mostly, with proper training and were indeed skilled, but they were still Deer-Ranked. If surrounded by goblins, even their fate would be sealed, and they would die.

In accordance with their fears, goblins began to swarm toward the vulnerable two Adventurers away from the safety of numbers. Slobber dripped incessantly from their green lips, their urine-colored, vindictive yellow eyes focused only on them.

Tereb’s own focus was alight with adrenaline, and every hour, every second he had been training since a boy bloomed in the form of his fighting, cutting, stabbing every goblin in his way with his sword.

Struggling to fight as well as the nobles, the commoners looked on in wonder at what they perceived as Tereb’s reckless yet brave assault against the goblins on his own. None knew he wasn’t after goblin blood but human blood.

A goblin toppled Banst over with a makeshift mallet of clumped wood. Groaning was drawn from Banst’s lips, unable to rise as the goblin hoisted its mallet above its head to strike down upon Banst like a hammer on an anvil. However, it did not take human life that night and instead died as a sword erupted from its thin goblin chest.

“Human…!” the creature croaked, dying, its yellow eyes reflecting Tereb's visage. Tereb had annihilated it before the goblin could slay Banst. Why? Because Tereb couldn't bear the thought of a goblin stealing his glory in ridding the guild of a coward who had abandoned his duty. Additionally, he yearned to share with his friend Gerad the satisfaction of witnessing Banst's expression in his final moments.

“Adventurer Banst,” Tereb scowled, staring down at the unfocused eyes of a dazed Banst. “For the sin of abandoning your team, for forsaking your duty as an Adventurer and tarnishing our branch guild’s reputation, I sentence you to death!”

“Hell take you for a fool,” Banst mumbled, struggling to rise. “They died on their own. Why hasn’t anyone asked me of my story in all this? They’re the ones who abandoned me!”

His last words were unconvincing, yet they were enough to give Tereb a moment to think about them. That was enough time for a goblin to cut Tereb’s head off. His head rolled away only to be caught by a goblin and hoisted into the air victoriously.

“Goblin…kill human!” it roared. Others scrambled to take the head away, despite that they were still losing the battle, their bestial nature too strong to overcome as they tried to steal the head to eat.

The goblin that had killed Tereb let out a roar that caused the other goblins to halt and start to tremble.

“Goblins, now listen to me,” the goblin spoke in smooth, unusual speech, sounding odd to those who heard it. This goblin possessed markedly different qualities compared to the others. Besides its articulate speech, it had a larger, taller stature, longer and sharper teeth, and the most striking difference – its eyes, which did not hold the same yellow as its kin. Instead, they glowed completely black.

The other goblins shrunk lower in its presence, recognizing its strength. That was when more goblins with black glowing eyes came forward, their presence unworldly, their expression holding the signs of too much intelligence than what was usual for their kind.

The goblin who killed Tereb spoke again, “Humans will die to goblin kind tonight!” With no choice but to obey, the goblins fell in line with their commands and charged.

“The goblins have rallied!” shouted an Adventurer a part of the quest leadership. “Take heed, Adventurers. This battle has not been won yet!”

A noble Adventurer sneered, “The goblins only rush to their deaths.” In amongst the ranks of Adventurers lined shoulder to shoulder with him, he scoffed at the approaching green creatures, “Mere goblins—” His words were cut short as his head was severed. In the next moment, his line of fellow Adventurers was overrun.

The leader who had spoken narrowed her eyes, murmuring, “Something’s not right here…” She raised her sword and compelled the Adventurer forces forward.

“Has anyone seen Tereb?” Cindi asked, worried. The rest of the group involved in the plot of Banst’s death had no answers.

Behind enemy lines, Banst lay where he was, frozen, not moving to rise. Above him stampeded goblins in an attempt to make a comeback. The new leaders of the goblin horde were different; they were stronger, faster, smarter. He had no way back unless he wished to die in attempting to breach the goblin line to make it back to the side of the Adventurers.

He lay there without hope of living to see the sun rise when out of Tereb’s dead corpse, there floated a soul, casting upon his face gray light.