About a third of the way through the morning, Garnedell got to level two and Joe took the time to really congratulate him, making sure to point out how quickly it was all going. Shortly after, about midmorning, Garnedell hit level three and Joe caught sight of the goblin king. After really putting on the praise for Garnedell’s quick growth, Joe quickly sent the rest to the corner so he could be free to take on the goblin king.
“Hey! The goblin king popped. I’m going to kill him. Give me a couple seconds? I’ll be right back and you can start fighting again. Is that OK?”
They all agreed quickly, although Gwenvair still seemed a bit concerned, even though she’d see Joe fight the king several times already. When Joe saw her concern, he waived it off.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. You should really do it for the titles… ooh! Wait! You don’t have the titles, do you!”
Gwenvair cocked her head with some confusion before shaking her head in confusion rather than rejection, “Titles? What titles?”
Joe smiled, “The goblin king gives titles.”
When he said that, Gwenvair’s eyes shot wide, excitement obvious in her posture, “There are titles?”
Joe nodded, “I think you only have… What do you have?”
Gwenvair quickly opened her status window, now very comfortable showing it as she’d seen how all the others, including Joe, regularly opened their windows and showed each other’s status. Joe glanced through the titles she had and crunched his head with a bit of confusion.
“We can at least get you another two titles, four if you help me kill the goblin king?” Joe turned the statement into a question at the end, making sure that Gwenvair was willing to try.
Gwenvair’s excitement, with Joe’s request, quickly died and was replaced by worry, “I… will I be safe?”
Joe smiled, “You have it easy. Just cast some spells on it while I fight it. If you can just land even one spell, you should get it, I think? Right? I’ll fight it and keep it from you.”
Gwenvair smiled a bit at that, nodding. Zilnek looked on then quickly interjected, “What about us?”
Joe looked at Zilnek and smiled, “We can do that soon, when you know how to use a range weapon. The goblin king is pretty skilled, so if he gets by my defense even once, you could die. But if you could shoot or attack him from further away, then it’s not a problem. But, right now, all three of you only have the half staff or staff. It’s just… you would have to get too close. And range weapons take a lot of skill… more than just swinging a stick.”
Kilniara and Garnedell nodded quickly at that, although Zilnek frowned and turned away, Joe hid a sigh, chuckling instead, “I will help you. Don’t worry. We’ll get you some real weapons and range weapons soon, after you are able to wield them, OK?”
Kilniara and Garnedell nodded eagerly, but Zilnek schooled his face, nodding in agreement, but obviously hiding his upset. Joe left it at that, disgruntled at Zilnek’s disappointing attitude but let it go. Joe turned away from Zilnek and looked at Gwenvair.
“You want to?”
Gwenvair stood, nervous uncertainty subtly twitching her body, her ears flickering on top of her head before she nodded quickly, “Yes!”
That’s… the first time I’ve seen her ears twitch! Didn’t know they could! Joe resisted the urge to scratch them, and turned away, back towards the goblin king.
“Alright then, the rest of you stay here. Gwenvair and I will go and kill the king and be right back, OK?”
Joe turned to walk away, then stopped, an idea striking him, and he returned back to the group, “Wait. We could… maybe try having you throw something at the goblin king? Maybe?”
Joe looked over at the other three questioningly, offering them the option. While Zilnek didn’t seem to respond too well, the other two appeared excited but concerned.
“Do you think it will work?” Garnedell asked.
Joe smiled and shrugged, “Not sure, but it shouldn’t matter one way or the other. If it doesn’t, we can always try again later when you learn to use the bow or something like that.”
Garnedell smiled brightly in excitement, Kilniara seemed shocked, then incredibly excited. Gwenvair seemed kind of confused, seemingly wondering at something.
“I’ll learn the bow and arrow?” Kilniara asked breathlessly.
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“If you want.”
Gwenvair walked from around him as she’d been behind Joe and stopped by his side, looking up at him, “You will grow them to combat classes and skills?”
Joe looked down at Gwenvair, seeing a strange look on her face, a mixture that was complicated enough that Joe wasn’t able to parse her emotions.
“Yeah? If they want to. It should be pretty easy and not take too long.”
Gwenvair stared at him, not speaking at all before turning to look at the others.
* * *
Joe looked at her with confidence, a simple smile of utter poise with a bit of affront that she would dare doubt him, “Yes! The task would be easily accomplished nor take long.”
Gwenvair found herself stunned, unable to respond simply because he was speaking of helping crafters reset their very career to combat. Even promising to raise a simple adventurer like Garnedell to a combat job would be an impossibility and no master would ever promise such a thing. Even gaining a single new job upwards was a cause for great joy in a family. But here, Joe promised to shift the entire fortune of not one, but all three of his apprentices from one tree to another entirely. Still, finding Garnedell already level three after a single short morning left her uncertain of what she’d always believed. But… it’s… impossible, no?
Joe’s simple belief that such a thing was possible left her speechless, and she said nothing as Joe stared at her a few moments before turning back to the other three. She almost wished to warn the other three that it was impossible, but she said nothing. It would be wise to just watch.
The other three, taken in by his promise, turned to follow him without concern, their faith in him already complete, except possibly for Zilnek. The other three passed her and she turned to follow after, closely behind to make sure that the wandering goblins did not attack her. She still was amazed by how comfortable Kilniara and the others followed after Joe as they walked through the various dungeon creatures. She was also quite surprised to find herself growing just as comfortable, as the few times that goblins had suddenly attack them were immediately resolved by Joe’s incredible skills.
Even attacks that had come from behind him were intercepted by Joe with skills she could not understand, as he would turn rapidly and strike the goblin, gaining its attention before it struck. She’d been quite nervous for a while until several days ago when Joe had captured the attention of a goblin that had been in their way only for another goblin to suddenly wander to close and screech in anger, charging towards Kilniara.
Joe did not even flinch as he struck out with a foot to cause his current foe to stumble away as he then turned back and threw his spear at the charging goblin with deadly accuracy, the spear burying itself into the guts of the goblin as Joe pulled his second weapon, a sword, and sprinted towards the goblin. He struck the goblin several more times in rapid succession before circling around it so that he could keep an eye on the previous goblin as he continued to decimate the spear impaled goblin at his feet. The fight was done after that, both goblins dispatched so quickly that Gwenvair could only stand in awe, unable to truly respond.
Today, Gwenvair felt greater comfort in following him across the goblin infested first floor, but the thrill of being surrounded by so many goblins was still unnerving and she stayed close until they arrived near the goblin king’s throne. Joe then proceeded to quickly kill another three goblins to clear out a space for combat before finally appearing ready to fight the goblin king.
“Alright. I think we appear ready. I will call the attention of the goblin king. After I engage the goblin king in physical combat, then begin attack from range using the various detritus on the floor. Please do not strike me, however!” Joe offered with a humorous smile.
Garnedell and Kilniara laughed genuinely while Zilnek remained silent, but more relaxed. Gwenvair found the whole affair strange but alluring to her in a way she could not understand. The freedom they experienced, the joy shared, the ability to relax before superiors without concern; Gwenvair was jealous for all of these. While the other’s joined in happy laughter with one another, Gwenvair watched silently until the moment ended and Joe called for their plan of attack.
“Alright, alright. Let’s go ahead and do this. You three,” Joe said as pointed at the three apprentices, “just attempt to attack the goblin with thrown attacks, but do not approach. Gwenvair? Just try to hit it once with a wind blade. Don’t use your concentration attack, OK?”
Gwenvair nodded, excitement striking her even as she set her stance and began pulling her mana, cycling it to prepare some wind blades. She was grateful that he asked her to do such simple attacks, not emitting her entire mana pool and leaving her with exhaustion and headaches.
She didn’t focus too much on her casting, wanting to keep her eyes on the Eccentric’s methods and watching how he fought. He’d never used any form of magic or enhancements yet, and she hoped to see what he was capable of if he was required to fight harder.
First, the Eccentric had to clear the area again, although it was an area distressingly small for the task, and he only killed two or three of the goblins before preparing to take on the goblin king. The three goblins proved no challenge at all, his strikes deadly and immediate, unlike the times where he would hold back the goblins to ease combat for her and his apprentices. He killed each goblin with one strike each, except the last which took two strikes but both so rapid that it struck almost as one.
Once the area was clear, the Eccentric attacked the goblin king as he promised, throwing a piece of detritus at the goblin king. It charged him immediately, taking hold of a sword and shield laying near the goblin king’s throne. Its roar shook the mana in the room, the entire cavern shaking under the power of its roar and the shudder of its power. Everyone in the room froze, watching to see how the Eccentric would kill a monster king, alone.
As he promised, the goblin king charged directly at the Eccentric and the Eccentric easily kept its attention. After striking it a few times, he circled the goblin king, turning its back to them, allowing them easy strikes against the goblin king.
“Gwenvair, wait a bit and let the other’s hit the goblin a couple times each.”
Gwenvair nodded, “Certainly, Joe.”
“Thank you. Alright. Start throwing things at it and try to hit it, as hard as you can, but not me, please!”
The others nodded excitedly and began pickup up various tools and trash from the floor, all but the weaponry, and struck the goblin several times each. After a few times, Joe called and end to it and called out to Gwenvair.
“Alright. I hope that’s enough. Gwenvair, go ahead and cast several of your wind blades.”