The days had been blurring together for a while now, but despite how exhausted his mind and body were, Klarion was pretty sure they were getting close to the two-week mark in their journey. It had taken him longer than he had wanted, given how much was on the line, but he felt like he had finally learned enough to not stand out like a sore thumb when he joined the Imperial Academy. Most of the questions Alesin was asking him, on strategy or otherwise, he was starting to get right. Even the brutal training Rolfun was subjecting him too seemed to be getting a little easier. The greatsword, despite its massive heft, was also starting to feel more comfortable secured to his back in its harness. He had a suspicion that these changes were likely due to improvements in his stats, but he resisted the urge to look at the improvements he had made.

He turned his attention back to his escorts. For slightly more than the last hour, both Alesin and Rolfun had stopped sharing information they thought he would need to know to pass as one of the nobility. If he was honest with himself, Klarion was starting to get a bit nervous. After so many days of going over the basic history of the Empire and the ins and outs of combat, the lack of voices was starting to unnerve him. Just before he could ask what was going on, Rolfun raised a hand to halt him. When he and Alesin came to a stop, his half-ogre escort directed them to follow him behind a cluster of nearby trees. Though his eyes were fixed on the ground as they walked, Rolfun spoke quietly to them both.

“You’ve done well in your training to this point, Klarion,” Rolfun acknowledged. “But you need to experience real combat with that greatsword after being Integrated into the System to know what fighting is truly like.” Apparently finding what he was searching for, he pointed to some slight indentations in the loam. “And I think we have found the perfect enemy for you to get that experience.”

Getting down on his knees, Klarion looked closely at the ground where Rolfun was pointing. While he could see the indentations slightly better from up close, he still could not make out exactly what they indicated. “What am I looking at?”

“These,” Rolfun traced out the deepest curved indentation then pointed to several smaller marks in the ground, “are the tracks of a Forest Goblin.”

Klarion’s mind immediately went back to a campaign he had done with his friends that had featured a goblin they had adopted from a forest. Initially, it had been a violent creature, but through diligent training, they had taught it common and how to move beyond its initial savage nature. By the end of that dozen sessions, the goblin they named Maybe had become an integral part of their team. While he knew those sessions had no bearing in reality, Klarion still was not sure how he felt about hunting down something that could speak back to him.

“I don’t know if I can hunt down a Forest Goblin, Rolfun.”

Alesin put a comforting hand on his shoulder, her voice calm yet firm. “Don’t let misplaced sympathy get in the way of hunting goblinoids, especially Forest Goblins. They are some of the most vile, twisted creatures that infest the border regions and frontiers of all civilized places in the Multiverse. Their cruelty is well known by those who fight to protect those who are part of the Empire - pillaging, torturing, enslaving. Forest Goblins have done all that and more. Entire settlements across many worlds freshly Integrated into the Empire have been wiped out because of their evil.” She shook her head, eyes unfocused slightly, apparently partially lost in some memories of her own.

“No. You are not taking innocent lives.” Rolfun continued where Alesin left off. “You are protecting our people. Your people. Hunting down even a single Forest Goblin will lead to the prevention of more suffering. You will simply be joining in on the efforts of countless soldiers of the Empire who have made it their duty to rid the land of evils like these creatures.” His eyes focused back on his, and there seemed to be a darkness deep within them. “You are simply killing something that needs to be killed, and there is no shame in that.”

“I…” Klarion swallowed hard, his hand drifting back to grasp the hilt of the greatsword that Rolfun had given him. He didn’t want to believe Rolfun and Alesin, but something in the tone of what they said resonated with his own experiences back on Earth. As hard as it had been, in the city of Volksturm he had still lived a life largely free from want. A hard one, sure, and he had never been sure whether his hopes to become a doctor would pan out, but still a good life. Even then he knew of many who had suffered in the city as it continued to decay under the gradually expanding influence of the gangs. Members of some of those gangs from back then sounded a lot like how his escorts, no his friends, were describing the Forest Goblins now. If he truly trusted both of them, he had to trust that they knew what they were talking about now. Klarion nodded slowly, the tension easing in his chest. “I will do it.”

“Good.” Rolfun crouched back down to creep forward between the trees, the way he moved his massive frame continuing to surprise Klarion with how stealthy he was for his size. As Klarion came up next to him, the half-ogre gestured at some deeper impressions. “There, see how the tracks deepen? The goblin slowed down. Likely resting or distracted. With how fresh they are, it should still be close.” He turned fully to Klarion, reaching out to grab his shoulder. “This is your hunt now. Do the best you can. We will be watching.”

Standing up from his squat, Rolfun moved to let him take the lead. When he shifted his stance, Klarion glanced behind him, only to see that neither the half-ogre nor the sun elf were anywhere in sight. Where a few weeks ago he would have frozen in fear at the apparent abandonment in a strange forest far from home, the training he had been going through under their care had instilled a bit more confidence in him. Rather than fear, all Klarion felt was determination as he began following the tracks. They had put so much time and effort into teaching him what he would need to survive at the Imperial Academy.

He didn’t want to let them down.

Klarion followed the tracks for what he guessed to be about another hundred feet deeper into the trees. Only the slight rustling of leaves underfoot accompanied him as he moved. The terrain sloped downwards to a small creek, the water trickling by softly over smoothed rocks.

It would have been a peaceful scene except for the goblin gnawing away at what looked to be a piece of raw meat. Its ugly, twisted features were bent over its hands as it greedily tore away at its meal with blackened fangs. Oblivious to his approach, the Forest Goblin was a bit smaller than Klarion expected, but its wiry build and sharp claws were still a clear enough threat that he would not make the mistake of taking the creature lightly.

This is it. Don’t overthink it. Stay come, move fast, strike faster. If you miss, it won’t hesitate to kill you first. His previously calm heart began to pound in his chest, though he was surprised to find it was a mix of fear and excitement rather than just pure terror at the prospect of violence. He really had changed. Before he could second guess himself, Klarion went from standing still to a full sprint down the slope to the creek. Three strides in and the Forest Goblin hadn’t moved.

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But then he slipped.

Books skidding along the grass, he caught himself with a muffled curse. The Forest Goblin’s long ears twitched in his direction, but Klarion only increased his pace. Eager hands reached for the quick release on his greatsword just as the Forest Goblin began to turn. Between one stride and the next, his thumb found purchase, and then the hilt was coming free in his hands. Flinging his other arm up, he grabbed the hilt to pull the blade free, turning the draw into a plunging blow just as the Forest Goblin made eye contact with him. Its eyes were deep red and roiling with rage.

Klarion slammed his blade downwards.

But he was too eager. Or the Forest Goblin was too lucky.

His greatsword easily parted the left arm from shoulder, but Klarion knew it would not be enough as the Forest Goblin ignored to grisly wound to lunch towards his throat, fangs gapping and other clawed hand extended. A whistling shriek erupted from the monster as it lunged at him.

Klarion’s first block was clumsy, but he did halt the Forest Goblin’s frantic lunge. His second was better, and the third was nigh perfect from what Rolfun had shown him for fighting an unarmed opponent. Seeing a brief opening, Klarion leaned to the side and brought his blade whipping around with a grunt of exertion.

And just like that, it was over.

The Forest Goblin’s head bounced into the lazy stream. Green blood painted his sword and his side when the rest of the corpse fell into him. Kicking it away, Klarion took a deep breath, then let it out. Again surprised, he found that the knowledge that he had just killed another being rolled over him easier than he had expected. Perhaps it was what Alesin and Rolfun had said.

Then he saw what the Forest Goblin had been eating.

The corpse had come to rest next to the remains of the Forest Goblin’s meal. At first it just looked like a haunch of flesh, but as Klarion looked closer, it was clear that some of the remaining nubs had been fingers on an arm that looked slightly too small for an adult man.

Klarion immediately threw up all over his feet. Still handing his greatsword, he jabbed the tip of his blade into the ground, in the moment not remembering how Rolfun had told him never to do that. He wiped the back of his free hand across his mouth to remove the remains of the vomit. Wha—No, who the hell had the Forest Goblin been eating?!

Klarion stood there, panting heavily, before he heard Alesin and Rolfun cry out in unison from back up the incline.

“Duck!”

Trusting them implicitly, Klarion gripped the hilt of his greatsword with both hands, and dove forward across the ground. Turning his dive into an awkward roll, as he didn’t want to accidentally cut himself with his blade, Klarion came back to his feet staring at a massive Forest Goblin that had appeared just behind where he had been standing, two wicked-looking daggers extended in a blow. Klarion was horrified to see how closely the creature had come to stabbing him in the back.

The Forest Goblin gave him a wicked grin, red blood staining its lips, and vanished into black smoke just as a blast of flame came roaring through where it had been standing. The clash of blade against blade and a roar from Rolfun came down to him then.

“Klarion, three behind you!” Alesin called out as she stepped into view, hands juggling what looked to be spheres of orange fire. She threw them one after the other at the dagger-wielding Forets Goblin as it appeared in another burst of smoke in the tree above her head.

Pivoting, Klarion again put all his strength into wiping his greatsword around in a full-body parry, not knowing how close his foes were but hoping he was fast enough to block their first blows.

It was a good thing he did.

His blade came whipping around, right into the path of three Forest Goblins lunging forward with rusty swords. They were smaller, closer in size to the one he had already killed. But that didn’t matter, as they all worked together to put him on his heels. In short order he had two light slashes down his leading leg and a small chunk of flesh missing from his forearm from where one of his foes had darted in for a quick bite. Bringing in his blade close across his body, he blocked several more lunges, but it was not going to be enough if he had to keep fighting them by himself. Grimacing in pain, Klarion began to feel the first stirring of panic deep in his chest.

What if this was it?

The question echoed in his thoughts, but before despair could sink its talons into him, a cold, almost malevolent anger burst into being within the deepest part of him. Time seemed to slow, and the viciously gleeful faces of the Forest Goblins in front of him slowly morphed into confusion, then terror as Klarion’s eyes sharpened and mouth opened.

He roared.

Speed returned as Klarion took advantage of their terror to put everything he had into a lunging slash that caused his greatsword to whistle through the air. Terror turned to horror in three faces as the blade caught the first in the chest and, barely slowing, cut the other two in half at the waist.

Klarion stumbled slightly, exhaustion suddenly hitting him. He began to slump to the ground when suddenly strong, grey arms were there holding him up.

“Easy there, easy. I got you.” Rolfun’s voice came from above his shoulder. The massive half-ogre gently lowered him to the ground, lifting the greatsword from his grip as he sat. “Just take it easy for a moment. First, real fights are always hard.”

Klarion was tired, so tired, but he knew that something was off. “Where is Alesin? Is she alright?”

“Yeah, don’t worry your head,” Rolfun reassured him. The fact that the giant Berserker was completely calm gave his words more weight. “She is off hunting down some stragglers. Nothing she can’t handle. Should be back in a few minutes. Now, if you don’t mind, could you tell me what happened with that roar you made?”

“My yell?”

“No, young lord,” Rolfun snorted. “If that was a yell, even the teacher’s at school are going to want to avoid making you mad.”

“Was it loud?”

“‘Was it loud?’ he says,” Rolfun said, this time with a real laugh. He pointed at the corpses next to him then jabbed a thumb into his own chest. “The sound you made not only caused those three to freeze outright, but I even staggered a half step from the force of it. I don’t know where it came from, Klarion. But whatever you just did has all the hallmarks of being some skill that you will unlock once you get a class.”

Before Klarion could ask any of the questions that Rolfun’s comments brought to mind, Alesin burst from the trees in a cloak of flame. Arms outthrust, she slammed into the ground the remains of the Forest Goblin that almost had killed him earlier.

“Is he alright?”

“Absolutely fine,” Rolfun said before Klarion could respond. “Did better than we expected, honestly. Though I’m still not sure where that roar came from. Best guess is a skill leaking through in the stress of combat.”

“You mean almost dying.”

Rolfun shook his head. “Klarion, despite what it seemed like, you were never in any real danger. Though a few stronger Forest Goblins surprised us, I was still a heartbeat away from crushing those three with my fists before they could get another blow in. I didn’t even have to draw my own weapon.” Rolfun patted his shoulder, the force almost pushing him back down into the dirt. “No matter what, the only outcome possible for this fight was the one that happened.”

Klarion nodded in response, somewhat mollified. Admittedly, what Rolfun was saying made sense. Even though he hadn’t seen the true strength of either of his friends yet, he could well guess that House Blacksword would not send escorts that could not handle the monsters of the forest they were traveling through.

“So?” Alesin asked.

“So what?”

The sun elf shook her head in exacerbation, dismissing the cloak of flame that surrounded her body. “So, have you looked at your Character Sheet? How many levels did you gain? I’m guessing at least three, given you killed four lower-level Forest Goblins and indirectly contributed against a few more.”

“Oh, right.” Since he hadn’t checked in days now, Klarion had almost forgotten that he essentially lived in a game world now. Steeling himself, he mentally opened his character sheet. What he saw caused him to freeze in shock.