Sitting in the forest crouched down inside of the bushes, Goblette and Gorbin watched as a full squad of knights walked through the forest in front of them slashing at low hanging branches and tough to pass bushes.

They would periodically stop as they would inspect the floor, and look at the tree branches. They were very obviously tracking someone.

The knights were in full plate mail and walked in formation as they proceeded through the forest full alert to their surroundings. The goblin riders were quite far away and well concealed so they went unnoticed.

Gorbin was restless as he looked at the knights walking through the forest in front of him "I'm gonna Gorb!" he whispered to Goblette starting to stand up.

"Quit being stupid! Master told us to only scout and warn him if anyone was coming. He did not say to engage. There are only six of us as well, there are ten of them. I don't like our odds" Goblette said as she held out a hand stopping Gorbin.

"You're not feelin the Gorb?" He said with a sad look on his face.

Goblette scoffed as she ignored him.

"I agree with Goblette, we should not fight them." Gobby said as he wrung his hands together looking back and forth at the knights and the direction of the dungeon.

"pfft you always think not fighting is a good idea you pansy" Gorbin said as gave Gobby the middle finger.

"I am a pacifist, I spread love not hate" Gobby tried to explain.

"Pacifist my ass! If you don't stop being a scaredy cat, I'll pass a fist to your face!"

"Shut up!" Goblette hissed as one of the knights stopped and looked in their direction as if he had heard something. He looked back forward after a while after not hearing anything continuing on his way.

After the knight squad continued into the forest Goblette rounded up the wolf riders "let's get back to the dungeon and report. We will make it back before they get there."

---

"What are you looking at Tim?" One of the knights asked his buddy on his left.

"I thought I heard something." He said as he looked harder into the bushes only seeing green leaves and bushes.

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"No, you definitely heard something. I feel something watching us" The knight captain said as he gripped his sword tighter looking very alert.

The knights moved closer in formation as they headed deeper into the forest.

"You think it's one of Boff's crew?" A knight asked as he looked around.

"Impossible, the merchant we talked to said that the bandits that attacked them were just run of the mill thugs. This has to be a monster native to the Timbered Shadowland, I am even feeling a faint sense of pressure so it must be quite strong."

The knights were surprised at this because their captain was a Standard knight, which meant he was strong in his own right! They themselves were only Knight Squires. There were ten ranks of Knight Cultivation and they were at the bottom.

"Let's get going, it has left" The captain said as he continued deeper, his shoulders slightly relaxing.

"That fucking Boff! Why would he run into the Shadowed Timberland of all places. I swear I'm gonna kill him!" one of the knights said in annoyance.

"Baron Julliard should have killed him when he hurt his son." a knight muttered

"It was just an accident...I don't feel that death is a necessary response" another said with a frown.

"True, but if he did, we wouldn't have to go into the Shadowed Timberland hunting after him when he stole the Baron's ledger!" he replied.

The knight had no response to this and silently agreed, he didn't want to go into this nightmarish place. They were not adventurers, they were knights! They didn't like the thrill of danger or were desperate for coin looking for any means to make money, even if it meant putting their life on the line.

They all just wanted to go back to their cushy job defending the baron's manor, they were just there for the looks anyway. It's not like anyone had ever tried attacking the manor, or even attempting to steal from it for that matter.

Don't get confused though, they were trained by a knight's academy and were fully qualified to do the job, it may not be from a top academy but they still graduated! It's just they picked a cushy job compared to knights who defended the manors of a Marquis, or defended dungeon entrances. The fact they were most likely not qualified for those jobs wasn't necessary to point out.

Being hired by the Baron was like getting free money, they were all mainly just Knight Squires, which on the battlefield were just for making up numbers. Magus were the true factors of importance on the battlefield.

"Look ahead, we are getting close. Their walking pace lessened here meaning they were starting to relax" The captain said as he looked at footsteps in the ground.

"Why would Boff just leave this trail leading right towards him" Tim asked

"Were you taught tracking in your academy?" the captain asked

"No" he shook his head

"Boff probably wasn't either, the fact they disassembled the wagon was already smart enough. They didn't hide it very well though"

The captain was obviously from a more prestigious academy than them as he had learned more useful survival and combat tactics than the other knights.

They arrived at a clearing and looked up at a giant tree that was in front of them in wonder, they had never seen a tree this large before.

"There are a lot of footsteps going in and out of that hole there" He pointed towards the base of the tree. "There are even nonhuman footsteps, keep your guard up and let's enter. Boff and his crew are probably camping out inside."