Fieth kicked dirt over the flames, quenching them in one go. He nodded to himself, patting his chest and checking that his Elven Blade was still upon his back.
"Are we ready to move?" He turned his attention towards the girl.
Claire and Alicia were already standing upright, having long walked out of the gathered tent, they nodded with leisurely, almost bored, expressions. Aura, who carried a large brown bag, holding it tightly with her small hands.
"We are," She nodded with tight lips.
"Good," Fieth hummed, and continued, "North of here..."
He pointed, piercing through the encampment of tents and crude wooden houses. An abysmal hole was above him and a worthy wall of black rock in front of him, he had pointed towards his back.
"There's an encampment, and I don't mean the same type as this one here."
He gingerly explained, his words drifting, deep and cold.
"That one is more akin to a small fortress. There are high walls of black rock, almost touching the roof, I think they should have chipped it from the mountain Aclair city is etched into."
He took a deep breath.
"I was able to switch onto the walls and what I saw...was a small army. These were not feral or frugal goblins, they were tall and intelligent goblins, every one of them was dressed in full armor of leather or iron. They all held different weapons, some sheathed blades at their sides, some held bows and daggers, and I even glimpsed a few carrying staffs or magic books. They walked around the place that seemed akin to a small city, there were loaded barracks and something that appeared to be a central hub--a brick building of black."
Claire muttered, "It seems the letter wasn't wrong."
"Mhmm," Fieth nodded.
"Even amidst all that, the goblins within seemed to be treating the small imps like slaves. Some watched them fight over food and others kicked and toyed with them like playthings."
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'They have grown dominant,' Claire thought.
Fieth sucked in a breath as he looked at the faces of the group.
"Our plan is simple, we're gonna jump onto the walls, then fall down and slaughter the place." He turned to look at Aura.
"Do you have the Orient crystals in your bag?"
The Dark Elf nodded her head, bobbing her blonde hair.
"Why would we need those?" Claire tilted her head.
"I didn't quite finish explaining before but..." Fieth coughed, "In fact, it's a bit of a secret that most people save for the likes of nobles, merchants, and warmongers do not know. Why do you think this mining-focused city, which only mines iron and light crystals, is doing so well? Shouldn't those materials be as abundant as the sky and cheap as dirt?"
"No clue."
"..."
Aura smiled bitterly, her shaking voice drifted out, "Orient crystals are cheap, if we only look at them as a form of light source. However...if you were to 'accidentally' inject and overload them with external mana...they explode within moments. And I don't just mean a small burp. For that very reason, they are also expensive if you sell them to the right customer."
Hearing the word 'explosion', Alicia's attention was driven towards the girl. She tilted her head, "How do you two know this?"
Aura smiled awkwardly, "As he said...the masses are never to find out...but a merchant that has been active for a while, would know."
Fieth furrowed a brow as he looked at the group of girls. It seemed the Dark Elf had blabbered her mouth. He wondered if his secret had been revealed or not?
Yet, he did not have time for talking as a voice suddenly resounded within their minds.
[Legend of the Sword Saint, Third Chapter, 'A Single Strike Against The Heavens'.]
The voice sounded like that of a woman, it was young, sweet, and paradoxically rough at the same time. Hearing it instinctively made one attentive like that of a siren's.
At that moment, the same scene played out into their minds.
[He stood, solitary on the backdrop of mountains. The winds raged and his white hair blew along with his cape. The base of his missing right arm a bloodied mess, yet, with his left, he held a single silver blade up high.
A raging beast flew towards him. He remained calm, his eyes closed to external deterrence.
"
The Sword Saint slashed his weapon down, devouring the sky with a strike, cracking space itself, and shattering the air.
The behemoth of a beast sliced into two before him.
.
.
.
.
The Sword Saint stared into the cavern that had become the beast's grave. Looking at its severed body and the blood that poured out, there was only an expression of indifference on his face.]
At that moment, watching that scene, something clicked within Fieth's mind as he remembered the disregard that the receptionist had given to him.
"The Sword Saint...he has achieved another Legend..." He muttered.
Aura quietly shuddered to herself, biting her lip.
Claire and Alicia had no idea what had just opened. But remembering the scene that had just passed through their minds, they were reminded of the word 'Hero'.