Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Cooking] Mastery had levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 5.

‘An unexpected yet welcome pre-battle gift,’ Lone mused as he served Soph her sausages, beans, and eggs.

She hadn’t brought up what they talked about yesterday nor his defacto confession. He wasn’t sure if he appreciated or hated that. Having no experience with these things from both parties likely wasn’t very helpful.

It was a hearty breakfast that was also doubling as lunch since they could be out in the forest for a while.

"So... uh, I know you explained it a lot and, uh, y-you really do make a lot of sense… but do we really need to go out there again?" Soph asked timidly as she stabbed her fork through a sausage and began nibbling on it. “Tasty…”

Lone nodded his head before tucking into his own breakfast. "I know you're scared and I get that, but we really do need to do this. Avoiding the goblins will only get us so far." He nodded as he ate. “Damn I’m a good cook. But yeah, like I’ve already said, if you don’t mind it, you can stay in The Summoning Room instead. I’d prefer if you didn’t, but I won’t blame you if that’s what you’d rather do.”

“… I… No, I don’t want that,” Soph replied hesitantly.

Lone raised an eyebrow. “You sure? Do recall that we can shove anything in there if you’re holding it and it’s not alive. Candles, toys, your swords. You name it. We can make the place more comfortable.”

Soph smiled sadly. “I-It doesn’t make a difference…”

‘Huh. Thought the different mana types would help make the place less dark for her. Guess it doesn’t entirely work that way,’ Lone thought as he shovelled some beans into his mouth.

Soph looked down at her food before saying, “I want to help… I just don't want to be a b-burden... Like last time…"

Lone sighed faintly before smiling at her. "You have never been a burden, Soph. There is nothing wrong with being scared. Now, if you never overcome that fear, yeah, maybe it’ll be time to reconsider having you fight. You don’t need to be able to hold your own though to not be a burden.”

He reached over with his free hand and ruffled her hair. “You need to start believing me when I say this shit, ‘cause I mean it.”

"I-I know. It's just... I'm so weak... and everything's so... dangerous. What if I freeze up again? I don't want you to get hurt so badly because of me... Not again. What if you never wake up next time?" Soph mumbled as she began to cry.

Lone wore a helpless expression on his face.

He slowly wiped away her tears with his hand and said, "I can't just lie and say that it's not possible. You're a smart woman, despite how naive you are for all of your years."

Lone chuckled a bit once he saw Soph pout a bit through her tears in reaction to his words. "I'm trying my very best here to protect you at all times, Soph, so why don't you just try your best to protect me at all times as well? You don't need to focus on killing the monsters."

"I... I don't?" There was hope in Soph's tone. “T-That would be… less bad.”

"Of course you don’t. I’m not making you do anything, Soph," Lone shook his head and smiled kindly.

"If you don’t think you can do it, then let's just change your job. I just want you to be as quiet as possible, and when I inevitably charge at the goblins like the bumbling buffoon that I am, just teleport the bad guys away from me a bit. Or into the sky if you can. To be clear, you don't need to go into the sky. It would be great if you could, but you don't have to. Does that sound like something you could do?" he asked as he finished up his food.

Soph stopped her sniffling and had a look of belief on her face. "I... I think I can do that. I-I'll be super sneaky and quick!"

Lone wiped the rest of her tears away and gently held her cheek perhaps for a moment too long. "Good. I'm counting on you, Soph."

"Mmm!" Soph replied with a radiant smile.

----------------------------------------

The pair wandered around very carefully in the forest surrounding their slice of the beach. Lone definitely didn't want what happened a few days ago to happen again today.

However, if he did end up in an unwinnable scuffle, he at least wanted it to be closer to their base so he didn't have to drag his exhausted body so far this time.

It wasn't very long before they encountered a group of goblins. They numbered at least 15 from what Lone could see.

Soph looked at him with some worry in her lifeless eyes, however, she didn't lose her cool this time and seemed determined.

Lone made some quick calculations and estimations in his mind. After watching the group of monsters for about 20 seconds, Lone came to a decision.

He shook his head and spun his index finger around three times.

Unfortunately, Lone didn't know any actual hand signals from Earth, so he had just decided to go with spinning his index finger for everything.

It was a simple set of signals he’d gone over with Soph several times the prior evening and just a few hours ago.

The number of rotations indicated what his plan was. Simple, but perfect for a person like her who was clearly more a of practical learner than a verbal one.

Lone was on edge a bit and prepared himself for a slip up on his short friend's behalf, but much to his surprise, Soph kept herself together far better than their last retreat attempt.

She was still shaking like a leaf, but she was also actively keeping her attention on her feet to make sure that she didn't create any loud noises during their silent escape.

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Once they had safely gotten away from that large group of goblins, Lone thought that it was a fitting time to boost his partner's confidence. "You did great, Soph. I'm very proud of you. Keep this up all day and I'll be really impressed."

Soph blushed from ear to ear and beamed a smile. "I'll try my best!"

The pair wandered around for a bit more until they finally stumbled across a group of seven goblins and a single boar.

It seemed like the boar was tamed, and one of the goblins was holding what looked like a very crude staff of some sort. Well, it was either a staff or a very long stick.

Lone’s inner magic-lover was going wild but he couldn’t deny how much it resembled a… simple long stick. Still, he thought it wise to inform Soph of his more fleeting thoughts.

"That might be a mage, Soph, so be careful... I can't tell until we start fighting, of course. He’s hardly got a pointy hat and rune-lined robe on, but I have a feeling… That or it just drew the short straw when they were choosing their weapons," Lone said with a little chuckle.

Soph nodded her head seriously. "I can feel a lot more mana from that one. Are you gonna kill it first?"

‘Holy shit. Is it actually a mage? Fuckin’ score if so.’ Lone shook his head. "I think it would be best if we got rid of the other six and the boar first. I kinda want the mage - if he is a mage - to attack me with his magic."

"W-Why?" Soph’s voice, while quiet to avoid detection, spoke of her shock and concern.

Lone smiled wryly. "I'm not looking forward to it, trust me, but I can't just pass up the chance to learn some new magic skills, now can I? You do remember that I can learn almost any skill so long as it's used on me, right?"

"I don't like that skill anymore." Soph expressed as she knitted her brow. "Why should you have to let yourself get hurt to learn new stuff?"

Lone chuckled very softly. "No pain no gain."

“No pain. End of story,” Soph huffed quietly.

The pair watched the goblins and boar for a few more minutes until Lone finally decided that it was time to act.

He didn't want to deal with the less than predictable boar in any way, shape, or form. Trying to handle seven goblins would be stressful enough as it was.

In light of that, he used Mental Destruction on the beast straight away. The massive pig toppled over. Foam dribbled out of its mouth as blood seeped out from its ears and eyes.

The goblins were very confused. They all looked towards the one holding the staff, but it shook its head and made several unintelligible noises.

Lone didn't waste this brief moment of confusion amongst the monsters. He brought his swordspear above his head and threw it like a javelin. It soared through the air before it punctured the chest of one of the slightly bigger goblins.

Congratulations! The host’s passive skill [Throwing Mastery] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2.

He quickly ignored his notification log and spun his index finger twice.

That was the signal for Soph to teleport him next to the goblins. The girl took a deep breath and grabbed his hand.

She then used her power and brought him and herself right next to the remaining six goblins.

As soon as they saw the two of them appear, they ignored Lone entirely and all glared at Soph with lust in their eyes.

She could count herself lucky that she couldn't physically see their expressions or she might have been frozen stiff in fear, Lone thought.

He quickly reached over and pulled his swordspear free from the goblin that he had skewered a few seconds ago.

Lone then swung the sword end of it towards the head of one of the monsters leering at Soph.

He decapitated the creature without hesitation, however, the next goblin he attacked had broken itself out of its lust-driven stupor.

It brought its rusty axe up to its torso and blocked Lone's attack. Two more of the remaining goblins helped it surround Lone while the one holding the staff waved it around a few times, making a few flickering flames appear in the air that were all pointing towards Lone.

The final goblin charged right for Soph. The girl fumbled about with her sword sheathes, but she did manage to draw her swords before the monster had reached her.

The beast made a conscious effort to not hurt Soph too badly as it brought its club down towards her head.

Soph sidestepped and almost tripped over a tree root, but she had dodged the blow successfully nonetheless.

She then tried to slash the goblin with her blades, but she wasn't the only nimble one between the two of them.

The goblin laughed as it mocked Soph's poor excuse for an attack. It swung its club once more. Soph was still readjusting her stance from her failed attack, so she wasn't able to evade the blow in time.

She braced herself, but she still ended up getting hit with almost the full brunt of the club's force. Soph collapsed onto the ground and let go of her swords as she clutched her side and cried out in pain.

The goblin licked its lips lecherously. It didn't even look back at its companions. Not that doing so would have saved it.

One second, the monster was preparing to assault Soph, the next, foam came frothing out of its mouth and blood escaped every other facial orifice it had. It fell over dead.

Lone breathed a sigh of relief. There was a tiny dagger lodged in his side, and a long cut had destroyed one of his eyes, but he'd been able to focus enough to use his second and final daily Mental Destruction usage on the goblin harassing his companion.

“Teleport away!” he shouted.

She should have done that in the first place but she still had performed valiantly. They could talk about it more later. For now, her safety mattered most.

Soph was still wincing as she held her gut but she nodded then vanished.

Now that the worry of her purity and life was gone, Lone returned his attention to the three goblins that had been riddling him with injuries.

He channelled his mana into his eye, and thankfully, his Basic Regeneration seemed to be able to restore it to full functionality.

Forcefully grabbing one of the goblins and killing it by using it as a meat shield against the other two, Lone tossed the corpse that he was holding away and faced the remaining pair of goblins.

He punched one in the face and cut the other one's leg off. They both screamed and scrambled to flee, but Lone wouldn't let them go now that they had seen Soph.

According to the elves, they were out here hunting for her after all. Narrowing down their search area was the last thing Lone wanted to help the filthy monsters do.

He threw his swordspear at the one that was running, and he jumped on the one-legged one before snapping its neck.

The mage hadn't tried to flee yet, surprisingly. It had just focused entirely on its magic. Maybe it was too concentrated and hadn't noticed what was going on with its comrades.

Perhaps it simply didn't care and was confident in the power of its spell. Regardless, both it and Lone would soon find out.

After he had collected his swordspear once more, Lone waited patiently as the goblin mage readied its skill. Lone's body was fully healed by the time the goblin was done.

It snarled menacingly and launched the magic that it had so laboriously prepared. A big ugly grin was spread across its face.

A huge fireball the size of a cow whizzed through the air from the tip of the creature's staff, and it slammed right into Lone's body.

Soph watched from a distance and saw that Lone was being burnt in his entirety even as he tried his best to resist and endure the magic.

She apparently couldn't trust his Basic Regeneration to keep him alive since she’d chosen to make the executive decision to save him.

Soph had teleported right behind Lone and had grabbed one of his tails before immediately teleporting him away.

Her hand had ended up getting severely burnt in the process and she cried out in pain as a result.

The goblin mage was surprised beyond belief. It clearly didn’t have the time to cast another spell without leaving itself open for attack. It chose to turn tail and run.

Lone could barely make out Soph teleporting again and then grabbing the goblin with her healthy hand.

She then teleported three more times straight up and let go of the monster before safely teleporting back to his side.

With a wet thud and the sound of numerous bones snapping, the goblin mage died a messy and brutal death.

Lone and Soph had been completely victorious.