Kaleb almost laughed at the woman’s nonchalant attitude. Sure, goblins were the cannon fodder of the gaming world, but still. There were almost a hundred of the little buggers in the street and more seemed to pour from the portal. Stomping from behind them drew Kaleb’s attention away from the unconcerned hunters. Turning, Kaleb saw the large man with the shield trudging his way over.

“Inora! What’s going... oh,” the large man said, sparing a glance at Kaleb’s group before addressing the female hunter.

“It’s just a Goblin Horde, Carmine. It’s probably what drove the pig through the portal.”

Carmine got a better grip on his blue-leathered shield as he gave the horde a sneer. “Damn pests.”

“Shouldn’t we be stopping them?” Two Gun asked, Claire nodding beside him.

Carmine and Inora shrugged.

“Not really.” Inora answered. “It’s best to get the entire horde on this side of the portal.”

“Less chance of them popping up somewhere else,” Carmine added, grabbing a large blue-black mace from his side.

Carmine gave a questioning head-tilt toward their group. Inora nodded as she scanned the incoming goblins.

“Apparently they are independent Supers who just got a permit to work in this area..”

Carmine just shrugged his massive shoulders again as Kaleb corrected her.

“Well, we are three of the Supers in our little group. There are more of us out patrolling right now. Also, I would like to talk to you about the contract...”

Inora smirked. “Eh, we can discuss that after we take care of the pests. Do you have anyone close?”

Claire broke in. “We don’t know. Our communications aren’t exactly up yet.”

“But they will be soon.” Kaleb added, trying to establish the legitimacy of their group.

The green-brown portal shimmered as it slowly closed, then disappeared. The last of the goblins skittered through before the portal finally closed. Carmine let loose a breath as they stared out at the horde of goblins. More of the purple cloaked hunters had joined them and were holding their various weapons. Kaleb drew his own guns as Two Gun aimed his revolvers at the small green beasts.

“Doesn’t matter.” Carmine said. “They are just goblins. We can handle it.”

“It is kind of our job to help.” Kaleb said as the writhing mass of goblins seemed to shake off the portal sickness and look around.

Inora shrugged. “No one is stopping you. Just don’t get yourselves hurt.”

Kaleb was about to say something when one of the hunters loosed an arrow into a nearby goblin. The street froze as everyone watched the goblin fall over, arrow protruding out of his back. A few of the goblins turned and hissed at the surrounding hunters. The noise was like a starting gun as pandemonium erupted in the streets.

Kaleb opened fire with his Cybar and Sun Gun as Two Gun’s pistols flared into life. Claire charged forward with Carmine, Inora, and several other hunters. A wave of green surged forward as bullets, energy, and arrows cut down the front runners. The melee hunters scythed into the green mob as easily as a hot knife through butter.

Kaleb was almost surprised at how effective his weapons were. But thinking about it, he realized the little green beasts weren’t exactly well-armored. Beside their brown loincloths and the occasional stone weapons, the goblins didn’t have much. They were less of a horde of monsters and more of a mob of children. A few in the back rammed into those in the front, causing immediate infighting among the group.

The hunters, meanwhile, acted as a more cohesive group. They had paired up and decimated the goblin lines. Inora and Carmine dove into the goblins with reckless abandon, their oddly colored weapons dropping the small creatures left and right. The goblin stone weapons pelted the hunter’s armor, bouncing off harmlessly. Even Kaleb’s weapons tore through the horde like they were made of paper.

“This seems way too easy.” Two Gun said as he fired off the several rounds.

“Well, we are fighting goblins.” Kaleb answered over the tumult.

They watched as Claire batted goblins around as they tried to get close to the green woman. Kaleb could see that with a little coordination, the goblins might have been something to fear. But as they were, the horde would fall.

The sound of running feet brought Kaleb around to see the young hunters who had fought the Boar. The boar lay further back in the street along with their injured. All the younger hunters wore looks that were a mix of exhaustion and excitement. A young blond boy in the front looked particularly exhilarated as he rushed forth.

“Mom! We killed it!” The blonde shouted happily.

Inora slashed her blades through two of the goblins before turning. “That’s nice dear. Now, how about you help us here?”

The boy glanced around with a grimace on his face. “But mom, they’re just goblins and we’re tired.”

“Victor!” Inora said, a little heatedly. “Get in here and cull these goblins!”

“The rest of you get in here too. Every bit of training helps.” Carmine added, swatting a goblin into a nearby wall with his mace.

The youthful group groaned audibly before readying their weapons and wading in. Kaleb heard Two Gun chuckle as they watched them go. Kaleb vented his Cybar as he watched the kids fight. They weren’t as devastating as their parents, but the goblins didn’t really give them much trouble.

“Damn it!” Two Gun swore as a loud clicking resonated from his guns. “I’m out.”

Kaleb sighed as he handed over his Cybar. “I swear, I’ll work on your guns at some point.”

Two Gun nodded as he took the weapon. “It’s fine. We have been busy.”

“True. So many things to build so little time.” Kaleb murmured.

Thinking for a bit, Kaleb turned and passed his Sun Gun to Two Gun as well. Casting his eyes over what he could only charitably call a battlefield, he answered Two Gun’s unasked question.

“Actually, this might be a good opportunity to raise some skills.”

“Shit, son, are you just realizing that? I haven’t used my mutation since that arrow.” Two Gun laughed.

Kaleb just shrugged as he charged forward. He would need to grab a weapon from a goblin or something, but the skill gain would be worth it. He deployed Shocky 2.0 as he ducked his head and slammed into a pair of goblins. There was a crunch, and he grunted as he rammed into the two. One fell back, having tripped over its own feet.

The other one lay so still, Kaleb thought he had somehow killed it. Either that or the creature was unconscious. The first one charged again at Kaleb, wielding its stone sword and snarling angrily. Kaleb caught the sword with Shocky and punched. The blow caught the goblin in the temple, jerking its head roughly to the side. Kaleb swore he heard a loud pop as the Goblin dropped.

Kaleb blinked.

“Well, that was easy.” Kaleb thought as he picked up the creature’s weapon.

The sword was jagged and unbalanced, but Kaleb figured it would do. He approached the second Goblin, seeing that it was indeed dead. The force of his shield bash had jammed its nose deep into its face. Snarling to his left caught his attention and his left arm jumped up to his face almost unbidden.

There was a dull thunk as Shocky caught the end of a pointy stick the goblins used as spears. Kaleb didn’t even look as he batted his sword at the growling beast. The edge of the sword caught the creature’s temple and tore a large gash in the thing’s head. Blood splashed down his pants and Kaleb sighed as he thought about how hard Goblin blood would be to get out.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

From beside him, Kaleb heard a scoff. Turning, he saw a tall hunter wielding a one-handed saber which he used to slice through a pair of goblins effortlessly. The man’s gaze flicked up and down Kaleb as he stepped away from a goblin’s wild swing. The man pivoted like a ballerina and quickly brought up his sword in two swift strikes. Severing the arms off the poor Goblin.

“It’s a sword, dear boy, not a baseball bat.”

Kaleb grimaced as he swatted a jumping goblin away. “I know that, but I work with what I have.”

He held up the jagged stone sword, trying to show its uselessness. The tall swordsman just tsked and pivoted on his foot. He quickly snatched another stone sword from a blindly charging goblin and dispatched it with its own jagged sword. The swordsman wielded the stone sword just as easily as his own, quickly dispatching two more goblins with it before raising an eyebrow at Kaleb.

Kaleb sighed as he tried to imitate the swordsman slashing the front of another goblin. The goblin died, but more from the heft of the blow than being cut. He heard the swordsman sigh loudly as he danced away from another goblin with a wooden spear. The tall hunter dashed in and pierced the small creature through the chest with his stone sword.

“Faster. Swordsmanship is all about speed. Your form is a mess, but we can fix that later. For now, focus on trying to cut the little green bastards.”

Kaleb grit his teeth in annoyance as the pale man cut his way closer. He spent the rest of the fight swinging his sword and being chided by the swordsman. The hunter eventually made his way over to Kaleb and immediately started to critique and bark orders at Kaleb.

“Tighten your wrist!”

“Plant your feet!”

“Stop swinging so wide!”

Kaleb was about to tell the man to stuff it when a notification window popped.

Notice

Giorgio Kord (Swordsman Expert Lvl 3) has trained you in swordsmanship

Increased XP gain to the Swordsmanship skill.

No abilities learned

Affinity level with Giorgio is at: Neutral

Notice

Trainers: Trainers are scattered about Modern Age Online and can help increase a variety of skills. There are a multitude of different trainers from Hand-to-Hand to Sailing, however finding the more esoteric ones can be a challenge. Trainers can also impart abilities to those they train if their affinity is high enough. They also can be a source of information or more Super work.

Swordsmanship Skill level up

Damage with swords raised by 4

Stamina use while using swords decreased by 3%

Swordsmanship Skill level up

Damage with swords raised by 6

Stamina use while using swords decreased by 4%

It was difficult to keep a grin off his face as he painstakingly tried to follow Giorgio’s instructions. He was seeing massive gains to his swordsmanship skill, thanks to the tall swordsman, and he didn’t want to upset the man.

Kaleb’s arms were feeling heavier and heavier as the battle raged on. He spared a glance around to see that most of the goblins were gone and the nearby Hunters were casually slaughtering the ones that remained. Claire was back near Two Gun, sitting on the curb panting as the old cowboy took pot-shots into the melee. Kaleb was about to join them when another cry went up from a nearby hunter.

“HOB!”

The nearby Hunters immediately turned their backs on each other and started scanning the surroundings. Most even ignored the ineffectual swipes from the goblins. A tug on Kaleb’s arm brought him around to face Giorgio and another Hunter wearing a hood. The two were back to back and Giorgio was waving to the space between them.

“Circle up, boy,” Giorgio said.

“Yeah, Hobgoblins are sneaky bastards. Always best to watch your friends back until they are dead.” The other Hunter said as his head twisted left and right, searching.

Kaleb placed his back to the other two and scanned around, taking the odd swipe at any nearby goblins. The battle was oddly muted, saved for the odd Goblin screaming or growling. After a few long seconds, Kaleb had to ask.

“What do Hobgoblins look like?”

Giorgio gave one of his now-patented scoffs, but the other Hunter answered. “They are taller, leaner, and meaner than their smaller counterparts. They usually hunt alone, using stealth to hobble their target before slowly cutting them to pieces. Most of the time, they are the assassins in a goblin horde, but I expect that these few just took advantage of a leaderless horde and followed them through the portal.”

“And why do you think that, Derek?” Giorgio asked in a teacher-like tone.

Derek stumbled over his words as the swordsman addressed him, and Kaleb realized the young man was part of the pack of young Hunters who had killed the boar. Part of their training exercise, Kaleb remembered. The kid probably felt like he was back in class. Kaleb smirked as the young man stumbled over his answer.

“Um... I…Well, because... um…” Derek muttered, before taking a moment to rally himself. “Because there’s no Goblin Commander leading this horde. So, there is no one to give the Hobgoblins orders. They wouldn’t listen to the smaller goblins. It’s likely they are trying to take or kill what they can before running away.”

Kaleb saw Giorgio nod out of the corner of his eye as he scanned the battlefield. “While that’s all interesting, why can’t I se-”

Kaleb was cut off as he saw a 4 foot lanky orange goblin step out of nothing and stab at a nearby group of Hunters. A Hunter quickly dodged out of the way and gave a shout as the others in her group quickly jabbed at the thing with their weapons. The Hobgoblin tried to backpedal but was impaled on a spear and a sword. The group of Hunters quickly reformed their circle and went back to studying their surroundings.

“Well, that answers that.” Kaleb muttered as he continued scanning around. “How do we know when they are all gone, then?”

“The trackers will let us know. The Hobgoblin’s Magic leaves traces wherever they go.” Giorgio answered as he shuffled idly from foot to foot.

“That’s interesting.” Kaleb thought.

Kaleb exhaled a long breath as he tried to focus his magic on his eyes. If the Hobgoblins left traces of magic, surely his eyes could see it if he infused them with magic. At first, all he got were vague images and the odd burst of color. Once he got used to ignoring the black outlines of the nearby non-magical Hunters, he found he could almost make out mottled grey shapes moving about. A gold notification went off at the corner of his vision, but Kaleb ignored it.

“I think we have one approaching your side,” Kaleb said, nudging Giorgio.

Kaleb saw the man tighten his grip on his sword. His mouth was open to ask a question when the Hobgoblin solidified in front of him, a pair of daggers raised to strike. Giorgio stabbed forward faster than Kaleb could see and the Hobgoblin dropped to the ground dead. Kaleb heard Derek let out a breath as he went back to scanning the street.

Giorgio shifted next to him and asked. “You can see them?”

Kaleb kept his eyes on the street as he nodded. “Apparently. When you mentioned Magic, I figured I could use my own to-”

“YOU CAN USE MAGIC!”

Kaleb was cut off again as Derek shouted. Jerking his head away from the noise and momentarily losing his new magic vision. Kaleb twisted around to stare a question at the young Hunter. Nearby he could see several other Hunters all shooting him glances.

“What’s the problem? I thought you said you had trackers?”

“Yeah, but they use mundane means or sometimes gadgets to detect nearby Magic. Magic users are rare among our Hunters,” Giorgio answered.

“Good to know.” Kaleb nodded as he got his magic vision back. He adjusted to his unfamiliar sight and quickly shouted to some nearby Hunters. “Group over there! You have one coming up on your right!”

The group shifted just as a hobgoblin appeared near them. The Hunters dispatched it easily and nodded thanks as Kaleb went about calling out the locations of the other hobgoblins. Along with the others, they made quick work of the remaining hunters and soon Kaleb was back with his friends, vigorously rubbing at his eyes.

“You alright, son?” He heard Two Gun ask.

Kaleb nodded. “Yeah, just overused my Magic Vision, I think.”

“That a new trick?” Claire asked.

Kaleb merely nodded again as his vision came back. Looking into the hazy magic world the vision showed him made his actual vision blurry once he turned it off. After a few more seconds and some rapid blinking, he could see again. Just in time to see Inora and Carmine marching toward them, looking grim. Kaleb straightened up as Claire stood, and Two Gun vented Kaleb’s gun.

“Inora.” Kaleb said in greeting.

Inora stopped short before she gave him an awkward smile and nodded amicably. “Yeah, sorry, I didn’t get your names. But we can get to that as we discuss things.”

“Things like what?” Claire asked.

Carmine shifted uncomfortably behind Inora as the female hunter shifted her smile to Claire

“Getting us some help with this district.”

Skill Changes

Swordsmanship – Beginner Lvl 1 ==> Lvl 3