Adam woke from his slumber with a jolt, pulling himself up from his bedroll as he panted away a cold sweat. The campfire crackled to his side, offering warmth against the cold wind.

He looked around, finding Caben asleep in the bedroll they provided, snoring away the night as if nothing was amiss.

But there was.

"Brother." came a gruff whisper to his side. Adam turned his head around and saw Ruk standing nearby with ax in hand and ears perked. The orc was on alert.

"You sensed them?" Adam asked as he got out of his bedroll and stood.

"Heard and smelled em," Ruk said, "Stinky creatures. Noisy among the trees. Scared off the little animals too."

Even in his sleep, Adam had his powers passively monitoring the surrounding area. He was on alert from the moment they left Drigsburg and his anxiety had only increased when they arrived at the village.

Malice, envy, and greed. Adam was woken by the presence of creatures beyond hope and redemption, filled with desires that could only be described as evil. They came in a group more than a dozen strong and they were making their way through the forest and towards the village.

Judging by the distance and their speed, Adam calculated that the creatures would take half an hour to reach them. Even with that information, he was unsure. He did not know what to do.

The young man found himself in a dilemma. If they stayed in the village, they risked being overwhelmed and overrun. If they tried to flee, there was no guarantee that they wouldn't be followed and picked apart within the forest or over the swamps and bogs.

Adam ran the scenarios in his head, but all of them ended in their demise. But there was a variable he wasn't considering, something he had been trying to avoid ever since the encounter with Felsha the Scythe.

In order for them to get through this, he needed to use his power to kill. If the book he read was to be believed wholeheartedly or even taken with a grain of salt, the goblins were creatures far beyond reasoning. They held no mercy, not even for their own and certainly not for their victims.

If they were to emerge from this situation alive, then Adam needed to kill on purpose. He felt repulsed by the idea, disgusted with the prospect of going about with the express intent of killing something that was almost as sapient as a human.

But there was that small distinction. The goblins, despite the sapient nature, did not have the same complex minds as that of a human, elf, or orc. What Adam felt from their minds was nothing short of an animalistic desire for cruelty and not much else.

Adam felt gross for considering a humanoid to be barely human. It felt wrong. But the reality of the situation gave him no room to maneuver.

Thus, he weighed his options. And as he pondered over the conundrum he had found himself in, his mind stirred.

The goblins wear nearing with each passing minute, running through the undergrowth and jumping across tree branches. By this point, Adam's telekinesis and telepathy had focused on the approaching goblins, allowing him to watch their movements as if he was doing so with another pair of eyes.

"You're troubled again, brother," Ruk said as he walked over to where Adam was standing by the fire, "You do not wish to kill."

Adam was pulled from his thoughts by Ruk's words, and he looked at the orc with surprise, "How did you guess?"

Ruk shrugged, "Your eyes. Again. They speak for you always. But now is not the time to be holding yourself back."

The orc gripped his ax tight, frowning as he glanced towards the direction where the goblins were coming from. "If you do not kill them. They will kill you. No mercy. Either you die or they do."

Adam closed his eyes, pondering once more.

"They'll kill you the same way they did my village," Another voice said. There was no denying the despair in his tone. "And my family."

Caben was awake and standing, looking at Adam with a blank stare that spoke of nothing but showed the gaze of a broken man.

Adam looked into the man's eyes and found himself reminded. He was reminded of his quest to help a husband and father bury his wife and daughter. He was reminded of the sorrow he felt for the fate that befell the village of Casmont. He was reminded of the anger, the disbelief, and the disgust he had against those who refused to lend their aid.

Seeing Caben reduced to a husk of his former self, he remembered. He remembered the promise he made and the words that preceded it.

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"Be good." He whispered to himself as he turned towards the direction of the goblins, feeling the creatures draw ever closer. "But if I must take a life..." He glanced between Ruk and Caben with a solemn gaze. "Then so be it."

The air grew thick and heavy as Adam called upon the depths of his power, summoning forth a wave of psychic energy from the wells of his mind. His psychic power flowed from his mind, causing debris to float around. Stones, twigs, and all kinds of other things were pulled into the air, floating or spinning in place.

Adam could have squished the goblins right then and there with a simple pinch of his hand or a brief and unheard mental command, but the young man wanted to witness. He wanted to see for himself what these goblins really were with his own eyes, unhindered by the shortcomings of his psychic senses.

"Ha! You're now excited, brother." Ruk said.

"I'm terrified." Adam admitted, "But I'll do what needs to be done."

He then turned towards Caben, "Mr. Caben, I know you'd prefer to fight with us, but I want you to protect Mr. Mule for us while we deal with our unwelcome visitors."

The man frowned, but it was not done out of spite.

"Please."

Caben nodded with a sigh and ran into his hut, grabbing his spear before taking position near the wagon and Mr. Mule. The pack animal was still fast asleep beside the wagon, unaware of the battle that was soon to happen.

Adam had sensed the eagerness in Caben's. It was a thirst of vengeance, potent and fused with anger, but the risks posed by a malnourished man armed with a rusty spear fighting by their side was too great for him to forgive. It was better to be safe than sorry.

There was still much to be discussed between them. Adam wanted to know more about the village before its demise, their way of life, and what it was like to live in such a hostile land. But before they could do that, they needed to survive.

Sympathy and empathy were ever present in a human. Some more sensitive than others. But there was no surpassing the weakness of a psychic against his own emotions and feelings.

Adam frowned. Then he glared. The goblins neared.

The campfire grew brighter, fueled by the addition of more dry wood by Ruk. However, the mist also grew thicker, threatening to drown them in darkness in spite of the fire and torches. That said, Adam now had a plan, and the thick mist and blazing fire played into it.

Their enemies approached with carelessness in their steps and hubris in their minds. They thought the Rukdam Duo to be nothing more than ill-prepared and oblivious humans ripe for the taking.

The goblins were armed with knives, clubs, maces, and short swords. They donned armor of leather or rusty iron, with pieces of old bronze on some. They were small, quick on their feet, and agile with their reflexes. However, they were far from organized, just as the book claimed them to be.

There was no rhythm in their steps. No united purpose to their moves. No complex coordination. They knew only knew one strategy.

Against a more organized and skilled force, these creatures would never stand a chance. Realizing this, Adam grew angrier.

If the goblins merely relied on their numbers and not much else, then a force should have been dispatched to at least help the villagers of Casmont evacuate.

Or maybe if Carnos had acted much sooner...

No. Adam shook his head. There was no point in blaming the branchmaster. He was the only one who gave a damn, even if he was too late.

What mattered now was that he was here to try and salvage something from the tragedy. To be a force of good.

Adam steadily came to terms with the fact that his powers were a tool. A tool for good, or for evil. And regardless of the troubles that had plagued him before, he needed to only remind himself that the wielder was responsible for what a tool would do.

A hammer could pound the final nail of a building, completing it. And that same hammer could bludgeon a rabid animal in desperation, or an innocent with no hesitation.

Everything relied on himself. His will. His decisions. Nobody and nothing else could take that away from him. His parents risked their lives to give him a normal life, doing what they thought was the best of him and the world. They fought, bled, and died. And in doing so, they allowed Adam the freedom to make his choices.

And Adam chose to stand, to face the monsters of this world head on. He feared for his safety. His life. But in spite of the fear, there was courage.

So he stood with his partner, awaiting the arrival of their foes. After half an hour of tense waiting, they arrived.

They came to a stop just short of the overgrown fields surrounding the village. Adam watched them closely, using his telekinesis and telepathy to feel their presence and watch their steps. The goblins were reprehensible to feel using his telepathy, but he had to stomach the disgust.

Adam could not understand the language the creatures were using, but it was clear to him that they were bickering amongst themselves. They were unsure on how to best proceed, arguing with growls, snarls, and slaps.

"They're outside," Ruk said as his face twisted into a frown, "What do we do, brother?"

"We stand where we are and hold our ground until I say so. The goblins will be attracted to the only source of light, like moths to a flame, and they'll think that we cannot see them." Adam explained as he stretched his arms to his sides and opened his palms. "They're stupid, but dangerous. Once they come close, I'll push away the mist and reveal them. Once that's done..."

Adam glanced at his orc partner, "You know what to do."

The orc smiled underneath his frown, "Ha! I will. They will not know what's coming."

The goblins then made their move, seemingly coming into agreement amongst themselves before running through the fields without care for a quiet approach. There were about a dozen of them and several more.

They snickered as they sprinted towards the rotting palisades, cackling as they began to climb. After reaching the top, they jumped across the thatched roofs, making their way towards the only source of light within the thick mist and the darkness of the night.

Adam knew that the fires behind and about them were like a beacon of light in the night, attracting them like moths to a flame, mistaking it to be a guide towards their success. He counted on their blissful ignorance and relied on their hubris.

Their horrible, gargled voices filled the misty night, snickering as they spoke with one another. As they leapt closer, they became quiet, sniffing at the air like rabid hounds on the hunt. They saw the light within the mist, smelled the scent of humans and food, poised themselves to strike at what they expected to be an unassuming group of victims.

They were mistaken.