The Marquis wrote letters of acknowledgement for all of the 10 teens. Each one praised their bravery on the battlefield without going into too much detail. They mentioned how they had survived a massive invasion both in the southern and the northern front, and how they delayed the enemy commander until the army arrived.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Ivan Flintbender smirked. “This so-called monster army is a five out of 10 and that goblin was a henchman at best. But nobody will question my words, so don’t worry about it.” He gave the teens a wink and went to grab his axe.

“The goblin had a black crystal ball similar to the one on top of the city,” said Finn. “It healed the goblin's wounds, launched fireballs, and blocked attacks like it could think for itself.”

“Really?” The Marquis scratched his beard. “Too bad you didn’t take it then. Our mages would’ve had a field day with it.”

Flintbender took his axe and patted Annie, who was biting her lips with her eyes low.

“Don't worry little one. If there’s a goblin, I will kill it, and if there’s a crystal, I will take it. Whatever discoveries our bookworms glean from it will reach Phoenix academy’s gate by the end of the semester.”

The Marquis and his giant axe then walked out the door with a skip in his step and a trail in the ceiling. The secretary came into the building and bowed upon seeing him. After he walked past her, she looked at the ceiling and her jaw dropped.

“Lower the damn axe!” The woman gave Flintbender a stern look before calling a number of attendants who started running in every possible direction. One went to fetch paperwork, while another ran towards the builders’ association. A third walked up to the teens and handed two gold coins to each of them.

“For the trip,” she bowed deeply. “And may your studies be fruitful.”

Just like that, their quest was over. Flintbender would join Amara Ironhand and together they would wipe out the remaining monsters. The stench of blood and guts was going to spread over the wall and cover the entire city for weeks. People would hold their noses, mages would need to detoxify the water and treat the sick, and after some time, life would return to normal.

As the teens left the city hall, they did not feel a sense of accomplishment. Their brows were furrowed and their backs hunched over.

“If the Marquis is so badass, then why wasn’t he on the battlefield?” Trent complained.

“Because he’s a Marquis,” Tommy frowned. “The army guards the middle, mercenaries the sides, and the Marquiss only acts in case of an emergency. If there’s a problem, the weak get trampled until the strong swoop in and take the rewards.”

“Well, at least the city won’t fall,” said Luca. “I’ve seen what happens to border towns after a monster attack. Sometimes, there aren’t even bodies left to bury.”

A group of kids ran by while throwing water balloons at each other. One of them hit a beastwoman’s horn and it popped, ruining her dress. The kids scattered around the buildings while the woman sprinted on all four after the culprit. The teens could not see the result, but the child's fate did not look pretty.

“All’s well that ends well,” Finn took a deep breath while rubbing his right shoulder. “At least we made it in one piece. If the goblin had more backing or knowledge of the city’s forces...”

“Then, it would have packed up his bags and left us the hell alone,” scoffed Trent.

Suddenly, somebody bumped into the boy. It was a dwarven knight, covered in thick armor from top to bottom and holding a large war axe on his back. The soldier pushed Trent out of the way and continued walking without saying a word.

“Watch where you’re going!” Trent shouted. “I bet he hasn’t even seen combat and he acts like he owns this place, little shit.”

Thankful that the dwarf did not turn around at the elf's remark, the teens walked away. Then, out of nowhere, while a bunch of vendors stopped to try and sell them some fruit, Trent suddenly collapsed. Everyone kneeled to check his condition and Finn pressed two fingers to his neck.

Stolen novel; please report.

“There’s no pulse,” he muttered. “He’s dead.”

A trickle of blood reached Luca’s feet, so he turned his comrade on his stomach. A little to the left side of Trent’s chest, there was a small, red hole.

“He killed him.” Branson stood up while shaking. “That fucking dwarf killed him!”

The teen immediately pulled out his sword and ran after the dwarf, followed closely by the other two warriors and the remaining archer.

“Watch over him,” blurted Luca, his lips trembling, before he too ran after his team.

Finn’s group was left with the corpse as a crowd of onlookers surrounded them. Michael and Natalie exchanged looks, while Tommy and Annie examined the elf.

A moment later, Finn clenched his teeth and took the bow and arrows off of Trent’s back. “We need to go after them.”

He grabbed a random man’s shoulders and told him to watch over the corpse before giving his team a look and sprinting between the buildings after the dead man’s comrades.

"Listen up,” he quickly laid out a plan. “We don’t know who that dwarf is, how strong he is or who backs him up. We will watch from a distance and help only if they need our help and we stand a good chance at winning.”

Although they hadn’t wasted much time, the teens crossed several streets without seeing anything. The vendors seemed calm and the police none the wiser. The tall blue buildings merged with one another making them lose track of distance and time.

“Let’s go into the alleys,” said Natalie, and everyone took a sharp right turn.

One tiny road split into five tiny alleyways, all of them dark and covered in filth.

“Do not split up,” said Finn as he picked one at random.

Michael took the lead while Natalie guarded their back. The buildings blocked the bubble’s light, and there were no lamp-posts around these parts. Only the terrible smell and the occasional rodent let the teens know that they were not alone.

Suddenly, someone’s wail was heard in the distance. The teens ran towards it, crossing several more alleys until they reached a small square.

A single lamp post with an orange crystal dimly lit up the scene. There were two warriors collapsed on the ground that were gurgling in a pool of their own blood. The remaining one, Branson, had his shield raised in an attempt to protect the archers behind him. Unfortunately, Luca did not have a bow, and the other elf was almost out of arrows.

Across from them, out of a dark alley, the armored dwarf emerged with clattering sounds. There were several arrows stuck in its arms and shoulders, and there were five small holes in his armor’s chest.

Inside the alley where the teens lay hidden, Finn grabbed Tommy’s shoulder and Natalie grabbed Michael’s arm. Both of them clenched their fists while trying to pull free.

‘This is not a game, damnit. How many times have we all almost died?’

Fortunately, the two seemed to get the memo and halted their steps. Unfortunately, behind them Annie’s eyes suddenly lit up. The armored dwarf turned towards the alley, and upon seeing the light, he squealed and tried to run.

However, the lasers were infinitely faster than its legs. “You’re mine now,” Annie grinned and shot the dwarf’s chest.

His armor offered zero resistance, and the dwarf was pushed several feet back. Finn, Michael, Natalie, and Tommy all opened their eyes wide.

‘Why didn’t the lasers go through?’ their faces seemed to say.

A moment later, the answer was revealed: a thick wall of darkness expanded out of the dwarf’s armor. The creature behind it let out an incomprehensible screech as several black fireballs shot straight through the steel plates towards Annie.

“Dodge!” shouted Finn as he pulled the girl out of the way. While his team hid in the darkness and spread throughout the alleyways, what remained of Luca’s crew did the same.

“Finn,” the elf’s voice echoed throughout the surroundings. “It’s not a dwarf.”

“No shit,” Michael’s voice returned as a response.

The goblin stomped its feet while sending fireballs in every direction.

“I want the crystal,” Annie’s voice was heard from above.

“I want it dead,” Luca’s hiss was heard from the south.

“Let’s take it out,” said Michael from the east.

“For the city,” added Tommy from the west.

“For our comrades,” said Branson from the north.

And then there was silence. The goblin ran through the alleys while shooting fireballs wherever it saw an opening. It could feel the enemies’ eyes wherever it went, feel the greed mixed with rage, bloodlust and hate.

Eventually, it reached another opening and another lamp post. A rock smashed the lamp post’s crystal, and the goblin was left in the dark once more.

“Natalie,” Finn's echo was carried from some place indistinct. “On my mark.” He pulled the string of Trent’s bow. “Second time’s a charm; let’s kill it.”