The goblin shrieked in pain and Aiden swung again, hoping to take its head.
The goblin raised its hand again, an instinctual defense. It sufficed to guarantee its life, but that too came at a price.
You have dealt a critical blow.
Aiden’s sword cut through the goblin’s arm, severing it halfway up its forearm. Black blood sprayed from the injury and the goblin fell to the ground, rolling in pain.
Aiden was on top of it immediately. He stabbed his blade into its head, silencing the creature immediately.
Congratulations!
You have slain [Goblin Lvl 1].
With its silence, Aiden turned to Ted. He found his brother deflecting a wide swing from one of his opponents with his sword. The flame of the goblin’s torch trailed a path in the air as it was struck away and Ted’s lips were already moving.
Without a level, there was almost nothing Ted would be able to do with magic. Right now he would only have foundational magic skills which on their own were merely catalysts, unable to—
Ted pointed an open hand at the goblin and the trailing flames spread. It licked all the way up the goblin’s arm, sending it into a panicked frenzy. With the goblin distracted from him, Ted turned on the second one and attacked.
Aiden panned his gaze around, searching.
Everyone had a goblin they were engaging. Drax was the only other person with two goblins, swinging his sword with practiced accuracy. Their instructor, Denid, would be pleased to see how effective her training was on Drax.
Still, despite his grace and precision, the goblins were faster than he was. Drax swung and missed, then swung to keep his opponents at bay.
Aiden made a quick decision. With one of Ted’s opponents still struggling to put out their burning arm by rolling around on the ground, Aiden went for Drax.
He hurried, eyes panning about, searching for Ded. He found the scout a moment after, just as he pulled up on Drax. Ded stood atop a tree branch, hand on the hilt of his sword, watching everybody.
Aiden’s senses seemed to sharpen the moment he noted Ded on the branch.
You have learnt foundational skill [Keen eyes (Mastery 8.01%)].
Aiden ignored the notification as he rammed into Drax’s second goblin with a shoulder tackle. The force of the impact sent the goblin to the ground, flaming torch falling from its hold.
Drax’s attention snapped to Aiden momentarily, before he ducked a swing from his opponent.
“It’s got my sword!” someone bellowed, the voice filling the night air even amidst the fighting.
Aiden knew Sam’s voice when he heard it. He also wasn’t surprised at the announcement. Sam had no talent with the sword. His skills lay in a very specific type of magic; one he would not come to learn until the distant future.
“Aiden!” Drax barked, ducking another swing and drawing a cut across his goblin’s stomach. “Help Sam.”
Aiden didn’t think Drax understood what was going on. Help Sam? Sam was currently the least of their problems.
Sam didn’t die here, he thought, thrusting his blade at the floored goblin.
But what if he does?
The goblin rolled away in time to escape Aiden's stab.
Then good riddance. The world’s better without a man who does human experiments.
Aiden followed after the goblin as it popped back to its feet.
Then why didn’t you kill him yourself? His mind asked. If he really deserves to die for what he may or may not do—if you really believe that—then why not kill him yourself?
Aiden had an answer to that question dangling somewhere in his mind, he was sure of it. All he had to do was find it.
Sam yelled in pain and Aiden winced. He really didn’t want to be the one to save Sam. Sam was a normal person right now, maybe a little too absorbed in his new world and new life, but a normal person, nonetheless. He was a little annoying, but he wasn’t a bad guy. He was just… rough around the edges.
The Sam in this fight didn’t deserve to die.
In two more cuts, Aiden got a new notification and found his feet taking him away from Drax.
You have slain [Goblin Lvl 1].
Sam was dragging himself along the ground, bleeding from a cut in his thigh when Aiden got to him. The goblin he was facing had his sword in its hand. It held it up to the light, studying the bloodied blade in amusement when Aiden got to it.
It turned abruptly at the sound of Aiden’s approach, sword raised between the both of them as Aiden swung his blade.
Both weapons clashed in a ringing of metals, the first of the night. Where Aiden had swung with all his might, the goblin’s defense had seemed experimental, almost as if it was simply emulating an action it had seen once.
Aiden’s strike jarred the goblin’s sword with enough force to send it moving to the side. The goblin’s arm followed, opening it up for an attack. There was a moment of surprise on its face before realization. Its eyes twitched to the side and Aiden read its next action.
It jumped back, ready to dart in another direction, but Aiden was faster. He stepped in, then shortened the distance with a turn that ended with a slash.
[You have dealt a critical blow.]
His blade lopped off the goblin's arm wielding the sword and sent black blood spraying into the night air. The pain would destabilize the goblin then send it into a small frenzy. It would buy Aiden just enough time to finish—
Aiden swung his sword from the side in a following combo and his blade met air. In front of him the goblin was hightailing it like a runaway train.
Aiden hesitated, surprised, and a trail of fire came at him from the side. He ducked under it, his attention returning to the fleeing goblin.
Annoyed, he rounded on his new opponent. His mind went into complete combat mode at the surprise attack, threw him into what the Order had made him, and he ducked into a roll.
“FIFTY FEET NORTH-EAST!” he bellowed, dropping the coordinates of the fleeing goblin as he moved his attention to his new foe. “Take the shot, Zen!”
His stupidity dawned on him a moment after as he caught his new opponent’s swing in one hand. He grabbed the lit torch by the handle just beneath the fire and pulled the goblin into his waiting blade. He stabbed it in the gut with a scowl.
You have slain [Goblin Lvl 1].
He’d been adapting to this new timeline well enough, reacquainting himself to the renewed, only to unravel in such a situation.
One real life battle and you forget you are not a part of the Order, he scolded himself.
Aiden pulled his sword free of the goblin, angry at himself. Zen was not his partner anymore. And his moment of forgetfulness had cost them a goblin.
Looking out into the distance where the goblin had run, he couldn’t see it. Even with [Keen Eyes] sharpening his sight, there was nothing.
The monster was gone and the outcome was anyone’s guess.
He looked down at the dead goblin at his feet, then at Sam who had pressed his back up against a tree, applying pressure to his thigh, trying to stem the flow of blood. His face was pale and there were tears running down his cheek as he panted heavily, lips muttering things Aiden could not hear.
Aiden doubted Sam was muttering anything useful. After all, at level zero he wouldn’t be capable of any healing magic.
A small squeal filled the air, drawing his attention once more, and Aiden turned to find Ded holding a goblin up by its neck. It struggled in his grasp while Ariadne was on her knee at his feet. She leaning to the side, head down turned. On the ground beside her was a small puddle of vomit.
…………
Everyone gathered when the last goblin was dead, its neck broken by Ded with barely a flick of the wrist. Sam was in no position to be moving about so they converged at the tree where he was rested, hand still pressed against his injury and breathing still labored.
Drax helped Ariadne and she leaned on him all the way to the tree.
Ded came up to Aiden’s side when they were gathered, his head slightly bowed.
“Should I go after the goblin, my Lord?” he asked.
Aiden saw the small frown on the man’s face, self-deprecating. He understood it. Ded was the highest level amongst all of them, significantly stronger, and a scout. A level one goblin had no right escaping the battle when he was around.
The goblin was certainly too far gone by now, Aiden thought. And if Ded was good with his class and at his job, he suspected the soldier would’ve already tried to track the goblin by now with some skill.
“Do you think you can find it?” he asked, suspecting he already knew the answer Ded would give.
“Yes.”
“Do you have a skill that can confirm its current position all the way from here or is your intention to track it without one?”
“I have a skill, my lord. May I try it?”
Everyone remained silent as Aiden nodded.
Ded took a knee and placed a hand on the ground. The grass swayed away from him abruptly, then grains of sand rose barely high enough to be noticed before falling back down.
Ded’s frown deepened as his body relaxed. He got back to his feet, shaking his head and not making eye contact with Aiden.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“My apologies, my Lord,” he said in a shamed voice. “It seems to be out of the reach of my skill.”
Aiden wasn’t surprised. “I guess that can happen, too.”
“But I can still track it,” Ded insisted. “If you give me some time, I’m sure I can—”
Aiden placed a hand on Ded’s shoulder. “Calm yourself, soldier. It’s not your fault it got away. And we don’t have the time required to track it.”
“But it could—”
“Be informing the others about what happened here? Yes.” Aiden gestured at the corpses around them. “All the more reason why we should clean out our tracks and be far from here as soon as possible.”
Ded looked away but said nothing.
He’s still blaming himself, Aiden noted. It was unfortunate, but there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn’t going to spend time convincing the man that it was not his fault. Some people accepted the truth by themselves and some did not.
From what Aiden had seen, Ded had been preoccupied when the goblin had fled, even if momentarily, with keeping Ariadne alive. As far as Aiden was concerned, if there was anyone to be blamed, it would be himself. He should’ve been more than able to take down the goblin in one swing. He might no longer have the power, but he had the skill.
Every strike should be to take their life, he thought, his mind going back to old teachings in an old timeline.
Rather than dwell on it, he gave Ded a task.
“Do you have a skill that can deal with our presence here?” he asked Ded.
Along with skills designed to track enemies, the [Scout] class often came with at least one skill designed to make it harder for them to be tracked.
Ded nodded. “I can disrupt the mana here for probably three hours, make it hard to read. But anyone with a strong enough tracking skill could still uncover it.”
“That’s fine.” Aiden gestured for him to proceed. “Do it.”
The only people likely to come here within the next few hours would be the goblins. And goblins didn’t have tracking skills. In fact, goblins didn’t have skills until they reached level ten and began their mutation into hobgoblins.
As Ded stepped away from them to go to work, Drax took over. Ariadne was standing on her own now, so he went to squat beside Sam.
“Can you walk?” he asked.
Sam moved to get up and winced. And while not heavily, blood continued to trickle from his thigh just beneath his hand.
He looked up at Drax and shook his head.
“It’s fine.” Drax looked at the rest of them. “I’ll need help carrying him. Someone needs to take his other side.”
He looked at Aiden.
Aiden cocked a brow. “What are you looking at me for? Ted’s bigger.”
With an exaggerated sigh, Ted went to help Drax. They picked Sam from under the arm, each supporting his weight. Then they tested their placement, made sure they could all move comfortably.
Ded showed up next to Aiden with Sam’s sword in his hand. “I’m done, my Lord. Should we return?”
Aiden nodded. Let’s get out of here.
Everyone looked worried, looking at Sam’s injury, but Aiden wasn’t bothered. Judging by how slowly the blood had been flowing, the goblin hadn’t hit anything important. And while they’d done something wrong by sneaking out, they could always lie about how Sam had gotten the injury.
The palace had competent healers in their employ, so Sam would be good as new the moment anyone noticed his injury. Even a maid would inform them of the healer the moment they saw it.
“I have a potion that might help Lord Higgins injury,” Ded said as they began their journey back. “Should I present it?”
Sam was quick to respond.
“Yes, please.”
Ded reached into one of his belt pockets but Aiden stopped him.
“Lord Higgins,” he said, “is not yet level one. Potions will prove toxic to his body, and may even slow his growth.”
“What the hell, man?” Sam pleaded. “I’m in pain. I know you don’t like me but that’s taking it too far. If he can heal me then let me be healed.”
“If you take a potion before entering level one,” Aiden told him, talking slowly, purposefully, “then your leg will be healed, yes. And in a day or two there won’t even be a scar. However, your growth will come into question. Time and effort your body is supposed to spend growing itself will be diverted to purging the toxic mana from the potion from your system.”
Ded took his hand from his belt pocket. “He’s right, my Lord. Until there is no longer a scar, you will not be able to grow in level in anyway. And the scar from the healing will be gone in two to five days.”
Sam looked between them, aghast.
“It’s just a delay of two days,” he muttered to himself, obviously calculating. “It’s just two days.”
“To five days,” Aiden added. “Two to five. So it could just as easily be five.”
“Five days unable to level up,” Ariadne hugged herself, knowing that if not for Ded she could’ve easily been in the same position, most likely in a worse one. “I don’t think you should take it.”
“Because you’re not the one in fucking pain!” Sam snapped.
Ariadne flinched.
“Take a breath, Sam,” Drax said from his right shoulder.
“Yeah,” Anita supported. “It’s not her fault you got cut. Personally, I’m wondering what you were thinking going for an overhead one handed swing. Didn’t Denid tell us not to face an opponent with it, especially one with a higher level than ours?”
Sam’s eyes darted to Aiden momentarily, and Aiden realized why he’d done it.
“I thought they weren’t that strong,” Sam muttered.
Aiden couldn’t believe it. His first strike in the fight was a one-handed overhead slash. Sam must’ve seen him do it; seen him cut through wood and deal a critical blow with it.
So he’d tried it. And if he hadn’t tried it, maybe the outcome of this fight would’ve been different.
“You lost your sword because of it and froze,” Anita continued, piling on the heat. “So don’t go shouting at the poor girl. And weren’t you the one talking about sacrifices not long ago? Take a little pain until we get back to the palace. We can’t have you holding us back while we’re leveling up.”
That was true. But it was also harsh. She could’ve worded it better. From what Aiden could remember about her from his past life, she definitely knew how to. Which meant she’d worded it to hurt Sam’s pride intentionally.
Sam pressed his lips in a thin line and said nothing. For the rest of their journey to the palace, he remained silent and made no reference to the potion or much else.
Aiden did catch him glancing at Ded’s belt every now and again.
As for the information about healers in the palace that could heal him, Aiden kept that bit of information to himself. Brandis must’ve had his reason for not telling them about it, so they wouldn’t hear of it from Aiden.
They came out of the forest in relative silence and made their way to the sewers, then through the interconnecting tunnels. Eventually, they were at the palace.
Before they entered, Aiden turned to Ded.
“Find a way to inform the adventurer society of the events of tonight,” he instructed.
“Yes, my Lord.”
Everyone waited, watching as Aiden gave his instruction instead of sneaking back into the palace.
“And it should obviously go without saying,” Aiden continued, “that in whatever piece of information you give them, we not be mentioned. Understood?”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“Good man. Find me tomorrow if you can so that I can show my gratitude for your assistance today. Had it not been for your presence, things would’ve been harder than they ended up being. And as for Lord Higgins’ injury, do not let it bother you. It will be sorted.”
Ded nodded again. Assuming he had been dismissed, he turned and made his way back into the night.
When he was out of sight, Aiden let out an exhausted sigh.
“Look at you all authoritative and shiii.”
Aiden turned to find Anita standing behind him with folded hands and a grin on her face.
“You know,” she continued, “I thought your brother was the only authoritative one but I was wrong. And I have to say, power looks good on you.”
Aiden wasn’t exactly sure what was happening right now. Was she simply complimenting him? Was she mocking him? Or was she flirting?
For all your experience, you can’t figure out simple social cues with women, he scolded himself. Shewa will be disappointed.
Aiden’s confusion deadened at the name.
His mind was wrong, Shewa was more likely to be pleased that he couldn’t figure out how to navigate a conversation with another woman. In his past life, he’d been in a few relationships, and while Shewa was the longest, his relationship with her had also been toxic in its own way.
“You good?”
Anita’s question shook Aiden from his thought and he found everyone was waiting for him.
“Yea, I’m good.” He dismissed her worry with a gesture. “Tonight has just been a lot. I just want to get inside, put my head on my pillow, and pass out.”
“You said it,” Anita chuckled, then turned around. “Let’s go get some shut-eye, Lacheart the younger.”
………….
Quiet and tired, Aiden plopped down on his bed. A lot of things had happened tonight and he’d learned a few more. But what mainly had his attention was the fact that he had messed up.
Ted walked in behind him. There was a short period of silence before Aiden opened his eyes. He hadn’t heard the door close.
When he turned his head, Ted’s head was outside as he addressed someone.
“Not tonight, Drax,” Ted was saying. “Tonight I get him. Try tomorrow.”
Personally, Aiden would’ve preferred if Drax didn’t try at all.
Ted closed the door after that, then locked it. He looked down at the door handle and paused. “How do you work this thing, again?”
“It’s an enchanted lock,” Aiden explained, closing his eyes back. “You see that small triple circle just beneath the handle?”
“The circle inside a circle inside a circle? The one next to all these circles and triangles?”
“Yeah. Touch it and say lock.”
There was a brief pause.
“We’ve had a rough night, Aiden. So this better not be some twisted joke to get me to talk to a door… Are you even listening to me?” Ted sighed. “Lock--Whoa! That’s trippy.”
Aiden nodded. Since Ted had mana but wasn’t yet at level one, he couldn’t use his mana to activate enchantments. By level one, he could simply will enchantments to activation at the cost of his mana. But only enchantments of his level and lower. There were extenuating factors that allowed someone activate enchantments above their level but that was a different conversation entirely.
Ted walked up to Aiden’s bed and sat on the rug in front of it.
“Remember when I said we had to talk?” he asked. “Now’s the time.”
Aiden shook his head. “No, it’s not.”
“I kind of think it is. And you’ll have to talk to the others as well.”
Aiden opened his eyes, then sat up so that he could face his brother. He still hadn’t figured out how to tell Ted of what had happened to him. Yes, their bond the past few days was stronger than it had been on earth because of the new world and spending their nights in conversation, talking about their day or sometimes not talking at all. But it wasn’t at the stage where Ted would believe anything he said, no questions asked.
“Do you want to talk about my relationship with the others?” he asked. “Or about the thing you’ve been curious about since we got here?”
“Both.”
“Then let’s do this. We’ll talk about our relationship with the others, but as for your curiosity, let’s hold off on that one until we get our classes.”
“But that’s the more important one.”
“Please, Ted,” Aiden begged. “Just give me this one. Hold it for another three weeks.”
Ted’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you so sure we’ll get our classes in three weeks?”
“I’m not. I’m just saying that if we don’t get our classes by then, I’ll have that conversation. Deal?”
Ted thought about it before nodding. “Deal.”
“Thank you.”
“Feels as if you just don’t want to talk about it in the palace, but okay.” Ted sat with legs crossed beneath him like a monk and placed his hands on his knees. “Let’s talk about the others. First, way to go. If I knew talking to a soldier like their commanding officer was all it took to get Anita to flirt with me, I would’ve done it ages ago.”
As for him not wanting to talk in the palace, Ted was right. The palace had no secrets, not from those at the top of the hierarchy. And the reason he hadn't had the conversation with Ted when they were outside was because they had not been alone. Aiden couldn't risk anyone else learning of it. It was paranoid of him but it was what it was.
“She wasn’t flirting,” Aiden disagreed, even though he didn’t know if she was or not. “She was making an observation. And ‘power looks good on you’ isn’t exactly a compliment.”
It was, but Aiden didn’t want Ted craving power. He didn’t want him considering it beyond the level he already was.
“Well, I’ve been spending time with her since we got here, and I assure you that was her flirting. As for Sam, I actually think you should’ve let him take the potion.”
“Sam will be fine.”
“No, he won’t. The potion would’ve stunted his growth but it would’ve given him the opportunity to build his skills. With a bad leg he’ll be shit at all our combat classes.”
It didn’t really matter because Sam would always be shit at combat. His talent laid in the magical aspect of things. And, unfortunately, it wasn’t the combat part.
“He’ll be fine, Ted,” Aiden repeated. “The palace has healers on staff who can heal injuries without the toxic effects of potions. The moment someone sees his leg, they’ll ship him off to the healer.”
“I didn’t know that.” Ted turned thoughtful again. “Wait, how do you know that?”
“Valdan, the knight I train with, told me,” Aiden lied. “Anyone else?”
“Drax and Letto think you’ve been avoiding them. They knew you from back home so I think you should settle that.”
“I’ll look into it. But just for Drax and Letto. I don’t know the others very well and I don’t plan on trying to make friends. I’m not good at it so I don’t see why I should.”
“That’s fair.”
Aiden nodded, then plopped back down on the bed.
“Besides,” Ted continued. “You don’t really need to. The others have kind of formed a clique. They’re acting like it’s high school and cliques are cool.”
Aiden sighed. So it’s already started.
In his past life there had been a touch of disagreement between them and the palace had noted it quickly. Disagreement was not necessarily the word, but there had been a bit of an argument. It had split the team into those who demanded they do everything in their power to be returned home and those who weren’t so fanatical about it.
Aiden hadn’t really known when it started, but he did know that king Brandis had decided to turn the disagreement into what he had called a healthy competition. And in three weeks he would pitch them against each other in a mock trial in front of the royal family.
The intention was to see just how strong they had become.
Aiden had been on Ted’s team and had been carried into victory last time. But there had been nothing surprising about the victory. Having gained their first level faster than the others, Ted’s team had been significantly stronger by the time the mock battle had come along.
This time, however, things were working out in a different way. For one, Sam and the others hadn’t come back from their adventure as level ones.
Aiden had screwed things up a little bit by joining their little adventure.
He frowned as he thought about how differently things were going. It made predicting how things in the palace were going to go difficult. He only hoped it didn’t affect how things in Nastild would go, because he couldn’t imagine how to come out on top if the major events he knew ended up playing out differently.
But those were bigger worries for future Aiden. Present Aiden had his own mistakes to fix.
Fixing the disagreement between both groups was an impossible task for him, so he needed to find a way to ensure Ted’s team still came out victorious at the end of the mock battle.
A lot of things were riding on that victory.