“Oh, really.” The man moved in close. He was a tad taller than me, but much bulkier. “And why would we let you do that?”

“Because a friend in need is a friend indeed.” I patted the mans shoulder and stepped past him. “No point fighting here. The wolves might come back with reinforcements, yeah?”

The mans gaze followed me. He was silent for a few moments before a wide smile broke out on his face.

“That makes sense. You can come with us, but its up to the vice-commander if you get to join.” He chuckled. “I hope for your life he’s feeling generous.”

My expression didn’t change at his threat. Internally, my mind rolled back and forth like a boat in the middle of a stormy sea. This hadn’t been my plan, but there wasn’t any other option. My chances of escaping from this group was lower than the wolves. They had a good number of archers and practitioners, more than enough to melt me before I left the area.

This might actually work out.

The group gathered up the loot. Though the wolves had chased me first, the voice didn’t appear to collect any items from them. Maybe I had to land the last hit for that to happen or something? That was a positive effect for me, though. If the wolves randomly disappeared in front of the bandits eyes, the first person to face the blame would be me.

After they had gathered the materials we set off. They had done it in a rough and ready fashion. None of them were close to the skill John had shown in the past. Maybe it was because they didn’t care, but their lack of attention annoyed me a little. The loot would be damaged by their carelessness.

Not my problem.

We walked through the forest at a rapid pace. It became clear this group had took a detour when the opportunity presented itself. Two separate packs of wolves wouldn’t work together efficiently, plus the fact they had been distracted already. It was a perfect time to strike for maximum effect.

The group consisted of around twenty people. Five were heavily armoured in plate-mail with various large weapons. Another seven were lightly armoured, whilst the remainder were split equally between those who used ranged weapons and those who wielded magic.

The group also had one holy practitioner. The troop didn’t stop, so the treatment had to be given on the move. That was one upside of magic, it worked well in various situations where standard practices would be useless.

The wolves didn’t return, but the journey wasn’t without incident. The group was large, which scared off all by the most idiotic of enemies. The beasts of this world had an innate intelligence, but there was one group who didn’t care too much about the number they faced.

Goblins.

At first, it was one by itself. It leapt out of a tree and smashed down on one of the archers. The man tried to dodge, but he failed to move in time as the goblin landed on his chest and raised its club to strike. Before the man could be crushed into a pulp, his colleagues rained attacks on the creature which blew it off into the forest.

It’s skin was much darker than the cave goblins, likely due to exposure to the sun. The fact it could see whilst outside proved its eyes weren’t weak to light like its cousins. If you dropped it in the caves, it was clear which of the two would win. Out in the open, the cave goblins would be as good as dead.

I wonder how many generations it took for them to change so much.

“Heal him, quickly.” The leader growled at the holy practitioner. The healer flinched and ran over to the injured man. The damage from the sneak attack was considerable, but he was stabilized after a few minutes. One of the warriors lifted the archer and slung him over his shoulder.

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No potions, or they don’t want to waste them. Good to know.

If they relied on a limited number of healers, any damage their forces took would stick like glue. Warfare by attrition would work on this group more than the well prepared town guards. Maybe thats why they relied on numerical advantage more than military skill or strategy.

The next attack was by three goblins at once. The party was ready this time, so the attack was knocked away without any injuries. The leader watched me suspiciously as the fight came to a close, as though he expected me to run forward and steal the drops.

“Your squad is pretty good.” I nodded at the group. “I made the right decision when I joined up with you, yeah.”

“They’re good people.” The leader answered noncommittally before he turned back to his troops. “Alright! Let’s get back to base before you lot trip over a rock and die or something.”

The group picked up the loot from the goblins. Luckily for my sanity they didn’t skin them, but they did take every scrap the creatures possessed. Our journey continued for another quater hour before the first major assault happened.

Ten goblins burst out from the undergrowth and charged towards us. The archers launched their first barrage, but only one goblin fell under their fire. The remainder crashed into the warriors, who barely held against their assault. It was five against nine, so the goblins held the edge in both strength and numbers.

But humans were adaptable.

The archers moved to the sides and continued their assault. The lighter armoured melee fighters moved to flank the goblins. A few split off into two verses one duels, but the goblins tough skin made it difficult for the nimble fighters to get a good hit in.

“Are you just going to watch?” The leader barked at me. He stood at the back of the group as he watched the fight progress. His hypocrisy annoyed me, but I ignored the irritation as I stepped up to the fight.

“Strengthen. Accelerate.” I whispered to myself after I was out of earshot of the leader. No one else noticed my words as they bellowed out their own abilities constantly. I obviously excluded the others from my abilities. If they suddenly got buffed by a Supporter, my true class would be revealed.

The warriors traded blow for blow whilst their lighter armoured colleagues did their best to avoid the hits. The goblins had started to fall, but there were still six left. Two of the warriors had collapsed and several of the fighters were out for the count. The goblins were used to the archers attacks, and used their opponents and their own weapons to block many of the attacks.

You’ll do.

I picked one of the goblins who was distracted with a warrior. The man’s armour was dented in many places by the goblins heavy club. It was easy to sneak around the back of the goblin, at which point many new options became available. I couldn’t use my Buffed strike, but a sneak attack should do some damage.

My first target was the back of its knee. A sharp thrust knocked the goblin off balance, which allowed the warrior it fought to get a strike into the its chest. Their skin was resistant to blades and arrows, but a heavy strike from a bludgeon type weapon did more damage than expected. It was time to follow up.

My attacks continued on the same knee. Thrust, swing, thrust, thrust, sweep. After the tenth blow, the goblin collapsed to one knee. The warrior took the opportunity to finish it off before he gave me a quick nod. We then turned to the other goblins.

The warrior took my lead. I moved behind a goblin which was up against a pair of light armoured fighters. The same scene played out, but this time the warrior took the goblins other leg at the same time. The fighters sunk their blades into it after a vicious brawl, after which my forces increased to three.

We collapsed on the few goblins which remained upright. Not a single one tried to escape from battle even as the last of them fell to the ground. We had lost a few people, but the leader didn’t seem to mind as he strode up next to me and laid his hand on my shoulder.

“Good work, you’ll be a good follower in the future.” His teeth gleamed in the sun as the pressure on my shoulder strengthened. He leaned in close and whispered into my ear. “Don’t think about taking my place, though. You’ll find that quite… difficult.”

“Of course not.” I brushed his palm from my shoulder and moved to one of the goblins we had defeated. “You’re the boss, I owe you for saving my life.”

The rest of the group watched our little play. Though the leader hadn’t announced his intentions, the rest of them clearly knew what had gone down. They glanced between the two of us, though I did see a few irritable looks as their gazes turned to their current leader.

These people respect strength and courage. All I have to do is show I’m a battle crazed madman, and they’ll follow me. This might actually be fun.

I forced down my grin and picked up the goblins loot. The only thing I didn’t touch was the loincloth around its waist. That would take it a little too far for me to consider. As I stood, the voice spoke to me again.

**Congratulations. You have levelled up.**