The man was thin and of average height, with long brown hair and small eyes. His expression had contorted into a smile. Yet, Rylan could still see the shock hidden beneath it. Slowly, the man clapped.

“As expected of the young master. To think you could kill three goblins so easily. I’m amazed.”

Rylan ignored the man’s words, focusing on analyzing the rest of the man’s group.

They were in the Guild when we arrived.

He was certain that he and the soldiers hadn’t been followed; he would have noticed. It was likely that this group had reached the goblin camp during the soldiers’ battles and hunting. As if to confirm his thoughts, the man continued to speak.

“You might truly be able to take care of the hobgoblin. Incredible, my lord.”

The man sounded genuinely surprised. His smile hid his true feelings, but Roland’s decades of dealing with other people made Rylan capable of reading the man like a book. He was an opportunist who went after Rylan’s group, either to “save” them and ask for money, or to build a connection with a noble. Yet, the moment he witnessed Rylan’s combat skills, his intentions had changed. There was now a layer of caution that didn’t previously exist. Sarah spoke.

“Why are you here?”

The man simply raised his hands.

“We’re just after some goblins, like you all. I didn’t expect you guys to clear the entire group on the outside. Did you remember to collect their ears or fangs?”

Sarah furrowed her brow.

She knows something’s wrong, but she can’t tell what it is.

Rylan considered the possibilities, immediately preparing for the worst-case scenario. He assumed that this unknown group would seek to attack them for some reason.

They wouldn’t be able to join forces with the goblins.

The worst-case scenario was having to fight the hobgoblin and other goblins while also facing the group of adventurers. Yet, it was unlikely. The goblins would attack the other group as much as they would go after Rylan’s. As such, it was imperative to remove one of the two variables: either the hobgoblin needed to die, or this group needed to be dealt with. As his thoughts reached this point, Rylan pointed his bloody sword at the man. He flashed a chilling smile.

“Fuck off.”

His voice was completely firm and steady. The man blinked, as if surprised by the tone. Rylan’s voice left no room for disobedience. The group of adventurers froze. Rylan looked at Sarah and spoke.

“Protect the soldiers. Force these people to go away. If they get closer,” his eyes were cold, “Kill them.”

His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear him. Both the soldiers and adventurers frowned, but Rylan could feel the bubbling anxiety among the adventurers. Sarah merely nodded. Before she could say anything, Rylan put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. The sound echoed. From the entrance to the cave, growling could be heard. The man hurriedly spoke, dropping all pretenses.

“Are you insane!? The goblins are all going to come here!”

The sound of footsteps resounded from the cave. They were too rapid to belong to a single creature. Rylan looked at Sarah while walking forward.

“Remember my orders.”

He turned to the mouth of the cave as ten goblins burst forth. Behind them, a taller creature emerged. Its skin was a darker shade of green, and it was taller than all the goblins around it, being the same size as an adult male. Its body was lithe, but Rylan could see the developed muscles. It held a proper club and around its waist was a bloodied, elaborate skirt made of silk. Rylan’s eyes got colder. He kept walking in the direction of his enemies. Jack screamed, unsheathing his sword.

“Be careful, my lord! We’ll fight with you!”

Rylan waved his hand dismissively without turning back.

“No need.”

This was an opportunity to see the limits of his ability. He knew of Sarah’s power; with her making the adventurers leave, they wouldn’t be able to interfere. He was thankful for her presence. She threw him a worried glance before she turned to the adventurers.

"Retreat, now," she said in a chilling tone. As she pulled out the wand on her waist, flames came into being around her, gathering into blazing spheres.

"Wait, wait! We got it!" the leader of the adventurers yelled, raising his hands. He stared at Rylan as he slowly walked closer to the monsters, gritting his teeth. "We're leaving, y'all."

With one last venomous look, the leader turned around. The adventurers looked at each other before slowly following suit. As he watched this happen on the edge of his vision, Rylan frowned. This would be a problem. Thankfully, he'd managed to force the adventurers away before they actually saw him fight the hobgoblin, but rumors would spread nonetheless. Still, it was unlikely for others to believe them. The idea that Rylan could fight alone and kill any kind of monster would be nonsensical to anyone who knew about him.

He heard the adventurers' footsteps get farther and farther away. However, his senses were still limited and he didn't know what kind of abilities the group had. It was possible that they could still watch him from far away, but he'd done all he could. He would fight normally.

The hobgoblin screeched and pointed at Rylan, likely because he was the nearest human. The ten goblins rushed at him, but instead of charging blindly like the others, there was a sense of order to their attack. As expected, the hobgoblin displayed some leadership capability. Rylan raised his sword, his mana circulating throughout his body.

The first goblin arrived in an instant, swinging its makeshift weapon. Rylan merely adjusted the distance between himself and the goblin, eyed it carefully, and thrust his sword. His timing was perfect. The blade stabbed through the goblin’s neck and tore through it as its attack passed him by, uselessly. This time, he didn’t avoid the blood.

Three goblins lunged at him, screaming. He focused completely on the enemies in front of him. In this state of heightened concentration, he felt as if the memories of his past life were whispering in his ear and guiding his body, telling him exactly what to do. He took a step forward, spinning just at the right moment to dodge one of the goblins’ attack and get to the small area in the middle of the other two. His sword flowed like water.

The heads of the two goblins fell to the ground as the third one turned around. The light disappeared from their eyes amidst a storm of scarlet. His sword slit the third goblin’s throat, slicing its windpipe and shredding the veins around it. Air and blood left the wound. Rylan danced among the enemies to a rhythm that only he could hear. There were no wasted movements. It didn’t matter if the goblins swung at his lower body or jumped towards his face, every attack was met with an adequate block or dodge.

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His grip around the hilt tightened. Stepping forward firmly, he swung his sword horizontally with as much power and speed as his current self could muster. The slash reaped the lives of two more goblins. He felt as if he had returned to being the Sword Saint, even if for only a little bit.

Scarlet blood covered his clothes and hands, but he barely gave it a glance. The remaining four goblins stepped backward with low snarls. He didn’t miss this chance and shot forward toward one of them. The goblin blinked and raised its makeshift club with a screech. As Rylan neared it, it jumped and attacked. The tree branch was swung at Rylan’s head. Holding the hilt with both hands, he lifted the blade and swung it diagonally, slashing right through the branch and cutting the goblin from shoulder to waist.

He sidestepped, watching the creature fall to the ground in pained screams. Without hesitation, Rylan stabbed the back of its neck, tearing through everything in his way and almost severing the creature’s head.

He turned to look at the remaining enemies. Two goblins screamed and swung at him, while the last one outright turned around and ran towards the hobgoblin, which hadn’t moved.

It took less than five seconds for the two attacking goblins to fall to the ground, dead. Rylan’s calm eyes zeroed in on the hobgoblin and the goblin by its side. The goblin kept stepping back, whimpering. The hobgoblin snarled at it, making it freeze in place. Its eyes never left Rylan’s approaching figure. The hobgoblin opened its mouth and let out a deep roar before charging at him. Rylan evaluated it.

As I expected, its strength and speed are a bit superior to mine despite the mana empowerment.

He wouldn’t be able to overwhelm it with pure force like he had done with the goblins. He let out a sincere smile. It was unthinkable for the Sword Saint to enjoy facing off against a mere hobgoblin, but at that moment, he was glad that at least one battle would be more worthwhile.

He saw the hobgoblin’s swing from a mile away; instead of avoiding it, however, he held the sword’s hilt with both hands and met the attack with a slash. He felt the impact shake his frame as his smile widened. The sword dug into the wood and, for a moment, the weapons couldn’t be separated. Rylan and the hobgoblin pulled at the same time. The creature stumbled backward, while he found his footing in an instant and stepped forward and attacked.

The hobgoblin twisted its body, awkwardly putting its club in the way of Rylan’s sword. The blade deeply cut into the wood but stopped before it could reach the creature’s body. The hobgoblin flashed a wild smile. Its back foot stepped strongly on the ground as it regained its balance. It pulled back the club and twisted its body. Rylan tilted his head. It was obvious that the hobgoblin was trying to swing its club as powerfully as possible, making no attempt to disguise its intentions.

I guess this is the limit of their intelligence.

There was no need to let his enemy dictate the course of the fight. Instead of stepping back to avoid the swing, he closed in on the monster, lowering his center of gravity. Holding the weapon firmly, he slashed the hobgoblin’s front leg’s thigh, slicing through its flesh and blood vessels and creating a deep gash. As blood flowed down its leg, the monster snarled. Then, it veritably spun its tightened upper body, executing the attack it had prepared for.

Rylan’s mana whirlpool roared within his body. He didn’t even need to look at the enemy’s weapon to predict its path.

How trivial.

He lowered his body even further and thrust the blade forward. It dug into the hobgoblin’s gut as the club uselessly passed over him, grazing only his hair. Rylan twisted the sword, widening the injury and making the hobgoblin screech. Instead of pulling the sword out, he forcefully pushed it in deeper and upwards, cutting through the monster’s intestines and reaching its stomach, then its liver on the other side. It was only then that he stepped back, letting the hobgoblin’s intestines spill out. The creature dropped its club to hold its belly with a pained growl. As it stumbled in place, likely due to the pain, Rylan walked closer to it with firm steps.

With a snarl, the hobgoblin lifted its right arm, the blood covering it glistening under the rays of sunlight that pierced through the canopies. With surprising speed, the monster rushed forward, swinging its claws at Rylan.

Wrong move.

He sidestepped lightly, letting the sharp, bloody claws pass him by, and slashed the creature’s arm. The sound of steel cutting through flesh and bone echoed. The hobgoblin’s forearm fell to the ground. The enemy moved its left hand, which was still trying to keep its guts from spilling out, and the remaining goblin lunged at him. It was too late.

Rylan’s blade cut right through them as he swung it with both hands. Drawing a half-moon with Rylan at the center, the blade cut through both creatures’ necks. He grabbed the hobgoblin’s head as it fell, watching the light leave its eyes as its blood covered his clothes. A metallic smell filled the surroundings, alongside much less pleasant scents. The butchered corpses of the monsters on the ground created a gruesome spectacle.

Silence. He only heard a single notification.

[You have reached Level 11.]

He analyzed his current state. As expected, his body felt the strain. He hadn’t injured himself, but he was sore all over. His body wasn’t used to having mana flow through it for so long. He looked at the head in his left hand’s grasp.

This will be enough for the proof of kill.

He turned around. Both the soldiers and Sarah were staring at him, shellshocked. Out of all of them, Rylan took the most notice of her expression. Her façade had crumbled completely, revealing absolute surprise and confusion. It was as if she couldn’t understand the sight before her. It made sense; she was the one who kept up with him daily. She knew that he hadn’t trained for a day in his life before joining the soldiers in their drills. While the soldiers might think that he had trained in secret all his life, she knew that wasn’t the case.

He looked at the soldiers, who were looking at him as if he were a mythical creature.

“You can take the fangs of the ordinary goblins. However, we won't hand them over all at once. We've already raised too much attention," he said.

They stared at him for a few seconds before repeatedly nodding and getting to work. He walked toward Sarah. She stared at him with myriad emotions in her eyes.

"...Who are you?" she asked with a shaking voice.

She had been able to silently deal with everything he'd done so far, but this battle was something she clearly knew was impossible.

"One day, I'll explain everything to you. I swear," Rylan replied with a serious expression.

She continued to stare at him as he turned to the soldiers, who were wrapping up the collection. After they were done, he spoke.

“We’re leaving.”

The group set out back to Cantavega. He never let his guard down, completely prepared to turn around and fight in an instant; the adventurers could come back. He noticed that Sarah was the same. Yet, nothing happened.

Jack spoke in awe.

“You’re amazing, my lord. I… I didn’t know someone could fight like that.”

The other soldiers nodded almost at the same time. Sarah looked conflicted and lost in thought. Rylan spoke simply.

“One day, all of you will be able to do the same. It’s a matter of experience and skill. I’m weaker and slower than all of you, but that didn’t hinder me.”

It was the truth. The soldiers were much more well-built than him and possessed strong bodies. Of course, that was according to Rylan’s parameters, not Roland’s. Jack, in particular, surpassed even the capabilities of a mana empowered Rylan. There was simply an enormous gap between their skill levels. He glanced back. The soldiers kept looking at his back, admiration clear on their faces. Within their eyes, a flame burned. Rylan recognized it; it was the flame of ambition.

I am now their goal.

What he had shown today would be what they would pursue. Until they were able to achieve the same, they wouldn’t rest. Scott spoke in a low voice.

“Did you use magic, my lord?”

Rylan wondered if mana empowerment could be considered to be magic. It was more a more intrinsic technique than a simple spell. At the same time, he perceived the emotions behind Scott’s question.

Do they feel a sense of inferiority towards Mages?

It made sense. The soldiers’ ranks were, in their entirety, composed of people who couldn’t or wouldn’t learn magic. They had spent their entire lives being told that Mages were greater than them, who couldn’t learn even a single spell. It was only natural for a complex to develop over time. Rylan spoke in a clear voice.

“I only used a technique to strengthen my body to the same level as all of you. I will say it again. With enough skill and experience, all of you will be able to do the same and more.”

The soldiers went silent for a while. He spoke.

“Speak freely.”

Scott hesitated before replying.

“I despised you. I thought you were nothing but a waste of air and space, given everything that you had done. Now, I see I was mistaken. Even though you might have made all of those mistakes, that wasn’t all there was to you. You hid your true self. That’s why,” His tone was firm, “If you can make me powerful, I will follow you to the end, my lord.”

Rylan glanced back, seeing determination fill the expressions of the others. Sarah was silent. He spoke.

“You will become greater than you ever imagined.”

Scott smiled.

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

The others nodded. They continued on their way back to Cantavega. Rylan reaffirmed his conviction. For his family’s sake, he would become the most powerful. That meant strengthening the others, as well.

The group talked as they moved.