I walked through the depths of the forest at dusk, Gareth, my best companion for years, by my side. The forest was full and dense, and every sound of leaves seemed to have some mystery behind them.

To alleviate the tension in the air, I tried mustering a joke, “Hey Gareth!!! Why don’t skeletons fight each other?” I said, my hands behind my back.

“I don’t know. what is it?” He answered sounding uninterested while playing with a coin that he continuously flipped on his hand. I wonder when it finally fell from his hand.

“Because they don’t have guts!!!” I raised my voice a little bit telling him the punch line. Unfortunately, the joke didn’t seem to land.

Gareth chuckled a little, his faint smile showing his sympathy over my attempt at the joke. "Nice one, Eric. Though I think your jokes are scarier than this forest."

We continued our journey. However, as we ventured deeper into the forest, I overheard a faint sound in the north of our direction. I checked whether he heard the same thing as me.

"You hear that, or am I going crazy?" I asked concerned that it might be something serious.

Gareth nodded; to be honest, he rarely showed any expressions at all. "Yeah, Eric, I hear it too. It's coming from the north."

I’d always felt grateful to have someone dependable like him by my side. We'd faced countless dangers together, and with his fighting abilities and quick thinking, we came out victorious.

Lost in thought, I barely noticed when Gareth nudged me. "Hey Eric, you awake?"

Shaking myself out of my musing, I decided to use a detection spell. Whispering an incantation, I activated my detection spell - enhancing my senses and sensitivity towards life forms and mana. I felt seven signs of life nearby, but weirdly enough, only one of them possessed mana.

I relayed my findings to Gareth. "Should we investigate?" I asked, waiting for his input in this situation.

Gareth was silent and thought about it for a few seconds while still playing with his coin before finally opening his mouth. "Well, Eric, if we ignore it, we might find a clue regarding Archy and Gideon. But if we investigate, we might end up as the main course at some forest creature's dinner party."

I grinned and joked in response to his remark. "Let's hope they're vegetarians then. I'd hate to be on the menu." We laughed a little bit together despite the intense situation that we were in.

"But seriously," I said, the humor fading from my voice, "what if someone in that crowd is in trouble?"

My words altered his expressions. "You have a point, Eric. We can't just ignore them. But we need to be cautious. There's no telling what we might find."

I nodded, grateful for Gareth's wisdom. "Agreed. Let's proceed with caution. But, if things go south, we leave immediately."

Gareth nodded his head and we moved forward cautiously, our footsteps barely audible against the forest floor.

Suddenly, I stopped, realizing I needed to reinforce our magical defenses. "Hey Gareth," I began, preparing to cast the fortification spell, "hold on a mo-"

Before I could finish, a blinding flash erupted beneath Gareth's feet, followed by a burst of ice shards. The force of the explosion sent him flying, his body crumpling several meters away.

"Gareth, you still in one piece?" I called out to him, I knew that my previous fortification spell was still in effect, and thus there was no way he got fatally wounded by a mere frost trap.

Gareth groaned, rubbing his side as he struggled to sit up. "More or less; a little bit cold though."

I couldn't help but chuckle, relieved that Gareth was okay. "Not an issue, we’ll get ourselves some warm beverages when we get back to town.”

"Problem is, whoever they are, they might realize soon enough that one of their traps was triggered, and we have to prepare for that encounter" Gareth explained the situation.

As I tended to Gareth's minor injuries, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Who were these mysterious individuals, and why were they so intent on defending their territory?”

As the leaves around us rustled in the wind, the situation thickened with each passing moment. It wasn't long before the mysterious individuals revealed themselves—a band of goblin warriors accompanied by a formidable goblin sorcerer.

As they emerged from the shadows, their twisted forms and wicked grins sent a chill down my spine. But it was the sorcerer who caught my attention. its jagged robes covering its body, wielding a terribly-made magic staff.

But it wasn't its appearance that impressed me. It was actually its ability to conceal the traps and ambushes, bypassing my detection spells. This one possessed a mastery of the arcane arts beyond that of a typical goblin mage.

Before I could fully process the situation, the goblin warriors surged forward, their serrated bone blades were held in both of their hands. Their speed was astonishing, catching me off guard and leaving me scrambling to react.

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However, Gareth was already springing into action, thanks to his years of combat experience and sharp fighter instinct. Despite his untreated injuries, he moved with such speed and precision to cover me.

With a swift motion, he summoned an ornate steel shield into existence, its polished surface gleaming in the moonlight. Without that much to say, he charged into the fray, his shield bashing aside three of the oncoming goblins with ease.

As they stumbled back, Gareth seized the opportunity to grab me by the collar, dragging me out of harm's way with a strength born of desperation and determination.

He effortlessly dispatched the goblin attackers in an instant, leaving me in awe. "Dang, he looked so cool," I thought to myself, admiring his skill. His combat ability never ceased to amaze me regardless of how many times I had witnessed it.

"Though he should be thanking me for teaching him the inventory spell so he can quickly summon various weaponry with ease," I mused silently. "But I guess in this situation, I should be thanking him regardless."

"Focus, Eric! Pay attention to your surroundings," Gareth quipped, a smirk on his lips.

I smirked a little bit, realizing that I could’ve been in a horrible situation without him. "Yeah, sorry. But isn't it your job to protect me anyway?" I replied, to which he said nothing and just smiled back at me.

My attention then shifted to the goblin mage, who was chanting a spell with intensity; two magic circles appeared beside him, indicating a summoning ritual was underway. First the trap, and now a summoning ritual? This goblin continued to impress me honestly speaking.

I knew I couldn't afford to take chances. With a flick of my fingers, I conjured a blaze pearl and launched it toward the goblin mage with precision. The pearl exploded upon impact, shattering his magic barrier and halting his summoning ritual.

"A goblin with a magic barrier? Really?" I mused to myself, surprised by the unexpected display of power.

Though the blast wasn't enough to defeat him, it sent the mage sprawling several meters backward, buying us precious time.

Meanwhile, Gareth had turned his attention to the three goblins on the right, who were closing in fast. He then executed a 360-degree spin, hurling his shield like a cannonball. The shield struck one goblin squarely in the head, sending it reeling.

Without missing a beat, Gareth summoned a spear into existence, his movements swift and precise. With a thrust of his hand, the spear materialized and pierced another goblin in the face, ending its advance.

But one goblin remained, its serrated blade slashing towards Gareth's blind spot. Despite his best efforts to evade, the blade grazed his left shoulder, leaving a shallow wound in its wake.

With a look of annoyance rather than pain, Gareth released his spear and turned to face his assailant. In one fluid motion, he pivoted and delivered a powerful blow with his elbow, using his momentum to hurl the goblin to the ground.

As the goblin lay sprawled on the forest floor, dazed and vulnerable, Gareth wasted no time. His shield rematerialized in his left hand. With a swift motion, he brought the edge of the shield crashing down onto the goblin's head, ending its life instantly.

The three goblins on the left, whom Gareth had previously knocked down, rose once more and they prepared to charge again. Without hesitation, I chanted the incantation for three more blaze pearls, imbuing them with the command to seek out the goblin targets.

"Find three moving beings without any mana trace on my left," I commanded the pearls, infusing them with the power to track down their victims.

The pearls soared through the air, guided by the arcane command, and found their marks with deadly precision. They homed in on the goblins with remarkable accuracy, exploding and engulfing them in flames and ending their threat instantly.

But our respite was short-lived. A sudden noise erupted from behind the goblin mage, signaling the arrival of reinforcements. Panic surged within me as I quickly cast a detect life spell, revealing the approach of dozens of goblins.

Turning to Gareth, who was in the midst of collecting the goblin ears, I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief. "Really? Now?"

Gareth looked up, a sheepish grin on his face. "What? We can sell these to the alchemist in town later. Extra silver is always welcome-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he dropped to one knee, his expression contorting in pain.

"What happened?" I asked, my concern mounting.

"I don't know," Gareth replied, his voice strained. "I seem to have lost my balance and power."

This was definitely not great news. Something might be wrong with his condition, but there was no time to investigate the cause. With the approaching horde of goblins and Gareth's weakened state, engaging in further combat would be foolhardy.

"We need to retreat," I said, urgency coloring my tone. "There may be advanced goblins among them, like that mage. We can't risk it."

As we hurried through the forest, I made sure to scoop up the goblin ears Gareth had dropped earlier. "More silver is always better indeed," I muttered to myself, stuffing the ears into my inventory.

Gareth, clearly struggling to keep pace with our hurried flight, glanced at me with a weary expression. "I don't think I can keep this up for long," he admitted with a strained voice.

"We don't have a choice," I replied to him, pushing forward despite the growing fatigue gnawing at my muscles. We ran as quickly as our battered bodies would allow, the relentless pursuit of the goblins urging us onward.

However, despite our best efforts, the goblins were gaining ground, their relentless advance fueled by sheer numbers and unrelenting determination. Their shouts kept getting closer as we ran.

Desperate to slow their progress, I conjured exploding flame traps in our wake and hoped that those goblin stepped on them. Shortly after, the deafening blasts and anguished screams of the goblins provided a brief relief from the chase.

Amidst the chaos, I couldn't help but crack a joke to lighten the mood. "Well, at least we're giving them a fireworks show," I quipped, a wry grin spreading across my face.

“Ha ha ha” Gareth seemed to have been enough with my unfunny joke at this point. Yeah, it might not have been the best time to crack a joke.

As we pressed on, heavy rain suddenly poured, adding an extra layer of difficulty to our escape. The relentless downpour obscured our surroundings, the rhythmic pattern of raindrops drowning out any other sounds.

"We need to find shelter," Gareth shouted over the roar of the rain. "This storm isn't letting up anytime soon."

“It’s easier said than done Gareth, I see nothing but trees here,” I replied to his request a little bit aggressively.

However, as we moved forward, I kept scanning the area for any signs of cover. In the distance, I spotted the entrance to an ancient structure, "One of the temples of Unaeszara" I murmured, recognizing the imposing structure. "We're not far from Silverbrook town."

But Gareth seemed to be concerned about this place, "There are plenty of stories about this place, but-"

"But right now, we need shelter," I interjected, finishing his thought. "We'll tend to your condition as quickly as possible."

After a brief discussion, we made our way towards the entrance of the ancient temple, seeking refuge from the storm and the relentless pursuit of our goblin adversaries.