We moved to leave the small glade, quickly leaving behind the innocence of my former life. Once past the tree line, the weight of my new axe caught my attention. It was well-balanced, but trying to sprint with it did not intuitively come to me. While it was a one-handed weapon based on the item description, my body wanted me to hold it with both hands and as close to my chest as possible. Stella must have noticed my awkward gate and so proactively shared some useful information. “Handling that weapon won’t feel natural until you pick up the axe skill. Right now, without any proficiency in the weapon, it will be difficult to carry and fight with. Don’t worry though, you should pick up the skill very quickly once you’ve used it in combat.” That was a little worrisome as we were actively trying to get back to my home which was clearly under attack. Seeing me stumble slightly over an exposed root, she continued. “Bring the weapon to your hip and think about attaching it to your belt, that should help for now.”

Frowning at Stella’s emphasis on a belt I didn’t have, I slowed my pace and glanced down. Sure enough, no belt. “Ah, I don’t have a belt,” I said with an inquisitive look in her direction.

“Just… trust me,” she said in slight exasperation. Shrugging, I did as she instructed and to my surprise a thin leather belt appeared the instant my axe came close enough to my hip.

“Thanks,” was all that I could say. Refocusing on the task at hand we made our way to the fallen tree I had crossed earlier. As we moved together, I kept getting distracted as Stella ran through the air, as if she was running on a solid surface. That will take some getting used to, I mused internally.

Crossing the felled tree was far easier this time around. Even though it seemed a simple matter before, my newfound dexterity and balance made it a breeze. In no time, we were across and sprinting once again. The billowing smoke caused a tightening in my chest, but there were no additional plumes of smoke. However, many buildings that were burning were now not. Unfortunately, I was not sure if that was a good thing or not.

We were about to pass beyond the tall grass and onto the road leading home when Stella glided in front of my face and motioned for me to pause. “I know it’s important that you get in there, but if Duke is there… You’re not ready to face him. His level is significantly higher than yours, you are only level one after all.” She sighed and glanced over her shoulder. “He would kill you with just a single spell and then that’s it."

Stella’s voice was deep with concern. Her concern slowed my racing mind. The anxiety boiling in my chest. The pressure to race into the obvious danger ahead pressed into my skull. “I can’t just wait here,” I said through gritted teeth. Stella was right and I knew it. “That’s my family, my friends in there.”

I knew now that this life had never actually happened. I had apparently only been in this world a single day, but still. I had a literal lifetime of memories with everyone ahead stored in my psyche. No matter what new truths had been thrust upon me today, my soul wouldn’t allow me to remain idle while my loved ones were in danger. At that moment, both aspects of myself came to a decision; I would fight to protect the ones that I loved. It was as simple as that.

Stella’s fearful eyes never left mine and a soft sigh escaped my lips. Without conscious thought, I leaned back on my previous life and closed my eyes. Taking deep breaths, I allowed the panic of action, of fear, to still be in my heart. Holding each breath for a moment before exhaling allowed me to center myself. Feeling the ground beneath my feet, my connection to the world, I relaxed. In only the span of a few seconds, I felt better. Calm and cool once more, I opened my eyes. “You’re right, Stella. We can’t just rush in. If Duke is there, we wouldn’t stand a chance. What do you think we should do?”

While I felt grounded, Stella was my guide now, so I trusted in that. “Let’s take it slow and find out what we can before engaging in anything. If Duke is there…” Stella said and left the last part unspoken.

“We won’t be able to fight him,” I finished her thought. Still, I couldn’t help but add, “Yet.” We left the tall grass, edging slowly closer to town, holding to the edge of where the grass touched the side of the road. The feeling of a knife cutting through me ached in my side as a shout of agony reached my ears. Hurrying our pace slightly, I did my best to remain as silent as possible. We crossed into town and instantly felt something was off. With a start, realization dawned. The magical barrier was missing. There had been no shimmering barrier, no feeling of passing under a thin waterfall. The protection that had kept our town safe for hundreds of years, was simply gone.

The thought that something else might be in town was quickly confirmed as guttural grunts wafted around us. Peeking around the corner of the building, I spotted multiple hunched creatures lopping and dashing through the street. They were not human, easily discernable by their unusual gaits. It reminded me of a gorilla bounding around, but these creatures didn’t have any fur at all. Instead, green skin covered in thousands of warts and puss-filled sores greeted my vision. “Stella, what the hell are those?” I whispered with revulsion. A half dozen short creatures were hunched over what I could only assume were bodies. Each was greedily stuffing handfuls of flesh into their rotting mouths. Blood and viscera covered everything; the gremlin-things, the bodies, and the street around them all.

As my eyes took in the horror, a chat bubble appeared at the bottom of my vision.

Stella: We can use your chat function if we want to be a little stealthier. It has a limited range, but just think about what you want to 'say' and the system will type out the message. As for those creatures, I am not sure. I’ve never seen them before. You have the ability to glean small bits of information about them as a Hunter. Just look at it intently and think Inspect.

As disgusting as the monsters were, I did as Stella instructed. Inspect, I thought.

[Malignant Goblin] (Level 3)

Ravaged by a feral disease for countless years, these goblins no longer care for the finer things in life. Self-preservation, tactics, and just about everything has given way to the desire to feed. Often appearing in packs, these goblins now only live to hunt, kill, and feed. In any civilized lands, these creatures are immediately killed on sight and wary adventurers would be careful to avoid their infectious bite, lest they become no better than the ravaging monsters these have become.

Beyond the six goblins before us, the street was empty. Nothing else moved, shop doors stood ajar. Other than the grunts of these vile creatures, nothing else stirred. Quickly identifying each in turn, I discovered the goblins ranged in levels. The lowest being at two and the highest being level four. Festering wounds dotted almost every square inch of the creatures. A gust of wind brought with it the scent of rotting flesh. The gangrenous smell nearly brought bile rushing up my throat, but thankfully I was able to hold it down. Mixed in, with the boils and lack of any semblance of intelligence, they seemed no better than a pack of rabid animals. Unfortunately, the ravaged bodies that lay underneath each spelled out the damage each could inflict. Preparing to step out from cover, a spell formed on my lips, and a message appeared unbidden in my vision.

New Quest – Defend the Defenseless

Time is of the essence here. Unfortunately for the population of Winterfalls, even these low-level goblins pose a lethal risk to even the most veteran of its citizens. Years of belief that the town’s magical protection would keep them from harm, combined with the lack of any town guards, or any form of weaponry, it’s only a matter of time before the entire population is swept clean at the hands of these monsters. Take up your axe, your spells, and your wit to save your friends and family. Only you can stem the tide of diseased and rotten flesh.

Objective One: Slay Malignant Goblins, 12 of 12 remaining.

Objective Two: (Unknown.)

Rewards: Variable, depending on the number of surviving citizens.

Taking my axe from my belt, I was caught by surprise as the nameplates of the goblins changed from Malignant Goblin to including actual names for each. Well, not names I was used to per se, but names, nonetheless. I turned my gaze to Stella, floating off my shoulder, and raised an eyebrow.

Bumpo [Malignant Goblin]

Grumish [Malignant Goblin]

Rutnut [Malignant Goblin]

Pusgut [Malignant Goblin]

Toothlip [Malignant Goblin]

Hank [Malignant Goblin]

Stella: Yeah, yeah. That’s me. Goblin one, two, and three seemed boring. So, I made it better. You’re welcome.

She was wearing a smug, self-righteous grin, her head held high. My stare finally reached her.

Stella: Fine, fine, I can change it back if you like.

Xaz: It’s fine, for now. Let's just not do it again unless we discuss it first, yeah? It's a little distracting. Oh, and what’s up with ‘Hank.’ That seems a bit out of place, don’t you think?

A little of the smugness returned to her face at my comment.

Stella: Well, he is the least disgusting of the group so I thought his name should reflect that. His face is slightly less… gnarled.

Mouthing, “Least disgusting,” I shook my head from side to side. Every one of the leprous creatures was unquestionably revolting. It was hard to imagine any could remain alive with the number of open sores and half-rotten bodies. If I didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t have been surprised if one of their arms would fall off just looking at them, each rotten to the core. Nothing else for it, my task was clear. I had to defeat each while being careful to avoid being bitten. Now, I had to take them out. Seeing the level disparity and the number of enemies far stacked against me, I only really had the advantage of surprise on my side.

Xaz: Stella, how far away is that nearby group?

Stella: Bumpo is 44 feet away. The farthest goblin, Hank, is 52 feet away.

Xaz: Thanks. So, my plan is to use my crowd control spell and hopefully help us bring the odds a little more even. Hopefully, we’ll just need to fight one or two of them at a time. What do you think?

Stella: A sound idea, it’s good with me.

Xaz: Okay, let’s do this.

All of the goblins were within range of my spell, though its description showed that it would only hit creatures right around the initial target. Bumpo, Grumish, and Rutnut were all gathered close to one another, so hopefully my first spell would hit all three. I’d certainly get at least two of them with my restless slumber spell, but with the ten-second cool down, before I could use the spell again, there was some risk in using it. Still, if my first spell went unnoticed, I was planning on using it again right away on the further goblins. Such was the advantage of crowd control spells. Instead of having to fight all six at once, I would be able to break the group into smaller, much more manageable groups. Well, I was hoping that would become the case here. Eyeing up the spell description, the only downside I could see was the significant spell cost associated with casting it. I had seventy-five total mana and the spell cost twenty. If I could cast the spell twice, I would be down to less than half mana remaining. The risk was worth it though, it was highly unlikely I could fight six of the creatures at once.

Nothing else to ponder, the knowledge of how to cast the spell sat firmly in my mind. The spell had a three-second cast time and I was required to maintain eye contact with the initial target. Additionally, while words needed to be uttered during the incantation, they could be whispered. The goblins, enjoying their meal, were stationary and I doubted I would have a better opportunity once they finished. Moving my fingers in intricate patterns, arcane syllables escaped my lips. It was unlike any language, but each word carried power that vibrated the air around me. Thankfully, the goblins had made no motion that I had been detected. The ease of casting the spell came as both a surprise but also felt like I had used the spell dozens of times before. It was like knowing how to type and speak Spanish at the same time, while having never done so before. Feeling like I had done so countless times before, the three seconds elapsed, and the spell was completed.

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A dark transparent cloud formed at the final word, hovering directly a foot over my target’s head. It was a few inches thick and about ten paces wide. A slight haze descended, almost like what rainfall looks like at a great distance, reaching down to envelop three of the feasting goblins. As the magical power touched, it looked as if the energy was drawn into a drain. The dark miasma rushed downwards into each and, after a moment, the cloud disappeared into their minds. Instantly, all three paused, their hands stilled within a chest cavity, or motionless at their lips. The goblins Bumpo and Grumish fell silently, slumping over the bodies beneath them. Rutnut wobbled drunkenly from side to side for a second, before he too fell to the dirt, his body making a meaty slap against the paved road.

All three now had red health bars displaying under their nameplates, likely becoming visible that I was engaged in combat. Unfortunately, the sound of Rutnut’s fall was loud enough to attract the attention of the Pusgut and Toothlip a dozen paces away. Each had paused to look cluelessly at their companions. Furthest away, Hank either didn’t care or hadn’t heard as he continued with his meal, to my continued revulsion.

Thankfully, I was not in direct line of sight of the two peering goblins, who were now turning their eyes to their surroundings. While the monster’s description hinted at an overall lack of intelligence, even these dumb creatures knew something was amiss. After waiting the full ten seconds, my spell's cooldown completed so the spell once again tumbled quietly from my lips this time targeting those two goblins. Confident my spell was now wide enough to impact both, I was slightly dismayed that Hank wouldn’t be within range as well.

Once again, a dark cloud of energy formed and sprinkled down onto their heads. As the spell took hold, Pusgut dropped to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. Sadly, Toothlip had turned his head upwards as the spell formed and sneered angrily up at it. Even as the magical energy swirled down to cover his head, a gore-covered hand swiped up in a vain effort to disperse the magical power. A distressing sensation, like the feeling you get when seeing a red X marking an error on a test, passed through me at the same time a message appeared in my vision. Resisted!

“Crap,” I uttered aloud.

At the sound, Toothlip darted his gaze directly at me, he had heard me. A bone-curdling screech, as high pitched as one would normally imagine a goblin would make, marked me as the creature’s next target. The goblin’s shout was garbled as blood and guts were expelled from his mouth. Even as it finished, using all four limbs, it charged. The sight was as disturbing as it was terrifying. It was like I had just been spotted by a zombie for the first time and it would stop at nothing to tear flesh from my bones.

I only froze in animalistic fear for a moment, thankfully. My next spell flashed in my mind as I began casting minor firebolt. Even with the one-second cast time, there was plenty of distance between us. A bolt of plasma flew from my outstretched hand as the spell was completed. The rampaging monster charged heedlessly into it, not even attempting a dodge. The speed of the spell was fast enough that, even had it tried, the spell would still have connected. The bead of burning power slammed into the creature’s chest and blasted outward like a blooming flower. Skin blackened and scorched as the spell’s touch. When the energy dissipated, a softball-sized wound was revealed. Dark, green blood the consistency of syrup bubbled down the monster’s chest as a message appeared in my vision.

[Minor Firebolt] Damage dealt 18.

Though Toothlip stumbled from the impact, he was able to keep his feet beneath him and took up his charge once more. His health bar had dropped a small amount, but any pain that must have been inflicted by the spell had been ignored. Eyeing the distance between us, I wouldn’t be able to get another spell off before it reached me. Hefting my axe, I prepared for the creature’s charge. With the manic goblin bearing down on me, unbridled rage foaming from its mouth, a part of me expected anxiety and fear to lance in my chest. It didn’t arrive and even as the truly horrifying creature grew closer, I felt strangely at ease and ready for it.

This battle felt all too common like I had done it a hundred times before. Confidence unlike anything I had known in my life as Xaz, firmed the grasp on my weapon’s handle. It planted my feet to the stone beneath me. The goblin dashed at full tilt, both taloned hands reaching out to me. With a deft motion, I side-stepped just as he was about to make contact. Right behind the momentum of the move, my axe came whistling around at waist-high. Unfortunately for the doomed creature, Toothlip had lowered its head at the last second, as if he intended to jump through me and bear me to the ground. My weapon connected with absolute devastation to the goblin’s skull. The creature's forward charge came to a brutal and abrupt end. A damage notification flashed in my vision but with everything happening so quickly that I missed the number.

Quest Update: 11 of 12 goblins remaining.

Looking down at the now very dead goblin, it must have been a critical hit. My fire bolt spell had only caused a small drop in the monster’s total health pool and, while certainly powerful, my axe wouldn’t normally have caused that much damage to end the fight with such finality. The fight wasn’t over, so I put the thought out of my mind. Trying to bring my weapon to bear once more, I, unfortunately, found the weapon stuck deep in the goblin’s skull. Wrenching with all of my strength, the weapon pulled away with a meaty squelch. The pungent aroma of death and decay reached my nose. Not sure if it was coming from the creature’s split skull, the goblin’s ravenous body, or perhaps a combination, my attention came back to the numerous goblins still present. Hank was still… enjoying his meal, while the other four were on the ground sleeping.

As I was considering the next course of action, Rutnut, who had wobbled on his feet before began picking itself back off the ground. That didn’t make sense as the spell should last a full sixty seconds, right? Looking at Stella, she understood my unasked question. “He must have partially resisted the spell which is why he is getting up so soon. Also, the spell lasts a maximum of sixty seconds, it can end earlier than that depending on the monster. You should have a little time yet before the other two wake up.”

“Thanks,” I replied, not fearing the volume of my voice. It was clear that Hank had no intention of turning away from the bloody mess it was shoveling into his maw. Coming fully to his feet, Rutnut looked right at me. Like his fallen brethren, a look of utter hatred for the living filled its bloodshot eyes. With a howl, it charged, all lopping fury and the promise of a painful death. This time, unfortunately, his howl finally pulled Hank’s attention. His gut swollen to a grotesque size, Hank looked at his fellow goblin before its mindless eyes found mine. Coming to its full height with long pieces of what looked to be intestines pulled away from his victim, it yelled in rage. Well, he tried at least. The mouthful of flesh was lodged firmly in his throat and sounded more like a squelching rumble as gory bits were forcefully ejected in the bellow. Then it too began racing towards me, though not as quick as Rutnut. Apparently, it had feasted far too much to move as swiftly as his friend.

A crazy idea popped into my head. Perhaps inspired from memories of my past life, I deemed it worth the risk. Rutnut needed to be defeated as quickly as possible. Hoping I wouldn’t regret this, I dropped my axe, feeling it slam to the ground next to me. I should have some time to finish off the one barreling towards me. So, with no small trepidation, I held out both hands and began casting two separate firebolts simultaneously. I hoped the combined spells would be enough to drop him dead before he got to me.

Where before the spell had come so fluidly, these arcane words felt like they wanted to come to a jarring halt and then leap away with each syllable. Intuitively, I knew that double casting the spell caused the somatic components to be delegated to a single hand and the necessary arcane phrases had to be repeated in short intervals, the attempt felt like trying to speak around a mouth full of bread. Thankfully, I was able to power through the awkward feeling. Even through all of that, it was amazing to see the confident movement of my fingers that was needed to successfully complete the spell. It was like each hand was a mirror opposite of the other. After the one-second cast time, to my surprise, a single much larger bolt of plasma wailed toward my target. Before the spell had caused a slight sizzle of the air, whereas this time, it was a howl that matched the ferocity of the goblin bearing down on me.

The spell connected much as before, but the impact was far beyond what I was expecting. I was hoping this new bolt would slam into him, hopefully finishing it off. What actually happened was a single large ball of fire the size of a football impacted Rutnut’s lowered head causing it to burst with crimson energy. What remained after the spell vanished, was as if someone had punched a gaping hole through the goblin’s forehead, while simultaneously scorching the entire head to a blackened crisp.

Damage dealt 154 (CRITICAL)!

The goblin crashed lifelessly to the ground, his body sliding forward to leave a sickly-green trail behind it. Its head nothing but a ruined mess. My eye caught the damage notification, pulling my eyes downward to read it. Realizing the distraction for what it was and how costly it could be in battle where a moment’s hesitation could bring ruin, I mentally commanded the message to remain hidden while in combat.

Taking a moment to glance at my mana bar, I had regenerated a few mana since my first spell and was sitting at twenty-four percent remaining. That was pretty low and I was reminded to be careful of my spell usage for the rest of the fight. The immediate danger was obviously the fast-approaching goblin. Thankfully, the other three goblins were still sleeping and didn’t pose a risk just yet. “How long do I have before they start waking?” The voice shot out the question as fast as I could speak.

Stella responded just as quickly, “At most, you have about 29 seconds before the other three begin waking up.”

Feeling the need to close the distance so that I could turn my attention to the sleeping goblins after finishing Hank off, I retrieved my axe and charged in my own right. While Hank was coming at his top speed, I was approaching at a jog. Once more, just as we were about to collide, I sidestepped and brought my axe forward with as much force as I could bring to bear. This time though, Hank had not tried to leap into me. Maybe it was because I was charging at him, but as I moved out of his direct path, he was still able to reach across my body with a blood-soaked, glistening hand. His wicked claws raked painfully against my chest. Even as those claws tried to bury in my chest, my axe buried into his lower chest, finding a crease right above his swollen belly.

Thankfully, my armor held and only the bludgeoning itself caused a small amount of damage to my health pool. The goblin was far less fortunate. The power of the blow, coupled with his forward momentum, tore him in half. As the goblin's chest was blown backward by my mighty swing, his abdomen continued its forward momentum. The opposing forces ripped through any strength his skin could muster and his distended belly ripped open. With a sickening noise that sounded like the tearing of a bloated waterskin, his lower half sloshed its contents on the ground behind me. I had killed the beast with a single strike. Not willing to look back at the ruined corpse, my eyes looked forward to our final combatants.

Quest Update: 9 of 12 goblins remaining.

Time was of the essence so I ran towards the closest sleeping goblin without any pretense of stealth. As I approached, signs of it waking emerged. As the enemy’s hands fought to clear lingering mental cobwebs, my axe cleaved down once, then another and another, ending the creature’s life in mere seconds. Each stroke caused utter devastation, parting rotten flesh as easily as if it were barely there. Green blood and vitriol were shot from each strike. With a final stroke, the creature’s head was lopped off in a gory spray of blood. The realism of each attack was staggering. A part of me wanted to curl up in a ball at the vicious coup de grace, but another part of me need only look at the gory piles of flesh that had just earlier this morning been that of friends. Perhaps even family.

Quest Update: 8 of 12 goblins remaining.

As I was looking down upon the now headless corpse, one of the nearby goblins began to pick itself off the ground. The nameplate showed this was Grumish, who was facing away from the dastardly deed I had just committed. That would not last long. Spying the mound of flesh that Grumish had just used to prop himself up, anger overwhelmed any squeamish nature trying to worm itself into my soul. One long leap brought my axe arcing across at the fiend. The rabid creature turned, our eyes connecting. Before disease-filled eyes registered what was happening and rage could overtake them, my weapon dove forward. Instinct would have driven any other creature to try to take defensive action, trying futility to avoid the life-ending attack barreling towards it. Grumish instead simply reached gangrenous hands towards my face, as if reaching out to a delicious treat that was standing before it. Grumish took the axe in the chest, blasting any air within out in one powerful strike. A slight look of confusion came over the creature’s face as if it couldn’t comprehend what just happened. My axe had been buried up to the shaft.

Unfortunately, Grumish was not yet dead, though he was likely mortally wounded. His hands continue to drive greedily towards my exposed face. Trying at first vainly to tear my weapon away, it finally gave way, bringing with it a geyser of dark blood to spray across my body. With the goblin's perilous charge, I could take another swing at the monster, probably killing it, but I would risk the beast's sickly claws digging into my flesh. Recalling the goblin’s awful description and the risk of contracting whatever disease it carried made my decision easy.

I stepped back and brought my axe up defensively, fending off its rapidly weakening strikes. A fountain of blood welled from the creature's wound and covered the entirety of its body as it moved feebly. The creature only took a few vain steps, still trying to rend my flesh, before it too dropped dead to the ground. The wound from my axe had caused such a bleeding effect that its life drained out in seconds.

Quest Update: 7 of 12 goblins remaining.

By this time the final goblin, Pusgut, was up and had turned rage-filled eyes in my direction. While it was still slightly fatigued from my spell’s effects, its hatred for anything living came blaring out with a throaty howl. As it charged, the plan that had been so successful thus far came to mind. It was incredibly effective against creatures that had no thought for self-preservation. Such overwhelming force these goblins could bring to bear could certainly take down unprepared or untrained combatants, but if anything had been shown here, I was neither of those.

As Pusgut ran at me, I went through the motions of casting minor firebolt. Just as I had done several times now, I stepped aside at the last moment. Instead of using my axe though, I continued with my spell and the firebolt tore away from my hand, slamming into the back of the goblin’s head. He was momentarily stunned by the impact, but the battle was far from over. Stepping into the motion, my axe swung down at Pusgut’s exposed neck. The weapon connected heavily, sinking in deeply when a flare of azure magic raced from the weapon into the wound. In an instant, the goblin’s neck was frozen solid by the weapon’s magic. As his body fell forward, my axe was ripped free to shattering effect. When the goblin’s body hit the ground, its head rolled forward several more feet, still partially frozen before it, too, stopped moving forever.