Night had fallen a while ago by the time Zeke emerged from the Guild. The sky was overcast and Zeke could see no signs of either the stars or the moon. and the city would have been pitch black if not for the lanterns lit in the streets.

Once he reached Armins Smithy, he didn't go straight to bed. Zeke entered the back of the smithy and grabbed the first weapon he laid eyes on before retreating.

When he reached his room, he eyed his prize in the light of a candle. It was a simple ax. He recognized it as one of Markus's pieces. There was nothing special about the tool, but the craftsmanship was solid. The axe was not made to be a weapon. From the shape of the head, he could tell that it was meant to split wood, instead of heads. Still, the weapon would do for some goblins. He hid the tool in his school bag before blowing out the candle.

Zeke let himself fall onto the flimsy mattress of his bedding. He pulled a light, threadbare blanket over himself and immediately fell into a fretful slumber. There was a smile on his face as he fell asleep. Happy to have finally come up with a solution for his ongoing money problems.

Growing up, Zeke had been a cheerful and carefree person. But over the past weeks, he found that it became rare for him to feel happy. The constant ridicule and mockery from his fellow students took a toll on him, despite his best efforts to ignore them. He used to smile all the time. Now, only something truly outstanding managed to improve his mood.

During his breaks, he found himself preoccupied with thoughts of Lilly. She had been by his side for as long as he could remember. Someone he could confide in and who had cheered him up more times than he could count. But now, every time he saw her from afar, she seemed oblivious to his existence.

It was hard to imagine that she didn't see him — that she wasn't aware of the tough time he was having. But he couldn't imagine that she could know what he was enduring and not search him out and comfort him. He longed for her encouragement and friendship. Being cut off from her was as if the joyful part of his life had been ripped away from him, leaving a gaping hole of misery in its place.

He tried to push these feelings aside and focus on his studies, but they kept creeping back up. Often, he thought he caught a glimpse of her at the academy, only to realize that it was someone who only vaguely resembled her. Somebody who had the same hairstyle as her, or sometimes, that there was no one there at all. When he did actually see her, it was always from a distance, and she looked happy and radiant surrounded by her new friends.

Whenever he called her or rushed over to try to speak to her, he was intercepted by the other Wind Affinity students, only for her to disappear like smoke. Every time, he was left feeling confused and even more isolated.

The depressing air that had gripped him today only receded after his final lesson. Zeke remembered his plans for the day. Today he was going to turn his life around. He would start his new career as a monster slayer!

Even the gnawing feeling of hunger in his stomach was not enough to drain the excitement out of him. Zeke was making his way to the outer district. He had changed out of his first-year uniform and was wearing his regular clothes. He didn't bring a lot of items with him, having left his bag at the reception desk. Aside from his clothes, he only had his tokens, that of the Elementium and the Guild, his axe, and a small bag for collecting trophies.

From the map at the Adventurers guild, he knew about all nearby locations that were known to house goblins. He had chosen a forest to the east of the capital. Zeke could reach it in about half an hour on foot.

He exited the gate without a problem, the late afternoon sun still high in the sky. Zeke broke out into a jog to reach the forest as soon as possible. Even after running for a long time, he barely felt any exhaustion. It was not only his strength that he improved through his daily use of Mana, but his stamina as well.

He felt great exercising his body. Zeke had always enjoyed being physically active. He wondered if that was the reason he had formed a Blood core. Unbidden, a thought entered his mind. ‘If only I had spent more time helping mom with the fire, then I might not be useless now.’

Zeke immediately tried to repress this way of thinking. But as it often was with the mind, the more you try to ignore something, the stronger it gets. By the time he arrived at the forest, the earlier good mood from exercising had turned into a scowl. The constant negative thoughts had sucked the fun out of the experience.

Frowning, he surveyed the forest. The sea of trees gave him an eerie feeling. Zeke had not been to a place like this before. Compared to the forest next to Feldstadt, this one was a lot more menacing. The thick foliage of the trees let almost no light through. The area seemed dark and foreboding. Zeke could hear strange noises that he wasn’t able to place. There was the occasional rustle of branches and the sound of movements. He was certain that there were creatures about.

Zeke gulped at the thought of entering this place alone. Still, after everything he had done to get here, there was no turning back. Before even more doubts could manifest, he entered, putting one foot in front of the other.

To distract himself from his nervousness, he recalled what he knew about goblins. The small critters were about 1.3 steps tall and lived in groups. Despite their size, they were each as strong as a grown man. Zeke suspected that it wouldn't be hard to find them. Goblins were everywhere after all. Even the guards back in Feldstadt had to deal with them constantly.

His prediction was proven right when he stumbled upon tracks a few minutes later. He believed them to be from goblins. He was no expert tracker, but he had some experience. Zeke had gone hunting with his father in the leaner months of the year. He was perfectly able to recognize the tracks of the most common animals and monsters.

From the tracks alone, he couldn't tell how many had come through here. But it didn't look like a large group. With a satisfied expression, he began to follow the tracks. This was exactly the kind of prey he was looking for.

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Zeke would occasionally look around to not be careless. But most of his time was spent staring at the floor. He didn't want to lose the trail, after all. After a couple of minutes, he came to a halt. There was a rustling sound in front of him.

He stared at the offending bush. He tightened the grip on his axe, ready to act at a moment's notice. The bush wiggled back and forth as something passed through its leaves. Finally, a figure emerged. Zeke was elated upon recognizing the figure. He had been right, it was a goblin. On top of that, the monster seemed to be alone.

After arriving in front of him, the rustling stopped. Zeke waited for another second, his nerves tense. But there was no more movement from anywhere around him. He grinned, but to his consternation, the goblin grinned right back. On the creature's ugly face, the expression looked almost like a sneer.

The boy was not intimidated, however. He charged at the goblin and swung his axe from overhead. With a scream to bolster his courage, he tried to end the fight with a single swing.

Almost lazily, the monster dodged backward, avoiding the blow completely. Zeke was not a complete amateur himself though and didn't overextend. He could see that the goblin was holding some sort of cudgel.

As expected, the goblin retaliated. He swung his stick at Zeke’s head. The boy brought up the haft of his axe and with a dull impact, the two wooden objects collided. Both took a step back. The two combatants were eyeing each other. The smirk on the goblin's face had also been replaced by a more serious expression.

Zeke had read that goblins were cowardly creatures and was surprised the green menace was not trying to run. For the briefest of moments, he caught the goblin's eyes focusing on something behind him, the smile back on its face. Zeke immediately dove to the side — but it was too late!

As Zeke’s roll came to a stop, he felt an agonizing pain in his back. He looked up and saw that a second goblin had emerged from behind his previous position. The monster held a small knife in his hand, with blood dripping off it. The pain he felt in his lower back didn't leave much doubt about what had happened.

Zeke felt foolish for not noticing sooner. However, before he could start wallowing in pity, the two goblins charged. He had to think of something, and quick. While backing up, he roused his Core as he had learned in class. Immediately, the trickle of blood from his back began to slow as he directed his Mana toward the wound. This had to be good enough for now as the two small figures arrived in front of him at the next moment.

The caution the goblin had displayed earlier was completely gone, as it swung recklessly. This overconfidence could become his best chance to make a comeback in this fight. His eyes focused on the knife in the second goblin's hand. He would have to neutralize the weapon somehow.

Zeke gritted his teeth. He knew what he had to do. Before he could talk himself out of the idea, he grabbed the incoming blade with his left palm. The blade, despite its dull edge, managed to bite deep into his hand, but he would not turn back now. He used the hold he had on the weapon to twist the goblin's arm.

The creature refused to let go of the knife. Zeke had expected this and twisted the goblin's arm in a way that he would block the other goblins' path. The other one had already raised his cudgel. He was solely focused on Zeke. So much so, that he didn't pay attention to his fellow teammate. Predictably, he stumbled over the other goblin, collapsing gracelessly.

Despite the pain, Zeke managed a smile. He let go of the knife's edge as he brought his axe down with all his might. It connected with the fallen goblin's head with a sickening squelch. Zeke was both disgusted and delighted by the success of his plan.

However, in the next moment, his delight turned to horror. He tried to remove his weapon from the head of his dead foe, but the blade was stuck. He tried to wiggle it back and forth, but it was no use. The axe was lodged too deeply inside the creatures skull.

The knife-wielding goblin had started to panic upon seeing its comrade’s fate. But after witnessing this pathetic display, he found his courage again. He didn't give Zeke any more time to retrieve his weapon. With a high-pitched squeal, he jumped.

Zeke had no chance but to abandon his axe. He ducked under the lunging goblin. Just in time to avoid another wound to the back.

The creature had evidently not expected Zeke to give up his weapon so easily. Confused, it turned its head in search of him. This was not a chance he could waste!

He jumped on the goblin from behind. He wrapped one arm around its throat. With his other hand, he tried to grab hold of the goblin's knife-wielding hand. He could not allow the goblin to wield its weapon freely.

The goblin's screams were immediately silenced as Zeke tightened his grip around its windpipe. He was less successful in his attempts to restrain the knife, however. Over and over did the blade find purchase in his leg. The pain was blinding and he only barely managed to not release his hold. Another wound opened up, closer to the hip this time.

He was losing too much blood!

A desperate scream tore itself free from the deepest part of Zeke’s lungs. He strained his body to its limits as he leaned back and strangled the creature for all he was worth.

After what felt like an eternity, the goblin's struggles weakened and eventually ceased completely, with the knife remaining buried in Zeke’s leg. Their battle had flattened the vegetation for several steps. Zeke remained flat on his back, too tired and hurt to even move. His breath was heavy as he tried to call on his Core once more.

He tore the knife free from his legs and willed the wound to close as he let Blood Mana flood his body. Usually, it would not be a good idea to remove a blade so recklessly, but he banked on the fact that his body healed at an astonishing rate.

Zeke felt the ambient Mana react to his call. He could sense it entering his body and being changed by his Core. He knew that Intent was important when casting spells. His teachers had repeated that part over and over. But he found that the same was also true for raw Blood Mana. Using his intent, he could direct it to where it needed to go.

Zeke didn't have to try very hard to imbue his Intent. Every fiber of his being ached for a quick end to this pain. After a couple of moments, he felt the pain subside slightly. The bleeding from his wounds had already started to slow. For the first time since being evaluated as a Blood Mage, he was truly grateful for his affinity.

Despite the teacher’s claims that healing with Blood Mana was not efficient, he felt like he could bear the strain. He marveled as the edges of the wound nit themselves together in real-time.

"SCREEEEE!"

A sudden scream immediately destroyed the relaxed atmosphere. He knew that cry — goblins! By the noise they made, there must be many of them. Zeke cursed his own recklessness. Of course, they would have heard the screams of their comrade.

Zeke looked over at the axe that was still stuck in the goblin's head. With great reluctance, he decided to abandon the weapon. He grabbed the second goblin's ear and cut it off with the knife. He hobbled over to the other corpse and did the same. Zeke hurriedly put them into his trophy bag and stumbled back the way he came.

Over his shoulder, he could hear that the approaching group was getting closer. Zeke was still unable to put any weight on his injured leg. Not letting that stop him, he hobbled in the direction he had entered the forest from. A short while later, he could hear enraged screams from behind. Zeke didn't slow or look back.

He only had one goal left — escape.