It’s well known that magic is stronger than the sword. Of course it is. From superior range to immense destructibility, it’s no wonder that modern wars are settled between Mages instead of Swordsmen.

But it wasn’t always like this. The original wielder of this sword, the first Shin, was once the strongest being in the world. No magic could reach him, and even other swords were no match. Not much is known about the first Shin, especially since the Lynes Church wiped every mention of him from the history books.

Somehow, after inheriting the sword and name, I was able to tap into the memories, and powers, of the previous Shins. I’m the one wielding the blade and even I don’t understand it.

Anyway, after the first Shin had died, the level of swordsmanship declined, while the abilities of the average Mage were increasing.

If you weren’t born with magical ability in this day and age, the paths one could take were limited.

Of course, there were still some schools that taught the sword, but they were almost exclusively for Magic Swordsmen.

It’s been almost one year since I was with the old man in the forest. Now, I’m in Exoria, a place renowned for the large variety of products. It’s located on the coast of the Njord River that passes through the entire continent and connects two oceans.

Anyway, the reason I’m here is to firstly, make money. Needless to say, the old man and I had literally no money at all. Secondly was to improve my skills. But not in the sword.

“Kid, you gotta have the entrance fee to even have your talent checked. Even then, you might not be chosen to attend.”

The secretary noticed the sword on my hip and hesitated a little.

“If you need money, you can find jobs at the Guild Hall.”

With a sigh, he pointed towards a busy two-story building that had two swords crossed in front of a staff above the door.

I walked out of the building, thinking about what kinds of jobs would be best for someone like me.

“Thanks.”

Of course, I thanked the secretary before I left.

Jobs that only require me to complete would be best, and to start out, I should take the lowest level ones.

Seeing the memories of the previous Shins shows me powers that I never would have dreamed swordsmen could wield. But using those skills with my current body would destroy me before I killed any enemies.

I’ve been training my body ever since I got this blade, but it’s still not enough. I need potions and special medicines, and for those: money.

Everything is about money. So, I have to do as many jobs as possible at the Guild Hall, even after getting accepted into the Magic Academy.

I walked through the door and a wave of voices washed over me, all of their conversations combining together into a consistent, loud noise.

A few people spared me a glance, but after they saw that I use a sword, they continued with their conversations as if I wasn’t even there.

Magic Swordsmen are regarded as worse than Mages, but better than just normal Swordsmen. This is because every Magic Swordsman (aside from a couple of outliers) has low talent in magic and compensates for that by using a sword alongside it.

On top of that, by using both the Sword and Magic, they limit their mastery of either one. In fights without Magic, they would be bested by others with the sword, and have less knowledge and talent than the best Mages.

I walked up to the signboard that was off to one side of the Guild Hall. Fliers were littered all across the board, with more of them placed near the bottom. At the top of the board were higher level jobs, and judging by how worn the paper was, they have been there for a while.

I scanned all of the lower level jobs, skipping over escort and surveillance jobs. Luckily, there were a lot of Monster killing quests, so I just grabbed the one that gave the most money.

**

Help Needed Urgently!

What: A group of Goblins

Where: Western road, house made of light wood

When: Now!

Pay: 3 bronze per Goblin

**

I ripped the flier off of the signboard and made my way out of the Guild Hall. I walked outside, taking a path towards the West.

‘Goblins should be no problem.’

Exoria’s streets are always bustling with people and carriages, but it seems even more so now. I thought nothing of it and made my way towards the job location.

As I walked further out of town, the amount of people decreased. Eventually, I went over a hill and I could see the house I was looking for.

It was made of the described light wood, with two floors and many windows. It was quite a large house and it looked well maintained.

Behind the house was a large farm plot with crops that looked about ready to harvest, but I saw no sign of Goblins anywhere.

Anyway, I went up to the house, climbed up the steps to the porch and knocked on the door.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

KNOCK KNOCK

I waited a few moments but nobody came to the door, and I didn’t hear anything coming from inside. So I knocked again but a bit louder this time.

KNOCK KNOCK

Again nothing… That leaves me with two choices. One, to wait outside the house for it to open up. And two, going inside.

And I’m not the kind of person to wait around, especially since this quest said “Urgent”.

“Pardon me.”

I opened the door, stepping inside. To the left was an open family room, and ahead were stairs to the next floor and past that, the kitchen.

Closing the door behind me, I drew my sword just in case. It was all very quiet, but they were probably just not home.

I walked through every room in the house except for one, making sure to check everywhere someone, or something, could be hiding. But I found nothing. It was like the family that was living here just disappeared.

There was only one room left: the kitchen. I figured I would leave it as the last one, since it was the furthest inside the house and I could maybe take some food on my way out.

When I walked into the room, I realized I didn’t have to waste my time checking the other rooms if I just came here.

On the ground was an open hatch that led down to some room underneath the house. There were stone stairs that had minimal wear on them, and the dust coming up from the hatch was visible in the sunlight.

There was a streak of blood starting just outside of the opening and leading down the steps into the darkness. I guess this is where the Goblins are.

I put on a strong face but frankly, the smell of human blood and the idea of seeing a dead body scared me. I’ve never killed anything but game animals before.

I walked down the stairs, holding my sword ready to slice at anything that came towards me. It looked pitch black from the top of the stairs, but as I went down, it began to light up.

Below the house looked like an unfinished renovation that was being done by the homeowners. There was mining equipment and various other tools, with the walls and floor still being the original stone.

Speaking of the floor, I followed the bloodstain with my eyes until it went around a corner. I cautiously looked around it to find an opening in the stone.

It seems like while digging out this basement, the homeowners broke into a cave that presumably housed Goblins. Hopefully I won’t be too late to save them.

I thought about the people I might let die from being too slow and my fear slowly faded. I sped up and walked into the cave.

The small amount that I could see from my eyes adjusting to the darkness was even less now and I was at a severe disadvantage to anything that might attack me. But I just kept walking forward.

Goblins aren’t known for their good eyesight, so I figured they must have some light source down here. And luckily after walking for a few minutes, I could see light coming from up ahead.

The blood on the ground shone in the light, and I could see strange drawings on the walls and ceilings of the cave, but I had no time to admire the Goblins’ artwork.

Now that there was light, I sped up even more until I reached the mouth of the cave the light was coming from. It was small, just big enough to house the Goblins and their supplies.

From where I was, I could see about 15 Goblins but there was another tunnel that went outside of my line of sight. I’d have to deal with that later.

The closest Goblins to me were near the center of the cave, huddling around a fire.

I rushed into the cave, slashing at all the Goblins that entered my range of attack. I only had enough stamina to spare each of them a single stab or slice to the neck before moving to the next.

From the memories of the previous Shins, I used their Swordsmanship; each movement flowing effortlessly to the next.

The Goblins eventually realized I was there, but not before the blood of their brothers covered my blade and the surrounding area.

“GRAAHK”

In a fit of rage, a Goblin stabbed at me from the side, his arm outstretched and holding a makeshift dagger.

I ducked underneath the attack, swiping my sword upwards with both arms through its torso and out the other side, then spinning back in the direction I was running and stabbing towards another Goblin busy feasting.

“Huff, huff.”

The cave was now covered in bodies and Goblin insides, but there was no sign of any humans here. It seems I had interrupted the Goblins’ meal, as there was a pot full of something hanging over a fire. I flicked the blood off of my blade before walking towards the next tunnel. I didn’t have time to catch my breath. Every second counted.

I took a lantern from the cave and walked through the tunnel, trying my best to calm my breath and beating heart.

Luckily for me, the tunnel didn’t go very far and I soon reached the end of it. There was a makeshift cage with the bars made out of thick branches. The spaces between them were just big enough for the skinny build of a Goblin to slip through if they went sideways.

Inside of the cage were a man and a woman who were very obviously injured, and scraps of food littered all around the floor of the enclosure.

I raised my blade and sliced, cutting the bars in half at head height. With a kick, a couple of bars fell forwards into the cage, creating an opening for me to walk through after sheathing my blade.

“Are you two okay?”

“Hm?”

The male looked up, his messy receding hairline obvious in the light of the lantern. The woman next to him must not have heard me, as she was still sleeping.

“O-Oh! Are you here to save us? Did you see my job posting?”

His face suddenly brightened up despite his overgrown beard and heavy bags darkening his expression.

I nodded my head, not wanting my voice to show my disgust at the smell emanating from his body.

“Wake up, honey! We’re getting out of here!”

The man shook the woman, prompting her to raise her body up off the ground and look around. Her clothes were torn, and I can only imagine what the Goblins put her through before I got here.

I turned around, heading back towards the cave with all of the Goblins’ supplies. Even if these people did pay me, I won’t be letting these freebies go to waste.

“Wait! Young master!”

‘This old man has so much energy…’

I turned back towards them, the man now supporting the woman as she regained consciousness.

“What’s your name, young master?”

“Shin.”

For the first time, the name that was given to me left my lips. But that didn’t seem to be enough for the man, as he waited for me to say something else.

“And your family name?”

I thought about this and realized that he thought I was a Noble. Of course, since only Nobles would have decent skill in the Sword at my age.

“I have none.”

His amicable smile quickly faded and disgust took its place. Even the half-conscious woman heard what I said and I could see her trying her best to put on an angry face.

Seeing this, I turned back around once more and walked into the Goblin cave. Aside from a couple of bags, everything in there was either mystery meat or covered in blood. I just took what I could before turning to the pot in the middle of the room.

It looked good enough, so I picked up a random wooden spoon and got a bit of the stew to taste.

“Y-You!”

As the spoon reached my lips, the man and woman entered the room, somehow angrier than before.

‘Is this what you call “hangry”?’

“Want some?”

The old man’s face turned red at my offer, and it seemed like at any moment he would attack me.

“You filthy peasant! First you arrive late, then you offer me stew made from my own daughter’s flesh!?”

As the man’s curses exploded out of his mouth, the woman’s tears flowed to the ground, mixing with the Goblin blood.