City of Murddoc Prison:

Tujen hit the wall as he cursed. A few minutes ago, he woke up in a cell and was immediately enraged. He looked at his bloody knuckles as frustration boiled up from his heart. He felt weak and like a rock in the road for those with power. Today was the culmination of the unfortunate event that had ruined his life. His thoughts of anger soon wandered to sadness and despair; to the time it all started.

 

…

 

A year ago, in the forests surrounding Murdoc City:

 

Tujen walked slightly ahead of a small group of 4 adventurers, scouting out their surroundings. These adventurers, along with Tujen, made up a famous B-rank party. They were led by the captain, Sigric, who was a formidable warrior who carried a large sword and wore an enchanted suit of plate armor. This man had been known as a hero to several citizens in Murddoc City and the surrounding villages. He was kind and helpful to many and nearly always had a cool and calm smile strewn across his face.

 

Tujen continued to walk in front of his party as the scout. He was extremely good at this, mainly due to his skills; Intermediate Sense and Intermediate Eyesight. These allowed him to sense the movements of creatures within a 20-yard radius and see farther and more clearly than a normal human. These skills were also passive and were active all the time. Passive skills were extremely rare and were the reason he was able to join a famous party despite only being classified as an F-rank adventurer. 

 

After about an hour of wandering through the forest, Tujen held his fist in the air to signal the party to stop. They obeyed, and all kept as quiet as possible while they scanned their surroundings. Tujen had felt the movements of a small figure and could see some hint of light green hiding in bushes of a similar color. He slowly pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow. Slowing his breathing, he pulled back the arrow and string. He activated his skill, Basic Steady Shot, and let the arrow loose. It flew straight into the bushes, right next to the creature that was hiding. 

 

A small yelp sounded out as a child-sized, green humanoid creature dashed out of the shrubbery and towards a specific direction. It was a goblin and the reason they were in this forest. Quickly, one of the adventurers in robes stuck out his staff and chanted a few words in a mysterious language. A ball of light erupted from his staff and hit the goblin in the back. However, the goblin was unfazed and continued to swiftly move its stubby legs.

 

Sigric opened his mouth, “Good shot Wulfgar!” Sigric said as he smacked the back of the middle-aged man in robes who had fired the ball of light at the goblin. The man with a brown beard and streaks of gray chuckled slightly as he bowed his head.

 

“Thanks, Captain. But Tujen spotted the goblin and got him out of the bushes. I did the easy work.” Sigric nodded and looked at Tujen who was watching the two of them.

 

“That’s right! That was also an incredible performance from our newest member!” Sigric smiled as he congratulated Tujen. “You’ve come a long way in a few months. I knew it was a good choice to bring you into the Murddoc Wanderers!” The other members nodded in agreement. 

 

Tujen nodded and bowed his head. “I appreciate the thanks and am still honored to be able to fight alongside this amazing party.” Sigric nodded his head and showed his gratitude. 

 

Soon, a girl with two curved scimitars at her waist spoke up. “We can celebrate more once we complete this quest. We should head towards the goblin nest before the tracking rune wears off.” This girl had always been blunt and often just wanted to get things done as quickly as possible. 

 

“Freya’s right. I can only keep my connection to the rune for so long.” Wulfgar said as he smiled with a slight weakness. 

 

The other final member, who was a female mage named Elina, spoke up. “Do not worry, Wulfgar! That spell will eventually level up.” She gave a sweet smile to the mage. 

 

Sigric also looked to the mage and gave a cheerful smile. “Elina has been through the same predicament as you! Do not worry, as magic users always have it tough when leveling their spells.” Elina nodded in agreement. 

 

Tujen was the last to speak as he said, “Do not worry, my passive skills aren’t easy to level either.” and gave a sympathetic smile. 

 

Wulfgar’s mood brightened by a bit as he nodded. “Thank you all.” He gave a large smile as he continued, “But we really do need to be going.” The other members nodded and set off in the same direction as the goblin. 

 

Several minutes went by and they quickly came across a cave with a couple of goblins holding spears standing outside of it. They had already discussed a plan, so they all knew what to do. Tujen was the first to kick off the attack as he fired an arrow that struck one goblin in the chest. The goblin screamed in pain as it dropped its spear and fell to the ground. The other goblin jumped in fright as it shockingly looked at its dying companion. 

 

Suddenly, Freya rushed from the woods and swiftly cut the heads off the goblins in one smooth motion. The little creatures had no time to react to her speed. The other members followed after as they looked to the cave. Wulfgar and Elina started chanting as they pointed their staffs to the cave. When Elina finished her chant, a wall of fire erupted in front of the cave. It blazed with unmatched heat and Tujen could feel it, even standing several feet away. 

 

Wulfgar also finished his chant and a large fireball formed at the end of his staff and shot out into the cave. The screams of goblins could be heard as they were burned to death. Wulfgar quickly shot more fireballs into the cave. The wall of fire stopped the goblins from escaping as the inside of the cave was engulfed in flames.

 

If any goblins got through the wall of flames, Freya and Sigric would deal with them. While Tujen would provide support. After several minutes, the screams dyed down and the wall of fire vanished. 

 

Sigric nodded as the party looked to their captain to see his call. They soon went to go into the cave, but were stopped when Tujen shouted, “Wait!” Freya, who was in the lead, stopped and turned towards him with a questioning look. “Something’s about to come out.” The party members hurriedly backed away in apprehension as they wondered what goblin could have survived that inferno. The mages stood in the back of the formation to put distance between them and whatever was about to exit the cave. 

 

They waited in silence for a minute and right as Tujen was about to question what he felt, a goblin that was a head taller than a human emerged. Its body and basic leather clothes were singed all over. It wasted no time as it roared and rushed at Sigric, who was the closest to it. The large goblin lifted its wooden club and slammed it down towards the armored man. Sigric rolled out of its way and slashed its side with his sword. His heavy armor barely slowed him down due to its magical properties.

 

The creature yelled loudly as it lifted its club in the air to attempt another strike, but it stopped and winced when an arrow stuck its calf. Freya took this opportunity to slash at the tendons in the beast's legs, while Sigric kept it occupied by attacking it from the front while the mages used magic to deal damage and confuse the monster.

 

After a lot of precise teamwork, the beast fell and stopped breathing. “Damn! Who would have thought a giant goblin was in there?” Sigric cursed as he stabbed the beast through the heart and started to dig around for a spirit stone that would be in the bodies of certain creatures. They could be sold for good money and would make the life-endangering battle worth it. 

 

Tujen nodded in agreement with Sigric as he loudly added, “They appear in rare cases, but mostly in mountains.” He said this as he walked around the battlefield, grabbing all of his arrows that could still be used. The rest of the party split to do their own jobs of gathering materials that could be sold. 

 

When the party regrouped, they looked at Tujen with gratitude as he walked back over to the group after gathering his arrows. “You amazed us once again, Tujen!” Sigric said as he patted his back. 

 

Tujen gave an appreciative smile. Freya also opened her mouth, “Yes… You did well.” Tujen was slightly taken aback, along with the other members of the party. Freya rarely gave out compliments, so it was always a pleasant surprise when she did. 

 

Sigric laughed as Freya glanced away in embarrassment or anger. “Well, drinks will be on me once we get back to Murddoc!” Sigric heartily said. The other members smiled as a nice drink sounded good after a tough battle. 

 

After this, they gathered everything they needed and began to head back toward the village. The entire party was in a good mood as they walked through the dense trees. Tujen, who was usually a bit quiet, was also swept up in the mood and laughed along with the group. However, he did not let his guard down and was glad he didn’t as he sensed something nearby. 

 

“Hold up.” He said as he looked at the area where he felt a strange disturbance. Suddenly, he felt the movements of a few more creatures and looked around as a feeling of dread came over him. The rest of the party looked around in confusion as they tightly held onto their weapons. Suddenly Tujen’s eyes widened and he looked at Wulfgar and shouted, “Duck!” 

 

Wulfgar was too late as a large needle stuck him in the shoulder. Wulfgar grabbed his shoulder as he groaned in pain. Two more large needles flew from the trees and struck Elina and Sigric. Elina fell to the ground as the needle pierced her thigh, and began to tear up from the pain as she held her leg. Sigric was unfazed as the needle glanced off his armor. Tujen shouted to them, “It’s multiple needlers! We need to get out of the forest as soon as possible!” 

 

Fear flashed across their faces as they realized the danger. Needlers were bug-like creatures the size of a large dog. They had a tail that could fling needle-shaped scales at their target and were exceptionally stealthy and quick. It would be impossible to fight them unprepared. 

 

Tujen was the first to act after shouting and rushed to Elina, who was closest to him, to pick her up. She winced as he put her on his shoulders. Freya followed soon after and went to help Wulfgar, but was stopped when more needles flew out of the forest, striking her and the helpless mage. Her light leather armor wasn’t able to stop a needle from piercing her stomach and she doubled down, holding her stomach in the spot where the needle had pierced. Wulfgar had two needles in his leg now and was unable to walk, his face contorted in pain as the pain overloaded his senses.  

 

Tujen cursed and looked around to find Sigric doing something odd. He had a glowing scroll in his hand a teleportation scroll to be precise. He looked up from the scroll and gave Tujen an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Tujen. I hope to see you in the next life.” A magic circle appeared under Sigric as he disappeared. 

 

Tujen’s mouth fell in shock and he stopped in his tracks. But he wasn’t given time, as he felt needles flying towards him and Elina. He dodged out of the way, but the needles still scraped against various parts of his and Elina’s bodies. He cursed as he looked at Wulfgar and Freya. Wulfgar had visibly stopped breathing and Freya was doing her best to stand up. 

 

Tujen soon felt another round of needles coming towards Freya. They all struck her body before he could even say a word. She fell to the ground, motionless. 

 

Tujen cursed aloud, turned around, and ran as fast as he could. He could hear Elina’s ragged breath as her body became weaker. He pushed his body as much as he could as he heard the needles hit the ground and trees around him. He dodged those that he could but wasn’t able to always account for Elina in time as she was hit by another needle in her side. 

 

Tujen continued to run and as he was jumping over a log, he felt a needle nearing his right leg. He was in mid-air and was unable to dodge. The needle inevitably struck his leg and caused him to stumble when he hit the ground. Amazingly, he stayed on his feet and ran as best as he could. He clenched his teeth as he fought the pain and tried to lessen the pressure on his right leg. 

 

However, he felt several more needles coming towards him. He couldn’t dodge all of them and dodged what he could, but was struck in his left shoulder. Elina was also struck again, this time in her back. Tujen stumbled to the right but regained his footing and started to push against the ground to continue running. Yet, the ground did not hold solid and fell away as he put force into it. 

 

Tujen’s eyes opened in surprise as he and Elina fell into a hole in the ground. The two of them began to separate, which caused him to try to grab onto Elina, but this was fruitless as they hit a hard, sloped surface. Tujen cursed in pain as his vision faded to black.