We are G rank adventurers. We are at the lowest rank in the guild. There are 10 ranks for each adventurer. There are the G rank, the lowest, F rank, E rank, D rank, C rank, where most adventures are, B rank, strong enough to be a royal knight. The A rank, where an adventurer has the power that can defeat a B class monster. S rank, where most royal knights can’t compare. The SS rank, can defeat a war class monster. X rank, the highest rank an adventurer can get to, they are powerful enough to rival the chimera lord but, not powerful enough. There are only 5 X rank adventurers in whole Terene.

Adventurers are meant for protecting kingdoms and exterminate monsters for money. But some don’t just do it for the money. They do it for the fame. 

While I, a G rank, don’t do it for either money or fame. I want to do it. That is the reason. Azalie on the other hand, well...... He wants both. He’s not greedy or prideful either but he does lack both of them, Fame and money.

Anyway..... We just started adventuring and we’re already invited to join a party called “silver fangs” and kindly accepted it. Azalie seems pretty happy after what happen, as for me, I’m not that too happy about it. I’m still not confident in my strength. Back at my old world, I used to have a party even bigger than this one. I’m the leader of that party and is named “the golden bullets”. This is in a game of course.

We just got our first quest in a party and it’s to subjugate a bunch of goblins. Apparently, a new goblin clan just formed in a nearby cave and we are the ones who will kill them off. Our leader, Recon, is the one who picks the quest.

Both I and Azalie received some armour and some weapons like a sword and a dagger. The armor is a little sturdy but that’s all we can handle right now. It’s made out of calarinium, the equivalent of copper in earth. As for the weapons, it’s made out of fortinum, the equivalent of iron in earth.

As we prepare our battle with the goblins, I asked about how powerful are the goblins in this world. Recon said “it’s a beginner class monster. It’s not that dangerous unless it’s full by a hobgoblin or led by a goblin lord. It’s no problem for us but, to you two, it may be something you can’t handle on your own. But don’t worry, if there is a hobgoblin in there, I will take care of it.” 

He seems confident about this. It’s not like the first time they’ve done this before. They’ve maybe dealt with something much more dangerous than this, right? Nevertheless, they’re F rank adventurers and Recon is a C rank adventurer, so I guess, me and Azalie can relay on them if we’re ever in trouble with something like fighting off monsters and stuff.

Anyway, a few minutes, we are fully prepared for the quest and are ready to go to the cave. We begun our mission right after we stop at an inn to rest. The way to the cave is not that far but it will take a day or two if we walk there. We don’t have any horses so we first settle on an inn. Azalie and I share the same room and the others re the same, two people on a room. 

“Hey, Azalie?” I asked.

“What is it?”

“Don’t you think this will be a bit dangerous for us?”

“Why?”

“It’s just, I got this feeling that there’s going to be something unexpected to happen in the cave.”

“Don’t worry about it. There are just goblin. Plus, if there are any hobgoblins, we can relay on Recon and the others to take care of it.”

“I guess your right.”

I can’t help but worry about the mission tomorrow. I kept getting this feeling that there will be something dangerous. Well, let’s just see what will happen tomorrow on the quest then.

After a rest at an inn, we ate some breakfast and got our equipment on. We set forward to the mission, to subjugate goblins, and collect our reward. If we’ve done well on the mission, then our level will rise quicker. We prepare some food and a bag to carry along and some extra weapons, just in case.

Recon put some explosive in the bag to prepare for something unexpected like a bunch of hobgoblins or some other monsters. 

We took off to the cave and begun the mission. It will took a day to walk to the cave, that’s why we prepare some food and water. 

I haven’t introduce some of the members of the silver fangs. There are 8 of is in the party. There is Recon, the leader. A C rank. Gibiate, the mage of the party. An F rank. Frank, the archer. An F rank. Diego, the warrior. An E rank. Joseph, a warrior too. An E rank. Ashley, a mage. An F rank. And there is Azalie and me. A G rank adventurers. Very inexperienced.

We walk about five hours now, we’re pretty far from the kingdom and maybe close to the cave. 

We stopped for a rest after a few more hours of walking. We rested in a tree and chatted for a while. We also have lunch. The food was so delicious, and the water was refreshing. It was like I was back at the old house with my brothers and sisters before they found out my weak magic.

Anyway, after a quick rest, we begun to go deeper into the forest to search for the cave. 

Luckily, we found it. 

It was smaller than I thought. It was two meters high and atleast three meters wide. There was a cross made with flesh and bones and a few leaves at the front of the cave. It was a sign that there is a clan of goblins being led by a hobgoblin. 

“Let’s go inside.” said Recon.

I hesitated for a second. On the other hand, Azalie was pumped up and was very excited.

“Come on already, Zack.” 

“...”

“Don’t worry. I got your back.”

“Thanks. Azalie.” 

I begun walking into the cave. The others are ahead of us, but Azalie stayed by my side.

“Be careful, you two.” Said Recon.

“Recon, about the formation.” Asked Gibiate.

“Ok. Gibiate, your in the back for support with Frank and Ashley. Diego, your with me at the front. As for you three, your backup. Got it?”

“Yes.” Said everyone.

I was scared at the moment. But Azalie was very confident about himself and the team. I smiled and said: “Ok, I’ll do my best.” 

As we are getting deeper in the cave, Ashley’s light from his wand went out. The atmosphere was getting heavier the deeper we go. Without a light we can’t see. I freaked out for a second until Ashley lit his wand a gain with fire. I used fire magic too, to lit my hand up to provide some more light. 

“Shh. Everyone quiet.” Recon said.

After we got quiet, there was an arrow flying right through us. Recon deflected it and begun to prepare for battle. The objective was to lure the goblins to the outside and fight them there. The cave was too small for close combat. It was a disadvantage to Recon and Diego. 

“Everyone, Run!!” Recon screamed.

Everyone begun running. There was some sound of footsteps behind us, I’m guessing that the goblins are following us. Like in the plan. 

We finally got out of the cave. We waited for the goblins for a while until they finally showed up. There was about twenty of them and one of them was a hobgoblin. We fought of a few of them and Recon was still fighting the hobgoblin. I accidentally blasted a fire ball to the hobgoblin's face and it blinded him, having Recon to take advantage and slicing of his throat. 

It was very gross but I can handle it. Even though I’m scared of blood. Azalie on the other hand, took down atleast five of them. I was just a backup. I don’t mind since I can’t really fight. 

My training from my past life and here, I can’t use it here.

“Zack, that was awfully easy.” Azalie said to me with pride.

“Don’t get too full of yourself, there will be some others coming this way.” Said Recon.

After a moment of peace, there was a loud sound of something stomping inside the cave. It was different from the goblins and hobgoblin. 

“Prepare yourself, this may get ugly.” Recon said.

There was something coming from the cave, it was bigger than expected. The cave was collapsing, and was about to get destroyed. It was a green goblin monarch.

It was three meters tall. Very fat. He was holding an iron-like club about the size of a fully grown man. He has a very ugly face full of scars and blood, probably from what it’s eating. He has a very muscular upper body but very round on the middle. But from what I know, it’s kind is pretty rare, rarer than a hobgoblin.

He roared at us and it was so loud that it was most likely as loud as a hundred and sixty five decibels. 

After roaring, he charged to us and swings his club. We dodge that attack, and from what I can tell, one hit of that and your dead. He held back a little but after that attack, he got fatigued. Recon took the opportunity to strike and rushed over to the goblin monarch. 

He was about to strike when there was an arrow flying towards Recon. Recon back out a bit and prepares to attack again. I tried to fire a fire ball but I’m too scared because I’m scared that the goblin monarch might come towards me. Good thing that Gibiate fired a fire ball for me and it has hit the goblin archer. There are more but thanks to Gibiate, Frank can target them.

Frank aimed for the other goblin archers and took down two of them. As for Recon, Diego backed him up. They are evading every attack the goblin monarch gave them. With their skills, they can evade them with no problem. The goblin monarch's attack are very slow and causes him to get fatigued for every swing.

Azalie is still fighting the other normal goblins with joseph and has no problem handling them on their own. As for me, I give support for them, I blasted some fire balls and some hit the goblins, and some are flying off randomly. I thought that my training had sharpen my skills. Maybe because I’m still scared. Ashley is helping me with back up so no problem with the support.

The goblin monarch had taken some little damage from the two and Gibiate was supporting them, he would heal Recon and Diego. Good thing Gibiate has a copy skill with him. (Copy skill is a skill that copies the skills of other heroes. It copies thirty percent of the original spell. The greater and rarer the skill, the greater the drop of percent of the effectiveness of the skill.)

Everything was going well until there was a bunch of goblin mages came out of the cave. The goblin mages are a type of goblins that utilizes in magic. They are quite powerful for F rank adventurers and very dangerous to G ranks. They have robes the colour of dark blue and has a staff made out of wood and has an orb of mana made out of crystal. 

The goblin mages started chanting something gibberish and a ball of water appeared in front of them and then it blasted to us. It had hit Diego and was severely injured. Apparently, the gibberish they say are actually their own incantation of magic. It was very powerful. It had damage the armour and injured Diego with that attack. 

There was about six of them. They may be planning on something huge to blast at us. One of their attack can damage a teranium armour (teranium is the equivalent of cobalt.) While also dealing high damage to the wearer. 

We were about to get stuck in a dangerous situation. Recon was fighting off the goblin monarch on his own while Ashley is supporting him in a distance from the goblin monarch, Azalie and joseph is fighting the normal goblins, Frank was facing the goblin archers. Diego is being healed by Gibiate, and there are six goblin mages.

I was faced with the mages and had no idea to battle while also conquering my fear of killing something alive. I raised a knife to my father once but can’t actually kill him due to fear. But this is different.

“come on Zack, this is not the time to be scared.” I think hard.

“now, how to defeat all does mages. All at once? Wait....”

I fired two fire balls on the side of one of the goblin mages. They are lined up in a horizontal form, so for this to work, I will put fire on both sides of that line. The goblin mages was confused at first, but then they begun to laugh. They were laughing loud and it was embarrassing, but It will all be worth it. By manipulating the fire I had blasted to their sides, I flattened the fire to be a about half a centimetre long. The fire had flattened and is now five meters tall and half a centimetre wide. I used the opportunity to slice them in half by narrowing the flames and having them dash to the other side. The goblins had been sliced clean in half.

That attack had made me unlock a new skill called: fire blade. Fire blade? Well maybe it was like a sword it had formed that shape.

I had done it. That attack was super effective. Gibiate and the others was shocked to see a fire user use it’s power for something other than burn. Well, it was thanks to all my studying back at my old world. By narrowing the fire and pressurising it, it will be deadlier than an assassin's sword. I had done my part, now, how about the other guys.

Diego was all healed up and was ready to battle again, Azalie and Joseph got rid of all the normal goblins and had minor injuries while Frank took down all the goblin army. Recon was still battling with the goblin monarch and was still maintaining his physical condition because of Ashley. The others helped Recon by assisting him with the goblin monarch. 

So this is what having a team is like, huh. I never felt like this before. When in games, they are time where we help each other in battle but, on a real battlefield, it feels good. Having friends like this really makes your heart warm.

Anyway, the goblin monarch is still maintaining his physical condition too. He kept swing his club but always misses. Recon and Diego kept attacking after the goblin swings his club. Both of them could definitely defeat that goblin in their own.

The goblin got frustrated and got angry. Very hot headed. He lifted his club and hit the ground making us throw off balance. I was very distant to the goblin monarch so it didn’t do much to me. Recon can’t get up and Diego too. The goblin took the opportunity to attack Recon and rushed over to him.

He lifted his club and laugh at Recon. Speaking gibberish again but I can tell that it was making fun of Recon. When he was about to get smashed, I fired a fire ball to his face, but it didn’t do any damage. He ignored it and looked at Recon. When he was about to pound him, his eyeball burst and blood was raining down on his face. 

He dropped the club and Recon too the opportunity to slice his head. Recon used his magic, enhance magic like sir. Lion's and enhanced his body and sword to deliver the final blow. The goblin monarch screeched then Recon thrusts his sword towards the goblins neck and finally decapitating him. It was so cool.

It was finally over.

“Hey, Zack?” Gibiate asked.

“What?” I answered.

“How did you make the goblin's eyeball explode?”

“Well, remember the fireball I fired in his face? I used fire manipulation to make the heat from the eyeball that was heated by my fire and increased it’s temperature to make it hot enough to burst.”

“How do you know that!?!” Gibiate asked in shock.

I can’t really say the reason why I know it. I can’t let them figure out that I was using my knowledge from my previous life.

“Well..... It’s a secret.”

“But what- what about the mages? I saw you use some fire like blade to slice through them at once. It was like iron magic or blade magic. I’ve never seen someone use that kind of skill with fire magic.”

“I can’t really tell you the reason.”

“But, well, that was pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.” Said Recon.

After we finish the quest, we hurried back to the kingdom to collect our reward. Our reward for subjugating thirty normal goblins, five goblin archer, six goblin mages and a goblin monarch is equal to six gold and fifty-one silver coins.

We are walking into the forest to collect some herbs and meat to sell and earn some money along woth the subjugation. While I was walking, I heard Gibiate was talking to himself. 

“It will be over soon.” He whispered.

Then, I noticed that there is a black figure hiding in the shadows of one of the trees. It was hard to see cause of the other trees but I can confirm that there is something in there.

It’s not just me who noticed. Frank was holding his bow like he was prepared to kill someone. I told Azalie about it and turns out he noticed it to. 

As we head for a cliff to pick a rare herb, Frank points his bow at something in the forest. He shot his arrow into the forest and it went back to him, but luckily Recon deflected it.

“Who’s there?” said Recon.

There is something hiding in there. It was the man who helped my dad kill Zayne Onii-chan. He was wearing the same black robe and was holding a staff with a red crystal as it’s power source. He revealed himself as he takes of the robe.

“I’m Rayas. There great beast tamer.” He said.

“Rayas?!? That’s the C rank adventurer known for his scent magic.” Said Gibiate.

Scent magic. I have read about that once. It’s a type of magic that controls the smell or scent of a certain object or being. It can be used to fool other monsters to think that there is a powerful monster thats about to attack them. It can also be used to tame other beast by producing the type of smell that makes them neutral.

So that’s why he got a C class monster to attack him. He used a certain smell that attracts that monster. I still hold a grudge about him.

“What do you want?” Said Frank.

Everyone was confused. Azalie is activating his electricity magic to his sword, Frank was steadily increasing his wind magic quality, Gibiate was chanting something, Ashley was getting scared, Joseph and Diego is preparing for battle, Recon and I was also prepared for some kind of attack from the Rayas.

“What do I want? I want to execute you all.” He said.

“Why? We’ve never done anything to you.” Said Recon.

“Not you. You!” said Rayas as he pointed his finger at me.

“Me?” I asked.

“Yes. Your something I want.”

“What do you want from him?” Said Azalie.

“Silence!!!” 

Rayas chanted something. While he’s chanting, the red crystal was glowing and there was a big magic circle under him. After he chanted, there was a C class silver wolf that came out behind him from the forest. He lured the silver wolf with scent magic. 

We we’re at the edge of a cliff and we have no way of escaping. The forest is blocked by the wolf and if we jump off the cliff, we would have a small chance of survival. We got no choice but to fight.

What can we do? We are cornered. 

“If you want to survive, give me the boy.” Rayas spoke.

“Give him Zack.” Said Frank as he points hi bow to Recon.

“What has gotten into you?” Recon said.

They seem to be betraying us. Give me to him?!? What has gotten into Frank. He was very kind a second ago.

The situation seems to be tense. We have no escape yet there is someone betraying us.

“Give it up, we have you 6 to 3.” Said Frank.

“What do you mean 6? Is there more of you?” 

Diego points his sword to Recon, Joseph points his sword to Azalie, Frank was already pointing his bow at Recon and Gibiate had casted a water chain on me.

“What are you all doing?” I said.

There are only 3 of us. Gibiate was already casting the spell since Rayas showed up, I can tell on how tight and durable the water chains are.

The C class monster was generating electricity on his back. Maybe Azalie can control it using some skill of his. Or maybe I can since it’s both plasma.

“Azalie, use one of your skills on the wolf. Maybe you can control it.” 

“It’s no use. That is a C class monster. No ordinary adventurer can just manipulate it’s powers, let alone it’s mind. So you just give up and give yourself to me.” Rayas spoke with laughter.

I can’t think of any more ways to escape this. Is there anyone that can help us. Maybe Recon has come up of something. He has been quiet for too long. Wait, maybe has.

“Give it up, you can’t escape us. There is only 3 of you.”

“You sure?” Recon said with a smug face.

“What do you mean?”

“Now!!” Recon screamed.

Ashley was hiding in the back. Since he was very reserved and shy, no one can suspect him doing something, let alone notice him. That was very brilliant. Ashley had been casting a spell this whole time. He has broken my chain and it was time to act, fast.

Recon moved too. Frank shoots his arrow to Recon but Recon deflected it back at Frank and it had hit him in the shoulder. Azalie electrocuted Joseph and Diego and it has effectively injured. The two of them collapsed unconscious.

Rayas commanded the silver wolf to attack and it jumped right to me. I barely dodged it. The wolf was big and strong enough to kill me with just one jump. It jumped again right to me but I didn’t dodged it in time. I thought I was dead but When I opened my eyes, Recon was blocking the wolf from attacking. 

He was barely keeping up. Gibiate fired a fireball at Recon but I was quick enough to control it and fire it back at him. Gibiate quickly chanted a water barrier to protect him. Azalie and Ashley was also battling the wolf with Recon. I rushed over to him and helped him. The wolf was still too powerful for the four of us. Rayas was just watching with a smile in his face. It’s like he had gone insane a long time ago.

Rayas called for another monster. It was a black viper. It arrived at the exact moment I fired a large ball of flame at Rayas. I thought he was off guard but I was wrong.

The Black viper is a C rank monster. It was at least twenty-five feet long. We were outmatched. Recon called for me. I came closer and he whispered: go to the edge of the cliff. I got a plan.” I went with his idea and head for the cliff.

“What now?” I asked.

Recon was crying when I looked at him. He was crying!! I don’t know what’s going on but I guesd it’s because of the situation we’re in right now.

Recon used his magic on the ground I was standing on. He reduced the density of the ground and it started to crumble.

“I’m sorry. It’s the only way to save you.”  Recon whipped.

“No! Wait! I can still fight!” I screamed as I try to climb up.

Azalie came closer to me. He was standing in front of me, also crying. It’s the first time I’ve seen him cry like this. He had the same idea as Recon.

“I’m sorry, but this is the only way to save you. Good bye.” 

He pushed me of the cliff.

 My thoughts was: I can’t accept this. I can still fight. Am I that of a burden? You guys sacrificed yourself to save me. Am I really that weak? Don’t do that to someone as weak as I am. I should be the one dying instead of you. 

...

“everything is black. I can’t see. Am I... Am I on the bottom of the cliff? Seems like it.”

“Ouch! My arm hurts. Wait, I can’t speak.”

“Haaaahhhhhh.” I screamed poorly.

My voice seems a bit broken. My arm hurts. My arm! Where’s my arm?!? 

My left arm was ripped off. Maybe of the fall. If I was stronger, then maybe, just maybe, I could die with them. Or even survived and have another lunch with them. 

How?

How had this happen. I can’t see anything. It turns out, I was blinded when I fall. I was so caught up on my thoughts that I haven’t noticed that I was blinded and lost an arm when I had hit the ground. 

I tried to stand up but......

My legs was gone too. How can I survive this? I need to survive for them. If they survived the silver wolf and the black viper, then I have to find them. I need to find them, so we can again hangout angain and do adventurer stuff.

Those bastards, Gibiate, Jospeh, Frank and Diego. They betrayed us. They were working for Rayas. Fuck them all. Once I’ve survived this, I’ll find Azalie and Recon and we will hunt down the five of you.

Specially, specially that Rayas. That bastard. If I had to kill you I can only say, “You disgust me.”