One of my first introductions to Anime was a series recommended by a good buddy of mine. Now normally that wouldn’t be an issue as I trusted my friend’s taste in media. But the problem that arose was that the series itself was fairly controversial. There was nothing wrong with the storyline, mind you. It followed the titular character on his personal quest to singlehandedly slaughter every goblin under the sun. No, the problem lay in his, shall I say, zealous motivation to slay the little bastards. A motivation that was displayed in vivid detail ten minutes into the show.

Let’s just say the Internet was on fire after the airing.

To this day, I still didn’t understand why my friend decided that my first foray into the genre should be watching an unprepared adventurer party being gruesomely manhandled by a horde of the green midgets. What I did understand was that if I allowed things to continue the way they were going, I was about to get a front row seat to a reenactment of that very scene.

The trio of goblins advanced on our group with greedy confidence. While their brain functions were dwarfed by ours, they still retained an animalistic cunning that could not be underestimated. Just like a pack of wolves would automatically circle surround a frightened deer; these creatures were unconsciously trying to corner us into a disadvantaged position. It was instinct for them. As natural as a predator feeding off the fear of its prey.

And the girls were emanating waves of fear so thick it was almost painful.

I suddenly recalled that the goblins in that particular story only violated female adventurers. The male ones were simply eaten. That, more than anything else, galvanized me into action.

“Amarys!” the girl jolted as my voice reached her, “Plant your feet firmly so they can’t knock you down! Keep that shield up!” her back straightened imperceptibly, almost as though my words were having a physical effect, “Don’t let any of those bastards through!”

As soon as I gave those orders, a wave of… something crashed into my mind. It was strong enough to make me reel. I couldn’t describe the sensation. It was like discovering a part of me that I always knew was there but had always been missing. It was like having a mental block suddenly and irrevocably removed.

Somewhere deep in my psyche, letters began to form into words.

+++

Tactician Passive Aura Activated

Voice of Command Level I

The Tactician reassures his companions with orders that will swing the battle in their favor.

All orders given to party members at the beginning of the battle phase have the additional effect of removing any negative modifiers to the party’s morale. Effectiveness based on the Tactician’s skill.

+++

I gritted my teeth and ignored this new development. I had bigger fish to fry.

“Selene! Guard Amarys’s flank! Her sword side is weak! Use your spear’s length to keep them at bay! If they get through the two of you, we’re dead!”

The girl’s shoulders jerked as though tugged by an invisible string. Yet the spear was still lowered, gripped in steady hands that had been shaking mere seconds ago.

“Shelmir! Target the goblin furthest away from us! Suppress the bastard!”

I heard the twang of the bowstring first and then winced as an arrow flew past my head. However, Shelmir must have still been nervous as her aim was off. The arrow thudded into the ground a few inches away from the intended target. Nonetheless, it was enough to make the goblin jump back, screeching spitefully.

“Elise!” I barked to the last member of our team, “Take out your sling and help her! Give our melee some breathing room!”

“Y-Yes!” she was the only one who responded to me with words.

The low hum of a sling being whirled overhead sounded from behind me. A second later and the goblin was forced to throw itself back even further to avoid the hurtling slingstone.  

Another wave of something assailed my mind. Muted this time. With less of the dull pain that came before.

+++

Debuff Applied: Suppressed

Target cannot participate during this battle phase. If ranged attacks are not made against this target in the next battle phase, then the target no longer counts as suppressed. A target recovered from “Suppressed” suffers a 50% negative modifier to melee and ranged stats for one consecutive turn.

+++

Our success goaded the remaining two creatures into moving. They leapt at us, bounding forward on short yet powerful legs. The heaving laughter that came from their drooling jaws resembled the dry cackle of desert dog jackals. They closed the distance in remarkable time, but our defenses had already been set.

The one brandishing the club lapped around Amarys, trying to get past the shield and into her unguarded rear. Selene’s spear stopped it. Though the girl’s thrusts were clumsy, they at least managed to drive the goblin away from our tank’s flank. The creature hissed in frustration as it realized we had foiled its plan.

Which left one last enemy. The leader with the stone axe. Seeing that its compatriots had been thwarted, the lead goblin threw all caution to the wind. It launched itself at Amarys, trying to drag her to the floor with the weight of its body. But like Selene, she was prepared. Her feet planted firmly against the ground, she took the full force of the charge like a rock. The goblin rebounded off the braced shield and rebounded painfully. However, the axe clutched in its claws was the wild factor. Axes were ideal for splintering shields and the one Amarys carried was nothing more than an assortment of wooden boards. The crude axe, despite being made from stone, buried itself into the shield and remained lodged there. Which meant the goblin remained also lodged there.

I caught sight of the panic on Amarys’s features as her foe tried to use the stuck axe as leverage to disarm her. One of the goblin’s reedy arms was already reaching over the lip of her shield, raking at her face with talon-like nails.

“Raise your shield backwards!” I yelled at her, “Use the bastard’s momentum against it! Throw it off!”

The girl immediately sank on one knee. As the creature pushed one last time against her shield, she used its own impetus against it and flung the surprised figure over her head. The goblin lost its grip on the axe and flailed wildly as it sailed through the air. It landed a few meters away from me in a heap of disjointed limbs.

+++

Status Effect Applied: Stunned

Enemy cannot move or attack during this turn. Enemy will make an attempt to recover from this status effect every turn. Success rate is dependent on the enemy’s condition. Stunned enemies take twice as much damage from all sources.

+++

Time seemed to slow down.

Elise and Shelmir were busy keeping their target suppressed. Selene was fending off her own foe. And Amarys was needed at the front to block the enemy should they recover.

The only one who remained uncommitted was me. I clenched my jaw. Somewhere deep in my mind, I knew there was no going back from this. My legs were moving before my brain could logically process what I was about to do.

I tackled the stricken goblin before it could get up again. My forearm crushed its chest and drove the breath out of its lungs. I pinned it to the floor where it wriggled like a stuck worm. My other arm groped desperately among the dirt until it found what I was looking for. When I raised my hand, there was a fist-sized rock clenched between my fingers.

For a split-second, I hesitated.

What was being demanded of me… I wasn’t sure I could do it. While I’ve gotten into fights before when I was a teenager, this… this was something else entirely. To actually kill a living being… I just couldn’t go through with it.

And then I looked into the creature eyes, stared into its cruel, glinting pupils, and I knew immediately that if the situation was reversed, it would show me absolutely no mercy.

The first blow broke its hooked nose. The second blow ruptured its eye socket. The goblin screamed as a ruined eyeball dribbled loose. I raised the now bloody rock and pancaked what remained of its nose into its face. The fourth blow shattered every teeth in its shrieking mouth. The fifth blow cracked open its head from the top of its cranium to the base of its skull. Brackish ichor and grey cerebral fluid gushed out like the ripe innards of a split fruit.

There wasn’t a need for a sixth blow as the thing was already dead. The rock dropped from my nerveless fingers. I gazed down at my handiwork and then looked up.

Everyone was staring at me. My allies. My enemies. I caught flashes of different emotions in those stares. Surprise. Shock. Fear. It was all strangely funny and I nearly gave in to the sudden urge to laugh. Then the realization of what I just did abruptly crashed onto my shoulders.

I puked hard. My throat burned as I retched out my lunch. And that’s when it hit me. It was real. Everything. My new companions. The goblins. This blasted, godforsaken forest.

My mind might still hold onto the notion that I was in a nightmarish parody of a fantasy genre, but the stench of my stomach’s contents was all so real. And that’s what ultimately rooted me to reality. I wiped the back of my hand against my mouth.

“What are you waiting for?” I rasped to my stunned cohorts, “Finish it!”

The girls were jolted into action. Selene was closest to the enemy. Her target’s attention was still latched onto me. The goblin was staring at me in shocked horror. So it had no defense whatsoever when Selene’s spear slid into its chest and exploded out its back. A killing blow without a shadow of a doubt. The creature made no sound as it dropped on its back. Its fall took the spear out of Selene’s hands. The girl staggered back as though she was surprised she had made the kill at all.

The remaining goblin took one look at the aftermath and turned to run. It turned and then twisted as Shelmir’s shaft found its mark. The arrow launched from a shortbow would have been nonfatal to a human, but to a body much smaller than ours, it was ruinous. The shaft went through one side and came out the other. The goblin flopped to the ground and started squealing. All its frenzied thrashing served to do was to break the arrow inside of it into many pieces of jagged wood. The squealing turned into screaming.

It was still screaming when Amarys walked over and bludgeoned it to death with her worn broadsword.  

The forest became silent once more.

I let out the breath I had been inadvertently holding.

“Fuck.”

Soft hands took one of my arms to support me. Elise’s pretty features were a picture of concern. And when that wasn’t enough, another pair of hands took my other arm. Together, they hauled me back to my feet.

“How did you do that?” Shelmir asked.

“Fuck if I know,” I muttered.

“Are you a Support Class of some kind?” Selene had retrieved her spear. She leaned on it, half out of exhaustion, half to look at me.

“I don’t even know what that is.”

“When you gave us those orders,” Amarys had seemingly lost her stuck-up attitude. I even caught a glimmer of respect on her face, “I felt it. We… We all felt it.”

“Felt what?”

“You mean you don’t know?” Shelmir said softly. Her hands refused to leave my arm.

“No, I don’t know.”

“How can you not know?” Selene pressed.

“The same way I didn’t know you weren’t adventurers,” I snapped.

All of them had the decency to look embarrassed.

“We didn’t mean to deceive you,” murmured Elise.

“We just had to protect ourselves,” Amarys looked me in the eye, “If you want to blame someone, blame me.”

I tilted my head at the three dead goblins.

“A bit too late for that, don’t you think?”

They followed my gaze and their cheeks flushed even further.

“It was the first time we’ve ever fought,” Amarys said evenly, “But you’re right. We didn’t tell you the truth.”

“If you hadn’t been here to direct us,” Selene started.

“Then we could’ve ended up like them,” Shelmir finished.

“So thanks for helping us,” Elise said earnestly. Then she peered up at me, “But Sir Warren, how can you do all of this? When you were ordering us, we almost felt like there was a hand on our shoulder. Are you an adventurer? Just what are you?”

I looked back at their expectant faces.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.