From a distance, the size of the behemoth standing in the center of the road was enough to make Jake think twice about diving straight in. The wall of meat and muscle ahead of him stood nearly a full eight feet tall with a broad shoulder span wider than even the Hobgoblins. Arms and legs thick with muscle, taut muscles developed from countless encounters and a refined training regime that made this Goblin stand ahead of every other in the region. The clothing and armor it wore wasn’t made, it was earned. Taken from the adventurers who had tested its mettle. The Goblin even had the scars to match.

However, Jake found it odd that the Goblin had no weapon beyond the club. The massive thick trunk of a tree had been carved into a thick stub of an object, creating a blunt force weapon that could splatter a body with one powerful swing. While a blade was more precise and refined with the damage dealt, the club would break and shatter, cripple and crack. A single strike from that obscene weapon wouldn’t kill but it would definitely put a warrior out of the fight. With that in mind, Jake understood the choice. Goblins were thieves and bastard monsters, of course. Killing their foe right away would ruin the fun.

“Stop the carts.” Jake ordered. They were two hundred meters from the Champion and his horde, with more trickling in from the other dens. There were a few Goblin stragglers in the treeline near the carts but they were all running towards their powerful leader rather than attacking. With their attention elsewhere, this was a safe spot for now.

The carts rolled to a halt, the horses heaving and huffing as they took the opportunity to recover. They rested and Jake checked over his gear, preparing for his own moment of physical exertion. His forearm was still in bad shape. Dumping mana into the injury was speeding up the process but it wouldn’t be healed in time. Not fully, at least. His coagulated and the wounds were closed on the surface but the deeper injuries were taking more time. Jake had expended a lot of mana tonight. Expecting to need the rest, he was rationing. His recovery time was taking the biggest hit out of everything.

“What’s the plan?” Randal called over his shoulder, showing that he was too scared to take his eyes off that massive creature. He wanted to be ready to run just in case it rushed them.

“Unhitch the horses.” Jake cinched down the shield to his arm, tightening it beyond the comfort level to act as both a brace and to ensure it wouldn’t fall off by accident. That club was going to be trouble. “Five minutes. If I’m not done in five minutes, take the horses and run back to the village.”

Randal snapped around. “What? You want us to leave you? Absolutely not!”

“It’s not a request.” Jake dismounted and landed heavy, his boots thumping on the dirt. “That Goblin is going to cause problems and if I get stuck in a brawl, there isn’t anyone here to protect you from an ambush.” Jake rolled his shoulders and reached for his mana, pushing it through his body as he prepared to dawn his Dragon Aura should he need it. He’d have to be careful with it, though. Utilizing it here would burn through a lot of his reserves. “I’m not taking chances.”

“What happened to trusting you, Jake? We can’t just leave you and the supplies.” Randal continued to argue but Jake gave him a harsh look.

“Supplies can be replaced. You can’t. I came out here and underestimated the threat. This is the result.” Jake sighed as he stepped forward beside the horse. It sputtered and huffed, its hooves kicking at the ground. Jake ran his fingers over the broad side of the animal, patting the thick torso a few times. “I’ll burn the cart before the Goblins get it and then I’ll catch up afterwards. There shouldn’t be anything behind us so you’ll be safe to run.”

“I don’t like this, Jake. I don’t like it at all.” Randal spat, his right foot tapping on the cart. “We can’t just run now. Throw some fire at them or something!”

Jake furrowed his brow. “Really?”

“Well, yea!”

Jake rolled his eyes and turned towards the horde. “If it were that easy, we wouldn’t have had such a problem getting here. They aren’t going to let us just run away, Randal.” Jake picked up his feet and started to walk. He gripped his elven sword tight in his hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

“Hey!” Randal shouted at his back. However, the conversation was over. Arguing wouldn’t change their situation and the Goblins wouldn’t be patient forever. They were likely waiting just to see if Jake and the carts would turn to run. If Jake waited any longer, the Champion might decide to jump on them.

Steadying his breathing as his blood raced, Jake focused his mind and steeled himself. He set a rhythm and eased the tension in his mind. The pain of expending so much mana at once was still there, a dull stabbing behind his eyes and in the back of his head. It made him wince. There was also the aching in his arm and the burning in his wounds. Those would numb with adrenaline, or so he hoped. His arms were still loose and he could move without issue. Nothing was hindering his ability to fight. Though his senses were a little dulled by the pain in his eyes, he had a clear awareness of his surroundings.

“Here we go…” He cooled the nerves with a hot exhale and then dug his heels into the dirt. Standing in the center of the road, Jake took his position between the Champion and his charge. He stood a mere twenty meters from the Champion and well within the reach of the horde that lurked in the treeline. Their numerous, glistening yellow eyes stabbed at him. Behind him, Randal and Bailey were finishing unhitching the horses from the carts and were pulling them to the second cart. There, they could throw on the basic saddles they’d brought along.

Jake twisted his chin and stretched his neck. “You just gonna stare at me, you ugly rat?” Jake’s eyes narrowed as he gazed up towards the beady, bright yellow eyes of the Champion.

It grinned down at him then did the unexpected. It’s mouth opened and a deep, gurgling voice leaked from its throat. “You, kill many, us…” It growled. Much like a beast rumbling. “We, kill you. Repayment. Pleasure.” The Goblin chuckled after its words, its chest lumbering as its voice reverberated through the air. The smaller Goblins, even the Hobs, began laughing as well. A symphony of annoyance filled Jake’s ears.

Too on edge to acknowledge that this thing just freakin’ talked, Jake brought his shield to bare and took his fighting stance. His sword poked over the side of it as his eyes bore into his foe. “You won’t be the last one to try.”

The Champion chuffed and gripped its club. Before it could move, Jake’s mana blue eyes glinted. Four fire spears appeared at his shoulders and rocketed forward, accelerating towards the Champion. In their sparking trails, Jake lurched forward and sprinted at the target. His shield remained raised in case he needed it and his sword slid down towards his hip.

The club swatted the spears out of the way in a powerful sweep, shattering their cores and scattering the mana within them. However, the explosive runes triggered regardless. With their fuel stored within them directly, they ignited on impact with the club. The explosions produced a cloud of smoke and an intense heat that forced the Champion to recoil. It took a step back, its right foot smashing into the dirt as it leaned away from the flames. Chips of the wooden weapon scattered, splintering as the runes blew chunks off it.

Beneath the smoke, Jake emerged near the Champion's feet. Low and close, breaching the Champion’s guard. He stepped wide and far to the right, snapped his wrist to brandish the glowing edge of his blade, then sliced back to the left. The weapon carved a deep gash through the Champion’s left thigh. Blood and gristle splattered as the dense quadricep of the creature was cut effectively in half. Jake’s shield opened to the left and he brought his right arm under, then swept it upwards to try and cut at the Goblin’s midsection.

The Champion snarled as it backed up further to avoid the follow-up. It ignored the fresh cut and stomped into the ground before swinging its massive club down at Jake. The wood met iron for only a moment before smashing into the floor. Momentum ceased and Jake remained standing beside it. He’d deflected the blow. The Champion roared as it swept the club across the ground, dragging it in a violent swipe to try and collect the pesky human. Dirt, rock, and wind blew out into the air as the wake of the swing revealed the power in the Champion’s arm.

Pain rolled through Jake’s forearm, the bone creaking from the stress of the previous effort. He dove and rolled to his left to avoid the club, using the shield as a sort of platform to rotate himself over before hopping back to his feet. The Champion wielded the club in its right hand so Jake worked to keep in its blind spot. Though it also put him in a dangerous position. That club was quick and it came down even quicker. Before he could attack, the Goblin brought it down like a hammer.

Jake pivoted on his feet and jumped backwards, avoiding the impact rather than trying to parry it. When his feet touched dirt, he heard a snarl behind him. Warning signals flared in his mind as his Sensory Magic alerted him of his proximity to another threat. Jake dropped to a knee and twirled, raising his shield to block a heavily thrown fist destined for the center of his spine. A Hobgoblin’s hand crashed into the metal. Pain burned through Jake’s arm and he grunted, choking on the sensation.

The fist recoiled off the shield and Jake filled the gap with a quick stab, thrusting a hot sword through the fatty chest of the Hobgoblin. He yanked the weapon free and moved, avoiding the club as it smashed both ground and meat. The Hobgoblin was caught in the attack and crushed beneath the wooden weapon. The death of the secondary threat spurred the rest of the horde into action, taking the death of an outsider as permission to start an all-out skirmish.

Jake sucked his teeth.

The Champion grinned.

The swarm collapsed in a hurry, a rush of green spilling from the treeline as Jake centered himself on the road. There was no time to drop the sky like he wished he could. They were too close for that and already in motion. Reacting quickly, Jake launched Fire Spears at their feet, targeting the ground and encircling himself with a wave of fire. The Goblins ran face first into the spells, scattering and burning as the explosive tips tore through meat and rock. Two Hobgoblins breached his line in the dirt and came at him with fists at the ready, countering his magic with brute force.

Jake blocked one fist then pivoted to avoid the second. A third made him backstep. A fourth came, forcing him to block again. He twisted away from the next and cut the limb at the elbow, severing the arm. Parrying the other, Jake sliced the throat of the Hob on his left and blew its choking body away with a burst of Wind magic. The spell caused the Hob on his right to stumble backwards and Jake blew its body apart with a point blank Fire Spear to the face. Jake’s winced again and turned away from the heat, the scalding flame nearly threatening to collect him too. His clothes burned from the residual fire, singeing the hems of his shirt and sleeves along with the loose threads in the torn, stained fabric.

The horde encircled him fully, Goblins running onto the road at his back before rushing from all angles. Expanding his Sensory Mana to give him a full view of his direct surroundings, Jake began casting at will. With enemies in every direction, there was no need to aim. Fire and Wind twisted and ripped through the air, scattering meat, rock, and flame. In the center, Jake twisted and danced on his toes and heels. The angry mob attacked with rock, rusty knife, claw, and teeth. Jake parried and blocked. Swiped and slashed. Stabbed and kicked. Eyes alight with adrenaline and mana, the Apostle answered with surgical rage.

His heart raced in his chest. The noise of the fight faded. His breathing grew hot as sweat beaded on his brow. Instinct replaced thought as Jake relinquished the reins. His clothes tore. Blood flowed down his arms and legs. His arm numbed, the pain fading as his hand curled into a tight fist. A Goblin’s insides splattered over his face as he cut it out of the air. Two halves of its body flew past him. He had no time to wipe the muck from his skin and turned to address another threat. He cut through an arm, kicked the Goblin aside, then sliced through two others on his right. His shield twisted at his left and raised to block a thrown spear before dropping to block a swung ax. He threw an elbow to bash in the face of a jumper and side stepped to avoid one jumping for his back.

Slicing quickly, Jake cut that Goblin’s leg off, twisted his wrist, then cut another across the eyes. He stabbed next, piercing through a chest cavity. His shield thumped as a Goblin smashed a club into it. Jake stabbed it in the eye socket. Pivot, twist, step. Jake beheaded another then slashed at the next. Fire flared off his right and the ground exploded behind him as two more spells impacted nearby. Three others went off further to his right and another he practically ignited in his own face, blowing apart five Goblins who were all trying to jump at him together.

A pillar of smoke rose for a brief moment before wind knocked it clear, blown aside by a barrage of Wind Cones. Jake didn’t stand and stare to watch the effects but turned and bashed a Goblin out of the air with his shield. The view cleared for only a minute before the Champion revealed its existence once more. Arm raised, club already falling, the Champion took advantage of an opportunity. That heavy club fell on where Jake stood. Surrounded and unable to dodge, Jake raised his shield and grit his teeth.

The horde stepped back as the club crashed into the shield, kicking up dust. Cracking the ground. The sound of the massive impact brought instant silence to the fight as the Goblins looked into the cloud. However, the Champion already knew the result of its swing. Its smile turned into an annoyed scowl.

Beneath the club, Jake’s arm remained stoic in its defense. Jake had been pushed to a knee. Blood leaked from splits in his arm where the bone had cracked and broken skin. Yet, his fist was tightly closed and his arm resisted the burden of the blow. Mana coated the Apostle’s skin, a thick layer of power covered his body in a layer of protection. The shield was dented and bent. The clasps holding the defensive tool to his arm were cracked, one of them even broken. As the club raised, Jake released his fist and rose back to his feet. The shield fell from his arm, clattering on the ground having performed one last feat.

The Champion stared down at the Apostle, eyes narrowed and teeth barred. The smaller Goblins surrounding the crater in the floor hesitated. The very air around Jake seemed to be on fire as the Dragon Skin leaked from his skin. The blood in his shattered arm stopped leaking and the bone fragments retreated beneath his skin, the snapped bone fixing into a simple fracture. Jake flexed his hand to test its strength, then grabbed the hilt of his spell blade.

Drawing the weapon, Jake set his eyes on the Goblin Champion.

“That it? Jake asked. Then, his eyes ignited as his chest burned hot. His mana twisted and the ground erupted. Spikes tore through the Goblin ranks, the rock and stone exploding with violence as the horde was skewered. The Goblin Champion backed up to avoid being caught in the surprise and brandished its club defensively, its eyes snapping from left to right as the smaller Goblins flailed from their trapped positions or died on the spikes.

Jake huffed and dumped mana into his spell blade, the weapon burning with heat. “Thought so.” He stepped forward and launched himself at the Champion.

Accepting the challenge, the Champion swung its club in a downward movement, bashing the ground with a heavy thump. The floor cracked. Rocks and dirt scattered. Jake sidestepped the swing. Breaching the guard, Jake sliced the Champion’s forearm then cut at its wounded leg again. The Champion snarled and threw a fist, attacking while pulling its club back. Jake backstepped, the fist whiffed. Swinging wide, the Goblin swiped at Jake then brought its club down on him. Again, the club hit dirt. Angered and enraged, the Champion began to pummel the ground and swung wildly, trying anything to try and catch the slippery human dancing in front of it.

Calm and quiet, eyes focused on the Champion, Jake moved fluidly through the barrage until the opening revealed itself. Too focused on the threat in front of it, the Champion failed to realize the threat above it. As the club smashed into the ground again, Jake took a long step back and hopped slightly, creating distance. A second later, eight fire spears collapsed on the Champion. Burrowing into flesh and bone, the flames pierced its thick skin and armor. Explosive runes forged within their tips caused fissures to erupt from within the Goblin’s body, causing massive boils to form and pop. Its shoulders exploded with gushes of blood. A two holes tore open in its massive back. Another spell scattered a chunk of meat from its hip. The last hit the ground, destroying the earth it stood on and causing painful shrapnel to dig into its legs and feet.

The Champion howled as it fell to a knee and a fist, its upper body tipping. Before it could look up, its eyes suddenly spun as its body seemed to rotate in front of it. The world rolled as a sharp sensation of pain burned at its neck.

There was no noise. No grunt. No gurgle. The Champion’s head thumped to the floor then its body collapsed in a heavy, dull heap. Jake stood over the Champion’s head, his eyes meeting the bright yellow orbs one final time as they stared back at him. For a moment, he was all the Goblin Champion could see. Then, the yellow dimmed as the Champion’s eyes clouded over.

Jake turned around, the main threat dispatched, and swept his eyes over the road. To his surprise, only a handful remained. Majority of the Goblins bolted for the treeline, fleeing from both his act of desperation and from the sight of their leader falling. Their Champion was dead. Their numbers were crippled and any hope of defeating him was long gone. Their howls and screeches faded into the night. Those that remained stood around the injured Hobgoblins, brandishing whatever weapons they could find in the carnage.

“At least I won’t have to hunt all of you down,” Jake muttered. Stepping forward, Jake approached them with a careful stride. He didn’t run or rush the encounter. There was no need to do so anymore.

The Goblins rumbled their orders to one another, snapping at each other until finally deciding to rush him all at once. Jake didn’t meet them with his swords, but with his magic. He blew out the left leg of one of the Hobs, then struck the stomach of the other. A massive hole opened in its gut as the Goblins toppled over into one another. The small Goblins were all that remained. They stumbled over one another and rushed in a herd.

Jake maintained his walk, timing his pace so that he met them with his left foot forward as he began to cut through them. He continued forward and then to the right, parrying axes and knives before severing limbs from bodies. Their small frames were weak, feeble, and slow. Though numerous, their threat level couldn’t hold a candle to that of the Maedra. Jake broke them without ever losing a step. He cut down the last two with a simple slash to his right, cutting one through the throat and the other across the chest.

Coming to a stop, Jake planted his boot on the face of one of the two Hobs. The one with a missing leg was struggling to get up, while the other was groaning on its stomach. Jake pinned the leg-less one down to the floor and stabbed the other through the back of its skull. The creature stopped struggling, its body going limp. The last Hob snarled beneath Jake’s boot, its hands clawing at the ground as its face was pressed down into the rock.

Taking in a slow breath to calm his nerves, Jake glared down at the creature beneath him. “If there's one thing I hate more than the Maedra…” Jake snarled, shoving his boot down to push the Goblin back down. “...it’s you filthy creatures thinking you’re any better than the dirt you’re born from.”

The Hob gargled and tried to push up from the ground again but Jake only pushed it back down. His face distorted into a scowl. “To think, I’ve had so much trouble with you lot tonight.” He stabbed his sword through the back of the Goblin’s neck, severing its spine. Paralyzing it but not killing it. “You’re lucky I don’t have time for this.”

Jake stepped over the body and gave the area one final check. Using his eyes and his Sensory Magic, Jake verified that there weren’t any active threats left. There were still living Goblins but they were all gravely wounded, handicapped, or taking their last breaths. He’d let them bleed out on their own for now but before leaving, he would need to take care of them. Those that ran would be problems in their own right but he didn’t have the time, stamina, or mana left to go headhunting in the night. There were too many of them and too much ground to cover. Besides, they’d return to their dens at some point. He could deal with them then.

“Jake!” The two men he’d left at the carts approached on horseback, pulling on the reins of the horses at the very edge of the circle of spikes. “You okay?!”

For a brief instant, Jake nearly responded with something basic. A casual retort to get them on the move again. However, he felt a sudden calming sensation roll down his spine. A hand on his shoulder gripping at him. One that caused him to come to a complete stop. He pressed his lips together and then looked around him again, at the mess he’d made of the road, at the results of his magic and his swordplay, at the outcome of his decision to take this job.

“...Yea.” He answered finally. “Yea, I’m alright.”

Jake went to wipe his blades off on his legs only to realize they were soaked through in blood, both his own and the Goblins’. He grimaced at the sight and then took a moment to look at the rest of his body. He would need to exchange everything again, it seemed. Thankfully his new armor was still in the works. At least that would be waiting for him. Without a clean rag to use, Jake douses his swords in water to rinse them, and then used hot air to dry them. They slid back into their sheathes with satisfying clicks.

Though he was calm and relieved, he couldn’t stand there forever. “Get the carts and bring them up. I’ll fix the mess.” There was work to be done and they still had a lot of distance to cover. Jake had caused quite a bit of damage to the road and the surrounding forest, warranting quite a bit of cleanup aside from getting the bodies out of the way. Craters from his spells. The cracked ground from the club. The spikes from his desperation spell. All of which needed to be restored to normal if he wanted to get the carts through and make the road passable.

A weary sigh slipped from his throat as he began repairing the road, the tedious work almost requiring as much effort as the initial castings did. The spikes crumbled and the bodies stuck on top of them flopped to the ground below, splattering and gushing as the wounds were opened. After breaking down the spikes up to the edge of the road, Jake started cleaning up the bodies. Without much care for how he treated the corpses, Jake practically tossed them off into the woodline. Using his hands for the work rather than his magic, Jake walked around and cleared the road by hand.

The sound of horse hooves clicking on the ground along with the creaking of wood got his attention. “Need help?” Randal and Bailey rode up to the edge of the scene and pulled their horses to a stop beside one another. The carts were undamaged and the men, though a little unnerved, were fine.

“No. Make sure the horses are ready.” Jake returned to his work, kicking the limbs and tossing the bodies off the road.

Randal and Bailey looked at one another, then both looked at Jake. “Jake. You know how abnormal this is, right?” Randal called out. “I get it. You use magic and a sword, but this level is… I’ve never seen this before.”

Jake came to a stop in the middle of the road. He stood over one of the Hobgoblins he’d killed. The massive body was going to require magic to move. “Now you have.”

“Who are you, Jake?” Randal asked. “And don’t tell me you’re just another Adventurer. A normal Adventurer couldn’t do all of this.”

Letting out a huff, Jake pushed the Hobgoblin off the road and then looked up towards the two men. “Just another adventurer, Randal. That’s it. Only difference is that I know magic.”

Randal’s eyes narrowed briefly before he spit over the edge of the cart. “Yea? What else.”

Jake sighed, feeling the exhaustion starting to pull on him. “What does it matter, Randal? You’re alive, aren’t you? Isn’t that what matters?”

“He’s right, Rand. Should we really care?” Bailey interjected.

Randal glared at Bailey for only a second, then he seemed to mull over his thoughts before pressing his lips together. He shifted in his seat and then looked around the area. “I just want to know how we explain all of this. Someone’s gonna ask.”

Jake shrugged and worked on pushing the other Hob corpses out of the way. “Whatever you want, Randal. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“It should,” Randal quickly retorted. “You killed a Goblin Champion and, while I haven’t been counting, there’s at least a hundred dead Goblins in this forest now. Not to mention all of the craters, broken trees, and other traces of crap all over the place. There’s those bandits too.” Randal sighed and sat up in his seat. “There’s the rest of the ride to go too, Jake. So? Who are you?”

After clearing off the Hobgoblins, Jake stepped up to the body of the Goblin Champion. The hulking body was going to prove to be an annoyance to get out of the way. “Just an adventurer, Randal. No more. No less. That’s all. If someone questions you or calls your bluff, then don’t argue. Tell them what you saw and leave it to them to believe you.”

Jake placed his hands on the ground and dumped a decent amount of mana into the floor to cause the road to crack and lift. He created a slant in the road and let the body roll off to the edge of the forest. Then, he pulled the raised stone back down and smoothed the road back out.

Seemingly unsatisfied, Randal looked over at Bailey again. Bailey just shrugged.

“You really don’t care that much? There will be questions, man. And no one is going to believe you.” Randal changed his angle, but Jake just shrugged again.

“I’m not here for fame, Randal. Not the money. Not the glory. None of it.” Jake began walking back to the carts, stopping only to repair the road. He fixed the crates, the dents, the cracks, and the breaks. Repairing it to be as smooth as it was before the fight. “I’m just here to do a job.”

Randal frowned. “That’s it?”

Jake nodded. “That’s it.”

“You’re one strange adventurer, Jake. You aren’t the first one to ever say that but I think you’re the first one to actually mean it. At least from what I’ve seen.” Randal shifted again in his seat then offered a hand to Jake as the man approached the cart.

Jake took his hand and climbed up to the seat. “Don’t put me on a pedestal, please.” Jake moved into the back of the cart and sat down on top of the crates again, trying to get comfortable.

Randal smirked as he and Bailey watched their escort settle in. Once Jake was comfortable, the two nodded and set off. Randal rolled ahead, then Bailey slid in behind him. The horses picked up to a casual trot and they headed off along the road, continuing on into the night. “Things are quiet now. I don’t hear any of the Goblins or the Wolves anymore. Should we try to find a place to stop?”

Jake looked out at the forest, then looked at the horses and the drivers. After further thought, he stretched his Sensory Magic out to see if he might be able to pick up any threats. Sensing nothing, hearing nothing, Jake conceded. “Find a hole and we’ll crawl into it.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Randal snapped the reins and the cart rolled ahead.

They rode in silence for nearly an hour, making up ground and putting some distance between themselves and the aftermath of the battle. Randal spent the time looking around, scanning the trees for an opening or someplace comfortable they could pull off to. When they finally came across a decent looking area, Randal waved back at Bailey then directed his horse to wheel them into the treeline. The horse pulled through a gap in the trees and rolled twenty meters into the gap before coming to a halt. Bailey rolled in behind, parking right beside Randal.

Then, the men got to work. They unhitched the horses and pulled out their camp supplies. A fire was started and Jake used his magic to create a simple shelter for them to utilize. Randal tended to the horses, feeding and providing them with water so they could get their energy back as well. Bailey worked on making dinner, using some ingredients from the cart to make a vegetable soup and prep some salted meat to go with it.

As the soup boiled, the men set up their sleeping area and Jake provided a few fire runes to keep the space warm through the night. Jake then went around to set up a network of Alert Runes, connecting them to a central sigil near the sleeping area. By the time he finished, the soup was ready and the meat was cooked. The soup was portioned out and the men sat down to eat.

“When we were asked to come out here, I wasn’t too sure about you, Jake.” Randal said in between bites. He slurped down a spoon full then let out a chuckle. “But you ain’t too bad for a normal adventurer.”

“Reckon the old man ain’t eva’ been wrong. Told ya not to doubt ‘em.” Bailey stifled a laugh, careful not to be too loud.

Randal rolled his eyes and stabbed his spoon at his partner. “I didn’t doubt him. I just didn’t think he was all there when he told us to do it without question,” Randal grumbled. He stuffed his mouth full of another spoon then looked at Jake. “Especially when we rolled up and it was only you. I about threw a fit!”

“Good thing ya din’t.” Bailey smirked. “Woulda missed all the excitement. Ain’t that right, Mr. Furrow?”

Jake shrugged and took a bite out of the meat he’d been given. Bailey had chopped the meat into chunks then made skewers out of them. “Kind of wish I did too.”

The men shared a laugh.

“Well, with you running around like a maniac, I think we’ll do just fine. Might get there ahead of schedule too.” Randal smirked and dipped his own meat into his soup before eating a chunk.

Bailey scoffed. “Might? We definitely will. Hopefully those gobbies stay away from now on, too.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Jake injected. “Goblins or not, we’ll get there. On time or early, so long as we make it then I’ll be satisfied.”

Randal squinted. “You just want the job done, don’t you?”

“Who doesn’t?” Jake retorted, furrowing his brow as he took a mouthful of his soup. He swallowed, then added. “If I can get you both there with a full shipment, the knights and soldiers at the fort will be able to hold out for a long time. On the way back, I’ll be ready for the Goblins the second time around and I’ll be able to take my time since we won’t be in a rush.”

“Or, you know, we just… wait for a full party at the fort.” Randal stabbed in his recommendation with another roll of his eyes. “Or do you plan to come back down this road all by yourself?”

Jake shrugged. “If I can, I might. If you two want to wait for a proper escort back, that’s fine. Once the crates are delivered then what you two do isn’t for me to decide. Now that I know the Goblins are here and they’re here in force, I’m going to come back through and clear them out.” He paused, huffed, then adjusted in his seat. “Well, I’m going to try at least.”

Randal took a bite of his meat before asking his question. “Try? What do you mean, try? I think you’ve done pretty well so far.”

“That’s because the Goblins have come to us, Randal,” Jake answered. “Finding their dens and then clearing them out is a whole different task. It’ll take time. A lot of time.”

“How much time?” Bailey asked.

“Don’t know. Weeks. Months.” Jake sighed and stared at the fire. “But, it needs to be done.”

“Why not leave it to the Guild?” Randal tossed out his question, but they all knew the answer to it already. Well, the excuses at least.

Because the Guild didn’t have the manpower. Because the Dens were too far away. Because the Guild didn’t want to pay the fees. Because the Guild didn’t want to deal with the deaths that would come with the requests. There were a few others but those were the main excuses that the Guild always led with. The Goblin problem was well known, but the Guild simply didn’t have the resources to deal with them all. The number of the Goblins out tonight was evidence enough of that.

Randal smirked and chuffed. “Nevermind.”

“It’s fine,” Jake muttered, draining his bowl. He looked for seconds and Bailey was quick to feed it to him. “If I can do it without getting anyone else involved, then I’ll do it myself.”

Randal and Bailey exchanged another look. “Like you decided to do this yourself?” Randal posed the question, but Jake was quick to smile and answer.

The Adventurer shifted on top of the log he was using as a seat and looked Randal straight in the eyes. “I have you two, the horses, and the carts to protect, Randal. If I didn’t, I’d be killing every single one of those Goblins right now.”

The words Jake spoke hung in the air for an extra beat before Randal let out a sigh. “Well, good thing we’re here. This whole forest might be on fire if we weren’t.”

The men chuckled again then continued their banter for a short time before finishing their food. They checked on the horses and Jake set up some fire runes to keep them warm. While the night wouldn’t get too cold, he wanted to ensure they were comfortable. Feeling the hot spots, the horses moved about to get close to the heat before settling in for the night. Randal and Bailey then went to bed first and Jake tended the fire until they were asleep. After a short while, realizing they weren’t going to be bothered and certain of his spells, Jake made his way over to the shelter and sat down inside of it. He took off his swords, set them beside himself within arms reach, and made himself comfortable. Bailey snored softly while Randal rolled over in his sleeping bag.

Jake added mana to the heating sigils across the camp and then gave the area a final once over before he closed his eyes. By the time he realized it, he too was asleep.