Forest South of Salusbreath — 4:00 PM
*SWISH*
"AGH! Damn it!" Dylan grumbled, dodging a stone dagger hurled by a goblin. "We were supposed to just be gathering more blood flowers!"
Dylan complained as he threw a rising kick, connecting hard with the goblin's chin and knocking it out cold instantly.
"Well, this is new..." Connor remarked, examining a crude stone dagger while choking out the goblin that had held it with his free hand. "Goblins usually stick to heavy wooden clubs because they think bigger is better, and they typically ignore daggers due to their small size. But this change... well, I suppose it was bound to happen eventually. They had to figure it out sooner or later."
"That's an interesting fun fact!... Agh!" Dylan grunted, straining as he fought to shake two goblins off his back. "You malformed little green bastards!... Sigh... That's real fascinating, Connor, but why don't you focus on actually fighting?!" he finished, fighting to catch his breath.
"Don't worry, you two are doing just fine on your own," Connor replied casually before snapping the goblin's neck. He looked closer at the stone weapon. (They carved this themselves...)
"THAT IS NOT TRUE!!"
A few meters away from Dylan and Connor, Rose was tied hand and foot, being dragged in opposite directions by several goblins.
"They're trying to quarter me!" Rose wailed.
With an irritated sigh and a roll of his eyes, Connor flicked the stone dagger through the air, severing one of the ropes and freeing Rose.
"Alright, you little bastard!" Rose yelled, grabbing her sword and plunging it straight into a goblin.
"Is it just me, or are there more of these monsters every time we come out here?" Dylan asked.
Over the past few days, goblin sightings had been steadily rising, as had the size of their raiding parties. Goblins used to travel in small groups of three to five, but over the last two days, they had encountered bands of ten or even fifteen.
"I noticed it too. Maybe it's mating season and they're hunting for women?" Connor guessed.
Truth be told, Connor hadn't the faintest idea why this was happening. He had always been taught that goblins traveled strictly in small parties, leaving him with nothing but wild guesses.
"Well, as long as there aren't more than twenty of them... !!!.. AGH!!" Rose shrieked, feeling a sharp jab in her buttock. Turning around, she spotted a goblin with a dagger lodged right in her rear. "You bastard! That hurts!" Rose swung her sword in a rage, severing the goblin's jaw before kicking it away.
Nearby, Dylan pivoted to dodge a charging goblin, sending the creature crashing headfirst into a tree. Dylan immediately slammed his boot down onto its head, crushing it against the trunk until it burst. Blood spattered everywhere, drenching Dylan's face.
"God, that's disgusting! I didn't expect its head to burst like a melon!" Dylan complained, wiping the gore from his face.
Connor, meanwhile, dodged the goblins effortlessly, taking them down with single, precise strikes. He displayed clear veteran experience as an adventurer, backed by the rigorous martial training of his lineage.
"Unexpected like what?" Dylan asked. Before the words were fully out of his mouth, a massive force slammed into him—a impact far heavier than anything a regular goblin could muster.
*THUD*
Dylan was tackled back at least three meters before slamming hard against a tree trunk.
"Tsk... like that," Connor gritted his teeth, clicking his tongue.
Dylan struggled against the weight pinning him down. When he managed to twist around, he found himself staring face-to-face with a creature resembling a goblin, but vastly larger, with far sharper teeth and ash-grey skin.
A Hobgoblin.
The Hobgoblin caught Dylan off guard, driving a heavy fist straight into his face that sent Dylan's world spinning.
(Holy shit, that hits hard!) Dylan thought, stunned.
Dylan watched as the Hobgoblin raised a jagged dagger, aiming it directly for his chest. In a desperate surge, Dylan threw his hands up, catching the creature's wrists mid-strike. The two entered a raw struggle of brute strength, but Dylan quickly realized the Hobgoblin possessed vastly superior physical power compared to a standard goblin.
Watching the dagger inch closer to his chest, Dylan felt his heart hammer against his ribs as a surge of adrenaline flooded his veins. Gritting his teeth, Dylan shoved with every ounce of strength he could muster, flinging the Hobgoblin off him.
The Hobgoblin scrambled back up as fast as it could, only to meet Dylan's incoming fist. For the first time since arriving in this world, Dylan threw a punch with absolute full power, completely shattering the Hobgoblin's skull on impact.
"Sigh... sigh... sigh..." Dylan exhaled heavily, trying to catch his breath and calm his racing pulse. (Damn... I didn't know I had that kind of strength in me,) Dylan thought, staring at his hand in awe.
Wiping the blood from his knuckles, he quickly scooped his sword off the ground. Yet, even as his heartbeat slowed back to normal, Dylan felt an overwhelming wave of latent energy pulsing through his body—demanding, almost forcing him to release it.
"You got him?" Connor asked, holding the severed head of another Hobgoblin in his hand.
"I... yeah, I got him," Dylan answered, brushing off the bizarre energy surging within him, assuming it would simply dissipate after a while.
Connor looked down at the dead Hobgoblin on the ground, taking note of the severe indentation where its face used to be, and nodded in approval.
"First time using your full physical strength, huh?" Connor asked with a grin.
"I... yeah. I had no idea I could do that," Dylan admitted, still processing it.
"It's completely normal. Even as Rank F adventurers, our physical capabilities are already vastly superior to an ordinary human's—anywhere from 10 to 20 times stronger. Most new recruits just don't realize it because they don't need to throw their full strength around against weak monsters," Connor revealed, tossing the dead Hobgoblin he was holding alongside the other one.
With the Goblins and Hobgoblins dealt with, the group stayed behind to harvest the ears and resume gathering blood flowers. This time, their contract required a whopping 150 specimens.
Late into the quiet night, while Rose and Connor slept peacefully beside the crackling campfire, Dylan stood up from his spot. He couldn't sleep at all.
His body was still brimming with that strange energy, showing not the slightest trace of fatigue. He walked around and exercised for hours, but nothing seemed to drain it; if anything, the exertion only seemed to heighten the sensation.
Left with no other choice, Dylan decided to press on with the mission while Rose and Connor slept, opting to put the excess energy to good use. He ventured into the dark forest alone.
Hours ticked by. Before the sun even began to rise, Dylan was already back at camp. In his right hand, he held a massive cluster of blood flowers, and in his left, a leather pouch stuffed to the brim with goblin ears.
Dylan sat down on the dirt, leaning his back against a tree. He had spent hours awake in the pitch-black woods fighting goblins, yet the restless energy coursing through his body refused to fade.
Gradually, the forest began to brighten, signaling dawn even if the sun remained hidden behind the thick layer of clouds.
Connor woke up at exactly 5:00 AM, just as visibility returned to the forest. He was surprised to find Dylan already awake and sitting up—a rare sight, as Connor was invariably the first one up.
Dylan offered a quiet greeting before tossing the heavy leather pouch at Connor's feet and holding up the harvest of blood flowers.
"Are these the rest of them?" Connor asked, visibly impressed.
"And then some. We have 180 blood flowers total now," Dylan answered.
"Nice! Look at you, pulling an early bird shift to finish the mission. That's what I'm talking about!" Connor said, pleased.
Stretching his arms, Connor walked over to Rose and woke her up with a sharp smack to her rear.
*SMACK*
"Ahh!" Rose yelped, bolting upright.
"Up and atom. We're heading back to the guild hall. Dylan already gathered the rest of the flowers," Connor announced.
"Really? Wait, how long was I asleep?!" Rose asked, startled, assuming she had overslept into late morning.
"It's barely 5:00 AM. Our boy here got up early to finish the contract," Connor replied.
"Wow, talk about dedication! Looks like you're really getting used to this place," Rose commented.
"Honestly, I just couldn't sleep well," Dylan revealed.
"Insomnia from sleeping out in the woods? That's pretty common. The constant threat of danger keeps a lot of rookie adventurers awake," Connor rationalized, assuming it was just anxiety keeping Dylan up. "Once we get back to Salusbreath, you'll sleep peacefully like before."
"Right... peacefully," Dylan muttered under his breath, remembering the muddy street he called a bed.