After around ten seconds, which felt like an eternity for Gerald, finally, the spell was cast.
"Split Earth!" That was the spell the Spellcaster took so long to cast. The ground below the Goblins began to crack and crumble into fist-sized chunks, making it difficult to run or walk.
The Archer quickly took the opportunity to shoot the Goblins when they got distracted, elegantly piercing their necks, making the blood spray everywhere. Kerius and his two cousins also didn't waste any time and started a slaughter without a second thought.
In the chaos, the Goblin leader tried to escape. But just as he was about to run away, a bush in front of him suddenly came to life and stabbed him in the gut. It was Hunter that camouflaged himself and came closer to the fight, unnoticed.
But the Goblin leader was really tenacious. Although he was dying, he still launched himself at the Hunter. With a rusty knife in hand, he swung at Hunter's face.
Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!
At the last second, five Stone Spikes came flying from the side and gruesomely tore the Goblin leader's upper body apart. "Now we are even…" Gerald murmured while looking at what was left from his target. He was holding his right hand which was bleeding from the shoulder.
He was feeling a sharp pain for a while already and he was getting a bit worried. He took off the shirt and wiped the wound clean. Soon a puss-like white substance came out of the wound and with it, the sharp pain also stopped. When Gerald saw that he took a breath of relief.
"Luckily it still works, I was worried there for a second…" he chuckled quietly. Blood was still flowing out, but it was much less than at the beginning. He quickly took a vial of Healing Potion and drank it all at once. The pain slowly subsided completely and the blood also stopped flowing. The only thing left was to wait, and the wound would be completely healed in a few days.
The Iron Hawk gang finished the fight with the Goblins and they collected their short, hairy tails as proof.
Sera came back to check on Gerald and so did Kerius, "Are you two alright?" he asked.
Sera nodded and looked at Gerald who was bandaging his arm. "I'm fine," Gerald replied and bit one end of the bandage to make a knot.
"Did a Goblin do that? Let me check, it could get infected if you don't clean it properly," said Sera and tried to help Gerald take care of his shoulder.
"It's fine, don't worry about it. It's just a little scratch I got from a tree branch," answered Gerald with a smile on his face.
Kerius and Sera both looked at the blood-soaked shirt and were both of a different opinion. "Are you sure? Goblins like to keep their weapons in corpses or smear them in poisonous berries. I have seen people die from just a scratch…" said Kerius with a raised eyebrow.
Gerald got a little bit annoyed and looked at him with a serious face, "I said it's fine."
Kerius sighed and shrugged his shoulders, he was just trying to help. Meanwhile, the rest of his group gathered the Goblin corpses and burned them, keeping just the tails.
"22 Goblins eliminated, boss. One burned completely." Hunter gave Kerius a small leather pouch. Kerius opened it up and took a few Goblin tails out, "These belong to you, as you killed a few of those beasts."
Gerald looked at the nasty tails and waved his hand with a smile, "Keep them. You saved our lives after all."
Kerius was surprised but also satisfied with the answer. "Are you sure? You can deposit them at the Guild for ten silver coins each," he said. He didn't really want to give them away, it was just a good gesture to offer.
Gerald nodded and said, "Just consider them as a small thanks for your help." Although he needed money, it was way better to do it this way. He could establish a good relationship with the Iron Hawk gang and also avoid touching those nasty things. Besides, Forty silver coins weren't that much and he could make that money with just a few potions.
After a few more words of courtesy, the two teams split again. The Black Hawks continued with their hunt for Goblins, so they left after making sure there were no targets left in the vicinity.
Gerald went to collect his herb bag and then jumped up on a tree to rest. Sera also did the same, since they needed to wait for the night, to collect the 50 Black-Iron Moonglow herbs. The flower petals were the required part of the plant and those only bloomed at night for some reason.
They would give out a light blue color so they were extremely easy to notice in darkness. The job was not difficult, just undesirable. Luckily Gerald was prepared for the long wait and before he left, he borrowed a few books from the Academy's library. It took some convincing at first, but in the end, he managed to get a few not-so-important books.
He took a book with a collection of known monsters, that had a short description as well as strengths and weaknesses. He was so immersed in the book that he forgot about time… and Sera.
"Hey…" Sera finally spoke.
Gerald lifted his head and looked to the side where she was sitting on a branch, "What's up?"
"So.. it's noon now…" Sera said.
Gerald looked at the sun through the leaves of the canopy, "Yeah? What about it?"
"And we need to wait until dark…" she continued.
"That's right."
Sera took a deep breath, "What I'm trying to say is… I'm bored! Let's do something."
Gerald sighed and closed the book. He would have no problem just sitting here for the next ten hours, but this girl was obviously different.
He said, "You are right, we should do something. Actually now is the perfect time to train magic." He then jumped down and invited Sera to join him.
She was not amused and protested, "I told you that I'm bad at magic."
Gerald nodded in understanding, "That's right and we need to change that. Come, show me a simple spell like Earth Spike. You can do at least that, right?"
Sera grumped, "Yeah, yeah…" She closed her eyes and furrowed her brows.
Gerald patiently waited, but soon he discovered that something was wrong. Ten seconds went by and there was no change. Then twenty, thirty and a full minute passed. "Are you alright?" he asked with concern.
"Shut up, I'm concentrating…" Sera answered him.
At last, after another minute or two, Sera finally spoke, "Earth spike!"
Bloop.
A slow and weak spike came out of the ground, and the result was less than desirable. The structure was weak and it looked like it was about to collapse at any moment. As soon as it reached one meter in height it stopped growing and instead just crumbled back down.
An awkward silence followed.