"3 o clock."
—SWISH
"GRAH!"
"Keith, up."
"Yeah."
—SWISH
"AHK!"
Keith and I casually strode through the Ediab forest, moving deeper to the north by the minute. It was a rather pleasant journey with no obstructions at all. Of course, I was constantly using this time to refine my mana ad expand my channels as well. I also used this peaceful time to think.
One thing I noticed different from my time as Yujin, was that the ants—I mean, goblins here, were not even half as cowardly as the ones back there. Heck, I would even describe them as bold and courageous. They kept coming at us over and over like pests despite them dying within a second each.
I lowered my head and swung my sword to the side, slicing the body of another goblin through its chest. The two of us didn't let our steps dawdle for even half a second as we charged right in.
After walking for almost twenty minutes like that, I heard a low growl.
"Hm?" I raised my brow and turned back to see a giant goblin, the size of three of the previous ones stacked on each other.
This two-meter-tall monster was pushing away the trees above as it came rushing toward us. Its groin was covered by the hide of a lion while its grotesque tusks shimmered with the rotting flesh of god knows what creature. The iron club in the monster's hand twirled and tightened menacingly as the monster came closer to us.
The other goblins were smartly using this moment of distraction as they ran through the forest and started to surround us.
"What's this? A big ant appeared."
"I'll handle the hobgoblin, young master. You take care of the small ones."
I stretched my hand out and pushed Keith back, shaking my head.
"A hobgoblin's an E-Grade, right?"
"It is."
"Good chance to test myself, stand back."
"Fine," Keith sighed. "I'll handle the small goblins—"
"I said stand back. I'll be taking those on as well."
Keith crossed his arms and whistled. He then gestured at me to go on with his chin.
I took in a deep breath and tightened my grip on my Gladius. My feet took one step ahead, and then another. In moments, I broke out into a run toward the hobgoblin.
As a child, even in my old world, I used to wonder. What was the correct ideology? Should one play around with its prey, or should one be like a lion, merciless and giving their all against it?
When I fought and then fought, and then fought some more. I had times when I lazed around with my skills. Where I would play with big prey just to tease it and smash down even small ones just because I wanted to give my all.
I realized it too late.
It was never a matter of strength. To give your all, did not display your strength or your capability at all.
"Intermediate Spell" A reddish hue emerged from my palm as an ethereal magic circle formed around my off-sword hand.
Fighting an enemy with all your force or not doing so, was simply a display of your sincerity toward your cause.
I... considered myself a sincere person. At once, I twisted my body and turned my hand to my back. My eyes landed on the dozens of goblins jumping toward Keith. They were barely a meter away from him, but the man didn't move an inch from where he stood.
"[Flame Arrow: Hail]"
13. The exact same number of arrows emerged from my hand as the ones surrounding Keith. The flame arrows twisted through the air and pierced through the heads of each and every goblin approaching him.
At the same time, I came in front of the hobgoblin.
The giant monster buckled its feet and swung down the giant club in its hands.
I tightened my hand on the gladius. A purple hue filled the blade.
"Charge Sword."
The first form of Ki manipulation.
The club came swinging down to my face. The size of the weapon was even larger than my own. With a swing of my blade, sparks rushed out as metal clashed against metal.
"Tsk." I clicked my tongue and twisted the surface of my sword. The blade redirected the force of the attack and sent the club rushing toward the ground.
Before the hobgoblin could hold itself against its club's force, I turned back and swung my sword again. Four more goblins had approached me, hoping to sneak an attack in. I didn't bat an eye as the charged sword mauled the goblins one after the other.
Another came jumping at me from the top. I changed up the grip and pushed the sword up, skewering the monster through its chest. Then, I pivoted my feet and summoned all the strength in my arm to swing the corpse of the goblin on the one approaching. The hobgoblin rose again.
My eyes swerved through the entire battlefield at once while I took a low stance. About 20 of them were down, and 24 more still surrounded us. Most were too far away, only two near the hobgoblin.
"I wanted to try this for a while."
I swiftly dodged the next strike of the hobgoblin. Mana concentrated in my hand as I spun behind the back of the monster like a dancer performing a routine. The ki infused in the blade dissipated and was exchanged by the strong, dense force of mana as magic circles covered the length of the blade.
'Adhesion,' and 'Elasticity.'
I imbued the properties in my Gladius, making a complete 360-degree turn around the monster.
Just as I reached the other side, I threw my sword with all my might.
The sword spun. A purple-black membrane stretched from my palm.
The spinning blade like the saw of death passed through everything in its way, slicing off the necks of all the goblins as it made a giant arc around us.
I didn't pay the slaughter any heed. Infusing Ki into my foot, I smashed the backside of the hobgoblin's knee. The monster, too distracted by my flashy move, keeled over to the ground. Before it could even make a sound, I lifted my leg high and hammer-kicked the back of its head.
"Grah!" The monster's face was shoved into the dirt.
The blade spun from my back to where Keith stood, and then curved right back into my hands. My foot stomped down on the hobgoblin's head as I lifted the sword with both hands.
"You should think before you try to bite someone, bug."
A geyser of crimson flowed out.
I pulled out a cloth from my pocket and wiped off my blade as I walked back to Keith.
Keith, on the other hand, was clapping slowly.
"Great job, young master," he said. "It took a total of seven minutes."
"That long!?"
"Don't say that outside, ok? The ladies dislike people who find seven minutes too long—"
I sheathed my blade and looked around. Quite a few corpses were strewed all over the ground. It was more than what one could count in a go. This added to the bugs we stomped on our way meant that we had likely cleared out an entire goblin settlement already.
"These things worth any?" I asked.
"Not really, aren't we interested in C-Ranked monsters?"
"True."
With that, I shrugged and walked ahead. Keith smiled and slapped me on the back as he turned to walk along.
"What was that with the sword there? I got scared thinking you used projectile Ki."
"No way, it was just an imitation..."
"Let's pick up pace, young master. We have a lot to hunt today."