"Brat, kill. Female, keep, slave, breed," the hobgoblin declares in midst of battle with the small-framed wolf boy.
"Stop that!" Log hissed at it, eyes glaring in annoyance.
Ah... He's pissed. I can see him gritting his teeth, boldly showing his sharp fangs to the enemy. The grip he has on his sword has also visibly strengthened, the muscles in his petite forearms begin to alarmingly bulk up.
With a loud growl, he begins to relentless attack once again.
"Brat, weak!" the enemy shouted as he deflected his attacks.
"No! You!" Log shouted back.
"Gah!"
Because of its larger frame, the hobgoblin moves significantly slower than Log. As their battle goes on, it slowly accumulated damage. Still, being cautious, Log weren't able to deal any lethal blow against it.
At the same time, the hobgoblin couldn't do anything but shield himself from the barrage of attacks. Provoked, it unleashed a menacing scream that momentarily stunned Log. Sensing the opportunity, it raised its club high and prepares to unleash its strongest attack yet.
"Keh!"
Just before it was able to reach him, Log was able roll out of the way. A huge dent appeared on the floor where he was standing just seconds before. The attack had push away the dirt on the floor and cracked the stone underneath it.
A single bead of sweat drips on Log's forehead, terrified of what would have happened if he got hit.
"You... You can do it, Log!" feeling left out of the action, I tried to cheer my student on.
"Master...!" Log stares back at me with glittering eyes, clearly inspired.
Well, that was embarrassing... I should keep out of the way for now.
Now motivated, Log stood back up and readied his sword. He still only knows the basics of swordsmanship, so he couldn't do any complicated attacks. And so, he rushes at the enemy like before, hoping that his sword will reach it this time.
Similarly, the hobgoblin knows just about nothing in regards to fighting. It only knows how use brute force. And so it also attacks head on with its club, without any resemblance of a technique.
From my point of view, this is nothing but a battle between two amateurs.
"Ha!"
"Gra!"
The battle went on for a couple more minutes, until one finally emerges as the victor.
The hobgoblin lay wasted on the floor, while Log remained standing up, bloodied and bruised. In the end, it was their difference in speed that decided the outcome of the battle.
"I did it! Master!" Log raised his sword and happily shouted.
It's kind of creepy how he was smiling while being covered by his enemy's blood. Granted, he barely got hit at all, and all his bruises were a result of him rolling and stumbling on the floor to dodge.
"Umu, good job," I walked up to him and stroked his head.
"Kuku!"
Log was clearly better than I have expected. I barely taught him anything, and yet he's able to accomplish this much already. I can't entirely say that this result was because of me, his latent gifts had clearly been a better factor for it.
Either way, he earned my compliments. But before that...
"Kah! That's cold!"
Just as he started to weirdly giggle, I blasted water at him to wash away the blood clinging on his skin and clothes.
"Here, dry yourself and change your clothes outside."
"Keh... But the enemies?"
"Don't worry, you beat them all already."
"Really?"
"Umu, so you should go outside now before you start to stink of goblin blood."
"O-okay!"
Log's ears perked up after hearing what I had to say. Like so, he immediately ran away back to the entrance of the cave and did what I ask him to do.
I washed the blood away from him already, so it shouldn't bother him anymore. With that said, I needed to cast him away for now. I don't want his innocent mind to be exposed to what's coming next.
I told him that there won't be any more goblins inside, but that's just another excuse. Walking deeper into the cave, I encountered more of them. Not wanting to waste time, I casted spells that would kill them in one hit.
As expected, those pesky goblins won't send all their forces when a threat occurs. They think they can just outnumber their enemies a little and everything would work out. They won't think of sending another wave, just to make sure the threat has been defeated.
As I reach the end of the cave, I stumbled across a small cage made of wood planks and bamboo strips. There were two guards guarding it, which I too killed immediately.
As expected, what's inside the cave were humans. Specifically, human women who were taken as captives by the goblins.
All of them were in a horrible state. Except for their bellies, their entire bodies were bone-skinny. Their hair are long and unkempt, and their skin are dirty and dry. The light in their eyes are gone now...
I wonder how long have they been here?
For now, I'll do what I can to fix them...