The creature stood up now that it had the chance; staff in hand, the edge of the staff began to glow as it channeled its magic. It was preparing to do something, desperation getting to it.
Edwin dashed forward, his sword aiming for the shaman's throat, but the goblin shaman was quick to defend himself. With a wave of its staff, it conjured a thin barrier of crackling air that intercepted Edwin's strike, deflecting the blow.
The shaman then countered with a blast of fiery energy, a ball of flame that came rushing toward the man with great speed. Forcing Edwin to dodge to the side, the man avoided the incoming attack.
Seraphina saw her chance while the goblin was distracted with the man, she moved in from the other direction, her sword slashing through the air towards the shaman's exposed flank.
The shaman hissed and flicked its staff, sending a gust of wind that knocked Seraphina off balance and stumbling backward. She stumbled but quickly regained her footing, her eyes narrowing as she assessed the creature.
'It's using elemental magic. It's impressive, but there has to be a limit.'
Her eyes focused on the creature's movement, the violet hue glowing in the darkness of the night as she locked on her target. A weakness, it had to have one, it wasn't a strong creature, just troublesome.
"Edwin, we need to attack at the same time!"
Seraphina shouted, her voice steady and firm as she called out to the man. She had an idea, but she needed to test it.
Edwin nodded, understanding her plan immediately.
"On my signal. One... two... three!"
On the third count, they both charged at the shaman from opposite sides at the same time. The goblin's eyes widened in panic as it tried to cast another spell, however it was only able to block one of them.
It deemed Edwin was the most dangerous of the two, taking the chance to survive Seraphina's attack, it used the barrier of air to block the man's incoming sword strike.
However, that left him open to the attack of Seraphina. While she wasn't as strong as the man, that only mattered if the goblin had any defense to protect itself.
The goblin was weak, and Seraphina's strikes landed where she wanted them to; her sword slicing through the air and going directly for the creature's neck.
With one clean jab, her sword pierced the neck of the creature, a scream of agony echoing in the dead of night as its magic faltered. It staggered back as she pulled out the sword, dropping its staff as it attempted to stop the leaking blood from its neck with its hands.
Seraphina lunged forward, driving her sword into the shaman's head this time; the creature's eyes widened in shock for a split second before dulling as it slumped to the ground. Lifeless.
With the shaman defeated, the remaining goblins quickly lost their coordination and began to scatter, their morales shattered without their leader to guide them.
"Harold, Samuel, drive them off!"
Edwin commanded as he joined the two other knights to quickly get rid of the stragglers. They didn't need to kill all of them anymore, only the ones brave enough to stay behind and allow the others to run away.
As Edwin joined the others in fighting, Seraphina was distracted by other matters. She stood over the corpse of the fallen shaman, her heavy breathing coming to a steady rhythm as she calmed herself.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, her eyes shifted from the body of the shaman to the staff that lay on the ground. It was the first time she had seen magic in this world.
Sure she had seen Aura before, and while it was fantastical and magical to her, it wasn't actually magic. What that shaman did, however, bending air and fire to its will, that was magic.
She was amazed, and above all else, she wanted to do it too.
Lowering her body she picked up the staff that the shaman had, inspecting it to see if she could find any way to use it. But to her surprise, it was no different from a piece of wood.
In texture, make-up, and even use, it was no different than a normal piece of wood. Touching it didn't give her any sort of magical sense, she didn't feel power or anything, it was just wood.
A disappointed frown filled her face, as she heard a voice called out from behind her.
"Are you alright, Lady Seraphina?"
Edwin asked, walking back over to her after dispatching the remaining goblins, leaving a bed of corpses behind.
"I'm fine, just a bit tired."
She replied, turning with a weary smile on her face. Her hand still held the staff, even if it was just wood she would take it back with her.
"Thank you for your help, Edwin. I couldn't have done it without you."
"Likewise, your quick thinking and bravery were impressive."
Edwin praised, his eyes shifting to the staff in her hand before returning to her, but said no more about it.
"Let's regroup with Harold and Samuel."
As they made their way back to camp, they found Harold and Samuel finishing off the last of the goblins. The fire still burned brightly, casting a warm glow over the clearing that was now littered with goblin bodies.
"Is it over?"
Harold asked, his voice laced with exhaustion and bother, as he approached the two.
"Yes, the shaman is dead, and the rest of the goblins are either dead or scattered."
Edwin confirmed, sheathing his sword as he glanced over the battlefield, and then onto the two other knights.
"Well done, everyone. Let's take a moment to catch our breath, then move the camp to a different location. All this blood and bodies might attract other monsters."
The knights nodded in agreement, they all sat down around the campfire, their bodies aching from the battle. Seraphina leaned back against a tree and fiddled with the staff in her hand.
As they rested, Samuel turned to Seraphina with a smile on his face and spoke with excitement.
"Lady Seraphina, your combat skills are a lot better than I thought. At first, I thought this was just us babysitting you, but you're quite good."
As the man spoke, Harold slapped the back of his head; causing the man to rub it with a frown.
"Sorry, Lady Seraphina. This idiot doesn't know how to talk properly, he's a farmer's son."
Seraphina smiled, chuckling at the interaction. It seemed the two of them were close.
"It's fine, Harold, it doesn't matter to me. In fact, please do feel free to talk freely with me. And thank you, Samuel."
She didn't mind the way the man spoke, in fact, she preferred such carefree manners as it allowed her to be more at ease around them. She didn't need to worry about them putting up a front, being more true to themselves allowed her to trust them more.
"That was my first encounter with magic in battle. It was... enlightening."
She said, her brow turned to the others with curiosity. She was sure they had more experience with magic than she did; quite a few monsters used magic or some form of it.
"Magic is a formidable force, but with proper training and experience, you'll learn to counter it. And, the magic those monsters used can't even compare to the magic used by the Mages."
Edwin commented as if he had seen a Mage use magic before.
"Yeah, Mages use magic on a whole different level. I saw a Rank One magic before, they were able to destroy an entire caravan of knights with just one spell. It's crazy!"
Samuel interjected. It sounded like an exaggeration, but knowing magic, it was truly possible.
"For now, let's focus on recovering and preparing to move."
Seraphina nodded, she was curious but she would ask more at a better time, for now, they had to get to a safer location.
As such, the group packed up their tents and items and began to move away from the clearing, searching for another safe place to stay the night.