Sam sat at the edge of the park with his back towards the barrier. "Let's start with introductions. I'm Sam, and I carry a sword. My favorite food is pizza with all the works. Every topping you've got, I'm eating…" Sam said with a smile as he turned to Maya.
"Huh? Me too?... Okay, I'm Maya, and I use the fire-staff… and my favorite food is chicken teriyaki, I guess?" Maya said, an embarrassed flush appearing on her cheeks.
"That's good, chicken teriyaki is a great balance of sweet and salty, delicious!" Sam nodded in approval as he turned towards Gabriel.
"Really? Haha, okay. Hey, I'm Gabriel, I use a sword as well, and I like burgers, man—double or even triple patties." Gabriel said as Sam clapped his hands.
"Fantastic choice, you can never go wrong with a nice beefy burger," Sam said, giving Gabriel a thumbs up, causing the large man to chuckle to himself.
"Next!" Sam said, looking at one of Gabriel's friends, a fairly scrawny young man with short black hair and thick, prescription-looking glasses.
"I'm Alex. I use the bow, and I like instant ramen since it saves time," the guy said with an embarrassed smile.
"Quick, efficient, and delicious. Great choice since you don't have to waste time doing the dishes either. A true genius meal," Sam said, stretching out his hand and genuinely shaking the man's hand, causing him to laugh in embarrassment. Sam then turned to the last man who had a quiet nature about him.
"I'm Carlos, also a sword user. I really like Korean Barbecue," Carlos said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Ah, a man who likes to be in control, cooking to your own specific tastes and preferences. How refreshing!" Sam said, nodding to the man whose face was half covered with his hair.
"I find that someone's favorite food is the best way to get to know who they are. We're all a little bit closer. Now, if you guys really want to keep following me, then you must know that I only have one rule, and that's everything I say goes. If you don't like this rule, then feel free to leave. Second-guessing me at critical moments could spell disaster…" Sam said, a serious look appearing on his face.
"I have no problems with that. After all, you've been right about everything so far," Maya said with a smile, nodding her head.
"Yeah, the most experienced leads. I'll follow you, Sam. You guys too, right?" Gabriel said, turning towards Alex and Carlos.
"Yeah, man."
"Mmm."
"Great, let's get along and try to survive the apocalypse together then," Sam said with a smile as he stood up and dusted the grass off his pants.
"Our tactics will be simple. Gabriel and I will be on the front lines, he will be the vanguard, and I'll be our main damage dealer. Alex and Maya will be in the middle, acting as both support and damage dealers, and finally, Carlos will be the rear guard and reserve vanguard who will switch with Gabriel from time to time. This will be our formation when we move and fight. Don't get complacent out there," Sam said as he organized the group into the formation.
"The sun will probably go down in a few hours so we don't have much time. Let's get going," Sam said as he led the group past the barrier.
They walked for a few minutes until they reached the streets where a large group of goblins were busy smashing cars with their wooden clubs. The goblins immediately noticed them and screeched loudly as they ran towards the group.
"Don't panic! Stay in formation and don't let them get behind us!" Sam said out loud as he pulled out his sword and secretly fired the toothpick.
"Argh! Take this!" Gabriel roared as he swung his sword in an arching motion, but none of the goblins were close enough to get hit. However, this made the creatures more cautious and gave the group some breathing room.
"Maya!" Sam yelled.
"On it! Fireball!" Maya said as she shot a fireball at the closest goblin. The flame landed harmlessly on its chest, but the creature quickly burst into flames, terrifying the surrounding goblins.
"Alex, pick off the ones in the corners!" Sam yelled as he pointed at a goblin running at them from their flank. Alex fired the arrow he had ready in his bow, but it easily missed the target.
"Ah, I'm sorry," Alex panicked as he fumbled with his quiver to pull out another arrow.
"Don't worry about it, Carlos, block it!" Sam said as Carlos pulled out his sword and stood between the charging goblin and Alex. Carlos swung the sword, but the goblin was too agile as it easily dodged the attack and made some space between them.
"They're too fast!" Carlos said as he kept trying to slash at the goblin to no avail. However, Carlos was soon surprised when he heard a whooshing sound, followed by the goblin suddenly falling to the ground as two massive holes appeared where its ears used to be.
"What the–" Carlos thought it was Alex who had fired the arrow and looked back to see that Alex was only now getting ready to fire his next shot.
"Maya..." Sam said calmly while surveying the battlefield.
"Three minutes..." Maya said as she looked around nervously.
"We can do this, everyone keep at it. Alex, fire those arrows!, keep the goblins on their toes. Gabriel, keep harassing them. Carlos, defend our backs. Maya, use your fireball as soon as it's ready!" Sam said as he stood in the middle of the group. Sam would immediately kill any goblin that came within a 6m radius of the group. Thanks to the others keeping the creatures at bay, Sam was able to be a lot more efficient with his kills.
"Take this! Slash!" Gabriel yelled as he activated the sword's slash skill. The sword glowed with a red light as Gabriel's attack power and speed increased significantly. This time, the goblins couldn't escape the attack as Gabriel struck two of them. One was killed instantly while the other was injured.
"I did it!" Gabriel yelled while panting heavily.
"Carlos, switch!" Sam said as he patted Gabriel on the shoulder.
"That took too much out of you. Go rest in the back lines for now," Sam whispered as Gabriel nodded his head. As Gabriel ran back, Sam held the line until Carlos appeared and imitated Gabriel's attacks, keeping the goblins at bay.
Soon enough, another fireball shot out from Maya, landing on an unsuspecting goblin. Its screams of agony seemed to be a catalyst for the other goblins as they instantly hesitated to continue attacking. One by one, the goblins ran away, until only goblin corpses were left.
"Wow, we actually did it…" Maya said as she fell to her knees while breathing heavily.
"We held off all those goblins!" Gabriel roared while raising his sword.
Sam looked around the battlefield and noticed over 12 goblin corpses.
'I killed seven, Maya killed two, and the others killed three between themselves. Not too bad for a first hunt,' Sam thought to himself while nodding his head.
"Alright, everyone, well done. Let's head back and rest," Sam said as he walked over to the goblins and collected their clubs, which he put in his duffle bag.
"Sam, these goblins… how did they die?" Carlos asked while pointing towards the deceased goblins.
"Two holes to the head. That will do it," Sam said as he looked at the goblin corpse and then back to Carlos, who looked at him in disbelief.
"I know they have holes in their heads… but why? Where did the holes come from?" Carlos asked while Maya and the others listened to the conversation from the side.
"I'd rather keep that piece of information to myself. But as you can see, it's quite effective, so hunting won't be too difficult for us," Sam said with a smile as he grabbed the duffle bag filled with clubs and stood up.
"Sure, I didn't mean to pry…" Carlos said while nodding his head. He knew that a power like that would likely make Sam a target, be it for better or for worse, and understood why Sam preferred not to disclose it.
"Let's head back. I found this in the car over there, hehe," Sam said as he raised a grocery bag that had a few containers of cup ramen.
However, at that moment, a loud scream for help could be heard from nearby. Everyone looked at each other for a moment before they nodded their heads and turned towards Sam.
"You guys are such goody two-shoes… Fine, let's go help some people first!" Sam said with a smile as he stood up and led the group towards the sound of the screams.