"Al, what are you doing over there?" Cleo called out to the small boy rummaging through the fallen autumn leaves. The Shawling party had entered the Lacie Mountain path, their pace considerably slower than when they traveled through the open fields.
Meanwhile, Albert was busy scanning the surrounding trees continuing his search.
'No luck on this one either huh…'
The carriages moved at a leisurely walking pace, allowing him to search while keeping up with the group. So far, he had only come across more ordinary fungi rather than the distinctive dark Ravenroot he sought.
Not one to give up easily, Albert maintained his quick pace, sweeping away leaves and peering under the trees, much to his mother's watchful eye.
Figuring her son was simply finding something to occupy himself during their long journey, Alise let him be as long as he stayed out of trouble.
Tree after tree, Albert continued his search, his hope undiminished despite the lack of success so far.
"What are you doing?" Cleo's voice broke through Albert's focus as she knelt down beside him, observing his efforts with curiosity.
"I'm looking for some small animals. Maybe a lizard or frog."
He obviously couldn't tell her his true intentions. The amount of trouble he would be in if his mother found out he was trying to forcefully fracture his core would be akin to a death sentence.
"Do you want this big sister to help you out?" Cleo offered with a mischievous grin.
Albert shook his head, declining her offer politely. "No thanks, I want to find one myself."
"Ah, is that so..." Cleo chuckled, returning to sit beside Alise, "Is your kid antisocial or something?"
'I could hear you, you know?'
"He's usually a bright boy." Alise said with a smile.
Albert felt his eyebrow twitch.
It's been over an hour since they entered the mountain range and their path had become more and more overgrown with vegetation along the way. Currently the carriages still had no trouble moving, however if this trend continues, the party would need to slow down even more to clear the path as inconvenient as that would be.
All of a sudden there was rustling in the bushes ahead. Eve held up a hand signaling for Chris to stop his carriage.
"Lael, we've got company." Eve's voice calmly rang out.
The entire party froze, as they redirected their attention to the bushes up front.
"Monsters? Or is it people?" Lael asked, his voice composed.
"Judging from the sound, most likely monsters. Specifically something of a shorter stature."
The rustling continued, now spreading to all sides, creating an eerie atmosphere around the group. Without a word, Eve, Chris, Cleo, and Lael all dismounted from their carriages taking up defensive positions around the vehicles.
Albert, sensing the tension, quietly made his way back inside the carriage, sitting close to his mother.
He watched his mother's calm expression as she placed a hand on his shoulder. It was the first time Albert was about to witness a battle in this world! It was quite nerve wracking, but seeing how relaxed his mother was he also didn't feel the need to worry as much.
The rustling grew louder and closer, the sound of movement becoming more distinct. Everyone had already drawn their blades as they braced themself, eyes scanning the surrounding vegetation for any signs of movement.
The tension in the air was palpable as each second passing felt like an eternity. Unlike before, they were now in monster territory, and the possibility of an encounter always existed.
Just as the rustling seemed to reach a peak, there was a sudden silence. The forest around them fell still, the only sound being the gentle breeze passing by.
"Get ready," Lael whispered, his voice barely audible.
Moments passed, the silence stretching on. And then, without warning, a group of small, green-skinned creatures burst forth from the shrubbery, their sharp claws and yellow teeth glinting in the sunlight.
"Goblins!" Cleo shouted, as she rushed forth with her dagger brandished in hand.
The rest of the party had their swords drawn as the skirmish began in earnest.
There were approximately twenty to thirty of them, some of them even wielding crude knives made from stone. As Albert took a closer look at those creatures he began to make out more of their features.
Aside from their green skin and small stature that resembled that of an elementary schooler, they had pointy ears and rough skin with beady yellow eyes that seemed to peer into you like a rabid animal. They wore nothing but a loincloth as they danced around the carriages cackling in glee.
In the next moment, Lael burst forth with his blade in hand cutting down the goblin nearest to him with uncanny speed and precision.
'Fast!'
The edge of his blade was a blur, as one after another the green assailants toppled lifelessly on the forest floor.
Albert couldn't help but be impressed. His father wielded the blade so skillfully it made Olympic fencers from his world look like novices. He couldn't help but wonder if his father had some sort of physical crest that augmented him with additional strength. Otherwise, the strength and speed he displayed would be unexplainable!
Quickly redirecting his attention to the other sides of the carriage, Chris was similarly dispatching goblins on his side with ease. Although his blade wasn't as fast as Lael's, they were even more destructive. Each time his sword touched the limb or torso of a goblin, the area of impact would cave in before they were sent flying into the ground.
'Never judge someone by their appearance,' Albert let out a soft whistle.
If that blow had struck a person they would almost certainly be crippled.
At the very front, Eve was gracefully beheading each goblin as they viciously pounced on her. She was dispatching the monsters with skill that rivaled that of Lael, however if one paid close attention, they would notice that she didn't have nearly the same speed and power as the young man. Yet despite all of this, Eve's cuts were even cleaner.
Each one of the dismembered limbs had their bones cut straight through as if there was no resistance. Albert compared that to the goblins his father cut down in confusion. Similarly there were also limbs lying everywhere, but the cuts had jagged surfaces. Eve's slashes were as if they were done by a laser!
Was this also some sort of crest ability? He had no idea.
Finally, his gaze fell onto Cleo. Although Albert could tell she was quite skilled with the knife, she was by far the slowest while dealing with the goblin swarm. Her physical prowess was nowhere near Lael or Chris, and neither did she possess the same kind of ability as Eve. Nonetheless, she was dispatching goblin after goblin with a steady pace. For someone who didn't specialize in close combat it was already impressive.
"See? There's nothing to worry about," Alise ruffled her son's hair, "Your father and his former adventurer party were all B-rank adventurers. In fact they were some of the best in that class."
Alise was more surprised at the fact that her son didn't even flinch when the goblins snarled at them. Most children would've cried at their first sight of monsters or better yet the first sight of blood.
Her son was different somehow. Rather than cover his eyes, his gaze seemed to study the scene with interest as the battle was soon nearing its end.
"Lael, I'm finished on my side!" Chris's voice rang out over the carriage.
"I'm about to be finished up as well! Go help Cleo!"
"On it!"
The entire battle lasted no longer than five minutes.
"Well done, everyone," Lael said as he calmly wiped the blood off his blade.
Cleo stretched, feigning exhaustion, "We haven't encountered a goblin swarm that large in a while. Usually they are found in groups of five to seven. There were twenty-seven in this swarm!"
Chris shrugged nonchalantly. "That is a little bit unusual, but in the end, they're goblins. We've slain hundreds of them during our time together as a party."
Goblins, while weak individually, were dangerous in numbers. Novice adventurers often underestimated their cunning and tendency to band together, resulting in deadly situations.
"Cleo has a point though. Goblins are definitely weak, but to create such a large group? How many times have we seen that?" Eve softly voiced her thoughts.
Lael rubbed his clean-shaved chin.
"So what do you suggest we do, Eve? In the end, we still need to cross this mountain range. Although I won't deny the fact that something feels off, we've come too far to just simply backtrack now."
Eve's gaze turned towards the path ahead, her expression thoughtful. "Although this might slow down our journey, let me scout ahead a little more. It'll leave only three capable fighters, but if we can discover any potential danger sooner, we can also be more prepared."
Lael opened his mouth to respond, but Eve was already dashing ahead into the woods, her form disappearing amongst the trees.
"That woman…" Lael muttered softly under his breath.
Cleo stifled a laugh patting Lael's back, "You know she's always been like that. Let her do what she wants."
"We only have three people protecting two carriages now!" Lael protested, "She's being way too paranoid over a few extra goblins!"
"It's because she's so cautious that we've made it this far," Cleo reasoned, taking the reins of the front carriage now missing its driver. "Sure, there were times she was wrong, but being extra careful isn't a bad thing."
As the chaos of battle settled, Albert's keen eyes caught sight of something peculiar beside one of the fallen goblin bodies. There, against the rough trunk of a tree, stood a dark, translucent mushroom. Its distinctive features stood out vividly against the forest floor, a stark contrast to the greenery and blood-stained earth.
His heart skipped a beat as recognition dawned on him.
'That's it, right? Ravenroot.'
The dark complexion, the unique shape—it all matched the image in his plant encyclopedia perfectly.
Albert blinked, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
Finally! After hours after hours of searching he found it! Its current location posed quite a problem however. Currently the body of a dead goblin was stubbornly guarding it.
Glancing back at his mother, his mind raced. Should he make a break for it and grab the Ravenroot? Although he risked the chance of incurring his mother's disapproval, did he have another choice? This could be his only opportunity to potentially awaken early!
Just as he was about to take a step forward, a sudden movement caught his eye. The goblin's lifeless body shifted, tumbling ungracefully towards the Ravenroot, crushing the mushroom beneath its weight.
Panic surged through his body as he took a deep breath to calm himself.
'It's okay, the Ravenroot is below the mushroom. In fact this might be better now that the evidence was destroyed.'
Albert's gaze darted between his mother and the herb as he made his decision.
'I'm going for it!'
Without further hesitation, he darted forward towards the trunk of the tree. Ignoring the grotesque sight of the goblin's body, he quickly lifted it and began to dig where the now crushed Ravenroot mushroom was.
"Albert, what are you doing! That's filthy!"
'Crap! Where was it!'
Alise was now running towards her son as he still continued to dig desperately.
'Come on…! Where is it?'
But just as his mother was about to reach him, ready to pull him away from the tree, Albert's hand brushed against something bumpy and solid. Without hesitation, he grabbed hold of it, feeling the unmistakable texture of the herb.
He then quickly stashed away his prize in his trouser pockets unnoticed.
"Don't run off like that ever again!" Alise's voice was shrill with worry and anger as she reached him, her hand landing sharply on his cheek in a swift slap. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to run off on your own like that?! What if there was another goblin nearby that was hiding?"
"I'm sorr–" Albert began, but his mother's lecture continued unabated as she pulled him along by the arm, her grip firm and unyielding.
"From now on, you are not allowed to leave my side for even a second."
His cheek stung from the slap, both from the physical pain and his mother's disappointment. He had never seen her so angry before, but it was all within reason.
Instead of saying anything, Albert simply nodded, his gaze cast downwards as he followed her back to the carriage.
Feeling the Ravenroot in his pockets, he smiled inwardly excited for his next step. Although he had disappointed his mother, in the end he accomplished his goal.