[3 days later]
The sun shone through the sky, barreling its blazing heat down on the beings below; there was no cloud cover. However, there was a gentle breeze that brought with it a certain level of coolness in the atmosphere.
The trees rustled as Eon sped through the forest at speeds surpassing what the human eye was capable of tracking, his movements fast and swift, dodging and ducking the trees and branches as he moved, carefully manoeuvring the forest searching for his prey.
His head bobbed up and down as his mind kept replaying one of his favourite nerdcore songs. As he moved through the forest, he spotted a goblin that was seemingly oblivious to its surroundings, completely unaware it was about to die.
Goblins were ugly little things, short in stature with usually green or blue skin; they weren't dangerous by themselves. However, they posed a threat as a group; they're essentially forest bandits, as they partake in typical bandit behaviour such as pillaging and raping.
Something interesting that Eon learned when accepting this quest was that goblins didn't just rape women but men as well, although they typically won't try to rape men unless the goblin is a hobgoblin.
It was something Eon found funny, he couldn't imagine someone having their ass stretched open by a goblin.
With his impeccable speed, he was quick to reach the unsuspecting goblin and using his hand like a blade, he swung it and decapitated the creature before grabbing the decapitated head, he slowed down and threw it behind him towards a specific direction.
"That's 45, I think?"
He said as he prepared to look for another; however, he was interrupted as suddenly Reniris appeared from behind one of the trees, a fire already lit on her hand, and she quickly formed it in the shape of an arrow and shot it at him.
The arrow of fire flew through the forest, and with her perfect control over it, the fire arrow swiftly evaded the trees and branches as it flew directly for his back, however, Eon wouldn't be caught off guard so easily, not even turning to look at her, he dodged the attack by stepping aside.
Having predicted him to dodge, Reniris did two things; the first, she used wind magic and sent two horizontal slashes his way, one below his waist and the other above it. The wind blades cleanly cut through the trees and branches as they flew towards their target.
The second thing she did was, use her control over the flame arrow that she shot prior and split it into five separate arrows that quickly changed direction and flew towards Eon from five different directions.
With quick thinking, his eyes turned red and changed into a similar shape to that of a lizard before he let his body catch on fire, just as the two wind blades were about to reach him he jumped between them, dodging them perfectly, however, the flame arrows were able to strike him from all sides while still mid-air.
*BOOM!*
The fire arrows made contact and exploded, creating a flash flame that engulfed and scorched any vegetation in a 10-metre radius; the force of the explosion blew Eon's body back several metres and had him crash through the trees as he flew back.
"Light work, no reaction"
However, Eon was quick to recover from the attack, partially using his Dragonoid fire form a form he proudly dubbed [1st scale: Vermilion flare] this allowed him to cover himself in a cloak of fire that reduced any damage taken from fire attacks and it was thanks to that that he took little damage from the fire arrows.
Reniris had wanted to celebrate, but unfortunately, she couldn't as his body blurred as he sped past her, surprising her as she thought she had managed to stop him.
"ugh!!"
She expressed frustration as she turned and quickly gave chase after him; the two of them were playing a game, one Eon had aptly named [Goblin Chase].
The rules were fairly simple, if Eon can collect about 50 goblin heads, with Reniris being unable to stop him, while also collecting her own 30 goblin heads, he wins.
After Eon wins or loses, they switch roles with one of them becoming the goblin chaser and the other being the stopper. It was a game one could play with either a group or just two people.
Not only that, but you can substitute a goblin with any monster, and you can lower the number of heads required from 50 to 5 or 1 depending on how easy or hard it is to find, so the game is quite versatile.
Eon once again sped through the forest, ducking and dodging the trees and branches faster than before. However, this time, Reniris was right behind him, her hand outstretched, trying to grab his partially scorched shirt.
He looked at her with a cocky smile as he slowly increased his speed, she had a cute frustrated face, one he couldn't help but enjoy.
Suddenly, Eon stopped dead in his tracks, shocking Reniris, who not only didn't expect that but also shot forward and crashed through the trees.
"Are your ankles OK?"
He jokingly asked as he took a turn and searched for another goblin.
The reason why this game of theirs was possible in the first place was because the goblins hadn't established a proper nest yet; not only that, but they were small groups ranging from 4-5 goblins per group scattered across the forest.
If the goblin groups had managed to convene, a proper nest would have been made, and the goblins would have been a problem to travellers and perhaps be a threat to villages if enough managed to successfully reproduce via rape.
The two have been culling goblins since yesterday before Eon came up with the game
Reniris got back up with a frown on her face, she absolutely will not let him win.
This time rather than chase him, she instead opted to search for his aura and then just launch an unstoppable attack when she senses him.
Closing her eyes she began to properly focus on Eon's aura, paying careful attention to distinguish him from the trees and other critters of the forest.
"He's moving pretty fast"
She said as she felt him; she hummed in thought; his speed will make him difficult to hit with a single attack, not to mention he's got that fire cloak of his, so using fire is out of the question.
Drops of water began to form behind her back and exponentially increased in size before combining into a giant floating ball of water.
"the fire arrow was a good idea, let's do that but with water"
She said, her eyes still closed, her senses keeping track of his movements.
She slowly formed the giant ball of water into an arrow before she outstretched her hand and commanded it to go, and like a bullet, the arrow flew fast.
Reniris carefully controlled it, dodging the trees and bushes before she split it apart into hundreds of water arrows, and each arrow split into two, half of them flew over the trees, covering the skies as they flew towards their target.
"Hm, she's not chasing? Did she give up?"
He said to himself, stopping after he easily decapitated another goblin and threw its head towards the direction that he threw the others.
According to Sam, Goblins and monsters, in general, were considered to be akin to parasites or weeds; they appear when there's an abundance of mana within the area, and once you kill them, their bodies take up to a week to disappear, returning into mana.
"Does that mean, by burying the monster, the mana is returned to the soil, making it fertile?"
He thought, however, his thoughts were cut short as he suddenly felt the approaching multitude of arrows, and just as he felt them, they appeared. He thought about jumping up, but the sky was blocked; he was also sure they'd follow him if he tried to outrun them.
He thought about using his [2nd scale: Azure Frieren] but thought against that and instead decided to dodge and parry; plus unlike his first scale, the 2nd scale doesn't reduce damage from water/ice-related attacks.
With an exhale, he prepared himself; however, what happened took him by surprise. In a split second, rather than the water arrows hitting him like how normal arrows would, they swirled around him, combining into a ball before they encased him and instantly froze, leaving only his head free.
"Fuck!"
"Yes! I got you!"
His exclamation was quickly followed by a shout of joy, which was followed by rustling of trees as Reniris ran towards his location; she arrived quickly with a smug grin on her face.
.....
A/N: I hope you enjoyed it; leave a comment