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39.17% The Path of Ruin / Chapter 37: The Goblin Village

Chapitre 37: The Goblin Village

Kael was a little hesitant as he entered the forest with the four adults in front of him.

Not because he was afraid of the goblins or this 'mission', but precisely because of the adults in front of him.

'They... are strong.'

They were different from the previous trio who thought they had him cornered. The way they walked, the sharpness of their senses, their posture, their bodies, the way they made him feel when he looked at them...

'If they try anything, can I really escape?'

Once he was out of their grasp, he could lose himself in the forest. But that was the problem.

Could he get out of their grasp?

Fortunately, none of them had tried anything yet. Moreover... they had ignored many chances that they could have done something if they had wanted to.

Still, it was hard to get rid of the seeds of doubt inside him.

"How far to the village?"

At the muscular woman's question, Laen, who in many ways acted like the leader of the group, sighed.

"Ten minutes maximum. We'll slowly start encountering goblins now. A lot of them."

The last sentence was one that might have made normal people a little wary. As much of a threat as a bunch of kids with weapons in their hands could be, even to an adult, goblins were even more so.

It was easy, and quite right, to simply label them as 'weak creatures'. But their sheer numbers were a way of overcoming this, which they could and usually did not hesitate to use.

But not a single person in this group of five had a single change of expression as they thought of nothing else but slaughtering them.

It was as if they didn't care how many goblins they had to face.

And...

"Oh, look. There are actually a few over there."

The group paused, looked in the direction Laen was pointing. And they saw that he was right.

In the bushes, a few meters away from them, three goblins were staring at them.

But instead of the bloodthirsty eyes the creatures had, they had trembling ones. They were filled with fear as soon as they realized they had been spotted.

"Kael, how about you take care of these?"

Kael nodded quickly, without complaint.

He certainly wasn't going to refuse the lives left for him to kill. It would add four and a half hours to his life for free, after all.

He reached for his clothes as he began to walk slowly towards the goblins.

But instead of the dagger he had stol- well, borrowed for an indefinite period of time... he now held a different one. A much lower quality, much simpler looking dagger.

He was not foolish enough to take out a dagger of that quality, with gold inlays, in front of four mercenaries. He had hidden it where no one but himself could find it. That's why he was using a dagger he had snatched from the trio he had killed earlier.

He cracked his neck, bending it first to the right, then to the left.

He created a tiny warmth in his heart and directed it to his legs. Then, just as the goblins were about to flee, he suddenly accelerated his slow steps.

The fear on the faces of the goblins suddenly turned to terror.

The first goblin, who had turned to run away, simply collapsed to the ground after the pain it felt in the back of its neck. It didn't even realize that its head had been separated from its body as its world turned upside down.

Kael threw his dagger at the third before turning to the second goblin, who fled in the opposite direction. Never looking back, he suddenly ended up next to the third and grabbed it by the shoulder, pulling it back with all his strength.

When the goblin fell to the ground, the last thing he saw was an overpowering kick that shattered his skull.

Three goblins were dead in mere seconds.

Kael walked over to the corpse of the second goblin he had thrown his dagger at and pulled it off his back. Just then, he heard a whistling sound coming from behind him.

He turned to the four watching him, eyebrows raised. It was Laen who was whistling and clapping lightly for him. The other three looked genuinely surprised.

They weren't shocked or anything, though. They just... hadn't expected this from someone like Kael, a scrawny kid.

"Good job, you're better than half the cowards who call themselves mercenaries. But instead of stopping to applaud, let's keep going, we have a long way to go."

Laen went on his way, satisfied with the decision he had made. Just as he had shown the others that this interesting boy would not get in their way, he had proved the same for himself.

Now, he was sure. He wanted to recruit this boy into the Bahnal Mercenary Corps, he was clearly talented and promising.

He just needed a little polishing. His body movements, the way he wielded his dagger were too awkward, and once these were corrected, his true potential would be unleashed.

*******

'So this is a goblin village...'

It wasn't much different from what he expected, actually... except that it was really well hidden.

And, well... it was bigger.

He had thought that they were going to a relatively small goblin village because there were only five of them, but that was not the case. On the contrary, he was sure there were at least a hundred and fifty to two hundred goblins here.

He wasn't sure if five of them could really do it.

But he kept quiet. And that's when Laen spoke.

"We'll go in, we'll kill everyone, and then we'll leave. Don't bother gathering their ears. Simply kill any goblins that come your way."

The other three nodded, except Kael. He found this even more strange. Still, however, he kept quiet.

"Kael, kill as many goblins as you can and tell me the number when it's all over. Depending on the situation, you might even get a gift from me."

He simply nodded. Then... he saw that the others were finally moving.

First, Laen, with a rather large axe in his hand, walked out into the open, not caring at all if the goblins saw him. Then the muscular woman with a spear and the fat man with a rather heavy-looking war hammer. Finally, the bald man followed them with a rather long sword.

Kael paused for a moment, looking at the four in front of him and their weapons. Then... he realized what he had missed so far.

Except for himself, all the members of the team wielded heavy and large weapons. In short... each of them had tons of area damage.

'Is that why they were so relaxed...?'

With weapons like that, they could take out four or even five goblins in one swing. If they paid a little attention to each other, the goblins, who were not much more than small children, didn't really stand a chance.

As he walked to the back of the group, Kael looked at the small dagger in his hand.

He had always used a dagger because he was short and his hands were small. Not to mention that weapons like swords and spears were too heavy for him.

But... now, he understood the difference between these weapons and the dagger in his hand a little better.

As a dagger wielder, he relied on his speed. What he did best was to kill targets quickly, one by one. It was impossible for him to slaughter a large group in one go.

'Like an... assassin.'

"Let's go!"

Laen's booming voice jolted him awake. They were right in front of the goblin village now and he could see dozens - no... many, many more eyes looking at him.

The goblins, confident in their numbers, were not afraid of them. On the contrary, they were running at them like a rampaging horde.

And just like that, those at the front met Laen's huge axe.

As Kael looked at the carnage unfolding before him... he was almost mesmerized. Lifeless bodies splattered savagely around, blood watering the earth.

'Wow...'

It had never crossed his mind that only four people, especially 'normal people', could cause such a scene.

Goblins were being mowed down or crushed one after another, literally unable to do anything.

He had underestimated his group. He understood and accepted his mistake.

Normal humans... could be much stronger than he had thought.

But he couldn't just stand by and watch, he knew that too.

Before his eyes was a goblin farm where he could extend his life for hours, maybe days.

And he wasn't planning to waste it.

So, as always, he created a small warmth in his heart and directed it to his legs. He took a deep breath as he gripped his dagger tightly. Then, he dove into the goblins.

What if he didn't have much area damage? What if the dagger in his hand was short in length? What if he didn't have extremely high strength or full-body muscles?

If others could kill three goblins in a second with a single attack, he would rely even more on his most trusted skill. He would be much faster, three attacks in one second, killing three, just like others but in a different way.

And so, he threw himself into the carnage, into the instincts he had honed over a month. He didn't care about the random wounds he received, he just focused on killing as many goblins as he could, as fast as he could.

One was beheaded.

Another's limbs were torn from its body.

Another's heart was pierced before it knew what had happened.

Kael felt a small burning sensation on his back. One of the goblins had managed to wound him, but he didn't care and kept going.

Another fell to the ground, its skull crushed.

Another's neck was snapped back with abrupt force.

Kael blew through the goblins like an unstoppable storm. He instilled fear in their hearts and saturated his curse with their lives.

This mission... was much easier than he thought. But as rewarding as it was easy.


L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
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Thanks for reading :)

Chapitre 38: Investment for the Future

It didn't take long for everything to be over. It took only a little more than two minutes to wipe out an entire village of goblins, and only because of the goblins returning to the village from the forest that it took so long.

It was only five of them who did it.

Though... it wasn't that big of a deal, considering that the creatures being slaughtered were goblins. But it was still a remarkable achievement.

And standing in the middle of all this slaughter, with blood splattered on his body and a large axe that had taken the lives of dozens of goblins, was Laen. In the direction he was facing was a young boy with a dagger in his hand, his chest rising and falling because he was a little tired.

Laen felt his lips curl even higher as he looked at the boy.

Everything he had thought about this boy was wrong... In front of him stood someone far more capable, far more powerful. So much so that he was beginning to think he had a curse or a blessing. To think that a normal child could keep up with them... it was almost scary.

But he was not without doubts about this thought.

First... if that was really the case, why did Kael bother becoming a mercenary? All he had to do was go to a big city and show what he had to be accepted by a guild and start training. Curse and blessing bearers were not so easily found.

Second, no matter how strong Kael was, he was out of breath and struggling.

Laen had seen a few bearers in his lifetime. And he had also heard far more about them than he had seen. Foremost among them was that they were monsters in the truest sense of the word. The stamina and strength of a bearer, even a child, should have been a match for an adult.

But this was not the case here. Not only had Kael quickly exhausted his stamina, but he had also sustained many wounds. He was not even against strong creatures... but goblins.

Laen placed his axe on his shoulder and walked slowly towards Kael. Kael paused for a moment, turned his eyes towards the approaching giant, and raised his eyebrows.

"How many have you killed?"

His answer came quickly.

"Thirty-eight."

The smile on Laen's face widened even more. This boy... he had actually counted every single goblin he had killed. And he had killed far more than he had thought.

"Congratulations, then! As I promised, I'll give you a present when we get back to town. Besides... if you've managed to kill this many, it's unfair to simply remain a recruit. Beginner level would be more appropriate. Though, now that I think about it... I don't think the people at that level are capable of such a thing. Let's make you an apprentice straight away."

Kael had no idea what exactly an apprentice level mercenary could do, what it was like. But he still nodded his head. If he had jumped two ranks at once, what was he going to complain about?

"But... before we leave here, let me ask you one last thing, just to clear any doubts."

Laen asked straightforwardly, his expression unchanged.

"Are you a bearer?"

The answer to that question was really important.

And Kael... simply shook his head from side to side.

"Then... can you give me a little explanation as to how you became so fast and strong? It's not impossible, I know... but I'm still curious."

Kael could have chosen not to answer that question. And... that would have been the logical option, considering his future.

But he didn't.

"I've been trying to survive in this forest for a week now, and I've been in situations like this a few times before, being from a merchant family."

It was not a very... satisfactory answer, actually.

But, for Laen, it was enough.

"I understand."

That was his answer, and then he turned to the rest of the team.

And... no. Even if he found Kael's answer enough, he didn't fully believe or trust him. After all, there was no way to tell if he was lying.

But he didn't really care. Because... he understood one thing. And that was that Kael really needed to be a mercenary. The way he had acted so far, the way he didn't care if he got hurt, the way he had agreed to go with them without fear, even though he was going into a forest with four adults in this cruel world...

He didn't know why, but Kael was really trying hard to become a mercenary.

And Laen had no intention of letting that effort go to waste. Kael... was someone who could bring a lot to the Bahnar Mercenary Corps, or rather to this small branch, or even more so to himself.

And with that, the five of them left the town as slowly as they had come.

*******

"Here you go, these are my gifts for you."

Kael looked with great interest at the things placed on the table in front of him.

There were two daggers, obviously of better quality than the ones he had, a suit of light armor, and two pieces of clothing.

But it didn't take long for his eyes to wander from the 'gifts'. He slowly looked towards Laen, who was sitting comfortably in an armchair.

He had only been back from the goblin village for a few minutes. But... Laen or the others in the group had still never tried anything bad to him.

And as good as that was, it was just as strange for Kael. It was as if... the fact that nothing bad had happened made him feel that something even worse was about to happen.

So, he asked suspiciously.

"Why... are you helping me?"

He didn't find it logical. In fact... he could have sworn that the man in front of him had a purpose he couldn't understand. They were now on the second floor of the usual building, in a room that looked like an office, and Kael remembered the looks of the people on the first floor quite clearly.

This man, Laen, was feared.

And being feared meant not only that he was powerful, but also that he was not afraid to abuse that power. Why else would people be afraid of him?

But from the first time he met this person, all he had seen was kindness and help.

That's why he was even more confused.

Laen clasped his hands together and placed them under his chin to his question. Then, instead of answering, he simply spoke.

"You are asking the wrong question, Kael. You shouldn't ask why I helped you... You're smart, I can see it in your eyes."

Kael was silent for a moment. Then, his eyes narrowed and he spoke fearlessly, despite the size and strength of the man in front of him.

"What do you want to use me for?"

"Heh, that's a good question now."

Laen turned his eyes towards the glassless window in the wall of the office.

"This building is just a small branch of the Bahnar Mercenary Corps. And I work as the manager of this small branch, but... this is a small town. And it's not easy to find such talented people. You, though, are different."

He tore his eyes away from the window and pointed a finger at Kael.

"You're talented, I don't know if you realize it, but... you have a really big potential for a normal person. And I want to exploit that potential. It's as simple as that, really."

This time, he pointed to the 'gifts' he had left on the table a few minutes ago.

"I'm going to give you gifts, I'm going to teach you a few things to make you stronger, I'm going to send you on missions to make you more powerful. I'm going to turn you into someone I can trust, someone I can use on missions that I can't go on because of lack of manpower, or that are difficult. Do you understand better now?"

So... basically, there were very few talented people in this town. So Laen couldn't go on missions that would bring him more money. And he wanted to turn Kael into someone who could go on these missions and help him.

"Will I get my share?"

Laen nodded his head in confirmation.

"Of course. There is no such thing as free work in this world, Kael. If you manage to become someone I can really use, you'll get even more, like the gifts I'm giving you now. I am a generous man, after all. But..."

His eyes narrowed, his expression turning serious for a moment.

"If you go behind my back, if you ignore your potential and disappoint me... I will take back all the gifts I have given you. I am generous as well as vindictive. What I'm doing with you is simply an investment for the future."

Kael nodded, feeling that he had finally figured the man out a little.

He had no problem with anything he said. Because he was going to use him the way he was going to use him.

No, he would do more than use him.

Because he was not someone who would end up as a simple 'mercenary'. His goals were much bigger.

And when that time came... he would be strong enough to leave Laen behind.

He picked up the daggers on the table and strapped them to his waist. He put on the leather armor without a second thought. Finally, when he looked back at the man in front of him, he saw him smiling.

"You made the right decision, you can be sure of that. Now..."

He stood up and went to his desk, where he should have been sitting, and took out a piece of paper. Then, using the pen on the desk, he began to scribble something on the paper.

"With this, you are now an apprentice level mercenary. Levels primarily determine what missions you can accept. You have novice, intermediate, veteran, and master levels ahead of you. But these are not things you need to think about too much... because I will choose the missions you go on, as I want to make you especially strong. Also..."

After making one last dot on the paper, he pulled it aside. He looked back at Kael, not bothering to hide the smile on his face.

"I can't help you much as you are a dagger user, but I will at least teach you the basics so that you can fight properly. The days ahead of you will be... tiring, at least. But I'm guessing you shouldn't have any problems."

Kael nodded in agreement.

"Good! There's a spare room next to my office, you can stay there from now on. Of course, if there's somewhere else in town you can stay, you can go there too. Where you stay is up to you, frankly. But... I want you to come here every day within an hour after sunrise for training."

Kael nodded again. He didn't seem to object to anything, on the contrary... he seemed determined. He was obedient. And that made Laen like him even more.

"Now... go and rest if you want. It will do you good to rest after the goblin village. But, from tomorrow, we will start everything I said."

And that was the last conversation between them for today, with Kael indeed going to rest. 


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