Capítulo 61: Final Preparations
Not seeing any faults in Maynard's logic, Jack and Rydel chuckled at the ronin's childlike confidence. Jack asked, "Okay, so we agree that something large might be coming in and out of the palace, but what? What would be so big this far into the mine?"
"How should I know? Ya two are the smart ones, so ya should figure that much out yourselves," joked Maynard.
Rydel laughed, "If you're so confident in your answer, you must have some kind of idea, right?"
"Yeah, but why should I tell ya two so easily."
"Don't pay him any more attention Captain. Most likely, he's just guessing with the doors' size as the main determinant. Let me guess, you think it's ogres?" stated Jack.
Maynard answered, "And if it was? Why couldn't it be ogres? They're not too uncommon in these mountains and it's normal for them to seek shelter underground."
"But ogres and goblins are like water and oil, they never blend well," said Rydel.
"Then what else could it be? Trolls? Trolls never dwell in caves and aren't indigenous in this region," reasoned Maynard.
Jack flinched when he heard the other two bantering and zoned out for a second. He was thinking back to the hidden tomb he had discovered almost twenty-four hours ago. Disregarding the discussion between the two veterans, Jack spoke up, "We need to plan for trolls to interfere."
Startled by Jack's decision to defend what both veterans agreed was the biggest reach Maynard had mentioned, Rydel responded, "Are you sure? Trolls?"
"Really?" asked Maynard, as he if regretted mentioning something as terrible as trolls.
'No, it was a good thing to mention,' said Jack in the depths of everyone's minds.
Following along, Maynard asked mentally, 'Why trolls? Aren't ogres more likely?'
'No, it has to be trolls,' repeated Jack. 'When we found that ancient hero's tomb, I was able to see the fallen hero's last moments. Take a wild guess what killed him?'
'Trolls?' Rydel was curious yet cautious when Jack mentioned the ancient hero. 'Trolls? Really? This deep into the mine?'
'I have no clue why they were down here or how they got there, but that's what killed that ancient hero. It could be something else too though, I mean how long ago was that hero killed?' mentioned Jack. 'For all we know, those trolls are long gone or dead by now.'
'Hmm,' Pondering the new information, Maynard's eyes were closed as he focused all his brainpower on the subject. 'As long as nothing killed those trolls, they could still be alive ya know? Trolls have an incredible lifespan, unlike their ogre counterparts.'
'I don't think there would be too many due to the trolls having fertility issues and their general lack of females, but they would alter our odds of success,' said Rydel.
Jack asked, 'Then, in the case that there are trolls, what should we do?'
'First off, rescuing the survivors becomes the greatest priority,' interjected Maynard.
'Why is that?' asked Jack.
'Don't you know how Trolls solved the… Oh, that's more recent,' said Rydel, with a flash unwillingness to say more. 'Trolls lack females and the few females they have struggle with fertility. This naturally limits how large a group of trolls can be. However, they found a slight loophole to this in the past few centuries.'
Catching onto the vibe of the conversation, Jack interrupted, 'Don't tell me, that trolls would…'
'Yeah, that's exactly what they do. They're known to always try and capture any female alive instead of killing them. And then… well, you get the picture.' Rydel finished Jack's thoughts for him.
Jack clenched his fists tightly, thinking about how Slivia was the first one to be targeted out of the party. He set his mind to save Slivia no matter the cost because he wouldn't be able to forgive himself otherwise.
'When do we start phase one?' asked Maynard.
'I wish we could right now, but if I don't get at least a couple hours of sleep I'll be more of a burden than an asset,' said Jack, cursing his own weakness.
'Then sleep for three hours. At that time, we'll initiate phase one and prepare to launch phases two and three,' stated Rydel. 'Will you be okay, kid? I know this means a lot to you, but you understand that emotions can easily get in the way of a mission's success.'
Jack said nothing more. The young hero nodded his head and closed his eyes while leaning his head back against the wall behind him, giving himself up to exhaustion.
Maynard and Rydel stepped away from the slumbering adventurers. This gave them enough distance to chat quietly without disturbing the sleepers.
"Things just got a lot harder, didn't they?" asked Maynard.
"You could say that again," confirmed Rydel. "I wonder if there are trolls that come in and out of the goblin palace, and if so, are they currently in or out?"
"Let's hope the latter. If not, I have no clue what will happen."
"I worry for that kid the most," said Rydel.
"Really? Why's that?" asked Maynard.
"If the trolls are in the goblin palace, where do you think they would be?"
Maynard went wide-eyed. "I didn't think about that."
"Yeah, hopefully, the kid will be fine. If he encounters those things, I'm not sure any of us could save him in time."
"Ya got any ideas on how to face those things?"
"Not exactly. I wish you were right about the ogres, that wouldn't change too much. Then we wouldn't have to deal with a trolls extremely thick skin or their minor affinity with magic," mentioned Rydel.
"No kidding," sighed Maynard. "Ya think we bit off more than we can chew?"
A soft chuckle reverberated in the narrow passageway. "Of course, that's what we do best. If we don't take on these kinds of missions, then who else would be unlucky enough to get them?"
As three adventurers slept, Maynard and Rydel continued chatting, eventually discussing and sharing opinions or strategies for each other's phases of the plan.
Of the sleepers, Brunar was the first to wake. The moment he opened his eyes, Brunar was back on his feet and chomping down on some dry meat rations for breakfast. Next came Jack, who awoke minutes after Brunar and had a similar morning routine.
Troni was fast asleep and showed no signs of waking, so Brunar took matters into his own hands. Shaking his fellow disciple awake Brunar mumbled, "Hey, get up before Master finds out. You know what he'll do."
With more enthusiasm than expected, Troni rubbed the tiredness from his eyes as he yawned. In a couple of minutes, Troni was up and looking around the unchanged scenery of the cave.
"We've got ourselves a big day ahead of us today, so don't hold back and stick to the plan." The party heard their captain's announcement and turned to face him. Rydel continued, "You two will do exactly as your master says, no matter what it is. Do you understand?"
"Yessir," both young samurai nodded and bowed to Rydel in unison.
"Very good. I'll be taking a head start since I'm needed at the palace. Maynard and I have already discussed the exact details while you were asleep so don't worry yourself too much. If you stick to the plan, then you'll make it out alive," said Rydel.
"Yessir."
Jack was glad that Rydel hadn't mentioned the possible troll threat. It wasn't something he wanted them to worry about or distract them. Thinking about it himself, Jack steadied his breathing and forced himself to remain calm.
Seeing Jack taking things seriously, Rydel smiled and said, "I imagine you need to leave too, right? You'll need to infiltrate beforehand and get ready so you can enter the palace at a moment's notice when the perfect opportunity presents itself."
"Will do captain," saluted Jack.
"How interesting, the last to leave camp are those in charge of the first phase," laughed Maynard.
"Also, keep in mind that the neurotoxins we were able to distribute among the guards should be well in effect right now. Typically, the neurotoxin's effects of total paralysis last for more than a day, so this diluted dosage should have them slowed and twitching for the next few hours. Take advantage of this opportunity," emphasized Rydel.
"Always," answered Maynard with a nod. "Then we'll see each other on the other side of those walls after we slaughter our way through the guards. And don't worry, I've got plenty of potions and elixirs for us three thanks to ya sharing with us."
"Anything to accomplish the mission," replied Rydel with a smirk.
"And to ya Jack…" Maynard turned to say one last thing to Jack, but he was unable to find Jack anywhere. "He's more anxious than I thought."
"Can you blame the kid?" mentioned Rydel. "Anyways, I'm off. Keep me in touch if you know what shows up."
Brunar and Troni were confused by Rydel's not so subtle secrecy. However, when they asked their master about it, Maynard only faced Rydel and replied, "Same goes for ya, and happy hunting."
"Happy hunting," Rydel returned Maynard's expression, which was a common phrase among association members as if saying, "good luck."
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
TheSilverQuill
TheSilverQuill Thanks for reading and keep the comments rolling! Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.
Capítulo 62: Beginning Phase One
After wishing the samurais "happy hunting," Rydel took off at top speed and became illusory.
"Now what Master?" asked Brunar.
"I think ya both know what's next," answered Maynard. "Don't get yourself killed and pay attention to your surroundings. The guards are poisoned right now but don't let that get to your heads. This time we don't know how many goblins we'll face but we'll be trying to hold them off till we get Jack's signal. That's when we go all out, got that?"
"Yes Master," the young samurais replied together.
"Good, now both of ya draw your swords and follow me." Maynard jumped out of the empty vein with a massive leap, not caring to use any stealth at all.
Brunar did the same as his master, jumping out of the vein with some heavy yells and grunts upon landing. Unlike his fellow disciple and his mentor, Troni leaped out quietly, landing behind the others to keep from becoming the main target.
The moment that all three had revealed themselves, a couple of goblin sentries caught glimpse of them. Those goblins were unsure of what these three figures were and why they dared approach the goblin city. They contacted their captains but were surprised by the news they received.
Among the goblin guards, there were rumors about a few outposts being destroyed. Not many believed them due to the rumors being less than a day old, but it spread like wildfire, nonetheless.
When the goblin sentries received a response describing the losses of many outposts, the sentries were startled. Then the sentries were enraged after hearing that the three samurai were behind it all, along with a few other intruders.
Not wasting any time, the sentries let out deep, gargled howls. The howls were easily heard by Maynard's group, but they didn't so much as flinch. Following the gargled howls, the sounds of dozens of gargled whines and cries pierced the air.
The samurais looked ahead without hesitation. They didn't approach with great speed, wanting the goblins to come and meet them on the battlefield.
On high alert, the goblin guards readied themselves and prepared for battle. The wall had a unique design; It was like someone had taken an inflated inner tube and cut it clean in half. There were two gates, the outer gate, and the inner gate, and within the confines of the wall were goblins scrambling to get in formation.
When Maynard's party was about a quarter kilometer's distance from the city entrance, the outer gate swung open. Thanks to Rydel's investigating, Maynard had a decent idea of how many goblins there were living within the wall, but he was still amazed at the first wave of goblins that charged towards them.
"Are ya ready?" asked Maynard.
"Always!" yelled Brunar, throwing any thoughts of shrinking back to the wind while Troni gave a simple nod.
"Good, then show these pestros who's boss!" Maynard showed a delighted smile to the approaching goblin hoard. "If ya encounter anyone above lv. 25, make it known! And if ya need to take a potion, just do it, no need for my permission."
The goblins had ugly expressions on their faces, and not because of their natural ugliness as cave goblins. Their expressions were a mix of discomfort, unease, and savagery. Within the past hour, they had all realized they were poisoned, but it was too late to make excuses and chicken out of orders.
Taking notice of the goblins' strange movement patterns, Maynard's blades began to glow red. "This is a thank you to Rydel, for weakening our enemies before things had even started!"
With a wickedly fast cross slash, a "Bloody cross" went airborne and connected with the goblin wave before it could break up and try to dodge the samurai's attack.
"Aaaagghh!" the goblins hissed as over a dozen were made into mincemeat by the first attack of the battle.
Seeing Maynard's overwhelming strength, the goblin captains leading the charge focused on Maynard, intent on stopping him from performing more destructive AoE (Area of Effect) attacks.
Happy to pull the attention of the more powerful foes, Maynard smiled wide and shouted, "Come! Your fallen brethren failed to prove themselves worthy of my blade, and you'll join them soon enough!"
Maynard ran further ahead, creating some distance between him and his students. That way the higher leveled goblin guards wouldn't get much of an opportunity to attack Brunar or Troni without leaving an opening to strike.
The first collision happened when the three goblin captains banded together to face Maynard. Normally, two would charge him while the other would target the two weaker samurai but being poisoned and witnessing Maynard's strength proved to them that they couldn't afford to play around with the mature samurai.
Brunar's single blade also began to glow red in anticipation of the many goblins before him. With Maynard showing off and attracting the big fish, why wouldn't he want to prove his strength and carve into the wave of goblins?
Troni stood at the ready, still near Brunar in case he met someone too strong for him to handle.
Thanks to their master keeping the strongest goblins occupied and having no one to protect or split their attention, the young samurais faced the goblins with no fear and katanas at the ready. The bulk of the goblin guards were around lv. 15 and the occasional goblin guard was at least lv. 20.
The common goblin guards would bubble around Maynard and the captains, doing their best to avoid any collateral damage. In a matter of moments, they finally reached the two young samurai.
With the goblins fighting partial paralysis, they left many opening that trained swordsmen would easily take advantage of. A clash would only last one or two blows before a goblin would fall unless a goblin above lv. 20 met Troni, in which case it would last an additional two hits for Troni to redirect it towards Brunar for the killing blow. They avoided using any skills when possible, making sure to keep their stamina in check.
Maynard wasn't having it so easy, unlike his disciples. The three goblin captains were clearly affected by the poison, but them being higher leveled and stronger also meant that they could more easily fight the partial paralysis. They didn't leave Maynard too many openings and forced him to truly fight.
"Ya pestros! That the best ya got?" taunted Maynard, getting wilder and wilder as the 3 v. 1 continued.
The originally confident goblin captains were beginning to feel the pressure. They had assumed that they could at least hold Maynard back, if not slowly overwhelm him. But amidst their fight, Maynard would do something crazy like charge another "Bloody cross." When the captains would guard and prepare to receive it, Maynard would launch another airborne cross into the wave of goblins surrounding his students instead.
One goblin captain shouted in common, "Coward!"
Maynard laughed as he drank an elixir like it was a shot of his favorite brundy. "Hurry and call the other two captains. If ya don't call them soon, ya won't have the ability to cry for help."
Startled that Maynard knew about the two remaining captains still within the walls, another captain replied in broken common, "We no need them! We kill you now!"
All three captains readied an offensive stance as they surrounded Maynard, each one wielding a shortsword, which looked like a greatsword in their goblin sized hands. Letting out a screeching battle cry, the three shortswords glowed muddy green and swung sideways toward Maynard in unison.
Licking his smiling lips, Maynard chuckled as his katana glowed red in response. Maynard vanished from the center of the goblin captains, avoiding the three attacks completely.
Caught off guard, the captains were dazed by the change in the initiative, till one captain heard a whisper from behind him.
"Sudden death." Maynard slashed twice from behind the unlucky goblin captain, once across the upper thigh and once across the back of the neck.
The goblin captain had no time to respond or mutter a word as both his neck and left leg were cut cleanly through. After the blades exited the wound, the goblin captain's left leg toppled to the ground. Losing support so suddenly, the rest of the captain's body tumbled to the left, but his head fell to the right, completely severed from the captain's torso.
"Ya going to call them or not?" taunted Maynard, who lunged at the remaining two captains without pause.
The remaining captains had fear in their eyes as they each retrieved a contact crystal and attempted to summon the remaining captains. As they did so, Maynard became more ferocious, not wanting to waste a single moment of weakness.
Busy warding off the strikes from Maynard, the goblin captains were unable to concentrate and contact the other two captains.
"Ya think I'm going to just let ya call them? Ya missed your chance the first time I asked," laughed Maynard, who was reveling in the thrill of battle.
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