"Make sure to keep a look out guys. We don't wanna go through another surprise ambush." Said Ruby, a C-Rank Knight Class Warrior.
"Well, that goes without saying." Chifala, a D-Rank Mage Class Warrior added in agreement.
"Seriously, where did those Goblins even come from?" Chifa, a D-Rank Priestess Class Warrior, Chifala's younger sister, said in exhaustion.
"Tell me about it. I was honestly surprised coming back from my scouting mission only to find you guys being ganged up by what, around fifty Goblins, was it?" Said Saika, an E-Rank Thief Class Warrior.
"Yeah, I mean, alone, those Goblins are basically small fry but in groups, even C-Ranks need to be careful." Added Felix, an E-Rank Sniper Class Warrior.
These were the members of the mildly reputable party known only as Silent Wind. As they were slightly new, they weren't affiliated with any Guild, however, Ruby, their leader, was one of the many daughters of a prestigious Family known as the Montgomery Family, whose fame could almost rival that of even the Reinhardt Family, and only fell behind them due to not owning a Guild of their own. Unlike Zeke though, Ruby wasn't a spoiled child, she was kind, dependable and had a great sense of responsibility, she believed firmly that one's true value lied in their own innate strength and thus rarely ever used her Family's name for her benefits. Such was the personality that earned her the respect of her fellow party members. And yes, she was stronger than Zeke.
Right now, they had all entered an E-Rank Dungeon to explore it. Nearly fourty minutes ago, Ruby had sent Saika on a scouting mission to surveil the area and see if she to could find anything worth noting. Saika returned after locating a Goblin village only to find her party members being ambushed by a group of over fifty Goblins. They defeated the Goblins shortly after and were now headed towards the village Saika had found.
"This way everyone." She said as she lead the way.
"Everyone, stay on high alert, we'll get a Quest as soon as we enter the village so make sure to get ready." Ordered Ruby, looking at the other three party members.
"Roger that." They all said in unison.
"Saika, you said you counted over six-hundred Goblins in the village you found, right?"
"Six-hundred and eighty-seven to be precise."
"Great, we'll have over seven-hundred Mana Crystals by the end of the Quest. Five-hundred will be shared among all members equally, the rest we'll sell so we can buy more equipment and the like. As always, do with your share however you see fit and if you wanna undergo Mana Crystal absorption, come to me." She said to all her party members.
"Right." They all replied.
"We're here." Said Saika as they approached the village.
....
They all paused at the sight before them.
Chifa reacted in confusion.
"Wait...but whe-"
"Well it's a village alright." Chifala interrupted. "There's huts everywhere...and stuff, just uhh..." He paused to look at a certain individual "Saika? I gotta ask. Correct me if I'm wrong but, you did say that there's over six-hundred Goblins here right? Not...well, you know...zero?"
"There were! I swear there were, I saw it all with my very own eyes! They were all here. Those Goblins, most of them held spears while the others had bows and arrows. A-and there was another one, slightly bigger than the others, it had a very big sword that looked really beat up." Said Saika in defence.
"We partied pretty hard last night, how many did you have?" Asked Chifala.
"Oh haha. You know my Poison Resistance Skill deals with intoxication a lot faster than normal, a lot faster than you, too." She argued. Chifala chuckled in response.
"What do you make of this, Cap?" He asked, looking at Ruby.
"Hmm...I highly doubt Saika could ever make such a clumsy mistake. Which leads me to only a single conclusion. In the duration between Saika coming back from seeing the village to get us and us arriving here, something must've happened with the Goblins which lead to their disappearance." Said Ruby.
"But what could it be?" Chifa asked.
"Hell If we know." Felix joined as he shrugged his shoulders.
There was a village, but it was empty. There were huts, but no residents to speak of. The party thus entered the village site but no message popped up. They then started looking around to try and understand what might have happened. Some huts had acquired damage, but it wasn't large.
Ruby observed.
"So it's unlikely that there was a fight. It's almost as if they just steamrolled through their own village."
"So then they were probably running away from something? Another monster?" Asked Chifala.
Ruby immediately shut down that possibility.
"No way. Not in this Dungeon. Goblins are at the top of the food chain here so they wouldn't fall prey to any other monsters. On that note, I doubt they went hunting themselves either, not as an entire village. That'd just be ridiculous."
Chifala, not being able to make heads or tails of the situation, then asked:...
"So what do you think happened then?"
Ruby looked around.
"Can't say for sure. If they weren't running away, then maybe they ran towards something. What that 'something' might be though, is anyone's guess. Maybe they all got summoned by the Dungeon Boss, but if that's the case then that'd mean all the Goblin villages in this Dungeon are like this. Right now, confirming that, should be our top priority." She then looked at her party members. "Let's see about locating other villages."
"Then, should we split up?" Asked Felix.
Saika then immediately shut down that proposition.
"No. Not when things are this uncertain."
"She's right." Ruby said in agreement. "We'll all go together, as a team. Now then, let's move." She ordered.
"Right!" The rest said in unison.
*******
"Sorry, fire blade?"
"Hm-"
"So not just wind and water, but fire as well? Are you like, some broken character from a video game or..."
"Okay so are you gonna always be on my case about something or other?"
"Probably, yeah. Don't forget, we still need to talk about your 'masterpiece'."
"I really do want to 'forget' but I doubt you'd ever let me. Just kill some Goblins will ya?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
I was sure this went without saying, but that wasn't really the type of conversation one should have while being surrounded by an army of over ten-thousand monsters.
"And she says my attitude is relaxed."
I looked over to my front and was met with a large number of High Goblins. I could easily take down over a dozen High Goblins in an instant before I absorbed those Mana Crystals and levelled up so I wasn't necessarily worried about a hundred or so of them. I had formed one fire blade from my right hand. It was incredibly sharp, nowhere near as sharp as First Dawn though but I still had a decent amount of confidence in it. It radiated an intense heat, reminded me a lot of the Dragon Furnace. Said-heat didn't bother me though, in addition to gaining the ability to control them, all my Elemental Magic Skills also gave me significant resistance to their respective elements. I activated my Bladework Skill then Cultivator after, through that, I carefully concentrated my Mana to the blade as it became even sharper than it already was. Still not as sharp as First Dawn though, I mean, that blade's a beast, with that being said, Peyton was bound to have much more of a cakewalk than me. After finishing preparations, I was ready to start slicing and dicing.