"What do we do? We cannot get in close. You have all seen how effective he is up close."
"I don't know. We thought element from range would work."
Rune listened while they argued, standing calmly amid the fading winds and steam. He watched their casting closely, noting how they shaped element, how some relied on excess force while others lacked control.
These were people who had been here longer than him, using element in ways he had not yet explored.
When the attacks stopped coming, Rune tilted his head. The smile he had been wearing slowly faded into something more focused.
"You know," he said lightly, "I didn't even get to use all the toys I had crafted for my dungeon run."
He reached into his pouch and pulled out five crudely made crystal throwing daggers. The workmanship was rough, clearly rushed, but functional. Exactly what he had asked for.
"I can do ranged attacks too."
Earlier that day, while preparing for the matriarch, he had dipped each blade in orange core liquid. The crystal still carried a faint glow.
Rune turned one of the daggers in his hand, testing the balance.
"I am going to try something new," he said. "Let's see how this works."
Instead of feeding the daggers light, Rune pushed shadow into them.
The crystal drank it in, darkening as it took on the element's nature.
Five daggers left his hands in rapid succession, each aimed cleanly at the head of a different Crown member.
When they hit, shadow slowed them and they sank into the men's bodies, resistance stretching the moment just long enough for the orange liquid to react.
The mixture detonated from within, violent and contained.
One by one, the men came apart, bodies breaking down into drifting motes of light that rose quietly into the air.
Rune grimaced.
"Ew. I think I like it better when it explodes from the outside."
"I think I am going to end this," he said, tone casual. "It has been pretty informative though, so thank you."
Rune rushed forward, zigzagging through the remaining men. His movements were tight and clean. Short steps. Precise angles. Each swing landed where it needed to.
Throats. Joints. Hearts.
One by one, bodies dissolved into motes of light, drifting upward before fading away.
Five men remained.
Panic took them all at once. They turned and ran, crashing through brush and branches as they fled toward the woods and the distant lights of the city.
Rune watched them go, then exhaled.
"I am too tired to chase you."
He lifted his head slightly.
"Sol. Luna. Hunt."
Light and shadow burst forth. The wolves formed instantly and shot into the forest without hesitation, their shapes vanishing between the trees.
Silence returned.
The only one left was Carl. He was standing there, no weapons in his hands. He knew it was a losing battle.
Rune walked over and dropped onto a nearby log beside him, shoulders finally slumping. He let out a long breath and stared ahead.
"I really was tired, Carl," he said quietly. "How many more times do you think the Crown is going to come after me?"
Carl hesitated, then slowly sat down beside him.
"I really do not know," he said quietly. "They do not tell me anything. And to be honest, I am not much of a fighter."
Rune glanced over. "Yeah? But they still make you fight. That is a rough life."
Carl nodded. "Before I came here, I was a clerk. Logistics officer. Paperwork." He paused, then added earnestly, "I like paperwork."
Distant screams echoed through the forest as Sol and Luna caught up to their prey. Carl flinched and looked back in that direction, shoulders tightening.
Rune did not turn.
"I have a feeling, Carl," he said. "A strong one. The Crown is not going to stop bothering me."
He leaned back against the log and looked up at the night sky, stars faint through the canopy.
"Such a hassle."
"You know, sir, you do go a little crazy when you fight... if I may say so."
"I have noticed that too. Must be in my nature."
After a moment, he exhaled.
"You can go," Rune said. "I really do not want to kill you."
"Um, Mister Goblin, sir," Carl said hesitantly. "If I go back like this, they will think I made a deal with you or something. That would put me in a tight spot." He swallowed. "Can you just kill me? It is okay."
Rune looked at him.
"You sure, Carl?"
"Yes, sir."
From his seated position, he blinked behind Carl and ended it in a single motion. Clean. Instant. Carl never felt it, never even saw it coming.
Blue motes drifted up into the night and vanished between the trees.
Rune remained where he was, staring ahead.
"Sometimes I hate how this world works," he said quietly. "Or maybe it is just some of the people in it."
*****
Rune pushed open the inn door and stepped inside, shoulders slumped, body heavy from the day's events.
The innkeeper looked up once and snorted. "Oh, look at you. Your element must have hit a high point."
Rune blinked. "Huh? I did unlock something, but how can you tell?"
The innkeeper jerked his chin toward the wall. "Look in a mirror, kid."
Rune turned and found the nearest reflective surface. He leaned in.
His jaw dropped.
"My hair," he said slowly. "My black hair. Half of it is white now."
"Hah. Yes, yes," the innkeeper said, waving a hand. "That is how you know you are getting closer with your element. When it starts showing on the outside."
Rune stared a moment longer, then grimaced. "But… my hair. I liked it how it was."
The innkeeper stepped closer and sniffed loudly.
"And you smell like you rolled around with dogs all day."
Rune looked at the innkeeper, a quiet suspicion forming.
'Does he know?'
The innkeeper caught the look immediately.
"Yes, yes," he said with a grin. "I know you manifested your elemental beasts today. Feeling special, are you?"
Rune frowned. "You knew? I had a memory of a god saying they would never tell anyone of this world how to do it."
The innkeeper laughed, shaking his head.
"I am sorry to break it to you, kid, but do you really think the Unnamed God follows the old rules?" He leaned back against the counter. "Once people get strong enough, he gives them that knowledge himself. The outer provinces are full of people walking around with their elemental beasts."
Rune sighed. "And here I thought it was a big deal."
"Many people may have them," the innkeeper said, voice leveling out. "But you unlocked it without help."
He looked at Rune a little more closely.
"And that is something special."
"One day, old man, I am going to ask you how you know what you know."
The innkeeper threw his head back and laughed.
"If I told you that, kid," he said, still chuckling, "your head would literally explode."