-Andre-

A fist swung towards my temple. I blocked it with little effort, shifting my arm to cover the side of my head. The strength behind the blow was still excessive, and I found myself getting annoyed.

“Bro, tone it down,” I warned, kicking my opponent in the gut to push him away. “We’re just practicing.”

The kid I was sparring, Joey, rocked his gloved hand side to side, “I’m not going hard?”

I ignored his answer and continued with the round. He was a high school student who had just joined the gym a few weeks ago. He would go around the halls, picking fights by insulting other students, but he didn’t have the skill to back it up. He finally decided that he should put his money where his mouth was when he got rocked by a kid half his size.

Needless to say, he sucked. Badly. I peppered him with kicks and punches, not hard, but just enough to let him know I could. He must’ve gotten sick of it after a while because he threw the same full-strength haymaker. I narrowly blocked the punch again, and my brain jarred from the impact.

I smacked him on the side of the head, anger rising, “Last warning. You do that again, I’m fucking you up.”

Joey did it again.

I blocked the punch and slammed my glove down on his nose. Joey unintentionally closed his eyes, and I took the opportunity to ram my other fist in his gut. Air rushed out of his mouth as he gagged.

“Bitch,” Joey grunted, diving directly at my legs.

He tackled me to the ground and swung his arms down wildly. Unfortunately for him, he had no idea what he was doing. I reversed the position with little effort and returned the favor. Joey failed to cover himself effectively, letting shot after shot through. I continued to slam my fists down at him, ignoring the lulling of his head.

A rough hand threw me off, “Andre, enough! What are you doing!?”

“I warned him, Coach.” I replied, breathing heavily from the exertion. “He wouldn’t tone it down.”

“So you beat him unconscious!?” Coach exasperated, checking to make sure the boy was breathing right and lifting the kid’s legs up. “Go get me the smelling salt!”

I threw off my gloves, collecting the salt like Coach asked, and he waved it under Joey’s nose. The boy’s face was a mess of cuts and newly-formed bruises.

Joey shot up, sitting up with a start. He sneezed, “What… what happened?”

“You got knocked the fuck out,” I snorted.

“Pack your things and leave,” Coach said, thankfully directing the words towards Joey. “You won’t last here.”

Joey argued for a few minutes before being forcibly escorted out. Coach motioned towards his office when it was over.

I sat down on a familiar couch, beginning my explanation, “Coach, I know I crossed the line, but-”

“Stop,” Coach growled, taking a seat at his desk. “I’m talking now.”

I swallowed, only able to nod.

“Andre, you’ve been here for years. You’re a good kid. But you can’t snap like that. You need to learn how to control yourself. Your mind is a tool, just like your body. You have to hone it, not let it get the best of you.”

“But, Coach, what was I supposed to do? Let him keep hitting me?”

“Andre, let me ask you a question. Was that kid worth your anger? Was he deserving of it?”

Deserving?

“I… I don’t know, Coach.”

“The answer is no, Andre. No, he didn’t. You could’ve knocked him out without getting emotional if it came down to it.” Coach tapped his finger on his desk. “I won’t tell you that being angry is wrong, but you can’t become enraged over something so trivial. Otherwise, what is your anger really worth?”

I didn’t understand. Wasn’t he mad at me for beating that kid? Why’d he get so philosophical? It was like he was only upset because I lost control of myself in the process.

“What it’s worth, Coach?”

“If you’re going to give in to your violent tendencies, at least do it for a good reason.”

*

-Vandlind-

A day had passed since Blake took the sapient goblin into his possession, and I stared detachedly out the back of the wagon I was in. She was being kept in the second wagon, right behind the one my team and I were riding in. It pained me to have her so close, yet I could do nothing about it. Apparently, I wasn’t doing a good job of hiding my thoughts.

‘I know it’s hard, but it would be best to forget about her,’ Veylin’s thoughts were gentle, the opposite of her true meaning: ‘you’re only going to make things harder for us by trying something.’

‘I can’t, Veylin -- I can’t. You didn’t see her. She was so… so human. When I looked at her, I could only imagine this little girl who didn’t know what was going on. She was so vulnerable so… so confused-’ I choked, and my eyes were on the verge of tears. I hadn’t cried in a long time, yet here I was, about to break down about a monster somebody else wouldn’t think twice about killing.

Veylin pulled my head into her chest, and I ignored the surprised looks the rest of the team was giving.

‘It’s okay. We’ll get her. I don’t know how, but we’ll get her.” She slowly stroked my long hair with her fingers. I sat there for a few moments, enjoying the feel and heat of her touch.

I sniffed and pulled away, ‘You’re too good for me, you know that?’

‘Yeah, I know.’ she grinned.

‘You know, I was hoping for a ‘don’t say that, Vandlind!’ or a ‘I would never think that, Vandlind!’ but I guess I should’ve known better.’ I tried to joke to take my mind off things.

“Can you guys seriously stop doing that?” Sam looked at us with annoyance, “It’s weird having two people have a conversation with each other right in front of you and not hearing a thing.”

“I agree,” Dramur said. “We are a team now. Having private conversations with each other excludes the rest of us, and that’s not how a team works. We need to bond.”

“If we’re a team, can I have my silver back?” I pursed my lips.

I had counted what we had left when I realized that money might be an important part of saving the goblin girl if Blake sold her at a market. Currently, we had eighteen silver coins. I didn’t know how much a sapient monster would go for, but considering their rarity, I had a sinking feeling it was going to be more than we had. This was all considering Blake even sold her off, which I was only about sixty percent confident of. I planned on asking when we stopped for the night.

The dwarf grunted, “That is down payment.”

Motherfucker.

I leaned forward in my seat and glared at him, “It’s for a good cause.”

I hadn’t told them about the sapient. Blake was keeping it all hush-hush, and I hadn’t felt the need to tell them yet. They knew there was a slave, but nothing more.

“If it’s not filling our stomachs or maintaining our equipment, I do not care.”

My anger rose, but I didn’t let it show. It wasn’t like he knew any better.

“So,” Veylin took over, realizing I wasn’t in my right mind, “I heard we’re stopping at a river this time?”

Clara answered, her strength back in full, “Gods, yes. I can’t wait to wash off the blood from yesterday. My armor and body still reek.”

“It will be nice to bath for once,” Shayna frowned at her blood-spattered appearance before looking at me with a hungry grin, “Tell me, Vandlind, do you plan on washing in the river? I know your mana still might be low. I’ll be willing to help, should you need it.” She looked me up and down while licking her lips.

My mana was, actually, almost full. I had tranced after the battle and been using mana cycling whenever I didn’t have time to meditate. I wasn’t going to say that though.

“Gods, you're insufferable,” Sam groaned, placing his face in his hands.

“I agree,” Will nodded, “Your invitations have become annoying. This is the seventh time today.”

Theo choked down a laugh, “You counted?”

“What?” Shayna's face twisted in offense. “Tell me you wouldn’t sleep with him after seeing his performance during the last battle. I’ve never seen another move that fast in my life.”

“You did look pretty cool,” Sam admitted, turning to me, “But I don’t think I’d fuck you. Although, you are a lot prettier than most women, so maybe…” He let the sentence hang, “No offense, of course.”

“None taken,” I held up a hand, “I wouldn’t fuck you either.”

Dramur cleared his throat, “When I spoke of bonding, this is not what I had in mind.”

A laugh escaped from everyone in the wagon, and I leaned back in my seat as I closed my eyes. It was nice to have companions like this; they were definitely helping me forget about the whole sapient monster thing.

Ah, shit. I started thinking about her again.

I felt Veylin’s hand wrap around mine as I drifted off to sleep.

*

My power nap was much shorter than I would’ve liked. I needed to sleep to make up for all the trancing I’ve been doing, damnit!

I couldn’t complain though. The caravan had stopped early because we arrived at the river the girls were so excited about. And honestly, I was excited too. Women weren’t the only ones who liked to be clean. I had washed as best I could with water magic, but it was far from perfect. There was something about submerging yourself that felt infinitely better.

The wagons formed their typical circle formation, and I jumped out of the one I was, stretching my stiff limbs with a grunt. The chest-high grass of the prairie we were once on had faded. Now, normal length grass and trees surrounded us; my fear of getting stabbed in the dick had slowly faded.

I turned my attention to the main attraction of today's stop. The river wasn’t very large, closer to a creek, but calm, clear water flowed in it. It reminded me of the various kayaking trips I'd taken with Ron's family back on Earth. I hoped that pudgy bastard was doing well. He'd be in his fifties by now if he was alive. Imaging an old Ron with children made me chuckle to myself. He'd be the best father anyone could ask for. I just hoped he'd managed to get his license. Seriously, I still got second-hand embarrassment remembering it.

The rest of the team followed, voicing various excitement.

“Gods, that water looks so good,” Clara was already undoing her blood-stained, plate mail armor. Her mace fell to the ground with a thunk as she dropped her belt.

“Oi, clean your equipment first,” Dramur scolded. “You’re setting a bad example for the rookies."

Clara puffed out her cheeks and pouted, “But-”

“No buts.” Dramur motioned back towards the wagon. “Since you’re so eager, go find all of us some rags to clean with. I should’ve packed some in my bag.”

Clara let out a sigh and dragged her feet back to the wagon.

I walked over to the river with everyone else and plumped down on the soft grass. Veylin took her usual spot next to me, and we both started to remove our armor.

I took my boots and socks off first, wriggling my toes in the air. It had been several days since I’d taken them off, and if it wasn’t for my eleven heritage, they probably would’ve smelled like roadkill.

My greaves and bracers came next, and I dutifully inspected them. There was no damage, so that was good. However, both sets of equipment were splattered with blood. I tossed the armor to the side with a click of my tongue. I took my chest piece off last, sliding it off the top of my head with some difficulty. The leather was flexible but trying to remove it sitting down put me at a disadvantage (I was too stubborn to bother standing back up).

Unfortunately, my chest piece didn’t make it out of the battle unscathed: the right shoulder was damaged, undoubtedly from ramming into the troll. I rubbed the shoulder section mournfully before putting it aside with the rest. I would mend it with magic, but cleaning came first.

Clara pranced over not a second later and handed out rags, “These were the only ones I could find, sorry.”

I wasn’t quite sure why she’d apologized; the rag I’d gotten looked clean to me.

For the next fifteen minutes, the entire team cleaned their armor together. I scrubbed the bloodstains on my armor furiously, cursing the troll for splattering on me so much.

Clara and Shayna chatted softly as they washed their gear, and the rest of the guys argued about the best weapon to use when killing a hill giant. I was fairly sure ‘a fucking big one’ was the recurring theme.

I wasn’t the most knowledgeable armor enthusiast out there, but I questioned whether those with metal armor should be cleaning it with river water. Although, I guessed there was the possibility that the metal was enchanted to not rust.

Veylin, Theo, and I were the first ones done, probably because all of us lacked the need to clean much metal.

I sat cross-legged on the ground and brought my chest piece to rest in my lap. I frowned in concentration before beginning my spell.

“Sceľovanie,” I whispered, reducing my magic power. The mana required for this spell surprised me for a second. Then, I remembered how durable this armor actually was, not to mention the enchantments I’d put on it.

The damaged part of my chest piece started slowly mending itself, making it look nearly new. I nodded in satisfaction before setting it aside and looking up.

Every member of the team, including Veylin, stared at me intently.

No. God, please no.

“H-hey, guys. You don’t seriously expect me to repair all your armor. I-I’m still recovering from the battle. I don’t have enough-”

“He lies,” Veylin ruined my chance of escape, “He’s been meditating every chance he gets.”

‘Traitor.’ I gasped.

‘Those goblins managed to nick my precious armor,’ Veylin shrugged. ‘I did what I had to.’

*

I flopped on my back, a faint headache gnawing at my skull. I spent nearly forty minutes repairing those freeloader’s armor, and what did I get for it? Nothing, absolutely nothing! I had concluded fairly quickly that all of them did indeed have varying degrees of enchantment on their armor; there was no way it would have drained so much mana otherwise.

I sat up and rubbed my temples, resigning myself to start meditating until my headache went away or the rest of the team came back to wash. They said something about cleaning their weapons while I was mending their equipment, but that was horseshit. They just didn’t want to screw off in front of me while I busied myself being their slave.

Soft footsteps resounded on the grass next to me, followed by a tap on my shoulder, “Here.” Shayna handed me a small vial of blue liquid and sat down next to me.

“Mana potion?” I guessed, inspecting the decorative glass vial, “Aren’t these ridiculously expensive?”

She pinned back a stray black hair behind her ear; she’d undone her tight braid, “Consider it thanks for saving my life.”

My mind flashed back to her struggling to keep the troll at bay with her halberd.

I undid the intricate latch and took a small sip. A flavorful liquid ran down my throat, immediately reducing my faint headache to nothing. This stuff was top shelf.

“I can’t accept this,” I relatched the bottle and handed it to her. “This must’ve cost a fortune.”

She cocked her head, “Is my life not worth more than some trivial amount of gold?”

“I would say no so you would take the potion back, but I don’t think you’d appreciate that.” The corners of my mouth slowly turned up.

Shayna’s face broke into a bright smile, and I couldn’t help but think how beautiful she was, “No. No, I don’t think I’d like that.”

I rotated the vial in my hand for a few seconds, “Thank you,” I finally said. I leaned over and slipped the potion into my trusty satchel, which had been sitting in my pile of armor. Pushing off my feet, I extended an arm, “Now then, I’ll need to put this stuff back before I go wash.” And talk to Blake about buying the goblin girl. I had been putting it off.

Shayna accepted my hand, and I pulled her to her feet. Then, I frowned.

“Did you get shorter?” I looked at her from different angles in disbelief. I could’ve sworn she was taller than me, but now, it seemed she was the smaller one. Only slightly, yet it was still noticeable.

Shayna’s light green cheeks dyed a shade of crimson, “The boots I wear make me seem taller than I actually am.”

My eyes dropped down to her feet. Sure enough, she was barefoot like me. I poised to raise my head back up and paused. Now that I’d thought about it, I’d never seen Shayna without her armor on, much less with her hair down. I took a second to really look at her. She wore loose-fitting clothing, a pair of brown pants and a grey shirt, but they did nothing to hide her wonderful figure. Her body was honed and muscular, and her skin was-

I stopped, What the hell am I doing? She’s a teammate, not an object. Well, a teammate that’s offered to sleep with me a couple times, but still. Professionals have standards!

Or so I told myself.

“Is something wrong?” Shayna cocked her head. Bless her heart, she’d sounded actually worried. If only she knew what I was just thinking.

“N-no,” I stuttered. “I was just surprised when you said your boots made you taller.”

Good job, me! Splendid recovery!

“O-oh,” She sounded unsure of my flawless acting.

“Anyway,” I scooped up my armor, trying to hide the faint blush that started to form on my face, “Let’s head back and tell the others I’m done with their armor.”

Shayna nodded, collecting her own armor from the ground before following.

*

I dropped my armor in the lean-to Veylin had erected twice now, keeping only my pouch and a single dagger. Veylin groaned in her sleep at the slight disturbace.

I nudged her with my bare foot, “Hey, dickhead, go grab your armor before someone steals it.”

Veylin opened a single eye, ‘Dickhead? You should’ve brought it back for me if you’re going to treat me like that.’

‘You can’t be serious…’ I shook my head. After she hung me out to dry, she expected preferential treatment?

Veylin chuckled as she stood up, “Kidding, I’m kidding -- mostly.”

She quickly turned on her heel, walking out of the encampment before I could give her a piece of my mind.

I clicked my tongue as she walked away. Now, it was time to talk to Blake. Our last encounter wasn’t exactly splendid, so I hoped he didn’t refuse my offer out of spite.

It didn’t take long to find the middle-aged mage. His bright, crimson robes were a far cry incognito. He was talking to a caravan guard, and judging by the distinctive, gold markings on the man's arms, he was probably the second-in-command of the expedition.

I waited for Blake to finish before approaching him; the mage blanched upon noticing me.

“Sir Blake,” I said, ignoring the fear on his face, “First off, I would like to sincerely apologize for my behavior regarding the goblin slave,” This was a lie; I didn’t feel sorry at all. “Secondly, I would like to talk to you about,” I looked around, making sure we weren’t drawing attention, “a subject that could use a little privacy.”

“A-ah,” Blake put a hand on his heart and took a deep breath, “Sorry, I was expecting something else. Of course, let us talk somewhere more private.”

“Zbraňová bariéra.” I spoke softly, placing a ward to stop physical attacks around the mage and myself. I altered it slightly with mana manipulation to stop sound waves from leaving the area we were in.

I gestured around us as the ward shimmered into place before disappearing, “We should be able to talk freely now.”

Blake poked a finger at the ward, frowning whenever it stopped in mid-air, “Interesting trick. To my knowledge, there is an illusion spell that does something similar. Do you not know it? I thought you said you were proficient in all schools.”

I clicked my tongue at the subtle insult, “I said I was familiar with all schools, not proficient. Yes, I do know an illusion spell that silences my surroundings but modifying it to allow for private conversation is more difficult for me than modifying an abjuration spell.” I really didn’t know what, but something about this guy really pissed me off. Actually, I did know what: he was a pretentious asshole.

Blake rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “I see. I often modify my spells to fit my needs as well. Now, what is it you wanted to speak about?”

“I’ll get to the point. How much for the goblin girl? I assume you wish to sell her at the slave markets in Aerilon.”

Blake gave me a flat look, “You don’t have enough.”

This motherfu-

I grit my teeth, “I wouldn’t be so sure.”

The mage waved his hand, “I meant no offense. Rather, the goblin is not for sale.”

I felt my heart sink, “W-why not? Surely you don’t intend to keep a monster that weak as your own?” I hoped my weakness hadn’t shown through the mask I was trying to keep up.

Blake shook his head, “You’re correct. I have no interest in the sapient. However, my master is obsessed with investigating the cause of rare phenomena. The goblin will make a splendid gift. My master might even reward me,” Blake’s eyes practically beamed with greed at the mention of ‘reward.’

“By ‘investigate,’ you don’t mean crack open her skull and look at her brain, do you?” I strained, forcing myself not to wring his neck right here.

Blake sucked air through his teeth, “You word it so barbarically. Dissect is much more applicable in this case. I assure you, it is all for the advancement of science.” He looked at me as if that was a justifiable cause.

I clenched my fists, “I thought you said she wouldn’t be harmed?”

It was Blake’s turn to prove me wrong, “I said it wouldn’t be harmed for the remainder of this expedition. I did not say what would happen to it after.”

I took a deep breath to calm myself, Now’s not the time.

I put on my best look of understanding, “Very well. I can’t say I like this outcome, but it’s not my place to do anything. Though, could I ask for a favor? Can I spend some time with her before we leave? It would help to know she’s being treated well before…” you murder her.

Blake scratched the stubble on his jaw, “You took that better than I thought. Yes, that would be fine. The monster has been refusing food and water. It would be a shame if the sapient died before I could even get back to my master. If you make sure to make it eat, you can spend as much time with it as you like. I assume this would be agreeable?” He raised an eyebrow, his face the picture of passivity.

“Yes, thank you.” I put on my most pleasant smile, at odds with the rage smoldering within me.