Upon returning back to the campsite, Elise found out that Andric had finished packing up.

She put on the brown cloak before picking up her bags. When she turned around, Andric was standing under a tree with two rucksacks over his shoulders. He was previously only wearing a green shirt and brown pants, but now, he had put on a metal chest plate and knee plates. His hands were covered with thick fingerless leather gloves as well. Looking to his waist, she also noticed that a plain long sword hung from a leather belt on the left side of his hips.

Oh, so he’s a Swordsman.

“Ready to go now?” He asked as he raised his eyebrows after the girl had glanced up and down over him.

Elise gave a quick nod and followed closely beside him as they headed off into the forest.

The forest was made out of tall trees with green leaves and low bushes and shrubs. Although she was unable to identify the type of tree, it looked similar to what she had seen before in Lauritopia. The ground was dry, so it was relatively easy to walk on. She just needed to be careful not to trip over protruding roots and the occasional fallen branch. Thankfully, walking through wilderness was not an issue to her as she often had to travel through wilderness to complete tasks back in the past. In fact she had experienced tougher conditions than this, so this was literally a walk through the park for her.

Her only concern would be the stamina of her current body.

She had eaten as much as she could for breakfast so that she will have enough energy for the day. However, she was a little skeptical about the condition of her body.

As expected, after walking for an hour, her breath started to get ragged, and her feet slowed down unconsciously.

“Hah… Hah…”

She had walked quite a bit in the morning to search around the lake, could that have affected her stamina?

While walking, she took out the flask of water from her bag and drank a few sips to moisten her throat.

Andric wordlessly slowed down his pace. Casting a worried look at the girl beside him who had a pale face, he asked, “Do you want to rest for a while?”

“No, let’s continue,” Elise answered resolutely.

Andric had explained to her earlier that they might be able to reach the town before nightfall if they proceeded at a steady pace. Otherwise, they would have to make camp in the forest as visibility was bad once the sun goes down. She wanted to reach the town as soon as possible, so she intended to push herself as much as possible.

Seeing that the girl was determined, Andric frowned but did not say anything else.

They continued for a while more before Andric found that he has reached his limits.

He stopped in his tracks and held an arm out in front of the girl.

Elise was unable to stop in time and walked straight into the arm. The light collision caused her legs to crumple and her body to fall heavily towards the ground.

Having expected that, Andric reached out to support the girl’s waist with his right hand and pulled her closer to him to prevent the fall.

“What are you doing?” Elise asked irritatedly as she turned her head up to look at the man holding her with a frown. She wanted to push the arm away, but found that she didn’t have the strength to do so.

“We will take a break now,” he said firmly.

The person herself might have not noticed, but her face and lips had been getting paler since a while ago, and the shade of white now was definitely not normal.

He could not help but notice her cold body temperature either. Perhaps it was his fault for not making her rest for a day more before taking her out of the forest.

“Why? If we rest now, it will delay our journey.”

Andric glowered at the girl who had answered defiantly. “If you continue like this, you will die before we even reach the town.”

“I don’t want the girl that I had just saved to die so soon in front of me.”

Elise jerked her face away, her expression stony. However, she knew in her heart that what he said was right. She would probably faint if she continued any longer.

She gathered her remaining energy to stand firm, and pushed the arm away.

Andric did not resist. Crossing his arms, he waited to listen to what the girl had to say.

Elise tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears and said sullenly, “Since it is almost noon now, let’s have lunch first then.”

Having finished saying that, she put her bags down and started rummaging through the rucksack for the lunch that Andric had previously prepared for them.

This girl was more stubborn than he had previously thought. Andric shook his head as he sat down as well.

Lunch for the day consisted of bread with dried meat and wild vegetables gathered nearby that were suitable to be eaten raw. In other words, it was a sandwich. Although it was not luxurious, it was enough to satiate their hunger.

As they ate in silence, Elise eyed the rucksacks that Andric was carrying. She knew that one contained his own belongings. The other rucksack was even bigger, and was filled to the brim with white objects. She had been interested in them since that morning, but had yet to figure out what they were.

Andric noticed Elise’s gaze on his rucksack and opened his mouth. “Are you curious to know what this is?”

A faint pink glow appeared on her cheeks as she felt like a little child that was caught doing something embarrassing.

Andric grinned at her reaction, and continued to tease her slightly. “If you have anything you want to know, you can just let big brother know~”

Elise threw him a resentful look and turned away. If he was going just to make fun of her, then she had no plans to entertain him. To think that she, who had been a feared existence from the day she got the nickname of Crimson Mage, would get teased like a little girl today!

Andric sighed as he realised the girl had become angry with him. Not only was she stubborn, she had a short fuse as well.

Opening up the rucksack, he took out some of the white objects. Or rather, they were threads that were clumped together.

“These are threads from Giant Spiders.”

Elise, whose curiosity have overcome everything else, turned around to study the bundles of white threads on his hands.

“What are you planning on doing with these threads?” She asked.

“This was a request that I picked up from the Guild, to go to the Spider Forest to collect Giant Spider Threads.”

“As for what can be done with these... They are usually made into Mage robes as they have very good magic defense and physical defense properties. There are also some nobles that buy clothes made from these threads as they are extremely soft and have vibrant colours when dyed,” he explained.

Elise nodded.

“But humans aren’t the only ones who want these threads,” he continued wryly. “Intelligent monsters know how good the properties of the thread are as well. So one of the challenges of this quest is not only getting into the den of the Giant Spider but also to prevent other monsters from stealing the thread.”

Having said that, he stood up.

Even with her poor senses, Elise could also recognise that there was something approaching them from all directions.

Elise stood up as well and took out the dagger that she had hidden under her cloak.

Five… No ten? There were around ten creatures who had surrounded them.

As they came out of the shadows, Elise saw that they were humanoid monsters around 130 cm tall with dark green skin and pointy ears wearing tattered leather clothes.

Their eyes were fully black with no eye whites, and they were looking intently at them while showing their sharp yellowed teeth.

“These are…”

“They are High Goblins, a species that evolved from Goblins.”

High Goblins had skin that were darker in colour than normal Goblins. Their features remained largely the same apart from being taller and more stoutly built. They were also more intelligent, and were capable of creating tools and laying traps.

Although research have not found out the exact conditions that trigger evolution in monsters. It has been observed many times of monsters evolving into more powerful and intelligent beings after meeting certain conditions.

However, even if these High Goblins were more intelligent and stronger then normal Goblins, they were still no match for him.

A corner of Andric’s mouth curled up.

He had been waiting for them to attack since he left the Giant Spider's den. Although he had someone he needed to protect with him now, it should not be too much of a problem.

“Oh. I see…”

Hmm, she could tell these were Goblins alright. Just that the Goblins she was familiar with were black in colour and were around the size of a female human.

“Elise, it is ok for you to just stay back,” Andric said as he drew out his sword.

Elise raised an eyebrow. In the past, she was always the one relied on during battles, so she couldn’t help but be slightly amused when she was asked to stay back this time.

“If you say so,” she replied evenly as she kept her dagger and sat back down. “Do your best then.”

Andric was slightly speechless at the nonchalant attitude Elise was showing. If he had not known better, he would have thought that she was watching a show.

Turning back his attention to the hostile beings around them, he confirmed the presence of eleven High Goblins. Five of the High Goblins had short swords on their hands, another three had small axes on both their hands while the remaining three had bows. One of the archers was even hidden on the tree. Most probably to ambush them or to seek help if the battle was not in their favour. This was a well balanced team. It seemed like they had prepared before approaching them.

The High Goblins observed the two humans for a moment before one jumped forward waving a crudely made metal sword in the air.

Andric stepped forward, and with a slash, he split the green creature into two.

The action was so fast that the High Goblin did not even get to make a sound before it died.

Seeing that one of their comrades had fallen, the rest of the High Goblins jumped into action immediately.

In a swift motion, Andric threw short daggers of around 10cm long towards the High Goblin archers. Each dagger found its way into their throats, killing them instantly.

Three of the High Goblins reached him first and their weapons cut towards him with no mercy.

Andric deflected one of the attacks with his long sword before he gave a strong kick to the chest of another. As his boot contacted the body, he felt the ribs cracking.

A deep boot print could be seen on the chest of the High Goblin that was kicked and it stumbled backwards before it fell to the floor limply with a squeak.

Before the other two could react, a deep gnash had appeared on their chest, and red blood spurted out of the wound before they too, fell onto the floor.

The remaining four High Goblins hesitated when they saw that their comrades had all fallen within seconds. Their black, beady eyes looked at each other as they realised that they might have attacked someone beyond their ability.

However, before they could regret their decision, Andric had already leapt forward. With each of his strikes, it took away the lives of the remaining four High Globins.

As a person who have fought poisonous Basilisks five meters long, the fight with High Goblins was honestly nothing exciting for Elise who was watching the fight curiously.

Even though she was not trained in swordsmanship, she could tell that Andric’s sword skills were good. Each of his strikes were deadly and there were no unnecessary movements. While he was not as good as her brother, he was probably on par with the castle’s elite knights. But as their knights could use magic, he will probably be at a major disadvantage if he really fought with them.

Andric pulled out the daggers that were embedded in the High Goblin archers’ throats and wiped the blood off on the grass. When he turned around, he saw Elise staring at him with an amused expression.

“You are not afraid?”

No matter what, the situation earlier was dangerous, but the girl did not show any indication of fear. Or even now, although dead bodies were lying on the ground and the scent of blood was strong in the air, the girl did not show any signs of discomfort.

“Why should I be?” The girl asked back, her eyes wide and questioning, as if he had asked something silly.

This girl is strange.

It was as if she did not have a sense of danger. For any normal human, getting surrounded by monsters or seeing a scene of carnage should invoke some fear or disgust. However, she was calm and relaxed.

“Because you could have died if you were not careful.”

The young man’s face was serious and his voice grave. Elise blinked blankly at his words.

Oh right. She had forgotten that with her current body, she was indeed weak enough to be killed if she had been stabbed by the green weaklings.

The more she thought about it, the more she realised how much of a nuisance this body was. She needed to find a way to improve her physical condition and mana level as soon as possible, or she might die before she returns back to Lauritopia.

Andric observed the girl that had fallen into silence.

“We should go off now. You want to reach the town as soon as possible right?” He reminded her.

Elise jumped up immediately. “Yes, let’s get moving.”

She could think about strategies while walking. She had never backed down from a challenge, so she would definitely reach home safely.

Andric gave a wry smile at the girl who had cheered up all of a sudden.

However, Elise’s good mood would get dampened later as they were met with three more attacks from the High Goblins and ended up falling behind schedule. By nightfall, they were only two third of the way to their goal, so they had no choice but to camp in the forest.