Zane stumbled to the door as fast he could, his legs still asleep. He pushed open the door and tumbled down the stairs, skipping multiple, and barely catching himself on the railing. The feeöing in his feet had returned and he stormed out the front door of the inn. What he saw were villagers running in fear, chased by humanoid figures. They were the size of children with boney and thin bodies, large ears that fluttered in the wind, cat-like eyes, pale green skin and sharp, pointy teeth.

Goblins . . . attacking at day . . . there must be a sorcerer then.

Zane drew his katana and ran towards the goblin horde. Merana's guards were already outside fighting off the goblins.

"Ah, Reaper!" one of them yelled when he saw Zane approach.

The goblins were mostly equipped with rusty, old weapons but some of them had good shiny swords. Two goblins ran past the guards and charged at Zane who quickly cut both their throats. He positioned himself next to the guards and began to keep the goblins away from the villagers as they were escaping.

"How do we deal with these?" one of the guards asked.

"Back," Zane ordered calmly.

He flipped open his satchel and took out a vial filled with orange liquid.

To round two.

He drank the liquid which burned his throat and made him feel like he was going to throw up. When he breathed out flames left his mouth. He directed them at the goblins, burning their thin bodies, leaving nothing but ash. Some of the goblins had managed to jump away in time, others had not been so lucky. Multiple of the green-skinned little beasts were grunting in pain as their skin darkened from the fire and little bubbles began appearing all over it.

So they have some focus on survival . . . where is that sorcerer?

The flames stopped coming from his now dry throat and he retreated to where the guards stood. All of them looked at him with amazement. Zane looked around, trying to find a goblin sorcerer but had no luck.

Where could he be . . . he would need to have them in his line of sight . . . unless there isn't one. Could there be a hobgoblin . . . or even worse a lord or a king?

The horde of goblins had stopped, now observing Zane's every move. They stayed behind a blackened line on the ground that was created by Zane's flame breath.

Do I have any more tricks?

Zane rummaged through his satchel, looking for any more potions he could use. That's when he got his hands on a hard, ball-shaped object with a small button on one side.

Nearly forgot about those.

He took out one of the firebombs that he had bought after they left the tower, pressed the button and threw it at the large cluster of goblins. They watched as the bomb came flying towards them, not knowing what it was. Zane could even see a sense of curiosity in their cat-like eyes which quickly turned into fear as the bomb exploded into a wave of fire, burning even more of the small beasts to ash.

The ground was covered in half-burned bones, ash, and molten weapons. Zane slowly began walking towards the remaining goblins with the tip of his katana hovering close above the ground.

"What's going on!?" Merana yelled from the front door of the inn.

Zane could hear the heavy steps of the guards as they walked over to their master to explain the situation. But Zane just put a hand in his satchel and took out a vial filled with a light blue liquid. He threw it at the goblins who began to run away in fear after the last thing that had been thrown at them turned into a wave of flames that burned them.

Zane managed to hit one of the goblins in the back with it. The creature threw itself to the ground, covering its head as the vial shattered and the light blue liquid splashed all over it. It began screaming loudly for a few seconds before it realized that nothing had happened, jumped up and began running together with the other goblins.

"Reaper, are you alright?" Merana asked.

Zane nodded. When he turned around he could see the villagers stick their heads out of their houses and Merana, Mira and the guards who had surrounded him.

"We should leave as quickly as possible," Merana said.

"No, we need to help the villagers. If we don't rot them out they will just return and bring even more destruction," Mira said.

"Then what should we do?" Merana asked.

Mira looked to Zane.

"Bring me to the mayor or leader or whatever of the town," he said to Mira, not paying any mind to the others.

One of the villagers who had overheard their conversation approached them.

"I can lead ya to our chief if ya want," the old woman said.

Zane nodded and began following her. Mira walked after him and Merana, not knowing what else to do commanded a few of her guards to stay at the village entrance and the others to follow her. The old woman led them towards a large house with a big veranda in front. Looking out of one of the windows was a young man with short brown hair. When he saw them approach he immediately opened the door.

"How can I help ya?" he asked.

"He wants to speak to yer father," the old woman said, pointing at Zane.

The young man looked at Zane with respect in his eyes.

"Y-Yes of course, I fear the house may be too small for a fello' as big as yer so please wait," the chief's son said.

He disappeared in the house for a short while and reappeared with an older man.

"How can I be of service?" the chief asked.

"I can help, for payment," Zane said coldly.

"Ya want payment?" the young man asked. "What are you a robber, we've got nothin'."

Zane shook his head. "Mercenary," he said.

The village chief sighed. "Ten gold coins, all I can offer ya," he said.

Zane nodded with a smile on his face.

Better than nothing I guess . . . unless my theory about a King is true . . . then we're getting into hundred gold coin territory.

"Good, just tell me if ya need anythin'," the chief said.

"I'll need your sister's guards," Zane said to Mira, ignoring the chief.

"Wait, if yer goin' to fight them then allow me to help," the chief's son said.

Zane shrugged and turned to Mira gain. She nodded and turned to her sister.

"Fine, you can have three of them," she said reluctantly.

Merana pointed at three of her guards and told them to follow the Reaper. All of them nodded and turned to Zane, who quickly nodded at them and began walking towards the exit of the village. Both the village chief's son and Mira were following after them.

"You stay here," Zane said to Mira.

"W-What but I-" she began.

"You stay here!" Zane repeated, louder this time.

Mira lowered her head and stopped following them.

Can't afford to have her dying.

"H-How are we going to find them, sir Reaper?" one of the guards asked.

"Just follow me," Zane said.

The guards looked at each other and then at Zane, nodded, and continued to follow him out of the village.

There were some footprints on the path leading west. They followed the footprints all the way until they led into the forest. By then it was already noon.

This whole ordeal might take well into the night.

Along the way, they had come across a few splashes of light blue liquid. The small group walked into the forest, following those splashes that were now the only trace of the goblins they had. It led them through the forest for a while, the trees closed in on them more and more as they came closer to the mountain range that surrounded the Velva Highland. And then, after a few hours, they arrived at the top of a hill, looking down on a sort of camp, a camp filled with fur tents and small wooden constructions everywhere. It had been built against the mountain where a cave entrance was closed off by a small gate. The camp was surrounded by a wooden wall with heavy patrols, luckily for them only on the inside.

Oh, seems like the payment might not be enough after all.

"W-What's this?" the chief's son asked.

"Goblin camp," Zane answered. "Payment's not enough."

"A-Are you saying we need to pay more?" the young man asked.

Zane nodded slowly. The man thought for a few seconds.

"I'm sure we can do sumthin'. So please help us get rid of them," he said.

Guess I'll just demand payment for this from Holvin later, it's his responsibility after all.

Zane nodded and turned to the camp again.

With a camp this large there are at least two lords, most likely a king as well.

In the camp, he could see multiple robed goblins with staffs.

And of course sorcerers. But they don't seem to have control over the other goblins. That's only slightly better. Judging from their equipment they have been raiding the villages for quite a while.

Zane crouched down and began descending the hill, sneaking closer to the camp. The other four followed after him, trying to be as silent as they could. Once they were right at the wall Zane took out five firebombs and handed one to each of them.

"On now," he said.

The other four nodded and waited for Zane's signal. He began concentrating on the presences around him. Four humans with meagre presences. Around a hundred Goblins with meagre presences in the camp, a few with somewhat notable presences and then inside the cave, a huge amount of goblins with, again, meagre presences, but there were nine others. Two notable, six impressive, and one was strong, very strong. Nothing if one were to compare it to Vindictus or even the strange soldier Zane had now seen twice but still strong perhaps even stronger than Zane had been before he lost his power.

The look on Zane's changed into one of concern.

"I-Is something wrong, sir Reaper?" one of the guards asked.

"A king," Zane answered.

"A . . . king?" the guards asked.

Zane shook his head.

How do these people know nothing about the world they live in?

The look on the face of the chief's son was more appropriate. It was a look of fear.

"A-Are you s-sure?" he asked.

Zane nodded. And saw how the young man gulped.

"A-Alright then, should we not begin?" he asked with fear in his voice.

Zane shook his head. He concentrated again, this time more on the presences closer to them, and he waited. Waited for a large number to get closer to them, which would make their starting attack more effective. After a while Zane let out a whistle, alerting many of the goblins. His companions looked at him as if he were a mad man, but Zane just smiled, making them even more concerned. More presences quickly approached their location.

"Now," Zane said after a good amount of presences had gathered close to them.

He and his companions all pressed the button on the firebomb and threw them from behind the wall. After a few seconds, they could hear loud screaming from the other side and a wave of heat reached them. They could also hear the crackling of the flames as they were burning the wooden contraptions and tents made of fur. The wall they were hiding behind was also beginning to fall apart quickly.

"Charge!" Zane commanded.

For a short second, the four others just looked at each other while Zane was already running into the camp, holding the hilt of his katana with one hand and grabbing another firebomb with the other.

That attack must have taken care of at least thirty or so goblins . . .

Zane smiled as he drew his katana and sliced open the goblin that was charging at him, trying to swing his axe that was larger than its own body. The other four had gotten up as well and the guards began to pierce goblins with their spears while the chief's son started swinging at them with his short sword.

Zane cut through goblin after goblin, slowly but surely colouring his katana dark red with the goblin's blood. At that moment he began to lose himself in a sort of trance as he was cutting through goblin after goblin. But he was quickly pulled out of it when he noticed a swarm of goblins approach him like a wave that was about to crash into one of the many cliffsides of Ion.

Zane grinned and pressed the button on the firebomb he was holding.