"Holy shit," Desir cursed as Alice began to vomit on the side, "This answers the question why it's not used more often."

"Yes," the ever deadpan Clarissa nodded. Although the Blackburg head maid always maintained a still expression she somehow appeared amused when watching those startled youths.

"I never imagined this is what teleportation feels like," Elizabeth knelt next to Alice and petted her back in an attempt to comfort the other girl. She herself only appeared a little pale.

"You will get used to it quickly. The inertia also becomes much more bearable once you get into the third tier," Irwyn smiled and then turned to Clarissa, "Are you alright? Transporting 5 people through such a distance must be straining for you."

"I am just a little tired," Clarissa slightly shook her head, "I will be ready by the time you are done."

"Here, Alice," Irwyn nodded and then turned to his gagging companion, handing her a small bottle of red liquid, "exactly one drop, no more. It will make you feel much better," as Irwyn said those words Alice managed to regain enough of her wits to accept it.

“Still, are these really necessary?” Desir uncomfortably slipped his hands along the black fabric of his clothes.

“This appearance will make everything go significantly smoother,” Clarissa said, “Anyone worth worrying about would recognise the Blackburg servant’s uniform at a glance after all. It's for the best you all get used to wearing it even when not meeting people.”

“No need for discomfort,” Irwyn assured, “I am a man of my word,” Desir was clearly worried about his freedom. Thankfully Irwyn offered him enough for Desir to bear with it.

“Fine, let’s get this over with then,” Desir sighed in defeat, “What are we even supposed to do here, this place looks like an empty wasteland.”

“We are at a border territory of two similarly influential noble houses," Irwyn looked around the surrounding grassland, "The local goblin infestation had grown out of control and if left unattended, the monsters could cause a stampede in a year or two. Rather than arguing which of the two houses is responsible for the extermination, it was outsourced to the Seeker's guild."

"And then to us," Alice nodded as she finally managed to lessen her paleness with the potion, "So you know where to go now?"

"Of course I do," Irwyn smirked as he pulled a folded piece of paper from within his clothes, "However, you also need to learn how to navigate," he then threw the map at Desir.

Unfolding it, Desir looked at the map depicting the local landscape, "Does anyone have any idea where we are?" Irwyn asked as he let everyone carefully look around and take in the surroundings.

"Considering the forest and hill, we just be around here," Desir eventually pointed at the map.

"I disagree, Alice shook her head, "We are actually in the other side of the forest, the hill is too small to be marked down like that.

"What do you think, Elizabeth?" Irwyn nodded as he saw their reaction.

"Well, I…" Elizabeth on the other hand was frantically shifting her eyes between the two spots determined by Alice and Desir as well as the area around them, "I think…" the redness of her cheeks clearly announced she was far from certain.

"You have no idea," Desir concluded.

"Yes," Elizabeth hung her head.

"Don't worry about it," Irwyn petted her shoulder as she looked up, revealing her crimson cheeks as well as slightly teary eyes, "We all have weaknesses, as far as those go this is not too bad. I happen to know someone who could help you remedy this."

"Alright," Elizabeth smiled, "Thank you."

"So who was right?" Desir's eyes sharpened with his competitive spirit.

"No one," Irwyn's grin earned a flinch from both Desir and Alice, "This is not even the right map."

"Then what is the point of making us guess?" Alice quickly harrumphed.

"A lesson. Don't take things at face value, especially if you are not confident," Irwyn laughed, "Seeing through deception is one of the most important skills for long term survival, especially once we move to the South," he then took out another map, stretching it out right beside the original one, "But alright, let's try this for real."

"Over here," Desir pointed a place on the map after a few seconds while Elizabeth dismayed over her obliviousness. Alice on the other hand seemed deeply pondering for a while longer, her head looked at and beyond the forest when a smile suddenly emerged on her lips.

"See through deception, right?" she spoke and smiled, not pointing at the new map, but rather once again choosing the place which she had pointed out originally.

"Bravo," Irwyn applauded, "You utilised your superior knowledge and experience with cartography to see through me."

"What tipped you off?" Desir asked, obviously slightly bitter about his defeat.

"This thing," Alice pointed at the edge of the second map, "It's a foot of a mountain just beyond the only forest. No way I wouldn't see it from here."

"I admit that you have me beat at this," Desir begrudgingly sighed.

"I did spend a while running from potential assassins on a very low budget," Alice shrugged with a taunting smirk, "I wouldn't have lived until now if I didn't adapt to travelling outside cities and roads."

"I guess a city boy wouldn't know," Desir did not let the provocation go unanswered as he leaned right into her face, breathing on her ear as he said those words. That made Alice go very red in the face and recoil, much to Desir's great amusement.

"Let's get going," Irwyn beckoned towards the forest, "We are going to finish before dark," he said as his feet stepped forward. Clarissa and his 3 other companions did not lag behind. It did not take long to reach the thicket's edge.

"Be careful as we head in," Irwyn warned, "killing them herded and hunting in their territory is a very different experience. Don't let your hubris blind you.”

“Can’t we just burn down the entire forest?” Desir jokingly asked.

“What would be the point then?” Irwyn shook his head, “Show me you can exercise caution with these goblins and I will take you to hunt bigger prey soon enough. A goblin’s resistance to magic is almost non-existent, a simple push of magecraft is enough to kill them. Don’t make any noise and watch out for ambushes. We will first find and destroy their habitat, then spread out to deal with leftovers if we can't catch enough of them gathered.”

After everyone nodded Irwyn led the way into the forest itself. There were no paths so the group had to tread among the trees. Surprisingly, it was Desir who had the most trouble, perhaps because of his deep-rooted vanity, the trees which ruffled his hair and twigs that dirtied his clothes seemed to tick him off. On the other hand, Alice was already experienced with what travelling through an uncharted thicket entailed while Elizabeth was too focused on Irwyn’s instructions to care about her increasingly ragged appearance. If Clarissa minded it did not show on her face, though that much was not surprising.

After a few minutes of walking Irwyn raised his hand and stopped their movement. He knelt down after carefully scanning the surroundings. Even though they had not met any of the goblins at that point the signs became clearer, chunks of their faeces as well as broken twigs became more and more frequent indicating that they were getting close. Especially the newest find at Irwyn’s feet: A large pile of broken bones belonging to various animals. A telltale sign that they were just upon them. Before they moved forward Irwyn instructed them to create a battle strategy not relying on him which Desir confidently coordinated.

Continuing showed that they were even closer than it seemed as just a few dozen steps further Irwyn’s group began to hear some sort of commotion in front of them. Although their expertise was not stealth, they somehow managed to arrive unnoticed. From behind the trees they observed a small clearing, swarming with goblins. There had to be a hundred or even more of them, wielding primitive spears, dirks and occasionally even a simple slingshot. Their dwelling were clearly the countless small holes in the dirt, most covered with a shred of unprocessed pelt.

The reason why there were so many gathered appeared rather clear: A pile of carcasses with meat still on them lay right in the middle of the clearing, in the process of being torn apart and devoured in a makeshift feast. Irwyn raised his hand with all his fingers outstretched, making it easy for his companions to see. Then he folded his thumb, clearly indicating a countdown.

With a silent nod, everyone got ready for combat. Desir adjusted a colourful gemstone ring dwelling on his finger, allowing mana to course through and envelop his hands with a dark hue. Alice closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, taking in the area through her magic. Elizabeth readied her bent blade which manifested out of thin air, one of the many advantages of Equilibrium. Clarissa also closed her eyes, though Irwyn had instructed her not to interfere. Irwyn himself did not draw his weapon in the preparations, he was not among the people being tested after all.

His hand counted down to zero and as he beckoned with a wave, two figures rushed out from the bushes. Elizabeth swung her blade, releasing a cascade of magic in the form of a black arc of flames, cutting straight through the air and shredding right through the middle of the confused goblins. At least two dozen were mowed down before the spell collapsed, exploding into a Nova of ebony flames.

As the flames proliferated Desir also finally finished his own magic. A perfect black sphere left his hands, rising into the skies right above the swarm. There it burst, exploding into hundreds of ebony needles which targeted a ring area around Elizabeth's magic. What was not burned down by Elizabeth was impaled by Desir's magic, resulting in a quick obliteration of the goblins.

Alice naturally also had a purpose. She couldn't even begin to compare with the firepower of Desir or Elizabeth, however, she had range and precision on her side. In the mayhem many of the monsters on the outskirts attempted to flee, it was Alice's job to stop any stranglers from successfully getting away. A rip in space at a time, goblins fell down by the edge of the clearing, bisected, beheaded or with a new cavity in their torsos.

"Well done," Irwyn walked out of his cover. Their cooperation worked out well, utilizing each person's strengths to the fullest, allowing for Incredible efficiency, "In fact, I am impressed you came up with this strategy in the little time you had, Desir."

"They were just goblins, easily predictable,” Desir shrugged, stopping on his way to the centre of the field and turning around, “We should look through these holes for any survivors.”

Just as Desir uttered those words he suddenly turned around while attempting to jump back. The reason for that was one of said survivors jumping from one of said holes, dirk in his outstretched hand. Just barely did Desir manage to place his palm into the way of the blade headed for his neck. It cleanly cut the flesh, missing any bones and piercing straight through. Before the goblin got a chance to react Desir grabbed it by the neck with his uninjured hand, slamming it into the ground.

Although his demonic heritage granted Desir significantly more muscle power than what most mages possessed it was not quite enough to instantly kill the goblin from that position, however, he was at the very least stunned. Desir used that moment to rip the dirk out of his palm using his teeth as wild fury entered his eyes and his pupils became visibly darker. He stared at his bleeding wound for a short few moments before his gaze wandered back to the goblin who was just beginning to struggle. That attempt was short lived as the creature’s furious yells quickly became yelps of pain. The moisture of its skin seemingly withdrew as the already ugly body turned wrinkled and hideous. Its eyes turned grey and nails began to fall off while all resemblance of fat vaporised. In just a few seconds the previously healthy goblin turned into a withered heap of flesh.

“Hubris Desir,” Irwyn approached his demonic companion, noticing that besides the already healed wound on his hands, his nails were halfway turned to claws, “Not the power of your enemies, not the lack of your own might. Hubris is going to be your downfall.”

“Fuck off,” Desir growled, looking at Irwyn with not lowered fury as he licked the blood of his already healed palm puncture.

“Calm down, this is your own fault,” Irwyn stopped in his tracks as he looked at Desir; Alice and Elizabeth standing a bit further away from them.

“I am really not in the mood for this,” Desir’s eyes turned even darker as his nails turned into complete claws. His clothes tore as his muscles expanded, moreover, two identical black tattoo-like lines surfaced on his forehead.

“Do you think you stand a chance against me?” Irwyn smiled as golden flames rose on his palms.

“Don’t try me!” Desir didn’t flinch as his crazed fury was only amplified by Irwyn’s attitude. Out of his mind, Desir rushed at Irwyn, crude void magic manifesting along his claws. However, he did not get far when golden flames were evoked seemingly out of nowhere and entangled all his limbs.

“Aargh,” Desir screamed as those ropes of flames held him in place, searing his flesh. His magic dispersed and all control Desir had over his own body was overtaken by the pain. Irwyn stepped closer, placing his palm over those two marks on Desir’s forehead.

“Calm down” he demanded, his soul pulsing with power which latched onto Desir’s own core. Irwyn required the direct contact as to not reopen those pesky internal wounds, however, the effects of his words quickly appeared as wrath left Desir’s eyes together with that strange black hue. Irwyn released the flames binding Desir in place, allowing him to fall down to his knees which also revealed the absence of those two forehead tattoos. Thankfully the greatest damage done by the flames was to the remaining clothes as Irwyn had focused on restraining Desir rather than actually wounding him.

“I am sorry,” Desir apologised after a few deep breaths, looking up at Irwyn. The slight scorches were already healing, clearly showing Desir's abnormal ability to recover.

“Don’t be, I expected this to happen,” Irwyn shook his head, “Since youth you had been suppressing your demonic nature to live among humans. Your bloodline is potent, and that power comes with consequences. It’s essential that you realise your weaknesses rather than deny them. Rest for now, I can offer you a few solutions,” his head turned to Alice and Elizabeth who were looking on silently, “Clear up the remaining holes and then look through the surrounding forest before we return to the Balckburg manor. The amount we killed should be more than enough to prevent any disaster in the next few years," his eyes then once again looked at the crumbled youth in front of him, "Meanwhile, let’s have a long chat, Desir.”