Today I was taking a break from training. Even with this body I can barely keep up with all they try to teach me. If they don’t learn to slow down I think my future sibling won’t have any time to play.

Right now I was with Ellen in the kitchen. Since I have nothing to do I usually watch Ellen cook, making tea or doing chores. My intention is to learn by watching her work, it works during training so it might work.

“What did you do with my watch?”

“I am experimenting with it. I left it at the magic shop for now, you will get it back when I’m done with it.”

“It’s not like I expected a normal answer or anything, at least make sure it still works.”

“That’s something a parent says to her child not the other way around.”

“I don’t have any toys to break and that watch is almost indestructible. That watch was the manifestation of luck for me.”

“Nobody would think that stopping a demon’s bite with a time telling device would be a good idea.”

“I had to delay my death until I could give Kraft his sword back.”

“I suppose it worked, but what you did was suicidal. I’m surprised you trusted Kraft to that extent.”

“I wouldn’t call it trust, I just knew what he was capable of. I was more like a gamble and speaking of Kraft, where is he?”

“He is training some knights. People started looking up to him since he killed the black demon wolf.”

“So people want to know how to swing a greatsword around hoping they hit something.”

“That and some endurance training. For example the bracelet you are wearing is a part of advanced physical training.”

“Cool, I hope those knights are not like the apprentices that were with me in the forest.”

“They suspected that the apprentices will be dead weight. When Kraft insisted to bring you with him they said the same thing about you.”

“The only thing I did was to run around dodging wolves. It’s because of me that Kraft got attacked by the black wolf in the first place.”

“You did more than those apprentices combined.”

“A demon wolf isn’t a powerful monster. The white ones are what two or three times more powerful than a normal wolf?”

“To fight a demon you must enchant your body and in some situations your weapon.”

“I still haven’t found a way to control my magic. I will just have to find a way to use body enchantment.”

“I just remembered, a villager found a goblin settlement a few kilometers away from the village.”

“So?”

“Tomorrow Kraft is going to eliminate them and you are going to help him.”

“And you decided that without asking me?”

“Compared to the wolves you fought goblins are nothing. They become a threat when encountered in large numbers.”

“So I can just stab them with the daggers and kill them.”

“Kraft wants you to kill them without any weapons.”

“Wait, he wants me to punch them to death?”

“Yes, think of it as a test of strength. Goblins are weaker than an average kid and more stupid than one, just remember what we taught you and it will be fine.”

“That remains to be seen.”

“For now let’s eat, thinking on an empty stomach doesn’t do you any good.”

The lunch was delicious. Most of the meat I eat is chicken but I never seem to get tired of it. I figured that my body decomposes everything I eat without any waste but I thought my personal tastes will be carried over. I have to check this sometime in the future.

Should I really fight bare handed? Judging by my scan I should have been able to kill the white demon wolves but I was too afraid to try. Kraft’s fighting style is good for fighting demons but I prefer using Ellen’s since I can dodge almost every attack. The solution might be to…

“Ali!”

“Huh?”

“You should stop daydreaming.”

“Was there something you wanted to say?”

“I said I can try showing you how to use my fighting style to fight demons.”

“Can you?” I asked while poking the meat with the fork.

“Because of my pregnancy I can’t move as much as I want but showing you how to punch a demon. Finish your meal and go in the courtyard.”

The courtyard was just a place next to our house where the soil was not rich enough for any trees to grow. The only good spot was now taken by the fir tree seed I planted a week ago.

Ellen went to an end of the courtyard and stood in front of a tree. She assumed her stance and punched a hole into the poor tree. I saw a red glow coming from Ellen’s hand and it looked like the wood was burnt where it was hit. She enchanted her hand and gained enough strength to punch a hole into a tree.

“Body enchantment can be used both offensively and defensively just like I used it to hit the tree.”

“Please don’t make me punch a tree, I’ll break my bones for sure.”

“You’ve sparred with Kraft and came back uninjured, you will be fine.”

“This is going to suck.”

I stood in front of a tree next to the one Ellen punched and assumed a forward stance. Unlike Ellen I didn’t have enough power to inflict the kind of damage she did but I was close to that.

“You can do almost as much damage as me, remember to hit those goblins as hard as the tree and it will be enough.”

“It still hurts, not as much as Kraft’s punches but it hurts.”

“Those trees are almost as strong as stone, that’s why most people use it to build their houses and furniture.”

“Nothing’s broken but there are some minor bruises and cuts.”

“That much is normal, you punched a Darkpine tree and judging by the lack of injuries on your hand I believe you could break stone if you weren’t so scared.”

“Was it that obvious?”

“It was. Kraft also said that you will be on your own when you get there.”

“I just learned to punch trees and I was supposed to take a break so I’m just going to sleep for the rest of the day.”

Usually I strengthen my body with magic daily before going to sleep. Today I want to strengthen it at least two times. That and I have to think of a way to kill goblins without giving a fuck about ethics.

The morning arrived and Kraft woke me up. He used the best method possible: he came to my room and started shaking the bed while looking directly at me. When I woke up and saw his face I was so startled my body entered combat mode. After scaring me he just left the room. After I calmed down I was too confused to say anything so I remained silent until we reached the goblin settlement.

Strangely enough the goblins had placed tents in the area, I thought they would stay in a cave or something like that. There were a lot of trees I can which means they can easily lose sight of me. I could feel around 20 of them.

“Listen here kid I want you to kill at least 5 goblins or else you can kiss your adventure days good bye.” Said Kraft before destroying one of the goblin tents.

After the tent was destroyed 10 goblins appeared from behind the trees. Are they attacking in two waves or are they simply too stupid to wait for instructions?

Kraft went ahead and attacked one of them. I’m surprised they have iron maces and shields, I was expecting some wooden clubs or something like that.

Three goblins were closing in on me. The first one attacked me. I dodged the mace by jumping backwards. The second and the third goblins attacked when he saw the first one missing. Their attacks were slow and it looked like they use the maces only because they are made of iron. I couldn’t bring myself to attack them, I was scared, I didn’t know what to do.

My small internal struggle made me overlook the fact that behind me was a tree. When I dodged a goblin I hit the tree. The impact broke my stance and my vision blurred for a moment.

“Kekeke… Kekeke…”

I could hear the goblins laughing, thinking they had a chance to kill me. They weren’t completely wrong. Two of them attacked me, one coming towards me from the left side, and the other from the right. The one coming from my left side swung his mace. I blocked the mace with my forearm. The mace ripped through my clothes but it didn’t injure me. The pain I felt was too intense for a mace. My arm wasn’t even cut but it felt strange. The other goblin was preparing to strike. My mind went blank and before I knew it I punched the goblin, destroying the left side of his cranium. I saw the other goblins backing off. My hand was stuck inside the goblin’s head. I got my hand out of the corpse’s head. I looked at it and at my hand and I didn’t feel disgusted or scared.

When I was little I remember being bullied for a while. When one of the bullies picked a fight with me I won because he was afraid, afraid that I was laughing while I was getting punched. Every time I fought I laughed. Hitting or getting hit, didn’t matter to me I was laughing and I always ended up winning a fight because I didn’t care about the pain, I just kept fighting. Right now I feel like I did back then.

“HAHAHAHA!” I burst into laughter. I just killed a living creature but instead of being dominated by grief I felt superior. The scene was amusing.

Seeing his comrade dead, one of the two remaining goblins tried to attack me. I dodged his mace, grabbed the goblin by the head and threw him into a tree. Ellen was right, those Darkpines were really durable, only the goblin’s head was destroyed. The last one tried to run away but he was not fast enough to run away from me. His luck ran out when he ran into one of his tents. How should I put an end to this poor creature’s life?

The tent fell under the goblin’s weight along with him. I was walking towards him when I noticed that he dropped his mace. I picked up the mace and went next to the goblin. He was shaking more than a Chihuahua, hard to think this is the first one who laughed when I lost my balance. I did what any merciful person would do in this situation, I broke the goblin’s head with the mace giving him a quick death, more than he deserved.

I killed those goblins too easy. Ellen told me that demons become stronger with each kill which means these guys didn’t get to kill many people before coming here. I haven’t had so much fun for some time.

With a grin on my face I looked around to see if there were any goblins left to kill. All I could find were corpses, Kraft finished the rest of them while I was busy. I guess I should help Kraft with the tents.

After destroying the tents Kraft and I went home. None of us said anything on the way. When we arrived Kraft told me to go to my room and began speaking with Ellen. So now I’m grounded and I ‘m going to get lectured for doing what they wanted.

I laid on the bed waiting for Ellen. Just when I was getting sleepy the door opened. Ellen came inside and sat next to me.

“Your father told me what happened. Do you know what you did wrong?”

“I burst into a maniacal laughter and killed the goblins.” In my opinion I did nothing wrong but a sarcastic answer might help.

“You think you did nothing wrong. Your answer was just half wrong. You still don’t know?”

“I did nothing wrong, I was told to kill them and that’s what I did.”

“Yes, you did what you were asked. I am talking about the way you fought. I don’t care if your personality changes in a battle but I don’t want you to forget how to fight. If your enemies weren’t goblins you could have been in danger. Next time you fight remember your training, real predators don’t play with their prey and neither should you.”

“It’s not like I did it on purpose, my mind went blank for a second there.”

“I never believed in discipline during battle that’s why my fighting style can be used in any situation. Hay’tok is good because it’s made for defence and it’s easy to combine it with other forms of martial arts. My advice, use Kraft’s style for offense and mine for defence when fighting monsters.”

So I should go for quality over quantity.

“That’s all you wanted to tell me?”

“You failed to kill five goblins but that’s understandable. Kraft told me that after you killed the first one the rest of them froze and he took the opportunity to kill them.”

“I find it hard to believe, he said he will leave at least five for me.”

“I think he was scared, he killed the rest of them so you could come to your senses.”

“How could I scare him? I am kid and I still am far weaker than him.”

“In terms of strength and endurance you are weaker but you are much faster than him and you mastered a martial art made to win against any human. If he can defeat you in one punch you just have to avoid getting hit. It’s that easy.”

“I will be fine as long as I don’t lose my cool.”

“I told Kraft to take you on extermination missions and from now on we will come at you with killing intent. What happened to you was simply bloodlust. Your body is closer to a demon than to a human and some instincts and impulses will try to take over…”

“I just have to make sure I’m in control.”

“You could let me finish what I had to say, but it’s not like you understand what I’m trying to tell you.”

Ellen got up and was preparing to leave the room but she stopped at the entrance.

“You should go and take a bath, you smell like blood.”

Come to think of it I had some blood stains on my jacket and pants. I expected the goblins to have red blood but their blood was black.

I suppose I should go to the bathroom and hope the magic crystal still produces water.