Soon, our band of tax collectors was completely surrounded by a horde of goblins from both sides. We were sandwiched in between two small battalions of goblins. Many of them looked like soldiers, while the others were most likely armed peasants carrying pitchforks, sickles, and other farming tools. This had to be planned beforehand – I see no other reason for an army of goblins to be waiting in a forest on the exact path that we take from the second goblin village back to our cave.

I had no reason to suspect any of the New World’s residents: the culprit was as obvious as can be. The entire second goblin village knew the day we would come to collect their harvest. And, considering that there are other goblin villages in this forest, they might be able to mobilize this big of an army.

There were at 300 goblins on each side, closing in on our band. Not with small steps, of course. Good thing I brought enough soldiers this time. And, good thing, I made military training mandatory for soldiers.

“Take your defensive positions! Do not let them break your formation!”

As soon as I gave the command to my band, they took a defensive stance, with shields close to their chests and spears and swords pointing towards the enemy. My soldiers formed a long line along the path, defending the center line back to back with each other.

During the last 3 months, I ordered a formation of a ranged unit, and we had some spear throwers in the band. I originally intended the unit to consist entirely of archers, but the bows we looted from the second goblin village were simply too trashy. And, unfortunately, we could not quite figure out how to make a bow – none of the materials we had was fit to be a bow string.

Throwing out war screams, the goblins ran into our defense line without a second thought. Call it bravery, or call it stupidity, many of them were impaled in the first attack, yielding nothing but a heavy setback for the enemy. I could not have asked for more. To turn the situation into an opportunity, I quickly shouted out my second order:

“Attack!”

With a quarter of the enemy goblins laying on the ground, lifeless, our band started marching towards the remaining enemies. Each line of our defense began marching outwards, constantly clashing swords with the goblins. Elves in particular, were outrageously violent in their killings: was it their path of revenge or was it merely the remnants of hatred they had for monsters, I did not know. Possibly, however, it was the combination of both.

“For the New World!”

While I was leading the band into the enemy lines, we stood in unity. The wolves were causing a carnage, having a feast of goblin guts as they ripped their throats out with their fangs and cracked open their chests. The road to village now was irrigated with blood.

We were losing many soldiers as well – however. The losses did not pertain solely to the enemies. We were outnumbered, and a 3-month training did not place any soldier out of the category of being poorly trained. We managed to bring a quarter of them down during their first attack and brought another quarter down after our advance, but our numbers were decreasing steadily too.

That’s it!

“Get back to the defensive formation!”

“Burn.” I whispered under my breath.

I raised both my hands up and opened my arms wide, with my palms facing to the enemies at each side. I imagined fire – no, I imagined heat. Pure mana that found its origin in my magic center, my mana heart, came erupting out of my palms. This was a new magic – burning my mana.

Soon, I visualized the blueprint. The mana heated up as it clashed the enemy lines until it was set on fire. Soon, blue and purple flames covered the enemy goblins like a flood of flames. The mana flames, however, were not burning them like a normal flame would. It was more so like their life energy was being burned – possibly the burning mana I spew out mixed with the mana in their mana hearts, burning their life force. Many fell on the ground, fainting, while the rest were visibly left in agony. Those who still had the will to fight remained standing – and many were still standing.

My magic was not omnipotent, and burning mana proved to be more exhausting than transforming it into magic. I was simply channeling the mana surrounding me to the enemy through my mana heart and was heating it until it started burning. One could easily think of this as a waste of energy, if it were not for the spreading mana flames. I was out of breath, and although many of the enemies were weakened, only some were incapacitated. I did not expect to bring all of them down, speaking quite frankly. But I could probably have performed better if this was not my first time using this spell.

“They are weakened, advance!”

I made my utmost effort to not faint. Yet, I was feeling dizzy and light-headed enough to faint any moment now. I needed rest, and I needed it now. Regardless, that would do nothing but break the motivation of my soldiers. I had to resist the mana exhaustion, even if it meant another three months of laying unconscious. I have to set an example. That is the kind of leader I am – I am not a coward!

“Charge!”

I raised my sword up high and charged into the enemy lines on the back of my wolf. My wolf – my trusted aide, knew what she had to do. It was a fairly simple task: kill the enemy, protect the rider. Until my last drop of energy, I kept swinging my sword to tear the goblin flesh apart from the goblin bone. One after the other, they were falling down like raindrops. And, soon enough, the rain subsided.

I turned my back to see the aftermath. The earth was wetted with offal, painted with blood, and adorned with scattered limbs, weapon, and armor. More than half of our band was annihilated, but, once again, we won.

Nearing the black out, I leaned onto the ear of my wolf, Tempest: “Take care of me”. The next thing was the death of light.