*** Goblins, you better watch out
The next day, I'm ready. I pull up the system display and select Goblin Forest.
In an instant, I'm back in that familiar forest with towering trees. This time, though, I'm properly dressed: yellow hoodie, pink skirt, sneakers. Sure, I look out of place in this jungle, but at least I'm decent.
"Anyone here?" I call out. No response. "Hello? Goblins?" Still nothing. Guess I really did get unlucky last time. With a shrug, I pick a direction and start walking. The woods are nice. It has that fresh moss smell and the peaceful lull of leaves in the wind.
I stroll for about thirty minutes when I spot them. Behind some trees in the distance. Goblins. Great! I crack my knuckles. Time for some exercise.
I activate body-strengthening and walk towards the group. I count around six of them. A good number. Enough to bring a challenge, but not too much to overwhelm. One of them must have spotted me because they began shouting and brandishing they're weapons. Okay! Let's do this—
Thwack!
An arrow lodges onto my shoulder. It barely hurts, my enchanted muscles too hard to pierce, but…
"Hey!" I yell. "I just got these clothes!"
The goblins don't seem to care. They charge, weapons raised.
"Fine, let's do this then!" I tell them, yanking the arrow out of my shoulder and tossing it aside.
I sprint straight at them, raising my guard up. The goblins brace for impact—but instead of crashing into them, I leap. My foot lands square on one of their heads, using it as a springboard to vault clean over their formation. Their confusion is almost comical. By the time they turn, I'm already halfway to the goblin archer. You always take out the support first. Always.
The goblin barely has time to nock an arrow before my fist drives forward, slamming into its chest with a thwump that sends it flying into a tree. The crunch that follows tells me it won't be getting up again.
The others see it and start howling, their faces twisted in fury. Clubs and jagged stones raise high as they charge again. swinging wildly.
I sidestep the first goblin, twist, and drive my fist straight into its nose. Crack. The goblin's head snaps back, and it drops like a sack of meat.
Another comes at me from the side. I catch its arm mid-swing, and yank it toward me, using its small body as a living shield just as a third goblin slashes at me. The crude axe sinks into its comrade instead, and I shove both away before delivering a blow into a fourth's chest. I keep moving, preventing them from using their numbers.
Then, a goblin bursts out from under a patch of moss, dagger glinting as it lunges for my back. Too close to dodge—
Instinct takes over.
Whap!
My tail lashes out, slapping the goblin square across the face. It's not strong enough to knock it out, but it makes the little monster flinch—just enough for me to twist away. The dagger slices air instead of flesh.
"Nice try," I growl, glad all that tail training paid off.
Before the goblin can recover, I grab it by the throat and slam it into the ground. The impact leaves a dull thud and a groan that never finishes.
Seeing their ambush crumble, the remaining goblins freeze in panic. I don't give them the chance to recover. I surge forward, fists flying—each hit landing with a satisfying, bone-cracking thud. One after another, they fall until only a single goblin remains.
Well—remains because I let it.
I watch it bolt into the woods, squealing in terror, and smirk. "Perfect," I murmur. "Let's see where you run off to." Maybe it'll lead me to another pack. This was just a warm-up, after all.
I deactivate the body-strengthening magic, wait five seconds before casually following after the fleeing goblin.
I follow the goblin's trail easily—too easily. The footprints are deep, obvious, almost begging to be found. It's clearly leading me into a trap. Good. My lips curl into a grin. "Let's see what you've got for me."
The path winds through mossy undergrowth before opening into a small clearing. That's where I see them—a group of goblins, but not the usual scrappy kind. These ones are different: armed with wooden shields and rough spears, standing alert and disciplined in a tight formation around one wearing a mask and holding… a cane? No—a staff.
My grin widens. "A goblin shaman, huh? This just got interesting."
I'm tempted to just stroll out and test their line head-on, but I know better. Goblins have a bad habit of ambushing, and I'd bet my tail they've got one set up already. I take a slow look around, scanning the treetops, and sure enough—there. A goblin archer perched on a branch, bow at the ready.
"Not this time."
I crouch low and creep toward the tree. I climb—my nails digging in deep. Turns out succubus nails are perfect for more than just looking pretty. I make it up silently and grab the goblin from behind, locking it in a chokehold. It struggles for a few seconds before going limp.
"Sleep tight," I whisper.
With the surprise ruined, I scan the area one last time. No other hidden friends—good. I crack my knuckles, and let body-strengthening magic flood my veins. Time to say hello.
I jump down into the clearing, making my presence know.
I expect the goblins to charge—but no. These ones stand their ground, shield raised and wooden spears braced and pointed straight at me. Organized. Defensive. And definitely planning something.
I walk towards them slowly, eyes flicking to the one in the mask. Something about that one made me cautious. The way it keep his staff aimed square at me. And this odd feeling, like a pulse slowly building up inside the—
FWOOOM!
A fireball bursts from the staff, streaking toward me in a blur of orange and heat. But I was expecting it. I twist aside, avoiding the the magical attack.
I quickly regain my balance and keep my eyes on the shaman, counting in my head—one Mississippi, two… three—
Another fireball erupts. I dodge it as well, but this time the moment the flame streaks past me, I break into a sprint.
Three seconds. That's my window before the next shot.
The shield-bearing goblins tighten their formation, wooden boards scraping against one another. They're not letting me through without a fight.
That's fine by me. I'm not planning on asking nicely.
I duck under the first spear thrust—the tip whistles past my ear. I don't flinch, plant my feet, crank body-strengthening to the absolute max—muscles surge, veins pop across my skin, and power floods through me.
One Mississippi…
I pull my fist back, and slam it forward into the shield wall.
CRACK!
The wooden shield explodes into splinters, and the goblin behind it is launched backward like a ragdoll fired from a cannon.
Two Mississippi's…
I leap back, just out of the spear's reach, and dial body-strengthening back down to its normal level. Keeping it maxed out any longer would just wear me down for no reason. I steady my stance, ready to avoid another fireball.
Three… Nothing happens. For a few awkward seconds, the goblins and I just… stare at each other. Like, where's the fireball?
Then I spot it—the shaman, sprawled out on the ground. Looks like the goblin I sent flying crashed right into it. By sheer dumb luck. It doesn't appear like it's going to get back up either. Honestly, I didn't expect that. The goblins are just as surprise as me. They look at their defeated boss, unsure what to do. Then, all at once, they panic—shriek, toss their shields aside, and bolt into the trees, tripping over themselves to get away.
"What—? You're giving up already?" I yell after them.
No answer. Just the sound of rustling leaves and fading footsteps.
I sigh, deactivating body-strengthening. My muscles shrink back to normal size. "Guess that's goblin nature for you—once the leader's down, it's every goblin for himself."
A little disappointing, honestly. I was just getting into it. Ugh. Whatever, I'll find more goblins to fight. For now, let's check the loot.
I bring up my inventory window. Four goblin crystals, two vials of goblin poison, and one goblin staff.
… Goblin staff? You mean the thing that the shaman use to make those fireballs? That got me curious.
I pull the staff from my inventory, materializing it in my hand. It's little more than a crooked stick crowned with an animal skull—primitive, but there's something oddly menacing about it.
"How does this thing even work?" I mutter, turning it over. I remember that strange pulse during the fight—the goblin shaman channeling something through it. Magic, probably. What else could it be?
Maybe I can replicate it. I don't know fire magic, but channeling energy should work the same way I do for body-strengthening, right? Just… focus and pour magic into the staff. At first, nothing happens—then I feel it. The magic begins to flow, gathering in the skull like a pressure building—
FWOOOM!
A fireball bursts out from the skull's mouth, streaking across the air.
"Whoa!" I shout, jumping back. "Okay—it works!"
That's actually pretty cool. I could definitely find a use for—
…No, wait. On second thought, maybe not. Fireball's great and all, but then I wouldn't get to punch things. Call me old-fashioned, but a fight just isn't a fight unless there's a bit of knuckle-meets-face action. Besides, the thing's too slow—three seconds to charge kills any chance of a proper ambush. Yeah. I better just save my magic for body-strengthening.
I shrug and slip the staff back into my inventory—it vanishes out of my hand. Yeah, I'll stick with my fists for now. With that settled, I start walking again, following one of the trails left by the goblins that ran.
This trail clearly wasn't leading to an ambush—it twisted and turned without purpose, like the goblin was just running in blind panic. Still, with no better lead to follow, I kept on its path.
Judging by the prints, I'm getting close. Not sure if that's good. I'm not seeing any more goblins around. Do I have to—
"—the hell was that about?"
Voices. Human ones.
"Thing just came charging outta nowhere."
I slip around a tree and spot them—four figures gathered around a dead goblin. They look like your typical low-rank Awakeners. One's a tall, broad-shouldered man with an axe and a round shield—definitely the tank. Next to him is a leaner man gripping a lance, and a shorter figure—wait, not a man, a woman with cropped hair—holding a bow. The last member is another woman, a staff in hand, a small flame hovering at its tip. A fire mage, no doubt. Though… why keep the flame burning? The forest's already bright enough without it. Well, that aside. All four of them look on edge, weapons half-raised and eyes darting about. Did something bad happen?
"Something's off," the shield-bearer mutters, nudging the goblin's corpse with his boot. "Solo goblin, no pack."
"Yeah," the mage agrees, brow furrowing. "Goblins don't travel alone."
Oh… I guess if I saw a goblin acting strangely, I would also be on alert. Ugh. I better go down there and clear things out.
"Sorry, that one got away from me," I call out.
Four heads snap toward me, weapons raised and ready. Impressive. Definitely not as green as the last trio I ran into.
"Hello." I wave, doing my best to appear none threatening.
"A little g—" The man with the shield starts, then abruptly cuts himself off.
I can tell exactly what he was about to say—little girl—and exactly why he stopped. His eyes, along with everyone else's, are glued to my chest. Even the woman in the group looks stunned. Seriously? I suppress the urge to snap, "Yes, they're big. Can we move on now?" Instead, I force myself to stay calm. No point making a scene. At least they've lowered their weapons.
Eventually, they all recover—well, everyone except the spearman. The woman beside him has to smack his shoulder to snap him out of it.
"Um, miss? Are you separated from your group or something?" the shield-bearer finally manages.
Miss. Still not used to that.
"No," I reply evenly. "I'm not lost. I just haven't had time to form a party yet."
"Wait… Is this your first realm! This one? The Goblin Forest?" The mage asks shock by the revelations. They all were, giving glances that scream 'poor thing'. I wander why? this place isn't exactly hard.
"Well," the spearman says, rubbing the back of his neck, "since you're new, why don't we team up for a bit? It's safer that way."
I look at them… I mean, I don't really need the help but… I guess it wouldn't hurt.
"Sure," I say.
The mage brightens. "Great! Welcome to the team then," she says with a friendly grin. "Name's Ember." That's clearly an alias.
She gestures to the others in turn. "The big guy with the axe is Bronn—our wall and occasional brain of the group."
Bronn snorts. "Occasional?"
"Emphasis on occasional," the lancer cuts in with a smirk. "Name's Rian. I poke things until they stop moving."
The short-haired archer waves lazily. "And I'm Kira. I shoot what he misses."
Well, they sure seem friendly. Kind of reminds me of my old unit.
"I'm Violet," I say. "Nice to meet you all." And just like that, I'm part of the team.
We set off. The two guys take point—Bronn up front, shield ready, Rian right beside him with his spear angled low. Ember and Kira follow a few paces back, and as for me…
I decide to hang back for now. No sense rushing in when I don't know how they fight yet. Coordination matters, even in a simple goblin hunt. I'll watch, learn their rhythm, and jump in when the timing's right. Still… They sure are alert. Do they expect an ambush? I don't see any goblins around, but I guess it's better to be safe then sorry.
"So, you got any experience dealing with goblins?" Ember asks suddenly, breaking the silence. Definitely the talkative type.
"Uh… yeah. I already took down three groups," I say, maybe a little too proudly.
Ember snorts, half laughing. "Three whole groups? Wow, look out everyone—we've got a pro here."
She's totally being sarcastic. I sigh inwardly. Fair enough—I am still new at this. Only my second dive, after all. But still— "Hey! I'll have you know I'm doing pretty well for a beginner!" I shoot back, puffing up my chest a little.
"Oh my gosh, you're adorable," The mage coos, ruffling my hair like I'm some kid. "All fiery and brave like that."
Ugh. My pride. Being treated like this feels so wrong for a grown man like me.
"Ember, stop teasing her." Kira scolds.
"I can't help it. She's just so cute!" Ember insists.
Kira rolls her eyes. "You shouldn't treat her like a kid."
"Why not? Because you don't like the idea that a 'kid' has a bigger chest than you, Kira?" Ember fires back with a smirk.
"D–don't bring that up!" Kira squeaks, crossing her arms over her chest.
The two bicker away like friends often do, while the guys up front keep their eyes dead ahead—though I can see their ears turning red. Honestly, I can't blame them. It's always awkward when women start casually talking about boobs. Even I can feel my face heating up.
Eventually, I manage to steer the conversation somewhere safer—goblins. Thankfully, the group is kind enough to share what they know. Their strategy is pretty straightforward: first, deal with the scouts—small packs of goblins usually led by an archer. Then, go after the shaman, who's typically guarded by shield-bearers. You have to take out the scouts before charging the shaman—there are usually about six of them. Apparently, the shaman loves calling for reinforcements, and I can easily imagine how messy things get when waves of goblins start swarming while the shaman's hurling spells at you. I guess I got lucky that my last fight ended the way it did—otherwise, I'd probably be goblin chow by now.
"We're not quite strong enough to handle a goblin king yet," Rian admits. "But we can take down three shamans on a good day."
I nod, impressed. Three goblin shamans… that's about eighteen scout groups. From what I've seen, a scout group usually drops two goblin crystals and one vial of goblin poison—that's solid profit, even when split four ways. But what really catches my attention is that other part. Goblin king. Now that sounds like a fun challenge.
I'll have to ask about it later. For now, I spot movement up ahead—five goblins. A scout group.
I watch the group in action, quietly observing. They've got the fundamentals down—Bronn takes point, acting as a wall; Rian keeps the goblins from flanking while Ember and Kira attack from the rear. Their coordination keeps the fight under control, but… something's off.
They're slow.
Bronn never takes the initiative, always on the defense. Rian… He attack, but never commits to his thrusts. As for the girls… they stay too close to the boys, making it hard to attack without risking friendly fire. At the end, they were unhurt, but it toke them nearly ten whole minutes to bring down just five goblins.
"So? What do you think of our teamwork?" Rian asks, looking way too proud of himself.
I have a lot of thoughts, but… "Can I take the next fight?" I ask. It'll be best if I just show them.
Bronn hesitates. "Uh… are you sure—"
I give him a sharp look, daring him to finish that sentence.
He wisely doesn't.
With that settle, we head out to look for another group of goblins. It doesn't take long to find a group. Six of them. A good number.
"You sure you don't need help?" Bronn asks.
"Thanks, but I got this." I reassure, and activate body-strengthening to make my point. My body swells with muscles definition.
"Wow, what?!" Rian eyes practically pop out.
Yeah, that's right. I'm not some damsel in distress.
I walk pass them and head towards the goblins, cracking my knuckles. Time to show them how to deal with these little guys.
I don't rush in like usual. No, I keep my eyes on them, looking for… Ah ha! There it is, a goblin archer. It was standing in the middle of the group.
With the target in sight, I break into a sprint. The goblins notice me—but too late. I crash into their midst, driving my fist straight into the archer before he can even nock an arrow. He drops instantly. I pivot, eyes scanning the rest. They've surrounded me, but surprise is still mine. I lunge at the nearest one, slamming a punch into its nose, then shove another into one of its comrades, staggering the two, and drive a fist into the face of a third as it raises its weapon. Using the gap I've created, I slip out of the circle and spin around to face them again. Three left.
I don't give them time to regroup. I rush in. They're ready now—weapons raised—but their numbers are no longer a threat. I weave past the first swing and counter with a blow that sends it crashing into another. While they tumble, I turn on the last one. A sharp strike to the nose, and it's down before it even realizes what hit it.
I quickly finish off the last remaining goblin before it can even think of running away. Then, turn to face the four awakeners. They were staring at me with wide open mouths.
"And, that's how you do it." I say casually waving at the defeated goblins. The whole fight lasted less than a minute.
"T—that was incredible!" Ember blurts out, eyes wide with excitement. "You took down those goblins like they were nothing!"
"And what did you do to make yourself so… buff?" Kira asks, staring at my arms. Even with the hoodie on, the outline of my muscles is hard to miss.
"Oh, that?" I say casually. "Body-strengthening magic." Which, reminds me to turn it off.
"Magic, huh? Wow," Rian whistles, watching my figure revert back to it's normal size. "Our mage's just good at starting campfires."
"Hey! I can do more than that!" Ember protests—earning a round of laughter from the group.
Bronn shakes his head, grinning. "Still, you're something else, Violet. We could never—"
"Yes, you could," I cut in before he finishes. "What I did isn't that special."
"No way," Rian insists, waving a hand. "We've been doing this for months, and we've never had a fight that easy."
"I've just had some military training," I explain. "So I know how to handle myself. But you guys can, too." I glance at each of them. "I've seen you fight—you've got the basics. You just need a bit of guidance."
"You really think so?" Kira asks softly.
Their eyes—bright, eager, full of hope—remind me of the recruits I used to train back in the service. Young, driven, ready to learn. I can't help but smile.
"Want to give it a try?" I ask. The way their faces light up gives me my answer.
For the next few minutes, I go over their mistakes—how Bronn plays too defensively, how Rian doesn't commits to his attacks, how Ember and Kira stand too close to the action.
"When it comes to fighting a group," I explain, "you've got to keep pressuring them so they can't coordinate."
They nod in unison, soaking in every word. Looks like I've found myself a little squad again.
After the lesson, we set out to find another group of goblins to test some new tactics. We didn't have to look long—seven of them clustered near a clearing.
This time, Bronn took the lead, charging in with his shield raised and ramming straight into their formation. Rian stayed close, finishing off any goblin that Bronn knocked to the ground. The two of them drew most of the attention, allowing the girls to pick targets from a distance. They were still a little rough around the edges, but this time the whole fight was over in under four minutes.
Afterward, I walked them through what to improve—Rian needed to stay more aware of his surroundings, Kira should focus on taking out support rather than maxing out kills, and Ember could do better by focusing on disrupting enemy formations.
We fought two more goblin packs after that, and by then, they were really getting the hang of it. Still raw, but promising. I'd give them a solid passing grade.
"Wow, did you see how fast we took those goblins down?" Ember cheered, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah! They didn't even get the chance to fight back!" Rian bragged.
They're being careless, celebrating like that in the middle of enemy territory. Normally, I'd be barking at my squad to stay alert and keep their guard up—but this isn't the military. And they've earned a moment to enjoy the victory. Besides, even if something did go wrong, it's not like death here is permanent. They'd just respawn back on Earth. No real danger.
After some laughs, a bit more advice, and a few parting words, we went our separate ways. I think they realized they were holding me back. Good people, really—even if their eyes wandered a bit too often. Especially Rian's. Still, I hope they make it far.
I wave them off and head out on my own. Part of me wants to go hunt down that "Goblin King" they mentioned—but I have no idea where to even start looking. So instead, I've got… well, not a plan exactly. More like a really bad idea. A spectacularly bad one. I remember Bronn saying that goblin shamans can call for reinforcements—that's why their group always takes out the scouts before engaging. But now I can't help wondering… How much of a fight that would be? I've got to see it. I mean, it's better to understand the risk before it catches me off guard… right?