The goblin raid contract was straightforward.
Mining village. Northern hills. Goblin clan had been stealing supplies and harassing workers. Village wanted them eliminated. Standard C-rank threat.
Pay was two gold plus equipment salvage rights.
Jak took it because it was simple. No rifts. No void energy. Just normal combat.
He needed to maintain reputation for standard work. Couldn't become known only as "the rift specialist" or the guild would get suspicious about why he preferred those contracts.
The mining village was a day's travel north. Small. Maybe fifty people. Built around a silver mine that had been productive for twenty years.
The village elder met Jak at the edge of town. Old man. Weathered face.
"You're young," the elder said. Looking at Jak. Then at Shade. "And you're alone. We asked for a party."
"Beast tamers work alone," Jak said. "My beast replaces a party."
"Can it handle forty goblins?"
"Forty?"
"We counted. That's how many are in the clan." The elder pointed north. "They've taken over the old mine shaft. The one we sealed five years ago. Using it as their base."
"Why not just seal them inside?"
"Tried. They keep breaking out. Killed two guards last week." The elder's expression hardened. "We need them dead. All of them."
Jak considered. Forty goblins. In enclosed spaces. Confined mine tunnels.
Tactically difficult. Goblins were smart. Used traps. Ambush tactics.
But still C-rank threat. Within his capabilities.
"I'll handle it," Jak said. "Two days. Three at most."
"We'll pay extra if you finish faster."
"How much extra?"
"One gold. If they're dead by tomorrow."
Three gold total. Good pay.
Jak headed to the sealed mine entrance immediately.
♢♢♢♢
The mine entrance had been broken open from inside. Recently. Wood planks shattered. Stone blocks moved.
Goblin handiwork. Crude but effective.
Jak lit a torch. Entered the mine with Shade.
The tunnels were dark. Narrow. Ceiling barely six feet high in places.
Bad terrain for humans. Good terrain for goblins.
Jak moved carefully. Watching for traps. Listening for movement.
The first trap was fifty feet in. Tripwire across the tunnel. Connected to sharpened stakes.
Jak stepped over it. Continued deeper.
Second trap was pit covered with loose boards. He spotted it. Walked around.
The goblins were deeper in the mine. Jak could hear them. Chattering. That high-pitched language they used.
He reached a junction. Three tunnels branching off.
Shade's ears swiveled. Pointing left.
Jak followed.
The tunnel opened into a larger chamber. Former mining room. And it was full of goblins.
Not forty. Closer to sixty.
The elder had undercounted.
The goblins noticed Jak immediately. Started screaming. Grabbing weapons.
Jak didn't hesitate. Charged into the chamber.
Shade moved faster. Appearing from shadows throughout the room. Killing goblins before they could organize.
Jak's blade found targets. Throat. Heart. Spine. He'd learned anatomy from Marcus's training. Knew where to strike for clean kills.
The goblins tried to swarm him. Standard tactic. Overwhelm through numbers.
Didn't work. Jak positioned near the tunnel entrance. Only three could attack at once. Shade handled the rest. Prevented them from flanking.
Ten goblins dead. Twenty. Thirty.
The survivors broke. Ran deeper into the mine.
Jak pursued.
Found them in a second chamber. Barricaded. Using mining equipment as cover.
Smarter than he expected.
The goblins had archers. Crude bows. Poisoned arrows.
One arrow grazed Jak's shoulder. Poison burned. Not lethal. Just painful.
Shade circled through shadows. Got behind the barricade. Started killing archers.
Jak pushed forward. Blade work getting more efficient with each fight. Less wasted movement. More precision.
Marcus's training paying off.
The goblin barricade fell. Another twenty dead.
The clan chief was in the deepest chamber. Larger than normal goblins. Wearing scavenged armor. Wielding a mining pick as a weapon.
Low C-rank equivalent. Dangerous in close quarters.
The chief roared. Charged Jak.
Jak didn't try to block. Just sidestepped. Let the chief's momentum carry him past.
Blade found the gap in the armor. Under the arm. Between plates.
Deep. The chief stumbled. Shade finished it.
The remaining goblins surrendered. Maybe ten survivors.
Jak killed them anyway. Contract specified elimination. Not capture.
♢♢♢♢
Back at the village, the elder counted bodies. Sixty-three goblins total.
"We undercounted badly," the elder said. "Good thing you're competent."
"Three gold plus salvage?"
"As promised." The elder paid. Then pointed to the mine. "Salvage rights mean anything they were hoarding is yours. Goblins steal everything. Might find something valuable."
Jak returned to the mine. Searched the deepest chamber.
Found the goblin hoard. Stolen equipment. Supplies. And in the corner, something interesting.
A chest. Locked. Old. Pre-dating the mine.
Jak forced it open.
Inside were books. Journals. Records from before the old wars.
Most were damaged. Water-stained. Illegible.
But one was intact. Leather-bound. Protected by something. Preservation spell maybe.
Jak opened it carefully.
The handwriting was old-fashioned. Hard to read. But he managed.
It was a tamer's journal.
From 380 years ago. Before void cultivation was forbidden.
The author described techniques. Void Sense. Void Regeneration. Void Step. All documented. With instructions.
And at the end, a warning.
"The guild will ban this path. I know it's coming. Too many tamers reaching S-rank too quickly. Too much power in too few hands. They'll call it dangerous. Heretical. They'll hunt us.
"If you're reading this, it means I failed to hide. They found me. Killed me. Destroyed everything I built.
"But this journal survived. So know this: the path is real. Void cultivation works. And the guild fears it because they can't control it.
"Walk carefully. Trust no one. And if you reach S-rank, go deeper. Beyond the guild's reach. Beyond their understanding.
"There's something beyond S-rank. I've seen proof. But I'll never reach it now.
"Good luck. You'll need it."
The journal ended there.
Jak stared at the pages. His hands shaking slightly.
This was proof. Documentation. Instructions.
Everything the guild had tried to destroy.
And he'd found it in a goblin hoard. Pure luck.
Or maybe not luck. Maybe this was meant to happen.
Jak tucked the journal into his pack. Didn't tell the village elder. Didn't report it to the guild.
This was his now.
His guide for what came next.
He had void sense already. Developing naturally.
Void regeneration was next. According to the journal, it required exposure to concentrated void energy during injury. Forcing the body to adapt. To use void energy for healing instead of just damage.
Dangerous. But achievable.
Jak left the mining village the next morning. Three gold richer. And significantly more informed.
The journal changed everything.
He wasn't walking blind anymore.
He had a map.