Chapter 3: Joining a Party [3]

"Congratulations! Here's your adventurer's medallion." The young blonde woman hands a shiny bronze medallion to Erb. The metal token is carved with a large letter D on one side, and the adventurer's guild logo on the opposing side.

Erb's blue eyes light up as he turns the medallion over in his hands. He is finally a real adventurer.

"Thank you!" Erb smiles proudly as he thanks the attendant.

"You're welcome, you may take quests from the quest board for D and C rank adventurers, however keep in mind C rank quests are much more difficult." The young lady gives him a polite smile while explaining the quest boards.

Erb nods in acknowledgement before walking up to the D rank quest board. He glances over the missions before realizing D rank quests are mostly boring chores. His dog sits beside him while licking his belly brazenly.

"Hey newbie! you need a party, right?" The smug voice of a young man causes Erb to turn around.

The red haired man is a head taller than Erb, and his armor is made entirely of shining chainmail. He's got a wide shit-eating grin plastered onto his slightly handsome features.

"Yes... Are you taking new members?" Erb frowns slightly at the man's boorish demeanor.

The man nods and keeps that smug expression on his face. "We're in need of a porter. You can help carry the supplies and loot." The man's words offend Erb slightly.

"Fine. What rank are the other members?" Erb asks this flatly. The armored man frowns at his subdued response.

The man lets out a breath before looking at Erb with disinterest. "I'm C rank, the other two are D rank like you." He turns and gestures for Erb to follow him as he walks over to a table with two women sitting at it idly chatting.

The first woman turns to look at Erb. She glances at Erb's dog then back at him. Displeasure contorts her features. "Couldn't you have found someone more... Attractive? Skilled?" She says this with palpable exasperation.

Erb clenches his fist while staring at the woman's black hair and leather armor. She has a dagger in her belt along with a few pouches of herbal remedies.

"He's the only newbie in this branch of the guild. He can just carry our stuff." The warrior shrugs off the complaints of the irritated woman. She rolls her eyes at this rebuttal but doesn't push the issue any further.

The third member of this party is a brown haired woman nearly twice as old as the other party members. She has a sour look on her face as she glances at Erb. Erb ignores the hostility and sits down at the table.

"So what's our quest?" Erb asks this in an attempt to break the ice, however the looks the others give him are cold as snow. Erb's dog can tell what kind of conversation they're having, and settles underneath the table quietly.

The blonde man speaks up after an awkward moment of silence. "We'll be clearing out a tribe of goblins who have been raiding a farming village for its food supplies." The man unfurls a map and points to a specific little circle on the map with no name.

"Let's just go already, I'm sick of waiting." The grizzled older woman in the group crosses her arms over her ample chest.

The leader nods before standing. The other three follow his lead and the group moves out of the guild in an unpleasant silence.

~

"Take us out here, if you please." The leader shows the wagon driver the map he purchased, and pays the man four silver coins.

"Of course. We'll be there by noon." The man driving the cart is delighted by the small tip he received.

The four of them climb onboard the wagon, and Erb's canine friend hops up beside his owner. The wheels turn and their trip to the village begins.

"I don't get how someone like you got into the guild. Normally talentless dolts have to bribe their test administrator, but you're clearly broke." The dark haired rogue is peering at Erb's wooden sword and scruffy dog incredulously.

Erb ignores her words and instead address the party leader. "Leader, could I have the supplies so I can take stock of what I'm in charge of hauling?" Erb's request is granted by a slight nod from the leader.

The supplies include a few bundles of torches, one firestarter, four healing potions, one local map, and one spare quiver of arrows. Erb neatly stores the items in the provided backpack.

The group settles in for the trip, and within a few minutes half the party is fast asleep.

~

The dirt path squishes beneath the hooves of a strong horse. The wagon's wheels contribute to the ruts in the path as it carries on through the village. The passengers in the wagon wake up one by one as they feel an eerie silence surround them.

"What's with the atmosphere here?" The dark haired woman grimaces at the strange vibe coming from the village itself.

The village is sparsely populated. Only a few young men and women are around. They have rather depressive auras and expressions that look pessimistic. Once they recognize the group is a low tier adventuring party they turn away in disappointment. Erb's dog whimpers quietly as he peers over the edge of the wagon.

"Another group, huh?" The somewhat gaunt looking man that approaches the wagon wears the robes signifying his status as village chief. Usually this position is given to an elder.

"What's going on here? This village is downright ghastly." The blonde haired leader of the party speaks with an air of suspicion in his voice.

The village chief's eyes glare up at the adventurer with disdain. Dark circles under his eyes show a lack of rest, and his thin body speaks of a famine in the local area. The chief turns away and walks into his house.

The door shuts and locks without any further explanation. The party is dumbstruck by his strange behavior.

"What the hell..?" The middle aged archer of the party is confused. She looks around before staring at something in the distance. The rest of the party doesn't notice.

Erb is deeply concerned for the village as he notices the villagers entering their homes and locking themselves away. The starvation and hopelessness makes the village feel as if it is already abandoned.

"What are we supposed to do now? That guy gave us the quest, but he never said where those stupid goblins are hiding out at." The leader rubs his chin while peering at the shuttered building the village chief walked into. 

The party is at a loss when they all collectively notice the archer staring at the tree line in the distance. Her eyes are wide and she seems to be trembling.

"Hey, what's the matter Carrie?" The leader grabs her shoulder firmly, and she yelps in surprise. She realizes who touched her and quickly points at the tree line. her voice is quiet and shaky, completely out of character for her usual gruff tone.

"Th-The goblins. There are... hundreds." She trembles and the party squints at the trees. Their eyes slowly widen as they realize what first appear to be bushes and shrubs are in fact the silhouettes of hundreds of savage goblins dressed in human skin and bone.

The leader's eyes are wide with shock as he turns and looks around them. The entire village is surrounded. The man waiting with the wagon is dozing off, seemingly unaware of the danger.

"Shit. We're screwed." The black haired woman curses as she realizes the true size of the goblin forces. They're all below B rank, and cannot possibly fight this many goblins at once.

While the party is panicking Erb's mind is running at a hundred miles an hour. The goblins snicker and slowly creep through the tall grass toward the village. Erb's eyes flicker between his backpack and the huge army of goblins.

"Hey! Carrie!" Erb's voice is harsh, practically a bark. She looks at him with confused irritation in her eyes. He points up at the village's belltower. Normally this is used to call gatherings, however it gives a good vantage point. "Get up there and start shooting the ones that make it past the grass! Take this too!" He tosses her the spare quiver of arrows before turning and handing the leader and rogue a pair of unlit torches each.

"What the hell are you doing, newbie?" The black haired woman glares at him as he pushes the wooden torches into her hands. The leader is gazing at the torches in contemplation.

Erb doesn't answer immediately, and instead strikes the firestarter on his own torch before quickly lighting up their torches. "Light the tall grass on fire. Beat out any fire that spreads to the houses with your clothes. Hurry before the goblins start rushing!" He runs in the direction where the goblins are thickest.

Carrie's eyes are darting from the leader's stern expression to the back of Erb as he runs. The leader sighs and runs in a different direction before shouting to his party. "Do as Erb says! Hurry!" 

His voice pushes Carrie into action. She climbs up the tower and takes a deep breath. Her aim is true as she fires arrows at the goblins in the forefront of the slow approach.

"Grahk!" The loud shout of a goblin much bigger than the others sends a shiver up the human's spines. The goblins all raise their bludgeons and blades, moving into a full sprint as they charge toward the village.

Erb's first torch is tossed into the grass, and sets the dry grass into a fervent blaze. The goblins eyes are glowing with a red light as they run through the flames like maddened bulls. Erb has no choice but to slam his wooden blade into the first goblin that attacks him.

The arrows are unable to keep up with the sheer numbers as each of the human adventurers find themselves pitted against two to three goblins. Erb's dog bites into the leg of a berserk goblin, and yelps as he's thrown away by the goblin's boosted strength.

Erb cringes at his dog's pained cry, however he has no time to check on his pet. Three goblins with glowing red eyes have broken through the barrier of fire. They each hold improvised weaponry and wear the tanned hides of human villagers.

"Hah- Hap!" Erb takes a sharp breath before swinging his wooden blade. The wooden sword slams into the neck of the first goblin, a resounding crack confirming his kill. The rebound is swung behind Erb as he spins in an unreasonably fast whirl. His wooden blade cracks the side of the second goblin's face.

"Grik!" The third goblin facing Erb leaps upon him. Erb sees him coming and bends back at a low angle, causing the goblin to land face first on his blunt blade.

Erb is breathing heavily as he sees most of the goblins on his side are either afraid of the flames or burning alive. The exception is a large goblin with a skull adorned helm atop his green head. His eyes burn a dark black stained with crimson light. The goblin exudes the aura of a leader.

Erb's hands tighten around the handle of his wooden sword.

~

"Shit! Get off!" The rogue glares up at two goblins. One has an axe taken from a villager, while the other has a sizeable wooden branch. She swings her blades with precision but lacks the speed and confidence to strike killing blows.

The axe wielding goblin swings up toward her throat. The rogue leaps back before throwing her dagger with a cold glint in her dark eyes. The dagger pierces the goblin's exposed green throat. Gouts of red blood pour out as the goblin's rage turns to despair.

"Gruk!" The branch wielding goblin swings down and cracks the young woman's shoulder before she realizes he's moved in from the side. She curses as her left arm weakens dramatically.

Her capable arm grabs the dagger from her weakened arm, and quickly swings the dagger to leave a huge gash across the goblin's chest. The creature squeals and then barks at her in a fit of rage. The enraged buffed goblin leaps on top of her, slamming her down so hard her breath leaves her.

"Oof-!" She tries to catch her breath as her body trembles beneath the enraged monster. It raises its branch and swings once, the wood causing her to get a nasty bruise on her cheek before he raises it and swings harder-

His arm trembles as he cannot move it. The goblin screams as he feels a dog's teeth shred his arm into a bloody stump. Erb's dog came to the sour rogue's rescue, and she bursts into tears upon seeing the mangy dog ripping apart the goblin like a toy stuffed animal.

"Stupid mutt! Ugh!" She sobs as the dog chews apart the goblin's throat. Her side is cleared as most goblins still living move toward Erb's side and their leader.

~

The green savages are cut apart limb from limb by the blonde man's sword. His swings are fluid like water, and rip each limb from its socket as if simply tears apart a gingerbread man. His face is a mask of cold fury as he finishes a total of five berserk goblins before sheathing his blade.

When the man turns around he sees the other two sides are okay, despite the rogue having a rough time fighting her opponents.

The leader moves at an impressive speed, sprinting over to Erb. He stands beside Erb as the pair of them stare down the goblin leader. The rogue and the archer both join them after about a full minute passes.

"What is it doing?" Carries whispers as they stand there facing the remaining goblins separated by a weakening fire. She's scared and unsure why it doesn't attack.

Erb frowns as he watches the goblin leader turn around and walk into the forest. His subordinates follow after him with a frustrated look in their eye.

"He's taunting us. He wants us to enter his turf." The leader speaks up, frowning before turning to look at the largely unharmed village. The buildings are at most a little charred on the outer parts of the walls.

The party of four gather by the belltower, and the archer stands lookout atop the platform while the rest sit down to discuss what their plan of action should be.

The rogue is still wiping her ugly tears as she keeps her gaze away from Erb. She pets his dog affectionately while remaining silent.

The leader is looking at the forest with a thoughtful look on his face.

Erb speaks up before the leader can begin the conversation. "We should send the wagon driver back to tell the guild about these events." His voice is full of firm conviction as he looks from the rogue to the sword wielding leader of the party.

The long blonde haired swordsman nods before turning to face the distraught looking wagon driver. He woke up midway through the fight and was shocked to see the amount of charred goblin corpses left in the wake of the fire.

"Go. Warn the guild and bring reinforcements." The leader's stern commands are seen as absolute by the wagon driver.

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"I-I'll head back and tell them with great haste! No payment necessary." He stands before climbing onto the back of his horse. He disconnects the wagon before riding off.

The leader can only nod in satisfaction at the man's actions. His act of leaving the wagon functions as insurance to prove he wouldn't come back without aid. The rest of the party has to occupy the village in case the monsters return for round two.

The rogue, leader, and Erb all turn their heads to the sound of the chief's door opening.

~

"Guruk! Guruk! Guruk!" The loud chanting of a small army of goblins echoes through a large war camp. The leader of the goblins frowns at his subordinates as they chant. Several beat human skin drums with femur bones. Others stomp their feet and shout loudly.

The display is rousing the morale of the savage monsters. Their leader is contemplating the losses of the most recent battle.

"Urk... Gowak!" The leader's voice booms loudly throughout the camp. Goblins froth at the mouth at his words. The taste of human blood awaits them.

The leader goblin leaps down from his throne, and lands on a wooden platform adorned with a smaller throne. He sits, his hand rubbing his wrist. The sleek black shine of a bracelet reflects in the sun. The leader grimaces as he rubs his aching wrist, before calling out to his army once more.

"Grak! Gu Gura!" His voice moves the army into action. The goblin forces march through the forest path toward the village, several goblins carry the wooden platform their leader sits upon.

The forest animals flee the area with madness in their eyes. The goblins number just over 50, with their leader making 51. Their march is announced with the heavy beating of the human skin drums.

The sound carries all the way to the village.

~

"You're quite capable. I'm surprised." The village chief's gaunt face is smiling instead of frowning. He's appraising Erb's rather ordinary body.

The other two standing beside Erb raise an eyebrow and glance at the young man. They make eye contact as if to agree that he is more capable than either of them anticipated. Erb does not accept the praise, rather he frowns a bit at the man who just left his house.

"You. Why have you not already told the guild about what kind of danger plagues this village?" Erb's voice is mature and firm. His usual casual tone is nowhere to be found.

The young chief raises his hands up in surrender and chuckles a bit. "Oh I would have, but every time we send someone they are slain by the goblins before they can reach another village." The chief shakes his head as his smirk melts to a solemn frown.

Their conversation is interrupted by the heavy thump of war drums in the distance. Their eyes all widen a little. The village chief has never heard the goblins make such noise when approaching the village.

"They're coming back." The party leader frowns. He grabs a piece of twine from his pocket and ties his lengthy blonde hair into a neater style behind his head. The rogue shivers anxiously and stares at the tree line.

Erb pats his whining dog while looking around the destitute village. He is unsure what they should do to deter another force of goblins. Their numbers are so few that a simple ambush wouldn't be able to kill the goblins safely.

Thankfully Erb doesn't have to stress about it any longer. The startling sound of mana gathering into a point nearby and suddenly expanding causes the party's jaws to drop.

Blue mana forms a big ring in the air, hovering a little bit above the dirt ground. The ring shows a murky blurred image, and without warning a group of people step through the magically summoned portal.

"Ah. This looks bad." The first to step through the portal looks around the partly burnt and completely barren village. He's a lancer carrying a huge spear that is about as tall as two of himself. His armor is made of shining steel plates.

The second to step through sniffs and then glowers at the trees in the distance. His dark eyes dart around the trees before he sniffs again. The man's large nose twitches as he takes in scents like sights. He's covered in leather and hide wraps.

The last to step through the portal is a woman wearing blue robes. Beneath the robes a silver chainmail shines. Her staff is made of a dull steel with a sapphire embedded into the top. Her hair is a lighter shade of blue, and has motes of blue mana floating off its surface.

The woman waves her staff and the portal shuts with a crackle of blue light.

"Looks like some newbie adventurers got their asses beat by a horde of goblins." The caster snorts before tapping her staff on the ground. The village is surrounded by a huge blue translucent barrier.

The man who's nose works constantly runs with his body low to the ground. He arrives at the burnt corpses of the goblins and his eyes flit around the scene rapidly counting. "Looks like 100 or so were burnt up." The man's voice is gravely.

The lancer nods before turning to the confused group of low ranking adventurers. "So, the peasant that told us about what was happening said there was an army of goblins and you three burnt the grass to ward them off from the village?" His voice hinted at mild curiosity.

The blonde haired leader of Erb's party was dumbstruck. His jaw closed and then he stammered out a response. "A-Ah... Yessir, the horde attacked, but we burnt the grass as per his instruction..." The blonde gestures to Erb before looking at the man before him in awe.

"And who might you be?" The lancer asks Erb while sizing up his rather unimpressive gear and body. Erb frowns slightly at his obvious judgement.

"I am Erb, a D rank adventurer, and who are you?" His voice is a little rude, but he tries his best not to come off as irritated as he is. The stress of the goblin attack was weighing on him. The lancer laughed at his attitude before giving him a fierce look.

"I am the Sky Spear, an A rank adventurer." His voice was full of pride as he talked down to Erb. The young man in question frowned a bit before furrowing his brows.

Their conversation is cut short as the beast like man in the A rank party suddenly bounds into the trees before grabbing hold of something and throwing it like a sack of potatoes. The corpse of a goblin lands in the center of the village with a loud thump.

"Ah, looks like they're about to arrive." The caster says with a pout. She holds up her impressive staff before making a new blue glowing glyph manifest midair. This one is much more complex than the shield, and is very slow to form.

Erb is in awe of the magic, as he has never seen someone use such spells. His only other exposure to magic was through Amy.

"Baraku and I will hold off the forward scouts and fast goblins." Sky Spear turns to the newbie adventurers before shooing them toward the chief's house. The archer joins them while looking intimidated by the higher ranking fighters.

The sound of thunder comes from above as clouds begin to gather.

Goblin corpses fly through the air as Baraku rips them from the bushes like tearing petals from a flower. Sky Spear's huge weapon plunges into the forest and a chorus of screams ring out from the goblins.

The leader of the tribe is sweating bullets as he sees the might of the unfamiliar adventurers. He grips the bracelet on his arm before cursing in goblin.

The leader and his platform are suddenly turned to splinters and gore as a huge bolt of lightning slams into him. The surrounding goblins are all suffering from similar fates as lighting rains down upon the goblin army. The goblins have no defense against such high level magic, and can only scream and run as it picks them off two to five at a time.

"Haha, too easy." The caster has a somewhat sinister smile on her face as her spell rains death upon the monsters in the forest. The majority of the goblins don't even know what causes their death.

Erb and his party are all sitting with the chief in his shuttered home. The five of them are accompanied by Erb's scruffy dog. The sounds outside cause Erb to harden his glare at the closed windows.

Erb cannot fathom how someone can produce such destructive force. His fire strategy looks like child's play compared to this high power magic attack.

~

The party of four along with Erb's dog sit in the back of the same wagon which brought them to the village earlier that day. The silence is stifling, however it is not the same silence that covered them before the quest.

"What the hell was that? Why were they so strong?" Erb is irritated by how powerless he feels when comparing himself to them.

The rogue looks at him with a neutral expression before explaining. "Those were all A rank adventurers. Sky Spear is known for his reach being unnatural, and his techniques provide attack range beyond his actual weapon. Sierra Sunder is a lightning centered caster who is rumored to be the most powerful caster of the local branch. Baraku The Beast is a weird one who can smell out things most humans can't possibly smell, a real freak of nature." Her voice got progressively more excited as she talked about the caster, however her enthusiasm wanes when discussing Baraku.

"So, adventurers get that strong when they reach A rank?" Erb is frowning as he thinks about his future and whether or not he can possibly become so powerful. 

The leader of the party shakes his head. "No, they became A rank because they were already that strong." He sighs before looking up at Erb with respect in his eyes. "I never mentioned it, but my name is Xavier. The archer is Carrie, and we just call the rogue Munchkin." He smirks at the last statement.

Munchkin's eyes widen and she slaps Xavier before scowling at Erb. "Don't call me that! Only my friends call me that stupid name!" Her face is a little red, however Xavier seems amused by her reaction. He shakes his head and shuts up for the rest of the wagon ride.

"What's his name?" Munchkin is staring at Erb's dog. The canine is sleeping between munchkin and Erb.

Erb looks at her with an eyebrow raised before shrugging. "His name is Perry." The dog's ears raise a little at the mention of his name, but drop once nothing else is said.

Munchkin smirks and pets his head before whispering something to the dog. The dog licks her face as she grins at him smugly. To Erb it looks like she thinks Perry is hers.

The group rests their bodies and minds as the wagon approaches Gnarlbark.

~

"Congratulations, again!" The same attendant who gave Erb his medallion this morning hands him a new medal to replace the old one. Erb's completion of a quest that was under-ranked promoted him to C rank straight away. His parties who were also D rank received similar treatment. Xavier is the only one without a promotion.

"Thank you, again. heh." Erb smiles sheepishly before taking the medal and rejoining his newly joined party. The three of them are splitting the coin from the job while imagining what they could spend it on. Erb's dog is sat on Munchkin's lap.

"The reward itself was pretty small, but the guild threw in some extra for our trouble." Xavier smirks as he passes Erb a pile of coins. Everyone's pile contains two gold coins, however Erb's has four gold instead of two.

"Why do I have extra?" Erb narrows his eyes at Xavier, however Carrie is the one to speak up with her usual gruff tone.

"Because you did the most work!" Her arms cross over her bosom as she nods firmly. She had been watching the battle from a birds eye view, so her judgement on the contributions should be pretty good.

Erb smiles and counts his coins while the others smirk at his childlike satisfaction. Xavier, Munchkin, and Carrie all hold an admiration and respect for Erb that contrasts heavily with their first impressions of the young man.

Munchkin gives a frown before shaking her head in mock irritation. "You better buy some actual armor and a weapon with that money, peasant." Her words make Erb's lips curl into a bigger smile.

Erb felt his party was a good one despite his sour start with them.

~

Three adventurers stare down at a shiny black bracelet they recovered from a goblin leader. The caster of the group frowns as she casts a spell. The mana from the spell scans the object with a large blue eye before fading away.

"My spells don't recognize it. The material is something completely foreign to us." Sierra's frown was reflected in the other two of her party members.

They recovered the strange bracelet from the goblin leader after combing through the corpses in search of any coins or magic items. Their search only yielded this strange bracelet. The thing is indestructible as far as they can tell.

"Let's just register it in the guild vault, and figure it out some other time." Spencer, the Sky Spear, sighs before taking out a document and glancing at the strange bracelet.

The other two agree with his decision and let him write the object's specs onto the paper.

~

Icy cold air moves in a constant stream from within the eye holes of a black frost encrusted helmet. The armor sits on a complete suit of the frosted black substance, and within the armor an unknown being breaths out this constant unending stream of cold.

The armored thing sits in a black throne, and upon the throne hundreds of black rings are attached to the intricately carved pieces of the throne.

The mysterious being suddenly twitches as one of the black rings on its throne vibrates slightly for a whole second. The previously cold air flowing from the helmet turns hot. Hot air flows out and the unknown being stands from its throne with loud cracks of the ice and frost beneath it breaking.

"Adventurers." The voice of the being is garbled and faint. It sounds as if it is speaking from somewhere far far away.

The hot air melts parts of the icy room, however the being controls its emotions and the breath turns to an icy temperature within moments. The throne and floor refreeze themselves rapidly as the armored one sits upon its black throne.

The disturbance passes, and the armored one resumes breathing out a frostbite inducing wind from its helmet.

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