"It's your fault I almost died!" Em shouted as she slammed the door open to her Mentor's house.

Her Mentor sipped on her tea calmly for a moment before speaking. Was she expecting Em to come back and confront her? "Oh?" Em was not in the mood to wait for her excuses. "What happened?"

"I went to the Adventure's Guild. I took a quest, and watched as two of my teammates were killed!"

Her Mentor did not react to the news, and instead seemed to stare not only at Em, but right through her. "What quest?"

"Does it matter? I almost died if it hadn't been for another adventurer!"

"Let me guess, it was a quest for goblins?" her Mentor asked. Em was surprised she would know that so well. "And your other teammates – they were a porcelain rank."

"Yes…"

"So, allow me to ask you something, my ugly one," she said. "Did you really think it wise to join a whole team of porcelain ranks who knew little to nothing about goblins?" Em didn't say anything in response, thinking about her words for a moment. "I taught you better than that. Goblins, while they look weak, they are agile and dangerous especially in a group let alone inside a cave. You chose to go with them. No body, not even I, forced you to go on the quest."

"This is exactly like you! You told me a few days ago I was not ready for the real world… that I still needed to train more."

"You weren't ready," her Mentor replied, finishing her tea. "Why do you think I sent you out there to begin with?"

"You son of a –" Em said, but then she decided not to finish that sentence. "I hate you sometimes."

Her Mentor smiled. "I know."

She left the house, not wanting to say something she might regret.

It didn't matter that her Mentor sent her to the Adventure Guild because Em took that quest without even second guessing if it was a good idea. She's right. I am stupid. Em's thoughts ran wild, as she traveled away from her Mentor. Now was not the time to pass the blame on herself or others. She needed to focus on other things like strengthening her magic. She was useless defending herself and the Priestess…

However, she seemed to have gone in a circle, because she found herself quite a bit away from the town. Instead, she stumbled upon a barren area. It looked like structures once stood there a long time ago. Why did it all seem so familiar to her before? Déjà vu. Nothing grew on the ground even with the buildings gone, as if the soil had been destroyed as well.

She touched the ground and closed her eyes, hearing voices calling for help, and the sound of screams becoming louder and louder with each second. She pulled her hand away. What happened here? "Run, Em!" her mother's voice. She could almost feel the heat from the fire that day as if it never stopped burning.

Why did it feel like she was walking back into the past? It was a bit confusing… She started feeling a bit dizzy.

"What are you doing here?" a voice from behind her asked out loud. Em turned around to see Goblin Slayer, the exact same adventurer who saved her and Priestess in the cave the other day.

"I… sorry. I was trying to make it back to Frontier Town."

Goblin Slayer nodded. "I see." He paused for a moment. "What did you say your name was?"

"Em."

He was silent.

"What… happened here?" Em asked him, amidst the silence.

"Goblins."

"So, there was a village?"

"Used to," he replied, crossing his arms as though he did not want to elaborate.

Em wondered why he seemed upset she was there in the first place. "Is there a reason I shouldn't be here?"

"No." He looked at her. "Weren't you from that goblin quest the other day?"

She sighed, hoping he would have forgotten. "You remember?"

"I do," he said. "You were lucky."

"Thanks to you," Em said, smiling a little bit. "No but really – thank you for saving us."

"Don't mention it."

There was a long silence between them for a bit before he said, "Are you going to continue on adventuring?"

Em shrugged. "After the goblin cave, I don't know… but I also need coin to survive." What else could she do? Maybe getting a job, but… it didn't feel right. She needed something more than just that.

"I understand," he replied. He's a man of very few words, Em thought to herself as she pondered on what to say next. "Many adventurers believe goblins aren't anything to worry about… and that is what gets them killed."

Almost exactly what her Mentor told her earlier. Maybe she should give it another chance, but she still needed to practice more. "I need more training," she said. "My Mentor will not teach me anything else."

"Why not?"

"She's… a complicated person." Em sighed and rubbed the back of her head. It was true about what she said about her Mentor. The woman would never allow anyone close enough to double-cross her, or even form any sort of friendship. Em had known her for a long time, yet she felt like she did not truly know a damn thing about her Mentor at all.

"You gain more experience from quests," Goblin Slayer said.

Em could not help but feel awkward around him. "I will consider what you said." She then asked him if he'd be able to show her the way to Frontier Town. Despite having gone there the first time without trouble, she still wasn't sure. Goblin Slayer was more than willing to lead her to Frontier Town, even though the trip there was quiet and irksome. She wondered who would be willing to train her in magic. She had never attended the school for mages… which made people wary of her in some regards just like Wizard was during that damn quest.

She knew she could have done more to save Warrior and Wizard – even Fighter, but why wasn't she able to act in that moment? Her magic barely did anything at the time. It bothered her. It just… shouldn't have happened. Those people deserved to move on and live a normal life as an adventurers. She wondered how Priestess was holding up and how she handled everything after.

They arrived at Frontier Town. Still unsure of what came next, Goblin Slayer suggested she ask Guild Girl for advice. The happy lady at the desk was more than willing to help Em out. She pointed in the direction of the training field not too far away. That seemed like solid advice except how would she train by herself? She knew nobody else aside from her Mentor who had magical abilities.

She did find a mage or two within the guild, but they laughed at her, telling her they would only train real mages. It was no used trying to convince them, so she walked away.

She went to the training field where she watched a man with heavy suit of armor and a sword attempting to train two newbies. It looked rough but nothing Em wasn't used to her from her own training.

"What are you waiting for?" she heard Goblin Slayer beside her.

"I asked a few mages if they would train me some more but… they scoffed in my face," Em said, sighing. "Not sure how to train without a teacher or where to even… start."

"I could."

Em glanced at him for a moment, a bit surprised. "You know magic?"

"No," he said, "I can show you a few melee moves."

At this point she had nothing left to lose. "All right, show me what you got," Em said.

The first thing he showed her was how to aim properly with a stone using a sling shot. She tried the first few times but missed the dummy. "Why is this relevant?" Em asked him.

"You need to stack the odds," Goblin Slayer replied. "If your magic fails, you have another option for the enemy." He had her practice it for over an hour and while she was close at times, whenever managed to hit it properly.

Yeah. This is fun, Em thought, cynically. It wasn't enough she couldn't hit the target but also seeing the same Heavy Warrior who trained the others was watching her with a grin.

Heavy Warrior approached them, smirking at Em. "What do we have here?"

"Training," Goblin Slayer said.

"Maybe you'd do better with a sword."

"I've never used one before," Em said.

"Why not start now?"

"I'd rather start small," she replied, crossing her arms. She slowly started getting annoyed with Heavy Warrior as he kept pushing her buttons.

She said her name was… Em, Goblin Slayer thought as he watched her and Heavy Warrior banter. He wasn't sure why, but she looked and sounded a bit familiar to him. But how? Everyone in that village died except for him and Cow Girl. While Cow Girl had been in the city, that meant Em stayed in the village when the goblins attacked. He doubted she'd even remember him. She was at the village for a reason today, wasn't she?

Or… maybe it was a mistake and a coincidence.

No, it couldn't be. She was a stranger to him, and that was it. No need to further analyse it. So, he'd thought.