Em still could not aim at the dummy. Goblin Slayer was not with her at the time. He and Priestess went on more goblin quests. She wasn't sure but she heard a rumor he found three more team members for his group. Good for him if it meant Priestess was safer – although apart of her wondered why he was set on goblin quests. He was a silver rank adventurer, yet he could he only seemed to be interested in goblins.
She tried concentrating on the training, wanting more than her best. She wanted it done right every time. Em hit the dummy target a few times but not nearly enough. Maybe she needed a bigger stone to throw it? There was a stone much larger than the other ones. She picked it up throwing it at the dummy, but it fell short by several feet.
Shit, Em thought.
"Still having trouble, hm?" Heavy Warrior asked. He probably had been watching her for a while.
"Ugh, don't start," Em said, glaring at him, and clutching at the stone in her palm.
He held his hands up. "Hey, hey, I am only here to help."
"Help me with what?!"
"Your aim sucks."
"…Shut up." Em crossed her arms.
"Increase velocity," he said, "Try overarm instead of underarm. You can control it better. Didn't you have a slingshot?"
Em sighed. "It broke."
"Alright, then try throwing the rock."
She threw it once more, missing by an inch. Heavy Warrior chuckled out loud. Em was increasingly more annoyed with the dummy. She stared it down, forming a ball of fire in her hands. She threw not one but several at the dummy, watching as it was fried to a crisp until there was nothing left but ashes.
Heavy Warrior's eyes widened. "If you have magic, why the hell are you using rocks for?"
"Goblin Slayer said it was good practice in case my magic failed during a quest."
"Goblin Slayer, eh? Where is he now?"
"Out on a quest."
He smirked. "Let me guess – goblins?"
"Probably."
Em was low on coin. She slept in an alley the other night and it was freezing outside not to mention she hadn't eaten much. But she wasn't sure how to go off on her own… she checked the Adventurer's Guild and to her surprise, she saw Goblin Slayer and Priestess with three others – a dwarf, a Lizard, and an elf. Interesting party, she thought.
Priestess made eye contact with her, smiling, and waved her over. "Em!" she exclaimed.
Em approached her. "Hey - it's been a while."
"This is Em – the mage I told you all about," Priestess said to the other three.
The Elf, who had a bow and arrow on her back raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you are the mage she can't stop talking about!"
Priestess elbowed her. "That… that is not accurate!"
The Female Elf chuckled out loud, ruffling the younger girl's tress of blonde hair. "You are too easy to annoy."
Em raised an eyebrow, wondering if what High Elf Archer said was true. She and Priestess didn't know each other too well but they both went through the same thing. Although, she did not know what happened when she blacked out, they were both bound by the experience unable to escape it. "Sorry about her. She's a bit of a wild card this one!" The Dwarf said, chuckling. High Elf Archer glared at him angrily. "I'm Dwarf Shaman. Nice to meet you."
"And I'm Lizard Priest. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Em. You are a friend of Priestess I presume?" The large and tall Lizard asked her.
"Yeah, sort of." Goblin Slayer remained quiet during the entire conversation. Not much of a surprise there. "I'm currently looking for a quest I could do but I don't know what to take," Em added.
"Start with something easy," Lizard Priest suggested. "Then work your way up."
Priestess' face suddenly brightened. "You could join us!" she exclaimed, excitedly. She glanced at Goblin Slayer. "What do you think? Could she?"
"I suppose so," he replied, and looked at Em. "Would you be ready for more goblin quests?"
Fuck, she thought, but what choice did she really have? She didn't know anyone else. "I – Yeah, I can join your party if you'll have me."
"Wait, how do we know she can even fight?" High Elf Archer asked, crossing her arms in annoyance. "You aren't going to let her join us without seeing her abilities, are you, Orcbolg?"
"Orcbolg?" Em asked in confusion.
"It's what we call him in Elven language."
"What's the problem? She's a mage," Priestess said. "I have seen what she can do."
"What can you do?" Dwarf Shaman asked Em. They all looked at her as if she had stolen their gold.
Em sighed. "I can… conjure fire."
"So can a dragon," High Elf Archer said. "It's what you do with it that counts."
"I have been trained for almost ten years. What the hell do you want from me?" Em asked her, becoming more irritated by the second.
High Elf Archer shrugged and looked at Goblin Slayer. "What do you think, Orcbolg?"
"You can join," Goblin Slayer said, "provided you can keep up."
Even though she doubted half of what she said, Em told him, "I can keep up."
Goblin Slayer nodded. "Good."
It wasn't long before the group accepted a quest. One involving goblins, no less.
High Elf Archer and Dwarf Shaman were arguing almost the entire time the group traveled to the goblin cave. Their banter sounded like they had known each other for years. Elves and Dwarves lived a lot longer than humans, so they probably saw a lot more things than Em did in her lifetime. Lizard Priest, on the other hand, seemed to mitigate between the two when they argued. Goblin Slayer ignored them. Being the leader of the group, he did not appear to care about what the others were talking about unless it concerned goblins. Priestess seemed slightly uncomfortable but was just as quiet.
The cave was a bit bigger than the last one she had been in. But before they could step inside, Goblin Slayer, stopped, his hand raised in the air to stop the group from moving. The others fell silent as Goblin Slayer lifted his other hand, throwing his sword at the nearest bush. A loud, curdling scream from none other than a goblin made her flinch. The goblin fell to the ground in an instant. Goblin Slayer pulled the sword out of the goblin's corpse. "They know we're here," he said, surprisingly a lot calmer than Em gave him credit for.
"How can you tell?" Priestess asked, cocking her head to the side.
"I just do," was all he responded with. Em noticed a small knife in the goblin's hands. Just to be safe, she took the knife, placing it in her small bag attached to her belt. "Be vigilant we are close to the nest."
They entered the cave at last. Em was on alert, remembering last time how nobody bothered to look behind them just before the goblins attacked. She prayed there wouldn't be as many. Inside, there was a pile of bones, which didn't seem necessary to care about until a goblin popped out of the pile to attack them. Em dodged its attacks, while Goblin Slayer tore it away from Priestess and stabbed it in the back.
Before Goblin Slayer could say anything, the ground started trembling. "That was a trap," he said, cautiously holding his sword out.
Em heard loud footsteps running toward them. The group stayed close together as a horde of goblins headed their way. Practically surrounded, Goblin Slayer ordered Priestess to use her miracle. She did, knocking all the goblins back. High Elf Archer used her bow and arrow to kill quite a few. Em used her fire magic against them, but she wasn't sure how many times she could use it.
"Goblin Slayer, a few of them are retreating down below!" Lizard Priest exclaimed.
Goblin Slayer managed to grab the ones heading to the sewers and kill them without hesitation. "How many more could there be?" Em asked.
"That's what I was afraid of," Goblin Slayer said. While most of them were gone, how many more were down below and most importantly… why? They didn't seem panicked. The goblins acted as if it was their plan the whole time. He wasn't kidding when he said those creatures were smart.
The hole the goblins went into was still open, but the passage was narrow. The goblins wanted them to follow but Goblin Slayer was not taking the bait. "Doesn't seem very inviting," Dwarf Shaman muttered.
High Elf Archer patted him on the back. "You should go in."
"No," Dwarf replied. "I think you ought to go in there first seeing as you're small and all."
"Who are you calling short?!"
Dwarf Shaman rolled his eyes at her. "You!" Lizard Priest stood in between them, telling them both to stop fighting until the quest was done.
Goblin Slayer looked around for another passage. There was one leading them to where the rest of the goblins were. A foul stench filled the cave as they became closer. It smelled like rotting corpses. Em covered her nose as her stomach twisted and turned. She was quite close to throwing up her whole lunch. She took a few deep breaths and carried on, even if it wasn't an easy thing to do. She did not want to appear weak in front of them, especially in front of Goblin Slayer, who put his faith in her. I can't let him or Priestess down, she thought.
She smelled something else other than bodies as they got deeper into the passageway. Fire. But why? She had her guard up, as the smell of smoke soon filled the air. Goblin Slayer stopped, having High Elf Archer peer around the corner. She did and sighed. "They are burning bodies," the Elf said in a hush whisper. "Looks like… a sacrifice of some sort."
Goblin Slayer nodded. "You three take the high ground once we are in there, Priestess and Em, you stay with me." He looked at Em for a moment. "You can absorb fire, correct?"
"Yes."
"Absorb the fire they are using now."
Em closed her eyes, feeling the energy of the fire around her fingertips. It didn't take long for the goblins to realize their fire was gone. They were panicked, and that was when Goblin Slayer struck. She used the fire she absorbed back at them, listening to their cries. It took out the weaker ones, while the bigger goblins seemed burnt but still willing to fight. High Elf Archer shot a few of them in the head while Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest were using their spells.
Goblin Slayer stabbed the last one in the head. "25," he said. Had he been counting? Em thought. Interesting. What a peculiar man.
The only thing remaining was finding the women the goblins held captive. There were two of them, both had no clothes on, but Goblin Slayer had no problem carrying both on his back. Not only was he strong, but he also didn't seem to care he was carrying two naked women.
They brought the women back to safety to Frontier Town, specifically the temple where they would be taken care of. Em was glad that quest went off without a hitch and hoped she had made an impression on the rest of the party members.
"You did well," Goblin Slayer noted.
"Thank you but I didn't do much."
"You absorbed the fire," Priestess said. "Without that, I don't know what would have happened."
Em tried to remain humble but knew she had a long way to go before she was on Goblin Slayer's level. Wonder what my Mentor would say now, she thought. It was only one quest… hardly enough to get herself confident. "For the next quest – can I… join you?" Em asked, hoping they wouldn't reject her.
"Of course," High Elf Archer said, placing her arm behind Em's shoulders. A little too close for comfort with this one. "I gotta say, those are pretty cool abilities you have."
"I'm sure with more practice, you can get even better," Lizard Priest said.
She nodded, trying to remain hopeful. "Well, I will… stay with you guys for as long as you will have me." As soon as those words left her mouth, she found herself getting dizzy and unable to keep her balance. Goblin Slayer seemed to catch her before she fell on the ground. She heard Priestess calling out her name while High Elf Archer went to get help.
"Run, Em!" She heard her mother's voice, and her head started throbbing in pain soon after. She saw visions of a small red-haired girl, and a white-haired boy waving at somebody. What is happening to me? She thought, as she slowly closed her eyes as everything else seemed to fade to black.