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Solar clasps her hands together and closes her eyes. Her hands glow a soft yellow tinge and with a quiet inhale she starts to chant the buff.

" .Ɉʜϱiʇ ƨiʜ ni miʜ ɈɔɘɈoɿq bnɒ

bnɘiɿʇ γm ƨƨɘld nυƨ ɘʜɈ γɒM

Shield!

ʞɔɒd ƨiʜ Ɉƨniɒϱɒ wold ƨbniw ɘʜɈ Ɉɘl bnɒ

bnɘiɿʇ γm ƨƨɘld nυƨ ɘʜɈ γɒM

Haste!"

After Solar finished giving me the buffs, I could feel the magic around my body. A whitish-yellow glow surrounds my body, as well as the weightlessness of my body. With a nod at Solar, I run around the perimeter of the encampment and got closer to the hobgoblin.

As I left, Sylvia dashed out of the forest with everyone else towards the goblins, managing to defeat a confused goblin straightaway. The fighting drew the attention of the goblins and then it starts. The cries. The screams. The constant chattering of goblin as they fumble around towards the fight.

However, the hobgoblin stays behind. Looking from my position, I see that it is standing between the cages and its hut. Like Stellar had mentioned there was a whip and a club however, it was currently only wielding the whip. Hanging from its belt, tied together, was the whip and the club was casually resting against its hut. With its arms crossed and a grumpy expression, it looks in the direction where Sylvia and the others were fighting.

I sneak as close as I can and grip onto the handle of the goblin knife tightly. Looking left and right for one last time, I push off the ground as hard as I could, dashing forward, knife in hand and slashing the hobgoblin's throat.

Or at least that was where I aimed.

Did I make a sound as I dashed toward it?

Or did it already know I was targeting it?

No, that should be impossible. I didn't reveal myself at all.

There is no way it could have thought that it would be attacked right after the wolves left.

Then…How?

As if it had eyes on the back of its head, the hobgoblin swerved its neck out of the way and repositioned its body to face me. At the same time, it grabbed its whip and cracked it in the air, creating a loud thunderclap. The loud and unfamiliar sound temporary stuns me, and I flinch expecting something to happen, and as I let my guard down the whip hits my face. Luckily for me, the shield absorbed the damage.

The hobgoblin grins menacingly while it cracks the whip to the side, producing thunderclaps with a flick of its wrists. I click my tongue at my failed attempt of dealing substantial damage before the fight begins.

Guess I have to do this the hard way. I breathe out and dash forward, using the speed boost from 'Haste' to close the gap between me and the hobgoblin. However, as if it predicted I would dash forward, the hobgoblin brings the whip from the side and lashes at me ruthlessly. Its wide swings and quick flicks of the wrists created a constant barrage in front of me, hitting all parts of my body.

I couldn't just dash forward hoping to close the distance anymore. I reluctantly retreat outside the range of the whip, and once I did the hobgoblin stopped its barrage. Moving slowly backwards until it could grab its club.

Now what?

I can't approach it and even if I did, it's got a weapon.

A cocky expression forms on the hobgoblin's face and with a snarl it slowly moves closer to me, occasionally cracking the whip in front of me.

Even though I had the shield buff, I couldn't just run in head first. What if it ran out in the middle? I could have been bombarded with the whip until I couldn't move.

I glance at my surroundings.

Cages. Huts. Rocks.

Hobgoblin in front.

Cages to my right.

Huts to my left.

Rocks behind me.

Gaps between each cage.

Lure it closer?

What about the captives?

I glance at the humans and demi-humans in the cages for the first time. Huddled and terrified. Crouching together in the middle of their respective cages with their eyes closes, begging and praying for it all to end.

I can do this. I can save them. Ian did it for me. I can do it for them.

Taking my eyes off the hobgoblin was a mistake, unfortunately. Just that glance was enough for it to quickly step forward and crack the whip at my face. Slapping me across the face. No damage, but I could still, regardless, feel the blow. I retreat back a bit more and slowly move towards the gap in between the two cages.

Like an idiot, the hobgoblin approaches me at the same speed, occasionally cracking the whip at me but missing since I was out of its range. Once I reached the gap, I toss the goblin knife I was holding at the hobgoblin and quickly brought out another while dashing quickly to the gap.

Dodging by a hair, the hobgoblin pushes forward, cracking the whip in the air before attempting to attack me in the gap. It can see me and I can see it through the small gaps in the cage, but regardless, I let it push closer push I bolted from the other side of the cage through the opening and at the hobgoblin.

Already in mid-motion for the whip, it continues to bring it down on me, hitting me on the left shoulder. The surrounding shield vibrates and fades, but I push onwards. I toss a knife at its face while simultaneously slashing at its right thigh. The hobgoblin barely blocks the flying knife with its club but suffers from a deep cut on its thigh.

It yells. It screams.

Dropping the whip on the ground and desperately swinging the club to make be retreat, however, I had already looped around it  With the additional speed from 'Haste' I was able to attack and run around the hobgoblin before it was able to react and proceeded to do another deep slash at its other thigh forcing the hobgoblin to slump to the ground.

Immobilised and unable to retaliate, I finish it off with a stab to its throat.

A lot easier than I had thought.

Maybe I could have brute forced it at the start, rather than being careful.

I wipe the sweat off my forehead and had a look around.

I had a proper look at the humans and demi-humans in the cages. 5 humans in a cage and 2 demi-humans in a separate cage. In the cage with the humans, a young girl was held in the arms of 3 women, desperately holding in their screams and tears, while a dumbfounded teenage male stood in front of them.

I look to the demi-human cage and saw teenage twins, a boy and a girl. Both with white wolf-like ears and a small fluffy white wolf tail. They were standing there confused and slightly on guard.

"My name is Luke. I have friends currently fighting on the other side of the encampment. I will go to them first and come back for you. Okay?"

With a slow nod from the teenage boy and the twins, I push off the ground and run towards Sylvia and the rest. It didn't take me too long to meet up with them, but I guess I was too worried. They had just finished defeating the last goblin as I arrived.

"Heyyyy slowpoke. What took you so long to defeat 1 hobgoblin?"

"Shut up Sylvia. Is everyone okay?"

"Yep! We were doing fine and the Belle and Dawn arrived which made it even easier."

I see all the wolves cuddling Solar as she heals Spike. There was a small cut along his forearm, but with Solar's healing it should be gone in a minute.

"Did anything happen, Sylvia?"

"Not really. Stellar though we were getting ambushed from behind, but it was just the wolves. How about you, everything okay?"

"Solar's shield helped me a lot. Since I was not used to it, I wasn't sure how much it could handle, so I was more careful about getting hit and took it a little slower."

"Luke. How are the people in the cages?"

"They are fine, Stellar. A little confused but fine. I told them I was going here first then coming back to help them out since everyone here is my first priority."

"Then let's go and free them and explain the situation."

I nod at Stellar's comment and after helping Val, who was sitting on the ground next to Solar and Spike up, we moved back to the cages. We took apart the cages and released everyone that was trapped, and finally were able to introduce ourselves properly.

"Like I said before, my name is Luke and these are my friends. We came here to help free people from the monsters. Is everyone okay?"

The teenage boy was the first to speak.

"We are fine. I am Rex and these are Lily, Rose, Daisy and the little one is Meg. We were captured from different places. I overheard from a monster in a black robe that spoke the human tongue that we were meant to be sent to Kronos. I…We…Thought we were going to just die."

The 4 girls, Lily a slender girl with long dark-blue hair, Rose a short weak-looking girl with short pink hair, Daisy a well-endowed young lady with brown hair and blonde highlights and Meg a young girl with brown twin tails.

"I see. How about you two, can you understand us?"

I look at the twins, hoping they could understand me. I didn't realise that there were different languages, since Solar and Stellar understood me. I guess they already knew the human language. Then, does that mean the language they speak to cast their spells is elvish?

"We…Understand…Small…Name…Ken…Sister…Kaede"

"Understood. I know it might be hard for you to speak, but you can slowly learn. I have a question I want to ask everyone. I am looking for companions to help save those that are trapped in other encampments. Will you help me?"

I let my words sink into them while I look behind me. I see Sylvia nodding at my words while Stellar was busy looking into the distance, Solar brushing Belle's fur and the siblings standing next to each other taking in everything I was saying as well.

"We…Help…Luke."

This time it was the twins that initiated. Stepping forward together with determined faces.

"Wait, Luke. We want to help, but I am worried about the girls."

"Rex. We can take care of ourselves, okay?"

"Daisy…But."

"It will be fine. Luke will help us. Right?"

"Uhh…Daisy was it? I will do my best, but everyone will take care of themselves,  especially during battle."

"Then we will join you. That okay girls? And Rex?"

,m The girls next to Daisy nodded quickly, while Rex reluctantly agreed.

"Then-"

Cutting me from telling the rest of my plan, a loud explosion was heard in the distance. The direction of the golem encampment. What happened?