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Arav sprinted across the basin, his legs wreathed in flickers of red mana. His dark brown leather boots crashed out little geysers across the water as he cleared the length of the wide basin with utter ease, easily almost twice as fast as anyone else, nearing the three helpless hobgoblins with Bloodspike’s tendril wriggling out towards them with hunger.

As the leader of the Coiled Serpent, Arav made it a point to always charge in first when it was possible to. His team was diverse and at first had doubted his ability for he was from Sunda.

The Sundan Empire was not particularly known for fielding strong adventurers so much as they were known for being some of the best and brightest researchers in the fields of magic. Their coresmithing was not as sturdy as that of Metallo’s, but it was far more experimental, diverse, and unique in the breadth of magic they utilized.

Their golemancy was second to none, capable of fielding mighty automatons easily as strong as powerful adventurers.

But adventuring was an occupation was seen as one that those who were too brutish to attend Sunda’s finest magical academies went to. Where second or third sons of noble families took up arms to make a name for themselves outside the boundaries of their suffocating families.

.

Regardless, though Sunda had the fewest amount of adventurers ranked seven stars and up, it was a mistake to consider them inferior in terms of power.

The Sundan empire’s renowned All-Magic, divine magic from their patron god Ajna that allowed them to use any field of magic provided there was compatibility with it. All elements were known to Sundans, and Arav proudly wielded the power of flame.

Arav jumped in the air, a burst of flame from his feet igniting propulsion that sent him high up as he aimed Bloodspike down at the hobgoblins.

The hobgoblins cowered, their backs pressed against the walls and their eyes wide as they trembled for their inevitable deaths to come.

Arav primed Bloodspike, surging magical energy into the tendril. It gleamed with a crimson tint as the claw embedded at the center of its flesh petals jutted out, ready to be fired. He narrowed his white rimmed eyes, carefully analyzing the mana flow of the hobgoblins to predict their movements and hit them dead on.

Right as Arav thought about firing, it was then that he felt a heavy impact slam into his side, sending the world spinning. In the next moment, he crashed heavily into the water with a splash, grimacing as he put a hand to the cracked scaled armor at his side.

Judging from the dull, warm pangs of pain, Arav had been hit by blunt force, strong enough to have severely bruised him. Thankfully, his ribs had not broken nor was there any internal damage.

But what in the name of the gods had hit him?

A goblin ambush? Impossible. No goblin was strong enough to break past his natural durability, let alone through his pangolion scale mail. He immediately got up, leaping in the air and landing on his feet in combat ready stance, showing off his agility.

“What?” Arav could not believe his eyes.

In front of him were two more goblins. They were big, standing at slightly over two meters tall. Their height, developed musculature, and tusk length indicated that they were champions, and yet, something about them was incredibly off. Their skin was pale white, the color of snow or ice, and their eyes were a deep dark blue shade gleaming with hints of magical energy.

“Goblins…?” said Ais as she hovered in the air with cocked head and narrowed green eyes. Her hands and forearms were lit up in green circuits indicating devotion to Grainne the Winged, the faerie goddess. The magic circles she had prepared for area of effect were still there, though Arav could immediately tell by the strength of these champions that area of effect was not what they wanted.

“These goblins are strong,” said Arav immediately, feeling the pain of his bruise stinging at his side. “Far stronger than any goblin I have ever seen. Erik, what type are they?”

Erik, the Fjallan native, grunted. “I do not know. They are unlike any I have seen or heard before.”

Federic came to the head of the group and laid down his greatshield with a heavy slam, sending out a wave of water rippling away from him. “I, too, can sense their strength. Two strong enemies. Vanguard formation, then, Arav?”

“Yes,” said Arav. Vanguard formation involved Federic at the front with his natural durability while Ais and Yua fired from range. Erik and Arav were flexible, changing from defending allies or attacking key targets.

“No,” said Yua. “These goblins are strong. At the least, as strong as I am. They are likely the strongest champions that have been bred in this area for centuries, and if this is an ambush, we cannot discount the fact that the entire rest of the tribe may come swarming.

We must escape.”

“We escape by pushing through, killing the goblins in front of us, and scaling the hills,” said Arav.

“It is better to trace our steps back,” said Yua.

“It is better that you die here,” came a goblin voice from behind them.

The adventurers turned their heads to see four more goblins approaching them from behind. Two incredibly large ones, one of which had four arms, a tail, flames wreathed around its back, and electricity crackling around golden fins placed around its body. The other was armored from head to toe and armed with a sword and shield, emanating impressive amounts of blue mana.

The remaining two goblins were identical to the goblins in front of them. Champions, but far stronger than the normal kind.

“What in the name of all the gods is that…thing?” said Ais as her eyes widened at the sight of the four armed goblin. “A goblin with four arms? And everything else about it-,”

“No, just sense the magical energy from it,” said Yua. “It is exceptionally powerful. In the range of six-star adventurers. We cannot win this fight.”

Arav’s mind and heart raced.

Was he going to die here? Against goblins, of all things? He, a five star adventurer? After he had spent his family’s entire fortune crafting the Bloodspike? How would he ever pay back his debts on top of that? No, the debts would move down to his little son, dooming him to a life wasted paying for his father’s irresponsibility.

“How did you not sense them, Arav?” asked Erik as he gripped his battle axe tight. “Are your eyes not blessed to track the flow of mana?”

“My eyes should have picked up on them, I know it,” said Arav, questioning this too.

“You are not the only ones that can wield magic,” said the armored goblin champion. “We hid ourselves from you using magic far beyond your means, that hailing from the Old Age itself.”

“Your Common is good,” said Arav to the armored one, potentially thinking of a way to negotiate out of this.

“I have taken the time to learn,” said the armored goblin simply.

“You must be the chieftain of this tribe,” said Arav. “I have heard of you. An armored goblin that knows how to make peace with humans.”

Arav extended a conciliatory hand towards the chieftain. “How about now? We are adventurers assigned to contain the threat of Undeath north of here, and if we cannot go, it will no doubt spread here. Not to mention that should you get rid of us, the League will come bearing down upon you.”

The chieftain hesitated for a moment, and Arav smiled, knowing that the might of the Adventurer’s League, particularly in threat of retribution, was more than enough to make these goblins cower.

Then, the four-armed goblin put a hand on the chieftain’s shoulder and spoke to him in a tongue that Arav knew nothing of. It sounded deep and guttural, with sounds made from the base of the throat. They spoke for some time, enough time to pass that the tension in the air became almost palpable, Arav feeling sweat drip from his forehead with the unease of his party rising by every second.

“The era of adventurers is over,” said the chieftain, finally. “The times we have spent cowering under your threat, always hiding, always running, are over.”

“Are you sure of this, chieftain?” said Arav. “You will doom all of your people to die. A few among you may have managed to obtain power, but do you think power of this level is enough to truly challenge the League?”

“You attack us with no care for our lives for you knew us as weak. The moment you see our strength, you try to negotiate, but even now, you do so with a threat. You care not for our ways and our lives for you had power to trample them,” said the chieftain. “But that ends now. I only ask for fair treatment, and since you have taken seven of our lives, we must take seven of yours.

There are only five of you here, but your lives will suffice for the crimes you have committed.”