Online In Another World

With the leisurely pace in which the steed moved, and the relaxing scenery of the verdant, luscious mountains and the light mist of the rising noon that allowed the temperature to be brisk and slightly wet, the journey turned from tense to comfortable.

"Julius thought he had all the game in the world. Though most girls did give him the time of day because of his status and looks, they realized pretty quickly that underneath all of that, he was nothing more than a perverted geezer in the body of a young man."

Well, that's one way to put it…Emilio thought.

"I wasn't any better, I guess. Back then, we had little competitions to see who could pick up more girls," Vandread said.

"Wait–you?! You did that, too?!" He asked in shock.

Vandread scratched his head, "Ah–well, this was a long time ago. Things…change," the man seemed gloomy as he said that.

Though it was hard for him to see the man's expression from behind, he could see a glimpse of emotion, though sorrowful at that, in those shining eyes that belonged to the immortal man.

"...I'd like to hear more, please," he requested.

It seemed Vandread was going to continue, but stopped as he pulled the stallion to a halt as well, "We'll have to save the stories for another time."

"Huh? Why?"

"We've got some nuisances blocking our path," Vandread said, slowly drawing a blade from a sleeve on his pants.

As he looked forward, having to lean to the side to see past Vandread, he saw what the man was referring to: fiendish, small creatures were gathered on the road.

"Goblins," he mumbled, "...But, they don't seem normal."

The unsightly creatures were different from the green-skinned ones he was used to; they had pale, yellow complexions like fall leaves. They seemed slightly taller, and dressed in leather armor.

Vandread hopped off from horseback, dual-wielding a pair of large huntsman knives as the yellow-skinned goblins stayed their distance; the creatures let out gargles and laughs, preparing to charge at any moment.

"Be careful. These goblins are on a higher level than the ones you're used to; they're mountain raiders," Vandread warned, "Stay by the horse and defend it; I'll handle this."

"Right," he nodded, taking his staff out.

There was a good amount of the goblins, who, opposed to normal ones which resembled the build of a human child, were closer to Emilio's size. Still, Vandread didn't seem to lack any confidence in engaging them.

This is odd, Vandread thought, there shouldn't be goblins on the roads so close to Larundog. Looks like they got a hold of a cart of goods, too. What's going on? I need to get this over with and get to the city.

The first few of the yellow-skinned goblins charged forward, wielding shortswords, daggers, or even flails.

Though the foul creatures launched the attack, the dark-skinned man of the Godless Style took the initiative straight from them as one of his knives was flung forward like a javelin, piercing through the skull of the foremost goblin.

"Gragh…!" The goblin let out before dying immediately.

"Ragh?!" The other two were caught by surprise.

In that moment of confusion, Vandread swept in, retrieving his knife and spinning around in the same movement, cutting the throat of another goblin as its blood sprayed out.

Emilio watched while staying near the horse, finding himself surprised at how efficiently the man handled the goblins.

The Godless Style was quick, brutal, and efficient; Vandread aimed only for vitals with every attack he made, not wasting any movement. As a goblin attempted dashing towards him and striking him with its blade, he grabbed its arm, twisting it around and stabbing the creature with its own weapon. At the same time he did this, he threw his knife again, killing an archer with pinpoint precision.

He said these goblins were on another level…He's making them look like average uglies, Emilio thought.

"--!"

Watching wasn't all he was allowed to do as he realized the presence of more mountain raider goblins occupying the mountainsides; they stood on both sides of the road on the high ground, wielding bows pointed straight for him and the stallion.

"Nice try, but—!"

As he raised his staff, preparing to use a counter force of wind to negate the arrows' trajectory, he realized on closer inspection that something was different about the way the arrows were pulled back on their bows.

It was a swish of wind; spiraling around the arrows, wind enchanted the projectiles before they shot out.

They're using wind magic? Goblins like these can use magic!? He questioned.

The small burst of air he was going to expand the area with wasn't going to work if the arrows themselves were blessed with wind. Instead, he acted quickly to formulate another counter strategy.

"—!"

As the wind-swirled arrows were launched by the tactical goblin archers, who numbered near a dozen, he summoned two walls of mud on his left and right.

Manipulating mud was a bit more complex than simply conjuring a wall of dirt or rock; it was a swift combination of the rock and water elements. More than that, maintaining a solid shape with mud, a loose, chaotic substance, was difficult.

The arrows carried a hefty force behind them with the wind giving them superior speed and power, but they managed to get swallowed by the shields of mud. Though the shoddily-made arrows were stopped, they did manage to bore a good amount through the durable wall, which was frightening in its own right.

They really are different…They're advanced! He thought.

He was forced to maintain his concentration as another volley of the enchanted arrows sailed through the valley; the feathered projectiles hissed as the air was forcibly contorted around the objects.

The stallion whined, anxiously tapping its hooves as goblins closed in around, continuing their onslaught of arrows that drilled against the walls of mud.

"...They're targeting the horse?" He mumbled to himself.

Each time a wind-infused arrow drilled into one of his tall mud walls, it attacked his concentration directly, assaulting the stability of his magecraft and damaging the integrity of the wall.

This caused him to have to relinquish the spell after the next set of arrows came, now finding himself having to deal with the archers directly. Luckily, they had moved in closer, making his task easier.

Alright, let's do this, he thought.

He summoned the newfound strength in his legs alongside a burst of wind at his heels to dash with optimal speed; this maneuver allowed him to cover the thirty-meter gap between him and his enemies within a second.

The goblin archers looked up in surprise at this agility from the blonde-haired boy, having no time to readjust their attack.

Got you! He thought.

With his left hand, he quickly manifested imprisoning spheres of water to capture the five goblins to either side while with his right, he swung his sword towards the foes before him.

CLANG.

Though he swept his blade towards the head of the yellow-skinned creature in front of him, it was stopped. It wasn't halted by the archer himself, but by one of its kind; a longsword-wielding goblin managed to intercept the attack.

It…protected the other? He thought.

Perhaps more perplexing than anything else he'd witnessed so far with the heightened goblins was the act of camaraderie and teamwork between them.

As he looked to the side after jumping back, he found the other goblins, who weren't ensnared in the water spheres, reaching in and pulling out their comrades.

Not only are they more skilled, but also intelligent? He thought.

Seeing them almost act 'human' caused him to hesitate for a moment as he witnessed their teamwork, but as one lunged towards him, any of that hesitation was wiped out.

…I can't hesitate! He thought.

It naturally exuded from him; a massive burst of wind that he propelled from his hand. This highly-pressurized wind slammed into the goblin, mangling its body and shattering its bones, along with destroying its internal organs.

"--" He looked on in shock.

Usually unleashing magic of such potency strained his body, which was why naturally he inclined not to do it as it was detrimental in a fight. However, it seemed his draconic constitution allowed him to cast higher strength spells now.

"Graaagh!"

"Raaagh!"

The mountain raiders roared out their battlecries; archers readied their arrows and the warriors of the goblin clan charged him with their weapons.

As he glanced back, he could see goblins approaching the horse, forcing him to act in haste now. When backed into a corner and forced to act, Emilio truly shined when manipulating magic for lethal force; in a combination of magecraft and steel, he swept the goblin's feet from under them with the use of wind before cutting them down while they fell.

"Graaah–!"

One had closed in on him still, coming from his blindspot, but he managed to block its attack before deflecting it and countering with a release of flame magic; the spell he chose was 'Fire Flower': a blazing attack that blossomed into fearsome petals that exuded a skin-melting heat.

After that last spell, he winced and groaned out as a sharp pain traveled from his fingertips and to his shoulder.

"Gah…!" He let out.

I'm using a lot of mana. I need to be careful…I'm still not fully recovered from my fight with the chief, he thought.