A day had passed since they left the guild. Walking through the border forest, Master Rohan could see several traces of fighting throughout the forest. These traces extended along the entire path and occasionally delved deeper into the forest, straying from the main road.
The three continued walking until they reached what had once been a base, right in the middle of the path. The base was almost completely destroyed. Monster bodies were scattered everywhere. Goblins lay on the ground, decapitated or smashed against trees. The hobgoblins were split in two, their limbs twisted in the opposite direction to how they should have been. The ogres were impaled on several makeshift stakes from the base itself. Right in the middle of the destroyed base was a goblin wearing long robes. He was hanging from a wooden pole, holding onto his hands, which were nailed to the pole.
'Two months ago, a group of Class Cs took over a base and barely made it out alive. But they're only two Class Ds, and they didn't just take over one base alone, but seven in total... there's no better way to demonstrate the difference between efficiency and power,' the guild master thought approvingly.
"Mercy..." the witch goblin muttered.
"Wow, he's still alive after all," Darwin said, surprised, looking at the goblin.
"I told you we'd impale him on the ass, so gravity would do its job," Finn said, irritated, seeing the witch goblin still alive, as the goblin had fired a powerful beam at him, sending him flying several meters.
"Great work, guys!" the guild master said with a big smile, grabbing the goblin by the wrists and pulling him from where he was pinned.
"Agh," the goblin complained.
"It was very thoughtful of you to leave one alive in the middle of the road for me to interrogate myself," the master said proudly.
"Oh, right, that was the plan…" Darwin replied.
The master grabbed the goblin's jaw and began to squeeze slowly. The goblin screamed and writhed desperately, trying to free himself from the painful grip. The master squeezed harder and harder until the bones began to crunch under the master's force.
"Tell me… how did you gain the ability to use magic?" the master asked, as he could feel the natural magic coursing through the goblin's body, something that only happens to those who have used natural magic.
"Ugh… we… we… WE WILL TAKE WHAT BELONGS TO US BACK. YOU CAN'T KEEP THEM AWAY FROM US FOREVER!!" the crazed goblin yelled.
Splash!!
The goblin's skull was completely crushed under the master's grip. A serious and calculating look appeared on the master's face as he shook his hand to wipe away the blood that splattered it.
"What belongs to them, huh?" the master said.
"I think you mean the godites…" Finn said, and Darwin quickly nodded.
"Godites?" The teacher asked, confused.
"Yes, you know, one of the three races mentioned in the ancestral mural," said Darwin.
"Yes, the mural explains that goblins are just corrupted godites," said Finn.
The teacher frowned in confusion, as the ancestral mural only had very confusing drawings. He didn't understand how the two of them could know the name of one of the species, but more importantly, they claimed that goblins were related to this species called Godites, when goblins are known to be creatures born of chaos and not corrupted.
The teacher decided not to say anything and just nodded, then indicated that they should continue leading the way. Finn and Darwin simply shrugged and walked in the direction of the village they had visited two weeks ago. They walked for about two more days until they finally reached that village at night.
The three were warmly welcomed by the villagers, who thanked Finn and Darwin countless times for taking care of the monsters in the forest. They then stayed at a small inn for adventurers who traveled frequently.
"You know, with all the technology in the capital, I'm surprised they haven't created something to make our travels easier," Finn said, taking off his boots.
"I understand someone has, but all the guild masters immediately rejected the idea because they thought it was too dangerous. They said it would expose us to more dangers in the event of a sudden attack," Darwin said, throwing himself onto his bed.
"What a stupid thing to do… well, there's nothing else to do," Finn said, resigned, and went to sleep. "…by the way, did you see the clown who hides from men with short dicks?"
"A clown who hides from men with short dicks? No, I don't think I've seen him," Darwin replied.
"Jkjkjkjk, I thought so," Finn mocked, and was immediately hit by a boot.
The next morning, the three of them set off early for the Forest of the Fallen, which surprised the teacher since only adventurers of class C and above entered this forest. Curious to know why they came here, the teacher asked them how they found this place if their mission was supposed to be on the bridge over the cliff.
"Yes, and we went straight there…" Darwin replied.
"And then we ran into a horse-woman who wanted to rape us and chased us through the woods" Finn continued.
"Then, when we thought we were safe, the horse-woman rammed us with her powerful biceps" Darwin continued.
"And slammed us into several trees" Finn continued.
"Then she started choking us with her tits" Darwin said.
"Until I bit one of her. After that, she took a giant leap and freed us" Finn confessed.
"Right above the cliff… we fell into it" Darwin continued.
"But we used the horse-woman as a shield… She broke her back for the impact" Finn said.
"After that, we met the centaurs and went into the first forest we saw… We got lost" Darwin confessed.
"But then we found some strange Goblins, which we followed to their base inside a mountain, and well, the rest you already know it" said Finn.
The two adventurers gave the guildmaster a big smile and a thumbs-up, as if they'd handled it very well.
'Gods, how the hell are they still alive?' thought the guildmaster. 'When we get to the guild, I'll give them a break… they deserve it.'
The three continued walking through the forest. Sometimes they encountered monsters, but it was nothing the guildmaster couldn't handle; a simple blow was enough to end the fight, except for a bear. The guildmaster fought a bear, convinced it was a huge dog, and strangled it until it was unconscious. Then he adopted it… now they have a bear as a traveling companion. The three continued on their journey, only this time the guildmaster was riding a large grizzly bear. He looked tough if you asked Finn and Darwin.
On the fourth day after leaving the village, everyone arrived at the cave entrance. The master ordered the bear to guard the entrance while they were inside. Somehow, the bear understood everything the master said.
"I'm starting to think it's a dog..." Finn whispered to Darwin, seeing the bear raise its paw, implying that it would obey.
"I just don't know what to say or believe right now. I decided to just go with the flow" Darwin confessed.
"Sigh" Finn sighed.
Finn and Darwin guided the master through the mountain, seeing the destroyed structures and the bodies of monsters lying everywhere. Finn was telling him how he had fallen from the second-to-last level, knocking down several goblins and hobgoblins with him. Then he told him how he met Darwin only to have to flee from the drugged minotaur who chased them all over the mountain.
"And here are the bodies..." Finn said, pointing at the dead minotaur.
'They used their wits to win a fight they knew they couldn't win through force... We need more adventurers like that. Without a doubt, they'll be my new exploration team' the master thought proudly, misunderstanding everything. Finn was telling him this so he'd take pity on them and not send them on any more exploration missions.
"And here we are..." Darwin said, standing in front of the ancient mural and the large stone doors.
"This is..." The master couldn't describe what he was seeing. "It's different, very different!"
When he had seen the photos on Darwin's card, he knew it was undoubtedly an ancient mural. But other than that, he could only see a bunch of scattered, disordered drawings. But here it was totally different. It was as if the drawings had come to life and told him the story in great detail. He had never witnessed anything like it. This was different. Something deep inside him told him so.
'So this is what they meant about the Godites...' the master thought, amazed.
Then he looked at the large stone doors, seeing some markings he had never seen before. He could only assume it was the strange seal the Valkyrie had placed on the mural. Taking Darwin by the arm, he held him in front of him, using him as a writing table to support his notebook.
'I have to inform Merlin and the other guildmasters of this discovery... I'll be the envy of the guildmasters!' Master Rohan thought happily.
Closing his notebook and carefully putting it in his backpack, the guildmaster looked at Finn and Darwin with a big smile.
"Okay, kids, it's time to get back to the guild," said the guildmaster excitedly.
"Ugh, let's walk again..." complained Finn.
"Fucking life," cursed Darwin.
"Come on, come on, don't be like that. Great adventurers don't complain about such trifles," said the guildmaster.
"Can I ride the bear?" asked Finn.
"No... and it's a dog," said the guildmaster, starting to walk toward the exit.
"Ugh."
"Ugh."
The two of them complained, shuffling their feet toward the exit.