Kalil was in the middle of the forest, he didn't seem to be paying attention to danger, in fact, it seemed like he was looking for some kind of thrill.
He kept walking until he got close to the goblins' lair, when he managed to see the entrance, he used ice magic and created an ice sword, the sword looked very sharp, but he didn't seem to know how to use it, his movements were clumsy and didn't look very effective.
He approached the lair and went toward the goblins, even without any preparation. He used ice magic and used the sword, he managed to kill several goblins and freeze some hobgoblins. It looked like he was having fun, everything seemed easy, but killing the goblins allowed him to test some group combat techniques. He had always wanted to test them, but never had the opportunity to face so many enemies gathered in a single place.
In little time almost all the goblins were dead. A giant goblin came out of the cave, it was at least twice the size of a hobgoblin and maybe heavier than a normal orc, the existence of this goblin was strange. The cuts healed, Kalil had to strike several times to defeat the goblin.
Kalil gathered the dead goblins and froze them, then he punched and shattered all the bodies. The giant goblin was taken into the item pouch, it would be analyzed by the butcher.
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I was filling a giant sack with salt, even though I could use my spiritual energy, I still had a very low reserve, in just a few minutes of use I could already feel it running out. I really missed the time when I could do this for hours, not that I made salt, but I could keep going for hours. Little by little I reduced the production. Filling this sack would take a few hours, or days, which made me irritated. But it was part of my new life.
Jasly was lying on the bed, reading a book to pass the time. We didn't have any guild mission, so it was going to be a boring day.
"Why do you want so much money?"
"I don't know, I just know that I want it, you never know when you'll need money for something. Besides, we can't depend on our parents for everything."
"In a way you are right, but at the same time it seems like you want a lot of money to buy some title and a mansion and set up a harem."
"Wait a moment, do you think I give that impression?"
"All men want that, so it would be natural to assume you want it too."
It made a little sense, but at the same time it was strange that she thought that of me.
"I'm not like that and you should know it."
She only laughed.
"Our parents are here in the Capital, did you notice?"
"What do you mean?"
"Can't you feel his mana?"
"No, I don't feel anything."
"It overflows, that's why it was easy to know."
I really didn't feel anything, knowing that he was here was something surprising. Actually, knowing they were here, I didn't know if Silas would come alone, I just hoped Bedelia hadn't come, my body wasn't ready to get beaten until all my bones broke, then have them fixed with magic and then broken again, several times. But I still considered that better than having some organs outside my body.
It was strange to think of this as simple training and not as a torture session, where the torturer really wanted information and the victim had no idea, but the torturer didn't believe that and so didn't stop the torture. Not even death would be an end, since resurrection magic would be used and all the torture would restart the next day.
But strangely, having her hug me and give me a kiss after healing me was something that seemed worth it.
"Can you sense the presence of Thalya and Bedelia?" I asked after stopping my delusions.
It was strange, sometimes I called Thalya mother, other times I called her by her name, the same happened with Silas.
"The amount of mana they have isn't high enough for me to notice, but I think they came, for sure our mother came."
"They?"
"Yes, but be more at ease, Bedelia won't kill you, she will only cause you a little pain. No pain, no learning."
"But your training doesn't have pain."
"Exactly, you just confirmed what I said," she laughed.
The next day we got a mission, this time it would be easy, we would just have to fight some bandits and not hundreds of monsters.
"We need to leave soon, this way we'll arrive tomorrow before nightfall."
We were going to a nearby village, Malta, our client, wanted to buy some herbs and other products. The job basically consisted of going with him, waiting for him to make the deals and coming back with us. If there was any attack, we should defend.
The road was relatively safe, aside from some eventual bandit attacks, but compared to other places, the road was quite safe.
The worst part would be walking, but the good thing about the mission was that we could collect herbs and hunt monsters to sell when we got back, so there would be some benefits, if we were lucky, of course.
Malta was young and very talkative, he and Dain wouldn't stop talking and telling some stories, many sounded like lies, at least they were hard to believe. Like the time Dain fought a dragon and managed to escape alive, or the time Malta managed to sell a house he would only be able to buy two days later.
Merchants always lied, from what I noticed, adventurers too. In my world there was something about not trusting hunters, they always exaggerated the story. That happened in many places.
On one hand, I didn't blame them, I would lie too. Actually, I would if I were good at it, lying was an art I never mastered.
"Formation," Dain said.
I didn't notice any enemy, but Dain and Elys did and automatically got into formation, luckily they were just five goblins, they were normal, I actually missed common monsters.
Jasmine used wind magic and easily killed all the goblins. Tobias grabbed a piece of wood and pushed a goblin into the forest, Jasly and Jasmine used wind magic and carried the other goblins into the forest.
Since the mission didn't involve killing monsters directly, we didn't collect any proof.
"Why do you put the goblins into the forest?"
"They will serve as food for some monster, or wild animal that doesn't mind eating dead monsters."
"But wouldn't that make the population of those monsters increase?"
He was right, I also hadn't understood the reason for doing that.
"Yes and no, in fact the monsters may feed, or feed some cubs, but if we don't do this they will end up invading some village and can cause greater damage. They will somehow get food, at least this way we avoid them going after sheep, or attacking humans."
It made sense, it was inevitable.
After the goblin attack we had another one, this time it was a black basilisk, an A-rank monster. This type of monster didn't usually stay far from a cave and came out only when it needed to feed, even in those cases it rarely went far, especially onto a road. Something was wrong.
The monster was hard to defeat, but we managed and took the chance to put the body in the item pouch, the meat was appreciated and worth some gold coins. The mission was starting to pay off.
I was at the rear, so I took the chance to make a little salt while walking, I hid it well. Except for Jasly, who, even in the center, managed to notice what I was doing, she really knew how to pick up information.
It was already getting dark, we decided to make a stop and set up camp. There was a stream nearby, that was good, since nobody remembered to fill the canteens and we needed water to make the soup. I couldn't just use water magic. I regretted every day choosing fire and dark magic, I was much better at water magic and even earth magic.
I was terrible at making choices. But on the other hand it was good, since I could exercise what I had difficulty with.
But, at the same time, that put me at a disadvantage in some combat situations, I couldn't use all my power. I was limited and that bothered me.
We made the soup and used chicken meat and some vegetables that Jasmine remembered to buy.
Dain also said that part of the reward would be used to buy food for the trips. They were very organized and always kept money for group use.
"Add this," Malta said while handing over a small jar.
"What is it?"
"Pepper, it will make the flavor better."
Pepper was something expensive, just like salt and other spices, since it was some nobles who traded it. They were small groups and very controlling, besides being very powerful.
Dain put a little in the soup, and surely the flavor improved.
We ate the soup with bread, but the peace of eating soup with bread in the middle of a cold breeze was momentary, a horde of orcs appeared. Not only orcs, there were at least five hordes of different species. The orcs were at the front.