As the wagon trundled along the rugged dirt road, Jack felt a sense of anticipation building within him. The small rural village of Quow they sought to protect lay ahead, its fate hanging in the balance as they prepared to confront the goblin threat.

As they neared the outskirts of Quow, Wyatt signaled for the wagon to come to a halt, his expression grave as he surveyed their surroundings. The time for action was at hand, and they would need to act swiftly and decisively if they were to prevent the goblin raid from wreaking havoc on the unsuspecting villagers.

With a nod from Wyatt, Jack disembarked from the wagon, his short sword and shovel clutched tightly in his hands. His heart pounded in his chest as he took his position, hidden from view amidst the dense foliage that lined the road.

Minutes stretched into eternity as Jack waited, his senses heightened as he strained to catch any sign of the approaching goblin horde. The air became tense, each passing moment punctuated by the distant sounds of rustling leaves and snapping twigs.

And then, without warning, the silence shattered as the goblin soldiers emerged from the dense underbrush, their twisted forms illuminated by the soft glow of the moonlight.

Leading the charge was the goblin commander, a towering figure clad in tattered armor, his eyes burning with malice as he barked orders to his subordinates. There were at least thirty, hopefully not much of a problem.

With a silent signal from Wyatt, the ambush was set into motion. Carl and Kuhara unleashed a volley of arrows from their bows, their aim true as they targeted the unsuspecting goblins with deadly accuracy. Ruben followed suit, launching vials of alchemical fire into their midst, the flames engulfing their enemies in a fiery inferno.

“Cover me!” Kuhara yelled, as she unsheathed her sword. Carl fired another bunch of arrows, which had little effect other than distraction, due to the now organized group of goblins raising their shields.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, an explosion scattered everyone on the battlefield, Jack took that as a chance to attack.

As chaos erupted around him, Jack sprang into action, his shovel raised high as he charged forward to meet the enemy head-on. Killing the first one, he equipped his sword in his other hand, he clashed with the soldier, his short sword flashing in the moonlight as he struck out with precision and skill.

Each blow landed with deadly accuracy, sending goblin after goblin tumbling to the ground in a whirlwind of steel and fury. Jack moved swiftly as he danced through the melee, his shovel and sword carving a path of destruction in his wake. The decapitated head of the goblin spiraled, flinging a splash of blood around. Jack moved to next, stabbing another in the neck, killing it. He didn't see any of the other guild members, smoke, dust and dirt was everywhere.

Another explosion sent a vibration through ground, causing jack to almost fall over.

Were the goblins using magic?

Another explosion erupted in front of Jack, vaporizing the two goblins that were approaching him. No, it couldn't be the goblins, the explosions were mainly targeting the goblin troops.

Finally, out of the corner of his eye he managed to spot Kuhara and Wyatt cutting up 3 other goblins. Wyatt saw Jack, and began screaming something.

Jack whirled around and caught a heavy stone blade that would have crushed him on his shovel, the Goblin commander towered over him and swung his blade to the side, Jack blocked again but the force swept him off the ground and cast him to the side. Another explosion erupted, separating Jack and the Commander. Jack sprang up, and charged at the disoriented goblin, who was drinking a healing potion. By the time Jack reached the goblin he had downed the entire potion, roaring he swung his blade, slicing down a tree where Jack had been. Jack rolled. This was nothing like the sparring with Wyatt, The goblin was swinging his sword wildly, Jack had no way of predicting his next move.

Suddenly the goblin froze, foaming at the mouth, it glared behind Jack. Jack turned around and saw Ruben staring down the creature. He nodded his head at Jack, turning around quickly, he stabbed the goblins neck, it collapsed to the ground, glaring at Jack as it died.

Jack surveyed the battlefield, it wasn't pretty, the bodies of civilians and goblins littered the view

“FUCK!” yelled Carl, who he ran down the hill, “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?”

Jack looked around, “where’s Wyatt?”

Carl threw up his hands, “Shit if I know!” he yelled, “WYATT!”

“Hey!” Wyatt ran up, “I-”

“What the fuck happened?” Carl demanded, “Was this part of the plan?”

“No, I don’t know what happened.”

“Greetings travelers!” A voice shouted, a tall man in armor approached them. He smiled like he had just been given a chest of gold.

A hero, level 29.

“I am Marcus!” he announced, “And-”

“Holy shit!” Carl yelled. “Does anyone have any potions?”

Marcus glared at Carl, as if him getting medical help was somehow less important than his speech.

Marcus relaxed, “Have no fear, I have saved you.” Marcus raised his arms with glee. When he received no applause, he lowered his arms awkwardly.

What did you do? Jack asked.

Marcus ignored him. Not even looking at him. “Where is your leader?” “Obviously neither of you are, you lack experience.”

“I am.”

Wyatt limped towards the group, Kuhara leaning on his shoulder. She looked terrible, like she had been smashed by something.

"Ah, Wyatt! Long time, no see."

“Marcus…” Wyatt grumbled.

“You see, your battle tactics were ineffective, so I decided to help you out.” he waved his hands.

“We didn’t need your help,” Kuhara spat, literally, as blood dripped down her chin.

Carl clenched his nose, which was also broken, “Wyatt, you know this fucker?”

Marcus rolled his eyes, “Just old friends, you know.”

Wyatt leaned Kuhara against a tree nearby, “Marcus, our tactics were plenty effective, Also the town tasked us with this mission, not you.”

“Well, I was also hired by the town to exterminate threats”

Finally, Jack spoke.

“You almost killed Kuhara!”

Marcus turned and glared at him, the kind of glare that had zero respect.

“And who are you?”

Immediately, Jack felt shivers down his spine, he forgot that he was guilty of crimes that Aldarians would gladly hunt him down for.

Jack didn’t back down, instead he straightened his shoulders and glared right back at Marcus.

“Jack.”

Dead silence broken only by Carl’s coughs

“How did you do it?” Wyatt demanded.

Marcus rubbed his nose, “A basic airstrike, of course” He smiled as if proud of it. “Anyway, the village is saved, so I don't understand why you’re so angry.”

Wyatt roared at Marcus, “YOU ALMOST KILLED MY TEAM!” he continued shouting, “There’s a reason why you were kicked out of the Autumn Branch, BECAUSE YOU WERE A GREEDY ASSHOLE! YOU DIDN’T CARE ABOUT SAVING PEOPLE, YOU CARED ABOUT LOOT AND GETTING PAID!”

Marcus shouted back, “As if I could care less about your stupid guild!” “I have my own guild, the Iron Legion!”

Wyatt ignored Marcus now, attempting to treat Kuhara’s wounds. She had burns all over her body too, probably from the explosion. Wyatt fed her a potion and she drank it, enveloped in green as her wounds began to close up. Wyatt also handed Carl a healing potion, which he chugged. Ruben, who just now had arrived, had a grim expression on his face, but he didn’t say anything.

Marcus observed with amusement. “What a bunch of babies.” He shook his head, “You're still the same as when I left for the Iron Legion.” he looked at Wyatt, “Your team is inexperienced, your weapons are mediocre, and your guild hasn't even reached level 2 yet.” Marcus put his hand on his chin, as if he was trying to remember something. “Hmm, that reminds me, didn’t you have a fifth member?” “What was his name? Ling? Long? L-”

“Lee.” Interrupted Wyatt, now standing up. “He left a long time ago.”

Marcus chuckled, “I wonder why” he muttered. “Anyway, so who’s your fifth member now?”

Wyatt nodded towards Wyatt, Marcus looked at Jack. “Him?”

Marcus inspected Jack up and down. “Huh, I thought he was just a volunteer fighting for his village.”

Jack resisted the urge to punch Marcus’s stupid face. He gritted his teeth, and forced a relaxed face, if that was even possible. “I'm not from this village.”

Marcus seemed unimpressed, he turned back to Wyatt, but before he could say anything, Ruben interrupted.

“I have some information that may upset you…” Ruben spoke, “while I was scouting the battlefield I noticed that the craters from the sky attack extended far from the area we were fighting… “ some went a bit west, but a few of them went a bit east…” He turned towards the direction of the town, which now had a pillar of smoke jutting out of the ground.

Everyone was silent until Wyatt barked orders to the rest of his team. “Ruben, Jack, get to the village as fast as you can see if anyone needs help!” He handed Jack a satchel, “give these to people if anyone is injured.” “GO!”

Jack and Ruben began to make their way to the village as fast as they could.