The monster-hunting session finally began.
They were handed rifles again, though some trainees picked melee weapons. Pan chose a heavy matte-black handgun—compact, powerful, and ideal for goblins.
All trainees formed groups of four.
Pan's team made him reconsider his life choices.
His Team
Elena Valehart – the cold beauty with an aura saying don't waste my oxygen.
Mira Valehart – her cheerful, hyper younger sister.
Kora Steelback – their bodyguard, a muscular titan whose arms looked capable of bench-pressing a truck.
Mira waved brightly. "I'm Mira! Let's have fun today!"
Elena didn't look at him.
"Hurry. We're only here to train Mira. I want to go home."
Kora nodded. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."
Pan swallowed. Great, protected by a walking mountain.
They hadn't walked five minutes before finding a goblin group—five shrieking little green things dancing around a rock.
Elena lifted her rifle and—
BANG.
One-shot kill.
The other goblins screamed and scattered.
Mira raised her rifle with a smile.
"Okay! I'll try too!"
Before Pan could warn her—
BANG!
The first bullet whooshed past his cheek so close it carved the air like a whip.
Pan froze.
His soul left his body.
His ass clenched so hard he almost discarded the handgun and sprinted back to the entrance.
He could feel his lifespan shortening by ten years.
The others didn't notice.
Kora calmly blocked another goblin with her sword.
Mira happily kept firing like she was playing a carnival game.
Pan forced himself to return fire, trembling, and miraculously scored his first kill.
One goblin flopped onto the ground dramatically.
Soon the whole group was cleared except—
A small Goblin Shaman remained, clutching a crooked staff.
Elena held her hand up.
"Don't kill it yet. Mira needs to observe spellcasting."
The shaman puffed up, raised its staff, and screeched:
"VAR'KOTH—GREN!"
Pan instantly understood:
Fire.
A wobbly fireball sputtered out and drifted toward them like a sad balloon.
Kora casually swung her massive sword—
WHOOSH.
Fireball erased.
The shaman's face twisted into pure existential despair.
A perfect expression of:
"WHY!? THAT'S MY WHOLE CAREER!"
Then Mira tried shooting it.
BANG!
First shot—
hit its leg.
The goblin screamed like a pig being butchered.
"SKREEEEE—MY LEG! MY LEGGG!!"
Pan translated reluctantly.
"It's yelling that you shot its favorite leg. And something about curse of seven ancestors."
Mira fired again—
BANG!
Bullet narrowly passed over its head.
The goblin ducked and shrieked like it saw death.
Next shot—
BANG!
Hit its shoulder, spinning it halfway around.
"SKREEEEE—HUMANS ARE DEMONS! I WANT TO GO HOME!"
Pan cleared his throat.
"It says humans are the real monsters. Uh… it's also calling for someone named 'Momblin.'"
The shaman tried crawling away, dragging itself like a dying actor in a bad drama.
Mira fired again—
BANG!
Direct hit to the butt.
The goblin screamed higher than its vocal range allowed.
It flopped onto its back, kicking its legs weakly.
"SKREEEEEE—MY BUTT!! SOMEONE SAVE MY BUTT!!"
Mira panicked and fired again—
BANG!
Other butt cheek gone.
Another shot—
BANG!
Other cheek grazed.
The goblin broke completely.
"SKREEEEEE—STOP! MERCY! MERCY! I'M JUST A TRAINEEEEE!"
Pan translated with a pained expression.
"It's actually asking us to kill it now. Like… immediately."
Elena finally snapped.
Without a word—
BANG.
Headshot.
The shaman collapsed peacefully, face finally relieved.
Mira clapped. "Yay! We did great!"
Kora nodded, satisfied.
Elena just turned coldly toward the next area.
Pan staggered behind them, clutching his handgun.
If this is beginner training… I'm not surviving advanced class.
They soon went further into the forest, the stink of burnt goblin hair still hanging in the air like some criminal offense against nostrils. Pan walked behind Mira and the others, still traumatized by the recent barrage of friendly fire.
He kept unconsciously rubbing the side of his cheek where Mira's "accidental" bullet had whooshed past earlier.
He still remembered it vividly.
Too vividly.
One moment he was bravely taking cover.
Next moment — FWOOOSH — a bullet sliced the air beside his face so close he swore he felt it exfoliate him.
His ass clenched so violently he almost threw his rifle like a javelin and just sprinted straight back to the Rift entrance.
Even now his butt only relaxed at 20% capacity.
---
A bit later…
They encountered another goblin scouting group. Pan crouched behind a fallen log as everyone opened fire.
Mira, standing behind him again — because the universe hates him — raised her rifle.
Pan's soul left his body for a second.
He tried to subtly sidestep away from her line of fire…
but Mira stepped with him, completely focused on aiming.
Pan's lips trembled.
"This is it… I lived a good… okay-ish life…"
Then he suddenly remembered—
The goblin shaman earlier had screamed a word before throwing a fireball.
"Grak-thu!"
He had picked up its meaning instinctively thanks to his Universal Language skill.
Fire… ignite… scorch that bastard, something like that.
Pan swallowed.
"... Worth a try," he muttered.
He whispered the word, trying to twist his vocal cords the same way the goblin had. It felt like doing a throat trick while gargling gravel.
Suddenly—
FWUMP!
A small, fast, VERY angry fireball shot out from his hand.
It hit a goblin right in the chest.
"SKREEEEE—!!!"
The creature lit up like a cheap candle, flailing and screaming as it ran.
Pan froze, wide-eyed.
"…Holy crap. I… I did that! I used magic!? MONSTER magic!?"
Behind him, Mira fired again.
KRAK!
Pan squeaked and ducked.
The bullet wasn't aimed at him this time, thankfully —
It shot straight at the goblin shaman hiding behind a stump.
The shot hit its leg.
"PIGYAAA—!!!"
The shaman squealed like a dying farm animal, clutching its thigh.
Mira fired again — missed just above its head.
The shaman screamed and curled up like a terrified potato.
Another bullet hit its other leg.
"MY LEG!!MY LEG!!! OH GODS WHY! STOP SHOOTING! I HAVE TO RUN A MARATHON NEXT WEEK!!!"
It tried crawling away, frantic.
Mira's next shot—
BANG!
Hit it square in the butt.
"MOOOOM! HUMANS ARE MONSTERS! THEY'RE DEMONS! THEY—OW! MY OTHER BUTT!"
Another shot shredded its other cheek.
At this point even the goblin shaman was questioning life, existence, and the cruelty of long-range weapons.
Finally, the cold beauty narrowed her eyes, exhaled softly, and delivered the finishing shot like she was bored of the entire ordeal.
KRAK!
The shaman's head snapped back, and it went limp.
Pan stared in silence.
"…Remind me never to anger her," he whispered.
Mira simply reloaded.
"If you're standing in front of me again, I won't miss next time."
Pan's ass clenched to 95% once more. Perhaps she wasn't missing, she knew how to precisely accidently make it look like she missed.
Pan expected—really expected—the three girls to ask how the hell he was suddenly speaking goblin and throwing fireballs like he had been born in a cave village.
But Elena, Mira, and Kora didn't ask a thing.
They simply accepted it with the natural indifference of seasoned hunters who knew better than to pry into another person's secrets.
Even so, Pan could see the confusion bubbling beneath their calm faces… especially when he cast yet another fireball and Mira raised her handgun halfway, eyes narrowed.
"You sure you're… not a goblin?" she said suspiciously.
"YES. HUMAN!" Pan shouted immediately, hands up.
Seeing the awkward tension rise, he hurriedly explained his universal language skill—how understanding the goblin chants somehow allowed him to replicate their magic. Elena listened with quiet interest, Mira listened with chaotic suspicion, and Kora listened with zero expression whatsoever.
But the moment they saw Pan cast the fire spell again, the three accepted his explanation without further comment.
Hunters had secrets. Sometimes valuable ones. Sometimes dangerous ones.
Prying was pointless.
Pan kept using the spell throughout the hunt—casting fireballs at every approaching goblin, using his voice to mimic the guttural rune-syllable perfectly.
After roughly the 30th fireball, the world suddenly felt muffled.
His chest tightened.
His vision spun.
Then—
PLOOP.
It felt like his mana was a bathtub and someone had just pulled the stopper out.
Completely empty.
Pan stumbled forward, panting, his throat feeling like sandpaper soaked in exhaustion.
"Mana's… gone…" he croaked.
Mira poked his cheek with the barrel of her gun again.
"…Okay, he human," she declared.
Elena moved the barrel aside with a sharp glare.
"Enough, Mira."
It was almost time for the training to end anyway, so they headed back toward the meeting point. Pan dragged his feet, still recovering from magical overuse, while Kora occasionally pulled him away from Mira's dangerously swinging gun when she skipped ahead.
Finally, the group reached the designated clearing where all the trainees were gathering. The instructor looked over everyone with a strict, measuring gaze.
"Training concluded," he announced.
"Minimal casualties. That's good. Some of you surprisingly improved. Some of you surprisingly survived."
His eyes paused on Pan.
"…and some of you should stop attempting to burn down the forest."
Pan nodded meekly.
With dismissal complete, the trainees began dispersing toward the parking area.
As Pan prepared to leave, Elena Valehart approached him. Her cold aura seemed to cut through the warm evening air. Without a word, she extended her holowatch.
"Your skill… interests me," she said simply. "Contact?"
Pan quickly exchanged information, still a bit flushed from exertion.
Mira waved with her whole arm like she was trying to flag down an airship.
Kora gave a stoic nod of approval before turning away.
The Valehart trio left together, disappearing into the late afternoon light.
Pan made his way to his parking spot, pulled open the door of his newly bought car, sank into the driver seat, and finally exhaled deeply.
His eyes had a strange shine to them. " It seems I need to visit the lab, if I can cast fireballs, I can cast much more powerful spells too..."