"So any plans? The fact that the four of you are rounded up here must mean something," Percy said as he looked at the four standing in front of the counter.
Dilek walked ahead. "Sure do. We're going to awaken the class of Diego today."
"Awaken? Like force it under a circumstantial situation?" Percy asked.
Dilek nodded.
"So I'm assuming you're planning to take the two-star quests?" Percy continued.
"Pretty much. So can we go check it? Since I heard you didn't allow Nandita three-star quests."
"Right…" Percy said as he pointed towards the quest board. "Go on."
Marcus walked forward and inspected all of them. "Hm, should we do this one?" He picked one up.
Goblin Cave Sweep:
A small band of goblins has been kidnapping tools and miners. Their lair is shallow, but tight tunnels make fighting tricky. Retrieve the stolen gear.
"GOBLINS, NO!" Dilek said, suddenly stiff.
The three turned to him as Nandita asked, "You scared of goblins?"
Dilek looked at her and replied, "Not at all. It's just that I've watched the first episode of Goblin Layer."
"You mean Slayer?" Marcus asked.
"No, pretty sure it was Goblin Layer," Dilek responded. "And some adventurers who thought goblins weren't dangerous explored the dungeon… only to be brutally killed. Oh, how tragic."
Diego went and hugged Dilek. "SAINT, I'LL PROTECT YOU WITH MY LIFE! DON'T WORRY, I'LL LET MYSELF BE KILLED BY THOSE VILE GOBLINS!"
Dilek looked at Diego with tears. "No, I cannot let my companions die. But even so, we must remove the goblins from existence so they can never kill anyone again!"
"Saint…" Diego's eyes sparkled as he said, "YOU ARE SO NOBLE!"
The passing-by guild members just stared as Marcus and Nandita covered their faces.
"LET'S GO, DIEGO! WE SHALL EXPLORE THE DUNGEON!" Dilek and Diego marched forward as Marcus said, "Wait for me!" and ran behind them.
Nandita turned to Percy, who didn't care how ridiculous the two were being, and asked, "Are goblins really that dangerous?"
"Well, it depends really," Percy replied. "Recklessness can get you killed pretty easily, so I'd say Dilek's reaction was pretty justified."
"I see." Nandita stopped for a moment before saying, "Ah, can you tell me where to get gear?"
—
"So uhh… like, where is she?" Dilek asked as the three waited outside.
Diego looked around. "Should I go call her?"
Suddenly the door barged open as Nandita entered—dragging a lot of stuff with Percy, who looked like he might die.
"WHY AM I PULLING IT!?" Percy shouted, struggling to even move it.
Marcus rushed forward and picked up the entire thing. "What's this?"
"Some gear I bought with money I got from quests I did. Here, try them on."
Dilek got a staff with a crystal attached to it. Diego got a pair of gauntlets with sharp knuckles, and Marcus got a full iron armor.
As Marcus wore it, they realized—
"How expensive was that?"
"The most," Percy replied. "It's on the guild, don't worry. You can pay back later."
Nandita had worn her robes and a sword.
"Wait what?" Dilek turned to her. "Shouldn't we replace our stuff? I mean, I should take the sword and you should take the staff!"
"You're a healer," she said.
"And you're a support."
She looked at him and smiled. "Percy, tell them my brilliant plan."
Percy just sighed. "She plans to be a support duelist."
"Support duelist? Like uhh—nevermind," Dilek said. "Onwards to the goblin cave!"
—
Reaching the cave in the middle of the forest, they looked inside.
"Damn, it's dark," Dilek said.
Marcus peered inside. "Don't we need a light source?"
"Oh yea," Nandita replied. "Dammit, I forgot."
Dilek smirked. "DON'T WORRY FELLAS, I HAVE A SKILL FOR THAT. IT'S BASICALLY A LIGHT! DON'T YOU TRUST ME, DIEGO?"
Diego looked amazed. "OF COURSE, SAINT!"
A pop-up appeared in front of Dilek.
BP: 3
Skill: Full Bright (acquired)
"Full Bright?" Dilek looked at it.
"Mind displaying your so-called skill?" Marcus asked sarcastically.
"Are you kidding me with your sarcasm? Isn't Saint's main skills all light-related? Of course, I have light stuff!"
"Yeah, but you're a priest, not a saint," Marcus said.
'Shit. Good point', Dilek thought.
"Let's go in, shall we?" Nandita said.
It was dark.
"Dilek, activate your skill already, that's of course if you have the skill" Marcus complained.
"Oh yeah, Gimme a second"
FLASH—
"MY EYESSSS, I SEE THE HEAVENNNNNSSSS!" Dilek screamed.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SKILL!?" Nandita shouted, covering her eyes from the blinding light coming from the staff's crystal.
"I SEE IT! I SEE THE GODDESS!" Diego said, tears filling his eyes as he smiled.
"THAT'S NOT THE GODDESS, YOU DUMBASS! YOU'LL GO BLIND!" Marcus yelled, covering both their eyes.
"HOW DO I TURN IT OFF!?" Dilek shouted, panicking. He kept his hand on the crystal—the brightness dimmed a lot, just enough to light the cave like a bulb.
"Oh my god, that's better," the others sighed.
"Uh, Saint—your hand," Diego said.
Dilek looked at his hand—it was glowing, not burning, but bright enough to see his bones.
"The power of the sun… in my hands," Dilek said dramatically. "Must I say, I gotta catch the man of spiders."
Nandita hit his head. "We gotta kill the goblins, not that, you dumbass!"
The four advanced, tying a cloth around the crystal to keep it like a normal light.
—
Walking deeper, Dilek looked back at Diego.
"Is there something on my face, Saint?" Diego asked.
"Not really. I just saw something behind."
"Oh, those goblins, you mean?" Diego turned around and saw four goblins creeping up slowly.
"It's so bright we see them easily, isn't it?"
"YOU JACKASS, IF YOU KNEW IT, ATTACK THEM OR SOMETHING!" Dilek shouted.
"Saint?"
The goblins jumped at Diego, who punched one straight into the ground, killing it instantly. Two goblins grabbed his legs as another jumped in the air—Diego slammed the the wall with his legs and the goblins still clinging to him, crushing them against the pressure of his kick and the wall. Dilek grabbed his staff and smacked a goblin's head.
BONK! The goblin stayed down.
"Well, ain't that easy? Here I was thinking I'd suffer the same fate as losing the magic girl in Goblin Layer—but Diego would've lost instead."
Dilek looked at Diego, who just looked confused.
"Nevermind. What would the goblins see in you anyway?"
Dilek then bent down and looked at the bodies. "Can we sell their bodies?"
"S-Saint…" Diego looked shocked. "H-how obscene!"
"NOT LIKE THAT, DUMBASS! I MEANT MAYBE THE MONSTER SKIN HAS VALUE!"
"Oh… good point."
"Stop your chattering, you two. Look ahead—there are multiple goblins," Marcus said.
"Dilek the great saw goblins feinting attacks from every direction. Unfortunately for them, Marcus was too slow to care about feints."
"Dilek, stop saying that!" Marcus snapped, then sighed. "Let's just focus on these guys for now, can we?"
Nandita swung her sword sloppily as the goblins dodged easily.
"OH C'MON! WHY ISN'T ANYTHING GETTING HIT!?" She chased the goblins in circles. A goblin jumped at her from behind—but she turned and punched its skull into the wall. "GOTCHA!" As she grabbed her knuckles that hurted after the punch to the goblin "OWWWW."
Marcus, Nandita, and Diego were busy fighting as Dilek looked back. A hulking hobgoblin walked forward—dark green skin, crooked nose, and a nasty beard.
"Your fatass sure took your sweet time, didn't you?" Dilek muttered. "Well, too bad I'm not dealing with you."
The hobgoblin grabbed an arm—but realised it was too big. He looked up to see an iron chestplate towering above him.
Marcus stared down. "Woah, aren't you short?"
The hobgoblin tried picking Marcus up to slam him, but Marcus didn't budge an inch. He grabbed the hobgoblin's beard and punched him multiple times. The smaller goblins tried attacking Marcus but were easily smashed by Dilek.
"TEAMWORK! THAT'S RIGHT, FELLAS, I'M HERE TO PREACH TEAMWORK! I'M NOT READY—WATCH WHILE YOU GET FATALLY INJURED AND I MAKE MY MOVE!"
But of course, Dilek looked dead serious.
"If any of you three get injured, I'll be pleased to heal you."
Marcus and Nandita gulped, remembering the screams and pain.
"You didn't even get healed once, how come you're scared?" Marcus muttered.
"The same way horror stories scare you without happening to you once" She snapped
—
The four slowly moved deeper. They weren't ambushed once, thanks to the bright light.
"We're reaching the heart of the cave," Dilek said.
"How can you tell?" Marcus asked.
"I mean, to be fair, we've been walking forever. We're bound to reach somewhere—"
"Uh, I hear people laughing," Diego said.
"Hear people laughing? There's no way someone's laughing."
Dilek tried listening—then heard it, A quick laugh of a group of people
"Huehuehuehuehuehue—"
"Whoever it is, it's probably the miners and poor people." Dilek said after listening
"How can you tell?" Marcus asked.
"See, there are different kinds of laughs that tell a lot about people. You'll learn it someday." Dilek patted Marcus's arm, and looked up at marcus's face. "Damn, I didn't notice, but you're pretty tall, huh?"
Marcus looked down. "Oh yeah, I am. Doesn't look like it though, 'cause of my fat."
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Marcus. Your body fat saved us multiple times today."
"Well then, pardon us." Dilek said walking in the room where the laughter came from.
Dilek walked into the room—only to see three jacked men, muscles glistening in sweat, wearing just pants. A goblin sat with them, holding a carved stick.
"HOW OBSCENE!" Dilek shouted.