"What do we do?" Dilek asked Percy, who was sitting on the counter.
"I dunno." Percy shrugged.
"Wait—first, get off," Dilek said.
"Shut up, I'm thinking..." Percy replied.
"So, you do understand our situation, right?"
"Kind of. Also, I'm trying to piece things together. I can tell that you guys are just as surprised... well, I mean, at least you came." Percy looked at Dilek, who had come alone.
Dilek sighed. "Nandita fainted, and Marcus kept vomiting, so Diego carried Nandita and assisted Marcus. I had them stay back there. I was surprisingly not affected much, but yeah..."
"Alright, Dilek, give me a brief rundown on what happened again—only the part you think I need to hear."
"In the cave, there was this goblin shaman, which I think must've been controlling the people since they seemed uncanny. Also, the shaman could speak, and, well, he could summon goblins."
Percy thought for a second, then said, "Dilek, shamans can't do any of the things you just mentioned."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, shamans are basically mages. They cannot command a group of anything. They're just goblin mages—fireball and some low-level magic, that's all. Either what you met is a high-tier shaman... no, even if it was, no goblin should be able to communicate."
"I get that, dude. But shouldn't you report it to the higher-ups to look into it?"
"Not yet," Percy said. "If I did, you'll likely be called ridiculous and blamed for murder."
"Murder?! Why? I clearly showed you proof!"
"You didn't, Dilek—you just told me. The body you left there might already be removed. You didn't think of that, did you?"
Dilek went silent. "So what do we do?"
"For now, deny any involvement with the goblin case. We'll treat it as a left-over quest that no one picked up and cancel it. I'll remove all your names from the quest-accepting booth."
"I see... but why are we staying silent?"
"Well, if it's a goblin that could communicate—and the fact they left you alive—it only means they need something, or they were testing us."
"Testing?"
"Yes. It's something intelligent monsters do, Dilek. There are events here called raids. They occur once a month, caused by natural reasons not yet explained. We win a lot of times, but there have been raids we barely survived. And there's something common in them—they test us weeks before the raid. In simple words, what the goblin wants is for you to report this to us, and then we send a strong group of people... only for them to lose to the goblin on its domain. So our power dwindles."
Dilek looked shocked. "Wow... that far ahead?! Then how come you're not telling the guild master? I'm sure they know the trick that goblin is applying."
"No, you idiot! If word gets out, then the guild will be pressured by civilians to do something."
"I see... so after all this you told me, are you saying—?"
"Yeah, Dilek... that goblin you met is the raid boss of this month."
—
"Well, so what did you do then, Saint?" Diego asked as he punched the sky with his new gauntlets in the plains outside the city. Dilek lay on the ground, staring at the clouds.
"Well, I told him everything that happened... how are the other two doing?"
"The girl's just asleep, and boy has a fever. The innkeeper's wife is taking care of them."
"I see..." Dilek sat up. "While they rest, we need to train you."
"We? Saint, you mean you will?" Diego asked, curious.
Dilek stood up, his shadow falling over Diego. Diego felt something for a moment—a glimpse of a monster of a fighter—as Dilek's presence awakened him to reality.
"What do you think, jackass? I can't fight for shit. You gotta use your skills."
"Oh... oh, right," Diego said sheepishly.
Dilek looked at him. Diego wasn't in the best form—neither ripped nor muscular—but he seemed fit enough.
"You know how to fight?" Dilek asked.
"Kinda," Diego replied. "But, Saint, are you asking, like... karate?"
"Yeah," Dilek said.
"Well, that I don't know..."
"I expected that," Dilek said. "That's why we're aiming to master your skills. So, tell me, what all skills did you get?"
"Oh, uh..." Diego turned to his status screen. "I have options..."
"Options? Like what?"
"It says I have to choose my first skill. I have two options—Rapid Punches or Single Strike. What should I choose?"
"Rapid Punches and Single Strike?" Dilek mused. "I think... what it means is that Rapid Punches is a barrage of punches at once, and Single Strike is... well, a single strike."
"Then should I choose Rapid Punches?"
"Hold on..." Dilek said, thinking. 'An option to choose... in games, it's usually when both choices are balanced. But why does this feel one-sided? Multiple punches or one strike—it's obvious, right? So why would this even be a choice?'
He looked at Diego, who was still staring at the options. "Diego, what's the difference between a punch and a strike?"
"STRIKE! Batter out!" Diego yelled, mimicking a baseball announcer.
"Not that, you idiot! Okay, here we go—define a punch."
"Should I punch you?" Diego asked.
"What? Why? No!" Dilek said, confused.
"Well, you asked me to punch."
"I didn't ask you to punch, you swollen brain! I asked you to define a punch!"
"Well... a punch is a punch... like this!" Diego demonstrated by pulling his right hand back and pushing it forward in a clumsy punch.
"That's right," Dilek said. "Now show me a strike."
"STRIKE! All bowling pins downnnnn!"
"Diego, I'll end you if you do some bullshit again," Dilek said, smiling.
"Well... a strike is, uh... another punch?"
"Correct," Dilek said.
Hearing this, Diego sighed as Dilek continued, "A punch is always a strike. But is a strike always a punch?"
"Yes!" Diego said, smiling.
"WRONG!"
Startled, Diego looked at him as Dilek said, "A strike can be done from any part of the body—elbows, knees, legs, or punches. The difference is that a punch uses your arm. To throw an effective punch, you need proper form—arms and hips. But a strike is different. Each strike needs a different form to be effective. Since it's making you choose between two options, you can either have multiple punches or a single strike."
"So what should I choose?" Diego asked blankly.
"I don't know either," Dilek said, smiling like an idiot, as he hoped his way next to diego. "Both should be balanced—choose any. Who cares?"
'Man, I thought I was getting somewhere with that explanation...' Dilek thought.
Diego tapped his screen. "I chose it!"
"What?"
"Single Strike, since you told me to!" Diego smiled.
"Actually, no—we signed a contract that you can't sue me if you get a terrible skill!"
"Sign a wha—"
"Just read the goddamn description," Dilek cut him off.
"Uh... holding a form, I can apparently form power the longer I stay in the form. Max is 30 seconds..."
"What the hell are you saying? Just read the whole thing."
Diego squinted at his screen, reading aloud:
"Focus your entire body's strength into a single decisive blow. By holding your stance and concentrating your power, the force of your next attack dramatically increases. The longer you maintain your stance, the more power you accumulate—but only for one strike."
"Uhh... SHIT! DIEGO, WE FOUND OUR BREADWINNER!" Dilek shouted in happiness. "DIEGO, YOU ARE PROMOTED AS THE PERSONAL FIST OF THE SAINT!"
"What's the matter, Saint?" Diego asked, still confused.
"Well, it's just that now clearing difficult quests is a lot easier!" Dilek replied. "Let's go on a quest—a simple one, of cours—"
He stopped mid-sentence, noticing four guys and two girls coming out of the wall gates.
"Uh... Saint, why are we down on the ground?" Diego asked, as both of them lay flat on the plains, spying on the group.
"I'm not sure, but we gotta stay hidden," Dilek whispered.
"Oh, okay..." Diego said, despite the fact that they were lying on plain grass fields thinking they are hidden despite there being nowhere to hide.
A guy from the group frowned. "What are those two doing?"
The girl beside him sighed. "Ignore them. We have better things to worry about right now, don't we?"
"Diego... you think they're sketchy?"
"Kind of, Saint," Diego replied as they looked through their hands shaped like binoculars. "They're adventurers, I think. Going for their next quest."
"Maybe... let's go back, Diego. I'm having this bad feeling in my stomach."
"That's just you wanting to go take a shit, Saint."
The two got up and walked back toward the city.
"I'm hungry..." Dilek muttered.
"You need to shit first, Saint..."