The Life, Death, and Relife of the Mushroom Mage

Chapter 20

Mally walked through the forest quietly. Rat had been left in a clearing, and they had their sword at the ready. They had to kill five goblins to get paid. That seemed simple enough, but they wanted to get more, at least ten. Mirabel had been incredibly concerned when they left on their own, but they knew they would come back alive. They were in goblin territory now, and while the goblins were typically left to their own devices, they had been raiding more and more lately. So, the culling had began. The crown didn't consider it important enough to send the knights, so adventurers had been called upon to do their jobs.

And so here Mally was. Walking through the forest, in the middle of goblin territory, ready to be attacked at any moment. They had their spores out, and they had them on alert mode to tell them if there was movement behind them. Carefully, they stepped over a fallen tree, and there was a snap behind them. Their head whipped around, and there it was.

It was small and green, dressed in a loincloth, with a wide open mouth betraying sharp teeth. There was drool slipping out from between its teeth, and Mally spun their sword around. With a high yell, the goblin charged them, and they activated their magic.

The goblin pulled up short, clawing at its throat as it dropped its crude sword, and Mally watched with cool, detached eyes as it fell to its knees, struggling to breathe. There was a look of panic and pleading on its face, but all they could think about was the constant gang rapes that beset the farms on the outside of the city, men and women both. They hardened their heart as the goblin fell to its face and clawed towards them, and there was rustling in the bush. Another goblin leapt out at them, and they blocked its strike with its club and twisted their sword, sending the club skittering away.

It flew at them, snarling loudly, and they clogged up its throat. It fell to its knees, letting out a weird hissing noise, and they tilted their head.

"Well," they said as one stopped breathing and went limp. "That's one."

The goblin snarled at them and tried to lunge, and Mally took a step to the right so it went wide and collapsed to its knees. It scrambled for its club and swung it wide, and Mally sidestepped that, too.

"You should just give up," Mally said dispassionately, and it collapsed and seized up on its side. Drool leaked out from its mouth, and it went limp.

Mally turned. They would come back later to collect their heads. In the meantime, they would head towards the village. They would meet more on the way over, and they had a feeling this would be a war of attrition. It was a matter of how long they could use their mana. They wanted more than just five of them, so they could get paid more, but they had to be careful. They had to be very careful.

An arrow came soaring out of the forest, and before they even realized what was going on, it struck them in the shoulder. They grunted as pain flared, and another arrow came flying out at them, and they ducked behind a boulder. They pulled it out, and their flesh started to close up around the wound weeping pale white liquid. They let their head hit the back of the boulder and breathed through the pain, and then they struck with their power.

There was the sound of something falling out of a tree. Something snapped, probably the bow, and they dialed it up to ten, choking out the goblin. There was a garbled noise behind them, and they waited patiently for the goblin to die.

It was dead. There was no more pulse, and they stood up. Another arrow came soaring at them and hit them in the dead center of their chest, and they dropped down and yanked it out. Clear white liquid came gushing out, and they cursed quietly. They would have to mend their shirt. How were they going to explain the lack of blood stains?

The hole closed up, and they directed their attention to the other archer. How many were there? There was another thump as it fell out of the tree, and a branch cracked behind them. A goblin came flying at them, and they stabbed it through the chest before it could crack their head open with its club. Blood splattered all over them, and oh, that solved that problem. They straightened up, and that was five. They could head home now, but they wanted to get more taken care of.