As he stepped forward with his dominant foot, the large Goblin Heavy Warrior used his Scutum Shield[1] to push aside the Goblin Fighter in front of him who was skewered by the iron spear and the sudden movement ruined Lancer’s balance, since she was still holding onto her Spear handle.

“Kua!?” (Kuh!?)

As she staggered back, the huge Goblin raised his large Battle Axe and swung it down with full force; its strength magnified by the weight of the Axe head. The strength of the blow however did not match up to the full force of Buster’s one-hit Slash.

“Kuuauh!” (Lancer!)

“Kyuann!” (Ukyaah!)

Quickly letting go of her Spear, Lancer jumped back diagonally to avoid the swing of the Battle Axe, but…

*Break*

“Guh, guruu vorukuuh!!” (Wah, my Spear!!)

The force from the blow cleaved her beloved spear in two.

“Garuoh…!!” (Dammit…!!!)

Lancer angrily pulled out the dagger from the sheath in her sword belt and made a fist with her right hand as she took a half step back and got into an assault position. This was one of the most basic stances when fighting with a short blade. The intention was to reduce the area of the body that could be attacked by positioning the blade in front of you and angling the body away showing only the side of the body and thus making it harder for the heart and internal organs to be targeted.

However, her opponent was not one that could be easily killed by a single Dagger…

“Gaugaruuh.” (Get out of here.)

“Woaonn, gurua.” (We’ll leave the rest to you, Boss.)

Timing my attack as soon as Lancer jumped away from the range of the Battle Axe once more, I moved forward from the opposite direction and raised my Short War Hammer as I closed the distance.

“Guruaoooh!!” 

“Ugaaaaaah!!”

In response to the blow that I unleashed with a roar, he too raised his spirits and charged forward with his Great Shield for a shield bash.

“Gahah!?”

The defensive counter I made with my Short War Hammer was overwhelmed by the added weight of the giant Goblin in his attack. Even as I staggered, I managed to somehow maintain my stance, but he did not miss a beat and raised his Battle Axe for a follow-up attack.

“Gaaah!!”

Even though I immediately jumped back to evade, my right shoulder was shallowly cut and blood oozed from the wound. In the lull following the attack, from the edges of his vision, the huge Goblin caught sight of Dagger as she stepped on the heads of the other Goblins who were stuck with the “Binding Fangs”  and leaped high to attack from behind.

“Vuruaaann!!” (I’m gonna stab you!!)

Using the momentum of her descent, my sister clutched both of her daggers in an underhand grip and stabbed them into the huge Goblin’s back.

*clash*

*stab*

“Ggaaaah!?”

Of the two daggers, the ordinary Dagger we obtained from the bandits bounced off the small iron plate implanted within the Brigandine armor, but the stiletto, which was made from the Black Unicorn’s Horn, cut through the links of the small iron plate and pierced deeply into the enemy’s right shoulder.

“Guruaah! Wofuh!!” (Wonderful! That’s my sister!!)

Dagger switched places with me and maintained a safe distance from the huge Goblin after her attack. I then gathered wind magic in my left hand and with a roar charged at the enemy who had lost his balance.

“Uugah!!”

The huge Goblin held up his Shield to defend, but I hooked the claw of my Short War Hammer at the edge of the Shield and using that as a pivot moved around the outer side, and slammed the heel of my left palm on his face!

“Giuuh!?”

“Wofu, voruou!” (O wind, tear them to pieces!)

Catching hold of his face, I unleashed the non-human wind-attribute magic “Wind Cutter” at close range.

*Whoosh* 

“Geah…ah… nnghhk…”

I was completely bathed in the guy’s blood as it spurted out, but I wasn’t bothered by it. There was a slight delay, but then the helmet that the huge Goblin wore dropped with a *clang* and rolled on the ground…

As I moved my gaze after I finished the enemy, the other two Goblins who escaped my “Binding Fangs” were also taken care of by Buster and Liz, and the battle at Lucua village’s town square had already concluded.

All that remained were the Goblins whose lower bodies were stuck on the Earth Fangs. They did not seem to possess any flying devices and as such posed no threat. After confirming the situation, I checked on my own condition.

Maybe it was because I saw Lancer’s evolution earlier… so I was wondering if there were any changes after I took down the variant Goblin too.

“Tsk, so nothing changed, huh.”

As I felt a bit of disappointment, the agonized cries of a Goblin suddenly rang out.

“Giaaaaaaaah!!”

When I turned around to see what was going on, I found Liz driving her Large Knife into the chest of one of the Goblins caught up in the “Binding Fangs”.

“Youuuu!! How dare you do that to my brethren!!”

“Gi…i…ah……uhh.”

The bodies of several Werecat warriors who fought at the village square were strewn about. The sight of them seemed to fuel her anger, causing her to repeatedly stab her blade into the already dead Goblins.

Those Goblins were supposed to meet their ends anyway so I let her do as she pleased.

I then raised my Short War Hammer deliberately to end their lives.

“Gu, gugiao…” (He-help me…)

It seemed to be saying something, but… I could not understand what it was saying, so I mechanically drove the claw of my Short War Hammer into its skull.

“Gea… ah…”

I killed the rest of the writhing Goblins together with Liz, and as I drove my Short War Hammer into the skull of the last one, my consciousness was dyed in white.

……………

………

…

And so, I awakened to the sound of blessings and congratulations pouring out of nowhere. The next thing I knew, I was standing on the Spiral Staircase that shined white.

“Gau, waofuruau guruoou…” (Now then, let’s climb up and aim for the top this time…)

I did not know what was at the top of it either, but apparently, everyone seems to want to know what lies at the end of it. Some were waiting in anticipation, while some were giving up on it, and some even came to hate it.

Leaving that aside, things like the “truth” and “essence” are not the same concept. The truth refers to the absolute truth only, while essence is something that is close to it, but different.

If the target I used for archery training was the truth, then the surrounding was the essence. Reaching the top is not the truth, but it is not a state where it is devoid of its essence either… The others gather here and share a part of that essence, but the truth they all seek is quite different.

(Well, it doesn’t concern me)

My feet became heavy as I thought of such things, and the memory of this place blurred and disappeared.

……………

………

…

“Au, kuon wofuaoounn?” (Huh? Big brother, has your aura changed?)

“Garuu, vorukuooun…” (This… It seems the quality of my magic power changed…)

There was not much of a physical change, but if I had to say something, then my fur had somewhat turned to a glossy silver color and my body overflowed with magic and life force.

Name: Archer (Male: me)

Race: Kobold

Rank: Elder Kobold 

Skill: Intermediate Magic (Earth・Wind), Battlecry (Kobold Race Enhancement), Magic Enhancement (Small, Constant), Howling Noise (Inhibits Magic for a Period of Time)

Title: Sage of the Forest

Weapon: Bow and Arrow (Main), Short War Hammer (Auxiliary)

Armament: Leather Armor

It looks like I’ve evolved again…

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Notes

[1] Scutum Shield – they are large rectangular shields typically as high as the wielder and are used by heavy fighters for both defense and offense.