Note for readers: this is a short story I thought to use to introduce the "Adventuring for Fun and Profit Guide". Well, it's not written yet. Maybe someday. Sorry for the bad English, I'm using Grammarly but it can only cut the worst offenses to grammar and orthography. If you find any error, you can take your virtual cookie. So, let's start. _,.-'~'-.,__,.-'~'-.,__,.-'~'-.,__,.-'~'-.,__,.-'~'-.,_ In the clearance of the forest, a bunch of kids, all of them 15-year-old at least, sword and leather armor, were watching with attention the exposition of the old adventurer, a scruffy old-man with one eye missing, and the other eye with a kind of weird and scary glint. "Yes, you kids, you ain't smart enough to kill a goblin, if you don't know how they kill. And I tell you, you better not underestimate those creatures, you will be dead before you understand what is happening." He looks around the kids, watching their reaction, and continued. "Yes, yes. The first thing you must know, they are strong. A goblin can rip your arm as easy as you rip an apple from the tree. All they need is to grab your arm, and it's not yours anymore. And then you will die in one or two minutes because of blood loss." The old man grabs his arm, illustrating how a goblin will grab their arms, and all the kids tremble. "If the goblin is not interested in your arm, pay attention for your neck, they are fast and will rip you another mouth right here," he said and draw a line under the chin, going from one ear to another. "They will do it with their claws. Did I say they have claws? You betcha. You can count with five small knives poisoned in the paws of those green-skinned murderers. If you aren't killed at that moment, then the cuts and scratches will fester, and you can die in five days." He made a small pause and he continued "they are as fast as you are. you probably can outrun them after you train how to run inside a forest, and if you get to sword fight them, they have no style. They know how to hack, how to cut, and if they are using a short sword they will try to thrust it in your heart, but they don't do feints, they don't parry, and their attacks consist mostly of one attack, nothing fancy. If it connects, they are happy. Sometimes you will find them using spears, but they only know how to thrust, again no fancy moves and such. They are more dangerous when using bows because they can attack you from far, and they are strong, so their arrows came heavier, but that's all too." Looking them in the eye, he continued "you can kill them as you kill any animal, cutting a limb or two will render them disabled and will kill them in time. A cut to the throat and they die almost instantly. A stab in the heart will do the same. Gut them and they will die after a while. Remember, if they aren't dead, they still can bite or scratch you, and that can end badly for you too. If you are using bows, don't go for the head, but shot the heart. Even if you miss the heart they will be disabled." He then takes his coat and shows a horrible scar at his left arm. "This, boys and girls, is the mark you will receive from them if you survive your encounter with them. I hope none of you be as foolish as I was when I was your age, and wear proper protection, and listen to the scout and the leader." Exclamations of awe came from the kids. He again nodded in satisfaction. "And do you know how you will meet them, how this encounter will be? I tell you. Suppose you are walking on a trail, inside a forest. You are prepared, you have a sword in the belt, and are walking carefully, not to make any noise." He talked in a low tone as if he was in that forest. "Yes, you walk and walk, and when you aren't even thinking in them, you will see one of these midgets in the middle of the trail. Both stops, watching each other, studying how you will make the other's demise. Do you run? Do you wait for it to run to you? Should you unsheathe your sword? Maybe the knife?" The voice of the adventurer is low, in anticipation. "And then, bang! you get an attack from the side, from another goblin you never know it was there. He jumps over you, making you fall, and while falling, you receive his rusty and poisonous sword in your neck or your head or your shoulder. And in minutes you die in regret, thinking 'I should have guessed that'." Said the man with great effect. "This is one of the most common tactics they employ, one stays as a bait, and the other goes round and get your flank. They will choose to come from the upper side if they can, or the side with more vegetation, there they will come. How do you deal with this? Pretend you don't know there is another of these suckers trying to flank you, and when he comes, you use your sword to cut his neck. That is to say, you fall in their trap, but not as they planned. It's better if your group has a scout, then you flank them, kills the hidden goblin, and then the other that is in the trail, make them regret trying this trick on you." "Another way they will try to kill you inside a forest is to have a bunch of archers ready to kill you from the side, and another bunch as bait in front of you. Have your armor and helmet on all the time, and you may survive this. Better yet, have the scout of your group to find the archers before they learn of your presence." "Now suppose you are outnumbered inside the forest. Never assume you find them by accident. Chances are, they know of you and they prepared a trap, you run from the goblins you can see, and somewhere in front of you, there are two or three more experienced goblins just waiting for the kill. What do you do?" He looks at the kids, all of them with a look of horror, trying to think a strategy. "When I was a kid I was once running after a rabbit. It made a curve, I made a curve, it made another curve, I made another curve and... where was it? It disappeared. When I wasn't looking, it changed the direction he was running, and then it lied down, pretending it was a rock. It didn't work against me, but it should give you an idea, never run in the direction they are conducting you because there's a trap ahead. By the way, the rabbit was good" he said while patting his belly. "Now, if you are outnumbered by a really great margin, you run without looking back. More than 20 goblins means they will use waves to overrun you, don't even think you can stand your ground. The same will happen inside a dungeon. If your group don't have someone capable of a wide attack, forget about attacking. Just run." The old man keeps telling them how to fight goblins for all that day. The kids were so enthralled by his histories, they almost forgot to lunch. After that, they divided into groups and played "war games", one group doing the goblin strategies against another group. The old adventurer was watching them when a clerk from the Guild came and asked "Hi, Bill. Another class on goblin fighting? How long have you doing this?" "Hi, Gerome. Yes, another class." He then looked up to the sky, and completed, "it's twenty-five years already." "Sorry man, I sometimes forget that..." "No problem, Gerome. It's me that cannot forget them. Twenty-five years and there's not a day I don't miss them." "They were such good kids. It was a shame." Gerome looked to Bill. "You can fell proud, you probably saved hundreds since then." Bill sighed. It was a day just like this, his first outing with his childhood friends, a bunch of greenhorns. They talked, joked and laughed in the trail, inside the dark forest. Making noise, being distracted, foolishly walking into a lethal trap. How could they be soo naïf? They were walking in the goblin's turf as if it was theirs. As if they were in the city, a bunch of bullies, of know-nothings. It was him and his friends Joseph, and their leader Matthew. When walking in the city, they were impossible strong. They easily crushed gangs with 3 to 5 times their numbers. "You just have to take down more people." Matthew would grin with a carnivorous smile. After exchanging some punches, they would end in the tavern, and then in the brothel, if they didn't pass out at the tavern. Too young. Too stupid. The other gangs were made of strong people, but it's hard to find someone that can rip an arm while laughing at you. Or use claws like knives and eviscerate someone with a simple move of the hand. Goblins can do that. They were walking like fools, and then they saw an arrow coming from the front. As if saying "stay here, your fools", the arrow pierced the shoulder of Joseph, the weaker one. And they, like fools, stoped on their tracks, frozen as a pigeon hit by a pea. Matthew was the first to react and shouted "Damned thing, I kill you!" while unsheathing the sword. Then things had gone south faster than they could understand. He remembers being hit by something wet and warm. That something rolled on the ground. he looked down what was that and his eyes met the eyes of Joseph. Empty, lifeless eyes, his expression as if saying "I can't believe what is happening". All the sound and color of the world faded that instant. He felt again something hitting his arm, and looked to the side. A horrible wound, something had gouged part of the muscle. It wasn't hurting, it wasn't even looking real. 'Will I die here?' Then he saw that someone was fighting back. The body of a goblin was falling at the side. Matthew had pierced its neck but not before it ripped off some of the meat of his arm. 'Am I hurt?' He saw Matthew shaking his shoulder and shouting something, his face pale. Then he looked down and saw, there was a big hole in Matthew's belly. A big one. And things that should be inside were falling. Like a scream, or an explosion, all the sound came back at once, and he finally started hearing again. "RUN, BILL!!!" Matthew's shout awoke him with a shock, making him turn around and kick the ground as fast as he could. Just by coincidence, he did something right, and instead of running through the trail, he runs down the hill, making his trail, avoiding trees and boulders, the branches hitting his face, scratching his skin, ripping some of his clothes. It was like a nightmare, he was certain that he was being followed but cannot look back to ascertain it. An arrow zipped near him, not close enough, and that was all. After some minutes running, he found another adventurer group, some experienced ones. As soon as he got close to them, he saw their faces and knew he wasn't looking any good. "Take easy, kid!" someone said. Then everything faded into white. *** Bill released the grip on his arm as if waking from a dream. He touched his face. No tears. A big sigh released him from the spell of those memories. After ascertaining where he was, he shouted: "now, kids, stop all fights, we have still some days of boot camp to do that, it's time to make camp and prepare dinner." He walked to the place they decided to make camp that day, feeling the cold wind while glancing at the dark forest. Some animal growled in the distance. Loneliness filled his heart.
For the best action is just to let the expert took action It's time for Goblin Slayer For at least 15 years old, it's not kid anymore. But maybe if it called brats it's more proper, not a kid but act like a kid, must be shitty brat