Amongst All Other Worlds, Why Did It Choose Such A Clichéd Setting?

We had only just started heading north from the Paws & Beans Tavern when Kael motioned to me that he noticed some unusual disturbances along the ground and to stop. His signal was clear. Danger.

Just ahead of our group, was a rather large hill. At the top, there was heavy foliage and thick trees. A prime location to stage an ambush on unsuspecting adventurers! Kael’s experience as a ranger told him this was the case, as he carefully examined the surround forest floor. There was evidence something was up there, waiting, and watching us.

“Could it be Goblins?” I quietly said to Kael.

“No, Goblins aren’t this organized. Furthermore, the depth of the soil disturbance indicates a creature that is many times heaver than a goblin.”

As the leader, I had to think of a solution, and fast! We had only just started our journey and already came across an unexpected variable such as this. I had to use all the tools at my disposal to keep everyone safe as we figured our next plan of action.

“Drogan, get to the front in a defensive stance, make sure “Iron” and “Wall” are at the ready. I’m going to try baiting the enemy into attack, so they may fire some projectiles in our direction.”

“Got it Jake!”

Drogan quickly went to the front of the party with both his shields at the ready. He took on his usual, fortress-like stance and was ready to intercept anything coming our direction. I was pleased with his coverage and proceeded to the next part of my plan. I would attempt calling out to the would-be ambushers and let them know we were aware of their plans to attack us.

“Hey, we’re aware of your presence up there. Please stop concealing yourself and emitting an intent to kill towards our direction. We aren’t afraid to respond with force if necessary!”

No response. The only sound I received in reply, was the wind, rustling against the branches and bushes on top of the hill.

“No response. Everyone, we will proceed with caution, stay close behind Drogan and watch our flanks.”

I looked back towards Bandit. He was already at the bottom of the hill looking at me. He was probably already aware of the presence above and was hanging back to see how I would respond with my party. After all, they were only here to mentor and observe our performance, and only intervene if directly necessary.

Slowly, we made our approach towards the top of the hill. My hand gripping the sword’s handle tightly in my sheath. I was ready to draw my steel short-blade at a moment’s notice.

As we inched closer and closer, nothing called out to us and everything was still silent. The atmosphere was so heavy with tension, that even the slightest movement was sweat inducing.

We were now within striking distance of the bushes, with still no response from our would-be ambushers. This was either a very well put together trap, or we were still being analyzed for any signs of weakness or openings. Wanting to bring this stalemate to a conclusion, I decided to take the initiative and strike first.

Leaping forward with all my might, I vaulted through the foliage into the open clearing atop the hill, with sword drawn at the ready. Quickly I scanned all around with my eyes to find the source of the anxiety.

I found it!

The individual in question was there, standing under the shade of one of the nearby trees. I began rushing towards them when –.

“Wait, Inari??”

I came to a stop, the person who had put my entire party on edge, was the same fox beastkin I had met inside the tavern not too long ago. She stood still, under the tree’s protection, with winds blowing all around her, oblivious to her surroundings. In her hands, she was holding what looked like a journal. I could see she was writing on the pages. Completely absorbed in her work, and failed to respond when I called out.

Sheathing my sword, I motioned for everyone to relax and follow me.

“Inari, what are you doing here? I thought Felice said they wouldn’t allow you to join us on the request?”

“Oh, Jake! I’m glad your party was able to make it! Yes, I know Felice said I wasn’t allowed to join you guys, but I just really wanted to be a part of the goblin subjugation task! I don’t even particularly care about the higher monetary reward, I just want to gain more experience as an adventurer and test out how my magic capabilities have developed under Felice’s guidance!”

Geez, it was always a mouthful with her. But regardless, I was happy she made the decision to be rebellious and join us on the request! Now my party was guaranteed success having a skilled healer in our midst.

“But Inari, how exactly did you get here? How did you know we would come this direction?

“Haha, that was easy Jake! When I walked away, I had already decided I would join you guys, after all, it really looked like you could use my assistance! I’m an expert around these areas of Eldermyst you know!

Once I left Felice’s magic detection range, I quickly cast an illusion spell to mask my presence and simultaneously floated a mana marking particle with my magic signature heading towards my room! Unless Felice went to visually check, he would be under the impression that I had stormed off, straight back to my room! Oh, you also did a great job in keeping their attention on you. My trick might not have been possible if Felice wasn’t as occupied with your attention! As for how I knew you would head this direction? Well, I purposefully mentioned it during my conversation with you, so I had to hope you would pick up on my wording and go here first after leaving the tavern!”

After another word salad from Inari, I kind of understood what she meant, but still didn’t fully comprehend what had happened.

Illusions? Mana marking particles? What the heck were those things? Nothing about those types of magics was taught to me when I was learning about their castings and applications. Maybe that’s what she meant about it being difficult to explain in Solarian?

“Oh, also, Jake! Look at this! I was busily working out some hypothetical battle plans for the goblin encampment up ahead! I already have three potential plans of action!! Personally, I like the one where---”

Inari proceeded to talk about all her brilliant strategies for dealing with the upcoming goblins. Her tail wagged back and forth excitedly with each explanation! While some of her ideas were rather unique, the amount of detail that went into each one was too excessive in my opinion. I mean, they were just goblins after all. Beginner level monsters that even children could kill under the right circumstances! All this attention to detail and effort for a simple goblin camp was too much!

Looking behind me, my companions also seemed to be losing interest in the conversation as well. Kael was visibly rolling his eyes at most of Inari’s comments, while Lyra continue staring at her reflection in her usual, silver mirror. The only one who seemed to be even remotely interested, was Drogan, but Inari was talking so quickly, he looked to be getting dizzy just trying to keep up with her conversation.

Eventually, Bandit and his crew made it up the hill. Looking to get things moving again, I intervened to stop the rambling fox.

“Inari, that’s more than enough.”

“And that’s when we’ll have Kael use his--- Wait, what did you say Jake?”

“I said that’s enough, I appreciate all the effort you’ve put into these plans, but I think there’s something called “too much detail”. These are just goblins after all!”

“Are you sure Jake? I mean, you never know with goblins, they do look like beginner monsters, but looks can be deceiving for things! If you study some of their habits, you would see they assign various roles amongst themselves, have spell casters, lookouts, and can even form coordinated raiding parties! Plus, you can never take too many precautions wh—”

“No, I appreciate your input, but I’m the leader of this expedition. I will decide on the strategy we use. All I need for you is to listen to my orders. I’m kind of a big deal, being an adventurer with average status sum of 38 you know! I’ve killed plenty of goblins before protecting my family’s farm. Plus, I’m going to become a famous adventurer in Solara with all my knowledge and expertise, goblins are well beneath me!”

Inari’s ears drooped and her tail stopped wagging. She appeared rather disappointed at my comments, wearing a rather sad expression. But seriously, it wasn’t my fault she was so focused on all these unnecessary details! Promptly, I carried the conversation forward.

“Anyways, what spells do you have that would be useful for my party as a supporter?”

“Ummm, well I have all sorts of spells! I can cast stat increases on the party, reduce the enemy’s own status, afflict them with blindness, stop their spell casting, distract them with image---”

“Just tell me two spells you would use please; I don’t need everything for every possible scenario!”

Now even more depressed, Inari’s reply came back in an expressionless tone:

“I will cast “Bolster Strength” and “Heal!” The former boosts your strength status by roughly 1/5th it’s current value, while the latter will restore upwards of 15 HP, plus or minus 2 HP value.”

“Good, thank you Inari, I’m confident your contribution will be valuable to my party!”

Inari shrugged her shoulders and let out a sigh. Was I too hard on her? I didn’t think I was rude, I just needed her to focus so we could get started!

“Anyways, you said the goblins were close to here, yes?”

“That’s right, they should be just through the clearing over there. Most of them are setup around the cliff face. The position is somewhat fortified, but nothing we couldn’t handle.”

“Perfect. Alright everyone, let’s get going. Next stop, goblins!”

And so, we were finally almost at our first quest’s destination. The weather was perfect for visibility, there was still plenty of hours left in the day, and we were all eager to put our battle skills to the test! Truly a perfect combination for the Crimson Steel Lux’s first Adventurer’s Guild request.