The day quickly flew by as the moon soon entered the horizon.
"We should rest here." Luck suggested as soon as he saw the sky.
The others nodded. As the unofficial party leader since their childhood, they took his words without any problem.
They found a sizeable clearing, and after making sure there were no hidden dangers by using his skeletons as scouts, the group dismounted and began setting up their respective quarters.
"Haaaaaaaa," Harry sighed as he flopped onto the hammock he had tied. "Travelling through the forest is more tiring than I thought."
"You did nothing but sit all day." Terra pointed out
"Exactly my point."
"Lazy-ass."
They chuckled at the two's antics. Harry was right, though. It was extremely tiring to stay on constant alert, in fear of being ambushed by the forest's natural predators.
(Unfortunately, we're still weak.) Luck said internally as he brought out one of the packed lunches his mother prepared for him and his brother.
The two of them had enough to last them a week each. After that, they would need to start hunting for their next meal.
He could feel his blood boiling at the prospect of battling wild beasts. It was strangely exciting for him.
His own feelings surprised him, but he didn't pay them too much mind. His one goal in becoming an Awakener was to reach the absolute peak.
So he gladly welcomed any improvement in his strength.
The group was soon on the floor in their various sleeping arrangements.
Nobody took watch. There was no need to.
In a tight circle, several lightning wolves laid round them, their bestial eyes constantly aware of their surroundings.
Their own private sentinels.
...
"Aaaaawwwooooooooo"
The group abruptly awoke to numerous howls. The wolves were no longer lying. Their fur stood on end as arcs of electricity crackled through it.
They were enough proof that the group was currently in danger.
Luck spread his perception around them. He saw nothing, or rather, he could feel something teetering at the edge of his perception, going in a constant circle around them.
(Luckily, I have other options.)
Luck's shadow detached from him as it swiftly began to make its way out of the clearing.
It soon found what was stalking them.
(Goblins?) Luck thought as he scratched his head in confusion.
Encircling them were a group of goblins, their numbers large enough for them to be an entire battalion.
Three goblins led the charge. Apart from their positions, they were physically superior to the others. Unlike the others, whose size rarely reached the waist of the average man, they were the same size as the man.
Their skin was darker than the rest, with two horns.
Their eyes were deep-set and contained unnatural intelligence that was uncommon even for goblins.
Hobgoblins.
Next were the cause of the howls that alerted the party to their presence. Goblin Hounds.
Almost every goblin rode one, as they clawed the floor with their strangely digitized claws. The hobgoblins naturally rode the best of the packs.
The leading hounds were also larger than their lower counterparts. Densely packed with unnaturally large muscles, their bodies housed the terrifying, untamed power that was just waiting to explode. Their terrifying maws hung wide open, salivating at the prey they could smell near them.
They had black claw marks on their shoulders as they moved with feral purpose.
They seemed more monster than beast.
Luck observed this with equally terrifying calmness (A hunting squad of goblins and goblin hounds with hobgoblins and violent mark goblin hounds leading their charge.). Luck grinned wildly.
One thing was certain, though;
They were terrible at ambushing.
A plan quickly formed in his head.
After filling the others in on the situation, Luck revealed his plan to them.
"Come forth, Dina, Rico," Luke whispered as a reasonably large serpent appeared and slithered to his side in greeting, allowing her beautiful blue scales to shine in the moonlight.
"Work fast." Luck said succinctly as his brother nodded in response.
...
A hobgoblin appeared at the scene. The force had already separated into separate divisions. His squad was one of the two infantry forces, as the other was creeping through the other side for a pincer attack.
"Krughhh?" The hobgoblin voiced out its confusion in response to what it saw.
Nothing. The prey they had been circling was gone.
Did they run? No, that was impossible. They had cast an inescapable net since the moment they got here. Nobody on their level could escape their encirclement.
Where were they then? His troops were all here, but there was nothing to hunt.
The hobgoblin's heart skipped a beat as his thoughts came to a halt.
His entire squad was here. His skin went cold as his mind kicked into high alert.
It was because of this newfound caution that he finally realized the ground was suddenly getting closer.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
The muddy ground became looser so that they immediately sank to their waists, not allowing them any room for escape.
"Thorns"
"Ice bullets"
*Bang**Bang**Bang*...
The goblins were mowed down as numerous attacks landed on them. The hobgoblin was indifferent as the spells bounced off his skin.
He had more pressing matters to think about.
Unfortunately, he was as safe as he thought.
"Firebolt"
*Boom*
A flame struck his hound, causing him and it to convulse in pain. Unfortunately, that was just the appetizer.
"Spatial Bullet"
A purple projectile appeared at his forehead before he could regain his bearings.
It struck true, as he vanished from where he was.
Luck's spatial bullets had an interesting effect. They functioned like mini teleporters. As their name implied, anyone struck by them was forced into the spatial layers and randomly transported anywhere within a fifteen-meter radius.
A lone figure stood conveniently in that fifteen-meters.
Immediately, the hobgoblin appeared; it only saw the blade of a scythe as it struck the hole that was conveniently left by the spatial bullet shot at it.
*Puchi*
The hobgoblin dropped down, dead. It wasn't even given the chance to fight back since he came here.
They had fallen into Luck's trap spectacularly.
Luck stood beside the dead hobgoblin, conveniently wrapped in the Mantle of Shadows, as he brandished his scythe, sending the incapacitated goblin hound to the underworld.
(One down, two to go.)