The goblins stepped out of the bushed and some stepped around trees to let themselves be known, cackling and giggling as they moved. Seeing the group being made of two humans who were not only shorter but also thinner, their motivation raised. Yet, with Heracles intimidating size and Earls strange weapon, they hesitated. They hadn't seen Vita or seen where it went, so the majority of them kept their eyes on the beefy human.

  Some goblins took a step forward, armed with makeshift shields of bone and wood. Their weapons varied from clubs to rusted weapons, all of which were in various states of use and decay. Behind them, goblins holding rocks stood ready and prepared to throw them should there be the opening for it.

  Heracles positioned himself towards the center of the group, attempting to use hand signals to guide the others towards better positions. Yet their limited combat experience, mostly relying on throwing magic at an enemy or Vita, saw them standing there confused and scared. Only Earl made an attempt to position himself roughly back to back with Heracles, leaving Diana and Beatrice to stand in the middle of their group in a somewhat defended situation.

  It didn't take long, however, for one of the goblins to lose their temper and charge forward. It ran forwards with spittle flying as it let out a rather pathetic war cry, either to boost its own confidence or to inspire its allies. Furthermore, it wielded a shield of old roots and bones in one hand and a rusted sword in the other, screaming madly at the humans. Beatrice squeaked and shrunk down into herself and released a puff of pollen towards the goblin, hitting it square in the face as it lacked the mental capacities to even consider dodging. Issue with this however was that Earl also stood in the same direction where she fired, and was not prepared for his vision to be covered in what looked like purple glitter.

  The effect of said purple glitter? Considering how the goblin froze in its tracks, before quickly collapsing and starting to snore away as if it hadn't just been charging someone, the effects were apparent. Earl only had the chance to open his eyes wide before sleep took over him, leaving two sleeping bodies on the ground.

  This did not stop the other goblins from attacking as well, only that they avoided Beatrice. They charged towards the largest, most obvious target, and quickly tried to strike at Heracles with their weapons. Unfortunately for them, Heracles skin while powered by magic, their weapons broke upon contact. This did not stop them from trying to harm him, as one of them had the surprisingly bright idea to jump at his face.

  It clamped onto him with all four limbs and attempted to bite onto his forehead with no effect, yet it gave its allies the opening they need to try to surround him. Leaving Diana and Beatrice to fend off three of the goblins on their own.

  “Beatrice! Do that thing again, quickly!” Diana half shouted, half hissed while slowly backing away from the monsters.

  “Bu-but I don't know how?!” She stammered out with a mixture of emotions in her voice, most prominently fear. Beatrice moved to stay behind Diana out of primitive instinct, which Diana responded with trying to move behind her in return. The goblins simply cackled as they charged forward with their weapons at the ready.

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  Only for Heracles to bulldoze over them, stomping down on their backs and breaking them against the forest floor. Their bodies splattered into brutal gore and shards of bone, sending their parts all over the area. Including onto the girls and their legs. The original goblin that had attacked Heracles face was nowhere to be seen, but its blood was present on his body.

  The sight must've been too much for Beatrice to see, as she went wide-eyed at the sight. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, before she collapsed onto herself and falling down. Joining Earl in the sweet state of unconsciousness. Their situation did not get any better, as there were still a few goblins left, uncaring for the loss of their fellow monster. But they did care for their own lives just enough to use the barest of tactic. They screamed at each other, while Diana and Heracles stood between the goblins and their unconscious friends. Five goblins, and three of them slowly stepped forward and the other two moving around in a wide arc to stay out of Heracles reach.

  “Where is Vita?!” Keeping the goblins in his line of sight, Heracles yelled behind him towards Diana. She had pulled Beatrice towards Earl and stood over them, pale and afraid. She knew it was stupid of her to take her eyes off the goblins, but she couldn't help herself as she looked up to the trees to try to find where Vita had disappeared to. Diana had seen it jump up, but exactly where. Why had Vita left them? Was it because they were in The Worlds Tongue, where they first met? Was it because they were too weak?

  … Was it because didn't want to be with her anymore? The thought struck her mind much harder than she had expected, as she scrunched up her face when met with the sudden migraine that followed it. Vita wouldn't leave her or let her get hurt by goblins, Vita had been by her side for months. Nearly a year! Sure, it was a quick year. But was still time spent where Vita was her friend!

  Breathing became more laborious as she continued to spiral into more painful thoughts. From Vita leaving her, to her friends leaving her, even the people back home shunning her away for reasons she didn't understand. The world around her became blurry from unshed tears, leaving Heracles to look like a strange blob with green sludges attached to him. Someone shouted at her, and on instinct, or by chance, she fell to the ground feeling horrible.

  -Vita-

  This was… a failure of an experiment. The goal was for the group of teens to work together and bond, become friends and so on. Yadda yadda. But of course, some things had to fail completely. Beatrice just had to put Earl to sleep and then pass out at the sight of blood. And the goblins just had to be not intimidated by seeing their fellow goblin be crushed underneath the sandals of Heracles (who even wears sandals?). If Vita had the ability to sigh, a sigh would've been released. Yet the worst part of it all, had to be Diana having what only could've been a panic attack in the middle of combat.

  And now one of the goblins ran towards her. So with a jump and a drop, a goblin went splat underneath our hoof. The other goblin that had run towards Diana froze in its tracks. Ugly thing, but biomass is biomass. We have a feeling that something has to be done to help Diana and her stupid friends. Weaklings, the lot of them.

  … No, that isn't right. They aren't to blame for their weakness, just as one wouldn't curse at a sapling for not providing enough shade. Let's just get this over this and get the group back up on their feet. Poor Heracles looks completely lost at what to do, we should let them recover while keeping guard over them.