The words vanished and the bright light receded until he could make out his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the staff he firmly held in his hand, it was more an oversized stick than a properly made staff. The second thing he saw was the group of people that looked as confused as he felt.

  On his left he saw two teens not older than 16 years old, a boy and a girl. The boy looked at him and gave him a big smile, the sword he had in his hand looked powerful. Seems like one already picked a powerful weapon, the girl next to him looked like she came straight from some old anime, with a pink fluffy dress, a small crown on her head and a wand in her hand that looked like a candy cane with a star on top.

  Rolling his eyes he looked at the other group of people and Ethan took a step back, because those people could best be described with the word horrifying. Muscular bodies, shaved heads, tattoos on their arms and face. That hungry look in their eyes when they spotted the magical girl. Those men looked like they came right from a prison and Ethan was sure his guess was right.

  They stared at him and the two teens and Ethan stared back, but before anyone could say a word a high pitched scream came from somewhere in front of them. Heads turned and all stared into the sickly looking forest that surrounded them.

  One of the prisoners, a bull of a man that had arms like logs and hands the size of vices. “Come on boys, I think we heard our first prey.” The thick beard that covered most of his face jumped up and down while he laughed.

  The group started walking and Ethan exchanged a look with the teens, he nodded and tried to be the adult in this situation, with a smile on his face he approached them. “Hey, I’m Ethan, nice to meet you.” The boy kept his smile and offered a handshake. “Hey! I’m James and this is Marie.” he pointed to the girl, Marie smiled too and they shook hands.

  “So…I guess we follow them? To be honest I don’t wanna stay here alone.” Ethan nodded towards the group of men that already vanished in the trees. James and Marie nodded and the trio followed them into the forest. “I see you decided to go with equipment, a sword and…?” he raised an eyebrow and looked at Marie.” I’m a magical girl. The creepy old man asked me what I wanted so of course I picked this!” She gave both men a little spin and waved her wand.

  James looked at Ethan. “Why did you go with mage? A knight is so much better!”, he nodded to himself and smiled.

  Ethan nodded, he already knew that nothing he said would be correct in the kid’s eyes. So he just mumbled “you’re right” and continued on his way, always looking at the back of those prisoners. While he walked or rather stumbled his way forward through the forest floor that was covered in thick knotty roots he thought about his situation.

  While he played games in the past there should be no way for something like this to exist, floating screens filled with data and the ability to use magic and fight monsters. What surprised him the most was how well he took it. The whole thing should be terrifying and make every normal person black out from panic but here he was, two kids, a handful of prisoners and him. His best guess was that the system had something to do with giving people a chance to adjust and even survive the tutorial.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Before he could sink deeper into his own thoughts he heard the men up front laugh and the three of them quickened their steps and tried to see what was happening. The man with the beard held something in his hand, shaking it around like some toy. Ethan pushed his glasses up and tried to identify the green thing.

  His newest ability, Identify, gave him the answer

  [Goblin Child - Level 1]

  [Goblins are a humanoid race that live in large tribes and are extremely dangerous. They reproduce very quickly and are known for stealing women to ensure the population remains steady. Be cautious]

  That can’t be right. Ethan thought and shook his hand. Goblins are low level creatures in every game he played and every book he read. Physically weak and also dumb they run off at the first opportunity to save themselves.

  The man holding the goblin child laughed and held it like a wet dog, his hands firmly placed on his neck. “Ha, look here, some tiny little creature and I thought this is going to be hard.” he looked at the whimpering child and shook it a few times. “Seems like I’m getting first blood.” He pulled his hand back, aimed at the tree trunk and without hesitation, his hand shot forward and rammed the small creature against the tree. The child screamed and tried to attack for the first time, tiny vicious claws on his hand and feet tried to scratch the man but he just laughed.

  Again and again he hit the child against the tree, Ethan choked when he saw one of his yellow eyes explode, his nose was crushed flat against his face and he lost most of his teeth at this point. Blood dripped down its body and from the tree, pooling into a small puddle in front of the man. Then they all heard the cracking of his skull and it’s body got limp.

  The man nodded, proud of himself and he gave his group a bloody thumbs up. A smile on his face that vanished the next second as a new feeling overtook him, pain. Behind the man stood a goblin but not a child like before. He was around 4 feet tall, his skin dark green, almost black. The long nose came to a point and was slightly curved down, reminding Ethan of a dagger. His mouth was filled with needle-like teeth, some of them missing, large black claws on each finger and toe made for natural weapons. His whole body was packed with muscles like you see on a runner, the only clothes he wore was a piece of fur to cover his modesty.

  He screamed at them, his claws hacking away at the stunned man, only when the smaller goblin pushed him to the ground did Ethan spot the dagger the goblin must have thrust into his back. His claws raked at the man’s back, the flimsy of his armor offering little resistance.

  Shocked, they stood there like an audience watching a horror movie. One of the prisoners was quicker and he grabbed his sword and hit the goblin with it like it was a club. It looked awkward, the blade only hitting twice while he swung his blade like a club. Still he managed to kill the thing, breathing heavily he tried to get the sword out of the corpse, the blade managed to get stuck in the goblins shoulder.

  With a war cry he pulled the blade out, lifting it in the air, then they heard the telltale sign of a crossbow getting shot and the man was hit in the eye, the crude bolt exploded from back of his head and spraying two others with his blood and pieces of his brain, the gray matter hitting their armor.

  The next moment a horn sounded and they heard the screams, in front of them, behind them, to the right. So Ethan decided to act, something he almost never did in his whole life. He pushed the two teens away from the bloody scene. “We need to run! Like, right now!” He gripped the staff in his hand so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Even the prisoners listened and followed the group of three into the forest. Behind them the constant screaming of goblins, their horns announcing the hunt was on.