Maria took a deep breath, before releasing an arrow towards the Goblin Scout. As soon as the arrow went flying through the air. She sneaked through the bushes, changing her position. The goblin scout was pierced in the side and screamed as it fell to the ground, where it died. The Goblin Warrior immediately became alert, and the archers in the trees quickly fired their arrows.
'Two huh.' Maria thought after counting the arrows that went flying towards her previous position. She took another deep breath and aimed at the position of a goblin archer, who she found by following the trajectory of an arrow. She let the arrow fly and changed position again, but unlike last time, the arrow was stopped by a branch. The arrows were sent flying towards her previous locations again, and she noticed that the warriors were missing.
'I need to get closer.' She thought, and sneaked towards where one of the archers were, but she didn't see the monster. She quickly moved out of the way as an arrow flew through the air towards her. She quickly unsheathed her sword from her side and rushed towards the archer.
"Argghhh-" The archer screamed as Maria slashed through it's bow, and stabbed it in the chest. An arrow came from the opposite side of the path leading to the cave, but it missed her as the archer wasn't aware of her exact location. She nocked an arrow in her bow, and watched carefully, trying to find the second archer.
'There.' She thought and released the arrow, and the arrow flew into a tree top, stabbing the monster in the chest. Waiting for a bit, Maria sighed as no more arrows were fired. She suddenly froze up as she heard sounds of footsteps exiting the cave, and she soon saw the three warriors once again. They all had a rectangular copper shield, and they assembled themselves in a tight formation. Seeing this, she knew her bow would be useless and so, she steeled her nerves and drew her sword.
'I've seen Xavier and Mickey doing this a few times. I can do this.' She encouraged herself, and walked out in the open. The warriors quickly spotted her and marched towards her in a tight formation, and she gulped as she was unsure what to do.
'Increase strength by four.'
[You are able to purchase +4 STR for 75 Points. Do you wish to make this purchase?].
[Yes] [No]
'Yes.' Maria thought, and as energy surged through her body, she rushed towards the goblin as fast as she could and stabbed into the shield with all her might. The sword effortlessly cut through the ill made copper shield, much to her surprise. She quickly recovered. The other two goblin warriors quickly swung their blades at her, and she quickly jumped back. She then sliced through the shield of another warrior, before kicking it away and she spun around slashed the third warrior. With their shields destroyed, and with Maria's new overwhelming strength, she easily killed them. She started the gruesome work of cutting out the monster stones from the six dead monsters.
"Who's there?" She said, stopping her work and drawing her bow as she heard a sound in the forest. She was unsure whether someone was there are not, but she wasn't going to take any chances after what happened. She drew back the string of her bow and aimed.
"Wait!!" Tsubasa said as he came out of the bushes, his body covered in blood and wounds, and he looked utterly exhausted. Maria was surprised to see him, but that didn't make her put down her bow.
"Are you following me?" She asked in an icy tone
"No, I only arrived here a few seconds ago." Tsubasa lied, infact, he has been here shortly after she fired her second arrow, the one that missed the archer in the tree. He had seen the entire scene of her killing the goblins, and he knew it wouldn't be wise to mess with her, especially in his current state.
'If she is this strong? Just how strong are the other two?' He wondered
"Don't move." She said, as she stooped down. She released the hand holding the string and took up the monster stone while watching Tsubasa. She placed the last monster stone in the bag Xavier gave her.
"You know, you only need the monster stones from the three Goblin Warriors and the two Goblin Archers." Tsubasa said
"Yeah, how do you figure?" Maria asked
"It's because of the extra letters on the creatures name, like E- and F-. I heard the guards call them ranks. Think about it, the Warden wants five Imp E- monster stones or ten Acid Slime F- monster stones. He based his tax after these ranks, I'm guessing the E- ones have the most points." He said and Maria thought it made sense, but she was suspicious of his intentions.
"Why are you telling me this?" She asked
"Because I need another F+ monster stone and you so happen to have one that you don't need." Tsubasa said
"And what makes you think I'll give it to you?" She asked, pulling back the string of the bow even more
"Let's make a bet. If the guard accepts the five E- monster stones you have then I win and you give me the Goblin Scout's monster stone, and you can tell your friend Xavier about it. He seems like the guy who would appreciate that kind of information. If I lose, and the guards don't accept them, then you can kill me. I'm sure you will get a lot of points from me. So what'd say?" He said and she thought for a moment.
"Start walking." She said and he chuckled as he turned around and started walking.