In Galeel Forest, two goblins were moving through the shrubbery, their clawed feet crunching over dead leaves and snapping twigs.

They grunted at each other in their crude language with disappointment clear in their harsh tones.

They had almost hit a caravan not too long ago... a fat merchant wagon loaded with goods and soft human flesh but they’d been knocked back by wind magic before they could close the distance.

If they’d had the full cavalry of goblins back at the nest available, it would have been easy pickings but the Shaman had kept most of the warriors close for defense, leaving only small hunting parties to patrol the forest.

The goblin on the left grumbled loudly, gesturing at the empty space where the caravan had escaped.

Its companion looked at it weirdly as if to say "what do you want me to do about it?"

The next instant, the complaining goblin exploded into blood.

Several holes made of metal had punched clean through its torso, front to back, tearing through flesh and bone like they were paper.

Dark green blood sprayed across the shrubbery as the creature’s body crumpled.

The other goblin whirled around, its yellow eyes wide with panic as it raised its crude spear, searching for the attacker but the only thing it saw was a glint of metal in the distance, and then pieces of shrapnel heading straight for its face.

The projectiles hit like a shotgun blast.

The goblin’s head exploded in a shower of skull fragments and brain matter with its body dropping like a puppet with cut strings then it couldn’t see anymore... because it was dead.

In the distance, Klaus brought down his right hand.

"Pheww." Klaus said.

Serra stood next to him with a smile on her face.

"Nice accuracy, Boss." Serra said.

Klaus smiled back.

’My accuracy is actually dogshit...’ Klaus thought. ’Magnetic Field is the one carrying the accuracy control like that.’

So far, it had been a short hour since they’d left the Guild and headed down to the forest.

Within that time, Klaus and Serra had decided that taking out the stragglers before actually engaging with the main forces was the smart play... Divide and conquer... Reduce the enemy numbers before the real fight began.

That was the wise thing to do and those two had been the last of the patrol units.

’From what I see, I can see why the Guild wants these guys exterminated so badly...’ Klaus thought.

These two in particular had tried attacking a carriage not too long ago... he’d watched them from a distance and seen the way they’d coordinated their ambush.

There were also carriage wrecks scattered throughout the forest with some old and rotting while others were disturbingly fresh with broken wheels, torn canvas and scattered supplies that had been picked clean.

Also bones... Human bones, stripped of flesh and tossed aside like garbage. Rib cages cracked open and skulls with bite marks.

These things had been actively hunting and killing humans, treating the forest road like their personal hunting ground.

Klaus looked to Serra.

"How many have we killed?" Klaus asked.

"These ones would make it ten..." Serra replied. "That was the last of the stragglers that move around this time."

Klaus nodded.

"We can finally move to the main dish." Klaus said. "The goblins at the nest."

Serra tilted her head.

"How do you plan to deal with them?" Serra asked. "Usually people just charge at them."

Klaus laughed.

"The same thing would work..." Klaus said. "But I’m not as strong as Taula, so I’m not going to risk a frontal assault."

Instead, he had a better idea. He summoned a sword from his storage ring which was a standard longsword and let it clatter to the ground at his feet.

The metal rang against a stone with a clear chime then he activated Iron Skin.

His right leg transformed instantly, flesh and bone transmuting into dull grey metal.

The transformation crept up from his toes to just above his knee and he was familiar with it by now.

Klaus stepped onto the flat of the sword blade with his metallic foot, then activated Magnetic Field.

The spell locked his iron leg to the steel beneath it, creating a solid magnetic bond.

His flesh-and-blood left leg reared back behind the hilt, bracing against the pommel to prevent him from tipping backward as the sword lifted off the ground.

It hovered there, wobbling slightly as Klaus adjusted his balance just like back in the North dungeon.

Magnetic Field gave him flight, but only if he had metal to work with and what better metal than a sword he could stand on?

Klaus turned to Serra who was watching with wide eyes.

"Would you like to come along?" Klaus asked, extending a hand. Serra blushed with her cheeks turning pink.

"Since I’m your personal healer..." Serra said, extending both arms toward him. "I suppose I should stay close."

Klaus leaned down carefully and the sword dipped with the movement as he lifted her up in a princess carry.

She was light and Serra the placed both arms around the back of his shoulders, holding onto him tightly.

"I don’t want to fall off." Serra said and Klaus laughed.

He was genuinely happy that he could lift her up completely just like the way Taula had lifted him when they were in Yerefall. It felt good to be the one doing the carrying for once.

Without hesitation, he willed the sword forward.

He reached the goblin corpses and sucked them into his storage ring, swallowing them whole.

This was his original storage ring which was the first one he’d bought at the Guild and the other ring holding his wealth was hidden inside this one.

With that, he took off in the direction of the nest.

As they soared through the trees, Klaus noticed Serra’s eyes were squeezed shut with her face pressed against his shoulder.

"Why are your eyes closed?" Klaus asked.

"I’m scared of heights..." Serra admitted, her voice muffled against his shirt. "What if I fall?"

Klaus could understand that. Flying on a sword held together by nothing but magnetic force and willpower was objectively terrifying.

It was essentially trusting your life to another person’s concentration. One slip in focus, one moment of distraction, and you’d plummet to your death.

"I won’t drop you until it’s absolutely necessary." Klaus said.

Serra’s arms tightened around his shoulders, clinging harder to him.

"You shouldn’t drop me at all!" Serra complained.

Klaus chuckled and adjusted his hand around her waist, making sure his grip was secure.

"Open your eyes and look..." Klaus said gently. "I promise you’ll be fine."

Serra hesitated then, slowly, her eyes cracked open and the world spread out beneath them.

Klaus wasn’t moving that fast... maybe the speed of a jogging horse but not slow either.

He kept the pace steady so Serra could actually see everything moving around them clearly. The forest floor passed below, it was a carpet of green and brown dotted with afternoon sunlight filtering through the canopy.

Unlike the ugly goblins, there were also animals everywhere.

Birds flitted between branches as their songs filling the air. Squirrels chased each other up tree trunks and a deer raised its head from drinking at a stream, watching them pass overhead with brown eyes.

It was quite beautiful, actually.

"It’s beautiful..." Serra said softly with her earlier fear forgotten.

"I’m glad you think so." Klaus said.

He summoned some scraps of metal into his free hand from the storage ring and the pieces floated in his palm ready to be weaponized.

Serra looked forward and her eyes widened. They were closing in on the entrance of the Goblin Nest.

There was one goblin guarding the entrance with a crude spear, walking left and right in a bored patrol pattern.

The cave entrance was partially hidden behind a rocky outcropping with clever positioning, actually and hard to spot from the road.

The guard hadn’t seemed to notice them yet since they were still quite far off, maybe fifty meters out and partially obscured by tree branches but that didn’t matter to Klaus.

His Magnetic field could detect the iron in the goblin’s spearhead from here and that was all the targeting information he needed.

Klaus narrowed one eye, focusing on the creature. He held the scraps of metal in his palm, feeling his mana flow into them coating each fragment with magnetic energy.

"Got you..." Klaus muttered.

He threw the pieces of metal with a flick of his wrist and the fragments zipped across the air like bullets.

Klaus amplified their speed with Magnetic Field, upgrading their trajectory mid-flight to account for wind and distance.

The scraps became a storm of tiny projectiles, accelerating to speeds that would make a crossbow jealous.

They impacted the goblin guard through its chest and throat.

The creature’s torso exploded in a spray of dark green blood.

It didn’t even have time to scream before it collapsed backward into the cave entrance with its spear clattering uselessly to the ground.

Once that goblin died, Klaus summoned even more scraps into his hand... this time a full handful, maybe twenty pieces and increased his flight speed.

"Hold on tight." Klaus said and Serra did exactly that with her arms locking around his shoulders.

Klaus shot forward, passing by the corpse and entering the nest. Immediately, he saw several goblins gathered around a small fire.

Klaus reared his hand back and threw the scraps forward. The shrapnel rippled through the air and five goblins exploded with their bodies torn apart by the metal storm.

"I want to be dropped, so I won’t distract you." Serra said and Klaus leaned down and dropped her on the ground.

"Though I can’t assist you physically..." Serra said immediately. "I can cast support spells and barriers if it comes to it."

Goblins had begun crying out and pouring from their spots to come fight him but Klaus ignored that.

"You can cast support spells?" Klaus asked.

"Yes," Serra said. "But the squad didn’t like it when I used them, so I stuck with healing."

Klaus turned back to the goblins as more scraps entered his hand and he sniped out another goblin.

"Well if you can do so, cast the support spells. Let’s check them out." Klaus said.

He had killed sixteen at this point and there looked to be four remaining which was in line with the report with the Hobgoblins coming out too.

Serra erected a barrier around herself and held her staff upward.

"Fast!" Serra chanted.

Immediately, she cast it on Klaus as one of the goblins threw its weapon at him. Klaus leaned to the side to dodge but the movement carried his whole sword to the right toward a tree though he managed to stop in time.

"Are you okay?" Serra called out.

Klaus gave her a thumbs-up... His body felt faster.

He ripped out another Shrapnel Burst, destroying the goblins around one Hobgoblin and the last of the regular goblins died.

Some of the attack hit the Hobgoblin as well, but the fat muscular beast laughed off the damage as if it was below him.

Klaus laughed with the goblin.

The next instant, eight swords zipped through the air.

They’d come out from Klaus’s storage ring and hit the Hobgoblin, piercing the monster completely at an even faster rate since Serra used Fast on them immediately.

Without hesitation, Klaus made all of the swords go their separate ways.

The blades tore through flesh and bone.

The Hobgoblin’s torso split open like a grotesque flower and ribs snapping outward as organs spilled onto the ground in a cascade of green blood and viscera.

Its arms separated from the shoulder joints with wet tearing sounds as the swords carved through muscle and sinew and the creature’s face froze in an expression of shock as its body came apart in eight different directions simultaneously, painting the cave walls with emerald gore.

What remained was barely recognizable as having once been a living creature... it was just chunks of meat and shattered bone scattered across the nest floor.

"Serves you right for laughing." Klaus said with a sigh.