They spent the next hour devising ways to harass and slowly wear down the army without risking it coming to their camp. But first, Alex needed to test something.

  Their group moved to the camp's outer edge. Standing around Alex, he started to channel his wind magic. They needed to test if he could envelop them all in the wind magic enhancement to boost everyone's speed. The plan would depend on it. It would allow their small strike force to move around more quickly, keeping ahead of the army.

  While they stood around him, he sat down and closed his eyes. Alex focused while his wind magic activated. He enhanced himself and then tried to figure out how to extend it around him. He could feel his friends with his [Eyes of the Cosmos]. Inching his wind enhancement away from his body, he tried to spread it out more, but then stopped…

  That feels wrong. I can feel this isn’t the right way to do it. Spreading it out with me in the middle doesn’t seem like the best way to do it.

  Instead, he focused on the individuals around him. With it cast on himself, he then attempted to duplicate it on the nearest person. He could feel his mana leaving him, grabbing the wind, and wrapping around the person as he commanded the wind to enhance them, too. It obeyed. But he felt the mana drain increase on his wind magic.

  He repeated this, person to person; he could feel it working. But the drain increased for each person he added to the effect, while also keeping it on himself.

  He stood up, looking around at each of them, and he could see small streams of wind flowing around them.

  “It worked, but the mana expenditure is really high for this many people, so we can’t use it in a fight. Only for traveling between skirmishes or escaping. I won’t be able to keep this going for long either, plus I’ll also need to wait for my mana to recover after each time.”

  Korgrith was looking over his body, then pulled his weapon off his back and swung it a few times. “The speed boost is incredible. And to be able to extend it to so many people, that's a boon for us all.”

  “True, but at my current level, I can’t hold it much; my mana is going down too quickly,” Alex said as he released the wind enhancement from everyone. Relief flooding through him. He hadn’t realized the strain of holding that on six people, including himself.

  “At least it works, though. We can start heading towards their army now, and when we are close, I can stealth ahead and pull some back to us. Then we retreat, find a new spot, and do it again.” Alex added.

  Rykos looked at Alex strangely. “How can you do this? You fight with magic and sword, stealth, and give bonuses like a support. Is this a power I can get?”

  Korgrith looked at Rykos. “They are his secrets, and he does not need to share, nor will we ask him to. Though if he ever wished to, we would listen.”

  “It's fine. I won’t share much right now, though, nor any specifics. I haven’t discussed it with anyone. But I will tell you all that my class isn’t one of the basic four. Mine is more flexible and allows me to use different abilities. The class is also unusual, so we shouldn’t encounter anyone else with it, and the circumstances under which I obtained it were unique and unrepeatable. I won’t say anymore on the subject right now.” Alex said the last sentence with a tone that left no one to argue.

  Everyone nodded in understanding. Alex turned and walked towards the goblin army, others trailing behind him.

  It took them almost three hours to get there. Alex didn’t use his wind enhancement because he wanted full mana when they arrived. When they got close, they all waited while Alex slipped ahead.

  Arriving at the same spot as before, he saw the army, but this time… It had grown larger, and he could see larger goblins mixed in random places, spread throughout the goblin force. He inspected one.

  Goblin Commander (Level 10)

  Goblins are a race considered to be the scourge of any planet. Basic goblins are aggressive and not intelligent. They only care about killing, looting, and breeding. This specific goblin variant is a Commander type. The commanders are the nominal leaders of a goblin army, under a General, and are always stronger than their soldiers. They’re intelligent, ruthless, and will never allow their subordinates to retreat or surrender.

  A commander, huh? That’s the first time I’ve seen something level 10 or higher. Usually, in games, books, anime, and the like, level 10 is an upgrade. I have no way of knowing if it's the same with the Universal System, at least not until I reach another level. If it's true, those commanders could be a big problem for us. Alex looked for a good group to lure away, preferably one far enough away from the main force.

  Finally, after continuing to watch and wait for a group, he saw a group of ten goblins heading off on patrol in a direction that would work for them. The group had a shaman, three skirmishers, three raiders, and three warriors.

  Staying in stealth, Alex followed them for a bit. They weren’t moving towards his group, but they were moving into the forest away from the main army.

  I should be able to lure them back towards the party. The goblins are heading in a decent enough direction in the forest.

  Finally, after 10 minutes of trailing behind them, he felt they were far enough away from the other goblins that he could engage this group and lure them away.

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  He didn’t want to attack and scare them off, so he devised a plan to make it look like an accident. He deactivated stealth, put on his acting face, and started running towards the goblins. He forced himself to act scared, screaming a little, and kept looking back over his shoulder, as if he were being chased.

  Alex came out from behind a tree right near the goblins. He looked at them, like a frightened and weak human, took a few steps backwards, tripping a little, and then got up and ran screaming, “NOOO DONT KILL MEEEE!”

  The creatures gave cries of surprise when he popped out from behind the tree, and then cries of battle when they saw easy prey. They turned on him and gave chase. Whether that was to kill him, eat him, or worse. Alex didn’t know.

  I have to admit… I’m enjoying this. He thought, as he ran through the forest, smiling.

  He kept himself running slowly, so he looked weak. Continuing, he tripped a few times but always made sure to stay ahead of them. He was faster than they were, because half of them had heavier armor on. It took him a few minutes to get back to his group, goblins trailing behind him.

  Instantly, when he came into the clearing that his group was in, he shouted out. “Ten goblins incoming. One caster, six melee, three archers.”

  Immediately, they reacted without a word. The party had already discussed exactly this scenario, so they knew what to expect. Derek, Korgrith, and Rykos moved forward. Sam and Sarah got behind them. Alex stood near Derek. He couldn’t reactivate his stealth because he was technically still in combat.

  Stupid skills and their game-like rules. I imagine real stealth classes could use it again after they upgraded it somehow. He quickly pondered before the goblins arrived.

  A few seconds later, the goblins came barreling out of the woods, and his group attacked before they could react.

  Alex had already been channeling his wind magic into his sword, and when the goblins appeared, he quickly slashed out two wind arcs at them.

  Sam launched three fireballs, while Sarah sent a mana bolt.

  Rykos, Korgrith, and Derek all moved forward into the goblins' frontline, striking at the ones still standing after the ranged attacks.

  Alex boosted himself with his wind enhancement and ran forward. His two wind slashes had struck a Warrior, almost killing it. So he ran towards that one, finishing it off with a quick thrust of his sword, still enveloped in wind magic, and then he moved towards the next closest goblin. With the wind-wrapped blade, it easily cut through the goblins, barely slowing to any resistance from flesh or bone.

  As he moved forward, he kept an eye on the rest of his team.

  ***

  Derek ran forward at full speed, boots sinking deep into the soil; he needed to be first. He was meant to be everyone's shield, and he took his job seriously.

  Once in range of his skill, Derek used his [Charge] to quickly get into the fray, following up with a [Power Strike]. His blow sank deep into the goblin's side. The double-skill combination caught a warrior off guard and left it severely wounded.

  Shield raised, he took a hit in retaliation from the warrior and then slashed out again, striking it in the neck and finishing it off before it could do anything else. One of the raiders came at him next, using some kind of skill. Its axe glowed as the weapon swung at him. He shifted his shield forward and at an angle, trying to deflect the axe blow away from him, but the power behind the goblin's strength and skill was too much. The strike hit his shield, pushing it back into him. It drove him back a step and didn’t give him a chance to counter-attack.

  Grunting from the strain of it, Derek quickly glanced around. His new unit had started to engage the goblins. He tried to keep an eye out for where he was needed most. If a member of his team needed a shield, he would be there.

  Focusing back on the Raider, he stepped forward, shield bashing it.

  ***

  Korgrith had run forward, only a few steps behind Derek. He wasn’t afraid to fight. Typically, he even enjoyed a bout or two. Things were different in this new place, the Universal System called a “tutorial,” but Korgrith couldn’t say he hated it. The only thing that truly bothered him was the many beastkin that died since it started. They had been his responsibility, and he valued their lives considerably. He would continue to protect them, even if Alex were the one in charge now. It had been difficult to step back from leadership and hand it to Alex, but he would do what needed to be done to give them a safe future.

  After Derek used his [Charge] Skill and engaged, Korgrith also used his, heading straight for a warrior. Standing in front of it, he activated his [Shattering Stomp] Skill. Raising a hoof, he slammed it down in front of him, causing the ground to tremble and the earth to break. The warrior stumbled, losing its balance, while Korgrith raised his large two-handed mace, bringing it down in a [Power Strike]. The goblin’s head burst like a melon.

  Behind the warrior, a skirmisher had been waiting. The creature immediately shot arrows at him. The first arrow caught him unaware and pierced him in his stomach. He batted the second arrow out of the air before it could hit him. But a third arrow came at him from a different skirmisher, penetrating his shoulder.

  ***

  Rykos ran near Korgrith. He had known him for many years, held him in great respect, and would follow him until the day he died. This respect, whether he wanted it to or not, was starting to bleed onto Alex too. Though he had known him only a short time, Alex had proven himself strong and capable. Rykos still didn’t fully trust him, but his instincts were saying that he could. He also treated his Beastkin brethren the same as he would his fellow humans, which meant a lot. He was a beastkin of few words, but he valued loyalty and strength above all, and Alex had shown himself to possess both so far.

  He ran around the side of the battle, splintering off from Korgrith when he used his Charge. He wasn’t a slower, two-handed warrior like the minotaur was. Rykos’s weapons were his fist, claws, and fangs. He valued his speed, though he didn’t neglect strength; he was still a warrior afterall. Running around the frontline of the goblins, he went for the back, engaging one of the skirmishers to keep pressure off his new allies.

  He ran towards the one in the back, hoping to close the distance before it fired on anyone. Activating his [Charge] skill when he got in range, he leaped onto it, sinking his wolf fangs into its neck and stabbing his claws into its chest. He ravaged the Skirmisher, causing blood to cover him and the surrounding area, quickly killing it, and looked around for his next prey.

  ***

  Sam started preparing his fire magic right after Alex came running into the clearing and warned them of the approaching goblins. Since Alex had told them about mana manipulation in the dungeon, Sam had practiced it constantly when he could. He had found he enjoyed it and had a knack for it. While he wasn’t on the same level as Alex, he still felt proud of his progress with it.

  When he had turned level 5 after the kobold boss fight, he’d had the option for the skill [Mana Manipulation] from his efforts during the fight, and immediately picked it. He knew having that skill early would pay dividends in the future. Sam had been right so far. Using the skill enhanced his fire spells, allowing him shape or control their flight, and even let him conjure more than before. Each additional fireball increased the strain, but practicing that skill made it easier to manage.

  The second the goblins came out of the forest, Sam launched three Fireballs at the same time, a feat he wouldn't have been able to accomplish before. These fireballs were also more condensed, allowing him to put more mana into each without losing control. It boosted their heat and force, too. Not only would the fireballs hit like a ball of fire, but because they were improved, they carried more of a physical feel, like a scalding hot rock, which was actually fire, not a rock.

  These fireballs went towards two different targets. Two of them hit a Raider, and one went towards the Shaman that had just come out of the forest last. The raider fell to the ground with severe burns and worked on getting back up. But the shaman raised his hand and caught the fireball, causing it to dissipate before it could do any damage.

  ***

  Sarah was not too excited about going into battle, but she would do what she needed. She was a support class, and she would help the best she could. They were relying on her to heal their wounds. When Alex came out of the forest and shouted the warning, she tensed up and tried to mentally prepare for what she knew was coming.

  When the creatures came into the clearing, she launched a mana bolt, trying to help damage or disorient one of the targets. The mana bolt slammed into a Raider, but didn’t do much except knock it off balance a bit. This didn’t bother Sarah much; she wasn't a fighter, and damaging monsters with mana bolts wasn’t her job. It was mostly an attempt to distract one.

  After the fighting began, she watched and waited, carefully looking at the overall fight and each ally, waiting for someone who would need her. Sarah hoped no one would… but she had been a nurse before the integration. One thing she learned was that a healer was always required.

  Then she saw it, Korgrith had just finished off a goblin, and was immediately shot with two arrows. She started running towards him, while casting her newest skill, Prevent Harm. When the spell was offered to her at level 5, she saw its value immediately. It would absorb all the damage from the next single attack against him. This should give Sarah time to draw closer and heal him.

  ***

  Alex monitored the battle carefully; he had seen everything unfolding. He saw Korgrith take the arrows, but he also knew he would be fine. Both Sarah and Derek were moving to back him up. Rykos was harassing the backline. And he saw the sneaky asshole with his [Eyes of the Cosmos], coming up behind Sam.