VIII. The dark, dank overall atmosphere of the dilapidated Mt. Mjolnir laboratory sent Electic to a mild cold, making him sniffle every now and then, wiping a sleeve to his nose should the need arise. Around him three iridescent orbs orbited slowly, a physical manifestation of a wizard’s Sight. There probably were not hidden thieves or monsters to concern themselves with, but they did need the light afforded by that magic to illuminate their path.
There was not much to look at around them. Currently, they were enclosed in a long corridor, the metal sheets eaten by rust, exposing tendrils of what were once multi-colored wires. A faint drip-dripping from a far end of the hallway punctuated their footfalls.
The knight at least slowed down his pace, letting the young boy catch up with him. Electic could feel tension wires working all around Hesper, who was lost in his own thoughts. He knew better than to question the brute about it, and had clamped his mouth shut for the past few hours except when the other asked him questions. But one particular question had nagged Electic for some time now.
“What does the High Wizard want us to do here, Hesper?” Electic asked, risking a snide retort from the knight. “I mean, shouldn’t we watch over the Door we just opened in Prontera…?” He twiddled his fingers, nervously anticipating a scathing reaction from Hesper.
But instead of what Electic had expected, Hesper only shrugged and answered, “He told us to search for a possible lead to the existing Save Point that little bitch lost years ago.”
“Here? In this place? But how?” Electic pointed to a non-working terminal dark red with rust in a nearby corner. “He hopes to use any of these junk?”
“I hope not.” Wordlessly, Hesper pulled Electic aside, gesturing for him to flatten himself against a wall.
Why? Electic wanted to ask, but he knew Hesper needed him to be absolutely silent. He gripped his Arc Wand tightly, hoping to get a sense of security with his trusty staff within his hands. The glowing orbs of Sight whirled gently around him, like guardians protecting their young ward.
With absolute silence Hesper slinked into the corner, his Haedonggum at the ready. Somehow the knight sensed something amiss that could not even be picked up by his spell of Sight. The Sight could only uncover objects, people, or monsters concealed by magic, but not those who are hiding by conventional means. Eventually he got out of Electic’s scope of vision, far into an intersecting path.
“Ah-hah! Got ‘im!” An unfamiliar voice suddenly shouted from around the corridor where Hesper went.
“Whoo-yee! Lookit dat shiny plates he be wearin’!” Another gleefully interjected, then added softly, “Wer’d ya git 'em duds, me man?”
“These duds are mine, Goblins. Leave us be,” Hesper coldly said, his frosty tone piercing the silence long gone. With an afterthought, he added nastily, “No wonder you’re all wearing those flimsy underwear. All of you must be performing abysmally in your…job.”
Not long after Electic heard ear-splitting cries of Ai-yeeee! Ai-yeeee!, the Goblin tribe’s war cry. Goblin tribes?! Alarmed, he un-plastered himself from the wall and ran helter-skelter to Hesper’s side. “W-what are they doing here?!” he asked, panting.
“What are you doing here?!” Hesper spat. “These people can tear you limb from limb!”
It was only then that Electic took a focused look at the enemies before them. There were six Goblin warriors, their almost-naked bodies slathered with black paint, faces hidden behind Goblini masks—masks bearing different facial expressions.
“Well I can’t just leave you here!” Electic said, raising his staff. “Besides, I don’t want to be alone back there.”
“Fine then, suit yourself.”
“Ahhh…wat be dis wee li'l lad be doing, ya?” The Goblin warrior with the angry mask asked, his axe glinting dangerously, reflecting the light from Electic’s Sight. “Heheh. Heh.”
“Gah. I have no time playing tricks with you!” Hesper abruptly charged, the sharp, thin blade of the Haedonggum slashing at the nearest Goblin’s torso, blood spluttering out. Undeterred, the Goblin warrior retaliated with a swing of his huge, heavy axe, only to be effortlessly blocked by Hesper’s metallic left arm. “You can do better than that, Goblin!”
With a bone-chilling laugh, Hesper lunged at his opponent, plunging his sword right in the center of his belly. As he roughly pulled it out, there were still bits of the Goblin’s guts plastered on the bloodied blade.
“Oooh…the bitty lad is afreed,” another Goblin taunted behind his grinning mask, him and other two warriors closing in on Electic, their knives glittering.
“Is not.” Instead of cowering, like most children his age would, Electic just stood there, grinning. “My Sight isn’t for naught,” he said, as he swung up his staff. “Sightrasher!!” The three Orbs of Sight flung towards the approaching Goblins, sending them crashing against the walls, knocked unconscious.
“Don’t leave anyone alive, kid,” Hesper said to Electic as he faced the remaining two Goblins. “Now, what can I do for you?” Brandishing the Haedonggum once again, Hesper looked menacingly at the warriors bearing a mace and a sword each. “Hmm….”
Slowly, he swung the Haedonggum from one side to another in front of them, in a fluid motion. Hesper was pleased that the Goblins eyes were trained at the intricate design molded into the hilt-guard, allured by the enchantment of the mind-controlling sword.
Pity the sword could not perform an all-out hypnosis, he thought in regret. I could have played with them for as long as I wanted.
“Tell me, why are you here?” Hesper asked in a soft voice, careful not to break the fragile hold the sword had on their minds.
“Home,” one said in a flat voice, his arm bearing the mace frozen in mid-air, like his companion.
“Nice,” Hesper said. “You made this your home then. Not a threat at all.” With one wide swing of the Haedonggum, he chopped their heads off. He watched impassively as the headless bodies fell down, twitching on the blood-drenched floor. “Not needed, too.”
Meanwhile, Electic was done concentrating his full strength into his staff, his clothes and hair fluttering about as winds around him picked up and encircled him. “I need a full-blown blast, I need…” he muttered to himself as his eyes were shut in concentration. “I—winds of Mjolnir, hear my voice and come to me…Thunder Storm!!”
At Electic’s command an electrical storm amassed itself all around the three sleeping warriors, several vicious lightning bolts blasting down on the unconscious men, eventually blasting their limbs apart. When the spell was done, the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air, overpowering that of the smell of fresh meat emanating from Hesper’s kills.
“It’s done then,” Electic breathed, looking down at the charred bits of the Goblin warriors. Gingerly, he picked up a sad Goblini mask, surprisingly intact. “At least, they were asleep when that happened.”
Hesper walked up to him and peered into the mask he held. “If only they were made of the same material as those stupid masks, they would have lasted for a few minutes more.”
“I guess so.”
“Damn it. We’ve tarried too long,” Hesper said, sheathing his Haedonggum. “We’ll have to get back to Prontera at once…this puny sleuthing could wait until we feel like it. Good thing we have the Hell Vortex.”
“I hope the High Wizard doesn’t kill you for this, Hesper.”
