Necessary Villain

To get their attention, Lucas screamed:

"Attention! It's time to head out now. For now, don't wander too far and just map out the surrounding area. Use the task's time remaining to track how long you have been exploring and return before four hours pass. That goes for all groups, including those hunting and gathering. Right now, the time remaining is approximately 719 hours. So you should explore for about two hours, then return so you will arrive at around 715 hours remaining to report and consolidate our findings. Good luck, and may we return healthy and bearing good news!"

Axel had to hand it to Lucas—for every screw he had loose, he made up for it with his ability to confidently command. Or perhaps he could only confidently command because of the loose screws in his brain? 

Either way, his level of competency would only be measured by results.

Axel's group was directed to travel east. They didn't know if they were actually going east because this wasn't Earth, so all methods to decipher that were unreliable, but it didn't matter if it was true east or not as long as all Summoned agreed on it.

"Let's go!..."

Axel shouted out, trying to sound cheerful, but the second he turned around and faced the Obsidion Forest, his expression turned bleak.

He stopped for a moment and stared at the monumental trees in front of him, made of pure black.

Not even the leaves were spared from the haunting hue. The leaves swayed up and down as if the forest itself were breathing.

Axel gulped as he noticed a gigantic cobweb in one of the boughs of the tree.

Axel wished he could just teleport back home. He wasn't cut out for this. He was a city boy who belonged in the metro and convenience stores, not stuck in some forest of death!

With a quiet sigh, Axel took his first step toward what he felt would be his death. To his surprise, not a single member of his group hesitated in following him.

"As we walk, I suggest looking for a stick to defend yourself. Even though Lucas said to run, the possibility of being forcibly drawn into a fight remains, and being armed will help with that. With that in mind, L-let's begin our mission!"

Axel tried to sound cheery, but his nerves were turning him into a wreck as they passed the treeline and entered the forest.

However, it wasn't even five paces in that Axel and the rest stopped and were filled with a sense of wonder that momentarily outweighed their fear.

"I-it's beautiful…"

Claire was scanning left to right.

"Y-yeah."

Ryon added on while bending down and grasping a pink petal from a nearby plant.

"Astilbes, Asian bleeding-heart, hostas."

Conner mumbled to himself.

Axel didn't know exactly what he was talking about, but he had an idea. In front of them was an ever-expanding expanse of the black trees, but harshly juxtaposed to them were beautiful flowers that lined miniature knolls that stretched for as far as they could see.

"They thrive in dark environments and off decomposition."

Connor finished his thought and completely ruined the mood. Not that wonder was going to let them escape their fear anyway. 

Axel started his march again, and the rest followed. Not even five more paces in and Axel heard a thud sound from behind him. He immediately jumped away and searched for the nearest branch to use as a weapon, only to spot Claire on her hands and knees, clutching her head.

"Ouch!"

Claire had tripped and faceplanted into the mud. Ryon hurriedly dropped to his knees and helped her up. It wasn't long before she took another step and nearly fell again.

Axel laughed inside. To him, the weirdness of the group was helping him calm down and adjust. 

After that small holdup, they restarted our march into the forest. For a time, they went silent and only spoke up when pointing out an oddity. They also occasionally made markers using a pocket knife Ryan had, so they could find their way back.

Even though Axel was at the vanguard of the group, he did his best to observe those behind him in an attempt to learn more about them.

Zayn was still staring at his tattoo as if he didn't even know how it got there. Axel wouldn't be surprised if Zayn didn't even know he'd been kidnapped and randomly screamed when he realized.

Ryon kept running his hands through his short brown hair every time the wind moved it an inch, all while staring at Claire the entire time. Survival seemed secondary to girls for him.

Claire was nearly tripping over every exposed tree root or uneven clump of dirt.

Mikhail looked at everything around him with insane curiosity.

Leora was deviously inspecting every single one of them as if they weren't in some death forest.

Huang Gao was so silent that Axel almost forgot he was with them a few times.

And Connor… he was a weird one. He observed everything with utmost care, but seemed to get easily distracted by anything moving. All it took was a single butterfly, and it seemed like every thought in his head would disappear. Well, actually, who wouldn't be sidetracked by the butterflies here? They were huge!

They all had their quirks, and as long as they were cooperative, Axel wasn't going to complain.

Their long silence finally broke when Connor tapped Axel on the shoulder from behind, before he sped up so we were walking side by side. Connor spoke:

"Hey, Axel."

"Yeah? What's up?"

"I've been curious since earlier… but that necklace you're wearing, what does it mean?" 

"Oh?"

Axel felt at his neck and found what he was talking about—he had been too busy with everything going on and his injury to even realize he was wearing it. 

"This?"

Axel tugged at it before asking the same question himself:

"Well, it's… what is it?"

Connor shrugged before rubbing his mustache and replying:

"You're wearing it. You really don't know why you're wearing a 't' with a malnourished man strapped to it around your neck?"

"No…"

Axel inspected it some more, but for some reason, he could remember putting it on, but not what it meant or why.

"Maybe I thought it was cool?" 

'But I have hyperthymesia, so how? Was this linked to my past life somehow? Why could I not remember its meaning?'

Ryon joined in on their conversation and said:

"Sorry, but doesn't look all that cool. A little creepy if you ask me." 

 Claire and Mikhail appeared next to him, peeking around Axel's shoulder at the necklace as well.

"Stop."

Zayn spoke quietly but with authority, spooking the group. Looking at the faces of the others, Axel wasn't the only one surprised. None of them had expected him to talk, let alone order them. 

Curiously, the group stopped looking at Axel's necklace and looked back at Zayn. Zayn held a finger to his lips and pointed off to their right.

Far off in the distance was an unnatural array of black logs with tips shaved into spikes that formed a wall of sorts. 

Was that the castle? No way, that looked too small. Goblin village? Maybe.

"Task"

__________

(Time remaining: 718:34:24 hours)

__________

There were about three and a half hours left, so they had enough time to find out what it was. Even if they spent three hours there, they would be able to make it back before 715 hours remained. 

The question was, did they want to find out what it was?

Well, in all honesty, no. None of them did. They would rather have gone back home and drunk coffee while reading a book. Take a nap. Do anything else.

Sadly, in this situation, wants were nothing compared to needs, and right now, they needed to know what was behind that weird wall.

The others' faces all got stern as if they were used to extremely tense situations.

In a moment like this, Axel thought they'd all be useless, but they seemed surprisingly reliable, especially Zayn. Even Claire and Ryon seemed focused. Maybe Axel was lucky, not unlucky, with the random assignment.

The trepidatious group shared a gaze and silently agreed to expose what was hidden behind the wall.

It wasn't that big and surely couldn't have housed many occupants—if there were any. Well, it was almost certain there were, and that they were most likely goblins. Plus, it was better to operate as if they were in enemy territory, regardless of that statements' validity.

After a good bit of walking, they managed to circle almost completely to the other side and spotted what seemed like the front entrance to the enclosure. Axel had gotten a pretty good gauge of its size, which was approximately three-quarters the size of a basketball court, if not a little bigger.

"Task"

__________

(Time remaining: 718:18:34 hours)

__________

Axel fell into thought for a moment before he spoke up:

"Find a hiding spot and observe the gate from here. Zayn, Huang Gao, Ryon, you three watch directly behind us. Claire, Mikhail, Leora, and Connor, you four keep an eye on our surroundings and approach us from our left or right. I'll focus entirely on observing the gate and anything approaching it. If you see something, pick up some dead leaves off the ground and crumple them. I plan to figure out what this is, then return to the rendezvous point." 

Instantly, they followed Axel's directions without complaint. They each settled down near the base of an obsidian tree or a small ditch, and formed a sort of circle with all of them watching different areas.

Of course, they also armed themselves with sticks along the way. Whether they were suitable weapons against the goblins or whatever monstrosity they might encounter was something yet to be discovered. 

With about two entire hours to watch this place, hopefully, they could figure out what was up with this thing and return on time.

"Task"

__________

(Time remaining: 717:41:54 hours)

__________

Nearly forty minutes passed, and nothing had happened yet.

At first, Axel thought this would be exhilarating—behind enemy lines with insane suspense—but it was getting kind of boring.

The boredom was causing the pain in his arm to feel like it had worsened.

The only thing he did was watch an unmoving structure of wood and the synchronized swaying of leaves.

However, any thought of boredom was instantly washed away and replaced with unease by the crunching of leaves coming from behind. Axel spun around to see Ryon shaking a little while bits of a dead leaf fell from his grasp. Following Ryon's gaze, two goblins stared back directly at the group.

Ryon's face contorted in horror as he muttered:

"How in the hell did they hear me from that far away?"

The final remnant of the black leaf sank to the ground.

Axel would have chided him for talking, but saw no point in that now. While it was eerily quiet in this forest, how did they hear that? Did they have good hearing, or was it just a coincidence? Axel couldn't tell. They have pretty large ears afterall.

The two goblins began to scream:

"Kreeeee!"

'Shit!'

The goblins charged toward Ryon and Mikhail, brandishing a sword and axe that were comically large compared to their frames.

There was no time to hesitate. They had to choose now. Fight or run…

"Let's split them up and take them out."

Everyone except Ryon, who was too focused on the goblins, stared at Axel.

With a shallow breath, Connor said:

"But, Lucas told us to run…"

Axel then scanned the group, and his gaze settled on Claire. Then he said:

 "Yeah, but are you confident all of us can outrun those things? While I'd have agreed to running if they hadn't already spotted us, they have spotted us and are running full tilt straight at us. But, I won't force you at all."

Connor tried to refute, but before he could open his mouth, Zayn cut him off:

"Why not?"

Zayn inspected the thick black stick he was holding, then took a fateful step in front of Mikhail and toward the encroaching goblins. Axel quickly followed suit and stood side by side with Zayn.

The rest slightly lagged behind, ready to run and leave the two idiots behind at a moment's notice.

When finally in range, Zayn struck first. He lunged forward and jabbed, sending the goblin with the axe tumbling back.

The one with the sword swung at him, but he parried it and bashed it on the head.

'Was this guy a pro at killing goblins? Just what in the hell did he do before this? Fencing? Kendo?'

Not wanting to be useless, Axel stopped assessing Zayn and joined the fray.

Axel ignored the goblin with the sword and went straight for the one with the axe. It had gathered its bearings and regained its footing, but it wasn't able to stand for long due to a rock Conner hurled, which nailed the goblin square in the forehead.

Axel's body acted as if on instinct. Perhaps being guided by the him of a forgotten time.

Axel used his stick and shoved it under the head of the axe, and pulled the disoriented goblin toward himself. He grabbed the top of the axe head while palming the goblin's face with his other hand. 

Axel squeezed his hand, simultaneously clenching the goblin's jaw shut and lifting it in the air. It was surprisingly light.

Axel slammed the goblin's head on the ground, allowing him to finally steal the axe.

The goblin tried to stand back up, but was instantly met with a back heel from Mikhail. Axel then spun the axe around to position it correctly and brought it crashing down on the goblin's head, causing green blood to splatter all over his gray sweatpants. 

[You have slain a Rank 0 Aberrant, Goblin]

Axel gagged inside at the horrible thing he just did, but managed to hold back his feelings of disgust and guilt. He could revel in those feelings when he was safe.

As for the other goblin, it seemed Leora, Huang Gao, and Zayn finished taking care of it. Axel couldn't even begin to question the metallic voice that just sounded inside his head before Ryon, with a forceful joking tone, said:

"What the hell, I thought you were a computer nerd—and Zayn, were you some kind of martial arts warrior?" 

Connor began to add on:

"Yeah, just wha..."

"Shhh…"

Zayn cut him off by pointing at the wooden enclosure. Sure enough, the gate was slowly opening. We all decided to hide behind different trees and observe. Because in this situation, following Lucas's orders to run might have been best, but again, it seemed impossible to follow even if they wanted to.

Axel peered out from behind the black tree he was hiding behind and tried to assess the situation. He counted nine goblins who came out from the gate, rushing in their direction. Each was armed with a different weapon.

It seemed they heard the commotion and decided to come investigate. They searched wildly, showing that they didn't know exactly where we were, but they were getting closer and closer. Axel had to hide again when one's leer almost caught him.

Axel looked over at Zayn, and he looked determined to fight.

Axel barked a desperate order:

"Ambush them when they get close."

All except Zayn wanted to disobey him, but none of them wanted to be the one who left someone behind to die.

The sound of wood colliding with flesh breached the eardrums of Axel, who looked over at Ryon, who stood with shaky arms having just bashed a goblin in the face. 

Zayn swiftly followed up, using the sword he had gained to slice the dazed goblin's neck, killing it. Zayn ripped the weapon it held from its dead hands, also a sword, and planted it by Ryon's feet.

The beady eyes of the other eight goblins locked onto the group. It was time for a battle.