I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 208: Practically Knights

Chapter 208: Practically Knights

Swords were ready at speeds Irene was unaware she possessed. It seemed that living in the face of impending battle at all times had benefited her as much as it hurt her.

While the mental wounds would likely be lifelong, she was getting physically stronger and more responsive.

If she could lie around and think about it, her ultimate goal was to still be the greatest knight, but there was seldom time to think about anything other than the present. She wasn’t getting better for personal gain, but so that the duchy wouldn’t fall to the army of monsters who had taken the tower.

Each monster left alive was a sign of the knighthood’s failure, and she could not live with that.

Surprisingly, she was even faster than Felix as she stood up first and threw off her sheath.

The goblins weren’t even headed in their direction, but their living at all was too much.

The teenager began to sprint with her arming sword in front of her. She didn’t look back once, knowing the others had her back. If they weren’t running already, they soon would be.

She threw herself into a group of goblins without hesitation, knowing that if she could act decisively, then she would have more of a chance of taking on as many as possible.

Downward slash to the neck of one. She cut downward until her blade was embedded someplace in their abdomen. It was enough for them to be done for good.

A smaller one met her boot and she kicked it backward as hard as she possibly could, satisfied to hear the wind leave its body. When it even considered standing back up, she jumped on top of it and pierced its open mouth so thoroughly, her blade was momentarily stuck in the dirt below it.

By that point, Leif and Felix were in battles of their own.

Felix swung his blade as if he had nothing to lose because, in his mind, he already had everything taken from him. If it weren’t for those around him still standing, he would really have nothing. He might even be more reckless.

Leif was a bit more concise and intentional. He didn’t jump into battles first, but he strategized and allowed himself to be bait for a few moments. When he had the goblins’ attention then he was satisfied to act since they were no longer paying attention to the other apprentices.

In little time, ten goblins were left in pieces on the ground. Without needing to be told what to do, they began piling them so that they could burn them. A brief inspection of each didn’t give way to much of anything useful, so they continued in silence.

Even though it would be impossible to salvage the mistakes at the Duke’s Tower, where bodies hadn’t been blessed or burned, they wouldn’t allow the rest of the duchy to fall to necromancers if that was what happened.

From two sides, Irene and Leif used their flint and work knives to spark grass and get a fire going. They had bundles of sticks that they then used to light the goblins’ bodies on fire.

Meanwhile, Felix walked into a more hidden area with a hill and brush in case there was something concealing more monsters.

"Nothing else," the oldest apprentice confirmed as he walked back to the group and stood over the fire with crossed arms, disappointed to find that he wasn’t yet satisfied to see so many goblins piled up. There needed to be more. He needed to know they wouldn’t come back.

"These ones aren’t like the ones at the tower," Irene observed from where she crouched in the grass, wiping off her sword using leaves so that the dark red, practically black, monster blood wouldn’t risk her weapon rusting. "They don’t have the intelligence. I didn’t see any pouches for the poison."

Leif sheathed his sword, but he was listening to what the others were saying. Something caught his interest.

"Pouches?" he questioned.

"Ah... I guess the two of you didn’t see the last goblins we faced while at the Duke’s Tower," she realized.

"Don’t hold back," Felix pushed, his tone taking on somewhat of an edge.

"When I was on the wall with Sir Sven, we shot a few fire arrows into the group so that they would be stunned and easier to handle," she explained. "It seems that the knights have decided we ought to treat the poison like magic. If we can’t use spells to handle it, we can use fire in hopes that it will destroy whatever is happening." Her eyes went back to the fire because she didn’t really want to be seen as so weak in such a detrimental moment. "When I cut down one of the goblins, it had a leather pouch full of poison on its side. It exploded in my face and I thought I was going to suffocate to death if it weren’t for Sir Sven sticking his fingers down my throat and forcing me to throw up the blockage. It was... disgusting."

Leif’s eyebrows lowered in concern, and he stared at Irene as if to check her from head to toe. He saw nothing wrong with her. She was his lifeline sometimes. He felt he was relying on her too much, but whenever they spoke with one another, they clarified thoughts each other were having. They made the storm in each other’s heads clear.

"Those disgusting bastards," Felix spat. "Whatever the hell is going on here is beyond me. All I know is we must kill all of them."

Irene stood up and sheathed her blade, finally satisfied with the state of it. She hoped she brought enough linseed to oil her sword if they were going to have to face monsters so often.

"To do that more efficiently, we must find the mages," Irene insisted, parroting Gunnar’s words. It was his order, and she was going to carry it out no matter what it took. "I don’t know about you two, but I’m plenty rested."

"I’m plenty rested," Leif agreed. "And I think these goblins are as good as ash."

"Then let’s pour water over before we head back to our camp," Felix directed. "It’s time for us to move on."

With nothing but the survival of the duchy in their minds, they didn’t consider how they were practically behaving as knights at that moment. They had changed so much in a few short years.

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