"Erik-kun, you look happy. Was it skill experience points? Did that go up?"
"Yeah. The [Parallel Thinking] skill I've been working hard to learn is almost within reach."
"Ooh, that's amazing! If you get that, will it make you even stronger than you are now?"
"I think it'll be useful in combat, so yeah, I should become a lot stronger."
After resting for a while longer, we got back on our feet.
We could handle two goblins at once now.
Bit by bit, I could feel our steady growth.
"Erik-kun, look over there."
"A stray goblin, huh? When we were searching so hard earlier we couldn't find a single one, but now we stumble across one just like that..."
About five minutes had passed since resuming our search when Philia spotted the stray goblin first.
Following her gaze, I looked over at the creature.
It wasn't like the ordinary green goblins we had faced before.
Dark reddish-black lines ran across its skin.
An elite goblin.
A mutated variant of the goblin species.
Its threat level was far higher than that of a normal goblin.
"..."
I signaled to Philia with my eyes that it was dangerous.
Catching on immediately, Philia began to quietly withdraw from the area.
In the next moment, however, the goblin snapped its gaze toward us.
Its eyes locked onto us.
The instant I felt its focus land, I raised my shield.
"—!"
The goblin, which had been standing several dozen meters away, closed the distance in a flash with terrifying leg strength.
Thanks to having my shield up in advance, I managed to block the attack, but the impact left my arm completely numb, making it impossible to hold the stance.
"Gya-gya!"
The goblin sneered at the fact that I had barely withstood its strike, then hopped back to put a little distance between us.
"Damn it!"
My guard had been slightly down after taking that break.
Chastising myself for the lapse in focus, I leveled my sword at the monster.
"I'll hold it off somehow. Philia, look for an opening and hit it with magic."
"G-Got it! Erik-kun, don't die!"
"Yeah, I won't. I'm going to make it through this."
Sensing Philia step back behind me, I squared off against the goblin.
As I pointed my blade at it, the beast flashed a nasty grin.
"Gugyagya!"
"Tch!"
I barely managed to weather the goblin's ferocious assault with my sword.
My numb arm couldn't take the force of its blows alone, so I gripped the hilt with both hands just to hold my ground, even as the pins and needles lingered.
"Gugya!"
"Like that's gonna hit!"
The goblin dropped low and swept out a kick.
I dodged it on pure reflex.
The missed attack left the goblin wide open, but I deliberately held back and leapt backward instead.
"Gugya?"
"Heh, I'm not the only opponent you're fighting."
The goblin tilted its head, baffled as to why I hadn't pressed the attack.
I, however, knew exactly what was coming.
Philia was positioned in the rear, patiently waiting for the right moment to cast.
The instant I backed away and cleared her line of fire, she unleashed her spell straight at the monster.
"Gugya?!"
The magic struck dead center.
Despite the distance, Philia's focused, carefully timed spell drove in a straight line right into the goblin.
The Water Lance impaled it just below the shoulder, sending dark blood spraying out in great quantities.
"Gugya..."
"I'm not letting my guard down. Not until you're dead."
The numbness in my arm had finally faded, allowing me to push forward with my shield raised and attack.
Weighed down by the heavy blood loss, its movements had dulled significantly.
Even when I couldn't find an angle on its neck, I landed precise, punishing strikes against its arms and legs.
I timed my shield to catch every counterattack it threw.
Weakened as it was, its blows lacked the devastating force from the start of the fight.
"Gya, gya..."
Ten minutes dragged by.
Yet somehow, the goblin was still breathing.
It looked on the verge of collapsing from blood loss, yet it stubbornly endured everything we threw at it.
"This is the end."
I drove my sword deep into the goblin's abdomen.
With a sharp pivot, I tore the blade out sideways.
"Gya..."
The dying monster finally crumpled to the ground under my final blow.
The surrounding clearing was splattered with goblin blood.
My clothes and gear were drenched in gore as well; it had truly been a desperate struggle.
"...Haaah. Is it over?"
"Erik-kun! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. A few bruises, but nothing serious. Though man, I'm completely wiped out..."
With the fight concluded, I collapsed heavily onto the grass.
Seeing me drop, Philia rushed over in a panic.
I pulled a healing potion from my bag, downed it, and took a moment to catch my breath.
"Still, what was something like that doing out here?"
"Mm~ I don't know, but could it really be because of the dungeon?"
"Who knows? For now, let's head back to the royal capital. We should probably report this to Reina-san... and besides, I'm way too exhausted to keep going today."
"Me too... I've never used this much magic at once, not even during training..."
Philia had timed her spells flawlessly to match my strikes.
She had held her own remarkably well without bottoming out her mana pool.
It was an opponent I never could have beaten on my own at my current level.
This victory was only possible because I had a partner by my side.
Once again, I felt a deep surge of gratitude for having an ally.
After catching our breath, we harvested the goblin's proof of subjugation.
"...Come to think of it, since this isn't an ordinary goblin, do you think we could sell the whole corpse for materials?"
"It probably has value, but do you think it'll fetch a good price when it's this battered?"
"I bet it will!"
Encouraged by Philia's confidence, I decided we would haul the entire carcass back with us.