His eyes went wide, as he suddenly stopped. I saw in real time, his jaw dropping open. This reacquired my immediate reaction.

- Come, guys, come! - I shouted to them. - It's time to move on! No need to delay!

This made him hide his emotions under a quite tense mask, as he resumed his march.

He was carrying the same halberd, with the dragon on the other side of the long pole. His armor though wasn't fancy. He didn't have it on at all. Instead just a T-shirt with a bulletproof vest.

Then Hesiodos introduced both of them, with a cheeky smug on his face, like he wanted to show dominance with this unexpected move of bringing somebody like John to the table.

- So we meet again - I pointed out to my, now, friend.

- You know each other - Sonja immediately jumped on my words.

She wasn't even hiding her surprise.

- Yes. We met once... Or twice - I said.

John just nodded.

- So, how is the app going? I'm kinda out of the loop with other things, which keep me busy - I asked, not letting my eyes off the prey.

I needed to make sure he wouldn't freak out, because that would ruin my plans of making the rest of Celestine's crew shit themselves when I was about to show them what I can do. This guy was a walking spoiler, though, and I do hate spoilers!

- It's right around the corner - he tried to smile. - Maybe next month it should be introduced. With some of the planned functionalities. they are still working on proper infrastructure.

- Good. It will make things better for people - I said. - Ok... Let's not delay, and just go.

I didn't really wait for anybody, just began walking. They still were in a little bit of shock, as they didn't expect the two of us to know each other. They really wanted to give Celestine a flick in the nose.

Bunch of wealthy young brats.

"I'm gonna show you where your place is, you dicks", I thought to myself, as an evil smile emerged on my lips.

The first person, to move, after me, was Celestine. The rest followed shortly after. I could hear the whispers behind me, even despite the overall noise. Having such keen ears was really a good thing in such moments. Sadly I couldn't tell what they were speaking, just the fact that they did. The theme was obvious, though. It was about me and John.

Maybe they tried to fish for some information about who I was from the kid, but he seemed to not really be answering anything since the whispers died soon.

Our group wasn't the only one to begin moving. There were few others, who headed in the same direction. Some were clearly goblin chasers, and others seemed to go further, to hunt orcs, but I didn't catch on anybody who would be looking like they were going further than that.

The walk was rather quiet until we passed the city gate, and entered the forest.

- So... - The Leonard was first to speak. - What's the plan? You probably already have been in that cave, but we just heard about what we should expect there.

I guess the question was directed toward John, because he was the one to answer.

- Ask him.

,m I don't know if he was pointing at me, but the effect was that Sonja started moving a little bit faster, and soon appeared on my left. The spot on my right was already taken by Celestine.

- What's the plan, boss? - asked miss archer.

- Plan? - I raised one eyebrow. - We don't need a plan.

- Are you sure? - Ethan showed up next to Sonja and asked.

- Yeah. I'm your plan - I assured them.

- We don't really know you - said Leonard, as he joined the two others. - So you have to understand, that we are not that confident in your ability to deal with everything down there. And we definitely won't be able to.

I sighed.

- Then how about a little presentation, before we enter the cave? - I proposed.

- And how that presentation would supposedly look like? - asked Sonja.

I narrowed my eyes, as I looked at her.

- No spoilers - I said.

This made her roll her eyes. The two guys smiled in response. Then the talk kinda died, and we continued our walk through the woods more or less in silence.

There were short conversations, but I didn't engage in any of them. Like that we arrived at our destination.

- Ok, show us, boss - said Sonja.

I turned to the group and gestured to them to step back. The first to follow my instruction was John, then Celestine. The rest wasn't too fast, but they also ended up stepping a little bit back.

For a moment I wondered what I should do. Poke the goblins, and slaughter them as they would come out of the gate? Or maybe send my army of shadows to run there and kill everything? I could also blow it open with a swarm of firebirds...

There were just too many options, and I couldn't decide which one I should pick.historical

There was also a different option, which would allow me to remain mysterious. The skill, I acquired during preparing for the battle with Ixa, which allowed me to disintegrate the enemies who were much weaker than me. Something perfect against goblins.

A nasty smirk appeared on my face, and I summoned a single shadow who crawled from the ground, surprising the women, who reacted by stepping back with fear painted over their faces. The guys were more curious.

Even John, who surprised me, as I was suspecting he would get scared.

- Go - I said to my minion, who obediently ran into the cave.

- I-is that enough? - asked Sonja.

- The shadow? - I asked, and then explained. - No. He will die, but the goblins will come out.

- That's quite a bad idea - Leonard pointed out, but he was too late, as the horde inside the cave could already be heard outside.

The noise made everybody take a few additional steps back, except John, who weirdly seemed to be confident in my skills. I ignored that and turned my face toward the incoming enemies.