I'd been wrong to classify this as a fight. It had to be a war crime. I hadn't seen what happened before, but it seemed like it was brutal. I'd been listening to the carnage—the sound of a goblin screaming and flesh being repeatedly struck, not even twenty feet from me—but I didn't think it would look this gruesome.
The blond man defeated the goblin alone. I didn't know exactly how he'd done it, but whatever he did, people seemed scared of him. Green blood oozed from the goblin's head and covered the blond man, who paid it no mind while he continued to bash the goblin's skull even though it had long been dead. The man stopped punching for a second to catch his breath. He looked around for but a moment before he began his relentless assault again, punching until the goblin's brains leaked out through its skull.
Over and over, he continued to punch until the front of the goblin's skull completely shattered. I shrank at the sight.
How strong were his damned fists to crush a skull? Or were goblin skulls weak?
The blond man stood up, drenched in the green blood of the goblin, and slicked back his long hair. He began to walk away from the goblin, finally signaling the end of his rampage, only to retrieve its sword. He swiftly spun around and ran the blade through the goblin's chest, using it to pick up the goblin and throw it to the ground, where he then decapitated it.
After that display, nobody there dared to speak a word. Those who'd been screaming the entire time stopped. Some pissed their pants and fell. Others began violently vomiting. Though some still tended to him, most attention that fell on my savior was now utterly directed at this blond maniac.
The blond man held up the decapitated head and smiled.
"I killed it!" he shouted.
He paused for a moment, looking around, probably assessing everyone's reaction. After his scan, he cocked his head to the side in a sort of confusion, then after a couple of seconds began to speak again.
"Ahem," he forcibly cleared his throat. "Listen all! If we are going to survive this ordeal, we must become united!" He was still parading the severed head.
Was this his goal? Had he intended to claim the role of leader? Well, even if he may have been a psycho, it seemed he might have been the only one here capable of organizing us, even if through the method of fear.
"We have no idea what will happen to us if we fail this trial, but I assure you, it won't be desirable. My name is Lucas Hajek. I want this name to serve as a beacon of hope in our unknown situation. Follow my lead, and we'll all make it out alive."
With this corny statement, he raised the goblin's head higher. It seemed like he expected people to start cheering or something. When nobody moved, he threw the goblin's head over his shoulder, shrugged, and continued.
"Everyone, line up!" Green goblin blood spurted from his mouth as he spoke.
Only a few listened and lined up. I wasn't one of them. I stayed by my savior's side.
"Line up!" he again screamed cheerfully, as if he'd just been asked out by his crush, causing everyone else, most likely out of fear of this man, to line up except for me and another, a man named Maks, who continued to monitor my savior.
Lucas made eye contact with me for a brief second and exclaimed, "You two can tend to him, but listen closely."
Thankfully, it seemed he wouldn't be making us leave my savior's side.
He turned his gaze back toward the line.
"1 2 3 4 5… 50," Lucas muttered softly, then went back to shouting, "It seems fifty of us were summoned! For now, I think we should designate this area as a base while we figure out our plan of operation." Lucas raised the short sword for a moment. He spoke in complete seriousness, "We were given no weapons to slay this so-called goblin king. Our immediate goal should be to arm ourselves. However, having a weapon will mean nothing if we're all crawling, unable to use it due to dehydration and starvation. We must first scout the land and obtain rations. For tonight, scouting the land will take higher priority as blindly looking for food is just blatantly relying on luck to survive. I plan to divide us into many groups, allowing us to scout as much of the area as possible. Finding a water source, a food source, and enemy locations will be the priority. Keep in mind, finding, not gathering."
He'd deftly begun to pace back and forth while eyeing all who had lined up, only glancing at Maks, my savior, and me periodically.
"You, nor the person next to you, can be replaced. If you encounter an enemy, do not engage with them and do whatever you can to avoid them. If it comes down to it, run with all your heart. I do not care how much of an advantage you may find yourself in, run." He stopped pacing exactly in the middle of the line. "While it's not the main focus, it would be a great boon to us if we got to eat tonight, so I will dedicate a group in charge of obtaining food—in other words, a group focused on gathering. This group may come back with nothing, but with enough luck and skill, we might even eat meat tonight. With that said, those who are adept at hunting or foraging step forward."
For an entire minute, everyone stood stock still, causing an unbearable silence. To be honest, it was already a miracle anyone was listening to him. It was unnatural how fast he was adjusting to this situation. Did he not realize how strange it was for him to be this calm and put together? While I thought order and a leader was a good idea, this was too fast. Most people here hadn't calmed down at all; The people here, myself included, needed more time to process this whole situation. Some seemed only to be listening because they couldn't form a thought on their own, while others just followed the herd. It was also entirely possible people could think he was suspicious, an agent of the angelic being, given how nonchalant he was acting about the kidnapping and mysterious floating entity.
Surprisingly, a young girl who looked no older than eighteen raised her hand.
"Eh.. ehm… My grandpa took me hunting sometimes," she said.
"What's your name?" Lucas questioned her with a smile.
"J… Julia, Julia Dove," the girl with long silky brown hair replied.
"Good. Julia is in charge of hunting and foraging for food. I will entrust you with this." He held out the sword. At first, she seemed confused, but growing impatient, Lucas shoved the sword into her hand. "You, you, you… you… and you, help her," Lucas barked orders while pointing at different people. "Everyone else, I will assign you to scouting groups," he calmly added while looking at the rest of us.
While I could speculate, I hadn't a clue how everyone else felt about this. Nothing good would happen if we raised a fuss, though. He seemed competent despite his irrational behavior.
He divided the remaining thirty-four of us into groups. He decided to place himself in one of the scouting groups as well. We ended up with five groups of five dedicated to scouting, two groups only having four due to my savior being injured, and another man, Maks, who had been tasked with protecting my savior.
It was unfortunate, but it seemed Lucas deliberately split me and my savior up for whatever reason—or at least, that was how it felt. He seemed like a good leader. Challenging him would've been foolish. I didn't know why he pulled me away from my savior or if it had even been on purpose, but now I left it to the hands of fate—I entrusted my savior to Maks.
And well… if my savior did die, he'd just prove himself to be like the rest, but at least he would have been able to distract my mind for a little.
As for what each group was told to do, they were to go in different directions and scout the land, and reconvene in the clearing by a certain time.
"You've been given your directions," Lucas happily shouted. "Don't forget, unless tasked to, only scout, do not gather. Any extra gathering can be done once we know the lay of the land. Do your best not to engage in combat—It should be beyond just a last resort to fight. Know that if you fight and win, you will not be commemorated upon your return, but heavily scolded. Now disperse into your assigned groups and get to know each other and strategize. After thirty minutes, we'll set off."
With that, we split into our groups.
It still felt weird being ordered around by a stranger, but it seemed the others hadn't minded it too much. Also, it seemed like my savior would be fine… I just wish I had a shirt and for the pain in my arm to subside.