[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
Idir and Mr. Beast shared their experience and opinions on how they should move forward. They quickly came up with the plan of having the water serpent attack the goblin group in order to play it out like a random creature attack. "Of course. It'll also allow us to approach them without worry."[break][break]

With everyone in agreement, Mr. Beast sent his serpent into the sea as the group waited for it to attack. "Once they go to attack the serpent, I'll attack the biggest group with my poison thorns. Things should go rather easy after that." Natalya stated. Mr. Beast most likely didn't have any direct means of attack which meant that Idir would be their main damage dealer outside of the pets. She'd have to make sure to weaken as many goblins as she could to ensure their victory.[break][break]

Eventually, the serpent popped out of the waves, firing a spout of water onto the boards on the docks and luring out the goblin gang; something Mr. Beast verified with his dove. Natalya counted 8 total goblins; 4 warriors armed with clubs and spears, 3 armed with makeshift slingshots, and one who appeared to be a mage and the leader of the group. "Idir, can you try to take care of those rangers? Mr. Beast, the warriors, and I can keep the mage occupied." The botanist strategized, thinking back on what she knew of their abilities.[break][break]

Sneaking closer, Natalya looked back to make sure that everyone was ready before she activated her ability; firing a volley of purple thorns striking 2 of the warriors and all 3 of the rangers. The mage had managed to create a magic shield blocking the attack and saving 2 warriors and a ranger for the attack.[break][break]

[attr="class","landtag2"]@mrbeast idir [TAGGED]

[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
"Fuck you bitch!" the archer called out, her voice filled with pain and sounding a bit wet. Natalya spared a second to cast a quick glance back at her and what she saw wasn't pretty. The archer had a few bruises on her face and arms and those were the ones that Natalya could see. She clearly wasn't going to be of much use."At least my ability's cooldown had ended."[break][break]

Honestly, the girl was lucky that someone had arrived to help her otherwise she would have been killed. The fact that she was alive was simply because the goblins had prioritized stealing the goods from the caravan over killing her. This was supported by the fact that the merchant had merely been knocked out rather than killed.[break][break]

The archer was surprised when Natalya suddenly took off, running headfirst toward the goblin trio. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? Have you gone crazy bitch!?" she called out, struggling to arm her bow as the monsters charged back. Natalya remained silent, merely allowing the distance to close to 3 meters between her and the monsters before her true attack began.[break][break]

The goblins didn't have any time to react as a deep purple thorn bush appeared in front of them before launching the thorns out. They let out pained yells as the thorns pierced their bodies before two of their numbers suddenly found themselves struck in the chest; one with an arrow and another with a seed.

[attr="class","landtag2"]@tag [TAGGED]

[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
The two goblins hissed at her before picking up their clubs, glaring at her with hate in their eyes. "I don't need your help!" called out the girl as she barely dodged a swing from one of the goblins. Natalya ignored her; peasants were always overestimating their capabilities and focused on the upcoming battle.[break][break]

Only half the time had passed until she could use her ability again so at the moment all she had was her seed attack. She'd have to stall for time again while slowly whittling down their health it seems, at least until Pierre or the Rider are able to come and assist. "Strangely enough, I haven't seen or heard the Rider since his initial charge."[break][break]

As the two goblins charged at her, Natalya surprised them both by charging back as she aimed at one of the goblins before she fired. It was surprised when the attack wasn't the seed one it had been expecting but merely a pebble flicked at them. This distraction was enough for Natalya to leap over the other goblin's attack and fire her seed attack directly into the throat of her first target, causing it to let out a wet cough as blood poured out its mouth.[break][break]

The Russian proved herself to be relentless though, lashing out with a kick directly to its face that sent the goblin flying back where it remained unmoving.

[attr="class","landtag2"]@tag [TAGGED]

[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
Natalya was a bit surprised that these goblins were able to survive crashing into her shield like that. She had expected the effects of her Lupine DNA plus the backlash of her attack to be enough to deal with them hence her targeting the ranger. Now though, she'd have to stall things out a bit while waiting for them to die.[break][break]

The ranger rose back to his feet and let out a roar which sent the 3 warriors charging forward, even as they hacked and coughed blood. As the ranger attempted to notch another arrow, Natalya fired another seed putting an end to that enemy though that gave the other 3 time to mob her.[break][break]

The merchant was awed as he watched Natalya weave her way around each of the goblin attacks. She did it so effortlessly, appearing as if she were dancing to an invisible song. With every miss of the goblin's club, they grew more frustrated and tired; the clock ticking ever closer to their deaths.

[attr="class","landtag2"]@tag [TAGGED]

[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
Natalya glanced around, there wasn't much in the room that they could use to create any traps but they had to do something. Whatever that monster was that killed that boy was fast and had a clear advantage in its ability to move through the earth. If they didn't do something about that then she doubted they would be able to win.[break][break]

Looking over at the car, the idea of lighting its oil came to mind but that would have to be saved until after they got the beast inside. "That would work. In fact." she muttered, looking around after Mr.Beast displayed the blowtorch. She soon found 2 half-full gas canisters and dragged them to the front of the garage while directing Mr. Beast to put the beast corpses in the middle of the room. "We can use these to deter the creature. I doubt it'll want to deal with the smell of gas."[break][break]

Checking for time, Natalya noticed that it was almost time for the next raid and alerted her meatshield and his pet. They had no idea what would be coming next but they would have to be ready.

[attr="class","landtag2"]@mrbeast [TAGGED]

[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]

Rising from her position, Natalya made her way to the front of the caravan, sitting down next to the merchant. "So have you traded with this community a lot?" She asked giving the merchant a kind smile. She figured that now would be a good time to start gathering some information about the community they would be visiting.[break][break]

"Uh, a few times now. We started trading with them a few weeks ago after they started coming into town with monster drops and other stuff." the man said, blushing a bit at such a beautiful woman talking to him. It was no coincidence that Natalya had chosen this merchant to sit with as she had noticed his leering at her earlier.[break][break]

These types of men were always easy to manipulate; thinking more so with their libido than their head. The pair would continue to chat for another 10 minutes with Natalya learning more about the community before a shout from in front drew the pair's attention and sent Natalya into combat mode.[break][break]

Monsters!

[attr="class","landtag2"]@tag [TAGGED]

[attr="class","landimgbg2"]

[attr="class","landbod2"]
Natalya followed silently behind Idir as he tracked the goblins, pondering on his previous words. She wouldn't mind getting a magical beast for a pet if possible but it raised the question of what kind of creature would she want. "The smarter thing would be to get something that compliments my ability." she mused. "Meaning it'd probably be best to wait until I get my subclass then."[break][break]

She was pulled from her musing by Idir suddenly stopping causing her to tense and glance around, wondering what caused his reaction. She released that tension when he announced that he had found something. Mr. Beast then activated his ability on the dove before sending it off, soon finding the goblins hiding under the boardwalk with the trinkets.[break][break]

"I don't think we should charge head first. Just because we might have a number advantage doesn't mean that we shouldn't be cautious. How many goblins were there? Did they have any weapons? What was the location like?" she asked in rapid-fire succession, her mind beginning to plan their assault.

[attr="class","landtag2"]@mrbeast idir [TAGGED]