The group of guardsmen was made up almost entirely of Warrior Skill Gem equipped soldiers with combat gems and spell stones around level five, but with one Cleric among them for healing.
Each additional level applied to a Spell Stone would increase the effect of the magic by somewhere between twenty and twenty-five percent compared to a level one magical skill. So, for the common masses, one or two extra levels on a primary attack gem was a huge difference.
The addition of the three adventurers gave them a slightly stronger lead fighter, as well as a higher damage ranged fighter and Dominic, whose abilities none of them really understood. They would find out soon enough when they got into a fight, but with crafters, it could be hit or miss what actual combat abilities they had when they were still young.
But there was one thing that they all knew: Dominic was the blacksmith that came in with the caravan last night, and if you got in good with an apprentice blacksmith, you could save a fortune on repairs and new equipment in the long term.
The village had multiple smithy forges, most of which dealt with vehicle repairs and magitech items. Ones that were willing to take the drudgery of repairing armour and properly sharpening weapons were much harder to find, and most of the guardsmen either did it themselves if they could, or took it to the toolmaker.
So, they wouldn't turn down his help, despite the fact that he was only a level two Blacksmith Apprentice. As an innate magic user, that mattered less than a level two enhanced frontline warrior, who would take much more damage and be less able to block attacks. A lower level caster simply didn't do as much damage.
But most Goblins died against any magical attack, so it wasn't as much of an issue.
The guards let Wiz lead the team into the trees, following the footprints that the Garrison Commander had found. They didn't follow the main group, instead Wiz led them down a side path to see where the goblins had branched off to.
If it was not a diversion, it would likely be an ambush site, or a hunting camp where they were collecting food. Both were important targets to eliminate, and with four guards, a cleric and Dominic's group, they shouldn't have too many problems taking out an ambush team.
The signs of movement through the forest became more and more clear the further that they went into the trees, and before long they could hear goblins talking, and the crackle of a campfire.
Wiz looked back at the team and gave them a series of hand signals to close in tight on his shoulders when he charged, and to keep two of the warriors back to prevent the Goblins from surrounding the ranged attackers.
Bella carefully moved forward until she could see the camp, and then climbed up into a tree to give herself a better firing line, while Dominic moved behind the cleric, so that if anything came from the back, the healer wasn't the first one to take the attack.
The goblin camp was similar in size to the group that ambushed the convoy, about forty goblins in total, but this time they didn't need to guard a set of steam carriages full of valuable trade goods, and they could just fight.
The team didn't make a sound as they charged into the goblin camp until they activated their first skills. For Wiz, that was [Consecration], an area damage ability. While for the warriors it was [Cleave] which sent out an energy blade in an arc that followed the path of their weapon for a few metres in front of them.
The skills themselves didn't make any noise, but the flashes of light as the gems activated and the sound of wounded and dying Goblins were unmistakable.
The skills cut a swathe through the goblins and forced them to regroup if they wanted to survive.
Bella began to fire from her perch in the trees, and Dominic aimed [Arcane Blasts] between the warriors to pick off the goblins who tried to circle around them.
Every Goblin that he got a clear view of got a matching spell to the face, dropping the small green monsters into a growing pile of corpses at the edge of the semicircle of melee fighters.
"How is your mana holding up?" The cleric asked as Dominic used two [Arcane Blasts] in rapid succession.
"It's good. I get a bit of regeneration on kill," he replied, to hide the fact that his primary attack spell didn't actually use any internally stored mana. That was much too strange to explain to others, and far too easy to exploit if they knew about it and wanted to make him do all the work.
"Mana on kill is a fantastic gem bonus. But it's a bit savage for a smith, isn't it?" The Cleric asked a bit dubiously.
"Fighting is fighting, and Smithing is Smithing. It's better to keep the two separate in your mind. But there are more advantages to having combat bonuses than just a bit of mana regeneration. Besides, the Goblins have materials that I need." Dominic replied with his best gentle smile to set the Cleric's mind at ease.
While they were joking, Dominic took out three more goblins who had tried to encircle their position, keeping the pressure off the guards on their flanks, and allowing Bella more time to reload.
She wasn't wasting ammunition on grand volleys like she had when they burst through the fight yesterday, instead she was picking them off one at a time, carefully placing her shots so that the fight didn't cost her more than it earned.
The group began to push forward as the goblins were cleared from the camp, and the stragglers started to run, which made Bella jump down from her spot in the tree and jog over to the group past the piles of corpses.
"Looting this is going to suck. Sure, the cores go straight to your storage, but the bounty on Goblins demands a left ear." She muttered to Dominic under her breath.
It was the only sure way to prove that you had really done the job, and someone would notice pretty quickly if there was a group of goblins running around without one ear.
The forest around them fell silent, marking the last of the visible goblins deaths, but Dominic didn't relax just yet. He had seen how sneaky they could be with their underground hiding spots.
The guards had also been informed of the tricks they were playing near the capital, and the attempt to ambush the Princess during her hunting trip. So, each destroyed hut was checked while the bodies were stripped of any spare weapons and their ears, a task that the guards were kind enough to take on themselves.
"Did anyone get anything good from the drops?" The team leader asked, checking faces to see if any of his men were hiding something from him.
As city guards, the drops belonged to the town, and the guards got a portion of the revenue when they were sold. It was one of the ways that the council kept everything funded and running as smoothly as possible.
Dominic sorted through his drops. Copper daggers, mana cores, filthy cloth, a few bags of coins, a common magic dagger, and finally one blue coloured scroll caught his attention. He had gotten a Rare Drop.
[Mana Revolver Pattern]
According to the introduction at the top of the scroll, that should be usable by those with [Blacksmith], [Gunsmith] and [Artificer] skills.
Dominic quickly read the next paragraph. [Creates a revolver that may be reloaded for 6 mana. Damage determined on creation]
It was beautiful, everything that a Weaponsmith could ever hope for. Well, it was still a revolver, which Dominic didn't really know how to use, but still, it was an actual rare recipe drop. Maybe in this life, fate really did favour him.
Pops had been adamant that the Masters were hiding away all the good recipes. But perhaps that also worked the other way. Those who got the good recipes became Master Smiths.