NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3: A little bit of magic
Running through the forest was quickly proving to be difficult, Ethan's breathing was heavy, his arms and legs hurt and more than once did he stumbled because of his long robe or because his staff got stuck in some low hanging branches. Still they never stopped, in the fleeting moments that he looked behind him he noticed the panicked expressions of James and Marie and the grim determination of the three remaining prisoners.
In the distance the horns sounded, screams echoed over the forest and the howling of wolves had a shiver run down his spine. The whole goblin tribe seemed to be behind them at this point so Ethan tried to think of a solution. His feet wouldn't carry him for much longer if he needed to keep up this pace and Marie looked like she would collapse at any second.
When he took a deep breath before saying something he gagged instead. A foul smell invaded his nose and he would puke if he could, his empty stomach dry heaved. Holding his nose shut he choked a few times from the putrid stench but then he realized it. This could be their chance, the smell would mask their scent better than everything he could come up with. Ethan didn't know how good goblins could smell, but those big noses must be good for something. He was pretty sure he could trick a wolf though.
"We need to find the source of that smell! Quickly!" He shouted to the others and while they didn't know what he wanted to follow such a rancid smell they didn't really have a better idea.
In the end it was James that found the source of the smell, he ducked under some branches and stumbled through some dry looking shrubs only to literally fall into a mostly dried out riverbed that was surrounded by close standing trees. Ethan and the rest saw him vanish suddenly.
The group quickly moved towards him and looked down the slope of the riverbed. James stood in knee high mud, there was still water in the riverbed but it was black and thick, something you expected from a swamp not a river. Following the course of the stream with his eyes, he saw it expand into a lake, fog hanging low over the surroundings. This must be part of a swamp, that's why it smelled so foul here.
One of the prisoners grabbed Ethan and shook him. "So what now wizard boy? Gonna tell us your great plan? Because the only thing I see around here is stinking water." He looked angry at him like it was his fault the tribe attacked, his boss killed that goblin child in the most gruesome way possible, not Ethan.
Ethan nodded towards the black murky water. "We need to hide in there, the smell of the swamp will mask our scent." The prisoners and James looked at him like he was a fucking idiot, Marie looked horrified with the thought of getting covered in filth. Anger knotted Ethan's brows, "It's not what I want to do either but do you idiots have a better plan? We're in this situation," Ethan waved his hand in the direction of the howling goblins, "because that caveman killed a goblin child!" Ethan growled at the idiots standing in front of him. Ethan rarely showed his emotions, but did the idiots have a plan? He at least tried to help them.
It was clear they didn't want his help when a fist hit him the next moment pushed all the air out of his body and he slumped to the ground, gasping for air. A kick followed and hit his shoulder, making him fall back, down the slope and into the thick sludge of the riverbed James landed in previously. "Don't get cocky, you better watch out… your stupid plan would kill all of us, I would rather run away." he shook his head. "Allow a child to do a man's job. Come on, leave him here. He can stall those creatures for us."
The group left him, James and Marie looked back at him, torn about what to do but a simple grunt from the man made them turn around and leave. Ethan groaned but he couldn't just lay here, he turned around, his cheek pressed firmly into the mud while he tried to get his hands under him, the thick sludge made every movement appear in slow motion, still he pushed himself up and crawled on hands and knees out of the riverbed and towards the swamp.
The cold water of the swamp embraced him, pulling out the last trickle of body heat he had left inside of him. There he sat, only his head poking from the water while he waited for the tribe to find him. He had managed to reach the outskirts of the actual swamp but those few meters of crawling and stumbling had pulled on his energy. Ethan felt so weak and at this point he just wanted to sleep, his eyes threatening to close a few times. Only the adrenaline was keeping him awake.
It didn't take long for the hunting party to reach the swamp, in those five minutes Ethan managed to pull some plants towards him to cover himself even more, he could feel insects crawl around in his long black hair, he twitched when something bit into his exposed skin or crawled into his robe. He wanted to scream and jump from this swamp but if he did, death was the only outcome. He could hear them now, goblins snarling in their weird language with each other, the growling of the wolves they had with them.
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It sounded to him like they're arguing about something, maybe they lost the scent of the others too? A shimmer of hope formed in his chest, not for the prisoners but he hoped James and Marie were okay, they're only kids after all. But his hope got crushed quickly when he heard them laugh and scream, he risked it and took a look through his plant cover and spotted twenty goblins and ten wolves running along the riverbed away from the swamp. He guessed in the direction the others took.
Ethan decided to wait and he could feel his arms and legs getting numb, his eyelids got heavy again and Ethan could just drift into an endless, dreamless sleep. But he wanted to fight, wanted to live, if it was not for himself then just to keep the memory of his sister alive. The thought about her made him wide awake once again, like some animal did he claw his way back out of the swamp and into the riverbed, all the pain forgotten for those few minutes it took him to escape the deadly embrace of the swamp.
Breathing heavily he rested on hands and knees for a while, happy he managed to evade the goblins, he crawled to the edge riverbed he was pushed into and grabbed his mud covered staff and used it to pull himself back up on his feet. A sigh escaped his lips and his gaze wandered to the sky, the dim sun was already approaching the horizon and it wouldn't be long before the night would rule this cursed tutorial.
Ethan thought about following the goblins and finding the others but what could he do about a group of twenty goblins? Literally nothing, the best course of action would be to find some other creatures he could kill, like in all the RPGs he played that was the first step, maybe he could find a group of boars or deer. The plan set he climbed back up the slope of the river to the sickly looking forest, his hand grabbed a root to pull himself up. When he looked for his next handhold he saw the feet of something green standing in front of him. He turned his gaze upwards and stared into the yellow eyes of a goblin.
For a moment both of them stared at each other, disbelief on their faces. But the goblin had the better instincts and with a scream it threw itself on Ethan, pushing him back into the muddy riverbed but this time Ethan held onto his staff. He managed to get his staff between him and the green beast while it tried to dig its needle-like teeth into his neck. Ethan pushed with all his might against him, the both of them turning and tossing around in the mud like children fighting over a toy, but the crazed look in the goblins eyes and the saliva dripping from its chapped lips told Ethan what would happen if he lost.
Their struggle continued, the goblin having a clear advantage with its natural weapons, Ethan felt the sweat run down his forehead, leaving small lines in the otherwise dirt covered face. Then he finally remembered something and he would kick himself if he could. With a cry he yelled. "I-Ice Bolt!" he didn't know if he needed to point his staff somewhere or use some kind of connection to his energy but in the next moment a tiny spell circle appeared in front of his nose and a pointy ice shard shot from it and pierced straight through the goblins face, showering Ethan in blood and gore.
Everything seemed to be in slow motion for Ethan, the first use of magic felt exhilarating and taxing at the same time. Like he lost a new form of energy he didn't know he had before. He could see the ice pierce its green skin, how it dug into its flesh and pushed against the skull only to push through it with such ease like a hot knife through butter.
The goblin collapsed on him and blood continued to drip from the fist size hole in the goblins head. Then a notification appeared.
[You killed Goblin - Level 1 | You gained experience!]
Well that was anticlimactic, Ethan thought with a small laugh. Then more notifications appeared.
*Update* [A little bit of magic - Be the first person to kill a monster using elemental magic. Bonus experience earned!]
*Update* You reached Level 3! Stat points allocated! Free points received!
Name: Ethan Delaney
Level: 3
Class: Mage
Subclass: None
Health Points (HP): 80/120
Mana Points (MP): 130/190
Stamina: 100/100
Stats
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Vitality: 12
Wisdom: 19
Intelligence: 19
Perception: 10
Willpower: 10
Free points: 4
A simple thought was enough to call his status. He let out a sigh and looked over his stats, it seems each point increased his resources by 10, he didn't even notice the loss in health but the long time he sat in the swamp and the scratches from the goblin must have taken a good chunk of his meager health pool. Looking over his mana it seems one ice bolt cost twenty to cast, something he needed to look out for, without mana he was as good as dead.
Ethan pushed himself to his feet…again and crawled out of the riverbed…again and made his way through the forest, it was time to take his fate in his own hands and that meant to kill more monsters.