NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26
"Izzie!" Sophie screams and runs first towards the bus. We follow behind her, just not as enthusiastically.
The bus horn keeps sounding, and the screams of goblins become louder and louder.
We exit the trees and see other passengers inside the bus. Most of them...
There are two bodies outside, and a few goblins keep stabbing their bodies while screaming. Some of them are even taking a bite out of them.
Then there is another group surrounding the bus. They laugh and growl, still outside as people inside keep poking out with sharpened sticks and weapons they got from the quest.
Sophie staggers onto the clearing.
"N-No..." she stops, seeing around thirty goblins in the clearing. Most of them are level two or three, but some are level five goblin warriors. "Izzy..." she calls quietly, but some of the goblins already turn to her.
A pulse of mana extends to the surrounding from her body, and the goblins that turned to her look confused and turn back to the bus.
Another pulse of mana washes over the entire clearing. Even I feel something telling me to run away. Some goblins even start to leave, but others poke them, growl at them, and they start looking around while sniffing.
"Please..." she turns towards us. Another pulse of mana from Sophie, and I stop Tess and Kevin, who are taking a step towards the clearing.
They shake their heads, confused.
Hadwin seems to resist, but Maya and Leon slowly move a step closer and then stop. Even Sophie's skill is not yet strong enough to make them risk their lives.
The girl's eyes then turn to me.
Not to Hadwin.
To me.
"Please, Nathaniel, please..." her voice breaks at the end. Now, I don't feel any mana from her.
Is it doable?
I look at the clearing.
Hmm.
I think it is.
I can do it.
"Use your skill to make a few goblins come here. Around five."
I squeeze my mace and step closer to her.
I see her biting her lips, but she nods. She most likely wants us to rush straight to the bus, but that's too risky.
It's harder to run that way in case something happens.
"Tess, save your mana as much as possible. Only throw your main spear at level 5 goblins and if needed."
Not wasting my mana anymore on [Mana Perception] or any other skill, I step a bit back, just far enough into the forest so not all goblins will spot us. Sophie most likely uses her skill as six goblins turn towards us and rush while screeching.
I breathe out.
Four level two and two level three.
I breathe in.
Sophie holds her spear and stabs the first goblin that rushes at us. The monster dodges it slightly and rushes closer to her, where it's hit with Hadwin's axe.
Tess attacks another one with much greater success as her spear stabs its neck.
I step towards the goblin that rushes me to surprise him, and my mace aims for his face, but he is able to lift up his hand to block it. It breaks, and the goblin falls down with a scream.
Another one rushes me while stabbing, and I step back, grab its spear, and pull it to make him lose balance. While he is staggering, my mace smashes his head.
I notice Leon and Maya finishing off the first goblin I attacked.
Another one attacks me from the side while wildly swinging his dagger, and another one tries to hit Tess while she is fighting the first one.
I strengthen my body with mana a little bit and throw my mace, which hits the goblin attacking Tess and distracts him enough so she can turn and defend herself.
I dodge the goblin's knife and pull out mine, stabbing it downwards right into the monster's back.
He screams, and I pull out and stab again, this time into his traps, and then again into its neck. I kick him away, and he dies on the ground.
[You have defeated the Goblin, lvl 3]
Silence.
Every goblin is dead, and I catch my mace that Tess is throwing at me. She nods gratefully.
The green monsters, meanwhile, don't seem too eager to get inside and are more interested in scaring people hiding inside the bus.
Sophie is already bleeding from her nose, and her skin is pale. She is probably using her skill to manipulate goblins.
Maybe she is making them want to tease and scare people before they kill them, so they won't rush them instantly?
Is she making them ignore the screaming of their dying companions?
"I just need a few more minutes... I put more stats into my mana... I can do it..." she breathes heavily while clenching her teeth.
"Your sister doesn't have that long."
Pure desperation is visible on her face as she looks at me.
"Another group." I point at a group of 4 goblins nearby, one of them a level 5 goblin warrior with a dangerous-looking stone axe in its hand.
"I..." she seems so tired, so weak.
"Just do it." There is no pity in my eyes as I look down at her.
She breathes weakly.
"That's all? You're just going to sit there because you feel tired?"
I step closer to her.
"You will stop only because your head hurts a bit?" I give her a cold smile and whisper, so only she can hear, "But it's okay, just lay down and we can watch."
Her eyes become colder and colder with every word I say. More blood starts flowing from her bitten lips, and then she turns towards the clearing.
"You are such a bastard…"
With a groan, she falls to her knees and becomes paler and paler. More blood starts flowing from her nose, down her lips, and drips from her chin onto the front of her shirt.
Then the goblin warrior turns its gaze towards us. He bares his teeth and moves closer, followed by a few more goblins.
"Tess, you take the one on the left. Hadwin, shoot the goblin warrior just a little bit before we start, and then take one. Leon and Maya, the last one is yours. Feel free to run if you want to, but if you do, don't bother coming back."
I step towards the goblin warrior and lower my stance. He does the same.
He is slightly taller than the other goblins while still being slim. The tattoos that cover his skin are in a much darker shade of blue.
He rushes at me, and in the middle of that, an arrow scratches his arm. Another arrow completely misses him, and then the others start fighting their goblins.
Unsurprisingly, even a level 5 goblin is an amateur at best. His swings are faster and carry more force behind them, but they are easy to read now that I've seen their fighting style and taken their unnatural speed and force into consideration.
I dodge the first swing, I dodge the second swing.
He growls, annoyed, and swings again, this time putting more force behind it and losing a bit of balance when he misses. So, I kick his leg, making him stagger even more.
I send just a little bit of mana through my body and swing downwards with my mace.
He moves faster than before and is able to block it with his hand. It doesn't break. There is a wound on it, it's bleeding, but it doesn't break.
He bares his teeth as if smiling, so I take a quick step back, and in doing so, I kick right at his face with the bottom of my feet. I feel a crunch, and his nose breaks.
Another loud roar, and he rushes me again, this time moving faster and using even his hands to move while still holding the axe.
His face is a bloodied mask of rage.
[Focus]
The world becomes quieter, and under the light of polar lights, I focus on the goblin only.
He puts more strength into his left, and I already move to the side by the time he jumps quickly, rushing through the air while letting go of his axe. I feel mana from his hands as he reaches them at me.
But I am not there.
More mana flows through my veins, and the mace's handle creaks in my hands. As he passes in the air next to me, I wait until he misses me with his hands, and then my mace lands with its full power right on the goblin's back.
Crack.
The green monster lands and tries to turn to me but instantly falls, losing all power in its legs. He roars and growls, but his legs do not move at all.
With a hateful look in his eyes, he starts crawling towards me with surprising speed, but I leap a few steps back to the place where he jumped from.
Before he gets to me, I hold his axe in my hand and throw it at him, using some mana. He covers his face, and the axe just wounds him a little bit.
What a terrible throw.
But when he stops covering his face, I am already in front of him, and my mace hits his head with full power. His hands desperately trying to cover it don't help at all.
Crack.
Crack.
Splat.
He finally stops moving.
[You have defeated the Goblin Warrior, lvl 5]
[Lvl 4 > Lvl 5]
I instantly put all three stat points into Mana, making it my highest stat.
[Name: Nathaniel Gwyn]
Difficulty: Hell Floor: 1 Time left until forced return: 4y 363d 18h 9m 59s
Lvl 5
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 9
Constitution: 10
Mana: 11
[Primary Class: Unavailable]
[Sub-class: Unavailable]
Skills:
- Focus Lvl 3
- Mana manipulation Lvl 3
- Mana Perception Lvl 2
- Oscillation Lvl 1
[Skill Points: 0]
[Stat Points: 0]