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 "I see Elana running back to us, is that the signal?" Norman asks.

"What is that thing chasing her, it doesn't look like a goblin," Darius replied. "We need to help her!"

"Rush him!" X exclaimed leading the charge into the enemy in front of them.

Right before the large goblin could slam his massive club down on Elana's back, X, Darius, and Norman all charged into the goblin and shoved it back.

"Does this count as a signal?" Elana asked as she pivoted and knocked another arrow.

"I think it does," Zack says giving her a once-over. "Looks like you got out okay."

"Talk less, fight more!" Norman yells as he thrust his spear at the large goblin.

The goblin doges the attack, but before he could move again Elana unleashes her arrow hitting it in the leg. This causes the goblin to slow down. He lashes out with his club attempting to keep Darius and Norman out of spear range.

"I don't think this will be a easy fight guys, but we have to wrap this up quick," X said taking a step back and analyzing the battle in front of him. <Board is Opening, strategist skills unlocked> As right after this notification popped up a health bar appeared above the goblin's head. The goblin had lost a third of its health already from the two arrows that were embedded into it. X had an idea. <Skill Message> user: Adriana \\" Use your combustion skill on the arrow that is in his eye." (From here on I will use that format for the telekinetic conversations that come with the use of the message skill.)

Adriana looked around until she saw X. The look on her face spelled confusion, but she raised her hand and focused none the less. It only took two seconds for the arrow to begin to smoke.

Right before the arrow caught fire, X sent one more message off. <Skill Message> user: Darius \\ "When you see the arrow that is in his eye socket catch fire lunge!".

Darius nodded his head and pulled his spear back close to his body to prepare for the deep lunge.

The arrow caught fire from the intensity of the vibration in the dried wood. When the goblin felt the heat from the fire it began swatting towards its face, forgetting about the two people in front of it that have been attempting to stab it.

Darius saw his opening. He took a deep breath and lunged forward thrusting his spear right through the ribcage of the goblin.

As it screamed out in pain it dropped its club and grabbed at the spear embedded in its chest. His health was now down to one third.

Norman followed up Darius' attack by swinging his spear at the mostly defenseless goblin.

Crack!

The Spear slammed directly into the goblin's head causing it to double over on the spot and shudder before it went limp. In the process of producing the killing blow, the spear also split in two.

*System Alert*

300 XP distributed evenly to party

20 XP directly to the strategist

The goblin was dead, but there was still work for them to do. This battle was just starting.

"Back to my scouting run, I will be back shortly." Once again Elana disappeared almost before their very eyes.

Norman walks over to the club the goblin was using and picks it up. He gives it a few test swings before taking it for his own. "Looks like I have another weapon to use now."

Darius and Adriana searched the body to see if there was anything useful on it. They found a knife and a leather shoulder armor piece.

"Quick let's see if this fits you." Adriana straps it to Darius's shoulder. "Looks pretty good on you, hopefully, it will help."

"Okay guys, Elana gave me the signal. Let's get in position." X jogged in the direction Elana disappeared off in with the rest of the party in tow.

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Back on the front lines, the Patrol Team had their work cut out for them. The first group of the Patrol Team members reached back to the second defensive line. This is where they are supposed to form in with the second group of patrol team members to create the second line to bait in the rest of the enemy's forces.

So far the plan was working, and they haven't suffered any losses. Some of the non-combatants were throwing rocks into the crowd of goblins being held off at the gate.

"Nobody moves from this spot until the last goblin falls," Mike said as he speared another goblin.

"Sir, it looks like there is another wave coming in!" One of the Patrol Team members pointed them out.

"We had to have killed at least 25 of these things already. How many more lives can they afford to throw away? Hold the line!" Mike braced himself for another wave of goblins.

When the wave finally hit the line of spearmen they noticed it was slightly more organized. They had slightly better gear. This time the spear line was not able to get out unscathed. Two of their fighters both got hit by a well-organized goblin attack. The goblins responsible were quickly impaled by the surrounding spears, and the injured Patrol Team members were dragged away from the line by some of the non- combatants. This wave of goblin pushed even harder almost causing the line to lose ground.

"Make a hole!" The battle cry could be heard on the flank that was starting to lose ground. Layla sprung through the hole and gave a powerful swipe of her staff causing the group of goblin concentrated in that area to stumble backward and fall prone. The surrounding linemen capitalized on this advantage.

Once that pocket of goblins was taken out the rest fell back to regroup. It didn't take very long for another large group to appear before the gate again. Among these goblins were some archers with bows at the ready.

"Keep an eye out for the archers, don't let yourself get picked off," Layla shouted before batting away an arrow.

The first volley of arrows missed the mark.

"Mike, if we don't push through them those archers are going to rip us apart," Layla expressed. "I don't know if we can wait for the other group to get in position."

As she said that she saw a familiar human appear right behind the archers. Elana stabbed the nearest goblin she was around and took it out. She quickly followed up before the goblin next to her could realize what was happening. With this method, she was able to successfully take out 4 of the 9 goblin archers before they realized she was there. She used the confusion to activate her pickpocket skill on one of the last 5 goblin archers in an attempt to take their bow.

*System Notification*

<Pickpocket Skill Critical Successl>

+2 Bow

When she looked at the 5 goblins in front of her all of their bows were gone. In her hand was a bow with really fine craftsmanship. 'Pickpocket is a powerful skill! That luck stat must have really come in handy!' She knocks an arrow and fires at one of the disarmed goblins. The arrow flings with a massive amount of force piercing the first target and slamming into the second killing both of them on impact. 

I have changed how the messager skill works because I feel that this gives it more of a game vibe. Feedback is always appreciated especially when I make changes like this.

Stay worthy readers!