Almost as if by habit, I am once again on the left, Damon on the right, and Sophie in the back as we follow Hadwin.

After just a few minutes of us clumsily sneaking, we stop at Hadwin's gesture. He just points in front of us, slightly to the left.

I frown.

I didn't notice anything.

I don´t like it.

 

Leaves around a stone's throw in front of us start rustling, and I hear Sophie screaming in warning as the enemy also appears from behind.

Green creatures surround us while growling and showing their teeth.

Two level 2, two level 3, and one level 5 goblin shaman.

 

Not good.

Actually, it's pretty bad.

Really bad.

I get ready to run away when it becomes even worse.

A car sized wolf appears from behind the goblin shaman.

 

[Reanimated Wolf, lvl 2]

 

He's big, brown, and bloodied, but the most eye-catching thing is the iron pipe sticking out of its blinded eye.

 

I enter the deepest focus I ever have.

The world around me quiets, colors lose some of their vibrancy, and my mind filters out useless information.

My and the goblin shaman's eyes meet, and I swear he looks like he is laughing.

The goblins don't seem to be surprised to meet us at all.

 

Fuck.

 

Someone screams.

We don't even get time to run as the animated wolf rushes at us.

Hadwin makes the first move, and I can hear gunshots.

One.

Two.

Three.

All of them hit, but the wolf keeps charging and only slightly staggers after every gunshot. There is no blood.

Its target is Hadwin, who quickly swaps to the spear.

 

As the wolf shortens the distance, I put my knife away and hold my pipe in both hands. I let mana flow through my body, focusing more of it on my shoulders and waist as I burrow my feet into the ground

I clench my core, spin in my waist, and swing with all the strength I can muster.

The wolf passes by me, aiming for Hadwin, and I hit its front leg.

Something cracks really loudly, and the weapon in my hands bends. The wolf staggers, but there is no painful cry as it falls down while stepping on its broken leg. Hadwin quickly stabs with his spear.

 

But I am already behind the three and making a circle to the left towards the other goblins, knife back in my left hand. Mana is still flowing through my body.

I would like to save some and turn the skill off when I don't need it, but I want to stay as careful as I can.

The goblin shaman is holding his hands in the air and mumbling something under its nose, and its eyes are glued on me. One level 3 stays near him, and another level 3 slowly walks towards me together with a level 2. The last goblin is already fighting with Damon while Sophie is helping Hadwin with the wolf.

The level 2 goblin stabs at me with his spear, and its moves are painfully amateurish. With my body strengthened by mana, I easily dodge it and hit its face in exchange, breaking its nose and injuring an eye.

As he steps back with a painful groan, I move to the left and kick the dashing level 3 goblin. My leg hurts from it, but as he staggers, I dash back into his reach while he is regaining balance.

I stab my dagger as deep as I can into its neck and twist, breaking it in the process.

He falls to the ground, twitching his limbs and letting out wet choking noises.

 

Good.

 

After dodging one more attack, I finish off the lvl 2 goblin with multiple hits from my iron pipe on its head. Its skull cracks and it falls down without much resistance.

The fight took less than ten seconds, and the whole time, I kept a few trees between me and the goblin shaman.

 

Before continuing, I pick up both of their spears and peek at the duo. The shaman seems to be done with whatever he was doing, and now he is only waiting.

I peek just for a second and throw a spear at him. The weapon is terribly balanced, and it just hits the ground a few meters away from them.

It´s harder than I thought.

When I glance backward, I see that Damon´s level 2 goblin is already dead, and they seem to be finishing off the wolf. Hadwin is limping with a deep wound in his thigh, and Sophie's hand seems to be wounded too. Damon is holding a wound on his chest.

 

I have an opportunity but something stops me from running away and I turn back to the duo in front of me.

I bend to pick few stones from the ground when I hear it.

A terrible piercing noise

Not good.

Without even thinking, I dash to the side as quickly as I can.

 

Boom.

 

Something explodes, and I feel a pressure wave hitting my back, throwing me against a tree.

Even before the pain hits me, I know I have broken a few bones, but I try to roll as soon as I hit the ground. While limping, I run a few meters.

 

Boom.

 

Another shockwave throws me to the ground. The world around me starts spinning, and I feel blood in my mouth.

NOT GOOD.

I let mana flow through my body and crawl back on my legs. They are not broken, but one of my arms is, uselessly hanging along my side. That leaves my iron pipe uselessly on the ground. The spear I picked up is broken, and I am just holding its upper half.

As expected, the level 3 goblin is already next to me, and this time, I am unable to fully dodge it's swift stab.

The spear grazes my side, and the goblin grabs my broken arm, sending a painful impulse through me and making me scream in pain.

 

But I stay focused.

I keep mana flowing through my body.

Even battered like this, I feel confident.

He will die.

My heart is beating like crazy, pumping mana and blood through my veins.

My breathing is ragged but steady.

It hurts.

It hurts so much.

But.

Even in such a state, there is not a single speck of doubt in my mind.

I will win.

Then I kick the goblin between his legs.

He lets out a painful groan and bends slightly.

I swing with my hand holding a broken spear and stab into the goblin's neck.

My spear doesn't enter too deeply, but with a loud scream, I pull back and thrust again and give him another kick between his legs.

He lets out a suffocating noise as blood starts flowing from his neck and mouth. He bends more while trying to cover his lower parts, and as he does so, I kick his lower chin with my knee.

Even in such a state, my kick is powerful enough, and I see consciousness disappear from his eyes.

As he falls down, I fall on him and stab his neck a few more times.

In the back of my mind, I hear a notification.

 

While holding a bloodied, broken spear in my hand, I stand up.

 

One more.