I gently tossed the helmet from hand to hand. It would add more protection, but if I wore it, I'd be unable to use Flame Breath with the visor down. It was a bridge I'd have to cross eventually. I sighed heavily before putting the helm on making a mental note to change Flame Breath's spell form.
The helm cut off a good part of my vision. I could only really see what was right in front of me, and it dampened my hearing by a good bit. I'd have to rely more heavily on Danger Sense, but hopefully, that meant the ability would level faster. With that decided, I took a quick look at my resource pool.
I wasn't sure when, but three new icons had appeared in the top left of my vision. They seemed to fade into the background if I stopped focusing but came to the foreground with a thought. The first, an outline of a Squirrelfolk, had a darker red in the chest while the rest was filled in with a light red with a 68% floating above its head. The second and third were bars colored green and blue. The green bar was mostly full, having maybe twenty percent taken out of it, whereas the blue was down by about a fourth.
I clicked my tongue, having thought I had done better than that in the fight. I moved to sit under the one tree in the room. I dumped my mana into my healing spell, casting it three times to finally get back to one hundred percent. Next came meditation to fill my mana back up in a reasonable time.
It was a little under a minute and a half when I felt everything was topped off. I stood up, stretching lightly to loosen my slightly stiff tail. I'd have to find a better way to sit or start meditating while standing to fix that. I shook my head, refocusing on the task at hand. I flipped my visor up, finding the exit to the room before lowering it and heading off back into the maze.
I moved more carefully, sweeping the hallway with my ten-foot-long pole. I wasn't expecting to find any more traps, but at the thought of not doing it, I would get a bone-deep ache in my right arm. Even with my slower pace, I was still making better time than my first dungeon run. My steps were more confident, as I thought I knew what to expect.
I stepped into the next room, training the pole for my bow. I knocked an arrow, flipping up my visor, allowing me to scan the room. The room had a few trees and bushes breaking up the mostly empty room. At the back, I could make out three goblin riders sitting on their mounts. The first had a lance and shield; the second had a saber, and the last had a bow. They were huddled together, seeming to be engrossed in some debate I was too far away to make out.
I moved into the room, climbing up the nearest tree. They were far enough away that hitting them would come more down to luck than skill. The only thing I had going for me was that they were standing still. I took a deep breath, calming down.
I pulled the bowstring back until my fingers were just under my ears. My tail helped keep my balance as I lifted the bow slightly and loosed the arrow exhaling. The arrow shot through the air streaking towards my foes right over their heads to valiantly bury itself into a tree.
The horned mounts' ears swiveled as they tried to locate where the arrow had come from. The Riders turned in their saddles, readying their weapons as I knocked another arrow, adjusting my aim. I held the shot aiming at one of the mounts before losing the arrow.
Against my expectations, the arrow arched through the sky, slamming into the far mount's side. It squealed bloody murder before spinning to face me. The others quickly follow suit. They rushed forward as I quickly grabbed another arrow, rushing the shot.
The arrow slammed into the lead goblin's shield. The bow goblins split off from the others, taking its injured mount to my left as he started to fire arrows back at me. I flipped my visor down as I hopped to a new branch, putting the tree between us.
I shot one more arrow at the charging group. Time slowly as everything just felt right, my arrow streaked through the air, slamming into the lead rabbit's shoulder. The rabbit screamed in pain as it jerked away, tossing its rider free from the sudden stop.
The saber goblin cursed and spat insults as it closed in. I stashed my bow and hoped my crazy plan worked. My tail and my left hand held onto the branch as I angled my body to aim the saber rider. I waited until he was just in range, bunching up my legs before letting go. I pushed hard off the branch as I tried to use Charge.
The branch shattered as I launched myself at the goblin. Lightning coated my body just before I slammed head-first into the Goblin Rider's chest. We became a tangle of limbs falling off the horned rabbit mount slamming onto the ground.
We bounced on the ground, coming to a stop with the goblin on top. I wrapped my left arm around the goblin's neck as I grabbed my dirk, pulling it free and stabbing it into the goblin while it was still stunned. My blade slammed into the goblin's armor more than once before it found a gap.
The goblin bucked, hammering my sides with its fists. It screeched nonsense as it hammered away. I trusted my armor to hold up as my blade slid between gaps in its armor punching holes in the goblin's side. The goblin placed both hands on the ground and forced itself out of my embrace.
The goblin scrambled away, clutching its side. I quickly got back to my feet, replacing my dirk before pulling my Khopesh out of my inventory. I was about to rush forward when Danger Sense screamed at me. I darted to my left half, turning to get completely out of the way, barely dodging an arrow from behind.
I flooded mana into Overflow before charging the saber goblin. My blade flashed lightning, following in its wake. The goblin tried to block with its arms, but my blade smashed through its weak guard, ending the goblin.
I danced to my left dodging another arrow only to move into the path of a charging rabbit. The horn slammed into my back, glancing off my armor only for the rest of the rabbit to slam into me, tossing me to the ground. I rolled over right, shooting a Bolt off once I caught sight of the riderless rabbit.
My spell gave me just enough time to get back to my feet, causing an incoming arrow to glance off my breastplate. I grit my teeth, forcing myself to stay focused on the horned rabbits in front of me. I darted forward using the back of my blade to smack its horn to my right.
I brought my blade around, slashing down and taking the rabbit's eye. I shifted, placing the rabbit between the archer and me. I stayed close to the rabbit hacking away now that I was too close for it to use its horn.
With one rider and mount down, I flipped my visor up scanning the room. The lance goblin had gotten my arrow out of its mounts shoulder and seemed no worse for wear. The bowman had moved in closer, circling the downed mount.
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I stepped forward, looting the downed mount as my foot hit it before using Charge. I burst through the motes of light, dragging them behind me. My blade flashed, smashing the mount's horn to the side. Flames roared forward, washing over the horned mount and bowman.
I moved to the right, placing the rider between me and the Lancer. As the spell died down, I reached up, grabbed the flaming goblin, and ripped him down off his mount. I slammed my foot into its chest, gritting my teeth as my blade hacked through its neck.
I stepped back from the mount as the fire burned itself out. I clicked my tongue, moving back in only to have the rabbit dart forward. Danger Sense screamed as I dodged to the right. A horn scraped against my breastplate, deflecting off to my left as the following lance slammed into the dent left behind by the boar.
It felt like I got hit by a truck again as I was thrown back, the air getting knocked out of me. I gasped for air, my hands scrambling at my battered armor. I forced my scattered mind back together as I got to my feet. I spun around to find the Lancer already turning his mount around for another pass.
I knew the last mount was probably trying to flank me, but I didn't have time for that. A glance told me I had a little over half of my mana left. I darted toward the Lancer, sending four Bolts into his mount. The first Bolt had strands of electricity arc through its fur, but before it could fade away, the second, third, and fourth Bolt slammed into it. Each spell caused the arcs to build running rampant through the mount.
The rabbit locked up mid-sprint, causing it to tip forward. Its horn dug into the ground, causing it to flip head over heels, throwing the Lancer free. Danger Sense warned me of an attack coming in from my right. I burned stamina charging forward to slam into the Lancer as he was just getting to his feet.
My blade hacked into the Lancer's armor, battering him. He slammed into my chest, trying to drag me to the ground. I brought my pommel down into his back, my tail helping me stay on my feet. I was about to bring my sword down again when I felt a blade slide between the plates of my armor and into my ribs.
"You little shit!"
My left hand darted down, grabbing firmly onto the goblin's arm, keeping the dagger stuck in my side. I brought the pommel down hard against the goblin's head as my knee shot up, smashing into its face. The Goblins went slack slumping to the ground. I looked down, my anger mounting as I noticed it was my dirk sticking in me.
My foot smashed into the goblin's head, rolling it onto its back. I reversed my sword and stabbed down the tip, punching through its face. I pulled the dirk free as I cast Minor Self-heal. The spell closed the wound enough to stop the bleeding.
I flipped my visor up as Overflow ran out, causing my body to become heavy, and my stamina took a big hit losing half of it in one go. Both mounts were back on their feet but were noticeably slower. I planted my foot on the goblin's chest, pulling my Khopesh free. I heaved the blade up onto my shoulder as I slammed my visor shut.
'God damn, I need a drink.'
The rabbits spread out as they hopped closer to me. I focused on the charred rabbit rushing towards it. I ducked to the left, darting under its horn. I spun before hacking down hard putting my full strength behind the blow. My khopesh hacked into the rabbit's spine smashing through it.
I had to leave my sword behind as I leaped back to dodge the last rabbit. I pulled my dirk free glaring at the traitorous blade. I chased after the rabbit catching up to it as it spun around. I used Charge to get in close before it could point its horn my way.
My shoulder slammed onto the side of its neck causing the wound in my side to reopen. I grunted, grabbing onto the stunned rabbit's horn and forcing its head down. I brought my dirk's pummel smashing down into its skull three times until it crumpled to the ground.
I whipped my dirk clean on its fur before sheathing the blade. I fell onto the ground leaning against the rabbit as I looked at my resource.
Health: 180/360 Stamina: 53/270 Mana: 27/250
I was losing five health a second from blood loss. I grabbed my two health potions downing them back to back stopping the bleeding and bringing my health back into the green. I rested my head against the rabbit panting softly. My eyes grew heavy as the adrenaline left my body. I was able to get through my notifications before passing out.
-Congratulations-
Basic Archery has leveled up!
+1 Dexterity
-Congratulations-
Charge has leveled up!
+1 Strength
-Congratulations-
Bolt has leveled up!
+1 Intelligence
-Congratulations-
Danger Sense has leveled up!
+1 Wisdom
-Congratulations-
Heavy Armor has leveled up!
+1 Constitution
-Congratulations-
Dodge has leveled up!
+1 Agility
-Congratulations-
You have defeated 1 level 4 Goblin Rider, 1 level 3 Giant Leporem Corniger, 1 level 5 Goblin Rider, 1 level 6 Goblin Rider, 1 level 5 Giant Leporem Corniger, and 1 level 6 Giant Leporem Corniger.
EXP has been awarded for defeating your opponents.
★LEVEL UP!!★