22:

Sarah raised four fingers in Jack’s direction, signalling the number of enemies she had detected.

Jack shook his head grimly.

Sarah blinked in confusion.

“Archer,” Jack whispered. “The one that shot the arrow is hiding in a tree. It climbed up after taking the shot,” He hurriedly explained, knowing that time was running out.

“What do we do?” Sarah asked, as urgency creeped up in her tone.

“We need to use the cover we have,” Jack said. “Take the right flank, I’ll take left. It’s two against one, but we can deal with Rift Goblins. Try to go for a kill, but if you can’t, just use your spear to keep the Rift Goblins at bay. The Rift Goblin archer that attacked us has a rune embedded in his eye, like the Silvercrest Wolves. Probably lets it aim better. Make sure you don’t peek out of cover.”

Gritting her teeth, Sarah nodded. There was no time to strategize and talking amongst themselves would only expose themselves faster.

Standing back to back, Jack had drawn his sword, his expression tense but not panicked while Sarah had protectively placed the spear before her, its point a sufficient counter against any foe that mindlessly charged at her.

The footsteps drew closer and Jack caught himself wishing that he had more Qi to work with. He was down to a mere four points in his Qi Pool, the earlier pulse having cost him an entire point.

That didn’t stop two goblins from entering his field of vision, as they jogged side by side. Sure enough, they were the same Rift Goblin Assassins he had encountered earlier, albeit with a minute difference. One of them wielded a shortsword that it held before him, while the other wielded a dagger that was smeared in a bright green fluid.

If the fact that these Rift Goblin Assassins were being marshalled by the archer wasn’t clear before, Jack was almost completely certain now.

A certainty that would do him no good if he didn’t act upon it.

Jack charged, not bothering to glance behind him. Sarah would hold the Rift Goblins on her side back long enough for him to act. Second guessing her now would only distract him from what had to be done.

“Zaggash!” The shortsword wielding rift goblin exclaimed in surprise, but that didn’t deter Jack. His blade cut down in a diagonal arc, his form too messy for it to resemble anywhere near a kesagiri strike but he couldn’t care less.

All he wanted was to incapacitate the likely poisoned dagger wielding Rift Goblin before either of them knew what had hit them.

Unfortunately for Jack, his strategy to minimise activating Qi Blade until the moment before he made contact with flesh backfired, as the poisoned dagger wielding goblin parried his blade with a flick of its own.

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Without Qi Blade to empower his strike, Jack was forced to confront the limitations of his strength despite having reached a total of ten in strength as his blade was deflected with an angry grunt from the Rift Goblin.

“Grrak!” The shortsword wielding rift goblin issued a battlecry and charged Jack, with it’s shortsword menacingly held above it’s head.

Jack hurriedly backpedalled as the shortsword wielding rift goblin hacked downwards, the height difference meaning that the blow would land square in his chest if he didn’t parry.

His instincts told him to activate Qi Blade, but Jack doggedly resisted.

He braced for a parry and a loud clang rang out as their blades met. The sound of metal grinding against metal rang out as Jack pushed back against the force of the overhead strike with a grunt and this time, Jack wouldn’t accept a loss.

His leg shot forward in a lancing kick and although his boot strike wasn’t enough to make the Rift Goblin buckle, it distracted it’s attention.

A primal roar escaped Jack’s lips as he sent the Rift Goblin staggering backwards by more than a few steps, finally winning the contest of strength without relying on Qi Blade.

His attention turned towards the poisoned dagger wielding Rift Goblin, who had been trying to sneak past his side to likely launch a sneak attack.

Instead of adopting a sword stance, Jack let his sword rest on his right shoulder before he broke out into a sprint that would take him down the fastest route to the rift goblin, a straight line.

Then, Jack leapt with all the might his enhanced stats could offer him.

The last of the distance separating him from the Rift Goblin was covered sailing through the air, before Jack’s blade took on the characteristic blue glow of Qi blade.

“Zornhau,” Jack whispered as his brought his blade down in a sweeping two seventy degree arc that near maximised the amount of momentum he could put behind the blade.

The Rift Goblin Assassin once again chose self-preservation over retaliation in choosing to defend itself in an attempt to parry, but this time, when their blades made contact, the diminutive dagger was sent flying along with its head.

Qi Blade’s light flickered out as Jack rolled past the goblin before getting back onto his feet, his gaze that of a hunter seeking his prey.

Without any hesitation, he bolted after the second rift goblin who had recovered its footing.

If he allowed it to reach Aleph, she would be overwhelmed.

That wouldn’t happen. Not under his watch.

No more mistakes, Jack thought as he initiated a deadly clash of blades with the remaining Rift Goblin Assassin.

Even as he was pushed back, he refused to use Qi Blade. He could still hear the sounds of battle from Sarah’s side and it was devoid of calls for help, so he allowed himself to conserve what remained of his Qi Pool.

He couldn’t tell if their duel had been going on for minutes or if it had only been a couple dozen seconds, but Jack finally found an opening as he sidestepped an angry lunge instead of parrying it.

Jack took a step forward and swung his blade in a wide arc, his expression firm as he refused to avert his gaze.

His blade sliced open the Rift Goblin’s right eye, causing the creature to screech out in a bone-chilling cry that would’ve made Jack wince if he hadn’t hardened his resolve.

He dodged the wild strikes it unleashed, finding them both poorly aimed and improperly balanced.

Seeing no reason to drag out the fight, Jack finished it off with another quick flare of Qi Blade.