37:

Jack felt like he could close his eyes and it would not hinder his reaction time against the approaching band of rift goblins in the slightest. Of course, while he was still a ways away from having that feeling bleed into reality, that didn’t change the fact that he could clearly hear the efforts of the four rift goblins that were closest to conquering the escarpment, feel the scrape of their hands and blades as they dug into the earth to leverage their climb.

The time to act had come.

As the lead rift goblin’s hand landed upon the edge of the plateau he was standing upon, Jack didn’t hesitate.

The new world had taught him to go for experience, to kill any creature that he attacked if he wanted to survive the next encounters. Ironically, if he wanted to have any hope of reuniting with Sarah, that was precisely what he couldn’t do.

There was no need to waste Moon Qi to deal with the opponent when precision would do, so Jack didn’t hesitate as two quick steps bridged the gap between him and the rift goblin before he sliced it’s hand off with a downward arc of his blade.

The Moonsword had lived up to the expectations that Jack had for the expensive blade, as it sliced through the goblin’s wrist, bone, sinew and all, with so little resistance that Jack had ended up misjudging the force required, causing his sword to bite into the earth beneath.

A bone-chilling howl escaped the rift goblin, but Jack paid the creature’s emotions no heed as he kicked down with his right foot hanging over the escarpment.

The goblin tumbled back to the ground, taking another of its brethren below it that wasn’t even half way up the escarpment to the earth below in a tangle of limbs.

But in the short time Jack had invested into ridding himself of one rift goblin, two more were in the process of hoisting themselves onto the plateau.

Jack broke into a sprint that had him breaking out of the crouch, requiring the full extension of his leg muscles to cover the distance in the shortest amount of time possible. He didn’t hesitate to activate his sword’s artifact ability, Moon-flow.

A gentle, silvery glow enveloped his blade, its ethereal radiance clearly visible even under the artificial light beating down upon them no matter the time of the day, yet not at all stinging to his eyes. If anything, it was cool and refreshing to the touch.

The weight of the double-edged, white marble blade had exceeded that of the basic sword artifact he’d started off with by a fair degree, roughly fifty percent if he had to guess, but with his own strength increasing at a faster pace, it had only been a calculation to account for and a hindrance if he overexerted himself beyond the supernatural capabilities of his body.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

So as Jack lunged, it felt more like he was holding onto a speeding arrow for dear life than he was executing a maneuver that could leave him vulnerable. He stumbled forward, just barely managing to keep himself upright as the tip of his blade buried itself in a rift goblin’s neck with such force that it sent the detached head whipping away into the air while the body, which had just about managed to lift itself over the edge of the plateau, was ruthlessly sent crashing back down into two goblins at the base of the escarpment.

The crooked angle he had fallen into the lunge at had even enabled such a vicious execution, well that and the relatively slender neck of the rift goblin.

Had this been a battle amongst humans, his display of prowess would’ve given his enemies pause, dampening the morale and striking fear into their hearts. Unfortunately, the rift goblin adjacent to it had finished hoisting itself over the platform, a furious snarl escaping it’s lips as it raised it’s shortsword in the air as it prepared to charge.

A glimmer of azure flashed in the distance, an observation only made possible by his heavy investment in perception.

Jack immediately ducked, having done so none too soon as he felt the displacement in the air above him as the Qi-empowered arrow whizzed past the spot his head had been a second before.

Jack was glad that they had chosen subterfuge for the hidden quest, or at least for the captive rescue part. He had no doubt that the rift goblin commander in the distance would’ve found the back of likely injured captives with such ease that even if they survived, the captives would be dead and the purpose of risking their lives would be completely defeated.

Thankfully, the commander seemed to be content to fire its arrows from the safety of the goblin encampment, which meant that Sarah’s position along with the captives would be in its blindspot.

His too, if he somehow managed to survive the next couple of minutes.

Jack’s leg muscles coiled as he exploded into forward momentum, heading right for the rift goblin that still had its sword raised in the air.

The commander would need a few seconds to nock another arrow, set the tip alight with Qi and shoot, which gave Jack enough of a window to operate in.

As the distance between him and the goblin melted away, Jack thrust his blade with a speed that he still wasn’t entirely used to.

He missed.

Jack wasn’t sure if it was his own inexperience with moon-flow’s speed and strength, the creature’s reflexes or simply luck, but his blade whistled past the rift goblin’s skull, missing it only by a finger’s length.

As the rift goblin slashed his sword in an attempt to slash at his throat, Jack’s reflexes took over as he brought his shield close to his visage at an inward angle with a flex of his wrist.

Get fucked, Jack thought as a gale of wind unexpectedly burst forth from his shield the moment the rift goblin’s blade made contact with it.

Not only was the sword knocked off the rift goblin’s hand, but it was sent stumbling back by the ambushing Wind Qi.

Even more unfortunately for the offending rift goblin, there wasn’t enough of the plateau left to support it’s stumbling, so it too went plummeting down the escarpment with a befuddled expression on its visage.