“Right. Zilnek. Kilniara! Anything you want to advise Garnedell on?”
The two said nothing, simply looking at Joe with some surprised confusion but Joe didn’t let their befuddlement tamper his smiling visage and simply continued the lesson, “You can learn a lot from watching someone else! You just did it over there,” Joe waved back towards the safe zone, “So you need to do it here. It helps keep each other alive, as your advice will help Garnedell next time, and it helps you because you can learn how to do better next time. So, anything?”
Both looked a bit sheepish but shook their heads no, and Joe just nodded before he gave his critique, offering good advice that Garnedell took eagerly. After his tutoring, Garnedell returned to stand next to the siblings and Joe then looked to them.
“OK. Zilnek. You want to go next? Or Kilniara?”
Zilnek nodded quickly and Joe looked to Kilniara for her opinion before she nodded, allowing Zilnek to go. Joe looked over them before gesturing Zilnek to go ahead. He glanced around the room and found their area empty of adventurers still, grateful for the room to train his team. He did see that most of the room was empty as well, and was a bit confused to see so many people back in the safe area. Huh. I would think the rested teams would want to get out there once the out teams returned to the healing zone. Even as he saw that, he saw one team heading out hugging the wall opposite him and nodded his head. Seems like they're switching, I guess? Pretty polite system here.
Joe quickly turned and settled in next to Zilnek as Zilnek took deliberate care for when he began his attack. And he did well, obviously remembering the advice Joe had given Garnedell. The goblin he picked came at him and picked up a rock and Zilnek settled in with his short staff club. Weird… kind of a cross between a staff and a club, or a fighting stick. Too short for a good staff, too long to be a decent fighting stick. The fight turned out to be as bad as Joe worried since the weapon was as unwieldy as he had feared. Still, Joe only had to step in one or two times to block a couple of blows Zilnek was unable to defend but the boy proved more than capable, taking out the goblin in about the same amount of time as Garnedell had. Joe did find the Zilnek’s slow speed to react a bit disconcerting before he remembered that Zilnek was a cloth worker, and didn’t have strong combat skills or stats. Likely, he was moving as fast as he could, and Joe still had to step in to block. Gotta remember that for Kilniara as well.
By the time the fight was done, Zilnek was gasping, exhausted, and Joe grimaced. Gotta work on his endurance as … wait! Endurance is a stat, too, right? Joe cursed under his breath but kept his displeasure hidden so as not to discourage Zilnek, deciding to focus on the positive.
Joe then repeated the lesson and both the spectators offered advice this time which Joe had to correct or counter a few times, although he did so in a way as to not discourage the advice givers. By the time Zilnek’s advice session was done, all three kids seemed excited, both for a successful fight and for offering advice that Joe seemed to approve of.
Kilniara’s turn came next and she wielded the same strange weapon as Zilnek and Joe found himself interjecting only once before Kilniara was able to finish off her goblin, despite her obvious slow reaction speed. Somehow, it was enough for her to do well enough, likely because she had watched her brother, although she was still almost as exhausted. Joe smiled, excited at each of the three’s success and repeated the advice session for Kilniara as well. The session went well and three were excitedly offering bits of advice with Joe only stepping in occasionally to steer a piece of advice to more productive gains.
They spent the next hour or so doing this, rotating through each of the three as the three got more comfortable with their fighting styles. Joe did try to question the two siblings about their weapon choice and learned it was the only one available to them. The short staff, as it was called, was the default weapon for all jobs that didn’t have a weapon. When Joe heard this, he was a bit disconcerted and put getting the siblings a better combat job on the list so they could get access to a more viable weapon.
When the hour had come up, the three were quite tired although Garnedell was certainly better off and so Joe offered to show them fighting using various weapons. He proved to be more than sufficient to take out the goblins easily with his spear, ending the fight in one or two thrusts. He then took on a goblin with a staff, sword, bow, club, and bare handed. Each of those fights Joe ended so quickly that the kids didn’t have enough time to rest, so he swapped to his club and chastised himself for forgetting his plan to raise his cudgel skill. Even as he began engaging the goblins again, he realized that he’d forgotten how slowly his club skill grew and worried. But after checking his skill again, he was pleased to note that it was growing about one percent every two kills or so. It wasn’t nearly what he hoped for, but given the situation he was in, he was happy with what he was getting, though he was surprised. Why am I getting so much more skill increase here but the sparks were giving me nothing even after ten or twenty kills? What’s going on?
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Felling another fifteen monsters with his clubs, the kids stood again, eager to try again, and Joe stepped aside to let them rotate through again. The group quickly fell into a groove and the team rotated through with a short five minute brainstorming session as they each critiqued the fighter’s combat. Joe was feeling quite relaxed after another half hour of such combat when Joe was suddenly interrupted by a massive roar that echoed throughout the cavern. Joe stepped forward instantly and plunged his spear into the goblin that Zilnek was currently fighting before quickly shoving the kids into a group and turning towards the roar.
“Stay behind me! And watch out for other goblins. Don’t annoy or try to attack them! Leave them alone, but stay behind me!”
Joe glanced quickly around and found a great brute of a goblin sitting in the corner. The goblin sat on a great throne that Joe could have sworn was not there only a moment ago. The thing stood, rippling muscles protruding across his torso as it stomped down the stairs. This one definitely was comfortable walking. And it was green.
“See! Told you. Green goblin!”
The three kids behind him said nothing and Joe glanced around the room to see the other groups streaming quickly back to the safety zone. Whelp. That clenches it. Time to retreat! Joe stepped back while keeping himself between the green goblin and his team, walking backwards carefully.
“Everyone! Get back to the safety zone. Don’t try to fight any others! Go straight back, don’t even look at any other goblins, got it?”
“But… mast…”
“Garnedell. I don’t have time for this! Go! I can’t fight if I have to keep you safe! Go. Get back!”
Joe glanced around as he said this, making sure that other goblins were surrounding them and that was what drove Garnedell to contradict, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary, as the yellow goblins continued to meander around the room, ignoring everything not targeting them.
“Alright, people! You got this. Go! I’ll follow, but you guys have to go now!”
The three turned and began walking away, but as soon as they turned, the green goblin screamed again, a roar that expanded the room with its volume, deafening all in it. Joe had just turned when the thing screamed and he looked back to see it thumping towards the kids, it’s hand reaching down to grab the closest weapon it could find: a sword. Well… crap… and whole massive piles of crap! It’s leaving me alone and targeting the kids? Why? Joe slid across the field, interjecting himself between the beast and its target and he yelled loudly.
“Time to run! NOW!”
He heard the clattering of feet behind him and risked a glance backwards to see the three scrambling to the safety zone, passing by other goblins just barely. Nice. They really don’t agro anything that doesn’t target them. I’ll just need to focus on the brute! His head had already whipped back around to focus on the green beast. He saw the goblin try to angle around him and he slid once again, intersecting the goblin’s path back to his team. He saw how the thing seemed to be singled minded in its charge and worried about being able to contain it. He began to drop his spear before stopping himself. The floors have a theme. All these guys are goblins. He grabbed the first weapon… now he’s targeting… all, or one… hmm.. Did Zilnek accidently tick it off? If I target it, it will engage me. Will it engage me?
Joe ran through a hundred options and quickly slid out his shield. He would want his shield out anyway, but… Maybe if I don’t target him, he’ll completely ignore me, like all the other goblins. I can maybe get a shield slam in on him. But if I try to engage him with my spear, he’s not going to keep charging me. None of them did. They came in range of their own weapons, then engaged. Besides, he seems a bit smarter? Or… at least a lot bigger!
Joe continued sliding across the floor, keeping himself between the kids and the beast and when the green goblin was only a couple feet away only his left, he rushed forward and slammed into the thing with his shield. The green goblin was large, extremely so, for a goblin, but it massed little more than a young prepubescent teenager. The thing bounced off his shield like a super ball hitting concrete. Joe grunted from the hit, still surprised at the amount of power it was able to get into its rush, but he didn’t even need to take a single step back. Joe rushed forward even as the goblin flew through the air but it proved much more acrobatic than he expected, twisting in the air and bringing its feet down to land on the uneven cavern floor like an Olympic vault gymnast.
The thing stuck the landing like super glue, although its left foot settled on a small stick, unsettling the green goblin enough for Joe to snick its shoulder with a lightening spear thrust. Even then, the beast had enough poise to twist backwards, turning the thrust into a glancing blow that skittered across its armored skin and left only a shallow gouge across its upper chest and shoulder.