He allowed his mind freedom to roam or fade as it wished, simply falling into the moment of killing. He moved from goblin to goblin without thought, destroying them with an efficiency quite a bit more than he’d usually do when watching out for his apprentices. But he quickly grew bored with how easily he was able to defeat the goblins and began to add handicaps that would offer a bit more difficulty.
He didn’t have a shield, so wasn’t using one at the time, and instead decided that he would no longer block or parry with his blade, using only his ability to read his opponents to slide around any attacks. He did continue using his staff to block any projectiles he could, if possible, since that was already immensely difficult, but ceased parrying once he was within melee range and the goblins began attacking him at close range.
He took a bit of time to find the goblins habits and movements, but soon was able to dance around the goblins with ease and found their attacks trivial. Joe soon grew bored once again and struggled to find something that could occupy himself and finally decided to simply add to his handicap himself further. Once again, he decided to not parry and only dodge, but this time to do so without moving his feet
His fights grew in difficulty, but he found a rhythm that allowed him to flow around the goblins strikes, weaving through almost everything they did no matter what weapon they used. He was able to do decently well enough, but still had to dance a few times simply because of how short the goblins were. They simply aimed lower and often would swipe at his legs, which were very difficult to move them to sufficiently escape an attack while he was required to keep his feet planted. Despite the difficulty, he pushed through and soon was able to follow the goblin’s patterns more easily and shift his legs enough to pull them from the path of attack. Sweeps or slashes still were difficult for him to dodge, so required him to lift a foot out of the way.
It was on tenth or eleventh goblin that things almost turned disastrous. A strike swept wide enough to hit both his legs but he’d foolishly developed patterns of his own and only raised his near leg, removing it from the strike zone. Even as his foot rose into the air, he quickly realized that the swing of the blade would still be able to reach his other leg, easily biting into his calf. Joe cursed and leapt backwards, using his remaining planted foot as best he could, but more falling backward than actually jumping, his planted foot only barely clearing the blade as it swept by.
He hit the ground with a hard grunt, able to protect his head with his off arm by wrapping it around the back of his head as he flew backwards. Joe didn’t waste any time to stand and quickly rolled away, rolling two and a half turns before leaping to his feet quickly. He now had his back facing his opponent, but it actually saved his life for he found himself close enough to have caught the attention of another goblin, who now closed on him with aggression.
Joe flicked his eyes down to the goblin’s hands, finding a stick in its hand. Slight relief came to him and Joe’s head swiveled, glancing around himself in full, taking in any other combatants. There weren’t any others, only the two; the old goblin that had forced him to tumble onto his back and the new one that he’d gotten close enough to attract its attention.
Calming with purpose, Joe charged towards the newest goblin as it was closer now than the old, and he began attacking aggressively while circling around it until the first goblin was now in his line of sight. The first goblin scrambled after him, it’s blade in hand as it charged across the ground rapidly. Joe paid only enough attention to keep aware of its position and began to destructively hammer on the other goblin, taking more risks to finish it off more quickly. He didn’t want to take any chances, and returned to parrying and dancing around the goblin quickly, moving around its attacks to close and strike.
He was able to strike it a few times, bloodying its nose and damaging the weapon arm hard enough to leave it loosely hanging. The goblin struggled to move the fighting stick to its off hand. Joe grimaced when he saw the goblin struggling to move his weapon into his working hand, defenseless and open for his attack, but the other goblin had long reached him and had come in with a strong thrust. Joe had to step back or be skewered, sliding to the side of the thrusting blade. If he stepped forward, he would be able to attack the now exposed stick goblin, but that would leave the swords-goblin at his rear without any way for Joe to keep track of him.
Not all was lost, however, as Joe was able to step back, allowing the blade to slide just in front of his torso, then sidle to the right and bring his club down hard on the back of the swords-goblin’s head, stunning it and dropping it to the ground. Again, another goblin lay vulnerable before him and ready for his strike, but the stick goblin had long recovered and charged towards him, driving Joe back.
Adrenaline rushed through Joe and a feral, even ecstatic, grin ripped his mouth open back to his ears. Joe barked an excited laugh and leapt to engage the stick goblin, parrying the stick before pushing forward to the right and slamming hard into the goblin’s side, spinning it in a graceless tumble to the ground.
Joe advanced quickly on the recently downed goblin but also glanced at the swords-goblin as well, checking to see its progress to recovery. The swords-goblin, however, was still crouched on all fours as it was still pushing itself to its feet and Joe slammed his club down on the fighting stick goblin beneath him between his legs, eyes slightly terrified with arms and stick futilely raised above its head in defense.
Joe’s strength proved too strong and his strike easily overwhelmed the goblin’s arms, bringing his club head down on the goblin’s, stunning it quickly and fracturing its skull. The club rose and fell another two or three times before the goblin’s skull pulped, and Joe looked up at the swords-goblin. The swords-goblin charged towards him, a high pitched cry of anger and agony screeching through the air. Joe responded with his own loud cry and leapt at the goblin, killing it quickly, easily, his body spinning past the goblin’s blade and adding force to Joe’s strike as he spun in place and slammed his club into the goblin’s head and killing it instantly.
Joe gasped in place, breathing deeply while grinning and staring around him, a feral gleam in his eye. More! Let me forget. Give me more!
Joe found another goblin and quickly defeated it again, and found a swell of loathing rise up within him. Too easy! Joe grunted to himself and looked around, finding two goblins roaming closely together and grinned once again. More!
Joe leapt at the two goblins and made sure to piss both of them off before engaging in dance at the edge of destruction that left him feeling excited and alive. His thirst for more only increased, but he knew he was pushing himself in dangerous ways and held himself back, not wanting to go too far. Despite that, he couldn’t quite bring himself to ever go back to just one goblin and sought out two more.
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The morning continued on in this manner, Joe seeking out two goblins and defeating them. By the time afternoon came on, Joe found himself once again feeling revolted, the exhilaration of combat once again replaced with the steady clinical destruction of his enemies as he once again found his equilibrium and was easily able to take out two. The loathing returned and found himself taking on three without even realizing he’d made the choice.
As he fought the three, Joe felt a bit of alarm course through his body, an undertone that was difficult for Joe to focus on or even be aware of, even though it rang desperately in terrified shrieks that echoed through his mind. It did not seem to impinge on his awareness, his thoughts too much taken with combatting the three goblins while simultaneously wallowing in an ecstatic sea of rage.
The alarm and fear died, replaced by a feral joy which had Joe pushing himself to an extent that he hadn’t done so in a long time. Stuck on this fucking shithole! Always have to hold back because of worthless healthcare! Fighting on a stupid deadline… Heh! Literally a stupidity deadline! Joe giggled slightly, a hint of madness twisted and wrestling with rage. Only way to advance and grow in this effing place is to literally kill! With a system that seems to be designed to fucking shackle everyone to mediocrity!
Joe’s anger grew as the day went on, and by late afternoon, he was attacking four and five goblins at once, giving himself fully to the combat and allowing the movements to flow through him. The danger increased exponentially, leading Joe to death, but proved to be the only salvation available to him. Any other would have found themselves dead in a similar situation, not due to lack of combat or skill. It was not skill or combat that saved him, nor was it any intelligence or special knowledge. It was simply a quirk of nature and luck, for Joe was the offspring of a culture and people that pursued perfection through hard work; the only option for his people and family back on earth.
True, his training had an immense impact on his survival up to this point, as he had been trained for martial combat for almost his entire life. It wasn’t an exclusive training, as his family made sure he pursued an excellent, if skewed, education. The education just happened to put an immense amount of effort and time in the martial lifestyle.
The repetitive movements, the daily practice, the submission of the mind the body’s movement, and the mind’s expansion to take in movement and be hyperaware of surroundings led to a zen like flow which Joe often sought out in his combat, exercise, and training. As the combatants increased to five and six goblins, Joe was required to drop into the hyperaware peaceful mind state where his thoughts stopped and everything was devoted to being aware of all that was around him.
His body began to flow and his movements had him dancing around all the goblins, killing and swirling as best he could. His movements soon had him swirling around the floor in an ever increasing radius that proved to be deadly as it attracted more and more goblins to attack him, but his evasion required it and Joe had little option but to accept another goblin into the fray or allow a strike to land.
The fight continued as Joe had no option but to keep fighting, his strikes taking on ever deadlier impacts as he was required to never stop, always move. He was able to keep the equilibrium at about five or six goblins as he killed one or two in his movements while also picking up another one or two to fill their spots.
Joe felt his awareness seem to stretch, a kind of bubble that seemed to throb at the back of his mind; not painful but noticeably apparent. Joe began to become aware of the subtle hints of movement, noise, or air behind him and was able to slide away before whatever was behind him could come into play. The knowledge of his surroundings only increased and he grew more certain of what was happening behind him, catching the elusive play of sound and air along with seeing how the enemy he could see reacted.
Joe didn’t know how long it lasted. Time melted into a long seamless moment, although he remembered some flashes of blue and hints of explosive experience growth, when suddenly, it was quiet. No sound could be heard and a good two thirds of the killing floor was devoid of goblins. Joe breathed deeply, allowing his awareness… his consciousness to return.
With the return, Joe felt the anger tinged with insanity return and Joe clenched his teeth, cutting off the emotion and rejecting the desire to throw himself back into battle.
“Not going to happen… not again, at least! Whatever that was!”
Joe’s breathing settled quickly, along with his emotions and frustration. A deep breath stretched his entire torso and he finally felt calm and back to himself. He blinked a few times, surprised to suddenly see several blue boxes in front of him.
You have achieved equivalency in your MP statistic. Your base statistic has now reached or exceeded your current imported statistic. Would you like to have your life evaluated by your imported statistics or by your newly achieved local statistics?
Joe sighed and swiped aside with his arm, dismissing the box only for it to be replaced by another box after it.
You have achieved equivalency in your Magic statistic. Your base statistic has now reached or exceeded your current imported statistic. Would you like to have your life evaluated by your imported statistics or by your newly achieved local statistics?
Joe rolled his eyes this time, grunting a bit and swiped it away, but then actually widened his eyes in a bit of anger when he saw the third box, before grunting it and swiping it away angrily.
You have achieved equivalency in your Magic Defense statistic. Your base statistic has now reached or exceeded your current imported statistic. Would you like to have your life evaluated by your imported statistics or by your newly achieved local statistics?
When no other box formed, Joe sighed, “Finally! As if I would be stupid enough to gimp myself!” while turning and preparing to leave.
As he turned, he took in the room and found it devoid of goblin life and grinned a bit, proud of what he’d accomplished. He then noticed the safe area full of people staring at him, eyes wide in diverse emotions; jealousy, awe, surprise, or even anger. Why are they angry… oh… I killed all the mobs! Not a cool move.
Joe sighed and grimaced, glancing down before pushing on to leave. He marched towards the exit and safe area, berating himself in a bit of anger. Smooth, man. Smooth. Way to go under the radar!
As he reached the area, he soon heard the whispers of the crowd around him. The whispers grew tense with worry, then suddenly quelled, a sense of relief seeming to pass through everyone in the safe area and the people parted before him as he pushed on to the entrance. The whispers never grew too much, but it was enough to burrow under his skin, reminding him that he was now a rumor around the town. He escaped into the exit and broke into a jog to escape the dungeon quickly.
He soon found himself outside and looked around with a bit of surprise to see the sun already setting. Huh… all day, wow! Well, at least I should have gotten another theorist job up to thirty or so! Probably better get back though… hope the apprentices aren’t freaking out… don’t want them to feel left out or that I’m … well… whatever they might feel… abandoned?
Joe swept down the street quickly, not quite jogging but moving at the speed of intention until he made it back to the inn. He came in to find the three apprentices setting at a table, looking at each other a bit sadly, worry easily seen on their faces. Joe smiled.
“Hey guys. You all ok?”
All three leapt to their feet, looking to Joe with both joy and relief. Man, they must have been really worried for me. Heh.
“Sorry guys. I really didn’t mean to worry you. I just wanted you to have a day off. You were all tired, so I decided to head there by myself,” Joe replied with an easy smile, “Let’s head back up to the bedroom and we can talk. I really need a bath.”
Joe waved to the inn keeper, calling for a bath to his room and took the stairs to their room with a light step. A good day!
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