[What?] The little rat’s whiskers quivered wildly as his head swiveled about, searching. [How???]

[Oh, right! I have this skill called Enhanced Smell—]

[Yes, yes, I know that. I read all about it while looking through your stats. I meant, how did they manage to get back here again? I left so many traps!]

I almost asked about that ‘again’ comment, but there wasn’t time. [It doesn’t matter. Are there any other ways out of here?] I glanced into the gloom ahead but could see nothing past the string of lights.

[There is, but it’s too small for you to fit.] Prometheus wrung his paws. [Oh, this is a disaster! We're not nearly prepared!]

[It’ll have to do.] I started backing out the way I’d come.

[Wait!] The rat scurried after me. [We need a plan! We can’t just throw ourselves at goblins without a plan!]

[Just watch me.] I pulled myself free of the hole and flopped into the bathroom. A quick glance around showed the dots were getting closer.

Where was the best place to engage them? The hallway, or the living room? The former would keep any monsters from being able to swarm me, but I didn’t like the idea of not having room to maneuver. I decided to risk engaging in the living room, with the idea that I could always retreat if need be.

I padded down the hall, entering the barren living room just as the first of the goblins stepped through the door. It blinked, as if surprised to find me there. Another tried following and bumped into its back, letting out a warble of frustration.

Before either could recover, I dashed forward.

The first goblin screamed and managed to get its sword raised before I struck. My teeth clanged against the metal blade, and I tasted my own blood on my tongue instead of the foul goblin’s. Wincing, I released it and leapt back.

That gave the ones behind it the opportunity they needed. The goblins tumbled into the room, and I found myself facing four of them at once.

I hadn’t been forced to deal with multiple opponents like this before. Even the zombies, when they were bunched in a tight mob, had still all operated independently. There was no coordination of effort to worry about, just the constant fear of getting pulled down and torn apart.

This, by comparison, felt like more of a dance. I twisted back and forth, trying to keep all of the goblins in sight. They in turn started to spread out wider, the two on the edges circling, trying to get behind me.

It might have worked, if I’d been alone. Suddenly the goblin furthest on my right let out a scream and fell backwards. I had just enough time to see Prometheus perched on his face, hands clasping his tiny dagger, which was buried to the hilt in the monster’s eye. Then he disappeared from view as the monster hit the floor.

With a roar, the remaining goblins charged. I hit the two directly in front of me with stuns, locking them in place. The one furthest on my left swung his blade right for my neck.

Except all it encountered was air. The blade passed harmlessly through a ghostly image as my bracelet carried me backward about three feet, where I impacted with the wall. The goblin stood there, staring at my copy with dumb confusion.

He turned toward me just as I leapt. Once again, his blade raised to meet my teeth.

Except it wasn’t my teeth this time, but a sharp claw that cleaved his face in half. My Claw Slash wasn’t strong enough to cut through the goblin’s sword, but it still knocked it out of the way as my attack sliced through the monster’s chest, then abdomen, then crotch. Blood gushed out, along with a string of ropey intestines that hit the floor with a wet slap.

You have defeated: Goblin (Basic) — Level 4

100 XP, 1 white quality loot box, and 1 Common Core awarded.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

I was already moving before the monster collapsed. The first of the stunned goblins was blinking awake as my jaws closed over its throat. I bit down hard and shook the little creature back and forth until I heard its neck snap. It fell limp from my mouth to tumble across the carpet.

The last goblin launched itself at my back, scoring a gash near my spine. I yelped, then turned and snapped at him. He danced out of the way, then let out a taunting warble. His hands tossed his blade back and forth, like he was showing off. I bristled and tensed to launch.

Before I could, the monster’s eyes rolled up in its head and it dropped bonelessly to the ground. I stared in surprise, only to Prometheus wriggle his way out from underneath the corpse, then grunt as he pulled his dagger out of the monster’s neck.

[I must say, this is much easier with you keeping them distracted! Between the two of us, the rest of the horde will be a piece of cake.]

[Don’t get too excited,] I said, punctuating the point with a low growl. There were a number of notifications I hadn’t bothered to read during the battle, but I mentally dismissed them in favor of more pressing concerns. I could already see another bundle of dots, some white, some yellow, moving rapidly towards the door. [We have more incoming, and my abilities are all still on cooldown. How are your own holding up?]

[Oh, I’m fine. I only have my class skill, and it’s useless for combat. So I usually just stick with the tried-and-true method of stabbing them with the pointy end of my blade until they stop moving.]

Another question about that bubbled onto my figurative lips, but there wasn’t time. The monsters were almost to the door. I decided to take the fight to them.

A quick mental pass through my inventory, and I healed up the wounds on my tongue and back with a single common core. Now I was as ready as I could be. I bounded for the door. Prometheus said something to me, but I didn’t hear what it was, my attention already on what lay outside.

My Claw Slash came off cooldown just as I launched into the hall. The first goblin didn’t even have a chance to scream as I cut it in half at the waist. The others warbled in alarm and tugged frantically at weapons as their dead companion bathed them in its blood.

I didn’t give them a chance to finish drawing, but flung myself into their midst, snapping and tearing. Two throats were torn asunder in as many seconds, a third I seized by the head and bit down until the skull fractured. I dropped that one on top of the pile of its friends.

Two remaining goblins stared at me in horror. In less time than it took to draw a breath, I’d cut their number down by two thirds. I could see them weighing their odds.

One of them clearly came to the correct measure. It turned and fled down the hallway. The other goblin barked something that sounded half angry-half fearful. It turned back just in time for my teeth to find its throat.

Letting this one fall, I bounded after the last goblin. It turned, saw me, and let out a shriek. The sound cut off as my paws struck its back and I carried it to the floor. The goblin thrashed once, then shuddered as my jaws rent apart the back of its neck. I stood over the body as it jerked, twitched, and finally went still.

My eyes scanned the hallway, one direction, then the next. No more dots. No goblins in sight. It seemed the threat had passed.

I stepped gingerly over the bodies and returned to the doorway in time to meet Prometheus stepping out of it. He surveyed the destruction with tiny, wide eyes.

[I don’t sense any more. We should be safe for now.]

The rat nodded, still staring at the destruction. At last, he looked up at me. [Boy, am I glad you’re on my side.]

I didn’t respond, though my tail did start wagging of its own accord. Together, we made our way back into the apartment.

As we returned to Prometheus’s home, I reviewed all of my notifications. Altogether between us, we'd killed a total of ten goblins. Sadly, I only got a total of eight hundred experience from the fight since two of the monsters had been lower level than myself. On the other paw, it seemed I received experience and a core even when it was Prometheus who had performed a kill. A quick question confirmed that it was the same for him.

[It’s always been that way. So long as party members are a couple feet from each other, it doesn’t matter who delivers the final blow. All receive the same experience and cores. Though it doesn’t appear to be true for any loot boxes. Those only go to the party member who delivered the actual kill.]

[It doesn’t seem like those drop very often, anyway,] I noted. [Ten goblins, and I only got the one box.]

[That’s about standard, actually. In my experience, a ten percent drop rate is what you should expect outside of bosses.]

I thought back to all that equipment Prometheus had, and how many cores it had turned into. If loot normally only dropped one in every ten monsters...

[Were you in a party before this, Prometheus?] I asked.

The little rat took a minute to answer. [Yes,] he said eventually. [Besides me there were five others who awakened to the system. We all fought together against the goblin incursion into our home until... until...]

He trailed off. I waited, but when Prometheus didn’t say any more, I prompted, [Until the goblins killed them?]

With a quick shake of his head, Prometheus turned to me and was all exuberance once more. [C’mon, let’s get your equipment upgraded! If they’re sending raids against us again, we’ll need every advantage we can get.]

[Uh, sure.] I frowned at the little rat’s sudden change in demeanor, then shrugged. Everyone dealt with grief in different ways, I supposed. If getting revenge meant also finding closure, I could respect that.

Prometheus bounded his way back into the empty rat town, and after a moment, I followed.