Chapter 47_Chronicler’s Tale

New World Day 26

Shit. That was the only thought that came to mind. The barrier was down. There were four goblins, five forest coyotes, and the hobgoblin left, and I no longer had a shield to hide behind. This was going to get messy.

The forest coyotes and the two goblins under the porch moved before the hobgoblin even hit the ground. The hobgoblin coordinated everything. He sent the three goblins without mounts inside to distract me and destroyed the barrier while my attention was diverted. The minions outside were the force meant to overwhelm me. The forest coyotes spread out along the length of the front of the house, crouched down, and vaulted up onto the roof. The two coyote riders were in the middle of the formation with the two riderless coyotes on the flanks. They stalked forward intent on completing their orders.

The coordinated assault caught me off guard, but I’m not that easy to kill. I survived a whole slew of dangerous situations in the past month. I was no longer a normal or average person. That was true as far back as the first day of the New World. I survived the forest coyotes when all of my neighbors didn't. That fact set me apart from the very beginning.

I backpedalled up to the upper roof and snapped off one quick shot with the rifle. Three of the four forest coyotes on the roof were injured already, and the jump aggravated their wounds. The bullet struck the middle left coyote in the right shoulder. The wound wasn’t in and of itself fatal, but it was the last straw. The earlier rifle round did enough damage that the wound to the shoulder finished it off. The forest coyote plopped to the ground and slid backwards off the edge of the roof.

The goblin panicked and jumped off before the dead body finished its slide. He did a belly flop onto the shingles of the roof and lay there stunned. The goblin lost his grip on his stone axe as he slammed into the roof. The axe twirled through the air end over end and slammed into the muzzle of the forest coyote on the left. The forest coyote lucked out when the axe did one last twirl and hit blunt side first. I saw it blink and twitch its head backward for a moment due to the pain and the force of the blow,.

A hint of blood leaked from its lips near where the axe smacked it. Its long tongue flicked out to lick up the blood. Incised by the blood, it surged forward and snapped at the goblin that had hurt it. That was the first time during this entire fight that I saw a forest coyote show any normal behavior. Was the hobgoblin’s control loosening? Heh, that suits me just fine.

The behavior of the angry forest coyote distracted the other two assailants long enough that I had time to drop the rifle and pull the shotgun off of my shoulder. I held the shotgun at my waist and shot the mount of the second goblin. Unlike the first forest coyote that slid off of the roof, this coyote was hit by a shotgun slug. The slug smashed through the forest coyote’s chest and sent it rolling backward instead of sliding. This coyote rider tried to jump off like his compatriot, but he was too late. The coyote flipped over backwards and crushed the goblin between it and the roof. There was a loud crack and screech of pain before they rolled off the roof together. Blood streaked the roof along the path of the roll. The goblin was hurt. I knew that much, but I couldn’t be sure if the blood streak was all from the forest coyote or not.

The sound of the shotgun drew the attention of the last two forest coyotes back on me. They ran up opposite sides of the roof so that one of them could get into my blind spot. The forest coyote to my left pounced at my chest while the one to my right circled around behind me. I danced to my right and pumped the shotgun. The ejected shell flipped end over end through the air to land in between me and the forest coyote. The forest coyote crashed into the spot where I had just been standing. Shingles flew through the air, and its claws dug deep into the wood underneath. It twisted its upper body around to face me and lashed out with a quick slash of its claws, but I flowed backwards out of reach. A light wind washed over me as the claws passed through the air in front of me followed by a boom and a spray of blood as my counter attack turned its head to pulp.

As the red mist floated through the air, I heard the slightest click of claws on the roof. I tucked and rolled forward without looking to see what was coming. The cracking of wood and a howl of anger echoed out behind me while an new empty bounced flew through the air. I came out of the roll on one knee and twirled back around to face my attacker. The second forest coyote was there right in front of me. I could feel the steam of its breath on my face and see the hunger in its eyes, and I saw the light leave its eyes as a shotgun slug punched through its chest. Its lifeless body collapsed and slid down the roof towards me, but I spun out of the way.

The spin saved me from the charge of the dead body and let me see the belly-flopping goblin from earlier charging towards me. It must have recovered while I was busy dealing with its fellows. It had no weapon after the incident with its axe, but those clawed fingers looked plenty sharp enough to do some damage. The goblin was fast. I’ll give him that. He charged at me like an angry bull and like a bullfighter I slipped to the side at the last moment. I planted my right foot and twisted around to face his back. The shotgun slug blew a hole through his back, but the damage was done. As he stormed past me, he lashed out with his claws. He failed to reach my flesh, but I didn’t dodge quite far enough. His claws tore through the pistol holster and sent the pistol spinning off of the side of the house along with him.

Well shit. That complicates things. All that hard work dancing around in the basement practicing my footwork skills had been worth it, but I got too confident. If I dodged just a bit wider, he would have missed me completely. But no, I thought I was some kind of bullfighter, and I paid the price for my overconfidence. One slug left in the shotgun and five enemies left. Not the best of odds.

I sprinted towards the top of the roof where the second rifle and my axe lay. The sound of glass shattering reached my ears, and I saw two goblins stick their heads out of the window to my left. Shards of glass were stuck all over one goblin’s face, and blood was pouring down its neck yet it had this satisfied smile on its face as if it had solved a legendary puzzle. How stupid was he? Why didn’t he just wait to come out after the first one had finished climbing out of the roof?

Well, I guess it's good to die happy. The smarter goblin who hadn’t smashed his head through a glass window saw me run past and jerked his head back into the house, but the second goblin’s view was blocked. The goblin’s head exploded as my last shotgun slug ripped through it from close range. The headless body dropped back into the bedroom spurting blood all the way. Almost had a two for one there, but I would take what I could get. I dropped the shotgun now that it was empty and continued my sprint up the roof.

When I reached the top of the roof, I grabbed the second rifle with my left hand and seized the handle of the axe with my right, and pivoted around to survey the situation. All of my remaining enemies were arrayed before me. On my left there was the goblin that had just finished climbing out of the bedroom window. He was glaring at me, and he had a large wooden club that he kept smacking against his hand. Standing on the bottom right of the roof, there was a second goblin that was holding a stone axe in his left hand. His right arm was broken and twisted. The entire arm had taken on a sickening black color. This was the one that rolled off of the roof with his mount earlier then.

Neither of the two had gun wounds though. I could have sworn that there was one that survived a rifle round earlier. Ah, was that why that one earlier was acting so stupid? Maybe he had lost too much blood. I pushed that thought aside before it could distract me for more than a moment. I could confirm my suspicions after I survived this final fight. The last forest coyote was standing on the bottom left of the roof. He had blood flowing down his muzzle from where he had smashed his head into the barrier so that the hobgoblin could destroy it with his lightning. Which brought me to my final enemy.

The hobgoblin was standing straight in front of me. The silver patch in the center of his armor was broken and melted. A bit of self-inflicted damage I thought. Sweat poured down his face, and he slumped his shoulders forward slightly. Anyone could tell that he was exhausted. The thick white mana that was present around his body at the beginning of the fight was nowhere to be seen. It was so dim that it was almost imperceptible. Those two lightning attacks were incredible, but they took a lot out of him. I on the other hand was in perfect shape. Aside from a lack of ammo that is. The big boost in my mana regen meant that I could keep up my mana enhancement and mana vision skills all day if I had to.

The hobgoblin and I glared at each other. There is no way that he expected to have lost so many members of his horde, but he surprised me as well. I hadn’t expected the barriers to be broken. I thought the mana stones and bottle of mana water would sustain the barrier long enough for me to pick off the entire horde. It looked like it was going in that direction too until the hobgoblin used those two lightning attacks. We were both on our last legs now. There was time for one shot before my enemies closed in upon me. I would have to make it count.

Despite all of my training on my footwork, I didn’t like my chances up close and personal with the hobgoblin. Should I use that single shot on him? He was the highest value target, but exhausted or not, he was the most likely to dodge the bullet as well. The last forest coyote made my decision for me. The faint streams of mana emanating from its body gathered underneath its feet and exploded. The explosion of mana sent the forest coyote flying at me like a missle. My lack of experience cost me yet again. If I knew that something like that was possible, I wouldn't have bothered debating on who to shot. One shot at any of them was better than no shots. The only saving grace was that it wasn’t hard to dodge the flying headbunt of the forest coyote.

I hopped backward and slid down the back of the roof. The forest coyote flew above me and thrust its legs down to claw at me as if passed through the air above me. The claws left shallow slashes on both of my shoulders. There was a slight flash of pain, but it was well within my pain threshold. They would have required stitches in the Old World, but with my regen skill, there was only a small blood flow for a handful of seconds before the slashes began to scab over.

The forest coyote missed its main strike and landed at the edge of the roof. I let myself continue sliding backwards until I was just a couple of feet away from the forest coyote. The forest coyote swung its body around to face me, but before it could turn all of the way around, I slammed my left foot down and whipped my body around. I swung the rifle like a club with all of my strength and broke it against the forest coyote’s jaw. Broken fangs flew through the air and the forest coyote spun off of the roof. The force of the blow spun it far enough that it flew over the stakes and rolled down the hill into the Little Lake. There were bubbles, splashes, and gurgles followed by silence and the emergence of a red tint to the water. I dropped the broken rifle and advanced back towards the top of the roof. I should have used the axe, but I used what was in the nearest hand for my attack.

I heard the rapid clatter of claws on shingles. The sound of their approach caused me to hesitate. Was it better to meet them at the top of the roof or wait for them on the back end? The back end. I could see them coming that way. I stepped back to the middle of the rear roof, gripped the axe with both hands, and planted my feet to wait for the hobgoblin and the last two goblins. The footsteps slowed as they approached the peak of the roof. They must be afraid of me ambushing them like I was afraid of them ambushing me. The three of them stepped over the peak together to confront me.

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The hobgoblin was flanked by his last two minions. The two goblins charged at me as soon as they caught sight of me waiting for them. The club wielding goblin charged straight at me and smashed it into the roof section that I had just vacated. Shards of wood shot into the air and peppered my upper body. One sizeable shard struck me in the cheek and caused me to blink. The second goblin dodged around the side of the first and used the opening to his advantage. He used his single arm like a whip to swing the axe at my chest. The long arms of the goblins gave them a deceptive reach and greater strength than their small size indicated. The extra caution I showed in dodging backwards allowed me to stay just out of reach of the club strike, but I misjudged the axe blow.

I slid back and to the side in a failed attempt to dodge the axe blow. The blade of the axe left a deep slash across my stomach. A burst of pain flooded through my body, and I felt warm blood flowing down my pants leg. The bastard almost gutted me. A fraction of an inch was the difference between a deep slash and the need to keep my intestines from spilling out of my body. My dodge did keep both of the goblins between me and the hobgoblin though. I wanted to keep him out of arm's length as long as possible.

The axe blow was impressive, but it also overbalanced the goblin. His broken arm messed up his balance, and he stumbled forward a few steps past me. The club wielding goblin charged forward to cover for his companion and swung his club horizontally at me. I stepped towards him and countered the blow with a matching blow of my own. The club and axe bounced off one another. A numbing sensation spread through my arm as the force from the collision traveled up through the axe to my arm. The goblin took two steps back, but I pushed forward. My arms were too numb to attack again so I snapped my right leg forward and kicked him in the chest. The kick launched him off the side of the roof and out of the fight. I heard wood cracking and splintering instead of a thud. There was no doubt that he was out of the fight. The stakes got him.

The hobgoblin chose that moment to make his move. He seized the moment that I was on one foot and lashed out with his axe. I couldn’t dodge on just one foot so I attacked. The two axes smashed into one another and I was sent rolling backwards towards the edge of the roof. I almost rolled off of the roof, but I managed to jam my heels into the gutter to stop my roll. The numbness in my arms spread all the way up to my shoulders this time. As I pushed myself back to my feet, I noticed a large notch in my axe. A quick glance showed me that the hobgoblin's remained flawless. My axe wouldn’t last long if I kept parrying blade to blade.

I was only half-way up to my feet when I saw the wounded goblin jumping towards me out of the corner of my left eye. He swung the axe overhead and whipped it down at my back. I threw myself to the side to try and dodge the blow. The slash dug into my left side, but I avoided the fatal blow. The axe sank through the shingles into the wood of the roof. Before the goblin could dislodge the axe, I reached forward with one hand to grab the goblin’s hand holding the axe and yanked. The goblin tumbled off of the roof with a scream that was cut short by the stakes around the house.

I rolled to my right as soon as I finished yanking on the goblin’s arm. The hobgoblin’s axe chopped through the space where I had just been laying. I used the momentum of the roll to pull myself back to my feet. I didn’t even try the same trick on the hobgoblin. He was too quick and too strong to fall for that. He drew the axe out from the wood of the roof and stalked towards me.

He was alone now, but I could tell he was confident in his victory. His smile was so wide and curled so far up his face that his two tusks nearly touched his eyes. I understood where his confidence was coming from. He had the better weapon and was uninjured. Tired and lacking mana but uninjured. I on the other hand was bleeding from two long and deep wounds. My regen skill was great, but it would take awhile for the blood to stop flowing. And until it did, I would continue to weaken.

The hobgoblin strode towards me and launched a flurry of blows. I parried each one blade to blade thanks to my mana enhancement balancing out my injuries. Sparks flew from the blades and the shriek of metal on metal reverberated through the air. Notch after notch was gouged out of my axe. Shallow cuts appeared on my arms and legs. I couldn’t go on like this. His arms were too long for me to counterattack effectively. His skill with an axe was beyond me. His combat experience greater than mine. I needed to do something unpredictable. Something crazy if I was to survive.

There was only one thing that I was better than him at. Healing. I survived being mauled by a forest coyote, tearing a barbed scale from my shoulder, and being run through by this grinning bastard. I could heal better than him. I was going to let him land a blow and then use the chance to toss him off the roof. When I was thinking about how to increase the chances of surviving the blow a thought struck me like lightning. My hair stood on end and my mind raced. Was it possible? Yes! That was the way. Didn’t I make a conscious decision before the fight for just such an occasion? I struggled to hold back a smile as I prepared for my last ditch effort.

My axe was on its last legs and my foe knew it. He slashed sideways and I mirrored the strike. Mid swing I commanded the System, “Purchase Basic Regeneration (Active)!”

The overwhelming power of the System descended upon our fight and flooded into me. I had to shut off my mana vision to keep from being blinded by the System’s strength. My mind throbbed as knowledge was crammed into it and my body was on fire as it was altered and improved. I was ready for it. I was used to it. The hobgoblin had no idea what was going on. I could see the panic and fear in his eyes. The speed and strength of his blow fell. My strike smashed his axe and arms to the side twisting his body to the side, and before he could recover and twist back around I buried my axe in his back and severed his spine. The hobgoblin’s legs lost their strength, but as he fell to the ground in front of me, I saw there was life still in his eyes.

The mana of the System departed, and I reactivated my mana vision. I could see the hobgoblin attempting to marshall some mana any mana to heal himself. I wrenched the axe out from his back and raised it over my head. He struggled to raise his arms to block the blow, but I struck like lightning and lopped off his head.

You have reached level 10!

5 bonus stat points have been awarded!

Jobs have been unlocked!

You have reached level 11!

5 bonus stat points have been awarded!

Survivor © * leveled up!

Swarm Killer (B) ** evolved into Horde Killer (B) ***!

Horde Killer (B) *** leveled up!

Horde Killer (B) *** evolved into Horde Killer © ***!

Beast Killer (B) * leveled up!

Beast Killer (B)* evolved into Beast Killer © *!

Risk Taker (B) * leveled up!

Risk Taker (B) * evolved into Risk Taker © *!

Repeated Risk Taker © * leveled up!

Basic Axe Mastery (B) * leveled up!

Basic Axe Mastery (B) evolved into Beginner Axe Mastery © *!

Pain Control (B) *** leveled up!

Fear Control (B) *** leveled up!

Beginner Close Combat Footwork (Active) © * leveled up!

Beginner Ranged Combat Footwork (Active) © * leveled up!

Minor Mana Enhancement (Active) © * leveled up!

Minor Mana Vision (Active) © * leveled up!

Name: Jason Silver

Job Name: N/A

LVL: 11 27%

Job LVL: N/A 0%

Job Points:

N/A

Titles:

Survivor © LVL 3 13%

Fool © LVL 1 82%

Horde Killer © LVL 1 79%

Beast Killer © LVL 1 85%

Risk Taker © LVL 1 44%

Repeated Risk Taker © LVL 9 92%

Compassionate Fool © LVL 5 26%

Curious Fool © LVL 5 97%

Stupid Fool © LVL 7 96%

Extremely Stubborn Fool © LVL 5 22%

Greater Mana Wielder ® LVL N/A

Title Points:

***

*****

Stats:

HP:

MP:

Mana Regen:

Endurance:

Strength:

Speed:

Agility:

Spirit:

Bonus Points:

42/170

126/126

22 per min (-2.75)

Status Effects:

Regen, Spirit Regen, Disease Resist, Parasite Resist,

Poison Resist, Bleeding x16, Internal Bleeding x2

Skills:

Basic Gun Mastery (B) LVL 7 63%

Lesser Regen (Passive) (UC) LVL 1 91%

Basic Regen (Active) (B) LVL 1 0%

Lesser Mana Control (UC) LVL 1 75%

Greater Mana Vein (Passive) ( R ) LVL 1 0%

Flexible Mana Lake (Passive) (B) LVL 6 91%

Pain Control (B) LVL 6 18%

Fear Control (B) LVL 5 63%

*****

***

Chapter 47

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