Keith the goblin scowled inside his helmet. His armor was hot and uncomfortable. He swung his head widely back and forth as he entered the classroom. Wondering what on earth his troops had been yelling and screaming about, he flickered his gaze to each of his four fallen comrades in turn, gripping his large, brutal-looking axe tighter in his hands. Unlike the rest of his unit, he had chosen to keep his armor on. He didn't know why until he locked eyes on Snorri. The goblins had slaughtered their way through most of the mountain's lower level at this point, without a single casualty no less. If this little thing had killed four of his boys, he'd be a laughing stock at the victory feast. The goblin let out a slightly muffled roar and charged into the classroom towards the tiny gnome.
Snorri observed the charging goblin as if in slow motion. The creature was by far the biggest thing he had ever seen in the academy. The goblin swung its huge axe through the air. Snorri jumped backward, barely avoiding being sliced in two. The burn on his leg seared with pain as he moved. Snorri landed and launched Arracop towards the goblin. “Fool,” Arracop screamed as the blade flew through the air and bounced off the goblin's heavy plate armor. Snorri pulled Arracop back towards him, but the goblin was already swinging his blade back towards the gnome. Snorri, jumping into the air, somehow flung his body over the goblin's axe with inches to spare. As he landed, Snorri kicked the goblin in the knee. The legs buckled, and the goblin tumbled away, creating some separation.
“Well,” Snorri thought furiously, “How do I kill this thing?” The sound of Arracop's clicking fangs filled his head, followed by “Get in close. Find the gap. Avoid the axe,” came Arracop's somewhat annoyed voice. The goblin had already rolled back up to its feet and was fast closing in on Snorri with another heavy-handed swing. This time Snorri was expecting it. He dove quickly forward past the goblin, coming to his feet just to the creature's back. Snorri stabbed wildly at the goblin. Arracop's blade once again bounced off the goblin's armor with a dull metal clang.
The goblin let out a roar of annoyance as it spun rapidly, apparently looking for Snorri. As its eyes found the gnome, it swung its axe forward again. Snorri jumped backward this time, and the large axe crashed into one of the few remaining intact desks in the ruined classroom, sending splinters of wood exploding across the room as it wrenched the axe free of the carefully carved wood. The crazed goblin continued its near-hysterical shrieks and growls as it kicked the remains of the desk to one side and advanced on Snorri, its axe tightly gripped in both hands.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Snorri tried to think, in a way he was designed to think. Although he had only recently gained his first and last combat level, he had also spent most of his life dedicating his experience to intelligence. First, he had trained the appraisal skill, but he also had two others. Snorri struggled to think of a way to beat the heavily armored goblin. He non-verbally activated both of these skills. First, he activated the Basic Engineering ability, trying to force his brain to see a chink in the goblin's armor. Secondly, and finally, he activated his most advanced skill: Advanced Appraisal, hoping to find any information to aid him in his quest. And then he realized. The solution had been chained to his wrist the whole time.
Snorri rolled the sword handle in his right hand. “Whatever you are planning on doing,” came Arracop's voice, “I would do it soon.” Snorri slowly passed the sword from his right hand to his left, clasping the chain with his now-empty right hand, allowing him an arm's length or so of chain. As the goblin came in low with a wild sweep of his axe, Snorri dove into the air, flipping above the charging armored goblin. He looped Arracop’s chain around the goblin's heavily armored shoulders and pulled with all his might. The chain snapped tight, sliding across the crudely forged metal and tightening around the goblin’s neck.
Keith the goblin spluttered as he struggled to pull free his helmet. He wrenched the damn thing free and expected to feel the chain's grip loosen. He breathed in, expecting a triumphant deep breath of air to come. Keith was disappointed as the little gnome tightened the chain's grip. Keith dropped the helmet and his axe and struggled desperately with both his gauntleted hands against the tightening chain. His eyes widened in horror as he felt the chain links' sharp edges begin to tear through his flesh. A bright spray of green blood splattered across the ceiling Keith's eyes had been focused on. He heard a dull crack as his vision went dark.
Snorri pulled tighter. He had heard the goblin’s axe clatter away but didn't want to risk letting the thing go until it had stopped moving. The goblin let out a nasty gurgling sound. Snorri growled and pulled harder. There was a loud crack, and Snorri tumbled forward into the floor. The goblin's body fell on top of him completely limp. Snorri crawled out from under it, readying Arracop to strike but in part surprise, part horror he saw the goblin's freshly unhelmeted head was currently rolling to a stop next to the remnants of a destroyed desk. Snorri took a moment to relax. He exhaled a long, deep breath.
Suddenly the goblin’s eyes flared open. They panickedly searched the room before settling on Snorri. “Cunt,” the goblin spat before finally the life drained from its eyes. Snorri began to limp towards the archway that led into the academy's vast network of corridors and classrooms. “You need rest,” hissed Arracop. “Do you know somewhere you can go? Easily defendable? Out of the way?” asked Attacop. Snorri smiled to himself before alomst absently saying “well i do have an office”