“Morning,” Zack smiled at me as I sat down to join the rest of the team at breakfast. I had been the last one to wake for once and I could tell by the sun that I had slept more than half the day away.
“Hey, has everyone been awake long?” I asked as I grabbed a large bowl of oats and some jerky.
“No, we all just started getting up an hour ago or so,” Gabrielle replied as she slowly ate her food. Everyone looked tired but in good spirits from what I could tell by looking around.
“Well, I held off on talking about last night until everyone was here.” Gary started once he finished eating. “I think we got too confident in staying near that village after we saw what it looked like. The adventurers I spoke with back at Gorok didn’t say anything about finding a place like that while they hunted Awakened. We were either too deep or in the wrong area and I should have led us somewhere else.” Gary apologized to the group, but I didn’t personally mind since I didn’t think anyone had been against staying in the area. Now that I looked back on what happened I could find myself agreeing that we should have left once we saw the village.
“Maybe we should have gone somewhere else, but I don’t blame you. Don’t beat yourself up,” I said to Gary. He gave me a half-smile and a nod in reply.
“At the very least, we know we can handle Awakened monsters, now,” Aaron said afterward. “I’m seriously trying not to think about the two Awakened cores worth fifty silver each that we had to leave back on the battlefield. I’m not thinking about it.” I immediately let out a long sigh as I realized we left behind at least a gold in loot last night.
“We may not have made any money, but we got an incredible amount of experience. I leveled multiple statistics and my Vigor skill. My Empowered Strike skill was much more powerful than I expected, too!’ Zack was nearly shouting by the end of his quick speech. I chuckled with the rest of my team but I couldn’t help but agree. The progress I made last night was worth days spent back at the low-level dungeons. I was also impressed with Entangle, and I had managed to use it a few more times later in the night when small groups of goblins and wargs caught up to us. A regular goblin was completely unable to escape until it cut the vines with its spear. Thankfully, the first couple of levels would go by quickly, and I only had to reach level five to learn about upgrading it.
“I think we head in a different area when we leave next and continue searching for Awakened monsters,” Gary said. “In the end, we managed to come out ahead from this one and we all earned plenty of experience. If we can find one Awakened at a time it will still push us but it won’t be the life or death battle we had last night.” Everyone quickly agreed and I saw that it was late afternoon already.
“Let’s spend the rest of the day here resting before we head out with the sun in the morning,” Gary continued after a few more minutes of discussion on how our new skills worked in our fights. I didn’t feel like moving so I kept talking with Gabrielle about our skills and statistics for another hour before I got up. Gary had started training with his spear a while ago and he asked me to spar with him. The five of us spent the rest of the night sparring with each other in various matchups. We ate a large dinner of rice, beans, and flatbread with jerky and headed to sleep early.
I woke earlier than usual and went through some spear forms with my shield, and I noticed the feeling I had before of the shield feeling uncomfortable was gone. I was more capable with my shield compared to before when I was fighting with the long spear, like Gary. I hadn’t put much thought into learning weapons other than the spear but I realized I had gained a lot from learning the shield. The thought stayed in my head while I trained and I decided to begin training in other weapons while I was back in the city.
“Morning, Eli,” Gary said after he woke up next. I gave him a nod and continued going smoothly through the spear and shield forms while I tried to engrave the motions into my subconscious. A few minutes later everyone else had packed up and eaten a quick breakfast.
“All right. Let’s head about a mile along the edge of the bloodfields then head in until we reach around eight to ten miles. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find an Awakened monster today.” Gary said and we all headed down along the edges of the bloodfields. I spent the time studying the other bands of adventurers that we passed along the short walk. There were hundreds of different groups of adventurers spaced along the bloodfields. The majority of the adventurers I saw showed signs of being freshly awakened and carried goblin spears and no armor. Occasionally we passed a group that wore gear similar to us, or one group that had what looked like fully enchanted gear.
“Here should be fine,” Gary said before he turned into the bloodfields. We quickly hiked through the forest and killed one patrol we passed by early on. The next few hours passed peacefully as we hiked our way deeper into the bloodfields. Eventually, we reached a point that felt similar to the distance we traveled the other day.
“I think this is deep enough if we want to start searching the area,” I suggested as we continued further in. The group stopped and looked to Gary who nodded.
“Seems right, let’s head to the side from here,” Gary said and we moved at a slower pace in the new direction. Another hour passed slowly before Aaron motioned us to stop.
“I hear something,” he said and I stayed silent but I couldn’t hear anything. His perception was likely quite a bit higher than mine by now so I wasn’t bothered by the fact. “I’ll scout, although I won’t go anywhere crazy this time,” Aaron said quietly with a grin and I smirked in response. Gary nodded and Aaron headed through the trees ahead of us as we crouched down behind some nearby trees to wait. About ten minutes later Aaron walked back and we all stood back up to join him.
“There’s a little village up ahead. No walls and only eight small buildings and one large hut.” Aaron reported back and I grinned along with the rest of my team at the news. It sounded like it would be several goblins and an Awakened monster, although there would possibly be more than one hobgoblin, here. “I saw a few goblins walking around, but I didn’t see any guards.’
“Well, there could be a patrol or guards somewhere out of sight. We’ll move forwards carefully and plan as we go.” Gary said. I walked up front and a short while later I saw a small clearing with crude wooden buildings. I scanned the area and counted ten goblins walking around with one hobgoblin standing by the hut in the center of the small village. I felt confident that we could handle it with the right approach, but there could be as many as fifty goblins in the village, not to mention the hobgoblin and likely Awakened monster.
“What about trying to take the visible ones down from our maximum range and then retreating to the forest?” Aaron whispered to the group after we had sat studying the village for a few minutes thinking of a plan.
“That could work. The best I could come up with was pushing to one of the buildings and using it as a shelter, but I don’t want to be trapped in a house with an unknown amount of monsters coming for us.” Gary responded with a shrug. That was what I had been thinking of, too, and I didn’t like the idea at all.
Stolen story; please report.
“What if only Aaron shows himself outside of the treeline? I bet you can take one down from barely outside the trees if you aimed for a goblin” I suggested after. “If the goblins only saw Aaron they might not send the whole village out to chase us right away.”
“Smart, Eli,” Aaron said with a grin. “That’s a good idea, I can take out one of those goblins from about 30 meters past the treeline here. That’s close enough that you can come help if I need it. I’ll try to take out three or four as they charge me, then I’ll retreat to here.”
“Sounds good, I expect some impressive shooting,” Gabrielle said with an encouraging nod and a half-smile.
“Good luck, don’t stay too long, just pull them back to us and we’ll handle them as a group,” Gary said and Aaron quickly walked out of the dense forest into the clearing ahead of us. I Aaron jogged forwards once we reached the clearing and pulled to a stop a few seconds later to draw his bow. He sent his first arrow to a goblin sitting by one of the cooking fires a couple of hundred meters distant from him. The goblin slumped to the ground and Aaron continued shooting two more before a monster shouted. I tensed as ten goblins and the hobgoblin started heading in Aaron's direction while others started to come out of the buildings. Aaron took a couple more hurried shots then turned and ran back towards us.
“Push to the front of the forest, we’ll hold them there for now. Focus your essence on thinning them out, this isn’t going to be a short fight.” Gary said and we ran forwards to meet him at the edge of the treeline. I cast Barkskin on Zack, Gary, and myself as we waited for the goblins to come in a range of our skills.
“Fireball”
“Fireball”
“Thornbolt”
“Drill shot”
“Thornbolt” I cast alongside Aaron and Gabrielle and we killed the five goblins in the front as they charged towards us. Gary and Zack met the charge of a pair of goblins and I moved towards the last one to reach us. I stabbed at the goblin once it was in reach of my spear and it failed to parry with its sword in time. The goblin fell back in pain and I swiftly finished it with a stab through its heart. The hobgoblin was only a few steps behind it and I cautiously paced towards it since I saw a stream of goblins heading our way behind its back. We had to kill them as they came to us, or we would be overwhelmed.
“Thornbolt’
“Drill shot”
“Thornbolt,” I cast twice and hit the hobgoblin in both legs with my spells. Aaron sent a Drill shot and hit the monster in the shoulder. I rushed it with my spear and managed to slash its side as it barely managed to dodge back in time. It swung at me with its club and I grit my teeth and tried to block the blow with my shield since I couldn’t dodge in time. I heard my shield splinter as I lost my balance and tripped backward onto my back. My arm hurt but it only felt like I had gotten a bruise from the strike. I tried to move back with the strike like my spear forms had taught me and I felt that it had probably saved my arm from a break.
“Charge,” Gary charged the wounded hobgoblin ahead of me as I stood back up with my spear gripped in two hands. My shield had a split along the middle and I didn’t trust it to hold up to any more hits. The hobgoblin looked under control and I moved forwards to cut off three goblins heading towards Gabrielle and Aaron behind me. I swiped one's legs with my spear and then darted back to get some distance as all three of them turned towards me. One of the goblins fell from an arrow and I stabbed another as it jerked beside the fallen goblin. A slash from a goblin cut my side and sent me stumbling.
“Fireball,” Gabrielle cast over my shoulder and I grit my teeth to ignore the pain. The last goblin in front of me stabbed at me with his spear and I parried it easily and slashed across its neck. I turned back towards the front and saw Zack fighting four goblins while Gary moved to assist him. I glanced behind them and saw a group of four hobgoblins leaving the hut in the distance. I jogged forwards and helped Zack and Gary finish the last goblins from behind.
“Anyone injured?” Gary asked once we finished the last goblins. Gary didn’t have any blood on him and looked uninjured.
“A bit beat up, but I’m all right,” I responded as I warily watched the four hobgoblins walking towards us.
“Same as Eli,” Zack replied after and Aaron and Gabrielle shook their heads.
“Good. Zack, try and handle two with Aaron. Eli, you and Gabrielle focus the other and I’ll handle the last one.” Gary ordered and everyone nodded determinedly. Once the hobgoblins got close I could see that one of them held a bow and the other three held clubs.
“Zack and Eli, take the three with clubs. Aaron and Gabrielle, help where it's needed,” Gary said after the archer hobgoblin stopped and drew its bow while the other three rushed towards us.
“Charge,” Gary cast and he dashed past the three hobgoblins towards the archer in the back. I moved to the side and feinted a stab at one of the monsters before I moved back when it turned to face me. Zack had charged one of the other hobgoblins with an Empowered Strike and I saw arrows and fireballs flying past me as I focused on the monster in front of me. I dodged another wild swing and managed to land a hit on its armored shoulder. My spear still penetrated the leather and left a bloody gash behind. A fireball slammed into the hobgoblin as it fell back and it roared and turned towards Gabrielle as it slid back from the force of the blast.
“Thornbolt,” I cast and hit the hobgoblin in its leg while it was distracted. The hobgoblin fell back to the ground and I kept myself behind it while attacking. After a few hits on the hobgoblin's neck and back it slumped over and I turned to help Gary with the other two hobgoblins. Gary was fighting the archer alone, but he didn’t seem injured from the glance I sent his way.
“Thornbolt,” I cast and felt myself completely run out of Essence. My spell hit one of the hobgoblins in the shoulder and I followed it with a slash to the goblin's side. An arrow flew over my head and buried itself in the hobgoblin's shoulder where my thornbolt had landed. I jumped backward quickly as the monster swung towards me faster than I expected after we wounded it so badly. The strike missed me and I saw another fireball hit the hobgoblin in the head while Zack fought the other hobgoblin a few feet away.
I stabbed forwards after the hobgoblins swing and hit it in the neck as it stumbled to the side from its wounds. It slumped to the ground barely moving and I decided to ignore it and help Zack, who had just been thrown to the ground.
“Haste”
“Drill Shot”
“Drill shot,” I heard Aaron cast from behind me and saw two arrows fly past my fight at the archer Zack was fighting. I ignored it and slashed at the last hobgoblin standing over Zack. I split its back open with my slash and it quickly turned to me and kicked me. I wasn’t expecting the move and I fell to the ground winded from the strike to the gut.
“Fireball”
“Fireball”
“Fireball,” Gabrielle cast rapidly behind me and the hobgoblin was slammed into the ground in front of me. I pushed myself up with my spear and paced forwards to finish the slowly moving hobgoblin laying in front of me. After I finished the hobgoblin I met Zacks eyes who walked up beside me and we both wearily nodded and headed in Gary's direction at a jog.
“Surround it, it’s Awakened!” Gary shouted once we reached him and I saw his blood all over his body as he stood in front of the wounded Awakened monster. The hobgoblin had been hit with several skills and was probably more hurt than Gary. Zack moved to engage it from the front and I headed towards its back. An arrow from Aaron hit the monster in the shoulder and Zack rushed it with a swing of his mace. The monster jumped back to land in front of me and I immediately stabbed it through the back of its head.
“It’s dead,” Zack said wearily. “Thank the Gods, I think my arms were broken. And some ribs.” I sighed in relief from the quick ending to the battle and moved to check on Zack’s injuries. The rest of the team grouped up and we bandaged a few bloody wounds while resting from the long fight.
“Rejuvenation,” I used my skill after I had spent enough time recovering Essence to cast. Zack sighed in relief immediately and nodded his head in thanks. The next few hours we spent waiting on my Essence to recover to get everyone back to fighting shape. We had a short discussion on the fight and all of us had been entirely out of Essence by the end. If Gary hadn’t rushed the Awakened monster at the start of the fight I would most likely have had to use Rejuvenation on whoever got hit by its skill-empowered arrow. I was impressed with how strong thornbolt was becoming as I leveled it and although I didn’t have a chance to use entangle during the fight, I knew it would gain in strength quickly. I needed to find a way to increase my Spirit for a larger core of Essence faster.