I push the the weirdly shape edge of the rock and it immediately fall off, leaving only a treasure chest. Is it what I think it is?
[Hidden treasures of the green brigade found. 3/4]
Yes it is! I nearly let out a scream of joy after finding it. I would have been dead meat at this point. My hands tremble in excitement, what will I get? Inside the treasure chest lie a beautifully made mask covering the bottom half of the face. It is well known in Japan and they are called Oni mask. This one is painted with blood red pigments, the old fashioned mask reveal the wood veins before it got covered up.
I took the habit to take the objects in my inventory to look the description.
[Name: Oni mask Rank: Rare
Description: A famous craftsman made this mask at the cost of his own life. After few centuries it is still well preserved. A legend tell gain mystic powers after staying without a master for so long.
Bonus statistics: DEX+3 INT+1
Passives: - Bloody aura: Inflict fear upon the one who look at you directly in the eyes or those that are too close to you when you wear this mask.
- Shadow: You have less chances to be spotted when you hide yourself, moreover when you hide in the shadow you gain camouflage and no normal eyes can spot you.]
Holy molly, now I understand the differences between each items. If I can gear myself up I will have a chance to escape from this arena. I equip it with anticipation of what I look like in my portrait wearing it. The mannequin on the left now has a mask on his face exactly like the one I just found. It's true I look gloomy like this but I also looks pretty cool.
I would gladly try to see if it makes me swifter but for now I want to keep my forces for what's coming next. By that I mean fighting those monsters.
[Kill all the members of the green brigade. 52/80]
[Kill the second in command. 0/1]
[Kill the chief of the green brigade. 0/1]
There is not many goblin to hunt, though the higher-ups are still alive. I decide to explore more and the only risk I'll take will be if I catch off guard one of them. For this I hide in the bushes and hide behind trees to advance. This is a slow method but at least I can move without being noticed.
After quite some times passes I hear blades clashing. I look up in the direction of the hits and a familiar faces is fighting a goblin with a red scarf around his head. It is the blue alien-like person I bumped into at the market. It is fighting a fierce goblin while there is dozen of corpses on the ground, being a mix of goblin and fighters. There is more fighters than goblins but at least just one is standing up.
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I continue to observe the situation, the goblin is so agile, if I ended up facing him I wouldn't last long against it. The blue person, that I decide to call Blue from now on, is holding his ground against it but is being pushed back. They have both many cuts on their vestments and bodies but they all are superficial.
I don't know how to help Blue in this situation. If I go out of my hiding right now I'll just bother him. We might end up being killed if we do a mistakes. The battle drag on and Blue is exhausted, her posture have nothing in common from when I came to look out. How long has it been that he is fighting?
The green and hideous goblin take this as an opportunity to finish him. I don't know what came to my mind but I decided to jump out of my hiding yelling something, hopefully distracting it.
--- Hey! Look right here!
What I did not expect was the mask modifying my voice with a terrifying tone. So much that I scared myself too when i heard it. I wasn't the only one being scared, the goblin and Blue both look at me with eyes filled with fear. Blue regain his composure sooner and in a swift slash of his sharp blade, cut in half the green goblin.
[Kill the second in command. 1/1]
[You participated in the killing of the second in command of the green brigade, you are awarded 5 Redirium and 5 experience.]
This honestly feels like stealing, the only thing I did was to yell and distract both of them. Luck is on our side because it's him that regain his senses before the other. If it was the contrary I can't imagine the disaster that would happen. A third person dying because of me, I can't permit myself.
Blue is still on guard while looking at me menacingly. I just remember that it may be caused by the mask so I take it off and a feeling of relief appear on his face. The tension going down, he falls to his knees next to the corpse of the green goblin with a headband.
I approach while putting the mask in my inventory for now, I don't want to scare him more. I have nothing to offer to him right now so I can help him heal from his wounds. He's sweating a lot and catching up his breath with difficulty. After such intense prowess I would be too, no even less, I would faint I imagine.
He doesn't have a mouth so the problem of communicating is already resolved, again not someone I'll hold a conversation with. But it's reassuring to not be alone in this gloomy place. We are directly under the big screens displaying images. I catch the replay of Blue and my intervention on one of the screen.
I look around but I can't seem to see where they are filming everything, from the point of view of the camera it looks like it was next to my right shoulder looking behind me. As I look into the screen more the video switch to another group. They are a group of around ten but they aren't all from the same race. They are reuniting, this might be my chance too to survive if we form a large group. In the video they kill a goblin that was on the ground.
[Kill all the members of the green brigade. 72/80]
[The hiding of the chief of the green brigade and his best fighters is opening.]
I show the screen to Blue that instantly get up. It seems to tell me he recognize the place where they are at by pointing in a direction. Without caring of any danger he start running in the said direction. From the notification we shouldn't meet goblins since the requirement to meet the boss has been met so I run behind him.
It's insane how fast he can run, his long and thin legs pack quite the muscle. Being someone who measure 2,50m must be useful in those occasions. He arrives before me where the group is. I'm the last to come, from the look of it we are 14 including me.
What await us might be the last part of this trial. I'll stay true to what I say and do anything I can to survive.