Even though all Magma Goblin Warriors had been struck with the paralyzation poison, they weren’t defeated that easily. Three dozen Goblin Spirits were killed, leaving merely 28 Goblin Spirits intact.
That was a little annoying since the Goblin Spirits had been the strongest Magma Goblins he encountered on his way to the training hall. But it wasn’t too bad. Some Goblin Spirit survived, and it was quite advantageous that the pressure weighing on his Soul decreased. He had enough space to summon the ten Magma Goblin Warriors and the Magma Hobgoblin Warrior.
Summoning the Spirit Soul of the Magma Goblin Warrior greatly affected his Soul. It was heavier than the Hellhound, which Zayn expected. He considered removing a few Goblin Spirits from his Soul but decided against that when he saw the gazes of the monstrous Goblins spread throughout the training hall. He breathed deeply and integrated the Soul Essences he’d accumulated in the battle.
Integrate 41 Soul Essences into the Star of Spirit
310/1000 → 351/1000
His Soul expanded when he integrated more Soul Essences into the Star of Spirit. At the same time, a stream of energy filled his body, enlarging his energy pool to fit more energy at once.
Zayn closed his eyes for a moment to feel the connection with the Spirit Souls and noticed that it was much easier to command them.
The corner of his lips curled upward. The real fight could begin.
[Soul Link succeeded. The connections to 10 Magma Goblin Warrior Souls have been established]
[Soul Link succeeded. The connection to the magma Hobgoblin Warrior Soul has been established.]
The Spirit Souls emerged from their corpses. They bent down to grasp their weapons and took a combat stance.
Zayn would have loved to check their Foundation and statistics to come up with strategies that perfectly fit their Foundation and their strongest Foundation Stars, but he didn’t have the luxury of playing around.
He commanded the Goblin Spirit Archers to retrieve the poisoned arrows from the corpses and distribute the remaining poison vials. Even if the Tier-1 Goblin Spirits and the Hobgoblin were stronger than Tierless Goblins, Zayn wouldn’t fight fairly against the masses of Goblins that stared at them threateningly.
He retrieved a small box filled with glacial-blue marbles. The marbles tingled in his hand when he grasped a few of them.
‘I hope you guys can be channeled with Soul Power as well.’ Zayn murmured inwardly, the information of the marbles popping up to his right.
Glacia Grenade
Tier-1 - Uncommon
A compact and deadly instrument of warfare. Fits snugly between two fingers. Encased in a polished metal-like exterior, it looks dangerously similar to marbles. But do not let its appearance fool you. The Glacia Grenade transforms from an inert object to a harbinger of destruction upon triggering. It becomes a vessel of explosive elemental power, designed to release deadly freezing mist capable of freezing ordinary lava lakes.
Zayn ordered the Goblin Spirits to distribute the Glacia Grenades while keeping only a handful to himself. After that was done, he removed the cap of a few vials and swallowed the viscous liquid within the potions.
[Enhanced Booster has been consumed. Your natural Energy&Stamina recovery will be accelerated for 12 hours.]
[Grand Energy Potion has been consumed. Your Energy will be replenished in the next 60 seconds.]
[Minor Card Bonus has been consumed. Your Cards will be more potent for the next 15 seconds.]
[Warning! Too many conflicting potions have been consumed simultaneously. Consuming any more potions will harm the user several!]
Zayn clicked his tongue at the last message. He’d expected the message to appear, but that didn’t mean it was pleasant.
Nonetheless, he made use of the next few seconds. Zayn drained his energy pool by unleashing Root Strike and Florakinesis tens of times. The stone ground tremored again, but it wasn’t a faint tremoring. The tremors spread through the entire training hall. Only a few seconds passed, but the ground split open in several spots. The area around the split-open areas was spread through with tiny cracks that seemed to expand slowly.
Zayn didn’t do much after the ground burst open. He smiled lightly before using Lifeforce Conversion again. His lifeforce had been replenished thanks to the Hobgoblins’ involuntary sacrifice. But it was drained to below 50% instantly. Lifeforce Conversion drained a significant amount of his lifeforce, which was converted into pure power, which surged into Zayn’s body right away.
He craned his neck when he felt the massive power surging through every corner of his body and kicked the ground to charge the closest group of Magma Goblin Warriors and Hobgoblins.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
There were not only Magma Goblin Warriors but also Spearmen, Archers, Lumberjacks, Vanguards, and Assassins.
Zayn didn’t care either way. He shot forward, the Spirit Souls following closely behind him. The Goblins didn’t expect Zayn to slay their Warriors and the Hobgoblin that easily. A series of grunts of disbelief swept through the training hall when their fallen kin got up from the ground again. Their corpses remained on the ground, yet their replicas – vibrant golden – emerged from them. It was shocking, to say the least.
Despite the shock, they got back to their senses fairly quickly. The Goblins snarled at him, whereas the Hobgoblin charged forward, raising his war-axe high above the head to strike down. Zayn used Aegis Natura to create an Aegis Shield before the Hobgoblin’s war-axe. It didn’t have enough momentum to break the Aegis Natura since the gap between the war axe and the shield was only a few centimeters.
Zayn used Blink, appeared next to the Hobgoblin, and drove the Verdant Saber deep into his chest. Draining Touch and Double Impact were released, draining the Hobgoblin’s energy and lifeforce while releasing a second burst of the attack’s impact. The Hobgoblin’s eyes widened in terror as the attack’s second impact tore his insides apart.
The Hogbolin was not yet dead, but it was only a matter of seconds before it would succumb to the wounds. The Hobgoblin Spirit didn’t want to wait that long. The Onyx Scimitar shot past Zayn’s head and beheaded the Hogbolin before him with a precise cut.
Spirit Soul has slain Magma Hogbolin Warrior(Elite +)
+6 Soul Essence, +2 Common Card Shards.
[Proficiency of Draining Touch reached 100%. Level 21 → Level 22]
[Proficiency of Double Impact reached 100%. Level 30 → Level 31]
Zayn didn’t pay much attention to the dead Hobgoblin. He had enough time before its Spirit Wisp would form and only a little time before the effect of the Minor Card Bonus would wear off.
He activated Enhanced Poison and used the Augment Poison, Draining Touch, and Double Impact Cards again before blinking behind a Magma Goblin Warrior, who was engaged in a fierce battle with four Goblin Spirits and a Goblin Warrior Spirit.
He cut across his back, releasing a massive cut that tore apart as Double Impact triggered. The Verdant Saber’s poison entered the Magma Goblin Warrior’s body and spread rapidly, slowing the monster.
Zayn saw something he didn’t like at all. The advanced Magma Goblin Archers, who’d evolved to Tier-1 creatures already, killed the Goblin Spirit Archers with two volleys of arrows. The Goblin Spirit Archers had given their utmost to retaliate, but only some of their poisoned arrows hit their targets.
The Hellhound shot toward the Magma Goblin Archers while Zayn blinked behind them. The Hellhound was under attack and released a burst of soul flames. The Archers pulled back, only to notice that Zayn was behind them too late.
The last few seconds of the Minor Card Bonus wore off at last, but Zayn had used them. He eliminated the Archers, who were helpless in close combat, and used Soul Link as soon as their Soul Wisps emerged.
[Soul Link succeeded. The connections to 4 Magma Goblin Archer Souls have been established]
[Proficiency of Soul Link reached 100%. Level 50 → Level 51]
The fight continued for a few more seconds, but the result of the battle was apparent. Only six out of the Goblin Sprits he brought to the training hall remained. The Hellhound was still alive, followed by four out of the ten Goblin Warriors. Only three of them died to the Hobgoblins and Warriors of the second wave.
Second wave. That was what Zayn considered the second fight because he was still not under the attack of the remaining Goblins. They noted him after the first battle's end, but their response wasn’t severe. Only after he initiated the second attack did he start responding with loud snarls and terrifying roars.
Zayn didn’t mind them for the time being and focused on his gains, the Foundation Orbit, and as many Spirit Souls as possible to deal with the next batch of enemies.
13x Magma Goblin Warriors have been slain.
+33 Soul Essences, +3 Common Cards, +4 Uncommon Card Shards.
6 Magma Goblin Assassins(Elite) have been slain.
+10 Soul Essences, +2 Uncommon Card Shards.
4x Magma Goblin Archers have been slain.
+6 Soul Essences.
5x Magma Goblin Vanguards have been slain.
+9 Soul Essences, +6 Common Card Shards.
2x Magma Goblin Lumerjacks(Elite +) have been slain.
+6 Soul Essences. +1 Uncommon Card Shard.
1x Magma Goblin Spearman has been slain.
+3 Soul Essences.
5x Magma Hogbolin Warriors(Elite +) have been slain.
+28 Soul Essences, +2 Rare Card Shards.
“Integrate all Soul Essences into the Star of Spirit!” Zayn called out while his attention lingered on the Soul Wisps emerging from the corpses.
Integrate 95 Soul Essences into the Star of Spirit.
351/1000 → 442/1000
[Soul Link succeeded. The connections to 4 Magma Goblin Assassin Souls have been established]
[Soul Link succeeded. The connections to 6 Magma Goblin Warrior Souls have been established]
[Soul Link succeeded. The connections to 4 Magma Hobgoblin Warrior Souls have been established]
Zayn’s Soul was heavy, almost too heavy to handle the newly established connections. Fortunately, he didn’t try to summon all Goblins and Hobgoblins he and his Spirit Souls had slain.
At this point, Zayn got a good grasp of how much space every Soul Wisp required to transform into a Spirit Soul. He also understood that overdoing it would be inefficient and harm him. Thus, the excessive Soul Wisps were used to nourish Rune Engraving.
He had yet to create his 4th Spirit Card, but it was only a matter of time. Maybe the remaining battles in the training hall would grant his wish.
Or they would be his doom. The Goblin Lair was not that easy to deal with, after all.