Goblins came screeching at the trio from all sides, they rushed forwards over a dozen at a time. Purple bolts of power danced through the oncoming tide, goblins fell one by one, fried by Marcus’s skill.
Frost condensed around Sieg and icy winds whipped through the arena. Leif didn’t have time to pay any more attention to his companions, he crashed into the green wave and sent small bodies scattering. A punch shattered a skull, a kick burst vital organs. He conjured two short blades of ethereal golden energy from his knuckles and began to kill.
Shadows suddenly rushed up his right leg, they pulled at him but with little success. Leif was too heavy for whatever the source of the magic's plan had been. But it was alarming, magic meant an evolved goblin right? Potentially multiple.
Orange flames streaked over the swarm and exploded a metre away from him. Leif backed away but was too slow and surrounded on all sides. Goblins died but he was partially scorched.
At least two evolved goblins. He noted.
He drove a blade through the heart of a nearby monster and felt its lifeforce drain, his wounds began to heal. He shoulder checked a pair of spear wielders letting their attacks land so he could reposition.
And not a moment too late, another blast of flames landed where he had just been. As goblins died he sensed their vital energies fade away, this let him keep a vague idea of where Marcus and Sieg were fighting.
The chamber intermittently flashed with different colours. But the predominant one was the violet of the human mage's skills. The ground trembled again sending the small green attackers stumbling, Leif was about to take advantage of their distracted state when a hulking behemoth of a creature rampaged through the goblin swarm.
A troll, not dissimilar to the one Sieg had killed earlier that day, but it wasn’t alone. Accompanying the troll was a taller goblin in more intricate but still terrible quality armour. Three javelins were slung over its shoulder. It grinned at Leif with a mouth full of sharp teeth and moved to encircle him as the troll attacked in a frenzy.
Leif stepped back from the first overhead blow of the troll's massive club, he ducked the second and deflected the third as the creature tried another overhead strike. Leif stepped into its poor excuse for a guard and landed a blade tipped fist right into its centre of mass.
It roared in fury but Leif didn’t let up, he roundhouse kicked its jaw sending rotting teeth and spittle flying in a dramatic arc through the air. Before he could continue his assault the tall goblin launched a frenzy of attacks with two daggers.
One of the daggers bit into Leif’s neck, the blade sinking in over an inch. He jerked back from the sudden pain and inability to breathe. Another strike came, this one low. Leif battered the attack aside with a newly manifested arm of gold. But doing so cost him one of his knuckle blades, but it seemed to be enough.
The large evolved goblin, tall for its kind but too small to be confused for a human, lost the momentum of its flurry of attacks. Leif kneed it right between the legs, the devastating critical hit dealing empathic damage to all men everywhere.
The spriggan didn’t get to deal a finishing blow. The troll, having quickly recovered, tackled Leif with a bellow and a surge of violent intent. The two went down hard in a tangle of limbs, Leif being restrained despite his weight. The newly summoned arm shattered under the mass of the troll's crushing embrace.
The troll grinned down at the plant monster, sure of its victory. It grabbed one of Leif’s arms and twisted the limb. With a snap the arm broke and fell limp. Leif hissed, his mostly healed throat now allowing him to breathe.
For over a minute the two struggled, the taller goblin staggered around nearby with its arms holding a particular part of its body. The troll frowned in confusion, its peanut sized brain doing little flips. Then the monster started to sag, the thuggish energy its kind were known for possessing a near infinite amount of seemed to have fled.
Leif’s broken arm snapped back into place and he battered the troll away. The towering creature fell limply to the side, its body crushing an unfortunately close lesser goblin.
Trolls are very hard to kill. Not so if they’re facing an opponent capable of draining lifeforce with a continuous touch. Leif rolled to his feet and caught the wrist of the tall dagger wielding goblin as it aimed for his eye in a last ditch attack. He squeezed, the relatively frail bones of the goblin turned to fragmented shards under its skin.
The creature screamed in terror as Leif headbutted it into the afterlife. He dragged the goblins limp body for a few seconds so he could drain just a little more vitality. The monster's blood ran up Leif’s arm in a near continuous stream of red.
Leif flared his [Court Empath] skill, seeking out the emotions and intents of two figures in particular.
There. The spriggan dashed through the fight and towards where purple and white pulsed in near constant waves of power.
On his way over he crossed paths with a goblin kindling a small ball of fire. The right half of its body was a crispy mess, no doubt due to Marcus’s purple bolts of energy. Leif slapped it into the past tense and continued moving.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
He needn’t have worried. Marcus’s magic flared one final time as the last goblin dropped dead. Both men looked to be in rough condition. Sieg was covered in wounds and gashes, his breath ragged.
Marcus looked ready to fall over, his skills puffed into purple essence as he slumped to the ground. Leif moved to Sieg first and touched the man's worst injury. He went to speak but stopped when amber liquid flowed into his wound thanks to [Blight’s Bounty]'s vitality bestowal feature.
The taller human relaxed and muttered a tired thanks. Once he was no longer at risk of bleeding to death Leif left Sieg and did the same treatment to Marcus. However this time his healing seemed to have a limited effect.
Marcus was exhausted spiritually and mentally rather than physically.
Leif gestured to the chambers exit. Sieg followed his direction and let out a breath.
“Yeah, let's leave before the enchantments below our feet give out and drop several tons of stone on our heads.”
The chamber rumbled ominously, giving credence to his words.
The spriggan nodded and helped scoop up Marcus. The shorter man mumbled a ‘thank you.’
Finally Leif turned his attention to the notification he’d received most of the way through draining the troll.
Congratulations! Your [Amber Blight Spriggan] skill [The Well Within] has met an upgrade threshold!
Would you like to upgrade [The Well Within] from rank I to rank II? Y/N
Yes, yes I would. He paused mid step as power surged through his body. Wow, that has quite the kick to it.
===
The Well Within II:
Aspects: Cultivation (Blood)*, Empowerment (Body)*
A near endless well of energy and potential rests inside your heart. As you absorb vitality a portion remains, filling and expanding a pool of energy that allows you to improve the output of skills.
As you heal and nurture this pool of energy is condensed, becoming more potent.
A portion of this energy is reserved to grant rapid recovery should you become critically injured.
===
There was no change to the skills description. But Leif could feel the difference. It was as if the pool of energy within him was heavier, more concentrated, more eager to be used. But not only that, Leif could tell the total amount of energy he could hold had increased significantly, almost doubling.
He had two other skills with a numerical suffix. [Aura of Nobility I] and [Grounded Stance I]. Did this mean he could upgrade those as well?
The trio exited the chamber via a large circular archway, leaving the bloodbath behind.
===
Name: Leif Vin
Race: Amber Blight Spriggan
Age: 11
Attributes:
Free: 2
Might: 35
Alacrity: 42
Intelligence: 25
Willpower: 25
Spirit: 33
Charisma: 32 (+50%)
Total Level: 25
Monster Classes: 1/1
Amber Blight Spriggan: 11/20
Skills: Gilded Body / Amber Awareness / Blight's Bounty / The Well Within II / Settle
Classes: 1/2
Brawler: 4/10
Skills: Iron Fists / Grounded Stance I
Auxiliary Classes: 1
Noble: 10/10
Skills: Aura of Nobility I / Court Empath / Grand Action / Under My Protection / Legacy