Jumping off directly in front of Sammuel, the goblin made it easy for him to react. Despite the longsword’s rusty appearance, its edge still seemed to be relatively sharp. Its sharpness wasn’t to the degree that even the slightest touch would tear it apart rather it was the kind that was enough to pierce through a goblin’s skin with relative ease.
[Earned 12% EXP | Star Quality EXP: 12/100%]
At least it didn’t lie to me. Information unlocks as it becomes relevant to me. That’s good news.
Sammuel’s sword entered the goblin’s chest, sliding deep. Its body slid down, leaving a trail of unnatural goblin blood on the sword. This was an easy kill but there was one massive problem, Sammuel’s sword now left unbelievably heavy. Without the strength to support it, the tip of his blade now weighed down, hitting the ground.
The other goblins took the opportunity to attack. Three goblins immediately made their way through the graveyard.
Pointing the sword down, the goblin’s body fell down on the floor just in time for the rest to arrive. Another goblin threw his spear at him amidst the chaos. Sammuel perceived it better this time around, giving him enough leeway to make his move. He kept his body low, letting that spear whizz pass over him.
Although he couldn’t hold his sword with a goblin’s body on it, the goblin’s body itself was light. Sammuel ducked down and held the one he had just killed. Straining himself, he threw the corpse right at the incoming goblins.
[Status: Exhaustion | Lose Combat Power: -0.62 | Sammuel: 1.25]
If not for this sword that gave him +1 Combat Power, he would’ve already lost everything. Gripping this rusty longsword tightly, he pushed on forward. He needed to cull his enemies as much as possible before his hands gave out.
Sammuel might have a greater Combat Power than these goblins individually but it wasn’t long before his body gave out. Adding on the fact that these goblins would rise in number, he wasn’t optimistic of his chance. There was only one thing in this position that would bail him out and it completely relied on luck.
Taking a step forward, he went for an attack instead. As the corpse he threw out made two of them stumble, he focused on the biggest threat. His hands pushed forward, slashing at the goblin in front of him.
Sammuel felt like he could do this. It was completely possible to get out of this one alive. While his sword was in the middle of its swing, something completely unexpected happened.
The goblin backed off. It had dodged Sammuel’s slash.
Now completely wide open, the goblin rushed back at Sammuel, using the dagger in its hands to strike Sammuel’s chest.
Sammuel had just been slowly turning the tides in his favor yet he had made a mistake. There was no reason for them to stand still and take the hit. This wasn’t a game where enemies would freely take in all the damage dealt to them, this was real. As real as it could be for Sammuel.
If he did nothing, his heart would be pierced and it would be the end for him. Sammuel had no other choice but to let his only weapon go. Trying to redirect the momentum of his sword with so little stamina left was useless.
With his bare hands, Sammuel only had a Combat Power of 0.25, in a head-on confrontation, he would undoubtedly lose. Just what else could he do in such a situation like this?
The answer came to Sammuel instinctively. Just as they weren’t obligated to take his strike, neither was he. The body of a goblin was similar to that of a small child. Sammuel’s limbs were much longer than the goblin’s. With his perception, the only answer to this was to use his leg and kick the goblin away.
It was successful. Sammuel had managed to pry himself from one immediate danger yet managed to be in another completely dangerous predicament. He might’ve survived that lethal encounter but he had just lost his greatest asset, the rusty longsword.
There were still three relatively unharmed goblins after his life.
The weapon he had just lost was to his right, directly in between the goblins and himself. There was no reason to think this through, he needed to go after it no matter the cost. Fortunately, he had just brought himself enough time to try this attempt.
Picking his weapon back up wasn’t the problem. It was that these three goblins had managed to surround him at this point. Sammuel wouldn’t be able to escape this encirclement so easily. Beyond the horizon, Sammuel could see even more goblins rushing in. It was looking extremely bleak.
I just need that to happen! Everything up until now relies on luck.
[Ego] was his only escape from this point.
Sammuel shook his head. His eyes were starting to get blurry. The weight of the sword was growing by the second. Even his feet were starting to numb. His body was starting to shut down.
Not yet!
Desperately, Sammuel used the rusty sword as support. So what if he didn’t threaten them anymore, standing up was more valuable than sitting down at this very moment. This was his one last chance to turn the tides.
Seeing his guard down, the goblin directly behind Sammuel jumped him. It made the sound of complete mockery, seeing that Sammuel seemed to have given up. If he managed to kill him then he would each Vzella’s favor, possibly even reaching greater heights himself.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Hearing this unintelligible noise from that dagger-wielding goblin, Sammuel’s gamble had paid off.
If I got this right, my weapon made me have a drastic increase of +1 Combat Power. This meant that the goblins also must’ve had a drastic increase in Combat Power while wielding their daggers.
Sammuel ducked, letting the goblin fly over him. This completely caught the goblin off-guard, making him miss his attack. He fell face first on the ground.
Sammuel wasted no time. He raised his rusty longsword and stabbed this one in the back. The goblin made an unsatisfying gurgling sound as it met its demise.
[Earned 10% EXP. | Star Quality EXP: 22/100%]
Still nothing?! Anger swelled within him. It was reaching the point of being unreasonable.
Dropping this heavy longsword, Sammuel had opted to change weapon.
[Unequipped: Rusty Longsword of a Fallen Noble ]
[Equipped: Flint Dagger | Gained Combat Power: +0.5 | Sammuel: 0.70]
[Status: Exhaustion] has started to burden Sammuel even further. It was quickly reaching the point where he would be physically unable to continue. Now that he had chosen a much lighter weapon, Sammuel faced his last two opponents.
Just as Sammuel was enraged, the other two goblins had as well. They were taken out unjustly, throwing away their sense of self-preservation, and they both showed malicious intent at Sammuel. He could no longer use the same tactic as before, he had to make his stand.
In terms of skill with the dagger, Sammuel was a complete novice. But his prided perception gave him a small chance of seeing through the proper way to survive this. Noticing every single little detail from how they moved, Sammuel had managed to figure out one small detail.
Since their bodies are small, to generate enough force to leap large distances, they wind up their legs and use their hands to increase the distance. If I go in at just the right time, I might be able to get one of them.
[Raised Affinity Level towards Goblins: +2% | Gained Combat Power: +0.02 | Sammuel: 0.72]
Sammuel felt his body slightly recover. It was still heavily exhausted yet this tiny bit of energy gave Sammuel a large boost of confidence. The situation was similar to how a person who had walked through the desert would feel immensely grateful for a single drop of water.
Exactly as he had predicted, the goblins placed their hands down, waiting for the prime opportunity to jump out at him. Using this small timeframe, Sammuel bravely faced the two. He came to strike the one that had no weapon to his name. The goblin’s head was pierced with the Flint Dagger with great difficulty.
[Earned 11% | Star Quality EXP: 33/100%]
Sammuel had been doing good up to now. He had managed to run against such an overwhelming horde and even managed to put up quite a fight. It was a miracle that he hadn’t received any injuries yet.
Too bad he could only get so far. The other goblin had managed to stab Sammuel’s stomach. It immediately jumped back, waiting for Sammuel to bleed out in pain.
[Status: Bleeding | Lose Combat Power: 0.02/s | Sammuel: 0.68]
With the Flint Dagger accounting for 0.5 Combat Power, Sammuel only had nine seconds left before he lost his life. Even the two observers from the skies watched on as Sammuel slowly bled out.
“He survived longer than I thought,” Vzella murmured. Despite trying to speak in slight amazement, it only came off as mockery. Sammuel had managed to narrowly escape death every time with his wits yet it couldn’t overcome his physical limitation.
Riccen didn’t even look at Sammuel’s direction. He was far too focused on watching the one-sided slaughter that Sadin was on. For every slash of his hand, countless goblins would lose their lives. With every stomp, bones would be crushed. It was clear that Sadin only served to grow stronger here.
“That’s what you wanted, right? Satisfied? I’ll let you in on something fun. We only needed two people, that one’s just an extra. Whether he lived or died, doesn’t matter to me.”
Vzella didn’t respond. It was a waste of time trying to reason with a psychopath like Riccen. He merely watched on as Sammuel bled out. The desperate plea in his actions to survive completely resonated with him. “Fortunately, he dies this early on.”
[Status: Bleeding | Lose Combat Power: 0.02/s | Sammuel: 0.58]
Sammuel grasped his stomach feeling the sticky warm liquid pouring out. He didn’t do anything stupid like look down, he only placed as much pressure as he could to prevent the blood from escaping his body.
[Status: Bleeding | Lose Combat Power: 0.01/s | Sammuel: 0.57]
He bought himself a tiny bit of time but it was inevitable. He would need a miracle to survive at this rate. He had been forced into a corner so quickly that he didn’t even manage to understand just how desperately he clung to life.
[Status: Bleeding | Lose Combat Power: 0.01/s | Sammuel: 0.56]
One last chance. All or nothing.
The goblin that had just stabbed Sammuel was reveling in joy. It had succeeded and its life would now turn for the best. Power and riches, he could see his future now. He didn’t even bother looking at the corpse before him. His imagination went wild.
Sammuel still was kneeling down. In his hand, there was still a dagger. It was his last hope. Mustering as much power as he could, he threw the dagger. Far too many things needed to go right for this one yet Sammuel desperately hoped.
Despite the odds stacked against him, his unbelievably clear mind focused on his target. As the dagger flew through the air, it managed to nick the goblin’s neck. It had started to bleed yet it wasn’t enough to end its life.
Suddenly being pulled back to reality, the goblin growled in fury. A corpse dared to keep fighting on. It couldn’t contain its anger and rushed in to finish the job. Sammuel no longer had anything to his name. This would be the final nail in his coffin.
Angrily using its claws to slash away at Sammuel. There was one last, very last thing he could do. It was a lie that he had nothing left to his name. There, in fact, was one last thing. A dagger. There was a dagger lodged in his stomach right now.
As the goblin rushed in at him, Sammuel pulled out the Flint Dagger in his stomach and used it to lodge it in the goblin’s neck, killing it instantly.
[Earned 9% EXP | Star Quality EXP: 42/100%]
[Gained Ego: Goblin | Card Quality: Colorless | Star Quality: 1 (2/10)]
It finally dropped. The one last thing that gave him hope. Sammuel wasted no time.
[Switch Ego: Goblin]]
[Name: Sammuel Arthus
Ego: Goblin
Card Quality: Colorless
Star Quality: 1 | 2/10 | EXP: 0/100%
Affinity Level: 0.02%
Combat Power: 0.43]
Sammuel’s bleeding stomach could be seen visibly return back to normal. His body had returned to its pristine state. Except for the blood on his clothes, everything was back to normal. Even his exhausted body felt energetic once again.
It was as if he had gained another life.