"So uh, any chance you guys understand english?" Kyra muttered. She barely finished her sentence before a side swing flung towards her. Kyra screamed and ran the other way, the bat swinging in a circle after her. How was she going to get out of this one? If she didn't find a way out soon, it'll become a match of endurance. And even Kyra wasn't going to bet on her decent human endurance against a monster like this.

[Due to your actions you have learned the still Dash! Activates a small burst of increased speed for a small period of time.]

Kyra managed a faint smile at the notification. Immediately, she activated [Dash] in her head and almost stumbled as her speed shot up. But the bat dropped to the ground behind her. It seemed that even continuous momentum couldn't allow the hobgoblin boss to keep the spiked bat in the air. Kyra somehow halted without crashing into the goblin wall. Taking in his moment of exhaustion, Kyra lept forward, dagger aiming at his head.

Her attack fell short and it swatted her away with one hand. The hobgoblin boss dropped the bat on the ground. It flexed its muscles and let out a roar and rubble skitted down the cave walls. Its body bulged and twisted, muscles bursting through its leather garments. It whipped its head around. Their eyes met.

A second later the boss was on the offensive, fists raised. It seemed like Kyra had frustrated the hobgoblin who gave up using the dumb weapon that couldn't hit the target. Kyra ducked as it swung a punch. It was a fake and instead, she got kneed in the stomach. Kyra coughed as she staggered back.

This time, it reached out with an open hand, snagging onto Kyra's short hair like handling hay. She couldn't react in time with both limbs covering her squirming guts. Kyra grunted in pain. The hobgoblin didn't care and slammed her face into the ground. Again the impact knocked the air out of her. Kyra's head shrieked as if someone had tried to crack her skull like an egg, unsuccessfully.

She tried to call up menu, but her organs didn't comply. Her vision blurred as the hobgoblin kicked her in the guts again. She groaned. Kyra's head felt hot as blood rushed to her skull. She felt something wet trace her forehead.

In the haze of green and brown and all the noises ringing in her ear, Kyra barely made out her dropping HP. It went from green, to yellow, and then settling as it turned red. She tried to raise her arm and tap inventory as her mind focused for a single second on 'menu'. But her arm was broken or twisted. That probably happened when the hobgoblin kicked her again in the stomach and her arms were there as braces.

Kyra grunted. Using her shoulder, she tried to nudge herself up, but she only squirmed around like a worm. There was flush in her cheeks. The hobgoblin kicked her again, snarling. Kyra braced herself for the end. When was Tiny going to save her? Where was the guy? She whined internally.

Maybe he forgot her. The depression hit harder than the hobgoblin's kick. It was like pouring an ice bucket on her heated, throbbing skull. Who promised that Tiny would show up? Kyra wanted to mentally slap herself. Tiny had told her to survive until he returned. When did he promise to save her? But... he has to right? He won't just watch me die, right? Kyra clung onto her only hope. Her daggers were uselessly resting in her hands who refused to let go. Her mana was drained. So was her health. And her stamina. What else did she have left?

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Kyra despaired. There was nothing she could do, even as her brain scrambled on a fight or flight instinct, Kyra's body refused to cooperate and move. It laid there uselessly, continuously under attack by the hobgoblin boss's leg. Tiny... help.

"..Help..." There was a salty taste on her tongue. Her voice was hoarse. Not because she was dehydrated, but simply because her stomach and lungs felt like mush and her vocal chords refused to use effort. "Please... anyone... Mom... Dad... Tiny... ... Marc." Marc's name rolled off her tongue like a dagger in her gut - which Kyra thought there already was one there. She hated this.

Apart from the helplessness and fight or flight instinct, a small portion of her brain raged. All the goblins, the freaking monsters, were staring down at her with a greedy expression that seemed to demean her. She was sure, Kyra was sure she could take them down if the boss wasn't there. If her plan had worked.

The hobgoblin gradually lost interest as Kyra stopped responding to his attacks except for a grunt. It squatted down and Kyra's heart flared up. It reached out and snatched her by her hair. She screamed, her lungs and skull on a disharmony of agony. The hobgoblin sniffed her and lifted her mangled body off the ground. Kyra grunted as her hands fell away, limp at her sides, exposing her stomach area.

Then the hobgoblin boss simply dropped her. It lumbered off, collecting its gigantic bat as its muscles reverted back to a normal state. The hobgoblin parted the crowd and walked all the way back to his pile of rocks and sat down, not moving again. It once more became just a pair of eyes, piercing the darkness.

And that seemed to be a signal to the other goblins. They snarled, weapons raised. The goblins advanced. Kyra screamed. Tears fell down her eyes.

"No!" Her voice was cracked and bloodcurdling. Her eyes frantically turned around, trying desperately to find a means of survival. But both her arms were deficit. Her right shoulder feeling sore and jabbingly painful and her left arm she was sure was broken. She couldn't even use her last potion. And only if her mana was higher. It had raised by another point. It stood at 2/245. Pathetic. Kyra cursed. She hated herself for being arrogant and wasteful with her mana. 245 looked like a lot, but now, in reality, it was a pittance.

Kyra glanced around the room. Faint blue swirls permeated the place. If only... if only that mana was mine. Kyra bit her lip. She swerved herself painfully so that she lied on her back, her body exposed. If this was going to be her last moments, she wanted to be facing up, knowing how she died. At least she won't be yanked around by the goblins trying to attack her vitals. Yeah... Kyra thought, I'm probably going to die here.

But as the goblin horde advanced, Kyra lost her calmness. Even after accepting that she'll die, her instinct didn't want to give up. She screamed.

"Mana Bolt!" Kyra let out a cry.

[You do not have sufficient mana.]

"Mana Bolt! Mana Bolt! Damn it!"

[You do not have sufficient mana.]

[You do not have sufficient mana.]

Kyra couldn't even lift her arm. But the faintest mana buzzed within her.

"Damn it!" If only I could use that! She cursed. Never had Kyra ever wanted something so desperately. She wanted the blue swirls. She wanted the mana. She needed it. Her scream had never been more agonizing. Partially because the first goblins had attacked her, stabbing her.

Kyra resisted the pain of her broken arms and shoved them off. They kept coming. She screamed.

"Please!" If only those blue swirls were her own sea-green swirl that could explode on contact. If only she can use it to drop more of those crystals on the goblins. Kyra gritted her teeth as she kicked another one or two of them back into the crowd. She curled herself into a ball, protecting her main organs. Alas, when a human really is about to die of murder, they won't let it be easy.

Kyra will go down fighting. Even if only her instincts were left to control herself. She'll survive. And slap the hell out of Tiny.

She just needed those damn swirls.

"Answer me!" Kyra screamed, frustrated with fear gripping her heart with each thump. "Please!" Her voice turned shrill. Tears streamed and followed her burst. The goblins, however, cared less about her noise and more about actually brutally murdering her.

"Please." Kyra whispered. Her body was in pain all over. And it was dull, disconnected. Like the constant throbs in beat with her heartbeat were nothing more than the music from earphones that she could remove at any time.

She closed her eyes. At some point, even instincts have to give up. Kyra imagined the comforting blue swirls one last time. She imagined them turning into her own mana and wiping out all the goblins nearby. She imagined herself finding the strength to drink the last HP potion. Or did she have two left? Kyra didn't dare let herself think about her family, her mother and father and sister, or Marc, or even Tiny. She didn't let herself believe she was going to die.

It didn't feel like it. While everything shut down in her body, only one thought pulsed through Kyra. She wanted, wanted, wanted to fight back. She didn't just need the power; she ached for it. She wanted things to go her way, to have a higher reserve of mana remaining. She couldn't understand. The mana was right there, but so far from her reach.

Now it was cold. But it wasn't how Kyra imagined death felt like. Right now, it felt like she was floating on some dainty clouds on a breezy day, gently voyaging the world. Or if she was relaxing on a lake, in the middle of autumn, the sun distant but welcoming, and the water soft and calm.

And she was sinking...sinking, sinking into the depths of the lake. It felt like home.

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