I materialised in the next challenge area and this time the dizziness overcame me, the sense of vertigo lasted well past me materialising and all I saw was a green blurr. I couldn’t hold back the nausea and I threw up, both fortunately and unfortunately I was being held by the mysterious force so it just spilled down my robes. Fortunately it was my robes from Right Clothes for the Job so I just unsummoned and resummoned them, the vomit disappearing to wherever unsummoned items went.
When the world stopped being so blurry I looked around and found that I was in a small hamlet or homestead. I wasn’t exactly sure of the difference but there were only 2 wooden huts. Behind the huts there were some fields with crops growing and trees in the distance, while I couldn’t see behind me I could hear the sound of crashing waves and off to the side I could make out a ditch of some sort. As I looked around the area the hut doors opened and 4 people stepped out, 2 of them wore simple white shirts and brown trousers carrying axes that looked to be more for cutting wood than flesh and bone. The other 2 people that stepped out were clad in simple leather armour but they each held a shortsword. The challenge notification appeared and I groaned.
Challenge 5: Keep as many people and buildings alive and intact for 5 waves minimum.
You have 5 minutes before the first wave starts. First wave: 5 goblin warriors.
I felt myself being released and I stumbled as I dropped a foot to the ground. I held back from cursing the dungeon and looked behind me to see an endless ocean. I nodded and ran over to the ditch which turned out to be a 10 foot drop into a river that was nothing but white rapids. There was a wooden bridge that spanned the gap, the second I put my foot on the bridge there was a loud crack and my danger sense flared warning me that it wouldn’t support my weight. Nodding I ran back to where the people were and walked up to one of the leather armour wearing ones.
"Can you fight?" I asked.
"I'm a level 5 guard." They replied.
The reply was monotone and sounded like there was no life in him. I winced, these were Dungeon Created People also known as DCPs. They were most commonly found in siege based Dungeons and were famously stupid, almost featureless and could only follow basic commands. I had to keep all four of them alive and that shouldn’t be difficult to begin with but the later waves might pose a problem. My mind started to race as I tried to formulate a plan.
"Stand here," I pointed to my right. "What about you?" I asked the next DPC dressed the same.
"I'm also a level 5 guard." They said with the same lifeless tone.
"Go stand with the other guard." I turned to the first of the DPCs with the hand axe. "Who are you and what do you do?"
"I'm a level 5 wood cutter. I can make planks from trees I cut down."
"And you?" I asked the last DPC.
"I'm a level 5 woodcutter as well."
I didn’t bother to question them further as I came up with a plan but it would take a little bit of time for it to work. I wasn’t sure if the wood cutters would be able to get everything done by the time wave 5 came but I could only hope.
"Okay, wood cutters work together to cut down some trees, when a tree has been cut down take the time to turn it into wooden planks for a wall. Stay away from the river. Repeat this until I command you to stop." I ordered them.
They didn’t say anything in response and just turned and marched away to the trees behind the crops. I hoped that my orders were simple enough that they would be able to follow all of them. Shaking my head I turned to the guards, they both looked identical and if they weren’t standing next to each other I could be convinced they were the same DCP.
"Do you have names?" I asked sceptically
"I am 1."
"I am 2."
They said at the same time. I tilted my head realising that this was pointless and gave up on my original idea for them, deciding that simpler was going to be better.
"Come with me," I said heading towards the bridge, I would need back up for the fight since I had to defend the DCPs and the huts. "I will stand here, you stand here and you here."
I positioned the guards either side of the entrance and a few feet back, we were going to create a wedge formation with me at the front taking the brunt of the wave and they were to stop any that got past me. I tried a few test swings of my scythe to make sure I wouldn't accidentally kill the guards. DCPs didn’t have the basic instincts that everyone possessed and would happily be cut to ribbons unless they were told to defend themselves. I went through a few practice swings slowly moving around mimicking a real fight and instantly I realised that the DPCs were going to be too close, in the end I had them move another 5 feet back from me and gave them their orders.
“1 and 2, you are not to move further forward than you are. You will fight any opponents who make it past me. Nod to show acknowledgement of your orders.” I commanded them and received nods from both of them.
I cast Mage Armour on myself then spent the rest of my time stretching to get ready for the first wave. 5 goblins were not going to be hard but I knew that this was only the starting wave. I jumped when there was a loud bang and the ground shook. I turned towards the sound of the noise and realised that it was only the wood cutters, I had feared something had happened to them but it was only them felling one of the trees. I had to whip my head back around when I heard the first guttural roar, I caught sight of a small green skinned creature with long ears that I had become overly familiar with over the past few months.
Name: Goblin Warrior
Level 8
Type: Common
Description: A common goblin fighter that is the main bulk of any goblin horde. While individually they do not pose a great threat, their danger is in numbers as they gain more characteristics when there are more of them. This is a dungeon created creature and so their behaviour may differ from natural goblins.
Health: 100/100
Mana: 10/10
Effects: Pack tactics.
*Note, as this creature is recognised by your Soul Reaper class as a Dungeon created adversary, all combat restrictions are removed from all class abilities (excluding disabled abilities or skills) and you will be able to gain xp from defeating this monster.
I groaned when I saw the Pack Tactics under effects, this was going to suck. I’d seen the effect before the invasion and I was glad that I’d been using Man On the Job at the time, there had only been 20 goblins but they had torn through a group of 10 adventures, I’d collected all of the adventure’s souls and only 3 goblin souls that day. I realised that I was going to have to alter my initial plan to take this into account, if they could rush at us they’d overpower me and then tear though the DCPs like a bladed hurricane a field of wheat.
The goblins tore up the distance from where they had appeared and where I stood, oddly the bridge didn’t make a sound as they sprinted across it. I narrowed my eyes at the obvious Dungeon fuckery going on that allowed them to cross the bridge but I didn’t say anything out loud. The goblins remained silent after the first roar but as they reached leaping distance the first one screeched as it leapt at me, dagger in hand looking to plunge it into my chest. The first goblin was sliced in half as my scythe cut from left to right, the top half of the goblin didn’t realise what happened and sailed past me to land in front of guard number 2 who stabbed the goblin in the head finishing it off. I didn’t pay anymore attention to them as the second goblin was already upon me, it tried to slide along the floor to avoid the same fate as the first goblin, my scythe passed just over it saving off a long boil on its nose. It popped up just in time to receive a kick to the face, I felt something in the goblin’s face crunch as it met my foot. The goblins dagger was already mid thrust and scored a small cut along my thigh, in return my scythe finished its rotation around my body and decapitated the goblin. Its head plopped to the ground, I looked at it for a second and it seemed to have a disbelieving look on its face.
The next 2 goblins skidded to a stop having seen their comrades slaughtered in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately for them the last goblin hadn’t seen any of this and crashed into them toppling all of them over onto the ground just in front of the bridge.
“1, 2 kill them quickly.” I ordered and watched as the two DCPs charged forwards and stabbed a goblin each with the most basic of lunges.
I winced at their attacks, they were so obvious that even a child would have been able to tell what they were going to do, at least they landed and killed the goblins in one hit. The last goblin got to its feet and looked at the DPCs, with all of its comrades dead it had lost the Pack Tactics buff and mindlessly snarled at them. It didn’t see me launch my scythe at it like a javelin. It slammed into its face with a satisfying thunk, black blood sprayed out of its nose as my scythe fell away, I recalled my scythe to my hand as the DCPs converged on the goblin. It died in a flash of steel and black gore as two shortswords were thrust repeatedly into its falling body.
You have slain a Goblin Warrior Level 8 x5, as this creature is recognised by your class as a Dungeon created monster, you do not receive any penalties. You have earned 1xp.
Wave 1 is complete, you have 10 minutes before wave 2 begins. Second wave: 10 goblin warriors.
I dismissed the notifications and didn't waste any time grumbling about the miniscule amount of xp, 10 minutes was not a long period of time and in order for me to get my idea done I would need every second. I skidded to a stop at the small open area between the huts, wood shavings and unusable sections of were scattered around but there sat 6 stacks of 12 planks of wood, each plank was about 8 feet tall and each side had a simple tongue and groove fitting allowing for easy slotting. The planks were sturdy enough that they would turn away a simple attack but not a concentrated effort to break through, that was fine for the idea I had. I slid all 72 planks into my bag of holding and ran back over to the guards, who were still standing where the last goblin had died.
"Can you help build a wall?" I asked the guards.
"Basic fortifications are part of our training." They replied in an eerie unison.
"I want to build 2 walls, one here and one here." I drew a line in the dirt to show them. “At your skill levels, how long would that take?”
My original idea had been to create a gate in front of the bridge that the goblins would have to break through to reach us. When I saw the Pack Tactics buff I had scrapped the idea and instead decided to go with funnelling walls, this way they would end up only being able to stand 2 by 2 as they reached us. It also meant that the guards would be able to do something else like protecting the woodcutters, but we needed to get the walls in place first.
"This project would take 20 minutes of uninterrupted construction, 10 minutes per wall." One of the guards said.
"Shit, okay let’s build the left wall first." I ordered.
They started construction instantly with one of the guards manifesting a shovel into their hand, it started digging a groove in the ground that the wall would be set into. The other guard started connecting up planks of wood to form the wall. I looked between them and decided, with my lack of tools, to help with the planks. The time seemed to fly past and when I felt like the 10 minutes was just about up I inspected the wall we had made. It was 7 feet tall, with 1 foot of the wood buried in the ground, and about 20 feet long, I was worried about the support planks we had in place, they were placed at an angle to support the wall and stop it from falling over however we were 10 planks from making the complete section of wall. However we had used all of the planks that were available and the woodcutters were in the process of making more but I needed to take the time to get the guards into the correct position.
With the section of wall blocking part of the entrance I decided that we would use the wall as the funnel it was meant to be, except it would be used to funnel goblins to the guards. While we built the wall I had noticed that they had both risen to level 6, if I could level up the guards to level 10 they might become a lot more useful for the later waves. I took up a position closest to the bridge but it was off centre, the guards would take up positions outside of my strike range and close up the gap between myself and the wall. After a few practice swings and some minor adjustments I gave the guards my orders and we waited for the goblins to appear.
After a few minutes I was starting to think that I had gotten the wrong time when I heard the challenging roar of the goblins. They charged like they had done before but now they attacked in two groups of 3 and a group of 4. While the first group charged in without a care in the world the others were a little more hesitant, almost like they were waiting to see what would happen. The first goblin leaped at me and just like before a right to left slice cut it in two, the next goblin threw its dagger at me as the last one tried the slide to avoid my scythe. Instead of making a second attack with my scythe I brought the blade around to block the thrown dagger, with a ping it bounced off and fell into the river. The sliding goblin lept to its feet in an attempt to plunge its dagger into my heart but I sidestepped it and pushed it towards the guards behind me. The goblin stumbled before screaming in pain as the guards descended upon it. The last goblin turned to its other comrades, it opened its mouth to say something and I lashed out with my scythe, my overhead chop ended up being a dissecting cleave as I cut the monster clean in two.
I say clean but nothing about it was clean. Black blood fountained out of each half as the goblin collapsed to the ground in pieces. The others seeing this roared in anger and charged me, there was no hesitation this time, just pure malice. I pushed 4 more goblins back to the guards behind me in between killing or maiming the others. I felt Combat Grace activate as I cut through a goblins leg and from there it didn’t matter about the goblins' increased characteristics. I flowed through strikes and parries, I felt a few cuts make it through my robes but nothing Lesser Regeneration wouldn’t take care of once the wave was finished. When the last goblin fell I looked back at the guards and smiled as I saw that they were not both level 8. I dismissed the combat notifications seeing that I had only gained 1xp again, damn low level goblins.
Wave 2 is complete, you have 10 minutes before wave 3 begins. Third wave: 15 goblin warriors.
We rushed to build the second wall, 15 goblin warriors was probably at the limit of what I could successfully fight by myself but with Pack Tactics it would make for a challenging fight, or at least I hoped that it would. I did manage to catch a break while we worked though, the wood cutters had finished turning a third tree into planks while we were building the second wall. I managed to finish the supports for the first wall as the guards finished the supports for the second wall. I kept the woodcutters making planks as I suspected that at some point we were going to face archers and we’d need cover from their arrows. With the walls finished we took a wedge formation like we had done for the first wave, it would be a lot easier to hold off the bulk of the goblins while letting 1 or 2 past me for the guards.
When the goblins appeared, we were in position and I had refreshed my mage armour spell. The goblins charged across the bridge like a feral pack of geese carrying daggers, screaming and climbing over each other. I smiled as they ate up the distance, they were bolstered by Pack Tactics but low level goblins are still low level goblins. I dual cast Death Bolt and launched the bolts at the first two goblins, the bolts hit and they dropped missing their heads, the third Death Bolt hit a goblin in the chest and punched right through it, it still looked like it was alive until the rest of the goblins stampeded over it. I continued to fire dual Death Bolts at them as they charged, the group had seen what had happened to those who’d been hit so they took the time to dodge the spells. That’s not to say that my spells didn’t hit anything, I saw a few arms disappear as well as a few legs. The main thing it achieved though was to slow down the group which is what I wanted, it would be harder for them to overwhelm me if they approached at a jog.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The first group of goblins reached me and were dispatched with a horizontal Empowered Attack that cut through their small bodies like a guillotine. Their screams of rage turned into cries of pain as they bled to death, the rest followed them to their grave shortly after. I pushed some of the more injured goblins towards the guards and killed the uninjured ones, the whole wave took maybe 5 minutes at the most and that mainly consisted of watching the guards face off against the last 2 goblins. When it was all done I smiled and gave my level 10 guards a health potion each to fix the cuts they had accumulated, I took one myself as well as and cursed myself for not conserving my mana. I had forgotten that I didn’t have any mana potions left and I still had 2 more waves to complete.
Wave 3 is complete, you have 10 minutes before wave 4 begins. Fourth wave: 10 goblin warriors, 5 wargs and 5 goblin riders.
I picked up the next set of planks from the now level 10 wood cutters. I contemplated having the woodcutters return to their huts. A warg might be able to leap the 7 foot wall but I was confident I would be able to catch them before they caused any trouble. I decided to have them continue making planks so that I could extend the height or reinforce the wall. They went back to cutting down trees. For now however I had the guards start to build a roof over where we were standing to protect us from archers, I had a feeling that they would be coming and if we weren’t prepared for it, it would be a massacre.
We built pillars for the roofing sections to rest on and had a large section of roofing done by the time the goblins appeared. I had misjudged the time and we were still constructing part of the roof that would cover guard 2, I scrambled to get the guards into the correct positions as the goblins charged over the bridge. I issued hurried orders as the first of the goblins reached me and I cut it down. We worked our way through the 10 goblin warriors before I realised that something was off. I searched the bank opposite us and couldn’t see any of the wargs or the warg riders, it had only been the 10 goblin warriors.
I heard a howl come from behind us and I felt a ball of ice form in my stomach. I sprinted and used Etheric Step to get to where the woodcutters had been making wooden planks. I arrived just in time to see a warg bite down on a woodcutter’s head and shake its own head from side to side. I watched as the body separated and tumbled across the ground crashing into a pile of planks. I saw the body of the second woodcutter was being torn to pieces by 2 other wargs. The wargs looked like dirty wolves, their fur was a deep brown that was patchy in places and their teeth made closing their mouths fully nearly impossible without cutting into their own flesh, their claws were also a lot longer and sharper. I grimaced as the warg crunched the woodcutter’s skull.
Name: Warg
Level 13
Type: Uncommon
Description: Wargs were once common wolves but have been twisted by dark magic to become the creature you see now. Wargs are pack creatures or hunting mounts frequently used by goblins.
Health: 800/800
Mana: 150/150
Effects: Pack tactics. Beast Companion.
*Note, as this creature is recognised by your Soul Reaper class as a Dungeon created adversary, all combat restrictions are removed from all class abilities (excluding disabled abilities or skills) and you will be able to gain xp from defeating this monster.
Name: Goblin Warg Rider
Level 16
Type: Uncommon
Description: A Warg rider is one of the craziest but most fearless goblins around. They can always be found with their Warg Companion. The Warg rider is the fast attack troops for most goblin forces and always try to counter attack whenever possible.
Health: 1000/1000
Mana: 800/800
Effects: Pack tactics. Beast Companion. Master of a Monster.
*Note, as this creature is recognised by your Soul Reaper class as a Dungeon created adversary, all combat restrictions are removed from all class abilities (excluding disabled abilities or skills) and you will be able to gain xp from defeating this monster.
Without thinking or creating a plan I cast Death Bolt at the goblin rider and used Etheric Step to appear next to the warg. My scythe penetrated the wargs head at the same time as the Death Bolt hit the rider. The goblin screamed as the magic slammed into its chest and began to eat through its body, the warg collapsed to the ground dead, it rolled over laying on top of the rider. The screams became muffled shouts as it was covered by the dead warg. I turned to see if the other wargs had noticed me and as I did so I became Etheric. A warg leapt through the space I had been occupying, its jaws attempted to slam shut over what would have been my head. I used Etheric Step to appear on top of the closest hut as 2 more wargs landed on the after image that remained where I had been.
The goblin riders said something that I didn’t understand and all of the warg and riders looked up at me, the riders pulled out slings and started swinging them around before releasing them. Rocks flew my way but I just avoided them, one of the wargs sniffed the air and turned towards the guards by the bridge and I swore. Before it could take a step I appeared next to it and cast Empower Attack, my scythe came down in an overhead chop and decapitated the warg, it collapsed on its side trapping the goblin rider’s leg under its body. I admit, I was pissed that the Dungeon had spawned the wargs and their riders in the woods instead of across the river like it had done for all the other goblins. I may have vented my frustration on the rider, cutting it again and again and again, purposefully leaving them to die of blood loss. I was so pissed that I used Man on the Job to its fullest and let the aura billow out making the wargs freeze in place. They watched as I tore apart their comrade, it cried out a few times but none of them moved to help.
The goblin rider died screaming in pain, unable to move as it bled out. The rest of the wargs and riders stared at me for a few minutes, finally a goblin overcame its fear and screamed before kicking its warg into action. They leaped at me, the warg with its claws out and the goblin swinging a shortsword. I sidestepped them both and heard them crash to the ground behind me, I didn’t have time to see what had happened as the next warg was right behind it leaping at me teeth bared. I rolled under the monster with 3 legs and sprang to my feet in time to catch the last warg before it jumped, my scythe lashed out with a horizontal slash that cut off its lower jaw. The warg whimpered and decided that it would just try to bat me with its paw, my scythe completed its rotation and sliced it off its paw. The warg wobbled now that it only had 2 legs to stand on before it crashed to the ground and whined.
My Danger Sense flared and I used Etheric Step to move again, I appeared 10 feet away and saw a Warg crash into the mirage I left behind. I ran towards the first leaping warg that just got back to its feet. My scythe slammed deep into its side and slid down the side of the monster, there was a wet splat behind me and I regretted it the second I looked behind me. I had just disembowelled the monster and struggled not to throw up on the spot. The warg collapsed to the ground groaning and the goblin leaped off the monster towards me, I heard a shout behind me and I dived to my right. I was rewarded with a short sharp scream as well as a burning pain in my left leg, I popped to my feet shakily and saw that the goblin was now in the mouth of a warg that was shaking it like a dog shakes a chew toy. I smiled grimly as I cast a Death Bolt at the disembowel warg to finish it off.
I put the lantern end of my scythe on the ground to steady myself and looked around quickly to see that there were only 2 riders and wargs left. One warg was just getting up and was missing its back left leg, the other warg was enjoying a goblin snack but I could see that I had injured its back right leg. I dual cast Death Bolt at the warg getting up and smiled as it took a bolt to the face and the other blew the head off its rider. My smile faded as I turned ethereal, the rock the warg rider had flung passed right through my head, I returned to normal as a warg landed in front of me and tried to take a bite out of my chest. I tried to dodge backwards but my leg gave out, I fell backwards and landed hard on my ass, the warg missed its attack but quickly came forwards for a second bite.
I brought my scythe up and held it in a blocking position as the warg bit down. I screamed in pain as one of its fangs pierced my right arm but the snath of my scythe was so far into its mouth it couldn’t close its mouth properly. I could smell its fettered breath as it looked at me with pure hatred that only a monster could. It tried to bite through my scythe and I heard a crack before the warg whimpered, I saw it raise up a front paw to take a swipe at me and I reacted on instinct.
I cast Empower Attack on my hand and slapped the monster. I knew I couldn’t use Etheric Step while its fang was still impaling my arm and I couldn’t cast Death Bolt wouldn’t be fast enough. I was not sure what I was exactly expecting to happen but the warg stared at me in shock for a second, paw still raised but frozen in place. I let go of my scythe with my left hand and aimed into the roof of its mouth while casting Death Bolt, as I finished casting the goblin rider leaned forwards to stab me with its shortsword. The bolt of Death magic exploded through the top of the warg’s head and slammed into the rider’s head as well. They both collapsed to the ground and I screamed in pain as the warg took me with it.
I had to wiggle my arm up and down to pull out the fang, the movement causing me to cry out in pain each time. When I finally managed to free my arm I had to resist the overwhelming need to pass out and just about managed to cast Lesser Regeneration. I was sure that the puncture wound would end up being yet another scar. I finally let the notifications wash over me.
You have slain a Warg Level 13 x5, as this creature is recognised by your class as a Dungeon created monster, you do not receive any penalties. You have earned 10xp.
You have slain a Warg Rider Level 16 x5, as this creature is recognised by your class as a Dungeon created monster, you do not receive any penalties. You have earned 10xp.
Wave 4 is complete, you have 15 minutes before wave 5 begins. Fifth wave: 10 goblin warriors, 5 goblin archers and 1 goblin leader.
I looked around at the devastation that the wargs had caused. Both woodcutters were dead and the wooden planks were scattered everywhere. Thankfully the huts were both intact and the guards were still alive but I still felt the loss of the woodcutters. I sighed at what was lost but then shrugged, we needed to secure ourselves for a last stand. I called out to the guard and they ran over to me.
“Finish building the roof section.” I ordered.
I sat there on the ground for a few more minutes pulling out the greater health potions and chugging them like it was a drinking contest. I winced when I took a look at my mana.
Mana: 1046/2600
When I was mostly healed I stood up and walked over to the guards. They had finished the roof section and were standing around doing nothing, there were still a few minutes left as well as a few planks so I had them reinforce the walls. We now had a slanted roof over where we stood to protect us from arrows. It wouldn’t do anything if the archers stood on the bridge and took direct shots at us but it would give some protection if they were on the other side of the river.
I wondered how my friends would have dealt with this challenge. Raven would hate it the most as she sucked at protecting people, she would probably use the guards and woodcutters as bait so that she could land sneak attacks or her assassination abilities. Clair would probably have the easiest time as she picked off everything with arrows. Harold and Taylor would fare about the same since they both had good defensive measures that they could use to shield or protect the DCPs. I hoped there would be some sort of safe zone where we could all meet up, I didn’t want to have to clear the Dungeon entirely to find them.
My musings were interrupted but the sound of a horn, not a trumpet like most humanoid races use, an actual horn that made a deep bone vibrating sound. I looked up to see that all of the next wave of goblins had appeared on the far side of the river. I watched them form up into ranks, warriors at the front, archers at the side and the leader behind them towering over the other goblins.
Name: Goblin Archer
Level 15
Type: Common
Description: The goblin archer is the only goblin who is capable of wielding a bow. They are the main ranged force for any goblin force and in large enough numbers can devastate ground troops.
Health: 300/300
Mana: 300/300
Effects: Pack tactics. Leader in Charge.
*Note, as this creature is recognised by your Soul Reaper class as a Dungeon created adversary, all combat restrictions are removed from all class abilities (excluding disabled abilities or skills) and you will be able to gain xp from defeating this monster.
Name: Goblin Leader
Level 20
Type: Uncommon
Description: Goblin leaders ascend to their place of authority through force. Though they are the lowest among the goblin leadership however they are still a fierce foe.
Health: 2000/2000
Mana: 1500/1500
Effects: Pack tactics. Minion Devotion. Leader of the Pack.
*Note, as this creature is recognised by your Soul Reaper class as a Dungeon created adversary, all combat restrictions are removed from all class abilities (excluding disabled abilities or skills) and you will be able to gain xp from defeating this monster.
I closed my eyes and opened them slowly, I'd had enough of this and wanted it over, I was tired and my muscles hurt from the magical healing. I began twirling my scythe in circles with one hand, the leader barked something and all of the goblins began to screech. I used Etheric Step to appear among the goblins on the far side of the river. My scythe swept out in a large Empowered Attack, 8 of the 10 warrior goblins fell to the ground decapitated. I did a quick double step and a hop to move to the left of the group and brought my scythe down through the body of goblin number 9. The last goblin squealed in alarm but I threw my scythe at him, it didn't hit him how I'd expected it to, the snath of the scythe bounced off its head stunning it, I cast Death Bolt into its chest killing the monster.
"I need to work on a weapon throwing skill." I mumbled.
I used Etheric Step to appear back on the correct side of the river and addressed the DCP guards. I could hear the goblins screaming in rage at the execution that had happened right in front of them.
"Stand at the sides, stay away from the entrance, kill any goblins that come through." I commanded, the guard nodded and moved to the sides.
Arrows finally started being loosed as the goblins recovered, their leader barking something to bolster their spirits. I stepped out of their line of sight as a few arrows flew past me and thudded into the ground. I used the blade of my scythe as an impromptu mirror to peek around the corner.
The archers were crossing the bridge cautiously, behind them was the goblin leader but it didn't look as large as the Goblin King had. It was about 5 feet tall with gold and silver rings through its ears, other than that it just looked like a regular old goblin. The archers closer to the leader seemed to stand taller than the other, they fired arrows at my scythe when they saw the blade. One by one they crossed the bridge and made it onto land.
Time to go piss on their parade, I thought.
I used Etheric Step to appear behind the goblin leader and lashed out with my scythe. It struck a magical barrier and bounced back, the force of the attack causing the goblin to stumble a little. The archers next to the leader turned and loosed their arrows but I was already gone. I rolled and popped up next to an archer and smashed him in the head with the butt of my scythe, it stumbled backwards and I kicked it in the chest sending it tumbling into the river. I used Etheric step again to appear in front of a different archer but as I went to slash it I turned ethereal as an arrow passed through me and slammed into the goblin’s eye. Friendly fire, nice.
"Guards, come fight!" I yelled, a second later the two guards came charging out from behind the walls, they engaged the 2 closest archers who dropped their bows and pulled out daggers.
I vaulted using my scythe to give me extra height and leapt over the goblin leader, I came down in front of the last archer bringing my scythe down through its body. The goblin didn’t even have a chance to scream as it was sliced in two. I was about to look to see how the guards were doing when I was kicked in the back, the force of the kick lifting me off my feet and sending me flying, face first, into the wooden wall. I felt my nose break and tasted blood as it welled up in my mouth.
I groaned and spat out a huge mouthful of blood, I turned around to see the guards finish off the archers and turn towards the leader. It had begun to glow red and held its hand out to the side, a spectral axe formed in its hand before it let out a loud roar.
"Guards hide behind the walls." I called and watched as they ran off.
The goblin leader looked at me and swung its battle axe, at the apex of its swing it released it and I watched in horror as the axe flew towards me. I used Etheric Step and appeared on the floor in front of the other wall. I watched as the spectral axe slammed into the wall where I had been sitting and broke through it with a mighty crash. I cursed and gulped, this was not going to be an easy fight but at least it didn’t have the axe anymo….The goblin leader resummoned the axe to its hand.
Well fuck.
I stood up and moved to stand in front of the leader, I held my scythe in one hand, ready.
“Ickle hooman, it good you come to die wif honour.” It said in a guttural tone.
“I’m just glad you are willing to die like the others” I taunted gesturing to its kin laying dead all around us.
The leader roared and charged me, it swung the axe in a powerful, if slow, overhead chop that I easily dodged. The ground broke apart where it impacted and I cast Empower Attack and swung my scythe with all my might. I felt the bounce off the magical barrier that surrounded the goblin leader but I could sense cracks forming from my strike. I had to use Etheric Step to avoid the goblin’s backhand strike that came a lot faster than I expected. When I appeared again I used another Empowered Attack to weaken the barrier even more.
It continued like this for another few minutes as I dodged its attacks and slowly weakened the barrier protecting it from actually being cut but eventually, the barrier shattered with the sound of breaking glass. I could see the look of disbelief on the goblin leader’s face as well as the grimace of pain from spell backlash. I used the opportunity to appear behind the goblin leader and slice through both of its hamstrings, I was fairly sure that goblins had hamstrings. It roared in pain but due to Dungeon fuckery, I was sure it was Dungeon fuckery at least, it didn’t fall over. Instead its legs stayed perfectly still as it started to swing its battleaxe around hoping to catch me with it.
Instead of backing off, I leapt forwards and parried the battleaxe sending it crashing into the ground. I then used two quick Empowered Attacks to cut through the rest of its legs. Thankfully the goblin screamed in pain and fell to the ground, its battleaxe forgotten as it gripped the stumps of its legs. It raised up an arm to swing at me but I side stepped it and brought my scythe down once more, this time I hit it right between the eyes. I watched the monster’s eyes roll up into its head and heard a trumpet as a notification appeared.
Wave 5 is complete. Challenge 5 has been completed. Please collect your rewards and enter the next door.
I just stood there panting, staring down at the goblin leader before collapsing to the floor. I lay there for a minute listening to the grinding sound of the prize podium rising up out of the floor. I was glad that the challenge was done but needed to center myself before I looked at any notifications or prizes.