“Level 100, 101, and another at 100.”
I looked over at the archer who had just pointed to each of the goblins. She must have had a much better identify skill than the one I had if she could see their levels, and also better perception if she could see all three goblin assassins. I’d only spotted two of them initially, but now that she had pointed it out I could see the third peeking at us from behind a large tree.
“I vote we simply ignore the monsters and go collect our rewards.” The cloaked individual says. “We may be able to fight them off for a while, but it would be far more beneficial to simply get our rewards and get out of here.”
“I agree.” Flynn says. “I don’t think our odds of killing more than just a few of them are very high.”
“Great, then we are in agreement.” The figure says. A second cloak appears on top of the one they already wore, which I recognize as the same cloak of flight that I wore. With a quick motion, he scoops up the archer in his arms and flies off towards the beam of light. A few of the goblins give chase, but the cloak allows him to outpace them.
“I suppose that means the four of us will travel together.” The mage says. “I’d really appreciate you all not running away as well.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t abandon you.” I say. “Though, try not to slow us down too much.”
“Understood.”
We begin running towards the pillar of light. Out of the four of us, I am the fastest on foot, with Fionna being just barely slower than I am. Flynn, who has his body stat focused on strength, is a good bit slower than her, and the mage is even slower than him. We can only move as fast as our slowest member, meaning that we have to keep pace with him.
As we run, the goblins all follow us, easily keeping pace as they wait for the perfect opportunity to attack. We all keep watch in all directions, not wanting to let any of them land a surprise attack.
After some time, the goblins finally seem to think they have their chance. With little warning, one of them leaps from the trees above and falls straight towards the head of the mage. I knock it off course with an arcane blast, saving the man from being split in two.
The goblin recovers before the mana from the spell is even done dissipating, and is once more on the mage. The four of us fight it off, managing to keep it from killing its target. The goblin moves really quickly, and with the two daggers it wields it is very hard to keep up with its movements. Another goblins joins the fray, and we are forced to continue running while doing everything we can to keep our distance from the two enemies. My spells smack against their armor, slowing them down. Clouds of poison trail behind us, slowing them down just a little bit more.
Several more of the goblins give chase, and soon we find ourselves being hunted down by five of the high leveled monsters. We wouldn’t have much hope fighting them directly, but keeping them at bay is feasible enough for now. Our problem is how slow we are moving. It is only a matter of time before something goes wrong.
And almost as soon as I had that thought, something goes wrong. The mage stumbles slightly, having tripped over a root he hadn’t noticed in the dark. It was a small stumble, barely slowing him down at all, but that miniscule loss of speed and coordination had been enough to screw him over.
The fastest of the goblins caught up to him, grabbing his ankle and dragging him to the ground. In that vulnerable position, there was nothing he could do as he was torn apart over the next few seconds. I stopped for a moment to help, but thought better of it and continued running. There was nothing I could do for him, he was already dead.
With him dead, we were able to pick up the pace a lot and actually start putting some more distance between us and the goblins. Our feet pounded against the ground as all of us ran at Flynn’s top speed. The goblins, having been breathing in Fionna’s poison for the past several minutes, began to slow down as they were losing the energy to keep up the chase. They weren’t dying by any stretch of the imagination, but the toxic cloud had been enough to deter them for now.
New goblins replaced their brethren, and we were once more running away from them. There were only two of them this time, which briefly gave me an idea.
“Flynn, take my cloak.” I say, removing my cloak of flight and handing it to him.
He quickly puts it on without question, suddenly realizing why he’d been handed it.
He takes a leap in the air, gliding back to the ground slowly. He only hopped up a few feet, but in that stride he traveled hundreds of meters. His foot once more makes contact with the ground, and he pushes off. He repeats it over and over, and soon he is running at Fionna’s top speed.
He doesn’t speed up further than that, but the three of us are now running extremely fast. I could slow down the pace of my spell casting now that the goblins were having much more trouble keeping pace.
After almost thirty straight minutes of running, things once more were kicked up in difficulty. Arrows flew in from all around us, having been fired by the many goblin archers in the trees. The first one sank itself directly into Flynn’s shoulder, the second arriving a moment later and piercing through Fionna’s thigh. Two arrows get fired at me, but neither are able to penetrate my mana shield, despite the massive mana cost of blocking them.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
My shield flares out from my body, and the three of us get closer together as my barrier now covers all of us from the absolute barrage of arrows that I was now enduring.
I silently thanked the heavens above for my recent aura training, as it had allowed me to store more mana than before thanks to the increased potency of my aura. The energy cost of blocking so many powerful attacks was stacking up quickly, and I even started deflecting some of the arrows to the side with arcane blasts just to save every bit of mana I could.
Whenever Flynn was able to, he used his sword to knock an arrow away. Fionna’s daggers also blocked several arrows, helping to alleviate the drain on me. After almost an hour of running at full speed, the attacks stopped coming. No more goblins are chasing us, and we are rapidly approaching the light above the floors main exit.
We come to a stop several kilometers away from the exit, having spotted a monster guarding it. The three of us gaze at the very large goblin, which was about seven feet tall and as muscular as a body builder. It had a massive bow strapped to its back, and leather armor that covered every inch of skin besides its face.
“We are going to have to run past it.” Flynn says. “That is a boss monster if I’ve ever seen one, and I am not about to try and fight it.”
“You sure you don’t even want to try?” I ask, identifying the boss. “We might have a realistic shot at killing it.”
Goblin Patriarch (Level Unknown)(Boss)
“If those other two had been here to help, we may have been able to. Without them here, I would really rather not risk it.”
“I don’t think I’ll be trying to fight that thing either.” Fionna says, looking at it. For the first time he bubbly personality seems to slip away, a more serious expression on her face. Even Flynn looks a bit thrown by it.
I sigh. “Fine, I guess I can understand not wanting to face it down. Could I ask you two to rest here with me for an hour or two so I can recover my mana enough to give it a shot after you escape?”
“You can’t possibly be considering fighting that thing right?” Flynn says, shocked. “I know you are damn strong, but there is only so many levels that strength can overcome. That thing is both a boss monster and at a higher evolution than you.”
“That is exactly why I want to fight it so badly.” I say. “Also, I’m not just strong for my level. I am stupidly strong for my level. Tell me, what is your highest stat after you have applied all of your title multipliers and skill buffs.”
“A bit over 3,500.”
“Well after all of my multipliers, my mind stat is a bit over 4100, with my body stat being 3700. That isn’t even including all of the increases to my stats I’d get from my skills and titles, and the fact that my entire class is based around fighting one on one against monsters that are stronger than myself. This is exactly the kind of fight I am built for, and this is my chance to really see how far I can push myself when I go all out.”
“I-” Flynn stops, understanding that I was not going to be backing down on this. “Just please remember that if things go south, the floor exit is going to be close by.”
“I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.” I say. “Besides, if I do win I would almost certainly reclaim my title as highest leveled in the tower. Seeing those two people out leveling me sparked my competitive side.”
“You assume you were always the highest leveled before they came along.”
“I know I was. I was the first to reach floor 26, and that doesn’t exactly happen by being number two. Honestly I am wondering if those two even knew each other, because fighting together only decreases level gains.”
“Probably from constant battles instead of taking as many breaks as you do.”
“Hey, those breaks are well deserved and every bit as important as the days I spend training.”
“Right, because sitting back and eating food is how most people gain levels.”
“You’d be surprised. I’ve had skills upgrade from just sitting back and enjoying myself. That’s how I learned to make fireworks and upgraded my mana manipulation skill.”
This back and forth goes on for a while, and eventually it returns to just normal conversation. Despite the fact that no more goblin assassins are attacking us, we still keep watch all around just in case something does happen. The boss monster never budges from its spot, also showing that it isn’t anything to worry about at the moment. Its lack of movement is actually kind of unnerving.
Once my aura had completely regenerated its mana, we prepared to make our move. Flynn had returned my cloak to me, which I now prepared to use.
“Are the two of you ready?” I ask.
“As ready as we can be.” Flynn says, taking a deep breath.
“Alright, then prepare for takeoff.”
I rise into the air with the cloak, hovering about 50 meters off the ground. In each hand I am holding the wrist of one of my two companions, preparing to toss them. The goblin boss seems to notice us, though makes no move to attack.
Mana gathers in my arms and hands as empower pushes past its 25% limit. Using the skill only on specific parts of my body lets me push it further, but it also runs the risk of damaging the muscles and tissue.
My arms both go back behind me, and with a quick motion I throw both of the siblings as hard as I can towards the stair case. It is not nearly fast enough, so I burn mana to add to their kinetic energy, speeding them up substantially. They fly through the air at over a hundred meters per second. The mana cost had been exorbitant, but getting them to safety before starting this fight was my top priority.
The goblin boss swiftly took its bow from its back and fired an arrow at the two of them, but they were going too fast to accurately hit.
They pass by the boss, moving faster than the monster can react too. I wince as they both bounce off of the ground. That had looked like it hurt. They use the brief contact with the earth to redirect themselves, launching straight into the staircase behind the boss and exiting the floor.
I breathe a sigh of relief now that they were out of the way and no longer a concern. I lowered myself to the ground, staring down the goblin patriarch. It stared right back at me, an arrow nocked and ready to fire.
I could already feel several of my passive skills activate as my body was flooded with strength. Dimensional Duel, Ambitious Fighter, and Empower all worked to raise my stats far beyond what they usually were. I don’t even hesitate as I place two arcane tags on the monster. I didn’t even care about the backlash that would hit me should this fight end prematurely.
“Sorry Flynn,” I say to myself, pulling my staff from my aura. “but I will not be escaping from here. It’s either I never leave this floor, or this monster doesn’t live long enough to watch me leave.”