A branch breaking was all the warning that the group had. Astrid immediately turned in that direction with her shield raised, while one of the Black Guards jumped in front of Alaster with its shield up. A primitive arrow embedded into the wood of Astrid’s shield and another into the lone Black Guard’ shield, while four slammed into the second Black Guard’s shield.
Astrid and the Guards lowered their polearms, while Alaster drew his sword. He looked around the large frame of the Black Guard in front of him and saw a group of eight Goblins charging at them. Six more Goblins were nocking another volley of primitive arrows onto their even more primitive bows.
It looked like the bows were simply thick branches they had attached a string to. But even that was advanced for Goblins.
The other Black Guard turned around, drawing Alaster’s attention. He looked behind him and saw another eight Goblins charging them. They were being attacked from both sides. Astrid stepped up next to Alaster. Her face said that while she knew this was a desperate situation, she was confident. Alaster was less so.
He had killed many more Goblins than this, but always with a plan and never surrounded. When he killed the Tribe, he had attacked during the night and a blizzard. The Night Children only needed to deal with a few at a time, and they were rarely seen. However, his mind didn’t stop. He quickly calculated the situation. He came to the conclusion that they could stand and fight, but not with those archers.
They were slow to fire, bad shots, and the bows were weak, but it only took a small wound to slow someone down enough for the melee Goblins to kill them. As he was thinking, another volley of arrows bounced off the Black Guard’s shield.
“This way!” Alaster shouted over the Goblin’s screams. And he ran for the city, with Astrid right beside him and the two Black Guards following closely while guarding the rear.
With their increased levels, their abilities, and their skill, Alaster did not worry about the Goblins themselves. It was the one commanding them. The Goblin Lord. Unless they had somehow wandered between two different Goblin Patrols, they would not have flanked the humans. Nor would they have used bows. Without a doubt in Alaster’s mind, the Goblin Lord was commanding them.
They ran through the woods as fast as they could, aiming for the city, but the Goblins followed them, with more and more appearing. Luckily, the Goblin Archers were horrible shots and weren’t able to even pull back their bowstrings while moving. So while they ran, they didn’t have to worry about any arrows, but the number of Goblins coming out of the trees was concerning.
They had already surpassed the number of Goblins in the Tribe, and they were all intent on killing them.
Alaster sensed the Night Child following them in the trees, killing the occasional Goblin that had climbed the branches. So far, it did not seem like the rest had noticed, and it prevented Goblins from jumping at them from above.
Due to their haste, they didn’t follow the already cut path through the forest, and were instead running through the bushes and low branches. Astrid’s higher DEX allowed her to duck and weave easier than Alaster. While the Black Guards just bulldozed through the branches, only worrying about their footing so they didn't trip. Alaster’s face and arms already had numerous deep scratches, and they continued to grow in number as they ran.
Focused on speed, Alaster didn’t even notice when direct sun flashed into his face and the forest ended very abruptly. Too abruptly for it to be the forest line around the City. Alaster lowered his arms and saw that they were in the middle of a small clearing, but they weren’t the only ones.
In front of them, dozens of Goblins anxiously stood at the other end of the clearing. They were struggling to control themselves from just attacking. In front of them, standing almost relaxed, was the Goblin Lord, even taller and stronger than before, along with several new scars. It nearly stood as tall as a human, and wore patchy chain mail and leather.
More Goblins crowded the sides of the clearing, while those chasing them caught up and filled the back of the clearing. They were surrounded. And by enough Goblins for two, perhaps three tribes.
The Goblins waited impatiently, some bouncing, some pacing, some even crawling, but none entered the clearing itself. The only Goblin in the clearing itself was the Goblin Lord, who stood patient and relaxed.
Alaster drew his sword once more, knowing they would have to fight. But he also pulled up his status. He had been holding off on distributing his Free Points, but he did not have that luxury now.
[Class: Death Mage
Level: 10
EXP: 16%<43%
Health: 273/300
Health Regeneration: 8/min
Mana: 300/300
Mana Regeneration: 4/min
Spells: Necrotic Bolt, Raise Undead, Bone Crafting, Mana Manipulation, Death Touch, Skeleton Creation, Meditation
Strength: 40
Dexterity: 35
Constitution: 40
Wisdom: 47
Intelligence: 40
Free Points: 5]
Alaster quickly put two pointing into INT, and the remaining three into WIS, bringing it to fifty, and unlocking the first bonus.
[Wisdom Bonus Unlocked]
[Wisdom 50 Bonus
Level 1: 0%
Capable of raising Undead past the limit, at the cost of Mana Regeneration.
One past max per point of Mana Regeneration]
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Alaster smiled to himself. He would think more about this ability’s uses later. For now, it meant more Undead to fight for him. He did not have the time to customize any of them. Keeping eye contact with the Goblin Lord, the young man pulled out a small pile of bones. With his Wisdom reaching fifty, he also got another point of Mana Regeneration, reaching five per minute. And he had every intention of using all five to raise the undead.
His current Mana Pool, while it might be tiny for a full mage, was huge for him. He only had two spells he could use in combat, and they were fairly cheap. With his [Necrotic Bolt] He could fire a single bolt for ten mana, or two bolts per cast for fifteen mana. While summoning the six undead, one to reach max minions and five for the Mana Regeneration, would drain one hundred and eighty mana, that would still leave him with one hundred and thirty mana. Enough for plenty of [Necrotic Bolts].
Astrid certainly also had a bonus, maybe even two, because she only had to focus three stats instead of all five. Of course, a Warrior Type like her, especially one that used Buffs, would still benefit from WIS and INT. However, Alaster did not know what the Bonus, or Bonuses, were. Each Bonus was unique to the person. Two people with the same class and exact same stat distribution would still get different bonuses.
While the Class and Level were vital, it was truly the Bonuses that made a person, especially at higher levels. A single Bonus, could drastically change the way a person works, and they got a bonus for each stat once they reached fifty points, and another at one hundred, then another at two hundred. Past that, Alaster did not know.
As the pile of bones grew, the Goblin Lord’s eyes narrowed. Alaster cast [Raise Undead] on the pile. Instead of the Undead being raised within moments, as he expected, it was much slower. The bones moved slowly to reassemble themselves, and his mana spread between them. He had never raised so many Undead at once.
While the Goblin Lord was unable to properly see what its prey was doing, it knew that it wanted it stopped. It raised its arm, silencing the Goblins, all of them. The Lord kept it raised, wondering how the Human would react, but he only stared back.
Astrid was watching the back while the two Black Guards watched either side. She did not know what Alaster was doing, or what was happening between the Goblin Lord and him, but she did feel Alaster’s mana. She had spent enough time around him while he was using it to know the unique and very subtle feeling. Very few would be able to do the same, even fewer Non Mage Types.
She also saw the Goblins completely freeze at the forest edge. She tensed, knowing what was about to come next. From behind her, the Goblin Lord pointed his finger at the group, and as one, the Goblins all screamed and charged.
Nearly a hundred Goblins charged into the clearing. Astrid was confident she could handle a dozen at once, but they would simply run over her with pure numeric advantage. They all so frenzied that she doubted they would even capture her either. They were out for blood, and hope less situation or not, she would shed plenty of theirs.
The Black Guards followed her example, having learned from her from their previous battles. They crouched lower, raised their shields, lowered their bills, and dug their feet in. Alaster stood straight, with his sword at his side and free hand open to the ground, supplying mana. His eyes never left the Goblin Lord, nor did it look away, even as Goblins swarmed toward them.
When the Goblins were only a dozen meters away, the Skeletons stopped taking in Alaster’s Mana. They all stood up, some were the skeletons of Beast Type Monsters, Some were the skeletons of Humanoid Type Monsters. Regardless, the Six of them all jumped past the rest and charged into the swarm of Goblins with such ferocity that stunned even the frenzied Goblins.
While the new Skeletons were able to falter the Goblin Charge, there wasn’t enough to properly halt it, and many Goblins simple ran past. Astrid threw her spear at one of the larger Goblins and drew her sword, which would see better use in this situation. The spear flew true and threw the intended Goblin off its feet and into the two Goblins behind it, sending them all sprawling and halting the Goblins behind them.
As the Goblins closed in, the Black Guards swung their bills wide. The long blades of their bills dug deep into the sides of the Goblins, nearly cutting them in half, but also swinging them into the Goblins to their side, clearing a wide area. They continued this, swinging wide, back and forth. Astrid stayed behind her shield, stabbing out from behind it, and constantly moving to keep her back to the group and prevent the Goblins from completely surrounding her.
The Night Child was having an absolute blast. With all the Goblins’ attention on the prey in front of them, none noticed the small Skeleton behind them, hunting them. Its entire was coated in Goblin Blood. It relished in it.
Alaster was not idle, either. While the Black Guards and Astrid fought hard and valiantly, and the Skeletons tore through the Goblins violently, it was Alaster that sowed fear through the Goblins. His [Necrotic Bolts] slamming into the Goblins two at a time, melted large holes into the fragile Goblins. His sword was precise and always moving. And if a Goblin did manage to get past the blade, they faced his open hand, which melted any flesh it touched.
However, as the Goblin corpses began to fill the ground, Alaster knew that it would not be enough. The Skeletons were taking a lot of damage, and as they fell, the Goblins would flood past and quickly overwhelm them.
Mentally commanding them, the Skeletons to the right began to get closer to each other, while the Black Guard closed the circle more. Astrid unconsciously backed up as well to keep with them.
The preparations ready, at least as ready as they could be, Alaster shouted over the screams of anger, excitement, and pain, “We are going to make a break for it to your left! Now!”
Together, the two humans ran past the Black Guards holding the rear and into the channel that they and the Skeletons had made. The Goblins screamed in anger at seeing their prey attempting to escape and chased after them. While the Black Guards had heavy and dense bone armor to protect them, the Skeletons did not, and the first one fell in a pile of bone.
The Humans broke through the edge of the Goblins and sprinted into the cover of the forest. The Black Guards followed, their armor cracking in more places than it was not. The Skeletons protected their rear.
As furiously as the Skeletons fought, they had no armor, no weapons, and were severely outnumbered. One by one, they fell, allowing more and more Goblins past them and into the forest.
The Goblin Lord watched them run, unsure if it was annoyed they had escaped the clearing it had carefully prepared, or amused. It had challenged the Lord of four tribes to gather this army, and two novices had just killed little over a tribe worth of them and ran away. While the other Goblins saw their prey as four. The Lord only saw them as two, understanding that the rest were merely summons of the boy.
In truth, It did not even care about the girl. It had challenged four other Goblin Lords, killing them and absorbing their tribes, for the sole purpose of killing the boy, the one who slaughtered its own tribe. It turned around and casually walked back into the forest, its guards and trusted allies following. The back-up plan was already in progress.
Alaster was able to feel as each Skeleton died, and his Mana Regen returned, gradually refilling his very depleted Mana Pool as they ran. He was exhausted, and he wasn’t the only one. While Astrid had more stamina than he did, having a higher concentration of physical stats, they were still only novices, and her abilities were more physically tiring than his spells.
“Astrid… Ha… Ha… I’m going to… Ha… draw them away… get to… the city.” Alaster panted as they ran, his lungs burning.
“What about you?” She asked, in much better condition than him.
“I’ll… have the… Black Guards… Ha… lead them… away…go!”
Astrid didn’t want to leave him, but he always knew what he was doing, so she decided to trust him and split away while he ran deeper into the forest.
In truth, Alaster had no idea what he was doing. He was running deeper into the forest because he hoped that the Goblins would at least hesitate to enter a stronger Monster’s territory, but that was a vague hope.
He knew that they would chase after him. They were focused on him. The arrows made that perfectly clear, as most of them were shot at him, but so did the higher concentration of Goblins that attacked him over the Black Guards or Astrid. They would follow him, maybe sending a few to chase Astrid. He also knew that he would not be able to run for much longer.
‘Fuck it.’
One of the Black Guards handed its bill and shield to the other and ran in front of Alaster, who jumped on its back. The extra weight slowed the Black Guard, making the group slower, but the Skeletons did not grow tired. It would be better to have some energy to fight if they were cornered, and that was becoming more and more likely.
The deeper they went into the forest, the larger and thicker the trees became, filling the sky with their barren branches and blotting out the sun. The darker it became, the further away from civilization he was.
As the Black Guards ran as fast as they could, with one of them carrying the exhausted Alaster, they weren’t fast enough. It wasn't long before the Goblins caught sight of them once more.