“[You must select two »Magic skills« within the next 5 hours, or they will be assigned by default.]”
"Get off my back! I already told you, first I want to know what the hell this is all about!"
Ian raised the shield. He hoped the creatures were stupid enough to attack him, but none of them approached. It was unclear if they were afraid or wanted him alive.
He poked his head out a little and caught a glimpse of one of the creatures a few steps away. Its aura was red, courtesy of [Preventive Instinct].
The good news was that despite its unpleasant appearance, it didn't pose much of a threat. If the others were similar to this one, they would be dead before realizing it. However, he began to suspect that it wouldn't be that simple. He could hear many voices nearby. That's where the bad news came in.
He had somehow ended up too close to a large group of goblins. The problem was not the fact that they were goblins, but rather their sheer number, around fifty in total.
They were all small compared to him. Few stood over one meter tall, and none were over a meter and a half. They had blue-gray skin, were hairless, and dressed in little more than rags and furs. They carried bone knives and sharpened sticks, matching their primitive appearance.
When the goblins attacked him, he was uncertain whether they would throw rocks, javelins, or their damn snots at him. But one thing was clear, he didn't want to find out how much damage they could do with those weapons. He needed something to use as cover, since he had no protection other than a loincloth and a shield.
He looked around for thick trees or large rocks, but there was nothing nearby to provide adequate cover. The only thing in sight was a vast green plain dotted with local trees and bushes. He didn't know much about plants, but he could tell that they weren't forest trees. The sky was clear; it was probably noon. That meant less time to seek shelter.
Due to the absence of attackers, Ian opted to believe that they wanted him alive. That worked in his favor. It was time to use one of Alek's strategies.
He wasn't a big fan of it, but it was far more effective than committing suicide by charging head-on. First, he had to make them think that he was a coward and that they had nothing to fear from him. Ian wasn't very good at pretending, but he tried his best.
He stood up so that the goblins could see him and started running, waving his hands in the air. "No, no, no! Please! Don't hurt me!"
Ian felt a terrible urge to slap himself, but he had to keep pretending for the sake of the plan. He took a few steps more and glanced towards the goblins to observe their reaction. The goblins looked at him puzzled, as he had planned. However, loud and deep shouts from what sounded like a woman behind him changed everything. In just a second, Ian was no longer the center of attention.
"Back off, you fucking bastards! STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
The pack encircled and aimed their weapons at a tall and stunning young woman with ebony skin. Her hair was styled in long dreadlocks and tied back in a ponytail. From the limited clothing, a bra and panties, Ian deduced that she was a player too.
The goblins brandished their weapons, demanding her surrender. However, despite being outnumbered and surrounded, she didn’t surrender or plead for mercy. She had put in a lot of effort to create her new body and was eager to try it out. She raised the two-handed axe over her head and held it there for an instant. The axe began to glow slightly red before she performed the Heavy Strike skill.
The goblin died immediately, and its two halves convulsed on either side of the axe, which was now covered in blood and stuck in the ground. Evidently, she had entered through the door on the left first.
"Is that what an attribute-imbued skill looks like?"
The ebony-skinned lumberjack grinned, but the enraged pack of creatures found it far from funny. Almost in unison, they pounced on her.
Ian looked at her perplexed. He understood that she wanted to test her new powerful body, but he couldn't believe she had been so reckless. A stupid civilian drunk with power. If he helped her, he would suffer the same fate, but leaving her to die would leave a bad taste.
Maybe it was her beauty or his instinct to protect another person that drove him to act. However, it was more likely due to the fact that Alek's strategy would be useless now that the pack was furious. After they killed her, he would be the next target. That's why he kept his distance and shouted loudly.
"Use Sweep to keep them at bay!" Ian omitted "or you're dead". It was obvious and discouraging.
He also omitted the strange feeling of having just blurted out the name of a weapon skill as if it were something common. He would have to get used to all the flow of knowledge that the whispers of the [Magic Core] entail.
[Movement and Weapon Skills: Knowledge that guarantees the perfect execution of specific movements and attacks in exchange for stamina. Upon reaching Advanced Mastery Rank, Movement and Weapon Skills can be converted to Magic Skills by imbuing them with an attribute in exchange for mana. This will add magical damage and an Effect to the skill.]
[Mastery Rank: All skills have 5 ranks. In the case of Movement and Weapon Skills, the rank unlocks new skills that are more difficult to perform, but more powerful. In the case of Magic Skills, the rank magnifies them and lowers their mana cost.]
[Effects: To imbue a skill with an attribute, the attribute must have a minimum value of 10. This will give the attack a colored aura. The most common effects of the weapon skills by attribute are:
◦ Strength: Red aura. Adds impact power and the possibility of knocking down.
◦ Dexterity: Orange aura. Surpass enemy’s defenses.
◦ Agility: Yellow aura. Adds simultaneous attacks.
◦ Toughness: Brown aura. Provides a magic shield that reduces or absorbs physical damage.
◦ Resistance: Mauve aura. Provides a magic shield that reduces or absorbs magical damage.
◦ Wisdom: White aura. Overload the skill to multiply its normal effects.
◦ Intelligence: Blue aura. Increases the magic damage.
◦ Willpower: Cyan aura. Multiplies the pain suffered.
◦ Perception: Jade aura. Dulls the enemy’s senses.]
Upon hearing the skill, she didn’t hesitate. She positioned the axe at a medium angle of attack and swung it at any goblin that approached. However, the skill proved to be slow and only managed to lightly injure one opponent. Prompted by a battle cry, she swung the axe again as an arrow whizzed straight for a goblin approaching from behind.
Another player appeared a few meters away behind Ian. A young man who appeared prepared to star in Tarzan. He was big and had long brown hair, with intense turquoise eyes. His aura was yellow and carried a large longbow that was aimed at a goblin that was about to attack Ian. The arrow glowed red slightly due to the Strength Effect. The Shot pierced and killed the creature, leaving it impaled on the ground.
He also had to have entered through the left door or he wouldn’t be able to imbue a weapon skill with an attribute.
“Come on! You're making me want to try it too!”
Three idiots didn't make things much better; the result would be the same. To everyone's relief, someone else appeared on their right carrying a small shield and a spear. Wearing pants, a crop top, and foot covers, a guy approached the large group of goblins without fear.
The guy with blonde hair and brown eyes passed very close to Ian with a cocky attitude and his orange aura. "Stop wagging your dick and move, asshole!"
That damn jerk had just won his first strike. It was easy to win them with Ian. Especially when the difference between cheering and insulting wasn't understood. Afterwards, all begged for forgiveness. No one wanted them over their heads like the blade of a guillotine.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Four idiots was better than nothing. It was time to evaluate the performance of his new body.
Ian rushed towards the pack attacking the young woman, focusing on the stragglers first. None of them noticed his approach.
The goblin with its back turned was the first to fall. With a single thought, Ian turned the color of the blade to red. A powerful sensation arose in his chest and shook him, traveling through his body until it reached his arm. It was fast and impetuous, like a wave. Suddenly, he felt as if his muscles were reaching for unknown physical limits.
He expected to open a new mouth on the goblin by applying the effect to Slash. However, when he severed its head and it flew off, landing on another goblin who screamed in rage with its companion's blood running down its face, he couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.
"Holy shit! It's only a big dagger! I can't even imagine what I would do with a sword."
Ian looked at the ebony-skinned lumberjack, she was struggling to keep the goblins at bay. Then, he shouted. “Hold them a little longer, we are on our way!
He didn't have time to check her reaction. The goblins around him pounced on him. The one on his right was the first. Ian stepped back momentarily to dodge the attack and charged, performing a Thrust directly into the creature's chest.
In a desperate attempt to block the attack, the goblin raised its arm. All the creature accomplished was that the dagger passed through its forearm, slid quickly between the ulna and radius, and emerged between its fingers.
The creature screamed hysterically, unable to protect its neck from another Thrust combined with a twist of his wrist. They didn't have to die; it was enough to incapacitate them. However, they were better off dead.
The next one tried to hit Ian with a bone truncheon with embedded fangs. It was easy to stop it with Block. Thrust to one eye, then down with Slash to the neck. Ian was already good with that on Earth. He had plenty of practice. In the army, he had earned the nickname Ian the Ripper. He didn't like it, but it was very fitting.
After killing the goblin, Ian's face twisted in dissatisfaction. Despite having an Advanced Rank Mastery in Weapon Skills, his body wasn’t performing as well as he had hoped. He felt more clumsy and limited than before, both mentally and physically.
After being surrounded by more than five goblins, Ian decided to stop the attack and run. He had already accomplished his goal of keeping some goblins away from her and the archer. Additionally, adding effects to the attacks was consuming more mana than expected.
Several others threw rocks at him, but it was not the time to complain about some bruises. In any case, his feet were having a harder time. Under the grass, the terrain was not exactly pleasant. The soles of his feet filled with cuts and bruises with every step he took. He didn't want to imagine what that experience would have been like with only 1 point in Toughness.
Ian directed his pursuers towards the spearman, which did not exactly arouse his sympathy. His aura flickered until it almost turned red.
"Hey, you bastard! What are you trying to do?! Kill me?! I'm here to help, not to be buried alive!"
Ian ignored his complaints and focused his attention on a second female player. A small, silver-haired young woman who was holding two goblins at bay without managing to do anything to them. She had a dagger, a short sword and a lot of fear.
“Civilians...”
Ian advanced using Shield Charge with a red aura, running over the three goblins and breaking their bones upon impact like a bus with no brakes.
Seeing him gave her the confidence she needed to finish them off using a combination of Dash and Thrust. Both skills were accompanied by a yellow aura, making her extremely fast.
After passing by, the silver cat's aura changed from yellow to white. Ian smiled as he continued his tour towards the lumberjack. Socializing seemed to be less complicated here than it was on Earth.
"Don't give up!" shouted a third female player.
A young woman of average height that had brown hair and blue eyes and, like the spearman, was also somewhat clothed. She used a short bow to fire accurate attacks, thanks to her skill [Precise Shot]. With Dexterity's orange aura, she took down many creatures approaching the ebony lumberjack with deathly shots to the heart and head. However, she was running low on arrows and about to face an attack from six goblins.
[Precise Shot] (Basic): Magic skill that allows you to channel your mana into the arrow, giving you the ability to control its trajectory.
Ian intervened at that moment, giving them a ration of dagger to their necks. "Stock up on arrows! I'll stall them!"
Ian tried to help her retrieve arrows from nearby corpses, but they were so flimsy that they broke when extracted. He only managed to retrieve three intact arrows. To him, it was a bad investment to have spent the starting material on that. However, he couldn't deny that they had brought precious seconds of life to the lumberjack.
He then held his shield aloft and bought time for Leliana's long-lost sister to finish collecting the arrows. He defeated some of the goblins that dared to approach, but when faced with a barrage of rocks aimed at her, he had no choice but to take a more defensive stance. She didn’t have time to thank him though.
"Quick! Help her!" she shouted while pointing at the lumberjack.
The ebony woman had fallen to her knees, defenseless against their primitive weapons. The goblins had taken her axe and she was struggling to fend off the attacks with her bare arms. She screamed in desperation as they inflicted new wounds all over her body.
Ian cursed every second that passed without being able to advance to her aid. A hail of sticks and bone knives filled his vision.
With the dagger illuminated in red, he frantically slashed at everything within reach. Advancing without receiving injuries was impossible, particularly in the legs. However, due to his Toughness and the low Strength of the goblins, he was able to avoid any fatal damage.
"Shit! Why the hell am I doing this?"
Fortunately, the battle did not last much longer. The group united and the goblins, who had suffered significant losses, began to retreat. It was clear that anyone who confronted Ian would meet their demise, and with their numbers dwindling, most of the goblins fled without hesitation.
When he managed to reach her and killed the last of the goblins on top of her, the ebony woman was covered in blood. She was coughing up blood due to a wound in her back that had likely punctured her lung.
"Motherfuckers! Cough! Why did I have to appear right in the middle of this shit?!"
Her voice was hoarse and her breathing was labored. She was exhibiting symptoms of internal bleeding.
Ian tried to cover some of the wounds, but there were too many. “Do you have [Regeneration]?
He asked that, to say the least. He already knew that without an advanced potion to help close the wounds, a basic regeneration could do little in the face of so much bleeding. Not even if she overloaded the skill.
She shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. "The warrior I chose came with [Tenacity] as a base skill. Then I opted for [Magic Reinforcement] and [Inspiration Cry]. The whispers told me that I wouldn't be alone... Damn! Cough! No one can heal me?"
After a brief silence, during which some looked away. "I thought I'd be invincible against such small creatures."
[Tenacity] (Basic): Magic support skill. Upon activation, passively channels your stamina to provide a +1 buff to an attribute of your choice. Mana consumption can be forced to double the bonus.
[Magic Reinforcement] (Basic): Magic skill. Spell. Upon activation, continuously channels your mana to increase your Toughness and Resistance by 2.
[Inspiration Cry] (Basic): Magic skill. Battle cry. Upon activation, channels your mana to provide a temporary +2 Willpower buff for yourself and an ally. Can be imbued with another attribute to provide an extra +2 to that attribute.
"Maybe that wasn't the problem..."
She clenched her teeth as her aura turned orange for an instant. “Yes! I know! Cough! It was a bad idea to attack them! Cough, cough! And you? How in the world do you fight so well?!”
The female archer set aside her bow and tried to cover her other wounds. She trembled, feeling helpless, but she was not alone. The silver cat approached, unsure of which wounds to focus on. There were numerous wounds to attend to, and blood continued to flow, drenching the ground around her.
The young women's eyes filled with tears. Surely they had never witnessed someone's death.
The female archer wiped away her tears, inadvertently staining blood on her dimpled cheeks and brown hair with orange highlights at the ends.
"Something... I have to do something, but what? whispered the archer.
The ebony woman was pale and had trouble breathing. “Cough, cough! I'm going to die, right?”
Ian was not in the habit of lying, as it would be an insult to himself. He gazed into her stunning blue eyes, noticing her long eyelashes. Tears began to stream down her cheeks.
Ian was about to nod when the spearman shouted at him from behind. He had just returned after killing the last goblin that had pursued him. He was also injured, but not severely. "Motherfucker! You tried to kill me!"
Ian opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a young man shouting from a distance. He was approaching at full speed with something in his hand. “I'm on my way! Tell her to hold on!”
Irritated by the interruption, the spearman blurted out. "Where are you going, moron?! Even a blind man can see that nigger is doomed!"
Ian grumbled under his breath. "Strike two!"
The two young women near him stared at Ian in shock. There was no hint of compassion on his face.