The door opened into a hallway dimly lit by torchlight. It flickered and their shadows danced against the walls as the three companions slowly made their way inside. Astoria had no idea what to expect. There could be any number of enemies within this place and there were only three of them. She did her best to push her fear down and concentrated on moving as quietly as possible.

It was impressive that the goblins were able to construct such a building so close to a village without being brought down by the guards or something. She supposed that the local lords didn't want to risk the lives of their own personal guards and that's why the ad for help had been placed, but it was a horribly irresponsible way to rule. After making their way down the hall that slightly curved as they walked. Before too long, they found themselves in a spot with a door to the right as well as one to the left. The hallway continued onward for several feet and it looked like there was an open room ahead. Instead of charging forward, she decided it would be good to clear the way systematically as they wouldn’t want any enemies coming up from behind them. Astoria motioned the others to stay back a few paces and she made the decision to go to the door on the left. She carefully pushed on the door to see if it was barred shut and was glad to see that it moved easily and quietly on its hinges.

She cracked the door open and peeked inside. It was dark, but she could hear the soft snores of something sleeping. Astoria gulped and made sure to keep a close eye on her stealth icon as she slipped inside. There was just enough light to see that there were three makeshift beds on the ground which were little more than piles of hay that the goblins were using. She readied her daggers and crept over to the closest body. With her heart pounding so hard in her head that she couldn't believe the goblin hadn't woken up, she took one of her daggers and slit the throat of the sleeping goblin while simultaneously shoving all her weight atop it to keep it still. It awoke and tried to scream but no sound escaped its mouth, just the quiet gurgling of blood as it died.

One down, two to go. Astoria got up and saw that Tilly had also snuck inside the room. With a nod to her companion the two of them dispatched the two sleeping goblins in the same way Astoria had done the first. It was hard for her to not feel guilty for killing these creatures in such an underhanded way, but they had to bridge the numbers gap somehow and winning a fair fight against a dozen enemies would have been impossible. The black goblin blood smelled rotten and stained her already tattered clothes. I have got to get myself some new clothes! This is getting ridiculous. Now I'm going to be going around smelling like goblin! Ugh! She thought to herself as she and Tilly made their way back into the hall.

This operation was going extremely smoothly so far and Astoria had no complaints about that. Astoria made her way to the other door.

The other room appeared to be some sort of larder. There were piles of food strewn about haphazardly, some of which looked to be rotting. She sighed in relief before heading back to the hall. Sweat dripped down from her forehead and threatened to get into her eyes. She quickly wiped it with her sleeve and took in a deep breath to calm her nerves.

The room up ahead was well lit, which meant that they would run into trouble ahead. Preparing herself mentally for the worst, she crept forward toward the other room, signaling Tilly to stay close to her. Ladriel hung back with her bow at the ready.

Astoria peeked out into the room and then quickly moved back into the hallway.. Damn, there’s a lot of them.

"There’s a total of 7 goblins. 4 asleep on the ground, three sitting at a table. One of them is a lot bigger than the others and has dark red skin."

Tilly seemed to be trying hard to stay brave, Astoria hoped that she could do just as well as her friend and not freeze like the last time she had been in a fight.

"That must be a goblin warrior," Ladriel said. "They are said to be bigger, faster and much more cruel than their smaller cousins."

"Taking on all 7 at once is probably not a good idea..." Astoria whispered. “We should think of a plan.”

"There might even be more goblins that we haven't seen yet." Ladriel grimaced.

Great. Just what we need... a million of those things chasing after us, She thought to herself.

Tilly took a step back and tripped over a rock in the dirt floor of the hallway. She didn't fall, but when she scuffled to regain her balance it definitely made some noise.

Fuck my life, I seriously need a higher luck stat. Astoria thought as she watched the stealth icon open halfway. A guttural voice could be heard from the other room. An instant later Astoria heard footsteps coming in their direction.

If only this game worked like those old games where you could kill someone and then hide for literally a second and the others would forget about you. She wished frantically for some solution but knew that they would be fighting for their lives in mere moments.

Astoria put her back to the wall of the hallway so that when the goblins come around the corner she could get the jump on them. Tilly followed her lead and the two companions prepared for battle. Ladriel had stepped back several paces but stood in the middle of the hallway with an arrow pulled to her cheek, ready to fire. Two goblins came around the corner, each carrying spiked clubs and saw Ladriel.

The enemies shouted and charged forward, somehow not seeing Tilly and Astoria hidden in the shadows. Ladriel loosed her arrow and took one of the goblins in the shoulder as it charged. Meanwhile, Tilly and Astoria moved quickly and took the two enraged goblins from behind. Tilly's blade went clear through the small torso of her target, while Astoria had planted both of her daggers squarely into the other goblin's back.

The two enemies fell lifelessly to the ground. Okay, now for the bigger problem. Four more goblins came into view and they carried an assortment of melee weapons. They didn’t have a lot of room to swing their weapons in the short hallway and so they so they charged out into the large room and engaged their goblin foes.

The red goblin was screaming at its underlings. The four goblins ran toward them with their weapons raised.

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“I’ll handle the big one,” Ladriel said.

I guess it's time to see what I’m made of, Astoria said to herself. "Okay! Let's do this!" she yelled.

Astoria charged the closest goblin who swung his mace at her. She danced to the side and used all the agility she had invested to stay ahead of the quick movements of her opponent. Her daggers didn't give her a lot of reach so she had to be careful. She did have a size advantage over her opponent, however, and she intended to use that to her benefit. The next time the goblin swung his weapon at her, she made an X with her daggers and blocked it. She then kicked the goblin right in the nuts as hard as she could. The creature reacted just like any guy who got kicked there would, it fell to the ground screaming in pain. She moved in quickly and ended his life.

Astoria quickly assessed the situation again once she was sure the goblin would not be getting back up. A dead goblin lay on the ground over where Ladriel was fighting. The elf was locked in fierce combat with the goblin warrior and the sound of metal clashing against metal rang in the air.

Oh no! Tilly needs help! Astoria thought as she saw her friend fighting desperately against two goblins who were currently pushing Tilly back. "I'm coming!" She yelled as she ran toward the goblins. She wasn't going to make it in time.

The goblins had managed to maneuver themselves so that they had her caught in a pincer attack. Tilly tried to get to where she had her back to the wall but one of the goblins rammed a dagger into her shoulder.

"No!!!" Astoria screamed as she dove into the fray. Tilly slumped to one knee and Astoria came just in time to intercept what would have been a fatal blow from a goblin sword. Friction made her arm vibrate as she slid the guard of her weapon against the goblin blade blocking the blow. Not today, asshole! Astoria swung with her second dagger and slashed the goblin's stomach. The cut was shallow as her foe had reacted quickly enough to get back.

"Tilly! Are you okay?" Astoria couldn't spare a moment to check on her friend as the goblin advanced on her again swinging his sword furiously. She blocked and tried to counter but it took everything to just hold her ground.

“I'll be okay. They caught me by surprise. I can still fight."

"Let's finish this then! Ladriel might need our help," Astoria managed to spit out between parrying the relentless blows of her enemy. She was starting to get tired. Her stamina bar was about halfway gone. I need to end this quickly, or I'm going to tire out and collapse.

A few moments later she got her opening. In a desperate bid to end the fight, she managed to catch the blade with one dagger and slash the forearm of the goblin with the other causing him to drop his weapon. A wide look of surprise took the goblin before she plunged her blade deep into his chest.

Astoria turned around to see how Tilly was doing and saw that she was on the offensive. Her injured shoulder was luckily not her sword arm and she had turned herself sideways as to make herself a small target. The goblin only had a dagger and didn't have the reach that Tilly's short sword did. He was pushed back and she rained blows against the beleaguered goblin. It was over. Tilly's shortsword found its target and she sliced deeply into the side of the goblin's neck, nearly decapitating it.

They didn't have any time to celebrate their victory as Ladriel appeared to be desperately fighting for her life against the goblin warrior. Astoria saw that it’s eyes glowed a faint red color as it chased Ladriel around swiping its huge weapon at her. She wasted no time, and ran to help her friend. As Astoria charged forward she saw that the various wounds on the goblin were closing. It must've used some sort of skill or magic.

Just hang in there, Ladriel! She ran at the final goblin slashing with her daggers from the side as he had been focused on Ladriel. He must’ve heard her coming from behind and spun around with his blade so fast that she could hardly believe it. She performed a roll to the side just in time as the blade flew through where she would have been. The blade would have probably cut her in half. She rolled away from her opponent just as he brought his blade down in an overhand blow smashing into the ground where she had just been.

Tilly rushed in and slashed at the goblin. He swatted away her blow like it was nothing. This thing is way out of our league. Astoria was starting to panic. Ladriel seemed to have caught her breath and jumped back into the fight. The goblin mostly ignored Astoria and Tilly, focusing again on the more skilled opponent.

"Do not think you will overwhelm me, humans," The goblin grunted in the common tongue. It moved away from its three opponents getting a moment's respite and then it grunted something in its own tongue. Suddenly the air began to shimmer and three perfect copies of the monster stood together.

What the hell kind of bullshit is that? Astoria complained to herself. She and her companions readied themselves for what was to come. The goblin and its shadows rushed in and when Ladriel stabbed the one coming for her it shimmered and disappeared. The image going for Tilly slammed its blade into hers and sent her flying several feet. She hit the ground hard.

Ladriel and Astoria were at an even steeper disadvantage now. At least it seems like those are illusions... Astoria dodged the one after her and stabbed it in the back causing it to shimmer and disappear. Astoria thought that the goblin had to be getting tired by now. It had probably also expended a lot of effort to use those special skills it had been using. She just needed to think of something. My bow! She exclaimed in her head.

Astoria took a moment to remove the bow that had been fastened to her back during the fight and tossed it toward Ladriel. "I'll stall it! You know what to do!" Astoria charged the goblin warrior and with everything she had she began to perform a dance with death as she dodged, rolled, and barely managed to parry its blows. I just need to get her a clear shot.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ladriel taking aim with her bow. She shouldn't have let herself be distracted, however, and barely dodged the sword that swung for her head. Just as she was about to try and get a little further away again, a powerful red fist found her stomach. Pain enveloped her and she coughed up blood from the powerful blow.

Is this it? Is this the end? She thought as she collapsed to the ground in a heap gasping for air. Her enemy had its sword raised and was so focused in its rage that it had forgotten, even if just for a moment, about Astoria's elvish companion. An arrow streaked through the air and connected with a thunk as it smashed into the sternum of the goblin warrior. Bone cracked, but the bone didn't manage to penetrate far. It didn't need to. The goblin was stunned and fell to the ground. Even as it lie helpless on the ground its wound was already starting to close. Astoria knew Ladriel wouldn't be able to make it all the way across the room in time.

Gasping for breath, Astoria willed herself to move. It felt like it took forever, but only a second or two passed before she was atop the goblin, straddling its chest. She spat blood in its face before stabbing her knife into its sword arm at the shoulder. The regenerative abilities of the goblin couldn't hold up much longer. It would not be able to recover. The stun period had elapsed and it struggled to shove her off. She wouldn't let it and continued to hold it pinned.

What's yours is mine now, asshole. She activated Kleptomancy. Once the five seconds elapsed she stabbed the other blade into its eye socket ending its story forever. Astoria fell over in exhaustion and checked to see what skill she had stolen.

Notifications Congratulations! You have stolen the skill Regeneration! At level one this skill costs 70 MP and will restore 30 HP over 40 seconds. A cool down period of one minute will apply. As this skill levels, it will cost more MP, regeneration speed will improve, and you will be able to regenerate more health.