A sudden flash of green whizzed into his vision, as expected, and he swerved to the side, letting the flying knife embed itself into the bark. A gurgling sound followed as several little goblins strode out of their hiding positions, carrying crude knives and clubs in their stubby, dirty hands, their clothes tattered and faces gnarled.
Several appeared from afar, including the one he assumed to be the leader, carrying a large blade that had been obviously stolen from a human, green blood staining it and making its condition poor. His expression twisted. Nomad decided to get closer, however. To the goblins who'd just appeared.
As a pack, the green-skinned bastards ambled forward, their eyes glistening under the dim light of the night. These creatures had a major weakness and that was their desire for their enemies. The more the merrier for them, it was not beyond them to resort to ganging up against one opponent so long as they were assured that they could easily kill their foe with that number.
To them, killing was all that mattered. Animals.
They let their numbers show and threaten their enemies, displaying their capability. That was their way.
Goblins were a rather low class of monsters, having very limited thinking and only a short amount of language that comprised a limited vocabulary.
Nomad gripped his sword, facing the ten or so goblins and their leader with ease. He couldn't deny the adrenaline that started coursing in his blood, eager to tear these pests apart. It'd been a while since he last faced one of the stinking green idiots. Not to mention the latest happenings had been enough for Nomad to be on edge.
This would be a perfect little de-stressor. He could vent a bit.
With a shout that split the silence, Nomad broke away into a mad dash, taking his foes by surprise and startling the slow-processing leader of the goblin pack into hesitation. Good. He was aware these goblins possessed great stamina compared to a human and were swift. His best bet was to go in hard, and fast, before they could respond.
Their brains would take time to comprehend his actions--wondering why a single human would charge straight into a pack--and that small time frame of processing would be the doom of many until their instincts kicked in to suppress their thoughts and launch them into a frenzies attack, abandoning any and every notion of a team effort.
Nomad's sword swung, and a goblin screamed, his weapon cutting it deeply. Green blood splattered to the ground, dyeing it black under the dimness of night and creating a cacophony of screeches as the goblins' instincts took hold of them.
[Goblin Warrior (Lv. 03) killed — Aether rewarded!]
They attacked en masse, some falling to the ground, getting stomped by their much nimbler and heavier fellows.
Nomad had done a rough count earlier. There were a total of fifteen goblins, including the leader, and he'd just felled one. Thirteen more to go. He kicked off from the ground with force and leaped. He swung his sword in a wild arc, adding a hiss to the horrid orchestra, black blood staining the leaves that lay near the tree as a head rolled on the ground. A body cut, the victim tumbling to the ground.
[Goblin Warrior (Lv. 02) killed — Aether rewarded!]
Clear blue Aether swirled on top of the two dead goblins, rushing toward Nomad a moment after and hitting his chest. He felt a brief tinge, a jolt. It was gone as fast as it came. But he'd felt it. That familiar feeling of wild Aether entered his body and then into his shard.
How nostalgic; It'd been a while.
Nomad smirked, an instinct centuries-old rushing to the back of his mind, calling out for his Aether. It came, and like water to a river, flowed into the edges of his arms, pulsating out of control in the wake of the adrenaline rush. Jolted forth, tensing his biceps and cleaving the air as he swung his sword around, his actions catching the goblins in surprise as he sliced through three of them in a single swing.
[Goblin Wretch (Lv. 05) killed — Aether rewarded!]
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[Goblin Feind (Lv. 04) killed — Aether rewarded!]
[Goblin Wretch (Lv. 05) killed — Aether rewarded!]
His smirk, however, vanished the next instant as he found his Aether dwindling back to where it had been in that one single wild swing of his--lacking any control over the amount he'd used. His senses returned and he cursed. For a moment there, he'd used Aether like the time when he had it in abundance, three centuries ago. However, he couldn't afford to use it like that now, he did not have as much Aether in his shard.
He quickly regained his focus as the Aether from the three goblins he'd sliced through rushed to him, filling his reserve back up before quickly gripping his sword. His feet pushed and carried his momentum. This time, calculated.
He was upon the leader now, all the other goblins around them.
His sword clashed with the leader's stolen weapon. The leader responded and leaped forward, bringing the large sword down upon Nomad, who merely twisted his body and stepped aside. His blade scraped his foe's skin and tore, earning a cry. A loud, angry scream sounded a moment later as Nomad found himself in the midst of a mob as he'd gotten close to one goblin. He swerved, sidestepping.
But there were too many, the attacks came from different directions. The cries and screams grew louder. More blood spilled onto the ground and over the grass, a ghastly scent permeating the surroundings. Some of the blood landed on Nomad's face, dripping from his sword as he swung, slicing through skin like a hot knife through butter.
[Goblin Feind (Lv. 03) killed — Aether rewarded!]
[Goblin Wretch (Lv. 01) killed — Aether rewarded!]
A knife made its way through his defense and rammed into his stomach, burying itself deep into his flesh and prompting him to twist his body back and launch a kick, slamming his foot right into a goblin's face. He jumped back using its face as soon as he'd done that, getting away from the swarms of knives, and landing on a tree. Nomad quickly yanked the knife out of his flesh and looked.
He had several slice wounds scattered all across his body, but none of them were too deep, but this one had cut deep. And given that his shard's Aether could only focus on doing one thing at a time, he couldn't really heal until he left his body vulnerable. After all, he was using Aether to strengthen himself.
Nomad had yet to get used to his new circumstances with Aether, but he was slowly getting there.
After a moment of respite, he looked down at the goblins, the group now climbing on each other in a frenzy to reach him, throwing knives. Blood stained his sword, his cloak, and his body, dripping on the leaves below, turning a few blades of grass and dead leaves a deep red. The leader of the pack leveled a stare back at him, and Nomad smirked.
It seemed the leader was back to his senses and would be waiting for him.
How bloody foolish.
Nomad jumped, raising his sword and letting a controlled amount of Aether cover the blade, pulsating, turning black, and thrumming. He cleaved the air with a speed the little goblins below could not comprehend or even predict.
[Goblin Wretch (Lv. 05) killed — Aether rewarded!]
A head, a pair of limbs, fell. More black, dripping blood onto the earth beneath and sending the mob into a frenzy as Nomad cut through three more goblins in a single swing, finding his sword breaking under the pressure of Aether rushing in.
[Goblin Feind (Lv. 02) killed — Aether rewarded!]
[Goblin Wretch (Lv. 06) killed — Aether rewarded!]
[Goblin Wretch (Lv. 05) killed — Aether rewarded!]
As it broke, Nomad didn't let the Aether disperse. Instead, he pulled it into his fists and punched, ramming into the face of another goblin that had come his way, shattering his jaws in a flash of green blood. He felt his own knuckle shift under the pressure, but Nomad held it in and swung again, using his own fist and arm as a bludgeon, ramming his left straight into the head of that same goblin. The head caved in, his knuckles crushing its brain and turning the goblin lifeless instantly.
[Goblin Wretch (Lv. 03) killed — Aether rewarded!]
Several weapons rushed to meet his body, the horde attacking in one desperate mess, not even able to think straight in the midst of their blind instinct. Nomad followed through the motion, not stopping, ignoring his throbbing fists and kicking off the ground, spinning around in a horizontal position, the action giving his leg even more force.
A powerful whiff cut through the air as his leg rippled toward a pair of goblins. Each, in a sick crunching of flesh, had their head snap in a direction at the exact time the moment his leg had collided with their head, sending each half a distance from the other. Nomad landed on his knee and breathed heavily, standing up with his eyes scanning around.
[Goblin Wretch (Lv. 01) killed — Aether rewarded!]
[Goblin Feind (Lv. 01) killed — Aether rewarded!]
All goblins were dead.
The leader was nowhere to be see--
Something heavy slammed from his back, weighing him down as Nomad found himself coughing blood. Pain exploded the next moment. Nomad saw stars dancing as the wound on his side burst open as he rolled.
Slamming into a tree trunk, he saw it then, the leader's silhouette, and the large sword above, bringing forth the howling darkness of the huge goblin's Aether as the blade descended down with force and speed.
Bloody hell.