Bucky, the red giant, watches with a grin as the four-wheeled skull paced quicker and faster while spraying a stream of water behind as it closes onto him with lightning speed, cutting the water like a giant spearhead. His hands itching, and his heart raced for the upcoming clash. Bucky was almost prepared to get bored to death today, but seeing this, he decided.
"Waazir… let me"
"Yea… yea… go ahead, they're all yours"
The man with an umbrella was more than happy to let the Red kid handle it. Moreover, he didn't feel anything was amiss in the upcoming low-leveled monster party other than the fact that they were somehow riding a car, which was an item he had only seen in the 'Anvil Forgery', the dwarven shop. That, and the driver was a goblin grunt with his one hand glued to a small obsidian orb, which felt strangely identical to the recently captured smuggled cores from the cult?
'Huh? Isn't that…'
But before the man could voice out his doubt, his partner roared out loud. The ritual he would do right before engaging his opponents.
"Prince!... That-that thing…"
Jazz's heart stopped the moment he heard the warcry of the half-orc. His survival instinct, sharper than anyone else present, screams at him. Whereas the Hob-Goblin's blood of his was now boiling, subconsciously preparing him while also blaring signals; warning him- Run. Away. Right. Now. The same warning that had saved countless Hob-Goblin's before in this Strata, right before they would engage in a fight they have no chance of winning.
Gripping the extremely unstable buggy side-wall, the Hob-Goblin peered ahead, and he almost got a fright when he felt the presence of that red giant with a mad grin and that human adventurer with a bored expression at the side.
"Prince… let-let's take another… gate"
His shaking hand tried to reach the Prince, but the said Prince was barely even conscious of his surroundings to care about a little warning of his. In Oscar's eyes, there's only one thing; a sparkling whirlpool formed atop the four step-stairs and a platform, overflowing with the constant foul-stench rain and surrounded by 7 statues of different monsters whose features his mind failed to register. And between this, and him, stood the red demon with a contagious smile. The last hurdle.
So Oscar literally puts his all, and everything into this and Rammed the already withered gear stick with abundant waves of Mana. Uncaring of how the inner cables inflated and shattered the bone structure encasing them before ripping themselves apart by the pressure, making the skull covered in scars and look stressed. He also didn't stop when each monster glands burst in sequences, finally not able to withstand the invading Mana. But this all wasn't for naught as with each burst, the rotors, attached to the respective monster cores, whirled stronger and faster, fueling the wheels to spin like four thunderstorms and launch the skull towards its last enemy at the front like a suicidal rocket.
Clutching the steering wheel, Oscar grins as he felt the final burst of power coursing through the Rollls Royace withering veins. He knew that it wouldn't survive the crash, but he felt no regret as it was fulfilling the purpose it was made for just like any soldier on duty. Moreover, he wanted to wipe off that smile from that idiot ahead, who was daring enough to step in front of this soon-to-be-famous young prince. Yes, he's drunk completely and thoroughly, and like any drunkard his inner thoughts surfaced more pronouncedly, prompting his smile to twist and turn into a hideous grin, identical to the red demon ahead.
"Khe! Khe! Khe!"
Jazz, listening to his mindless laugh, knew his pleas were falling on dead ears. So hardening his heart and the body alike, the mutated Hob-Goblin did the only thing he could do in this situation, which was to save as many teammates as he could inside his embrace, knowing the impact would be nothing but deadly.
"Waazir, dodge it"
Seeing the rapidly approaching wind-tearing flying jaws, Waazir finally shows his concern to his partner. Even if he was sure that the red hulk could take anything and would still come out unscathed, he wanted to avoid any possible mishaps as much as possible since this encounter was strange, to begin with, and not to mention that green grunt had that smuggled orb. Hence, he couldn't help but link these monsters to those fanatics, and one thing he had learned after many encounters with them was that those psychos are unpredictable.
But brushing his concerns, Bucky stepped forward, eager to take them head-on just like any respectable orc would.
Moreover, he could feel the burning, defying eyes of that goblin, who knew, wasn't a match for Bucky but still tried to challenge him. Showing the bravery Bucky had never seen in weak monsters, let alone humans, and definitely not in goblins who are known for their treacherous behavior which in Bucky's opinion was worse than a human. So, when met with such an anomaly Bucky wouldn't shy away from confronting it. Hence, rather than listening to his unwilling partner and dodging like a coward, Bucky gladly becomes a willing target with open arms for the drunkard goblin to Ram his rocketing car over him.
"Thake this idioth!"
Taunting with his ripped-off tongue for the last time, the psycho driver barreled the skull whose tightly clenched jaws snapped open by the howling winds at the last moment, making it look like a roaring dragon biting the demon before slamming straight at the large target cleanly with a flash and a big-bang.
*BOOOOM!*
----------------------------------------
"Urghh! This idiot!"
Face-palming himself, Waazir tried to search that red hulk somewhere with his eyes, but a large cloud of dust was obscuring his vision. Incidentally, one of the 7 statues was destroyed by the impact, and the second statue had been broken in half. And somewhere along their wreckage was an utterly crushed red skull with some bits and pieces of the wooden buggy behind, its tyres can be found embedded on the ceiling in new shapes and sizes that resemble shrapnels more than wheels.
Seeing the shift in rubles, the smoker watched intently as a head popped up from it before pulling out his whole body.
"Ghaaa! Almost died damn it!"
Giving his habitual curse through his gurgling sound -making it look more like a growling to the observing human- the now awakened Oscar, then saw his orb was still intact and firmly within his grasp, making him sigh in relief.
Binding: 97/100
'Now, let's dive into this disgusting Whirpool… with that free pass of goblin tribe'
With a football size obsidian orb in grasp, the tired goblin dragged his beaten-down body towards the sparkling pool, four steps above. While searching for that unconscious Hob-Goblin in between.
*Tak!*
'Ah! Here he is'
He hadn't even taken two steps when he felt a movement through the remains of the still intact piece of the second statue 4 meters ahead, causing him to turn towards it with a smile. That quickly turned to a frown, when he saw a pair of red hands, pulling out an equally red-colored body as it dropped onto the knee.
"Haaaa! That-that was a good one"
Taking a deep breath, the half-orc moves his gaze up at the still-standing yet bewildered goblin. Wiping the blood from the corner of his strained smile, Bucky stands back on two, effectively overshadowing the little critter with his towering build.
Oscar gulped. Less out of fear, and more because of the absurdity of the situation. He had failed to grasp the power level of this demon from afar when sitting inside the safety of his car. And as he stands before him without any weapon or bodyguard, and without any barrier between them to give him a sense of safety, Oscar finally gets to witness the actual sense of dread that the Hob-Goblin felt long before.
'The fuck am I thinking when I decided to pick a fight this dangerous shit…'
The now awakened Goblin wanted nothing but to run away as far as possible from this Real monstrosity.
Given, he had made a fool of that rattle-snake which was a monster well and above 20+Lv than him, and had a recent record of hoodwinking that Beatboxing Octopus that stands at the peak of the food chain with just five deaths of his team. And he achieved this all with his meager Lv10 strength. But he still hadn't forgotten that those achievements were based on his past preparations and a well trained team that had supported him throughout his endeavor, of which, he currently had neither of them.
His team was nowhere to be seen, nor did his bodyguard, and neither he had any intact weapon in hand. And even if he had any of them, Oscar doubts it would have made any difference here. The gap between him and the overshadowing monster was large enough that he felt like an ant trying to challenge an elephant.
"Bucky has taken the punch, now it's Bucky's turn to give the punch"
*Step!*
The red hulk also wasn't that of an idiot to let others hit him without giving back the punch. Hence, he took the step forward while clenching his fist, and a strong aura erupted from his crimson skin, making the goblin take two steps back unconsciously.
Oscar, in his short goblin life, had encountered many monsters who had far outclassed him in many ways, the stoney-snake, the rat king, the disco snake, and that swampy octopus. But in all of them, he hadn't lost the hope of outrunning his opponent. Even in that rattle-snake case, he had eventually, or more like accidentally found the way to exploit his opponent. Hence, he had never encountered this hopeless of a situation before, where not one but two monstrosities eyed him at once.
Oscar could still feel the pair of eyes belonging to that human adventurer, piercing at him, causing his back to be drenched in a cold sweat. And as he hesitated on what to do, he found the deformed barrel of a gun from the corner of his eyes…
'Sigh… looks like a fight is inevitable huh'
Sighing, the cornered Goblin did what any cornered monster would do. He bites back. Leaping to the side, he picks the shining component out of the rubble swiftly before standing back with a roll. And like an alerted tiger, he eyed the grinning Demon as he smashed the hollow bone to the ground, causing red and white spell orbs to roll out; the last remaining pair and the only meaningful weapon he could make use of right now.
Air Influx: 2/20 (common)
Fierum Strike: 3/20 (common)
Without further ado, and while the Demon was still grinning from ear to ear like an idiot, Oscar quickly pulled and strapped the white orb onto the back of his one leg, and gripped the red one firmly in his other free hand.
Apparently, it had been a long time since he had a good brawl with someone tougher than him, from the moment he had gotten his hands on trap-making skills he rarely had a moment to kill monsters with his own two claws. And even when he did kill monsters, it was only some weak grunts he had picked specifically to raise his skills.
Warning! You have activated 'The Caveman AggressionLv5', this may hinder your evolution process. Proceed with caution
Even before the warning and the advice appeared in his vision, The Goblin, or now the Goblin Fiend had already started taking hard breaths.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
*Huuuuu!*
Its half-opened crimson eyes were all focused on the equally crimson man in front, fueling his fiend-controlled heart with rage. His heart drums as it pumps blood, burning his HP like coal to a steam engine while inflating his muscles with bursts of energy. His strength doubled, his smile widened, and his ears flattened. And revealing his salivating teeth, the green fiend then crouched on all fours, digging all dagger-like nails with the mutated grotesque foot having an extra finger at both heels into the ground.
"WWWWHHHhaaa!"
And for the first time, Oscar used the [Dummy Voice] as intended. Throwing a sonic boom at that patiently waiting hulk's face, the Goblin fiend then galloped forward on all fours, digging and throwing himself forward. Making use of the [Elusive DashLv6], he scaled the ground within a flash.
*Bang!*
Crossing his hands ahead, Bucky took the blow that ringed his ears more than shake his balance. And before he noticed, the brave goblin leaped up to his face by making use of the spell orb he had been seeing a lot in the market nowadays.
Oscar's left leg glows with a bright light, and some strong air currents flowed around it, throwing him up and close to the towering half-orc's unguarded face.
*Crack!*
Splitting the air into two, his razor-sharp foot smashed its nose with the sheer force to cause his neck to twist and break right after an audible crack. Then using the generated momentum, the Green Fiend spins within the air and whips the unbreakable obsidian orb on top of his skull. Caving it inside.
Whirling before rolling back on the dirt, Oscar swiftly finds back the balance on three. His breathing was getting rougher, and harder as if the reaper was starting to grip his neck.
"Bucky like it, but the punch was weak-"
Of course, Oscar didn't expect the monster that had survived that crash would be defeated in just two moves. Hence, before the wannabe red Hulk could say further and give a detailed review of how weak his punches were this time, Oscar holds the red orb through his mouth and pulls out the dagger [White's Bane] with his free hand. Then bolted back behind him discreetly using his peak leveled [Sneak], this time not to test if the smoking human will intervene in the fight or not, but to take him with all his might.
"-It lacks the intent!-"
In between his speech and fixing back his broken neck, Bucky abruptly swings back and punches the strangely moving rock, knocking the sneaky goblin aside with it.
"Bucky hates! Sneaky"
Saying so, he stomped at the still tumbling and ricocating Goblin with fury. Apparently, the one thing half-orc hated was assassins and their sneaky approach.
"Ghaaaa!"
Right before the goblin could pick himself back up again and try another sneaky approach like he was planning, Bucky caught his leg like a bug. And pulled him above, up to his own shoulder level. Making him hang upside down.
Oscar, thrashed, clawed, and tried whatnot but still failed to free himself from Bucky's ironclad grip. His only means of running, the tied-up [Air Influx] orb, was within its grasp. And his hope was thrashed.
Shouting, the half-Orc punched the entrapped dangling head of his prey. Planning to end this farce right here.
But the moment he did so, the goblin's useless obsidian orb pulsates visibly before shrinking to a tennis ball size. And he dodged by breaking his own spine and latching onto the fist that grasped his leg in a mind-bending reverse U-shape that can only be capable in lifeless dolls. The goblin then hatefully peeks at him through the topmost corner of his grip with a smile, revealing a bright orb that Bucky forgot he had a moment before.
*Clink!*
"Huh?"
But before Bucky could remember what these trendy red orbs were known for, the Goblin munched and shattered the spell orb with a brilliant flash of light.
*BOOM!*
A firestorm erupted right onto his frowning face, burning all his hairs instantly. His red skin turned black as his face became a bonfire like a dullahan. Leaving no space for him to breathe properly. Shaking and jerking, Bucky tried to extinguish. And when all failed he slammed the goblin aside before ramming his burning head into the ground, boring a hole like an ostrich.
*Puh!*
Spitting the blood clot and enduring the intense back pain, Oscar grins while still hearing the ravings of the fiend, telling him the way how to take this ostrich-orc and save his own life. And even though he knew the approach was dangerous, he let it. Because, from the corner of his eyes, he could see that he didn't have any more spare time to play hide and seek with the red monster as he had planned initially.
Binding: 99/100
"Waazir, No! I won't fall for this again"
Shouting to his partner, who had been about to intervene seeing him struggle to handle a simple goblin, Bucky then turned his attention back to Oscar. Finally decided to turn serious, recognizing him as worthy.
"Aaaaaaahhh!" So with a shout, he mercilessly rained a volley of punches upon the already beaten down a goblin. Each punch packed tons of weight, capable of smashing through the Hides of any A-grade Monsters easily. Pebbles rolled, dust flowed, and the ground caved, leaving behind the carnage in the shape of countless small and big craters so big, only a 50+lv monster is capable of making it within a minute.
*Bang!*
Again using his [Elusive Dash Lv6], Oscar dodges the barreling punches by swerving around them with a roll, or hurling his body through the tied-up jet-boost on his leg, while his joints move on their own in an extremely unnatural way as if his own body has starting to become a puppet of his own. All the while, his obsidian orb shrinks further and further with it as if his actions fueled the binding process which had slowed to a crawl because of his rash decision to activate the fiend call.
"Ghaaaaa!"
And right when he reached the planned position, he did what the fiend told him to do. Powering his leg with a quick overcharge, the Goblin then put his entire strength and Mightily kicked the Half-Orc's balls ruthlessly…
*Whack!*
Causing the big brute to growl out loud in his quivering voice, and the human adventure's mouth to twitch uncontrollably behind.
"Ghhh!... Bucky… never felt this one coming…"
But the shameless goblin didn't stop there. Taking the momentarily advantage, he rolled behind and swiftly whipped the white slithering dagger right into the back joint of the still growling demon's leg. Though the skin was so tough that the dagger only made a pint-size scratch before fixing it in its spot, and that's all he needed.
*Bang!*
Like a jet powering his foot, he swings and smashes right onto the hilt of the fixed dagger, shattering the last spell crystal at last. Throwing and transforming all the generated force behind into pin-point, caused the demon's pillar-like leg to finally bend. And made him tumble forward before falling flat-faced. Still growling in pain caused by that unscrupulous goblin's ruthless attack.
"Ghaaaa!"
Taking a big leap, the tired Oscar landed on top of the defeated skull. But instead of showing a victorious sign or jeering like he had been doing for the past month after every win, the human turned Goblin then…Ran away.
Obviously, he would be a fool not to take advantage of the fact that one monster was reeling in pain, while the other was rolling trying to hold back his laugh in a corner.
Though not the way he had expected, he did indeed defeat yet another monster well and above out of his reach, further boosting his confidence with an unexpected prompt to appear before his non-blinking eyes.
Feat of strength performed!
You have acquired the title "Aspiring Trickster"
Aspiring trickster: fooling a kid is easy, but boring. Provoking a knight in armor is foolish, but entertaining. More so when you come out unscathed and your opponent without pants.
Requirement: Outwit any opponent 20+Lv in a deathrun three times in a row.
Effect: INT+10, WILL+15, STR+8, AGL+11, PER+12, and a bonus skill based on your appropriate achievement.
By the effects of the title 'Aspiring Trickster' you have gained the skill "Incognito Lv1"
Alert! Your gains had been put on hold till the end of your evolution process
He would have appreciated this if the situation wasn't this perilous. Apparently, halfway through the fight, all his skills got forcefully deactivated, and his senses started to shut. He could feel the Dam that he had been holding through his sheer Will for so long is starting to crack. And it won't be long when it bursts forth, overflooding him and putting him into a deep sleep which he doesn't know if he would be even able to wake up from, ever again.
As he reached up the stairs and saw the sparkling whirlpool, the infamous gate to the 1st Echelon, Oscar finally sighs in relief.
'Let's dive into this shit!'
"Prince…?"
Came the long-awaited buzz-voice ringing inside his head. Oscar's fatigued mind suddenly gets reinvigorated, and he frantically tries to peer into the swirling liquid as if he could see his friend through it. And with that, he also complained.
"Prince… where are you?"
'At the gate! And how dare you try to leave me behind here huh?'
"huh?!"
Like the mind voice overlapping with the actual voice, Oscar snapped at the Hob-Goblin standing some meters away from the stair, coming out of the mountains of debris and the broken wreckage of statues. Pulling and dragging the unconscious, or still bleeding monster buddies of his. And anybody could tell from the number of injuries they had sustained that nobody would remain alive should they not get any treatment immediately.
'Where the fuck are you for this long!'
He couldn't even use his [Dummy Voice], so he screams at him internally. But seeing the condition of Jazz, cracked up skin and bleeding profusely through each fracture in his oddly jade-like stone skin, he shut his mouth and quickly came down the stairs as if he couldn't take the step forward, into the safety. Alone. Abandoning, Ignoring the pleading eyes of injured monsters that had taken the fight against some hundreds of monsters for him some moments before without flinching.
Given, the goblin tribe would be suspicious of an unknown foreign goblin entering without a guide, a Hob-Goblin, but through that previously boastful Jazz Oscar had known enough about them that he reckons those elders wouldn't kill a brethren just because they Could, like some mindless little critters. Hence, technically he didn't necessarily need the Hob-Goblin now. But he still moved back, even though he could see those pairs of Giants getting back from their earlier distraction, locking their eyes onto him through the blurring peripheral of his vision.
Oscar couldn't tell if it was his hands acting on their own like in the previous fight, or if it was he who wanted to move and genuinely help them out at first rather than selfishly jumping to safety before them. But he believes it was his muddle-headed brain and his strange condition that forced him, instead of actually admitting that he had stepped back and given them a shoulder because he isn't that selfish of a man, and didn't want to lose them. It was unknown when Oscar had stopped treating them less as pets, or mindless monsters he could take advantage of and more as friends, or companions he thought were worth fighting for.
But the moment He and Jazz reached the stairs and halfway through climbing it while dragging unconscious monsters, a voice interrupted them as a pair of giants overshadowed them behind, causing their non-existing hairs to rise as they both turned back with stiff necks.
"Waazir, are they kidnapping monsters?"
"No, you idiot they're clearly smuggling their lunch to their home"
Smacking his partner's head, the smoker let the corner of his lips curl a little while eyeing the scene of a battered and tattered goblin duo trying to rescue some monsters.
"Wha-what! Prince!"
Out of a sudden, Oscar made the spot decision and kicked the still stupefied Hob-Goblin into the whirlpool with all the monsters with him.
The water splashed, enveloping, and swallowing them all with a flash before teleporting them to their destination, right in front of the Goblin's tribes.
*Thud!*
The Hob-Goblin couldn't even register what, and why it happened before he was knocked unconscious. And the last thing he saw was the Prince standing his ground against the two dreaded guardian levels of adventurers alone while letting him, and the recently made-up unconscious team dive first before those adventurers could do anything to stop them.
"Wwwwwwhhhaaa!"
Letting a howling warcry, Oscar then leaped up to them. Planning to create an opening before jumping back into the whirlpool, he had done so before and could do that again. At least he believes so, or else, he would be… fucked. Hence, putting some more strength, he punched!
*Bang!*
But instead of smashing his fist onto the surprised human, Oscar slammed his face into the ground. Never to get up again.
Binding: 100/100
Your body will now be further modified according to your selected gene, you will remain unconscious throughout the process.
We hope you have founded a safe zone following the previous advice, and if not, then better pray to your respect God that nobody messes with you until the end of your evolution.
"Waazir, did this goblin know that Bucky won't be fooled by playing dead… again?"
"Nah, I don't think he's playing dead"
Commented the man seeing the pint-size obsidian orb wholly absorbed into the Goblin's fist as if it had fused with him. And Waazir knows better than anyone else what this implies- the binding and the making of a shaman with the nightmare core. The same smuggled core that was his responsibility to not let it circulate inside and outside the dungeon.
"Sigh… first those cultists and now this, give me a break damn it!"
Cursing. Waazir ordered the red hulk, busy poking the snoring Goblin with a stick, to pick it up as he couldn't leave him here. As for what he will do with this little monster? It was simple.
"Let the Captain get some share of my headache"
Waazir never worked more than he was getting paid for. He was ordered to retrieve it, so he did, nothing more, nothing less.