“You’re not serious,” Aerion said, no doubt hoping for a response. So was I.
When Richard didn’t reply, however, we both learned something new about this elf. He was just a 'bit of a nutter', as he'd say.
“Even if I can,” Aerion said, “how do you plan to get past those Hobgoblins?”
Richard looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “We’re three of us, yeah? We’ll be done with them in a jiffy.”
“Greg?” Aerion asked, and both of them looked my way—something I was grateful for. Having introduced myself as a Boonworthy busboy and bodyguard, by all rights, I shouldn’t have a say in the matter. That Richard treated me as an equal counted for a lot.
“I think there’s a chance this could work,” I said, immediately adding, “but it’s risky. If there are safer routes out of here, I’d want to explore them. Except…”
Richard's eyes narrowed. “Except that while we dawdle trying to find a safer way out, our mate’s out there, fighting for his life, isn’t he? Can’t exactly take our sweet time, yeah?”
“Well, I do agree that helping each other out is in all of our interests...” I trailed off, thinking. “A frontal attack is probably our best bet.”
“Right,” Richard said with a nod. “So here’s what we do. We pounce on those sorry sods before their leader returns. Then we jump ‘im. Three on one, he’ll be no match for the lot of us.”
----------------------------------------
Our strategy session didn’t take long. The enemies were way out in the open, and there was no great way to sneak up on them. Nor could we just send out Aerion and draw them towards us. There were far too many for that to work, and there really was no good place to stage an ambush, even from our current position.
So we did the next best thing. I set down my backpack and poleax, and we all lowered ourselves onto our bellies and crawled our way to the Hobs. Against humans, we’d have been spotted almost immediately, but these hobs had terrible eyesight as we'd seen earlier. They wouldn’t notice us until we were closer.
We’d get as close as possible before springing to our feet and taking the fight to the enemy. Once that happened, there was little point to detailed strategizing—we’d have to react to the enemy according to their movements. The one thing we agreed on, though, was that we’d stick together, fighting as a tight-knit group. Against this many, allowing them to split us up and pick us off one by one would be a death sentence.
The operation started smooth, as most tended to, but one unlucky glance from a Hob spotted us well over fifty yards away. He pointed and made a ruckus, and after a few arguments with the others, they all seemed to get the hint and charged.
An eight-foot tall Hobgoblin is scary enough on its own. A Hobgoblin wielding an ax or a mace is even more terrifying. But put a dozen of them together and have them charge at you like a stampede?
That’s the sort of thing that would make even a grizzled veteran wet their pants, and I was no veteran.
The only thing that stopped me was Richard.
Before their charge could gain its stride, it faltered, and for seemingly no reason. Some Hobs slowed, crashing into the ones behind them, which caused both to trip and fall.
Others stumbled over their own feet and were in turn trampled by those behind them. Yet others just ran out of steam, clutching their chest.
While there wasn’t a single one that just dropped dead, Richard’s power had a visible impact on them all.
Leading our tight formation, I engaged with the first brute, activating [Light of the Fearless] and [Shadow of the Fearless] just before the moment of impact.
Defense didn’t even seem to occur to the attacking Hob, who instead opted to hurl its oversized battleax at me.
Too bad for it, I’d already closed the gap, plunging my magical blade into its fur armor.
He might as well have been naked, for all the good it did. My sword not only penetrated the armor and plunged into his skin, it actually ran him through.
Twisting the blade, I wrenched it to the side—a near-impossible feat for a normal person with a regular sword, owing to the force required.
My 45 points of Dominion, and the fact that I had not one but two magical abilities aiding me, tilted the scales in my favor, and my blade ripped through his side, almost bisecting him.
Our group flowed past the standing corpse and laid into the next enemy. This time, Aerion engaged with [Aurora], her [Rare] blade. Though it lacked a magical ability, its obscenely sharp steel made short work of the Hob, who was far too preoccupied clutching its chest to notice the attack.
Unlike me, Aerion’s aim was perfect, and Aurora plunged into the Hob’s heart. The monster froze in place, reflexively grabbing her blade with so much force that it cut into its hands.
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Then it died, crumpling to the ground and wrenching the sword from Aerion’s grasp. With 34 points of Dominion, Aerion’s strength was only slightly lower than my own. The Hob, however, had even more, and without magic to allow her blade to come free, Aerion was forced to let it go.
“Oi! Heads-up!” Richard called.
I looked up and paled.
The tides had shifted, and our luck had suddenly run dry. Thus far, our attack had played out more or less like a Kung Fu film, with the enemies coming at the heroes one at a time, only for them to get wrecked.
Reality was never so kind.
Three Hobs descended on us from three different directions, clubs and axes raised. Aerion and I could only defend against two, and though Richard’s face was screwed up in an expression of extreme determination, his ability didn’t seem to affect these brutes as much as their counterparts. Either that, or they were simply ignoring the pain.
My mind spun through the options one after another. Richard would have to dodge while Aerion and I dealt with the other two before coming to his aid. I was about to inform Richard of the plan when Aerion solved all our problems with one word.
“Reaving! All-out-assault!” she yelled, ripping Aurora free from the dead Hob's clutches before throwing it to me.
I didn’t hesitate. With a grin, I threw her Light of the Fearless right before catching her blade.
This was one of the attack patterns we’d practiced, and honestly? It was our strongest card. Because the only thing more deadly than a berserking elf was a berserking elf armed with an absurdly overpowered sword.
The three hobs didn’t so much as die as they were massacred. One moment, they were alive, and the next… Where I had not quite succeeded in cutting the giant in half, Aerion went through all three so quickly, I thought she’d done it in a single strike.
It’d been three, but her monstrous 94 points of Dominion allowed her to move Light of the Fearless at absurd speeds.
In the span of a single moment, Aerion had single-handedly shifted the battle from imminent defeat to total victory.
About six more Hobs remained, but after seeing Aerion’s horrifying display, fighting seemed to be the very last thing on their mind as they cried out in panic and ran. Some dropped their weapons, while others tripped and fell, scrambling away on all fours.
As terrible as I felt about it, we couldn’t allow them to flee. Who knew how long it’d be until we commandeered a barge? In that time, they could easily return with their buddies.
Thankfully, Richard came in clutch, here. We could barely keep pace with a sprinting Hob. But a Hob with severe heart pains? That was a different story.
Minimized notifications ran down my HUD, and I was sure the same thing was happening for Aerion as we split up and ran down each of the fleeing monsters, gutting, slicing, and otherwise killing each and every one.
When we met back up some minutes later, we were silent. The whole massive garage was silent, other than the chimes of notifications going off in my head.
Congratulations! Grace has increased from 26 to 27. Current Maximum: 27.
Congratulations! Dominion has increased from 44 to 45. Current Maximum: 74.
Congratulations! Light of the Fearless’ ability [Light of the Fearless] has leveled up to Foundation - 7.
Congratulations! Light of the Fearless’ ability [Shadow of the Fearless] has leveled up to Foundation - 7.
Congratulations! Basecrest City Guard Cuirass’ ability [Hidden Dragon] has leveled up from Foundation - 0 to Foundation - 2.
More than the other level ups, I was at least happy I’d finally gotten a chance to level [Hidden Dragon] some. The ability might’ve been useless on its own, but every ability level up meant I was one step closer to my next Blessing level.
“We massacred them,” Richard mumbled, saying what all of us were thinking. “We just… Like animals… There’s so much blood!”
There really was a lot of gore. With the way Richard fought, I imagined he hadn’t seen very much of that until now. His kills were clean. Merciful, even.
I glanced over to Aerion and gave her a nod, which she returned. [Reave] deactivated the instant all enemies had been downed, and with how fast we'd taken them out, she still had plenty of Essence left.
“They’d have done the same to us,” she said softly. “You’ll get used to it.”
“That’s the bit I’m afraid of,” Richard said shakily. “Don’t think I’ll be getting much sleep tonight.”
I’d been walking over to put a hand on his shoulder when I froze midstep. To my own horror, I realized that I would probably sleep well. An hour from now, these dead Hobgoblins wouldn’t even be on my mind. Was that because I’d become so desensitized to killing already?
I panicked for a moment before the voice of reason made itself heard. It wasn’t like that. Not at all.
“Hey,” I said in as soothing a voice as I could muster, putting a hand on the shivering man’s shoulders. “I get that things are different here compared to where you’re from. Don’t let that make you lose sight of what you’re about. These monsters aren’t people. And even if they were? Would you have acted any differently? These things want to ravage Basecrest. If we fail here, people die, Richard. Men, women, the elderly… Children? You have a family, right? Kids who’re waiting for you?”
Richard’s eyes widened in realization. Realization… and horror. “My god…”
“You get it, don’t you?” I said. “We’re not here for glory and Blessings. We’re here to save innocent lives. To allow kids to grow up in a functioning world, and not just the gutted remains of the previous one.”
“R-Right,” Richard said, then again, more firmly. “Right. That’s what matters. The rest’s just… It’s what must be done.”
I nodded, and threw him a wink. “Well, that’s the cover story, anyway. Let’s be honest. It’s the fame and the gold that we’re really after, right?”
Richard looked at me with wide eyes before realizing I was joking.
“You got me,” he said with a laugh. “You’re quite brutal, you know that?”
I grinned, clapping him on the back. “Only when it’s inappropriate, my friend.”
The groaning of the bay doors rudely interrupted our conversation, forcing us to turn to the familiar-looking silhouette that emerged from the blinding white snow.
“Well, Richard, I hope you’re ready,” I said, handing Richard a pair of fabric goggles I’d fashioned earlier. “Because the main event is about to begin.”