Once they had gotten back on the move Red hadn’t been able to keep thoughts out of his mind. Was he really responsible for the attack? Should he have picked a better spot? Could he have picked a better spot? Why did running naked feel so much better than running with his loincloth on? Shaking his head he decided to look at some prompts to try and clear his mind.

The first couple was a nice surprise.

Congratulations! Your Mace skill has increased to level 10. You have reached Novice rank. Hone your skills on the path of power.

Congratulations! Your Tracking skill has increased to level 4. Hone your skills on the path of power.

It was nice to see two of his skills get a level from the same encounter. He hadn’t ever reached above the dabbling rank in a skill before. His next prompt showed just what rewards would await him at higher ranks.

Congratulations! You have gained 1000 experience due to your skill in Maces reaching the Novice rank. Hone your skills on the path of power.

Red had just earned experience just for leveling his skill with the mace? He had no idea! If that was the case then he’d reach level 5 in no time. He wondered why he didn’t get any experience for his Tracking skill leveling. Something he’d have to ask about when he got home.

For reaching Novice rank in the Mace skill. Your bonus to damage with maces increases from .5% per level to 1% per level in Mace. You also ignore .25% of armor on targets you hit with maces.

Red’s eyes went wide as took in this prompt. He had no idea that progressing in his skills would increase the amount they would help him per level. If this followed for all of his skills then he could become even more of a powerhouse! Maybe this could be how he gets away from his current hunting party. And makes his way into the monster hunter division. He grinned as he thought of finally getting into the big leagues. He picked up the pace as he imagined his rise to glory.

In the back of the cart Fen had been doing everything to keep the bleeding stabilized on his green teammate. But he could see the color beginning to really fade from Pok’s face. His snotish green turned into a pale sickly shade. Seeing that the bleeding was starting to drag him away from this plane. Fen pulled up his status page to see if he had enough mana to save the poor bastard’s life.

He was just over half full. Giving him about ten points of wiggle room. If something went wrong with this cast then Pok would die before they returned home. Putting his hands together he formed the same ball of misty light he used on Red earlier. And after a few seconds he cast Weak Frost Mist for the second time that day.

The blue misted light came down and enveloped the injury on Pok’s chest. Fen felt his concentration begin to pull as he held the spell form open. The gray goblin wouldn’t admit it out loud. But his skill level in water magic was barely high enough to cast the spell. The weak rank spell held most of his concentration. And every bump his oafish leader his as he dragged the cart along nearly made him drop the spell.

Ice formed in the open wound that threatened to take the green goblin’s life. They started as tiny specs of frozen water. And as the seconds passed the light blue mist forced the ice to grow in size. Every second they grew bigger and bigger. Until they began to touch other ice crystals. When they made contact with other crystals they pushed into each other and smashed together. Forcing themselves together and solidifying into bigger and bigger crystals.

Fen could feel his head begin to swell with pressure. The drain leading to the same burning sensation in his nostrils. He felt pain swell in the back of his head. And in an instant it had moved through his brain to the front. Leaving a throng of pain all throughout his head. His mana drained with each second of the cast. His gray hands shook while the spell threatened to be ended prematurely if his focus lacked for even a second.

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As the ice formed into one single sheet of ice Fen felt the mental drain reach it’s crescendo. And decided that it was good enough. He began to huff. Dropping the spell Fen took a second to look over his patient.

The green goblin was still sprawled out on the bench. The gash on his chest had been frozen over. Ice laid out on his chest in one big diagonal strip. The spell had taken the desired effect. He’d need a trip to a healing shaman once they got back to avoid major infection. But it would be better than bleeding out in the middle of a forest.

Pok saw a prompt fill his vision.

You are no longer bleeding. In the future don’t let the insides get on the outside.

With a sigh of relief Pok laid his head to the side and closed his eyes to rest. Seeing that he wasn’t dead Fen sighed with relief and checked his mana reserves as he sat down. The casting had drained him all the way down to under 10 mana. His friend had almost died. And his small mana bar had almost led to it. Fen slumped back in the seat. If he had taken too long he would have felt the whiplash as his mana bottomed out. Though he had done it. Now he just hoped they could make it back to the warren in one piece.

At the front of the cart Red found himself struggling to keep the same pace as before. The frost keeping his leg from bleeding out was keeping him from making his way at a full sprint. He had to shamble his leg at half the speed.

The pain of the pebble sized ice shards in his ankle was something he just couldn’t work through. He couldn’t believe he was letting a little thing like that slow him down.His job was to work through the pain. He was a tank!

This was his sixth expedition outside of the warren. And it was the first time having to push past pain that wasn’t from an attack but rather an injury. It sucked way more than taking the initial blows. Now as he ran forward. Nothing was there to distract him from the pain. It was just the road, himself, and the pain. He was wishing for a monster right about now.

Red looked at his stamina bar every once in a while. His running hobble was causing his stamina to drain faster that before the attack from the badgers. It must have been from the extra tear he felt from the pellets. It felt like the act of stomping on and pushing off of the ground both threatened to tear his foot loose.

Red’s ponderings were interrupted by the shrill voice of his rock goblin partner. “Whys are you moving so slow? We should have been back at the valley by nows.” Pebble poked his head over the edge of the cart so that he could talk right into Red’s ear.

The larger goblin’s head recoiled as the shrill sounds slammed into his ear. What normally only sounded like a sick bird. The rock goblin’s voice grated like flints on rock when his head poked directly next to his head. The sounds even seemed to cause some of the trees to shake. Leaves falling down. And a few sticks breaking off branches. No one noticed any of this and all recoiled from the Rock goblin’s voice.

“Gah!” The red goblin yelled out as he swung his head to the side away from the toothy maw of the annoying goblin. He threw the cart handles to the side. Lifting it up off the ground and throwing it half a foot to the left side of the road. His feet took a few large steps off to the side. Getting to the opposite side of the road that he had thrown the cart too. The sound had caused a headache to trigger. And he felt his anger building up in the pit of his stomach. “Aaaagh! Stupid rock. You could have taken off one of my ears!” Red swung his fist at a tree next to him. And took off a large section of the bark covering the trunk of the tree.

“Don’t blame mes because you’re to slow! I almost got eaten by wild animals. And I have to stare at your cock and balls! I is the victim here, nummoks.”

The anger in Red’s stomach grew to dangerous heights. His vision nearly turned red. But he was able to grasp sanity for a few more scant seconds. “That doesn't make any sense rocks for brains! And nummoks isn’t a word! Now be quiet while I-” The tall goblin moved towards the cart. Wanting to get it back on the road. But also ready to slap some sense into the rock goblin if he tried something annoying again.

Before he could get close he felt a sensation other than his rage. He recognized it as a warning even though he had no idea what it was. His head swung side to side. But it kept guiding him to the other side of the trail. Trusting the instinct he cautiously moved across the lightly treaded path.

The lack of screaming from Red drew the attention of the other intelligent goblin, Fen, who stood up while groaning from his sore body. “What is it? Is something out there?”

Even Pebble had picked up on the ques and begun searching for the attacker. Pok continued to lay on the seat. Having fallen asleep from the traumatic experience of having his chest start to come undone. Red crossed past the cart and searched the forest line for something out of the ordinary. Once he was a few inches from the tree line Red’s eyes naturally glided over the forest.

It took a good few seconds. But Red saw two glowing orange dots in the tree line. As his eyes locked on with the two orange darts. And realization washed over Red. The eyes lunged forward. Leaving Red enough time to say one thing. “Shiiit!”