“Izzy,” I told her, “you can wait here for us if you want to.  Brand has killed the goblin champion by herself once already, and I think we’ve more or less already cleared most of the creatures between it and us.   I know you’re interested in whatever that book might contain now that it’s altered you even more than before, and I think we’ll be fine on our own.  Feel free to study and we’ll take care of the goblin champion. “

“Are you sure you won’t need me?”  She sounded a little pouty.

Laughing, I told her, “Iz, sweetie, we’ll always need you.  I just don’t think we need you to fight this time.  You’re still tired, sore, and healing; and your mind is focused more on what that book did to you, than on killing any goblin.  Me and Brand can handle the goblin on our own.”

“Are you certain?”  She asked.

“We’ll be fine.”  To reassure her, I went over and wrapped my arms around her and gave her a long deep kiss which she passionately returned.  

“Fine,” Isabella pouted.  “Go off and play with that stinking goblin and I’ll stay here and study.  Just bring me back its eyes or something else tasty to eat!”

When my jaw fell open and my eyes widened in shock at her request, Isabella giggled lightly and kissed me on the nose.  “It is a candy goblin.  Remember?”  

Dammit!  She still had a way of making me feel like a complete bumbling imbecile – that’s got to be some sort of secret woman-only skill they have.  I wonder if it’s possible to spend some points in an Advantage: Resist Woman?  Or Advantage: Comprehend Women?  If there’s such a thing in this new system, it probably costs millions of points to unlock!  

Shaking my head lightly to clear it, I pulled her up tightly, wrapped my arms around her back, and squeezed her butt firmly with both my hands.  One again I stole a deep passionate kiss from her soft, warm lips, which almost took my breath away.  And then I finally turned and left with Brandr once again to go after that goblin…

Well, actually, we left and headed up to the rooftop for starters to regather whatever gear of mine survived my first death and rebirth. The goblin shield I was using was still up there, and apparently the flames didn’t harm the Champion’s Tail-Spike which I’d been using as my primary weapon.  It truly was something amazingly odd.  At least twice now it’s been eaten and spit back out by Jello-Muncher, and now it’s survived the very fires of my rebirthing.  If this world can produce a rat’s tail that is so durable, surely it has a pair of pants that would be just as resistant somewhere.

Everything else I’d been wearing had been destroyed.  My lucky club that I’d had from the very beginning almost, used to be tucked down in the belt I wore, and it was now nothing more than a puddle of melted metal smeared on the roof.  Even worse, that large set of keys that the janitor had carried before was also melted and gone.  Who knows what doors they might have opened around the school!  

We’ll definitely want to look for another set of them, and this time leave them in the classroom until we need them.  I rather have the annoyance of having to walk back and fetch them when I need them, than have them destroyed or stolen accidently.  It was stupid of me to be the one carrying them to begin with, but that’s not something you tend to think about until it’s too late.  We’ll do better next time, and I’m certain there’ll be a next time as lots of different people carried keys to the school like the janitor did, and we’ll learn from our mistakes.

Can’t change the past.  All we can do is learn and move forward.

After gathering my shield and spike, Brandr and I went back down and checked on the two girls.  Much to my relief, Buster wasn’t trying to mate with them at all; he was simply yipping and rolling around and nibbling at their fingers trying to get them to rub his belly or play with him.  The two were simply ignoring it and staring off into nothingness while on their hands and knees in the Christmas outfits, but that didn’t seem to alter the little beast’s enthusiasm at all.  

I don’t know the most about the little bugger at all, but that little mutt-beast has a lot more persistence than I do.  If I’d tried for an hour to get someone to play with me and failed, I’d give up.  As far as I know, it’s been trying for days now, and it’s still as roly-poly yippy-yappy as ever with those two.   Without bothering it, or the two ‘weak ones’, I nodded to Brandr and we started on down the hallway to the barricade.

We took our time walking, and I wrapped an arm around Brandr as went down the hall together.  Jello had just gone up the hall this way, and it’s slower than it used to be since it pigged out on Figgy and all the other candy goblins on these halls.  We wanted to give it time to mosey on past the barricade, before we caught up to it and lured it into turning around and coming back down this way like idiots.  

If we didn’t wait and let it pass, it’d see us and then come back down this way and we’d be stuck waiting on it for another few days before it lumbered all the way outside, back in, and then back down the hall and past the barricade.  Sooner or later, Jello is going to have to die.  We’re going to have to look seriously at getting rid of it soon, just as soon as we get whatever Goblin-Champ has.

Taking our time, we worked our way down past the janitor’s closet and around the corner.  Jello was still moving slowly away, so Brandr and I had to relax and wait before going around the bend for a while before we could move on.  One thing that I’ve noticed about Jello:  it doesn’t seem to pay as much attention to the living, as it does to the dead.  Blood really seems to grab its attention, but as long as Brandr and I don’t prance around madly in front of it, it won’t even notice us anymore.  It may have grown larger by eating all the Christmas creatures that respawned around here, but it didn’t get any smarter.

After about an hour or so of just relaxing in each other’s arms, we finally judged that Jello had moved far enough down the hall so we wouldn’t disturb it by coming around the corner.  Slowly, and steathfully, we eased down the hallway and took our time down the passage.  Once again, I was amazed by how quietly Brandr could walk while wearing those stiletto heels.  

It had to be the ‘Sure Step’ enchantment on them which helped keep them from making those little tap, tap, tap noises which we always used to associate with one of the teachers coming down the hall.  I guess it’s a good thing that teachers didn’t have those back when we were students!  As it was before, heels were kind of like the bell around the cat’s neck that warned all us rats when it was time to settle down and be good once again.

Eventually, and with much patience, we managed to work our way up to the barricade and through it while Jello went on out of sight to mess with the other side of the hall.  Once again, we were heading into the darker inner halls of the school, and Brandr took a few moments to concentrate and hide herself in the darkness.  I’d been improving my fighting and blocking skills with the candy goblins over the last few days, and she’d been practicing her hide and stealth skills.  Neither of us was yet what I’d consider talented with our skills, but we had definitely improved on them.

Once she was hidden, I moved off into the first tunnel on the right and into the first classroom there, sat down, and waited.  Before I did any moving, Brand would always scout and down a quick patrol of the surroundings to make certain the area was clear.  We certainly weren’t breaking any speed records in our approach to clearing the floor, but we were working on learning our skills, improving them, and keeping ourselves safe.  

Part of me felt like we should rush and push a little harder since we didn’t know how things were going on the floors below us, and we didn’t want to be the last people to clear our floor; but another part of me felt like we needed to keep moving at a slow, methodical safe pace.  Rush too far, too fast, and someone might end up dead – and it might not be me!  I didn’t want to take any risks with the girl’s safety, but I really wasn’t certain which was better:  slow, steady, and safe now, with the possibility of being the last group out; or push and rush now and make certain we’re not the last to unlock the elevators.

If only we knew what the other groups were doing, we might be able to coordinate something with them!  Then we could all leave here together and not abandon one group to be the “last”.  While Brandr was gone, I was busy trying to think of any possible way to try and get in touch with survivors on the other floors, but nothing had come to me by the time she’d told me it was clear.  Just something to think about for later, I suppose.

Stolen novel; please report.

Finally, with the all clear from her, I eased out of my hiding spot and down the darkened central tunnels and over to where Brandr was waiting.  I couldn’t see her, but somehow I now knew where she was hiding in the dark.  The last few days had even strengthened our party bond so that we now had a stronger innate sense of each other’s state, location, and presence most of the time.  It was actually quite amazing.

“I’m here, and I’m ready,” I told her mind-to-mind when I caught up to her. “How many are we going to have to deal with?”

“There’s only three left in the room, my Lord,” Brandr assured me.  “We’d cleared the rest of them before Isabella interrupted us, and I believe I can pull these out safely and down the hall away from the rest, if you want to back up somewhat.”

Nodding, I moved about halfway down the side hall and back towards the central hall.  “In position,” I simply told her.  We’d been hunting the others using this type of tag and pull method, and I think Brandr’s simple “say only what needed to be said” philosophy was starting to rub off on me.

A few moments later, “Incoming!”, was the response I received, and I readied my spike and shield.  A few seconds later, I saw Brandr running down the hallway towards me, so I tucked my shield and rushed forward in her direction.  As we closed in towards each other, on a direct collision course, I ducked somewhat and braced my shield firmly in front of me and she gracefully did a summersault over my head.

The large candy goblin behind her was a complete idiot (as was almost all the candy creatures from Christmas), and  it followed her leap and flip with its head.  I completely broadsided it with my shield rush and with a loud smacking sound it flipped head over heels and over my shoulder as well.  The impact of hitting this goblin shook my teeth and knocked me so hard that I ended up flipping backwards and going heels over ass onto the floor myself!

I’ve rushed a lot of the other goblins in the past few days, and usually the first one would simply shatter and then I could fight it out with the others – but not this time!  I don’t guess it’s called a Champion for nothing!  Even distracted, the force of the impact was enough to sprawl me down onto the ground with it.

As I struggled to rise, two other goblins rushed up the hall and leaped towards me.  I managed to brace myself against the floor hard enough to kick one and crumble it, but the other one sank its claws into my thigh and ripped down my leg.  Gritting my teeth so as to not yell, I was relieved when a blurred figure dashed past me and sliced the head off the creature.

“I have this one, my Lord,” came Brandr’s gentle voice as the creature folded and collapsed to the ground.  “Only the Champion remains, and I leave it for you to learn from.”

Wait.  

What?  Leave it to me?

The Champion?  

Oh shit!!

As I was struggling up to my feet, the larger goblin was righting itself as well.  This goblin was red, and the smell of cinnamon was in the air.  It was a cinnamon rock-candy goblin!  The whole thing was slightly translucent, and I was hoping to see a crack where I’d slammed into it earlier, but it seemed quite durable and didn’t show any sign of being damaged.  

I was going to try and circle it to look for any opening, but the thing was an idiot candy goblin; as soon as it was standing, it was tossing itself at me once again.  Watching my breathing as Brand had been teaching me, I calmed blocked its leap with my shield and then countered with a jab of my spike.  A small red fleck of cinnamon chipped from its shoulder  as I took a step back away from it to try and maintain my distance.

I’d like to think that I was getting calmer and more composed in combat, but if I was it was rather difficult more me to gauge myself.  These candy creatures didn’t try to respond, as naturally living beasts would, and all they knew were charge, rip, charge, gouge, charge!  As long as you kept something like a shield between you and them, and a little distance to have time to react, they really weren’t that big a deal.

And, I didn’t think the champion was either – until my shield suddenly cracked and then burst under its repeated blows as we danced around and around in the hall!  Block, jab, move.  Block, jab, move.  Block, jab, move.  Block, jab, move – it’d been working perfectly to slowly chip away at the creature, and I was getting several encouraging dings where skills were increasing against it – and then it became block, break, cuss!

My shield cracked in half with a mighty blow from the goblin, and I threw half of it at the beast’s head to push it back.  The other half of the shield was still strapped to my forearm, and was now getting in my way as much as helping me!  As if it was sensing its victory, the beast snarled and leaped at me again.

Panicking and not certain what to do in a situation like this – Brandr’s teachings never covered gear malfunctions – I simply fell back upon my own personal training and leaped forward to meet it!  The creature’s claws were a short ranged weapon, and so was my spike, so we both stubbornly grappled with each other and started ripping, biting, and stabbing each other in a flurry of blood and cinnamon shards!

“My Lord!  My Lord!”  Brandr was trying to offer me advice, but I’m afraid that I simply wasn’t listening once again.  I was too wrapped up in the heat of the moment and the blood pounding in my temples drowned out all other thoughts.  Smash that bastards face in!  Who the hell did it think it was trying to claw with those candy ass fingers!

I stabbed it in the head, head butted it across the face, stabbed it again.  It bit my nose half off, clawed a chunk out of my back, and buried one set of claws into my shoulder.  I forced it back against the wall with a hard push and slammed my spike into its face several more times.  It started clawing at my side and ribs with its free hand – and thus we settled into a pattern of unabashed battering of each other for the next several moments!

My arms were up, allowing me to strike freely at its face.  Its arm was down, allowing it to rip freely at my side and chest.  And, without a single further thought for defense, we simply traded blows one after another with each other like two boxers gone wild in the ring together!  

Blood flew!  Flesh tore and was ripped!  Cinnamon chunks scattered like snow falling in the air around us!

And finally!  FINALLY!  The goblins face shattered and the body collapsed in a heap in front of me.  

DING!

Congratulations, you have slain the Goblin Champion!

You need 2 more Rat Champion kills to unlock the Elevator Access.

You need 3 more Goblin Champion kills to unlock the Elevator Access.

You gain +100 Valor, +100 Might.

You gain +25% Experience from all Race: Goblin in the future.

You gain a New Advantage: Trade Blows!

Stupid damn window!  I didn’t even care what the hell it was telling me.  I wasn’t finished with the goblin bastard yet!  Tugging its corpse up, I continued to slam my spike into its chest over and over and over for the next several moments, until the creature’s torso completely shattered!  Who the hell did this bastard think he was trying to kill!  

With a roar of frustration, I grabbed up one of its arms, and then a sudden ringing pain bounced through my skull and the world went black.

I don’t know what the hell just hit me, but whatever it was, was much meaner than the damn goblin.  It was a one hit KO, and I was instantly out for the count...