Chapter 16

Jackson, of course, had a plan. He had palmed a blood-shard bomb in his hand as he had come into the center of camp. As soon as the goblins got close, he threw it on the ground, and it shattered into a cloud of crimson, bloody death. The shards pierced the goblins, and they screamed in utter pain, writhing and twisting as they fell to the ground, their veins swelling like overfull leeches. Jackson hurled more blood lightning, killing goblin after goblin.

A few managed to ignore the pain and ran at him, screaming, crude blades raised. Jackson could see the blood shards working on them; their veins were as swollen as the others, ready to burst. Yet the goblins seemed intent on taking him with them. He rolled backward, dodging their strikes and hurling more blood lightning their way. The goblins were not entirely stupid; they didn’t just stand there; they attempted to move out of the way. However, they were too slow, the pain of the blood shards ripping them apart from the inside affecting their movements.

Jackson’s blood lightning landed, exploding against them and killing them instantly. Despite how well he seemed to be doing, the goblins’ numbers were irrefutable and more closed-in, unaffected by his bomb. It was a good thing he still had two more. When the goblins saw that he had another one in his hand, their yellow eyes grew wide, and they turned and fled.

Unfortunately, they could not get far enough. Jackson chucked the bomb so it landed a little ways ahead of them, and it smashed, unleashing crimson hell. The shards dug into them, and the entire group dropped to the ground, convulsing.

Jackson was going to mop up the rest of the goblins in the camp when a roar shook the air.

“WHO DARES KILL MY TRIBE?”

Lazarus chuckled,

“Just as Jackson thought. You’ll like this; pay attention.”

As if he had any other choice. The largest tent in the camp’s center exploded open, and a massive green form emerged from it. In his hand was a truly impressive cudgel, and the green monstrosity wielded it with one hand. Jackson analyzed the threat.

This is a hobgoblin goliath at level 25.

Lazarus clapped his hands,

“You’ve stumbled upon a minor boss! Ah, to be young again.”

This was a minor boss then. Its level was on par with the demon! Jackson wasn’t deterred; however, he had been killing lots of goblins, and as a result…

Your blood lightning has increased to level 10.

Your enchanting has increased to level 26!

Jackson had made progress. He could defeat this thing; after all, he had defeated the demon. He only had one bomb left, though, and he wasn’t keen on using it right away unless he had to. So, he turned to the only other thing he could feasibly do. He hurled lightning at it. Which the goblin smacked away.

Your weave has unraveled! This spell has been negated!

Jackson gaped at the message, panic jolting through him like a tiny shock. He knew that it was possible, after all the katana at his side, which he could no longer use, had an enchantment that did something similar. He guessed he was just surprised that someone else could do something similar. He really shouldn’t have been, and he frowned, disappointed in himself.

“Hey! I wouldn’t spend too much time thinking; that big bastard is getting ready to smack you down.” Lazarus called. The spirit was sitting on a nearby rock, head on his propped-up fist, eyes burning with interest. Sadly, he was right. The hobgoblin had moved up on Jackson and was bringing his cudgel down in a massive overhead swing.

“Smash the intruder! Die puny human!”

Yeah, Jackson wasn’t keen on getting smashed. He rolled out of the way as the cudgel smashed into the stone ground with a sickening thud. He came up to his feet, taking a breath. That had been close. The giant goblin was unfettered; he turned and swung his cudgel in a massive swing Jackson’s way. This one was trivial to duck under, though.

“Quit moving, human!”

That wasn’t going to happen. Yet, Jackson did have a problem. Lazarus decided to speak aloud.

“Having trouble harming him, huh? You need to get a shot in without him blocking with that truly impressive stick of his. Of course there is another way.” Lazarus trailed off. Jackson flicked him a glare and then refocused on the goblin.

“What other way?!” Jackson called the question to the spirit.

“Don’t ignore me, human!” The hobgoblin roared and swung his cudgel at Jackson with tremendous force.

Jackson dove and rolled away. The cudgel took out a tent, smashing it to the side. Lazarus tapped his chin.

“How are you supposed to learn if I just tell you the answer, hmm?”

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Jackson scowled but began to think. Of course, the giant green monster wasn’t just going to let him sit down and do that at his leisure. He kept dodging his blows as he thought about it. Lazarus wouldn’t hint at an answer that was impossible for him to figure out. Which meant the answer was there, and it had to be something he could do.

He only had two weaves: blood lightning and mass charm. Blood lightning didn’t work, but perhaps mass charm would. He began the weave and overlaid it on the hobgoblin goliath.

Mass charm has failed on the hobgoblin goliath.

Jackson swore and dodged the goliath’s blow. He was still raging at him, but he had long since stopped paying attention. He tried again with the weave.

You have failed to charm the goliath.

Jackson cursed again, but determination kept him at it. Then a surprising message unfurled in his mind.

Your mana is critically low! You cannot cast this spell!

Well then. He hasn’t yet seen a message like that one before. Then again, he hadn’t cast so many spells in a row. Frustration welled up inside him, and he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He didn’t have time to indulge in it, however, as he had to dodge again.

He needed to come up with an answer; this was tiring him out. He couldn’t keep at this forever. What else could he do? His hidden blood skill wasn’t useful in this situation, but perhaps… Jackson grimaced at the thought, but it was all he had. A plan formed in his mind, and though it wasn’t pleasant, it was all he had.

On the goliath's next swing, Jackson took a deep breath and let the goliath hit him. The cudgel broke his ribs as all the air rushed out of him, and pain, white-hot, shot through him. Yet, he was alive, and that’s what mattered. Jackson wrapped his arms around the cudgel, holding onto it like it was a tree branch. The goblin giant was not pleased with this.

“What?! Off my cudgel, human! I’ll smash you!”

The goblin raised the cudgel high.

Which was what Jackson had been waiting for. As soon as the cudgel was raised, he let go and dropped directly onto the goliath's head. The goblin reacted immediately, thrashing his body this way and that, but Jackson held on. The hobgoblin finally decided on a second tactic, which Jackson was pleased with given that the thrashing was sending rivers of pain through his broken ribs.

As soon as the thrashing stopped, Jackson allowed himself to drop further, so his hands were wrapped around the goblin's neck. He had no chance of choking him out, but that wasn’t his goal anyway. Before he could act further, though, the goblin tried to smash him with the cudgel. The goblin did not succeed, however, and only hurt himself.

“Arghh! Human, get off of me!” the goblin hollered.

Jackson did not comply. Instead, he opened his mouth wide, revealing his sharp fangs.

Then he bit down on the goblin's neck, piercing the green skin.

Goblin blood was still good. Jackson expected it to taste horrible, but it didn’t. It wasn’t as good as human blood, but the taste was still sweet, with a metallic tang that made him groan in pleasure as power rocked through his body, sending electrical shivers down his spine. The goliath began to thrash, smashing his back against a stone wall. More pain lanced through Jackson's back, and he heard a sickening crack as his back literally broke. He almost let go, but he wasn’t concerned with the pain. Just the intense wave of power and pleasure.

The deliciousness of the goliath's blood was too sweet. Everything was so clear and so right. At some point, the goliath had fallen to his knees.

“N..no..s-s..stop..”

Jackson did not stop. He sucked the goliath's blood through his neck as if the goblin were a straw in a pouch of juice.

You have killed a goblin, goliath level 25.

Your consume blood skill has increased to level 15.

Your minor regeneration skill has increased to level 6.

Your level has increased! You are now level 17!

Jackson lifted his head from the goblin's neck in a slow, satisfying movement, looking at the ceiling, mouth agape. His back had healed, and so had his ribs. In fact, all of his pain was gone. He was certain his mana had been restored as well, though he would have to try weaving a spell to be certain. After the euphoria settled, he stood up. The goliath’s skin was now a pale, lifeless green. Jackson had indeed consumed all of its life force.

He wiped his mouth, flicking the greenish goblin blood onto the ground. Lazarus clapped,

“I knew you’d figure it out! Bravo, young fledgling!”

Jackson shook his head at him.

“Fat lot of help you were,” he muttered.

Lazarus tsked at him.

“Now, now, that isn’t any way to say thank you, is it?”

Jackson waved at him dismissively.

“It’s time to move on,” he stated.

It was time to get looting.

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The goblins didn’t have much. Jackson found fifty EC, some leather armor, and, of course, the goblin giant cudgel. He looked at it, analyzing it.

This is a cudgel of unraveling. It unravels any apprentice-level weaves it comes into contact with.

Jackson managed to get it into his bag of holding, but when he did, a message popped into his mind.

This is a very large item. It has taken up much of your bag of holding space, and you will not be able to store any other medium-sized or large items.

He grumbled about that, but it was what it was. He poked around the camp some more, but other than a weird-smelling drink that Lazarus confirmed was grog, all he found were some basic rations, which he stored in his bag. Chewing his lip, he asked Lazarus a question:

“Would it be possible for me to store any of the blood in these goblins?”

Lazarus shrugged,

“Sure, if you had any vials or containers to hold it in, it wouldn’t do you much good, though.”

Jackson blinked at him, furrowing his brows.

“Why not?”

“Because, my young fledgling, that is dead blood. The lifeforce is what matters, and for that, the blood needs to be pumping into something that is alive.”

Jackson sighed—too easy, of course. Lazarus raised a finger,

“I should add that it still may be worth doing, fledgling. I wasn’t entirely right; the blood does need to be pumping through a living being, but that’s just one way. It can also be infused with life force through weaves. Doing that creates a potion—a blood potion, in fact. My people used to subsist on it as well.”

Jackson grunted. It didn’t matter much; he didn’t have anything to hold the blood in, even if he had wanted to gather it. Of course, that didn’t mean it was worthless information. He was sure that Fred could get his hands on potion vials for him if he asked for them, and maybe Fred even had a connection that would allow him to find someone who could infuse any gathered blood with lifeforce.

Jackson's expression soured. That may create questions, though—questions he was not sure he could answer. For reasons Lazarus had yet to explain, celestials wanted vampyres dead. If word got out... Yes, he had to be careful. Still, he did not rule out the possibility. He could find someone trustworthy. Maybe.

“Alright, we are done here, Laz. It’s time for us to go to the second floor.”