Poison? What the heck?

Jason opened up his status as his eyes scanned from top to bottom.

Jason Park

Job : None

Level 16

EP : 65/111

E.Guard : 24/30 (Poison)

Strength : 46

Agility : 71

Dexterity : 5

Stamina : 4

Energy : 37

E.Resist : 1

Points : 0

Unique Trait : Rapid Growth

Skills : Intermediate Swordsmanship Lv.4, Minor Heal+ Lv.4, Energy Guard Lv.2, Wind Cutter Lv.2, Shadow Hide Lv.3

He saw his energy guard was still active but dwindling in number. He just saw it dropped down by one but he wasn't attacked by anything.

The poison is corroding my energy guard.

Jason didn’t wait as he used Minor Heal+ recovering back his energy guard to the fullest. But it didn’t stop decreasing. That wasn’t the only problem he had. He heard a thud to his front as if something just fell from above. He didn’t move an inch as he felt something was approaching. He heard the rustling grass and then right in front of him a hideous face emerged from the darkness.

He backed away, surprised by the sudden appearance of this creature. His sudden movement alerted the creature. It swung something in his hand and Jason ducked down close to the ground. He didn’t saw what weapon it use but he knew the creature couldn’t see him.

How the hell did this thing notice me? Did I trigger an alarm or something?

That strange voice appeared once more. The foreign language was unknown to his ears. It was the same entity as the hobgoblin. Jason focused himself while slowly standing up. The hobgoblin that attacked him came into view as the distance between them become closer. He saw the action of this particular hobgoblin. It was sniffing the air as if searching for something, it then ducked down on the ground sniffing the earth itself.

It came closer to Jason as they were only a foot away. Jason avoided the path of the hobgoblin maneuvering himself around the hobgoblin in a discreet manner. The sensitivity of this hobgoblin was amazing compared to the one that kidnapped the red-headed Bryce.

Shit, the hell is this stench.

As they grew closer, Jason couldn’t help but smell the stench coming from the hobgoblin. Its stench was nothing like he had ever smell, it was even worse than being inside a garbage dump. Who knows how long it hadn’t taken a bath. Jason glanced at the crouching hobgoblin as he noticed the bow in its hand. Now he knew what hit him.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

A poison arrow. Tch, this smelly bastard.

If it was up to him, he would have smack this hobgoblin by the head. But he restrained himself. If there were other hobgoblins around, it would be bad news for him. He observed this hobgoblin who was still sniffing up the ground. The hobgoblin only wore a dirty loincloth on. It wasn't a pleasant sight to see and Jason didn’t have the stomach to watch it any longer.

Let’s get this over with.

Seeing that they were no other hobgoblin within the proximity, Jason prepared for the ambush. He stepped closer to the hobgoblin going at it behind its back. With his hands readied to snapped its neck into two. He always saw it in the movies, so it might be possible to do it. Then he went for the ambush. Both of his hands grabbed on to the head of the hobgoblin by surprise. Putting every strength he had, he twisted it. He was hoping to hear the neck crack into two but his hands slipped.

“Kiiii.”

Shit.

The hobgoblin managed to let out a sound and Jason was quick in his action. His arms wrapped around the neck of the hobgoblin into a chokehold. He pulled it up as the hobgoblin began wriggling itself. It was flailing around with both of its arms clawing at Jason, trying to escape from this strengthened chokehold. It was running out of air but it didn’t give up. It clawed the arm that wrapped around its neck but Jason didn’t budge, maintaining himself in a calm manner. His energy guard was depleting fast but he didn’t forget to heal himself.

Soon the hobgoblin stopped moving and its whole body went limp. Jason released the chokehold as the hobgoblin’s body fell to the ground. He turned to the side and started to retch. Thankfully, nothing came out. Being that close to it, the smell was too much. He was on the verge of puking at the hobgoblin’s face while choking it. He took a few deep breaths trying to get the fresh air in and filtering the bad smell out. He calmed down as his gag reflex stop working.

“Shadow Hide,” he said.

He didn’t forget to hide. A new message came out but that wasn’t enough for him to smile.

Shadow Hide level up to level 4

The sound the hobgoblin probably attracted the attention of the others. As he waited in silence, the thing he was waiting for didn’t come.

Just my luck, I didn’t level up.

He was waiting for the congratulatory note from the system but seeing it didn’t pop out it was safe to say that the hobgoblin was low level. Yet he didn’t come out empty-handed. Grabbing on to the bow and the quiver filled with arrows, at least he has something to replace his precious horn sword.

I miss my horn sword.

The thought of that precious horn sword that he used to kill those powerful monsters would only be a memory in the past. He slung the quiver to his back and held on to the bow. He didn’t know what it was made off but judging by its shape, it looks simply like a composite bow. He searched the corpse of the hobgoblin one more time.

Shit, it doesn’t have the antidote.

Jason was running out of options here. The poison was still there and his EP was slowly decreasing with both usage of Shadow Hide and Minor Heal+. He didn’t even want to think about what would happen if his energy guard deactivated. His life was on the line here.

Something is coming.

Jason stepped back as he put a few feet away from the corpse. Soon, two more hobgoblins appeared around the dead hobgoblin. Both of them had bows and a nocked arrow in their hands.

They’re definitely the sentries keeping watch over the perimeter.

Jason came to a conclusion seeing that those kidnappers that took those humans probably brought them towards a base of operation for these hobgoblins. Then it was more logical to think that these archers like hobgoblins to be the sentries that guard the perimeter. Monsters that work as an organization weren’t something he should take lightly.

Both of the hobgoblins checked on the dead corpse of its kin. They didn’t check its pulse rather they just turned the body around and slapped its face. Seeing there was no response, one of them grabbed its arm and lifted it up. It released the arm and saw it fell. Limp like a doll. From what Jason saw, their intelligence was definitely not up to par. Then, he shouldn’t be that worry over these creatures.

Both started to talk with one another. On the other hand, Jason was in deep thought thinking about how to deal with these two.

Should I shoot it with the bow? But do I even know how to use one? Even if I did, am I fast enough to nock another arrow and kill the other one?

But then he saw something inexplicable. He turned slack-jawed seeing the things unfolding in front of him. Out of sudden, the two hobgoblins started eating the dead corpse of its kin. They were eating the dead corpse as if it was a rotisserie chicken fresh from the grill. Jason’s gag reflex was acting up again. He turned around and took a few deep breaths.

Shitty cannibals.

He was always caught off guard by these hobgoblins. He had enough of these smelly bastards. He nocked an arrow on the bow and stepped closer to the feasting hobgoblin. His aim would probably be off if he was far and that was why he came closer. The arrow was aimed at point-blank range, a sure way of not missing.

Die.

He released the arrow and it shot right through the back of the head of the hobgoblin. The other hobgoblin noticed its brethren turning limp with an arrow lodged inside its head. It tilted its head and saw a human but it was too late. Jason was fast as he turned to the back of this dumbfounded hobgoblin and strangled it using his bow. He pulled the bow as it strained across the neck of the hobgoblin. Jason pressed down on its body with his feet making sure it didn’t stand up.

Seconds later, another dead body flopped on the ground. The blue window didn’t appear as it only made Jason frowned. Not only that, the bow he used to strangle the hobgoblin was bent over and out of shape. But good for him, these two left two spare bows for him to use. He threw the broken bow and looted the two dead hobgoblins.

No antidote.

He didn’t like his current situation. The only option left was to travel deeper into the park. He slung one bow across his body and use the other one in his hand. He stored the rest of the arrows into one quiver. His sight stared at the darkness of the park.

Time to kill some smelly goblins.