The two sides made peace naturally: in such a situation, the creature would be hostile to them without any possibility of negotiation. There was no other choice but to fight.
Jules tried "Observation" again and, this time, he saw a window appear detailing the creature's assets:
Goblin, Level 1 [Rank F]
Hit points (HP): 26/26
Vigor: 3/3
Abilities:
Strength: 3
Agility: 6
Stamina: 3
Intelligence: 3
Armor (natural): 0
Attributes (1):
Weak Constitution (Natural Penalty) [Vitality (HP) halved; At level 5 and at certain specific levels [15, 25, 30, 40, 45, 55, 60, 65, 75, 80, 85], gain 1 talent and +1 to basic characteristics (Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Intelligence)]
Skills (2):
Sneak Attack (F) (supernatural power) Attacking by surprise or from behind systematically doubles the involvement of force in the damage.
Pack Hunting [F] (Natural Power) Increases the likelihood of being associated with a pack and increases base characteristics by +1 (Strength, Agility, Stamina and Intelligence), if there are at least two allied members of the pack nearby.
As the adventurers rushed towards him, the Goblin turned on its heels in a desperate sprint… It was very fast and was in danger of escaping them.
The adventurers pursued it as best they could. While it seemed that it was going to escape them, well ahead of them, the Goblin stopped abruptly, exhausted, painfully catching its breath.
Jules noticed that his own Vigor was at (7/10) and assumed that the monster had exhausted its own. However, turned towards the men who were pursuing him, he seemed to smile…
Four other Goblins emerged from the bushes, squawking and waving makeshift weapons. Scattered, the Earthlings faced them as best they could.
Facing Jules, one of these disgusting creatures charged, waving a sword that seemed to be made of sharpened bones. Bringing his own, metallic, forward, he prepared for combat. If he doubted that he was capable of handling his weapon like a specialist, it seemed that his opponent was also waving it’s as it felt. The two weapons clashed but each managed to injure the opponent, withdrawing leaving a bloody furrow.
The warrior had lost 11 Hits Points but had taken 16 from his opponent, who seemed to suffer much more. With a hand on its bloody chest, the monster let out a cry of anger and launched into a suicidal attack, as if it absolutely wanted to injure its opponent even if it meant losing its life.
Disturbed by this crazy action, Jules lowered his guard as he tried to skewer the enemy. But this one, only scratched by a few Hits Points, managed to plant its blade deep in the human's belly.
Minor critical hit suffered: damage x2
27 damage points inflicted!
Penalty inflicted: Hemorrhage [E]
Jules Dupont, Warrior Level 2
Attributes (1):
Hemorrhage [E] (Natural penalty) [Loss of 1 Hit Point every 1 minute, blocks vigor regeneration]
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The beast burst into a stupid laugh, mocking its opponent's suffering. It turned its sword into the wound, hoping to finish him off.
You received 6 points of damage
With a roar of rage, Jules retaliated by raising his sword and skewering the beast, dealing 20 damage while he himself only had 5 Hits Points left. The Goblin was literally torn in two, its bloody entrails showering the warrior in a disgusting manner. Throwing away the putrid remains with horror, ignoring the message that he had gained 10 XP and 10 Points, he stood up and watched as his comrades fared against the rest of the Goblins.
The other warrior had fared better than him and had taken down his Goblin without receiving any real damage, as had the magician. On the other hand, the healer was struggling against one of these monsters while the paladin lay on the ground, still alive but seriously injured.
Jules took his potion out of his inventory. He gave a brief hesitant glance towards the paladin…
“Well, he must have a potion too. I better be in better shape if I want to help him later.”
And he drank the red liquid in one gulp. Immediately 5 of his Hit Points returned and the "Hemorrhage" state disappeared from his attributes. With a fresh look, he considered the situation. Being only two left, the Goblins no longer had their "Pack Hunting" bonus. The three fighters who had finished their fight were all closer to the paladin, in grave danger, than to the healer who seemed to still be holding his own.
Jules joined his two comrades to prevent the monster from eliminating the one who should have been theoretically more resistant than them.
You inflicted 23 points of damage
With disconcerting ease, Jules decapitated the monster in a single blow.
Goblin Level 1 defeated:
Jules Dupont, Warrior Level 1
Combat XP: 3
Finisher XP: 4
Points earned: 10
Camille Lafayette, Paladin Level 2
Combat XP: 3
Points earned: ?
Well, the secret of the question mark was ridiculous: the paladin had to have earned 1 Point. At least the System kept its promise to the point of exaggeration regarding the anonymity of the points… Not that he was tempted to kill someone discreetly to steal his points… Fortunately, no one in the group seemed to have the profile of a psychopath. He was glad not to be in the barbarian’s group…
Normand gave his own healing potion to drink to the paladin who seemed to recover a little from his injury.
“Ah,” the latter grumbled as he tried to stand up, “Le Gall was totally wrong in his distribution of groups: we are not in a stupid video game... Or if we are, we are still too low level for our class to really make a difference...”
Remembering that the fight was not over, the four men headed towards the last Goblin. He was still fighting hard with the healer, both bleeding profusely. Absorbed, the beast did not even see the other Humans arrive, weapons drawn.
It was the paladin who attacked first, as if determined to avenge his crushing defeat. He struck the monster without causing any significant damage, except to make it lose a few Hit Points and reveal their presence. With another blow of his sword, rather poorly aimed, Jules was once again the one who killed a monster.
Goblin Level 1 defeated:
Jules Dupont, Warrior Level 1
Combat XP: 2
Finisher XP: 4
Points earned: 10
Camille Lafayette, Paladin Level 2
Combat XP: 2
Points earned: ?
Martin Leroy, Healer Level 2
Combat XP: 2
Points earned: ?
The threat was over and now, Jules had 31 Points. He didn't really know what they would be used for later, but he certainly had more than the others... Hopefully that wouldn't attract any jealousy.
Leaving the bloody clearing, the five Men moved away. There were still 94 Goblins to kill and none of them felt ready for another fight.
After briefly dressing their wounds, they exchanged few words before moving again, continuing to put distance between themselves and the scene of the carnage. If 94 other Goblins were hanging around in the forest, it was better not to meet them, made furious by the extermination of six of their own.
With the greatest caution, changing route at the slightest suspicious noise, they managed to avoid any Goblins until nightfall. The forest seemed endless, although one of them suggested that they were perhaps going in circles. They set up camp: that is, they sat on old stumps without daring to light a fire.
Although exhausted, they agreed to take turns standing guard, Normand taking the first watch because he had the most Hit Points left. Before the other four fell asleep, huddled together to withstand the cold of the night forest, they chatted a little. They talked about everything except the Tower, seized by the need to take their minds off things. Before falling asleep they agreed to call each other by their first names rather than their last names, considering that it would be easier and that there was no need for so much formality when they were all caught up in the same nightmare.
The night passed without any problem other than the grumbling of those awake because it was their turn to stand guard. No Goblin attacked and even in the early morning, they were able to take a little more time to rest. Mysteriously, their wounds were completely closed, healed by a night of sleep. Jules felt a little stupid for having used his potion the day before rather than just his First Aid skill.
There was still the problem of food. While they easily found a stream to quench their thirst, none of them had eaten in almost a day and it showed.
Attributes (1):
Hungry (Natural Penalty) [Actions reduced by 10%, Maximum Stamina divided by 2, risk of transforming into “Starving”.]
No one wanted to know what the following state “Starving” brought. Eating Goblin was out of the question, you think: a humanoid being that was probably intelligent. So, they had to try hunting. They had all spotted at one time or another a small animal scampering through the bushes or a bird fluttering from one branch to another. What seemed cute yesterday became appetizing today. It was a shame they didn’t have bows…