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Jordan breathed heavily. He hadn’t gotten another infusion of Essence since the prior floor. Running up the flight of stairs as fast as he could exhausted him more mentally than anything else. He’d hoped the Essence would rid him of his hangover. No such luck.

The door he’d passed through slammed behind him, causing him to jump.

Right, I’ve got to keep going.

The one downside of the Essence was that it had the strange effect of making him lose focus. The feeling was a rush, something he could easily enjoy and lose himself to. It was a new sensation that he hoped to get used to—fast.

His life, and the life of his family, relied on it.

Pumping his legs, he tore down the hall. He wasn’t quiet about it at all, which he realized was counterproductive. Goblins peeked their heads out to see him flying by. Their shrieks and screams as they began their own chase alerted the first group. The Goblin Swordsmen barreled onto the floor from the stairwell. Rasputin trailed only a step behind.

Damn! He had been so close to making his getaway, he was sure of it. But his carelessness put him back to ground zero. Before the end of the hall, a blockade of the weaker Goblins waited. Clenching his teeth, he stabbed, slashed, and cleaved through the enemies in his path for all he was worth. His efforts rewarded him with three dead Goblins.

They stared dumbly, doing what they could. Cuts accumulated on his skin, but Jordan let his rage take over as he continued to cleave through them. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, he made sure to crush the Essence Orbs underfoot. The energy invigorated him and mended his wounds as he fought.

Approaching footsteps warned him of more danger and that he’d spent too long there. Jordan bit his lip and dove through the group, kicking and stabbing anything that blocked his path. A messy affair. But the silver power never stopped rushing into him, thanks to the goblins. They helped him out by making sure to crush the Essence Orbs as they gave chase.

Even though they’re the ones breaking the orbs, I’m getting the Essence, he noticed as he ran.

As much as the rush felt nice, he needed to get away before big, green, and ugly caught up with his sword-toting baddies. They were the real issue. His body ached, then didn’t, then ached some more as he pushed his way through the group. Most of them were scouts and scavengers, which meant there was a distinct lack of swordsmen that could rip Jordan open.

That was the one and only silver lining.

With how many Goblins he waded through, the energy that recovered him worked extra hard to keep him alive. The Goblins swarmed, cutting off his escape. Their attacks cut and bruised him, but nothing serious brought him down.

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Yet.

The mental fatigue accumulated, and the overwhelming numbers meant trouble. His arms grew tired. Various shades of purple, red, yellow, and black colored his limbs. The restorative properties did what they could, but the Essence was losing. It failed to keep up with the speed in which he took hits from the monsters.

His body stayed in a constant cycle of injured, mending, and injured again, the aches coming and going too fast for his body to process. Jordan sucked in deep breaths, his sides aching as he pushed and pushed and pushed some more. And then they weren't. All of the wounds were starting to take their toll as he cleaved through more and more Goblins.

Then, as he began to feel the parasitic tendrils of despair latching onto his rapidly beating heart, he finally broke through.

Throwing open the stairwell door, he descended. Nearly leaping down the stairs five at a time, he made his way back to the first floor. The Goblins couldn’t keep up, their short and stubby legs not covering nearly as much ground as he could. If the situation weren’t so dire, he would’ve rejoiced as the Swordsmen trampled over the others in their way of their pursuit.

But he didn’t. In fact, he felt like the Goblins’ clumsiness and lack of care for one another stole away some easy Essence. Putting it out of mind, he threw the door open and crossed the hall again. He didn’t know how intelligent the Goblins were, but it didn’t seem like they would think to backstep and catch him.

Hammering his legs as fast as possible, his heart beat like crazy. Jordan entered the opposite stairwell and watched through the small hole in the door. Careful to remain out of sight of anybody or anything outside of the door, he stayed there to watch and waited. He wanted to confirm that his trickery worked.

If it didn’t…

However, it seemed like he’d lost them. His worries were for nothing. The Goblin Boss, Rasputin, even crushed a smaller Goblin with his large cleaver. He roared a command. The smaller Goblins spread out in different directions as they returned to pillaging the decimated first floor.

Letting out a sigh, he made sure that none of the creatures were looking through the door hole when he ascended the stairs again.

Absorbing some more Essence from downed Goblins, Jordan stepped through the shattered remains of the door to his home. With both swords poised to attack at the first sign of a Goblin, he looked around the apartment.

His thorough check earned him some semblance of momentary safety when he found nothing waiting for him. He crossed from the balcony to his parents’ door and stopped. His jittery hand shook as he reached for the knob, speckles of his blood dying his clothes. No scars remained to give away what he’d actually been through to get back to the room.

They’d kill me themselves if they knew, he said, frowning towards the shattered door as the sound of movement echoed down the hall. When nothing passed into the door frame, he counted to ten and then shifted his weight on the doorknob to stop the obnoxious squealing of intentionally ignored hinges.

Or at least, he tried.

At least they had that much sense. He softly rapped his knuckles on the door, shooting a glance towards the hall. “Megan, Mom, it’s me.”

He waited, and a sinking feeling shifted in his gut as he didn’t hear anything from inside the room and whatever in the hall got louder.

“Mom, Megan!” he hissed.

The chittering of Goblins, their high-pitched voices grunting their communication back and forth, made its way closer to where he stood in plan view.

Jordan looked at the door, desperately hoping it would open before the Goblins rounded the corner. He didn’t want to have to make another round, nor did he want to draw any more Goblins to the room—especially not Rasputin.

Fight or hide, Jordan. You don’t have time to think, so choose!