After dropping down, I see that the wall is covered in thin engravings just a fraction of an inch deep—thousands of them. I run my fingers over them, feeling the slight indentations in the cold stone. I try to recognize any symbols, but they are all alien to me. After a minute or so I can hear more goblins enter the room. Their horrible screeching and yelling fills the cavern as they walk over to the pit.
I turn around and see two goblins being let down into the pit on a rope, on the opposite side from me. They are bigger than the average small goblin but still not hobgoblin size. Merrick was right. They are probably about to turn into hobgoblins. They don’t have any weapons, which surprises me. Why not bring weapons?
The only thing they have on is their animal skin loincloth, the standard for any goblin, it seems. Both of them are covered in red and white paint, randomly placed over their bodies in handprints of various sizes.
Once my two opponents enter the pit, the upper edge is crowded with a dozen hobgoblins and their smaller counterparts. The shaman stands above my two enemies and says a few words that I don’t understand, finishing with a pulse of magic that reaches both me and the goblins.
I can feel the pulse of mana put some kind of mark on me, and it also comes with a [System] notification.
[You have started a new Secondary Quest]
Survive the goblin evolution ritual.
Completion Reward: Increased mana regeneration
Punishment for failure: No punishment required
Well… that’s nice at least. But I have to win this fight now, regardless.
I let my anger rise back to the surface as I look at the two goblins across the pit from me. I refuse to let them use me like some training tool. I will kill both of these goblins in front of their shaman and tribe. And I will do it as many times as it takes.
Both goblins look at me with the same greedy hunger that all goblins have before they look at each other and move in opposite directions.
Are they trying to flank me? I guess I should expect some intelligence. They have likely prepared for this.
I back up until my back is against the wall. I need to come up with a plan.
A few moments later, I have a quick and dirty plan that could work.
I turn on my spatial senses to ten feet and turn to face the goblin on my left, completely ignoring the other one. I put more concentration into keeping my spatial sense active, as I will need it soon.
I turn to the left and start following the wall in that direction, allowing the goblin on the right to flank me with ease, giving him exactly what he wants. Walking towards the goblin in front of me, I make eye contact with it, seeing excitement in its eyes as it thinks it has outsmarted me.
I keep following the wall, and when the front goblin is about twenty feet away from me, I feel the goblin behind me finally enter my spatial sense range. It is ten feet behind me and to the right, in a low crouch while slowly approaching.
I stop, preparing myself for the next part of the plan.
I look up at the shaman and give it my best smile.
Merrick, if you lied to me about this, I hope you lose your next goblin fight.
The flanking goblin sees its opportunity and takes it, even though its ally is still a few seconds away from me. It shoots forward, aiming to dig its claws into my lower back.
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This is what I was waiting for. As soon as I see the goblin lunge forward, I flood my legs with mana, pushing it into the muscles and bones as Merrick told me. I feel the mana start to burn, and my legs feel hot and powerful as I dodge the attack in one motion while turning to face my now off-balance opponent. The goblin is now stumbling towards the wall on his left, so I decide to help him get there faster.
Using the mana boost in my legs, I run forward, placing my right hand on the side of the goblin's head just as it starts to turn around to find me. I push mana into my arm, and it starts to burn right before I slam the goblin's head into the wall with a loud crack. Blood smears the wall as the goblin slumps down.
Merrick! I hope you win every—my thought is interrupted by a leaping goblin crashing into my right side.
Fuck, I lost concentration on [Space Control] when I used the mana boost without even realizing it! I never even noticed it rushing me!
The goblin is nearly able to knock me over, but thankfully I end up with my back crashing against the wall instead, only knocking the air out of my lungs. My new opponent is using its claws and teeth to shred into my right abdomen. I feel hot blood run down towards my waist and soak into my clothes.
Tears well up in my eyes as I easily feel the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. I let out a visceral scream and pour everything I have into killing this little fucker.
My right hand comes down in a hammer blow, connecting to the back of the goblin’s head with regular force, as I don’t remember to boost this one. The pain hurts too much to think straight. The action causes a surge of pain in my shredded side, but I fight through the tears as I know the goblin will kill me if I give it the chance.
The goblin is dazed slightly by the blow, allowing me to grab its head in both hands and pull it off my side.
Stupid little fuckers, you should have both just rushed me at the same time. Now you will pay the price.
I decide to test out a new idea I have just come up with on this goblin.
Using the rest of the mana I have, I feed [Space Control] with the sole intention of creating a spatial disturbance inside this goblin’s head. It takes far more mana and concentration than the first spatial compression trial, but I am too pissed off at this whole situation, and specifically the goblin that tore up my side, to fail now. That anger only lets me concentrate further on the task at hand, ignoring the wounds on my body flaring in pain, telling me to stop. I can’t stop now, not until all of them are dead.
I push my spatial senses inside of the goblin’s brain, with much more effort required than before, latching onto the space between its ears as it tries to struggle against my grip. I push the skill to its limits, throwing every bit of mana and concentration I have into the maneuver.
After several moments of incredible effort and pushing all of my skills as far as they will go, I feel the space condense. It’s just a small sphere, maybe only half an inch in diameter, condensed down to a quarter of an inch, that then pops back into place with a small ripple, right in the middle of its brain.
The goblin immediately jerks and falls limp, falling from my grip. I let out a deep breath as I feel the notifications waiting for me to look at them. I ignore them as my hand presses through my shredded clothing and into my bleeding side.
Ah fuck, I need some medical attention, I think. This really hurts, and I’m bleeding quite a lot. Maybe Stella can help me.
The goblin shaman squeals something, which gets my attention as the rest of the goblins leave, leaving only it and the four hobgoblin guards. One of the guards lowers the rope, pointing at me and then to it. I took one last look at the pit I’m in, with two dead goblins, both bleeding from their heads.
I feel one more notification before I move to climb out of the pit.
[You have completed a secondary quest.]
Survive the goblin evolution ritual.
[Reward]
Completion Reward: Increased mana regeneration
[Your mana-heart is ready to be upgraded]
[Mana-heart upgrade in progress]
What does that me— My thoughts are interrupted by what feels like my heart exploding. Mana from somewhere outside of my body forces its way into my skin, all the way to my heart, and starts gathering there. I feel the mana start to form a small sphere, crystalizing the inner core as more mana surrounds it.
I fall to the floor, screaming and crying out in pain. I must look miserable, rolling on the ground with tears and spit flying everywhere. The pain is just that bad. It feels like a thousand hot needles are jabbing into me, and then worming their way through my body to my heart. I try to fight through the pain, but it’s too much to take, and after a few seconds I lose consciousness.