Chapter 11: Cornered

I began running toward the screams. 

 

On top of the enhanced hearing, my other very few improvements from being marked was my speed. 

 

Luckily, or unluckily because I wasn’t sure if I was running toward my own death, I spotted the young kids within a few minutes. 

 

I hid behind a wide bush to see what was happening. I wasn’t some super hero who could save the world by just jumping in. I needed to study the situation to come up with the best plan possible. 

 

There was a group of three kids, two boys and a girl. They had to be thirteen, the youngest age that could receive the Invitation. 

 

And I quickly realized why they were in danger. 

 

A single goblin, maybe even two, shouldn’t have been a problem for three Rhombics regardless of how young they were. But what I saw was a horde of mid to large sized goblins.

 

Most goblins traveled alone, which was why the first floor was the easiest place to practice. Yet somehow, these three Rhombics managed to face a horde of close to 20. It was also shocking that this many monsters were inhabiting the area so close to the Door. I clearly remembered RM mentioning that the area near the door was supposed to be a safe perimeter. 

 

As expected, the young children looked frightened. They were running fast, but the horde was closing on them fast. If they didn’t get help soon, they were going to face gruesome deaths. 

 

As you might have figured out by now, I am not a brave person by any means. And I am certainly not a selfless type either. All I cared about was myself and Sofia. It was us against the whole world. 

 

But for some reason, something told me that I needed to help them. I don’t know why, but… my gut feeling was that I would regret it for the rest of my life if I just stood by and let those three kids die. 

 

Or… perhaps I was confusing my indigestion for something that wasn’t.

 

Either way, I knew exactly what I had to do. I inhaled deeply before I opened my mouth and screamed, “Hey! Over here!” 

 

My brain worked quickly to assess the situation. There was no way I could take on this horde myself. This meant that the best I could do was to divert the goblins toward me and allow the kids to escape. I was a fair runner, so this plan just might be enough to save everyone including my own ass. 

 

A few goblins from the horde seemed to slow down in confusion when they heard my voice. What I needed was for all of them to get distracted, so I screamed again. I even began jumping to get their attention. 

 

Even as I yelled, I wondered at the irony of what I was doing. 

 

Who knew there would come a time when I wanted these giant killing machines to chase after me? 

 

Luckily, the goblins weren’t particularly smart, and they were easily distracted. It didn’t take long before they all began running toward me. 

 

I spotted the kids running away safely out of the corner of my eye as I started sprinting myself. Like I said, I wasn’t very strong, but I was very fast. If luck was on my side, I could run straight toward the Door and leave this place like I originally planned.

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But unfortunately for me, something unexpected happened. A stray goblin suddenly popped out from my right. It appeared out of nowhere, and I squeaked before naturally veering to the left.

 

Where the hell did this goblin come from? Was it part of the horde behind me? Or was it just a random monster that happened to be strolling nearby? 

 

Well, I guess this didn’t matter. I knew I shouldn’t be wasting any time or energy on something nonessential.  What I really needed to do was focus on finding the right direction for my survival. 

 

I needed to get closer to the Door, not further away from it. I needed to turn right as soon as possible. 

 

While continuing to run, I looked around in panic. The horde was on my left while slowly closing in on me, and the single goblin was still on my right. If I ran just a little faster, I could make a wide enough circle around this stupid goblin to head back toward the Door. 

 

“Ugh!” I jumped when suddenly, another goblin hopped out from the trees. Again, it appeared from my right, and I was forced to swerve even more left.

 

I was getting farther and farther away from the Door. If there hadn’t been these wandering goblins, I would have reached it by now. 

 

To add to my panic, I was quickly losing my sense of direction. I had no idea where I was. I ran and ran, and I screamed a few times as well, but no one came to my rescue. 

 

Darn it, what were those kids I saved doing right now? Did they go out the Door to get help? Or were they just ungrateful punks who were laughing at me for trying to be a stupid hero? 

 

Before I knew what was happening, I saw a familiar structure ahead of me. It was a glowing green light in the shape of a doorway, and I quickly realized where I was. 

 

This was the entrance to the first floor test chamber.

 

During the training week, RM had brought us here to let us know where to go when we were ready.  I had passed this place a few times while hunting, but I obviously never entered it. 

 

I knew I wasn’t ready, so to me, this was basically a death trap.

 

Despite the fact that my brain was very much lacking oxygen, I still knew that I was cornered. There were goblins on my right, my left, and behind. The only open path for me was to go forward where the entrance to the first test glowed tauntingly at me. 

 

I now had two choices. 

 

One, turn around and face the goblins. And die, of course.

 

Two, keep going and enter the test chamber. And die, most likely.

 

My whole body shivered in fear and exhaustion as I took my only option.

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