Chapter 4: Chapter 3: The epic demise of a slightly above average goblin.

As I headed deeper into the sprawling tunnels of the dungeon, I noticed the wall's rocky surface becoming darker and darker. Perplexed, I decided to head back to the entrance, and realised that the rock became a gradually darker colour as you approached the centre of the dungeon, where the boss room would be located..

Not wanting to abandon the mission that I came here with in the first place, I decided to circle from the outside in, so that I could get as much exp as possible. There's nothing quite like clearing out a dungeon of monsters in its entirety.

My next few battles were mostly against your run of the mill goblins, which didn't manage to put up much of a fight. However, It didn't take long before I encountered a well equipped war party led by a hobgoblin brute. This wasn't the boss, but it was strong enough to put up a fight.

The group started screeching like harpies when they noticed me, clearly confident I would be easy prey.

I encountered them in a wider than usual tunnel. With my back turned to a smaller tunnel, I could've easily retreated and taken them out piece-meal, but I wanted to continue pushing my limits. Perhaps a bit arrogantly, I charged [Dark augment] and rushed forward. The larger brute bowled over his comrades to meet my charge with his metal studded club. Again, my sword cut straight through, as if there was no resistance. The brute looked shocked for a moment, but dodged backwards just in time to avoid death.

It made some distance and pushed its goons forwards as a meat shield, before sizing me up properly this time, having recognized me as a dangerous opponent. I rushed to the war band's flank, before jumping on top of a goblin's raised wooden shield. From this higher ground I started slashing wildly, killing the goblins below me one by one. I jumped from goblin to goblin, as they screeched and panicked, not knowing what to do. Right as I was about to kill one of the final few, something drew my attention. No, literally drew my attention. As I looked over, it felt like my vision was forced onto the goblin brute, as its eyes glowed a dull red.

It had just used a taunt skill! I wondered how a random goblin could have ever gotten such a skill, right before my instincts kicked in and I whirled around with a horizontal slash, killing a few of the goblins that had gotten to me, trying to kill me while the larger brute kept my attention.

They almost succeeded, too. A few scratches and cuts remained on my body after their attack. Deciding to take control of the battle again, I knew I needed to kill the brute first. I could feel my wounds closing as I stamped forth. From a twitch of its movement, I noticed the goblin deliberating trying to dodge, but ultimately deciding against it. I took this as a sign the brute had given up, and stabbed through his heart. Right as I was revelling in my kill, the goblin gave one last act of defiance by cocking his fist back and sending it forwards, catching me right in the chest and sending me flying. I landed against the rocky surface of a wall, spitting out blood in the process. My augment cut off and as I landed on the tunnel floor I realised my core was nearly drained.

The sharp pain in my chest and difficult breathing signified a few broken ribs. Even worse, my sword was still stuck in the now very much dead goblin. I was at least ten paces away from it, and in between me and my sword stood the remaining five goblins. They had a gleeful, cruel grin on their faces, clearly having noticed my plight. I knew it would be difficult to fight back without a weapon or my augment. I didn't have any hand to hand skills and the shock and pain from the broken ribs would limit my movement.

Deciding it was now or never, I started activating my core again, using my last bit of mana to power my final unused skill [shadow apparation]. For a split second, I felt my body dissolve and spread like smoke. The next moment, I had reformed right next to my sword. I pulled the blade free from the corpse, and charged with the intent to finally finish this battle.

Without augment my movements were slower and my strength less impactful. My death knight level stats proved to be more than a match for the remaining five goblins, however. The first two tried to work together to hold me off, to little success. I went for their legs, crippling them, only to finish them off with a stab to the chest. The last three were trying to run at this point, which only made them easier target. A few cuts later, I had won the battle.

Ding! Combat finished. Congratulations on reaching [Death Knight] level 4!

Ding! 50 strength reached! Awarded the [Perfect physique] skill.

 

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