“Three with it, three more incoming.”

  This was the first and last thing I said before the goblins were upon us.

  However, the moment we decided to stay and fight, I reached into my potion case, quickly chugging another tenth of my high-grade healing potion.

  By the time I put it back in, I could already feel the wound on my leg actively recovering, and the blunt pain in my right arm, slowly flaring up, rapidly retreated.

  Unfortunately, the energy drained by using my skills and ‘half-skills’ multiple times didn't return, and I did not have any time left to drink the stamina potion, but at least I still had my (only) active ability to fall back on, in case the situation got truly dire.

  When the monsters came into view, roughly three meters ahead of us, the greater goblin was on the left - our left - where ‘Big’ Jimmy stood, holding his axe at the ready, and the three goblins just so happened to be on the right. Our opponents were decided.

  Two of the goblins had swords and shields, which was my favorite combo to face, while one held a spear, which, inversely, was my worst matchup.

  With my wounds healed, this fight wouldn't be much of a challenge, if not for the time constraint, created by both the imminent reinforcements and the slowly dwindling smoke.

  “Scree!”

  The three goblins pounced. They may have lacked the discipline to maintain a proper formation, but their instincts were enough for their combined attack to be dangerous nonetheless.

  I leaped to the right, while swinging my sword at the closest goblin. It tried to dodge, raising its shield at the same time, but one of the biggest strengths of my - or rather, Sebastian's - sword style was adaptivity. I curved the sword's trajectory mid-swing, cutting through the decrepit wooden shield like brittle bark, and cleaving the small monster's torso.

  At the same, the other sword-wielding goblin closed in from the left, swinging its sword, and the speargoblin thrusted its weapon towards my chest.

  I raised my left hand, releasing its grip on the sword, and twisted my body.

  Clang!

  The sword clashed with my iron bracer, managing to cut through it. However, the remaining force of strike wasn't enough to even scratch the metal links comprising the long chainmail sleeve underneath.

  The spear reached my chest at a wide angle. The goblin tried to reduce that angle by leaping to the opposite side mid swing, but it was still only barely enough to pierce my leather chestpiece, harmlessly bouncing off the chainmail.

  While the speargoblin was busy withdrawing its weapon, I swung my sword at the second monster.

  The goblin, with its sharp battle instincts, leaped towards me. Had I fully committed to the swing, it would be able to dodge underneath it, stabbing me with its sword in turn. However, this was something I predicted.

  My swing had little force behind it, allowing me to keep my balance. Instead, I used my left leg to kick the incoming goblin with all my might.

  Not expecting the instant reaction, it tried to use its shield to block the kick, however, the speed of its own leap was too high, and the hand facing forward was the one with the sword.

  My leg connected with the goblin’s groin, feeling something pop like a tiny water balloon, and the force of the kick sent the creature flying back. The sword in its hand dropped to the ground, as its eyes were open wide, and its mouth was contorted in a silent scream of unimaginable pain, revealing its sharp, crooked teeth.

  I looked at the second goblin, who had already withdrawn its spear, and was retreating back to where the sound of light footsteps could be heard, pointing its spear in my direction defensively.

  I couldn’t let it rejoin its kin, so I bent my knees, and…

  [Charge] !

  …charged slightly to the right of the goblin.

  It tried to rotate its spear, but my skill was simply too fast. Arriving near the green pest in an instant, I swung the hilt of my sword with both hands, driving the metal weight straight into the creature's skull with a loud ‘CRACK’.

  The goblin collapsed instantly, leaving my sword hilt covered in the disgusting mix of blood, brain bits and gray goo.

  I threw a glance at the first goblin, who seemed to have passed out.

  Through the smoke, I could faintly see ‘Big’ Jimmy fighting with the even bigger goblin - he hadn't called for help, so I assumed he had the situation under control.

  However, I did notice the fact that I could see him - despite the pair fighting around 6 meters away from me.

  I considered using my skill to join their fight, but right now, Jim was between me and the goblin, so I would at best arrive at its flank - at that point, either we would finish it in one move, or get caught between it and the new arrivals. Deciding to avoid such high risk, I turned my head towards the three goblins - one wielding a sword, two wielding spears.

  I inwardly cursed - this was a terrible matchup. However, this also meant I had to take them down, here and now, as I could already hear the commotion beyond the smoke receding, and some of the footsteps cautiously meandering near its edge.

  “Scraa!”

  The frontline goblin’s screech was filled with bloodlust, its sword pointing in the direction of my head.

  “Scree!”

  The two speargoblins began encircling me from both sides, while the goblin slowly approached, all keeping a similar distance.

  “Tsk.”

  This was really annoying - I couldn’t take out the center goblin without becoming a pin cushion. I could charge at one of the goblins at the edge, but that would be another skill usage, and the subsequent fight would probably require one or two more. And I was already starting to feel the fatigue from using all those skills.

  ‘This is gonna be risky…’

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  If all the choices carried risk, then the best I could do was choose the route with the highest reward.

  As the two speargoblins moved to my sides, now standing slightly closer than 3 meters each, and the other goblin reached a similar distance, I suddenly stomped my right foot, while slightly bending my knees, and putting the sword in front of me.

  The movement startled the excited creatures - without the discipline to ignore it, their instincts forced them to decide between caution and aggression.

  The sword-wielding goblin, perhaps the smartest of the three, reacted with the former, stopping for a moment, and cautiously watching me with its blood-red eyes.

  The two speargoblins, on the other hand, perhaps confident in their superior reach, leapt forward, thrusting their spears at me at the same time.

  The reactions were perfect. Just as the two spears were about to reach me…

  [Charge] !

  I burst forward, passing the spear tips slowly converging on my former location, and slashed downwards.

  While my slash was nowhere near as powerful as the [Thrust] half-skill, especially combined with its movement half, it still benefited from the momentum. However, even without the added power of this swing, a single goblin was no match for me.

  It tried to slash at me in return, but my sword crushed its skull, sending the lifeless body backwards and down to the ground, spraying blood over my face and chestpiece.

  I instantly turned my head, to see the two remaining goblins finally showing some hesitation - instead of pursuing me, they grouped together, standing shoulder by shoulder, and pointing their spears in my direction.

  While the two were standing there, I finally reached into the case on my waist, taking out a small vial with bright yellow liquid, uncorking it with my finger, and gulping down half its contents. Immediately, I felt my fatigue receding.

  The effect was nearly as strong as my skill, perhaps even slightly stronger, and without a single side effect! Well, beyond the ‘potion fatigue’.

  However, I didn't have much time to praise Julia in my head.

  “Kaa!”

  Seeing their enemy drinking a strange potion and visibly recovering, the two goblins decided against further delay, advancing towards me, their spears in near-perfect sync.

  ‘Perhaps this pair is used to fighting together?’

  I decided to use that against them.

  I brought my sword to the side, preparing to meet the two stabs which I knew would arrive together, as well. As expected, the two goblins stabbed forward once more, their reach still superior to my sword. However…

  [Arc Slash] !

  With my senses, I could easily follow the exact trajectory of their spears. And with my skill, not only could I react in time, but I also managed to completely sever the elastic wooden shafts, rather than simply swat them away.

  The two goblins stood in momentary confusion, as I leapt forward and swung my sword in an opposite arc - not using a skill this time, but using more than enough force to cut through the first goblin's neck.

  The second goblin managed to drop down and dodge my swing, but it only bought it around two extra seconds of life, as I simply stopped the weakened swing, and stabbed downwards, piercing its spine.

  I then glanced at Jimmy, still dueling with the goblin, which was effortlessly swinging its huge mace with one hand.

  I could see a few bleeding cuts on its left side - the one missing the arm - but nothing fatal yet. On the other hand, Jim was seemingly unharmed, although his breathing was laboured, indicating that he likely used a few skills to inflict those wounds.

  Moreover, I could see them pretty clearly from nearly 8 meters away - it would be a matter of seconds before the last of this smoke would clear.

  “Cree aaa! Scraaa tz'keee!”

  From beyond the smoke, coming from the direction of the camp's center, I heard a deeper, mightier screech. Given the countless scurrying footsteps that followed, this was likely a rallying cry from the third greater goblin.

  Its one-handed kin, perhaps also realizing its current predicament, finally decided to retreat from the fight-

  [Charge Thrust] !!

  Only to have my sword driven through the side of its skull mid-turn.

  “Good job!”

  Jimmy's voice was rough and strained.

  Although both of us were nearly drained, breathing deeply and raggedly and drenched in sweat, we still managed to take out a total of roughly a dozen goblins and two greater goblins - even if one was injured, it was still a noteworthy achievement.

  But this achievement was the last thing on our mind, as the dissipating smoke revealed the sight ahead.

  To our sides lay the smoking, burning remains of the two tents - the fire had already consumed most of the dry rags, as well as the light-crimson wooden branches supporting them, with the rest collapsing to the ground.

  A dozen steps ahead we saw the goblins - dozens of them, holding spears and swords, with more hurriedly gathering from behind.

  The line was slowly growing wider, with its edges slowly moving forward to encircle us.

  In the center, amidst a few speargoblins looking fiercer than the rest, stood a huge greater goblin.

  If the regular ones stood roughly two meters tall, this one was a head taller, its bulging muscles even more threatening than its fallen kin.

  But as if that wasn't enough, this goblin was actually wearing a massive platemail, with scale leggings made of the same dark-bluish metal.

  In its left hand was a massive flail, while the other held a tower shield, made of dark wood and trimmed with the same type of metal, reaching its chin.

  “HUMANS!”

  Its roar was filled with rage.

  “For every dead servant, I shall rip a finger from each of you, and feed it to the newborns, marinated in your blood!”

  Jim involuntarily flinched, taking a step back.

  “Do you mean the fingers on our feet, too?”

  “What?..”

  I, on the other hand, showed a defiant expression, raising my sword and pointing it at the huge monster.

  “We killed twelve goblins, and we only have ten fingers each. Ah, if we kill more than eight now, we won't have enough fingers either wa-”

  “RHAAAA!”

  The longer I talked, the more its confusion shifted into rage, until it gave out a beastly roar, taking a step forward as the goblins around it recoiled in terror.

  “I SHALL RIP YOUR LIMBS APART MYSE-”

  Before it could finish its sentence, a faint blurry shadow, which I had noticed soon after the smoke cleared, finally finished making its way from the other side of the camp, performing an inhuman leap.

  From 4 meters behind it, the blurred figure jumped straight towards the massive goblin's head!

  Distracted by my taunt, the goblin didn't notice his assailant until the two shortswords, air still shimmering around them, pierced its skull from both sides. The moment that skill activated, the concealment broke, revealing a familiar bold head.

  Despite his breathing being even more labored than ours, with his armor and swords all stained in blood, the deputy assassinated the deadly foe before it could even sense his presence.

  THUD!

  As the massive body fell to the ground, everything went silent - except for the sound of Thomas's boots hitting the ground, then pushing off of it again, as he used his leap skill once more to cover the distance between us.

  “Scr?..”

  “Scree!”

  “Scraaaa!”

  “Run!”

  As the horde of goblins in front of us began to shift, confused and hateful screeches echoing through the lush midday forest, we wasted no time after Thomas's call.

  Pffff

  As we turned around, Thomas threw his last smoke bomb farther in front of us, near the bushes we first came from.

  We bolted into the smoke, leaving the three lifeless bodies of the goblin leaders behind.