The moment the third and final ghost was slain, the hobgoblin caster's eyes went wide in disbelief as it stumbled backward awkwardly, cancelling the lightning ball it was about to cast.

  The creature no longer had the will to fight after watching Lucius slay its most powerful summon. Without saying a word to it's allies still engaged in a tough fight all around it, the hobgoblin turned to run.

  Lucius' eyes stayed locked on the fleeing caster as he casually put away his short sword and dagger, pulling his spear back out before he carefully lined up his next throw.

  fwoosh ... THWAP!

  You have defeated Hobgoblin Malefica, Level 25.

  Through effort, you have raised Piercing Throw to level 6.

  The hobgoblin's body went stiff as it slowly fell forward, the black spear disappearing from the back of its head as Lucius retrieved his weapon.

  Now, with the only real threat to him defeated, Lucius was free to begin a ruthless slaughter. He glanced toward the cluster of soldiers who had managed to push through the enemy encirclement and had now set up a defensive position against a concrete building to prevent the goblins from flanking them.

  Roland was covered in the blood of his enemies as he stomped through the battlefield, ripping apart any creature he got him hands on, but the large man's relatively slow movement speed made him much less of a threat than he would otherwise be.

  Garrick had hopped onto the roof of the concrete building above, and was picking off the goblin archers down below one by one. Tiber stood at the front line of his troops, his shining longsword rising up high and chopping down on goblin after goblin as he fought desperately to ensure that the defensive line was not broken.

  Lucius dashed forward, releasing Piercing Throw in rapid succession. The bodies of the weaker goblins nearly exploded from the immense power of the spear when it broke through their green flesh, while only the much larger hobgoblins could sometimes survive an attack. Even if they did, however, the Paralytic Venom attribute robbed them of any ability to keep fighting.

  You have defeated Goblin Bellator, Level 16.

  You have defeated Goblin Princeps, Level 14.

  You have defeated Hobgoblin Speculator, Level 22.

  ...

  The remaining goblin archers in the distance were the first to realize that the battle was lost, scrambling to uncover the hidden spiders nearby as they fought and tore at each other to mount the creatures first.

  As the remaining goblins slowly grasped what was happening, their morale plummeted to dismal levels. Every goblin and hobgoblin not currently engaged with an enemy turned to flee in silence, no doubt hoping to leave their comrades behind to buy themselves time.

  Lucius continued to casually pick off his enemies as the last wave of goblins broke away from the front line, scattering in all directions. He aimed one final throw at the retreating back of the last hobgoblin within his attack range as he launched a final Piercing Throw.

  FWAP!

  You have defeated Hobgoblin Princeps, Level 25.

  You have reached level 32. You have 12 attribute points available for distribution.

  After pulling his bloody longsword from the body of a slain hobgoblin, Tiber's shoulders finally relaxed as he looked up in time to witness the last remnants of the goblin ambushers retreating out of sight behind the distant buildings. He wiped the splattered goblin blood from his face as his flashy sword disappeared from his hand into his storage ring, then glanced around at his men before releasing a loud shout.

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  "Report!"

  The men around him quickly scrambled to do a headcount. A few minutes passed before Garrick ran up to deliver the final number. Tiber's eyes shot open upon discovering that they had not lost a single man. The worst-injured soldier had sustained an arrow wound to the stomach, causing a slow bleed that could result in death, but only if not treated soon. Other than that, many of the exhausted men had escaped the ambush with only light lacerations and shallow stab wounds.

  It was a miracle. Being ambushed by a superior force was one of the most dangerous things that could happen during wartime, yet they had made it through without losing a single man. Tiber cast his gaze toward Lucius and nodded in satisfaction. The stern leader of the soldiers gave a heavy kick to the dead goblin laying at his feet before stepping forward and addressing his men.

  "Roland! Get a campfire going and start some rejuvenation on the injured with your cooking skill. As for the rest of you, I want you to take a good, long look at the dead bodies in front of you. More than half of the enemies slain on this battlefield belong to Lucius, including the enemy leader. If he wasn’t here today, at least half of us would be dead, and the remainder would be desperately fleeing for our lives through the forest with goblin scouts hot on our trail. Remember who you owe your life to the next time you feel envious that a young man has more authority than you do. Dismissed."

  Garrick and Roland got to work starting a fire, while a few other soldiers began setting up a row of supplies for Roland to use to create some healing food. Meanwhile, Tiber approached Lucius, gratitude written on his face as he began to speak more casually toward the young man.

  "These bastards must have seen us pass through here a few days ago when we headed toward the farm. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if you hadn’t been here today. You have our gratitude once again, Lucius."

  Lucius smiled as he accepted Tiber’s thanks, motioning toward where the goblins had fled as he responded.

  "How long do you plan to remain here? Those goblins know exactly where we are. I don’t think it’s wise to linger too long."

  Tiber gave a swift nod, scratching his smooth chin as he spoke.

  "We’ve got a few hours at least before they can mount another attack. Once my men are rested and have had some time to heal up, we’ll move out."

  "Okay. I’ll be on that roof, standing watch. Give me a shout when you’re ready to head out.", Lucius replied.

  With that, Lucius made his way up the side of the tallest building nearby. He found a comfortable spot to sit where he had a clear view of the surrounding area before pulling up his status panel to take a look.

  Str 40(45)

  Vit 66(69)

  Dex 96(101)

  Int 6(16)

  Creativity 6(16)

  Luck 1(6)

  Stamina 23(26)

  Mag Power 40(45)

  Mag Resist 6(11)

  Free Att 12

  Lucius clenched his fist as a toothy grin spread across his face. He had finally earned enough attributes to reach the next milestone. The 40-99 range was the limit of his current D-Class power, but the moment his Dexterity reached 100, he should step into C-Class.

  He had been eager to reach this goal ever since he first laid eyes on a C-Class creature. Advancing from D-Class to C-Class was much different from moving up from F-Class to D-Class. Many F-Class creatures could put up a fight against D-Class, but D-Class beings could barely survive in the face of any of the C-Class creatures Lucius had encountered.

  Now, it was his turn to step into that powerful realm.

  Focusing his mind, Lucius calmly added four points to Dexterity. He immediately felt the telltale tingling sensation spreading through his body, his eyes narrowing in satisfaction as the familiar feeling of growing stronger washed over him.

  Unlike the usual experience of assigning free attributes however, the sensation didn’t slow down this time. It was like the foundation of a chemical reaction had been slowly building inside him all this time, and those last few attribute points had finally triggered it.

  The tingling soon transformed into sharp pain and burning. Lucius grit his teeth tightly, enduring the agony. Whisper felt the wave of magical power rolling off Lucius and tumbled out of his bed of piled up clothes, focusing his attention to figure out what was happening.

  The purple bat immediately noticed the pained look on Lucius' face and began squeezing his tiny winged hands together anxiously, but there was nothing he could do to help from inside the storage ring—not in broad daylight. All he could do was watch.

  After a few painful minutes, a sudden wave of relief washed over Lucius as the rising intensity gave way to the distinct sensation of something breaking. A surge of energy rushed from his body up into his mind, as a satisfied expression spread across his face.

  Congratulations! You have passed the second magical threshold in the Dexterity attribute.

  The talent generated for this attribute can now be enhanced. Would you like to enhance this talent now?

  Lucius took a few deep breaths and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead. The experience of reaching C-Class had not been pleasant, but his pained grimace slowly shifted into a look of anticipation as he responded to the system message.

  "Yes!"