Ch 16

  "I talk too much," mocked the goblin. "Here I was giving you a few more seconds to live, but if you want to hurry up and die—" Once again, Matt barely shifted to avoid the goblin's strike aimed at the back of his left knee. Still, he managed to stop in time, deliberately making his movement appear clumsier than those before as he executed a roll and regained his footing. Moments later, he feigned a burst of energy as if he were chasing after the other goblins, only to leap backward the instant the goblin attacked. That delay allowed him to deliver a second kick, albeit a fraction too late, as the goblin moved faster than expected. Nevertheless, it was progress, and Matt wasted no time charging forward to escape once more.

  This time, the assault came from behind. Matt rolled to the side before springing to his feet, continuing his run the moment he was upright. He managed only a few feet before having to dodge again, and soon found himself armed with just the single cutting tool in his left hand. Although frustrating, Matt had determined that this maneuver was essential to preserving his dodging ability for as long as possible. Despite enduring twenty strikes from the relentless goblin—leaving him with three shallow cuts on his legs—he felt a sense of victory as his movements grew more polished and the goblin’s attacks began to slow, the intervals between them lengthening noticeably.

  Yet, Matt’s situation remained perilous as he struggled to draw enough oxygen to sustain his frantic pace. Had it not been for the goblin’s obsession with lurking in the shadows between strikes, Matt doubted he would have lasted as long as he had. His mind raced as he wondered about the goblin’s tactics when the creature started to speak again.

  "You're a slippery one, that's for sure. What did you do? Take the path of dodging or something? So your first skill lets you avoid the first strike of any attack, does it?" the goblin taunted.

  "Ha, why would I tell you?" replied Matt, his eyes never leaving his opponent as he tried to glean any useful tidbits from the goblin’s words.

  "It must be something like that, otherwise my hidden blade skill would have landed cleanly by now," the goblin replied.

  As the goblin finished speaking, he suddenly reappeared in front of Matt, slashing upward toward his groin. But Matt merely twisted slightly, causing the blade to dig into his thigh instead, as he brought his fist into the path of the goblin’s attack. Gritting his teeth against the searing pain, he partially knelt and smashed the goblin’s head between his fist and the ground. Although the impact worsened the knife wound, it allowed Matt to pin the goblin, gripping its head as though his life depended on it. Next, he swung the cutting tool in his left hand downward—only for the goblin to reach up and grasp at it with both hands.

  In that tense moment, the two of them were locked in a stalemate, glaring at one another. Had the goblin not sent his compatriots scattering, Matt would likely have suffered a defeat. Instead, the sudden arrival of Zara and Yumiko tilted the scales in his favor. Both quickly surveyed the situation and attacked without hesitation. Moments later, amid the chaos of battle, Matt couldn’t help but chuckle when a notification pinged through, marking a brief reprieve in the maelstrom of combat.

  Monsters killed: level 9 goblins.

  Base experience multiplied by six.

  Awarding 120 experience.

  Current experience to next level 2139/3000.

  The absence of a clear direction on how to forge a new path was notable, yet equally significant was the realization that if he had won that fight on his own, it would have been worth a third of the experience needed for a level. Nevertheless, Matt set aside his thoughts on both matters for later, shifting his focus to catching up with the goblins that had fled. With determination, he pulled the knife from his thigh, gritting his teeth against the pain, and crafted a makeshift tourniquet from his belt before standing up. Thankfully, no words needed to be exchanged as the three of them charged forward, following the obvious trail the other goblins had taken through the dense underbrush.

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  Just a few minutes later, the rear of the goblin group came into view, and their lack of discipline became apparent. Instead of following their orders and having one of them turn to fight, they squabbled over who should face the threat. This internal conflict resulted in one goblin tripping another mere moments before Matt closed the ten-foot gap. He ignored the fallen goblin, trusting his companions to handle it, causing real panic to ripple through the goblin ranks. One of the hobgoblins carrying the women shouted for all the goblins to turn and fight while they attempted to flee with their captives.

  Matt sensed that if he didn't act quickly to stop the six retreating hobgoblins, it would soon be too late. Without hesitation, he hurled the knife in his hand. Though this deprived him of the first real weapon he had wielded since the ordeal began—a crisis that likely affected most of humanity—he had no regrets. His aim was true, and the knife struck one of the hobgoblins carrying Eleanor in the side. The hobgoblin staggered, dropping her as their partner struggled to bear the sudden increase in weight alone, causing them to collapse to the ground.

  Unfortunately, the other two goblins continued to advance, and Matt found himself with only a single cutting tool as he faced off against the 11 chaotic goblins blocking his path. It was this chaos that gave Matt the confidence to throw his cutting tool, striking the rear goblin carrying Emily as he pushed forward through the tangle of goblins. However, the cutting tool's impact was insufficient, causing only a brief pause in the hobgoblin's movements. Meanwhile, the pain in his thigh from his own stab wound was intensifying. Despite this, he let out a primal roar, catching two clubs that had been swung at him. He wrenched them free from their wielders' grips and hurled them at the retreating hobgoblins.

  At that critical moment, Yumiko and Zara entered the fray, charging in to attack the goblins that were fixated on Matt. Their intervention only heightened the chaos, as the goblins appeared energized by the presence of new targets besides Matt. Ultimately, he was left with only the two goblins who had lost their clubs still focused on him. He quickly exploited this by grasping them both by their throats and smashing them into other goblins. This action redirected the majority of the goblins' attention back to him, and he shouted to Zara and Yumiko with urgency.

  "Stop the hobgoblins from escaping with the others, I’ll handle these ones!"

  After shooting him a troubled look, Zara nodded and broke through the chaos, but Yumiko failed to do the same as three goblins clambered onto her. Meanwhile, Zara caught up to the pair hobbling away with Eleanor and quickly dealt with the wounded one. However, the other two pairs were still pulling away as Matt went to work freeing Yumiko. By this point, he felt numb to all the hits from the goblins' clubs that he had taken while avoiding being overwhelmed by their quickly dwindling numbers. In some ways, he felt like he was being attacked by a pack of savage children as he grabbed and tossed them around. Yet, unlike children, these creatures bounced back up after being thrown ten feet away and charged back in as if it was nothing.

  As Matt finally reached Yumiko, he found her struggling to stay on her feet while he ripped the first goblin off her. By the time he was reaching for the second one, she had already started hitting the third with her newly freed hand, trying to break free before the remaining goblins closed in on them once more. Despite their efforts, Matt felt as if they were doomed to come up short since two of the hobgoblin pairs were still escaping, and it was clear that Zara had her hands full dealing with the one she was fighting. Even if Yumiko managed to free herself, it seemed it would all be for naught—until he witnessed Eleanor move with surprising agility as she took down the hobgoblin that had been carrying her away moments before.

  Although he knew Tempormr would likely count that as yet another favor he had done for Matt, Matt no longer cared. Whatever his fate was, it was clear that it was no longer in his hands alone, and whatever Tempormr had planned for him would just have to be forced to fit within his own plans. After all, Matt maintained his own goal of becoming independent of everything when all was said and done, just as he had always dreamed. In that way, perhaps the chaos of his new reality would be a positive thing if it granted him enough power to truly stand alone.

  Yet at that exact moment, none of that mattered as he placed his trust in Zara to get Elanor on the same page while he focused on fighting goblins alongside Yumiko. With this shift in concentration, he ceased worrying about matters beyond his immediate battle, and his movements sharpened dramatically. No longer did he allow goblins to land nonvital hits; instead, he effectively deflected them with his arms while using his legs to sweep their feet out from beneath them. Once he had them on the ground, a swift stomp on their chest or neck was sufficient to end them. It was only forty seconds after he saw Eleanor stand that he realized none of the goblins seemed to be stirring anymore.

  Though he knew from the lack of a message about gaining experience that at least one of them was still alive, Matt took a moment to assess the situation around him. Yumiko appeared ready to collapse from exhaustion, her clothing barely qualifying as such anymore. The goblins’ claws had torn through her shirt, and even her jeans were riddled with holes in more than one spot. However, the determined look in her eyes told Matt that she was anything but ready to stop fighting as she scanned the area for threats, almost frantically.

  This wouldn’t have been a major issue for Matt, but both Zara and Eleanor were out of sight, having chased after the last two pairs of hobgoblins. This created a sense of urgency for him as he worried whether the two of them could handle four hobgoblins. Additionally, the fear of how close they had gotten to the goblins’ settlement nagged at him. As he turned to chase after Zara and Eleanor, he suddenly fell to the ground. It was only in the moment before everything went black that he noticed the blood trickling down his leg and realized that the makeshift tourniquet he had fashioned had failed.