by M E Robinson
“By the way, why didn’t you use that wind spell you used against the goblins earlier?” Turk inquired. “If you’d used that on the goblin, you probably would have killed it with your first slash instead of getting to enjoy an exciting monster make out session on the ground.”
“Ah, I can’t really use Wind Blade all that well with my left hand, I’d have had to transfer my sword to my left hand if I wanted to cast it in a reasonable amount of time,” Eric explained, holding up the sword in his right hand to prove his point.
Aria nodded at this. “Yup. I can’t really use Water Dart with the staff in my left hand either. It’s difficult to draw the runes correctly, especially in the middle of a fight.”
Turk nodded. “Makes sense. I’d like to incorporate some magic into my fighting style. But I haven’t been able to figure out a way to do so without dropping my sword or my shield yet. Anyways, let’s get to looting and leave before these guys companions come to relieve them,” he said meaningfully, pointing to the goblins’ corpses.
“How should we split the loot?” Eric asked, bending over the goblin he’d been grappling with. Turk considered for a second. “Equal split. We’ll take turns looting. So I’ll loot the first, Kyp will loot the second, and Aria will loot the third. Then we’ll repeat the cycle. Since there are only five goblins, Aria can be first to loot our next kill. If we run into any elites or bosses, we’ll split the loot three ways. Sound fair?”
With a brief murmur of assent, Eric and Aria began looting, relieving the dead goblins of their weapons and armour, as well as a few shiny baubles that they were carrying. Finishing their task, the party crept out from under the fallen tree outpost and stealthily made their way to the northern tree line, headed once more towards unknown dangers.
Chapter 8
As the party entered the northern forest, a system message appeared in front of Eric;
[Warning: Lichfrost Forest is a dangerous zone for adventurers. Many monsters stalk these woods. Solo players are advised not to enter. Recommended Party Size: 10]
“That doesn’t seem too promising,” commented Eric, dismissing the system message as he did so.
“You guys want to turn back? We could keep hunting goblin scouts in the forest,” Turk suggested.
Aria shook her head. “We’re already here. I say we keep going. As long as we don’t take stupid fights, the three of us should be able to survive.”
“We are pretty high level compared to other players. It might be worth continuing, but I’ll leave the choice of whether or not to continue up to you two,” Eric supplied, leaning against a nearby tree.
Turk sighed. “It took us this long to get here. Let’s just move forward. But if it gets dangerous, we’ll retreat. No point dying needlessly.”
Nodding their agreement, Eric and Aria followed Turk deeper into the forest, the light from the barren strip of land slowly disappearing behind them as they pressed on.
Lichfrost Forest was darker than Stillwood Forest, with tall conifer trees crowding together, blotting out the sunlight with their dense branches. The few pale wisps of sunlight that did reach the forest floor were greedily sucked up by the many mosses and lichens that carpeted the surrounding rocks and vegetation, giving the entire forest an eerie blurred look - as though it was a painting that had been hit with water, blurring the lines and coating everything with a furry green hue.
Ducking underneath a low hanging branch, Turk suddenly froze, kneeling gently behind a nearby rock and waving at the two behind him to do the same.
“Goblins, up ahead,” he mouthed. Peeking out from behind the rock, Eric was confronted by the sight of a group of goblins roughly forty meters in front of them. The goblins were walking along a well-worn path, with relaxed looks upon their ugly green faces, and a soft chittering as they talked amongst themselves. At their current pace, it wouldn’t be more than a minute before they passed the rock the trio was hiding behind.
“Fight?” whispered Eric. Aria nodded, gripping her staff tightly. Turk looked pensive, peeking out to check on the goblins progress. They were now less than thirty meters away, coming closer and closer to their hiding spot. The rock wasn’t too far away from the path, the goblins would be passing within seven meters of the group.
With a nod, Turk drew his sword, taking care not to make any noise as he did so. “Get ready,” he mouthed. Eric nodded, opting to prepare a Wind Blade rather than risk making any noise nocking an arrow to his bow. Aria followed his example, a watery glow surrounding the end of her staff as she completed the runes for her signature spell.
As the goblins approached the group’s hiding spot, the trio exploded into action. Eric and Turk were the first two to jump out, Eric firing his Wind Blade at such an angle that it hit three goblins, sending the creatures sprawling, their healthbars diminishing by almost forty percent each from his spell. Turk charged towards the lead goblin, a slightly larger fellow whose saber was halfway drawn when his face became acquainted with the fighter’s shield. With a high-pitched cry, the goblin was sent flying backwards, smashing into some bushes along the side of the path.
The remaining goblin made to charge at Turk but was instead intercepted by Aria’s Water Dart, the spell crashing into the poor creature’s left breast. With a moan, the goblin was spun around viciously, its momentum halted by the Water Dart. Fortunately for the monster, its suffering did not last long as Turk’s sword stabbed into its neck, its bright red blood staining its discoloured jerkin even further as it choked upon the man’s blade. Withdrawing his blade, Turk watched as the goblin’s healthbar disappeared, the creature falling dead to the forest floor. Satisfied that it was indeed dead, Turk charged towards the three goblins that Eric had hit with his Wind Blade. With angry chwiiting, the goblins responded to his charge, having drawn their sabers as they got back to their feet.
Using Dashing Cut, Eric charged in to assist Turk, his sword drawing an arc in midair as he hacked at a goblin’s head. Ducking underneath his swing, the goblin approached, its saber cutting into his side. Wincing, Eric cast an Arcane Strike he’d prepared mid-dash, the violet bolt slamming into the unprepared goblin’s face. Lunging forward, Eric used a palm strike to send the goblin bowling back into the third goblin which was attempting to flank Turk, sending the two sprawling to the hard dirt below.
While Turk and Eric dealt with the three goblins, the fourth that Turk had sent flying recovered. Seeing that its companions had engaged the two fighters, the goblin dashed across the path, creeping up on Aria as she prepared a second Water Dart and looked for a target from on top of the rock the party had been hiding behind. Approaching from her blindspot behind a nearby tree, the goblin leapt at the mage, his saber hacking at her as the two fell from atop the rock Aria had been standing on, entangled together in a heap of cloth, skin, and fangs.
Firing the Water Dart wildly, Aria’s spell went soaring into the air, narrowly missing Eric as it soared into the trees above. Swearing violently, Eric abandoned his plan to pounce on the two goblins he’d tied up a moment ago, whirling around to see what Aria was playing at. Seeing the situation, his eyes widened. “Turk, deal with these three!” he shouted, activating Dashing Cut as he did so.
With a confused look, Turk turned to see where his companion was headed off to, his eyes similarly widening as he saw Aria struggling with a goblin. Bashing his opponent with his shield, Turk attempted to follow Eric, but the other two goblins leapt in front of him, forcing him to abandon this plan. Gritting his teeth, the fighter exploded into a frenzy of movement, his sword flashing multiple times as he pressed down upon his original opponent, its healthbar flashing red as it blocked his strikes.
Reaching Aria, Eric’s foot lashed out in a soccer kick, slamming into the goblin’s head and sending it tumbling off of the mage. With a loud crack, the goblin’s head slammed into a rock jutting up from the path, an enormous part of its healthbar disappearing as a small stunned status symbol appeared next to it. Jumping to her feet, Aria raised her staff hi
gh above her head and brought it down upon the unfortunate goblin’s head like a miner’s pickaxe. Wincing, Eric watched as the poor goblin suffered the vengeful mage’s assault, its healthbar having long since disappeared.
Turning back to the still ongoing fight, it was obvious that Turk was suffering. The three goblins were covering for each other properly, receiving blows meant for each other on their sabers and forcing the fighter to rely heavily on his shield to defend. As Eric watched, one goblin attacked with an overhead strike, forcing Turk to raise his shield in order to receive it. As he did so, the other two goblins attacked from below, striking his exposed thighs with their sabers.
Dashing towards the goblins, Eric leapt high into the air, bringing his sword down in a two-handed slash towards one of the two goblins. With a satisfying chunk sound, the sword embedded deeply into the skull of the goblin. Staggering slightly, the goblin’s healthbar rapidly drained, the goblin collapsing beside its companion who roared angrily, swiping at Eric whose sword was still embedded in its friend’s skull.
Leaving his sword in the skull of the dead goblin, Eric jumped backwards, receiving a minor scratch from the goblin’s saber as it whistled past his thigh. His right hand now free, Eric began to create the runes for Wind Blade, his right leg launching a roundhouse kick at the goblin charging desperately towards him in an attempt to interrupt the casting. Knocking the goblin off balance, Eric completed the spell, not hesitating at all to fire the Wind Blade directly at the goblin. With a loud cry, the goblin collapsed, the Wind Blade having hit it head on leaving an enormous cut that ran along the monster’s entire left side. Retrieving his sword from the other goblin’s skull, Eric headed towards Turk, only to watch as he used his shield to cave the remaining goblin’s skull in.
With that, the path was silent once more, with only the sounds of panting as the trio leaned on their weapons.
“Well that was intense,” remarked Eric dryly.
Turk nodded. “These goblins felt stronger than the group from before, or those pairs of scouts in Stillwood forest.”
“They were bigger too,” Aria chimed in.
“Really?” Eric asked, looking at the dead goblins scattered around the path.
“Yup. The ones earlier only came up to my chest. They weren’t more than about three and a half or at most four feet tall. These ones come almost up to my neck. They’re closer to five feet tall,” she explained.
Turk kicked the corpse of his opponent. “Yeah these guys were able to aim at my head way easier than the ones we fought before. That’s why I was forced on the defensive so easily.”
“We should probably loot these guys, hide the bodies and move on. I don’t want to stay in one place for too long,” said Eric, receiving agreeing nods from the other two. Getting to work, the trio quickly looted the five corpses, rolling the bodies into a small ditch a few meters from the path before continuing on.
Travelling silently beside the path, the trio met a few more groups of goblins like the first. Paying better attention this time, Eric could see that Aria was indeed correct. The goblins inside Lichfrost Forest were bigger and stronger than the ones they’d encountered earlier. Not by much, but enough to make a difference when fighting the monsters.
Opening his event log which he’d neglected since meeting Turk and Aria, Eric was bombarded by a huge flurry of skill ups and notifications. Ignoring the loot and status effects, he looked over the list quickly to see what had levelled up since teaming up with the two.
[Dashing Cut has levelled up to Beginner 3]
[Arcane Strike has levelled up to Beginner 10!]
[You have levelled up to level 8! Stats have been updated]
All Stats +1
Health +10
Mana +10
[Arcane Magic has reached Beginner 10!]
[Arcane Formations has been learned!]
[You have levelled up to level 9! Stats have been updated]
All Stats +1
Health +10
Mana +10
[Wind Blade has levelled up to Beginner 4]
[Militia Swordsmanship has reached Apprentice 3]
[Basic Martial Arts has reached Apprentice 1]
[Basic Archery has reached Apprentice 7]
[Charged Shot has levelled up to Beginner 8]
[Dashing Cut has levelled up to Beginner 5]
[Basic Evasion has reached Apprentice 7]
[You have levelled up to level 10! Stats have been updated]
All Stats +1
Health +10
Mana +10
[Arcane Strike has levelled up to Apprentice 1]
[Basic Martial Arts has reached Apprentice 2]
[Wind Blade has levelled up to Beginner 7]
[Basic Wind Magic has reached Beginner 8]
[Basic Martial Arts has reached Apprentice 3]
[Dashing Cut has levelled up to Beginner 6]
[Basic Martial Arts has reached Apprentice 4]
[Wind Blade has levelled up to Beginner 8]
[Basic Wind Magic has reached Beginner 9]
Closing the event log, Eric exhaled. There were a lot of skill ups included. Of note was that his magic had finally hit Beginner 10. Despite him having used magic quite a bit since the fight with the elite wolf, it had been leveling fairly slowly. So it was pretty nice to see it finally hit beginner 10. Opening the skill page, he checked out his new skill.
Arcane Formations: Arcane Magic Skill
Passive
Through rigorous combat training, you have gained the ability to cast spells without fully forming the mana construct. Even if you don’t create a perfect mana construct, you can still cast the spell by properly controlling your mana formation.
Looking at the skill description, Eric considered the benefits of his new skill. Unlike other skills, this skill had no level, simply existing alongside the rest. It seemed like the skill would allow him to cast spells even if he messed up the rune formation slightly. However, the skill description didn’t mention how forgiving it was or if there was a special technique required to invoke the skill. With a small chuckle, Eric closed the skill window. There was no way that this new skill was going to harm his combat abilities, so for now he could put figuring out how to use it on the backburner while he continued to learn how the rest of his skills worked.
Continuing onwards, the party encountered several squads of goblins. As time passed, they began to develop a series of tactics to deal with them. Turk would initiate the charge under the cover of Eric’s Wind Blade and Aria’s Water Dart, using his Shield Bash to incapacitate one of the goblins. If both spells struck the same goblin, then it would often make the fight a 1v3 for Turk right off the bat. After the initial salvo of spells, Aria would prepare another Water Dart while Eric would use Dashing Cut to eliminate the goblin struck by Turk’s initial charge. Afterwards, Eric and Turk would ensure that Aria could cast freely while the two of them kept the remaining goblins busy, preventing them from charging at Aria. So long as they managed to cut down two of the goblins in their initial rush of skills, the resulting 3v3 was easily won.
Withdrawing his sword from the back of a goblin, Eric watched as the creature fell to the ground, no longer supported by the iron blade he’d inserted into it only moments previously. Wiping his blade on the goblin’s jerkin, he watched as Aria cast her water dart at the final goblin which was attempting to flee. With a whooshing sound, the watery dart coalesced, its form sturdy despite the swirling waters contained within. Aiming briefly, Aria released the spell, the aqueous projectile soaring through the air to slam into the fleeing monster’s back. Looking at the watery spike that had just emerged from the front of its vest, the goblin only had time to watch as the mana suddenly faded, the arcane bonds holding the water fading and allowing the water to drench its vest before it collapsed, its healthbar vanishing like the Water Dart.
Collecting their loot, the party quickly disposed of the bodies and melted back into the brush alongside the path, covering their track
s as best they could. Moving at a brisk pace, they quickly put a few hundred meters between themselves and the scene of the battle before slowing down to a more relaxed pace.
“So that spell of yours is called Water Dart then?” Eric asked as the trio trekked through the forest.
“Yup! I got it as a quest reward. We found some magical reagents that one of Vinbera’s mages needed. As a reward, he gave me this spell. What about yours? That wind spell looks pretty sick. Was it a quest reward too?”
“Nope, I got the spellbook for Wind Blade as a random drop from an elite monster I killed,” Eric explained, pausing as an idea hit him. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind trading the runes for Wind Blade to you in exchange for the runes for Water Dart. What do you say?”
Aria pondered for a moment, appearing to be deep in concentration.
“Is Wind Blade a Common spell? Water Dart isn’t a basic spell like Arcane Strike was. Not sure I’d be okay with trading a Common spell for a Basic one.”
“Wind Blade is indeed a Common spell. The only one I know in fact,” Eric assured her.
Aria clapped her hands together upon hearing this, a bright smile appearing on her face. “Well in that case, I’m fine with it. You don’t mind do you, Turk?”
“Up to you. His Wind Blade spell seems dangerous enough. Not like having another spell at that level is going to make him any more powerful if he wanted to fight us. It’s your spell - do whatever you want,” said Turk, waving his hand dismissively at her and taking up a post where he could watch for any enemies approaching from the path.
