XX

  Kaz woke up, tears streaming down his cheeks as his dreams ended with some of his fondest memories with Meisha. His forever friend. Maybe one day he will prove himself to them, and honestly, he didn’t care too much about Viragor, and especially Syvis, but he wanted to return back to normal with Meisha.

  With a heavy head and a cloud over his mind, he climbed down the tree and began his search for more Stonerock Goblins. He ran into a goblin walking alone and managed to take down the goblin even before it noticed Kaz standing in the distance. This left a bad taste in Kaz’s mouth, as if the goblin was just a wooden target for practice. At the end of the day, it was a monster that needed to be culled, as more would appear anyways.

  He ran into another group of goblins, this time another group of three. He took down the one with a short sword first, knowing from past experience that anything with a sharp edge needed priority in taking down. He focused two consecutive quick casts of [ Mana Burst ], constructing a jagged thread of mana, wildly flickering in the sunlight, reflecting his emotions at the moment. The mana constructs flew across the clearing, impaling the goblin in the head, causing it to stumble. As the goblins looked around for the intruder, another mana attack struck the same goblin, causing it to pass out. Both of the goblins found the attacker, and all they saw was a brown robed figure, slightly shorter than their height. They slightly froze as they looked at the figure.

  It wasn’t a massive figure or one that exuded strength, it was the flickering silver eyes that glowed back at them. A construct of jagged mana exploded into one of the goblins, causing them to break their frozen state, as they charged the robed figure.

  Kaz wondered what caused the goblins to simply stand there and look at him. He shrugged it off, as it just made things easier for him. He began casting again, and shot his attack towards the goblins, this one hitting the other goblin. The two goblins both wielded small wooden clubs, which just looked like slightly thicker sticks of wood. Kaz drew his dagger as they approached him. He swung his dagger at them but they managed to dance out of the way, the goblins shrieking at the sudden dagger swinging at them.

  When they backed up to avoid his dagger attack, he casted another [ Mana Burst ], which he knew by now took him three seconds to cast, which gave him more than enough time to cast by the time the goblins engaged him again. He struck the goblin to his left, stunning the goblin while the other charged at him.

  The goblin managed to hit him in the right arm with his wooden club, and it did sting Kaz slightly, but he managed to continue on, stabbing his dagger forwards toward the goblin. The goblin managed to jump back, twisting itself out of the way. It quickly lunged in again, this time hitting Kaz in the shoulder as it winded the club above its head. Kaz reflexively tried casting his mana in order to form a shield to deflect the attack, but like every other time, his mana pulsed but nothing happened.

  Kaz quickly stabbed the goblin in the chest, and connected on this strike, driving the dagger to the hilt in the goblin’s chest. The goblin recoiled, stepping back, grasping the dagger in its chest. He then began casting his [ Mana Burst ], his mana attack streaking across the short distance and finishing off the goblin.

  Keeping an eye on the goblin who was stunned earlier, he noticed the goblin managed to get up, but to his surprise, it began running away from him, leaving its club behind. Kaz took a deep breath, unsure what to do.

  A few moments later, a mana construct struck it in the back, causing it to get swept off its feet, landing face down in the dirt, dead before it landed. Twenty-five yards away, Kaz simply looked at the goblin face down in the dirt and began collecting the loot off the two goblins near him, and then walked over to the final goblin, picking up two Copper Tokens.

  He was at 2 Silver Tokens, 25 Copper Tokens from his all his looting, which was a great number, more than he had from the beginning of his journey. That’s not counting all the crystals he still had, which made him wonder how much those would trade in for.

  The area around Kaz seemed to be deathly silent, not even the wind blowing, and in this clearing, there were mostly small rocks and a few scattered trees. He deemed this area to be safe and began recovery his mana through [ Mana Regeneration ] atop one of the highest rocks, giving him a clear view of the area. His Status Enhancement already expired, so therefore it was a bit slower than the previous rate he was now used to from the buff.

  After twenty minutes he was all recovered on his Mana Points and Health Points, so decided to stop his Passive Ability, and took a moment to take a few bites of his food, eating more than he usually did. Kaz wondered if the increased intake in his food related to his growth in Resonance. He wrapped up his little mealtime, and leaned back on his hands, looking at the clearing, wondering which way he should continue. He decided to head to the west, deciding to make his way over to Sarus already, as he has had enough of fighting and wanted to empty his stores of crystals and relax for a few days without having to fight something.

  As he stood up, he heard heavy footsteps approaching from the north, and he looked over to the sound. His anxiety spiked as he saw the tallest and widest Stonerock Goblin he has seen yet, approaching him confidently. The goblin wore leather armor, which was very worn, but still covered his chest and legs. He carried a longsword, draped over his shoulders, and it was slightly worn, but still shined in the sunlight, with its edge looking pristine and sharp.

  The goblin stopped at the edge of the clearing, and roared, pointing his sword at Kaz. The goblin’s red eyes sparkled, flashing a determined look at him. Kaz understood the challenge, and tensed up, channeling his [ Mana Burst ], deciding to not wait for the goblin to charge at him. There was no honor in fighting monsters. He fired off his mana construct, and to his surprise, the goblin parried the mana attack to the side.

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  The goblin tauntingly smirked at him, seeing the confidence leaving the Gnome. That expression sparked something inside of Kaz, it was the face the Bandits had, the face the bullies had, it was the face of the worst types of people, people who abused their power. He began casting again, as the goblin strode to him, taking his time, knowing the Gnome would be powerless to him once he got in range.

  The rage that bubbled in Kaz, it fed into his mana, and his attack bolted out of his hands, striking the goblin straight in the chest, flying so fast the goblin barely had time to parry or dodge the attack. Something clicked in his mind, and he felt that familiar pulse whenever he Ranked up an Ability. That momentarily stunned the confident goblin, putting it on edge for a moment. The goblin raised its sword into a defensive stance and picked up his pace.

  The air around Kaz shifted as he began casting again, a slight static feeling to it, and his mana construct struck the goblin again, causing it to stumble to the side, the attack doing damage to him before he couldn’t even react to it. Kaz himself staggered from the cast himself, as his mana core felt like it flared slightly, releasing more Mana Points than before, leaving a sort of hole in his core. He regained his focus, determination filling his eyes, casting another [ Mana Burst ], striking his opponent while the Stonerock Goblin came within range. It struck the goblin in the chest, but he ignored it, going in for his own attack.

  A bright gleam flashed to his left as the goblin took a wide swing at him. Kaz felt his [ Evasive Step ] activate, allowing him to dodge out of the way, but not fully, as the blade cut across his cheek, leaving a small gash, blood immediately dripping down onto the stone below him.

  Another swing came from the sword, this time an overhead slash, this time Kaz dodged to the side, easily avoiding the strike. He quickly grabbed his dagger and began casting his [ Mana Burst ], slightly panicking as he wasn’t sure if he had enough time to finish his cast. He released his attack, just as the goblin sliced at his left arm. Both attacks landed, his mana construct striking the goblin in the leg, causing it to lose its balance and missing his original target. Unfortunately for Kaz, the sword still clipped him, striking his left arm and continuing down, cutting into his thigh.

  A sharp searing pain burned into him, as he felt warmness spread from his wound, blood pouring out generously. He gritted his teeth, biting into his lips, drawing more blood, as he began casting a simple construct, and this time it felt normal coming out, and it flew at the original speed he was used to, and struck the goblin who was currently kneeling on the ground, trying to gather the strength in its legs. The goblin grunted from the damaging attack but dug his sword into the ground and used it to stabilize himself on its feet.

  The goblin looked at Kaz, hatred flooding its red eyes. Kaz felt the air shift again, but this time, the goblin’s eyes glowed red, and shortly after, the goblin roared, his whole body glowing red. Kaz took a few steps back in fear, stunned at the sudden development in front of him. The goblin finished roaring, and looked at Kaz, a frenzied grin on its face. It tensed up and then lunged at Kaz.

  The speed burst from the goblin was easily double the speed he saw before from it, covering the few yards in a second, bringing its blade from below into an upwards slash. Kaz desperately tried to step back to avoid the attack, but it was hopeless. The blade connected with Kaz’s chest, slicing deep into him, and also launching him several yards away, causing him to roll across the ground.

  The pain was unbearable, white hot pain flooding his whole body, almost causing him to black out from the pain that was spreading. He rolled onto his back, trying to get a visual on the goblin, who looked at him, laughing at him manically. He swaggered over to Kaz, resting his blade across his shoulders behind his head, flexing his muscles.

  Kaz closed his eyes and tried to take deep breaths. He was in no state to cast an attack, so he tried to calm his body, which was going into overdrive from anxiety and pain, seconds away from death. He gripped his dagger, hoping maybe he will be able to get a lucky strike that will buy him some time to recover a bit. He coughed out some blood, running down his cheek onto the ground, tears causing his vision to get blurry.

  The goblin approached him, and lifted his sword above his head, about to swing down on Kaz’s head, to end his life in an executioner’s style. The blade fell, cutting through the air towards Kaz’s neck.

  Kaz raised his hand and forced his mana out to create a shield. Something dinged and pulsed in his head and silver construct of mana appeared over his arm, deflecting the blade away from him. In the shock of the goblin, Kaz stabbed his dagger into the goblin’s knee, fighting the massive surge of pain flaring up in his chest, trying to keep his eyes open.

  The goblin shrieked in pain, falling down onto the knee, losing all of its strength as the muscles tore. Kaz rolled away, groaning in pain, and laid there, listening to the goblin struggling just as much as him. Kaz forced himself onto his knees, and then stood up, wobbling the entire way. He took a few steadying breaths and began casting.

  One mana contrast struck the goblin. Another mana construct struck the goblin, causing it to fall on his back, struggling to breathe and move. A third [ Mana Burst ] dealt the final blow, causing the goblin to perish.

  Kaz fell down onto his knees, and without any hesitation, reached into his bag. The only problem was that the bag was not on him. He frantically looked around for his bag. He found it laying in the spot where he took the upwards slash to the chest, the strap being cut in the attack. He forced himself onto his feet, his vision swimming and blinking black from the pain. He pushed and pushed, falling over his own feet. He finally reached the bag, and took out his health potion, drinking the whole thing in one go. It tasted slightly sweet, and it filled his body with warmth, an uncomfortable burning sensation ran throughout his body. He instantly felt the wounds closing and healing, the pain vanishing.

  After the potion ran its course through his pain, healing him from his intense battle, he suddenly felt immensely tired, and allowed himself to pass out.

  He woke up a couple hours later, the sun still shining on him from above. Kaz sat up, and stretched, not even feeling a bit of pain or soreness. Those potions truly were magical. He stood up, jumped on the balls of his feet, not remembering the time he felt this refreshed. Kaz strolled over to the place where the goblin was defeated, looking forward to the loot he was going to receive, should be at least two Silver Tokens for the amount of suffering he had to go through. He felt his mind pulsing, meaning his [ Archive ] was trying to force itself to open, but Kaz mentally shoved it out, wanted to get his loot before going through all the changes, because he knew it would be a lot.

  Approaching the spot, something gleamed in the ground, and he reached down, picking it up. It was just a silver key, and no Tokens to be seen. He was slightly disappointed, but when he studied the key, his [ Archive ] finally forced itself open.