Chapter 10
The Seed of Momentum
With raw chi surging through his limbs, Ken knew he was on borrowed time.
Can’t fight or run far like this.
I need control.
Now.
Scrambling up the familiar maple, the dense foliage concealed him.
Eyes closed, he compressed faster this time, experience guiding him.
The chaos coalesced into a tight knot below his sternum.
Stable. Ready.
It compressed it a little harder this time.
Maybe experience pays off.
His inner world was stable and contained once again.
Slowly, he let the pressure go.
The new energy now sat tightly compressed just below his sternum, ready for use.
He replayed the fights — the tremor around spear, sword, fist.
Not speed alone. Force. Power.
Momentum?
The knot beneath his sternum didn't just vibrate, it hummed in a frequency that matched the beating of his own heart.
Momentum felt right, a physical weight that anchored his soul to the world.
It wasn't a description.
It was an order.
He opened his eyes, looking down at the bodies scattered below—a gruesome monument to his first couple hours in Hardcore.
He had regained his chi, but he had to be smarter.
Hardcore was going to be a test of cunning as well as brute force.
?
Re-compressing his Momentum Chi had stabilized him, ironically.
The experience made him start asking the important questions:
How big of a ball can I make?
How dense can I make it?
How glowy does the ball get?
He was loath to touch it again until the threat was immediate and overwhelming.
Running a hand over his sternum, he thought about the dense mass of his core.
It was full again, but it felt agonizingly precious, like a single round of specialty ammo.
I never use the special ammo.
Based on the paths of the two patrols, I would bet their camp is to the north.
?
Didn't have far to go before he smelled it.
Woodsmoke.
Crawling low to the crest of a ridge, a thick bed of ferns provided cover.
?The camp was in a clearing that had been recently clear-cut.
Multiple large fires crackled, a rickety palisade surrounding it.
Below, Ken could visually count at least two dozen goblins milling about.
?Too many.
?
He felt the tight knot of his single, precious charge.
Not enough to save me.
?
A plan snapped into focus:
Rambo.
?
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Ken carefully backed away from the rise and quickly returned south towards the creek, and the small trail following it.
There are a bunch of gobbo’s out there.
All fuel for the ball.
?He ran for several minutes before spotting his target: a towering, thick-trunked maple, forcing the trail to curve tightly around its base.
A few thick, horizontal limbs jutted out high up, offering perfect horizontal perches.
?
Ken scaled the maple quickly, settling high into the thick, protective branches.
He settled in, his gaze fixed on the game trail below.
The rhythmic, low-level chittering of the returning patrol grew louder.
I wonder what a group of goblins are called…??
Is group the right word? Gaggle? I'm going with a gaggle.
Soon, a gaggle of five goblins came into view.
They were tired and moving slowly, their focus entirely on the trail.
?
He waited, letting the anxiety of the hunt settle into a cold, hard focus.
His target was the vulnerable rear.
?
?Ken launched himself from the branch, dropping silently like a guided missile.
He landed squarely on the goblin’s spine with both feet, driving the creature into the earth.
The creature managed only a choked, wet gasp before its life fled, mostly silent and unseen.
?
He burst forward, reaching the fourth goblin, a club-wielder, in a single bound.
He wrapped one large hand around its skull and the other beneath its jaw.
With a savage, precise twist, he snapped the goblin's neck.
The sound was a quick, muffled crunch swallowed by the forest floor as the body dropped without a cry.
?
He vaulted over the falling body, his speed carrying him immediately toward the third goblin.
?They finally broke their plodding trance.
?The next in line, another club-wielder, heard the sound and began to turn.
Ken drove a devastating right elbow straight into the side of the creature's face.
His natural momentum amplified the blow, and his enhanced durability protected his elbow, as he crushed bone and sent the goblin spinning into the dirt.
As the third goblin crumpled, Ken used the briefest moment of chaos to propel himself past the falling figure.
He didn't slow.
He sidestepped the awkward, low spear tip thrust of the next victim.
As the spear passed harmlessly, he delivered a quick straight kick to its abdomen.
There was a satisfying high pitched ‘oof’ as it tumbled back, tripping the lead gobbo as it turned around.
?
Ken closed the distance in two long, powerful strides, the third culminating in a patent pending knee to the leader's face with a crack, sending it reeling.
Then suddenly something bit his ass!
In the middle of the day!
The spear wielder on the ground, still catching its breath, had stuck him in the left buttock.
“Fuck!”
Springing forward off the spear tip, he turned and ripped it out of its hands, spun it, and stabbed it through its owners’ eye.
Ripping it out and throwing it to the side in disgust,
“Remember. Constant vigilance. Can't be slippin.”
?
A couple stomps later, he stood over the five bodies, bleeding from both his left ribs and left ass cheek.
At some point his ribs had reopened.
Totally worth it.
Five kills in under ten seconds.
No chi used.
He knelt by the nearest corpse, the raw, white chi already beginning to steam from the five bodies and coalesce.
?Ken performed the energy kegel, and the five swirling clouds of white light flowed swiftly into his body.
The effect was intense.
The powerful rush was chaotic, loud, and volatile.
All previous felt like a gentle hum by comparison.
The raw chi buzzed and thrummed through every nerve ending, making his muscles twitch and his thoughts race.
He knew he couldn't compress this much energy in the open.
His only option was to run and hide.
The influx had an additional benefit of again healing his injuries a little.
His rib was almost fully closed now, and his ass hurt less.
Ignoring the pain in his ribs, legs and ass, Ken bolted from the kill zone.
He created some distance and found a nice, thick bush.
He quickly crawled under the foliage, pressing his back against the earth, and immediately began the excruciating process of compression.
?
Minutes bled away in agonizing internal effort.
Finally, with a visceral, solid click, the energy yielded into a single coalesced ball.
?Ken let out a long, ragged exhale.
He cautiously probed the new volume of his core.
The collection was a success, and he had doubled the size of his original core nugget.
He flexed his fist. The air around it hummed, eager.
A grin cracked through the grimace.
"Okay… that's new."
The cost was in blood.
Earning a precious, if small, power increase.
A foothold, a minimal reserve from a handful of goblins, and he could hopefully make it start to snowball.
?
Testing his left leg, it still moved pretty well.
The spear stab wasn't all that deep, it having been done from lying on its back.
He wasn't done just yet.
We will rule with an iron fist, ball.
