More than perhaps any other creature, goblins’ behavior is governed by the Tier of ambient mana. When the mana exceeds their Tier, they flee from even harmless herbivores, otherwise, they will attack until their numbers are decimated. When they encounter human settlements in Tier 0 areas, they will almost certainly attack, even if it seems suicidal. They appear unable to recognize the Levels of those they face, and Tier 0 goblins have been known to charge Tier 4 humans and be obliterated.
- Bonnie, Level 41 Beastmaster,
Squad Update:
Squad leader Mason has left the Squad. The new leader is Hassan.Stolen from RoyalRoad. Support AzureInk by reading the original.
Elin sounded just as confused as I felt, until Hassan explained.
The Archer made us stop in a rough line near the perimeter of the camp, while the Army sergeant, a Tier 2 man named Keys who was displaying his Class as simply ‘Fighter’, organized his soldiers along the same imaginary line. Mason and Captain Rivers continued out at least a hundred feet further before stopping. Both were already in their armor, and now they summoned their weapons from their Inventories.
Rivers held a wicked looking battleaxe that had a thick spike on the top and a huge, flared blade on one side. From the tip of the spike to the end of the haft it had to be at least four feet long. Mason, standing across from her, casually held a simple, unadorned longsword in his right hand, his left hand empty. The two fighters saluted, and everyone watching seemed to hold their breath for just a moment. The sky was pink as the sun approached the horizon, casting long shadows from both of them.
After that moment of stillness, they , exploding into motion at a speed I could barely follow. The crash of their weapons meeting was as loud as any of my gunshots, and undoubtedly far more powerful. Blows were traded in the blink of an eye, distance opened and closed again in a blur of movement. I watched in awe as Mason danced fluidly around the motion of the axe, sword flickering as he deflected it slightly, almost a caress, never trying to stop a strike cold.
Captain Rivers used every inch of her weapon’s longer reach to compensate for her shorter arms, trying to force Mason off-balance so she could land a hit. For perhaps a minute – and dozens of strikes – it was futile, the Delver never in the same place as her axe. When he countered, she managed to turn aside his attacks with the haft or blade of her weapon. Then her barrier flared brightly as Mason’s explosive speed carried him through her guard and past her in a flash. He’d moved so quickly I hadn’t even seen the strike itself.
much
As he spoke, Rivers planted a foot and charged Mason with a blinding slash of her axe. Mason darted to the side and in, getting inside the arc of her swing, and then both fighter’s barriers flared as they collided. I swore I saw at least one punch landed before they flew apart again.
The scene was eerily quiet aside from the clashing of blades. Occasionally someone made a sound of awe or surprise, but the soldiers and guards must have been keeping their comments contained to their own Squad Comms. I was mostly silent in concentration as I tried to follow the incredible skill on display.
I'd watched the guards back in Sunland training whenever I could, and at the time I'd been impressed by their speed and technique. The few young Tier 0s hadn't seemed terribly out of reach to me, but the Tier 1s and especially the Tier 2s had been brutally, shockingly strong and fast. Mason and Rivers made them look like children.
At one point, Rivers finally caught Mason off-balance enough that he was forced to block her strike head-on, and the sheer force blasted him back at least twenty feet before he dug his claws into the hard ground. His powerful legs flexed and he launched himself back at her.
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He practically flew over the ground, and as the axe arced down in a vicious chop I swear I saw him kick off the ground again, somehow slipping by the blurring axe head. A fraction of an instant later, both barriers flared – but Rivers’ was the bright flash signaling hers had shattered. She was pushed back by the force, driven down almost to one knee as her booted feet dug up twin trenches in the dirt.
“Break!" she called out in a strong voice as she slid to a stop, but Mason had obviously noticed, and had come to a halt himself.
, I swallowed,
I glanced over at the watching soldiers, seeing a few disappointed faces, though their expressions eased as the fighters came together and clasped forearms respectfully. Their weapons had already vanished back into their Inventories and they were both smiling as they walked towards the group and Mason rejoined the Squad.
Block's enthusiasm was palpable and he was grinning widely.
Raylan admitted and I agreed silently. There simply hadn't been any chance for us to pick up any technical details, not with the speed of the fight. What else could I comment on?
He gave me a level look.
I swallowed, but continued my line of thinking.
my glance flicked down briefly, taking in his corrupted legs and scaly tail. Even over the Comms my voice got soft at the end. I was grateful that he didn't take offense at my statement, instead nodding in acknowledgement.
We busied ourselves setting up our bedrolls as the sky darkened further. Our section of the camp was by far the most haphazard, while the guards were a bit more organized. The Army, of course, had set up their area in perfect order, the bedrolls evenly spaced and lined up in neat rows. I wondered idly how many soldiers would be sleeping on a particularly pokey rock, just for the sake of that spacing.
why
A short while later the sergeant came by to inform us that the Army would be keeping watch, and we were free to sleep through the night. To all of our disappointment, Mason didn’t take him up on the offer. Or rather, he did – for the senior Delvers. The rest of us, he ordered to tag along after the poor sergeant and observe how the Army set their watch for the night before going to sleep.
I saw Keys glance over at his captain, who looked away from the soldiers she’d been apparently chatting with and nodded. Sighing, the sergeant led us on a tour of the Army perimeter, explaining where he’d posted his sentries and why. Honestly, I couldn’t focus on what he was saying as the fog of exhaustion was clouding my mind. I’d been ready to pass out the fight, and while the excitement had perked me up briefly, I was mentally asleep well before I actually slid into my bedroll and passed out.
I woke up once in the middle of the night, sweating, having just re-lived the ‘fight’ with the dwarven children. I remembered their bloody faces looking up sightlessly at the ceiling, their bodies collapsed across the floor and each other. I tried to calm my racing heart with some slow, deep breaths, reminding myself that they weren’t real people, just people-shaped dungeon monsters who wanted to kill us. I finally fell back asleep after tossing and turning for at least an hour.
The next morning, we were on our way shortly after eating a simple breakfast of rations and water. I was shocked when Mason went along with the Captain’s desire to move out just after first light. I’d been certain he was going to insist on training before we marched, so that Elin, Zaire, and I could use our full mana pools and then recover them while we walked.
Curious, I asked him about it and he explained that the Mayor of East Bank hadn’t been interested in sending town guards out to clear a dungeon. Apparently, Rivers had intimidated him into agreeing and Mason wanted to make sure the Mayor wasn’t going to retaliate against the guards for going along with it.
The march was long, hot, and uneventful. And dusty, since we were walking behind both the Army and the guards. Their boots kicked up seemingly every grain of dust from the road, and most of it somehow landed on us. At first, I used some mana to clean my armor occasionally, but then I realized it was my armor and baselayer that got cleaned. My exposed face, hands, and neck were still getting dustier by the mile, and I eventually gave up.
A few of the Army soldiers, including Captain Rivers, ran occasional scouting sweeps ahead of and to the sides of the party. With Hassan out there too, anything that might have tried to bother us was dead before we could even lay eyes on it. We made excellent time as a result despite the heat, drinking water regularly and stopping to refill our canteens mid-morning. Lunch was another quick stop, and then we were back on the road.