To Faruth's surprise, the Hobgoblin didn't let out another roar as they were face to face. Instead, the monster simply let out a guttural growl before a deep red colour soaked into its eyes.
The air around it seemed to shift in fear as it let out long breaths one after another, each one causing the surroundings to heat up further. As a purple miasma creeped up the horn central on his head, Faruth knew that something had changed within the creature.
__________________________________________________________
[[Name: Fulbash]]
[[Age: 12]] [[Level: 16]]
[[Race: Hobgoblin]] [[Title: Enraged Berserker]]
[[Job: Warrior]] [[Affiliation: None]]
[[EXP: ???/???]]
[[Status: Berserk]]
------------------------------
[[HP: 4800/9500]] [[MP: 128]]
[[Stamina: 1680]]
------------------------------
[[Strength: 92(112)]] [[Endurance: 80(100)]]
[[Vitality: 75(95)]] [[Agility: 23(15)]]
[[Intelligence: 18]] [[Wisdom: 7(0)]]
[[Charisma: 0]] [[Luck: 1]]
------------------------------
[[Skills:]]
[[Active:]]
[Strong Blow lvl.6]
[Bash lvl.4]
[Pound lvl.2]
------------------------------
[[Passive:]]
[Herculean Strength lvl.1(2)]
[Leader lvl.4]
[Warchief's Aura lvl.2(5)]
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Faruth looked on with a mixed expression. The Hobgoblin's monstrous Stats had been increased even further. Strength, Endurance and Vitality had all been increased by 20 points! However, this change in status also gave Faruth more weaknesses to exploit.
His Agility and Stamina had been lowered substantially, meaning that Faruth could almost run circles around him. His already low Wisdom Stat had been lowered to 0, meaning that plans against him would be even easier to execute.
But of course, the enraged beast wouldn't give him any time to think of these plans. Instead, he threw himself forward towards the Gnoll with his fists swinging wildly.
Faruth dodged into the campsite clearing by a hairs breadth, literally. The Hobgoblin's first blow scraped past his arm and straight into the tree behind him, shattering it instantly. He knew that if he took even a single one of those blows, he would end up the same.
The Hobgoblin wouldn't give him any time to react, swinging his fist heavily towards the dodging Beastman again.
The wind pressure created by his fist was enough to cause cuts along the body of the Gnoll, threatening to blow him straight into the pile of still burning debris.
Faruth dodged under the blow, the sharp winds slicing off his black fur. Using the momentum of his dodge, he spun backwards whilst using the skill [Slash] to drive his sword into the defenceless stomach of the monster. A silver hue resonated down the blade of his sword as if threatening to jump at his enemies.
Metal and muscle collided, resulting in Faruth's sword slightly slicing through the muscle of his opponent, leaving nothing but a small wound on his abdomen. This served to make the Hobgoblin even angrier as he let out another roar before shooting his leg out towards the Gnoll, causing him to force himself backwards, losing his footing in the process.
Faruth steadied himself from being sent back further by digging his feet into the ground at an angle, scraping out a line of dirt along the way. This exchange led to the duo facing each other once again. Each of them had minor cuts along their bodies, though Fulbash had gotten the worst of it so far.
__________________________________________________________
[[Name: Fulbash]]
[[HP: 4650/9500]]
[[Status: Berserk]]
[[Status: Minor Bleeding x 1]]
__________________________________________________________
Faruth had come out clearly on top during this exchange, the abrasions he received from the wind pressure only shaving off 12 HP, whereas his opponent had been reduced by 150, along with the [[Minor Bleeding]] status effect, which shaved off 10 HP per second for 20 seconds.
Without becoming complacent, Faruth returned to look at his opponent, only to see a similar glow to his own skill surrounding the Hobgoblin's fist. Only, this glow was distinctly different. It gave off a sinister atmosphere as it radiated with a similar demonic miasma to the one currently surrounding his horn.
Without any warning, Fulbash leapt into the air and recoiled his fist to his side. Faruth knew this situation was bad. Without any time to spare, he immediately jumped back into the forest beside him, rolling as he landed.
Fulbash's fist made contact with the ground, cracking it in the shape of a spiders web. Both shards of rock and dirt flew into the surroundings, creating a storm of sharp stone hidden by a cloud of rising dust.
Even as he was rolling away, Faruth still felt the impact of the Hobgoblin's blow shake him to his core, causing him to cough out dregs of blood and phlegm. Along with this, from the impact on the ground, a piece of stone had embedded itself straight into his upper arm.
Luckily, it wasn't his sword arm but he still wouldn't be able to use his left effectively, unless it was pulled out. But he couldn't at the moment. He couldn't risk using that much blood in the middle of a fierce fight. If he became numb during a clash, it would surely mean his end!
Thinking back to the time before the fight, he remembered selecting his class, the joy that he had felt and the rewards that he had received...
The rewards! Dashing further into the forest, he placed out his hands at his side again before the dark vortex appeared in his left hand. Gritting his teeth and dealing with the pain, he reached his empty sword hand into the black hole, replacing the sword with a single bandage.
__________________________________________________________
[[Name: Nature's Wrapping]]
[[Rank: Uncommon]]
[[Description: A fibrous substance that can serve as a bandage]]
[[Effects: Stops Minor Bleeding x 1]]
[[Effects: Stops Bleeding x 1]]
__________________________________________________________
He shivered at the thought of what he was about to do, before the ever so familiar feeling of the blessing washed over him. He slowly placed the bandage onto the ground beside him and his hand onto the shard of stone.