I was held hostage by time. I really wanted to pack the cart with food and go hunting to check my new skills. Orcs seemed like worthy opponents. I also wanted to check what is hiding in the rats' nest and look for wolfs lair if there was one. It all required at least a few days, but I needed to talk with Blue soon. This couldn't wait.
If we were really gonna get rid of him, I couldn't allow myself to stroll around. There was a chance to do it with minimal damage, and I just had to at least try.
I had this gut feeling he already knew, and there is no way to remove him without waging a war. If I was thinking that, Blitzkrieg also had to. Then why the hell was he doing all of this theater? Was he scheming?
I took a deep breath to calm myself and tried to focus on something else. I grabbed my stuff and went outside, to get the cart, and head to the center of the city. It was early, but other hunters were already on their way. I exchanged a few greetings with people I knew on the way.
Trying to not think of my problems made me realize how we were slowly changing this city. The closer to the center, the more and more buildings were renovated. Used for living purposes, some kind of entertainment, or something entirely else. Those were changes I could never imagine two hundred days ago.
-Wow... It's been over half a year - I whispered to myself.
The city around the device was busy. Many souls were doing many things. I parked the cart close to Wuxia buildings and went for a bit of a stroll. I wanted to find Will, and have a little talk with him, but he was nowhere to be seen. So, in the end, I returned to grab the cart, get some provisions, and torches. Then I headed to the goblin cave.
I didn't encounter anything on my way, which made me think somebody is already there. No guards at the entrance below made me sure of it, but I went down anyway. It could be an opportunity to at least earn a class point.
In the tunnel, I could clearly hear the echo of an ongoing fight. It was pitch black, so my hearing actually got better, probably because my brain focused so heavily on it. There were no screams of unbearable pain, no calls for a retreat, so I took it easy and walked at a normal pace staying close to the walls to not bump into anything. Ears were leading me in the correct direction. Took me few minutes to arrive at the scene of the battle.
It was Wuxia members led by Williams. They left lanterns on both sides of the tunnel to get it lighted up. There were also few people holding up torches. Falanga formation with a heavy shield and swords kept the goblins ad bay and killed those who dared to approach them. Then there was also a group of spearmen, who dug deeper into enemy lines. They were pushing deeper and deeper. Goblins couldn't do anything. They tried arrows or frontal attacks, but both were of no use.
It was a devastating show of power and discipline. Something I wasn't actually expecting to see. It was kinda entertaining, so I just sat at the edge of the cart, and watched. A few minutes later I was noticed, and they informed Williams, who actually approached me.
- Peter... What are you doing here?
- Well... I noticed that somebody is there, and went to check if they don't need any help. I was also planning to tell them that they will die if they go behind a metal door, but since it's you, there is clearly no need for all of that. By the way, a nice display of discipline. It's kinda entertaining to watch you fight.
- Thanks. We are doing fine, so there is no need for your help. And also we are not going to the boss. It seems not worth it. So you don't need to worry.
I shrug.
- If you are not gonna kill him, then maybe I can? What do you think?
- Why do you want to fight him? He almost killed you last time - Williams seemed more curious than surprised.
- It's good training. I know you think I'm giving you some bullshit, but it's actually true. I want to go hunting orcs soon. I don't know if you had the pleasure, but their reach is far longer than goblins, and they are way stronger than them. Still not as strong as this one - I pointed deeper into the tunnel. - But there is more of them. So that's the best practice I can get. And last time ended like that because I had to save one of your men.
He shook his head.
- You are crazy.
It made me believe he bought my lies.
- So, can I have the boss?
- Sure.
With that, he returned to his men. They actually didn't need him and were advancing on their own.
After pushing it to the door, they split up into two groups. One went inside, and the other protected the entrance. Few goblins slipped thru and charged at me, but there was only death they could find by approaching me.
This short fight made me realize the difference the class upgrades made to my skills. It was terrific. Incredible. So much power, elegance, and precision in each swing. They had no chances.
After finishing them off, I picked up the crystals and threw them on the cart. Then waited for Wuxia to finish. The whole process of them cleaning up the rooms repeated few times until they finally approached the metal door.
Williams turned around and came to me.
- All yours. We are done here.
- You gave me a nice show, how about I give you one too? Crystals are yours. I just want to fight.
- What about those - he pointed at the few stones lying on the cart.
- Take them if you want. They came to me, so I killed them, and picked up what was left.
- You really don't care bout the crystals?
- Orcs have them plenty, so I will get what's mine.
His facial expression told me he wasn't convinced. But in the end, he agreed. Maybe to give his men some kind of entertainment to keep up good morale, or just to show them how good they can become if they keep up following the orders. Maybe he was just wanting to find out what I really wanted from the goblin boss, or maybe there was some entirely different purpose I wasn't seeing.
In the end what mattered was that I got inside along his men, and the boss was there. Wuxia rushed at the weaklings, and I clashed with the leader.
His overwhelming barrage of hits this time wasn't as overwhelming as I remembered. I saw cracks, little openings I could easily use, but just didnt because I wasn't expecting them. A few first moments were kinda confusing to me. Even though my body reacted on its own, and I parried everything he was throwing at me.
I could even take a peek at others and their faces. Amazed by this display of raw power and inhuman speed.
In the end, it was not something I ever wanted or cared for, so I didn't look for long. Instead, I focused on the enemy and pushed my pudao in one of the cracks appearing here and there. A quick twist of the wrist and a sharp move of hand allowed me to send one of the shortswords flying. The rest was just formality. The other weapon landed on the floor alongside his arm. I cut off a nice piece, all the way up the elbow. Then finished by decapitating him.
- I think I did better than the last time - I said turning to Williams.
He was impressed but quickly hid it.
- Yeah. Definitely.
- Well, that's all from me. It was fun guys. Maybe we will repeat it at some time.
With those words, I left. I made Williams suspicious enough to not repeat this probably ever. Now there was a risk of him also trying to kill the boss, and discovering class points. But something like that was destined to happen sooner or later. I needed to grab whatever I could now, before the war.
I returned to the city almost empty-handed. I still had three wolf crystals from the day before, but for good measure, I also killed four goblins on my way back. I paid the tax of three and sold the rest for 850 points. Bought some food, and, what's more important, unlocked another class.
It took me a moment to decide which one. With the upcoming war, there was plenty of skills that could be useful for me. The ability to produce fire, hide or put up a barrier was especially tempting.
It was a tough decision to make. I kept hesitating and checked everything twice, which was a good thing because it allowed me to find something new, and also realize another thing. There was a class that I didn't see before. Crusader. It was a combination of both Hospitaler, and Fighter classes I unlocked. Second thing was that I actually could buy a class for a second time. Probably even more. So there was a system of combining classes and unlocking new things.
In the end, I chose the barrier maker class. I got few skills unlocked like "Create barrier", "Mana", "Barrier strengthening", "Berrier breaking", "Sealing", "Seal strengthening". Every single one costed 1k points, so I bought them all. Mana was just the same as life force energy from what I could see. Hundred points of it. After quick glance at the statistic, I headed back to test new skills.
In my home, I put a barrier on the door and tried to open it. It didn't budge at first, but when I put some more force into it, the barrier broke. Still, it could be something useful if I put enough points into it.
Day ended with 63 592 points on my account.