Callum paused in order to try and study the goblins. Unfortunately, his sneak skill was not equal to the task. One of the goblins quickly spotted him and started yelling its little green head off. The other three charged at him.
Callum quickly fell further back into the tunnel where it was slightly narrower. There, he hoped to limit how many goblins could attack him at any one time. Individually, goblins were weak, but he could get swarmed if he wasn't careful.
As he quickly ran back to the chokepoint, he took the time to pour some poison onto his hatchet and spear. He'd have added the poison to the knife, but the first goblin was upon him.
At least he was in the chokepoint where the goblins quickly crowded each other in the tight space. The attacking goblins were often thrown off by others trying to squeeze into the narrow space in front of Callum.
Callum effortlessly kept the goblins at bay with his spear; he alternated between stabbing at the goblins and sweeping them back with the shaft of his spear. He easily stabbed the hampered goblins as they jostled each other.
Physics soon taught the goblins a hard lesson. Goblin Warriors were small in stature, rarely topping 3.5 ft (107cm), and Callum had a high strength stat. As a result, goblins were regularly sent flying with each sweep of the spear.
Callum would oftentimes advance to
He planned to whittle the goblins down slow and steady while he conserved his health and stamina as best he could. Each attack was calculated to either down a goblin, give himself space, or
He used
Callum heard horror stories about how tough goblins were to fight. Which was part of the reason why he had been so cautious, but Callum was beginning to think those adventurers had been hamming it up.
His careful style soon netted him his first kill and the other goblins were steadily losing health. A second goblin was soon finished off. Just as Callum was about to congratulate himself on his battle plan, he noticed that he still had four goblins before him!
"Oh, I must've missed a couple from the cavern, no worries, goblins are too easy!"
Callum looked up after killing his fourth goblin only to see another six goblins before him. There were eight goblins in the tunnel by the time he had killed the fifth one and Callum started to lose his arrogance by the time twelve goblins were in the tunnel with him.
But he still had most of his health and stamina, so he just thought it would take a little bit longer to clear up all the goblins. By this point, the goblin bodies were starting to pile up; they quickly became a tripping hazard to both sides.
Callum had a harder time knocking the goblins down because they were packed so close together. And the goblins would quickly swarm over any he did down, which prevented him from picking up any more easy kills.
Physics and Callum's strength were still allowing the lone warrior to hold back the goblins, but the stamina he used for each goblin kill steadily increased. And more and more, he was pushing the goblins down just to buy some space.
By this point, Callum couldn't tell how many goblins there were. The tunnel took a slight bend and he couldn't see beyond that point. But he estimated that at least 20 goblins were visible and he could hear others beyond the curve.
Callum was really starting to worry. He didn't have the stamina to fight all of the goblins he could see, let alone the ones he couldn't. He silently apologized to the very adventurers he had looked down upon just a couple of minutes ago.
And this was when his health started to plummet. The goblins had very weak weapons and they didn't have the stats either. But, they did have numbers and their infamous poison. Callum often had multiple stacks of poison raging in his body.
Callum Murray | Lvl 19 Human Farmer (XP: 69%)
HP:(445/600) Stamina:(283/480) Mana:(68/100)
ST:60 | Con:60 | Dex:20 | Int:10 | Will:10 | Cha:12 | Luck:16
The next couple of times he pushed goblins back, he withdrew some of the firewood he had in the bag. He'd throw the firewood behind him as quickly as he could. Luckily, he hadn't used his prepared firewood at lunch and had plenty to toss.
Doing this distracted him and cost him additional health. But he needed to initiate his escape plan before it was too late. His need to leave was soon reinforced by the first arrow that went whizzing past his head.
Just before the tunnel bent, a couple of goblins were trying to balance another on their shoulders. Goblins were weaker monsters, so they struggled to hold the skirmisher steady.
Goblin Skirmisher (M) (Lvl 18)
HP:(120/120)
Callum didn't know if the goblin's unsteady perch contributed to its bad aim. Or if it was just a bad shot. Either way, he dearly hoped it would also affect the second skirmisher which was trying to climb up into a similar shooting position.
He used
He spotted an imposing goblin with fancy headgear as he finally finished his preparations. A veritable wall of flames was now behind him. The dry logs had quickly been engulfed in flames while he held back the goblin horde.
"Time for me to leave gobbos. Rot in hell!" Shouted Callum.
He gave one last mighty heave, dropped a
Callum Murray | Lvl 19 Human Farmer (XP: 69%)
HP:(145/600) Stamina:(131/480) Mana:(49/100)
ST:60 | Con:60 | Dex:20 | Int:10 | Will:10 | Cha:12 | Luck:16
He winced as he saw how low his various stats were getting. He poured on the speed as he listened for any signs of pursuit. He had overstayed his welcome and needed to get out while he still could.
He was hoping that the jump he easily made would stymie the shorter goblins! Because dungeon creatures would often chase after intruders, even once they left the dungeon. Many forgetful adventurers had met their doom in such a manner!
Callum needed a head start once he cleared the dungeon. Dungeon creatures would often lose interest if their target had enough of a lead or preferably was out of sight. Luckily, Callum knew there was a nearby treeline to hide in.
As he ran, Callum reflected on how quickly he had adjusted to the stinging pain of the goblin's poison. He could feel multiple stacks working through his system, but it barely phased him now.
Callum didn't stop running after he cleared the dungeon. He continued to run after he hit the treeline. Callum finally slowed down to a fast walk once his stamina was threatening to bottom out.
He definitely did not want to stick around to see if the goblins had been able to clear the fire or if they exited the dungeon. He couldn't fight that many goblins and he needed a new plan if he was to deal with them.
Callum thought on the recent battle as he continued to slowly regenerate all his stats. He was sure that he had killed 10-12 goblins. But he suspected that even killing 30 wouldn't have made much of a difference.
Callum tried to think of what else he could do as he summited the hill to his cave. The quest would reward him with bonus experience. He just needed to find a way to farm that experience, which he resolved to do.
After all, he was a farmer.