Through the translucent notification screen, Callum witnessed many goblin warriors charging at him; all gibbering with apparent excitement as they neared him. The notification window dissipated as Callum turned around ever so slowly.
"
The goblins were upon him right as he finally completed his turn back to the front, and just in time for him to see two clubs and a spear speeding towards him.
Callum contorted his body as he attempted to dodge the spear and tried to use his spear to knock the two clubs off target. The two clubs crashed into his spear and powered through his attempted block to land body shots on Callum.
Pain flared on his shoulder and arm as the clubs landed; the power of the blows was only partially blocked by his spear that was just a little too slow in responding to the goblins' attacks.
The spear grazed along his side as Callum was too slow in fully avoiding the strike; the spear wielding goblin managed to slightly adjust its attack in mid stab as the magically slowed farmer tried dodging to the side.
- 5 HP lost to
- 4 HP lost to
- 11 HP lost to
- 1 HP lost to
Callum winced as he registered the pain from the near simultaneous attacks. The actual damage was low, but he couldn't afford to take that much damage for long, and the poison would continue to stack.
His spear slashed out in order to counter attack the goblins, but his limbs seemed to be stuck in molasses. The two goblins in front of Callum were able to move out of his attack pathway, likely due to his slow speed and the goblin's new ability to coordinate.
Three more attacks landed on Callum as he withdrew his spear. Luckily, the skirmishers still hadn't found their aim as two arrows whizzed past Callum to clatter uselessly against the tunnel's walls.
Callum was better prepared to meet the next wave of attacks as he adjusted to the unfamiliarity of his new slower speed; only the spear wielder landed an attack as Callum fully blocked the other two attacks.
Unfortunately, the spear penetrated deeply into his thigh and the unexpected pain teamed up with the now three stacks of poison to drive Callum down to one knee.
- 22 HP lost to
- 3 HP lost to
- 4 HP lost to
The overconfident spear wielder failed to take into account that the combination of stepping into the attack, bringing Callum down to his knee, and his short spear all served to bring the goblin into easy grabbing range.
One startled goblin followed Callum up as he laboriously stood back up with a goblin spear still embedded in his leg. He might be slow, but a goblin in his grip couldn't dodge in any meaningful manner.
"You don't get to stab me you little green life sized booger!" Roared Callum as he launched the goblin into the air.
For one brief glorious second, the goblin was like a bird soaring through the heavens, before it violently collided with several other goblins who were too shocked by the sudden turn of events to evade the flying goblin!
Callum watched as four or five goblins tumbled to the ground in a mess of bodies, flailing limbs, and weapons. For a little bit, Callum had a little more time to work with; time that he used to cast another
Facing towards the goblins once more, Callum launched his spear into the pile of goblins. His lack of skill didn't cause him to miss such a large pile of goblins from this short of a range, even if he didn't hit the one he aimed for.
He pulled out the goblin spear as quickly as his magically slowed limbs could, and he tied a bandage on his leg wound just as fast; he had earlier attached some of his bandages to his belt for just such a purpose.
Distracted by the chaos of battle, Callum only noticed the Witch Doctor's next attack just before four more bolts slammed into his body. The unexpected bolts arrived too abruptly for Callum to even think of dodging.
- 20 HP lost to
'Note, you have been Drained. -5% stamina regeneration for the next :05:26'
- 21 HP lost to
'Note, you have been Drained. -10% stamina regeneration for the next :05:27'
- 20 HP lost to
'Note, you have been Drained. -15% stamina regeneration for the next :05:28'
- 18 HP lost to
'Note, you have been Drained. -20% stamina regeneration for the next :05:29'
- 22 HP lost to
Callum stumbled back under the onslaught of the four magical bolts and the first successful attack from the ranged goblins. He finally turned off the notifications again as even the partially transparent screens interfered with the battle.
He had lost almost half his health in just a few short seconds of the renewed battle. He needed to take his next opportunity to flee before his life ended.
By now, the goblins had sorted themselves out and started to advance on him again; it was too late to fall back now, and he needed to buy a little bit more time for the fire to spread. The goblins reached just outside of attack range.
The leading goblins paused for just an instant before they launched their attacks in concert with each other; spear, club, and knife all raced forward in a coordinated attack upon Callum. Callum didn't even try to block this series of attacks.
He managed to once more grab the nearest goblin as all three attacks struck his body. A second goblin was introduced to the joys of flight as Callum made his superior size and strength work in his favor.
"Arrgh! You're not supposed to be hitting me this hard!"
The front ranks of the goblin force were sent into disarray as the flying goblin's momentum took them down to the ground. Callum picked out the Witch Doctor's chanting voice as it neared a peak; indicating a new attack would soon follow.
Callum turned around as quickly as he could and started running towards the dungeon's exit. The fire was the only obstacle in his path as he slowly built up speed in order to jump clear of it and continue running.
Callum was worried that the goblins would continue to chase him as the fire was much smaller than previous fires due to how fast the Witch Doctor had changed the nature of the fight; he couldn't wait any longer for it to build up.
Callum was suddenly struck by something strong enough to send him sprawling into the ground, and a smaller flare of pain soon spread across his left hip as he tumbled to the ground.
He pulled up his notifications once more and he scrambled back to his feet.
- 77 HP lost to
- 18 HP lost to
Callum didn't glance back as he continued to flee towards safety, he just hoped the fire would stall them long enough for him to make good his escape; he was bleeding and poisoned and his health was continuing to evaporate.
Callum Murray | Lvl 19 Human Farmer (XP: 69%)
HP:(187/600) Stamina:(238/480) Mana:(81/100)
ST:60 | Con:60 | Dex:20 | Int:10 | Will:10 | Cha:12 | Luck:16