As the whole showdown unfolded, the Bone Boar, Red Rage had his fair share of troubles to deal with. When he had advanced to attack the remaining goblins after using [Flash Throw], he had seen one of them run towards the goblin settlement.
Since his master had decided that luring more goblins for them to slaughter and kill was the best course of action, he didn't choose to pursue.
He faced four goblins that held swords, daggers and one that had a bow.
Fearlessly, he charged, a rusty dagger in his hand.
Three of the goblins had eyes on him. They had seen his master's appearance and had been rattled greatly, but they decisively drew their weapons against Red Rage anyway.
One of them was shaken rather critically though, barely being able to hold its sword.
The tales of the cruelty of undead had not escaped its ears and it had also wanted to bail on the fight and rush to the safety of the settlement, but having already drawn its weapon and standing with its brethren, it was too late for that.
These three did not join Aikil to battle against the tall undead that looked more intimidating than the current opponent, seemingly having confidence in the Aikil's ability to fend for himself - and having less of a hanging pair to be as brave as him.
When Red Rage had seen a burst of light, with the product of it being his master's side getting obliterated, he had moved to act but the three goblins spread out, rushing to intercept.
The one goblin which was terrified advanced slower than the others that rushed with a sturdier resolve.
One of the goblins attacked from the left, swinging its sword with a quick flash as it hoped to swipe Red Rage's head off, but the boar ducked down and leapt to the side, avoiding another attack by goblin from the right, which had struck downwards with its sword!
Red Rage rolled on the ground and sped forward towards the goblin who had attacked first.
"Argh! It's too nimble!" one of the goblins yelled with an ugly expression of irritation.
"We have to keep it in place!" the other goblin cried.
The goblin who was targeted by Red Rage immediately adjusted his stance in preparation for the incoming attack while the goblin who had attacked Red Rage second moved in to attack again.
As Red Rage approached, he suddenly changed his course, heading for the goblin who was approaching him!
...!
The two goblins were baffled by the bone boar's sudden shift!
Its movement was so swift that it caught the goblin who was advancing towards it off guard!
Wasn't this supposed to just be a low-level undead?
What was that movement?
[Swift Stab had been activated]
Red Rage used the confusion between the goblins to use the first skill he had acquired just recently.
With a fluid piercing motion with his hand, the dagger he held closed the distance and found its way into the goblin's belly!
"Arghh!" the goblin screamed.
The other goblin ran to assist, but what it saw next turned it to ice, freezing all its bravery as well.
Red Rage turned the dagger as it stuck within the goblin he had just stabbed, and sliced upwards with a firm grip!
The sound of tearing flesh was heard and the goblin which was being subjected to this torture screeched as blood and guts threatened to spill from its abdomen!
FSSH!
Right then, an arrow with a soft light of mana whizzed through the air and sniped Red Rage!
The Bone Boar was pushed a short distance and fell, the wooden arrow with a metal head having lodged itself through his socket!
~~~
[ Health : 7/30 ]
~~~
With that one arrow, Red Rage had been dealt a great deal of damage.
Luckily, since he had levelled up, he had gained an ample amount of stats. As Mana corresponded to Intelligence, Strength corresponded to Health for him and Skullius, which made their Health and Mana increase by ten with each level!
The goblin archer had turned to assist his three other fellow goblins when he heard the wails of pain.
At this moment, Skullius had thrown away the broken sword and was about to use the skill that had saved him once before when he suddenly received notifications from his guidance field.
[Apostle 'Red Rage' has killed LV10 Foul Goblin. 290 Exp awarded]
[Your prey emits the Essence of Null Life. Would you like to extract? Remaining time 59 seconds]
Skullius looked over and saw Red Rage trying to stand with an arrow lodged into his socket and protruding from the other end!
His socket flames flickered with a bright blue flame as his rage surfaced!
"You socket holes dare to try and kill my first Apostle right in front of me?!" he yelled, his words being heard in the goblin tongue by Aikil and his brethren!
They were shaken.
"What?! How can it speak in our tongue?!" Aikil exclaimed.
He held his sword tight, his beady, black eyes showing a growing apprehension.
The other goblins turned towards Skullius with confused expressions on their faces, the contents of Skullius' words being ignored as they focused on the fact that he had spoken in their tongue!
Skullius had decisively set to use the skill he was about to use, but it couldn't be said that he was going to do it without feeling frustrated.
He had just accumulated some gains, only to use them all right away before they could reach the optimum amount.
However, since was for his and Red Rage's survival, he had no choice.
Asides from that, he had been triggered by the fact that his Apostle was harmed by a group of socketholes ganging up on him.
These lowly goblins daring to commit such an atrocious act was unforgivable.
Only he, the Unlucky one, was allowed to do the exact same thing to them and their kin!
Skullius did not hesitate or feel that it was a waste any longer. Fury was answer enough right now.
~~~
[ Unbound
Using Null Life Essence, grant upgrades to any stat, skill or weapon.
-More info accessible-
Mana Requirements: None.
Duration: 5 minutes (minumum)
Cooldown: 1 hour.
~~~
Skullius had read through the additional information offered by the skill when he and Red Rage had been travelling. He understood how insane the other functions of this skill was and immediately chose to use one of them.
[What would you like to upgrade with Unbound?]
"My weapon," Skullius said as his sockets still flickered with a bright flame that made Aikil take a step back.
[100 Null Life Essence expended for Random Upgrade]
[Random Upgrade decided]
The dagger that Skullius held suddenly burst with light blue flames that exuded no presence at all.
"Hehehehe!" Skillius laughed as he saw the process, having full belief that what was about to emerge would definitely be better than the dagger he was using.
The goblins saw the bright light from the flame and grew afraid.
What was this flame?
What was this undead doing?
As Skullius held onto the dagger, it changed shape while being enveloped by the flame, the rusty blade growing longer and straight, the rough hilt getting a new texture and design!
The process for the change barely took five seconds, the new weapon being revealed to Skullius and the goblins around!
A red-bladed, double-edged sword with a black edges.
Its hilt was black and the guard had the immaculate design of a shape that Skullius did not quite recognise, but he had seen it before.
It was shaped in a way that brought a raging sensation in his memory, something trying to surface from his mind but to no avail.
As if it was something essential!
As if it was something sacred!
The sword's blade glistened and notifications appeared before Skullius' sockets.
[Random Upgrade Complete]
[Your weapon 'Rusty Dagger' has been upgraded to 'Grand Sword of the Hedonist']