Well it was more like there were multiple somethings approaching me. There were tens of them, more than I could deal with at one time.
I narrowed my eyes, the mana that flooded my veins once again reinforcing them with its power. Yet it wouldn't last for long. Not with the amount I had.
Already I could feel the drain. Even just the previous fight had taken up more than eighty percent of my reserves.
Right now, even with the time that I had to regenerate a part of my reserves, I only had a measly twenty-five percent left. Not enough to combat all of these… Goblins?
All around me, threatening in their presence were what I had assumed to be goblins but were they.
It did not look like it, or at least at first glance. The red skin that seemed almost leathery like a demon in consistency. Even their posture. It all told of another species but when I looked even closer I saw more and more things that just didn't add up.
For one they all had the same general statute and structure of a goblin. Then there were the weapons they used.
They looked and felt exactly like the ones that I had seen used against me.
It was confusing. Yet I did not have much time to contemplate on that. They would not let me.
An object was thrown at me. It shone in the sun with a vicious glint.
'A test… of power or of capability. Both probably'
My hand reached to my side, a tight grip on the handle of my sword.
With a burst of speed I dashed to the side.
They didn't seem surprised at all in fact they seemed like they were expecting this exact action.
"Tch" I clicked my tongue. The ringing of steel echoed through my ears.
A small parrying dagger. It had caught my sword in its handle.
A push forward and the dagger was right in front of my eyes.
I had a choice. To abandon my sword or to try and save it.
I took the most obvious one. With a loosening of my grip the sword fell.
However this had consequences. The immense pressure that the dagger needed in order to pierce through my defense burst through.
Faster than I could perceive the dagger reached in front of me. Before even the sword could fall to the ground.
I was lucky that I had prepared. My knees fell to the ground in a crouch. Above me was the sword that I had let go of. It had barely fallen even a couple feet before I grabbed it again.
With as much strength as I could I thrust upwards. A roar reverberated through the plains as blood splattered over both my sword and hair.
Beside me an arm fell to the ground. So in shock was the goblin that it had not done anything more. Instead it stood still.
"Heh" I laughed out loud. I twisted my wrist and with it the edge of the blade. Another pull of my arm and the head of the goblin was lobbed off.
I took a breath, yet I was not able to rest. I could feel it in the ground. The rumbling of feet as they came ever closer to me.
In just seconds they would be in striking range. Not enough time for me to take the rune from the chest of the goblin. I had thought that if it was a mana rune like the other goblins had then maybe I would have been able to recover some of my lost mana but that was not going to happen.
Instead I just sighed, my other hand raising to the hilt of the sword. I took a deep breath before I charged forth.
Unsurprised by my sudden movement they just threw more and more objects at me. Whether it be daggers, needles, or just plain rocks.
I dodged most of them, their trajectories plain to see in my eyes. However I was not able to dodge all of them.
A rock here, a dagger there, I made sure to avoid the needles as they were the ones I was the most wary of. Most of the daggers I saw had no poison or substances but the needles were too small to see.
It was why even if I could have dodged most of the projectiles that I took hits from the rocks and daggers as I knew that I could manipulate them into non-lethal areas. However the needles, regardless of their placement, could be fatal if they were spiked with the right stuff.
CLANG
My sword was raised, the clanging of metal ringing in my ear once again. One of the goblins had reached me before I had. The dagger in its hands overtaking my strength. The only thing keeping it from piercing my body was the very guard of the sword.
"Hu-" I exclaimed, feeling a sensation on my back. I had been stabbed, the dagger in question piercing my back.
It hurt, it hurt a lot. Enough to take my concentration. Something that the one I was locked in place with took advantage of. It manipulated my sword to the ground before punching me in the face.
I fell to the ground. The dagger in my back fully pierced my back.
"Shit…" I could feel the laughing gazes coming from them. No matter how faint it was I could still feel it.
I tried to move my arms, my legs, even just my torso. Yet nothing was moving. I had to just watch as they approached closer and closer to me. They looked so arrogant. As if this was just the final conclusion to them.
As if that initial kill had been just a sacrificial lamb to them. Was it? Was he just used to boost my confidence. To make me more reckless.
'Heh' if it was then it was right, it did make me more reckless. I thought that I could have fought them off. Shows what I knew.