Each of their lives were hinged on this so they could not allow themselves to lose focus. One miss step, one distracted second could lead to death.
Only Sammi was left on the ground still stunned at what was happening, her earlier adrenaline rush had completely dissipated. Her brain had genuinely stopped working. Too many things happened for her to process everything. The visual information was coming in but it was not being engraved into her mind.
And so the timer ticked down.
[ Time Remaining ( 3 seconds ) ]
[ Time Remaining ( 2 seconds ) ]
[ Time Remaining ( 1 seconds ) ]
[ Wave 1 ( In Progress ) ] [ Time Remaining ( 360 seconds ) ]
The Task had begun. It was time for the three teenagers to face the monsters of this trial.
In front of Kai something started to form a few feet away. Two ethereal figures were beginning to materialize. They were short, only standing at about 3 and a half feet tall (106.68 cm), which barely reached Kai's elbows.
With each passing second their forms began solidifying, and in only a few seconds they came into being. In terms of overall appearance, they were uncannily similar to how games and novels depicted goblins.
However, there were two major differences, their skin and forearms. In traditional depictions of these low level monsters, they had green skin. The one's appearing before them were purple as if they were filled with some sort of toxin or poison.
Notably the color of purple deepened towards their forearms. In fact their fingertips and claws had such a deep shade that it could be considered pitch black if not for the rest of their body. Speaking of their forearms, they were thick, thicker than their legs by a good margin. They were comically large like a gorilla's. Yet it only signified that they were strong.
Kai's memories of all the fantasy media he had consumed over the years rushed to the forefront of his mind. What did the color purple signify in those games and novels?
'Could it be…'
If his hunch was right, getting punctured or scraped by the goblins claws would most likely cause them to be poisoned. He could not allow that to happen.
As such, without another second of delay he shouted, "Don't let them hit you with their claws! They might be poiso…"
"SKREEEEEE!!!"
He was cut off by a purple goblin's shriek. The two monsters in front of him had fully materialized and were already lunging at him with terrifying momentum. They were not giving him any time to react much less think.
It seemed like they were accustomed to ambushes. Having seen that there was no cover for them to hide in, attacking first was their best option. They could not let their opponents prepare and have the advantage.
Thankfully Kai had been fully focused on the goblins. He was prepared for their initial attack. Through his careful observation, he was able to anticipate their trajectory and where they would land. He side-stepped to his right, twisting his body to face their sides.
Taking the opportunity while they were still airborne to swing the one legged stand at their unguarded head, Kai aimed to kill. Despite his slightly unstable posture, he was able to put his weight into the attack, generating enough force to injure them. He felt a short sting of pain in his injured side but chose to ignore it.
The two goblins were sent tumbling 10 or so feet away. They were carried by the momentum of their lunges. Kai's attack only changed their trajectory. One had its torso collapsed, severely incapacitating it, while the other crashed into the ground head first in a dazed state.
It was obvious that they didn't weigh all that much. Still Kai's arms were shaking from the recoil of the impact. Evidently, these "weak goblins" were not as frail as games made them seem.
'Fuck! Aren't goblins supposed to be the weakest mobs?! Why are their skin so tough?'
While Kai inwardly screamed, he started rushing towards the injured goblin, but in his peripheral vision he spotted two purple streaks. Another pair of purple monstrosities had lunged at Sammi who was still prone on the ground.
In that compromising position Sammi would not be able to dodge.
'Shit!'
Kai halted his steps and shot towards them. Thankfully he had not moved much and could close the distance in almost no time. Using his momentum, he shoulder tackled them into the ground. Now all three had fallen prone.
All of this happened in the matter of 5 seconds. At the same time this happened, Sia had also taken action.
As the two ethereal figures were materializing, Sia put her sole focus on them. Her surroundings became blurry, all noise became mute as she concentrated her vision on the enemies. She was able to catch the slightest change, any sort of fluctuation in their state of being.
Unlike Kai who waited for the monsters to attack first and then counter attack, Sia much preferred to take the initiative. When she noticed the monsters were slowly materializing in front of her, she began to gather momentum by swinging her purse in a circular motion above her head.
'Okay… NOW!'
Then as soon as the goblins were about to be solidified, Sia launched the purse at their heads, the strap still held in hand. She planned to take them both out at the same time.
Yet she could not predict what would happen next. Never in her wildest of dreams would she have imagined that the purse would pass right through the first goblin's head. Then as it entered the head, the goblin fully materialized. Essentially the goblin's head had fused with the purse.