As Jason was beginning his fight he could see out of the corner of his eye that his father was doing the same. Though that was the last glimpse he got as he was attacked by one of the elite goblins. It stood taller than Jason and looked chilling. It attacked with its sword and Jason quickly rose his sword to block the attack. Though this goblin was not much better with the sword than the ones he had defeated before it was much stronger and faster. As his sword blocked the goblin's blow he was pushed back by its strength.
It was then that the two other Goblins attacked. Jason was able to avoid one of the blows completely. However, he wasn't able to completely avoid the third. For the first time, Jason felt the hot blood flow down his side where he had been cut. It wasn't deep and he surprisingly didn't feel a great deal of pain. Nonetheless, it was enough to throw Jason off. The true consequences of losing properly dawned on Jason. He had never truly faced his death before and it was terrifying. But he did not buckle under the pressure. Instead, it only focused him more on what he needed to do. The hours of training meant that, despite his shaky mental state, he was still able to keep up his fighting stance.
The first Goblin once again attacked but this time rather than trying to take the blow head-on as he had before, he used his opponent's momentum against it. He parried the slash to the side and threw the Goblin off balance. Before he could take advantage the other two attacked again. This time Jason was able to dodge them both as he was in a better position. The goblins used their swords as an extension of their brute strength rather than the proper weapons they were, but they had the superior strength to do so.
Jason was frustrated. 'How do I defeat them while surrounded like this.' He thought to himself. They were stronger than Jason, all he had was his superior ability with the sword. At this rate, he would be slowly whittled down. Jason figured there was only a single choice. Take one out even if he risked being harmed by the others.
Jason picked his target and attacked, the first goblin was expecting an attack but it wasn't the first goblin that Jason was after. The two goblins that had flanked Round were standing further away so that they could keep Jason encircled. Jason rushed to one of these goblins. It was caught a little in surprise and swung its sword out in a wide arc. Jason nimbly rolled to the side before striking at its legs. The creature fell to the floor. It wasn't dead but it was incapacitated for the moment.
The other two spared no time to attack Jason. He couldn't do a great deal with his back to them and one of them managed to scratch along the length of his back. Once again Jason felt the feeling of warm liquid mixing with his sweat. Jason gave out a small exhale of breath as he was cut, but he was soon back in his fighting stance facing the two remaining goblins.
This time it was Jason's turn to attack the first Goblin. He feinted to the left before attacking to its right using his [Blistering Slash] skill. It fully cut off the goblin's arm and with it, the creature's sword fell to the floor. The final Goblin was enraged that a small human had all but defeated two of the strongest of its tribe. It thrust with all its might but it was parried by Jason. Before it could notice Jason had already removed its head.
Double EXP For killing a creature at a significant strength above you
+12,400 EXP
LEVEL UP 45->46
LEVEL UP 46->47
LEVEL UP 47->48
The Goblin that had lost its arm had picked up its sword with its other hand and tried to attack Jason. The area where his other arm had been was just spluttering blood as it slowly died. Jason easily stabbed through the creature's heart killing it.
Double EXP For killing a creature at a significant strength above you
+12,600 EXP
LEVEL UP 48->49
LEVEL UP 49->50
Looking down at the final Goblin on the ground that couldn't stand with its legs cut. Jason had a tinge of sympathy. That feeling was quickly replaced as he his imagined scenes of what this goblin had previously done. Looking into its cruel eyes, he was certain that it had never shown sympathy in its life. He snuffed out its life with no regrets.
+6,100 EXP
LEVEL UP 50->51
"It's over," Jason said to himself but he quickly realised it wasn't. He turned to see that his father had already defeated the goblins he had been facing. He was now facing the only Goblin left alive.
[Goblin Chieftain Lv. 155]
[Goblins are inherently cruel creatures. They, however, respect power. Only the cruellest, most intelligent and strongest can rise to gain this power. They command a number of goblins, a substantial threat, but a chieftain is also strong and swift in its own right and has a decent ability to use weapons.]
The Chieftain removed a large axe from its back and seemed to give a smile, although, with its mangled face, it was hard for Jason to tell. As it did his father dashed forward raising his sword. It started to glow and hum as it passed through the air. Jason immediately recognised the skill. It was [Blistering Strike]. However, it was far faster than Jason's own. Garion's sword cut through both the handle of the large axe the goblin held as well as the goblin that held it. Before the battle had really begun it was dead. It was a stark reminder of the difference between him and his father's strength. Over the course of the fight against the goblins, Jason's level had risen up 7 times but he was still so far from his father.
As soon as his father had finished the fight he checked on his son and saw that Jason's clothes were red with blood.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes I will be fine the cuts aren't that deep." However, as the fight was over and he got the chance to really look at his wounds it started to get a lot more painful.
"While you are fighting wounds can sometimes seem less bad than they really are, but you have to be careful." His father said with worry painted over his face.
As Jason removed his shirt to check the cuts he grimaced, it really was painful.
"They aren't too bad and should heal up with the potions we have," Garion said examining Jason's wounds. "I'm in serious trouble though," he said with a look of fear on his face. Jason was confused he couldn't see a single cut on him. But it wasn't the goblins he was concerned about.
"Your mother is going to kill me."
With that, Jason laughed and it hurt a little as he did. His father then poured some potions onto Jason's wounds. It didn't heal him instantly but he could feel the pain was already lessening. Feeling better, he wanted to keep moving. They still hadn't finished what they had come here for.
However, Garion insisted that they rest while Jason's wounds healed up, just in case. As they sat waiting Jason thought back on the fight. It was the first time he had gone into a battle hating his opponents. As he looked at the corpses of the goblins he was surprised to see that he felt no guilt. It seemed that this was the way of the world, but a part of him was still uneasy about killing these human-like creatures. He suspected it was his old memories. However, in this environment, this sort of battle for survival seemed to be the natural way. This led him to think about a bigger question. 'Would he would be able to fight a human the same way he had these goblins?' Jason wanted to say yes, but he had learned that it wasn't the sort of question you could answer until the actual moment arrived.
When Jason was done thinking and his wounds had recovered to the extent he could easily move around he asked, "So shall we check the huts?"
"Yes."
They went carefully into each hut just in case there were any goblins still alive. The huts didn't have much in them apart from a little dried grass where the goblins could sleep. Considering the number of goblins they must have been quite cramped in the huts and it showed. There was a horrible stench inside each of them. Eventually, after meticulously searching together there was only one hut left. It was the largest of them all and the one the chieftain had emerged from earlier. It was built a little further away from the rest. As they drew closer they checked to see if they could hear a noise from inside, but it was quiet.
Cautiously they opened the sheet that covered the entrance. The insides of this hut were a lot more lavish although the smell was not much better. Inside there was even a bed. There were also a number of sets of armour and weapons stacked up in the corner of the room. However, Jason didn't see any of this as there was something much more attention-grabbing in the corner.