Rolan gritted his teeth as he juggled the goblins in front of him. Although the goblins weren't bright, they made it up for their sheer numbers that felt never-ending.
"Butterfly Strike!" Rolan's sword flickered, reappearing as he slashed through the middle goblin. The goblins around him stopped, slowly forming a red line that split them in half. "I can't mow through all of that without moving too wildly!"
Tessa raised her hands into the air, eyes opening. The earth around her shook as she threw her hands outwards. Two walls of earth ruptured form the ground, going down the middle. She cut Arin and Nocturnis off, leaving a line just for her and Rolan.
"Earthen Hole!" Tessa shouted the spell. The ground in front of Rolan opened up, swallowing all of the goblins as they poured in. The goblins who managed to notice this, skittered to a stop, shouting as some were pushed off into the hole. Tessa moved her hand to the right, creating a new path in the wall for Arin.
"Can you use that technique with the walls like this?" Tessa asked Rolan.
"I can, but that Transporter is probably on the look out for anything coming its way! Once I start my technique, it'll be hard to stop." Rolan replied. "Kid, what's the technique you used earlier? You disappeared like the Shadow Panther! Can you sneak past with that technique and disrupt the Transporter so I can use my technique?"
"Easier said than done!" Arin swatted a goblin away, piercing into its heart. He huffed as he wiped his brow of sweat. He turned his attention onto the new path and let out a tired sigh. Each footstep felt heavier than the last as Arin moved into the newly carved path. The darkness swallowed him
"Tess, just give me an opening to kill it! I can use my Dash technique and clear it!" Rolan turned and shouted loudly. "I'll just take the chance!"
Nocturnis cut down the last goblin, jumping backwards. The shadows coalesced around Nocturnis, binding to the Shadow Panther. He rushed forward, jumping up and soaring across the middle section where a large hole was and landed on Arin's side.
"Nocturnis, are you okay?" Arin asked moving towards his Beast. Nocturnis looked up at Arin and noticed the shadows clinging onto him. Despite the human boy being able to easily use the shadow abilities bestowed to him because of their strange bond, the boy had a long way to go in terms of Beastlord.
"I'll handle the Transporter. You rest." Nocturnis turned and sprinted down the dark path. Arin watched the Shadow Panther disappear in front of his eyes.
Nocturnis rushed down the hall, turning and weaving through the goblins with ease. A large blue portal came into view. Goblins spilled out of it, making it harder for Nocturnis to run.
With ease, he hopped on the wall and moved above the goblins, moving through the portal. The Transporter twitched, glancing up as it continued to shake its staff.
"Gra jal ne?" The Transporter seemed to ask with a puzzled face. It had just sensed something foreign passing through the portal. The energy around its staff ignited as Nocturnis appeared out of thin air. "Grah?!?"
Nocturnis slashed, splintering the staff into tiny pieces in an instant. The portal fluttered and the shrieks from the Transporter alerted the goblins.
Tessa sensed a disturbance of energy in the distance. "The portal's been temporarily disabled. If you want to do it, do it now!" She stuck her hands outwards, palms together and pointed upwards. The middle path lifted upwards, closing the large wound in the ground ahead of Rolan.
"Cheetah Dash!" The energy around Rolan bubbled, exploding as he rushed down the path. Blood, guts and goblin parts scattered around as he plowed through the tunnel with ease. He swung his sword forward as Nocturnis sprinted out of the way, cutting the Transporter's head off in one clean swipe.
The tunnel reverberated with smoke as a loud crash came. Everything in front of Rolan splattered with remnants of his energy, revealing a rough straight line carved on the tunnel path ahead.
'What was that?' Arin wondered. The blood and parts of goblins were sprawled to the side perfectly. He turned and let out a sigh of relief as his legs gave up on him. Rolan's technique was sharp and refined unlike his. Arin laughed awkwardly, taking in the sheer difference in their power.
"Is that it?" Rolan asked, stepping out of the shadows with Nocturnis. "I could've went all day!"
"Wipe that smile off your face. We nearly lost it there if it weren't for my quick thinking." Tessa landed on the ground. She leaned over and sucked in a breath of stale stone air. "You're lucky I didn't torch all of our oxygen! You wouldn't have been able to use that technique if it weren't for me guiding you!"
"Yea, yea, yea." Rolan brushed Tessa off. He made his way over to Arin and stuck his hand out. "You're not so bad yourself, Arin. Where'd you get a monstrous aim like that? Did you hunt a lot?"
"Not as much as you'd think." Arin took Rolan's hand and was lifted up onto his feet. "My dad's the Hunter Leader, so he made me beat those techniques into me."
"Your father…?" Rolan thought for a minute and snapped his fingers. "Is it Drakhar? Are you his son?"
"Yeah, how did you know that?"
"I could tell from the way your stance was. It stinks of something he'd do. I see that man is still kicking. I can't believe his son is already as tall as me!"
"I thought you were throwing a fit about Thornwood." Tessa snuffed Rolan's compliments. She leaned on Rolan, who immediately soured.
"I am still mad about that." Rolan scrunched his eyebrows and glared at Tessa. "That night's the whole reason why I'm out here while those old fogies cower from Beasts!"
"What's your relationship with my home?" Arin asked. Rolan turned and slipped his sword into its sheathe.
"It's a long story." Rolan shook his head.
"One he'll tell if he's drunk enough." Tessa poked fun at Rolan.
"Shut up! It's nothing Drakhar's kid should worry about. You were too young for that night."
"C'mon tell me!" Arin stepped forward. He grabbed Rolan's hand and tugged on it. Rolan looked down at Arin's hand and then slowly raised his eyes to look directly at Arin. "The reason why I'm out here is because my Dad said some mean stuff to me about my Mom. He blamed me for her death so I just…"
Rolan pulled away and turned.
"You're going to cave." Tessa pointed at Rolan.
"Am not." Rolan denied it. He could feel his heart shaking.
"C'mon, aren't you at all curious about a story like that?"
"No." Rolan turned his back onto Tessa and folded his arms together. "I don't want to know anything about that backwater village. Let's just go back up to the rest spot and go our separate ways."
"C'mon, we're not done mapping this cave out and I still need Valpori herbs. You were the one who brought me here, hm?" Tessa moved over and stuck her head out, looking at Rolan with a smile. "You aren't about to take back your promise to me, hm?"
Rolan's eyes twitched and his body began to shake. He let out a sigh and turned away from Tessa, facing Arin. "Fine! We'll stay longer! And you!" He pointed at Arin. "Don't think about going anywhere! I'm going to whip you into shape. You could barely last two minutes with some Tier 1 monsters running away with their heads cut off!"
"Then its settled!" Tessa wrapped her arm around Rolan's arm and beamed a bigger smile. "We're staying longer with Arin and Noct!"
[1,050 XP has been given for surviving a Goblin Rush!]
[Level 1 > 5! 1,200/1,400!]
[You've gained 4 levels!]
[You've gained the Title, 'Tunneler's Triumph'!]
[You've unlocked the stat screen! Your growth will be displayed by numbers. For easy understanding, we'll supplement your beginning stats followed by ">" and a number to represent the growth in a particular stat. If you wish to learn more about stats, please go to the Stat screen!]
[Stats:]
Precision: 15 > 25
Agility: 12 > 19.5
Focus: 11 > 18.5
Strength: 9 > 14
Endurance: 5 > 7.5
Intuition: 10 > 15
[With the addition of stats, you've been given stat points! +10 Stat points have been added to your stats! Please allocate however you wish to!]
"Arin," Rolan tapped the spaced out Thornwood boy. He watched Arin blink a couple times, coming back and looking up at him. "C'mon, let's go."
"R-right!" Arin nodded.
"Remember to collect the crystals from the goblins. They're probably worth a fortune with how many was killed." Rolan bent down and grabbed a couple then straightened himself out and looked to Arin. "You do know what crystals are, right?"
"Yeah, of course. They're embedded in a monster's core. Digging it out is one thing, though…" Arin's face twisted with disgust. He had always hated dissecting monsters for this very reason.
Crystals were a rarity associated with monsters, only. Arin didn't understand why they only showed up in monsters, but the higher tier a monster was, the purer their crystal would be.
'I wonder what happened to that ogre I fought that day.' Arin wondered as he poked the goblin below the chest. He felt something stop his spear and slightly widened it enough to dig the crystal out with his hand. He gagged, setting it aside and continuing with the next goblin.