CHPT 93: Unexpected Occurrence
BANG!!
The Goblin Shaman slammed its scepter into the floor loudly, letting off a wave of disruption Claude felt within himself and the Nature surrounding him. Arne was saying something to him, but he involuntarily blocked it out to focus on the beginnings of battle.
The Goblins charged at them, eyes glowing and weapons raised. Claude, Frosty and Maris met the charge head on with Claude at the front.
He removed the throats of the closest Goblins with his sword and claws while Frosty tackled and mauled the ones he dodged and evaded. The two snarled like wild animals as they ran through the enemy.
Maris was momentarily stunned by the level of killing efficiency he displayed and just watched as him and his invisible companion painted the floor red.
Claude and Frosty quickly cut down 5 Goblins, scaring the rest and causing them to stop their charge. They decided to fan out instead to cover more ground and protect their leader.
The sudden change of plans set Claude on even higher alert since reaching the Shaman without dealing with the Goblins first became almost impossible while simultaneously trying to keep Maris safe as well.
[+12 EXP]
[+6 EXP]
Claude had to look twice at the notification of him and Frosty's last kills. For some reason he was getting more EXP for killing the Goblins.
"Wha— UGH!"
He was so distracted by the EXP increase that he didn't notice the Goblin that snuck up behind him and smashed its club against his back.
Before the Goblin could hit Claude again, it was yanked out of his view and ripped to shreds by his unseen partner.
[+6 EXP]
He quickly got up, ready to fight the next Goblin. To his surprise there were no Goblins around him, all 9 of the remaining Goblins were charging over to Maris as she fought off two on her own.
"Shit! Frosty let's go!" He said before running to help her.
As he ran, he tried to use his Element to slow the Goblins charge. To his surprise it didn't work. It felt like the Nature was almost dead— too faint to call upon.
"What?" He thought in confusion.
"[Its the Shaman. If you haven't felt it yet, he's disrupting your connection to Nature. He's not completely canceling it, but it's going to be a lot harder to use— I'm sure it has something to do with how it uses it's power.]" Arne said.
"Great." Claude growled sarcastically as he reached the first Goblin.
They were completely focused on reaching Maris who was being backed into a hut. Claude used the advantage gratefully and grabbed the back of the closest Goblins head, he smashed it through the wall of the hut, killing it with pure blunt force trauma.
[+12 EXP]
The Goblin next to him spun around just in time to have its head cleaved off brutally. Claude slid past its headless body before it hit the floor and kicked another Goblin to the side for Frosty to rip into.
While the carnage unfolded, he caught a glimpse of Maris in the midst of battle with two Goblins.
He's never seen anyone fight the way she did. Her movements were completely unorthodox, the way she gracefully spun, twirled and lunged to deliver each powerful blow with the white blade made it look more like a sort of primal dance. She moved with an impressive amount of grace and equally as much power— she was easily moving with more comfort and balance than a good portion of first year students at the University.
Shlck!
CRUNCH!
[+12 EXP]
[+6 EXP]
Claude and Frosty killed two more Goblins when suddenly, the wave of disruption hit again.
VEOOM!
The wave disoriented Claude and Frosty, causing their inhuman senses to go haywire for a few long moments.
In that time, the remaining two Goblins him and Frosty faced closed in on him.
Crack!
The crushing impact of a club slammed into his ribs with a startling amount of power. The hit felt stronger than usual— much stronger than usual in fact.
Claude was brought to his knees by the abnormally powerful Goblin in seconds. Under the crushing blows of their clubs and his senses stabilizing, he was barely able to catch a whiff of the empowering smell of fear.
He looked ahead and saw that Maris was able to kill one of the Goblins, but the final one was able to disarm her. Blood leaked down her left arm and a cut ran across her left cheek that dripped blood down the length of her face. She looked like she could've lost consciousness any second.
Suddenly, his heart began to race and every bone in his body screamed for him to move. To not fail the mission— to save everyone.
"NOOOOO!!!!!"
He bursted to his feet while simultaneously swiping his clawed hands at the Goblins that were previously beating him senseless.
Slck!
Swsh!
With his right hand, he swiped backwards and felt his claws run through the Goblins neck and catch on its collarbone before continuing its downward slash. His left hand cut into the Goblins face causing it to wail in pain and stumble backward. To his surprise they weren't dead.
The Goblins immediately attacked again, with the one on the right attacking first. The Goblin attempted to deliver a stab to his shoulder, Claude quickly sidestepped and punched its forearm.
Crack!
It's forearm snapped like a branch. Before the Goblin dropped its sword, Claude quickly grabbed its wrist and guided the sword through its throat with a brutal flesh tearing sound.
[+20 EXP]
"What the hell?" He said as he looked at the increased EXP, before he could think more in depth, he heard movement close behind him.
He turned around just in time to see the Goblin to his left slashing at his face. He brought his hands up and deflected the strike with his gauntlets. The Goblin tried to attack again with a punch from its left hand.
Fwoo!
Claude caught it and felt the impact go straight to his shoulders. He fastened both of his hands around its own and yanked downward with all the strength he had.
The Goblin was surprisingly strong for its size and resisted enough that it only fell to one knee. He reacted quickly and delivered a front kick to its face.
Crunch!
His foot crushed the Goblins nose and knocked off its loose metal helmet.
As it sat in the grass with its head back and neck facing the night sky, Claude whistled loudly.
Immediately, Frosty was on the Goblin ripping its throat out.
[+10 EXP]
He ignored the mysterious EXP increase and looked towards the individual letting off a strong scent of fear and anger.
He moved to help her but something stopped him, the ground. Something caught onto his feet and climbed its way up his legs until he couldn't move at all.
"What the hell?" He said while looking down at the black dirt and soot tendrils that wrapped around his lower body. He suddenly heard a deep and throaty laugh from behind him, it was the Shaman.
The Shaman had its wrist cut open and its foul smelling blood leaked into the grass as it stalked menacingly in the distance, the feeling of disruption and wrongness increased with every red drop of its blood that hit the grass.
"[He may be more dangerous than we thought. It seems the Shaman can draw power through sacrifice.]" Arne said.
"That must be how the Goblins were getting stronger....." Claude realized.
"[Exactly. He probably has quite a bit of power stored from the old woman and the deer plus the other villagers he already killed— if he did. You need to break out of this and save Maris before the Shaman uses her death as another sacrifice.]" Arne said urgently.
"Right." Claude said while eyeing the Shaman as it happily watched Maris weakly dodged and evade the final Goblin.
Before Claude could try to force his way out, Frosty began biting and pulling apart the tendrils, they were stronger than they looked.
After the PitWolf ripped a few off, Claude was able to fight his way through. At the same time, he felt a change in the air— like it was losing moisture. For some reason he immediately looked to Maris.
Time seemed to slow as he observed her. She was still bleeding and hurt badly, but in these moments, she looked stronger than ever. Her eyes flickered in and out of a clear blue glow and the blood that leaked from her cuts floated off her body in tiny red droplets or slithered back inside her slowly like time was being reversed.
A barrel next to the hut near her began to rumble and shake abruptly like a wild animal was inside, fighting to escape. The suddenness of it grabbed him and the Goblin's attention as if part of them knew the barrel just became very important.
Maris took advantage of the opportunity and sent her fist towards the Goblins turned head.
Crack!
The impact of her punch barely moved the Goblin. It turned in response and raised its blade to end her. A hideous look of triumph appeared in its eyes.
"NOOOO!!!"
Claude yelled as he began to run towards the Goblin.
WOOSH!!
Out of nowhere the nearby barrel burst with a liquid explosion of a clear substance that began to surround and seep into the mouth and eyes of the Goblin. It was being attacked by...water.
He looked to Maris and realized she had a hand raised to the Goblins face with an arrogant yet cold look on her face. Her eyes glowed a bright clear shade of blue like the ocean under the sun.
Claude was in awe at the realization.
"She's been Reborn...."