An Enchanter's Tricks

A cry emerged from the goblins as they charged towards the adventurers. They numbered at least two hundred fifty total.

Leo and his allies didn't even have time to contemplate the absurdity of this Goblin King's existence before they were forced to raise their arms for battle. Luckily, they still managed to push back against the tide.

The goblin horde did not appear to be made up of any other evolved creatures. Other than having equipment and being led by a "Goblin King", there was nothing else noticeably intimidating about them except for their numbers.

Sarah was the first to respond.

[Light Barrier]

A flash of light glowed from the tip of her scepter.

A thick, semi-transparent wall of light was summoned in front of Leo and Alex, successfully halting the goblin advance. The creatures crashed into it, and those from the back ended up squishing their comrades at the front. But no matter the pressure, this thick barrier did not show signs of cracking.

The barrier was three meters tall and could extend five meters in length. Since her team was only at the entrance, the size of this barrier was enough to protect all the adventurers from the siege.

The Goblin King snorted at the sight and gazed down at the two mages that were still standing.

"Well? Stop being dizzy and get to work!" the supposed king shouted.

Those mages briefly shook their heads before raising their staffs together in unison.

"Step back!" this time, the Goblin King directed his order towards the goblin horde.

To Leo's surprise, nearly all the goblins retreated in sync, as if they were well-trained soldiers of an army. They had just been pressing themselves forward a moment ago but were now able to coordinate in perfect formation.

Were these ordinary goblins given standard training? Or did this Goblin King possess a unique ability that let him command over his own species?

This mysterious ruin continued to provide more and more questions to the humans that entered it.

The goblin mages waited until all the other goblins were at a safe distance before firing off their spells.

[Advanced Fireball]! x 2

Two enormous sized spheres of intense fire spiraled into the air in a long arc before smashing into Sarah's [Light Barrier].

A resounding explosion travelled throughout the cavern. It shook the cave walls and the ceiling, but fortunately there were no stalactites that could fall. Perhaps that was why the goblins chiseled the cavern.

The wall of light was struck down, but it had successfully managed to stop two Advanced spells before disappearing. Not a single person was harmed.

"Alex, Leo, move out of the way for a sec." Judy suddenly called out. Going on the defensive here was no longer an option for them. They needed to at least take care of those evolved goblins first before finishing off the rest.

Everyone at the entrance stuck to the walls as Judy moved forward with her wand raised.

[Tackling Gust]!

A powerful blast of fierce wind erupted from the wand and hit the charging goblins. It cut through the middle of the group and knocked back several creatures before coming towards the Goblin King.

Another [Mage Shield] was erected by the goblin mages to block the incoming attack. But the spell had done its job. The wind from the spell had paved a path directly towards their group.

All the other goblins were pushed to opposing sides of the cavern, but were still quite a bit far from the cavern walls. Nevertheless, there was now a clear open pathway that led to their leader.

"Nice!" Alex was once again the first to give praise, "If we kill that big guy, the rest of the goblins will be easy pickings."

"I'll be joining you." Leo spoke to the group, "The rest of you guys can cover us."

Everyone else nodded before stepping past the entrance in a tight formation.

"Converge towards them!" the Goblin King commanded again in his booming voice.

The goblins closest to the entrance got up from the ground and moved towards the humans. Their peers groggily followed from further behind.

A few of their members suddenly dropped their close-quarters weapons and drew their bows and arrows.

In this abandoned ruin, there were few resources the goblins could utilize. But thanks to the previous humans wandering into their homes, they were able to rob their weapons and force them to provide the knowledge and training on how to make and use some of them.

The goblins nocked their bows and let loose half a dozen arrows towards the adventurers. Surprisingly, their aim was almost professional.

Somehow, this ruin offered these creatures the ability to learn and grow faster than they were ever naturally supposed to.

Leo reacted with a [Mage Shield] of his own. But it was deliberately only half complete, just covering above the team's heads to block the projectiles so as to not get in the way of his allies' movements.

Further down the cavern, the goblin mages prepared to cast out another wave of spells again.

Before they could, Judy sent out another wind attack.

[Storm Blades]!

Several thin rings of nearly invisible air were sent out in the two mages' direction. Each one was razor sharp and travelled at a faster flying speed than the arrows.

More than a dozen of these blades came towards their group. This stopped their casting and forced the mages to protect themselves again. As for the Goblin King, he simply used a casual swing of his club to block a few that scattered in his direction.

Eventually, the other mob of goblins reached their team and forcefully slowed their retreat.

"You guys can break off here!" Sarah hurriedly urged, "Judy and I can handle our own."

"Let's go!" Alex did not argue and instantly agreed with the plan, prompting Leo to follow suit.

The former slashed his way across any green creature that came towards him whilst moving very quickly. Limbs and heads were hacked off, with blood spilling all around.

The latter used a combination of quick spells to both attack and provide protection to him and Alex. Leo also used [Wind Boost] to keep up behind his new teammate.

Together, they finally reached the Goblin King and his mages.

[Flame Arrows]!

Several swaths of flames in the form of arrows came out of Leo's sword towards the pair of goblin mages. In response, the duo simply merged together their [Mage Shield]s again.

[Earth Creation - Metal]!

Pouring mana into his left hand, Leo created several small, thin daggers that were neatly stacked on top of each other. Using his [Instant Enchant] talent, Leo immediately started to give them certain abilities.

Close in front, Alex was engaging against the Goblin King who was still standing at the same position since the start of the battle.

"One versus one. Do you accept?" he challenged.

"Hmph," the Goblin King did not bother to give a proper response. In his opinion, it was completely beneath him to answer.

Raising the massive club with both arms, the Goblin King swung at the opponent from above in a downward arc.

[Crushing Mountain]!

The air around the spiked club was pushed away as the weapon built up an incredible amount of momentum.

Alex raised his shield to receive the blow, but the force was stronger than expected. He was instantly pushed back, his legs digging deep hooves into the ground, and almost nearly toppled over.

The strength of the attack left his arm visibly shaken. Despite the upgrade to his armor and weapons, Alex still found himself being unable to completely withstand the Goblin King's strike. Indeed, the creature was far more powerful than the rest of its species.

"Heh," the Goblin King sniggered at the human's weaker physique, "That was merely a warmup. Come now, I hope you can entertain me better than the rest."

After he spoke, he waved his club and attempted to smash the human again.

'The rest...' as Alex's mind repeated those words, his heart sank. Was their rescue meaningless after all?

This time, Alex did not plan on taking the attacks head on and evaded using [Swift Slide]. But the Goblin King's larger size allowed it to have the reach advantage in this fight.

Alex was continuously forced on the defensive and even had to block a few more blows with his shield again. Unfortunately, the Goblin King still managed to slip past his guard and battered him relentlessly in the chest.

Alex coughed and a scent of blood rose to his nose, but the warrior still refused to go down.

Their fight increasingly moved faster, becoming a steady blur to outsiders. Blows were rhythmically traded back and forth with enough force to shake their surroundings.

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Meanwhile, Leo was having a slightly easier time dealing with the goblin mages.

After his first attack, the goblin mages retaliated in perfect sync.

[Rock Billow]!

[Fireball]!

The ground beneath Leo started to crack. Fissures began to form and jagged spikes arose from the surface.

In addition, a sphere of fire was sent directly to his face.

[Earth Manipulation]!

Leo cast a spell that he had previously used against the first goblin mage he had encountered. It molded the earth around him, steadily restoring it back to its original state.

As for the fireball, Leo chose to make a hasty retreat instead. He used [Wind Boost] to increase his speed which also circled him in the right direction around the two goblins. The fireball grazed past him, hitting the floor where he just stood.

The direction Leo was moving towards led him to the remaining goblin mages that had been knocked unconscious by his [Lightning Chain]. They had been moved aside before he and Alex had approached the group. Faint smoke was still rising from their bodies but slight movements could also be seen. Leo was actually planning to finish them off before they recovered.

The confrontations with these creatures had grown more risky with each new encounter. At this stage, it was best that no more chances were taken.

Leo wanted to eliminate those other goblins before anything more troubling occurred.

Realizing the human's new targets, the two goblin mages were left in a dilemma. Although they felt like they should help their fellow comrades, the benefit in saving them might not be worth the risk.

"Protect them!" a familiarly loud voice echoed in the two goblins' ears.

The Goblin King had noticed the other human's intentions and immediately ordered his mages to defend the ones on the ground. Like his subordinates, he was also a bit reluctant to save them but he still felt that it was a waste to have them die so quickly after having done nothing throughout this battle. It was decided that it would be more advantageous to wait for them to recover.

After being given the order, one of the goblins raised its staff to summon a shield that surrounded their fallen comrades.

Seeing this, Leo suddenly threw open his left hand and half a dozen small daggers started flying towards the goblin mages at their own free will.

In an attempt to prepare himself for certain eventualities, Leo had created these daggers to gift a special surprise to his opponents. He had enchanted them with [Floating], a Low level spell that can allow objects to be able to hover in midair for a short period of time. There was also [Homing Guide], another Low level spell which directed the daggers towards their intended targets after being lightly thrown.

The daggers moved only at a moderate speed, which gave the goblins plenty of time to react.

The one that wasn't protecting its comrades had cast a half formed [Mage Shield] which blocked the incoming daggers. Seeing this, the other goblin also temporarily chose to lower its own shield and prepared to cast an Advanced level spell.

[Advanced Fireball]!

A huge burning mass of fire rapidly flew towards the lone adventurer.

[Earth Manipulation]!

[Greater Substance]!

Leo consecutively cast two spells in order to protect himself. First, a thick, earth wall was raised in the direction of the fireball. Next, the wall was quickly enchanted for extra durability.

BOOM!

Although somewhat protected, there was only a brief moment before the earth wall gave way to the spell's explosion. The shockwave of the blast had sent Leo flying backwards, but not before allowing him to cast his own [Mage Shield] to soften his landing.

This also protected him from the next [Advanced Fireball], which had been immediately sent over by the previous goblin after it had just stopped the enchanted daggers.

The blue shield made of mana quickly broke against the attack and sent Leo even farther away.

Dust stuck to his clothing as he scraped across the floor to the other side of the cavern's wall, his magic sword released from his hand. As Leo pushed himself up, he could barely hear the cheering of the two goblin mages at his pitiful state; the explosions of the two spells had left his ears ringing.

'But I've won now,' he thought after looking at the daggers next to his opponents. Six daggers had been strewn on the floor after failing to penetrate through the goblin's defenses, but this had been deliberately intended.

[Item Ignition]

[Weak Flame Burst]!

The metal daggers suddenly started to glow an orange-red. Without warning, they exploded in a miniature sea of fire!

Previously, Leo had also added [Weak Flame Burst] to each of the daggers. It was yet another Low level enchantment. But before they were thrown, Leo had cast the spell, [Item Ignition], to deactivate the enchantment so they would be prevented from exploding upon contact with the goblin's shield.

Now that they have been placed directly near them, Leo had once again cast [Item Ignition] to allow the [Weak Flame Burst] to finally take effect.

The two goblin mages suddenly found their bodies being heavily roasted from underneath.

They screeched and flailed their staffs around, hoping to do something about the fire. But unfortunately for them, the pain of being burnt alive prevented their minds from concentrating in time to use their mana.

Leo stood upright with his short sword clasped in hand.

[Storm Blades]

Several rings made of wind rapidly moved towards the screaming pair. They mercilessly sliced their bodies into pieces.

It didn't stop there. Leo had directed part of the attack towards the remaining goblin mages who had yet to wake.

In one fell-swoop, he quickly took care of the enemy mages.

Then a roar rumbled in his ears. Although Leo was still a little deaf, the Goblin King was kind enough to raise his voice again to make himself heard.

"You damn, insolent pest!!"

Out of nowhere, the ground started to reverberate and a small shockwave travelled towards Leo. As it moved, it pushed aside the bits of earth surrounding it, making it seem as if the ground itself was moving to meet him.

Leo flung his body aside to avoid it, but part of the shockwave still spread to his person. The attack stunned him, but luckily there wasn't a follow-up.

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