Chapter 14 - Towards the Centre

As Trev tried on his new gloves, he noticed that they conveniently contracted in size to fit his hands. Their snug fit and sturdy construction hinted at their potential in combat. As he glanced at his watch, now shining in a vibrant shade of yellow, a prominent [I] displayed on top. A sudden realisation struck him—the item point. He tapped the [I] which caused his gloves to outline blue and text to appear in his vision.

[Clap Once to cycle items, Twice to choose item for item point]

Since Trev possessed only one item, he clapped twice, and the gloves received the item point. Expecting nothing tangible to occur, he was taken aback when the gloves started to morph before his eyes. The knuckles became more pronounced, the gloves grew slightly longer, and the hide darkened. They had genuinely upgraded through the item point. Upon the completion of the transformation, text appeared atop the gloves:

[Hardened Mantis Gloves][1 point]

Excitedly, Trev rushed over to the ladies, who were still savouring their meal. Emilee had even prepared a portion of food for Mr. Bluebell.

"I figured out what the item points do!" exclaimed Trev excitedly. "They upgrade your items!"

Without looking up from her cake Elena responded.

"Does it upgrade something trivial, like increasing your fire resistance by a mere one percent?"

"No! Look, they actually morphed into a better item," replied Trev eagerly, showcasing his transformed gloves.

Elena looked up, instantly noticing the difference in Trev's new gloves. Mid-spoonful of cake to her mouth, she dropped her spoon and picked up her new blade. Once she had read the prompts and clapped for the choice, her blade began morphing too. The blade underwent a metamorphosis, growing half an inch longer, slightly wider, and acquired a darker hue on the handle. An expression of absolute glee washed over Elena's face, astonished at her new enhanced weapon.

"It's even more beautiful," marvellel Elena. "Almost too beautiful to be used for mere slaying. Although, I'm not even sure if these creatures have blood. I suppose we'll find out."

"Emilee, are you going to use your point on the ring?" Trev inquired, turning his attention to Emilee.

Emilee, engrossed in petting Mr. Bluebell, looked at her ring and paused briefly before responding.

"I think I'll save it for now. It may prove useful later."

"I suppose we don't know if we can reuse the points, so your approach might be wise," Trev pondered aloud.

Ten minutes later, the group had completed their rest after a gruelling battle, gathered their belongings, and set off toward the city centre. Leaving the safety of the protective dome, they began traversing along a walkway, beside the park and adjacent to the flowing river. Five minutes in, surprisingly, they hadn't encountered any creatures during their walk, but an eerie sensation lingered—an unsettling feeling of being watched. Every now and then, they heard scurrying noises on the rooftops, resembling the sound of pigeons, yet heavier and more ominous.

"Ladies, both of you are experts in this field. Are we being watched?" Trev inquired, his voice hushed.

"Yes," they replied in unison, emphasising the gravity of the situation.

"Goblins on the rooftops are spying on us," Emilee whispered.

A few minutes later, the walkway came to an abrupt halt due to a construction-induced fence, forcing them into a large open paved area. Unbeknownst to them, this diversion proved to be a mistake. Out of the woodwork tens of goblins emerged, lying in wait for an ambush. In a matter of moments, they encircled the trio, their sheer numbers intimidating. However, despite their imposing numbers, the goblins stood no taller than three feet, making them appear like ugly four-year-olds armed with knives and with the brain power to match. Their green skin, pointy ears and menacing teeth, whilst it did give them the scare factor, it didn't help with their strength. Trev couldn't help but question the organised nature of this plot; it seemed far too orchestrated for a rabble of idiots. As he scanned the area for clues, the goblins closing in, he found his answer—a goblin chieftain. Towering above the rest, adorned with a fancy headdress and brandishing a staff, the chieftain barked orders to its subordinate army, who obediently followed.

"Goblin Chieftain at six o'clock, issuing commands to the others. That's our target. Once we take down the leader, the rest will scatter," Trev whispered.

"Got it. This will be an excellent test for my blade," Elena remarked, a gleeful smile playing on her lips as she seemed to relish the impending confrontation.

"Copy," Emilee replied, suppressing her fear and preparing for the imminent clash.

Suddenly from the back, the chieftain yelled out, and the goblin army numbering just under one hundred ascended on the group.

~~~~

Emilee was barely containing her fear. If Trevor or Elena even began to look worried, she would probably break. Behind her Mr. Bluebell hissed loudly, as the backpack had been designed with a hole just big enough for him to stick his head out, observing the chaos. The goblins surrounding them visibly jumped at the sound, showing their aversion to cats. Emilee observed closely and noticed that a few goblins already had cat scratches on them, suggesting they might have already been engaged in a turf war with the stray cats of the area. Suddenly the taller goblin, which Trevor identified as the chieftain, yelled loudly and the goblins attacked.

Emilee unleashed her icy projectiles, aiming for the goblins' heads. While not delivering instant kills, the impact was strong enough to knock them down, buying precious time. Positioned behind Emilee on guard duty, Trev swung his chain, warding off goblins with precise strikes. Meanwhile, Elena had disappeared from their immediate vicinity, carving a path directly toward the chieftain. The heads and body parts of goblins rolled all over the pavement as she advanced, cutting down a goblin every second, reducing them to ash and splattering dark green goblin blood. Attempting to halt Elena's advance, goblins were pulled from the ring around herself and Trev and focused on Elena, reducing their workload.

Emilee's mana reserves had dropped to about half way after shooting roughly fifteen goblins, who were now taking turns at breaking their dazes and began advancing again. She began shooting the same goblins again, this time killing them with the second blow. Ice exploded on their groggy faces as they were reduced to dust. As the remaining goblins closed in, Trev discarded his chain and swapped to using his mantis gloves to pummel them, sending the diminutive assailants flying across the pavement. Together, Trev and Emilee repelled the encircling goblins, emerging unscathed. However, the battle was only partially won, as a significant number of goblins had redirected their focus to defend their chieftain. Elena had closed in on her target, but about twenty goblins pursued her relentlessly. Determined to help, Trev sprinted after her, incapacitating stragglers with his fists and even resorting to picking up and throwing a goblin at its comrade. Emilee attempted to support from a distance, but to her dismay, her drained mana pool left her powerless.

As Elena plunged her blade through the eye of the goblin chieftain with enough force to catch the skull on her blade and push it out the back of the head, two of the remaining goblins reached her. They plunged their shanks into her thigh, and she screamed in agony. But she swiftly retaliated, cutting down one goblin with her blade and delivering a blunt force trauma kill to the other using the chieftain's skull, still lodged on her blade. Witnessing their leader's demise and faced with Elena's formidable display of power, the remaining goblins fled the scene and the conflict was resolved. However, Elena now stood injured, her agony evident.