The Great Goliath

"Take him away!"

Goliath remained steadfast even in the face of his defeated soldier. Philio was dragged away, dark smoke arising from his stomach. The champion stabbed his spear into the ground in front of him and pointed his sword at the army.

"At half-night, we shall reconvene," Goliath declared. "I will participate and single-handedly defeat every soldier!"

[ Warning! Mini Boss has awakened! ]

[ Warning! Mini Boss in vicinity! ]

King Saul's soldiers exchanged uneasy glances, whispers of fear weaving through their ranks like a chilling breeze. The name of Goliath reverberated through their thoughts, a name synonymous with unparalleled strength and towering stature. Tales of his prowess had spread far and wide, each story stronger than the previous.

"Didn't he destroy a boulder with a single thrust of his spear?"

"I heard he killed a man by crushing his skull."

The rumour mill ran its course and William began to understand who Goliath was. He was bigger, he was stronger, and he was a legend.

"There is nothing stopping the king from fighting." King Saul, though resolute in his determination, couldn't mask the concern in his eyes. "We accept, Great Goliath!"

'So what happens next?' William asked. His question was answered a moment later as King Saul ordered his men to set camp. Both sides were to remain on opposite ends of the vale. Both sides were to wait and follow this strange game.

"The special objective," William whispered to Kazi. "It's already here."

"Marta's performance sped things up, just like I thought it would." As the female Wizard returned to them, smiling, Kazi gave an approving nod. "Good work!"

"Thank you!" Marta raised a hand for him to give her a high-five. Awkwardly enough, Kazi didn't, so William picked up the slack and high-fived her instead.

'He really doesn't touch women, huh?' Suddenly, he remembered the time he sparred with Marta. William assumed Kazi had a strict guideline on what was appropriate.

That aside, there was the rise of the mini boss. William stole one last glance at Goliath and inhaled sharply.

[ Name: Goliath

Level: 26

Class: Intermediate Swordsman ]

'Who in the world is going to be able to fight that?' William glanced at Kazi. 'Kazi, right? If I go, I…'

He clenched his fists before promptly relaxing. 'Cool yourself. Don't let your frustrations get to you.' As everyone behind him scattered and set-up camp, William took another gander at the giant. Swole and tall, he was blessed with genetics that the modern gym world would envy. It was unfair.

"Helmet, bronze scale armour, greaves, and a spear for long-range attacks. He's good," Kazi said to himself, humming. William whipped his head to him.

"Right!? He's massive! His only weak point is…" William's gaze went down. "...his legs."

"Which he likely makes up for with his spear. You won't be able to get close. Even if you did, he has that sword. Thirty-six inches long, high-quality, and quick for him to use. In fact, hm…his grip seems to indicate he's better with the sword than the spear. He probably has a slow shift before he thrusts the spear forward."

"Oh. Uh, yeah, I figured."

Yeeeeah, William really didn't understand Kazi. Sometimes, he'd be the biggest goof and other times he'd be doing Sherlock Holmes type deductions.

"Are you going to fight him?" Marta asked. "I feel as though I might not be fast enough."

Kazi seemed to approve of this new Marta. "Your spell was great, Marta, don't get me wrong, but that remark right there is even better. You're getting smarter and patient. In battle, it's the hardest thing someone can do. Anyway, yes, a battle between you and Golaith would be a toss-up. It would essentially come down to who can land the first hit. He breaks your barrier first, he wins. If you land one Super Shadow Bolt, you win."

"I guess," said Marta. She seemed a bit less certain. "Super Shadow Bolt does over a thousand points of damage. My MP is 526 and each Super Shadow Bolts costs close to 195 MP since Passive Flow of Mana reduces it by 25%. The issue is, well…I'm still having trouble with using offensive spells while my barrier is on."

"So if he attacks relentlessly, you probably won't be able to fight back…" Kazi looked at William. "How much is your defence?"

"Uh, gimme a sec. Open status."

[ Status: William Martin

Class: Amateur Axeman

Level: 24

HP: 265

HP/Minute: 21

MP: 341

MP/Minute: 42.25

Attack: 193

Defence: 138

Attributes

Strength: 127

Resilience: 53

Agility: 64

Deftness: 49

Vitality: 42

Magical Might: 43

Magical Mending: 42

Distributive Points: 15 ]

"135," William said. "Why?"

"Just because we need a base for his stats and you're the closest thing to Goliath," Kazi replied. "Your HP?"

William checked again. "265."

"Marta's attack would beat him, no question about it," Kazi said. "The issue is the charge-up time and speed."

"My agility is 64," William supplied.

"Mine is 21." Marta frowned. "Goliath saw what I did to the soldier. Unlike the first soldier, he will know how to react. My odds are…"

"Mm, it's less about your abilities and more about match-ups. He saw what you could do and that automatically puts him at an advantage." Kazi let out a sigh and dropped his arms to his side. "Man…it would have been nice to see you beat a mini boss and get the XP."

Marta unequipped her staff and hung her head. She must have been looking forward to a better battle.

*****

"The System. Pfft! Back in my day, we didn't have such nonsense. We fought and grew in power through sheer grit alone!

Ha, just kidding!

The System and the Classes makes marrying off my children much easier. Powerful individuals appear at a much faster pace. The temporary nature of the System is annoying. A decade of investment is needed for my poor in-laws. Ah well. I'm rich and have all the time in the world!

Haah...my poor attempt to hide my distaste. The issue is getting back to one's old power are Levelled Skills or Stackable Skills. Whatever the kids call them these days. Stamina Surge and Super Speed are the most common AND annoyingly important. You switch a class and a player can lose so much of their precious speed and durability or whatever it is. 

If you have the Master Martial Artist Class, two of the Class Skills are Stackable Skills: Stamina Surge Level 10 and Burst Level 5. The conditions are already difficult enough to gain it, defeating 1000 other martial artists and then learning 100 different styles. And of course, if you've done it, you've probably gotten Burst up to at least Level 7, so you're looking at over a hundred points of agility, deftness, and strength. An absurd amount. The Administrators both rewards and curses the player. The Class Skills are amazing to the point that after they lose them, the player becomes a shadow of their old self.

I can't believe I had to kill my granddaughter's pathetic husband because he failed to regain his power in time. Ah well. All men are replaceable."

- Excerpt from the private journal of the Eternal Emperor Minamoto, 41 HE