Chapter 11: Tier 1 Gate (5)
The goblins were already limping when the hobgoblin barked its order. All ten turned as one, some with crooked weapons, others with nothing but sticks. A few were bleeding from earlier. Their morale? Lower than that one guy that lost all his crypto money. But the big guy growled, and that was enough to make them charge.
Lanz stepped out of the treeline with a grin under his helmet.
"Alright. Aura-farming speedrun."
He cracked his neck and flexed both wrists, his dagger glinting faintly in the firelight. His limbs felt light. Adding four points to strength and four to agility really paid off. The final point to intelligence was more of a future bet, but right now, it was all blades and feet.
The first goblin swung wildly with a chipped axe. Lanz caught it with the dagger’s edge, turned his shoulder, and redirected the blow. As soon as the goblin stumbled, he grabbed its head and twisted it.
Another ran up to him, jumped and aiming for his head, but his knee came up, catching the goblin in the stomach. It folded like a paper bag. The goblin was knocked away by about a meter, but before it could even land, Lanz cut off its head while his other hand was intentionally on his pocket.
One tried to attack him from behind, but he cut off it’s hands in a swift motion. He didn’t finish it, instead, he sidestepped, dragging the goblin into the path of its friend’s swing. Steel hit its skull. "Friendly fire is an unfortunate way to go out." He whistled, then grabbed the goblin — that killed its teammate — by the neck, and crushed it with ease. "That was a minus one for teamwork coordination."
Two more rushed in together. Lanz rolled forward, sliced the tendon behind one’s knee on his way up, and baited the other into lunging.
He faked a stumble. The goblin overcommitted, and Lanz spun, kicked its leg out, and pinned it under his foot.
"I’m cooking with this choreography. Please someone clip it," he begged, hands together like his praying. He then dragged his dagger across its chest.
Another came at him from the left, dagger raised.
He blocked with his cloak-wrapped forearm, then elbowed the goblin’s jaw before disarming it with a clean wrist twist. He let it panic for a second, then jabbed low at the ribs.