《Ira’s Faithful》Chapter 30 - Goblins
Advertisement
Elise strolled through the endless expanse of trees. A serene atmosphere characterised the illuminated forest. The trees were spread far enough apart for the warm sunlight to reach the earthen ground.
The sounds of many different animals rippled through the refreshing air. A soft sound nearby startled her, but no monster emerged. Instead, a small brown squirrel ran across the forest floor and climbed up a tree as fast as its own legs could carry it. Elise smiled. It was a novel experience not to run into a monster every five metres. In contrast to the parts of the forest where she had been, this was a peaceful paradise.
However, the peacefulness of the forest only lasted for a few lingering moments. An oppressive silence swept through the forest like a wave at high tide. The young girl quickly realised that something was obviously wrong. The sound of the many animals that had accompanied her on her walk through the forest was no longer there.
It was unlike anything she had ever experienced. Even in the deeper parts of the forest there had been sounds. Now all she could hear was her breathing and her own footsteps.
She stopped and used ‘Sight’. Nothing had changed, this was a normal forest. She had not walked into a mirage conjured up by a monster or a rogue mage. Truth to be told, it was doubtful that she would have taken notice of such a thing even with ‘Sight’. Elise clutched her sword tightly and walked carefully back to where she had entered the forest.
However, a loud sound of something rushing towards her forced her to stop. She could run, yes, but whatever was running towards her sounded small and, judging by its speed, was not necessarily that fast. Turning her back towards a potential enemy was clearly not the recommended course of action. She took a defensive stance and eyed the rustling bushes in the distance.
A small bear cub charged out of the bushes, carrying a bleeding young fox on its back. Elise was no scholar, but as far as she was concerned, such an event was highly unlikely. Bears and foxes, like most carnivores, rarely got along. Most were very territorial animals and would not hesitate to attack what had ventured into their territory.
Advertisement
The cub approached her, but it seemed to have no intention of attacking her. Instead, it bawled miserably. Elise had seen some cats do the same when they wanted to inform their owners about something. Unfortunately, she was not Jacobina and therefore could not talk to animals. Otherwise, she would have quickly realised that the bear cub was trying to get her to run away too. Much to her dismay, she didn't. The bear cub started to run again and disappeared from her sight.
Elise heard a loud screech and one of the biggest wolves she had ever seen rushed out of the woods. Its grey fur was covered in blood and a small rusty sword was stuck in its left side. It noticed her and howled in fear before a fiery bolt struck its side. For a handful of seconds, Elise assumed a mage had attacked the wolf. But the shrill voices that reached her ears were unlike anything she had ever heard. It was clearly a language, but not one she had ever heard.
She spotted a small humanoid being in the distance and saw a small group of other similar beings accompanying the being. Elise quickly took cover and a fiery bolt slammed into the tree she was hidden behind.
"Goblins," was all Elise could think, and she looked up frantically to see if any of these creatures had decided to climb through the canopy to fall on her head. Fortunately, she saw nothing and thus decided to simply run. While turning her back towards a potential enemy was indeed not the recommended course of action, fighting the group of goblins was even more foolish.
She had no good ability that allowed her to fight from a distance. The goblin shaman could obviously use some sort of magic. It was, unlike the spiders or large wolf, not a demonic beast, but a monster. The only option she had was to run as fast as her legs could carry, leave the forest and hope that the goblins would not follow.
Elise immediately used all the wild spells that she knew. ‘Sight’ to give her an edge and help her spot anything that would try to hide, ‘Spectral Shield’ to block incoming physical attacks, ‘Magic Mirror’ to block incoming magical attacks and lastly ‘Feather Fall’. She doubted that she would fall, however, ‘Feather Fall’ made her body slightly lighter, allowing her to run somewhat faster. ‘Fairy Fire’ was of no use, she could not throw it far enough before the chaotic nature of wild magic forced the spell to disintegrate.
Advertisement
She lunged forward. A hissing sound passed her head and an arrow bored deep into the earthen ground. Elise frowned, she had never fought goblins before. However, the mercenaries had all claimed that most of them were extremely stupid and rarely used weapons. The most common weapon they carried were wooden clubs fashioned by using dead branches. Therefore, a goblin with a bow was quite a rarity.
Two more arrows followed, but the arrows did not make it close. One landed in the trunk of a tree, another flew at least fifteen meters to her left and disappeared into the dense bushes.
Elise continued to run and headed directly towards the edge of the forest, just a few hundred meters, and she would have reached her goal. A pang of unease washed over her. If she continued to run like this, she would lead the goblins directly to the children.
Therefore, Elise decided to move further to the left and leave the forest at another point. The angry shrieking got quieter and quieter until Elise could no longer hear the goblins.
A feeling of lethargy and tiredness overcame her. For while her lungs were working to bring in much-needed oxygen, she felt like she was barely getting any air and was drowning instead. She subsequently decided to take a short break to catch her breath.
Hidden behind one of the larger trees nearby, a sigh escaped from her mouth. Elise had never felt such weakness. The battles with the spiders had ended in her victory, but she just now had realised how much experience she lacked. The physically strongest fighter could not win against inexperience, and, although she was not the physically strongest, this rule also applied to her.
She wondered what the best course of action would have been, what an experienced mercenary would have done to be victorious in battle against these goblins. Killing their obvious leader, the mage, would certainly have been the first objective. But a single mercenary could certainly not fight against a group of monsters and would have fallen victim to the many attacks.
Besides, most of the mercenaries had already figured out what their node did. She had not. Fighting the goblins, especially the shaman, was certainly not possible given her lack of experience and real magic. Just one hit could have pierced her armour or and a spell could have burned her alive.
Elise's gaze wandered over the nearby trees and bushes. She did not spot any goblins and decided to leave the forest. A few steps later, a small trail of blood appeared in front of her. There was no sign of a fight, but she noticed a trail, a trail made by the small paws of, most likely, a bear.
The young girl thought for a few moments before following the trail. She had vowed to find a pet for Jacobina. A bear cub seemed quite appropriate. It would become quite a beast in the future. However, at the moment the bear cub was not so different from the pets that any normal citizen could have. It was a wild animal, but so were birds or snakes, the latter being rather a rarity in these parts of the empire.
Elise began to wonder how much time had passed, maybe twenty to thirty minutes? There was still half an hour left before the others would start to worry. She had a good feeling that she could find the young bear in less than half an hour.
Advertisement
Seeking Direction (RWBY, OC)
When Lima Morta, a graduating student of Sanctum, finds out that his insane guardian is the new first-year combat instructor for Haven, he quickly crafts an exit plan. With his bow in hand, and a quiver full of gravity-dust filled spikes, he sets off for Vale—Destination; Beacon.
8 144Norsege Isles: A Farming LITRPG Survival Experience
The world is gone. Mother nature has been taken advantage of one too many times and now she's fighting back. Rather than trying to heal their broken planet, humanity decides to take a more fantastical route. Enter Eden, the virtual world that promises lifetimes of adventure along with a land size that claims to be infinite. For the entire human race, it has to live up to its biblical name. Ambrose, a young man drawn to the promise of Eden, says his farewells to his parents before uploading his consciousness into the virtual world. But Ambrose doesn't want to be the king's knight or spell-slinging mage. No. Ambrose wants to farm. Picking his skillset around living off the land, Ambrose enters the Norsege Isles with dreams of enjoying the world for what it used to be. Dangerous creatures lurk in the woods of the Isles, fearsome beasts that'll rip any human or Norseman to shreds if given the chance. Ambrose will have to learn how to tame the Isles' animals if he wants to have a hope of living his dream as a farmer of unexplored wilderness. He'll also have to deal with any pesky people that decide that he's easy pickings. Will Ambrose make it long enough to harvest his first crops, or will the pressure become too much to bear? Join Ambrose as he strives to live his life in the new world.
8 205Shadow Overseer
He never had a name. People had names, not lab rats. The reason for his existence was to further science and die somewhere along the way. "Subject Five" was what they called him. Under the name of science, they tormented him and derived a sick pleasure from his pain. His dark life had a single solace in the form of his brothers and sisters sharing the same fate. Helping them escape cost Five his life, but he was happy knowing he did something for himself. After waking up, he finds himself as the son of a noble in a marvelous world filled with magic. In his second chance at life, he vows to protect himself and his family from anything that threatens to destroy his peaceful life. Follow Five on his path to supremacy. ********** This is a LITRPG novel, with the system playing a crucial, but supporting role. It isn't omnipotent and has definite origins which I'll explain later in the story. Another important aspect is world-building and crafting. I'll go into quite a lot of detail on both of them.
8 111New beginning
Leya is an engineer working in the Earth space docks. She is one of the best, but that doesn't help her when she is accused of sabotaging spaceship. After long process against her, she is finally freed, but not from public opinion. Media sic others against her and she is forced to live secluded in her house on scrapyard. As punishment from court she can't leave planet so she starts building ship to escape from it, but even someone who loves machines more than people need some human contact. Without any other option she picks new VMMRPG Virtua where you can travel free across universe and have adventure anywhere you want.
8 91Camiare: An Isekai
Dominic Miller lived an average and simple life until he was suddenly reborn as Nathaniel Armis into a strange world. Dominic, now Nathaniel, soon comes to accept his isekai situation and works hard to become strong like any other isekai protagonists. However, he soon comes to learn the harsh reality that blindly climbing upward will only cause one to fall, hard. Meanwhile, an ancient prophecy surrounding Nathaniel's best friend looms in the horizon, along with signs of a massive demon invasion from the south. Not only that, conspiracies haunt the very structure of Camiare. At the same time, Nathaniel must figure out the mystery behind the Ortus Project, the only hint he has about his mysterious rebirth. Enjoy! (comment any ideas or thoughts, I would love to get some feedback!)
8 91NoiZ Online
Aizen Ryumanagi is what everyone calls a scum. Heartless, Devious and Manipulative with a face that's as sinister as the devil himself. It's no surprise that he ended up in prison after living in a life of crime. However, his life behind bars suddenly took a turn when he was brought in to the deepest floor was told to play a certain game. Little did he know, this is the start of a legendary tale of a villain who later became the best renowned Hero all throughout the virtual fantasy realm.
8 227