A loud roar bellowed out from Jason like a lion, taunting the nine goblins into attacking him. The goblins surrounded him with clubs in hand, dashing and jumping at him as they tried to break open his burly metal armor.

From the backline, Kai conjured three fireballs- burning white like holy flames. He pointed to the goblins piling and bashing at Jason, prompting the fireballs to zip through the air like missiles, seeking out the green monsters.

The fireballs exploded- sending two goblins flying out from the dust cloud with their innards splashing all over the rocks and dirt.

"Fuck, that's gross." Kai said with his body shaking.

To his left was Saira, calling on Marsh to spit out blobs towards the goblins. The black blobs stuck to their small green bodies, slowing and immobilizing them like glue as Kristine then knocked an arrow, aiming her bow to the goblins. She took the shot, the arrow duplicating itself as it zipped through the air into three pieces. The now three arrows all hit their marks, however only one found its way to a goblin's head.

Nico was in melee, the frontliner for the team second to Jason. He was in combat with a goblin, however made quick work of it as he took advantage of the goblin's wide swings, piercing its chest with his claws. He then made his way towards Jason to help.

Nico dashed then drove the claw spikes into a goblin caught midair, sending the now dead goblin tumbling into another goblin who was running to him. A third goblin jumped from behind and dunked its axe on Nico's back, sending him tumbling to the rocky ground. The Living Armor coupled with his Well of Life skill kept the damage to a minimum, however he was groaning, having a hard time standing back up with the pain pulsing behind him.

"Hena!" Jason called out, trying to shake off the three goblins who were piling around him with a swing of his giant hammer.

Hena was in the backline, chanting a long spell with a white mote afloat on her hand. The mote then illuminated a holy white light just after Hena finished.

"It's done!"

A giant white circle burst into being above them, like a portal to heaven made of intricate designs. Out from the white portal came flowing white lights that sought out Jason and Nico like rivers- seeping and dissolving into their bodies.

Nico felt his body grow stronger, like a surge of power bursting inside him with the pain from his back washing away. He stood up and came face to face with the axe goblin- the one who sent him tumbling earlier.

"Essence of life, I call unto you."

Well of Life (F) [Skill]

Passively absorb life essence from the surroundings in which will be stored inside your body. Rate of absorption will vary by environment. This essence can be spent like mana to regenerate wounds faster or strengthen attacks.

He emptied the last reserve of life essence within his Well of Life skill, causing his claw to turn a deep viridescent.

Nico dashed to melee and swept his claw horizontally to the goblin. The goblin dodged, jumping then spinning mid-air, now turning its spin into power as it dunked its axe towards Nico below. Nico sidestepped then drove his claw into the goblin's chest mid-air- sending blood splurging all over Nico's face.

"Fuck I killed another one." Nico said, flinging away the corpse hanging from his claw. He then eyed the remaining three goblins around Jason- or what was left of them, as they were grounded to a pulp on the ground around Jason, with his hammer dripping in blood.

. . .

"I hate killing things man." Kai said, eyeing the pool of loot they got from the goblins on the rocky floor. After the entire band of goblins was dealt with, their corpses started to take on an ethereal glow as they then vanished into a cloud of mist, living behind the loot they see now.

"Same." Nico said over the sound of a flowing creek nearby, washing his face and arms by the bank as crystal cold water invigorated his senses. The blood on his face had dissipated along with the bodies of the monsters, but Nico wanted to make sure. "It's not easy- taking a life. I was shaking the entire time."

"How many were they again?"

"Nine goblins."

"Fuck man, we killed nine of them." Kai said, biting his lip.

"I was shaking the entire time too." Jason said, dumping water on his face beside Nico by the creek. "Having to taunt an entire band of goblins with just a flimsy metal armor separating me from their clubs- it hits you how easy we could just… die at any moment."

The group sat in silence, with the tranquil rhythm of flowing water and whistling of birds replacing their voices.

"But we can't stop." Jason gave them a hardened look. "We need to earn money to survive, buy the weapons and gears we need, and eventually climb the tower. I want to go back home."

Kai and Kristine shared his resolve, nodding in agreement while Nico and Saira gave each other awkward looks.

"I'm just glad we had Hena along with us." Jason said, putting over his tank tops over his bare chest. "If not, I really doubt we could've taken even five of them."

Kai scuttled to Nico and Jason like a crab over the pebbles and stones. "Remind me again why Hena's with us?"

"She wanted to come with." Nico said, waving a hand to Hena who was with Saira and Kristine, with the three of them sitting and idly chatting on a fallen tree beside the pool of loot.

"I mean, that's nice and all, but won't Mathis get mad?"

"She won't be, you're the one who'd know that."

"Yeah, but what about the other nobles?" Kai glanced to Hena, then back to Nico. "Everyone's not like Mathis, you know."

"We'll take care of that when we have to." Nico shrugged, taking in the fresh air of the woods. "She's been a huge help to us anyways, being a bronze rank healer. We'd be dead three-folds over without her."

"Fine, but this will be on you."

Nico threw up his arms in surrender as Kai scuttled back to the pool of loot.