The goblin unfroze, and began a wild charge towards Ken.

"RAAAAAAHHH!!!"

The goblin screeched like a banshee. Adrenaline pumped through its veins, its nervous system on full blast. Out of fight or flight, the goblin had instantly reacted with "fight." It carried no weapon, but its short fingers had substantial claws.

Ken's heart skipped a beat when the goblin started its charge. Before he knew it, he made to jab at its chest with his branch, but the goblin scurried under his attack. It reared back and slashed at Ken's wrist, but he withdrew, stepping into the creek. The goblin didn't let up, and swung at Ken once again. Water flew everywhere, and Ken had difficulty keeping his balance, but the goblin scampered through the water naturally. Once again, Ken backpedaled when the goblin tried to swipe his at arm.

Ken's breath was already ragged, and his arteries felt like they were about to pop. The goblin panted steadily, its breath sounded like rusted metal scraping against itself.

Ken tried to sidestep the goblin's next attack, hoping to counterattack.

"Shit!"

Ken's foot got caught on a rock, and he completely lost his balance. The goblin took the chance to throw a full-power slash at Ken. Ken saw this, and dropped himself into the water. The impact doused the goblin in water, but it threw itself onto Ken without missing a beat. Ken had managed to bring his branch up the guard himself, and it caught the goblin in the sternum. The impact caused Ken's elbows to give out slightly, and the goblin took the chance to swipe at Ken's face. The attack connected perfectly, cut into blood vessels under his brow and temple, and he started to bleed profusely.

Ken screamed with pained hatred, and pushed the goblin off him. Ken rolled to his right, got to his feet, and located his balance. At the same time, the goblin got to its feet and cackled. It believed it had won, and took a breather. After all, its enemy was much more out of breath than itself. Ken was also pouring blood, so much that it covered one eye, and essentially made it impossible to see out of.

The water around Ken was clouded with red, but Ken paid no attention to anything to the goblin. The fight had only started 15 seconds ago, but it felt like an eternity to Ken. He was confident, though. Ken used the time the goblin wasted catching his breath to process his situation and enemy.

The goblin readied itself, and Ken tensed up, bringing his branch in front of him. The goblin threw a predictable right-handed swipe, which Ken sidestepped skillfully, and struck the goblin behind its knee with full power. The goblin fell to one knee, and tried to scramble away, but Ken had already prepared an overhand attack, and brought the branch onto the back of the goblin's head.

Ken reluctantly hit the goblin's head a second, then a third time. When he drew blood, Ken decided that enough was enough, and that he had won. The water flowed incessantly, as if nothing happened. Clouds of red blood emanated from the goblin, and blood dripped freely from Ken's head. His hips were bruised and his clothes were ripped and soaked through from the fall he took. His muscles were on fire and he still couldn't stop breathing choppily.

Ken had dragged the corpse to the bank. He examined it, and noticed two things. First, the goblin had an iron adventurer's tag around its neck. Ken tied the necklace around his neck and stuffed it into his shirt. Second, the goblin had odd talons in place of big toes. Ken thought there was a good chance they could be sold for something, and he snapped, twisted, and pulled until they came off. He put them into an empty pocket on his windbreaker.

Ken hesitantly undone the goblin's loincloth, ignoring what was underneath it. He brought it over to the creek, washed it off, and fashioned it into strips. He then tied them around his head and made a makeshift bandage for his gash. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough material, and still bled through the cloth.

Ken returned to the bank, retrieved his bags and branch, slung them over his shoulder, and started walking west, to safety.