Currently Ezra, Claire, Sonja, and Ilyana were hiding behind a thick aged pillar, situated a meter to the left of the middle aisle. Saber moved towards one of the former stone pews a few meters away, condensing his body as much as possible to hide behind the small frame.

Kobolds were rapidly nearing his location, within minutes they’d discover him and attack together like a mindless mob. Their yellow serpentine eyes searched every nook and cranny they could find, which wasn’t much seeing as the nave was smaller than average.

The tapping of their feet against the stone floor, reverberated through the room as everyone held their breath in hopes they would go away. The odds were clearly against them, and Ezra started to nudge his sister while motioning with his eyes towards the entrance.

“Claire we need to get out of here now, there are too many monsters for us.”

Her face warped in a mixture of anger and disgust, as she hissed out a response while trying to stay quiet.

“Are you trying to abandon our friends? What is wrong with you?!”

“We need to leave now!”

Ezra tried to grab Claire’s arm and drag her back, but she stayed unmoving glaring at her brother. He wasn’t afraid to admit he was a coward, but the only person Ezra is willing to risk his life for is his sister. They only just met these new people, yet Claire was acting like she’s known them for an eternity.

Feelings of spite bubbled in the pit of his stomach, but he shut those feelings down instantly. He knew he didn’t have to follow his sister into this deathtrap, but the obligation and familial ties Ezra felt towards the Wilmont family triumphed over everything else.

As Ezra was dealing with his conflicting thoughts, Ilyana shot the siblings a fierce glare as their conversation didn’t go unnoticed before returning to observing the kobold’s movements.

They were getting dangerously close to Saber’s position with each second, and Ilyana soon made up her mind as she got an arrow ready from her quiver. The kobold shaman had its scaly four fingered hand pressed against its temple, its eyes closed in deep concentration while it occasionally spoke a strange language.

She took one last look at her companions, hardened faces greeted her back waiting for her signal. Ilyana took in a long breath as she peeked behind the pillar again, drawing her bowstring and aiming at the shaman.

Time seemed to slow as she loosed the arrow, it speedily flew towards its intended target. With seemingly supernatural precognition, the shaman opened its eyes before shifting its body to the side.

It roared with ferocity while pointing at the party, as kobolds quickly converged on their location. Ilyana muttered under her breath about her luck, while Ezra and Claire moved forward to meet the monsters’ charge.

The horde of kobolds was imposing to say the least, especially for any newly formed party unlucky enough to stumble into this encounter. Ilyana gave a quick prayer to Yggdrasil, while she used her limited supply of arrows to take down some of the charging kobolds.

There was little she could do with the small space and limited time frame, only able to take down one kobold and injure another with her mediocre skills. She took a quick glance at Sonja, before returning her attention to the battle.

She stood behind the pillar occasionally peeking out while her ears stood at attention, waiting for any sign that someone would require her restoration. Although she felt bad for not being present during the battle, it was a better alternative than being a clear target and having a detachment go after her.

The first round of kobolds formed around the siblings in a half circle, eight in total although more tried to squeeze in. While Claire was better off due to her equipment, Ezra internally panicked looking at the monster’s weapons.

Despite focusing on bare handed combat, Ezra still learned the basics of using actual weapons. Weighing his options he decided to attempt to disarm one of them and use their weapons against them.

Their child sized bodies were deceiving, as each kobold nearly had the strength of a grown man. They all swung their weapons wildly in an attempt to batter them with a flurry of strikes.

Attacking in groups of four, their varied weapons and strength proved difficult for Claire, let alone Ezra, to block or deflect.

Surrounded on nearly all sides by monsters, Claire blocked blades with her shield while absorbing the impact of their clubs with her armor. She couldn’t afford to focus on one specific kobold, as a lapse in attention could lead to her death.

On the other hand, Ezra attempted to move his body in odd angles trying his best to avoid any incoming blows. Of course he failed the majority of the time seeing as he never stretched his body like this before, bruises and cuts rapidly appearing on his frame although none were life threatening or required immediate attention.

One of the beasts swung with a bit too much enthusiasm, their club arcing too wide near his hip and Ezra leaned back before grabbing the club. He couldn’t afford to get in a tugging match, opting to twist and turn the weapon from his grasp while delivering a swift kick on its arm.

For a moment, Ezra and the kobold locked eyes with one another. He could see the same feelings of anger, and desperation that he currently felt in its yellow eyes. It was struggling to survive just as much as he was, and if it wasn’t for the sound of a blade Ezra may have lost his life from this distraction.

The fact that these monsters seemed to feel real human emotions, didn’t change the fact that they were trying to kill him and his sister. If anything it only served to strengthen Ezra’s resolve, as he desperately yanked and twisted at the wooden club even harder.

Eventually he stole the weapon from the kobold, but not without receiving a deep gash on his arm that continuously poured out blood. A soft golden glow emanated from his body, his spent energy rapidly being restored. Although it didn’t actually heal him, Sonja’s restoration definitely increased his staying power.

Both siblings took advantage of their extended reach to deal with the kobolds, while Ilyana shot arrows into the impromptu mob pit. Ezra and Claire managed to kill two each while Ilyana injured a few kobolds as they slowly settled into a rhythm, however the shaman suddenly released a soul shaking screech.

The effects were instantaneous, as Claire, Ilyana, and Sonja lost their sense of balance. While Ezra seemed somewhat resistant and maintained his newfound rhythm, Claire was repeatedly stumbling and struggled to handle one kobold let alone four of them.

Another screech from the shaman, one implying pain, destroyed the foggy veil over their minds as everyone’s sense of balance was restored. Soft glows found their place on their bodies, however Sonja was clearly nearing her limit. A massive amount of sweat covered her face and body as it drenched her robes, her eyes seemed dazed as she struggled to even stand.

Ilyana could do nothing to help her friend, as she needed to lend support to Claire who was struggling with her crowd. Besides she was running out of arrows with only five left, and she needed to make sure every shot count.

Before she could nock another arrow, Saber came back from his failed ambush with a bloody gash on the side of his head. He only managed to give the shaman a flesh wound, before he was forced to retreat back to his party. Oddly enough the shaman didn’t bother to chase him down, an eerie toothy smirk etched on its face.

That smile greatly bothered Saber, however he was in no position to wipe it off its face.

“Be careful everyone, it’s clearly planning something.”

The situation was worsening by the second as Saber barked out a warning. Seconds afterwards, another soul shaking screech sounded out causing everyone except Ezra to stumble and a thud followed by a scream came from behind them.

A brief glance behind him showed Sonja limp on the ground, while Ilyana made sure she was still alive.

Their battle was draining them all and the kobolds never seemed to run out of energy or courage, despite watching their brethren being repeatedly battered in front of their eyes. Without Sonja’s restoration it was only a matter of time until they lost and died.

Damn the warning and consequences, he let this go on for far too long. Ezra needed to take out that shaman, as he prayed [Soul Bolt] would be enough to finish the job.

“Guys give me an opening I’m going to try something!”

Magically Saber appeared nearby, taking care of Ezra’s position as he moved back. As Saber and Claire handled the front, Ilyana shot her last few arrows at any stragglers trying to sneak by before guarding Sonja with a small dagger.

Now that everybody else was taking care of their duties, Ezra focused on activating his skill.

Something the siblings learned after obtaining their classes was when they learn skills the knowledge of how to use it becomes instinctual. Although he never used the skill before due to the warning, there was no confusion about what he had to do.

He closed his eyes and searched inside himself for…something. It felt like he was groping around deep in his body with intangible hands. Finally he found whatever it was, a similar texture to jelly and it seemed to bend to his very touch.

Ezra knew what to do willing a portion of his soul to attack the shaman. His eyes shot out, his original purple irises on full display as they radiated power.

A dark, spectral purple substance flew towards the shaman, distracting nearly everyone man and beast alike in the area. They all bore witness as the shaman casually dodged the projectile, yet it performed a loop changing directions to follow it.

Not expecting it to give chase to him, the shaman was caught off guard and fell to the ground as if he was hit by a hammer. Coughing blood it struggled to stand again, however Ezra cast another [Soul Bolt] knocking it out for good.

Like he was on a high of sorts, Ezra felt powerful, maybe even god-like, however as his eyes turned back to his original shade the rush disappeared as he came back to reality.

A sudden wrongness invaded his body, as he fell to one knee. His vision was distorted and other senses felt muddled, as he had the sudden urge to vomit. Ezra resisted it, as his hearing came back to normal the death throes of kobolds came back and with it their cacophony of screeches as the fighting resumed.

When he was finally able to stand, kobold corpses laid about everywhere as the party surrounded the shaman while Claire stabbed it in the head. Sonja was still behind him, her face a twisted mixture of discomfort and peace.

As Ezra was wondering whether he should help her onto his back or not, the rest of the party came back. Tired expressions covered all of their faces, and before Ezra could speak Saber silently shook his head.

“Just grab the shaman’s corpse, although the rest of this would be worth some credits if we had a porter.”

His voiced seemed colder than usual, and Ezra chalked it up to Ilyana informing him about his earlier plans. Claire watched as her brother set off to complete the task, as the dinging of notifications sounded out in her peripheral.

She chose to ignore those as she needed to get Sonja on her back. Ilyana made sure to grab a bag from underneath Sonja’s robe, grabbing a jar filled with a red paste she applied to everyone’s cuts and bruises.

It was shiny and cool to the touch, and oddly enough her wounds felt better immediately after Ilyana applied it to her body.

Ezra dragged the body back as he followed the already moving party, a slight challenge as he avoided the bumps and uneven terrain. Ilyana led them back to the entrance with the compass, navigating through the dimly lit corridors to safety.

Not every room would result in a fight, and hopefully they wouldn’t have any other encounters.

Although he felt bad for dragging the fight on longer than necessary due to his abilities, he had more pressing matters to deal with as notifications waited to be addressed.