8 – Narrow Victory

Inflict Weakness – Uncommon – 1

Applies a curse of weakness to the target.

Each level increases the duration and potency of the curse.

Alexandra closed the appendix of her journal as she eyed the area where she first fought the three goblins. It was right at the entrance of their burrow, they should still be there. The wounds on her cheeks were pulling her face down. But she wasn’t smiling, so it wasn’t too bad.

She’d been worried she wouldn’t know how to use Inflict Weakness. It was her first skill, she hadn’t known how it would work.

The knowledge on how to use Inflict Weakness had been deposited straight into her mind. It was like finding out that she had a third hand, ready to be used.

After finally obtaining the skill, she’d been tempted to take a break. She’d already done a lot today. Being in top shape for the fight that was to come sounded like a good idea. But reality had a knack for getting in the ways of plans. Her injuries needed treatment, and delaying any longer than necessary was a risk she wasn’t willing to take.

What if she ended up bedridden, unable to complete her quest the next day? It would all have been for naught.

The question remained as to what a “curse of weakness” was exactly, but based on the skill quest, and the feeling she got from her new instinct, she believed it would reduce her target’s strength attribute.

This could be good. Hopefully enough to bridge the gap between her and the goblins.

Patting the handle of her sickle, she took a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. She didn’t know what she was doing, but it felt important to regain her composure before jumping into battle.

Another breath.

“Enough,” she sighed. “Let’s end this farce.”

She’d chosen this fight earlier too. That hadn’t gone well.

The difference was she’d run. Lost her nerve when her blood flowed and the pain got real. Now she had a skill, and apparently no better sense of self-preservation than before.

She almost smiled. Progress.

Her eyes scanned the tall flowers, the growth, the flowing plain. Her ears listened for the smallest movement, for a twig breaking, for the grass shifting. Pollen and petals swirled with each breeze, filling her nose with a scent that didn’t evoke violence.

Everything else about her did. She took a step toward the den, dried blood cracking on her thighs as her legs moved.

She saw the first goblin before reaching the burrow. It wasn’t the one she’d injured earlier. Maybe one of its friends, she couldn’t really tell them apart. It was facing away from her.

Not wasting time, she pushed toward it, reaching with her sickle. The goblin heard the noise and reacted fast. It threw a quick glance behind, then itself forward, shouting warnings and calling for help.

Alexandra didn’t relent, catching up to the goblin right before it could sneak into the gap between two boulders. The tip of her sickle buried itself in the monster’s upper arm.

She breathed, and willed it to happen.

Inflict Weakness.

The first thing she found out was that casting this skill didn’t come without a cost. Something left her. She wasn’t sure what, but she felt it. Like a breath leaving her body, and never returning.

Mana? She thought, gritting her teeth. She was grossly uninformed of how this world worked, and that needed to change.

In any case, the skill took effect, and when she pulled her sickle, the goblin was unable to fight back as the skin and flesh of its arm tore open under her blade.

It was far from enough to end the goblin, though. The green creature shifted between the boulders, leaving her reach. Alexandra leaped over the obstacle, and continued her chase.

The goblin was slower, the consequence of Inflict Weakness, its mangled arm, or a combination of both.

It took her two long strides to reach it again. Belly down, she swung her sickle, trying to nab the other arm. She missed.

Alexandra clicked her tongue, and resumed the hunt.

The goblin broke into a limping run across the open grass, still shrieking. Alexandra closed the gap in three strides and drove her sickle into the back of its knee.

It collapsed, face-first into the dirt, thrashing.

She raised her sickle.

Then stopped.

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Two shapes had emerged from the burrow. One she recognized. It moved with a familiar hitch in its shoulder.

It had come back. Her lips twitched into a smile that quickly turned into a grimace as it pulled on her injured cheeks.

Those three…

A low chuckle rose from her throat, her gaze locking onto the two newcomers.

She reached down with her sickle, wrapping the blade around the neck of the collapsed goblin. Not breaking eye contact, she pulled, slaughtering the beast.

The surviving goblins split as they closed in.

Alexandra let them.

She felt good. Strong. The uninjured goblin arrived first. She pushed off her back foot to create some distance, then she charged toward the weaker one.

Pain wasn’t enough to erase her smile. Her quest was completed. The goblin was dead. The streak was alive.

She could leave now, but she didn’t want to.

The curse of weakness hit the already frail goblin. Its legs almost faltered when the spell took effect. She saw it, and with force she didn’t know she had, plunged the spine of her sickle straight through its chest, its ribs cracking under the blade.