Chapter Forty-Two: Base Instinct

FORTY-TWO

Sunlight streamed off of obsidian, glittering stone held aloft in a small green fist. It was the size of a large child with long, fuzzy, pointed ears. Its knobbly knees shook as it ran, bright green skin blending in with the lush grass that neared the creature’s waist. A shrill cry lifted from its thin lips as its yellow teeth snarled as it came toward them.

Fred was fast, stepping forward and jabbing with his spear in a smooth motion that showcased years of training. The sharp point of the spear pierced the creature’s throat, slicing it apart and sending the creature to the ground as inky black blood spilled across the grass.

The forest came alive as shrieks and screams as more of the greenskinned monsters appeared out of nowhere. Where Roan had only seen lush grass and trees the world became wild with snarling savagery and obsidian blades. Roan spun on his heel and the hammer swung in a wild circle around himself.

A creature was caught at head level, the skull disintegrating in a spray of black gore and gray brain matter. He skipped back a step to avoid a wild swing of a knife. The obsidian blade hit a tree as the monster ran past him, shattering into a dozen pieces. Roan crushed its skull with an overhand swing, driving the remnants of the skull into its torso.

INFERIOR GOBLINOID

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Roan sent the alert away as he was forced into furious action. They may have been the same grade, but these creatures were faster, more wild, dangerous as they came at him with reckless abandon.

Blood and bone scattered across the forest floor as Fred and Roan slaughtered their way through the horde. In a little over a minute, it was all over. Roan wasn’t even breathing hard as he looked over the slaughter. From further away he could hear the shouting and screams of fighting happening. Not all of the screams were goblinoid.

“That got the blood pumping!” Fred said with a wide smile. Bits of black blood coated his face as he turned to look at Roan. That predatory glint had only deepened as the man inched closer.

“Any moment now. Be ready.” When the attack came it shocked Roan. Fred blurred as he lunged, his form shimmering as he cut across the ground inhumanly fast. Roan was ready though, the wide head of the hammer sweeping up and slapping the shaft out of the way as Roan spun inward and toward Fred.

“Was that a skill?” An idle thought flitted through his mind, but he was locked on his goal. Roan’s shoulder slammed into Fred and whatever had sped the man up hadn’t made him stronger.

Roan was tall, broad, and strong before he’d entered the tower. With the increases he’d had he was even stronger. Fred bounced off of him and slammed into the ground, his head smacking the ground with a thud. Roan finished his spin, now behind Fred’s prone body, and spun the hammer around his body in an up and over blow that would cave the would-be-killer’s chest in.

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Fred rolled in time as the hammer found nothing but grass and rich soil, bound to his feet and thrust the spear at Roan’s face. Roan leaned back and to the side and snatched the spear behind the blade with his free hand. For a moment Fred tried to wrest the spear away, but he abandoned the futile effort and leapt toward a dead goblinoid.

Roan threw the spear away into the forest and closed the distance quickly. His breath came in quick bursts as his heart thundered with adrenaline and fear. He reared back with the hammer ready to come down in a final blow as Fred came up and threw something. Instinct screamed and Roan pivoted and fell to the ground as an obsidian knife flew through the air where his chest had just been.