Chapter 32: Shadowed Frenzy (Patreon)

Several things happened at once. First, thanks to my shadow woven Cloak of Umbral Frenzy, I had crawled over to the dead spider undetected and had begun to heal myself with its blood. Secondly, Hugo had managed to extinguish every torch in the arena which left the room in complete darkness. He’d taken a direct hit from a rock while doing so though, and hadn’t moved from where he’d fallen. I knew he was still alive and just had to hope the goblins didn’t find him in the dark. Damian wasn’t so lucky. He lay on the ground curled up into a ball while the goblins that were beating him before continued to do so in the dark.

Nights Eye activated.

Now I saw everything clearly. The twenty-four goblins had split up into two groups. One that was hurting Damian and one that was searching for Hugo. They moved slowly with their hands out in front and would occasionally bump into each other.

I coldly smiled. They were all completely blind.

I had to do this fast. Who knows how bad Hugo and Damian were and how much longer they could hold on for? I finished healing and stood up. A few goblins looked around at the noise.

“What was that?” one of them asked.

“Death,” I replied before launching forward with a knife in each hand.

As I met the first two goblins, I activated my Heart Strike ability twice and stabbed each of them in the heart.

*DING!* You have slain [Junior Goblin Infantryman] Level 8 – Experience Points and Currency Acquired

*DING!* You have slain [Junior Goblin Infantryman] Level 8 – Experience Points and Currency Acquired

For the briefest moment, a weariness took hold of me from using the ability twice. But then that vanished as soon as their goblin blood touched my hands. I recovered instantly and moved on to the next target.

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 11 – Experience Acquired.

A rage inside me began to build. I hated them for the way they toyed with Damian, hated Harold for betraying us, and hated the System for putting me in this situation. I casually dispatched another pair of goblins using Heart Strike.

*DING!* You have slain [Junior Goblin Infantryman] Level 8 – Experience Points and Currency Acquired

*DING!* You have slain [Junior Goblin Infantryman] Level 8 – Experience Points and Currency Acquired

Suddenly, I got a new message.

[Umbral Frenzy Activated]

I felt my physical power double inside of me. My speed had turned me into a blur as I moved from goblin to goblin. My newfound strength meant that every perfect knife strike tore through their bodies and made their hearts explode. They had become so slow and fragile that I began to revel in this newfound power as I killed them.

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 12 – Experience Acquired.

The remaining goblins heard their friend's grisly ends and panicked. Blindly, they reached out to one another until they’d grouped up and formed a defensive line. They figured that even without being able to see, if they heard the guy next to them go down, then they might be able to fight back.

They were wrong.

I tore through their line. My blades sung with their cries. I moved like water as I dodged and weaved past their maces and swords. Each time never failing to take two goblins in the process. As soon as they realized their line had broken down, some of them tried to run away. Those who fled tripped over rocks, the puddles, or ran into walls. They must have hoped to find the tunnel that they’d come out of and retreat. I doubted the System would let them do that, but I never gave them the chance. I chased them, one by one, and slaughtered them until there was none left.

*DING!* Class: [Blood Reaver] has reached level 13 – Experience Acquired.

I stood there with my heart racing, covered in their blood. Exultant. That was how I felt. I’d never even had to use my healing ability. None of them had even been able to leave a scratch on me. The rush was indescribable.

As the feeling died down, I dragged the nearest goblin body over to Hugo and helped heal him. He didn’t say anything at first and I left to go loot the bodies. Finally, when I returned and put him on my shoulder, he said in a hushed tone, “I’ve never seen anyone move so fast.”

“It’s a power I got from my cloak. Maybe it’s something that can only work in the dark?”

“Is that why you had me take out the lights?”

“No, that was just a lucky coincidence. Having the lights out was the only thing that gave me a chance at fighting twenty-four goblins at once.”

“Your stats must be insane right now.”

“I haven’t checked yet. I don’t want to rush what I put my points into.”

I retrieved my sword out from under the rubble of the golem’s remains and sheathed it on my back before approaching Damian.

“It’s me,” I said. “I’m going to help you up.”

Damian didn’t protest as I lifted him up, but when he got to his feet, he insisted on walking.

“At least put your hand on my shoulder,” I told him.

“Why?”

“Because I can see in the dark, and there are rocks and puddles everywhere.”

He nodded and let me guide him around the bodies to the large stone door. A perverse part of me hoped that the fighting wasn’t over. It had felt… exciting when I’d killed those goblins, and a part of me craved more of it.

The next room, however, was simply a smaller version of the arena space, but with an open silver elevator and a closed gold one. Harold had a decent head start on us and if he was smart, then he’d be on his way into town to get an antidote to my poison. We got inside the silver elevator and I pushed the button for floor 98.

Under the harsh light of the elevator, Damian’s beating looked even more brutal. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and most of his face was shades of red and purple.

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked him.

He nodded. “There’s an apothecary in town that sells health potions. I’ll be fine once we get there.”

The silver doors opened into the clocktower. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. Maybe this is where the silver elevator would always take me for this floor as owner of the tower? It was a useful shortcut for getting to the town, but I’d need to find a way of coming and going without the risk of being seen.

As we took a step out, Damian half collapsed. I caught him and helped him to sit on the floor while Hugo flew over to the circular window.

“I’ll get the health potion for you,” I said.

He frowned. “Why?”

“We’re still in the same party.”

Also, it was nice having someone that didn’t try to backstab me like Harold or Martin the Beastmaster had. He was also more competent than Rebecca’s group had been and I could see a further alliance proving useful. Plus, he’d saved me from the golem. I owed him one.

“Er, Lucas, you might want to see this,” said Hugo.

I went over to the window and looked down. An angry mob had formed near the town square silver elevator and I could see Harold there being questioned by them. It seems that he came out of the worst elevator possible and now they all assumed he was a card holder. I wondered why they cared so much since they were in a safe zone. It wasn’t like they could do anything about it. Harold could be seen shouting something back, but I was too far away to make it out.

There was however, a loud howl that I did hear and the crowd did too. They parted like the red sea and around the corner came a goblin dog the size of a lion with a man riding on its back. They approached the mob like an authority figure and began interrogating Harold. My eyes narrowed. Martin the Beastmaster was still alive, after all.