Soul Knight - Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Nick cut down the last goblin with his soul blade. They had fought through three more patrols, and he was actually getting bored with his bag of coins weapon. It was even bigger now, having added a few hundred more copper coins from the goblins.

But when Kaya wasn’t annoyed by it anymore, it wasn’t as much fun. Nick did like to see how impressed she and Eirwen were by it at first, but eventually even that wore off.

He would pretend it didn’t exist by the next floor, he was sure. Kaya seemed to be thoughtful after their attribute discussion, and Eirwen looked at him with something bordering adoration.

She had an extra pep in her step, even though he could tell that bag was getting more and more full of random bobs and bits. They had a break for a snack of bearcoon meat and water, just before this group of enemies.

Nick was really close to level four. As Eirwen picked up another item that looked like a grungy, metal macaroni necklace, Nick couldn’t help but ask. “People will really pay you for these in town? You’re sure about that?”

Eirwen giggled. “Yes! They might not look like much, but they are chock-full of Essence. Various crafters can use this Essence either as fuel, or to enhance low-essence materials. Pushing them over a certain threshold, they can then hold enchantments or other enhancements, like powering magic spells. It’s worth carrying them, don’t worry about me!”

Kaya had a frown as she looked at Nick. “How did you get so good with that weapon? I’ve never seen anyone use anything like it.”

Nick chuckled. “Impressed? I’m not that good with it. Part of training to high levels with the sword was training with all other weapons. It helps you understand what they might do when you face one. The big advantage of a flail-like weapon is that it’s not a commonly faced weapon, opponents not really understanding what it might be able to do. Actually, some rogue types called ninjas in my world used something like this, with a sickle on the other end of a chain instead of a rope. I mostly trained with it to eliminate that advantage.”

Kaya’s eyes grew wide, as she understood the implications. “T-That is interesting. Maybe I could train with a non-standard weapon, for when I come out of [Sneak]? I’d imagine combining the unfamiliarity with the weapon helps even more when you surprise the enemy.”

Nick smiled at her. “That’s right. I noticed your arm might have bulked up a little, but it hasn’t been a problem, huh? You’re faster now, your attacks more sure. Nice work.”

Kaya seemed to blush, as Eirwen added, “She’s relaxed a lot, that helps I’m sure. You’re only growling at Nick once an hour now!”

Eirwen continued looting the corpses, and Nick focused on absorbing the Essence. As he did, he got the notification that he leveled.

[New Passive Skill Learned: Soul Blade Efficiency]

[Maximum Soul Blade Power now requires 30% less Soul Power.]

Digging into his Menu, Nick found that the maximum power of his Soul Blade was based on several of the sub-attributes under Soul. A function of his race, these were heavily focused on by his Soul cultivation. He was now over 8 Soul, and his Soul Blade would max its strength at less than 6 now.

This meant that Jerome and Jerry would no longer reduce the power of his Soul Blade at all. He would only have a weaker blade once he added more Soul Servants, or perhaps got some other ability that reserved some of his Soul Power.

He drew his blade once more, marveling at how bright it was now.

Eirwen smiled. “What happened, it looks brighter now? Did you level up and get a new skill?”

“Level four! Does anything big happen at certain levels?”

Kaya nodded. “Most classes do get close to a class defining ability at five. Some might even get a choice for specialization. Rogues don’t just get [Sneak], we can choose to evolve [Backstab] instead, into [Flanking Strike].”

She continued, “Instead of only being able to trigger from behind, it can be triggered from any direction as long as the enemy’s focus is not on you.”

“You know that second thing sounds a lot more useful for a beast warrior. You can’t leave Eirwen alone anyway, so maybe you ought to go for that. You’ll be a beast warrior, won’t you?”

Kaya was startled, and Eirwen gave her a big smile. “I think you can do it, Kaya! Just keep focusing on getting your ferality under control. It’ll show up eventually, I know you can do it.”

Kaya blushed. “Thanks, Winny.” She gripped her fist a few times, then looked at Nick. “And thanks for encouraging me, Nick. It feels good to not be afraid of my own skin.”

Nick said, “You did it all on your own. We almost at that Safe Zone, Winny?”

Eirwen looted the last goblin. “I think we’re close? Still, it’s not yet evening. The day-night cycle within mostly mirrors that outside, and we’ve still got a couple of hours before nightfall. We should at least scout the Hobgoblin camp.”

They came up to the Safe Zone, a bubble or barrier enshrouding it. It looked like a standard camping grounds you might see on the side of a road, complete with a place for Eirwen to cook food. Then, there was something Nick was excited about: a pond. They could get clean, and he knew the girls would probably enjoy it quite a bit.

Moving on, they encountered another scouting party of goblins. One had nearly gotten away, but Nick threw his throwing knife and got it in the leg, making it easy for Jerry to take it down.

“These guys sure got a lot of scouting parties, are there gonna be like a hundred at this camp?”

Eirwen shook her head. “This is a Test of Strength, so some of these might have actually been respawns. We’re only able to use the Safe Zone once on this Test, so while we could stay here and farm here for more than just a single day, it would get risky. It would eventually wear us down if we got greedy.”

Eventually, they reached the base of a mountain. In front of it was a cave, and the ground was like a bowled slope leading into it. Nick’s party stayed low as they observed over the top of a hill, looking at the number of goblins.

However, Eirwen and Kaya seemed relaxed. Nick frowned and whispered. “Aren’t you girls worried about being spotted?”

Kaya shook her head. “You’ve seen the goblin’s eyes–they are all white? That shows they are Ordeal creatures, controlled by the Tower. Patrol monsters are different in that they hunt us out. The usual monster in the First Stratum is not really going to detect us until we get pretty close.”

Nick raised his brow. “Like a game’s aggro radius? Too much is like a game here.”

Near the back of the camp, in front of the cave, was a palisade. A staked fence, it protected the many tents at the back. There were dozens of goblins, perhaps almost forty. Many goblins had ranged weapons, and breaking through the palisade looked somewhat challenging.

If not for Nick’s soul blade, which would probably cleave the door in two, anyway. The arrows from the goblins were usually ineffective anyway, Nick knew that a warrior with decent armor and a shield would easily fight through this.

Even as Nick was hardly armored with leather, he had confidence in rolling through. He would only be worried about him or the girls getting struck by a stray arrow, especially Eirwen.

“How do additional enemies work? If Winny tags one of those guys with her crossbow, will all forty or so run out and charge at us?”

Kaya frowned. “And leave a defensive barricade? I think that will sort of depend. If we hit them from where they can’t fight back, they might run and hide in that cave, and eventually new enemies will spawn to replace the ones killed. If they can fight back with ranged attacks, they will. They may even follow us out, but it would have to appear they might be able to get one of us, or something.”

“So we might be able to pull some out if we bait them a little? What about the Hobgoblin? I only see goblins.”

Eirwen nodded. “That’s a common strategy. It starts to work less as you get higher in the Tower. He’s definitely in the cave, and likely with others. It will likely be two separate battles.”

Still, Nick was a fight smart, not hard kind of guy. He spotted something interesting on the other side of the bowl-shaped area, on the hill off to the side.

Nick pulled the girls and his soul servants back, and pointed to their left. “Let’s head over to that side? I see something that could work well.”

They headed to the other hill off to the side, and at the top was a large boulder up against a rock. It was easily taller and wider than a person was tall.

“What do you think? We can just crash the barricade with this! It’ll be easy.”

Kaya looked at Nick like he was stupid. “Oh really? How are you going to get it to budge, let alone get it to roll all the way there? Last I checked, you didn’t have the strength of an ogre!”

Nick chuckled. “So the Ordeal won’t be mad if I succeed? That’s all I need to know.”

Eirwen shook her head. ”This is a Test of Strength. Strength can mean many things. We could poison their food, sneak straight into the cave under cover of night, or…smash the barricade with a boulder, I suppose.”

“What happens if we beat the boss early? We can still go to the Safe Zone, right?”

Eirwen nodded. “As long as we don’t get too close to the Archway, we can backtrack. New enemies might spawn, but the Chieftain will be gone. The timer on spawning enemies halts while we’re in the Safe Zone, too.”

He walked over to the boulder and drew his soul blade. Lopping off a few edges with powerful swings of it, Kaya’s eyes grew big as after a few swings, the boulder was already starting to look close to a spherical shape.

It definitely wasn’t perfect, but with the rounded shape of the bowl leading to the goblins and the momentum gained from rolling down the hill, he thought for sure he would get it to smash into the barricade.

Eirwen laughed. “Wow, you really made it round. That soul blade is amazing!”

Nick said, “See, tell me it’s not supposed to be used like this!”

Kaya still looked skeptical, folding her arms. “I’m not telling you that. How are you going to get it to move? There’s no way you can push it.”

Nick walked over to a smaller tree, and sliced right through it. Pushing it, he had it fall away from the girls. He cut through again, making a section of wood that he could still carry, but thin enough that he could wedge it between the boulder and the rock.

He leaned it up against the rock.

Climbing up to the top of it, he pulled his improvised lever to the top. When it fit between the two, he was sure he would have it. He pulled it a little, and felt it begin to budge a little with not quite all his strength, but he pulled back.

Kaya rolled her eyes. “See, told you. This was a fun waste of time, but–”

“I was just gonna tell you girls to get ready. We’re going in, we’ll get this fight over before dinner time.”

Eirwen loaded her crossbow, and Kaya drew her blades, and positioned herself on the hill off to the side. Nick began pulling on his lever, picturing his body filling with his Essence like the reverse whirlpool once more.

He felt his muscles fill with power. Giving it a strong tug, the boulder shoved away from the hill. It began to roll down the hill, picking up pace somewhat rapidly.

It picked up speed until he thought it was traveling around twenty miles per hour, and Nick took off at a jog, following it with a smile.

The boulder crashed right into the gate like planned, sending shattered wood as shrapnel into several goblins standing near it. The boulder kept on going, and rolled over two more goblins as it entered the camp, and rolled over what appeared to be tents before stopping.

Nick laughed almost maniacally as he sent Jerry in and ran inside with his Soul Blade drawn. At least ten goblins were either killed outright, or knocked over by the wall shattering.

Eirwen targeted one of the archers, and Kaya used Dash toward some others as Nick began his dance of death.

He didn’t mess around with his bag of coins, keeping it by his side. Having a dozen throwing knives, he still threw plenty as he watched over Kaya and Eirwen, cutting through goblins left and right.

Nick was the vanguard, fighting through enemies as Kaya cut through the flanks of enemies going after Jerry. Her blades moved with fervor, her arms bulked up from a partial transformation, her movements sped up from Dash.

Eirwen only shot a crossbow bolt every five to ten seconds or so, but she usually took out a goblin when she fired.

A few goblins tried to ambush Nick by charging out of their grungy tents, but he was able to sense them coming with his soul sense. His blade carved through them like a scythe through wheat, their terrible weapons unable to protect against its sharpness.

As he finished slaying them all, he was surprised when his soul blade was nearly all charged up.

It took all this time to charge up. Or maybe, it was just gathering enough Essence in a short period. He thought that was likely, but he hadn’t really noticed it leaking. He’d try to pay attention to it.

Kaya was cutting into each of the downed goblins, making sure they were dead. Nick threw a knife at one, causing it to gasp and gurgle as it expired.

“Rest are dead, Kaya. Soul Sense, remember?” Nick started picking up his thrown weapons, as Eirwen started looting the dead.

“See, my plan worked perfectly. You can count on Prince Torian.”

Eirwen giggled. “That was really neat! When the rock hit the fence, the wood really splattered everywhere.”

Kaya sighed, but looked somewhat impressed. “You hardly needed that boulder, but it did help make the attack safer. Let’s be careful with the hobgoblin, it might come out any minute. Let’s gather our essence, but be prepared for the boss.”

While collecting the loot, they heard a roar coming from the cave.

Nick stood protectively in front of the girls, drawing his soul blade.

Jerome got in front of Eirwen, just as an arrow shot out of the cave, faster than Nick could move–some kind of ability triggered. It struck the wolf instead of Eirwen, and Nick was thankful as his creature died.

She ran wide of the cave now to force the enemies to come out in order to get an angle on her, and Nick sent Jerry to take its place as her protector.

Spinning his sack of coins, he charged toward the cave entrance, just as three goblin warriors came out.

Just behind them, was the large hobgoblin chieftain. There were several other goblins charging in, and Nick started to wonder how a regular party would have taken this battle on.

Much bigger than its goblin brethren, it still wasn’t overly imposing to Nick. It held a large bone axe, but only wore leather armor.

In the gloom of the cave, Nick now saw that there was more than an archer, but some sort of goblin or hobgoblin shaman as well to his right.

It started casting its spell, just as Nick threw his sack of coins at the caster’s face and dashed to the left, putting the chieftain between him and the caster.

But the chieftain swung his axe, colliding with the sack of coins and tearing it in half. The over-a-thousand copper coins scattered everywhere, but mostly on or around the chieftain, as the shaman completed the spell.

A burst of lightning rippled out–striking the coins. Nick stared on incredulously, as the chieftain was shocked instead of him. Kaya’s throwing knives flashed, stabbing into the archer as she charged.

Nick took on the goblins in front of him, while others charged at Kaya.

Eirwen’s crossbow fired over Nick’s shoulder and into the shaman, allowing Nick to focus on cutting down the goblins, as Kaya used [Dash] to take on her goblins. Her blades flashed with her arms bulked up, her expression angry.

The hobgoblin chieftain finally recovered from being shocked with a roar, and charged Nick. Its speed was surprising, as it brought down the bone axe over its head. Nick had just finished off the last goblin by him, and was forced to block the overhead chop with his blade.

To the left, Nick noticed the archer was about to fire again. Kaya was growling as she attacked the goblins with a fury, and he didn’t think she was paying much attention to its actions. Eirwen was even a ways behind her, getting her next shot ready.

Nick hardly thought, he just moved. He shoved the bone axe right as he dashed to the left, even as the chief followed up with another attack. Having to block it with his blade, he got in front of Kaya and took the arrow with his left shoulder.

Grunting as he was struck, he increased his speed by pushing Body essence through himself. Nick countered the warrior’s attacks with deft parries, but found an opening by slicing deep into its leg.

He felt Kaya finish off the last goblin and charge after the hobgoblin archer, as Eirwen finished off the shaman with another crossbow bolt. It appeared the creature didn’t have much mana after the large lightning attack.

The chieftain stumbled, forcing it to defend with its large axe. But Nick feinted with an overhead chop, switching to a slice deep across its chest with a flick of his wrist. The hobgoblin couldn’t easily defend himself on one leg, and he finished the creature just as Kaya finished the archer.

Her growl didn’t stop, her eyes wide with rage.

“You okay there, Kaya? Deep breaths. Eirwen’s okay.”

Kaya froze, but she followed his instruction. She took some shuttering breaths, and her arms shrank within her bracers, her furry paws returning to her feminine fingers.

She sighed, as it seemed she had come back to herself. “That was close. If not for Jerome…Shit, you’re hurt!”

Nick did his best to reassure her. “That’s what Jerome is for, right? I told you I got you and Eirwen’s back. I didn’t know it could use a crazy ability like that.”

Eirwen dropped her crossbow, and ran in. “Oh no, Nick! You got hit, let me see it.”

He did his best to crouch down, to let her better inspect his wound. Her expression was filled with worry, but also focus. He did his best to try to look at it too, but it was awkward for him to get a good look at it where it stuck into him, with it being on his upper shoulder.

Kaya looked at the goblins, and where Nick was struck. “You…took that arrow for me?”

Nick wanted to shrug, but with an arrow in his shoulder that was a terrible idea. “Yeah. You…were busy with the goblins. Maybe I should get a buckler? I’d have blocked it easily.”

Eirwen frowned. “It looks like it might just be best for me to pull it out. Thanks to your armor and maybe your high Constitution, it doesn’t look like it went that deep into your flesh.”

“See, Kaya? No big deal. Go for it, Winny.”

“Just a minute. I got something in my pack for this.”

She took off the pack and began rummaging through it, but didn’t take very long to produce what looked quite a bit like a first aid kit. Opening it, she took out a vial. “Kaya? A little help.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Well, since you’re here, it will just help a little. If you pull the arrow out, I can pour the contents of this blood clotting solution on the wound quicker and easier.”

They coordinated pulling out the arrow and pouring the solution, and with a grunt from Nick, Kaya pulled it out. Aside from a squirt of blood, the almost-dirt like solution Eirwen poured on it covered the hole rapidly through the hole in his armor.

Eirwen smiled. “There, now we can get your armor off and get a proper bandage on it. I’m glad I have plenty of this.”

Kaya looked at the large arrowhead and the blood on it, but didn’t comment.

They took off his buckles, and Eirwen applied the bandage using her First Aid skill. He could feel the essence enhancing the two solutions as they mixed, and his wound became prickly as he could tell some flesh was being regrown.

Still, she wrapped it up in gauze under and around his armpit, and helped him put his armor back on.

Eirwen smiled at Nick. “There! All better. Thanks for looking out for us, Nick. Jerome really helped me out, that would have been really nasty for me. I’m not as hardy as you are.”

That gave Nick an idea, as he looked down at the dead hobgoblin.

“Thanks for patching me up, Winny. It’s time for a new Jerome!” He cast his spell. “Summon Soul Servant!”

A fair amount of Soul Power left him, the hobgoblin chieftain rising from the dead. Once again, Jerome appeared to occupy it.

“There. Now we just need a shield for him, you see one in the camp? Nobody will get close to Eirwen now. Good job protecting her, Jerome.”

Eirwen smiled at the hobgoblin, but Nick thought it was a sad one. “Yeah, thanks, Jerome. I really appreciate it…”

The hobgoblin’s face scrunched up, and Nick felt like it wanted to say something.

“What’s the matter, you wanna talk?” Nick waited for a moment, and it just opened and closed its mouth repeatedly, no words coming out.

“How about a thumbs up? Two blinks for yes? Draw on the ground?”

Its body shook like it was trying, but then it just moved to Eirwen’s side with a breath that sounded a lot like a sigh. As it moved, Nick felt like its steps were definitely that of a hardened veteran.

“Huh. Maybe it wants to, but can’t? Weird.”

Kaya sighed. “Just what about you isn’t? To answer your question, I only saw a pathetic-looking goblin buckler back there.”

Nick looked at Eirwen, who looked a bit down. Rather than scared of being hit by the hobgoblin’s arrow, she looked a little depressed to him.

“We did it, girls! Beat another Level. Let’s get back to that Safe Zone, and have a good rest? I know I could use a dip in that pond.” He smirked as he teased, “You girls might have cleaned me good, but I could use a real bath.”

Eirwen gave a small smile and a nod, her mind seemingly taken away from the danger she felt. Nick wasn’t sure what was up, but he would do his best to find out. They would finish up looting and head back to the Safe Zone.