[Day 11]

  I stood in front of the inn, watching the goblins stream toward the lower-most part of the cave, all giddy for the ritual. There were hundreds of them, more than I’ve seen walk in this town of theirs combined. Apparently, the houses here were connected by several floors of basements, or at least Martin said so. Good thing to find out on my last day here. Mark was even more pissed off than I was.

  The goblins sometimes looked my way, but I was constantly feeling my passive go off, and that made the onlookers just wave at me and continue on.

  Not all of them, though. There was an ever-growing crowd of goblins meeting in front of the inn, looking to me and Martin with worried expressions.

  The damn goblins looked as if one mother had them all. One very, very ugly mother. They all held weapons that looked as if they were held by duct tape and pure determination of the scraps they were made of, but at least they had something. Hopefully our enemies would be similarly equipped.

  There were even four of those Wyrms in our group, making soft sounds as they stood at the ready. They looked a bit more… friendly now, when they weren’t trying to kill me or abduct my friend.

  The quality of our group made me a bit insecure. Yet I still felt happy, seeing them there, hoping for something more than the rule of the mages and their dragon overlord. I would not let them down.

  Overall, Mark counted around 200 of their number ready to fight with me here, though Martin assured me that wasn’t even half of it.

  “I’m telling you man, there’s, like, six more pockets of goblins ready to go with us.” He said, a proud smile coming onto his lips.

  “Like six? Can’t you be concrete? Five pockets is 400 less soldiers than seven pockets, dude.” Mark remarked, looking over the goblins.

  “There’s just six others.” Said Emma, deadpan. She seemed a bit more nervous as well, more… concentrated. She looked sharp, beyond what her age and previous behaviour would suggest. Her eyes had more focus in them than I’d ever seen before.

  Kind of like Martin could be goofy, and then steal all your gold the next moment. Another player that seemed a match with their guide. I wasn’t sure about how to feel about the implication of that.

  “Good. Let’s go.” I turned to Martin, catching his attention. “Don’t let me down again.”

  He rolled his eyes again, though he kept smiling. “God, stop being so intense dude. I got your back. See you when we win this.”

  “Or when we escape.”

  “Oh yeah, but you won’t need me to escape, right?” He stuck his tongue out, and then he ran off, not letting me reply. Emma looked at him, back at me, gave me an apologetic smile, and rushed to follow her player.

  Still without a clue on whether I could trust the guy, I could only hope for the best as I joined the crowd streaming toward the ritual site.

  The goblins let me pass without much trouble, and my small entourage followed, all of their faces determined now, even if the fear remained. I’d have to motivate them somehow. Maybe killing one of the mages would do the trick…

  The crowds started widening, the goblins going in all directions as we neared the podium.

  And already I could see a problem.

  With so many of them here, I could barely see the podium below, only visible because of the height difference. Was that one of the wrinkly mages that was going to their own platform now? I could not see Xila though, so perhaps it was one of the non-important ones.

  “What now? Our goblins won’t get there!” I looked to Mark, hoping he’d have an idea, but he was looking as nervous as I was. He met my eyes, and I saw it. That spark of an idea forming in that thick skull of his.

  “Shrimpie, you know how I tell you you’re dumb sometimes?”

  “You tell me all the time.”

  He smiled, his eyes still wide with nerves. “I think you need to go crazy. Go fucking balistic. Scream, do a windmill with your hands, sprint forward as if the goblins weren’t there. Your strength should push them sideways anyway.”

  “Really? That’s your best idea?”

  “You got a better one?” He raised his eyebrow. “Fucking hell, we really should have ran.” He grinned. “Anyway, the moment you get close, use [Dash] to close the distance to the mage we need, and hold him hostage.”

  I looked forward, thinking. But what was there to think about? It was the only chance we had. Fink was probably there, about to be sacrificed.

  I looked at the goblins, told them to follow, which made everyone, including Gumzz at the front of them, look at me with anticipation.

  And I started screaming.

  I screamed as loudly as my lungs allowed me too, the yell high pitched, coming from the depths of my body, so loud that my own ears hurt. Focusing on keeping the sound up, I started forward.

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  The goblins looked at me, surprised, some of them telling me to get quiet in not so nice ways, but I ignored them. And forward I went, keeping a slow run so the goblins behind me could keep up.

  A few of the goblins refused to budge, but coming into contact with my body just sent them tumbling to the side, since our stats were just so different. Those that didn’t let me pass at first did so after seeing their friends fly, making a wide berth.

  It only took a minute to close the distance that would have taken me ten times as long to travel with all these uglies blocking the way. Mark’s plans sometimes really did have something to them here and then, even if they included embarrassing me. Good thing my party wasn’t here to see.

  Looking up at the heightened part, I could see the same mage I saw yesterday, leaning over the short fence that surrounded the platform. The stairs leading up to the platform were guarded by his goblin entourage, but the platform itself had someone else to guard my target.

  Xila, who looked down on me from up top, her head slightly to the side as she watched my crazy crowd-diving. I continued coming closer, closing the distance.

  “Now, Shrimpie!” Mark shouted. He didn’t have to tell me twice.

  I finally stopped my shout, letting my throat get its well-earned rest. Looking at Gummz for the last time, I smiled, hoping that he understood what needed to be done. And I looked at the platform again, meeting Xila’s eyes. I saw the recognition slowly dawn upon her, her facial slightly changing to one of surprise. She moved to guard the mage, summoning her weapons.

  Too late.

  I ran onto the goblins, jumping on their heads, and using the momentum I’ve built up, I jumped again, called upon my shields, and used [Dash]. Air swooshed around me as I hovered in the air, bringing me to the platform’s fence, right in front of Xila. She had her two scythes forming in her hands still, but she was caught off guard, not yet in position. I smashed a shield into her face.

  Oh. My. GOD. That was one of the best feelings of my life. The relief, the pure happiness and bliss I felt from watching her body, flung away by my momentum. I watched it as if entranced, doing my best to commit the sight to memory.

  Distraction over, I collapsed onto the goblin mage, grabbing his small body with both hands, with one of my hands going onto his chin. I watched Xila get back onto her feet, and the other four players surrounded me.

  They were all insects, and they were all max level, though I didn’t recognize most of them. The worm guy with a gun wasn’t here either. Committing their species to memory would be a waste, too. I needed to watch Xila.

  I was outmatched, both numbers-wise and stat-wise. But that didn’t matter. There were five guides, of course, although only three of them actually watched me. The two others looked at nothing, similar as Bryga’s and Fink’s guides did.

  “Hello, Xila.” I said, a cocky smile coming onto my face without me needing to force it. Who’d need forcing after smacking her with a punch like that? I could see blood already starting to flood in her face. Oh, and her jaw was out of place. She went to speak, but only a nonsensical blubber came out, and so she stopped herself, and her body started to suddenly fix up.

  A healing potion, then. Her jaw crunched back into place, the bruise on her face replaced by the porcelain white in mere seconds. “You little rat. And here I thought I saw you for the last time that day. I should have gotten rid of you myself.”

  She raised her two scythes, the crescent curved blades emanating danger just by their looks.

  I tsk-ed, watching her and the soldiers. They were trying to close the distance, moving closer and closer. I wouldn’t let them. “Not one step closer, or this ugly guy gets it. Don’t think I can’t end him. I can guarantee you, he dies the second I decide to move my arms.”

  Xila’s eyes glazed over, analyzing me. Satisfaction threatened to overwhelm me when I saw her face contort as she saw my level. “So, what’s your play here, shrimp? You kill him, and then we kill you?” She put both of her blades on top of her shoulders, her posture straight as a cane. “Don’t see you gaining much out of this, I’m afraid.”

  I looked at the window portal I saw yesterday. It wasn’t empty, instead, energy pulsed from it in waves. Two cages were placed in front, with two players inside. Fink was one of them, of course.

  I nudged my head in the direction. “Came to save a friend. And the other players.” I pressed my hand onto the neck of the goblin, holding Xila’s gaze. He went to say something, but I quickly put one of my hands over his mouth, silencing him and making him try to wrestle out of my grip even more than before. “Heard that this little guy can release all the cages.”

  “So here’s my proposal. I don’t know what your play is here, or why you’re here at all. But you obviously need him alive, or you wouldn’t be protecting him. Let this guy say his magical words, release my friends, and we’ll leave calmly, letting this guy down somewhere near the caves.”

  Her eyes remained cold as she watched me. The four others looked to her with anticipation, the feeling almost palpable in the air. “No.”

  That I didn’t expect. “No? The hell you mean, no?”

  “I can’t have them all escape.” She said, hatred poisoning her every word.

  “She’s got a quest.” Mark mused aloud. “The opposite of ours. She has to support the attack on the town.”

  The ever-so-slight raise of Xila’s brows told me Mark was right.

  I watched nervously, trying to hear if the attack on the other platforms began or not. There were so many goblin voices mixing down below that I just could not tell, though.

  “Different idea then. He releases the cages, I let him down, and then you keep whoever you catch before they escape.”

  She scoffed, chuckling as if the idea was as silly as my jump here was. “Catching some low levels? Oh please, you can’t be that dumb.”

  “Let’s say I’m willing to take my chances.”

  She watched me, her eyes locked onto me still. “What’s stopping you from just running off with him after he releases your friend?”

  Mark hmmed, as if she spoke reasonably. I just rolled my eyes. “I promise.”

  Xila laughed again. “You promise? Why should I-”

  “I just promise. It’s the most I can give you. I won’t run away holding him.”

  She stopped moving altogether, her guide whispering something to her ears. It was a woman, about the same age as Mark. A few tense moments passed. I looked at the players, seeing them shift in place, try to communicate this and that by looks alone. Their hands gripped their weapons. But there was no getting out of this. Finally, she nodded.

  I nudged the goblin who still squirmed in my hands, and he finally started talking. His hands went in circles before us, his voice fearful and echoed by the magic, and his voice and the language I couldn’t understand growing in intensity.

  And just like it started, it stopped.

  “Done, duh.” he said, trying to wrestle out of my grip. I went to message Martin, but he was faster than I was.

  Martin: It worked! My friend is free, and the other cages opened too!

  I looked at Xila again, the promise going through my head. It had a loophole, and she hadn’t realized that. One that would be a huge giant finger to their whole party and quest. I knew it was a stupid thing to do.

  I did it anyway. Grasping the goblin’s neck in my hands, I squeezed.

  And snapped it.