13. Shadows

A few minutes after the incident with Herts, Rakna’s group was already a few hundred meters away from the school. They were currently running through the forest with Rakna at the front, Allan at the back, and Flavia in between.

“Hey, Rak, in the end, why should we venture in the forest like this? Isn’t it safer to stay in the school grounds for now?” Allan asked and Rakna glanced over his shoulder. “Or is it because of people like Herts?”

“It’s not because of that,” he replied. “In my opinion, the most dangerous place we could be right now is precisely the school.”

“Why?” Flavia raised her voice.

“Well, I don’t know how this works but…” Rakna muttered before slowing down. The two behind him also stopped, a bit confused. “Imagine a modern building in the middle of a forest, don’t you think it makes a perfect target?”

“Target for what?” Allan responded with another question but Rakna didn’t even need to speak for the answer to be provided.

Loud rustles in the leaves sounded from the front and at least ten figures walked out of the bushes and from behind the trees. High pitched laughs suddenly echoed and both Flavia and Allan winced.

The creatures that were in front of them were small, even smaller than kobolds. But they had a considerably fiercer look. Green skin, long noses, sharp teeth, spiked weapons and a surprisingly intimidating physique.

“Are those…” Allan raised an eyebrow. “Goblins?”

“Looks like it,” Rakna uttered and grabbed his scarf as the goblins slowly surrounded them. More of them were coming out from their flanks and rear.

The trio gradually got closer to each other until they were back-to-back, staring at the goblins who were growing in number by the second.

“Shit, how many of them are going to come out?” Allan grumbled as he pulled out a pair of gloves from his pockets. He put them on and Rakna also proceeded to transform Sonata to its Guandao form. Meanwhile, Pronos sneakily landed on the ground and used his camouflage.

“I understand now,” Flavia said. “This is what you meant. This entire forest is probably filled with these monsters. And all of them are probably rushing toward the school as we speak. If we had stayed there, we probably would have had to deal with hundreds if not thousands of them.”

“Damn…” Allan watched the goblins who were ready to attack at any moment. “I hope that no one stayed behind.”

Rakna’s eyes flashed as he silently cast Appraisal. “They’re level 5. No skills. They’re agile so be careful,” he instructed and although they didn’t know how he knew that, both Allan and Flavia nodded without hesitation.

After his words, the forest suddenly fell silent. The goblins had stopped laughing all of a sudden but their grins hadn’t disappeared in the slightest. After a few seconds, all of them kicked the ground at the same time.

The first goblins to reach the trio were on Rakna’s side of their formation. It was without saying that a flash of azure had instantly sent three heads flying. Smoke came out of the beheaded bodies as they fell on the ground.

Allan whistled. “Damn, you’ve become even more freaky,” he remarked as he himself dealt with his side. He grabbed one of the goblins’ head with one hand and beat it against another. The gloves he was wearing then glowed a little before he threw a punch that somehow dealt with two other monsters, as if his attack had produced a shockwave.

At the same time, Flavia extended her hand and two of the goblins suddenly had their vision make a 180° turn. Before they knew what was happening, they fell on the ground with their neck broken.

Rakna, Allan, and even the green skinned monsters abruptly stopped to look at her in shock.

“Eh?” She exclaimed innocently. “Did I do something wrong?”

“…explanations later. Focus,” Rakna finally said and stabbed two goblins with a perfectly straight thrust. He then stopped waiting for them to come at him and charged forward. He whirled Sonata with one hand and grabbed the head of one goblin with the other. He extended his nails and all of them pierced the creature’s head. He retracted his claws as fast as he had taken them out and the goblin fell dead with five very small holes in its head.

Allan caught that from the corner of his eyes but didn’t comment on it. He punched one goblin in the stomach and sent it flying, knocking down a few of its brethren in the process. He then elbowed one monster coming from his side. He grasped its throat and threw it over his shoulder before stepping on its head, shattering its skull.

Allan’s movements couldn’t be described as fast or smooth. In one sense, they were the opposite of Rakna’s. While the latter was fast, accurate, and efficient, he was devastating. Each and every one of his attacks carried great force. His fists were slow but they always reached their target and made sure to crush the target.

Then, there was Flavia. She hadn’t moved from her spot since the beginning of the fight. All she did was look and wave her hands but goblins still fell without her even having to touch them. But it was obvious that, going by her expression and stance, it was gradually tiring her.

Inevitably, one goblin finally managed to get close to her. As the creature was about to swing its weapon, Rakna thought he would have to throw Sonata to help her. But Flavia’s necklace glowed and formed a spherical shield around her that blocked the goblin’s strike. She then pulled out a knife from her shirt and stabbed the green skinned in the eye without hesitation. She then made a motion with her hand and the corpse collided on two rushing goblins.

Allan laughed as he kicked one goblin to the ground. “Wow, remind me to never get you angry.”

“Don’t worry,” Flavia replied with a smile as she clenched her fist and broke the throat of one of the monsters. “You won’t forget.”

Allan chucked nervously as the three of them got close to each other again. Their surroundings were littered with corpses and covered in green blood. There was one only one goblin standing and as Flavia was about to finish it off, it suddenly collapsed and Pronos revealed himself on its back.

Rakna wasn’t surprised but it was another story for Allan and Flavia. Both of them also noticed how many of the dead goblins had bluish glowing veins.

“Um… you as well, little guy, remind me to not piss you off,” Allan uttered and Pronos hissed with a smirk. “Ahem, anyway, there were quite a lot of them, huh? I just reached level 6.”

Flavia followed, “Me as well.”

“I reached level 7,” Rakna added and his two friends stared at him.

“Why am I not surprised?” Allan quipped. “Though how did you do it? I’m pretty sure I killed every kobold I found but I still needed ten points to get to level 6.”

“I just left the school’s area and hunted other kobolds in the forest,” Rakna answered as he picked up Pronos again.

“Dude, I also did that,” the blonde deadpanned and Rakna shrugged.

“I don’t know then.”

“Meh, more importantly, what the heck was that, Flavia?” Allan turned toward his former teacher.

“Well…” Flavia scratched her cheek sheepishly. “I’m not sure how to explain.”

“I can do it for you,” Rakna stated and she looked at him confusedly. Without saying anything, he cast Appraisal and her status appeared in front of him.

❮ ◈ ❯

Name: Flavia Selia

Age: 24 | Level: 6 (5/60)

Race: Female Human | Title: Nil

Potential: S

Attributes:

Strength: 2 | Endurance: 3

Speed: 2.2 | Dexterity: 5

Intelligence: 12 | Luck: 4

Available points: 1

Equipped Items:

- Necklace of Bravery: Spend 5MP to erect a shield around the user.

Cooldown: 3 minutes.

Statistics:

Stamina: 15/15.2 | MP: 117/120

Swiftness: 10 | Agility: 12.2

Senses: 22.2 | Atr Cap: 28.2

Attack: 16.7 | Defense: 11

Magic Attack: 36 | MP Regen: 1.08/min

Proficiencies:

- Cooking (Lv.9)

- Teaching (Lv.6)

- Judo (Lv.4)

…

Magic Skills:

- Unawakened.

Cognitive Skills (Passive):

- Fatigue Resistance (Lv.7)

- Fear Resistance (Lv.2)

- Pain Resistance (Lv.2)

Spontaneous Skills (Active):

- None

Nirvana Skills:

- Telekinesis (Lv.1): One of the most common spiritual abilities awakened as a Nirvana Skill. It has the potential to even bend spatial laws.

Current Lift: (Intelligence*5) kg.

This is a spiritual skill fueled by psychic energy thus no mana is involved in the process. But beware, overuse is severely precarious. The range of manipulation is only limited by the Host’s imagination and control.

Unique or Racial Traits:

- None

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna was slightly impressed. Not only was her potential merely a step below his but she also had a Nirvana Skill. From his understanding, this wasn’t anything near mediocre. Her mana regeneration was also incredibly high.

“Telekinesis… that’s a very useful power. Did you awaken it during the Initiation?” Rakna asked and Flavia slowly nodded.

“Yes, but… how did you know?”

“I have a skill that lets me see the status of others.”

“Oh, so that’s what you used on those goblins,” Allan exclaimed. “So, basically, Flavia awakened her magic before us or something like that?”

“No, what she has is a Nirvana Skill. I believe it is in a completely different league compared to normal magic,” Rakna retorted.

“What’s a Nirvana Skill?” Allan immediately inquired.

“From what the shopkeeper told me, it’s a very rare and powerful ability that is most of the time innate to a Host,” it was Flavia who answered. “She also said that mine was quite special since it doesn’t need mana.”

“Then what does it need?”

“Wait,” Rakna interrupted their conversation and they both looked at him. “Let’s get out of here for now. The blood may attract more enemies for all we know. Let’s find some place safer before having this discussion. There are few things I want to talk about this System too.”

They nodded in agreement and the trio started running from their location, all while ignoring the occasional screams that would come from deep inside the forest. It was as if their dying voice was augmented on purpose to haunt the participants.

* * *

Meanwhile, a black-haired girl stared at the goblins in front of her with her crimson eyes. The monsters charged at her with high-pitched shouts. She watched them with a detached expression until one of them was about to hit her.

The area was suddenly covered in darkness and when light returned, the goblins had been stabbed by shadow spikes; all unconditionally dead.

The girl sighed and looked at the sun which was starting to set down. “Why… did that Demon send me here?” She voiced a question that she was painfully aware wouldn’t be answered and vanished between the trees, leaving the dissolving shadows behind her.