Chapter 14 - 12 : Escape

*Tap, tap*

" Hmm, someone's coming."

" Let's hide." Almost immediately, Fudo dashed towards the 5 meter statue but was held back by Sato.

" What? I thought you said someone's coming?"

" Indeed, but I think it's best we confront it. It's most likely the guard of this place so we might as well deal with it and try to get more information. Both of us hiding won't do good, because we've already left behind footprints and trails. I'll get it's attention while you get a good spot for an ambush okay?"

"Alright." After that, Sato let go of Fudo and kept his attention back on the mural as if he never noticed anything while Fudo got into position at spot blocked off from the gem's light.

A few seconds later, as Sato predicted, a 3 foot creature appeared out from the tunnel Sato and Fudo came from. It had a lithe figure and was garbed in animal skin clothing with pouch by its side with a slingshot sticking out from it. With green coloured skin and large bulging eyes It held a crude looking dagger of sorts, sized perfectly for it's use.

[[ Goblin Scout ( Elite)

Level : 3

HP : 250

Physical Attack Power : 12

Magical Attack Power : 0 [1]

Physical Defence : 7

Magical Defence : 1

Attack Speed : 18

Movement Speed : 14

Attributes

Strength : 4

Endurance : 7

Vitality : 25

Agility : 7

Dexterity : 6

Intelligence : 3

Willpower : 1

Skills

Greater Vision : Passive skill : Eye prowess increased in bright areas. Capable of seeing objects in the dark.

Quick shots : Active skill : Increase attack speed by 15%.

Cool-down : 4 seconds

Cowardly steps : Active skill : Quickly retreats upon encountering a stronger foe increasing movement speed by 20% for 6 seconds.

Cool-down : 15 seconds]]

It approached Sato as steadily and silently as possible as if it already knew there was an outsider in it's base however it wasn't aware that despite it's movement Sato could easily notice it a 100 metres away. While walking, it grinned widely as if mocking it's target for his stupidity of dropping his guard in a foreign environment.

Once it was 3 meters away from Sato, the goblin lifted it's club up and took on a dashing posture, sprinting towards Sato with full force. However, Fudo who had long been charging his attack, quickly launched a fireball towards the goblin.

*Arghhh* (AN : Scream it in an inhuman fashion…)

-27 [Greater Fireball] (Goblin Scout 223/250 HP)

The [Goblin scout]'s charge was disrupted by the attack from Fudo, launching it into the air and spacing it from Sato. Seizing the opportunity, Sato unsheathed his sword and rushed towards the lithe creature, slashing his sword at it.

Because of the interruption from Fudo, the goblin who couldn't complete its attack, being in air, couldn't dodge Sato's attack and got hit.

-19 (204/250)

"Haa !" After landing a strike, Sato didn't give any chance for the goblin as he landed slash after slash on it trying his best to finish it off quickly.

-22 [Chop]

-18

-19 (145/250)

Even though his movements seemed flawless, Sato couldn't keep it up as the goblin, who had already landed, realised that it couldn't escape its doom and as such, dropped all pretenses and lurched itself towards Sato intending to trade blow for blow.

Seeing this, Sato took a step back separating himself from the goblin scout. The goblin scout seeing hope, tried to dash away from Sato. After experiencing his strength and knowing it can't win against him even more so in a 2-on-1, the goblin evidently went for a retreat without hesitation after all it was only a scout. However, that hope got crushed by Fudo's [Fireball] spell like the love confession of a 15 year old nerd to the most popular girl in high-school.

-23 [Fireball] (122/250 Goblin's HP)

With Igneel's guidance, Fudo was capable of standing up to the level 5 [Cursed servant] and delivering a considerable amount of damage while he was still a level 1 Elementalist (AN : Even though the[Cursed servant] was weak against fire type spells) talk less of a level 3 [Goblin scout] who he happens to be in the same level with. The end result was the goblin and its weapon blasted to two separate positions.

With the distraction from the [Fireball] spell, Sato rushed forward to close up the gap and finish of the [Goblin scout] who couldn't respond to his attack. By the time the [Goblin scout] noticed Sato approaching, it couldn't dodge his attack neither could it block it since it's weapon was long gone.

"Grawr !!! "

Finally realising that it can't escape the loop set up by its opponents, the [Goblin scout] gave up retreating and released a hoarse scream from it's mouth, that held a tinge of desperation and anxiety while charging forward towards Sato.

"Hmph." Even though Sato was slightly taken aback, he still went on with his actions. They say a rabbit once pushed to a corner would end up biting back, but in the end, a rabbit is still a rabbit. Despite the [Goblin scout]'s attempt at fighting back, it still ended up dead in the hands of the precise teamwork and timing from Sato and Fudo before it could say its last words.

"That was easy." Fudo said while waiting for Sato to finish packing up the loot.

"What would you expect, considering we were at a numbers advantage?"

"Even still it was quite weak." Fudo grumbled.

Sato sighed "You're right. But that's how a low level monsters ought to be. Remember the game has just begun. You shouldn't be expecting high levelled monsters of intellect this soon. The [ Cursed servant] might have just been our luck."

Being recently launched with all 100% of its users low levelled, the Heaven system (AN : AI that serves as the Game master/manager, controlling every system and feature in the background) spawned all players into beginner towns that hardly experiences attacks from high levelled creatures. This gives the players space and time for growth, stably increasing their levels till they are strong enough to stay on their own and explore the vast world. As a world on its own, Infinite realm possesses both a past, present and also a future that functions even in the absence of players and can also deviate in the presence of players.[2]

"Grwar !! " "Grawr !!" (An : They aren't spelt wrongly. Inhuman pronunciations…)

Accompanied with the weird loud screams and roars were loud footsteps coming from the 'bee-hive'.

"...So that's why it screamed." Sato gained enlightenment on the [Goblin scout]'s last words.

"Can we run now?" Fudo asked worriedly almost unable to keep his cool.

"Run !"

They both dashed at top speed with Fudo casting spells intermittently at close range to launch himself into the air and surprisingly, despite his quite fat physique, he actually landed perfectly almost worthy of a medal in the Olympics Gymnastics

Eventually, the footsteps began to sound closer as they approached the entrance hole. The hole was at a height of 2 metres. Due to his higher [Agility] stat, Sato arrived before Fudo and took a huge leap towards the top while jumping side by side on the walls of the hole like a pro Traceur (AN : Parkour practitioner.)

Fudo on the other hand, had earlier been gathering mana and upon approaching directly beneath the entrance, he cast a [Greater Fireball] underneath himself, propelling his body upwards. Sato seeing the propelled Fudo, kicked him sideways, deviating his body from landing back into the hole.

"You could have done that easier."

Complaining, Fudo stood up and was about to keep running but Sato stopped him, saying "Someone's coming."

"F**cking hell, why does someone always keep coming."

Author' extra notes : Really important

[1] I think I've mentioned that it's possible for monster to possess stats in the [Intelligence] section but can't use magic. If I haven't, well I have now. Think of it like how a physical class player, like a berserker for example, would put his attribute points in [Intelligence]. That doesn't mean he can now cast spells. It's only possible if he learns a spell,the same with monsters. In summary, a creature could have stats in [Intelligence] but because they can't use magic, [Magical Attack power] becomes nil though not in all cases.

The [Intelligence] stats mostly increases the intelligence of a creature. So the higher the [Intelligence] the smarter a monster is meant to be but that doesn't apply everywhere. It's still possible for a high levelled goblin mage to still be dumber than a low levelled creature with intellect. Kinda like how some old people could still be foolish despite their age, no offense to anyone...In other words, there's a limit to the rate of increase in intelligence or smarts and this is dependent on the creature's race and the creature itself.

Note : Even if a physical class learns spells that aren't meant for his/her class, his/her attack power, casting speed and affinity with the required mana would be drastically low compared to a bona fide mage. How drastic you ask? Like -90% drastic. So putting your attribute points in {Intelligence] when you're a physical class is quite dumb unless you are a higher levelled player. At that point, you can access spells for physical classes like a flaming slash or something. So be wise, don't be a plank.

[2] Let's say originally the storyline was for the hero to kill the demon king and after which, world peace but a player steps in and then boom, he murders the hero, the storyline would now experience a change of the demon king conquering the world unless someone else stops him.. The Heaven System doesn't force it's storyline into the world, players can change it if they want to.