Chapter 97 Individual Encounters

Lyrian ran through the cave pathways at full speed with his Enhanced legs, his eyes scanning each part of the cavern room openings, cave pathways, and every other crevice that he came into.

He ignored most of the goblins but still punched those that were on his way to obliteration. Finally, after running for over 40 seconds, he caught a glimpse of a goblin also running away, a map looking to be in its hands.

Seeing this, Lyrian's eyes opened wide, a smile forming on his face as he locked on target.

However, the goblin dashed to the side again, going into another pathway. It felt like a giant maze, but nonetheless, Lyrian chased toward the thief.

Alten on the other hand had also managed to kill some goblins on his way there but was totally freaked out by the idea of being all alone. He imagined something like an elder goblin, or maybe a mega-species or some sort of mutated goblin stronger than the rest just popping out of the corner.

It was enough to send shivers down his spine. As he ran, he saw many places that he could just stop and hide in until the search was over, but he forced himself to continue.

He didn't want to feel scared, it was not only a horrible feeling, but to him, also a pathetic one. He wanted to be brave like the other two but found it difficult. Nonetheless, he continued running and fighting goblins through the cave.

Finally, he came across what seemed to be a dead end. It was a round 20 by 20-foot room with some helmets on top of sticks on the right-hand side.

He slowed down, now only at a walking pace as he calmly made his way in. His heart was beating out of his chest, but he tried to maintain his serenity.

To the left and right were small, 4-foot holes in the walls, and right ahead of him was a 4-foot trap door. As he arrived in the middle of the room, 4 goblins suddenly shot out from the side holes, quickly dashing toward him, armed with rusty stone daggers.

Alten's first instinct was the scream and cry out for help, shocked by the sudden assault, but he firmed his ground and pulled out his bow.

"Damn it! If I can't even take care of four goblins, I don't deserve to travel with them!" He yelled, the statement also giving him motivation.

He took two arrows and shot them straight at the roof, "Combustion Arrow!", Suddenly causing a giant explosion of fire. This resulted in a smoke of dust that quickly filled the room.

The goblins were thrown off by this, dashing back as Alten also dashed backward into the cave pathway that he came from, "There's no way I can be surrounded here," He thought to himself.

For an archer or any long ranged fighter, the main weakness that Alten was taught was being surrounded. For a close-range fighter, it was to be cornered, but for long-range fighters, being cornered was nowhere near as bad.

Having a vision of each of the goblins coming toward him, he aimed an arrow right in the middle of them all before shooting it. As it flew, he quickly grabbed another arrow from his quiver and shot it toward the first one.

The second arrow instantly split the first one in two, making both sides go sideways as they pierced through two of the goblins.

"Only two remaining!" He said, quickly shooting one more. The last one was far too close to him to shoot, but before he could even get out of the way, it jumped in the air toward him, nearing speeds way faster than before. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ NøvᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

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After unsheathing his blade, Leon dashed forward toward the Hobgoblin Shaman. The hobgoblin also dashed forward very quickly, using the Enhance ability.

The two met in the middle as Leon swung his sword toward the beast's abdomen from the side--nearly reaching the beast's stomach before being stopped by a charged-up fist that quickly deflected the sword.

Still, a shallow cut was left on the hand of the hobgoblin, as it dashed quickly behind Leon and attacked once again.

Leon tried to turn around, but as he did the hobgoblin appeared in front of him and landed its punch, sending Leon flying backwards.

As he landed, a serious expression formed on his face, his eyebrows now curled inwards. He sheathed his sword, grabbing on closely to the hilt as he took a deep breath and entered an attack stance.

As the hobgoblin stormed toward him, Leon suddenly blitzed forward and appeared behind the beast in a split second, sheathing his sword once again.

Behind him, the torso of the hobgoblin slowly slid off and landed on the ground, its lower body slowly thudding down as well soon after.

After this Leon turned around and collected the core from the creature. 'This room looks to be a dead end, I'll have to get back to where Lyrian is as soon as possible.' He thought to himself, quickly beginning to dash back the way he came.

***

Lyrian's pursuit of the goblin took him deeper into the maze of cave pathways, each turn seemingly leading to another twist and turn. With his Enhanced legs propelling him forward, he was able to navigate the labyrinthine passages with remarkable speed and agility.

As he raced around a sharp corner, he found himself facing a dead end, a small circular room illuminated dimly by bioluminescent fungi growing on the walls. The goblin, map still in its grasp, stood at the center of the chamber, breathing heavily from its frantic escape.

Lyrian slowed his pace as he entered the room, the adrenaline of the chase still coursing through his veins. The goblin glared at him with a mix of fear and defiance, its beady eyes darting between Lyrian and the trapdoor behind him.

In a playful gesture, Lyrian flashed a grin at the goblin, enjoying the situation he was now in, knowing that the goblin could understand his expression. He took a deliberate step forward, prompting the goblin to retreat further toward the back, wanting to make sure it was cornered and had no escape.

Meanwhile, Alten's heart pounded in his chest as he raced through the dark cave passages, backtracking to rejoin Lyrian and Leon. Back during the fight, he barely managed to duck below the attack before slamming his bow into the goblin to push it away before abruptly shooting it.

His fear subsided slightly after his successful encounter with the goblins, for the most part, but he knew he had to reunite with the others in case anything else were to happen.

The sound of distant commotion ahead spurred Alten's determination. He could sense that someone was nearby, and he quickened his pace, trusting in their abilities to handle any situation they encountered before he got back.