Chapter 174: Angry

Chapter 174: Angry

Arwin slammed into the mass of red flesh like a runaway cart. Blades rang off his helm and chest, scraping against the metal of his enchanted armor harmlessly. Verdant Blaze was considerably less kind.

The massive hammer pulverized another hobgoblin. Arwin only had to use a little extra power from [Scourge] to strengthen his swings. The hobgoblins were ill prepared to go up against something that could hit as hard as Verdant Blaze.

Screams and roars filled the air; familiar sounds that brought him back to times that he didn’t care to remember. Arwin’s teeth clenched as an oppressive magical aura rolled off him. Every swing his hammer made accelerated his next one.

He didn’t even bother trying to block any of the monsters’ attacks. Blades cut into the outside of his arm, leaving behind long, scoring wounds that wouldn’t be fatal anytime soon. The screams mixed with the crunch of bone and the thump of blood in his ears.

Every kill lent itself into the next. The aura coiling off him continued to intensify as it drank in all the death around him. None of the monsters had any magic, but the sickening power roiling off Arwin’s body was still enough to hinder them.

Verdant Blaze seemed to sing in his mind as the weapon devoured the life of the monsters that fell under it. But, despite all the power coursing through him, there were a lot of hobgoblins.

If it hadn’t been for the others fighting them at the sidelines and drawing their attention away, Arwin suspected he would have been overwhelmed. Weapons clanged off his armor and sought to pierce into the openings between it.

Unfortunately for the hobgoblins, he wasn’t alone. Every glancing wound they managed to land on him was already reduced by [Indomitable Bulwark], and he made the hobgoblins pay its cost in their blood.

The battle was over in just seconds. Arwin spun in search of the next hobgoblin, but there was nothing but a field covered in corpses and blood. He let Verdant Blaze lower, his breathing heavy, and dismissed his helm.

Anna pressed her hands to his back, sending healing energy flooding through his body to patch over the cuts he’d gotten. Arwin gave her a nod of appreciation.

“Was anyone hurt?” Arwin asked.

“Nobody other than you. Sprinting right into the middle of their horde is bold to say the least,” Anna said, a note of admonishment in her tone.

“It was the plan.”

“He can handle it,” Lillia said, drawing up beside them. “Everyone did a great job. If anything, this was a really good test run. Hobgoblins aren’t the biggest threat, but that could have gone a lot worse.”

“I got an achievement for killing a group of monsters whose average Tier was a whole level above my own and went up to Apprentice 4,” Reya said, rubbing a small cut on her hand. It closed up even as Arwin watched, sealing shut over the course of a few seconds. “I took an ability called Warden’s Patience that lets me increase my reaction timing and understanding of an opponent’s moves if I spend enough time staring at them. The other skills weren’t great and this one got upgraded... and it also seems pretty useful if I can stay out of the fight for long enough.”

Arwin pulled his thoughts away from the dead monsters for long enough to think about Reya’s new skill. It sounded like a berserker skill that needed her to prepare beforehand instead of suffering a debuff after it wore off. Considering she was already generally fighting from the backline, it seemed like a pretty good way for her to secure a kill on an otherwise superior opponent.

“Sounds like a good skill,” Rodrick said before Arwin could speak. “Moving faster is always pretty good. I’m pretty close to getting to Apprentice 6 myself, I think. It’s been a while since I went up a level.”

“What did you end up specializing in at Apprentice 5?” Arwin asked curiously, finally shaking the last of the fight thrills off.

“Liberate.” Rodrick flicked the blood from his blade and returned it to his sheath. “The ability that I used back in the fight with the Bonehemoth. I try to avoid using it excessively because it can have some drawbacks on my body and it’s not great midway through a dungeon, but having a huge burst of power can be pretty good for major fights.”

He pulled it free of the grass. It was a tarnished brass ring with a tiny gem twinkling in its center. Thin designs ran along its surface in a plain but well-done pattern depicting a swirling wave.

Flowing Water Ring: Average Quality

[Glittering Wave]: This item was made with the sea in mind and quenched within its waters. Activating this item will cause it to glint like the sun off water, potentially blinding anyone looking in its direction for a short period of time.

“Huh. This is nice,” Arwin said, turning the ring over between his fingers. He raised it to his nose and took a sniff.

The ring smelled pleasant. It wasn’t amazing, nor was it rancid. There were notes of warm sand and distant ocean, but not overwhelmingly so. It was relatively weak.

“Nice little ring,” Rodrick observed. “These adventurers weren’t random nobodies if they had two magical items.”

“We don’t know they came from the same group,” Arwin pointed out. He tucked the ring into his pocket. Something about wearing someone else’s ring just wasn’t right, and this one was far too small for his fingers.

He could, however, use the ring to try and learn how to make some of his own. The magic in it looked quite limited. If he could replicate it, he could start making bracelets and rings for the others that wouldn’t completely drain them of all their magical power when they went off.

“Good point,” Anna said. “We should—”

A massive roar split the air, cutting Anna off and tearing through the camp like an explosion. All of them spun toward the source, but despite the intensity of the cry, there was nothing nearby.

“What in the Nine Underlands was that?” Rodrick asked, drawing his sword. “Sounds like a big bugger. Doesn’t bode well for whoever pissed it off.”

Arwin reactivated [Dragon’s Greed], putting more power into it and casting his senses out. His lips pressed thin as lines of energy attached themselves to him. Several of them were coming from the direction that the roar had.

“There’s magic there,” Arwin said. “And a decent amount of it. Three pieces. Unless whatever made that roar just happened to be sitting on three magical items or materials, there are adventurers with at least a little strength fighting it.”

“It’s not from the same direction we were heading,” Lillia said. “We could just start moving faster.”

“What if the adventurers get themselves killed? If they’ve got decent magical gear, they might be a little stronger than random people. Their death could end up causing the dungeon to collapse,” Olive said with a concerned frown.

Arwin cursed under his breath. “Olive is right, and they aren’t that far off the path in the first place. We should interfere with the fight and make sure they don’t get themselves killed. Picking up the kill for ourselves certainly won’t hurt either. It’s too dangerous to just hope they survive.”

“Then we’d best be fast,” Anna said. Another roar shook the air, marking her words. Whatever the massive monster was, it was angry.

The magical energy in the dungeon was already teetering, and it would only take one firm shove to send everything toppling down. They all broke into a sprint, running as fast as they could to stop the monster before anyone else could die.