8 Chapter 7: Awakening 2

Covered beneath the clear night sky, a battle for survival was taking place outside the awareness of the peaceful village and its inhabitants.

'Good...now I got all their attention on me...with this, I've at least assured Medea's safety'

With Bell having swiftly dealt with the chasing goblin with a series of precision and strength, the attention of all the present monsters switched from the running Medea to the more immediate threat in Bell.

'Now it's a battle of attrition. If I can last long enough for Medea's help to arrive'

Bell didn't need to defeat his opponents, he simply needed to survive. Though he was able to relatively pummel the first goblin, Bell didn't let that make him grow overconfident.

'Even though I determined that goblin to be somewhat weaker than me, it doesn't change the fact that they have a numbers advantage...that's not even taking into consideration the strength of that semi-variant'

Bell steadied his breath, washing off the rush of adrenaline, analyzing the opponents in front of him. But just as Bell studied his opponents, so did the leader goblin. It immediately began analyzing the human boy.

Though it did not possess an intelligence that was even equal to those of humanoid races, its ability to study its opponent, an ability achieved due to its state as a semi-variant, coupled with its natural ferocity as a monster, made it a tough opponent to deal with.

Erring on the side of caution, the leader goblin decided to hold off on any responsive action, choosing to gauge the human boy first.

'So you're not going to immediately follow up? Big mistake'

Bell, realizing the leader goblin was cautious of him, immediately began shifting his stance to take this opportunity.

He shifted his center of gravity lower, huddled his arms closer, and began positioning his foot to kick off the ground.

The leader goblin noticed this action, and immediately tried speaking to order the other goblins to prepare, but it was too late.

'The essence of pankration is to keep your opponent in range to strike. So a moment's hesitation-'

Bell kicked off the ground with tremendous strength toward the fallen goblin. The goblin who had just recovered its breath and was struggling to stand up was instantly covered by the shadow of Bell.

'-is the greatest thing a pankration fighter can ask for!'

Bell pulled his right arm backward whilst twisting his body. Using the residual strength from his leap, began transferring it to his right arm, unleashing a right uppercut on the goblin.

The force of the blow knocked it back once again. It tumbled back into the ground beside the leader goblin and the other remaining regular goblin. It was dazed and needed time to reorient itself back to normal.

'We're fighting on an open field, so I'm at a natural disadvantage in this fight'

'So I must ensure that all three of them are gathered together in my line of sight. Once they can surround me, it's over...'

Seeing its goblin subordinate being thrashed around once again, the goblin leader began a full-out attack on Bell, rushing towards him with an ear-wrenching cry.

"KRIIIIIIIIII-"

Hearing the cry of its leader, the regular goblin beside it, began crying out as well as it rushed towards Bell.

"KRIII-"

The goblin leader was the first to enter Bell's range. Seeing it attempt to swing its decrepit sword toward himself, Bell decided to act first to cancel the swing.

Bell stepped in closer to the leader goblin. Seeing Bell approach, the leader goblin tried to scratch him with its talons. Bell simply deftly dodged the strike and prepared to launch an attack with his left arm.

Pulling back his left arm and bringing his left foot forward, Bell launched a swift and precise palm strike to its cranium.

"KRICK?!-"

The palm strike had left the goblin leader disoriented and stunned. Blacking out for a split second after Bell's palm made contact.

Bell utilized this opportunity to launch another blow. Firmly planting his left foot to gather strength, Bell then raised his right leg between himself and the dazed goblin leader, entering the chamber position.

He then released a powerful push kick on the abdomen of the leader goblin, leaving it breathless in addition to dazed.

Its body flew backward and crashed into the ground as it recoiled from the pain.

The regular goblin who chased Bell alongside the goblin leader, seeing it fly away from the impact of Bell's blow, hesitated as he now entered his ranger alone.

Bell once again utilized this opportunity to his benefit. Bringing his right foot down to the ground, having it become his lead foot, Bell pulled back his arm and unleashed a left hook onto the goblin's abdomen.

Successfully dazing the goblin, Bell retracted his left arm, and immediately raised his left leg into the chamber position. Tensing his muscles, he performed a high kick, striking the goblin's chin with great force.

Same as it did for the goblin leader. The kick launched the goblin's body backward and left it dazed.

"K-krii..."

"Krii-"

"KRRRrrriiiiii...."

The three goblins lay together, recovering from their stupor, and reeling from the blows of Bell. The two regular goblins looked towards the human boy with fear in their eyes, but the goblin leader glared at him, radiating an ever-growing aura of hatred.

Bell planted his left leg back on the ground and re-entered the basic stance of pankration. Readying himself for the goblin's next response.

'I can do this...I can do this...'

Bell psyched himself up. He just needed to keep repeating this cycle of dazing and knocking them back. But try as he might to remain serious, he found it harder and harder to push back his grin produced from the adrenaline rush.

Another thing he found harder and harder to push back was his desire to spout out cringy one-liners he always wanted to say.

'What is up with my adrenaline rush and my desire to quip?...well...not like anyone can hear them, so why not?'

His sky blue eyes glowing with ferocity, Bell spoke.

"Fuu...I can do this all day"

...

..

.

Bell continued his battle attrition against the goblins. Exchanging blows till he found an opportunity to daze them, and then subsequently knocking them back.

Each time the cycle repeated, the goblins became noticeably weaker.

Bell was tired himself, but Zeus had trained his endurance and stamina greatly, so he was always able to set the tempo of every bout.

At some point, Bell noticed that the goblin leader began participating in fewer exchanges and exerted less effort. He knew it was planning something and always kept its movements and mannerisms in mind as he dealt with its lackeys.

"Haa...haa...haa..."

'I wonder how much time has passed? Has Medea called for help yet?'

Bell recomposed himself back to the basic stance of pankration. Tired and suffering from a few scratches he received from the talons of the goblins. Though he wasn't able to perfectly dodge each attack, he always made sure he didn't make contact with the sword of the goblin leader.

'The more this fight goes on...the more I realize just how disgusting and deadly that sword is'

It was no doubt rather blunt, so it would take some notable strength to make a cut with it. But though it was blunt, it was covered in a viscous gray matter along its length.

'If my sense of smell is right, it's a combination of local poisonous herbs and fecal matter...just when did goblins of danmachi begin acting like those in goblin slayer?...'

The sword was a poison-coated blade. If Bell was ever struck with it, his strength will soon fade and the goblins will be able to set the tempo, spelling his end.

'Weird...in addition to the poison of the blade...I'm getting...weird feelings about the blade itself...like I can understand what's wrong with it'

The longer Bell stared at the sword, the more he was able to understand it in vague terms.

He understood it was a sword created out of pure iron and not from a sturdier alloy. The shaping process of the sword conveyed a sense of monotony, it was never forged with the intention of becoming great, just made as another disposable sword.

There existed no magic which surrounded the blade, concluding it was probably forged by a regular blacksmith and possessed no enchantments, much less magical properties.

Bell could've probably dug out further information about the blade if he stared at it a bit longer, but he promptly stopped, choosing instead to focus on the fight.

'I'll think about that stuff later. Gotta focus on the fight, it's not yet over...'

'Though it seems the goblin leader's lackeys are on the verge of collapse, so hopefully I can end this soon...Didn't expect to have actually been able to defeat them'

The goblin leader recovered it's stance as the two other goblins were visibly wincing and limping.

It was glaring as usual at Bell, but in an instant, a look of realization fell upon its expression. The goblin leader began grinning widely.

"KRRRiiiiiii"

"K-kri..."

"KRIIII!-"

It appeared to have ordered its goblin lackeys to do something. But the goblin lackeys, reeling from the pain of the fight, tried to refuse. That effort was quickly destroyed with a quick glare and growl from the leader goblin. Thus the two goblin lackeys began preparing for another exchange.

'Just what are they planning?...'

The goblin lackeys suddenly burst forth into action, both charging at Bell at the same time.

Bell swiftly dealt with them both with a series of deftly aimed punches. It appeared as though both goblins were truly down for the count this time.

But just as Bell was beginning to switch his attention from the lackeys to the leader, he was immediately stricken with a great pain

"kh?!-"

Bell was stricken with shock but soon realized what happened once he began coughing up blood.

The sword he had so long tried to avoid was now lodged deep into his abdomen.

"Shit-"

The poison soon began to take hold of Bell as he staggered down to his knees. His vision became blurrier and blurrier. Pain screamed throughout his body. His consciousness threatened to fade.

He looked in the direction of the goblin leader and he was greatly shocked. It was a bit taller and sturdier than its goblins lackey but was still definitely a goblin with its characteristic green skin and bodily features.

But now, the arm of the goblin leader which threw the sword pulsated with red energy. Spots of its skin slowly turn red from their original green.

Bell had feared that his battle had pushed the goblin leader into evolving to a full variant, but there were peculiarities he noticed.

"KRAAAAAAAAA!-"

The goblin leader winced in immense pain. Though its arm was visibly morphing, it was only limited to its one arm. What's more, it would seem the process of morphing is taking an extreme toll on the monster.

'A failed evolution?...maybe it's still in the process of doing so?...'

Bell questioned for a bit what the goblin might've possibly been going through, but it soon became irrelevant to him.

'It doesn't matter...my enemy is distracted and I need to end this battle soon...'

Coldness took over Bell's body as blood steadily left his body along with the poison slowly numbing his nerves. Bell had never experienced such an overwhelming lack of heat, but he gritted through the pain.

His resolve flared up brighter than before. His blood boiled with the determination to live.

'My adventure sure as hell won't end with some pathetic surface goblin...'

Bell slowly gathered the strength to transition from his staggering kneel to his basic stance. And with an explosive push off the ground, Bell quickly had the goblin leader in his range.

The goblin leader was shocked that his prey had so much energy left, but it was confident it could now win. Bell is now fatally wounded and poisoned, and though it was wincing from the effects of its pseudo-evolution into a full variant, it had more than enough strength to finish him.

'That's what you might think'

The goblin raised its arms to prepare for a punch or kick, but Bell suddenly opened his arms wide and lowered his center of gravity even lower.

'I've only been dealing with you with strikes...but-'

In an instant, Bell had the goblin leader in a hold and began positioning himself for the ensuing battlefield he was about to enter.

'The specialty of pankration... isn't striking... it's grappling!-'

The two instantly fell to the ground. Bell began positioning himself to perform various joint locks. He had to ensure the goblin leader wasn't able to find a way to power through his hold.

The struggle began. The goblin leader tried to power his way out of Bell's hold, but Bell simply held on. The goblin leader tried scratching or striking Bell whenever the chance raised, but Bell didn't give way.

Bell's strength was quickly fading, he was looking for an opportunity until it finally arrived.

'Take this-'

A deft palm strike to the goblin leader's temple. The monster was now dazed, and Bell took full advantage of this opportunity.

Bell quickly positioned himself to perform a full mount over the goblin leader, and once he was done. He began unleashing all the strength he had left in him

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!-"

A flurry of hammer strikes targeting the goblin leader's head came. One after another. Strike after strike. Impact after impact. This was the do-or-die moment for Bell's first adventure.

"Kh-kh-KRIIIIII!!-"

The goblin leader withstood the blows. Bell soon slowly realized he would soon be defeated.

'shit...I don't have enough power to knock this piece of shit out...'

Though he knew the reality of the situation, he kept the flurry of blows going.

Now at the edge of his physical capabilities, Bell knew his next strike would be his last, so he gathered his hands together for one last hammer strike.

He did not ponder the potential end of his second life. He did not think about the people so dear to him and how they would react to his passing. He simply focused on taking down the enemy before him

But as he assumed the stance for his final hammer strike, Bell's grip on reality slipped, bringing him into a state of unconsciousness.

"..."

His body was in position, and yet, there was no will to push it forward. The light in Bell's eyes was quickly losing its shimmer.

'...'

...

..

.

But though his will had disappeared, his body began moving on its own accord.

'power...I lack power...'

Bell's brilliant white hair began to glow with a radiant luster.

'I lack power...to defeat...my opponent'

His muscle which had lost their strength, tightened beyond his normal capabilities, bringing about immense power.

'sharp...to end this fight...I need something sharper...deadlier...'

A magical energy began enveloping his body. His innate mind capacity had awakened. But rather than appear as a lump of ethereal energy, it began organizing itself into a peculiar shape...circuits...a series of circuits that ran across Bell's body.

'...sharp...deadly...a sword...a sword can work...'

Bell's eyes began to regain their color, mystical energy radiating from his pupils. The sword wedged into his abdomen began being covered in a strange blue light, a light that seemed to seek to understand what it had enveloped, deeply...perfectly.

'it won't end here...far from it...this is just...the beginning...'

A brilliant display of blue sparks began to converge in the crevices found in Bell's double-handed hammer strike. The light soon took shape. Converting the product of Bell's imagination onto reality...a projection.

A miracle in the making. With strength rushing over every facet of his boy. With his newfound determination to live in this second life of his, his will breaks the constraints of consciousness to continue moving forward. Bell called forth the activation of the miracle in his hands

"Trace....ON!-"