Tutorial [8]

Just as I expected, or rather, as stated in the novel, whenever there was a lone goblin, chances were that its pack was nearby.

This was the case for us.

With a quick glance at the green creatures in front of us, I counted 8 goblins.

In the novel, while their intelligence wasn't high, it was stated that goblins were particularly cunning creatures capable of devious tricks, so we had to be careful.

Putting aside the possibility of a trick, their numbers alone were something to worry about.

After all, to the current Lionel and me, the goblins had better stats.

Though it wasn't particularly high, it was still something.

Unlike the previous goblin, which took its time to observe us, these ones didn't and attacked immediately.

It wasn't particularly surprising as the first thing they laid their eyes on upon emerging from the bushes was the headless corpses of their fellow goblins.

Unfortunately, due to the green blood on my shield, I had successfully captured their aggro.

Fortunately, I was already on guard from the beginning and was able to react on time.

Jumping backward to create distance, I raised my shield and got into a defensive stance.

"Lionel!"

"Yes!"

Not needing to tell him what to do, Lionel ran towards the goblins charging at us.

Just like the one I killed, these ones also held sturdy-looking sticks.

Strangely, even though the goblins should have better stats than us, Lionel got in front of me before the goblins did.

This must be the effect of the fancy martial arts the author of Tower Ascendance always talks about.

Everything happened fast.

The goblin at the head of the group and Lionel came into contact.

Skree!

Letting out a strange sound, the goblin raised the stick in its hand and struck at Lionel with it.

Swoosh!

With a single swing of his sword in retaliation, the stick got cut in half.

Just like how the first goblin had reacted when its "weapon" became useless, this one too was stunned.

Despite the current dire situation, because of the goblin's carbon copy reaction, I couldn't help but wonder if all goblins were wired the same.

Unlike the previous time when Lionel did not attack the goblin immediately after disarming it, he did now.

Swoosh!

With another swing of his sword, the head of the disarmed goblin flew up.

!!!

!!!

The goblins behind the now headless goblin immediately halted their movement as they watched the head of the goblin land on the ground.

Silence reigned for a second before the goblins reacted.

Skree!

Skree!

Skree!

Their eyes turned red, and it seemed the death of their companion made them go berserk.

With renewed vigor, they charged madly.

Swoosh!

Yet another head flew up.

Skree!

It made them madder.

Skree!

Another head flew up again.

Skree!

The anger increased.

As this was going on, I continuously made my way backward so Lionel could handle the goblins himself without drawing their attention towards myself.

It worked for a few seconds, but two goblins had already set their eyes on me and charged my way.

"Shit!"

A curse came out of my mouth.

I knew I couldn't outrun them unless I discarded my shield to increase my chances.

Doing this would mean separating myself from Lionel, and there was also no guarantee I would outrun the goblins or that they'd give up on me.

Gritting my teeth, I prepared myself for their attacks.

With his speed, Lionel would soon be done with the goblins on him, so I only had to endure for a while.

Let's do this!

How hard could it be to hold down two goblins is what I thought until I started receiving their attacks back to back.

Bam!

Bam!

Bam!

I could barely keep up.

Sweat dripped down from my head to the ground as I struggled to block the goblins' strikes.

I knew that one hit from that stick was the first step to my demise.

At this point, I was starting to regret picking a heavy shield.

Having to keep up with the goblins' attacks was hard enough already; having to move around a heavy shield only made it harder.

However, it was also because of its heaviness and durability that I was still alive until now.

If I had equipped a sword instead, I would have died in the first bout.

A lighter shield might have made my movement easier, but it would have shielded me less from the impact that came along with the goblins' heavy strikes, and I would have had to bear the brunt of their attacks with my arms.

That was another way to quickly get myself killed.

Fortunately for me, it truly didn't take Lionel too long to deal with the goblins on his side before coming to my aid.

With two quick swings of his swords, the goblins that had caused me so much trouble collapsed to the ground.

I followed suit, and Lionel did the same in exhaustion.

"Ahh…..ahhh.. aha…"

"..aha…..haa…..ahh"

Both of us breathed loudly in exhaustion as we tried to regain our bearings.

[You have defeated a goblin (soldier) {F rank}]

[You have gained 2 points]

[You have defeated a goblin (soldier) {F rank}]

[You have gained 3 points]

Various notifications flashed past my eyes, but I did not focus on them. I was busy trying to catch my breath.

Thankfully, there were no more monsters around, so there was nothing that could capitalise on our current weakness.

After collecting ourselves and resting for a little while, while trying our best to ignore the corpses of the goblins around us, I was just about to speak when Lionel beat me to it.

"What are these points?" he asked in a daze.

I knew the question wasn't directed at me, as he probably didn't expect me to have an answer to it. Most likely, he had subconsciously just spoken aloud.

Unknowingly to him, I knew what the points were, but I had no intention of revealing that.

I was, however, surprised by the first thing that came out of Lionel's mouth.

Honestly, I was expecting him to be shaken, and I'd have to say a few words to revitalise him and repeat this circle a few times in the tutorial tower before he fully adapted.

However, this didn't happen.

Perhaps he was truly shaken and was trying to look for something to distract himself, but it wasn't like this was a bad sign itself.

If anything, I saw it as a first step in adapting to this world.

'Good.'

I secretly nodded my head.

With a stable Lionel, there were a lot of things I would be able to do.

For example, taking advantage of the opportunities in the tutorial floors.

But first…

…we had to raise our stats.

We were more than weak.