Hobgoblin Shaman

Normally, a person close to death would not act so afraid. Fight or flight would be the appropriate reaction.

This was, however, not the case when it came to killing intent. A desire to kill paired with the life/spiritual aura of another being was enough to cause people to faint, go limp, or simply freeze in the eyes of death.

Currently, however, Lyrian had no clue about this. It wasn't included in any magic book he read because not everyone had the ability to use it.

After a minute or so, Lyrian came across another opening around the same size as the one with the goblin horde.

On entering, he saw a sleeping giant in the middle. He wondered what was able to defeat Stafon, who wasn't exactly weak, but this wasn't what he expected.

He thought to himself how he never saw any other creatures but goblins coming in and out of the cave before while scouting. 'Scan.'

┏━━━Scan━━━┓

Name: Gak Kok

Species: Hobgoblin

Age: 36

Overall Power (OP): 6

Health: 65/65

Stamina: 60/60

Strength: 62

Agility: 55

Defense: 67

Rank: Normal (40/100)

Special: Goblin Shaman (Title)

┗━━━━━━━━━┛

'Huh? What's this?' Lyrian said to himself, noticing the new 'Special' stat.

[The Special stat is added to a creature who holds a title or special ability]

He also noticed that its rank was 40% of the way to the first Layer of Genesis, or at least he assumed that's what it would be, thinking monsters and humans had the same cultivation rankings.

There was no doubt that its stats were intimidating, but despite that, a grin formed on Lyrian's face.

'Your soul will be mine.' He immediately thought to himself.

Instead of seeing the high stats as a threat, he thought of it as a benefit for himself.

This wasn't necessarily out of overconfidence, but simply: Confidence.

Deciding not to waste any more time, he picked up a stone from the cavern's floor and cocked his hand back before hurling the rock at the Hobgoblin at full force.

[Hobgoblin Health: 60/65]

*KREEII*

The creature abruptly screeched, quickly standing up to its final stature of 10 feet.

It wore colorful regalia, a few feathers arched on the top of its head. There was no doubt that it was a part of the goblin mega-species, as its abnormally large face resembled that of normal goblins.

In its right hand was a dark drum made of deerskin and on its right a metal drumstick.

Out of nowhere, the creature spread both of his hands out into the air like wings, before quickly slamming the drumstick into the drum in the middle.

A loud, powerful booming noise resonated through the cave at once, sending a woozy feeling down Lyrian's spine and causing him to fall to one knee.

His eyes widened in shock as he looked at the ground. 'Was that… a magic spell?' He confusedly thought, assuming a chant was needed before any spell could be conducted.

Without hesitation the Hobgoblin leaped forward toward Lyrian, appearing before him in what seemed like just a split second.

Lyrian was shocked at this immense speed, but most of all, he also knew that he couldn't control his body right now.

Clenching its fist around the drumstick, the Hobgoblin released a powerful punch toward Lyrian's skull.

Just by the breadth of a hair, however, Lyrian was pushed out of the way by Garmr, as he instead took the brunt of the blow.

[Garmr Health: 24/50]

At once he was thrown several feet back by the force of the blow, tumbling a few times before catching his balance.

Lyrian knew that Garmr was powerful, but he wasn't at his full potential just yet. Right now, he was still weaker than the Hobgoblin.

Just as he regained his ability to move, the Hobgoblin blitzed toward him, appearing before him once again almost like teleportation before sending another powerful blow, but this time, Lyrian bent backward, nearly dodging a deadly attack once again.

A strong gust of wind followed shortly after from the force of the blow, surprising Lyrian.

'Even with that high of a strength stat, that power shouldn't be normal!' He thought to himself before quickly dashing back a few times to create more space.

Again the Hobgoblin appeared in front of Lyrian, but this time, before it could attack, Lyrian noticed that it charged up its punch for a split second before releasing it.

'Body enhancing magic? It must be.'

This time he stepped to the side to avoid the blow, successfully dodging it once again.

Just a few seconds prior, he felt as though the difference in speed between him and the Hobgoblin was far too much to overcome, but now, he was more confident.

This was because he noticed that although the creature moved fast, its attacks were much slower since they needed time to be charged up, giving him time to react.

It was a bit of an exploit but Lyrian wasn't going to complain whatsoever.

If all it could do was move fast, he knew that the best time to attack would be right after its attack.

And so, after barely dodging one more deadly punch to the torso, he stepped to the side and drove his dagger across the Hobgoblin's chest, causing a gush of blood to splatter all over him as he backed up some more.

Just then, Garmr seemed to have recovered and joined the battle as well, biting into the creature's shoulder and slamming him to the ground.

'Wait!' Lyrian thought, knowing that the Hobgoblin was still in high health.

Unlike him, Garmr didn't know about the exploit on the Hobgoblin, giving it the time to charge up its attack and launch it directly at Garmr's snout.

Just before it could make contact, however, Lyrian quickly pulled him back into his shadow.

Since he had control over Garmr's soul, he didn't know if Garmr could actually die or not, but he wasn't going to take any chances either.

While the Hobgoblin was turned around to face Garmr who was no longer there, Lyrian drove his dagger into the back of its neck, severing its nervous system cords from its brain.

In thought, any normal creature should have died here, but the Hobgoblin let out a loud shriek instead before wrestling Lyrian off and standing back up.

Looking at his dagger, Lyrian noticed that it was completely bent like a piece of plastic.

'What!? I'm certain I made contact with its nervous system.' He thought to himself, shocked.

That's when the thought came to him that the creature had used its ability to strengthen a certain part of its body on its nervous system cords, therefore being able to protect it.

Up until now, it had been using it to power up his fists, but for that split second it used it on its nervous system.

'What a stupidly overpowered ability…''

The Hobgoblin stared Lyrian down, knowing that the boy's greatest weapon was now useless.

The look was menacing, one of dominance and victory.

However, the young boy noticed this and matched his gaze, throwing away the busted dagger.

'Does this brute really think he has already won?' Lyrian thought to himself, almost offended at that fact.

"I don't need a dagger to defeat you, my bare hands are enough!" He yelled, knowing that the creature didn't understand a word he said.

Although it had strengthened its nervous system cords just in time, Lyrian knew that since it took a short second to charge up the spell, he must have cut through at least some of the cords.

Without those cords, the Hobgoblin's ability to use its body and strength properly was no doubt lessened, if not completely diminished.

He didn't really have much of a choice now anyway, since his dagger was fucked up, so he decided to risk his chances and go head-to-head with the arrogant creature.

He was going to prove that in a justified world of nature where the strong killed the weak; he was superior in all ways.

With lightning speed, they charged at each other like a couple of raging storms, eyes locked in a showdown that oozed pure animosity.

Their palms collided, creating shockwaves that reverberated through the battleground.

It was a contest of raw power and unyielding will.

It was a pure contest of strength, but after just a few seconds, Lyrian stepped to the side and picked up the giant, slamming him onto the ground.

Without hesitation he leaped onto the creature's massive chest, his battle-worn body pulsating with adrenaline.

His palms converged, forging a makeshift weapon akin to a formidable wrecking ball.

With every ounce of his being, he thrust the destructive force downward, aiming for the heart of the fallen Hobgoblin.

A thunderous BANG resounded, echoing the finality of the strike.

The weakened beast, already on the brink of demise, succumbed to the merciless blow.

Drained and breathless, Lyrian collapsed backward, his body crashing onto the unforgiving ground in a symphony of exhaustion.

As he lay there, gasping for air, beads of sweat mingling with the dirt and grime upon his brow, a flicker of realization illuminated his weary eyes.

"That was too damn close," he muttered between labored breaths. "This is not enough. I must get to even higher levels of power!"

With an unyielding spirit burning within him, Lyrian knew that the path of strength he had embarked upon was one that would push him to his limits.

And so, he resolved to grow stronger, to surpass all boundaries, for he understood that in this unforgiving world, the pursuit of power was the key to survival and freedom from pain.