Grenades

Smoke billowed from all corners as the goblin camp was engulfed in flames, casting a haunting glow against the eerie light always present in this underground world. The fire crackled and roared, consuming the makeshift structures and leaving nothing but charred remains in its wake. All the level 1s had been dispatched, their 'efforts' culminating in a fierce skirmish that ended with a final, decisive swing of Virgil's staff. His agile opponent, the White Goblin, was taken down, dissipating into the ether. 

Virgil stood silently, his gaze lingering on the spot where his foe had vanished—a silent testament of respect to an opponent who, despite his treacherous fighting style, had proved to be a formidable adversary. The White Goblin's movements had been unpredictably swift, his attacks clever and cunning, making him a worthy foe until his very end. 

30,000 Tutorial Coins acquired

Hidden Quest completed: Defeat the White Goblin, Gobity Jr, and occupy his camp 

Rewards: 

1 SP 

50,000 TC

2000 Iron

The battle had unfolded in unexpected ways. Dante, who had anticipated a quick victory, was quickly reminded of the harsh reality that nothing should be taken lightly—not even the occupation of what appeared to be a small goblin camp. The resistance was fiercer than anticipated, with the goblins employing new tools of war and a fighting style they had not seen before. This encounter served as a stark lesson that in this world, underestimations could lead to dire consequences.

***

Thaleia approached the wooden fortress with determination, a clear picture of the enemy's layout etched in her mind thanks to the Seer's newfound mastery. With 26 enemies ahead, the challenge seemed manageable, even less daunting than she had anticipated.

She knew she was not the sneaky type, so she rushed toward her fort using all her speed. She was soon detected by the archers, but she activated Strength Boost and Agility Boost and kept going. She reached the first thug, as average as all she had seen so far, who for some reason were always male. He was wearing leather clothing, but far too much by her standards. Even his face was covered.

She looked at the weapon, and he was using a sword, something the Seer had already told her. She decided to save the Heavy Strike for later; she did not want to be distracted by thinking about the mastery thing with so many pests around. And so, she made a quick slash, finishing this one off.

She was fond of her new shortsword; it was small but slightly heavy, and quite sharp. It complemented her better than her older weapon, which was already feeling too light. Suddenly, she heard a whistle and sidestepped, avoiding the arrow. "You will have to be faster than that," she smirked.

She finished the other guy, a quick severing of the head after moving around him. 'For Ares' sake, was he slow,' she thought, getting used to how these bodies dissipated after being killed. It was strange at first but felt cleaner somehow, if not surreal, as if she were in a dream or a world of magic. And in truth, was she not?

She noticed the gate starting to close, but way too late. She was already inside. The arrows kept coming, but they felt less harmful than rain. She quickly climbed one of the archer towers and finished the archer off, observing the trail of thugs climbing behind her. It was not easy avoiding arrows while climbing, something that would have proven difficult for her old self, but due to her recent enhancements gifted by her gods in this world, it was as easy as her basic footwork stances.

And so, she finished the tower and directly jumped down and rolled forward to reduce the impact. She barely felt the brunt of it. She was about to go to the next outpost tower, but there was a spear just in her way. Reacting quickly, she barely managed to deflect it.

She looked at the thug in front of her, wearing pieces of metal and leather armor linked together. He was holding a long spear, with a solid stance.

"Well, look at that," she smiled, "finally someone entertaining."

She dashed up to him, unfettered. But just as the thug was preparing to strike her, she made a quick turn to the right and proceeded to the other tower. "I will finish the others first; don't worry, darling. I will come back for you."

The spearman tried to stop her but was slightly slower than Thaleia and couldn't manage to avoid her taking not only this outpost tower but also the rest of the men in the fortress.

The last remaining thug was furious. She could easily tell. "Well, I guess it's time to try that idea the Seer gave me." She activated Heavy Strike as the spear-wielder approached her, feeling the increased Might in her body. She did not block or counter but rather sidestepped to one side. She tried to make use of those 11 seconds the skill lasted to get a read on the thug's style before making the appropriate strike.

She calmly observed: the fury in his eyes, his stance, his feet, his arms. She noticed this person had a good grasp of the spear, but his footwork was lacking. After she finished her assessment, the moment appeared in front of her as she barely evaded and then concentrated all her weight in the strike. It was not the swift cut or stab she was used to, but a strike using all her body's weight to directly try to sever and cut through this guy.

And she noticed it—how the skills behaved differently than usual. The strike hit hard, with a strength that cut the spearman all the way to the abdominal area.

She silently stepped back, observing the blood sport of a body nearly cut in half. It was incredibly gruesome. She felt the body of this enemy was tough, more like rock than human, probably due to the Might attribute the Seer had mentioned that made bodies stronger. Nevertheless, she cut all the way through, leaving the body in a state she had never seen before. The strike she displayed now was no longer something a human could do.

She looked at her bloody hands. She was no longer human. The question was: was she on the way to becoming divine, or was she on the way to becoming a demon. 

***

Virgil kept his distance, hiding just beyond the tree line as he surveyed the goblin camp. He discreetly sent one of his summons to scout the area. The ideal scenario involved luring the enemies out of their camp. Though not heavily fortified, the camp was protected by simple wooden barricades at its edges and two wooden lookout towers that guarded the cluster of tents within.

As they tallied the tents, they estimated no more than 40 enemies resided within the camp. Yet, caution remained paramount. After all, reaching this camp had been a slow journey, primarily due to the sluggish pace of the level 1s, who moved with the urgency of a snail racing through peanut butter. If Virgil were to fall in battle, the trek back would not only be a slog but also a race against time. The looming threat of another attack on their fort meant preparations had to be made swiftly.

Dante had used just one of his 2 available SP to enhance Agility Infusion, opting to reserve the other for a situation demanding immediate adaptation. It's worth mentioning that both boosting techniques -Strength and Agility Infusion- had no range limit, allowing Virgil to bolster any summon, anywhere. This included boosting Dante, which would, in turn, end up boosting himself.

It was a bit annoying that they couldn't use the Immortal Macro freely in this scenario, mainly because Dante dying from any stray hit would mean the mission's failure. Similar to the undead aura the Forgotten Monarch had, this was obviously another instance of The Game handicapping Dante and Virgil. But the same concept brought a smile to Dante's face after all:

"They had to nerf us for the sake of balance," he laughed.

And so it was time to begin the assault… or so was the plan. Unfortunately, the skeleton Virgil had sent to scout was detected by one of the goblin archers from the outpost tower. And then he shouted:

"Intruders!" The call of alarm rang out sharply through the air. And yes, it was indeed a skeletal goblin who had uttered the warning, if such a term could be accurately applied to an entity composed entirely of bones yet somehow producing sounds in perfect English.

And so the momentum was no longer on their side. The goblin archers quickly fired a couple of arrows, taking the scout down, and then sent some of the warriors out to check for the rest of the attackers.

It was curious, indeed, how these goblins used skeletal hounds as mounts. The sight was both macabre and amusing—goblins, with their ragged armor, riding atop these clattering frames of bone that moved with a grace contradicting their appearance. The skeletal hounds, with glowing eyes and an aura of the underworld, made for a surreal cavalry, eerie yet undeniably effective.

Virgil was left with no options but to proceed with the plan, ordering the level 1s to scatter, while he hid atop a tree, ready to ambush the goblins that left the camp one by one. It was a sound strategy, with Virgil being superior in stats to all his opponents. The problem now lay in that they were faster than expected, and taking on goblins mounted on hounds was a bit more tricky. But that was all it was, a bit more tricky… until.

"Bam!" One of the goblin riders threw what could be considered a bomb—or perhaps a grenade?—to a group of level 1s, blasting them to smithereens. It was seriously overkill. I mean, a soft nod on the head was all it took to finish them off. In either case, the grenades were a problem. Virgil had to be careful.

But while the goblins were fiercer and had a fighting style different from what was expected, it was not entirely out of Virgil's comfort zone. He just had to be cautious of the grenades and maneuver swiftly around the battlefield. His vast combat experience, superior technique, and stats were all that he needed.