Facing Fears

I couldn't believe it out of all of the monsters I could have chosen from, I got the one that almost killed me the last time I fought it. I looked nervously at the proctor, and she nodded her head, motioning me to the center of the arena. I had been so shocked that I didn't even notice that a great goblin was now standing where the imp had previously been when Romans match had started.

I felt my heart beat faster as I recalled the last time I had faced one of these creatures alone. I could hear the monsters voice, smell its breath, I could even still feel it's giant hand wrapped around my throat. 'How can I face that monster again?' My mind had almost reached its breaking point, I couldn't see the world around me, and I felt dizzy.

"It's ok, dear. You can always take the exam again in six months." The proctor told me, probably noticing my distress.

"No! He can do it!" That's when Sean appeared at my side. "Please just give us one minute." He bowed his head to the short woman. She told him that he had exactly one minute. "Listen, you are better equipped right now and far more skilled than you were when you had that incident. Let the fear you're feeling right now feed your desire to win. This is the only way to help your party grow, remember that." I could feel Sean's grip on my shoulders, and some of his words even got through to my mind.

I still didn't feel like I could speak, so I silently nodded to him. 'He's right.' I thought. 'I'm stronger now I can do this.' I tapped at the flask of acid I had connected to an appropriate spot on my robe. I had learned how to make the Incendiary salt as well and had received my ring from Master over the last weak. Taking a deep breath, I did my best to steel myself and began walking, albeit shakily, to the battlefield.

The monster had the same type of weapons, like the one in my memories a giant tree-like club and a knife strapped to its lower back. I was now only thirty meters from the giant. My first step was to drop a couple of Iron Thorn seeds onto the ground. I looked directly at the monster; the silence between us was much different than the last time I had faced one of its kind. Last time it was mocking me, berating me for my weaknesses, and spitting curses at me.

It just looked at me now. A few more seconds passed by as I waited for the proctor's call to begin. I was only focusing on one thing, however, and it wasn't the monster. Instead, I was focusing on one tiny vine growing up my back and around my flask, which I had uncorked as soon as I'd started walking towards the enemy. The time stood still for what seemed like a long time but in reality, it was probably just a few seconds.

"Begin!" As soon as the words left the woman's mouth, I was gone; I ran full speed ahead directly at the huge monster with two large vines of thorns coming in directly in front of me. I knew what was about to happen. The monster would swing his club to intercept the vines or to hit me. Like I had planned the monster's attack for it, the beast did exactly what I thought it would do. I held my body in his targeted path until the very last possible moment. As the club came swinging down, I ducked underneath it.

My vines dug deeply into the weapon, and the Great Goblin was unable to pull it out from their thorny grasp despite his massive strength. 'Next is the knife.' I thought, preparing myself for what came next. I knew that I had to get closer in to avoid its bladed strike, so I baseball slid the last couple of feet until I was between the legs of the monster. With all of my strength, I hauled back and activated my ring.

There was now a small but hot flame on one of its knees, and the monster broke its silence with a thundering roar, but I wasn't finished with that single attack. I stretched out my other hand and touched the flesh on the other leg then activated my electrical alchemy. Both legs buckled underneath it, almost crushing me, but I was able to roll out of the way in time.

The monster was far from dead, though. It reached out its hand with unbelievable speed, and a familiar feeling gripped my throat. There I was once more suspended in the air the weight of the monsters meaty hand holding the balance of my life. I was scared still, but I had already planned for this.

The moment that the monster rose me to eye level, I used my eyes to look straight above his head. Like most creatures with any amount of intelligence, this action triggered the monster's own curiosity. It tilted its head back to see what it was that I was staring at, and that was its downfall. For right above its head was the small vine I had grown earlier with my flask of acid in its grasp.

I had used my larger vines and further actions to hide the fact that the smaller vine was behind them, just waiting for me to shape it to pour the liquid into the Great Goblins face. The acid splashed onto the monster's face. It let go of me, and it let out a scream of anguish as its flesh parted ways with its body. It clawed at its face trying to remove the substance, but all that did was spread the liquid to its hands. The beast slumped to the ground having died of shock and pain.

My body hadn't moved since the Great Goblin had dropped me; my heart was pounding in my ears. Everything had gone according to my quickly derived plan. Once more, I was saved by luck, but I could also tell that it was something I wouldn't have been able to do months ago. My control over alchemic processes and my ability to come up with strategies were both improving far beyond what I had ever thought I was capable of.

I didn't even hear the applause behind me for a few seconds. I was too deep in thought about how the battle had just played out. The sound eventually reached my ears, however, making me turn to face the small crowd of alchemists that were waiting for their own turn to do battle with a monster. I couldn't see the proctors face, but she was also clapping, so I assumed that I'd done well in her eyes.

The only person that wasn't cheering for me in the crowd was Roman, who was standing with his arms crossed.

"It's not so impressive. I could have done it in half the time." The people around him rolled their eyes at the statement. I walked up to the proctor, and she told me that I had done a commendable job. My heart was still pounding, though. I couldn't believe that I had just killed another Great Goblin by myself. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off when it came to fighting that monster again like it wasn't nearly as strong as the one that I'd faced in the forest.

I would have to ask the proctor about it. I waited until after everyone had gone, even Sean was lucky enough to get a weak monster and finished it off. We were all lead back to the waiting area. The other tag levels were still in testing, so we were told we wouldn't receive our results until later that evening. About an hour into waiting, we were released to go get something to eat while we were waiting.

Sean and I made our way back to the food court area, and we ran into Tim. He politely greeted Sean before turning to me.

"How is the test going for you?"

"I finished the written and practical exams. We're just waiting for the higher tier people to get done with their tests before I find out my results," I responded. He nodded his head.

"Yeah, it's the same for me. I wonder how the others are doing." I shrugged my shoulders and let him know that I was sure they were all doing well. Sean said his goodbyes to both of us and went to talk to a couple of his employees.

"Hey, Todd?" My friend said to me.

"Yeah? What's up?" I responded.

"Would you like to have lunch with me?" He asked me in a rushed voice. 'Why does he seem so nervous?' I guessed he was just acting weird.

"Yeah, man, I'd like that." I smiled at my Cleric friend, and we sauntered over to one of the food vendors that were allowed to sell during the test.