Hunter 3

"Dirknooth, watch out behind you," yelled Jon. Lifting his shield, he blocked the Forest-Rat tackling the hobgoblin. The Goblin Shield deflected the furry creature back. Two daggers flew over and pierced the rat, killing it. Jon was able to stock up on several Goblin Daggers that Dirknooth was storing.

"More coming." Reported Dirknooth as he sensed more rats exiting their den to attack the two intruders.

Three Forest-Rats charged at Dirknooth. The Shovel Knight shoved his improvement. He blocked one tackling rat and slashed the second one beheading it on the spot. The third collided with Dirknooth's foot while activating Goblin Smash. The powerful kick crushed the rat, killing it as it slammed into a tree. The first rat collapsed after colliding with the shield.

"I don't even need to be here," laughed Jon.

The earth started to rumble. Dirknooth looked back at Jon. "The large one exiting." Several rats ran out of the hole when a massive rodent smashed through the hole, causing the den to collapse. "Forest-Rat King."

"I will handle the small fries." Throwing out four knives at once, three of the rats died. The other ones leaped towards Jon. Getting the idea from Dirknooth, he used a Goblin Smash kick to kill the final one. Wielding his iron dagger, he slashed at the other two to make them retreat.

The goblin sized rat leaped at Dirknooth. Holding up the shield, it cracked upon the impact of the Forest-Rat King. Dirknooth activated Fury and began to attack the large rodent with his trust shovel. The odd-shaped weapon left large cut wounds upon the giant beast.

The two small rodents attacked Jon at the same time. A thrown iron dagger connected with one and activated Lucky Hit. The successful attack split the rat in half. Jon punched out with another Goblin Smash shattering the final Forest-Rat's skull. Jon ran over to grab his iron dagger. He realized a while back that when you lose your weapon, you're in danger the most.

The Forest-Rat King activated his Rat Sprint ability and circled Dirknooth. He then used his skill Tail Whip to trip Dirknooth. Right when he was about to bite into the hobgoblin, a dagger flew at the Forest-Rat King. The massive rodent leaped back to dodge the flying knife. Dirknooth got to his feet and ran over to Jon.

The Forest-Rat King looked at them with wariness. He knew he couldn't overpower this duo. He started to circle the two of them to look for an opening.

Seeing the wounded beast trudge around them, Jon came up with an idea. "Dirknooth, let me attack first. You go in for the kill." Jon ran at the beast. The stamina drain from the last two smashes left him exhausted, but he knew he needed to muster up one final one.

Jon reached down and touched the ground. Jon sprinted towards the rat, and before the Forest-Rat King could attack Jon, he used Goblin Smash to kick off the dirt. The giant rodent tried to swipe at Jon, but the rat couldn't reach him. Smiling, Jon threw out his handful of earth he gathered blinding the giant rat.

Like Jon, he learned to use Goblin Smash with his leg, Dirknooth never thought to use it as a boost. "Goblin Smash!" The hobgoblin stomped the ground thrusting him towards the Forest-Rat King. Brandishing his shovel like a spear, Dirknooth pierced the giant creature's heart. Jon then heard a familiar sound he hadn't heard in a long time as he crashed to the ground and stumbled.

*Ding* **Player Jon has leveled up**

Dirknooth looked over at Jon, worried. He shot the hobgoblin a thumbs up. "I'm good. Just a bit tired. Good job on slaying the beast."

"Time to cook?"

Jon laughed. "Yeah, time to cook, but just the big one. I need small ones for the village."

All of a sudden, the rat who knocked itself out on Dirknooth's shield jumped up. "Cheep...cheep...cheep..." The rat ran off. Jon sighed as that was one less rat to bring back. Dirknooth never seemed exhausted when food was involved. He gathered up all the carcasses. Jon retrieved the daggers, and the two of them made their way back to the farm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A man was mining away in an iron mine to the north. A sound went off. "I leveled up? How did I do that?" questioned Blue. He would ask Jon next time he ran into him. Blue decided to keep mining until his backpack was full.