Mana Recovery

*𝑅𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒* 𝑅𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒* 𝑅𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒*

On the other side of the plainlan forest, two people were holding their breath nervously, while fidgety wiggle their bodies inside the tree trunks.

"Shh."

Kiro used his right hand to block the lips of Alina, who was about to scream in fright.

"Odd, how come there are so many Goblins popping out of nowhere?" Kiro mumbled while he scanned the surrounding area.

"Ouch," Kiro called out in pain. "Stop biting my hand, okay? I'll release it, just don't scream."

Kiro stated as he stared straight to Alina's eyes. Knowing the gravity of the situation, Alina nodded her head as an agreement.

"Wa—what should we do now?" Aline spoke nervously while glancing at the forest.

"... For now, we better hide carefully but don't worry, our location is quite hidden. We could only hope that they would eventually leave this place." Kiro said, while deep inside, he was having a dilemma.

He was debating whether they should stay here and wait for a miracle, or move out and search for a better hiding place. However, he wasn't sure how many Goblins outside the forest at this moment.

After seeing how large the scale of their settlement, Kiro can't act rashly just like he did early in the morning.

Suddenly an indignant howl reverberated throughout the forest.

"... Don't tell me they have more of those wolves?" As if responding to his question, Kiro abruptly felt a murderous intent to the northeast side of the forest.

"This is bad—Alina quickly! Move out, we have to escape now!" Kiro said as he summoned his longbow, aiming at the northeast side of the forest.

Alina who was watching him in the bewilderment, after seeing Kiro's frantic movements; Alina nervously gripped her saber's hilt tightly.

Kiro endured the urge to release the bowstring on his right hand, as he waited for the right moment to shoot.

As the killing intent in the surrounding intensified, the more his anxiety grew, Kiro knew that he had to end this fight quickly. He cannot let the other Goblins to surround them.

"Huuh~" Kiro stabilized his breathing as his razor-sharp sights focused at the northeast side of the forest.

"Rooaar!" The Silver wolf pounced to their whereabouts.

As soon as Kiro got a clear aim at the silver wolf, he released his arrow.

*𝑆𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑠ℎ!*

A brisk gust of wood blew at the silver wolf's head. But the arrow wasn't enough to stop the advance of the silver wolf. What Kiro released wasn't his mana imbued bolt, but his regular archery.

Knowing that it wasn't enough to take down the wolf, Kiro clicked his tongue out of frustration. He wanted to conserve his remaining mana, in the worst-case scenario. "It can't be helped."

While he uttered his complaint. Kiro summoned another bow-arrow and activated his skill.

"[Arrow Shock!]"

*𝐵𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑁𝐺!*

This time the head of the silver wolf exploded.

"Quickly, move out!" Kiro yelled at Alina as he dashed out to their hiding place.

However, before he could even think of their escape plan, Kiro grabbed a hold of Alina's waist who was lagging behind his back, as both of their bodies rolled on the muddy ground.

*𝑆𝑙𝑎𝑠ℎ!*

A sharp aura blade cut the tree-trunk into half. Staring at the scene before him, Kiro praised his swift movement, If he was a tad bit late, given his low mana supply, both of them may suffer from severe damage.

"Master Be careful! 4 o'clock southeast, there's a strong Mana fluctuation." Suddenly Fixie's voice echoed inside Kiro's head.

Hearing her warning, Kiro abruptly focused his mana senses on his surroundings.

"... Didn't I already kill the Goblin Mage a while ago?" Kiro voiced his irritation. "Are you trying to say that there's more?"

"No, the mana capacity of this Goblin is slightly weaker than the Goblin Mage." Fixie pointed out her deduction. "It most likely a Goblin Shaman," She said, however, another aura slash came right through Kiro's direction.

"Damn it!" Kiro cursed while smearing his dagger with mana, as he parried to the upcoming assault.

*𝑇𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑛𝑔~*

Sparks flew as the two-weapon collided.

"Kekeke," The Goblin Commander uttered a hoarse laugh, while both of his eyes flickered with murderous intent. "Hu..man, ca..n't e..cape t..is t-i..me." The Goblin Commander uttered those words in a quivering voice. He tried to communicate using the common language of this world.

Kiro was momentarily shocked upon hearing the Goblin's voice. "... You can speak?"

Seeing his prey in the bewilderment, the Goblin commander put more strength to his long blade.

Noticing the changed weight of the long blade, Kiro focused to the center of his gravity, as he tried to deflect the blade sideways.

*𝐶𝑙𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑛𝑔~*

With his active exposure from a heavy assault inside the wilderness, Kiro was familiar with how to divert a blunt strike like this.

Not letting the Goblin Commander recover, Kiro stabbed his dagger to its abdomen.

*𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡*

Kiro cleanly landed his blow. However, it was too shallow to pierce through the defense of the Goblin Commander.

"Kekeke." The Goblin Commander laughed coldly at him. Suddenly, Kiro heard a scream behind his back.

Kiro was startled to see that four Goblins simultaneously attacking Alina, but he was surprised to see that she can handle them with ease. "Don't worry about me! Focus on your opponent!" Alina shouted, knowing that Kiro took a glimpse at her.

However, the Goblin Commander did not let go of Kiro's error. "Gaaah!" The Goblin Commander shouted as it released his aura slash.

Kiro who was momentarily shocked wasn't able to dodge the aura blade. "Gaa-ah!" He shouted in pain as his defenseless upper chest took severe damage. "Master!" Fixie shouted in fright. She didn't expect her master would pause in the middle of the battle.

"Kiro!" This time Alina screamed as she dashed toward Kiro. However, the four Goblins didn't let her go.

"Tsk! Go away!" She said. "[Quick Slash!]" Alina activated her active skill, trying to break through their defense.

"... I—I'm fine..." Kiro stated to her while he tried to stabilize his footing staring at Alina's direction for a bit, Kiro both eyes flashed with determination. "I suppose I have to go all out. Fixie, heal my wounds." Kiro proclaimed.

"Okay, Master!"

『Ting!~』

*𝑆𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑠𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝐵𝑜𝑑𝑦.*

-Extensive Mana exhaustion.

-Minor Sword Aura slowly deteriorating the user's body.

-Severe damage from the upper chest part. Immediate treatment is required.

『The user-chosen to heal his body.』

- 5 SP Points deduction.

-Removal of the Sword Aura.

- 3 SP Points deduction.

-The user's remaining SP Points 9.

『Ting!~』

『With the current accessible points, the user can only use a half mana recovery.』

-Does the user want to replenish his mana?

『Yes / No』

"... What? I can recover my mana using SP points?" Kiro couldn't help to voice out his question once he heard the notification sound.

"Yes, Master can replenish his Mana using SP points." Fixie explained, then she suddenly realized that she never mentioned it before. "Sorry about that Master, at the time in the wilderness, Fixie forgot to mention to Master that he can use SP points to recover his mana," Fixie said in shame.

"Don't worry about it and recover my mana." Kiro urged her to replenish half of his mana, as he saw the Goblin Commander was about to make his move.

『Ting!~』

-The user has replenished his mana.

- 7 SP deduction.

- Remaining SP Points 2.

A refreshing feeling rushed through Kiro's body. He suddenly felt that he could win this fight in a matter of moments. Summoning his longbow, Kiro activated his skill simultaneously.

"[Arrow Shock!]"

*𝑆𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑠ℎ! *𝑆𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑠ℎ!* 𝑆𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑠ℎ!*

Three consecutive arrows darted toward the Goblin Commander.

*𝐵𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑁𝐺!*

An enormous explosion burst through the place.

Kiro glanced at Alina's direction, seeing the 4 Goblins were looking at him in fright, he summoned four arrow shafts inside his spatial tool and aimed it at the immobilized Goblins.

"Alina! Hurry, and run!" Kiro yelled as he released his barrage.