Follow Me

"Follow me!" Callum yelled as he sprinted towards the remaining goblins.

He had briefly debated if it would be better to wait for their other party members before charging in. However, the two spellcasters were practically useless right now and Alea, or someone else, would have to guard them until they could start casting again.

Meanwhile, the Bearfolk's summoning was about to expire; Ravi had used the powerful <Bless> spell to give everyone +10 to all of their Attributes and that was also going to expire soon.

As the tank, Boren had a couple of additional buffs placed on him that were also ticking down. Waiting for Ravi and Osmar to get back into the fight would simply waste the remaining time on all of their buffs as well as the <<Summon Spirit>> Ability.

His high Intelligence helped him to rapidly reach this conclusion. Amarok and Bearfolk didn't hesitate and eagerly followed him into battle. Boren hesitated for a brief instance, before the dwarf followed suit; his stubby legs soon had him lagging far behind.

Callum weaved around the columns as the Witch Doctors and Skirmishers tried to hit him as he rapidly closed the distance towards them. He took some minor damage, but most of the attacks went wide or were blocked by the columns.

The attacks began to hit him with more consistency the closer he got; he guzzled a healing potion to mitigate the damage. He was two strides away from the goblin battle line when he activated <<Long Reach>>.

He saw the shock on a Goblin Champion's face as his axe magically struck its shield and bowled it over; a nearby Brute's expression remained unchanged as its head slid off its torso. Callum ran into the gap his attack had created.

"<<Rage>>!" Callum shouted.

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<<Rage>> Effects:

- (+150% to Strength and Constitution while <<Rage>> is active)

- (+25% to critical chances against you and your opponent(s))

- (All active control effects against you lose one tier immediately)

- (Control acts against you suffer -25% to success chances; control acts that do succeed are -25% effective)

- (You cannot retreat from combat and cannot take any defensive actions)

- (You cannot turn off <<Rage>>. <<Rage>> will end when all enemies are defeated or you go down)

- (<<Rage>> end will trigger a 'Weakened' state for 12 hours)

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Ravi worriedly glanced at the status effect that limited his ability to help in the fight; the timer seemed to mock him as it slowly counted down the seconds. The attack by the Twilight Assassin had distracted him; he usually vigilantly paid attention to his party's status effects.

The near death experience had left him unable to replace Callum's <<Spirit Armor>> with one of his Class Abilities. Ravi hoped that Callum's 1,230 HP, boosted by <<Rage>> and <Bless>, was enough to keep him alive until he could start casting again.

Alea was beside him and tried to land shots with her hand crossbow. The range was extreme for the small weapon and many shots missed their targets altogether or only hit non vital areas for minimal damage.

He helplessly watched as the enraged Callum waded through the goblins. They swarmed him faster than he could cut them down; his health pool was evaporating under the swarming tactics of the goblins.

"Go, Alea, see what you can do," he said despite knowing she would arrive too late; Callum's fate would be decided before she could make a difference. She poured on the speed and continued to fire her ranged weapon.

Amarok was at the edge of the goblin formation and was trying to break through to get to Callum. However, the Goblin Chieftain was directing the rest of the elite goblins to keep the Dire Wolf from getting to the isolated man.

Amarok was moving sluggishly as the Witch Doctors layered more and more debuffs onto the massive wolf. The wolf tried to outflank the blocking force, but its artificial slowness made all such attempts unsuccessful.

He would have died right then, he should have died right then.

However, the Bearfolk crashed into the blocking force of elite goblins. The lumbering beast had taken some time to build up her speed, but it used her mass and speed to literally send multiple goblins flying; others were buried under her bulk.

The distraction allowed Amarok to finally make his way closer to where Callum was waging a one man war against twenty goblins that were all higher level than he was.

Ravi saw that the throng of goblins was still too much for the debuffed Amarok to get any closer. However, at least now the Dire Wolf was able to distract and attack the goblins directly surrounding his human companion.

The slower moving Dwarf had been targeted with multiple slowing spells, slowing him down even more. Boren tried to join Amarok, but the blocking force was able to stop him easily due to his glacial speed; the Bearfolk was still ravaging the goblins, but she too was slowed down.

Callum was strong and <<Rage>> made him stronger still. But, the goblins were pressed too close around him for him to properly swing his axe. He was forced to elbow, bite, scratch, and punch the goblins that were swarming him.

Fortunately, the throng of goblins interfered with each other's attacks as often as they interfered with Callum's attacks. The Chieftain was concentrated on stopping any assistance from reaching the beleaguered man.

Ravi winced as Callum's health dropped to less than a hundred HP. The only reason he was still alive was Amarok's presence on the edges of the goblin force; the Dire Wolf relieved just enough pressure

Ravi almost shouted in exultation as the status effect went away and he could start casting once more. He targeted Callum and dualcasted <Heal> and <Righteous Shield>. Dualcasting had a higher Mana cost and a greater failure chance over regular casting.

<Heal> pushed Callum health back up to 200 HP and <Righteous Shield> helped to limit the damage he was taking. Next, Ravi would cleanse Amarok and Boren of their debuffs.

_____

Callum was in a burning sea of unquenchable rage, but a distant part of his being was worried about the swarming goblins all around him and his failing health. The raging man paid no attention to the worries of that part of itself.

He would crush all of his enemies beneath him, they would all suffer. Starting with the goblins around him. But, he would bring the wrath of a thousand suns down upon those who killed his parents.

A goblin climbed up his side and stabbed him in the shoulder. Callum grunted in annoyance as he leaned over and bit that creatures' prominent ear off; he ignored its wails of pain as he pried it off his shoulder and threw the mewling goblin at another goblin who had grabbed his axe.

The tiny creatures' constant attacks were pissing him off even more; the distant part of him was surprised that was even possible. They constantly grabbed at his arms and axe, and he wanted to see that axe free. He thirsted for their blood and the axe was the fastest way to accomplish that.

He grabbed a goblin around the neck and crushed its windpipe. He used the goblin as a club to beat upon a Goblin Brute that was holding his axe with one hand and stabbed its weapon forward with the other.

Callum didn't care about the attack or the ones that were attacking his back. He simply wailed on the Brute with another goblin because he wanted to free his axe; the Brute died as his improvised club disintegrated under the forceful blows.

The last goblin holding his axe had perished. The ball of rage that was Callum celebrated by aggressively swinging his weapon at every enemy he could find; he reveled in each death of his opponents.

The distant part of his brain noted that Amarok and Boren were now fighting by his side. He ignored them as they weren't his foe. The raging Callum saw a Goblin Champion stupidly standing in front of him with a shield raised.

"DIE!" he yelled as his axe crashed against the shield. The goblin was sent flying which enraged Callum even more; one of his foes was trying to escape! He raced after the fleeing goblin.

His hate filled mind didn't realize that the goblin was sent careening through the air due to physics and it had no control of where its body was sent flying to. Although, the goblin may have been reconsidering its decision to stand before a bundle of hate armed with a large axe.

Callum pounced on the goblin as it tried to pick itself off the floor. The Champion unwillingly lifted its shield once more to block the next attack; this time Callum's axe was descending down after an overhead strike.

The poor quality shield had already splintered after the first block, and it completely disintegrated under the force of this attack. The dungeon floor cracked as the goblin was crushed by Callum's attack.

Callum snarled when he saw how few surviving enemies there were; he was full of bloodlust and the pitifully small remaining number of goblins weren't enough to quench his thirst for violence. He rushed towards his next victim.

Several moments later, the last goblin was enraging him even more; it would not stand still and let Callum kill it. The Twilight Assassin successfully evaded numerous attacks and kept retreating before him.

It danced between Callum's aggressive swings and constantly dealt damage to Callum. Eventually, a magical attack and an arrow killed the goblin even as it successfully avoided another wild swing from Callum.

"Nooo!" Callum yelled as his kill was stolen from him. A sense of weakness caused him to collapse as reason once more returned to him.