Sid POV

  Sid ran toward the shaman, spear in one hand, a rock clenched in the other. “Varun! Take out your target. Now!”

  The shout tore from his throat, sharper than he intended. There was no time to soften it. Sid tracked the lanky goblin warrior through the haze and felt a chill of recognition settle in his gut. The creature was not panicking. It was working. It was spreading the mist using a skill he knew well. Fog Sprint.

  The air carried a damp, animal musk beneath the cold, like crushed foliage mixed with wet hide.

  Sid had already earmarked Fog Sprint for his own progression. It was the innate ability of the Shardhorn Musk Deer, the same beast that gave Pallavi her Hindkick. The goblins must have harvested it from the source.

  Fog Sprint created a thin trail of fog along the path the user traversed, obscuring their movement from pursuers. Most people treated it as a mobility tool, nothing more. But over time, delvers had discovered a workaround. By running in tight loops, the fog layers overlapped, slowly increasing density. Used correctly, it became a crude substitute for Mist Veil.

  The goblins seemed to have figured out the trick first.

  Mist Veil and Fog Sprint was a dangerous combination. Soon, the battlefield would be swallowed by white. Eliminating the sources was critical. While Echo Sense allowed Sid to navigate the haze, his team would be blind. Without vision, their combat effectiveness would plummet by half.

  Sid locked his gaze onto the shaman. Under the circumstances, the best move was obvious. Remove the enemies who were changing the battlefield in their favour. The shaman and the lanky warrior.

  Two Tier 0 goblins flanked the shaman—a slinger and the tracker. They noticed Sid’s group closing the distance and began retreating in measured steps, careful not to break formation while increasing the gap.

  Sid glanced left. The bulky warrior braced, dropping its weight low to meet Pallavi’s charge. Though, something else reached the warrior first.

  A white ball of light struck its torso and unraveled on impact, spreading outward into a lattice of glowing strands. The magical webbing wrapped around the goblin, pinning it in place.

  Rohan watched the attack land with a satisfied smile, before it turned to a scowl.

  Keeping skill crystals unused was the same as burying money. Their value declined with time, not because of inflation, but because of opportunity cost.

  Mana Web scaled with intelligence. Had Rohan absorbed their ten crystals, he’d have eight more points to his name, a difference that could decide whether the monster stayed bound or drove a blade into someone’s gut.

  The bulky warrior snarled and began tearing at the white strands, forcing one foot forward. The webbing faded from solid white to translucent, then shattered within seconds.

  Pallavi leapt forward, lunging to strike before the goblin could break free.

  The bulky warrior sidestepped Pallavi’s thrust, trapping her spear beneath its armpit. It clamped down and twisted, dragging her across the ground as she fought to pull free. They seemed matched in raw strength, though the goblin edged her out by using leverage.

  The wooden shaft creaked under the strain. A sharp crack followed as it snapped.

  Pallavi stumbled back with her fists raised in front of her. She did not raise them high. Her opponent was barely the height of a child.

  Sid’s attention was drawn to the shaman’s group. The goblin slinger drew its sling, aimed at Sid, and released the shot.

  Every action of his three targets registered in Sid’s mind, even though his head appeared turned toward his team. He inferred the stone’s trajectory from the sling’s position and twisted out of the way, raising his arms to protect his head in case his judgment was off by a fraction.

  A slinger’s threat centered on two spots: the head and the groin. If those remained clear, a hit was just another painful bruise to be endured.

  The stone sailed past him and vanished harmlessly into the distance.

  Sid did not pause. He raised his arm and hurled the rock at the shaman with as much force as he could manage while still ensuring it stayed on course. The goblin slinger and the tracker flinched, instinctively ducking as if the projectile were meant for them.

  Their eyes shifted to the shaman, likely expecting it to reposition when Sid’s arm came up. Instead, the shaman remained focused on the fight between Pallavi and the bulky warrior, watching with unsettling intensity.

  A translucent, bubble-like shield formed around the shaman, deflecting Sid’s throw. The stone bounced away, spinning off into the mist.

  The thirty-second cooldown window began. The clock was running. Unless he landed a finishing blow before it expired, the battle would tilt sharply against them.

  The shaman spun, shouting at its underlings while scanning the battlefield for the unseen attacker. The tracker, standing closer, pointed at Sid, but the shaman’s gaze slid past him, probing the forest beyond, looking for the hidden assailant.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  A sudden blur to Sid’s right pulled his attention away. He turned just in time to see Varun rising from a crouch, the lanky goblin warrior pinned beneath him, its body crushed by the impact.

  It was an impressive maneuver. Varun balanced his momentum against the goblin’s trajectory, sticking a clean landing amidst the carnage. Sid knew that stunt alone would net him a couple of levels.

  White fog choked the air. It carried the wet, clinging scent of clay and trampled moss. It threatened to swallow the shaman, cutting him off from the team’s line of sight.

  Sid met Varun’s gaze. “Take out the shaman.” The shaman was the linchpin of the goblin squad. Once it fell, the rest would break.

  Varun gave a curt nod and turned toward the shaman.

  Sending Varun into the fog was a risk. His mobility depended on visibility, and the mist worked against him.

  Varun hadn’t faced a proper challenge since he evolved Flash Step. He was running circles around weak opponents. These easy victories were becoming a habit, and Sid aimed to break it by forcing him into a fight where he couldn’t use his speed.

  More than that, he wanted Varun to learn. The ability to make the correct split-second decisions in the middle of chaos was the most valuable skill a delver could develop. And the only way to sharpen it was through repeated exposure to difficult situations.

  Besides, Varun’s safety was never in doubt. Sid was right behind him. He was ready to intervene if things went south.

  Varun became a streak of movement. His blade dived for the shaman, but the nearby slinger panicked. Originally aimed at Sid, the goblin released its stone instinctively at the new intruder. The projectile slammed into Varun’s dagger hand.

  The impact skewed his aim by inches. Instead of the throat, the blade bit into the shaman’s shoulder, leaving only a shallow graze. Shocked, the goblin shaman’s concentration broke; its Mist Veil dissipated as it scrambled back to find breathing room.

  Sid was less than ten feet behind Varun and closing fast.

  He watched Varun and the goblin tracker crash to the ground, curling up. The slinger moved in slow motion, as if the air had thickened into water. Sid saw the signs, a heartbeat before he felt the effects. The goblin shaman had used Intimidate.

  A heavy, oppressive pressure rolled across the battlefield. While Sid’s high willpower dulled the brunt of the effect, he still felt his limbs grow heavy. Even compromised, he outpaced the goblin slinger.

  The shaman advanced toward Varun in careful, measured steps, staff discarded in favor of a dagger. It moved as if uncertain whether Varun was truly down, ready to strike only once it was sure.

  Sid gauged the distance. He could reach Varun before the shaman. The slinger and tracker remained under the influence of Intimidate, leaving no one to stand in his way.

  That was the greatest weakness of Intimidate. It affected allies and enemies alike. Unlike aura-type abilities that could distinguish between friend and foe.

  Sid shifted his spear into his weaker hand and drew his dagger with his right. He stepped over Varun’s fallen form and drove the blade into the shaman’s neck.

  The goblin shaman collapsed, and the oppressive pressure vanished with it.

  Sid felt the familiar release as the mark from Veil of the Mind’s Eye returned to him. He had about twenty seconds before the skill entered cooldown.

  The skill’s evolution to uncommon increased both duration and cooldown, but the addition of a second mark helped mitigate the drawback. Since each mark tracked its timer independently, Sid could cycle between them to maintain the effect indefinitely on the same target.

  Sid turned toward the slinger as it recovered first. He swung the spear in a wide arc with his weaker arm. The attack was obvious, but the slinger was too slow to react. It took the blow head-on.

  The strike lacked the strength to send it flying. It settled for knocking the goblin flat on its back.

  Sid planted a boot on the goblin’s chest, pinning it down, and crouched. He drove his dagger through its skull, ending it.

  “Finish the other one,” Sid called to Varun without turning back as he spotted the tracker breaking into a run.

  Sid studied the bulky goblin warrior battling Pallavi. Despite the dagger at its belt and the sword strapped to its back, the creature fought strictly bare-handed. It baffled him.

  Pallavi also ignored the weapons within her reach. The mutual restraint hinted at a warrior’s code, a shared understanding neither side wanted to break.

  Sid’s mark had run its course. Yet, he held back from reapplying it. While intervening was the safer move, he saw a rare chance for growth. They wouldn’t easily find another challenger capable of testing Pallavi’s unarmed combat skills like this.

  Rohan contributed whenever he found an opening. He sent out Mana Webs and followed up with cautious thrusts from his spear, never over-committing.

  From Sid’s perspective, the bulky warrior treated Rohan as little more than a nuisance. It redirected strikes instead of dodging them and even somersaulted away from a Mana Web with surprising agility. Its focus never left Pallavi.

  At first glance, Pallavi appeared to be struggling. But now that Sid had the space to observe, the pattern became obvious. She dodged and deflected most of the warrior’s attacks and showed no signs of exhaustion. Her breathing remained steady and her footwork controlled.

  She was stalling. This was not a challenge for her. There was no reason to extend the fight.

  She was buying time for the rest of the team to finish their engagements and regroup. A smile tugged at the corner of Sid’s mouth. Pallavi was improving, not just in combat, but in her decision-making during team fights.

  “Is she training with that goblin?” Varun’s palm landed on Sid’s shoulder as he leaned in close, his voice low. The sudden proximity made Sid flinch despite himself. “Should I kill it?”

  Even with heightened senses, Sid wasn’t untouchable. If someone moved fast enough, he was blind. He was beginning to see the holes in his skills—flaws that proved his near-perfect awareness was a dangerous illusion.

  “No,” Sid kept his voice neutral as he stepped forward. “I’ll do it.”

  Enhanced Endurance reinforced the brute’s skin and muscle. To win, Varun had to aim for the gaps: the eyes, ears, or mouth. Even with his superior speed, the risk remained that the goblin’s reflexes might snap shut the window of opportunity.

  Sid shifted his second mark to the bulky warrior and surged forward. The window was closing; he had under twenty seconds to act.

  The fight ended in seconds.

  The goblin warrior collapsed with a dagger handle jutting from its eye, its body hitting the ground with a dull thud.

  “Is that all of them?” Rohan asked, panting hard. He leaned on his spear, back bent, one palm braced against his knee as he struggled to catch his breath.

  “Yes. Good job, team.” Sid’s gaze moved from Rohan to Pallavi and then to Varun. “Can you collect all the crystals?”

  Varun nodded and moved off to do exactly that.

  “We have much to discuss,” Sid said, rubbing his hands together.

  Patreon is up and 5 chapters ahead!!!

  Couldn't write anything in the last two days. Was working on outlining a climax I liked. Act III of this arc begins chapter 68 onwards.

  Any and all feedback welcome - please leave comments or reviews if you can.

  It would really help me write better.