“So, what a powerful goblin rose up after the previous leaders were killed.” Helo says to himself while watching the group. He is starting to feel rushed because the fire that was set by the warlord is spreading. Eventually it will over run the entire floor. “That warlord is going to kill its entire village.”
Circling around Helo tries to come up with a plan to fight the warlord and the rest of the goblins. “Okay. I need to move quickly. I cannot get caught in a fight. But I need to attack from angles where archers can’t shoot me. I need to draw blood to counteract their poisons and doing that drops my concealment.” Looking back at the wall of fire Helo starts sweating. “I’m also on a time limit.” This is going to suuuuuck.
Getting closer to the village Helo can see that the warlord ordered the others to clear away grass. Watching the small and lanky goblins hacking away at the grass Helo can only groan in annoyance. Getting to the edge of the tall grass Helo makes his way around the edge. Finding a goblin cutting down the grass with a knife Helo shakes his head.
They are sentient but that doesn’t mean they are intelligent. As the goblin swipes his knife at the grass Helo grabs its wrist and drags it into the grass. Covering its mouth with a shadow wrapped hand Helo kills it quickly. He keeps the process up for an entire lap of the village. Staying in the grass surrounding the village Helo finds individual goblins and drags them in.
He starts his second lap around before the goblins realize that their numbers are dwindling but even then, the news takes a long time to reach the others and even the warlord.
As this is happening Helo starts feeling more rushed. The grass land is slowly starting to warm up. The fire is spreading and growing closer. Looking back at the goblins he can see that they are starting to get more chaotic. Their movements and ability to fight seem to be very limited. Exiting the tall grass in the chaos Helo crosses the distance to the walls and looks inside.
Inside the walls there is much less chaos and the warlord seems to be holding them together well. Looking back around him, Helo can see a goblin with a white band on its arm and seems to be running around instructing the others. Quickly throwing a knife Helo kills that goblin and starts running toward the nearest archer. Passing by the goblins who are looking at their fallen brethren Helo makes it to the archer.
Killing it in the chaos he moves on to kill the other archers. Dodging back from an arrow Helo takes a glance behind him and can see that the other goblins have snapped out of their confusion and are making their way toward him.
Turning back toward the archer that shot at him Helo charges and uses ‘Double Step’ to step right, dodging an arrow. Then using his other step, he moves back in toward the archer and kills it.
Diving back into the grass Helo does the same attack on the other side of the village. While moving through the grass Helo can see another white banded goblin leave the village entrance and run to instruct the goblins outside. At that goblins word the others start entering the tall grass surrounding the village and searching for Helo.
They have a lot less space to search because of the fire that has moved to burn the entire outskirts of the floor. The fire is now making its way inward to the village.
Feeling the clock running down Helo avoids the goblins that are searching for him in the tall grass and enters into the village from the wall.
Landing on the ground after jumping the wall Helo looks around and is surprised to see that there are no goblins around. Following his senses Helo finds the goblins are surrounding the largest building.
Goblins armed with short swords are milling around the surroundings of the building. The warlord is nowhere to be seen. Turning around and climbing onto the flimsy roof of the building next to him Helo looks into the window of the main building and can see the warlord surrounded by cowering minions. Focusing for a second he can see that they are holding something.
Letting his bloodline free into his eyes, they start glowing and the oval shape becomes a more pronounced slit. With his now enhanced eyes Helo can see that every single goblin inside the building is holding one of those seed bombs.
“Are they suicide bombers or something?” Helo says to himself. Getting up on the roof Helo jumps across to the main building’s roof. With a crash the roof behind him breaks as he jumps. Thankfully the roof that he is jumping to is sturdier than the others.
Unfortunately, the building shudders from his landing and all the surrounding goblins turn to look at him. “Shit!” Helo says as he drops to his stomach. Just as he drops a volley of arrows pass over his head.
With a sigh of relief Helo takes a moment to think then he starts rolling. Getting to the edge of the roof above where he remembered a window Helo is about to drop. Right before he drops down Helo can feel a spike of intense danger. As the danger hits his instincts Helo wraps himself in a mass of shadows. “BOOOM” A ball of fire erupts from below him. This explosion rocks Helo sending him back over the main building and crashing into a house on the other side.
One of the seed holding goblins exploded itself and Helo in a ball of fire. Thankfully due to the properties of the seed the fire was magical in nature. His aura that he wrapped around himself in the last moment weakened the fire and saved him from intense burns. The explosion still slammed into his body and sent him flying.
Pushing off a piece of the wall Helo looks up into the ceiling of the house and groans. As he does this, he can feel another explosion rock the house that he is in. Getting up while feeling all of his aches and wounds Helo stumbles to the wall. Leaning on the wall Helo makes his way toward broken down wall that fell onto him and looks outside.
Outside the house in the road between the house that Helo is in and the main building is a small crater. Surrounding the crater are wounded sword holding goblins that are scattered around the ground.
Looking toward the main house Helo can see the warlord step outside. He is smacking another goblin in the head that is holding a seed and yelling at it in a language Helo doesn’t understand. The seed holding goblin seems to be cowering before charging at Helo. The charging goblin is holding the seed up and running at him with a scared and crazed look in its eyes. “Ah. Shit.” He says and turns back into the house.
Stumbling back into the house Helo makes it to a window and is about to jump outside before another explosion goes off behind him. This explosion sends him through the window and into the middle of the road. Looking back up Helo can see the house that he was in collapse while going up in flames.
Taking a quick glance around Helo can see that he is surrounded by goblins but they all are looking at the fire in fear. Something is going on. The goblins are terrified of fire. I think the warlord terrorized them. Looking at the fearful goblins Helo can’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for them. They genuinely seem terrified of fire.
Staggering back to his feet Helo is shocked by the lack of feeling. His eardrums are popped and his head is so cloudy that he is having trouble focusing. Tripping forward Helo grabs onto a nearby terrified goblin. Following his instincts more than conscious will Helo bites and drains some of the goblin’s blood. As he does, he can feel his eardrums pop back into place. The vitality sweeps his body and he can feel as the bruise and burns that covered his entire body starts to heal.
Sitting up on the corpse of the goblin Helo sighs and looks around. Half the goblins are still staring into the fire with fear and the other half are looking at him. Standing to his feet Helo can feel that he is starting to tire. Extra vitality can only do so much for his mental and physical drain.
Quickly killing the nearby goblins Helo looks at the burning house and watches how the fire jumps to the next house. “So now the village is burning as well.” Helo says while backing away. The original blast was made from magic but the flames are now natural and his aura is useless, while his bodies low endurance isn’t helping.
Looking back into the flames Helo is surprised to see a laughing warlord walking in the flames. “That explains why it has no issue burning everything down.” ‘Identify.’
Fire Berserker Goblin Warlord
Tier 1 Level 24 Uncommon
This powerful goblin warlord defeated its enemies with fire and madness.
The warlord looks at him and says something Helo can’t understand. The warlord’s headband glows and then it pulls a seed from thin air with a swirl of mana and throws it at Helo.
Diving away Helo makes it through the window of another building before the explosion rocks the street. “So, not seeds but a skill to create a toss-able fire orb.”
Leaving the house Helo quickly starts making his way around the warlord. Taking alleyways between houses Helo finds himself ten meters behind the warlord in the shadow of a house. Focusing on his senses Helo can feel the presence of other goblins. Waiting a moment, he sees the same group of cowering goblins following the warlord and guarding its back. Each of the cowering goblins are holding a ball of condensed dark flames.
Letting out his aura Helo can feel as his ability to hide it within nature is weaker. The surrounding fire and houses are stopping him. The cowering goblins don’t notice but the goblin warlord does. As it is turning around Helo takes a step forward to attack. As his presence reaches the orbs they start to slowly wither and deteriorate. Noticing this Helo falls back and watches as the goblins start freaking out and toss away to orbs.
The explosions are weaker but they still do the job of igniting the houses around them. Drawing back in his aura Helo jumps on a roof and takes a look around. The sky is orange and filled with ash. Looking toward the walls all Helo can see is a sea of flames. Finding the village entrance Helo orients himself with it then turns around. “Okay, that way is the floor exit.”
Taking a deep breath Helo coughs from the dry air and smoke. The edges of the village are starting to go up in flames and the center where the warlord is raging is already burning.
Covering his mouth Helo takes a deep break and dives into the flames that are surrounding the warlord. Stepping into the fire Helo does his best to maneuver through the areas where the flames are the lightest.
Stepping through the burning village Helo finds the warlord standing over the charred corpses of its minions. Waiting for the warlord to turn around Helo starts making his way behind it. As he draws near the goblin turns around and launches an orb at Helo’s body while laughing hysterically.
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Wrapping himself in his aura Helo combats the flames while his body gets launched backward. Feeling his bodies burns start to get worse, Helo realizes that he really is on a time limit. If he fails the 20th floor will be a charred landscape with a single boss on it.
Dashing forward and biting down his pain Helo circles around the warlord but he can see that once Helo gets near the flames that are surrounding it the warlord faces him. It can sense me though the fire. Realizing that he will have to fight it head on Helo jumps forward and draws a blade.
As he moves forward the boss turns to face him and throws another orb. “Th..at won wor.. again.” Helo gets out through his parched throat. As the orb flies at him Helo spins to his left and keeps coming forward. Passing the warlord’s outstretched throwing arm Helo steps forward and slashes with his knife while using his other hand to push the warlord’s arm away.
As his blade drives forward, the warlord with impressive reaction time jumps back. The blade cuts open the armor of the warlord without drawing blood. With its other hand it punches forward. Sensing danger Helo drops low and rolls away. As he moves, he can feel a burst of heat from his right.
The warlord’s punch launched a blast of flame. Getting up and nervously drawing closer Helo can see that the warlord isn’t punching out again. Realizing that it might have a cool down Helo jumps forward and attacks again. This time he uses ‘Double Step’ to get closer and tilts his head to let the warlords blow narrowly miss him Helo leaves a long cut along the side of its body.
Passing the warlord while leaving a gash Helo turns around and with wide eyes watches as the surrounding flames get sucked into the cut of the warlord. The cut starts visibly healing. “Shit.” Helo yells and jumps back into the fight. Thankfully it is no longer as unbearably hot surrounding the warlord, but it is now healed.
Dodging a right hook from the warlord Helo lashes out with his left blade and uses ‘Disabling Strike’. The blow lands and the goblins right arm is forced to stop responding. Seizing the opportunity Helo steps close. As he gets closer, he can feel a swelling of mana coming from the goblins left fist.
Dodging away Helo narrowly misses getting burned by another flame filled fist. Quickly getting up Helo is about to attack again only for his eyes to go wide as he dives away again. The warlord’s headband glows and it condenses another ball of flame and tosses it at Helo.
He dodges but it explodes in the air and sends his body rocketing away. Landing on the ground in the middle of a burned building Helo can feel his mental energy take a massive hit. He isn’t sure how many more bombs he can block.
Getting up and groaning in pain Helo looks up to see that the warlord was also affected by the explosion. Stumbling to his feet Helo moves closer to the warlord to attack again. It just used both its skills and is now on cool down.
The warlord that looks much healthier gets up and attacks again. Running forward with a yell the warlord attacks. Once it gets near Helo throws his throwing knife that isn’t charging and it strikes the warlord’s left leg.
Stumbling slightly to its left Helo rolls toward the warlords right and uses ‘Disabling Strike’ on its uninjured leg. The warlord falls to the ground as the blade disappears from the goblins leg.
Helo barely gets to his feet, he can feel his entire body is in pain and burned while his head is cloudy and swimming.
Falling onto the back of the goblin Helo drives his blade into it as he falls. The goblin yells out in pain as Helo’s blade punctures its lung. As that happens the flames surrounding them from the house start to swirl toward the goblin. Realizing he is out of time Helo bites the goblins neck and takes a mouthful of blood before the healed warlord throws him off and to the side while rolling over.
Laying on the ground for a second Helo takes a breath of relief as his body and mind clear. He can feel the pain and confusion wash away. He is still immensely tired by he is no longer in pain or concussed.
Rolling to his knees then getting to his feet Helo who is now boosted to about 35% from the uncommon boss’s blood dashes forward far faster than before. At the same time, he uses ‘Double Step’ and ‘Penetrative Strike’. Getting in front of the warlord faster than it could reasonably react, Helo slams into its body while driving both blades up and into its chest.
Falling onto the warlord again but this time on its front Helo gets up and watches as the surrounding flames start to draw in and swirl. Not letting go of the knives Helo twists them as the flames start to heal the warlord. Feeling the heat from the flames Helo’s own enhanced regeneration is kicking in and taking away his burns.
Closing his eyes all he could see was a mass of flames that surrounded them. It was s swirling vortex of orange and red. The flames quickly go out and Helo looks around to see that the goblin’s ability to draw in flames only reached twenty feet. Surrounding Helo is a flameless circle. Drawing in a breath of relief Helo withdraws his blade from the weakly struggling warlord and slashes its throat.
Drawing a large amount of vitality Helo gets ready to brave the flames and find the exit. Getting to his feet Helo sees a circle of soot and ash then a wall of intense flame and heat. Thankful Helo’s enhanced endurance and regeneration from draining the blood of the warlord is keeping him from getting more wounds. Looking down all Helo sees on his body is his belt, underwear, necklace and bracers.
Taking a look around he finds the burning remains of the wall in the distance. Turing in a circle Helo can see the entrance gate to the village as it slowly falls over and slams into the ground kicking up a cloud of ash. Using it to orientate himself Helo turns around and takes off.
Running through the burning village in his underwear Helo can barely see and can’t breathe. Using his aura sense to the max Helo navigates his way to the wall and using a ‘Double Step’ he jumps the wall. Continuing forward Helo starts to stumble from lack of oxygen. Looking up all he can see are red flames and black smoke. It creates a visage that one might assign to hell.
Stumbling the last few meters Helo falls out of the flames and onto the ashes of the grassland. Thankfully his blood enhancement let him survive long enough to make it out of the flames. Laying on the ground Helo’s golden eyes slowly change to red and he barely gets to his feet.
The world around him is a mix of fire and ash. Doing his best to follow a path of already burned grass Helo heads toward the exit. The further along he walks the worse his head and body start to feel. He has had a busy day and done a lot of regenerating.
Finally reaching the exit Helo falls onto the stone path between the torches and falls unconscious. About an hour later Helo wakes up and groggily looks around. He is buried in a layer of ash and the world around him is a barren wasteland. Getting to his feet and feeling a bit better from his recovered mental energy Helo looks around and finds a chest.
With a smile Helo goes to the chest and opens it. Inside is the same headband that the goblin warlord wore. It is a thin band that is bronze in color and it has a dim murky crystal in the center. When the goblin wore it, the crystal was red.
Circlet of Mana Concentration. (Uncommon)
This item was used by a fire attuned goblin berserker.
- Condense a stable orb of attuned mana.
- Self-mend, cleaning and sizing.
“Huh. So, the skills it had were the fire fist, flame awareness and fire regeneration. The seed things were from this.” Helo says while putting on the circlet. The crystal starts glowing a deep grey and has flashes of purple mixed in before Helo pours his energy into it and nothing happens.
Looking back at the description Helo rereads the word “MANA” and just shrugs. “I guess this isn’t as personalized as my boxers and bracers.”
Putting the circlet into his necklace Helo heads back to the exit and steps onto the 21st floor before turning around and going back to the 20th. Exiting the dungeon Helo steps into the cavern and checks the time. From what he can tell he was gone for about three hours. Looking at his notifications Helo can just nod in acceptance. He still needs a lot to level but it could be worse.
Class: Shaded Predator Level: 11 (102,549/1,025,000)
Each of the goblins gave him about 160 experience and the warlord as much higher. For three of work, it isn’t too bad. Leaving the cavern Helo looks up into the sky and sees the moon and stars. With a sigh Helo turns left and follows the trees all the way around the edge of the valley and to Allie’s house. On the way back home Helo dips into the trees and finds a small stream. Exhausted mentally and physically Helo sits down in the stream and feels the water run over him.
Letting out his aura Helo can feel how it starts to waver in-between projecting normally and settling into the natural energies around him. With a soft sigh Helo leans back and lets his tense muscles loose.
Half an hour later Helo makes it back to the house to find all the lights off on the first floor. Making his way up the stairs Helo steps onto the landing of the third floor and finds Allie with Lelai and Hinata. All three of them are sleeping together on the couch as a movie plays in the back ground.
Looking down at the three Helo decides to take them into their rooms after a shower. Taking a quick shower, he puts on a sweatshirt and sweats before heading back into the living room. When he gets there Helo finds Lelai awake and looking up at him.
Hearing a soft yip Helo looks at Allie and Hinata. Allie silver hair is softly glowing from the moon in the windows. She is curled up on one side of the couch and wrapped tightly in a blanket that is hugging her lithe body. Hinata is cuddling Lelai while breathing softly. Lelai is laying between her breasts while looking up at Helo. Sitting between the two of them Lelai crawls into his lap and sits on his chest.
Petting the fox Helo looks at her fur and notices that at its base it is slowly turning grey. “Huh. What is this about girl.” Helo says softly to her.
“I think it has to do with her affinity. Often times affinities can affect eye or hair color. She has a water affinity and it might be affecting the color of her fur.” Hinata speaks up from beside Helo.
Leaning back Helo nods and hums in agreement. “Yeah, I guess we will see in the future.” They both lay back and rest in silence. Both are running their hands through Lelai hair. Enjoying the moment Helo takes out his new headband to show it to Hinata. “I got this in the dungeon. The boss on the 20th floor was wearing it and used it to create orbs of fire that were like grenades.”
“It’s pretty.” Alli says in a groggy voice. “What happened to carrying me to bed. Instead, you both wake me up.”
While Hinata and Helo looked at Alli they both stopped petting Lelai. Getting annoyed at their idle hands she yips at Helo.
“So, who are you going to give it to?” Allie asks him. As she asks Lelai gets up to headbutt Helo’s hand. As her head hits the circlet that Helo is holding the gem glows. Everyone’s heads snap to the glowing circlet. As it starts to flash it glows a mix of white, green and blue. The color solidifies into a baby blue with a slight mix of light green.
As everyone is shocked by what is happening the circlet shrinks to fit her head. The tiny fox with grey tinged fur is now wearing a blue circlet and looks adorable. “Huh, well that works.” Helo says while looking at the Lelai. “You look very adorable little girl. Well, let’s see what happens.”
Getting up off the couch while holding Lelai Helo opens up the slider to the patio and steps out into the open air. The girls follow him and Helo sets her onto the ledge. She leisurely walks back and forth on the ledge of the patio with no fear of the heights. Before doing anything, the fox takes a seat and leisurely shakes her body in the night breeze.
Everyone watches her as the gem on the now tiny circlet starts to glow with a blue-gray light. As it starts glowing a small ball of condensed mist gets created in the air above Lelai. They all look over the edge of the patio and watch as the ball gets tossed off the edge and hits the ground. When the ball breaks the ground outside the house is covered in a dense mist. The mist expands to cover the entire backyard. Lelai yips happily from the ledge and creates another ball of mist mana.
“That is not very lethal. But depending on how well she can control and sense within her mist it might be useful. This expanded far faster than usual.” Hinata says. The group starts talking about the mist ball and its uses. As they are talking Lelai is pumping more and more mana into the ball that she has floating over her head.
Helo senses within his aura as the ball gets unstable and Lelai tosses the ball of unstable condensed water and air into the sky. The gray ball of swirling blue and green mana launches into the sky. Fifty feet above their heads the unstable ball explodes with a massive concussive wave. The wave of mist washes out over the area and when it hits Helo and the girls, they all get pushed off their feet. Hitting the deck and holding his ears Helo looks at the girls and accidentally yells out. “HEY! YOU SAID NOT LETHAL.”
Patting himself and everyone down Helo checks for injuries. But in the end, they are all are just a little wet and windswept. With a massive blast of wind Graham and Micah appear on the roof far faster than Helo can even see. “What happened?!?” Graham says while looking around the area. The chairs are thrown around the patio and they are all still sitting on the ground.
“What is all this water. Was that a bomb?” Micah asks the group.
“HEY!” Allie yells at her father and uncle. A moment later another man appears on the roof with a woman. The woman is Amara and the man is James. They both run the guard units for the valley and all of the territory owned by the BrightMoon clan. “HEY AMARA! I THINK my hearing is coming back! What are you all doing here?” Starting out yelling, by the end she is speaking normally.
Hinata looks at Allie like she is insane. “What do you mean, why are you all here, we just set off a bomb.”
“Sorry sir.” Helo says. “I just got back from my dungeon run and got a loot drop from the floor 20 boss. The boss used it to condense stable mana into orbs. Then he made them unstable and they became bombs.”
“Haha!” Micah starts laughing at the two of them. “So, you all tried it out and set off a bomb. We will talk about this in the morning.”