The Hero of Vengeance

Chapter 7: Rage Of Iratus

I had begun to get used to the smell down here so far, but I hadn't seen any goblins.

My lantern was also fastened to my belt to allow hands-free lighting.

I regulated my breathing just like Dad taught me and stood at the ready.

Among the sound of running water, I heard the sound of something scampering about nearby.

Suddenly, a three-foot-tall green fellow in a loincloth rushed at me with a rock.

Immediately I felt a surge of my stored rage burst forth as I blocked the attack and bashed it with my shield.

The goblin fell on the ground, then got back up and ran straight at me.

I swung my sword in a diagonal crescent and chopped its head off. Blood spewed out from the wound as the goblin fell to the ground.

That felt good. Satisfying.

{Exp gained: 35}

This was easy... All I needed to do was keep going and the numbers would rise.

I only walked for a few more steps when three goblins came at me from the side.

I jumped back and stabbed one of them through its neck and slammed another with my shield. The goblin I stabbed gurgled blood and fell over.

The third goblin chopped at my leg with a hastily made stone ax.

The metal plates fastened onto my leather chaps absorbed the impact, but I still felt the attack.

It would have cut deep, had I not been prepared.

I pulled my sword out of the dead goblin's neck and stabbed the one with the ax through its chest.

The creature screamed in pain as it clutched the wound on its chest and glared at me.

The one I had knocked away with my shield stood up and readied a stone knife.

The wounded goblin flailed its ax at me while the knife-wielding goblin tried to stab me.

I ducked down behind my shield and parried the blow from the ax with my short sword.

The ax-wielding goblin grabbed my sword with its hands while the other one ran around to stab me with its knife.

As if that would work.

I grabbed the knife-wielding goblin by its throat with my empty hand behind the shield fastened to my arm and squeezed. Then I brought my sword down slashing the ax goblin through its hands and chest.

It fell over in a pool of its own blood.

The knife wielding goblin took the small window of opportunity to stab me in an unprotected part of my arm.

Pain shot up my arm as blood oozed from the wound.

Dammit, you little shit!

I dropped my sword and put my other hand on its throat, squeezing as hard as I could through the pain. The goblin's eyes rolled back in its head and it went limp as I heard and felt its bones breaking.

I dropped the goblin on the ground while clutching my arm and panting.

For a moment, I thought I saw it move slightly.

I started viciously stomping on its head in anger.

{Exp gained: 105}

{Level up!}

{Skill point gained!}

Finally leveled up, but what the hell is a skill point?

I turned around and picked up my sword as my shield arm hung limp for a moment. Blood dripped from my hand. I figured that I would treat the wound before moving on.

The bastard cut me pretty deep, didn't he?

I sheathed my sword and felt my heart sink in my chest as I looked just beyond the light from my lantern.

There was a group of at least forty goblins standing there and glaring at me.

I think I understand now what he meant by danger.

I immediately wanted to run and climb the rope, but there were too many and they were blocking my path.

One of the Goblins stepped forward and pointed at me.

"Die, human!!!"

I ran as hard as I could from the goblins.

Luckily they hadn't surrounded me so I could get away. They really were pretty stupid.

As I was sprinting away from them, I turned a corner and felt my foot kick something soft. I tripped and fell straight on top of it. When I looked over, I had fallen into another small squad of goblins. The one's that I hadn't fallen on top of were surprised and disoriented.

The horde of green monsters suddenly reached me and surrounded my position.

My mind almost went blank as I realized I was probably about to die.

Really...? I survived the mines and lost my home so that I could die to goblins!? I haven't even paid the captain a visit, yet!

I was filled with searing rage at the thought of that rotten bastard's ugly face. Suddenly, as the goblins encroached upon me, I saw a message flash across my eyes.

{Imminent danger detected! Unlock requirements for skill 'Rage of Iratus' completed!}

{Spend skill point?}

SURE, WHY NOT!?

I saw the skill added to my list of abilities.

I shouted the skill name to activate it.

"Rage of Iratus!!!"

The searing rage I felt within me became a roaring inferno. Everything went red as I felt an uncontrollable fury well up within my chest.

I saw a green aura envelop me.

My pain faded...actually, it felt more like another pain had replaced it.

It actually almost hurt to not be tearing something limb from limb right now.

A goblin charged at me and my hand reflexively shot out and grabbed its head.

I squeezed it and it popped like a grape.

{Exp gained: 35}

It took almost no effort...bloody chunks of bone and brain covered my leather glove.

I jumped to my feet, eyes wide. As several goblins lept towards me and I drew my sword. With a flash three of them died.

{Kill them all.

      Burn it down.}

I swung my sword twice more, at least six perished. Their blood splattered all over the walls and floor of the sewer.

More blood! I WANT TO PAINT THE WALLS RED!

One of the goblins screamed and the huge group charged at me.

I could feel them climbing on me and trying to get at the spaces between my armor.

My shield was in the way.

I unfastened it and grabbed an ax held by a goblin...tearing its arm off in the process.

I started hacking and slashing viciously at the goblins.

One, three, seven, twelve, twenty.

The numbers began to thin out as I tore them to shreds with my sword and newly acquired ax. I grabbed a goblin off my shoulder and slammed its head into the wall. It splattered so easily that I started to smile.

They eventually started to notice the futility of their attacks and a few of them tried to run away, abandoning their comrades.

I kicked a goblin in the face and sent its head flying off before charging in pursuit.

Get back here and bleed for me!

I easily caught up to the cowardly green creatures and slaughtered them with my weapons.

{Exp gained: 1,645}

{Level up! Level up! Level up! Level up! Level up!}

{5 skill points gained!}

I looked around in the dim light of the lantern that had fallen on the ground near the fresh pile of corpses.

I was alone now.

Good thing too, because the effects of the skill I just used began to wane and disappear.

My body felt extremely weak now. I could feel intense pain all over as I saw blood dripping from my wounds.

Now that I thought about it, I couldn't tell where my wounds were. I was covered in goblin blood. I reached into my inventory, then pulled out some bandages and healing poultices to treat my wounds. I was silently thankful that I had grabbed so many items from my former home before getting evicted.

The poultice should keep them disinfected and speed up the healing process while the bandages would prevent further bleeding.

Although I knew healing spells would be better, I didn't know any yet... These would have to do.

I sat down leaning against the wall while panting and treating the wounds. I decided to crawl behind a nearby support pillar to remain out of sight, just in case.

After an hour had passed in silence, I felt strong enough to walk again.

That ability is seriously powerful.

The skill had my last name in it, which was also the name of a great noble house back in my father's home country.

Could that ability be hereditary? Could it also be the reason we're so respected on the battlefield? I suddenly had a thought and pulled up my status screen.

The Unknown Skill was still listed. Rage of Iratus was also present, meaning they were separate skills.

Regardless, it saved my life.

Although it didn't seem like I should use it in quick succession.

I need to be careful here. I could try to make a run for it, but...

I was convinced that there were more goblins down here. Without a doubt.

I slowly got to my feet and examined the carnage that I had left in my rampage.

The goblins had several kinds of weapons on them all carved from stone, bone, or stolen from adventurers.

It seems like hardly any of them had a chance to use their weapons on me. I took the chance to gather several of their items and weapons.

I figured that if I would be down here for a while, I'd need some backups.

I checked my new skill again and saw the cooldown timer had one hour remaining.

Two-hour cooldown. Great.

It caused me extreme exhaustion to use it so I decided to only bring it out as a last resort.

I looked down at the lantern that had fallen to the ground. It was covered in blood and somewhat damaged.

Maybe it's time I invest some of these skill points?

When I had first received my status magic, it came with a few basic skills that my Dad helped me pick out.

All except the unknown skill. That appeared after I made my decision.

I spent the next few minutes picking out my skills from a new menu that had appeared on the display.

I had five points so I chose five skills that would be useful to me, here.

{New skill(s) acquired! Crescent slash LV.1 Darkvision LV.1 Heal LV.1 Magic Dart LV.1 Armor Break LV.1}

There seemed to be some pretty useful skills here. I decided to grab a mixture of physical and magical skills. Thankfully, a few tabs appeared to organize my skills into categories for me. Passive, active, and magical.

Now I'm ready to start killing more of these bastards.

* * *

About six hours had passed since I had encountered the huge group of goblins.

Leaving the lantern behind was a smart idea, considering that it would make me much easier to see in the dark. I needed to be tactical about this situation. Goblins were adept at seeing in darkness, but their natural abilities weren't all-powerful.

The darkvision ability that I purchased had already seen continuous use throughout the last six hours.

It was level four now and its duration had more than doubled while its mp cost had been halved. I silently wondered to myself how high a skill could be leveled.

I crouched down out of view as a group of goblins walked around a corner. Seeing the sewers illuminated with darkvision let me see my surroundings much more clearly.

There were two stone walkways on each side of a stream of filthy water with an occasional bridge between them. There were unlit torches along the walls that the goblins had likely put out. There were bones and other items that were tied to pikes and attached to the walls as trophies.

I had even seen a couple of still-rotting human heads on the pikes.

The sights had made me horribly sick to my stomach the first time I saw them, but honestly, I didn't care at this point.

If I was getting my hands dirty, I needed to be prepared to see things like that.

Even I understood this.

I silently got up as the goblins passed me and prepared to attack them.

"Magic dart!" The light blue bolt shot the rear goblin through his skull. I charged forward with my sword readied as the others noticed. "Crescent slash!"

My blade formed a perfect half-circle in front of me that decapitated the remaining goblins.

{Exp gained: 245}

Clean kills.

Well, as clean as six decapitations could be with a fountain of blood spurting into the air...

I smiled as the floor was dyed red with blood and I admired my handiwork.

No other goblins came running and this group didn't have time to so much as scream.

If I kept this up, I might have been able to survive while down here. I followed the path they had taken to come closer to their main camp.

I slowly rounded the corner with my blade ready.

The coast was clear.

I walked slowly down the tunnel until I came to another branch in the paths. I decided to lie in wait behind a convenient support pillar.

I didn't know how long I waited, but I eventually heard the footsteps of another group of goblins coming from the path on the left.

They seemed to walk around in groups of at least seven.

I watched them walk by before sneaking up behind them and dispatching the group the same way as the previous.

Get their attention by killing one, and slay the rest while they're surprised.

{Exp gained 245}

{Level up!}

{Skill point gained!}

I was level seventeen now.

It seemed like my evasion was increasing rather quickly. I would try harder to make use of it.

I began to walk towards the corner that the most recent group turned from when I felt my stomach growl.

So much had been happening that I forgot I needed to eat. I felt parched too.

I took my gloves off and washed my hands using Create Water.

Once my hands were clean, I quickly reached into my inventory and pulled out some dried meat, a bread roll, and an empty cup.

"Create water," I said again with a whisper. A weak jet of water came out of my hand and filled the cup full.

I wasted no time downing the food and drink. Then I was up again. I made sure to store the cup in my inventory so that nothing would be alerted to my presence.

I peeked around the corner and saw another patrol already headed this way.

Since I couldn't afford to be seen due to not knowing how many goblins were down here, I had to be extra careful with each patrol.

The frontmost goblin in this group was holding a small pistol crossbow in his two hands.

If I took him out with a dart, I could kill the rest with a crescent slash.

I waited quietly for the group to get close. When I started to hear them breathe, I jumped out from cover and aimed a spell at the crossbow-wielding goblin.

"Magic dart!" I made sure to say it not too loud.

The light blue dart shot out and hit the little bastard square in his forehead, dropping him in an instant.

The others were both surprised and horrified, but before they could make a sound...

"Crescent slash!"

Their heads rolled.

Damn, I'm good at this!

{Exp gained 270}

{Aquired skill: Magic Proficiency LV.1}

Huh? Did I gain a passive skill from just using magic?

I guess it made sense. If you use a type of attack enough times, you get better at it, right?

Learning skills without spending points would be useful in the long run, too.

Before leaving, I made sure to grab the goblin's crossbow as well as the bolts he was carrying.

I continued onward for a while in this same manner. Killing goblins from stealth, gaining Exp, and following the path of the patrols. Not too many opportunities arose to use the crossbow since I had Magic Dart, but it was still comforting to have around.

Eventually, I arrived near a large cistern. It wasn't the entrance, though. Just a window to look inside.

I peered in through the bars and saw several torches mounted on lampstands made of bones that were used to light up the area.

What I saw sent a shiver down my spine.

Three dead adventurers had been laid down on stone slabs and were being ceremonially eaten by the goblins.

I nearly threw up the food I just ate a few minutes ago.

I don't know these people, but I want to avenge them.

Seeing the adventurers being desecrated in such a way only made me hate the goblins more.

Goblins really are vile creatures...

I looked back into the cistern and saw one goblin that stood taller than the rest. His skin was a darker green and he looked much older. He held a scepter made of bones with shiny rocks tied to it.

I assumed it was the leader.

If I took him down, the rest of them should be scattered and confused.

On the other hand...

If I waited nearby, I might have been able to kill more goblins for more exp.

They all eventually had to come back here, right?

If I found a spot that wasn't being used, I could attack from the shadows and retreat to safety.

What an excellent idea! It would allow me to get some sleep and more efficiently mop up the remaining goblins.

This was going to be one hell of a bloodbath...

Like I said before, I'm going to paint the walls red.