Chapter 13: Goblins (1/2)
Goblin were nasty creatures. They were cruel to anyone that wasn't of their race. Usually, they moved in groups to hunt or protect their area. They were green in color with flapped skins and lots of blisters.
Nikolai's second year in the academy wasn't better than the first. Luke and Julian made sure that he wouldn't spend a day without feeling any pain. One time, they were taken to the Alm Forest to hunt as training.
At that time, Julian, Luke, and Erza were his team. They would do this to ensure that, first, he gets wounded, and second, he gets no crystals from the hunt. This stagnated his growth during his early years, making it impossible to catch up later on.
At that time, they chanced upon a Goblin's Village. Julian and Luke were already E-rankers at that time, making it easy to take down that village.
Nikolai was used as bait, to be chased by the goblins as the other three struck from behind. At that time, the Goblins riddled him with holes using their spears. He needed to lie sick in the hospitals for two weeks.
Now, he's going to have a leap in strength exactly because he participated in that raid. As Nikolai ran silently through the forest, his eyes glowed as they captured every detail in the surrounding.
The Enhanced Vision potion not only allowed him to see well in the dark but also increased his perception by at least ten points. These ten points were an improvement for a normal F-ranker. As for the weak Nikolai, it was another realm altogether.
He felt like his body can finally do what his mind was trained to do ever since he got here. It was, a delusion, as he was nowhere near that level.
The forest was dark but it also served to hide him. Like a shadow, Nikolai ran through the trees until he heard low-pitched growls. He stopped running and changed direction.
He hid behind a tree when he heard a nearby bush move. Three dark green and short creatures emerged from the bushes, looking for something.
Nikolai held his breath as he waited for them to get closer. He took out a Dizziness Fumes vial, which he threw between the goblins. The potions turned into vapor as the Goblins started wobbling and staggering.
Nikolai jumped from behind the bushes with his gun in hand. He fired the gun toward their vitals but the bullets weren't powerful enough to penetrate their organs.
”Gaa!!” The goblins screamed as they ran clumsily in his direction. However, he didn't wait and ran away because even a simple blow would kill the current him.
He ran away toward a group of protruding roots that would hinder the goblins. After jumping over them, he turned and waited for his pursuers.
The fumes worked better than he expected, making a goblin pass out completely. As for the other two, who seemed to have more resistance to the potion, they kept running after him. One of them had his eyes rolled over revealing nothing but the white of his eyes.
Nikolai took out his gun again and fired several shots. They landed in the same position, each pushing the other and making it easier to penetrate the organ.
The Goblin issued a scream and fell on the ground twitching. Nikolai hurried to change the probability of him dropping crystals, tripling it using two points.
The other one kept running after him. As earlier, Nikolai kept running through the trees while firing shots at the same place. However, it kept running after him.
Nikolai gritted his teeth and dived toward the monster. His dagger was in his left as he held his gun with his right. The goblin retracted its arm and launched a spear attack toward Nikolai.
Before the spear could reach him, Nikolai shot two bullets at the goblin's wrists. The goblin screamed and let go of his spear as Nikolai closed in on him. Using his dagger, he stabbed the goblin in the biggest wound it had and twisted it.