Chương 12: Dark Forces at Work

Oscar and Felix charged at the approaching group of decaying goblins while Maximus shifted, activating his Lupine Legs and drawing his sword, followed by Static Strike. ‎ Arcs of electricity danced wildly along the chipped blade as he rushed in to join them. Oscar leapt high, bringing his spear down with full force and cleaving a goblin clean in half, but as he did, the corpse burst into a cloud of foul green gas and oozing pus, forcing him to leap back and cover his mouth and nose with his free arm.

"Careful, you two, they're like walking bombs!" Oscar warned as sickly green veins began to creep across his arms and neck. Maximus landed beside him and cast Rejuvenation.

"This should help, but just in case, eat these. They can counter toxins." He conjured a handful of seedlings and dropped them into Oscar's grasp before turning and joining Felix. Felix moved fluidly, slashing through two goblins, each strike of his frost-laced blade spreading biting cold through their bodies, slowing their movements as ice crept across their rotting limbs. Maximus met two lunging goblins head-on, their jaws stretched wide, claws slick with green sludge as they scrambled forward in blind hunger.

He sidestepped their erratic swings, countering with clean, controlled strikes. Each blow discharged weak arcs of lightning that crawled through their bodies, making them screech and hiss as chunks of decayed flesh peeled away from bone. This is revolting. Damn Liches… I've always loathed those disgusting psychopaths… Stealing corpses, defiling the dead, wallowing in decay. Absolutely vile. Maximus cursed inwardly as he continued to strike and evade, forcing the creatures back step by step.

On the other side, Felix's composure finally cracked as the stench overwhelmed him. With a sharp motion, he activated one of his stronger skills, unleashing a sweeping wave of frost that surged outward, momentarily encasing two goblins in brittle ice. That opening was all Oscar needed. Now somewhat recovered, he charged forward and shattered them into fragments of frozen, rotting flesh with a single crushing thrust. Maximus, too, had reached his limit.

He jumped back, switching to his staff and charging and casting Nature's Wrath: Wisp'o Bomb. Nearly half his remaining spirit drained instantly as a head-sized orb of star-like emerald flame formed and shot forward. It struck the slowed goblins and detonated into a brilliant burst of green fire, melting through their bodies and igniting the toxic gases within them, triggering a far larger explosion of virulent, emerald flames that consumed everything in its radius. Skill Leveled Up: [Rejuvenation(F) Lv. 2] Skill Leveled Up: [Minor Shapeshift (F) Lv. 5] Skill Leveled Up: [Basic Swordsmanship (F) Lv. 4] You have defeated: [Zombified Goblin Lv. 4] x2 Battle Tokens earned: 100 Looks like spirit energy purifies dark magic. I could've just used Entangle and Nature's Wrath for a quick victory then... But better to keep that combination hidden for now. Liches can see through their minions' eyes, after all. Maximus thought, still thinking as if he were back on Veridiyum.

"Christ on a bike, Max, that was intense. I didn't know Druids had skills like that." Oscar gasped, staring at the still-burning emerald flames.

"It's simply nature's energy condensed into a wrathful attack. Nothing as intricate as Fire Magic." Maximus replied calmly.

"Haha! Listen to you, 'nothing intricate,' he says. My ass." Oscar shook his head, clearly amused.

"Have you recovered?" Maximus asked, his gaze drifting toward Oscar's arms.

"I'm right as rain now, cheers to you. Mind you, that grass stuff you fed me was bloody nasty." Oscar shuddered at the memory of the seedlings.

"You get used to it," Maximus said with a faint smile, then turned to Felix, who was visibly unsteady.

"Felix, are you alright?"

"I'm fine… Just drained," Felix answered shortly. Oscar began probing through the goblin remains with his spear, stabbing and flipping chunks from a cautious distance.

"There's nothing here. No levels, no cores, and we almost died? Just fucking great." He grumbled.

"Whoever animated them likely removed the cores beforehand and sent them out as scouts," Maximus concluded.

"We should move, find somewhere safe to recover."

"There's a small line of trees over there." Felix pointed.

"Let's head there. Any cover will help." Maximus agreed, and the trio quickly moved away from the rotting remains. As they retreated, the battlefield fell silent once more. Behind them, one of the goblin heads, the one Oscar had split clean in half, gave a faint twitch. Its remaining eye rolled slowly, locking onto their retreating backs… Watching, unblinking, until, at last, the dim glow within it faded completely.

Felix and Oscar stood leaning against a tree, drinking water, while Maximus sat nearby with Sprout peeking from his pocket, the two of them quietly absorbing spirit energy, which grew denser the closer they were to nature. With a faint flash of green within his blue pupils, Maximus smiled and rose to his feet, his spirit fully replenished, while Sprout, in the meantime, had reached Level 4.

"Are you religious?" Oscar asked suddenly.

"No, I don't worship any gods," Maximus replied bluntly.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I know some Asian religions meditate to calm down. I thought that's what you were doing." Oscar said, slightly confused.

"He was recovering his mana," Felix stated coldly.

"Actually, I don't use mana, but natural energies, and yes, I was recovering my reserves," Maximus said, deciding there was no need to hide something like that.

"Bloody hell, so that can be done? I thought we needed to wait properly for our mana to recover by itself." Oscar said in disbelief.

"You need to be capable of perceiving the energy around you, then drawing it inward with your mind and storing it within. It is one of the most fundamental principles of energy manipulation." Maximus explained calmly.

"Who are you?" Felix asked suddenly, his gaze sharpening with suspicion, as his hand slid towards the hilt of his blade.

"Oy, oy, calm your beans, Felix. He is one of us, mate. He saved the village and my life just now." Oscar stepped between them, raising a hand.

"He knows too much. Things none of us should know." Felix pressed, his eyes narrowing. Curses… I got careless. Maximus frowned briefly, his thoughts racing, before softening his expression. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"I feel like I have been preparing for this my entire life." Maximus began, his voice growing quieter, his eyes glistening slightly.

"Ever since the integration began, I've had fragments surface in my mind. Knowledge I shouldn't possess. Survival methods, combat theory, energy control… I don't understand how, but somehow the things I learned before all this remain." He smiled softly,"But most of all, I feel like there is… Someone waiting for me. Someone I fought desperately to return to… But I can no longer remember their face."

He slid in a sliver of his own pain to make it more believable, and to not feel so horrible for lying to these honest men.

"See? That's why we don't go pestering folk about their lives back home, Felix. Told you, didn't I?" Oscar said, shaking his head as he shot Felix a pointed look.

"…Sorry. I've just never met someone this experienced at such a low level." Felix admitted, his tone stiff but sincere.

"Apology accepted. We're all on edge." Maximus nodded lightly.

"Now, let's keep moving. We don't know if more of those creatures will show up."

"Spot on. We need to get a move on to the next village and see what's what. I've got a proper bad feeling about this!" Oscar nodded, and they followed as he led the way toward the dot marked on the map, Replenishing Spring. After another short rest, which they found Maximus needed here and there, they continued along a strangely quiet path. They walked for another two hours before stopping to rest behind a cluster of medium-sized rocks.

"It's odd," Felix said, breaking the silence.

"I agree." Maximus nodded with a slow sigh.

"What are you two mumbling about now?" Oscar asked, glancing between them.

"We haven't encountered anything. Not even the smallest of creatures." Maximus explained.

"Bloody hell, when you put it like that. I'll be damned, we haven't killed anything since those goblins, have we?" Oscar said, visibly unsettled.

"This guy…" Felix let out a faint smile, the first real hint of emotion Maximus had seen from him. I suppose frost magic fits him well, Maximus thought, amused by the observation.

"We should be close to the village now. Let's be prepared for anything." Oscar added, running a whetstone along the tip of his spear. But just as they were about to move, the ground trembled beneath them, and a small horde of zombified goblins came rushing past further ahead, dragging behind them the half-eaten body of a massive snake.

"Bloody hell… That's a lot of them." Oscar muttered, swallowing hard.

"Max, do you have any AoE spells?" Felix asked without looking away.

"AoE?" Maximus repeated, scratching the back of his head.

"AOE, mate. Area of Effect. You know, stuff that hits a whole load of 'em at once. I swear, you know some proper heavy stuff, but then you're clueless about the basics. You're a right weirdo, you." Oscar chuckled, though Felix kept watching Maximus closely.

"I can summon roots to bind multiple enemies, but that's about it. My orb attack could damage several targets at once, but not enough to truly qualify as 'AoE'." Maximus replied calmly.

"I've got a large sweep attack, but the damage is not the best," Oscar added.

"I can cast Freezing Ground, but that's it. I've yet to unlock a proper AoE skill." Felix admitted.

"We can work with that. The real problem is finding the Lich. If we eliminate him, this entire situation may collapse in one move." Maximus said thoughtfully.

"Lich this, Lich that… I'm telling you, it's probably a Necromancer. Lich is an A-rank bastard; they won't be on this Plane." Oscar shook his head.

"Alright, Necromancer then. In that case, I'll go ahead and scout." Maximus offered.

"You already unlocked your stealth form?" Felix asked.

"How did you know? But yes, I did." Maximus answered.

"It's common knowledge that Druids can shapeshift. Anyone who's ever played any RPG game should know that." Felix said, and for a moment, there was a strange intensity in his eyes.

"Let's move closer first, then you can investigate. Sound good?" Oscar suggested.

"Fine. Let's go." Maximus nodded, and the three of them moved forward, carefully following the trail left by the goblin horde.

Twenty minutes later, the village of Replenishing Spring came into view. It looked even more battered than Resting Bench, and dark mana swirled ominously around the entire place.

"This doesn't look good." Oscar sighed.

"Wait here, I'll go investigate," Maximus said as Cat Form took shape. A two-meter-long emerald sabretooth cat emerged from a flash of green light where Maximus had stood. A transparent cloak that flowed down its back rippled softly and wrapped around him, making him disappear as Prowl took effect.

"Christ on a bike, that is a proper bloodthirsty cat, that is!" Oscar gasped.

"Very cool." Felix nodded with approval, eyes shining. Maximus tried to respond, but only a low growl escaped his maw as he moved toward the village with startling speed. I can feel the wind across my skin… This... This is exhilarating. He laughed inwardly as he moved beneath the veil of his new skill. He approached the village and lunged upward, running along the wall before vaulting over it in a single fluid motion.

He landed on the narrow ledge once used by guards to watch over the fields outside the village, but strangely, there was no one there now. Maximus descended swiftly into the village, which was eerily empty except for a zombified goblin here and there, moving slowly and growling, its jaw clicking madly. He then avoided detection and followed the trail that the snake's corpse had left behind when it was dragged.

Swiftly, he moved between the increasing number of undead until he finally reached the largest building within the village, a ten-meter-long, flat-roofed, warehouse-like structure with its front doors hanging wide open. Maximus slipped inside and froze at what he saw. Within, three men no older than their late teens or early twenties stood wearing black robes, their pale faces stark against the dark fabric.

Before them, goblins stood in rows of three, five rows deep, while the dead snake lay sprawled on the ground beside them.

"Who gets to take the snake?" one blonde-haired man asked.

"I can't, my slots are full with these damn goblins," the brown-haired, curly-headed boy said, his voice sounding like he had barely reached puberty. The last man sighed and added, "I'm full as well. Nothing but goblins."

"Oh, come on… Don't tell me we have to give it to him?" the first blond man groaned. Suddenly, the air grew heavier, colder, and far more oppressive. Maximus pressed himself deeper into the darkest corner, sensing the shift in natural energies as a large, dark-skinned man walked in, not like Jax, whom he had met before, who he had assumed was one of the human races of this land. No… This was something else entirely. It was as if shadows themselves had merged with the man's body, covering his very being.

"You wish to join the Skill Hunters, and yet you can barely raise goblin corpses," the man said, his voice deep and thunderous.

"Tell me… Did I choose poorly when I picked the three of you?"

"We just hit level 10! Give us time!" the blonde-haired man argued weakly.

"You let most of the participants escape. You barely killed a fourth of them, and from that effort, we gained a pitiful three skill stones. Embarrassing," the man said, clearly disappointed.

"I'll take the snake. You will stay here and wait for the next batch of participants to arrive. The ones who killed my scouts… That group shows promise." He raised his voice suddenly.

"Rise and devour, come, Serpent Shadow!" From his body, shadows rippled and surged into the corpse of the serpent, twisting its half-eaten form. The darkness filled the missing parts of the creature, molding and reshaping it until it rose again, hissing, its eyes white as snow.

"This is how it's done, fools," the man said coldly.

"Now, goodbye, for now. Do not disappoint me again." He turned and walked out, the serpent following closely behind him with unnatural obedience.

"Also… You have a rat hiding inside. Deal with it," he added casually. Shadows rippled outward, revealing the large emerald cat crouched low in the far corner of the room. Instantly, the goblins roared and clawed their way toward Maximus in a frenzy. Stars preserve me… I might actually be in trouble this time. He exhaled softly and prepared for the worst. ‎