Chương 13

Sara POV We had gathered everyone in the square and let them know of a possible enemy attack. Though Lucas had smartly kept the focus on being prepared and getting watch rotations set up instead of telling everyone that an attack was possibly imminent, keeping panic at a minimum. He's excellent at getting people to listen. The way people hung onto his words and trusted them without question was frightening, especially considering that no one here knew each other just about half a day earlier. Well…

apart from those two. My mind went to Alex. I had written him off as just a friend of Lucas's earlier; he looked plain and spoke in an unremarkable tone, but now, I could admit that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to Alex. I checked Ben's story with the other members of their group, and they all agreed that Alex was the key in their survival.

Omar couldn't stop singing his praises, while even Madelline, who was extremely shy and reserved when we met in the morning, was admiring the way Alex encouraged her with a shine in her eyes. Lucas with his social skills and Alex with his tactical awareness… a dangerous duo indeed. Luckily, I could sense that both of them had no malice, something I had noticed from a few of the people here. There were some I had noticed that were enjoying the chaos.

A particular guy had caught my eye as he had looked at the panicked faces today morning with a sinister glee, before masking his face in a neutral tone. Some others, too, seemed… icky, with their mannerisms and their questions. Lucas was completely oblivious to all this, and I think Alex hadn't noticed these people yet. I'll keep an eye on them. The group had largely settled in on a plan, and Lucas had started moving mages and archers to the top windows as Alex had suggested earlier.

Someone had picked the cook class, and they luckily had a skill to start a fire, so now a few torches were lit and we could see a bit at least in the square. But the forest was still shrouded in an impenetrable darkness. Suddenly, a scream sounded out! I turned and saw someone screaming and running towards us. She's moving away from the same direction Ben's group went earlier.

"There's something there. I saw it!" she screamed, as everyone turned, searching for whatever it was that she saw. I tried focusing, and at first, I saw nothing. But then…. There! Was that something moving? Or were my eyes playing tricks on me? If only we could see clearer! I suddenly had an idea and ran towards a person holding a torch.

"Could you give that to me please?" I asked. He looked bewildered for a second before handing the torch over. I thanked him and moved as close as I dared to the direction the woman earlier ran from. I stayed behind the person closest to the edge of our group though, and threw the torch as hard as I could towards the edge of the forest. It went a bit further than I thought it would, and reached close to the edge.

The fire flared a bit at the impact before it dulled again, but that split second was enough for everyone to see what was hidden behind the trees. Dozens of malicious eyes, reflected like little pinpricks of murderous hatred! Immediate panic overcame the people surrounding me, as they turned around and fled towards the longhouses. Lucas tried to hold everyone together to no avail. I started backtracking as well, as an arrow struck the ground right in front of me! They have archers as well?

I started hurrying backwards, sword in my hand, painfully aware of how exposed I was, as I saw with dread as dozens of goblins rushed out of the forest, cackling gleefully. There had to be close to a hundred of them. This is bad! My mind raced, coming up with worsening scenarios, each one ending with my painful death. Another sudden shift took place, as a shape fell down with a thud from a tree. A second later I saw something flicker between the trees, moving fast.

A couple seconds later, another shape fell down, its impact seeming to echo just a touch. The sound of bodies hitting the ground must have reached the goblins' ears, as they paused in their rush and turned around, confused. Another thud, another body, this one clearly holding a bow. Goblin archers? The goblins that were rushing at the people earlier looked confused, and their confusion peaked as a small body was tossed towards them from the tree line, right next to the still flickering torch.

It looked like a goblin, but a bit older, with its throat slashed. The reaction was immediate, as the goblins started rushing back to the trees, ignoring us for the moment. Instead, all their attention was switched to whatever had dared harm their brethren. However, they had barely taken a few steps back towards the trees when, with a loud shriek, a massive bluish white shape crashed into their midst with a bang, tossing goblins aside like ragdolls.

I looked around and could see the same question I had reflected in the faces of everyone else. What's going on? Alex POV This is awesome! Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. I activated Quick Step again to move away from the spot I had tossed the goblin leader from. My perception sharpened as I instantly accelerated, my eyes able to track the trees as I moved past them.

My body somehow stopped with perfect balance a split-second later as the world snapped back in real-time, blood dripping from my dagger. I was breathing quite heavily, feeling completely drained. I opened my status and saw the reason. Stamina: 1/20 Cutting it really close. I'm really short of stamina. I had learned that using Quick Step drained four stamina, meaning I could only use it five times with my limited pool.

Omar really came through, I thought as I saw the aftermath of his mana bolt, still breathing heavily. The goblins in the epicenter had been decimated, while the ones farther away had been thrown from the blast. Perhaps six or seven goblins had died or become injured from that spell, while the others were now staggering back on their feet. I could see the people, frozen in shock. I looked up at the windows, trying to spot Omar, hoping that he would be able to do what else I told him to before entering the forest.

Thirty minutes earlier I got out of the room, planning to go outside to test my skills. I could hear people moving about outside, and when I stepped out, I saw a large gathering surrounding Lucas.

"… that's why, we just need to be careful. All I'm proposing is to get some people on watch duty from the windows. They won't be in any danger; they'll just be our lookouts for…." I heard Lucas speaking to everyone, trying to get people to follow his directions. I don't envy him. I scanned the crowd briefly when I saw the back of Omar, his head and shoulders rising above the surrounding people. An idea came to my mind as I stepped toward him, tapping him on the shoulders once I reached him.

He turned around and grinned when he saw me.

"Alex, glad to see you, buddy. Woah! Nice outfit! You chose a Class?" I could visibly see him getting excited again.

"Yes, I'll tell you about it later. First, I need you to listen to me, it's important!" I spoke. Once I was confident I had his undivided attention, I started explaining my plan.

I saw Omar's retreating back as he went inside the longhouse closest to the point where I thought the goblins might come from. I turned around and headed to the back of the opposite longhouse, reaching the darkness of the trees. The visibility here was next to nothing, and I had to keep close to the tree line so I could see just a bit in the darkness as I circled the central square, moving closer to my destination.

My new shoes masked almost all sounds of my steps admirably, but as I got closer to the spot I was moving towards, I tried becoming even quieter. I paused for a bit, glancing at the square to orient myself, and I could see I was now much closer to the point where I thought the goblins would come from. I took a deep breath and psyched myself up for what was to come, as I opened my Status, ignoring everything else apart from my Health, Mana, and Stamina.

Health: 50/50 Stamina: 17/20 Mana: 115/115 Taking another deep breath and closing my Status, I activated Stealth, and felt a fundamental shift within me. I looked down at my hands but they looked and felt the same as before. Did it work? I took a step and immediately noticed how no sound escaped. No rustling of the trouser, no soft impact of my foot hitting the ground, nothing. I opened up my Status, and saw just one change from earlier. Mana: 105/115 10 mana for activation… but how long does it stay active for?

Or does it have a mana cost to sustain it? Stealth was still active as I moved as silently as a cat, keeping my eye on the Status as I saw my mana tick down by one. I stopped moving and started counting till the mana ticked down again, when I had reached nine in my head. One mana per eight to ten seconds, then. I kept observing for a few more ticks and concluded it being closer to eight seconds rather than ten.

My mana had reached 97 by now, and I was anticipating it increasing to 104 as I focused on the regenerations section. Mana: 7/min However, the seconds ticked by and my mana got to 96, then 95… as I kept waiting. Was my timing that wrong? I waited a bit more, and my mana soon reached 91. By this point, I was confident that it had been much more than a minute, but for some reason my mana wasn't regenerating. Could it be…? I thought about deactivating Stealth, and felt a shift within me once again.

I moved my leg and could hear the sounds of movement again. I kept my eye on the Status, mentally counting again. When I reached 56 seconds by my count, my mana changed to 98. That must have been a minute. So, mana doesn't regenerate when I am using it? That… complicates things. Next, I concentrated on Critical Sense, but was hit with a sense of wrongness. Nothing changed with my status either. Maybe I need to be in the presence of something living in order to use this skill? A scream reached my ears suddenly.

I saw a woman running away from the trees, shouting that she had seen something. I reactivated stealth and moved, a bit faster this time. I slowed down once I reached closer to the spot she ran away from, and moved a bit deeper into the forest. As I moved, I heard the sounds of small grunts as I saw dark shapes climbing up three different trees. I moved closer as I saw a goblin, much like the one I had noticed earlier, a bit older, and giving directions with grunts, snarls, and the twitching of its ears.

Lots of little shapes moved around in the darkness, heading for the tree line. I could see a glint of a weapon here and there among them. Voices and screams drifted in from the square, as I heard a lot of people running away suddenly. Almost all goblins then rushed out, leaving the older goblin conveniently alone. Cutting the head of the snake worked last time… I thought, stepping forward without a sound.

Back to the present As planned, Omar's deep, baritone voice reached me.

"Haha! These goblins are nothing. Come on everyone! Don't you want to kill them too? Fire those spells, hit them with your arrows, strike them with your swords, let's go!" A few seconds of silence followed his proclamation, before another mana bolt, smaller this time, hit close to the goblins. This one didn't cause them much damage, but it shifted perspective. More and more spells started hitting them, as arrows soon joined the barrage.

I heard Lucas shouting as well, rallying everyone, as I saw a rush of people holding their weapons high running at the panicking and confused goblins. It worked, I thought, as cheers rose in the air a minute later. The bodies of the goblins lay decimated. A complete victory for us. I grinned, turning back to circle the tree line, slipping back unnoticed in the middle of the cheering crowd.

The small pair of eyes continued its observation, unnoticed and unseen, as was its job. It watched the one cloaked in darkness strike from the shadows, hitting the squad leader first. It saw it rush at the archers, killing them in seconds. Its eyes burned in anger as the human tossed the squad leader towards its brethren, mocking them. The flashes of light, the thundering of footsteps, the decimation of its brethren, and the cheers of the humans. It didn't miss anything.

It observed how the large one hit with force, with others of their kind joining him. It saw the dark one, as it slinked back towards its kind. It turned around and moved, the humans' cheers following it. Not a sound escaped as it kept moving towards its home. As it got closer, it twitched its ears in greeting, getting greeted in return by the many lookouts placed amongst the trees. Soon, it reached its destination. It breathed a sigh of relief at being back amongst its kind.

It still kept moving though, its job unfinished. It passed by the workers, some making weapons, some readying their dinner, while others took care of the tamed beasts. It soon reached the massive hut's entrance, being allowed to go in by the much larger creature guarding it. Inside, the larger shapes were more numerous, and it kept its head down as it moved. It knew its place. It soon reached the end, where a massive being sat upon a mound of raised sand. It waited silently, eyes down.

When it was allowed to approach, it greeted the leader, eyes still down. Then, it reported everything.