Those of us who could fight drew our weapons. Litha was the only one who didn’t, since both her hands were raised and she was sustaining the shield.
How are we even supposed to fight if we can’t drop this thing? The shield was allowing us to see and at the sa ti it was preventing us to fully engage.
Bang! Ping! Clank!
The barrier was struck from multiple directions at once. The mana shield sparked violently, throwing arcs of energy into the air that was quickly absorbed by the environnt.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Tim shouted with a hiss, raising his bullet stones toward one of the impacts.
Temur forced calmness into his voice. "We just have to hope whatever’s out there isn’t strong enough to break the shield. As long as it holds, we’re safe for now."
"But we’ll fail the trial," Litha said. Her hand trembled slightly as she continued pouring mana into the barrier.
"We get to keep our lives."
I agreed with Temur. This felt deliberate sohow, like the spirit wanted to bar us from Adonijah’s treasure by creating an impossible trial. How were we supposed to hunt monsters when all our senses were stolen? What kind of twisted test was this? Or was there a special way to solve it? How?
The unseen attacks kept coming, each hit heavier than the last. A section of the shield cracked and the whole thing shuddered.
Litha grit her teeth. "I’ll use all my power in th....!!"
BOOM.
Suddenly sothing slamd into the shield with a terrifying force and the barrier shattered instantly, darkness flooding in.
I caught a glimpse of shock on Litha’s face....then darkness swallowed everything.
I lunged forward, arms outstretched, grasping wildly but nothing grazed my hand.
Nothing. Just darkness stretching endlessly and soundless. They were right here. I should be touching soone. Anyone, but what the hell was happening?!
A shiver ran down my spine.
Is the darkness distorting distance too? Or is whatever killed that guy back?
I moved faster then I stumbled.
"Aghhhh!!"
Sharp tal punched through my right leg below the ankle, piercing straight through my boot and clamping shut like a beast’s jaws on my bones!
"Shit! Shit!" I bent down, tracing my leg with shaking fingers. Pain flared as I brushed the wound and my eyes watered. "A trap? A tal trap? How the hell is this here?!"
Using both hands, I grabbed the tal clamps and pried them apart. I bit down on my lips hard as pain tore through , but I forced it open and dragged my leg free while limping away.
Blood poured down my leg, soaking my boot. Walking felt like trudging barefoot through thick mud...mud made of pain.
I fumbled out a potion and drank it. It burned down my throat like cheap alcohol. Traps? Can monsters even use traps? I don’t know what’s going on but soone must have set that.
My heart pounded.
"Hello!" I shouted, my voice filled with painful intent.
I couldn’t even hear my own voice.
Sothing whistled past , slash, and a thin line of pain opened across my thigh. I yelped and transford my hand, sweeping it forward like a broom.
Still nothing, then sothing slamd into my back, a thin object pierced between my shoulder blades.
"Huh!" I grunted, yanking it out by feel.
A small, blunted tal rod.
"Okay... okay. This is getting out of hand."
I reached for another potion....
Crash!
Sothing shattered it midair.
I snarled and began hacking blindly around myself with my sword, desperate to keep whatever was hunting at bay. Because it was now obvious that I was getting hunted.
Then sothing landed on my back.
A solid weight knocked forward. Thick arms filled with thin muscles wrapped around my chest, and powerful legs locked around my waist as if I was un a wrestling ring.
"The fuck?!"
The image slamd into my mind instantly and I felt my anger flared.
A goblin. It was a fucking goblin!
Green-skinned, about the size of a six-year-old with cruel eyes and a mouth packed with fangs. "Hehehehehehehe."
Rotten breath washed over my neck before it bit into my shoulder.
I scread as flesh tore free but before I could even do anything the goblin shoved off itself off and leapt away.
I staggered, gasping.
Understanding hit like ice.
"This... they’re hunting ," I muttered. "They’re hunting slowly, and they’re enjoying it."
I spun wildly, slashing in every direction.
"Co on!"
I drank another potion, and my wounds began to knit together.
I tilted my head, straining for anything....
Smack!
Sothing slapped across the face hard enough to make my eyes water.That’s it. I need to do sothing before they get bored and kill .
Think! Think! logically!
I started hopping erratically, refusing to stay in one place.
Then I froze.
I’m an idiot. Why didn’t I think of this?
I always poured Hermit’s power into strength and speed.
What if I poured it into my senses instead? I stopped moving and my transford hand reverted to normal. I reached for my bond with Hermit and shoved every ounce of that monstrous power into a single thing.
My senses.
"Ahhh!"
My head exploded with sound and sll, my clothes felt alive on my skin. But I pushed through all of that and focused only on one thing.
My hearing!
Footsteps, light, quick, circling. Giggling. The wet sound of blades slicing flesh. I heard Litha cursing. I heard Temur grunt as a goblin’s knife cut deep.
They were still here alright but the darkness stretched the room far beyond what it should be.
And I felt them, they now appear to like faint green outlines. The goblins!
My teammates too.
I drew my sword, a real steel from my spatial ring. One goblin approached slowly, savoring the mont, licking blood from its knife.
"Kekekekekekeke."
It stopped right in front of , smirking, and raised the blade toward my face.
That was exactly what I was waiting for. I caught its wrist and yanked it close.
"Hello," I said, smiling.
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