The wasteland stread past in a continuous flow of abstract color and shape. Red. Brown. Gray. Black. Occasionally a splash of different color—the purple-blue of so mineral deposit, the pale white of exposed bone, the dark green of so incredibly hardy plant life.
Tatehan kept going. He rode at this speed for several minutes, unsummoning his armor except for the helt, moving at incredible speed.
And then, gradually, the terrain began to change.
The flat, featureless expanse gave way to more varied geography. Rock formations beca more frequent. Shadows grew longer and deeper. The ground beca more uneven, with crevices and small canyons cutting through the landscape.
Shadow goblin territory.
He knew this was the place. It looked a lot like the place where he had earlier fought the shadow goblins.
These creatures preferred areas with natural cover, places where they could hide, ambush, coordinate their pack tactics. The changing terrain was a clear indicator he was entering their domain.
Tatehan began to slow down, reducing his velocity from "absolutely insane" to rely "dangerously fast." He needed to be able to react if goblins appeared, and at his previous speed, he’d blast right through them before even registering their presence.
If he went at this insane mad speed then he would miss them for sure. He was likely to blitz past without knowing that he had passed their territory.
As his speed decreased to more manageable levels, he began actively scanning the terrain for signs of the creatures.
He’d fought them before. He knew what to look for: disturbed earth, claw marks on rocks, the distinctive sll of their robotic like bodies, the glint of their red eyes in shadowed areas.
Thier robotic like bodies was what would give them away at this point.
Tatehan was likely to recognize that much more quicker than any other thing the creature could give her. He could literally sll it. Robotic parts infused in so symbiote stuff? He wouldn’t miss it.
And he actually considered the creatures to be really valuable than creatures he had fought since coming to Mars.
Since they possessed the cores that powered up broken motorcycles. The monsters were a live saver. Imagine being stranded here, with them he had hope (if he could see a broken motorcycle).
Minutes passed as he rode through increasingly rugged terrain.
Then, finally, he saw it, a cluster of small caves carved into a rock formation about two hundred ters ahead.
Tatehan paused as he stared at it, shocked to an extent. When he had fought the shadow goblins before, like most monsters on this planet, they just ca out of nowhere.
Seemingly like they ca out of thin air. But now, seeing this—so distinctive architecture of a shadow goblin den, he realized sothing.
The earlier places he had passed might have been filled with lots of creatures and monsters but due to the way they lived, it was hard to know. Perhaps they all had so cave ho or sothing, like the shadow goblins.
Tatehan was fascinated on how the inside of the den would look like though, maybe it was where they stored many items and perhaps dead humans they take energy from or had already taken.
Tatehan brought the dust rider to a complete stop and dismounted, doing so carefully.
He summoned his full armor as he checked the vehicle’s remaining power: approximately fifteen minutes left on the current core.
Fifteen minutes. Not long, but hopefully enough.
He summoned his newly enhanced sword (the Shadow-Forged Blade) and felt its comfortable, deadly weight in his hand. The weapon seed almost eager, like it was curious to slay so necks.
Uh..., swords were not living beings so that was how Tatehan felt. Curious and careful as he was, he wasn’t exactly scared. The fear in him would not pass one percent if he was being honest.
Why would he even think of fearing in a situation as this?
He had an explosive pistol, one that with a bullet was capable of obliterating three to four shadow goblins just like Riven’s had done to the creatures.
Also, his chakrams could now kill six people with one throw—two of the chakrams being thrown actually. One did three, the other three, together it was six.
The chakrams at this point made him really powerful in combat.
With the ’Shadow forged blade’, it was literally god made at this point. The sword was now able to do wonders.
So with all of this, Tatehan was unfazed. It even gave him the confidence to go into a fight. Fights that he would have avoided or fought with caution, he’ll go right into it.
Because with this armor (excluding the kinetic absorption ability that ca with it) and his upgraded, he felt like he could take on Mub.
The abilities just made him stronger.
But right now, he was in dire need for a shadow goblin to erge. He was desperate even.
He was drastically low on cores, and he needed more.
While it might seem mainly for the Dust rider so he doesn’t get stranded and use his feets.
It was for future journeys, for unexpected ergencies, for any situation where having power reserves could an the difference between life and death.
"Co on! Co on!" he muttered, pacing in front of the cave entrances.
Seed the creatures were asleep or they were resting. Maybe when he had first encountered them, they had co out to hunt.
He deliberately made noise, stomping his boots against the hard ground, letting the sound echo and reverberate. Shadow goblins were territorial and aggressive, they should respond to an obvious intruder.
"C’MON!" he shouted louder, his voice carrying across the wasteland.
For a long, frustrating mont, there was only silence.
Then... footsteps.
Multiple footsteps, clicking and scraping against stone. Coming from inside the caves.
"YESSS!" Tatehan couldn’t help the excited exclamation.
This was like a death sentence (having many shadow goblins cone at you) but to Tatehan it wasn’t, instead it was a blessing.
Shadows moved in the cave entrances. Red eyes began to appear in the darkness, dozens of them, glowing with predatory hunger.
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