Backwoods Dungeon

Chapter Ten

Using a Weapon

I was at the other end of the ravine by the time I finally slowed down for a breath, and lucky as hell, I hadn’t tripped and broken my stupid skull.

The potion hadn’t fully healed me, but my aura seemed to be slowly clearing up my remaining wounds. I was still panting, my lungs burning from the fastest run I’d made in ten years.

I bent over, making sure to keep my eye on where I’d come from. They might not have chased me, but I wasn’t going to take any chances.

“Holy shit… Holy shit…” I breathed like a mantra. My heartbeat wasn’t slowing down. They were still out there, and they really did want to kill me.

I felt a strange drain and realized the wind hadn’t died. I was still pumping mana into the vortex spinning around me, and the mana expenditure was exhausting.

I didn’t know how much mana I had, but it didn't seem like a lot. The Cyclone Armor’s mana cost was considered “Low” by the skill screen, but I was already running out.

All this outing had told me was that I was woefully unprepared for a career in goblin slaying. I’d go back and work at Dowell’s. Shit, I’d work fast food again! This was not for me–!

“Burrr…” came a sudden, creeping noise, oh so familiar, from behind me.

I turned, not wanting it to be what I knew it was.

They’d been trying to stay quiet, but one of them couldn’t help themselves. Three goblins. Three more goblins.

“Oh fucking hell,” I breathed.

They were too far away to catch me by surprise, so they readied their weapons instead. Two had the same curved daggers as the one that had just stabbed me, while the third had a small handaxe. The daggers provoked a visceral fear in me, and I took a step back as they slowly began to surround me, giggling in their demonic language.

“N-not this time…” I muttered as I pulled the gun from its holster on my belt.

They didn’t react. Even when I slowly aimed the pistol straight at one of them, they just kept slowly circling, licking their too-wide lips like they planned to eat me after the killing was done.

Did they not recognize a pistol?

I used both hands to steady my aim as they continued creeping closer.

“You asked for it,” I said before firing a single shot.

The goblin’s head snapped back, and its whole tiny body seemed to lift off the ground before plummeting back to the dirt.

Unprepared for the disgusting spray of viscera and brains, I almost lost my breakfast. The other two goblins, however, were completely blindsided as they stared at the dead body in shock.

And fear.

I turned the gun on the next one, even as the sound of coins jingling reached my ears.

Holding back bile, I shot the next one before it even thought to move. I missed its head but still managed to get it through the shoulder. The hit was enough to send it to its back, howling.

Stupid. I was being stupid. Gamers went for headshots. Middle mass was what the lessons always said.

The third seemed to realize it was next, and it closed in on me like lightning. The ugly things could be quick and nimble if they wanted to be.

I fired a third shot but missed. Two more also missed as the goblin darted and weaved closer to me.

Irritated at my own terrible aim, I shoved the gun loosely back into the holster and withdrew the machete. It was fast, and its arms were surprisingly strong for being so brittle, but I met its first swing with a cut that sent the little dagger flying.

The goblin screeched and grabbed at its hand, but that was all the time I needed. One fast swing of the machete cleaved straight through the goblin’s shoulder and bit deeply into its chest.

I didn’t give it time to recover. I withdrew the machete and chopped my way down again. Again.

Again.

My last swing cut the damn bastard’s head clean off and finally sent the bloody body to the ground. I turned, but my work was not yet done.

I canceled my cyclone armor as it began to leech on my strength in a way I didn’t understand. The healing aura continued to repair my wounds.

I knew now why it didn’t repair the goblin, though. They were evil. Truly evil. They tried to kill me because they took pleasure in it. I didn’t know how I couldn’t see it before, but it was clear now. They had to be eradicated. Whatever these beasts were, they were on my fucking land, and they were multiplying. That couldn’t be allowed.

I lurched more than walked to the wounded goblin, who seemed to have finally quieted to whimpering. It looked up at me, clutching its bloody shoulder. Trying to look small and innocent. It looked almost the same as its brother had next to the cave.

I wouldn’t fall for that twice.

It seemed to realize this as I drew closer and weakly lifted its small axe.

I pulled out the pistol and fired into its chest. I didn’t miss.

Still breathing like I’d run three marathons, I surveyed the carnage around me for all of two seconds before I fell to my knees, losing my breakfast all over the rocky ground.

It took almost ten minutes for me to get my breath back to a reasonable level. I’d kept my eye trained sharply down the ravine, expecting the other two goblins to make an appearance at any time, but they never showed up. Finally, though, I turned to one of the goblin's corpses.

Three coins had fallen from the first one to die. I leadenly picked them up, and they disappeared, working their magic on my bank account while I trudged on to the next one.

As far as I could tell, the other two goblins hadn’t dropped anything. No potions, gold, or arrows from these. I supposed it would be too much to ask for them to always drop potions or coins. I took the effort to actually search their bodies to see if they might contain anything, but none of their little jerkins or loin clothes even had pockets, so I found nothing.

I’d survived. I’d also learned that the goblins most definitely couldn’t be trusted. I had no idea what to do now, though.

I didn’t think I was cut out for this. Even if it did need to be done, I didn’t think I was up to the job. Getting stabbed had been more than enough terror for one lifetime, and I felt I was lucky to be alive.

I’d call the police. I was in way over my head. Fancy wind shield or not, I didn’t have what it took to do this.

I pulled out my phone to do just that when I saw the notifications.

“A deposit of 44.13 has been added to your account.”

“A deposit of 44.13 has been added to your account.”

…

Five identical notifications.

I’d just made two hundred and twenty dollars. I’d been down in this canyon for… what, an hour at most?

Greed surged to the forefront of my mind, warring with the fear of being stabbed again. By far the worst pain of my entire life… but I knew better now. It had only happened because I’d been stupid and had a conscience. Even when they’d surrounded me, they’d still died pretty easily, hadn’t they?

And what if the cops didn’t believe me? Worse, what if they came out, and one of them got killed because they didn’t take what I was saying seriously? After all, who the fuck would believe goblins had invaded my backyard?

I supposed I had plenty of proof. Still…

Either way, I had a score to settle with those two fucks who’d ambushed me. I had fired five bullets, but I still had twelve. At the very least, I could clear the local area. If these things were coming from that cave…?

Well. I supposed I could barricade it and hope for the best, but I didn't think I'd be able to sleep soundly, knowing what was lurking out here.

I spit coppery blood out of my mouth. My hands were caked in grime. My eyes still stung from the sweat leaking into them. I wiped them idly with the back of my hand before slowly stalking back towards the cave.

Grim work needed to be done.