"I want the 3 of you to stand your ground. Mainly defend and only use your spears to attack the spiders that try to climb over. Use your short spears! Stellar, stay on the right side, you won't be able to fight how you normally do so, stay behind the defensive line and attack anything that passes. I'll be on the left side. Solar support us however you see fit. Celine, relay the same tactic to the other 2 groups." - Ian
"Yes, Leader Ian!" - Shieldbearers
"On it, Ian. Be careful of the poison." - Stellar
"I'll do my best." - Solar
"Okay. Belle is currently with Kingston while Dawn and Razor are with David. Should I bring one of them other here?" - Celine
"Yes, bring either Dawn or Razor." Ian
"Okay, got it." - Celine
Celine runs towards Kingston's group telling them the tactic to help defend against the spiders. It might sound basic but the premise is to reduce any chance for the spiders to outnumber a person. Having everyone close to each other allows others to help in times of need quicker. Especially, when there is a swarm of monsters attacking from the darkness.
The scarlet eyes move closer and closer eventually reaching the flicking light that dances along the edge of the clearing. Their eyes glitter with an orange hue as the flames from the bonfire reflect off their crystal-like eyes. Seeing them in light makes them look a little less scary as I find out that the spiders weren't all the same size as the first massive spider I saw and the second spider which almost killed me.
There were tens of spiders the size of my hand scurrying in between the many towering legs. My polearm stabs as many of them as I can before they get too close drenching the tip in green spider blood and guts. Attacking the main line of defense were the large spiders however there were only 4 of these monsters. Each attacking a shieldbearer with their long forelegs, stabbing into the shields and creating white marks, with the last spider fighting with Stellar.
Wielding dual knives she parries leg after leg without a chance to take a breath at the same time, aware enough of her surroundings to dodge the random spiderling jumping at her legs or torso. She weaves her knives masterfully, dancing around the spider blocking each attack and counter-attacking whenever there is an opening, however, she couldn't deliver the final blow to the monster. Small cuts litter the spider's body oozing green blood but no cut was ever deep enough to cause damage.
"STELLAR BEHIND!" - Kingston
Dashing from his side of the clearing, Kingston lunges forward, spear in hand as Stellar jumps up, forward somersaulting and baring her knives at the spider's head. The spider distracted by the unexpected attacks from two fronts hesitates but before Stellar's knife or Kingston's spear could penetrate the spider's skin, it was saved by another spider. The white spider thread wraps around one of the spider's back legs and pulls the spider backward causing the pair's unexpected coordinated attack to miss.
Seeing Kingston leave his position, I take initiative and move over to his original position filling in the spot while Razor runs past me to help defend the left side of the wall. The north end of the clearing was swarming with spiderlings. The only saving grace was the small fires being close to one side of the wall, funneling the spiders towards the right side. The demi-humans here were busy killing the spiderlings attacking with every opportunity.
I follow up and help, thrusting my spear forward and to the side sweeping the spiderlings and pushing them back. My appearance boosted the morale of the shieldbearers as they cheer me on as I attack the spiderlings. The lack of a damage dealer was solved once I started to attack this side since Belle was busy dealing with spiderlings that run past the defensive line, but that didn't mean I wasn't watching the other fronts. Knowing that my original position should be fine now I start to pay more attention to David's position.
David was with Frank and one other human defending that side however, from the looks of things they were starting to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of spiderlings. Dawn was doing her best as well but there was only so much 1 wolf can do when there are so many spiders. Celine had just fled from that side and came over to me with a distressed look.
"David and Frank don't look so good. They are bleeding from a lot of different places." - Celine
"Damn, there are too many of them. Where are our baskets?" - Ian
"Close to the fire." - Celine
"Okay, I got a plan. We might need to use that." - Ian
"That? OH! That!" - Celine
"Yep, if this a battle of attrition then we should be able to fight back however, we need to start retreating away from the forest edge and closer to the bags. Celine, rush over to David's side and tell him to start retreating. Have Dawn escort you towards Kingston and Stellar's side of the clearing and tell them to start retreating. That side has all the big spiders so be careful. " - Ian
"On it!" - Celine
Celine runs towards David as fast as she can, her role so far has been the messenger between the different fronts. I signal the group to slowly retreat, matching the speed of the other groups after they start moving. One group can't go too fast or too slow or else there would end up being a gap between the groups. I see everyone coming closer bit by bit but at the same time, the once orange ground became a dense field of spiders. Their ruby eyes reflect the light and as they move back and forth all we could see was a sea of red eyes.
Being closer, however, brought advantages as well. The hard fight at Kingston's side became easier as the shieldbearers swapped with David and Frank, eliminating spiderlings along the way. David's presence and tanking ability allowed him to block two of the big spiders while Frank's nimbleness allowed him to stab the spider's underbelly multiple times with his polearm.
Enraged at their brethren's pain the spiders became more aggressive but more predictable. I block an attack aimed at David's temple with my shield as I leave my post to Belle. I shrug off the attack and jump off David's back landing on the top of a big spider. Distracted by my landing the spider forgot about the rest of my NPCs and Kingston swapped targets, thrusting forward and stabbing the spider in the eye.
The spider reels back in pain as a fountain of green blood pours out of the spider's eye and onto David's left shoulder. I stab into its abdomen as I start to become unbalanced but quickly pull out as I see one of the other spiders aim a thread at me. I narrowly dodge the trap by tumbling off the side of the spider, crashing into a pile of spiderlings. I sweep the floor around me with my polearm as Stellar appears in thin air by my side attacking the spiderlings that leaped at my back.
Groups of spiderlings get blasted around me as Solar casts Ball of Light 3 times, providing a clear path back to the group. By this time, we have made a semi-circle defense with our backs up against the bonfire but next to us were our baskets of food and water.
Celine rummages through each basket, fishing out a small water bag the size of a fist. She hands a bag to everyone once one of their hands were free or after they have a chance to breathe.
"DRINK FROM THE BAG THE MOMENT YOU CAN!" - Ian
I shove the top of the water bag into my mouth and cold, liquid enters my throat. A mixture of herbs and vegetables could be tasted and after drinking it all, I smile to myself as I see the small status effect that I had just acquired.
[ Diluted Healing Soup - Heal 20% HP over 5 minutes. Cooldown 30 mins ]
That's right, Lucina's healing potion had come to life. Celine and Lucina prepared 3 small water bags with healing soup for each person. Originally, it was going to be the full healing effect however, there weren't enough ingredients yet to create enough soup for everyone. Instead, I asked them to add more water to the point that it would be enough for everyone to hold a few water bags that could heal them. The outcome was a worse version of the potion but it would still be enough in dire situations, much like this one.
"Ian, I think I'm in love with Lucina. This pot is amazing!" - Kingston
"Sorry, Kingston but I think Lucina likes Howard." - David
"David it was a joke! Focus on defending the spider's attack not making comments like that." - Kingston
"No, no, he is right. I do believe Lucina likes Howard." - Frank
"Frank!" - Kingston
"Kingston, just give up." - Ian
"IAN! YOU TRAITOR!" - Kingston
"Kingston. Going after a taken woman is disgusting." - Stellar
"Please let the sun god wash over this man's sins. He is merely mistaken." - Solar
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I DON'T NEED THIS!" - Kingston
Despite the worrying situation, everyone was still able to make jokes. I could see, Howard smile through the pain as a spider leg penetrates his foot, but he uses his ax to cut it off from the main body, leaving it stuck in his foot as he turns to block an attack coming from his side. The healing potion is helping but it wasn't helping enough, we couldn't kill everything around us and our breaths were getting heavy. Each time, I swing my polearm or thrust it forward aiming for a spider, I feel it becoming heavier and heavier.
"ARCHERS! FIRE AT WILL!"
A loud, hoarse voice could be heard behind us as a volley of arrows rains down in front of us, damaging spiderling and spiders alike. Mixed in the volley of arrows were flame arrows, setting the spiders alight and causing them to panic and move erratically. I turn behind me and on top of a tree towering over the clearing were two green human-like figures. Next to them was a team of goblin archers, all releasing arrow after arrow at the army of spiders. "Gibing? Gyumi? Is that you…?" - Ian
A quiet voice escapes my mouth as I look dumbfounded at the change. They were twice as large as a goblin with the larger of the two reaching the size of an average human. Its body was toned and two sharp fangs pointing upwards came out of its mouth. Above it was two yellow eyes with black vertical slit-like pupils and a bald head.
Next to it was the smaller of the two green human-like figures. Its body was petite, with long arms and legs, but there was a deep sense of danger as sparks fly above its head. Long wavy brown hair drapes over its shoulders and covers its ample bosom. Small white horns can be seen peeking over the hair as blue sparks fly between them.
The moment I look at them and focus on them, I could see their stats confirming their identity.
Name: Gibing
Race: Hobgoblin ( Warrior )
Health Points (HP): 69/80
Mana Points (MP): 8/8
Strength: 25
Vitality: 40
Intelligence: 15
Dexterity: 15
Agility: 20
Luck: 1
Skill: Charge (Active) - 2 MP, Heighten Reflexes (Active) - 5 MP, Warrior's Sense (Passive)
Charge (Active) - Dashes towards a target. Cooldown 1 min.
Heighten Reflexes (Active) - Enhance Strength, Vitality and Agility by 10% for 5 mins. Cooldown 30 mins.
Warrior's Sense (Passive) - The user can gauge the strength of an opponent. Increase Strength towards weaker foes by 10%. Increase Vitality towards stronger foes by 10%.
Name: Gyumi
Race: Variant Hobgoblin (Electric)
Health Points (HP): 20/20
Mana Points (MP): 20/20
Strength: 20
Vitality: 20
Intelligence: 40
Dexterity: 25
Agility: 30
Luck: 5
Skill: Backstep (Active) - 2MP, Discharge (Active) - 5MP, Electrical Pulse (Active) - 10 MP, Electric Field (Passive)
Discharge (Active) - Releases a spark of electricity towards a target, dealing 10 damage ( + 5% Intelligence). Cooldown 5 min
Electrical Pulse (Active) - A ring of electricity is ejected from the user, attacking surrounding enemies in a 2m radius. Cooldown 30 mins.
Electric Field (Passive) - Electricity will constantly gather at the user's horns. The longer it has been since the last 'Electic' skill was used the stronger it will be. Each hour increases the damage of the next 'Electric' skill by 5% Intelligence until a maximum increase of 20% Intelligence in the next 'Electric' skill.
Gibing and Gyumi, had both evolved into hobgoblins…
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