Mastery Is Earned

The flames came in a violent burst, but lasted only an instant. Even after the wave of fire dispersed, thick black smoke continued to churn through the cavern and pour out through the fissure in the ceiling. Scattered flames still flickered across the ground and the pile of bones. One man, engulfed in fire, rolled desperately across the ground. Carter and the other mercenary lay nearby, and it was impossible to tell how badly they were hurt.

The Greater Goblin seemed to have taken the worst of the flames. Having taken the breath attack head-on, it had flames across most of its shoulders and back. The thick hair that had once protected it from blades now served only as fuel for the fire.

It roared, frantically slapping at its body and rolling over and over across the ground. Its huge body rolled back and forth, smothering most of the flames. Soon, only a few small tongues of fire remained among its charred hair.

Alarmed to see Carter and the others swallowed by the flames, Raymond forced down the urge to help them. The gaunt goblin before him was still the greatest threat. Who knew whether it could breathe fire a second time?

“Damn it!”

Raymond kept his anxiety in check and pulled the one-handed sword from the goblin youngling's body. Fighting through the pain in his shoulder and arm, he gripped the sword in both hands and charged at the gaunt goblin. Having just finished its breath attack, the goblin's chest and abdomen heaved violently, and gray-white smoke continued to spill from the corners of its mouth. As Raymond bore down on it, a hint of panic finally appeared on its shriveled face. It had no time to dodge and could only throw its black-scaled right arm over its head in a hurried block.

Clang!

The blade struck the overlapping layers of scales with tremendous force, throwing off several sparks. The impact buckled the goblin's knees and forced its right arm downward, but the sharp blade left only a shallow white mark across the scales. As the blade slid down their surface, its five fingers suddenly closed. Curved claws clamped firmly around the sword from both sides, preventing Raymond from pulling his weapon back.

Raymond's eyes went to the strange hand. Black scales, claws like a dragon's, slit pupils, and that terrifying breath attack... A creature with dragon blood? Had this goblin awakened some kind of draconic bloodline? If so, the awakening did not appear to be complete.

Seeing that it had trapped Raymond's weapon, the Dragonblood Goblin's mouth twisted into another vicious grin. Its claws held the one-handed sword fast. A dry rasp came from its throat as it suddenly opened its mouth. Red light flashed within, but it was clearly much dimmer than before, and gathering it appeared to take tremendous effort.

Raymond would not give it the chance. He released the hilt at once, leaving the sword caught in his opponent's claws. At the same time, his right hand went to his waist and drew the battered iron dagger he had purchased with his first pay. They stood almost face-to-face. Raymond did not even need to aim. He drove the dagger deep into the Dragonblood Goblin's left eye.

“Aaaaaagh!”

The Dragonblood Goblin released a piercing shriek. The dark red firelight that had just appeared deep in its throat instantly went out. It instinctively released the blade and swept its right claw wildly forward. The one-handed sword dropped beside their feet.

Raymond leaned back as far as he could, but the sharp tips of its claws still grazed his chest. His loose, threadbare linen tunic tore open in an instant, leaving three burning claw marks across his chest. Fortunately, Raymond had dodged in time. The claw tips had merely raked his flesh. The wounds looked frightening but were nowhere near deep enough to expose bone.

Even so, the sudden agony made his breath catch. Raymond staggered backward, only for his heel to catch on the dead goblin youngling. He lost his balance and fell to the ground.

The grievous wound to its left eye sent the Dragonblood Goblin into a panic. Its first breath attack appeared to have exhausted most of its strength, and the second one it had just forced itself to gather had been interrupted. Clutching its bleeding left eye, it glanced at the Greater Goblin still struggling on the ground, then saw that one of the mercenaries nearby had begun to move. Rather than continue attacking the fallen Raymond, the Dragonblood Goblin hugged the cavern wall to avoid the flames at its center and staggered rapidly toward the passage. Even when it passed the remaining younglings and the Greater Goblin, it did not spare them a glance.

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Raymond clenched his teeth and pushed himself up, about to give chase, when his companion screamed again. Tom was still engulfed in fire, rolling desperately across the ground. Raymond looked at the small figure about to vanish into the passage, then gritted his teeth and turned away. If he continued the pursuit, Tom would certainly burn alive. Without stopping to retrieve his sword, Raymond pressed one hand to the wounds on his chest and stumbled over to Tom.

Guy finally recovered from the blast as well. The Greater Goblin had shielded him. He had suffered only mild burns, and the impact had done little damage; of the four, he was the least badly hurt. Coughing, he climbed to his feet. Without even pausing to pick up his battle-axe, he rushed to Tom's side as well.

After several frantic moments, they finally extinguished the last open flame. But Tom, lying on the ground, had already been burned beyond recognition.

His leather armor had warped from the heat, and the padding beneath it had fused with his flesh. Vast swaths of his chest, abdomen, and thighs were charred black. His breaths were extremely faint and rapid.

Stranger still, although the open flames were gone, the edges of the ruined leather continued to blacken and crumble in silence. Fine corrosion marks rapidly spread across several iron rivets. Only after several breaths did the unnatural corrosion gradually stop.

“Tom!”

Guy knelt beside his companion and instinctively reached out to touch him, only to draw his hand back from the scorching heat. Tom moved his lips with difficulty, seemingly trying to say something. But in the end, he could not produce a sound. After several short, gasping breaths, his chest stopped moving entirely.

“Tom...”

Guy remained kneeling beside the body, eyes red. A faint, uncontrollable tremor ran through his clenched fists.

Raymond stood in silence for a moment, then turned to the others. Carter had managed to sit up.

His face and clothes were blackened with soot, and most of the burns elsewhere on his body were superficial. The truly serious injuries were to his right hand and forearm, which he had used to shield his face. The sleeve there had burned away. Broken blisters covered his skin, and his five fingers had curled inward, unable to close into a fist no matter how hard he tried.

As for the Greater Goblin, its flames had been completely extinguished by its rolling. Smoke still rose from its charred hair, but its massive body lay motionless on the ground.

“Where's the goblin that breathed fire?” Carter asked hoarsely, clutching his injured right hand.

“It got away. I couldn't stop it.” Raymond sighed. “It had black scales and slit pupils. I suspect it awakened some kind of draconic bloodline.”

Carter looked toward the passage, his expression turning grave.

“It was aiming at me. I knocked its head aside, and that's why the flames swept toward all of you.” As Raymond spoke, his gaze fell on Tom's charred corpse.

“It wasn't your fault. The battlefield changes in an instant. No one could have known what would happen.” Carter shook his head, cutting him off.

Enduring the pain, he rose to his feet and surveyed the cavern. His gaze moved from the passage to the Greater Goblin sprawled on the ground, then to the two remaining younglings. “That thing might come back. We can't stay here long.” Carter looked at Raymond. “You—pick up the sword and guard the passage.”

Then he turned to Guy. “Finish off the big one. Make sure it's completely dead.”

Guy did not answer. After looking down at Tom's body, he retrieved his battle-axe from the ground. Axe in hand, he walked toward the Greater Goblin one step at a time. Its limbs lay limp against the ground. Its enormous body did not stir at all, as though the fire had already burned away the last of its life.

Even so, Guy did not approach it from the front. He carefully circled around behind its head. He first prodded the Greater Goblin's hind leg with the shaft of his axe. When it still did not respond, he relaxed slightly.

He failed to notice the faint twitch of the fingers hanging at the Greater Goblin's side.

Guy stepped closer and raised his battle-axe high, preparing to cleave straight through the Greater Goblin's neck. But the moment the axe rose, the Greater Goblin's eyes snapped open. A huge hand covered in black ash shot out and clamped around Guy's ankle.

“Wha—”

Caught completely off guard, Guy was yanked backward. His back slammed into the ground, and his weapon flew from his grasp, spinning down beside the Greater Goblin's right hand. Before he could get back up, the Greater Goblin rolled over, pinning him beneath its massive body.

“Rookie!” Carter shouted frantically.

Raymond immediately charged from his post by the passage, sword in hand, but there was still a considerable distance between them. The Greater Goblin's thick hands had already closed around Guy's head. Its thumbs pressed viciously into his eye sockets while the rest of its fingers tightened inward.

“Aaaaaagh—”

Guy's agonized scream echoed through the cavern as the Greater Goblin gouged him blind. A muffled crack of breaking bone followed. The screaming stopped abruptly. Hot blood mixed with white pulp sprayed through the gaps between the Greater Goblin's ash-covered fingers.

The gruesome sight halted Raymond's charge for half an instant. His Adam's apple bobbed, but he did not retreat. He immediately gripped the one-handed sword in both hands and leveled its point at the Greater Goblin.

The Greater Goblin lay atop the corpse, its chest heaving violently. It picked up the battle-axe from the ground and used the haft for support as it swayed to its feet. The hand gripping the axe still trembled, but its bloodshot eyes remained fixed on Raymond.

“Roar!”

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