ABH - CH 26 - The Welcoming Committee

Chapter Twenty-Six

The Welcoming Committee

Rise of Winter, Week 5, Day 4

Freddie ducked down and wrapped her hand around the arrow shaft, pulling forcefully. With a grotesque rip, the arrow came out of her skin. It had only sunk in a bit, but it was enough to leave a bleeding gash. Freddie could feel her passive regeneration working on it, but it didn’t stop her from empowering the Skill and rushing the healing along. 

She had no desire to get an infection in the dungeon or be impeded by an injury in her dominant shoulder. 

[Regenerate]

Warmth filled her veins as she watched the skin knit back together. Healing had gotten exponentially faster after passing the First Threshold, as well. Then, Freddie had a horrible realizatoin. She didn’t feel the aches of random bruises, didn’t feel unknown pains, didn’t have injuries that weren’t hers. 

Taking a sharp breath, Freddie whispered, “[Nemoan Proetectorate].”

The Skill tried to build a map of Nemo, but it was fuzzy. And after a moment, even the out-of-focus map fell away. 

She was too far to know where her family was. 

Pain radiated from her stomach, and bile reached up her throat. She swallowed it down. 

“Everything will be fine, Fred,” she said to herself, a faux sense of calm filling her. “Grandpa is perfectly strong, as are mother and father. They’ll be fine. Worry about yourself. You are the one trapped in this Gods-forsaken dungeon.”

Right. Freddie let out a long breath. Up we go. 

Looking down at the fiery platform holding her up, Freddie braced herself. She could probably jump high enough to clear the ledge from where she was. She lowered her center of mass, flexing her calves, and jumped. 

It wasn’t as smooth as she had hoped because as soon as her body crossed the threshold, another arrow hit it’s target —this time it was her leg. 

Freddie released a pained grunt, just trying to keep her mind focused on her landing. Her boots hit the stone floor, and Freddie focused her eyes on the threat before her. 

“Are you kidding me?” She blurted, “Goblins?”

She didn’t even have to inspect them to know. There was a group of five in front of her, several dozen feet away. They weren’t the usual green of a Callistan Goblin, but they looked just like the drawings. Four of them were a dull red, and the fifth was a vibrant purple. They all had black streaks under their eyes.

Freddie pulled out the arrow from her upper thigh and threw it back over her shoulder into the pit. She watched as the four red goblins held out their weapons, each a different style but all rusted. One held a set of daggers, another a shortsword. The third held a spear, and the final red goblin —well, that one piqued her interest the most. It had brass knuckles. 

Despite all of this, it was the purple goblin that set her on edge. The thing was notching another arrow. Another arrow that could penetrate her skin. Her high Vitality meant it wouldn’t kill her, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt. And her thigh was currently sending pain signals. She didn’t need any more than that.

Freddie shook out her shoulders, conserving her mana for the fight ahead and opting not to [Regenerate] the injury in her thigh just yet. 

[Imbue Flame]

Magma settled around her hands, encasing them with her mana and filling them with power. She balled her fists and took a fighter's stance. 

[Fire Conjuration+Fire Manipulation]

Immediately, Freddie’s fists erupted in bright orange flame. Now was not the time for aesthetic colors. Now was the time for heat. So she did not turn her flames blue, or crimson, or white. She kept them as they were ought to be. 

And then the goblins released a guttural growl and lunged. 

Freddie took it slow, watching, waiting to see what they would do first. Would they try to bait her forward, closer to the archer? Would they keep their line of sight clear? Would she have to dodge arrows as she fought?

The answer, of course, was that the goblins were not nearly that smart. 

Instead, they all rushed her, each attempting to claim their pound of flesh. The spear-bearer stayed farther back, but the other three took up positions of each side of Freddie. 

[Quick Fight]

The first to attack was the sword wielder. It slashed viciously, aiming for Freddie’s arm. Freddie, to her credit, had already read the way the goblin had tightened its shoulders, had shifted its feet, and was shifting out of the path of the rusty sword. 

“Nopenopenope,” she hissed, shifting her foot to the side and ducking down. “I’m not here for tetanus, thanks though.”

To her left, she heard the sound of metal scraping metal and caught a glimpse of the brass-knuckled goblin slamming his fists together and launching a wild punch down at Freddie’s ducked form. She was forced to eat the hit with [Quick Fight] focused elsewhere. The force of the metal meeting her skin barely irritated, and Freddie felt a grin spread. 

Oh.

“[Inspect]”

[Red Goblin, Tier 1, Level 5]

[A new breed of goblin created by Dungeon M283. Capable with simple weapons. Capable of simple strategy.]

“You’re weak,” Freddie laughed, even as a blade slid across her back, slicing her shirt but unable to break her skin. Freddie swiveled her head to catch each of the goblins in her line of sight. 

“[Inspect] [Inspect] [Inspect]”

They all had the same description, the only difference was their levels.

The Spear was a measly Level 3, Daggers was a Level 5 like Brass Knuckles, and the Sword was the highest of the lot at Level 7. He was the one to worry about up close. 

Freddie slid her foot forward, angling for the gap between Sword and Brass Knuckles, trying to slip between them, only for Spear to step forward and strike. The spear tip hit Freddie’s stomach, digging in but unable to break through her Vitality. In response, Freddie used her forearm to direct the spear up against another goblin. 

Then she brought up her knee and kicked the shaft of the weapon, using enough force to snap it in half. Freddie caught the tip as it fell and pushed it into the gut of the sword goblin. She watched briefly until she saw black blood spilling out and then she twisted her heel and formed a new fist.

Breaking through Brass Knuckles’ guard, which was practically nonexistent, Freddie launched a vicious attack. She began with a hit right to where she assumed was a kidney, producing a burning smell worse than sewage. 

Brass Knuckles released a howl of pain and tried to get in another hit. This time, Freddie was ready for it, and she rebuffed it with an elbow aimed straight at the monster’s forearm. 

Hitting bone, Freddie was prepared for it to have some stopping power. What she wasn’t prepared for was hearing a chilling crack and the goblin’s bone to tilt at an off angle. 

Oh.

Freddie laughed, and it was a crazed thing. 

“I’m strong.”

With another jab, she aimed for Brass Knuckles's throat. The goblin, too preoccupied with its off-kilter arm, did not even put up its guard. Freddie’s fist landed with an unsettling crunch, and when she pulled back her arm, she wrote off the goblin and turned back to the sword wielder. 

As she shifted her stance, the sword goblin swung its sword again, and [Quick Fight] filled Freddie with precognition. Swinging her leg back, she dodged the blade aimed for her still-bleeding thigh and lunged forward. 

Opening her palm, she slammed her fire-coated hand down on the goblin's wrist. Another snap resounded, but she didn’t pause this time. Instead, she took in a sharp breath —ignoring the smell of burning sewage— and Freddie threw up an elbow at the goblin’s chin, causing the goblin’s head to be sent backward. It dropped its sword, grasping its jaw in its hands, and Freddie’s grin widened at the sight of black blood spilling from its mouth.

In the melee, she’d forgotten a key detail. 

Whoosh. 

“Agh!” Freddie screamed, an arrow lodging itself in her shoulder, very nearly the exact same spot as her first injury. 

The goblins surrounding her, now feet away, had been keeping the archer at bay. 

Daggers took the opportunity to lunge toward Freddie, slicing open the front of her shirt.

The goblin, however, made a mistake. Its beady black eyes met Freddie’s frenzied orange ones. Being up close and personal left it open to Freddie’s new favorite move. 

She brought up her hands, alight in fire, and snapped her hands out. Pressing her thumbs down, her fingers sank into the goblin's eyes. It evaporated the mush quickly, but Freddie didn’t stop there. She kept pressing until another squish-pop resounded. This time, she watched as the goblin’s body went limp before removing her hand and shaking it out. 

The only red goblin left was the spear wielder, who, now, was holding the back end of a spear and frozen in place. 

“You’re the weakest of the lot, eh?” Freddie hissed and took a step toward the monster. Shocked back into movement, the goblin rushed Freddie. 

Freddie saw it’s moves before it struck and side-stepped the strike, and threw out another throat punch. Her fist sank into the goblin’s flesh and yet another snap-crack resounded. The goblin fell to the ground as she retracted her fist. 

A dozen feet away, the archer stood. A new arrow notched. 

Freddie pulled out the arrow in her shoulder. 

[Regenerate]

Warmth flooded her body. The light scrapes from Daggers evaporated, and the deeper gashes from the archer lessened. Freddie didn’t wait until they were fully healed to approach. 

She figured every second she took to heal was another second the archer could aim for her. 

Freddie ran forward, and within one breath and the next, she was upon the archer. 

“[Inspect]”

[Purple Goblin, Tier 1, Level 8]

[An uncommonly found goblin of a new breed created by Dungeom M283. Adept with simple weapons. Adept with simple strategy.]

Rather than throwing a punch, Freddie feinted and slid around the side of the archer goblin and gripped its neck with one hand. Pulling herself in, she wrapped her arm around the goblins neck and tightened her muscles. 

She decided there was no good reason to play with this goblin, who could break through her Vitality and cause actual wounds. 

So, Freddie went with the most efficient method she could think of. 

Within moments, a crack-snap-gurgle came from the archer, and it was dead. 

Freddie pulled herself away from the falling goblin, and surveyed the room. 

Archer?

Dead.

Sword? 

Dead.

Spear?

Dead.

Daggers?

Dead.

Brass Knuckles?

Dead.

Freddie looked at the black blood, the way it pooled around the goblins, and she swallowed thickly. 

Then, she laughed. 

Laughed.

Fighting was, of course, Kalina of elsewhere’s specialty. She was so used to being flashy and prolonging the fight that being efficient felt odd. Different. Good. 

“Get roasted,” she growled. “I’d never die to the likes of you.”

Then something occurred to Freddie, and she kicked the archer’s body, “Oh? Real body?”

Frowning, she crouched down and whined, “Ugh, does this mean I have to pull out your mana pearl with my hands?”

Peering at the other four conspicuously still with their bodies, Freddie groaned, “Five times! I’m going to be a [Goblin skinner] for my next Tier up.”

She looked inward, trying to figure out how much mana she had left, to find her reserves were particularly depleted. 

It’s gotta be the prolonged use of [Quick Fight]. She thought to herself, turning off the Skill. 

Collecting all the weapons that were still intact, Freddie put them in a pile off to the side. 

“This is going to be gruesome.”

A golden [System Notice] appeared, out of place when compared to her usual crimson.

[Congratulations! You have defeated The Welcoming Committee! Enjoy a celebratory feast!]