Nick heard the declaration of the man riding the horse and became shocked as this person's magic energy was exuded from his body. There was also another man walking next to the man on the horse that was slightly exuding magic energy at the same time. Nick counted carefully within his mind:
(One, two, three, four. Four rank 3 Magicians in one place! Did I spill some salt without realizing it?)
Nick was unsure of what to do.
(Although I broke that woman's spell, that was purely based on the difference in our attainment in soul path, not to mention that she used a rank 2 spell. I can't actually compete in terms of strength with someone at rank 3. Should I try to run?)
Nick had that latter thought but when he eyed the man on the horse, he gave up hope of doing that.
(Just from judging the quality of his magic energy, that man should be about as strong as Andrew Wiles that I had met before if not stronger.)
Before Nick was able to decide on a course of action, however, Sergeant Timothy Reynold raised his right hand away from his horse's reigns and formed a drop of water on his right index finger tip.
(A Drop Of Pain)
He then flicked his index finger and the water drop was sent at seemingly light speed towards Nick. Nick was unable to react in time in order to defend himself so the water drop hit his chest and seeped through his clothes, then through his skin.
Nick frowned but then his expression turned to shock once again because he suddenly felt like his insides were being chopped up, reformed, burned, reformed, chopped up again, reformed and the cycle repeated just like that. Nick lost control of Absolute Push and Absolute Pull because of the pain and fell towards the ground but because of the strength path laws imprinted on his body in combination with the fact that he was only about twenty meters above the ground, when he crashed onto the ground, he only sustained a large bruise on his back as well as both his legs.
The crippling pain prevented Nick from thinking clearly or performing any productive actions indefinitely; he just writhed on the ground erratically. Tait wanted to ask Sergeant Reynold if his punishment was going a little too far considering that it was their man who attacked Nick first but seeing Reynold observe Nick with a deathly seriousness that allowed no room for opposition, he remained quiet.
Renice had already wiped the blood from her lips and then began observing the young man who was writhing on the ground in pain with some surprise in her gaze.
(He is only rank 2 and he broke my spell? That's not only odd but it should amount to impossible. Why is the sergeant torturing him like this; he did not seem like the type of man who would enjoy this kind of thing? Not like...)
Renice shook her head subtly in order to adjust her thoughts and decided to watch on indifferently.
Reynold watched the young man struggle from the pain and wondered if he had done the right thing.
(This must be Nick Capitol from the rumors that spread a few months ago. His appearance fits the description except for his eyes which were described as eerie and dark with red rings. I have never seen eyes before like what this man has. In any case, my maneuver is just a warning for him not to be so reckless as well as a test to see if he is really as troublesome as I was led to believe. If he can't overcome this, however, then I have to advise the commander that we need more rounds of training for our seasoned people.)
Nick's consciousness started to fade in and out and he struggled to remain rational and lucid. After five minutes of enduring Reynold's method, however, his perspective suddenly changed. The pain had faded away and he now found himself in an unfamiliar environment with clear, sunny skies above and palm trees all around, planted a few meters apart.
"Huh? Where is this?"
Nick felt a persistent confusion envelop his mind and he could not make sense of the situation. A few seconds later, to his surprise, a rough but weak voice sounded from beneath him:
"Is someone there?"
Nick looked below him in response and realized that there was a large metal grill that sealed the opening to a pit situated in front of his feet.
(Where did this pit come from? Was it always here?)
Nick answered with caution in his tone:
"Yes, I am here. Who exactly are you?"
The voice sounded from deep within the pit, its tone becoming slightly less weak:
"Thank the gods. I have been trapped down in this pit of suffering for so long that I almost gave up hope that I would be saved. I need your help to escape!"
Nick muttered in response:
"Pit of suffering? Hey, you did not answer my question?"
The voice's owner sighed and replied:
"Benefactor, I did not answer your question simply because I cannot. There are rarely any meaningful answers given in the midst of suffering."
Nick did not think much of those words and asked:
"Well, surely you can tell me how you became trapped down there?"
The entity within the pit replied:
"How does anyone become trapped in the pit of suffering? Foolishness, recklessness, greed, inaction, weakness, sabotage, injustice, justice or in many other myriad ways. It hardly matters how I became trapped down here now that I am, in fact, down here. Please save me and I will reward you but I cannot tell you what the reward will be!"
Nick's mind was unusually addled and although he could understand what was said, he could not think too deeply about it. He decided, however, that he would save the person trapped in the pit and so he asked:
"How do I save you?"
The entity replied:
"Just pull away the grill that seals this pit shut and I will be able to fly out, but be aware, to lift away the grill, you must have met my friend, Strength."
Nick thought for a moment and replied while placing his hands on the metal grill made of bronze bars and then trying to lift it away from the circular opening:
"It's a good thing for you that I've already met Strength."
Nick pulled at the grill with all his might but after a few minutes, he only moved it by about an inch and then complained:
"What the hell is the grill made of that it is so heavy?"
The entity remarked:
"Suffering is a heavy thing, as heavy as cast iron shackles but it can still be lifted. Look, you already moved the grill by an inch! To finish the task, you must have also met my friend, Endurance."
Nick thought for a moment and then replied:
"I have also met Endurance."
Nick continued pulling at the grill and after what seemed like hours, he had unsealed the pit by half. He complained once again:
"My arms are sore, my back hurts and I don't know If I can pull away this grill any further. I need someone else to help me along."
The entity remarked:
"Pain and uncertainty is natural in suffering but they are often only temporary feelings. Forget about someone else coming to help you. Most never receive help when trying to overcome the most difficult suffering. As long as you have met my friend, Growth, however, you will overcome it."
Nick thought for a while and then replied, having made a realization:
"I have met Growth!"
Nick continued pulling at the grill for a seemingly long time until he completely removed it from the opening of the pit. Almost immediately, a small butterfly, the size of a tennis ball with grey colored, patternless wings flew out and thanked Nick:
"Thank you for helping me out of the pit of suffering. It was really stifling and dark down there. My name is Courage and once I emerge, having been in the pit of suffering becomes my badge of honor."
Nick nodded his head although he wasn't sure what Courage meant by that. He replied:
"The reward you mentioned..."
Courage then replied with a haughty laugh:
"Overcoming the pit of suffering, lifting away the heavy burden is its own reward. If you did not, would you have met me, Courage? Definitely not! With me around, encountering suffering becomes bearable."
Nick opened both his eyes wide as he felt the confusion that had been plaguing him suddenly fade away, muttering:
"Oh..."
Nick's perspective suddenly changed again to reflect his current painful circumstances. The soldiers, including the four rank 3 Magicians still watched on as he endured Reynold's method.
The soldier that Nick had wounded before had already been healed by captain Oliver and had returned to the ground. He made a remark to captain Oliver who was currently standing beside him:
"The sergeant's Drop Of Pain is no easy punishment. Rumors are that when the strongest viper, Dave McKoy, was still rank 2, he shat himself after the sergeant cast the spell on him for skipping an afternoon of combat training."
Captain Oliver was aware of the rumor and felt that there was probably some truth to it. He stood by to observe the outcome of Nick's punishment.
Nick breathed heavily and deeply; his mind had become a little more clear and he could focus once again. He gritted his teeth and stopped writhing but the crippling pain still plagued him like an unstoppable cancer. Nick lied on his back and lifted his head slightly off the ground to look at Sergeant Reynold and with every bit of the clarity and focus that he had left, he formed the laws for a spell within his mindscape.
The symbols glowed with a color that shifted from dull red to ash grey within intervals of seconds. When the laws were complete, several dozen pillars of Nick's magic ice flew up within his mindscape to meet them and then burst into thousands of tiny, twinkling crystals of magic energy, soon being consumed by the laws.
Nick raised his left hand to point it at the man on the horse because his right hand had cramped from the pain which resulted in Pressure Piece being stuck within his right grip. He cast his spell, barely holding on to his consciousness:
(Involuntary Sacrifice.)
Sergent Reynold immediately sensed Nick's magic power surge and formlessly wash over him but was not concerned since it was merely the power of a rank 2 spell. Instead, he used his methods to intuit what the likely result of Nick's magic power was and after he quickly determined that it was probably not harmful to himself whatsoever, he decided not to interfere with its effects and even partly dissolved his own defense to allow Nick's magic power to affect him with relative ease.
Reynold immediately sensed the loss of the connection that he had with the magic power that he had implanted within Nick and observed as the young man got to his feet while radiating health and a heavy cloud of formless, colorless magic energy.
Nick's breathing then normalized and he pat his chest once with his left hand, muttering:
"I did it."
(Involuntary Sacrifice is a rule path healing spell based on the laws that I received for 'dominate' and 'sacrifice'. It breaks down the laws and magic power of a harmful method inflicted on me directly by my opponent after disrupting my opponent's magical connection with their method, using their offending magic power to my benefit by having it nourish my injuries. The magic energy that results is still foreign, however, and is released as a kind of exhaust after the healing process. The biggest advantage of the spell is that it not only heals me but it results in the negation of my opponent's method.)
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP...
Nick watched on as the man on the horse clapped for him several times before saying:
"That was pleasing to witness. I love promising young ones like yourself the most. You are Nick Capitol, correct?"
Renice raised her right eyebrow as she recognized the name. Sergeant Griffiths had ordered her to dig up information on this man before.
(So his use of soul path magic is not just a rumor.)
Nick answered Sergeant Reynold's question simply:
"Yes, I am Nick Capitol."
Nick wasn't going to bother grudging the man on the horse because of his earlier attack since doing so was pointless and the man did not currently seem to any have ill-intent behind his words.
Reynold nodded his head and then said:
"Since my man attacked you first, let's let bygones be bygones. Here, you can have this."
Reynold reached into his pocket and retrieved something before throwing it to Nick. Nick caught the small object inside his left grip and then spread out his left hand to take a look at it. The object was a gold colored token with the likeness of a coin that had three stars side by side on both faces. Nick squinted at Reynold and asked:
"What is this?"
Reynold answered:
"That is a Ministry of Magic military token. You can use it to retrieve a weapon and learning materials at the main tower within a certain limit of value. Just mention the name Timothy Reynold when you do."
Reynold turned his attention to captain Tait after saying that and ordered:
"Line up the men. We are moving out."
Tait nodded his head in understanding and spoke aloud so that everyone could hear him:
"Our next destination is Shelter Town. Everyone, Line Up! Don't not make any unnecessary movements like your comrade did before or there will be hell to pay."
The soldier that attacked Nick earlier blushed in embarrassment but ultimately lined up with his colleagues and all twenty nine of them prepared to march in three straight lines while two soldiers drove the truck behind them. Reynold then turned his attention back to Nick and spoke:
"I will be seeing you young man..."
Just as Reynold was ready to leave, Renice came to his right side from behind his horse and spoke to him:
"Wait. Sir, may I speak with him?"
Reynold raised his right eyebrow in surprise but then remembered that the young man broke her spell earlier while being at an inferior rank. He approved her intentions:
"Go ahead."
Renice then turned her attention to Nick and said:
"My name is Renice Marley of the Ministry of Magic military administrative division. I would like to know how is it that you broke my spell earlier? I am willing to pay you for the information so that I can improve it if necessary."
Nick shrugged, sheathed Pressure Piece and then pointed at is right eye with is right index finger, saying:
"The weakness in the patterns of your spell's laws were as clear as day to me. I cannot explain further than that."
Renice took a closer look at Nick's strange eyes and was about to speak but Sergeant Reynold interrupted her:
"Do not pry any further, Renice. That would not be proper."
Renice kept her mouth closed, nodded at Nick once and then returned to her previous position behind Reynold's horse. Captain Oliver then returned to Reynold's side and his platoon then marched on their way as if their encounter with Nick had only been a brief memory. Nick took one last look at the rank 3 magic beast, then at the for rank 3 Magicians, his eyes remaining on Reynold for almost thirty seconds before retracting his gaze and then floating up into the air.
"Timothy Reynold..."
Nick muttered the name before flying off towards the direction of the shadow goblins' lair.
*************************************************
Back at Shelter Town's Military Barracks, within the commander's office:
Commander Jeffery Wallace tapped his office desk waiting for his subordinate that stood in front of him with a flippant salute to speak.
"Commander Wallace, I, lieutenant Andrew Wiles have a matter to report?"
A vein bulged on the commander's forehead and he replied with a forced calm:
"Go ahead, make your report."
Andrew suddenly put on a stern expression and replied:
"Sir, the chili made by the military cafeteria was cooked with pork instead of beef and the men all now have stomach aches. Someone inside the cafeteria clearly doesn't know how to cook pork!"
Wallace's patience ran out and he slammed his right fist on the table, then spoke with clear annoyance in his tone:
"Little Andrew, enough of your bullshit. I sent you out months ago to investigate one young man and now you have come back with nothing to show for it yet you somehow have an interest in the cafeteria's food. What am I to make of this? Where have you been for the past four months?"
Andrew's stern expression suddenly changed to a playful grin and then he spoke:
"I had decided to explore much of the documented areas of the realm after having had a discussion with Nick Capitol, sir. It was not only to train my people but to enlighten me on the state of things on the Never Ending Battlefield first-hand."
Wallace internally snorted, thinking:
(This brat has such a way of making his outrageous actions seem so reasonable. If it was not for his battle strength and my relationship with his family, I would have slapped him on the back of the head years ago.)
Wallace reclined in his office chair and asked while rubbing his temples:
"What did your discussion with Nick Capitol reveal and what did you gain from exploring the documented areas?"
Andrew abandoned his salute and then spoke with his hand at his side:
"Sir, the rumors about an inheritance were just rumors, Nick Capitol had tried to scheme against his fellow students by luring them to that area using falsehoods but things turned sour for him when two third years from Richter Order Academy interfered and fought him to his limits. One third year was killed while the other dominated the battlefield and made off with the mountain range that Nick had stolen away from its original location. As for my exploration, I have realized that the birth rate of the magic beasts have slowed for some reason but I do not know the reason."
Wallace put his arms on his office chair's arm rests after hearing that and replied:
"Well...your outing seemed to have summed up to a waste of time. Do you have any plans for what you will be doing going forward?"
Andrew nodded his head once and then replied:
"Sir, I would like to request a leave of absence so that I can help my niece transfer to another magic academy. The one that she attends now doesn't suit my tastes."
The commander's right eyelid twitched and he replied in exasperation:
"Your leave is granted but be sure to return before the academies conclude their exam. I have told them that I will make a speech before they leave the realm and I want you to be there with me."
Andrew thought for a moment before replying:
"No problem, sir. I only require a few hours on Grand Earth to make my arrangements. May I leave now?"
Commander Wallace replied:
"You may leave."
Andrew left the commander's office, all the while thinking:
(The commander did not probe deeper into the reasons for my exploration and I can tell he did that on purpose. He must have guessed that I actually spent the time training on my own. That old man is as smart as ever. Anyways, I should get the matter with Pearl sorted out as soon as possible. She's not going to be happy that I plan to attach her to a poor trouble maker but she'll have to deal with it.)
Andrew chuckled a little bit before walking down the hallway where his own office was situated and then entered it.
***************************************************************
Nick stood before a familiar brick opening that served as the entrance to an underground space where a staircase was immediately available to facilitate travel to it depths. Nick muttered to himself before walking down the staircase:
"Courage, huh? I definitely won't run away from this place again."
Nick spent close to thirty minutes walking down the staircase without using his magic powers. When he finally got to the underground stone floor, he walked in the same direction that he and the others had taken the last time that he was down here.
Nick cast Space and spread his special space throughout the passage so that he could sense everything going on around him for up to fifty meters behind and in front of him as well as to his sides within this wide passage. It did not take more than twenty minutes before creatures bathed in darkness suddenly surrounded him and lunged at him like and angry mob; there foot steps echoed off the passage walls.
The passage was enveloped in darkness but with the sensory capabilities of his special space, Nick did not miss even a pebble being flipped as the goblins ran forward.
Nick immediately raised his right hand from his side to the front of his chest and clenched it.
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!...
Following Nick's small action, the sounds of bone snapping apart filled the space almost simultaneously as each of the over fifty goblins had their necks twisted at a 360 degree angle, completely breaking each one. They all fell to the ground, lifeless, within moments.
(With my fine control of my special space and the fact that these goblins are individually physically weak, not having much natural laws on their body, they are easy prey for my spacial manipulation.)
Nick walked through the passage for another hour unhindered even after dealing with three more similar shadow goblin mobs, all of them being dealt with quickly in the same manner - broken necks all around.
He eventually came to the chamber that was lined with peppermint crystals that he had been to before and where he and others had fought a horde of shadow goblins including one mutant goblin; the chamber was about the size of a high school auditorium. The peppermint crystals glowed with a serene reddish light, allowing Nick to view the environment. He found nothing of note except the peppermint crystals.
Nick spread his special space throughout the entirety of the stone walled chamber and used it to dig out most of the peppermint crystals, dragging them from the walls and earth with relative ease. He did not, however, dig out the collection of peppermint crystals at the center of the room because he wanted them to continue producing their light so that he could see. Nick slowly walked around the room, storing the dug out peppermint crystals within his space band wherever he went.
(All these crystals probably amount to a small fortune. It feels weird that I am able to so easily take them.)
Not long after Nick stored the last dug out crystal, however, a pale, light-brown complexioned hand reached out of Nick's shadow that was eerily expanding behind him; the hand then quickly grabbed onto Nick's ankle. Nick had sensed a change in the shape of his shadow before the hand appeared but had assumed that it was because of the occasional shifting intensity of the glow from the peppermint crystals still left in the chamber.
(Those thoughts were naive.)
Nick frowned and used his special space in an attempt to teleport out of the hand's reach. He then appeared about fifteen meters away from where he had been grabbed and witnessed the hand recede into a solitary shadow still on the ground. A few moments later, the entire body of the thing that grabbed Nick emerged from the shadow and stood with its feet firmly planted on the stone floor.
Just as Nick expected, the entity that had grabbed him before was an adult sized shadow goblin that held a wooden staff, that had glowing orange streaks embedded in it, within its right grip.
"Hee, hee, hee..."
Silly sounding laughter emerged from its mouth as it gazed at Nick with a wicked grin plastered on its face. The shadow goblin wore a set of tattered cloth robes that failed to hide the soiled cloth pieces tied around its crotch. Nick assessed internally:
(Unlike normal shadow goblins at rank 2, this one is the size of a grown man instead of the size of a twelve year old child. It is also subtly releasing very creepy feeling magic energy. It's been nine years so I suppose that that this is the mutant shadow goblin that replaced the last one that I killed. This one somehow feels stronger though.)
Nick shook his head and remarked:
"That doesn't matter."
In response to Nick's words, the mutant shadow goblin snarled, at which point, over one hundred shadows appeared on the walls of the chamber, after which the upper-body of a shadow goblin emerged from each one while holding a cocked bow, aiming an arrow at Nick with several other arrows contained within a quiver attached to its back.
The mutant shadow goblin signaled with a snap of his left index and middle fingers which apparently indicated to the other shadow goblins that they should launch their arrows. The shadow goblins did exactly that without hesitation a moment later and over one hundred arrows came straight towards Nick but he was unfazed by the ruthlessness of their move.
"Worthless."
Nick willed and each arrow stopped moving in midair as it reached within ten meters of him. Nick then reversed the direction of that their metal tip pointed and launched the arrows with incredible speed back at the shadow goblins. Since the shadow goblins had not moved from their positions after launching the arrows and only two seconds had went by since their joint attack, they were left unprepared to properly defend themselves against their own arrows that came at them like bullets from a gun at twice the speed that they had initially launched them.
Each goblin was therefore cruelly impaled by its own arrow, killing each one.
(The shadow goblins' bodies are just too weak. They can't endure heavy wounds.)
The mutant shadow goblin had witnessed what happened and its wicked grin transformed into a panicked expression as it looked all around to see goblin carcasses falling out of shadows and lying lifelessly on the ground. It then hatefully glared at Nick and somehow spoke with human like speech in Valteese:
"You will die here."
The mutant shadow goblin then tightly gripped its staff with both hands and slammed it onto the stone floor, following which shadows formed all around it in a circular pattern. Portions of the shadows then lifted themselves off the ground in the shapes of serpents that menacingly glared at Nick with ruby-red eyes; there were about twenty such shadows that emerged from the floor.
The mutant shadow goblin then sounded an ear piercing shriek and the shadow serpents lunged towards Nick in unison, extending their bodies above the ground for over twelve meters in only four seconds before Nick acted by casting his spell:
(Dominate The Space.)
Nick's special space suddenly receded into his body, following which a pulse of dull grey magic power radiated into the surroundings, saturating the underground chamber with Nick's magic power within an instant. The shadow serpents quivered in response but still kept moving forward.
When the shadows surrounded Nick and were about two meters away from him, he quickly unsheathed Pressure Piece with his right hand and made one horizontal swing from his left side to his right side, casting:
(Big Sever.)
A wide, almost formless, translucent arc of magic power quickly formed where Nick had swung his sword and following its complete formation, Nick manipulated the briefly altered space produced by Dominate the Space so that it spread the magic power generated by Big Sever around in a 360 degree angle, practically creating a circular ring of rule path magic power around Nick. As the shadow serpents reached within about one and a half meters of himself in all directions and less than two seconds had passed since Nick unsheathed Pressure Piece, he softly whistled and his ring of magic power expanded out in all directions like a ripple in the ocean.
Within an instant, the shadow serpents all around Nick were cut into chunks of shadows at over a dozen places and under the influence of Nick's altered space, the magic power that they consisted of was suppressed in order to prevent their restoration or resistance. The mutant shadow goblin watched as the shadows formed from its spell fell apart and fell onto the floor without dissipating and it raged in response at not being able to further manipulate it shadows with its magic.
The shadows circling the goblin's feet squirmed but were ultimately suppressed by Nick's spacial magic at that time. Knowing that the effects of Dominate The Space would not last another second under the mutant shadow goblin's resistance, Nick quickly reached out his left hand towards the shadow goblin with a gripping motion:
(King's Domination.)
The mutant shadow goblin immediately sensed Nick's magic power as it radiated from him and it released its left grip from its staff to point at Nick, taking on an accusatory stance while it shrieked:
"You cheated!"
The mutant shadow goblin's accusation could not, however, change its fate. The space around its neck quick collapsed, crushing its throat and vertebrae and leaving a visible hand print around the affected site. Life almost immediately vanished from its eyes and the mutant shadow goblin fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, its rage filled expression still plastered on its face.
The magical shadows on the ground immediately dissipated following the mutant shadow goblin's death. Nick sheathed Pressure Piece at his left side and walked towards the shadow goblin's carcass. While he did so, Nick mused:
(That fight did not even last five minutes. My using Dominate the Space to manipulate and shoot out the magic power generated by Big Sever was a stroke of genius but I guess it only worked out so well because Big Sever is a purely rule path spell. If I had used Big Cleave, there would probably have been much more resistance which would have made my attack less timely and effective despite Big Cleave's greater potential for harm because space path and blade path have a greater contradiction than space path and rule path. Come to think of it, if I was not a space path master I probably wouldn't have been able to use Big Sever along with Dominate The Space like I did.)
Nick nodded his head in self-satisfaction as he reached the mutant shadow goblin's carcass. After kicking it to ensure that the goblin was indeed dead, he thought some more about the battle as he walked towards the chambers back entrance to head to where the muscular shadow goblin could probably be found:
(King's Domination performed beautifully as well just like when I fought the soldier a few hours ago. It is a rule and space path spell that gives forceful control of a small sphere of space that I can use to violently grab, hold, twist or crush things within about a range of twenty meters using the movements of my hands. Any opposing magic power is also suppressed so long as the quality of my magic power is greater, far less so if the opposing magic power has the same quality as mine.)
Nick briskly walked through the back entrance but as soon as he did, he felt a disturbing, invisible aura that saturated the space.
(What the hell is this?)
Slade offered a guess immediately:
[Many magic beasts that have mindscapes and that can cast spells have a harder time keeping there magic powers concealed within so they often leak it into the surroundings unknowingly. Considering the magic power that you're sensing, the magic beast should currently be using a spell and has been using it for a while.]
Nick replied simply:
"Oh..."
He quickly cast Space and had it surround his body almost two meters in all directions, in the shape of an imperfect sphere; he did not need to use his special space to envelope the entire surroundings because chips of glowing peppermint crystals were embedded into the walls and floor which allowed him to see clearly. Nick then ran forward quickly and about fifteen minutes later, he came to a small room, the size of a studio apartment where he finally saw the muscular shadow goblin once again but in a compromising and disturbing position.
The muscular, brown skinned shadow goblin that was a few heads taller than Nick himself was currently stooped on the ground while being completely naked with his bare buttocks turned to Nick. It was thrusting its groin between the legs of a young woman who had long red hair, white skin and sparse freckles on her face. The woman's eyes appeared unfocused and hollow as the large goblin thrust its sexual organ into her. Nick put on a weird expression.
(Is this why this goblin did not come out to meet me earlier even after I killed so many of his brethren? It was distracted by its own mating.)
Nick quickly unsheathed Pressure Piece with his right hand and swung the sword down in the direction of the shadow goblin who was about eight meters away from him. The muscular shadow goblin's ears twitched as it heard Nick's nearby movements and it immediately lifted itself off the ground, throwing the woman away to the side. Its body erupted with a feint magic power as it turned around with a sprinter's quickness but Nick had already cast his method:
(Direct Dominion.)
Pressure Piece's Blade could be seen projected over the eight meters between Nick and the muscular shadow goblin as the upper half of its blade seemed to vanished from the rest of the sword and at the same time, appeared in the distance and cut into the goblin's groin just as it faced Nick.
"GGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW!"
The goblin screamed as its fifth limb was mercilessly cut and was left hanging by a strip of dark brown skin. Nick thought:
(I think that that is one of the only portions of muscles on the body that cannot be trained. In any case, Direct Dominion is a purely rule path spell that can project part of myself or my attachments out at far distances. I happened to luck out in developing this rule path spell that partly mimics the effects of space path.)
The muscular shadow goblin quickly held its bleeding injury with its left hand and bowed its right arm just as fast. It then clenched its right hand into a fist as if to deliver a punch. Its magic power surged and a yellowish phantom of a fist appeared in midair; the shadow goblin pumped its fist forward and the phantom fist came flying towards Nick with the speed of a slung stone.
Nick quickly cast Blink in order to dodge the attack, appearing six meters away from the goblin to its left side. The phantom fist lost its target and the goblin was forced to cancel its spell, following which the phantom fist dissipated but before the muscular shadow goblin could refocus its attention, Nick pointed his opened, forward facing left palm at it, casting:
(Absolute Push.)
The muscular shadow goblin immediately felt its entire being quiver, following which it was brutally pushed back against the room's wall at cannon ball speed, appearing like a piece of paper being held against a tree trunk by the wind. The wall soon cracked in several places as Nick walked slowly forward while maintaining Absolute Push.
He soon reached within one meter of the muscular goblin, at which point it finally mustered the strength to cast one of its spells while it howled at Nick which resulted in some of its saliva landing on his face.
The muscular shadow goblin faintly radiated a yellow aura and its right arm muscles bulged while it lifted it off the cracking wall, going against the power of Absolute Push in order to reach out to attack Nick. Nick raised his right eyebrow in surprise when he saw this.
(Absolute Push not only affects the body but also the soul and this goblin is still able to resist the effects of the spell and even fight back. No wonder I had to run from this thing nine years ago...but times are different now.)
Nick quickly raised Pressure Piece above his head, then swung it down with a vertical motion, casting his spell:
(Big Cleave.)
A three foot wave of formless but sharp magic power erupted from Pressure Piece and swallowed the muscular shadow goblin. Nick witnessed as its feint yellow aura was quickly consumed by his magic power which ruthlessly cut away at the goblin's body. Within seconds, its skin was stripped away, then its flesh which resulted in all its blood splattering on the wall behind it with much of it then sliding off onto the ground, then its bloody skeleton was cut into tiny bone shards. Nick soon cancelled Absolute push and those tiny bone shards fell onto the ground.
The cracked wall that the goblin was pressed up against had also fallen victim to Nick's blade path spell as many slices could now be seen on its stone face but Nick quickly willed for the spell to dissipate. He breathed in deeply, feeling a kind of weight lift off his shoulders, thinking:
(So this is courage as it appears. It feels...good.)
Nick suddenly heard slight movements from across the room as the naked woman from before scrambled in fear as a result of seeing Nick murder the goblin that had kept her here and violated her for so long. Nick was unsure of what to do; he had only come here to kill the muscular shadow goblin. He looked around aimlessly for a few seconds, then summoned a set of clothes from his space band and walked over to the young woman.
He held out his hands to offer her the clothes and then asked:
"Here you go miss. What is your name?"
The woman looked at the clothes in Nick's hand for a few seconds, then she weakly spoke while reaching for the clothes:
"My name is Hellen."