A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 187  The Shadows - Part 12

Beam's sword split it in two. He made sure to wreck the body as much as he could. He wasn't sure if that truly did anything to the process of monstification – if it prevented crystals from being used. But from how he'd seen the shadowy figures strive to keep the corpses intact, he thought that at the very least, it would serve as a hindrance.

Eight pairs of eyes drifted around at the goblin's warning. Even this close, Beam could not see any faces beneath the hoods of the shadows.

They turned to him, with less urgency than one might expect for people – or things – whose lives were certainly in danger. With an arm motion from one, the goblins, as a collective, gave a shriek. The hobgoblin bounced delightedly to the front of the enraged army, as though pleased to have been relieved of its task of dealing with the fire.

Beam met it with irritation in his eyes. No matter what happened, the sight of a hobgoblin still did not fail to stir his blood. He breathed in deeply, calling upon more of himself, as he prepared for battle.

With his sword lowered, he ran straight in. The hobgoblin charged to meet him, drawing back its fist. Its movements were flanked by four lesser goblins, two on each side, as they tried to catch Beam in a pincer attack.

Just before he got within striking range of the hobgoblin, Beam drew back, just in time for a massive green fist to go flying past his face. And then Beam pivoted to the side, attacking the lesser goblins instead. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The creatures attempted to halt their movements and change direction, but they were much too slow. The edge of Beam's sword found the first one's shoulder, before slicing straight through its spine.

For the second one, Beam was forced to lunge in and slice off a leg, before following up after it, and crushing its skull under his boot.

The hobgoblin roared its fury. By the time Beam turned around again, a fist was already nearing his face. Beam deftly avoided it. Hobgoblins were certainly strong, he realized again. They had the edge on unevolved Konbreakers, if only because of their speed.

Their strength was similar, at least in their swinging motions and in the power of brute attacks – of course the Konbreakers had the massive upper hand when it came to grip, being capable of crushing tough rocks with those vice-like claws.

But even as the Hobgoblin made the air in front of Beam rush, his heart did not give way to pure fear. There was a nervous instinct instead, a warning, an adrenaline, keeping him sharp. But this hobgoblin, he realized, with its rippling muscles and its burning hatred… It wasn't quite as strong as he remembered.

He moved his head to the side to allow a fist to pass over him, and then he drew his sword, catching the extended arm along the bicep. The hobgoblin roared in dismay, as Beam easily sliced through what had once been an unbearably tough hide.

The creature quickly put distance between them, as the rest of the goblins came charging in at Beam to take its place, 6 of them.

Beam stood his ground, without taking his eyes off the hobgoblin. Even in a group as they were, mere lesser goblins were no longer worthy of consideration. They charged in as a pack, but owing to their lack of movement, it wasn't that much different to if they had attacked individually.

In a whirl of steel, Beam eclipsed them. He severed an arm, before moving on to the next goblin, managing to slice it across the face and spill its brain. And then a leg, as he ducked to dodge a strike, whilst getting in a counterattack.

Then, as he came up out of that, a swift kick, before skewering another goblin down the middle.

By the time their charge was over, by the time they'd neared him, half the goblins were dead and the other half were mortally wounded.

They screamed in fear, truly overwhelmed. And then Beam got a new insight, a new way to grow his second style, that of the overwhelming blade. It was not mere strength that could show the difference between oneself and the enemy – it was speed.

With speed in mind, he finished the rest of them off.

As he stood there, surrounded by corpses, he felt the weight of that speed. He hadn't been paying the attribute much mind lately, but now he noticed that he was, without a doubt, faster than before, and stronger too.

"I can't neglect what I'm good at," he murmured to himself. Speed, strength, misdirection and pure animalistic chaos. The day had been ripe for new insights. That was without acknowledging the building of victory, the imitation of what he had seen Dominus carry out, though he had yet to understand it.

In the same way that his side steps and his moves forward had served as a victory before, he used his attacks against the goblins to build a victory against the hobgoblin. He knew it had seen the fight; it had seen the movements, and so it had learned to fear them. Beam used that fear against it, even without using his power.

He closed the distance between the two of them. The hobgoblin's weight was already drawing back, as it attempted to put more distance in between them once again.

Beam recognized those fearful eyes. He well understood that emotion. He'd felt it more than once. It was half of what was necessary to be a struggle.

The other half? That was found on Beam's face. The hardness of heart to recognize that fear and charge forward anyway.

Beam ducked in low, attempting a kick, just as he had done on the goblins before it. Having noticed the strike, and recognized it, the hobgoblin overreacted. There was a look of overexcited glee, as its fear found it an opportunity, and it put all its weight behind a strike.