Chapter 3 - Falling Down

Author's Note: I am so extremely late for this one. Sorry. Life's been very sucky suck recently.

I said that I have a plan… What should I do?

Can we hide? No. They are likely tracking the girl.

[Sword Draw: Iai] isn't going to help with that many goblins. It's too single target. [Flash Step] isn't going to help either. This cave is too cramped. Too narrow.

None of my Signs or Crafts are going to help. There's too many goblins.

Traps… Don't have time to set them up.

My swords… I only have three useable ones. Not that it matters. Throwing them wouldn't help much.

Should I throw a smoke? No... That would hinder me as well. I'd bet all my money that they will have some goblin archers. If they shoot blindly into the smoke and I got unlucky…

While I was still thinking, my eyes still track the goblins carefully. They are approaching slowly and methodically. It's like they're used to raiding caves and the like.

Should I just engage them as is? I could reduce their number and create a gap that we can exploit to escape. However, there is no guarantee that there is no goblin reinforcements standing outside the cave.

Engaging now would be a bad idea.

I─ I still have one more card that I can play… But I'd rather not use that.

…I don't have a choice, do I? I can leave with my teleport orb, but I can't─ I don't want to leave these two here.

I closed my eyes and sigh deeply.

Steel yourself. Do some good once in a while, Ahiro.

"Newbies…"

I whispered to the two behind me.

"If you want to live─"

I have to bet on them. That they'll listen and not open their eyes.

"Do not open your eyes. The two of you."

"Y─yes!"

The two of them closed their eyes.

…let's do this.

I let my sword go as it entered the small portal created by the storage device. I see the sword melt into particles of light, vanishing just like that. I once said this before, but they are really pretty aren't they? Those particles of light.

"Fuuuh…"

I placed my hand on my chest, as if trying to pull something out, I grabbed it.

It felt like I was grabbing at air. At nothing. But slowly, I felt it turns more and more solid as I discover its form.

When it is at its most solid, it strikes me. A torrent of foreign 'something' came flooding into me.

I saw through the eyes of a girl. She ran with all her might. Her body carried her as far as they could, away from the monster. Even still, its fangs reached her.

Then, I saw through the eye of a young boy. He worked amidst adults, transporting boxes on a pier. His body drowning in sweat. He put down a box on top of a pile, wiped his forehead, and smiled.

I saw through the eyes of many. Countless. I felt their being, their feelings, their sentiments, their aspirations. In that endless yet instant moment, I realized it. What I should do. My mission. My 'self'.

I grabbed it, whose form has now solidified into a weapon, and pulled it out of my self. In my hand now is a sword. A tall black sword with red branching lines covering its body. Calming and divine. The culmination of everything─

Shatter. Everything shattered. Like cracking glass, I feel the pieces fade away.

"Hah..! Hah..! Hah..!"

My whole body hurts. I feel like I was beat up all over my body. Agh, my nose… it's bleeding…

I shifted my unsteady gaze unto my hand. On it, I held a long sword. Black with some red lines forming a kind of rune language on its body. I'm barely holding on to it with my current condition.

"..."

I don't know what this sword is. It's not a Sign, nor a Craft. It doesn't consume any mana at all. The cost of using this sword is my physical constitution. I'm now barely standing. I feel like I was just born. I feel so weak.

With my physical conditions like this, I doubt I would be able to fight. So…

"Hah… Ha… [Borrowed Power]!"

I executed the motion and activated the Sign [Borrowed Power]. It allows me to "borrow" power from the God of Creation. But it only lasts for 15 minutes. And when it's over, mt body would be attacked by so much pain from the backlash. I'll become an immobile pile of meat after using this.

And that's why…

"Fuuh… [Delayed Consequence]!"

I executed the motion for this Sign. This allows me to delay the consequence of using any Signs or Crafts for a whole day. This way, I'll be fine for today. Tomorrow will be hell.

I felt a large amount of Mana being consumed. Now I'm well below the safe line. But I'm still feeling fine. Divine power is really great, huh?

I sighed a little and changed my attention to the goblins. They are closer now. Around 10 meters, I'd say? They still didn't notice me here.

Goblins couldn't sense Mana. That's the general rule. But there are always exceptions to things. It's good that these goblins do not have any heroes or high mages.

I left those thoughts behind as soon as I noticed that the goblins are now within ideal striking distance.

"Let's do this!" I whispered.

I ran out from my hiding space and dashed at the goblins.

The few in front of the group noticed me and immediately notified the ones behind them.

"Useless!"

I swung the sword using the momentum and cleaved two entire rows of goblins. Blood and gore splashed me as I swung again using the subsequent momentum, cleaving another row of goblins.

I stopped the sword at its apex to catch my breath. I looked at the goblins army in front of me. They're still in disarray. Good.

I jumped straight into the goblins. I kicked two goblins as I landed in their midst, breaking the two's neck. As soon as I landed, I continued cutting and striking every single goblins within range.

Making sure not to go too deep into them, I turn tail and rush back. Blocking and slashing the goblins. At the apex of my speed, I jumped and unleashed a spinning slash. Making a 360* safe space for me to catch my breath.

"You two! Keep those eyes shut! And keep the [Solid Barrier] up!"

I shouted at the two newbies back there. Making sure they are still safe. The newbies are pretty smart. They didn't reply. This way, the goblins wouldn't shift their attention to them. I have to remember to praise them for that later.

I stood and fixed my posture, taking up my combat stance. Simply swinging around a sword won't cut it. There's too many goblins. It's an ocean of green midgets humanoids in front of me.

I gripped my sword's handle hard and I braced myself.

"[Combat Skill: Echo]!"

My body is immediately enveloped by a refreshing blue shimmer.

I do not know what a Combat Skill is. However, I do know that whatever that is, I am only able to comprehend it, and use it, when I am using this black sword.

As far as I understand it, [Combat Skill: Echo] copies any sword slashes that I made. It essentially made an invisible copy of my sword that follows my movement after a delay. The details don't really matter for me, since I am going to forget about this as soon as this black sword disappears. I can't afford to find out more anyway, with the green ocean in front of me.

In the time I activated this skill, the goblins have managed to regain control. The goblins were shouting at each other about something, angry, probably.

All of a sudden, the many melee goblins went prone, revealing several cascading goblin archers, ready to fire their arrows straight at my direction.

Tch! Radius, make it as big and as thick as possible!

"[Solid Barrier]!"

I executed the motion for the Sign. Just in time for the barrier to block the incoming barrages of arrows.

Probably realizing that the arrows wouldn't work, the melee goblins all rushed at me. I should be safe from ranged attacks for a while, that barrier is going to be there for some time. With that in mind, retreated a few meters to make some distance between me and the barrier.

I swung my sword at the first goblin that reached me. I can't waste any time with fighting, so I aimed for the neck. The goblin behind it followed the same fate from the Echo.

Two goblins were trying to jump me from the side. I dodged to the right by rushing and stabbing several goblins, skewering them like satay, all the way, until I hit the cave's wall. The Echo follows. Making sure that these goblins are dead.

As soon as I did, I forcefully swung the sword in a 180* degree behind me, making sure that I have some more room to breathe. I cut down several more goblins with that. The Echo stopped the goblins from approaching me carelessly.

These goblins probably already realized that whenever I attacks, a similar attacks follows in the same spot after a short time. So they are keeping themselves at a distance.

I took a deep breathe while I have the chance and re-took my combat stance. The barrier is still on. The archers are still on the other side, They aren't pushing. The goblins melee fighters are still rushing in. There's still no sign of them stopping.

"Fuuh…"

I'll have to use it. It's dangerous. I have never used it, but I KNOW that it is dangerous. I have to make sure not to swing my sword in the newbies' direction.

"COME! GOBLINS! [Mass Attraction]!"

I struck we sword to the ground and swung my right hand to the side. With that, the Sign was activated. With this, I will hold the goblins' aggro for a while.

I now see the goblins took a far more aggressive stance towards me. They seem to lose their caution. Well, only for the melee goblins. The goblin archers and those still on the back are unaffected. They have to get near first for the Sign to take effect.

"Let's go!"

I shouted and dashed at them, brandishing my sword.

"[Ougi: Sever─"

Suddenly, The ground started shaking. The cave's walls and ceilings started to crack, letting out a deafening sound.

Although a little bit faint, I can hear even more loud noises from outside the cave. Shit. What the hell is happening? An earthquake?

Not just me, the goblins are also confused. The effect of [Mass Attraction] was cancelled by the shaking and noises.

Even with all these shakings and noise, I still held my combat stance. Thanks to [Borrowed Power], I'm able to do that. I can't let my guard down yet. The goblins may be in chaos, but that doesn't guarantee that they wouldn't still attack.

Because of my caution however, I failed to notice an even more dangerous sign. The wall and ceilings are cracking. They are starting to give. But it's not only those two parts of the cave. The ground is also cracking down.

By the time I noticed it, it's already too late. The ground is starting to fall.

I ran back to the newbies as soon as I could. Several of the goblins fell down to the hole that started to spread from the entrance.

"Hey! Can any of you use [Fall Control]?"

I asked the two as urgently as I could. None of them could.

"Damn it!"

Soon enough, the falling cave floor reached us and we fell down.

I looked down.

I can't see the ground.

The two newbies are still together. In fact, they are hugging one another. Tears running down their faces.

Damn it. I can't use [Solid Barrier] to break our fall. I don't have the Specialization to strengthen it yet.

What can I do? What can I do to keep us three alive?

As my last resort, I can use the teleport orb to escape by myself… But only after I exhaust every other options.

I racked my brain as hard as I could, trying to find the solution to our falling problem, when I realize something.

My hand is starting to dissolve into particles of light. And not just me. The two newbies too.

"This…"

This could be a blessing for us. Or it could be a fate worse than death.

It seems we are caught on a forced teleportation of some sort.

I braced myself for the worst, as I watch my whole body dissolve into white light.