The other two got a smaller dose, but it still spelled their end. They coughed involuntarily to try and expel the offending spores, but that just triggered a compensatory reflex of inhaling deeper once the cough had passed. That caused a second, stronger cough and another resultant inhale. The cascade continued until they fell to the ground, killed by their bodies own attempts to survive. It took a few more seconds, but they still dropped to the ground, struggling to take in even the smallest of breaths.
In less than ten seconds, the patrol was down. After a mental command from Richter, the arachnid started biting each of the goblins to ensure they would stay that way. Alma had already latched onto the head of the goblin that the adder was squeezing to death. With a loud crack, the goblin’s neck broke, and the snake began to loosen its hold.
The cloud of spores stayed in the air for about fifteen seconds before it began to settle. A minute later, it was safe to walk through the area again. Sion took his sword out and was preparing to deliver the coup de grace, when Richter stopped him.
The sprite looked up and was somewhat taken aback by the hungry look on his friend’s face. Richter smiled and said, “I need them.”
Alma flew over to a paralyzed goblin. The creature’s breaths were still coming short and fast, and his eyes were pained. Sion’s arrow might not have been fatal, but from the position, it had most likely punctured a lung. He wasn’t long for the world, but the goblin still tried to eek out every last gasp out of life. As the dragonling latched onto his head, though, his eyes reflected more than pain. They showed fear as well.
Richter leaned over the green-skinned fighter and realized it was the one he and Sion had named Scar. The chaos seed wasn’t sure if the paralyzed goblin was pleading with his eyes as his raised his dagger, but then, it didn’t really matter. Richter plunged the white blade into the fighter’s chest. Black blood shot from the wound, covering the weapon and Richter’s hand. A sharp yank later, the goblin was fully gutted, and Alma got her meal. The dragonling detached from the goblin and moved onto the next.
Sion watched his friend feed goblins to his familiar with mechanical efficiency. Alma would clamp onto a goblin’s head with a hiss of hungry pleasure, and Richter would stab it to death. There was no cruelty in it, but no pity either. It wasn’t until they got to the last scout, that Richter looked up with a playful smile on his face.
“Hey Sion, I think this one is Bill. Do you want to take it out?”
Sion smiled back and just shook his head. Richter shrugged and plunged his dagger down. The whole white length of the blade was smeared with black now, and small gobbets of flesh were caught on the pommel. The chaos seed gave a final twist to the blade and the last goblin died.
Sion watched his Companion butcher the goblins with a detached respect and a small amount of pleasure at seeing his racial enemies killed. As Richter had continued the slaughter, though, the pleasure faded, and another feeling twinged inside of him. Without even recognizing what he was doing, Sion squashed that emotion and focused on remaining detached. Even if he had paid heed, though, the sprite could never have admitted to himself, that for just a moment, he had been afraid of his best friend.
CHAPTER 29 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG
You have been awarded 6,926 experience (base 158,310 x 0.07 x 1.25 x 0.5) from Brain Drain against Level 16 Goblin, Station: Fighter.
You have been awarded 4,217 experience (base 96,379 x 0.07 x 1.25 x 0.5) from Brain Drain against Level 13 Goblin, Station: Fighter.
You have been awarded 5,066 experience (base 115,799 x 0.07 x 1.25 x 0.5) from Brain Drain against Level 14 Goblin, Station: Fighter.
You have been awarded 2,020 experience (base 46,163 x 0.07 x 1.25 x 0.5) from Brain Drain against Level 10 Goblin, Station: Scout.
You have been awarded 2,748 experience (base 62,812 x 0.07 x 1.25 x 0.5) from Brain Drain against Level 11 Goblin, Station: Scout.
You have been awarded 1,293 experience (base 29,556 x 0.07 x 1.25 x 0.5) from Brain Drain against Level 8 Goblin, Station: Scout.
You have been awarded 5,180 experience (base 118,394 x 0.07 x 1.25 x 0.5) from Brain Drain against Level 14 Goblin, Station: Fighter.
Know This! As a Battle Sergeant serving beneath a Battle Leader, you are entitled to keep 50% of the total War Points earned.
For slaying three Goblin Scouts, you have been awarded 3 (6 x 0.5) War Points!
For slaying five Goblin Fighters, you have been awarded 8 (15 x 0.5) War Points!
Total War Points: 51.
None of the goblins transmitted memories along with the Brain Drain. Richter wasn’t complaining. He was twenty-seven thousand points closer to paying off his experience debt! He didn’t second-guess his decision to spend his XP to buy Talent points. The enchantments he had made would most likely save the lives of his people today. Still, it would be nice to increase his stats with some good ol’ fashion leveling.
When he had just been playing games, he had always enjoyed being a jack of all trades. The increasing costs of spells, though, showed him that if he was going to take his magic seriously, he was woefully underprepared as far as his mana pool went. Richter had to imagine the same was true for his martial skills. Bottom line, he might need to level again before he bought more Talent points.
The goblins didn’t have much in the way of usable items. A few copper pieces, one or two silver, and a collection of low-quality weapons and armor. He and Sion jogged back down the ravine to join the rest of the warband. They left the bodies in a pile. Alma had flown back towards the end of the pass, almost drunk on the psychic energy she had consumed. She confirmed that no one at the gate looked alarmed, and no other goblins were coming down the ravine. The dragonling also agreed to help Yoshi now that the ambush was over. Alma gave an update on the strike team’s position. They were thirty yards up and had covered more than half the remaining distance to the guard post.
Richter and Sion quickly reached the end of the ravine and looked around. To the sprites’ credit, he couldn’t see them at first, but soon they seemed to phase into being out of the surrounding woods. Hisako walked up.
“Where is Yoshi?” she asked.
Richter clued her in on what had transpired. To her credit, the strong-willed woman just listened without interrupting. There was no a sigh of relief when she heard that the patrol had been taken out and neither was there a gasp of concern when she heard what Yoshi’s team was about to do. No one who met the powerful woman would ever make the mistake of thinking her weak-willed. She was an experienced leader and knew when to put her faith her in her people. After his report, she succinctly said, “Then we wait.”
It turned out; waiting was harder than anything else Richter had done that night. His own soldiers were stationed further away from the ravine than the sprites were. Lacking the Forest Concealment ability, his guards couldn’t risk being seen if goblins had come back down the pass. He jogged over to them. Terrod and Caulder walked up to meet him.
“Are you well, my lord?” the captain asked.
“Yes,” Richter replied. “How are the men? Report.”