NOVEL NEXT Chapter 48: Clearing the Hobs
The Hobgoblins were all close to breaking through to the next major Level.
:Hobgoblin, Level 24; HP- 2900/2900:
The twelve Hobgoblins weren't too much of a threat for him, but the bigger creature was strange. It was an extremely fat Goblin that had likely evolved from one of the Mage classes.
It was sitting in the middle of the room, its rolls of fat laying over its legs. The way the Hobgoblins were handing it corpses made him think that it couldn't move. This creature made him excited.
:Goblin Gourmand, Level 25 (SUB-BOSS); HP- 11,750/11,750:
'Albus, what exactly is a sub-boss in these Dungeons?'
:A sub-boss would be best described as a creature that has become powerful on its own. It earned its own name during evolution, be it through killing other types of creatures or through unnatural means.
There can be multiple of these creatures in one Dungeon. The main difference between them and a Boss is that the Boss was already that powerful upon arrival here. A sub-boss would have to kill a boss and consume its core to evolve further:
'Ahh, I see... wait... Did you say upon its arrival here? Are you saying these creatures weren't here before?' a vague vision of dragons flying through smoke-filled air flashed through Geth's mind, and then quickly dissipated.
:Yes, the information I can gather from the Mana tells me that all species appeared here at the same time:
Geth nodded. Between his Inspection Skill and his Mana Sense, he could feel that in the future he would be able to gather information as well. He shifted his focus back towards the mobs.
Reaching down, he used State Change to push his hand down into the ground and pull out a baseball-sized chunk of earth. He waited a moment until a pair of the Hobgoblins walked in his direction to collect more corpses.
Once he judged they were close enough, he threw the ball at their feet, causing a clattering sound. One of the creatures grunted and pointed towards it with his club.
As they were both examining it, Geth stepped slightly out of the tunnel and threw another one. This time, hitting one in the foot.
Both creatures looked towards the tunnel angrily. Then, their irritation peaked when they saw that it was such a small creature who dared disturb them.
The two of them quickly jogged into the tunnel. Geth was already gone from the edge and running down the hall. He turned back and waved his staff so that they would see the light.
With it being dark, the creatures instantly reacted to the taunt and lumbered after him. After clearing enough distance, Geth stopped and waited for the two 9' tall Hobgoblins to reach him.
'This should be about right.' He thought. 'This far in, the others shouldn't hear them squeal.' Geth laughed to himself as he cast State Change in the darkness.
When they came within 15' of where he was standing, they tumbled into the mud trap that he'd made. Geth activated Restoration on himself, quickly lighting the area.
Four bodies jumped as soon as the large creatures hit the floor. Two landed on each one's back, smashing and swinging down with their weapons.
Filthy came quickly from behind the creatures and slashed the tendons on the backs of their feet. The Hobgoblins were thrashing around, occasionally throwing Harris or Farris off of them.
The two would jump back on top of them quickly and start slashing again. Geth made sure that Restoration stayed active on them.
Zolis and Hulk were having no issues with holding on. Zolis was impressive, every swing from her hammer would crush the bones of the creature. Its HP dropped close to 200 points per swing.
Geth just stayed out of the way, they needed the three new guys to hit their next major Level. "Zolis! That's enough."
:Hobgoblin, Level 24; HP- 182/2900:
It was bleeding out and couldn't move anymore. She nodded and hopped off of its back, moving to whittle down the HP of the other one.
Geth looked at the mess of the monster in front of him. She had smashed its elbows and knees to paste. The damn thing sure couldn't move.
'If experience was based on damage, she would certainly get most of it.' He thought. Between him and Albus, they had run experiments and found that 50% would always go to the person who managed to get the last hit. The other half would be divided up by performance during the fight, not just damage alone.
It wasn't long before he called out to Zolis again. She came over and leaned on his shoulder, smiling up at him. The blood splatter on her face caused her to look a bit freaky instead of giving off the cute look she'd meant to.
The trio finished off the two Hobgoblins quickly after that. Geth headed back towards the cavern and peaked into the room. Three hobgoblins were walking around, looking into the tunnels for their companions.
They had just finished checking out the two tunnels behind the sub-boss and were trudging towards Geth. Two more of the Hobgoblins were on the other side of the room picking up corpses for the Gourmand.
As the first three approached, Geth used the same method to piss them off. He turned and ran with them hot on his tail.
'If that glutton of a creature isn't an idiot, we will only be able to do this one or two more times.' Geth thought.
He sprinted to the same location and skirted around the drop that he made. Coming to a stop on the opposite side.
The three creatures toppled over and the same process repeated itself. This time, instead of whittling down their HP, Zolis focused on crushing their limbs.
One of the enormous clubs held by the Hobgoblins managed to smash into Farris' leg, cracking the bones. Due to the Restoration already surrounding him, it was mending quickly.