NOVEL NEXT Chapter 53: Testing the Newbies
As they were closing in on the entrance, Geth looked back and told the men, "This room is all yours. Filthy will take out the Assassins and Mages from here.
If you can't handle the normal Swordsmen on your own, our deal is off. Weak men don't deserve the opportunity I'm trying to give. I'll keep you healed, your goal is to Level up here."
Hulk and his men took the words to heart and their expressions became serious. They knew if they couldn't prove they could protect the Dungeon, then they didn't deserve to have it given to them.
Geth then looked at Zolis and winked. "The next room is all yours, babe. I want to see what that new Skill can do."
Zolis smirked at him, "Since this was my first Skill worth Leveling, I had plenty of SP to use on it. Don't let it scare you away." She scrunched her nose at him playfully.
"You still haven't upgraded that rock-throwing Skill? Did you take my pack mule joke so seriously?" He joked. She blushed and walked off angrily.
After listening to the exchange, the men were pumped. How could they be scared if such a small woman was going to do the same thing solo?
Filthy peeked from the corner, seeing that there were only 8 Mages and 5 Assassins in the small horde. He quickly picked them off, only one of the Assassins happened to see him. It was too far from the entrance for that to matter.
The Swordsmen who had been sitting and lazing around in the small cavern were all alerted as they noticed the bodies falling. They began looking around, some even starting a fight with the other Goblins.
"These things really are stupid," Geth muttered quietly upon witnessing the scene. "All right guys, you're up."
Hulk stepped boldly into the room. Harris and Farris followed a bit more timidly behind. One by one, the eyes of all of the Goblins turned towards them.
After a brief pause, the small creatures started trampling over each other to get to the trio. They were crazed, acting as if they hadn't eaten in days.
"Harris, Farris. Let's lure them back into the tunnel, it will be easier if we are only fighting five or six at a time." Hulk suggested. The two nodded and retreated down the passageway, Hulk following behind.
They hadn't receded too deep, just enough to funnel the Goblins. Hulk kneeled in front with his shield raised.
"All right, push on my back to help stop their rush. As soon as their momentum is lost take out as many as you can." He commanded.
Geth, who wasn't too far behind nodded his head, agreeing with his plan. The bodies would soon pile up, causing the Goblins to slow and crawl over the corpses. If executed properly, he wouldn't even need to heal them.
He leaned up against the wall and watched their performance with Filthy and Zolis. On the initial impact, they were pushed back a few steps, but then the speed of the Goblins faded.
Slashing swords and green mucus-filled the hallway. It reminded Geth of some of the old hacks and slash video games. There was no style to the movement, just swinging carelessly to kill the enemy.
Goblins collapsed left and right, and as he'd predicted, a small wall of corpses began to form across the floor. The creatures began to trip and be pushed over by those behind them, making it easy for the trio to stab at them.
The longer the battle went, the easier it became. Soon, the wall was as tall as the 4-foot creatures and they had to crawl over to get to their quarry.
Only three or four Goblins were emerging at a time, Hulk had suggested to the others to let them gain their footing. He wanted to practice his movements with the sword and shield while there was no danger.
Geth watched on. 'Albus, I've noticed that Zolis has become quite proficient with her hammer, and these guys are also quickly getting accustomed to their weapons. Why is that?'
:Think of them as hidden Attributes or Skills. As you stated, the term is Proficiency, and it can be applied to most things. Weapon usage, swimming, carving, cooking, etc. The Mana assists in increasing your Proficiency as you repeat certain actions.
It's one of the ways the Mana chooses which Talents to offer you. As you battle or live in a certain way, your Proficiency increases. This increases the Rarity of the Talents, Skills, or Equipment you can obtain through completing missions or reaching Major Levels.
It won't be long before I can access your proficiency sheet, I cannot sense it at the moment. Like I've said before, we are one. As you become stronger, so do I. The higher our Level, the more information I can access through the Mana:
Geth nodded and watched as the trio finished off the last of the Goblins. They were already wielding their equipment as if it were familiar.
'Hmm, what am I proficient at?' Geth thought. He soon started chuckling inwardly. 'Getting beat up I guess!'
Hulk spoke with the others and then informed Geth of their progress. "I managed to Level twice, reaching 18, while they both reached Level 16."
"Good. Go sort through the bodies, drag them to the cave one by one. We don't want to miss any loot." Geth commanded.
He already knew that there was a Skill Card lying below the bodies, it would only be the Berserk Skill, which the trio already had. Geth thought that they were smart not to use it, the side effects were terrible.
Either way, it would make a nice addition to their contribution rewards. Skills were typically more valuable than equipment, after all.
While the trio was gathering the loot, Geth took Zolis and Filthy to the next tunnel. They skipped a few and went directly to a tunnel that had around 300 Goblins. Close to 50 of them were either Mages or Assassins.
"Alright babe, time to shine." Geth laughed as he spoke to her, then looked at Filthy. "Pick off the Mages while they're trying to cast. Let her handle the Assassins."
"Can do." He replied.