Crit was still holding a sword in each hand. By this time, however, the swords were already covered in green ichor. In fact, he was covered in green slimy liquid from neck down. Surprisingly, he still seemed unamused. It seemed like he didn’t even have a hard time fighting his share of the Goblin army.

The corpses of Goblins were just lying around him. Most of which were reduced to lifeless hunks of meat, but those who did survive were already on the brink of death. I caught myself being slack-jawed upon seeing Crit’s exploit.

However, the battle hadn’t ended yet. When I looked up, another barrage of arrows was already arching towards me. When I looked down, my share of Goblins continued their charge, weapons at hand. I was left with little room of escape.

Still, I couldn’t just stand still and wait to see whether the arrows or the Goblins would reach me first. As the only safe route left, I started to backpedal. The Goblins continued their charge, which resulted in a few heavy thumps. Just then, two Goblins fell. Two arrows had landed around the area where I was just in, and it just so happened that the unfortunate Goblins got to my position in a very unfortunate time.

Even with two less Goblins, there were still a considerable amount of blood-thirsty green devils hot on my trails. I continued to backpedal, but my back suddenly hit something hard. I lost my balance and fell on my butt. I looked up, and standing right behind me was Crit.

“What are you doing? Go on and finish this already.”

Before I could even ask what he meant, my entire body was already lifted off the ground. Crit’s hand, which was holding my arm, felt like a vice grip. He pulled me up my feet, then the next thing I knew was that the ground below me started to rumble.

The next moment, I was flying over the Goblins. In order to keep the Goblins’ attention, Crit held both of his swords above his head. A bright blue aura enveloped his swords and even extended a few meters above his head. I might’ve been seeing things, but it seemed like Crit was holding a gigantic sword made of light at that moment. Then, he swung the sword downwards.

As big as it was, the sword was very slow. It didn’t even hit the Goblins. However, Crit still accomplished his objective. The Goblins’ attentions were already locked on him.

I could feel myself descending, so I whipped my head forwards. Even though I managed to get over the Goblins, the Goblin leader was pulling another barrage of arrows. This time, it didn’t point towards the sky. Instead, it aimed at me, then released all four arrows at once.

Firing four arrows at once, I assumed its precision should’ve diminished. However, I was too close to it to even notice if there was a difference. Four arrows pierced the air and zoomed towards me. I was still in midair and had no mana, so I couldn’t maneuver my way out of that attack.

I quickly pulled my sword in front of my face. The last thing I wanted was an arrow sticking out of my head. Sure enough, a loud clang came off the sword followed by a numbing vibration. Two arrows barely hit, so I figured the Goblin’s aim was indeed not that great.

Just then, a sharp sting came from my shoulder just as my feet touched the ground. The pain was sharp, and it only worsened by the impact of my landing.

“Ahhh!” I wailed. The pain hit me like a train when the adrenaline rush ended.

I looked at my left shoulder. Indeed, the dirty feather end of the arrow was sticking out of it. I tried clenching and curling my hand only to be greeted by greater pain. Fortunately, it wasn’t my dominant hand, but it was still an annoying handicap.

I looked at the Goblin leader, who was already reading his next volley. I gritted my teeth, cursing the Goblin for not giving me any break, then held my sword tightly. A quick glance at my character sheet revealed that my mana was still at zero. I could only rely on my physical skills.

I started running, trying to ignore the frequent pain coming from my shoulder every time I took a step. However, I knew it was easier to get shot at and dodge incoming arrows while running. Also, my experience taught me that fighting range enemies at close quarters was my best bet in winning, and I definitely needed to do everything I could to increase my chances.

It seemed like my strategy was working as the Goblin tried to track my movement. Seeing that, I made sure to sidestep every now and then to throw its aiming off. After a few more steps, the Goblin let out a loud growl.

It didn’t seem to like my antics, so I obliged and went out of my way to move more erratically even though my shoulder was killing me. The Goblin let out another growl, then four arrows whizzed past me. Surely, my tactic was working, as the arrows were far off their target.

The Goblin reached out to get more arrows. I planted my foot on the ground, stopping me on my tracks. That was the opening I was waiting for, so I made sure not to let my efforts go to waste.

My erratic movements allowed me to close my distance from the Goblin, and I started charging towards it. At this point, there were only a couple of meters between us.

When the Goblin saw my advance, it let out a low growl. I wasn’t sure whether it was fear or anger, but I was certain I could see the Goblin scowl. However, I wasn’t soft enough to take pity at the last moment.

Using my momentum and every inch of strength I could muster, I swung my sword towards the Goblin’s stomach. I could feel tough resistance from the sword, the moment it touched the Goblin’s skin. However, the blade didn’t sink. Instead, it simply left a shallow cut then scraped the surface. It felt like I was trying to strike a thick leather.

I gritted my teeth. That was the best opportunity, and perhaps, the only one I would get. Despite the lack of damage, the Goblin was scowling deeply.

It backpedaled, then stared at me. I wasn’t kind enough to let the Goblin use its bow and arrow again. True enough, the Goblin didn’t seem to expect that. It growled, then flailed its arms. That was cue to launch a second attack.

Similar to the first one, this one only scraped the Goblin’s skin. This time, however, the Goblin didn’t just take my attack standing still. It growled at me, then haphazardly fired a volley of arrows. But since I was basically an arm away from it, none of it managed to even pose a threat.

However, I was also unable to deal any damage of any sort. We somehow reached a stalemate. Just then, the sharp pang of pain erupted from my shoulder. It was a hard reminder that I was getting myself deeper into disadvantage the longer the fight went on.

I gritted my teeth, grabbed my sword tighter, then rushed once more. I tried to slash the Goblin’s stomach, but the strength from using one arm just wasn’t enough to deal considerable damage. My flurry of attacks were merely dealing shallow cuts, but without its bow, the Goblin couldn’t deal any damage to me as well. It only got more and more furious as more of my attacks landed.

Just then, it let out a loud roar. I grabbed that chance to side-step and kick the side of the Goblin’s feet. It lost its balance, then fell to the ground with a loud thud. Without wasting another second, I pounced at the falling Goblin with my sword above my head. Using all my strength, I plunged the pointed end of my sword down the Goblin’s throat.

With the help of the fall’s momentum and all the strength my right hand could muster, the sword managed to cut through about a quarter of the Goblin’s throat. However, it still wasn’t deep enough. The Goblin was frantically trying to claw and kick me in order to dismount me.

I grabbed the hilt of my sword with my other hand, then pushed with all my might.

“Ahhh!!!” I shouted as the unwelcome pain hit me once more. Despite the pain, I continued to push as hard as I could.

My sword started to sink further and further until the Goblin finally stopped flailing. When I looked down, a fourth of the sword had already sunk into the Goblin’s throat, and green ichor was flowing around the blade.

Seeing my opponent’s corpse, my knees finally buckled and my body collapsed. The searing pain from the arrow almost made me black out, but a loud ting caught my attention. As expected, a blue window popped up.

[Congratulations! You leveled up! You’re current level is 12]