Chapter 23: Killing A First Commandment Hobgoblin [1]
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"Starforger? Like, from the Starforger clan?" Peacexelr gasped.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Starforger class is a pseudo-mythic class," Null questioned, yet Poisonlily remained silent without any intention of saying anything. However, that was enough to confirm Null's suspicions.
Of course, he wasn't intimidated in the least. He had a Class that could only be considered as something above the mythic rank, and while it might look like a curse on the surface, he saw himself growing faster than ever, so he wasn't about to complain.
"You finally made it?" A burly man no older than 22 years old crossed his arms and looked at Null's incoming group with a curious glance.
"Sorry for the wait. Are we ready to move?" Poisonlily asked as her gaze swept past all her teammates.
"Yep. We have all our supplies on hand. Firstly, We should get into formation so as to not separate or be attacked suddenly. We can have the scouts check the areas in front of us later on if need be." Damien explained while the rest nodded.
Looking at Relish, Null nodded his head while Relish nodded back after feeling Null's gaze.
"Got it, boss." Relish nodded.
"Null and Relish will be at the front, so your main goal will be to stop the enemy from attacking the rest of us. The rest of you spread out and surround us in a semicircle formation with the mages at the back.
Monarch, you will be right behind them, so you'll have to take the brunt of the attacks in Relish's and Null's stead if they let one go on accident." Damien explained.
Null didn't mind the arrangement, so he didn't complain; however, someone else had a complaint.
"What about Trisha and me? You know, we are also close range fighters." Rosepetal voiced.
"Oh, sorry... You seem to have slipped my mind." Damien gave a charming yet apologetic smile that shut Rosepetal's mouth.
'Damn these handsome people...' many of the men thought simultaneously.
"Peacexelr... A very hard name to pronounce, but you can stay with the ladies since you're an archer, and we'll need you as support alongside Grisha and Poisonlily. The beautiful Miss Rose and Miss Trisha can stay behind Monarch guarding the sides and protecting our support, while Osmygold will guard the support from behind. Transcendent will be all over the place helping us where he can, while Oracle will be doing whatever she sees fit." Damien explained, yet his expression became serious instead of descending into silence.
"A few goblin scouts up ahead." Null announced, making Damien widen his eyes in surprise. However, his surprise did not last long as he returned to reality and ordered everyone to get into their formations.
"You've got good senses..." Relish commented while brandishing his short swords created out of black metal.
"Thank you. Your sword is quite... adequate." Null complimented, if it could even be called that.
*Sching*
*Click*
Null quickly unsheathed and sheathed, and in the blink of an eye, a goblin fell to the ground in a sequence of two thuds, one lighter than the other.
"I have to say, these ones are quite weak." Null commented while the rest looked on with widened eyes or raised brows.
Most of them didn't see the blade as it cut through the air; the only ones who did were Transcendent and Damien.
"Hey, dude... Are you sure you're not in the first commandment?" Relish chuckled, but instead of getting a reply, he saw Null enter his own shadow before appearing behind him.
*Sching*
*Thud*
"I suggest you try being a little more alert." Null sighed and stepped over the headless corpse on the ground.
Null and Relish continued to slaughter the goblins in their path easily, yet the rest of the group was not having as much fun.
"I swear, these things just keep coming!" Monarch cursed as he cut down another goblin.
"I know, right? It's like they're coming out of nowhere!" Rosepetal exclaimed as she blocked a goblin's crude sword with her shield.
"You're telling me! I just killed like 20 of them, and yet there are still so many!" Trishaless complained as she beheaded a goblin with her giant ax.
"Well, what did you expect? This is a goblin raid, after all." Poisonlily sighed as she blasted a group of goblins with a barrage of arrows created from a green poison mist.
"Yeah, but still! This is just too much!" Monarch protested.
pAnD a(-)n0ve1.com "Hmph, you're just too weak." Grisha scoffed as he unleashed a torrent of mana blasts at the incoming goblins.
"Hey! I could say the same thing to you!" Monarch retorted, but he was interrupted by the sound of an arrow piercing through the air.
"What the-?" Monarch cursed and turned around just in time to see an arrow aimed at his face.
*Thud*
"Urgh! That hurt..." Monarch cursed and clutched his forehead; he had just been hit with an arrow
"You okay?" Damien asked as he stopped a goblin from attacking Monarch from behind.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just pissed that I got hit." Monarch grunted and cut down the goblin in front of him with a single slash.
Since the arrow had simply bounced off his skin, he wasn't too hurt, but his face had become extremely red. Looking at him, Null could not figure out whether he was red because of the boiling anger waiting to explode out of him due to being hit by an arrow or the pain he was feeling.
"Good. Now focus on the enemy instead of playing with them like you usually do. You are our tank after all." Damien sighed.
While the rest of the team was busy fighting off the goblins, Transcendent was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, where's Transcendent?" Poisonlily asked as she scanned the surroundings.
"He's probably doing something... Transcendent-like." Damien shrugged.
"I don't see him anywhere." Poisonlily insisted.
"Well, he's not with us, so he's probably scouting ahead or something." Damien shrugged again.
"You're telling me that he's scouting ahead by himself? That's way too dangerous!" Poisonlily exclaimed.
Null, however, could not help but raise a brow. Wasn't it his job to go ahead and report on anything he could see? However, he did not blame them for not allowing him to go ahead; after all, who wants someone who hasn't reached the first commandment to scout out the enemy forces?
"Relax. Transcendent can take care of himself." Damien assured.
"But still..." Poisonlily sighed.
"Are you worried about him?" Damien asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course not! I'm just worried about the team's safety, that's all." Poisonlily denied.
"Yeah, I'm sure you are." Damien chuckled.
The group continued to fight their way towards the boss's location, yet they were stopped in their tracks by the sudden appearance of a Goblin that emanated an aura much stronger than the rest.
"What the hell? Where did this guy come from?" Monarch cursed and blocked a powerful slash from the goblin's greatsword.
"I don't know, but we need to take him down quickly, or we're all dead." Damien growled and stabbed the goblin in the side with his spear.
"No shit! You think we don't know that?" Relish scoffed and slashed at the goblin's other side, but his swords were stopped by the goblin's greatsword.
"Oof!" Relish grunted as he was forced to take a few steps back.
"This guy is way too strong!" Monarch exclaimed as he was forced to take a few steps back as well.
"Yeah, I noticed." Damien sighed.
While the rest of the group was busy fighting the goblin, Null and Transcendent were nowhere to be seen.
In fact, they were having a problem of their own.
"I seem to be prone to trouble these days." Null sighed.
"Oh really? I think calling this situation 'trouble' is putting it lightly." Transcendent chuckled.
"Hmm... You might be right. That goblin we passed was in the initial stage of the first commandment, meaning this thing is..." Null halted his words and narrowed his eyes at the pot-bellied 15-foot-tall goblin. However, what distinguished him from the other goblins was his size, power, and equipment, which was clearly much better than all of the other goblins.
"Are you thinking of what I'm thinking?" Transcendent asked.
"If you think this is a hobgoblin, I believe you are mistaken." Null stepped forward.
"What are you doing!" Transcendent roared and tried to do something to push him back, but he could not reach him in time.
*BOOM*
An enormous bat slammed Null into the ground, or it at least seemed like it.
"You said you were live streaming this, am I correct?" Null's cold voice entered Transcendent's ears while simultaneously confusing the giant goblin.
"If yes, then let's make sure to give the audience a spectacle they will remember for the rest of their lives." Null declared as he appeared behind the enormous goblin's head, covered from head to toe in shadows with his leg stretched back, ready to let out a devastating kick.
[Shadow Enhancement]
Null's leg was engulfed in a black aura as he put all his strength into the kick.
*BOOOOM*
The impact sent the enormous goblin flying through the air, crashing into a nearby tree with such force that it was obliterated into pieces.
"That was... impressive." Transcendent murmured.
"Was it?" Null asked as he looked at the broken tree.
"Well, for someone who's not even in the first commandment yet, it was." Transcendent chuckled.
"Hmm... I see. Thank you for the compliment." Null nodded.
*ROOOOAAR*
The goblin let out a devastating roar that uprooted most of the trees in the area while sending both Null and Transcendent several steps back.
"Are you sure this thing isn't a hobgoblin?" Transcendent asked with an ounce of worry. At the same time, he was trying his best to not tumble over and crash into the trees behind him.
"I am certain. Do not worry; this thing is far too weak to be a hobgoblin. If I'm right, this must be a goblin chief. The one we left behind was a goblin general." Null explained as he slowly slid back due to the shockwave created by the roar.
"Oh, crap... So this thing is an early stage first commandment?" Transcendent frowned.
"Unfortunately. I am surprised that I am still alive, especially since my attack didn't even leave a scratch despite flinging him away." Null finally stopped sliding.
"Ugh... Don't worry, I have this under control." Transcendent narrowed his eyes and let out a deep and long sigh before clasping his hands together and parting his mouth.
"Fabrication: Blade of a Collapsing Star!" Transcendent roared at the top of his voice, causing a shockwave to shoot out in every direction and pushing Null a few steps back.
The winds stopped moving, and everything became quiet for a split second, yet that was just the calm before the storm. The winds began to increase in speed and intensity before also changing the direction of their trajectory.
*Woosh*
The wind began to focus in the middle of Transcendent's outstretched hand, and before anyone knew it, a bright light began to shine upon the lands, almost scorching them with its sheer intensity.
'How interesting...' Null mused before beginning to grin behind the mask.
Fabrication was a well-known ability used by those from the Starforger clan. It was an ability that allowed someone to recreate, or in better terms, fabricate, an item the user had seen and touched before. However, this does not mean that the user of this ability can fabricate any item, as items of higher commandments of one's own will take longer to analyze to fabricate, while some might not even work.
The Blade of a Collapsing star is a blade considered a 7th commandment weapon, capable of being wielded by anyone of the Starforger clan... The one twist, however, is that it will fall to the level of the person wielding it, making it the perfect weapon to use the fabrication ability on.
Suddenly, the light disappeared while the wind was sucked into the forming blade, and before anyone could react, a pitch-black long sword with bright white outlines appeared within Transcendent's hand.
The blade was beautiful as the pitch-black void it was created out of seemed to be decorated by thousands of small white stars glimmering in the vast infinite void. On the other hand, the white outlines looked like they were an event horizon, ready to bend the fabric of space and rip apart every atom that came within its reach.
"That was quite an impressive display... Are you showing off for the cameras?" Null asked with a chuckle after appearing at Transcendent's right.
"I don't think showing off is the correct terminology here." Transcendent retorted before lowering himself into a fighting stance.
"Is that so?" Null sighed while twirling his katana in a relaxed stance. He didn't look like a man who was about to take on a goblin chief in the early stages of the first commandment, but Transcendent didn't seem to care since he had his own problems to deal with.
*ROOOOOAAAAR*
As if trying to taunt the duo, the Goblin chief let out a sky-shaking roar, yet when it was about to touch Transcendent and Null, they moved in sync and did something no one would have expected them to do.
Taking a step to the right, Null used Transcendent to shield himself from the incoming shockwave while Transcendent slashed down to slice and open within it.
*Boom*
As if having rehearsed this battle hundreds of times, the two moved in complete fluidity, both moving in a different pattern yet somehow completely in sync with one another.
While Null moved in a semi-circular pattern to attack the goblin from the right, Transcendent shot in a straight line without any intention of moving out of the way despite an enormous bat being swung at him.
Null's katana cut through the air with such speed and force that it created an invisible shockwave that nudged the enormous bat to the side while Transcendent's blade of a collapsing star ripped through the bat as if it were paper, almost as if it were a hot knife through butter.
The goblin chief was momentarily stunned by the sudden turn of events, but he quickly regained his composure and charged at the duo with all his might.
Null and Transcendent didn't even bat an eye as they calmly side-stepped the charge and slashed at the goblin's back.
*Boom*
However, before their attacks could land, something unexpected occurred, something they had not put into their calculations when fighting the goblin chief all on their own.
The goblin chief was suddenly engulfed in orange and blue flames while its eyes slowly became red.
Simultaneously, its power began to skyrocket while its rage could be felt in the paralyzing bloodlust that was flooding out of it.
"I believe this is what we call a slight miscalculation." Null commented.
"A slight miscalculation?! We just allowed this thing to break through!" Transcendent roared, his eyes slightly fearful as he looked at the dreadful creature before them.
Truly a force to be reckoned with.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
"Starforger? Like, from the Starforger clan?" Peacexelr gasped.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Starforger class is a pseudo-mythic class," Null questioned, yet Poisonlily remained silent without any intention of saying anything. However, that was enough to confirm Null's suspicions.
Of course, he wasn't intimidated in the least. He had a Class that could only be considered as something above the mythic rank, and while it might look like a curse on the surface, he saw himself growing faster than ever, so he wasn't about to complain.
"You finally made it?" A burly man no older than 22 years old crossed his arms and looked at Null's incoming group with a curious glance.
"Sorry for the wait. Are we ready to move?" Poisonlily asked as her gaze swept past all her teammates.
"Yep. We have all our supplies on hand. Firstly, We should get into formation so as to not separate or be attacked suddenly. We can have the scouts check the areas in front of us later on if need be." Damien explained while the rest nodded.
Looking at Relish, Null nodded his head while Relish nodded back after feeling Null's gaze.
"Got it, boss." Relish nodded.
"Null and Relish will be at the front, so your main goal will be to stop the enemy from attacking the rest of us. The rest of you spread out and surround us in a semicircle formation with the mages at the back.
Monarch, you will be right behind them, so you'll have to take the brunt of the attacks in Relish's and Null's stead if they let one go on accident." Damien explained.
Null didn't mind the arrangement, so he didn't complain; however, someone else had a complaint.
"What about Trisha and me? You know, we are also close range fighters." Rosepetal voiced.
"Oh, sorry... You seem to have slipped my mind." Damien gave a charming yet apologetic smile that shut Rosepetal's mouth.
'Damn these handsome people...' many of the men thought simultaneously.
"Peacexelr... A very hard name to pronounce, but you can stay with the ladies since you're an archer, and we'll need you as support alongside Grisha and Poisonlily. The beautiful Miss Rose and Miss Trisha can stay behind Monarch guarding the sides and protecting our support, while Osmygold will guard the support from behind. Transcendent will be all over the place helping us where he can, while Oracle will be doing whatever she sees fit." Damien explained, yet his expression became serious instead of descending into silence.
"A few goblin scouts up ahead." Null announced, making Damien widen his eyes in surprise. However, his surprise did not last long as he returned to reality and ordered everyone to get into their formations.
"You've got good senses..." Relish commented while brandishing his short swords created out of black metal.
"Thank you. Your sword is quite... adequate." Null complimented, if it could even be called that.
*Sching*
*Click*
Null quickly unsheathed and sheathed, and in the blink of an eye, a goblin fell to the ground in a sequence of two thuds, one lighter than the other.
"I have to say, these ones are quite weak." Null commented while the rest looked on with widened eyes or raised brows.
Most of them didn't see the blade as it cut through the air; the only ones who did were Transcendent and Damien.
"Hey, dude... Are you sure you're not in the first commandment?" Relish chuckled, but instead of getting a reply, he saw Null enter his own shadow before appearing behind him.
*Sching*
*Thud*
"I suggest you try being a little more alert." Null sighed and stepped over the headless corpse on the ground.
Null and Relish continued to slaughter the goblins in their path easily, yet the rest of the group was not having as much fun.
"I swear, these things just keep coming!" Monarch cursed as he cut down another goblin.
"I know, right? It's like they're coming out of nowhere!" Rosepetal exclaimed as she blocked a goblin's crude sword with her shield.
"You're telling me! I just killed like 20 of them, and yet there are still so many!" Trishaless complained as she beheaded a goblin with her giant ax.
"Well, what did you expect? This is a goblin raid, after all." Poisonlily sighed as she blasted a group of goblins with a barrage of arrows created from a green poison mist.
"Yeah, but still! This is just too much!" Monarch protested.
pAnD a(-)n0ve1.com "Hmph, you're just too weak." Grisha scoffed as he unleashed a torrent of mana blasts at the incoming goblins.
"Hey! I could say the same thing to you!" Monarch retorted, but he was interrupted by the sound of an arrow piercing through the air.
"What the-?" Monarch cursed and turned around just in time to see an arrow aimed at his face.
*Thud*
"Urgh! That hurt..." Monarch cursed and clutched his forehead; he had just been hit with an arrow
"You okay?" Damien asked as he stopped a goblin from attacking Monarch from behind.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just pissed that I got hit." Monarch grunted and cut down the goblin in front of him with a single slash.
Since the arrow had simply bounced off his skin, he wasn't too hurt, but his face had become extremely red. Looking at him, Null could not figure out whether he was red because of the boiling anger waiting to explode out of him due to being hit by an arrow or the pain he was feeling.
"Good. Now focus on the enemy instead of playing with them like you usually do. You are our tank after all." Damien sighed.
While the rest of the team was busy fighting off the goblins, Transcendent was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, where's Transcendent?" Poisonlily asked as she scanned the surroundings.
"He's probably doing something... Transcendent-like." Damien shrugged.
"I don't see him anywhere." Poisonlily insisted.
"Well, he's not with us, so he's probably scouting ahead or something." Damien shrugged again.
"You're telling me that he's scouting ahead by himself? That's way too dangerous!" Poisonlily exclaimed.
Null, however, could not help but raise a brow. Wasn't it his job to go ahead and report on anything he could see? However, he did not blame them for not allowing him to go ahead; after all, who wants someone who hasn't reached the first commandment to scout out the enemy forces?
"Relax. Transcendent can take care of himself." Damien assured.
"But still..." Poisonlily sighed.
"Are you worried about him?" Damien asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course not! I'm just worried about the team's safety, that's all." Poisonlily denied.
"Yeah, I'm sure you are." Damien chuckled.
The group continued to fight their way towards the boss's location, yet they were stopped in their tracks by the sudden appearance of a Goblin that emanated an aura much stronger than the rest.
"What the hell? Where did this guy come from?" Monarch cursed and blocked a powerful slash from the goblin's greatsword.
"I don't know, but we need to take him down quickly, or we're all dead." Damien growled and stabbed the goblin in the side with his spear.
"No shit! You think we don't know that?" Relish scoffed and slashed at the goblin's other side, but his swords were stopped by the goblin's greatsword.
"Oof!" Relish grunted as he was forced to take a few steps back.
"This guy is way too strong!" Monarch exclaimed as he was forced to take a few steps back as well.
"Yeah, I noticed." Damien sighed.
While the rest of the group was busy fighting the goblin, Null and Transcendent were nowhere to be seen.
In fact, they were having a problem of their own.
"I seem to be prone to trouble these days." Null sighed.
"Oh really? I think calling this situation 'trouble' is putting it lightly." Transcendent chuckled.
"Hmm... You might be right. That goblin we passed was in the initial stage of the first commandment, meaning this thing is..." Null halted his words and narrowed his eyes at the pot-bellied 15-foot-tall goblin. However, what distinguished him from the other goblins was his size, power, and equipment, which was clearly much better than all of the other goblins.
"Are you thinking of what I'm thinking?" Transcendent asked.
"If you think this is a hobgoblin, I believe you are mistaken." Null stepped forward.
"What are you doing!" Transcendent roared and tried to do something to push him back, but he could not reach him in time.
*BOOM*
An enormous bat slammed Null into the ground, or it at least seemed like it.
"You said you were live streaming this, am I correct?" Null's cold voice entered Transcendent's ears while simultaneously confusing the giant goblin.
"If yes, then let's make sure to give the audience a spectacle they will remember for the rest of their lives." Null declared as he appeared behind the enormous goblin's head, covered from head to toe in shadows with his leg stretched back, ready to let out a devastating kick.
[Shadow Enhancement]
Null's leg was engulfed in a black aura as he put all his strength into the kick.
*BOOOOM*
The impact sent the enormous goblin flying through the air, crashing into a nearby tree with such force that it was obliterated into pieces.
"That was... impressive." Transcendent murmured.
"Was it?" Null asked as he looked at the broken tree.
"Well, for someone who's not even in the first commandment yet, it was." Transcendent chuckled.
"Hmm... I see. Thank you for the compliment." Null nodded.
*ROOOOAAR*
The goblin let out a devastating roar that uprooted most of the trees in the area while sending both Null and Transcendent several steps back.
"Are you sure this thing isn't a hobgoblin?" Transcendent asked with an ounce of worry. At the same time, he was trying his best to not tumble over and crash into the trees behind him.
"I am certain. Do not worry; this thing is far too weak to be a hobgoblin. If I'm right, this must be a goblin chief. The one we left behind was a goblin general." Null explained as he slowly slid back due to the shockwave created by the roar.
"Oh, crap... So this thing is an early stage first commandment?" Transcendent frowned.
"Unfortunately. I am surprised that I am still alive, especially since my attack didn't even leave a scratch despite flinging him away." Null finally stopped sliding.
"Ugh... Don't worry, I have this under control." Transcendent narrowed his eyes and let out a deep and long sigh before clasping his hands together and parting his mouth.
"Fabrication: Blade of a Collapsing Star!" Transcendent roared at the top of his voice, causing a shockwave to shoot out in every direction and pushing Null a few steps back.
The winds stopped moving, and everything became quiet for a split second, yet that was just the calm before the storm. The winds began to increase in speed and intensity before also changing the direction of their trajectory.
*Woosh*
The wind began to focus in the middle of Transcendent's outstretched hand, and before anyone knew it, a bright light began to shine upon the lands, almost scorching them with its sheer intensity.
'How interesting...' Null mused before beginning to grin behind the mask.
Fabrication was a well-known ability used by those from the Starforger clan. It was an ability that allowed someone to recreate, or in better terms, fabricate, an item the user had seen and touched before. However, this does not mean that the user of this ability can fabricate any item, as items of higher commandments of one's own will take longer to analyze to fabricate, while some might not even work.
The Blade of a Collapsing star is a blade considered a 7th commandment weapon, capable of being wielded by anyone of the Starforger clan... The one twist, however, is that it will fall to the level of the person wielding it, making it the perfect weapon to use the fabrication ability on.
Suddenly, the light disappeared while the wind was sucked into the forming blade, and before anyone could react, a pitch-black long sword with bright white outlines appeared within Transcendent's hand.
The blade was beautiful as the pitch-black void it was created out of seemed to be decorated by thousands of small white stars glimmering in the vast infinite void. On the other hand, the white outlines looked like they were an event horizon, ready to bend the fabric of space and rip apart every atom that came within its reach.
"That was quite an impressive display... Are you showing off for the cameras?" Null asked with a chuckle after appearing at Transcendent's right.
"I don't think showing off is the correct terminology here." Transcendent retorted before lowering himself into a fighting stance.
"Is that so?" Null sighed while twirling his katana in a relaxed stance. He didn't look like a man who was about to take on a goblin chief in the early stages of the first commandment, but Transcendent didn't seem to care since he had his own problems to deal with.
*ROOOOOAAAAR*
As if trying to taunt the duo, the Goblin chief let out a sky-shaking roar, yet when it was about to touch Transcendent and Null, they moved in sync and did something no one would have expected them to do.
Taking a step to the right, Null used Transcendent to shield himself from the incoming shockwave while Transcendent slashed down to slice and open within it.
*Boom*
As if having rehearsed this battle hundreds of times, the two moved in complete fluidity, both moving in a different pattern yet somehow completely in sync with one another.
While Null moved in a semi-circular pattern to attack the goblin from the right, Transcendent shot in a straight line without any intention of moving out of the way despite an enormous bat being swung at him.
Null's katana cut through the air with such speed and force that it created an invisible shockwave that nudged the enormous bat to the side while Transcendent's blade of a collapsing star ripped through the bat as if it were paper, almost as if it were a hot knife through butter.
The goblin chief was momentarily stunned by the sudden turn of events, but he quickly regained his composure and charged at the duo with all his might.
Null and Transcendent didn't even bat an eye as they calmly side-stepped the charge and slashed at the goblin's back.
*Boom*
However, before their attacks could land, something unexpected occurred, something they had not put into their calculations when fighting the goblin chief all on their own.
The goblin chief was suddenly engulfed in orange and blue flames while its eyes slowly became red.
Simultaneously, its power began to skyrocket while its rage could be felt in the paralyzing bloodlust that was flooding out of it.
"I believe this is what we call a slight miscalculation." Null commented.
"A slight miscalculation?! We just allowed this thing to break through!" Transcendent roared, his eyes slightly fearful as he looked at the dreadful creature before them.
Truly a force to be reckoned with.
"Starforger? Like, from the Starforger clan?" Peacexelr gasped."Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Starforger class is a pseudo-mythic class," Null questioned, yet Poisonlily remained silent without any intention of saying anything. However, that was enough to confirm Null's suspicions.Of course, he wasn't intimidated in the least. He had a Class that could only be considered as something above the mythic rank, and while it might look like a curse on the surface, he saw himself growing faster than ever, so he wasn't about to complain."You finally made it?" A burly man no older than 22 years old crossed his arms and looked at Null's incoming group with a curious glance."Sorry for the wait. Are we ready to move?" Poisonlily asked as her gaze swept past all her teammates."Yep. We have all our supplies on hand. Firstly, We should get into formation so as to not separate or be attacked suddenly. We can have the scouts check the areas in front of us later on if need be." Damien explained while the rest nodded.Looking at Relish, Null nodded his head while Relish nodded back after feeling Null's gaze."Got it, boss." Relish nodded."Null and Relish will be at the front, so your main goal will be to stop the enemy from attacking the rest of us. The rest of you spread out and surround us in a semicircle formation with the mages at the back.Monarch, you will be right behind them, so you'll have to take the brunt of the attacks in Relish's and Null's stead if they let one go on accident." Damien explained.Null didn't mind the arrangement, so he didn't complain; however, someone else had a complaint."What about Trisha and me? You know, we are also close range fighters." Rosepetal voiced."Oh, sorry... You seem to have slipped my mind." Damien gave a charming yet apologetic smile that shut Rosepetal's mouth.'Damn these handsome people...' many of the men thought simultaneously."Peacexelr... A very hard name to pronounce, but you can stay with the ladies since you're an archer, and we'll need you as support alongside Grisha and Poisonlily. The beautiful Miss Rose and Miss Trisha can stay behind Monarch guarding the sides and protecting our support, while Osmygold will guard the support from behind. Transcendent will be all over the place helping us where he can, while Oracle will be doing whatever she sees fit." Damien explained, yet his expression became serious instead of descending into silence."A few goblin scouts up ahead." Null announced, making Damien widen his eyes in surprise. However, his surprise did not last long as he returned to reality and ordered everyone to get into their formations."You've got good senses..." Relish commented while brandishing his short swords created out of black metal."Thank you. Your sword is quite... adequate." Null complimented, if it could even be called that.*Sching**Click*Null quickly unsheathed and sheathed, and in the blink of an eye, a goblin fell to the ground in a sequence of two thuds, one lighter than the other."I have to say, these ones are quite weak." Null commented while the rest looked on with widened eyes or raised brows.Most of them didn't see the blade as it cut through the air; the only ones who did were Transcendent and Damien."Hey, dude... Are you sure you're not in the first commandment?" Relish chuckled, but instead of getting a reply, he saw Null enter his own shadow before appearing behind him.*Sching**Thud*"I suggest you try being a little more alert." Null sighed and stepped over the headless corpse on the ground.Null and Relish continued to slaughter the goblins in their path easily, yet the rest of the group was not having as much fun."I swear, these things just keep coming!" Monarch cursed as he cut down another goblin."I know, right? It's like they're coming out of nowhere!" Rosepetal exclaimed as she blocked a goblin's crude sword with her shield."You're telling me! I just killed like 20 of them, and yet there are still so many!" Trishaless complained as she beheaded a goblin with her giant ax."Well, what did you expect? This is a goblin raid, after all." Poisonlily sighed as she blasted a group of goblins with a barrage of arrows created from a green poison mist."Yeah, but still! This is just too much!" Monarch protested.pAnD a-n0ve1.com "Hmph, you're just too weak." Grisha scoffed as he unleashed a torrent of mana blasts at the incoming goblins."Hey! I could say the same thing to you!" Monarch retorted, but he was interrupted by the sound of an arrow piercing through the air."What the-?" Monarch cursed and turned around just in time to see an arrow aimed at his face.*Thud*"Urgh! That hurt..." Monarch cursed and clutched his forehead; he had just been hit with an arrow"You okay?" Damien asked as he stopped a goblin from attacking Monarch from behind."Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just pissed that I got hit." Monarch grunted and cut down the goblin in front of him with a single slash.Since the arrow had simply bounced off his skin, he wasn't too hurt, but his face had become extremely red. Looking at him, Null could not figure out whether he was red because of the boiling anger waiting to explode out of him due to being hit by an arrow or the pain he was feeling."Good. Now focus on the enemy instead of playing with them like you usually do. You are our tank after all." Damien sighed.While the rest of the team was busy fighting off the goblins, Transcendent was nowhere to be seen."Hey, where's Transcendent?" Poisonlily asked as she scanned the surroundings."He's probably doing something... Transcendent-like." Damien shrugged."I don't see him anywhere." Poisonlily insisted."Well, he's not with us, so he's probably scouting ahead or something." Damien shrugged again."You're telling me that he's scouting ahead by himself? That's way too dangerous!" Poisonlily exclaimed.Null, however, could not help but raise a brow. Wasn't it his job to go ahead and report on anything he could see? However, he did not blame them for not allowing him to go ahead; after all, who wants someone who hasn't reached the first commandment to scout out the enemy forces?"Relax. Transcendent can take care of himself." Damien assured."But still..." Poisonlily sighed."Are you worried about him?" Damien asked with a raised eyebrow."Of course not! I'm just worried about the team's safety, that's all." Poisonlily denied."Yeah, I'm sure you are." Damien chuckled.The group continued to fight their way towards the boss's location, yet they were stopped in their tracks by the sudden appearance of a Goblin that emanated an aura much stronger than the rest."What the hell? Where did this guy come from?" Monarch cursed and blocked a powerful slash from the goblin's greatsword."I don't know, but we need to take him down quickly, or we're all dead." Damien growled and stabbed the goblin in the side with his spear."No shit! You think we don't know that?" Relish scoffed and slashed at the goblin's other side, but his swords were stopped by the goblin's greatsword. "Oof!" Relish grunted as he was forced to take a few steps back."This guy is way too strong!" Monarch exclaimed as he was forced to take a few steps back as well."Yeah, I noticed." Damien sighed.While the rest of the group was busy fighting the goblin, Null and Transcendent were nowhere to be seen.In fact, they were having a problem of their own."I seem to be prone to trouble these days." Null sighed."Oh really? I think calling this situation 'trouble' is putting it lightly." Transcendent chuckled."Hmm... You might be right. That goblin we passed was in the initial stage of the first commandment, meaning this thing is..." Null halted his words and narrowed his eyes at the pot-bellied 15-foot-tall goblin. However, what distinguished him from the other goblins was his size, power, and equipment, which was clearly much better than all of the other goblins."Are you thinking of what I'm thinking?" Transcendent asked."If you think this is a hobgoblin, I believe you are mistaken." Null stepped forward."What are you doing!" Transcendent roared and tried to do something to push him back, but he could not reach him in time.*BOOM*An enormous bat slammed Null into the ground, or it at least seemed like it."You said you were live streaming this, am I correct?" Null's cold voice entered Transcendent's ears while simultaneously confusing the giant goblin."If yes, then let's make sure to give the audience a spectacle they will remember for the rest of their lives." Null declared as he appeared behind the enormous goblin's head, covered from head to toe in shadows with his leg stretched back, ready to let out a devastating kick.Shadow EnhancementNull's leg was engulfed in a black aura as he put all his strength into the kick.*BOOOOM*The impact sent the enormous goblin flying through the air, crashing into a nearby tree with such force that it was obliterated into pieces."That was... impressive." Transcendent murmured."Was it?" Null asked as he looked at the broken tree."Well, for someone who's not even in the first commandment yet, it was." Transcendent chuckled."Hmm... I see. Thank you for the compliment." Null nodded.*ROOOOAAR*The goblin let out a devastating roar that uprooted most of the trees in the area while sending both Null and Transcendent several steps back."Are you sure this thing isn't a hobgoblin?" Transcendent asked with an ounce of worry. At the same time, he was trying his best to not tumble over and crash into the trees behind him."I am certain. Do not worry; this thing is far too weak to be a hobgoblin. If I'm right, this must be a goblin chief. The one we left behind was a goblin general." Null explained as he slowly slid back due to the shockwave created by the roar."Oh, crap... So this thing is an early stage first commandment?" Transcendent frowned."Unfortunately. I am surprised that I am still alive, especially since my attack didn't even leave a scratch despite flinging him away." Null finally stopped sliding."Ugh... Don't worry, I have this under control." Transcendent narrowed his eyes and let out a deep and long sigh before clasping his hands together and parting his mouth."Fabrication: Blade of a Collapsing Star!" Transcendent roared at the top of his voice, causing a shockwave to shoot out in every direction and pushing Null a few steps back.The winds stopped moving, and everything became quiet for a split second, yet that was just the calm before the storm. The winds began to increase in speed and intensity before also changing the direction of their trajectory.*Woosh*The wind began to focus in the middle of Transcendent's outstretched hand, and before anyone knew it, a bright light began to shine upon the lands, almost scorching them with its sheer intensity.'How interesting...' Null mused before beginning to grin behind the mask.Fabrication was a well-known ability used by those from the Starforger clan. It was an ability that allowed someone to recreate, or in better terms, fabricate, an item the user had seen and touched before. However, this does not mean that the user of this ability can fabricate any item, as items of higher commandments of one's own will take longer to analyze to fabricate, while some might not even work.The Blade of a Collapsing star is a blade considered a 7th commandment weapon, capable of being wielded by anyone of the Starforger clan... The one twist, however, is that it will fall to the level of the person wielding it, making it the perfect weapon to use the fabrication ability on.Suddenly, the light disappeared while the wind was sucked into the forming blade, and before anyone could react, a pitch-black long sword with bright white outlines appeared within Transcendent's hand.The blade was beautiful as the pitch-black void it was created out of seemed to be decorated by thousands of small white stars glimmering in the vast infinite void. On the other hand, the white outlines looked like they were an event horizon, ready to bend the fabric of space and rip apart every atom that came within its reach."That was quite an impressive display... Are you showing off for the cameras?" Null asked with a chuckle after appearing at Transcendent's right."I don't think showing off is the correct terminology here." Transcendent retorted before lowering himself into a fighting stance."Is that so?" Null sighed while twirling his katana in a relaxed stance. He didn't look like a man who was about to take on a goblin chief in the early stages of the first commandment, but Transcendent didn't seem to care since he had his own problems to deal with.*ROOOOOAAAAR*As if trying to taunt the duo, the Goblin chief let out a sky-shaking roar, yet when it was about to touch Transcendent and Null, they moved in sync and did something no one would have expected them to do.Taking a step to the right, Null used Transcendent to shield himself from the incoming shockwave while Transcendent slashed down to slice and open within it.*Boom*As if having rehearsed this battle hundreds of times, the two moved in complete fluidity, both moving in a different pattern yet somehow completely in sync with one another.While Null moved in a semi-circular pattern to attack the goblin from the right, Transcendent shot in a straight line without any intention of moving out of the way despite an enormous bat being swung at him.Null's katana cut through the air with such speed and force that it created an invisible shockwave that nudged the enormous bat to the side while Transcendent's blade of a collapsing star ripped through the bat as if it were paper, almost as if it were a hot knife through butter.The goblin chief was momentarily stunned by the sudden turn of events, but he quickly regained his composure and charged at the duo with all his might.Null and Transcendent didn't even bat an eye as they calmly side-stepped the charge and slashed at the goblin's back.*Boom*However, before their attacks could land, something unexpected occurred, something they had not put into their calculations when fighting the goblin chief all on their own.The goblin chief was suddenly engulfed in orange and blue flames while its eyes slowly became red.Simultaneously, its power began to skyrocket while its rage could be felt in the paralyzing bloodlust that was flooding out of it."I believe this is what we call a slight miscalculation." Null commented."A slight miscalculation?! We just allowed this thing to break through!" Transcendent roared, his eyes slightly fearful as he looked at the dreadful creature before them.Truly a force to be reckoned with.
