* * *
Joe calmed after the goblin king died, his eyes focused on the noble golden goblin and his stance prepared for anything. Joe maintained his calm and place, refusing to close with the new monster especially as the spark remained alive, albeit trapped and grounded by the spear. Joe kept his entire being on the golden goblin, unmoving, but as the time passed and no change occurred, his rational mind began kicking in, the seeming lack of danger releasing his trapped ego from the grip of his combat madness.
As his rationality came to the fore and begin to question the lack of response, he refused to stand, his body still low to maintain a low center of gravity and prepared for any attack. However, his mind began to question the golden goblin’s lack of response. He looked at the golden goblin’s placid stance and calm face, the sneer long gone from its face. Despite the blank look, Joe was able to feel the tangible hatred flowing off the creature in waves, its eyes a well to the very elemental source of rage itself. Contrary to the calm and upright stance that the golden goblin maintained, Joe only felt even greater danger as he realized that this was a creature capable of keeping its anger in check, turning it to a cold rage.
Why isn’t he moving? Why didn’t he attack? It’s not honor. He had no problem sending the mukfrog for my friends even when I was still fighting the slime. He even sent all three! Although it looks like he sent the mukfrog the earliest. Doesn’t matter. Honor’s not holding it back… why?
Joe flickered his eyes down at the dais, wonder coming to his eyes as he realized that its five generals had stood on the steps and not up on the dais with it. Trapped? Joe considered whether the creature was trapped, but decided he would wait to test things until the spark was dead and he had his spear back. Better safe than sorry!
The next thirty minutes of waiting for the screeches to end turned quickly from tension to sigh filled boredom, soon joined by the scared but relaxing students behind him as they began whispering with one another. Finally, the spark died, but Joe was cautious and decided to make sure the kids would be fine even if the golden goblin suddenly decided to attack.
“Garnedell!”
“Yes, m… Joe?”
“I need to keep an eye on this golden goblin. Can you grab the spear and bring it back? Be careful! It’s very hot! Use one of the water canteens to douse it and bring it back to me.”
“Yes, Joe.”
Joe heard movement then a patter of feet as Garnedel moved up behind him. Joe waved Garnedell into the colonnade after he reached near him then stepped forward carefully to maintain pace with the kid.
“I’ll stay with you, Garnedell, but run to me fast if I yell, OK?”
Joe heard a quiet grunt but didn’t pass Joe on their journey down the hall. Although Garnedell felt a bit separated because of the columns between them, Joe stayed in front of Garnedell to protect him. Making it to the spear, Joe stepped forward another half a colonnade arch waiting for Garnedell to finish his task.
Joe kept his eyes focused on the golden goblin, and quickly noticed that the beast seemed shiver in delight and greater anticipation as Joe got closer and closer. However, when Garnedell had finished dousing the spear to take it back to the doorway and Joe stepped back to keep him covered, Joe realized that the golden goblin wasn’t as calm as he played. The beast growled in anger and actually hunched forward, reaching a hand forward before stopping his hand quickly, almost with a hint of fear, before standing again and almost immediately returning to his calm façade. He’s stuck there! He’s stuck on the dias!
The realization struck Joe with relief and surprise and he soon stood up, finally relaxed after the long wait for the sparks death. Joe still made sure to face the creature, but he stood and no longer stayed in a wary crouch, backing away slowly. When he reached the door, he watched closely as he slid down to rest. When he was seated, he kept a tense eye on the creature while his fears slowly abated only time.
After a few moments, Joe finally decided his assumption was correct and spoke to the other three quickly, “I really need rest. Can you guys keep your eye on him? Just give me a bit before I head back out.”
The three replied in a hurried mismatch of affirmations but Joe took it and let his head thump back against the door. He rejected the temptation to close his eyes and simply allowed himself to rest his body while his eyes stared back across the hallway at the creature.
As Joe sat, he noticed the golden goblin’s anger increasing, his face becoming grotesque in rage. Joe kept his satisfaction hidden, not allowing any smirk to form on his face for an angry foe was a dangerous one, but he was quite happy to see it as it confirmed his guess. I’ll get some rest, I guess.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Despite his certainty, Joe didn’t allow his eyes to leave from the monster and focused on him intensely. Soon, the other three had settled and Joe could tell that they had calmed down as they began talking amongst themselves. Joe didn’t really listen in, his mind more focused on keeping the monster carefully in sight while also going over his options. The more he thought about his choices, the more he was certain that he really didn’t want to fight this creature. Someone who could be the king of those five… Joe didn’t even want to think about it, although he had been able to take on his opponents without too much issue, he didn’t want to push it. He had to make sure he could get his minimum stats as well as some weapons available to him, although the latter was less important because he already had the bow unlocked and would soon have the cudgel as well. He would like to at least have access to a spear as well, but he still had considerable time and while a cudgel wasn’t always the best, he had the shield to help him as well.
I really need armor as well! The realization came to him rather quickly. It hadn’t really been an issue because all his martial training back on earth had little focus on defensive materials like armor or shields. All his training was focused on using his own capabilities to defend himself, not on passives such as breastplates and pauldrons. Even shields were not well practiced, ironically, even though he was given some serious training in various weaponry. Joe felt his anger begin flooding his mind and quickly swept it clear. It hadn’t really crossed his mind in the entire time he’d been here, simply because the majority of his close combat experience had been against slimes and sparks. Armor against slimes was meaningless, and could even slow him down. Against sparks, it could even make it worse, whether it was metal or leather, as metal was an excellent conductor and all the electrolytes and sweat the leather would accumulate would have also turned it into an excellent conductor. This last trip through the dungeon and another fight with two creatures who could use bladed weapons made him quite nervous to be walking around without armor.
Joe shook his head, reprimanding himself but also clearing his mind to focus on the current combat situation. Don’t really want to fight this guy. Not even sure what or who it… he is. No understanding of its abilities, but it has to be stronger than the other five. Need to leave and learn more. Besides, the last fight with the goblin king had shaken Joe deeply. Up till this point, all his fights had been easily within his capabilities, even the original goblin king on the first floor had never really pushed him. True, he had no choice but to fight, but the creature had simply charged in and fought. Both the mukfrog and goblin king, despite being tool users, fought in a way that seemed a bit mechanical, which gave Joe an edge, allowing himself to guide to flow of combat. The fight just now, against the goblin king, had been completely different and required significantly more and had been right on the edge of what Joe was able to handle. If the goblin king was pushing me, then this golden goblin… Besides, my arm is still tingling from that blast from the snow. Joe came to his decision and stood, bringing the other three out of their tense conversation as they flickered glances between each other and the golden goblin.
“Right. We’re not sticking around. Let’s turn around and head out of here. Garnedell? Zilnek? Mind opening the door so we can back out of here?”
Joe didn’t turn, maintaining line of sight with the golden goblin. He did quickly realize nothing was happening, but refused to break sight and asked quickly, “Guys? Why aren’t you…” Joe cut himself short, not wishing to be accusative and change his slightly negative tone and the question, “What’s going on?”
There was a moment of silence, and Joe could almost feel the two glancing at one another before he heard Garnedell reply, “Joe. We cannot leave.”
Joe’s eyes narrowed, eyebrows crunching downward, “Can’t? You can’t open the door? Did you try?”
“I… uh… master. We can’t leave a boss fight.”
“Did you try the door?”
“No, Joe.”
“Please try the door.”
Joe didn’t hear anything for a while, growing frustrated with the lack of action from the two, but then finally heard the two boys shuffling their feet followed by heavy grunting and the sliding of feet as they tried to shove open the door. Joe waited for several moments but said nothing, and soon the grunting stopped.
“Joe… we can’t.”
Joe frowned, a bit worried to turn his eyes away but couldn’t think of any other options, “OK. Well...” Joe trailed off a bit, thoughts churning but found nothing and decided he had no choice. “You guys look at the golden goblin. Don’t take your eyes off him. Shout if he even moves! Got it?”
Three cries of ‘yes’ with a few ‘masters’ and a ‘Joe’ at the end had all three standing beside him and staring at the creature. Joe watched carefully for a few moments before quickly glancing behind him. His eyes played across the door, catching every detail as quickly as he could before looking forward.
The door was rather simple, if ridiculously large, with no key hole or and mechanical knob of any kind. Only two round rings hung from each door, obviously to be used to open the door. Why give door handles unless you can open the door?
When Joe’s eyes returned from taking in the door, his heart rapidly sank as he saw the mocking smirk on the golden goblin’s face, replacing the creature’s obvious rage. Whelp… that’s not good.
Joe reached a hand back, keeping his eye on the golden goblin and fumbled for a handle. Even as his hand scrambled across the door surface, the creature’s smile grew and Joe’s heart dropped, a grimace morphing Joe’s face. His hand scrabbled until he felt a handle and gave it an experimental tug. With that failure, Joe put quite a bit more effort into his pull, his whole body tensing as he yanked on the door. His tension rose even more while in contrast, the golden goblin seemed to relax its whole body, a pleased, roaring laughter echoing through the hall.
Joe grimaced, "Well ..." then floundered, unable to find anything to adequately describe the current situation except an explosive expletive. It echoed through the grand hall, accompanying the golden goblin's laughter.