As W and his goblins trekked on they came across no hindrances. For some reason that gave W an eerie feeling.
'We should speed up' In the end, all he did to combat this was to hurry the goblins. They were all behind him initially but as the march continued it started to resemble something more of a holy pilgrimage than a move.
Some goblins would become exhausted and carried by others and even W himself now had two on his shoulder. To make matters worse, they kept on touching his body.
'This strength blessing came back to bite me in such a strange way…' W muttered inwardly before slapping the hand of one of the goblins. The fantasy world he lived in only became weirder the longer he lived in it.
'To be harassed by gob-' W who was in the midst of his complaining suddenly turned solemn after seeing a dagger fly past him.
"Tsk" Someone then said. W tried to turn to them but before he knew it there was a second dagger.
"Urgh…!" The dagger which was aimed at his foot caused W to grunt in pain and drop the two goblins who he carried.
W no longer cared about them however, his own life was in danger. He stood up hurriedly while suppressing the pain and tried to figure out the location from whence the voice and daggers came but it was futile. There was no one.
The only evidence that he wasn't going insane was the constant aching pain and the blood that oozed from the injury.
The goblins who realized there was an intruder all started to shriek and squeal what W assumed were mean words at the assassin.
'Find him!' W ordered before a dagger landed squarely on his back.
But just as he turned another hit his back. In that case... He was being toyed with.
Unwilling to this fate W cast a glare up towards the leaf-covered sky, where he caught sight of a dark figure whizzing towards his head. Not wasting a second, he promptly stepped aside. The throwing knife sunk into the ground next to him and W managed to get a glimpse of the figure that hid in the thick canopy.
[Human (Disappointed)]
His split-second thinking made him do an assessment but it was pointless. W didn't bother to think about anything any longer. He instead focused on one thing only. Survival!
Like a professional cowar- sprinter, W took off without a second thought.
'The goblins are good but not essential' W thought as he ignored the pain of his foot. The goblins were expendable goods in a way.
Something swooped down from the treeline. It was an attack.
"I don't care too much for ranking but I can't say I didn't want some merits" The assassin, Explorer said out loud as he plunged his daggers into the soft dirt.
W adeptly rolled aside. He had done so in anticipation. Someone who was curious enough to play around with their food wouldn't let it escape the plate.
Nevertheless, Explorer took no more than a second to react accordingly. He reinforced his arm and swung out his daggers. A clean red streak of blood was left in the path of the dagger.
'Damn!' W screamed inwardly after struggling up from his dodge roll holding his lacerated arm. Another knife then shot straight towards his neck. W instinctively brought up the bag containing his bones to protect himself.
The dagger stuck itself into one of the bones inside.
"You must have something important in there" A material that could withstand the strike of a B-class knife throw was nothing easy to find.
Explorer initially intended to follow the goblins and the orc all the way to where it was that they intended to head towards. He soon realized however that such a thing would take a while.
The goblins kept on lagging behind and for the curious always moving Explorer this was boring. Assassins needed patience, yet Explorer was the type to finish things as quickly as possible. That included his targets so it all canceled out in a way.
For W however, this was bad news. His death would be imminent.
'Not yet!' Just as W was about to use his bones as bait something strange happened...
"Ur- Urgh!" Without a single word of warning, Explorer was hit a brief period of excruciating pain. The pain which transcended what he was used to feeling made for a temporary lapse in thinking.
Thus, Explorer took a quick step back and disappeared behind a tree as if he were a ghost. An assassin had to be observant, and they also had to plan out their every move. With the introduction of an unknown variable Explorer didn't dare remain out in the open.
He assessed his injuries and found no traces of blood. He then focused on the heavy steps of a running figure.
It was W who was running away once again as a way to make the most of the opportunity.
Multiple knives then dug into the ground next to W who had ducked to dodge the expected volley.
'His next move will be…' W thought before swinging out. With a bam, a fierce fist dug into the pit of Explorer's stomach. The experienced B-rank assassin was caught off guard by the preemptive strike but reacted well enough to allow himself to be blown back.
"Huh!? Argh!" Unexpectedly however what hit him was not a fist but what felt like a metal rod. Explorer didn't have time to see what it was before W turned tail and ran.
His killing intent instantly surged. The orc was good. Very good.
The orc knew that if he ran he would have to pin him down somehow and that if that failed he would have to personally stop him. He then also knew that he would most likely strike from behind as it was the most obvious blind spot of most creatures and an assassin's usual routine.
The orc was smart. So Explorer backed off again disappearing behind a tree and into the canopy of leaves atop them. He followed silently.
W's calculations were arguably simple but as they were all done on the fly they were worthy of much praise. To earn merits as well as sate his curiosity he planned to test the limits of the orc before capturing it but his plan might need some changes now...
"I can still carry it without an arm or a leg" The injury on its foot didn't stop it so more drastic measures were seemingly in order. Tying it up was a definite possibility but Explorer didn't want to go easy on it anymore.
"Come out you coward!" W unware yelled out tauntingly as he continued to speed off. The adventurer wouldn't be able to understand him but W knew it would likely get the intent.
W was bleeding from at least three different angles. He received a total of four actual hits but that didn't mean he could go on for long.
Rebub's body had been forced to stay awake and energetic for an excessive amount of time thanks to the potions made by W. He was then thrown into battle with this tired body and received a large laceration on one arm, two stabs in the back, and an injury to his foot.
W's vision would blur out occasionally as he continued to leave a trail of blood behind him. W did not want to die, so he did not want to faint.
W then stumbled on the uneven forest ground and by a stroke of luck dodged another dagger. His luck ran short, shortly thereafter though.
Explorer applied mana into his dagger and tossed it sharply. The weapon whistled as it soared through the air and directly penetrated W's thigh. The bloody dagger then carried on its path and disappeared into a cloud of scattered dirt.
"Aaargh!" W fell right then and there. He tried to save himself from suffering a nasty scar but only ended up breaking his arm after failing to prop himself up properly.
W didn't know what to say. That he was confounded perhaps? Why was he so weak? For the W who had only seen steady growth, he was unaccustomed to the sudden feeling of weakness.
The skills that carried him through battle were not of the mind. They were of the body. Therefore, in reality, he was weak. This was because W forgot something, he forgot what he fundamentally was. A consciousness being.
He neglected his mind and fell prey to what was at most a B-class adventurer after entering a weaker body. His strength was false. What would happen if the dungeon didn't give him a good body? No, what would happen if it gave him nothing in fact?
He would die.
'This was a stupid plan from the very beginning…' W thought as his vision blurred and his consciousness occasionally drifted.
The plan was stupid partly because he failed to plan for these things but... but maybe there was more... W's body limped and blood oozed slowly into a pool of blood around him.
"Crap, I went too far" Explorer said to himself before hurriedly approaching the body and bringing out all sorts of medical equipment from a handy ring.
He began the healing process by bandaging the large laceration and moving the body next to a tree that it could sit up and rest.
After a couple of minutes, W was fully bandaged. The bleeding seemed to show no signs of stopping, however.
Just as Explorer started to reach out towards W with the intention to test his pulse. He sensed a presence appear out of literal nowhere.
"Master Eon!?!" He screamed both frightened and surprised as he instinctively jumped back. He brandished two new daggers from his small space ring. These were magic weapons that he seldom used.
"Cough. Hello" Eon said casually before gazing at the bandaged orc. It was the subordinate for sure. His efforts to teleport to the right location paid off in the end.
Eon didn't ask before creating a barrier of space around W and starting to take it with him.
"Ma- Master Eon… are you going to…?" Explorer was confused. Was it possible that Roi's report caused them to send such a powerful master?
But his question was not answered as Eon disappeared into nothingness once more.
"What…?" Explorer was dumbstruck.