บท 17: Destroying the Barrier

Izroth cut at the mysterious red orb with his 'Nameless Blade' and met with no resistance! As the 'Goblin Sorcerer' was still charging up its 'Mana Sphere' skill, Izroth took the opportunity to strike at the mysterious red orb a second time!

-130 HP!

2,740/3,000 HP Remaining! (Mysterious Red Orb)

Buuuuuuuuuuuzzzzzzzz!

The 'Mana Sphere' shot out of the 'Goblin Sorcerer' hand and soon reached right in front of Izroth. But this time he would not try to foolishly block it, but rather instead evade it! Izroth had to temporarily leave the attack range of the mysterious red orb as he kicked off his left foot at a slight angle, propelling himself away from the incoming 'Mana Sphere'!

BOOM!

Miss!

Izroth managed to successfully avoid the 'Mana Sphere' as it exploded in a small radius on impact with the ground where he had just been standing not too long ago!

"Although the casting time is a bit slow and predictable, the actual speed of the projectile is troublesome..." Izroth thought to himself as he hurriedly went back into the attack range of the mysterious red orb.

Izroth once again struck the mysterious red orb twice before retreating and evading yet another 'Mana Sphere'! If someone were watching the battle from the side, it would almost look like Izroth and the 'Goblin Sorcerer' were a part of a neverending game cutscene that constantly repeated itself!

Miss!

It did not take long to reduce the HP of the magic item down to 0. Soon small cracks appeared on the mysterious red orb as it fragmented into countless little pieces!

Ding! You have destroyed 1/4 'Mysterious Red Orbs'! The barrier has weakened!

Izroth glanced over towards where the barrier was located and sure enough, it seemed to grow a bit more transparent as though it had lost a small chunk of its power!

"No! Human must die! Broke treasure, must die!" the 'Goblin Sorcerer' said as the faint aura of power that was surrounding it before started to fade away, but it was soon replaced by a much weaker aura. The 'Goblin Sorcerer' did not waste any time and used the skill 'Mana Barrier'!

+270 Shield! (Goblin Sorcerer)

When Izroth checked its stats again, the 1,000,000 shield was nowhere to be found and in its place was 270 shield, however, compared to that massive shield it had before 270 was quite negligible. A small grin slowly found its way onto Izroth's face as a look of excitement flashed in his eyes.

Even with the addition of 270 shield to its 1,200 HP, how could it withstand the barrage of attacks from Izroth?

It only took a brief moment for Izroth to close the distance and come face to face with the 'Goblin Sorcerer'. He swung his 'Nameless Blade' horizontally in the form of a crescent moon at the 'Goblin Sorcerer' stomach, and what followed behind was a phantom-like sword! "Phantom Strike!"

The 'Goblin Sorcerer' had no way of avoiding the incoming attack with its 30 agility! It could only hold its staff up to try and block the strike, but the sword seemed to phase through its staff as though it was something spectral and slashed directly across its neck!

-120 HP!

Critical Hit!

-250 HP!

SHIELD BREAK!

1,100/1,200 HP Remaining! (Goblin Sorcerer)

Izroth instantly shattered the 'Mana Barrier' surrounding the 'Goblin Sorcerer' as that faint aura fully vanished from around it!

Creeeeeeeeeek!

The 'Goblin Sorcerer' cried out in pain as it took a direct hit after its barrier was shattered, it started to once again gather energy into the palm of its hand, but would Izroth give it another chance to cast a spell this close?

"Sword Force... First Baneful Sword: Destruction" a light milky blue aura that released a ruthless force descended right towards the 'Goblin Sorcerer'!

-770 HP!

330/1,200 HP Remaining! (Goblin Sorcerer)

Battle Alert: Player Izroth has interrupted the casting of 'Goblin Sorcerer' spell 'Mana Sphere'!

The spell that the 'Goblin Sorcerer' was forming in the palm of its hand had disintegrated due to a large amount of damage Izroth dealt it its HP.

Izroth's 'Nameless Blade' did not stop moving and swiftly his sword once again sliced into the body of the 'Goblin Sorcerer'! Every time the 'Goblin Sorcerer' would try to start casting a spell, Izroth would attack and interrupt it! There was nothing it could do in this situation except wait for its inevitable outcome, death!

210 HP...

90 HP...

0/1,200 HP Remaining! (Goblin Sorcerer)

"One down, three to go..." Izroth felt a strong power welling up inside of him. He could feel that he needed one more major push to break through to the second stage of the 'Heavenly Golden Body' physique!

Ding! Congratulations, you have defeated 'Goblin Sorcerer'!

Ding! You have been awarded 750 EXP!

Loot Drop:

-1 silver 23 bronze coins

-x1 Lesser Health Potion

-1 Wooden Spell Staff

The 'Goblin Sorcerer' had actually given 50 more EXP than the 'Goblin Archer'! It had also dropped a 'Lesser Health Potion' and an item that Izroth himself could not use, which was a staff.

Weapon Name: Wooden Spell Staff

Weapon Rank: Uncommon

Weapon Level: 11

Requirements: 50 Magic

Magic: 25

Mana: 100

Even though Izroth could not use the staff himself, it was still an uncommon weapon that he could probably sell for a decent amount of coins. So he kept it in his inventory for now with the other loot he received.

As soon as he finished picking up the loot, Izroth did not waste any more time and started heading towards the location of another orb to destroy it.

...

About 40 minutes later, Izroth had finally managed to destroy all the mysterious red orbs and eliminated all 12 of the goblins guarding the room! In total, he received 8,600 EXP and leveled up twice! Izroth was now level 11 with 12 stat points. But his biggest gain was the skill point he gained from reaching level 10! He also received over 10 silver coins, 1 additional 'Lesser Health Potion' and 4 'Goblin's Essence'.

Izroth decided to spend his stat points, investing 3 points into agility, 5 points into attack, and 4 points into his HP! He also decided to spend 1 skill point on his 'First Baneful Sword: Destruction'! Izroth was reluctant to use any skill points after putting some into his 'Flickering Steps' skill, but after taking into account the fact that he had an S grade quest to complete, he gave in and used a skill point.

Skill Name: First Baneful Sword: Destruction

Skill Creator: Izroth

Skill Level: 2/3

Skill Rank: A

Active: Deals 350% of user Attack as damage. Has a high chance of causing the 'Fear' effect in those it targets.

Description: A sword filled with a concentrated amount of destruction. Beware! A single strike of this sword technique can destroy those who stand in its way! This strike is not its full potential.

Special Effect: This skill can be used without a sword, but the damage is reduced by 40%. If this skill kills its target, it has a chance of resetting the cooldown."

Cooldown: 2 minutes

Izroth was satisfied with the damage increase of 50% and it seemed like the chance to cause the 'Fear' effect was higher now. He had yet to activate that effect even though he used the skill plenty of times, maybe his luck just wasn't good enough. Izroth slightly nodded his head, as he viewed his character window.

Name: Izroth

EXP: 1,847/7,200

Level: 11(Stat Points: 0)

Title: None

Class: Combat Master

HP(Hit Points): 700/700

Energy: 100

ATK(Attack): 160(120+30+10)

DEFENSE(DEF): 30(20+10)

AGILITY(AGI): 95(65+30)

MAGIC(MAG): 0

Gear Equipped:

Nameless Blade - Main Weapon

Shadow Necklace - Accessory(1)

Foreman's Gloves - Armor(Hands)

Skills: (Skill Points: 1)

Breaker of Limits(Passive) Level: MAXED (S Rank)

First Baneful Sword: Destruction(Active) Level: 2/3 (A Rank)

Flickering Steps(Active) Level: MAXED (S Rank)

Shadow Movement(Active) Level: MAXED (A Rank)

Phantom Strike(Active) Level: 1/3 (B Rank)

Inventory: (Gold: 0 Silver: 14 Bronze: 37)

-x1 Demonic Boar Hide

-x3 Lesser Health Potion

-1 Miner's Pickaxe

-x6 Goblin's Essence

-1 Wooden Spell Staff

Fame:

World Fame: 210

"Still not quite enough is it...?" Izroth felt infinitely close to reaching the next stage of his 'Heavenly Golden Body' physique, but was just a single step short! He felt as though if he fought against that mysterious goblin, he would break through his current bottleneck!

As Izroth stood in front of the entryway where the barrier used to be, he furrowed his brows. Gilidore said that he would catch up with him, but Izroth had been fighting for over 30 minutes and still saw no signs of him catching up.

"Forget it, I only have a little more than an hour left on the time limit, I should keep moving forward" Izroth strode into the entryway with his hand rested upon the hilt of his 'Nameless Blade'. Whatever or whoever was behind this barrier had to be extremely important given the extravagance of so many guards and security features! That was a good thing for Izroth as he knew the more difficult the challenge, the more generous the reward.

When Izroth entered into the passageway he could see a single path with a single door at the end. The light from outside no longer shone down because of the roof now over his head. It was a bit dark, but there were torches spaced out on the walls bringing some light onto the path.

Izroth approached the door and pushed it wide open, and the first thing he saw was someone with their back turned to him. They were in front of a desk with paper spread all over in a messy manner. The room was incredibly huge and at the center was a circle filled with weird totems that had a strange light emitting from them. That light was filled with an incredible power that made Izroth narrow his eyes slightly.

"Human! I smell you! You are interrupting research! Research! Important, power must be harnessed for the king!" a creature that was a bit taller than the average human adult turned around to look at Izroth with vicious blood red beady eyes. It had the darkest of green skin, incredibly sharp and cruel looking teeth and in its hand, it held a book. It stepped into the circle as if it were waiting for Izroth to walk towards his very own demise.

Izroth unsheathed his 'Nameless Blade' while coldly staring at the creature in front of him. When Izroth saw the stats and skills of this creature, he knew that this fight would be very difficult.

Name: Goblin King's Commander Jruloja (BOSS)

Level: 15

HP: 8,000/8,000

ATK: 200

DEF: 60

AGI: 100

MAG: 200

Skills:

Mana Burst(Active): Deals 100% of the casters magic as damage. This skill can be cast instantly.

Firestorm(Active): Summons down a rain of fire that deals 50% of the casters magic as damage every 1 second for 5 seconds.

Mighty Blow(Active): Deals 120% of the goblins attack as damage. Has a chance of knocking back the target.

Blessing of the Goblin King(Passive): This goblin has received the blessing of the goblin king.

Izroth skills were all off of cooldown, his HP was restored to its full state and he had x3 'Lesser Health Potion'. Back when Izroth fought against the 'Goblin Foreman Rthuja', he felt his blood boil with excitement. But that feeling was nothing compared to what he was currently experiencing. It was the first time he would fight against a monster whose agility exceeded his own without using 'Flickering Steps', excluding the 'Shadow Wolf'! If he loses his focus for even one moment it could be the end of him!

A carefree smile appeared on the face of Izroth, though that was just what it looked like on the surface. Below the surface was a slumbering ancient beast that was about to awaken from what felt like a thousand-year slumber!