Chapter 44: Night Fight

Karl checked the placement of the scent bags in the lobby, making sure they were going to fill the room to deter goblins, then put another one out in the back near the lunchroom, in case they had to retreat. Making it harder for the Goblins to pick up their scent would make it easier to ambush them, and the more that they could kill before the tribe realized anything was wrong, the better. [They are coming right for you. Maybe they can smell you?] Hawk asked a few minutes later as he watched the Goblins headed directly for the middle of town, next to the government building where Karl and Dana were hiding. [Thanks. We're on it.] "Dana, climb up on that desk and open the window above you. You can fire magic missiles from there, right? That should give you a better angle on the Goblins that are coming for the town square. I am going to step outside and close the door behind me, so I can attack them properly." Karl whispered. Dana didn't approve of that plan, but if they were going to fight the Goblins, it was better if someone drew their attention away from her. If Karl was inside the building, he couldn't do it. But if he was outside and her scent was blocked from the Goblins while she attacked, it could work well enough for them to clear out most of them with little risk. The real danger would be that they would get tired from the exertion of multiple spell castings. They would be restraining their powers, so the exponential mana cost as you approached your limits wasn't as much of a hindrance, but there were still limitations on how much they could do. Even Hawk couldn't hunt all night long without a break, that wasn't in his nature at all. What Dana needed to focus on was making the magic arrows more like actual arrows. Normally, they were glowing spears of magic. But she didn't want them to glow tonight and give away her position. The first Goblins came as a pair, skulking through the streets searching for something that they would never find, as Karl's [Rend] tore them both apart at the same time. Their bodies fell into a bush along the side of the road, next to the building that they thought would hide their presence, and Karl returned to waiting. The smell of Goblin blood would certainly bring others to him, which was precisely what Karl wanted at the moment. They were all spread out across the town, so they wouldn't arrive in a group, but if they arrived a few at a time, they would be no match for him and Dana. Given his physique, even if he were just to fight them, Karl was fairly certain that he could take one or two Goblins at a time without using skills, but there was a serious risk that he would be wounded, and neither of them knew any healing skills. Karl heard the rustle of a branch, when there was no wind in this fog, and turned to find another trio of Goblins trying to sneak up on him. A streak of faint light hit one in the back, punching a hole through its chest, before Karl tore the other two apart with [Rend]. Even at a quarter power, which put virtually no strain on his body or energy, the four streaks of light shredded the Goblins with ease. They might be strong for their size, but they were soft, and their hide was no match for his attacks. In the sky above, Hawk had realized the same thing. He used only the bare minimum of power to take out his targets all over town, saving as much as he could for later. Karl always gave him a reward for doing a good job, and it had to be an excellent reward if he managed to keep up the battle until all the Goblins were gone. Unlike Karl, who simply fought where he was, Hawk had started his battle on the downwind side of the town. That way, the scent of Goblin blood would be blown back across the areas he had already cleared, instead of wafting over the village, as Karl's kills were doing. Not that the Goblins were all that concerned. Most of them were still focused on loading large bags of stuff from houses, and Hawk just had to wait to kill them until they came back out. But as they moved through the houses and didn't hear their fellow tribesmen anymore, they were becoming concerned, and that was causing more of them to move toward the smell of blood. [You have more incoming. They can smell your fight.] Hawk warned as he took out both a Goblin and an Earth Mouse at the same time. Karl probably hadn't banned him from eating his kills. At least Hawk didn't remember him doing it, so he happily ate the mouse before looking for more Goblins. It was a good night. There was work, but there were also mice, and a promise of rewards later. Maybe he could even convince Karl to give him a whole vial of that blood juice that was so good for his strength. Dana tapped on the windowsill to get Karl's attention and pointed through the fog to where a group of four Goblins was trying to sneak up on them. It was a terrible effort, as their eyesight was not good, and through the fog, Karl could see much further than they could. What they were going by was the smell of blood, but there was none on him, or in the building where Dana was hiding, so they were on the wrong side of the square, out in the open when Dana's spell took two of them out before they even noticed they were in danger. Karl was about to attack when instinct told him to move, and he sidestepped while turning, barely avoiding being hit by a flying dart fired from a Goblin blowgun. Using his full strength, [Rend] killed the creature and three of its companions at the same time, slicing them into pieces that fell into the grass. Dana took out the other Goblins across the park, and Karl gave her a thumbs up in approval. He would have to be extra careful of those darts, in case they had some sort of poison on them. They didn't look like they would kill if they didn't, and that made them his largest concern in the increasing darkness.