Chapter 67: Second Blood
Peng!
The blade struck Tong’a’s wooden staff and embedded itself deeply into the surprisingly thick material. Poh’s expression changed immediately. He had expected the dagger to slice through the staff, but the wood was far denser than ordinary timber. His thin arms strained as he tried to force the blade deeper, but his small body simply could not generate enough cutting force.
Tong’a calmly looked down at him.
For one brief moment, Poh’s eyes met those ancient green eyes and his instincts screamed.
Poh immediately released the dagger and threw himself backward. He was an assassin, not a brawler. The moment his attack failed, remaining within arm’s reach of Tong’a was suicide.
"If you weren’t so busy learning heretic magic, you would know the difference between a bronze and silver core magic beast lies in our ability to shape the elements to our will!" Tong’a said calmly as he extended one hand toward the retreating goblin.
Poh’s eyes widened as the earth around him moved. It did not simply rise, it twisted.
The spikes around him folded inward from several directions, forming a cage around Poh before rapidly closing into a sphere. Poh slammed his fists against the earth, attempting to break through, but the material continued shifting around him. He kicked, punched, and desperately tried to squeeze through the shrinking gaps, but every attempt only caused the sphere to tighten further.
"Get off me!" Poh screamed as panic finally entered his voice. "Break this shit!"
The sphere continued shrinking until his screams became muffled.
Then came the sound of bones cracking. Blood began spilling through the tiny gaps in the earth, running down its surface in thin streams before collecting beneath it. Poh’s desperate movements became weaker and weaker until there was nothing left.
Several seconds later, silence returned and the earth sphere dropped heavily onto the battlefield.
Thud!
Blood immediately began pooling beneath it.
The remaining goblins stared at the sphere in disbelief. Lucy’s fingers tightened around her bow while Brox’s broad chest rose and fell heavily. Rudor remained completely still beneath his crimson cloak, his red eyes fixed upon the bloody earth. They had expected resistance. They had expected casualties. But losing Tal and Poh so quickly had fundamentally changed their understanding of this battle.
Tong’a slowly turned toward them.
"Rudor!!!!" Brox roared.
The cloaked goblin moved. There was no hesitation this time.
Rudor shot forward with a murderous gleam burning inside his blood red eyes, his crimson cloak whipping behind him as he charged toward Tong’a. His hood was thrown backward by the sudden acceleration, exposing a face covered in old scars. They were not ordinary scars. Numerous markings had been carved directly into his skin, each one shaped like a rune.
"Blood Magic; Blood Empowerment!"
One of the runes carved into Rudor’s flesh suddenly illuminated with a deadly crimson glow. The battlefield responded and blood scattered across the ground began trembling.
Tong’a’s eyes narrowed as the blood from fallen kobolds and goblins slowly lifted from the earth. Streams of red rose into the air around Rudor before violently surging toward him. Blood that had already soaked into the dirt was pulled free as well, staining the surrounding earth while countless droplets flew toward the charging goblin.
Rudor inhaled as the blood entered his body.
His muscles immediately began swelling beneath his clothing. His shoulders widened, his arms thickened, and the veins across his body rose sharply beneath his skin. Even his height seemed to increase slightly as his entire frame became heavier and more powerful. His skin slowly developed a crimson hue, and the red light of the rune spread outward through the veins around it.
Tong’a’s expression finally became serious.
That sight reminded him of the young blood mage who had appeared months ago. But this one was different.
"Another blood practitioner..." Tong’a muttered.
Rudor did not slow down.
Bam!
Tong’a struck his staff against the ground again, and several earth spikes erupted toward Rudor in rapid succession. The enlarged goblin’s eyes narrowed as another rune on his scarred body suddenly began glowing.
The blood inside his veins exploded outward. It did not leave his body as liquid.
Instead, it stretched and hardened, forming a massive two handed battle axe between his hands. The weapon looked as though it had been forged from condensed blood, its surface flowing slightly while maintaining the shape of a vicious axe.
Rudor swung.
Swoosh!
The first earth spear shattered and he swung again and another disappeared beneath the edge of the blood weapon.
The sheer force behind each strike allowed him to cleave through Tong’a’s earth constructs with frightening efficiency. Chunks of stone flew past him as he continued advancing, and Tong’a’s calm expression tightened slightly.
He was being forced backward.
Rudor was not simply using blood magic to strengthen his body. He was combining it with physical combat, turning the blood he had gathered into weapons while using his enhanced strength to break through Tong’a’s defenses.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Three arrows suddenly flew toward Tong’a from the side and he reacted instinctively. A slab of earth rose beside him and intercepted the arrows, stopping them before they could reach their intended target. His eyes immediately shifted toward their source.
Lucy stood farther away with another arrow already nocked.
Tong’a’s attention shift for only a moment was all the opening Rudor needed.
A massive shadow suddenly swallowed the sunlight above him and Tong’a looked up.
Brox was already there.
The massive goblin raised his metal club overhead while Rudor surged in with his blood forged axe. Both weapons descended toward Tong’a at almost the same time.
Swoosh!
Tong’a’s eyes narrowed.
The earth beneath his feet suddenly split apart as thick vines burst from the ground and wrapped around his limbs and waist. They tightened violently and yanked him backward before the two weapons could connect.
Brox’s club smashed into the ground and Rudor’s blood axe cleaved through empty air.
Tong’a was dragged several meters through the air before the vines released him. He twisted his body during the descent and landed softly on both feet, his staff immediately planting against the earth to stabilize himself.
His gaze slowly lifted.
Rudor stood ahead of him, his body swollen and crimson, the blood forged axe resting in his hands. Brox stood beside him with his massive club raised, his expression twisted with fury.
Tong’a’s eyes moved between the two.
The arrival of Rudor had completely changed the tide of the battle. Before, Tong’a had been comfortably controlling the battlefield, eliminating the goblins one by one while forcing the rest to keep their distance. Now he had a heavily enhanced blood mage charging directly into his defenses while Brox’s overwhelming physical strength threatened him from another angle.
And somewhere behind them, Lucy was still a menace with the arrows. Tong’a tightened his fingers around his staff.
The old kobold’s expression remained calm despite the pressure closing around him.
"But it’s nothing I can’t manage," Tong’a said calmly.