I checked my status window and my luck did in fact became 2. I was happy with the progress I've made so far.
Just as I thought these through, I spotted something in the distance. Fences. I had arrived to the X on the map, most likely. I crept closer carefully, trying not to reveal myself to my surroundings. I was correct, it was a camp for the goblins. Roughly built fences were put up in a U shape around a cave entrance. This meant I had reached the Fang Highlands, the northern border of the forest. The cave was barricaded away. There were 2 big tents in the camp, made out of animal skins and furs, and a simple campfire was burning in the middle.
I went even closer to inspect everything. There were 2 goblins standing on each side of the cave, and three more around the campfire. There were also 2 of them at the entrance to the camp, and I saw movement in one of the tents. Soon after, a goblin –bigger, than the others- came out and started talking to the ones around the campfire in a language I couldn't understand.
The two goblins at the camp entrance were level 3 Goblin Scouts, while the ones around the campfire were Gatherers, just like the one I killed earlier. The two at the cave were Goblin Fighters, and they were level 4. I was pretty certain I could take on all of them if I was careful and used guerilla tactics. Although the two Scouts had bows, I doubted they were better at using them than I was. The Fighters had machete like bronze blades that were only a bit longer than the knife I had looted, but they also had leather cowls on their heads, which meant that aiming for their head might not be the best option.
The problem was the big one. It was a level 5 Goblin Campleader. It was big, almost as tall as a small human, and had a dangerous-looking Axe in his hands. He also had a helmet, sturdier than the cowls of his peers. If they closed in on me, I'd be dead in a heartbeat.
However, the surroundings of the camp were to my advantage. I could shoot through the fence as the elevation worked in my favor. Trees and bushes were also abundant, so I could play a little hide and seek with my prey if I chose to. I could probably take out one or two before they even noticed something was amiss.
I got in position. It was a risky situation, but at worst I'll just die and respawn. I had to take a chance, as it looked like I was the first player who got this deep into the forest. I wasn't sure what the respawn rate was for this camp, but it was certainly way lower than ordinary mobs. I was also intrigued by the barricaded cave.
I shot three arrows in quick succession. The first two were headshots that did increased damage, and by the time the two guards realized what was happening, the third arrow finished the first scout off.
I decided to disengage and change my position. It was a wise move, as the goblin quickly realized the direction I was shooting from and shot an arrow there. I was already gone though. The other goblins didn't notice the situation just yet, but the second scout was clever enough to cry for help. Instead of shooting arrows like a blind man (or goblin) he ran towards the rest of the goblins screaming. I quickly shot at him, and by the time he fell dead on the ground, the others realized that they were being attacked.
I hid behind the bushes and trees, and decided to waltz to the other side of the camp. I could have kept shooting and taking out some of them in the process, but I really didn't want them to catch me in melee range. The three gatherers and one of the fighters came out of the camp and started looking for me, while the other fighter and their boss stayed inside. I increased the distance between me and the monsters before shooting at them. I shot each of them once and revealed my position. They started charging at me in a convenient line, which only meant one thing.
Piercing Shot!
I felt like a game protagonist, because the shot connected perfectly. All three gatherers died, but the Fighter was still at half health after Piercing Shot and one basic attack, which meant that they had about twice the health pool of the gatherer. I managed to get three shots in before he reached me. I dodged his swing, pulled out the Goblin Knife and planted it right into the creature's neck. One more down.
It was going much better than expected. This is what I thought, then I realized that the other fighter and the campleader were nowhere to be seen.
As if it was a sixth sense warning me, I instantly sidestepped. One milisecond later, the steel axe hit the ground, leaving a fissure where it landed.
Secret skill unlocked!
Quick Step
Unlocked by succesfully evading a dangerous attack multiple times in a quick succession.
Step away from your position in a fast manner, evading danger. Quick Step is much faster than simple dodging, but it has a cooldown period.
Cooldown: 26 seconds
At first I was not sure how I unlocked the secret skill, as I thought I had only evaded one attack so I didn't meet the conditions. Then I realized a small knife on the ground, just where I was moments ago. They did a synchronized attack, and when the boss tried hitting me with the axe, the fighter threw a throwing knife at me!
Quick Step was on cooldown right now, but it very well might have saved my life. I quickly retreated while shooting my arrows. The fighter threw another throwing dagger at me, dealing about 10% of my HP as damage; it was nothing to worry about just yet. As long as I could avoid their melee attacks, I should be perfectly fine.
I was focusing on the fighter, as a basic rule of any MMO was to get rid of the adds, the weaker mobs first. When it had around 30% HP remaining I positioned myself and used Piercing Shot, finishing off the fighter, however to my surprise, the Campleader dodged my attack. This was quite worrysome, as it looked like it was not only more intelligent than the others, it was way more agile as well.
This was further proven by the fact that the monster was catching up to me faster than I was retreating while attacking at the same time, so I had to stop shooting in order to increase the distance between us. I still haven't hit the campleader once, as it was either avoiding or blocking my shots with the axe. The fact that it had 2 levels on me really didn't help either.
When I got far enough, I turned to face the goblin. It was still charging me with a mad grin on it's face. I pulled the bowstring and shot. The campleader was ready and dodged at the perfect moment, but it had not anticipated that I was already familiar with his dodge patterns, and my arrow went straight through it's skull. My first hit!
The goblin leader however did not stagger and kept charging at me, and it's HP had only dropped by about 10% despite it being a headshot. The helmet it wore must have been quite sturdy.
I shot two more times before it caught up on me, and while he managed to block my first one, the second arrow ripped into it's side. It did almost as much damage as my first hit, so I deducted it made no sense to aim for the helmet.
I started running again, hoping that I wasn't going to run into a goblin scouting party or any wild animals in the process. Despite it being a normal monster, it sure felt like I was fighting a Boss of some sorts, and I didn't want anything to distract me.
BAM!
I have no idea how it happened. At one point there was a good five meters between me and the Campleader, but next second I felt a piercing pain hitting my left side, and I flew at least 4 meters before hitting a boulder.
I checked my HP and almost panicked. I had about 30% left, which meant this hit dealt more than half my health. I couldn't afford to make any more mistakes.
I also noticed that ever since that hit, the Campleader wasn't moving and only looked at me menacingly, and also a bit.. Dazed?
It must have used a skill, I thought. A leap of some sorts. During gameplay I haven't seen any enemies using skills before, so this took me by surprise.
I quickly stood up and shot an arrow that hit the goblin in the chest. As if it was just waiting for this hit, it shook itself and started charging at me again.
I used another Piercing Shot, and although the goblin tried to dodge, I was already familiar with it's movements. The arrow roared through the air, bending te plants on the ground, hitting the Campleader right in the chest. The monster only had half it's HP left.
I started retreating once again, but this time I kept my undivided attention to the goblin's whereabouts. This time I didn't miss what was happening. When it came close enough to me, the goblin's eyes and axe both started shining red, and it leapt high into the sky. It came crushing down right on my position, swinging the axe.
Quick Step! The skill activated instantly, and I sidestepped in a blazing fast fashion, barely dodging the attck. The shaking of the earth as the monster landed still almost made me lose my balance, but I knew this was my chance.
I knocked arrow after arrow on the string, releasing them as fast as I could, hitting the goblin, and when it came to it's senses and started charging towards me once again, I activated Piercing Shot.
When I let go of the charged arrow, the goblin leader was less than 2 meters away from me; not enough distance for it to even try dodging, so it decided to use the axe to block the arrow. Much to it's dismay however, Piercing Shot went under the blade of the axe and blew a hole in the monsters neck.
The goblin fell to it's knees, let go of the axe and let out a roar. It was still alive, although barely. I took my dagger and finished the campleader with a swift strike.