He took in the sight of the damage he'd done.
A punch he threw just killed things that only bats covered in barbed wire did.
River was shocked. Of course she was. He just tore through goblins with his bare fists; she was probably having a mental breakdown at the realisation that he was a natural at using soul essence.
He was on the verge of cracking an even bigger grin when a sharp pain cut his happiness short.
This wasn't like the pain he was used to—the one he'd get if he didn't eat a supernatural creature—this was different.
His entire arm—the one he used in throwing the punch—hurt all over his arm, like he'd subjected it to acupuncture.
He clutched his arm and let out a deep grunt. It wasn't unbearable, but damned was it close to being so.
River turned to him. "You idiot! I told you to spread it evenly." she barked at him. "You're lucky you didn't use too much, or you would've lost a good chunk of that arm."
Marcus was too focused on his arm to think of a retort. But still, the sight of his attack put a strained smile on his face.
The unintelligible panic from the goblins in front of him reminded him of his situation: he still had three goblins to take care of, and an arm that prevented him from doing so.
Two of the goblins held their weapons in front of them, terrified, but Marcus sensed they were about to attack. The sensation was strange, like he could feel something both intangible and tangible press against his skin.
The hairs on his arm stood up. A sort of primal fear shot through his body; not of the goblins, but of getting hurt in any way at all. It was different from anything else he'd ever felt.
The third goblin stood behind the other two, with a jagged rusty pipe in its hands, trembling.
"When defending, you can ignore the rule of spreading it evenly across an entire portion of the body as long as the attack covers only a small area!" Yelled River.
She could probably feel what Marcus was feeling.
The killing intent.
Then the realisation hit him; that's how she was going to protect him from those goblins! Not by watching them, but sensing the moment they wanted to attack him.
"Spread it evenly over what you think the affected area will be, and make sure to do it thoroughly this time!" River said. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, focusing completely on the goblins and Marcus—like she was holding herself back, waiting for something to go wrong before she intervened.
"What I think it'll be?"
"If it's a stab to the belly button, cover the entire gut and back. If it's a punch to the shoulder, protect your arm, neck, back, and chest. If it's a gunshot to the temple—"
"I cover my entire head right?"
River nodded. "But you concentrate a larger amount of soul essence into the part you think the bullet will strike."
"And if it's a shotgun blast?" He thought he'd ask to make sure he understood.
Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, before turning to the goblin. "Cover your entire body." Like he suspected.
One of the goblins rushed at him, swinging a spiked mannequin head. Just what kind of trash did New Yorkers have?
He jumped back, dodging the blow but wincing from the stinging pain in his hand. The swing from the goblin left it open for an attack, but the pain stopped Marcus from closing the distance.
It quickly recovered and snarled at him, taking a step back. He smirked.
Since when were goblins so careful?
He was liking these new powers more and more.
The goblin came swinging a second time, this time aiming for Marcus's shin. He envisioned the thread stringing down to his leg, but it happened too slowly; this thing wouldn't wait for him to get the hang of using soul essence before it tried to murder his guts. He dodged the strike instead; the goblin snarled, ready to swing again.
His gaze shifted to River for a moment. "Anything else?"
"Concentrate soul essence in your legs for speed, and you can—" She caught her tongue before she said the next words. He looked at her a bit worried; was there some other caveat he didn't know about?
"I can what?"
"Never mind, just focus on—"
"I can what, River!? Quit messing with me!—"
"Never mind! Just kill those things and get it over with!"
"River, if my body's gonna blow up then—"
"It won't you damned brat, just listen to me and kill those things!"
The goblin came at Marcus again, swinging the spiked mannequin head with more vigour, haphazardly. He took four steps back, dodging swing after swing.
This thing wasn't giving him any time to use soul essence. He timed its swings and kicked it square in the gut as hard as he could, using his normal strength.
It dropped the mannequin and held its stomach in pain. Looks like River wasn't kidding about his base abilities being increased; a kick wouldn't have done that much to a goblin before, and his foot didn't even hurt.
Now that he thought about it, he ran to school, chasing the bus, and got there without being bathed in sweat and gasping for air.
He bent down and grabbed the mannequin head using his other arm, swinging it down and bashing the goblin, lacerating its skull. It fell lifeless to the floor, purple blood oozing from the many puncture wounds on its head.
Pulling the mannequin head free, he threw it straight at the second goblin, nearly taking its head off as the mannequin struck it like a thrown axe; its spikes sinking into its skull.
The goblin dropped the battered umbrella in its hand and fell backwards, falling to the floor.
"Stop!" River yelled.
Marcus rushed to the second goblin on the floor and pressed his foot on the only portion of the mannequin head that wasn't spiked, pushing it deeper into its head, causing its entire body to spasm before it became still.
"Hey!" River yelled again.
"What? I was just making sure." He shrugged. You could never be too sure—he liked being thorough when it came to the supernatural.
"I told you to kill them using soul essence and nothing else! I'm doing this for your own good you know," she said, pissed.
Marcus felt the pain in his arm subside. He felt like he could use it again—not like he'd take that chance.
He fixed his gaze on the last remaining goblin. "Its just your greasy little ass left huh?" He smiled.
Words couldn't describe the satisfaction he felt being the one terrifying these things.
He'd encountered goblins even after his first interaction seven years ago, but none had he ever intimidated. No matter what weapon he used, or how many he hunted, he'd never intimidated an OC, not even once.
Finally being able to inflict as much crippling fear as he felt all those years ago on the very thing that gave him nightmares for so long… he was on cloud nine.
Its legs began shaking, its teeth chattered, and its arm couldn't hold the jagged pipe steady. Marcus savoured every moment.
It dropped its weapon and scurried to the manhole cover that River had welded shut, clawing at it, trying desperately to get it open and crawl down.
River and Marcus exchanged looks. "All yours," River said, taking a step back and presenting the opportunity to Marcus.
"Using soul essence huh?" Marcus slowly walked towards it, preparing his attack.
He was going to enjoy this.