Clang!
Soren leaped straight down from a five-meter-high outcrop, slashing at the Gnoll warrior's head the instant he landed.
The Gnoll blocked the scimitar with its weapon, but the force of Soren's downward leap drove it back two steps. Its foot slipped, and it instantly lost its balance. Ignoring the numbness running through his legs, Soren lunged forward, bent low, twisted his body, and slashed diagonally across its chest. Blood sprayed out and splashed across his face. The scent of blood stirred Soren's hunger for battle. He kicked the Gnoll squarely in the groin, making its whole body convulse.
Slide and thrust.
Soren sheathed his blade, drove it into the Gnoll's chest, then kicked it off the mountain wall more than ten meters high.
The Gnoll's tenacious life force kept it struggling in midair. Only after it hit the ground with a bang did it finally fall still. Soren sheathed his blade, glanced at the Gnolls drawing nearer, then grabbed hold of the rock face to move elsewhere.
Clang!
A whistling sound came from behind his head.
A Gnoll had realized it could not catch Soren and had actually hurled its weapon at him, nearly smashing his skull open. Gnoll claws were poorly suited for ranged weapons, so aside from a handful of advanced Scouts, they all used melee equipment. Soren judged the direction, rolled down along the rock face, and by the time three to five Gnolls had climbed up, he had already returned to the middle of the mountainside.
Whoosh!
He calmly loaded a bolt and struck another Gnoll, shooting it straight through the eye socket, though the other one was only hit in the arm.
It howled and reached out to pull the bolt free.
Soren was in no hurry to press his advantage. He was exploiting