(One of my most loyal fans has supported me all this time. I'm almost moved to tears. I uploaded this book yesterday, and they came right over to support me.)
That stab hurt a little. The worst part was that it had poisoned him, too. Luckily, although the poison made Lin Yun feel a little numb, it wasn't going to kill him just yet. Judging by his HP, that Stone Spear had taken 3 HP from him in one hit. The 1 HP he lost afterward must have been the poison damage. It didn't look like much, but the situation wasn't good.
Lin Yun's face, hidden behind his helmet, darkened a little.
But Lin Yun seemed to have forgotten that he was still surrounded. Aside from the Goblin who'd stabbed him, there were two more. The one who'd been slowed down by the Goblin corpse he'd kicked away had now reached him, too. One held a small Tanto, the other a small wooden club, and both attacked Lin Yun while he was distracted.
But... Lin Yun could only be glad he was wearing scale armor.
The two Goblins took advantage of Lin Yun's distraction to get past his shield, but their attacks only stabbed and thumped against his armor. A better weapon might have done some damage, but with a little Tanto and a little wooden club, they were out of luck.
Seeing the two Goblins about to leap onto Lin Yun, the Female Mage refused to give up. She used the last of her magic, determined to prove she really could hit those Goblins. She put her hand on her staff again. "Nock and ignite, Flame Arrow." She seemed a lot more practiced this time. Maybe it was because most of the Goblins were already down, and she'd finally found a little courage.
But when she saw the two Goblins practically pressed against Lin Yun, the Female Mage thought it over and decided to aim at the Goblin with the shortbow lurking in the shadows farther away. The ball of fire gathering in her hand became a flaming arrow, and she hurled it at the distant Goblin.
Unfortunately, the Female Mage's loud incantation seemed to alert the Goblin, especially since it had almost been hit by a Flame Arrow just moments ago. The moment it saw the arrow, it instinctively dodged.
The Flame Arrow only singed a few hairs on the Goblin before... hitting the ground beside it.
Seriously, miss, can you do this or not? What are you here for, putting on a show?
Watching the Flame Arrow MISS yet again, Lin Yun, standing up front, looked utterly despairing. As a Wizard, wasn't she being a little too embarrassing?
Meanwhile, seeing the two Goblins standing beside Lin Yun, the Female Fighter grew anxious. She didn't know Lin Yun had been poisoned, but she'd seen him lose focus, and that had her worried. She swung the edge of her hand at the uninjured Goblin holding a small wooden club. She had no choice; the injured Goblin seemed afraid of her after she'd kicked its companion away, and had run off to the other side, so she could only attack this one.
Then something incredible happened again. Perhaps because she felt a kinship with the steady big-brother role Lin Yun was playing, or because she was worried about him, the Female Fighter seemed to get an adrenaline rush. Her strike nearly snapped the poor Goblin's neck and sent it flying to the side, tongue lolling as it lay half-dead.
After knocking it away with that strike, the Female Fighter stepped forward and threw a straight punch at the Goblin on Lin Yun's other side. The Goblin had been so focused on Lin Yun, whom it blamed for the blow from earlier, that it hadn't noticed the Female Fighter. Her punch landed squarely on its body and knocked it straight to the ground.
It had already taken plenty of damage, and that final hit was enough to put it down.
"..." Staring at the Female Fighter's incredible display, Lin Yun felt as though a brilliant MVP glow was shining over her head.
But Lin Yun remembered there were still two Goblins with shortbows behind them, and probably a Giant Goblin and a Goblin Priest as well. He kept his guard up, then called to the Goddess Priestess behind him. "I'm poisoned. Chew up the antidote I gave you earlier and apply it to the wound."
"Ah, yes. I'll do it now." The Goddess Priestess was startled by Lin Yun's words, then fumbled in her pocket for the herbs she'd set aside earlier. Out of everyone there, she was the only one who'd learned proper herbal preparation and bandaging techniques. Lin Yun wasn't asking for anything complicated; good enough would do.
She quickly found the Mimosa Lin Yun had pointed out earlier and without hesitation put it in her mouth and chewed it up as thoroughly as she could. Good thing she hadn't been so nervous that she swallowed it by accident.
She hurried over and spat the herbal mash, mixed with a young woman's saliva, onto the wound. It wouldn't bring out the herb's full effects, but it would at least help a little.
Besides, saliva did have disinfectant properties, just not very strong ones. As for a young woman's saliva... well, it didn't have any special properties.
Just then, the two Goblins opposite them began shooting again. And it wasn't just that. Lin Yun seemed to hear something rumbling—a very large something. It looked like the Giant Goblin from the original story was about to make its entrance.
There were only ten Goblins here, counting the two archers. In other words, the main force was still behind them.
They had to take out the two archers quickly. Otherwise, things would get even more troublesome.
The two Goblins opposite them had already loosed their arrows, and once again they aimed at the ferocious Female Fighter. One arrow, as usual, fell short and dropped as if it had run out of strength. The other, however, finally hit its mark, striking the Female Fighter in the shoulder.
"Ugh." The Female Fighter clutched her shoulder and cried out, but quickly stopped. The Goddess Priestess had just finished applying the medicine to Lin Yun's arm. Seeing the Female Fighter injured, she feared she might be poisoned too and hurried over.
Meanwhile, Lin Yun casually wrapped his arm in a sloppy bandage. All he had to do was keep the medicine pressed against the wound.
Just then, Lin Yun's dice began to roll.
"D20+4+2+1+2=15, save successful." It wasn't a proper antidote, so even though it helped a little, that was all it could do. But at least the poison wouldn't get worse. And since Lin Yun was in good shape, he managed to overcome it.
Looking at the Goblins opposite him, Lin Yun charged straight at them and swung his Lantern Staff at the one that had just fired and hadn't yet recovered. At last, it was Lin Yun's time to shine.
"D20+2+2=24, critical hit."
"D20+2+2=12, critical confirmed."
"2D6+2+1=15"
...Looking at the numbers, Lin Yun's expression turned rueful. If only he'd hit the Giant Goblin with that.
A critical hit, dealing double damage, and he'd rolled the maximum. What kind of ridiculous luck was that? The damage was completely wasted. The poor Goblin was sent flying by Lin Yun's Lantern Staff like a golf ball, then landed beside a...
A flash of light from the lamp oil splashed across the Goblin, whose body had been beaten nearly out of shape, illuminated an area less than half a meter wide. It revealed an enormous hand, almost as big as a Goblin, and a huge belly.
The Giant Goblin was about to make its entrance. Though, was it just Lin Yun's imagination, or was this Giant Goblin bigger than the one in the anime, which had looked like little more than a hulking Goblin? It had the same beard all over its face as the one in the anime, and its teeth looked just as rotten. Or was this the size described in the novel? Or had the DM buffed it?
Perhaps seeing the Giant Goblin appear—and seeing its companion sent flying like a golf ball by Lin Yun's staff—gave the shortbow-wielding Goblin a sudden burst of courage. It threw down its small shortbow, grabbed a small Tanto, and tried to stab Lin Yun in the thigh. Unfortunately for it, his shield blocked the attack, and it failed to do him any harm.
Meanwhile, the Female Mage had used up her Spell Slots with the Flame Arrow, so... for the moment, she was out of the fight. A normal 1st-level Wizard should have three Cantrips and one 1st-Circle Spell Slot, or even an extra 1st-Circle Spell Slot with high enough Intelligence. But had this one not learned any 1st-Circle Magic yet?
All she could do was sit off to the side and mope...
Though the Female Fighter had been hit, she didn't seem to have been poisoned. Maybe the arrow hadn't been poisoned because that would have been too much trouble. Whatever the reason, the Female Fighter realized she couldn't just let the Goblin keep attacking Lin Yun, and...?
Wait, shouldn't she have been thinking, "We have to deal with this shortbow Goblin—the one that just hit you—before the Giant Goblin gets here"?
Ahem. Fine, let's not get hung up on the details.
Before you continue