The Power of a Buff

Chris immediately leaped aside. A sword came flying, slamming into the ground next to him. The sword-hobgoblin rotated, swinging the sword in an upward strike. In the nick of time, Chris brought his shield up.

Clang!

He gritted his teeth as the strike jarred his arm up to his shoulder. Thanks to Gwen’s buff, the monster didn’t push him back immediately. With all of his might, Chris deflected the weapon upward—then drove his sword deep into the hobgoblin’s stomach. Dark red blood dripped from the hilt of the blade and plopped onto the ground.

“Ahqh!” the sword-hobgoblin roared out in pain and brought its sword around. It cleaved the weapon diagonally.

Chris let go of his sword, and at the last second brought his shield up.

Bang!

The attack slammed into his shield, the force making his arm throb.

Okay, maybe this was a mistake not letting Gwen help us, he thought.

The sword-hobgoblin pounced on him, not giving him a chance to catch his breath. Sweat poured down his face as Chris quickly leaped aside to dodge a downward strike. The follow-up strike barely gave him time to move out of the way.

Instead, the weapon grazed his side, cracking his armor.

Luckily, it didn’t draw‌ blood.

Chris stumbled from the impact but planted his foot against the ground. The sword-hobgoblin raised its sword again, and the shielder met the attack head-on. The monster swung downward, but Chris stepped to the side, moving into the creature's guard. He twisted his body.

With a roar, he smashed the shield into the side of his weapon’s hilt, sticking out of the sword-hobgoblin’s stomach.

Klang!

The sword ripped across its stomach, guts spilling to the floor. As the sword-hobgoblin stumbled backwards, Chris got his hand on his weapon, pulling it free.

The hobgoblin finally caught his balance, but it didn’t matter. Chris ran at the monster, dropping and sliding between its legs as it swung wildly. He came up behind it and brought the blade across the back of the hobgoblin’s leg.

The monster’s leg buckled, forcing him onto one leg.

Chris spun around and drove the tip of his sword into the bottom of the hobgoblin’s jaw, killing it. The monster’s eyes closed, and its body swayed. He quickly pulled his sword free with a soft squelch and moved before the weight crushed him.

“Okay, there’s one down!” He muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow.

He glanced down at his left arm and winced. Yeah, the blacksmith is going to be so pissed. Hopefully, this shield isn’t too expensive to replace… let's be real, it was. Chris let out a sigh and glanced around the arena.

Immediately, the club-hobgoblin charged at him.

At the last possible second, Chris moved his body to the side. He parried the attack, throwing the hobgoblin off balance. A figure emerged from the hobgoblin’s shadow, quickly crawling up its body and stealing his chance to counter.

“Shadow blade!” Claire yelled, slashing sideways. The dagger in her hand glowed; a dark purple arc flew out, cutting off the monster's head.

Thump

The head landed ‌at Chris’s feet, blood spraying from its neck. She jumped off its back, did a small flip, and landed next to Chris, a smile on her face.

“Man, that was easy! I can’t believe you were struggling with just one,” she said, a smirk on her face.

“It was only easy because I weakened it for you first,” Chris muttered.

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully before looking ‌back at the battlefield.

Chris took this chance to catch his breath. Two orcs still haven’t moved, but there were only two hobgoblins left. Before helping him out, apparently Claire took out a hobgoblin, since its head was lying on the ground a little to the left.

When did my sister get so…strong? He shivered. Crazy to think the girl who used to cry in the dark uses shadows to fight. His eyes continued scanning before pausing.

“Brace!” Chris yelled, pulling his sister behind him. A light blue sheen appeared around his shield as he held it up with both hands.

Boom!

“Argug!” the Goblin Mage screamed.

Chris got his shield up in time to block the mage’s spell.

“Wait here,” Claire growled, yellow mixing with her purple aura.

Chris blinked, and his sister went from standing next to him to standing in front of the Goblin Mage. With a soft swing of her daggers, she decapitated the mage, adding another head to the collection.

“Okay, since when could my sister teleport?” Chris muttered, looking at her in confusion.

Sadly, his question went unanswered as another hobgoblin came charging at him. Spear thrusting toward his head.

***

Because of Shift, Gwen stood still. If she moved too much, then her spells would deactivate, putting Chris and Clare at a disadvantage. Thankfully, they got rid of the goblin mage, her only biggest counter.

“I didn’t realize how strong Chris and Claire got,” Kira said, awe in her voice.

“Yeah, it's pretty impressive.” Gwen paused, taking a breath. “I’m only boosting them around thirty percent.”

“Huh, they’re taking out borderline B-Rank monsters with only mild trouble.”

“Yeah, and I’m also debuffing the enemies by twenty percent.”

“Wait, what?”

Clang!

The noise stopped any reply as Gwen turned her attention back to the fight ahead. Chris had blocked the spear, though it broke his shield.

I can only imagine what the blacksmith is going to say about that. Gwen grimaced. Chris shouldn’t have to pay too much for breaking it, right?

Right?

He threw the remaining scraps of his shield at the monster's eyes. The hobgoblin roared in pain, blood pouring from its eyes. Moving fast, Chris slashed across its neck.

“Huh, Chris is about to reach his limit,” Gwen observed, watching as he jumped away from the monster’s body.

Kira tilted her head. “He seems okay, with a little damage from attacks.”

“Look at his posture. His sword arm is dropping downward and not as high compared to the start of the fight. Also, his other arm is hanging limply at his side, while panting.”

“I… don’t know how you can see all of that from here.”

“Meh, I have good vision.” Gwen shrugged.

“Okay, then…”

The battle with hobgoblins came to a swift end as Claire slid underneath its legs, cutting the tendons, dropping it to the ground. Without mercy, she cut off its head.

“And that makes four heads total for our little assassin.”

“Yeah, a weird thing she started doing.”

The two siblings talked while glancing back at Gwen multiple times before heading there. Oddly enough, despite turning around, the Orcs stayed still.

Finally, they reached the group, slightly out of breath.

“Alrighty, Gwen, you can tag in,” Chris said, plopping down on the ground.

Gwen raised an eyebrow. “Oh, maybe I don’t feel like fighting now.”

“Oh, fuck off, we all know you’re itching to get your hands on those Orcs!” Claire argued, staring at her. “I can see the smile on your face now.”

Gwen's eyes widened, and she tried to scowl, though it was already too late.

“Just get out there before the orcs decide to attack all of us now while we’re tired.”

“Ugh, fine, though you’re going to be even more tired once I cancel my spells.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yep!”

Chris groaned. “This is going to hurt.”

Gwen looked at them with pity and stopped her support spells. Immediately, Chris’s face turned pale as he clenched his side.

“Yep, definitely broke a rib.”

“A pity,” Gwen said, glancing at Claire. She seemed mostly fine, though sweat was pouring down her face, probably from using too much magic.

Before she could say anything more, a whistle-like sound soared through the air. The shadow of a giant object stretched out over the group. Gwen yawned and flicked her wrist. The stone broke apart, falling into pieces at her feet.

The two orcs finally moved, charging at her.