My Fate System

Chapter 15: Graveyard

The reason that this goblin village has avoided extermination until now wasn’t that it was powerful. This village had developed away from sight, a place at the periphery of the forbidden grounds and behind a mountain.

This mountain was known as Red Mountain because of the ores inside it. It was a mining site for an ore called Heatwave Ore, a metal that produced heat naturally. It was used in winter to warm up houses, in saunas and public baths, and sometimes in furnaces.

This was an annoying spot for adventures, as the mountain was like a giant Heatwave Ore itself. The air around it was thin and hot, making whoever passes by this mountain feel like they’re in a sauna.

With the fact that on the other side was a place that has seen its fair share of vengeful spirits, this place has kept to itself until Luke and Julian wanted to curse Nikolai with a spirit.

Nikolai saw the red mountain in the distance, steams and water vapor distorting its view. He looked back at the dirt road he was running across and saw a few leaves falling.

With a smile, Nikolai increased his speed. He knew they were waiting for him to be away from view before they struck, so he stuck to the road running alongside the river before diving into the bushes.

He has checked this way earlier during the night. He found a place to hide and poured the Silent Feet potion on his feet and gun.

This was a trick he learned in the army. If your gun wasn’t equipped with a silencer, you can use the Silent Feet potion to temporarily muffle the sound. He headed directly toward the Goblin’s Village.

Exactly as he remembered it, there was a narrow road between the trees that allowed him to go around the mountain. It was only a matter of time before he found the village with its wooden walls and patrols.

Nikolai took out his dust and inhaled. He took deep breaths as the veins around his eyes and legs bulged. Nikolai opened his eyes and ran toward the village.

He was easily discovered by the goblins, but that was the plan. In a matter of seconds, he finished firing his magazine. He changed it instantly amid the screams of the goblins who turned his way. However, the potion worked to muffle his gunshots.

He danced around the trees as he kept firing at the goblins who started crowding and coming his way. Nikolai kept them at bay by firing bullets faster than they can reach him.

The goblins came out from their huts and from around the village to see what was going on. Once Nikolai saw a giant goblin make an appearance, he knew it was time to flee.

He turned around and raced the wind as a roar shook the forest. The giant goblin, followed by his minions, started running after Nikolai.

Nikolai ran back in the direction of his ambushers. He jumped through a set of trees before seeing them, armed and prepared.

“Nowhere to escape now, kid!” Scarman laughed with his giant sword unsheathed. “Give up the badge and we’ll let you go.”

“You… deceived me?” Nikolai’s mouth gaped. “But you helped me!”

“You’re dumb, kid. Why would I help you without returns?” Scarface laughed and his two lackeys followed along. He took a step forward and stretched out his hand. “Hand it over.”

“I don’t have it.” Nikolai took a step back. He could feel the earth trembling underneath him.

“Hey, can you hear that?” His lackey looked around. “I hear monsters’ noises. There was also a roar earlier, it’s…”

“We’re in the wilderness.” Scarman looked at him as if he was an idiot. “There will be monsters around, nothing strange.”

At that moment, Nikolai raised his gun and fired two shots at the man. With superhuman reflexes, the man blocked the two shots with his sword.

“Hehe, you thought that…” Before he could finish his words, a vial broke on his body, covering him with a dark red liquid. It was odorless and it didn’t make him feel any pain, so he appeared confused.

“Good luck!” Nikolai smiled and started running away.

“Grab him!” He roared as he shook the liquid off his body. At that time, a monstrous roar reverberated through the area making Scarman pause.

Nikolai was already a distance away by the time the goblins arrived at the scene. With the Pheromones doing their magic, they ignored him completely and attacked Scarman and his gang directly.

“It’s a Hobgoblin!” His lackey shrieked in horror as they were swarmed by the goblins.

“There must be a village nearby! Maybe there’ a Graveyard too, haha!” Scarman laughed.

Nikolai could hear him from a distance away with a smirk on his face. Even though Graveyards were rare, they were almost a certainty for a hidden village this close to civilization.

That’s why he needed to go to the village before they kill the hobgoblin. Nikolai rolled through the trees and started to crawl to reach the other side of the mountain.

He started sweating from every pore in his body due to the heat. The dirt was like embers but he didn’t care and kept crawling. As soon as he came out from the other side, he saw the goblin’s village with only a few goblins in there.

He decided to leave them alive and threw the last of his Dizziness Fumes at them to stall for time. He ran directly into the village and to the hut, they found the graveyard in at that time.

The shabby door broke after three kicks and Nikolai found himself inside. He started pushing a giant rock off the way to reveal a hole underneath it.

“There’s the village!”

A shout came from a distance away and Nikolai knew he had no more time. He jumped into the hole and landed in front of the big chest he clearly remembered.

As he opened it, he found ten crystals lined up neatly inside along with a few pieces of jewelry. He bagged all the items as he heard footsteps from above.

“It must be in this hut! Why is the door opened?”

Nikolai looked around and saw the path that led underground. He threw the last vial of Dizziness Fumes right underneath the hole and started running away through the tunnel.

It was barely enough for him to crouch-walk his way through. As the tunnel went farther, it also grew narrower until Nikolai could only crawl through with his small bag in front of him.

“What is this?” A distant s said making Nikolai crawl faster. It seems the Dizziness Fumes has bought him some time, but he doubted they would work more than a distraction.

His breathing grew more labored the farther he crawled. At long last, he started hearing a running stream from below him. Nikolai didn’t know what this place was, but it was his only chance of not being buried alive.

He took out his dagger and started striking the side of the wall. As he did, he heard shouts from behind him making him hurry up to dig through the wall.

“This path is too small.” He could distinctively hear them say. At long last, the ground underneath him broke as he fell toward the water.