Chapter 24: New Tactic
[ You have died. ]
Damian was just starting to get used to the lack of death when his survival streak went back to Zero. The fourth day's exploration packed a real punch!
Damian rushed in when he encountered an early Den, only to be met with full attendance! Not only was there half a dozen Goblins inside, but there was also a Hobgoblin present right from the start!
It was too late to pull back, so Damian could only try to recreate the feat that he achieved in the first Den. Unfortunately, the Hobgoblins presence changed things completely.
Its overall physique wasnt on the level of the Goblin Bat Wielder, but despite using the same stone club, it wasnt as weak and malnourished as the stray Hobgoblin.
In this Dens case, Damian didnt fall to the Hobgoblins strength, he was overwhelmed by his enemies numbers!
Direct confrontation is impossible.
Many tactics could be used when just dealing with the small Goblins, but Combat Instincts wasnt so magical as to completely avoid the Hobgoblins large attacks while dealing with 5 other Goblins.
In the end, all that Damian could kill using the element of surprise was one Goblin, his second kill cost him a broken shoulder.
Although Damian was able to avoid another head explosion by relying on Combat Instincts, he received many stab wounds and blunt trauma all over his body.
After the Hobgoblin grew annoyed by Damian's slippery movements, he changed his target, finalizing the cause of death as a broken neck.
Damian ended up suffering a great deal of pain this time from getting ganged on, but compared to losing his head in an instant, the memory of pain was rather faint.
No matter what, head explosion maintained its top rank as the most painful cause of death!
I need to switch to a different tactic.
Unlike last time, when he kept trying with minimal changes, Damian decided to abandon his familiar rushing method from the get-go.
Since the odds were completely against him, experiencing the battle a few more times or collecting more environmental information was useless. He needed to use an approach that could give him more leeway.
The reason he messed up the first time wasnt overconfidence but necessity. In order to deal with the Den correctly, Damian had to look and see what was inside, and once he looked, he couldnt retreat.
Rather than treating every Den as a threat and acting blindly, Damian maintained his rushed style for the sake of efficiency.
If he only had a single life to bet, Damian would have acted on the former, but since Respawn allowed him infinite second chances, surveying the target ended up being the superior option.
Damian was already stressed beyond belief just by trying to keep everything together! In his current situation, utilizing the little luxury that he had made absolute sense!
Most importantly, this method worked out so well until now, a single unfortunate happening didnt mean that Damians tactic was flawed.
As expected, it has to be that way.
Of course, now that he had the information he needed, the method had to change and suit it. There werent that many options to begin with, so Damian didnt have to think too far to find his answer.
Lets do it again.
After going back to the save point at the start of Day 4, Damina left the Den he was resting in before walking towards his target as slowly as possible.
Once it was finally in sight. He stopped to pick up some rocks from the ground before he started throwing them into the troublesome Den!
Although he wasnt a perfect shot, Damian didnt have to, he had unlimited tries to throw something and grab his enemies attention.
Since he couldnt handle being surrounded, Damian just had to lure his enemies outside and pick them out one by one!
While it wasnt exactly as simple as it sounded, Damian found it much better than being under the Goblin Squads mercy. Especially
Greeee!
Its your time to shine.
[ Agility +1 ]
[ Agility +1 ]
As soon as peeked out, Damian unhesitatingly used the Free Stat Points that he had received very recently. It wasnt that hard of a choice in this kind of situation.
More stamina would definitely help in the overall scheme of things, but dumping all of his points in Constitution wouldnt give Damian any kind of edge after preparing his glaring shortcomings.
The same thing could be said about Strength, adding to it could make things easier but it wouldnt have that much of an impact.
On the other hand, raising his highest Stat was exactly the edge that Damian needed, especially since he just happened to start a chase!
Greeaa!
The first Goblin left the Den and rushed at Damian, only for Damian to rush at it once it got closer. Since he still needed to wait 30 seconds before his next attack, Damian got a head start before dashing away!
[ You have defeated ]
Greee!
Greeeen!
Graaaee!
Damian was ready to throw more stones if the rest of the Goblins didnt surface, but he didnt have to do anything. The smell of the blood that he spilled had already set them off.
The sight of the enraged Goblins running towards him was enough to give Damian the adrenaline needed to keep going.
Its working.
Just by comparing it to the first chase that he had in the beginner cave, Damina could already tell that his speed had considerably increased. A few more points and he might have a chance to keep up with the Goblins.
Though my target isnt to keep running this time.
After giving it his all for a few minutes to keep his momentum, Damian started intentionally slowing down. If he wanted to keep it up, he couldnt keep burning his stamina like this.
Most importantly, he wanted the Goblins to catch up to him!
[ You have defeated a Goblin. FP +1 ]
The lucky first to catch up ended up eating Damians Aura Slash, leaving only four more Goblins and one Hobgoblin that was lagging behind.
Having successfully picked his prey, Damian accelerated once more before slowing down to catch his next target!
[ You have defeated ]
[ You have defeated ]
The Goblins nimble movements ended up being their path to demise. Once some distance formed between them, Damian had no problem killing one and bolting off before the rest could make a difference.
[ You have defeated ]
[ You have defeated ]
The last two seemed to have finally noticed Damians trap as they stuck together. Unfortunately for them, two Goblins were no longer a challenge for Damian.
One of them got an Aura Slash while the other received Damians physical aggression.
Its only us now.
The numbers that had soured this fight were no longer there. With the death of the last accompanying Goblin, Damian stopped running as he stood in place, waiting for the Hobgoblin to come at him.
Now that the scales had been balanced, it was time for a heartfelt one-on-one brawl!
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