Chương 17: The Ambush

"Now!" Mike shouted as he restrained Kyle. Denise's expression turned cold as she turned her daggers sideways and thrust them. She moved like a flash, her daggers slipping toward his back from a blind angle. Joe nocked an arrow and aimed at Kyle's legs before releasing the string. Kyle's expression hardened. Feeling Mike's grip tighten around his hand and shoulder, he promptly used [Mana Enhancement] and drove his knee into his stomach, forcing him to release his hold before jumping away, avoiding the arrow.

He forcibly twisted his body midair to avoid Denise's backstab. However, he couldn't fully dodge it as one of the daggers grazed his waist. The moment he landed, Kyle jumped back, putting distance between them.

"That bastard!" Mike leaned forward; his stomach throbbed as he endured the pain.

"He avoided that?" Joe's expression changed, his eyes filled with vigilance as he looked at Kyle. Denise coldly looked at him. Her sweet and tearful expression completely disappeared, leaving just the cold eyes of a female leopard.

"As expected, it was a trap," Kyle said, his face cold. His eyebrows scrunched as he felt pain in his waist. He quickly circulated his mana around the wound, relieving the pain a bit and slowing down the bleeding.

"Oh? You caught on," Denise sneered.

"Not as naive as you look." She lowered her center of gravity, looking for a chance to strike.

"I've already said it! Why bother with traps? We should have just jumped him." Mike said as he unsheathed his sword, his expression hardening as he still reeled from the pain.

"Shut up, Mike! We've got enough info from this ambush. As that guy said, this guy is very skilled; he should be one of the strong ones at the apprentice class. Be careful." Joe coldly said as he aimed at Kyle, looking for an opening.

'That guy? So there's someone else behind this ambush. But why are they ambushing me? I didn't provoke anyone in the past. Was it some unintentional action? Or was I targeted? But why? Tch! Now isn't the time for this; I'll ask after I take them down.' Kyle unsheathed his sword and pointed it at them. His gaze warily swept across the three before landing on Joe. He pushed [Mana Enhancement] to its limit, circulating mana through his body, greatly enhancing his body and senses.

'I have to take out the archer first!' Just as he circulated mana through his legs, ready to burst out, a roar suddenly sounded from the depths of the goblin cave, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

"Dang—Dang!" The sound of heavy footsteps resounded through the cave and into open space, shaking the ground.

"Roar!" The four vigilantly watched as a giant green creature, over 2 meters tall, slowly emerged from the cave's shadows, roaring as it looked at them with bloodshot eyes. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. It was a giant goblin. Wearing leather armor and rotten clothes, still very rare for its kind, and holding a giant wooden club. It had a giant belly, but its muscles bulged outwards.

Its arms were thicker than Kyle's thigh, a clear indication of its immense strength.

"Hey, hey, hey! Didn't that bastard Evan say that this is just the lair of a small goblin settlement? Why is there a giant goblin here?!" Mike shouted with a look of disbelief.

"The numbers don't add up! A goblin tribe of this size shouldn't have a giant goblin!" Joe said, looking at the goblins' corpses around.

"Tch! Snap out of your daze! This is a rank 1 creature. Though it might be at the bottom of that rank, it's still not something we can take lightly!" Denise tightened her grip on her daggers, vigilantly observing the giant goblin.

"Hey, kid! How about a truce for now? We'll settle our grudge once we deal with the giant goblin." Mike looked at Kyle and said. He clearly considered the rank 1 goblin more of a threat than Kyle, who he perceived as an apprentice.

"Oh? An enticing proposal, but here's my response: Go fuck yourself!" Kyle said, giving him the middle finger.

"You @#$*%! &?!!" Mike's face turned red, heaving a barrage of obscenities. He was about to ignore everything else and desperately fight Kyle, but he was stopped by Denise.

"Stop it, Mike! We have to deal with the giant goblin first," she said, keeping an eye on both threats, Kyle and the giant goblin.

"Roar!" Suddenly, the giant goblin roared and rushed towards them, attracting everyone's attention. Kyle didn't miss this opportunity. Mana surged through his legs as he burst forward, crossing a distance of 20 meters in less than a second.

"Fa—!" Joe's eyes widened. He barely managed to lean backward while placing his bow in front of him before Kyle split it in two. The tip of his sword brushed against his chest, drawing a line of blood.

'Tch! Too shallow!' Kyle frowned. Just as he was about to go for the finishing blow. Denise flashed behind him, her daggers heading for the back of his neck. Kyle pivoted just in time, using the spine of the sword to block the daggers, followed by a low kick, tearing through the air. However, Denise jumped back in time, dodging the kick. At the same time, the giant goblin landed, shaking the ground and leaving a pit in it. It raised its giant wooden club and violently brought it down on Mike.

"Come on! You fat f*ck!" Mike was waiting for this moment. He jumped to the side, cleanly avoiding the club strike.

"Boom!" The goblin's wooden club landed heavily on the ground, creating a small crater. Mike didn't waste this opportunity, dashing towards the giant goblin and swinging his greatsword at the goblin's unarmored belly.

"Power Strike!" He used his signature combat skill, enhancing the power of his strike by 50%. Unfortunately, his sword barely pierced through the skin and part of the fat. His full strength strike left just a minor wound on the giant goblin's body, barely drawing blood.

"You've got to be kiddi—" Mike stared with bulging eyes.

"Roar!!" The goblin roared furiously, swinging its arm straight at Mike's face. Mike barely had the time to bring his arm up and guard his face before he was sent flying by the goblin's immense strength, his sword flying along with him.

"Argh!" He tumbled several times on the ground before coming to a stop. Mike quickly got back to his feet and retrieved his sword. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his arm had already turned purple.

"Hey, you bastards! You might wanna stop and help me! Or no one will survive this battle with this giant goblin." Mike shouted while vigilantly guarding against the goblin. The power he was so proud of looked so weak in front of this monster. He can withstand a few more strikes at most before falling. Kyle slipped past Joe's sneak attack, then turned just in time to catch Denise's strike. He flexed his muscles, sending her flying, but the latter somersaulted in the air and landed steadily on the ground.

Hearing Mike's cry, he glanced at the monster from the corner of his eyes and tsked.

'I can't let that monster break the balance of power. I need to keep this show of a well-balanced melee, with no victor in sight for a while. Only then can I draw the snake snooping in the dark.' Yes, Kyle never fully used his power since the start of the battle; in fact, he didn't even use 50% of it. Since he walked into this valley, the feeling of being spied upon never vanished. It became even more apparent when he used mana to boost his senses to their limit.

However, he couldn't pinpoint the exact source of the gaze. That's why he decided to play along, evenly fighting against the assassin and the archer. However, the warrior wouldn't be able to hold up for long.

'I have to weaken the giant goblin!' Kyle suddenly rushed towards the giant goblin, slashing at the tendons in its leg.