Without hesitation, Nash immediately lunged toward the Gremlin Mage and swung the club horizontally. Striking to the side, but it got deflected by the barrier. So, he jumped backward as soon as it got deflected.
"As expected, it wouldn't be so easy to break through the barrier with this much strength."
Despite meeting the requirement to equip the club, it is not enough to destroy the magic barrier in one go. Infinite Dungeon is not that easy, it's a game that requires trial and error. But this is his reality now, there is no trial and error here. That's why he cannot die now, not after being given the chance to live a second life.
His focus deepened, and the entire atmosphere that surrounded him before was no longer present. The foolish human has gained courage, he's still scared. But that doesn't mean he won't fight back.
"Urg! Agh! 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗮!"
A spell? It has only been 2 minutes, yet the cooldown has ended that quickly? So, a 2-minute cooldown every time the mage casts a fire spell. That's… I can work with that. Not unreasonable, but first…
After the gremlin finished casting its spell, a magical circle appeared. It is pointed towards the human again. This time, his options for which way to dodge are limited due to the circle of goblins surrounding them both. A small disadvantage for him, a big disadvantage for the mage. In Infinite Dungeon, with your luck stat high, you can kill enemies using their fellow ally's attack.
But now that this is his reality, luck status would work differently. With logic now coming into play, he will be able to devise a plan that doesn't require more risk but careful execution instead.
"Here it comes!"
The magical circle glowed red once again, producing a ball of fire that propels towards the human archer. He stayed still for a couple of seconds, letting the ball of fire approach him. Within a few seconds, he dodges the spell by rolling to the side slightly. It grazed his arm, burning the shoulder part of his clothes. His skin reddens, being grazed by a ball of flame surely must've hurt. Fortunately, the fireball did not explode upon impact. It went through and hit the goblins who were behind Nash instead, killing 3-4 goblins due to the explosion and being burned alive by the high temperature.
"Kuag– Aghr!"
The Goblin-Mage wanted to react but the human archer did not let it grieve for its fallen allies. By giving itself the attention that the goblin must focus on, it won't have time to worry about its allies and focus on its self-preservation instead. Nash lunged forward, with the intent to strike the mage with a club vertically.
"Ryhio! gmhuag! Fir–"
The mage tried to cast the fire spell but failed. It had entered its cooldown the moment it exploded, it couldn't do anything but defend itself with the magical barrier that deflects physical and projectile attacks. A perfect opportunity to shatter the barrier by pure force!
Nash did not hesitate, he knew that it wouldn't cast a single spell. He continued his lunge and started striking down the barrier with the club. Every time he hits the barrier, the club bounces off it. But it also generates momentum, making it have a nice windup for a big strike. For the next one and a half minutes, all the archer did was bash the goblin's barrier with the club in all directions. The mage did not move, it sinisterly laughed while the archer was using a club to destroy a seemingly impenetrable and unbreakable barrier.
𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸…
A small crack formed on the "unbreakable" barrier, and the mage widened its orange pupils. That sudden revelation that the barrier could crack must've shocked the mage itself that it didn't even realize that they were trembling.
Nash's smile curved downwards, showing a sinister smile.
"Tach!"
The mage finally started moving its feet and changed positions. However, it could not stop the relentless pursuit of the human hunting for their life. The human was more agile, and faster, and the blood lust was much more than all of the goblins combined. He could've targeted the other goblins, but he isn't.
Why? The goblin pondered, why was it after its life? Why not the other goblins? The other goblins around the area aren't doing anything, they are too occupied with the entertainment that this is giving them than their comrade being hunted down. The gremlin mage continued to run away, yet it could not outrun the human who was still hitting the barrier with the club, forming more cracks than before.
Focused on self-preservation, the gremlin continued to run and focused on nothing else.
Until it finally shattered.
The club shattered into pieces, splinters fell to the cold, stone ground. It shattered into glass shards, like how weapons break in games. The mage realized that and took the opportunity, it had been 2 minutes. The cooldown of the spell has been spent and can now be used again. The mage turns its back and faces the human, who seems to have stepped backward. The human did not have any weapons within their grasp, and the gremlin laughed.
"Ura! Shaka! 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗔!"
Once again, a magical circle containing ancient runes appears in front of the mage. The runes spin, making them glow the color red. Each rune symbolizes the mechanism of how the spell can be activated. In this case, Fira is the activation word. The spell is named "Fira". A flame magic spell produces a ball of fire and it shoots out towards a target.
The magic circle produces a ball of fire, it only took a few seconds before it created a dense ball made out of flames.
"GUHAHAHAHA!!!"
A burst of laughter came from the goblin-mage as it shot the ball of fire towards the human with no weapon.
The ball of flame, due to its size, envelopes an entire human body. The moment they get hit with it, their body will turn into charcoal and they will experience [ Death ].
𝗦𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗼𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗵!
A speeding arrow pierced through the ball of flames, breaking the spell and exploding upon impact. It spreads through the circle of goblins, burning them alive with their own ally's spell. However, the arrow did not stop. It continued to fly towards the target, the Goblin-Mage. Yet, the gremlin smiled. The barrier can deflect projectiles, it will bounce off, nothing can break the impenetrable and unbreakable barrie–
𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗦𝗛!?
"ARG–!"
𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗦𝗛!
The defensive magical barrier shattered, each piece of the magical dome falling into the ground and turning into orbs of mana. The arrow pierced the barrier and also pierced the left eye of the goblin mage.
For the first time in its life, it felt pain. The pain that it inflicted on other adventurers that came to its domain, is now being inflicted back to the gremlin.
It screamed.
"GRUOUAHHHHH!!!!"
The flames still flicker, continuously burning the goblins who were surrounding them. They also screamed, but all of it was drowned out by the intense crackling of the flames.
From the wall of flames burning the entire ground, a man emerged from it. Holding a bow and pulling its string, with an arrow on it. A light glimmered from the mage's right eye, it crawled forward reaching for it.
"..."
The next thing that happened was all darkness, everything became black. The gremlin mage fell forward, slamming its lifeless body on the ground as it also got burned alive along with the others.
[ Congratulations! You have learned "Focused Shot" ]
[ You have successfully killed 5 Goblin-Type enemies. Rewards will be given to you shortly. ]
[ Rewards Given: 2 Minor Health Potions, 50 Gold. Straight to Inventory. ]
[ You have leveled up! Level 4 > Level 7 ]
[ Obtained +9 status points ]
…
[ You are now walking on "The Archer's Path" ]