Too Stubborn to Die

Book 4: Chapter 31

“Is that them? The filthy humans?” Croaked a goblin, pointing its crooked, green finger toward a group far in the distance as they ducked behind a craggy line of black rock.

“Yeah, must be,” said the goblin commander, his brass goggles zooming in as he focused on them. “Yep. Not a doubt. Come on, boys! We got meat, and it’s lookin’ mighty delicious!”

“Yep, yep, yep! Meat, human meat!” Another goblin rubbed its greedy, green hands together as it hopped about.

The promise of fresh meat was enough to excite his imbecile followers. But in truth, Bolok Crooktooth, the goblin leader of the look squad, had his gaze set on a much juicier prize.

The goblin leader was sick of being looked down upon and disrespected. And he had come into this dungeon with a plan.

All he needed to do was take out a top ranker, and the others would cower at his might, as they should.

It was no surprise he had set his sights so high. His ambitions were set long ago. Once a feared and mighty goblin, Bolok was huge by normal standards at six feet and was a champion of his tribe before the integration.

When the integration came, and he was thrown into a Tutorial, he saw his opportunity. No longer would he be bound by the laws of his own world. Forced to remain a servant of his chief, bound by his lowly blood. No, he would make use of his strength and rise to the top.

After all, he was the greatest warrior. Yet, it felt like his calling was slipping through his fingers. The title he deserved was ever out of reach, and the other champions of this new world didn’t look at him with the respect he deserved.

He had taken too long in the Tutorial, and when he finally reached the trials, he got there just before the doors slammed shut behind him. Worst still, he met that ignorant wretch, Erdek Foulbreath, and she actually had the audacity to try to make him bow.

She would pay for that in time.

And the humans hadn't been any better. In their eyes, he was just another nobody. And it didn’t help that he hadn't managed to secure one of the top ranks when reaching their new world.

That wasn’t to say that he was a nobody. At rank 33 in the world, lesser goblins flocked to him. Throwing themselves down and kowtowing before his feet.

But he cared little for the weaklings. Sure, they had their uses. But he wanted to claim his spot at the top. A spot that had always been his by right.

Bolok’s face twisted into a mean scowl. These humans would taste his vengeance and become stepping stones on his path to greatness.

His gaze swept across the field. Everything was to plan. They had positioned themselves perfectly for the ambush, and with his powerful trap Skill in place, the humans were as good as dead.

“Finally,” he licked his lips.

“Yeah! Finally! Hungry, hungry!”

“Shut up, worms!” He hissed, and his followers quieted down.

The plan was perfect, but he reminded himself not to cut any corners. They might have only been pathetic humans whom he had killed many times before, but they were still top rankers. And he knew neither Talia nor Soohyun was to be underestimated.

“Quiet up, boys! Now, listen close. If ya want ya meat, follow me instructions, got it? Now, on me word we spring the trap. Got it, scumbags?”

“Aye, boss!” Came echoed chatter from the four goblins as they raced to get into position.

His gobbo minions were not the strongest, but they had proven their worth. And more importantly, they didn’t need to be, thanks to his brilliance. Once his trap Skill was sprung, the humans would be paralyzed in place, and all his minions needed to do was level their Skills onto unmoving targets.

With everyone in position, he smiled widely. Now they just had to wait.

“Hang on! What that?” Bolok muttered under his breath as a figure flashed forward, and then stopped some distance away as they looked around.

No, not this way. Don’t ruin me plan! Nooo! That idiot is going to spring Bolok’s trap!

The goblin leader almost stepped out of his concealment. One of his minions had cast the Skill over them, making them extraordinarily hard to spot or sense for anybody not looking for them. But he couldn’t let the moronic human ruin his trap.

But just as he was about to launch a quick attack in hopes of killing the human before his true target arrived, the person turned in his direction.

It was a human man with bleached tips and a rather odd bear fur suit. He wore an eyepatch and a black cape. He was looking around as if he had lost something.

Hey! I know that person!

Bolok inspected the man, and his little green eyes went wide.

“A— Aaron Dober.”

His surprise quickly faded as he realized his good fortune, and was replaced by a greedy grin.

Aaron Dober mightn’t have held as high a rank as Talia, but everyone who had gone to the trials knew who Aaron Dober was. And all of their world’s most powerful had reached the trials.

To kill Aaron Dober was an achievement that went beyond normal rankers. He was the man who had completed three full trials, and none would deny his might if he were the one to end him.

Oh, how perfect. It seems the heavens smile upon me.

And better yet, the human was just about to step into his trap.

Bolok licked his lips in anticipation. This was it. After this, there would be no more questioning him. He would be the forerunner of the gobbo race, and even that foul female temptress Erdek would have to acknowledge him.

The human took another step as he looked around, and bright, yellow energy sparked up all around, whipping across the ground, arcing lines of power.

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“Aaargh!” the human grunted as the electrifying trap blasted him and wrapped around his body to hold him in place.

That’s it, perfect!

“Now, gobbos! Attack!”

Bolok bounced out of his concealment, waving his blunt axe through the air as he commanded his assault, and his followers did exactly as they were told.

But even as their Skills activated, his expression went wide, and then twisted in terror. Because Aaron Dober turned and looked directly at him.

Not good.

The Skills raining down from all around didn’t even get a chance to fully activate, as the human man turned into a blur, and he immediately realized how great the gulf between them was. For he could not even follow this man’s movements with his eyes.

In an instant, his minions exploded into gore around, showering him in blood. It was all over in a second, and his pupils dilated as he felt his insides bursting outward.

Aaron

“Huh, I wonder who they were supposed to be,” Aaron shrugged, cleaning off his gauntlets.

It had all happened rather quickly. He had picked this spot because it was perfectly positioned to intersect his companions as they made their way back to the eighth temple. And had been trying to figure out what direction to expect them from when he felt an electrifying jolt.

When the Skill first hit him, he hadn’t actually fully comprehended what had happened. While it was obviously some kind of trap, he wasn’t sure if it was part of the dungeon or something else.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt energy signals spring out around him and countered their attack as he would normally.

He hadn’t even really planned to pulse powerful energy from his core to break free from the trap. If anything, it was a power he was trying not to use. A death or two was far easier to recover from than hurting his soul with his core. But it had happened instinctively. Luckily, the trap wasn’t too strong, and a rather weak pulse of energy freed him immediately.

When it was all over, he wanted some answers. But now there was nothing left but gore and body parts. He couldn’t even inspect who his attackers were.

You killed: Turok Stankass [ Level 86 ]

You killed: Afgak Stinkyfeet [ Level 92 ]

You killed: Bolok Crooktooth [ Level 104 ]

Experience rewarded for killing multiple enemies!

[ Precise Bombardier Pugilist ] has LEVELED UP!

112 → 113

“Huh, those are some odd names,” he shrugged, not recognizing any of them.

How odd, he thought. But he had things to do, so he quickly collected their loot. And was surprised to find tiny, little outfits amongst the gore. Luckily, they were enchanted and had survived his attacks

“Odd little clothing. Wait! Perhaps the goblins back at base will take a fancy to this stuff,” he murmured as he stuffed it all in his scabbard, then turned to look around.

“Why’d they attack, though?”

He thought about the odd names. It was rare for regular beasts or monster minions to be named, but he didn’t remember having seen their names on the dungeon rankings. And doubted anybody at the lower end of the rankings would be dumb enough to attack him.

“Oh well. I guess they were probably just more dungeon minions,” he added as he rose back to his feet and went back to scanning the horizon. “Gotcha! There they are!”

Spotting his companions in the distance, zooming toward him placed a smile on his face. Aaron trusted them to look after themselves, but in a dangerous place like this, one could never be too certain. And he was glad to see them alive and healthy.

After all, who knew what top rankers might be out there planning something devious?

He waved them down as they approached, and moments later, Talia and Soohyun touched down, leading the group with Zero at their rear, watching their backs.

“How’d you go?”

“Good. A few minor skirmishes, but nothing much of note,” Talia said.

“Woof!”

“You tell him, Zero,” Soohyun said, rubbing Zero’s fur.

“Good to hear. Alright, let’s get our new friends home.”

Their new companions from the previous floor weren’t complaining. They had seen what was around. Normal minions were low D-grade here, and they knew they were already out of their depths.

Aaron hastily led the group back up into the temple and to the extraction zone.

Before saying their goodbyes, Talia handed them some notes from her spatial storage explaining the situation and their relationship. Dober was open to settlers, and she doubted they would have any problems if they reached the town before they returned from the dungeon. But there was no harm in vouching for them and making their lives easier.

Once they were all in the extraction zone and confirmed safe by the System, the party moved on and traced the corridor up the pyramid.

It was time to align it and move on to the next floor. And a smile crept across Aaron’s face as he thought about the next floor.

The next floor would be their entire cluster, and although it didn’t consist of the entire sector, there was a chance he would soon be catching up with old friends.

Moments later, they passed through the final passages and made their way to the top of the pyramid. And just as Aaron had suspected, they found themselves on an observation platform overlooking the area with a clear view of the other temples.

What he didn’t expect was the lack of a fight. Not a single alien was at the top of the temple, let alone a boss.

“So, this is it?” Talia said, walking toward the console that the quest marker was focused on.

There was a bunch of alien inscriptions all over it, and numerous buttons and levers.

“Looks complicated,” Soohyun commented.

“Let’s see here,” Talia said as she walked up to it and began fiddling with the controls.

Aaron’s focus drifted as he gazed out across the distance. He was looking for other groups, and it didn’t take him long to spot Emmy and Lance atop another temple.

He waved, though he wasn’t sure if they could see him from here.

“Emmy and Lance,” he called back to the others. “Forgot to mention I met them while you were saving the others. They seem decent enough… though definitely a bit misguided. We’ll need to keep an eye on them.”

On another temple, he spotted Ernest and Terry. “Hey, it’s those guys. So, they did it in the end, huh?”

Quest: Planar Temple Alignment COMPLETED!

30 auction points rewarded!

Six Planar Temples pending!

The great cavarian lord rubbles beneath the ground, an accumulation of generations of scientific progress in gene mutation! It awaits its freedom should more temples be aligned!

Warning! Additional auction points will be rewarded for contributions to the defeat of the cavarian lord!

Warning! The cavarian lord is a test beyond anything you’ve seen so far! Any parties who doubt their strength are advised to flee through the extraction zones!

You are congratulated for making it this far!

Warning! Using an extraction zone will end your dungeon experience, but you may still participate in the auction!

Aaron turned back to where Talia had been fiddling with the console, and she just shrugged.

“I dunno. I was just pressing stuff,” she said.

“Well, you did it. And of course we weren’t just going to make it to the next floor comfortably, were we?”

Talia smiled. “Nope, not a chance. But look at the wording. Do you think…”

“That this thing is going to spawn one boss for all of us to gang up on once the six remaining temples are aligned?”

“Yeah, pretty much that,” Talia said.

“No idea. But if so, it’s gonna have to be one bloody bastard of a boss,” Aaron groaned.

The System didn’t give warnings too often, and if it was giving one now for a boss that was to be fought by all of their world’s strongest, then it probably had a good reason for doing so.

And worst of all, he had a feeling he was going to have to play tank.

“Great. Just fucking great.”