Chapter 126: You Are Strong!

By the time the rest of the pursuit party finally emerged from the hidden tunnel into Greenmoss Flats, the sight waiting outside was considerably stranger than anything they had expected.

Damian was sitting sideways upon the broad surface of Longtian as though the Epic Grade Flying Sword were nothing more than an unusually expensive floating bench.

The sword hovered several feet above the grass while he rested one leg over the other, looking entirely too comfortable for someone surrounded by hostile Dark Goblins.

Several meters away, Varkas, Vesha, the Goblin Shaman and their hidden elite warriors remained exactly where Damian had left them, their bodies unnaturally stiff beneath the lingering pressure of his Battle Aura.

Some were sweating despite the cool breeze sweeping through Greenmoss Flats, while others trembled so badly that their weapons rattled faintly against their armor.

One particularly unfortunate warrior looked like his knees wanted to collapse but his body had forgotten how to perform the necessary movement.

Paulina was the first to step fully into the sunlight, taking in the entire scene before looking toward Damian with a baffled expression.

"What the hell happened here?"

Damian turned his head and smiled. "Took you guys long enough. I almost fell asleep waiting."

Julia immediately narrowed her eyes. "You flew through the tunnel while the rest of us stopped to release every slave Varkas deliberately chained along the route, so perhaps forgive us for not matching the speed of the man riding a flying sword."

Janet appeared beside her with several freed Humans following behind and pointed accusingly toward Damian. "Exactly! Some of us were performing actual humanitarian work while Your Laziness sat outside looking pretty and terrorizing Goblins!"

Paulina folded her arms. "Ronan also had to break several shackles because some of them didn’t possess keys."

"Five," Ronan corrected from behind them, sounding faintly aggrieved by the lack of recognition.

Damian nodded sympathetically. "That sounds terrible."

Julia’s eye twitched. "Damian..."

"Alright, alright! Good work," Damian replied with a chuckle, finally hopping off Longtian as everyone filed out onto the grass.

Stella and Ronan naturally moved toward Damian’s position once outside, the habit of serving as his bodyguards apparently surviving despite the fact that their Lord had once again handled the actual danger before they arrived.

Eunice remained near the freed slaves, quickly organizing those capable of walking while checking the condition of those who had been injured during their captivity.

Kellan, however, stopped almost immediately after leaving the tunnel, his eyes having found Varkas.

The teenager’s grip tightened around Garrick’s old spear as the rest of Greenmoss Flats seemed to slowly disappear from his awareness.

Damian, the frozen Goblin elites, his companions and even the open grassland surrounding them became unimportant compared to the compact figure standing several dozen meters away.

Varkas Blackroot.

The creature who destroyed Otter Village and the monster who killed his grandfather.

Kellan had spent the last several days imagining this moment, sometimes while training until his arms trembled, sometimes while lying awake unable to sleep and sometimes while staring at Garrick’s spear wondering whether the old man would be proud of what he intended to do with it.

Yet now that Varkas was actually here, Kellan discovered that hatred was not the only thing waiting inside him.

Fear was there too, and a lot of it.

Logically, Kellan understood how absurd that fear should have been.

Varkas was currently struggling merely to remain standing beneath Damian’s pressure, while the other Dark Goblins around him looked as though someone had buried their feet in the earth.

But memory did not care about logic.

Inside Kellan’s mind, Varkas was still the towering monster from Otter Village.

He remembered Garrick fighting him.

His Grandpap had always seemed invincible.

When Kellan was a child, Garrick could lift him with one arm and carry him around the village while complaining that boys were apparently becoming heavier every year.

Whenever wild beasts wandered too close, Garrick chased them away.

When drunken travelers caused problems, one sharp look from the old Fighter usually ended matters before weapons were drawn.

Everything Kellan knew about combat had started with Garrick.

And yet... Garrick had lost.

Worse, Kellan had watched it happen.

’Can I really do this?’

The thought appeared before he could stop it.

His breathing became slightly shallower.

’If Grandpap couldn’t beat him, what makes me think I can?’

Last night’s Levels suddenly felt less impressive.

All the pills, Feats and new Attributes had seemed incredible when Damian demonstrated how much stronger he had become, but now Kellan stood in front of the creature responsible for the worst day of his life and another terrible thought surfaced.

’What if I’m still weak?’

Damian noticed immediately.

His gaze had been casually moving across the group since they emerged, and Kellan’s reaction was obvious once he understood what to look for.

Hmm, so that was it, huh?

Damian had spent last night worrying that rapid progression would make Kellan arrogant, but apparently the opposite problem remained buried beneath the boy’s anger.

Kellan possessed power now, real power.

Yet part of his mind was still trapped in Otter Village, watching Garrick die and learning the lesson that Varkas Blackroot was something he could never defeat.

Interesting how the world worked.

No wonder some of the best parents could raise some of the worst kids. What you assume someone might do or think might greatly differ from what they actually do or think.

Damian’s eyes flashed thoughtfully before he called out, "Kellan, come here."

The teenager flinched slightly, then quickly approached.

"Yes, Master Damian?"

"Show me your Character Sheet."

Kellan blinked in confusion. "My Character Sheet?"

"Yup."

He clearly had no idea where Damian was going with this, but there was no hesitation born from secrecy.

Kellan simply opened his information and permitted Damian to view the complete display.

[Name: Kellan Baines.]

[Race: Human.]

[Overall Level: 7.]

[Main Class: Fighter — Level 7.]

[Subclass: None.]

[Class Stage: Standard (Journeyman).]

[Experience: 6/70 EXP.]

[Attributes: STR: 10, DEX: 7, AGI: 7, CON: 7, INT: 4, WIS: 4, SPI: 4.]

[Feats: Double Strike, Mobile, Polearm Mastery.]

[Skills: Pierce, Sweeping Flurry, Javelin Throw, Impale.]

[Specializations: Polearm Mastery (Journeyman), Athletics (Novice), Medium Armor Mastery (Novice).]

[Titles: None.]

Damian read through everything carefully before nodding with satisfaction.

"Not bad at all."

Kellan’s Attribute distribution was sensible rather than flashy.

Strength had received the greatest emphasis, naturally fitting a spear-focused Fighter, while Dexterity and Agility remained high enough to support his weapon control, footwork and reactions.

Constitution had not been neglected either, which Damian appreciated immensely.

Nothing irritated him more than people who designed themselves like disposable damage dealers and then acted shocked when something hit them back.

The Feats were good too. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

<Polearm Mastery> obviously complemented the weapon Kellan had trained with his entire life, while <Mobile> gave him greater freedom to exploit the range advantage of a spear.

<Double Strike> was similarly useful, particularly once Kellan learned how to create openings rather than merely waiting for enemies to provide them.

What surprised Damian was the Skill section.

He looked at it again before glancing toward Kellan.

"Hold on. Where the hell did you get four combat Skills already?"

Kellan blinked.

Damian pointed toward the screen. "You have <Pierce>, <Sweeping Flurry>, <Javelin Throw> and <Impale>, yet you’re only Level 7. Why does your Skill list look like you’ve been training for decades behind my back?"

Kellan’s nervousness disappeared almost immediately, replaced by something softer as he looked down at Garrick’s spear.

"Grandpap taught me."

Damian’s eyebrows rose.

"They were his Skills. He started teaching me the movements years ago, even before I awakened a Class. I couldn’t really use the Skills back then, obviously, but he still made me practice the forms over and over," Kellan explained.

A faint smile appeared upon the teenager’s face.

"He always said that once I became a Fighter, there was no reason to waste time teaching my body something it could’ve already learned."

Damian stared at him for a moment before looking toward the spear.

Ah well, that explained it.

Garrick had essentially trained the physical foundations before Kellan possessed the system framework necessary to formalize them.

The footwork, body rotation, grip transitions, range control and movement patterns were already buried inside Kellan’s muscle memory.

Once Fighter awakened and the necessary progression became available, the system had merely recognized years of prior effort.

Damian nodded slowly. "Your grandfather prepared you extremely well."

Kellan’s expression darkened again.

"...Not well enough to beat Varkas."

Damian sighed inwardly.

"Kellan, you’re not fighting Varkas yet."

The teenager’s head snapped up.

"What?!"

Several people nearby glanced over.

Kellan stepped closer, disbelief and disappointment mixing across his face. "But Master Damian, you said I would get my chance!"

"And you will. I said you’d have the chance to avenge Garrick. I never said I was throwing you directly at the final boss the second you walked outside," Damian replied calmly.

Kellan’s grip tightened. "Why not?"

"Because you’re not ready," Damian stated bluntly.

That answer hurt.

Damian could see it immediately in the way the teenager’s shoulders dropped.

Kellan lowered his head. "...I understand."

"No, you don’t," Damian rebutted with an eye roll.

The boy looked up again.

Damian folded his arms. "Your body is ready enough to start. Your Skills are excellent for your age, your fundamentals are unusually strong and your Attributes are perfectly respectable for a Level 7 Fighter. The problem is up here."

He tapped Kellan lightly against the forehead.

"Every time you look at Varkas, you aren’t seeing the Goblin standing over there barely capable of moving because I’m glaring in his general direction. You’re seeing the monster who killed your grandfather."

Kellan became silent.

Damian turned toward the immobilized Dark Goblin elites.

"Which means you need momentum."

He raised one hand.

"Voco."

<Mage Hand>!

Invisible force wrapped around one of the elite warriors and abruptly dragged him away from the others.

The Level 6 Dark Goblin released a startled grunt as his feet left the ground, his body flying several meters before Damian deposited him in the grass roughly ten paces from Kellan.

Once the warrior landed, Damian dismissed <Mage Hand> and deliberately withdrew the pressure of his Battle Aura from that individual alone.

The change was immediate.

The Goblin collapsed onto one knee and gasped violently as control returned to his muscles.

After several seconds, he managed to lift his head.

Damian pointed toward him.

"Kellan, defeat him."

The teenager’s expression stiffened as the Dark Goblin slowly rose to his feet.

Unlike the ordinary Blackroot warriors Damian had slaughtered throughout the morning, this fellow looked like someone who had survived genuine battles.

Old scars crossed his dark skin, his armor was considerably better maintained than the equipment worn by the public fighting force, and two compact hand axes hung from either side of his waist.

Kellan felt his earlier fear return when the Goblin’s eyes settled upon him.

The Dark Goblin warrior quickly understood the situation.

There was no escape.

Damian could immobilize him whenever he wished, and the Human’s strange companions had already surrounded what remained of Blackroot Clan.

Death was almost certainly inevitable.

But this young Human standing before him?

He was afraid!

That realization filled the Goblin with vicious satisfaction.

If he was going to die, then he would at least slaughter this boy first!

He would make the powerful Human watch someone under his protection bleed out on the grass!

The Dark Goblin drew both hand axes and charged with a ferocious snarl.

Kellan raised Garrick’s spear, his hands trembling.

The first axe came for his head.

Kellan reacted instinctively, shifting his weight backward and allowing the blade to whistle harmlessly past his face.

The second axe immediately followed from below, yet Garrick’s spear was already moving before Kellan consciously decided what to do, the reinforced shaft intercepting the weapon with a sharp metallic crack.

The Goblin pressed forward aggressively, one axe sweeping toward Kellan’s ribs while the other remained ready to exploit whichever direction he dodged.

Kellan retreated, turning his spear to redirect the first blow before twisting his body aside from the follow-up.

Another slash came, then another.

For the first several seconds, Kellan felt as though he were drowning beneath the pressure.

The Goblin looked ferocious, every attack carrying the confidence of a veteran who had killed before, while Kellan’s mind screamed at him that this was a real enemy rather than Damian beating him with a wooden sword.

Yet something strange quickly became impossible to ignore.

The attacks were frightening...

But Kellan could see them all, every single one.

When the Goblin’s shoulder shifted before a horizontal chop, Kellan knew where the axe would travel.

When its hips turned for a stronger blow, Kellan moved before the weapon reached full speed.

Whenever the warrior attempted to close past the spearhead, Kellan’s feet automatically repositioned to restore distance exactly as Garrick had taught him.

The Dark Goblin was attacking furiously, yet he had not landed a single clean strike.

Kellan barely had time to understand that realization before the Goblin overextended his right arm.

An opening appeared and Kellan automatically reacted, his spear flashing forward and punching into the warrior’s shoulder.

"ARGH!"

The Goblin stumbled backward, blood spilling down his upper arm.

Kellan immediately withdrew the spear and stared at the wound.

’I hit him...’

The surprise nearly cost him.

The Dark Goblin roared in fury and charged again, forcing Kellan back into motion.

This time, however, something had changed.

Kellan still felt fear, but the creature no longer seemed impossibly fast.

Its attacks were simply attacks.

Sure, they were strong and dangerous ones, but they were still attacks he could read.

Damian watched from the side with his arms folded.

"What exactly are you so afraid of?"

Kellan barely heard him as the axes struck against his spear shaft again.

"Your grandfather trained you for years," Damian continued.

"You learned those Skills before your Class even awakened, repeated their movements until they became natural and spent half your childhood carrying that spear around."

The Goblin attempted to enter Kellan’s reach.

Kellan shifted backward and thrust toward its face, forcing the creature to abandon the advance.

"Then last night, I gave you enough help to reach Level 7," Damian’s voice remained calm, almost casual.

"You have suitable and strong attributes for your level. The power is already there to support everything Garrick taught you."

The Dark Goblin suddenly crossed both axes and attempted to trap Kellan’s spear between them.

Kellan twisted his wrists, allowed the shaft to slide free and stepped sideways before the warrior could capitalize.

Damian smiled faintly. "You’re still fighting like the Classless boy from Otter Village because that is who you think you are."

Kellan’s breathing slowed.

The Goblin attacked again, but this time the movement seemed almost obvious.

Its left shoulder shifted first, meaning it was a feint!

Its right hip rotated, and that was the real attack!

Kellan moved before the axe properly accelerated, stepping into the safe angle while striking the weapon aside with his spear shaft.

The Goblin’s chest opened.

<Pierce>!

Kellan thrust, the spearhead slamming through the warrior’s armor and boring deeply into flesh.

The Dark Goblin cried out and stumbled away, staring at Kellan in disbelief.

Damian’s voice reached him again.

"You are not the weak one here, Kellan."

The teenager slowly tightened his grip.

Damian pointed toward the wounded enemy.

"He is."

Something inside Kellan finally clicked.

The Dark Goblin had never been suppressing him.

Kellan had simply been suppressing himself!

He had spent the entire fight assuming he was barely surviving because the opponent looked frightening, yet his body had answered every attack correctly.

His eyes could follow the axes, his feet were quicker, and his spear gave him greater reach.

His Strength allowed him to contest the Goblin directly and the techniques Garrick had spent years drilling into him were no longer movements practiced by a Classless village boy.

They were actual Fighter Skills backed by a Journeyman body!

Kellan inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

His hands stopped trembling, and the Dark Goblin noticed.

For the first time since the fight began, uncertainty appeared within the non-human warrior’s expression.

Kellan advanced bravely.

The Goblin swung immediately, but the attack no longer forced him backward.

Kellan’s spear swept across.

<Sweeping Flurry>!

The shaft smashed one axe aside before continuing through the same motion and striking across the Goblin’s ribs.

The warrior grunted and stumbled backward.

Kellan followed with a thrust toward the face, forcing the Goblin to raise its remaining defense before shortening his grip and slamming the butt of the spear directly into its jaw.

The impact staggered the creature again.

Kellan’s movements were still somewhat rough, but they became smoother with every exchange.

Years of training finally emerged from beneath the fear.

Instead of desperately reacting to whatever the Goblin attempted, Kellan began controlling the distance himself.

Whenever the warrior stepped forward, the spearhead threatened its face or chest.

Whenever it tried circling, Kellan repositioned his stance rather than turning clumsily in place.

When the Goblin retreated, Kellan followed without recklessly entering slashing range.

Damian watched with satisfaction.

The desperate Dark Goblin snarled and suddenly hurled one axe.

Kellan tilted his head, allowing the spinning weapon to pass harmlessly beside him.

The Dark Goblin charged behind it, hoping to use the projectile as a distraction while raising its remaining axe overhead.

Kellan lowered his stance, and for one brief moment, Garrick’s voice seemed to return from years of training.

Kellan stepped forward.

<Impale>!

The spear exploded outward, its head punching through the Dark Goblin’s chest before the creature could complete its swing.

The warrior froze as the remaining axe slipped from suddenly powerless fingers.

Kellan stared into its widening eyes, then pulled the weapon free and stepped backward.

The Dark Goblin collapsed into the grass.

For several seconds, Kellan remained motionless with his chest rising and falling heavily.

Blood covered the spearhead, his gaze moving from the corpse toward his own hands as the reality of what had just happened settled upon him.

He had done that, him!

Yesterday, a Level 6 Dark Goblin elite would have been an enemy so far beyond Kellan that fighting it alone would’ve bordered upon suicide.

Today, once the fear faded, the battle had not even been particularly close.

Kellan slowly raised his head and looked toward Varkas.

The trauma did not magically disappear, nor did his hatred.

But... the Goblin Chieftain suddenly seemed smaller, no longer some invincible monster standing above Garrick’s corpse.

He was simply another opponent, a dangerous one.

But dangerous opponents could still be defeated!

Damian began clapping slowly.

"Not bad, Kid."

Kellan looked toward him, pride beginning to replace the lingering disbelief in his expression.

Damian smiled, then the smile became slightly sinister.

"Now, get ready for the next one!"

Kellan blinked.

"...Next one?"

Damian raised his hand as another <Mage Hand> reached toward the immobilized Dark Goblin elites.

"Oh, we’re just getting started."

A second warrior abruptly lifted from the group and came flying toward them.

Kellan tightened his grip around Garrick’s spear.