While Ronan had spent a lot of time ensuring that his mana bolt was as close to perfect as he could make it, that didn't mean he'd forgotten the results of his various experiments. As a second arrow struck his abdomen and the goblin's sword was at his neck, he decided he'd had enough of the annoying monsters.

With a wide wave of his arm, Ronan shunted about ten points of mana out of his heart and body. A colossal explosion ensued, blasting him backwards. The self-harm was worth it, as he immediately received confirmation of the warrior's death.

No second chime meant the archer was still on the loose, but he'd reduced the goblins' numbers such that it had no support to speak of. He was free to become the hunter in the forest until his target was dead.

Racing back in the direction the arrows had been fired from, all while fighting against his bleeding wounds and ringing ears, Ronan searched for signs of the archer. He soon found them.

A disturbed tree branch where the goblin had been hidden. However, the cowardly monster had fled the moment it realised it was fighting a losing battle.

Ronan cursed, but soon regained his earlier excitement. In its haste to escape, the goblin hadn't made much effort to conceal its tracks. Deep footprints in the mud and a disturbed path through the underbrush made it blatantly obvious which direction his target had escaped in.

Following the rough path, Ronan cycled his mana and began to use his healing spells on one wound at a time. Through multiple applications of suture wound, minor heal, and even his new spell, cure affliction, he gradually was able to get a feel for the way mana flowed during each spell's activation and effective duration. Not that he reckoned he could copy their effects on his own yet, but he was getting to the point that he would be able to begin experimenting.

He soon caught up, seeing the struggling goblin through the trees ahead. It was stumbling on every second step, one of its legs wounded in the hasty escape. There was blood dripping down its back, a large splinter buried in the gnarled green flesh. His explosive blast had caught it off guard.

About fifteen seconds later, Ronan had closed the gap between them to just thirty metres. However, he heard the sounds of goblins screeching up ahead. This archer wasn't the last enemy of stage 3, it seemed.

The thick, hanging fog grew sparser the further they ran and soon the goblin's destination was revealed in full. A towering palisade, built from sharpened tree trunks, spanned the forest for as far as he could see to the left and right. The goblin let out a yip as it drew close to the wall, suddenly turning right.

It almost fell over with the sudden manoeuvre, but it gained ground as Ronan failed to follow suit. Once he'd reoriented himself the slippery bugger was about fifty metres ahead. They ran for another ten seconds until Ronan spotted a watchtower peeking over the top of the palisade up ahead.

The temptation to leave the goblin and see what was on the other side of the wall was great, but he suspected there may be a penalty if he allowed it to escape. Whether it was the final enemy of stage 3 or he would be forced to take on the goblins beyond the wall, he wasn't certain, but he would see it to the end no matter what challenges he needed to face.

Pushing himself to the limits, Ronan sprinted to catch his target. As they drew close to the watchtower, the two goblins in the building pointed at the goblin below and started screeching at one another. Then, when they noticed Ronan in hot pursuit, one of them took out its own bow and nocked an arrow.

Judging the aim of the new archer, Ronan knew that avoiding the shot would be impossible. It angled the bow such that it would strike him if he continued to chase its fellow monster. A cunning little bastard.

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However, it played right into Ronan's hands. He was here to practice his healing, so getting injured was no problem for him. Especially not by a mere goblin. Rushing ahead, he closed the gap between himself and his initial target once more.

The twang of the bowstring rang out from the tower as the goblin guard let loose his arrow. Ronan barely twitched as it pierced his bicep. The trickling blood and slight burning pain were an annoyance, but they didn't slow his stride.

He was now just five metres from his first target. They were directly under the tower, and he realised where the cunning bastard had been running to all this time. On their left, a small door in a larger gate swung open, a goblin on either side behind it waving at their struggling brother.

It screeched and tried to throw itself at the waiting goblins, but Ronan had already arrived. A mana bolt screeched from his hand, exploding on the ground between the door and the goblin. A shower of mana sparks filled the air. The blast threw it backwards, burning its flesh.

While the blast shoved the monster towards him, he used conjure weapon. A shortsword appeared in his hands and he drove it through the monster's back, piercing its heart. A kill notification appeared, but there was nothing to indicate that the stage was complete.

Cursing as he realised what he might need to do simply to be done with stage 3, Ronan turned his focus back to the goblin guard in the watchtower. It had nocked a second arrow, while its companion had now taken out a second bow, mirroring the first goblin's actions.

This was going to be a pain in the arse.

Ronan's main issue was that the tutorials didn't give any guidance about how to complete them. In the lower difficulties that hadn't been a problem; the solution was always obvious. Now, however, he had no clue how to proceed.

Did he need to kill all the goblins he could see? Break into the… fort… and wipe out all the goblins inside? Perhaps the solution was to run away and kill all the goblins outside of the palisade.

The lack of clear direction pissed him off. Even so, it didn't stop him from doing what needed to be done in the moment. These goblins had dared to get in his way, so they had to die.

The two by the door screeched as their comrade was slaughtered, but being practical and ruthless, immediately moved to slam it shut. Ronan fired off a hasty mana bolt in their direction. It lacked finesse, but screamed through the thin gap that remained between the door and the frame.

The door bent and then burst outwards as the mana bolt exploded, showering him in splinters. A few broke his skin, but the pain was virtually non-existent. Before they could plug the gap, he rushed through the shattered doorway and burst into the goblin fortress. A glance to the left and right told him the bolt hadn't been lethal to the two defenders, but as his gaze returned to his front, Ronan's breath was stolen.

Dozens of goblins were walking between wooden buildings, carrying supplies and tools in their arms. One shorter goblin, a child if he had to guess, jumped up and down beside a taller goblin, who promptly kicked it in the head and sent it reeling. Dirt roads criss-crossed between the constructions, varying from hovels to large halls.

Inside, he could see that the palisade stretched on for almost half a kilometre in both directions in a sloping curve. Ahead of him, there had to be at least fifty buildings. They seemed to get taller and grander towards the centre of the… well, it was a town, city even. A city of goblins.

The noise of his violent and dramatic entrance caught the attention of the nearest green monsters, who all turned towards the broken gate. The moment they spotted Ronan with two wounded goblins at his feet, they all dropped what they were doing and rushed him.

Weapons appeared from clothes and unseen hiding spots, unintelligible screeches were unleashed to assault his ears, and he was forced into a large-scale battle from the get-go.

Even the kid crawled to its feet, wielding a tiny knife as it followed the other goblins in their charge. Before he was overwhelmed he quickly stomped on the two injured warriors at the gate, ending their lives.

The moment the second notification chimed in his mind, he conjured a fresh shortsword in his right hand while forming a mana bolt in his left. While he'd fought against worse odds before, he knew that this wave of enemies was only the first.

As the first goblin thrust its spear at his chest, Ronan wondered if he would make it out of this alive.

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