"So, should we light the torches and brighten this whole place up?"
Pip planted his warhammer on the ground and rested both hands on the handle, looking itching for action.
"Yeah. Who knows how many traps are up ahead? The large space here is perfect for combat, and lighting the torches will draw them all right to us." Lorin stepped back a few paces, returning to the edge of the mineshaft they had just come from. He pulled the torch out from the side of his pack and wedged it into a groove on the rock wall.
TCHAK.
He struck the Fire Scythe twice. Sparks flew and landed on the torch head, instantly igniting the grease-soaked rag. The surrounding darkness was pushed back a little, but the end of this cavernous space remained out of sight.
"We’ll leave one where we came from so we don’t get flanked later," he explained.
Pip voiced his agreement. They still had five torches left. He had one, while Pip carried the other four on his back. Halflings didn’t have homes, so they could only carry all their belongings in their large backpacks. Even now, Lorin had no idea just how much stuff was stuffed in there.
"Let’s head in together, don’t split up. Once we reach the edge of this torch’s light, we’ll light another."
"Got it!"
The two of them hunched over and stealthily pressed forward for a distance. Even when they could barely see the torch at the entrance anymore, there was still no sign of any kobolds around. He wondered if there was some hidden passage further inside. They hadn’t seen a single kobold after walking for so long; they couldn’t possibly all be hiding.
Lorin scanned his surroundings. Not far away, a wooden scaffolding had a bracket meant for holding a torch. He nudged Pip, gesturing that he was heading over there. Receiving a nod in response, he quick-stepped forward, wedged his other torch into the bracket, and promptly lit it.
The flame flared up.
"#&Idiot@%&!"
A rapid, low snarl came from right above Lorin. Startled by the sudden noise, he hastily gripped Rusted Throat horizontally and looked up. A kobold dressed as a scout was cursing furiously. It was sitting on the wooden scaffolding above Lorin, constantly rubbing its eyes with both hands as tears streamed down its face. It seemed to have been blinded by the sudden firelight.
"Are kobolds afraid of light?!" The thought flashed through Lorin’s mind. No wonder the two at the cave entrance had looked so sluggish; they must have been so blinded by the sunlight that they had to keep their eyes closed to feel better.
"It’s right above us!" Lorin shouted in a low voice.
There was no time to overthink. His body reacted faster than his brain. He raised his left hand, and the moment he locked eyes with the creature, he unleashed the magic he had just learned. Magic power was drawn from within his body, crawling along his blood vessels all the way to his palm. The hairs on the back of his hand stood on end, and a numbing sensation surged from the center of his palm.
CRACK.
A soft pop of bursting air echoed out, and blue electrical currents flashed from Lorin’s fingertips, striking the kobold at a speed completely invisible to the naked eye.
[Lorin’s Lightning Traction] Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
The current exploded into several electrical arcs against its worn-out leather armor, before quickly solidifying and expanding to the thickness of a finger. Having barely adjusted to the sudden firelight, the violently bursting current blinded the kobold with another glaring flash. The stinging pain in its eyes and the scorching current coursing over its body caused it to scream uncontrollably.
"Aargh!—"
Lorin subconsciously clenched his palm, firmly grabbing hold of the Lightning Chains. An intense pulling force transmitted from his hand, and he was hoisted completely into the air, flying straight toward the kobold. The kobold’s terrified expression grew larger and larger in his vision. He leveled Rusted Throat with his right hand.
SHLUCK.
Driven by momentum, the longsword easily pierced through the kobold’s body. The Lightning Chains binding it flared even brighter the instant they made contact.
BOOM.
The lightning exploded in a flash of white light, blasting the kobold entirely away. Fine strands of electricity struck Lorin’s face, making him feel a tingling itch.
"Is this magic really that fierce?" he wondered, watching the kobold die on the spot. "Wait, something’s wrong... Holy shit!"
A sense of weightlessness washed over his entire body, and only then did Lorin realize he was still in mid-air. He twisted his body desperately in the sky, trying to land in a slightly safer posture.
"Don’t worry, Pip’s got you!"
Lorin was caught entirely by the halfling. The two then tumbled twice on the ground to shed the momentum.
PANT, PANT.
He gasped rapidly for breath a couple of times. Propping himself up from the ground with trembling hands, he thanked Pip with lingering fear, "Thanks, brother."
"Haha! No need to be polite with Pip!"
The short fellow chuckled and picked up his warhammer from the ground, only then realizing that something was amiss with their surroundings. "Uh... when we just got here, were there this many glowing lights around us?"
"What glowing lights?"
Lorin looked over in confusion. He saw that the mineshaft, which previously only had the two torches, was now lit up with over a dozen faint, red gleams. He didn’t know when they had appeared. And they were rapidly closing in on the two of them.
"Watch out!"
The sound of wind being sliced open echoed out from the darkness. Several blurry shadows emerged from the edge of the torchlight’s visibility, plunging toward Lorin from above. This chapter is updated first at NovelPing.
"Why are they exclusively targeting me?!"
He immediately dove to the ground, executed a few consecutive rolls, and swiftly took cover behind a broken wooden crate.
THWACK.
Five bone javelins landed around Lorin. Even though he had dodged in time, the environment was simply too dim, and combined with the fact that the bone spearheads didn’t reflect light, he was inevitably grazed on the arm.
"Pip, throw a torch their way! Blind them again!"
Lorin touched his arm, feeling that the wound wasn’t very deep. However, a familiar itch vaguely seeped through—those bone javelins were also laced with poison!
"Careful, their weapons are most likely poisoned!"
"Got it!" Pip was currently struggling to light a torch.
Having warned Pip, Lorin immediately reached back for his backpack. The antidote had long been placed in a side pocket he’d prepared beforehand, padded with rags for protection, which saved him precious time.
POP.
Biting the cork off, he directly downed the entire antitoxic potion. There was no point in rationing it now; once the fight truly began, he might not get another chance to drink it. Feeling the bitter, herbal taste in his mouth, Lorin’s heart immediately settled. The trajectory of those javelins landing around him flashed through his mind.
"The front left of where you were facing when you caught me just now!"
The firelight flared up.
Pip hurled a torch in the direction Lorin had specified. It traced a beautiful arc through the air before hitting the ground with a sharp CLACK. The impact caused the flame to combust explosively for a split second, fully illuminating everything around the torch and drawing out several cries of pain.
"%&Bastard!"
"@#&%Brute!"
Lorin forced his eyes wide open. Even though the intense light in the darkness stung his eyes to the point of tears, he still burned the sight of the enemies into his memory.
"Six in total. Follow my lead!"