The most important parts of limb movement are undoubtedly the joints; if they're damaged, the limb stops moving.
But they're not the only important parts for movement. Muscles are too, and if you can inflict enough damage to a muscle, the limb stops as well.
Receiving a punch in the arm still hurts, even if it lasts much less than a blow to the elbow. Imagine receiving a blow from a sai weighing almost 5 kilos, coming at a speed almost equal to the blink of an eye and from a distance of at least 2 meters.
The result would be a muscle injury strong enough to incapacitate the limb for a while in ordinary people. But apparently this also applies to kobolts.
"Kkkkkrrrriiiixxx!!!"
The initial imbalance and the strong impact, coupled with the jolt of the blow's energy, seem to have finally made our captain understand that if he doesn't get serious, things will end for him. Not that I intend to give him time to do that.
Press when your opponent is weaker is the basics of any fight.
Doing another thrust, now aimed at the kobolt's throat, I forced him to involuntarily lower his head and used it to strike him diagonally from top to bottom. With my sword down, I advanced a little further with a diagonal "slash" from bottom to top toward the kobolt's waist, forcing him to retreat a bit further.
But obviously, there was a limit to how long I could take before he recovered, and that limit came annoyingly quickly.
After being slightly pushed back to his starting position, the kobolt captain regained control of his body and returned the attacks even faster. And again, I found myself narrowly dodging, blocking when I could, and redirecting attacks.
We barely moved from our positions during the subsequent exchanges, both good and bad for me for obvious reasons. We move a maximum of two steps to the right or left before returning to the start, and we continue like this for a while.
We were both suffering from injuries: I, a few cuts. He had bruises: on his arms, sometimes on his head, and I managed to inflict a bit more damage on his legs with a magical attack or two.
Our fight must have lasted more than 6 minutes, almost 7, and fatigue was finally starting to set in for both of us.
[HP: 13/75
MP: 8/60
Condition: tired, light bleeding (...)]
'Tsk, why does my HP always have to get dangerously low during fights? I'm not some goblin who decided to create a country*!!!'
The only reason I'm still bleeding slightly is because I used [Shadow Healing] a few times during the fight. If I hadn't used it, I would either be bleeding heavily or dead.
It was annoying that I used it several times, but only 3 worked, both because the kobolt captain resisted and because he dodged when I used the spell. It's a great spell, as it both heals you and injures your opponent, but it's slow to activate and easy to dodge.
'At least the captain isn't as well off as he used to be with this.'
Now he was visibly breathing heavier, and even the spear was trembling in his hands. The level of hatred he must feel for me is beyond words, but I suspect the hatred he feels for himself (for not having killed me right away) must be greater.
As much as I would have loved to keep things this way, my condition wouldn't allow it.
'Are they still not finished after all this time?'
I thought, glancing out of the corner of my eye at where Impeto and Lumi were fighting now, right in the crushed remains of the playground near the central pile of rubble where the magic stone was.
I couldn't quite make out what was happening, but I could see they were getting tired. At least there were only three kobolts left now, not including the captain.
'Six minutes and still not finished them off... I think there were more than 35 hidden around.'
Which made sense. Kobolts were a maximum of 1.30 meters tall and slender. Goblins were thin, but Kobolts are slender, meaning they had more muscle than goblins, but not much.
The only exception was the kobolt captain, who was certainly more muscular and stood at 1.60 meters tall.
'If everyone was like him, things could have easily gotten pretty ugly. But now we can finally put an end to this.'
The end of a plan is usually when you let your guard down, even if you don't want to.
When (not if) this happens, there are only two possible outcomes: the expected conclusion and your victory, or some unexpected turn of events that jeopardizes everything you've done so far. Guess which one ended up happening.
When I looked at the two, I ended up doing it too openly. The captain noticed and looked in the same direction. Seeing only three of his subordinates, who were already on the verge of losing, he wasn't happy at all.
He glanced at me briefly, but quickly threw his head up in the air and let out a loud hiss/roar that made my ears ring.
"Kkkkkkiiiiiiiisssshhhhhhh!!!!!"
I don't know what he meant by that, but the hiss was loud enough to be heard easily throughout the court. The three kobolts Lumi and Impeto were fighting also raised their heads and let out the same hiss. Apparently, they produced a frequency audible to both humans and dogs.
Lumi couldn't stand the sound and cowered, trying to muffle the noise with his paws over his ears.
Fortunately, this didn't stop Impeto, and he quickly stomped on the three now completely unprotected kobolts. I followed suit and charged at the captain, not lifting Sai this time, but simply with my body. I quickly reached and passed out of reach of his spear.
He realized my objective a little late.
He even tried to raise his spear, but the lacerations on his arms prevented him from moving as quickly as before. The next moment, we were both falling from almost 3 meters in the air, with the captain still letting out that hiss.
We hit the ground hard, and I quickly dug my claws into his throat, causing blood to gush out. He choked on his own blood and tried to pull me off him, but he no longer had the strength.
The hiss grew fainter and fainter along with the beating of his heart, as did the other kobolts, who fell silent shortly after. When the hiss was nothing more than a whisper, the captain turned to face me.
At that moment, I didn't see anger, surprise, fear, or anything I expected. I saw scorn.
Not like the beginning of the fight, but a scorn of the kind where he knew he was doomed, yet still managed to doom someone else: me.
He must have done something bad, but at the moment I didn't care. The whole fight left me exhausted, drained, and hungry. And look, there was a large bag of blood right in front of me (or under me, in this case) that was already half-dead.
'Why not give it a movie-worthy end?'
I thought, removing my claws from the kobolt captain's throat and letting my fangs grow, quickly biting the open area of his throat.
I'll only say two things about this:
1. I did well to bite where I'd already opened a gash on the kobolt captain. His skin was tougher than the kobolt I'd bitten before.
While the previous one had skin like a green pear, the captain's was as hard as an unripe pineapple. But with the same bitter taste as unsweetened lemonade made with vinegar.
2. Biting someone lying down is extremely uncomfortable. I had to lean over and suck blood against gravity, and with my heart beating so weakly that it was, there was barely any blood.
On the plus side, what little did come out, besides numbing my tongue and mouth as a whole, restored all my HP and MP.
'Mental note, high-level kobolt blood is like an elixir, apparently.'
Right after I pulled my fangs from his throat.
[You eliminated Kobolt Commander, experience gained.]
[Required experience gained, congratulations on leveling up.]
[Required experience gained, congratulations on leveling up.]
[Skill gained, Combat Instinct 0]
[Skill: Combat Instinct 0–>1]
[Required experience gained, congratulations on leveling up the job.]
[Skill: Swordsmanship 2–>3]
[Skill: Ice Magic 1–>2]
[Skill: Enhanced Reflexes 3–>4]
[Skill: Body Reinforcement 2–>3]
[1 attribute point added to: Strength, Defense, Agility.]
[Job-related skills increased by 1 level:
Swordsmanship 3–>4
Unarmed Combat 3–>4
Archery 2–>3
Thrown Weapons 2–>3
Deflect 1–>2
Steady Step 2–>3
Combat Instinct 1–>2]
Another flurry of notifications appeared, and now my status is like this.
[Name: Fernando Martins
Level: 9
Race: Dhampir (half-vampire)
Job: Fighter Lv. 5
SP: 10
AP: 8
HP: 100/110
MP: 78/85
Condition: Normal, Tired
Str: 15
Def: 12
Agi: 18
Int: 10
Mag: 9
Res: 7
• Unique Ability: Resistance
Skills: Antisocial 1, Unarmed Combat 4, Combat Instinct 2, Dodge 2, Item Box 0, Hide 1, Silent 1, Read 1, Clean 1, Herbalist 0, Dark Magic 2, Laziness 1, Swordsmanship 4, Archery 3, Stable Step 3, Thrown Weapon Proficiency 3. Acid Resistance 0, Poison Resistance 0, Ice Magic 2.
Racial Abilities: Blood Magic 0, Night Vision 1, Body Enhancement 4, Advanced Senses 4, Obsidian Claws 3, Bloodsucker 2, Weakness to Light 2, Vulnerability to Heat 2.]
Just looking at this is giving me a headache because I'm leaning toward physical skills. But I can't deny that it helps.
Looking up, I soon saw Lumi and Impeto not far away. They both had scratches, some slightly deep cuts, and looked exhausted, but otherwise fine. As soon as they killed the last kobolt, they began sniffing for nearby magic stones.
They didn't take the ones from the kobolts they'd just killed because the bodies were still there. I don't understand how, but they are, while the bodies I'd killed before have already disappeared, leaving the stones ready to be "harvested."
Ahhhhh~ that was tiring, but now I just have to get the stone back home, rest a bit, and take it to Mom and Dad. Then, when they get back... We'll have to think about what to do next.'
I thought, looking up at the cloudy sky that was slowly getting dark.
'In the end, my strategies only partially worked, but at least we're all alive.'
I hope this stops Mari from nagging me for letting Lumi get hurt. Just thinking about what she might do makes me tremble all over.
....
Tremble?!
(*A/N: Goblin Kingdom for those unfamiliar, and not to be confused with RE:Monster.)