The grim scene before me painted a harrowing picture. One of my comrades had been brutally decapitated. Another writhed in agony on the cold, unforgiving floor, blood pooling around him, the crimson stain a testament to his grievous injuries. The final member of our party, his face etched with fear and desperation, retreated as quickly as his battered body would allow. Despite being impaled by a sword, he still struggled to conjure a spell.

  Amidst the chaos, I realized that, by some stroke of luck or divine intervention, I had emerged unscathed and at full health. My fallen allies had not fought in vain, as their combined efforts had inflicted significant damage on the guards.

  As the guards caught sight of me, their attention shifted almost instantly. Abandoning their pursuit of the grievously wounded survivor, they callously left him to bleed out in his futile attempt to flee. Their new objective was to engage me in a two-on-one confrontation. Although this tactical decision was undoubtedly unfavorable for me, I couldn't deny its effectiveness from their perspective.

  Thankfully, the distance between us afforded me a brief, precious moment to assess my options and devise a plan. My mind raced, evaluating potential tactics and anticipating their moves, all the while acutely aware of the ever-ticking clock.

  Initially, the prospect of fleeing crossed my mind, as my primary mission was accomplished. However, escape would prove useless, as these two guards had witnessed the demise of their leader and the people behind it. To pin the entire incident on me, I had to eliminate them first before making my getaway. However, if I was right about the lights being timed to the Goblin leader’s death, then the whole place might come down on me at any moment. Either way, they were between me and the door, so I needed to do something.

  If they were any good at fighting, like the leader, then I would be done for. I doubted they were as strong or as skilled as he was, but he probably chose these two for their loyalty and fighting ability.

  I assumed that their primary role was to buy the leader enough time to don his armor and prepare for combat. He would have been unlikely to choose a successor or anyone too ambitious, for fear of assassination in his sleep.

  Given the Goblin society's reliance on dominance and strength, I concluded that the combined might of these two guards might rival that of their leader. Furthermore, their armor and preparedness posed an even greater challenge, as did the inherent difficulty of facing two opponents simultaneously. They could coordinate their attacks and defenses, making it exceedingly challenging for me to exploit any vulnerabilities. In my professional expertise, I couldn't help but admit I was fucked.

  I was doubtful my coin trick would work again, but I did have one ace left that I had never tried. As the guards advanced toward me, I silently prayed that this desperate gambit would prove successful. Channeling my magical energy, I began to recite the incantation for the spell Ember Cloud. It required a full second of concentration to cast, an eternity when two enemies were rushing you.

  I closed my eyes, held my breath, and focused intently on visualizing the desired effect of the spell. This was crucial for two reasons. First, Kaylie had sternly warned me about the dangers of wielding a spell without clear intent, cautioning me to reserve my Fire Magic for situations of absolute necessity. Second, the painful memory of inadvertently setting my sleeve ablaze just moments earlier lingered in my mind.

  When I was casting the Fire Magic, I realized that I hadn't considered crucial parameters such as the spell's location or trajectory. This oversight could have proven disastrous. Whenever I used my teleport, all I needed to do was concentrate on an object and where I wanted it to go. It was almost like imagining what you desired to happen. If you thought about all the variables, it would just overwhelm you. Instead, I just pictured in my head what I wanted to see. For this spell, I imagined a cloud surrounding me but not touching me.

  As the guards closed the distance, the cloud of embers burst forth from my body, scattering in every direction like a plume of ash. In the midst of the spell's unfolding, I realized I couldn't afford to keep my eyes closed and cautiously opened them, just as the ashes radiated outward. The thick ash created a hazy barrier, extending a foot away from my body before it began to drift randomly.

  As the ash cloud reached the guards, some of it inevitably entered my breathing zone. Involuntarily, I inhaled a small amount of the ash, which triggered a coughing fit. The more I coughed, the more ash I inhaled, exacerbating the situation. Despite the involuntary reaction, I was fortunate that the majority of the ash was still dispersed in the air and not concentrated around me. More importantly, my position was far enough from the two soldiers, providing me with a small window of opportunity to capitalize on the temporary chaos I had unleashed.

  The guards were caught unaware, doubled over, and coughing as the thick cloud of ash enveloped them. It seemed that the hot embers had not only invaded their lungs but also impaired their vision, as they had made their way into their eyes. In contrast, I had managed to escape with only a mild irritation in my throat, having avoided the worst of the effects on my eyes.

  As I assessed the situation, I realized that launching an attack would require me to move into the very same cloud that was currently incapacitating the guards. This would put me at risk of suffering the same debilitating effects, potentially nullifying any advantage I had gained from the spell. In that moment, I had to weigh the risks and determine the best course of action to capitalize on the guards' vulnerability while minimizing my own exposure to the ash cloud.

  I quickly assessed the situation, noticing that the guards were attempting to mimic my actions by covering their mouths with whatever cloth they could find. My ill-fitting armor provided extra fabric, so I pressed my lips together and covered my nose with the unburned end of my sleeve to minimize inhaling the smoke.

  In contrast, the guards' well-fitted armor left them struggling to find adequate cloth. They resorted to breathing through small sections near their shoulders in a futile effort to filter the air. With their eyes squeezed shut, I knew I had to act fast. I had to move before they could recover from the spell's effects, if they could recover at all. I had never used this spell before, so I had no way to predict how long it would last.

  I weighed my options, realizing that drawing my bow and attempting to eliminate the guards from a distance was unlikely to succeed in the limited time I had. Wounding them might improve my odds momentarily, but if they carried health potions, which seemed probable, my efforts would be in vain. To truly tip the balance in my favor, I needed to incapacitate one of them completely. As I evaluated my surroundings, a strategy began to form in my mind.

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  I asked Rabbit, “Can you show me what this place will look like if I close my eyes?”

  “What do I get?” was his immediate response.

  “Really? Now?” I replied in my head, frustrated. I didn’t have time for this. My life was literally on the line, not just with this fight but with the other Goblins coming to get me. Eventually, I caved. “Anything. Let’s get this done.”

  Not waiting for Rabbit's response, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and plunged into the fray.

  As I entered the ash cloud, a remarkable thing happened. It was as though my eyes were wide open. Rabbit, my trusty AI companion, simulated the battlefield, effectively removing the visual obstructions caused by the cloud of embers and my closed eyes. This allowed me to see the two goblin guards clearly, despite being enveloped in the disorienting cloud.

  I confidently advanced toward the bewildered guards, ready to capitalize on their vulnerability while they remained incapacitated by the spell. With a powerful downward swing, my sword connected with the first guard's exposed shoulder. The blade tore deeply through his flesh, eliciting a guttural scream of pain.

  In response, the other guard moved back, extending his sword in a wave of protection.

  Relying on my closed-eye vision provided by Rabbit, he interpreted their movements based on the sounds in the environment. Rabbit deftly sketched a solid outline of the first goblin and a red blob to represent the second goblin's uncertain position. As I yanked my sword free, I realized the first guard was on the brink of death from the grievous wound I had inflicted. He no longer seemed capable of fighting, choking on ash and writhing in pain instead of raising his weapon.

  Deciding to leave him to his fate, I stepped back and maneuvered toward the increasingly indistinct red blob representing the remaining goblin guard, ready to engage him in battle. Rabbit's predictions only got worse as time moved, but they were enough to give me an edge. The injured guard continued to choke on the hot ash and his own blood, gasping for breath in a panicked frenzy.

  "Remember," Rabbit chimed in, "the red means I’m unsure of the exact position. It's my best guess based on sound and prior movements, but unlike the first guard, it has been a couple of seconds since you last saw him."

  Trusting Rabbit's guidance, I swung my sword wildly in the direction of the highlighted area. Though the remaining Goblin soldier managed to knock over objects in the room as he stumbled away, he didn't have the same level of awareness that Rabbit provided me. As I lunged forward and struck with my sword, I felt it connect near the floor.

  The red blob that represented the Goblin's position in Rabbit's estimation shrank in size, indicating he had likely dropped to the ground or was hunched over. This gave me a clearer target to focus on, particularly considering its smaller stature.

  Right after I struck the Goblin, he managed a swipe at my leg, luckily hitting my armor full-on. The poor visibility likely hindered his aim as much as mine. However, as he attacked from one side, Rabbit provided me with a visual, and I thrust downward with full force, feeling the resistance of armor before the warm blood sprayed in the opposite direction, confirming a successful hit.

  With Rabbit’s guidance, enhancing my sight, I kicked the Goblin in the stomach.

  With the clearer image, I drove my sword into him as he lay on the floor. He was likely trying to crawl away to escape the ash cloud and survive. There were too many decorations and obstacles in the room for him to run without tripping. Now that I had him, and he could only guess my position, I had a clear advantage.

  The Goblin still had his sword and kept swinging and hitting me without any real power or focus as I moved around. He turned the wrong way to swing the sword as he crawled away. He couldn’t see me with the hot ash around and his eyes closed.

  At this point, my lungs were starting to burn from lack of air. I wasn’t sure how much oxygen Goblins could hold, but he was having a different problem. As I kicked him in the gut, he had to have breathed out and back in, inhaling more ash each time. This triggered a reflexive cough and further inhalation of ash. He must have been suffering from the combination of my sword turning inside him, the kicks, and the ash in the air.

  My lungs burned, and I had to get out of the ash soon to breathe, or I might accidentally kill myself, as Kaylie warned. I decided to let this Goblin go and go back to the one I incapacitated first before I ran out of air. I could hear him having involuntary reactions, breathing in and out too quickly, almost convulsing while choking on blood and ash. I wasn’t sure if he was even conscious. I rushed over to him as my lungs burned, and my body begged me to breathe in air.

  Breathing was such an automatic response that holding my breath felt excruciating. I knew I had a little time before I passed out, but I worried that once I did, I’d be no better off than the others. If I lost consciousness, it would be like signing my own death warrant. At the very least, I risked brain damage. I wasn’t sure if brain damage could be cured here, so I pushed myself to move as fast as I could.

  Putting my hand on the Goblin I first attacked in the ember cloud, I absorbed his soul. I expected to feel a rush of healing and relief, but I only felt the supply of energy and the healing of minor wounds sustained in the battle. My lungs felt exactly the same, starved of air, which confused me for a second until I realized there was nothing to heal. My body had a lack of oxygen, and no amount of healing could fix that. It was an important note to keep in the back of my mind, but I had to keep moving.

  There was still one enemy around who was probably on his way to the grave. There was zero chance I was going to risk my life to absorb his soul, knowing it wouldn’t replenish my air. I had a couple of choices to get out of this cloud. I could try to head back to the center where I started. However, ash didn’t fall directly down but floated around in odd patterns. I guessed that there was a cloud in that general area as it moved. As this wasn’t a very windy place, I assumed it wouldn’t be that bad there, but it was still not ideal. I could also move closer to the throne in the back of the room, but I would be trapped.

  My last option was to move toward the door where the guards had been standing at the beginning of the fight. The guards had been expecting a challenge at the main city gates, not at the servants' entrances, so they didn’t attack us the moment we walked in.

  The problem with that route was that our battle had scattered debris everywhere, and an unknown Goblin ally had been severely wounded. While I wanted to trust the Goblins, I wasn't sure if they would try to kill me once my task of helping them was done. I could imagine a sneaky race having plans within plans, but I had to take the chance and trust that they were good people.

  In the end, I chose the direction to the doors. I didn’t know how long it would take for the Goblins to break through to get me for killing their leader, but I wanted to be prepared. As my lungs burned, I ran five steps before tripping over something, falling face-first, and causing a bloody nose.

  “What was that?” I asked in my head, angry that I tripped on something that Rabbit didn’t outline.

  “Sorry, they were knocking stuff down. I guess you tripped on one of those things. You know things change,” he replied.

  “You could have warned me,” I snapped.

  “Well, I could take away every other object in that room, and you can make guesses of where they are?” Rabbit questioned.

  “Never mind,” I replied sheepishly, crawling and getting to my feet.

  After a couple of seconds, I reached the area where Rabbit predicted I would be out of the ash range. I opened my eyes and inhaled deeply, like a drowning man finally getting a gulp of air. A few ash particles entered my mouth and throat, but I coughed them out and avoided inhaling more as I moved further away.

  I looked back, and the ash was halfway settled. The place was a mess, with furniture and accessories scattered everywhere. Black blood was spattered and draining into pools. The first guard I killed lay toward the middle of the room, while the Goblin leader, Rock, was further back. The second guard was twitching, not even awake anymore, just having seizures on the floor.

  Seeing him with my eyes open, I guessed it was a fatal stomach wound, but it might take days to kill him. The ash seemed to be causing just as much damage. I could walk over and finish him at any time I wanted.