Part-269

  From the shadows ahead, he spotted the first goblin swordsmen. It erched on a ledge, its beady red eyes glowing in the dark while he saw anoblin nocked an arrow. Without missing a beat, James leaped forward, his feet moving faster than the goblin could fire. His Sloth View kicked in, and time seemed to slow as the arrow flew toward him. He parried it with his sword, the wooderiking the arrow with a sharp *thwack*, sending it spiraling off course.

  James didn’t stop. He was already in motion, closing the distaween him and the swoblin. With a roar, he unleashed his Earth Divider skill, eling all of his strength into a single, devastating downward ssh. The air seemed to ripple around him as the wooden sword ected with the goblin’s body, and in an instant, the creature was sent crashing into the floor, vanishing in a puff of smoke.

  “Gotcha,” James muttered, satisfa washing over him as he straightened up. But there was no time to celebrate. Anoblin archer had already drawn its bow, and more arrows were ining.

  He turo face the archer, his eyes log onto the creature’s movements. The rhythm of the archers had bee predictable after so many enters. They always fired at the same intervals, as if bound by some internal clock that ticked away in perfect syny. James had grown attuo this pattern, his sense of timing sharpened by each previous fight.

  The arrows flew at him, but James dodged them with ease, his body moving in perfect harmony with his enhanced senses. He darted to the left, narrowly avoiding one arrow, then sidestepped another, his feet barely toug the ground as he twisted and turned in a fluid dance of survival.

  Still, it was a hassle. The archers’ precision was unnerving, and no matter how well he timed his movements, the stant barrage was exhausting. James had fought stronger enemies iside of dungeon before, but these archers—with their relentless, meical accuracy—were like a swarm of mosquitoes, always buzzing, always a threat, never allowing him a moment’s rest.

  A sword-wielding goblin appeared from the shadows, lunging at him with a crude, jagged bde. James blocked the attack with his wooden sword, feeling the impact reverberate up his arm. At the same time, anoblin came at him from the right. Without missing a beat, James spun around and delivered a powerful sp with the ft of his hand, the sound of the *thundercp sp* eg through the chamber. The sed goblin stumbled back, dazed, giving James just enough time to ter the first.

  As he moved to strike, another arrow whizzed past him, so close it brushed his shoulder. James cursed under his breath, frustration bubbling up. He could hahe sword-wielders easily enough, but the archers were a stant thorn in his side. No matter how fast he was, there was always another arrow aimed in his dire, always ahreat to dodge.