A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 50: Battle With The Goblins - Part 16

Beam's eyes widened with caution as he sought to keep both creatures within his field of view. He blocked out all other distractions as he did. There was a light rustling in the trees behind him – he ignored it, knowing that to take his eyes off the speedy Goblins for a single second would be fatal.

"So that's it, at last," Dominus said with a sigh. "The boy is more dangerous than I could ever imagine."

As the boy fought, Dominus saw a blazing fire within him. A depth of such overwhelming potential that even he, in the fifth boundary, feared he would burn his fingers. "Fuelled by suc suffering," Dominus murmured. The progress within him was desperate to burst forth. Now that Claudia latched onto Beam's soul as well, it poured out of him. It was not a seesaw at all, it was a furious battle between three souls for Dominus.

And Beam couldn't resist it as well as he used to. Progress poured four. Ingolsol manifested himself, as did Claudia. They were that which held back his blade. They took control for small instants at a time, slowing Beam's blade and dulling his movements.

Now that Beam was tiring, his resistance to the curses as lessening and his movements grew more impressive. "Yet there's so much more," Dominus realized. "This is a mere candle flame to a forest fire. Both Claudia and Ingolsol, he's resisting them both, and has his progress grows, his resistance lessens."

The danger was immense. There was no balance to be had from the start. Beam's own soul had realized that. It merely feigned balance for all those years, allowing the curse movement in his weakest moments – but the true path is sought was subordination. It sought to make the curse kneel and obey.

"The only path forward for you, boy, is integration," Dominus realized, a sinking feeling in his chest. But to do that without losing himself? To subordinate the will of two Gods, both light and dark. Could anyone do that? Dominus shook his head, knowing such a thing to be impossible.

"But if he truly does do it…" Dominus murmured, feeling chills go down his spine. At merely the Second Boundary, Beam's potential was that of someone who was in the third. It was a frightening prospect.

The Goblins moved as though as one. One circled to his left, the other circled to his right, making him fight on two fronts at once.

Beam knew he wouldn't have many opportunities left to grab victory. Like the mother bear, as soon as his speed started to slow, the Goblins would pick him apart with relentless accuracy, despite their own significant wounds.

As Beam turned his back on one Goblin so that he might face the other, he gritted his teeth in annoyance. In the heat of the moment, he knew no other way to beat them than to dare to use the same tactic he'd used against them multiple times already. He feigned weakness, by exposing his back as he did, tempting the Goblin to attack.

And attack the Goblin did. The creature's fury with humanity was so great, that all logic faded as soon as it was given the opportunity to attack. Just as its brethren did before it, it rushed in, its jaws wide, attempting to bite the back of Beam's neck.

Beam moved efficiently, having got a sense for the Goblin's movements by now and having grown used to wielding the knife a little bit more, he landed a graceful slash to sever the leaping Goblin's throat, before dodging to the side to allow the corpse to land harmlessly beyond him.

He had no chance for respite though, for the one-handed Goblin attacked immediately after, sensing Beam's weakness as he devoted his attention elsewhere, but Beam was ready for this one too. He put the fist of his free hand deep into his face to stun the creature and send it flying. A hurried sprint after it and Beam pinned the creature down with a foot on its face, keeping its jaw closed, so that he could bury his knife through its eye.

"Heh…" he said, collapsing to one knee, daring to breathe a sigh of relief, a victory smile upon his face.

"FOOL!" He heard someone shout.

"Eh?" Beam looked behind him, in the direction of the voice, but there was no one there.

Suddenly, he felt his vision darken as a shadow from above blocked out the light of the sun. "Shit…" Beam cursed, seeing a creature the size of a man muscled to the point of ridiculousness bearing down on him with a massive sword.

Beam only had enough time to put his knife up in a pathetic attempt at a block before a ridiculous steel sword clattered into him, snapping his knife in half, breathing through his guard and bearing down upon his shoulder.

Blood spilt from Beam's open wound, splattering the face of the malicious creature in front of him, as its green face twisted in a malicious grin.

Then there was another flash, as a second set of steel met the creature's sword, somehow severing it, sending a huge chunk of steel floating through the air, heading straight for Beam, before some force or other battered it away and sent it flying.

"Eh?" Beam asked, his eyes wide, unable to process what had happened.

There was a shallow wound on his shoulder, where the creature's sword had broken through his guard. But surely, at that rate, continuing as it was, it should have severed him in two?

Yet instead, it was the creature that had met that very same fate. From shoulder to hip, it was cleaved perfectly in half. It murmured quietly as the dark green blood flowed from its massive wound and it slowly died.

"Master?" Beam guessed, seeing a man standing in front of the dying monster, a beautiful sword in his hand – Beam had never seen it before. It was long, just like the longswords he'd seen knights wear, but maybe a few fingers shorter. And this one had a gentle curve along its length, making it the first time Beam had seen a sword like it.

Dominus turned to him, more fury on his face than Beam had ever seen. Beam took a step back despite himself as his master strode towards him.

"Idiot!" Dominus scolded, slapping his cheek. "What good is there in fulfilling such a minor quest if you leave your back open to greater danger?"

"Sorry…" Beam said on instinct, without quite understanding what was going on. He'd thought he'd done everything he could, but judging from his master's anger, that must not have been the case.

"You should have been able to sense that," Dominus spat, "even as inexperienced and unskilled as you are, the creature was radiating bloodlust, yet you ignored it. You're a waste of my time. What good is an apprentice so set on dying?"

Dominus was truly angry – just when he'd seen the true nature of Beam's potential, the boy revealed a fatal weakness. What good was talent in death?

"I'm sorry master…" Beam said again, struggling to hide his frustration, still not getting quite why his master was so angry. "I really didn't see it. What even is it?"

Dominus looked at him for a few long seconds and then he let out a deep sigh. "Hah…" With that sigh, the old knight seemed to regain his calm. "What a bloody problem I've got saddled with," he groaned, sheathing his sword and covering his eyes with a hand.

"I really don't get what I did wrong," Beam said honestly, now that he'd calmed down.

Dominus' eyes flashed, his anger returning for a moment. "You were a millisecond away from death – that's what you did wrong. Do you not see that sword wound against your shoulder? You focused too much on what was in front of you and neglected your surroundings, letting a damned Hobgoblin sneak up on you," Dominus said, pointing at the corpse that he'd killed.

It looked truly horrifying now that Beam looked at it. As though all the weaknesses of a Goblin had been corrected, to make something about the height of a man, but with far more muscle than any man could hope to support and long fangs that crept out of his mouth.

"Oh damn it," Dominus said, shaking his head. "Wipe that meek look off your face, you idiot. I get it. Yes. Fine. I'm not going to shout at you anymore."

"A Hobgoblin?" Beam murmured, horrified. "It looks really strong."

"It is, for the average person," Dominus agreed. "Another bit of lacking information from that bastard Greeves. There's probably no one in that entire village that could survive a battle with a Hobgoblin on equal terms, apart from Judas, perhaps. And this one here even managed to rob a sword from somewhere. With basically none of the villagers having swords of their own, this bastard would have caused serious problems down the line if we hadn't dealt with it here."

Beam was surprised to hear that. And even more surprised to hear that Judas was capable of fighting it. "Is Judas that strong?"

Dominus shrugged. "He has very little skill, but he's a physical phenom. The difference between him and Perth is almost unfair… Oh and here are your trophies," he said, disappearing for a moment, before returning with 5 severed Goblin heads that he threw at his feet.

"Oh. Thanks," Beam nodded, pleased that he didn't have to collect them himself – not that he could with the one that had fallen into the river – but without the energy to give a proper response.

"…I suppose I can say you did good," Dominus started lightly. "For as little training as you've had and your skill level, to defeat the Goblins so thoroughly – I was quite impressed… That was until this last blunder. I don't care how inexperienced you are, how poor you are with a sword – the most important skill you can have is to keep yourself alive, so that you can get stronger and live to fight the battle another day. I think most apprentices, even those of your level, they would have noticed that Hobgoblin approaching and had the sense to run."

Beam paled at that, after learning that he was seemingly worse than most people. "I really didn't sense it at all…" he murmured again.

Dominus scratched his head at that, a complicated expression on his face. "So you keep saying. It seems like you have another peculiar trait, one that could be a blessing or a curse, depending on how long you live for. Hyperfocus, or something of the like. It allowed you to make short work of those last two Goblins, but made you blind to the world around you… mm, we're going to have to work on that."

Whilst that was a thing, Dominus figured the true nature lay elsewhere. The boy had to retain such an intense focus so that he might keep the curses at bay, whilst at the same time allowing some of his own potential to leak out, so that he could fight.

He dared not tell Beam this yet though. He knew the information would only harm his progress. If he intentionally attempted to influence the balance of his soul, it would lead to catastrophe. The only hope for Beam lay in figuring out the need for integration himself. He had to feel it within his soul, not within his mind. Only then would his soul be prepared enough to subordinate such mighty essences – even then, the chances were unlikely.

Beam nodded in agreement. He was thoroughly exhausted now, swaying back and forth on his feet as he fought to stay upright. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and sleep for a few weeks.

Seeing that, Dominus sighed again. "Hah… Well, I suppose we'd better get you back and get those wounds seen to."