"Time for me to break through."
Tanaka gripped the wooden spear in his hand as he began to advance. As his feet moved forward, the bed of thorns cleared out from beneath him.
"Raaah!" The goblins screamed at him as he approached. They formed a circle around Tanaka's moat of thorns. They snarled at him, their spit splattering about.
Tanaka then pulled the spear back before thrusting forward with all his might.
Fwoosh, thwack!
The wood splintered and snapped as it made contact with the goblin in front of Tanaka. The goblin staggered a bit, but was ultimately unharmed.
Tanaka took the moment to rush past the recovering goblin, running past it. 'They're a lot more durable than I thought. It might be best if I made a break for it.
"Armour, get me out of here!" Tanaka shouted out.
A path of vines went ahead of Tanaka, showing him where to go. He ran with everything he had, the goblins following closely behind him. They hollered and jeered at him just as they had when they first chased him to the crevice. But things were different now. He was faster, stronger.
Tanaka pumped his legs as he entered the area where the cave had collapsed. Though he now had to be careful of the rocks all around him, Tanaka couldn't slow down with the goblins still behind. Even with his newfound power, he was still outnumbered, and it wouldn't do him any good to enter into a battle of attrition with them. Especially since he lacked knowledge on how to use mana and had little experience with combat.
Tanaka manoeuvred his way through the dark cavern, trying his best to steer clear of any obstacles in his way. As he did, he tripped and fell. He quickly recovered and began to move forward when he was grabbed by a goblin from behind.
Tanaka tried to wring the thin green arms of him, but they held firm. The other goblins arrived but made sure to keep their distance. 'Why are they standing so far away?'
Just then, the goblin's arms started to glow intensely. Tanaka struggled more to get the goblin off of him as he could sense the mana of the goblin begin to build up more and more. However, the goblin's grip grew stronger and stronger.
Tanaka grunted in pain as the armour around him began to splinter and crack.
"S-spikes!" Tanaka managed to spit out in pain.
The goblin holding him yelped out in pain as it retreated from Tanaka. His armour was now covered in spikes, but that didn't deter the other goblins from closing in on Tanaka and grabbing him. In response, Tanaka drove his spike-ridden fist into the face of one of the goblins, sending it reeling. It staggered as it clutched its face.
The two other goblins holding began to bite off pieces of Tanaka's armour. Tanaka then swiftly headbutted the one nearest to him and then turned around and kicked the next goblin in the knee, before summoning a stake and driving it into the goblin's shoulder.
The goblin then grabbed Tanaka's hand before he could pull back his arm. Tanaka then noticed something surprising: the stake had barely managed to even graze the goblin's skin. He looked around at the other goblins and noticed that the most any of them had were a few scratches, but were otherwise completely fine. He also noticed that the glowing goblin from earlier was getting brighter and brighter. Its mana seemed to be fiercely trying to escape from the body of the goblin, like the CO2 trapped in a soda filled with mints.
"Graaaah!" The glowing goblin yelled out, and the other goblins immediately retreated. The light from the goblin then poured out, completely blinding Tanaka.
"Shield!" Tanaka shouted as he placed his arms in front of him.
Bwakooom!
The body of the goblin exploded violently. The force of it was enough for Tanaka to be sent flying, as bits and pieces of his armour were ripped off. The wooden shield that had managed to materialise at the last moment had been completely destroyed.
Twak, thud.
Tanaka's body bounced off the cavern wall and then landed not far from there.
He groaned in pain as smoke rose from his figure. He groggily got to his feet. His armour was now missing parts, his helmet cracked, and his arms stung with pain.
Then he heard multiple footsteps approaching his position. Their feet smacked across the cavern floor, getting louder and louder as they got closer. Tanaka weakly moved, trying to get away. His breathing was now ragged and difficult.
He stumbles and falls. He tries to get back up but fails. His legs quiver in protest. He can now hear the goblins surrounding him. He huffs as he feels his eyes grow heavy with exhaustion.
Koff! Koff!
Tanaka covered his mouth as he coughed out.
Green feet with jagged and gnarly toenails enter Tanaka's field of vision. He looks up to see a mischievous grin plastered on the goblin's face.
Tanaka was then lifted to his feet by the goblin. He grunted in pain as the goblin violently dragged him through the darkness. Tanaka could hear the other goblins following behind. 'They're taking me somewhere...somewhere that could be dangerous. I can't let that happen, otherwise I might never get out of these caves, and if that happens, I may as well be as good as dead.'
Tanaka thought about a way to get out of this situation. The goblins seemed to have an abnormally high level of durability, though, so there wasn't much he could think of until...a light bulb suddenly went off in his head.
'I could do something like that, but...' Tanaka's face fell as guilt took over him. The plan he'd come up with would require him to cross a line he wasn't sure he wanted to cross. In the end, Tanaka had to weigh his options. 'If I do this, things won't be the same for me anymore, but if I don't, I might die.' Tanaka then took a deep breath. He would wait for an opportunity to strike.
The goblins continued to lead Tanaka further into the cave for the next hour before he finally saw a moment to enact his plan. They were rounding a corner, leaving only the goblin in front of him and the goblin behind in his immediate vicinity.
'Now!'
Tanaka then leapt into action, ripping his arm away from the grip of the goblin in front of him. The goblin then angrily turned whilst yelling, and then Tanaka saw his opening and took it. He shoved his fist into the goblin's open mouth and shouted, "Armour!"
The wooden gauntlet then flew off his hand and forced its way down the throat of the goblin. It writhed and wriggled as it gasped for air. Its skin stretched and contorted, followed by the sounds of bones cracking and snapping. The goblin curled its fingers in pain as the horrific sight continued, before a few sticks and twigs, covered in blood, snot, and other bodily fluids, grew out of the goblin's mouth and nostrils. The goblin let out one final breath before its eyes rolled back.
Thud!
Tanaka stared on in shock as he stared at the now lifeless corpse of the goblin. His heart beat loudly and quickly in his chest, his stomach churned, and he trembled in horror. 'What did I do? It wasn't supposed to be like this.'
"Guh? Gragh!" Tanaka turned to see the rest of the goblins now standing behind him, each of them wearing a look of terror on their faces. The eyes of the goblins darted between Tanaka and their now fallen comrade.
A long silence stretched on within the group before being promptly broken by the goblins scrambling and tripping over themselves to get away. To run, from Tanaka.
As their figures retreated into the darkness, Tanaka was left alone. And he realised in that moment that those he had called monsters now saw him as a monster.