The goblins didn't hesitate, even after watching their kinsmen die.
The moment they entered the tunnel, they rushed forward as a group with boots scraping against concrete and weapons raised. Their movements were sharper than the scouts as they were faster and more coordinated.
'They're quick!' Nathan realized immediately.
'Much quicker than scouts.'
From the corner of his eye, he saw Chris.
Chris wasn't moving.
He stood slightly behind and to the side with his knees bend and one hand resting on the hilt of his sword like a predator waiting for the right moment to strike.
'He's waiting for me to get their attention again.' Nathan thought.
He already had an idea this was why he had asked Nathan to join him for this hunt but his actions right now just confirmed his theory.
'Fine.' He reassured himself.
'I already knew this was how it would go.'
The first goblin soldier crossed into range.
Nathan tightened his grip on the spear.
The image of his earlier mistake of thrusting into the chest and failing to stop the enemy just flashed through his mind.
'Not the chest.'
He adjusted his aim at the last possible moment and instead of the chest, Nathan drove the spear downward.
Straight toward the groin.
'Let's see how you ignore this one...' he thought grimly.
The spear stabbed into the goblin's groin and the effect was immediate.
The goblin's charge halted as its body seized up violently. It let out a raw, shrill scream which sounded furious and filled with pain that couldn't be ignored.
Nathan's eyes widened.
'It worked!'
The goblin staggered backward, knees buckling, hands clawing at the spear that was embedded in its lower body.
Nathan quickly yanked the spear back and this time, it came free easily.
The goblin collapsed to one knee, still screaming.
Chris stared at Nathan.
For a brief moment, his expression was unreadable.
"What the fuck..." Chris muttered.
Nathan shot him a glance. "What?!"
Chris sighed, stepping forward and drawing his sword fully. "Let me ease you off your pain, brother."
In one smooth motion, Chris swung as his blade flashed.
The goblin's head separated cleanly from its body and rolled across the tunnel floor as the scream cut off instantly.
Blood sprayed outward.
But despite this the goblin behind it didn't slow down, If anything, it accelerated.
It stepped over its fallen comrade without hesitation, eyes locked onto Nathan. As its grip tightened on its spear, clearly judging him as the weaker and more vulnerable target.
'It's aiming for me!' Nathan realized.
The goblin lunged.
The spear shot forward, straight toward Nathan's face.
Nathan barely had time to react.
He twisted his upper body sharply, the spearhead grazing past his cheek close enough for him to feel the air pass him by.
Using the momentum of his dodge, Nathan drove his own spear forward.
This time, he aimed higher and the pointed spear pierced the goblin's neck.
The resistance was minimal as the spear went straight through.
The goblin froze with its eyes bulging and weapon slipping from its grasp as its body started dropping.
[DING]
The sound echoed sharply in Nathan's head.
'I did it!'
But there was no time to celebrate.
Nathan quickly let go of his spear as he stepped forward and snatched up the goblin's fallen spear.
'Adapt.' he told himself.
"Chris!" Nathan shouted. "What the hell are you waiting for, man?!"
The instant these words left his mouth Chris moved.
Bursting forward in a blur of motion, sprinting toward the remaining goblins. As one of them raised its shield instinctively, Chris planted a foot against the tunnel wall.
Then he jumped.
He pushed off the wall hard, launching himself upward jumping over the goblin with the shield. He span mid air and swung his sword into a clean arc.
The goblin in the back fell before it even understood what had happened, its body cut in two uneven halves.
The shield goblin recoiled in shock, turning its attention fully toward Chris who had just skipped past him.
And that was when it felt something slam into its back.
This was spear that Nathan had just picked up.
Nathan had drove it forward with everything he had, using all of his body weight to push it in.
The point pierced through the thinner armor along the goblin's spine.
The goblin staggered forward, falling face first on the ground.
It wasn't dead yet, but Nathan didn't hesitate.
He rushed forward, jumped onto the goblin's back and grabbed the spear shaft with both hands.
He leaned forward and dropped his weight which plunged the spear deeper.
The goblin thrashed wildly, arms flailing, legs kicking against the concrete but Nathan held on.
He pressed down harder with his jaw clenched.
'Die!'
The thrashing slowed for a moment and then stopped completely.
[DING]
Nathan stayed there for a second longer, breathing hard as he heard his heart hammering in his ears.
Then he rolled off and pushed himself to his feet.
He looked deeper into the chamber.
The last two goblin soldiers lay dead.
Chris stood over them, sword dripping dark blood, posture calm as if he'd just finished a warm up exercise.
Chris turned and looked at Nathan.
"See?" he said smiling. "That wasn't that hard."
Nathan didn't smile.
He wiped blood from his face with the back of his sleeve, his chest rising and falling as exhaustion set in.
"This was way harder than killing scouts," Nathan replied flatly.
Chris shrugged. "It's just the numbers. Their quantity makes things messy. We'll just need to strategize better next time."
Chris then crouched and reached toward one of the goblin corpses, picking up something.
A faint blue glow illuminated his fingers.
"Congratulations bro" he said, grinning. "We got one on our first try."
Nathan stared as he registered the glowing blue crystal.
It was smaller than he had imagined, but unmistakably this was it.
"This is…" Nathan began, voice low. "Is that an ability shard?"
Chris laughed.
"Oh, hell no," he said. "We'd have to kill thousands of goblins for even a chance at one of those."
He rolled the crystal in his palm.
"This," Chris continued, "is an item shard."