Chapter 64
Draco led the group towards the next location, where he had sensed another group of goblins lurking nearby.
As they approached, he carefully scanned the surrounding area, ensuring there were no other potential threats or adventurers in the vicinity.
“Oh, it seems there is another group of 3 goblins nearby,” Draco muttered.
‘They will likely come running to join the fight if we engage, but no problem. Dimitra can use them to try out her skill hidden effects’ he thought.
With a nod, Draco turned to his familia. "Nikolaos, Dimitra, you're up," he instructed.
This time, there were only 4 goblins, one less than their previous encounter.
Without a word, Dimitra nocked an arrow and let it fly, the projectile finding its mark and striking the first goblin's head before it could react.
The remaining goblins, confused by the sudden attack, looked around in bewilderment, unsure of where the arrow had come from.
"Better hurry before I take everything out myself," Dimitra said in a hushed tone, a smirk playing on her lips as she glanced at Nikolaos.
"Hmph," Nikolaos scoffed, gripping his spiked maul tightly as he activated his skill, 'Feral Wolf-spirit'.
Instantly, his appearance underwent a dramatic transformation.
His eyes took on a more pronounced red hue, his body bulked up a bit, his nails elongated into claws, and his hair grew longer and denser, giving him a feral, bestial appearance.
Fangs emerged from his mouth, completing his transformation into a feral beast-like creature.
Nikolaos felt a surge of power coursing through his body, and he almost couldn't resist the urge to let out a powerful howl, revelling in the euphoric sense of strength.
"Whoa, you look awesome, Niko! Go show those goblins who's the boss," Michalis encouraged, his excitement evident.
Nikolaos responded with a toothy grin, pleased by Michalis's praise.
However, Draco's stern glare quickly dampened their enthusiasm, a silent warning to Nikolaos not to do anything reckless and to Michalis to refrain from further egging him on, after the previous incident.
While Nikolaos was indulging in his transformation, Dimitra had already taken out another goblin and was aiming at her third target.
"You should hurry, or she will kill everything," Vasileios reminded Nikolaos, gesturing towards the last two goblins charging at them.
Without delay, Nikolaos dashed towards the remaining goblins, his spiked maul dragging behind him.
He positioned himself to block Dimitra's line of fire, preventing her from taking out the last two enemies.
"How petty," Dimitra muttered in frustration.
Draco watched the scene with a sigh, observing the group's antics.
'It seems the opponents are too weak, allowing them to play around like this,' he thought.
Reaching the goblins, Nikolaos placed both claws on the hilt of his maul, leveraging the force generated from his charge, his full weight and enhanced strength to swing the weapon with tremendous force.
"Raaaah!" he roared as he unleashed his attack.
Smash!
The spiked maul smashed into the first goblin, the spikes impaling its skin and crushing its bones, along with its magic stone.
The sheer momentum of the attack carried through, smashing the second goblin as well, overwhelming both enemies with a single, devastating strike.
The impact was so powerful that it forced Nikolaos's maul to smash into the dungeon walls, destroying a small portion of it.
Dimitra, frustrated by Nikolaos's interference, clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"You just had to get in the way, didn't you?" she muttered under her breath.
Draco observed the aftermath, his expression fuming.
"It would seem that, you didn’t learn anything from what happened with Michalis" he remarked, his voice calm and measured.
Vasileios, simply shook his head in disapproval at his brothers action.
"Your strength wasn’t well-utilized, it would have been better to use less force on such a weak opponent," he commented, his tone constructive rather than critical.
"That was amazing, Niko! You really showed those goblins who's boss!" Michalis exclaimed.
Michalis was ecstatic, because he now wasn’t the only one to screw up.
‘Ah, I screwed up’ Nikolaos realized with a heavy heart as he heard Draco's stern words.
He couldn't believe he had made such a foolish mistake, shattering the goblins' precious magic stones, hindering his ally and getting intoxicated in his skill.
This was a grave error, as it meant the magic stones could not be sold to the guild for the much-needed Valis.
Quickly, Nikolaos pulled his maul embedded in the dungeon wall, undoing his transformation and rushing to Draco's side.
The guilt weighed heavily on him, and he bowed his head in sincere apology.
"I am truly sorry, Everyone, Draco nii. It won't happen again, I promise." he said.
Nikolaos could sense the fury radiating from Draco, aware that he had made a similar mistake to Michalis earlier.
However, the key difference was that Nikolaos had acknowledged his error and taken responsibility for it immediately.
Draco regarded Nikolaos with a stern gaze, his brow furrowed in displeasure. After a moment of tense silence, he begrudgingly decided to let the incident slide, for now.
"See that it doesn't," he replied tersely, motioning for Nikolaos to fall back.
As Nikolaos moved to the rear of the group, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.
He knew that Draco would not forget this transgression, and that both he and Michalis would likely face punishment at a later time.
The knowledge weighed heavily on his mind, but he resolved to focus on the task at hand, determined not to let his mistakes have further consequences.
Draco was quite easy going on his siblings but whenever the situation involved their lives, he couldn’t afford to play the kind older brother.
Ahead, Draco surveyed the situation, his keen eyes spotting a group of three goblins drawn to the commotion.
"Vasiliki," he commanded, "slow them down for Dimitra." he said.
Vasiliki nodded, quickly conjuring sheets of ice to envelop the goblins' feet as they entered her range, rooting them in place.
Thanks to her keen observation of the goblins' strength earlier, she knew that no chanting was necessary to enhance her spell – the creatures were simply not powerful enough to break through her ice.
"Dimitra," Draco continued, "keep your eyes forward and try to aim your arrows at less critical areas until you've landed ten consecutive shots on one of them. I want to see the full extent of your skill's hidden effect." he instructed.
Dimitra immediately complied, her arrows finding their marks as she carefully targeted the goblins' limbs, a green mark bearing the Bahamut familia emblem appearing on their bodies with each hit, much to everyone's surprise.
Vasiliki supported Dimitra's efforts, using her ice to stem the goblins' wounds, ensuring they did not perish too quickly.
Once Dimitra had landed her tenth shot, the results were spectacular.
The goblin she had been targeting instantly disintegrated, unable to withstand the accumulated damage.
In the aftermath, ten green glowing phantom arrows materialized around Dimitra, poised to strike.
With the marked target already dead, the arrows couldn’t automatically attack, so they just hovered around her.
"Mark the other two goblins," Draco instructed, his eyes gleaming with fascination.
"Let's see if the phantom arrows will attack both of them." he said.
“Hmm” Dimitra nodded and quickly fired two more arrows, each one finding its mark and leaving the familiar green emblem on the goblins' bodies.
Immediately, the phantom arrows sprang into action, five streaking towards each of the remaining creatures.
The arrows struck with unerring precision, piercing the goblins' marked area with ease and causing them to crumble to dust, leaving only their magic stones behind.
Draco couldn't help but be impressed by the sheer power and precision of Dimitra's hidden skill.
"Hmm, good," he mused.
"You did great, Dimitra. Next time, we'll test whether melee attacks with your bow can also trigger its hidden effect." he added.
Dimitra beamed with pride, savouring the praise from her older brother.
She was also the only one to receive any form of praise, since they entered the dungeon.
She felt a sense of accomplishment, knowing that she had not only performed her role effectively but had also showcased the might of her abilities.
"Alright, go retrieve the magic stones and your arrows," Draco commanded.
"Let's move on." he said.
As Dimitra and the others set about gathering their spoils, Nikolaos hesitantly approached Draco.
"What about me and Michalis?" he asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty.
Draco fixed Nikolaos with a measured gaze, his expression unreadable.
"You and Michalis will need to be more careful going forward," he said sternly.
"Your mistake earlier was unacceptable, but I'm willing to completely overlook it this time. However, if you or Michalis make another blunder like that, there will be serious consequences. Understand?" he warned.
“Yes" Nikolaos replied in relief.
“Ahem !” Vasileios coughed to draw Draco’s attention.
“What?” Draco asked.
“What about me and Clair. I am pretty sure we did good too?” Vasileios protested.
“Hmm, sure you both did good too” Draco casually replied, focusing his senses on finding their next target.