Level Up The Colony-Chapter 17: Goblin! Smash!!

A sharp burst of pain shot through Timothy's body.

He could've sworn his arm snapped.

His vision blurred as his body was sent flying.

Before he could regain control, a blur of yellow streaked past him.

Fast.

Too fast.

The only goblin that had managed to land a hit on him so far.

Timothy squinted, forcing his eyes to track its movements.

Then, he saw it, the thing he had overlooked.

The goblin knight.

The one with yellow markings.

Before, it had been fast. But now? Now it was something else entirely.

It had evolved.

He had been too focused on overwhelming a single enemy to realize the others were just as dangerous.

Stopping one didn't mean stopping them all.

Timothy clenched his teeth.

His HP was high, but even that wouldn't last forever.

Am I going to die here?

Before he could fully regain his stance, another punch crashed into him, sending him slamming into a stone pillar.

The impact rattled his bones.

CRACK!

Before he could react, the goblin was on him again.

Fists rained down on his body, a relentless barrage.

He barely managed to raise his arms to shield himself, lying flat on his back as the blows landed with terrifying force.

[-75 HP!]

Each hit carved a chunk out of his health.

His vision flickered with warnings.

Timothy saw an opening and tried to counter, only to be hit by another spell.

[You have been affected by Paralysis.]

[You have resisted the Paralysis.]

Even so, the brief moment of stiffness cost him.

His guard weakened, and the punches landed even harder.

Anger boiled in his chest.

He tried to brute-force his way out, but then...

[You have been hit by a Restraining Spell.]

[Your Agility has been halved.]

[You have resisted the spell.]

[Debuff: -10 Agility/minute.]

[-10 Agility.]

It just kept getting worse.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the shamans approaching.

The axe-wielding goblin had already recovered, and worst of all, he felt a pair of red eyes staring at him.

Mocking him.

That smirk... it made his blood boil.

Memories flashed through his mind of street fights, of getting pummeled just like this by gangsters, of never backing down.

Even then, he had been protecting something.

Even then, he never gave up.

Each punch struck with the weight of those memories.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

His vision blurred, but he saw it, the goblin's fist, mid-swing.

This time, he caught it.

Everything stopped.

The goblin's momentum.

The dust in the air.

The impact that should have followed.

The goblin growled, yanking its arm, but it couldn't pull free.

A thin layer of blue energy coated Timothy's arms up to his elbows.

[Skill: Armament Activated.]

[Armament (Active) Lv. 1]

Effect: Enhances attacks by coating a chosen area of the user's body in a hardened layer, increasing both durability and impact force.

Mana Cost: 2 MP per second.

A countdown of twenty seconds appeared.

Timothy didn't hesitate.

His face was bloodied, his breath ragged, his body screaming in pain.

But his eyes burned with rage.

With all his strength, he yanked the goblin forward and drove an uppercut into its chin.

CRACK!

The force shattered its jaw, nearly driving bone into its brain.

The goblin collapsed, twitching, not dead, but close.

Timothy didn't stop.

He couldn't.

Planting his foot on its shoulder, he twisted, ripping its arm clean off.

The goblin didn't even react.

It probably couldn't feel anything anymore.

Five seconds had passed.

[-10 MP.]

[Remaining MP: 30.]

Timothy deactivated the skill immediately.

He didn't have time to check his MP reserves, but he could feel it, using mana drained him, not just in energy, but in stamina.

But right now, that didn't matter.

His gaze snapped to the shamans.

They were his next target.

The remaining goblin knights, one with deep green skin, the other with black stripes moved to intercept him.

But the fastest among them was already out of commission.

The shamans started chanting, slamming their staffs into the ground.

Timothy knew what was coming.

He wouldn't let them finish.

In a burst of movement, he dashed forward, still gripping the severed goblin arm.

A makeshift weapon.

He swung full force, smashing one shaman into the other. Their barrier flickered, absorbing the impact but sending them flying in the opposites direction

Exactly what he wanted.

He followed through and batted again against each other.

And again.

And again.

Each hit was like a baseball swing, relentless, ferocious, unstoppable.

With every strike, cracks spread across the barrier and flesh tore out of his makeshift weapon.

He kept dodging stray attacks from the goblin knights, weaving between them, keeping his momentum.

Then...

[Debuff: -10 Agility.]

A new notification flashed.

Timothy clenched his jaw.

Time was running out.

This brief hesitation nearly cost him, several goblins closed in, their weapons ready to strike.

But his heightened perception kicked in, allowing him to narrowly dodge a goblin knight's grasp.

Moving instinctively, he swung his weapon in a well-practiced motion, sending one of the shield-wielding shamans crashing into another.

Both shields cracked at the exact point of impact as they tumbled midair.

Tim saw his chance to press forward until the goblin with black markings suddenly appeared before him, lunging for a grab.

He sidestepped the obvious attack, watching as the shamans desperately tried to reinforce their cracked shields while still descending.

'So it's easier to focus mana on one thing under vertigo rather than multiple?' That realization didn't matter.

He had already decided, he was breaking that shield.

Two goblin knights charged from opposite sides while a shaman plummeted from above.

Tim clenched his fist, focusing all his power into a single strike.

Activating Armament, he drove his attack into the already-weakened shield, shattering it completely.

Without wasting a second, he grabbed the falling shaman by the throat and spun it into a defensive position just as an attack landed.

Instead of feeling pain, Tim noticed something odd.

The impact transferred through the shaman but barely affected him.

'Is it me... or—?'

The goblin struck again, and this time, Tim blocked it with one hand.

The force was weak.

'It doesn't have the strength...' He countered, only to be forcefully knocked back.

"Obviously..." he muttered, rolling his shoulders.

"...It has a troublesome defense."

He barely had time to process before a green, berserk goblin leaped at him from above.

He swiftly dodged, watching as it flailed wildly, its attacks reckless yet synchronized with the defensive goblin.

This one was different.

Its movements were desperate, erratic, almost unnatural.

Tim almost forgot he was still holding the shaman until it gagged, clawing weakly at his grip.

Right... this one lost its staff.

It was useless now.

He glanced at the other shaman, still struggling to repair its shield.

Not taking his eyes off it, he charged.

A sudden torrent of flames erupted in his path.

He barely dodged, rolling to the side as two more waves of fire followed.

He twisted, evading the attacks with calculated precision.

The shaman in his grasp let out a crackling noise.

Irritated, Tim smashed its head against a nearby pillar.

Bone crunched.

Blood splattered.

[You have leveled up]

[Silverback Termite (Gray) has leveled up]

His first kill in this boss room, yet it was enough to level up.

He had wanted them to suffer more, but right now, something else demanded his attention.

A cold chill crept up his spine.

Slowly, he turned.

Glowing red eyes met his gaze.

But instead of fear, Tim smirked.

This is a win for me.

He didn't need the shaman alive, only its head would have been useful, and even that was too fragile.

He tossed the lifeless body aside.

Another notification flashed.

[-10 Agility]

This time, he didn't panic.

His eyes flicked to the axe-wielding goblin, now struggling to lift its weapon.

The backlash from its interrupted skill was worse than expected.

Or was it something else, he had no idea and frankly didn't care.

Its muscles twitched, its face contorted in pain.

Tim's speed had dropped to what it was back when he was still E-rank.

But he didn't need speed anymore, not when he knew shamans granted him level-ups.

Calmly, he strode toward the last shaman.

The other goblin knights rushed him, but at his current pace, he could still outmaneuver them.

The shaman, seeing the threat, unleashed more torrents of flames.

Tim weaved through them, rolling once, twice until he was close.

Sensing danger, the shaman poured every ounce of mana into a final, point-blank fire blast.

Flames roared toward him.

Tim activated Armament on both arms.

His left braced against the inferno, absorbing the damage.

His right was already swinging.

With a brutal strike, he smashed both shield and goblin into the ground.

This time, the shield shattered completely, its mana reserves depleted.

[You have leveled up]

[Silverback Termite (Gray) has leveled up]

[Debuff has been lifted. Agility restored.]

[Remaining MP: 22]

Visit fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm for the best novel reading experi𝒆nce.

[Fatigue: 75]

Exhaling, Tim smirked as he surveyed the battlefield.

Now... who's next?