World Seed 37 Chapter 37

Aerwyn took in a deep breath as the sudden realization that he had been shot with an arrow took a hold of him. The horrific gurgling sound of blood and air escaping the wound would have taken his breath away had the hole in his lung not done it first. Surprisingly he wasn't in that much pain, whether that was because of the adrenaline pumping through his veins or perhaps he had just gotten so used to the feeling of his soul being ripped apart that this level of pain wasn't within his eyes anymore.

It was like a small pinch that didn't go away and the most uncomfortable part was that his body kept telling him he needed more air no matter how much he inhaled. It was a feeling of suffocation despite being able to breathe and it reminded him of being consumed by the darkness when his soul was weak.

Aerwyn quickly brought his gaze upon the hobgoblin with the bow, she was already notching another arrow as their eyes met. He brought up his staff and took aim rapidly firing off a flame lance before she could return fire. While she was forced to dodge Aerywn quickly gave an order.

"Re..treat.. i need... a potion." Aerywn's voice was short winded and raspy sounding as though each syllable was spoken in between gasps for air.

"Master! What's wrong?! My little spider head can't see you up there. If those tiny goblins hurt you i'll-" Erit panicked and positioned herself as though she was going to charge the goblins.

"Re..treat.. now." Aerwyn cut her off, ending the discussion.

Another arrow whistled past Aerwyn as Erit turned to leave nearly hitting his head. The undead horde moved quickly, traveling nearly a kilometer away from the goblins in mere minutes. He wasn't worried about being followed, they would lose many more goblins to the webs if they were foolish enough to try.

The goblins that were already stuck wouldn't be able to break free any time soon which left the hobgoblins with a fourth of their force either stuck or undead. He figured they would attempt to remove the goblins for a while before giving up and returning back to the settlement. If they chose to stay and defend them then that would be fine too. He just needed to keep a eye out for the hobgoblin archer the next time they attacked and he would be fine.

When they got far enough away, Aerwyn stopped the group and took a potion out from the pack before having Erit lift him down. Laying down in the gra.s.s he held the potion and called Velk over.

"Pull.. the arr..ow.. out.... on-ARGH!" Aerwyn released a m.u.f.fled, breathless cry as Velk pulled the arrow out before he could finish telling him to go on three.

The pain was oddly satisfying as if a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. Blood squirted out from the wound for a moment like a sprinkler before he popped the stopper off the vial, pouring half on the wound and drinking the rest.

"Erit.. have the spiders..." He tried to speak but was still struggling so he entered the darkness and reached for Erit's soul string.

"Have the spiders setup another web about a hundred meters out from us. It doesn't need to be elaborate just enough to slow them down if they decide to chase us, i need to rest." Aerwyn quickly disconnected from her avoiding any complaints about going to kill the goblins before grabbing Rorik's soul string.

"Go and scout alone, i want to keep an eye on the goblins."

"..Fine." Rorik mumbled.

Aerwyn looked around in the darkness, not sure if he wanted to leave or not. Outside he was uncomfortable and in pain but inside the darkness he felt nothing, the only downside was that time moved much slower in this place. He watched as all the souls both near and far trudge along in slow motion before looking down at the soul of his spear.

It was a Grade D soul like the tenri and Aerwyn always found it odd that a weapon could have a soul ever since Tylin first mentioned it. If everything he has learned about souls since he woke up is to be believed then that would mean his weapon should be able to grow just like his undead.

He had mostly ignored it since he learned how to enter the darkness but now that he felt more comfortable in this place, he was curious. Since he didn't have anything else to do, he reached out to it's soul string but nothing happened when he took a hold of it. It wasn't like the connection he had when he grabbed the soul strings of his undead, the soul string of his weapon felt empty or dead.

Aerwyn attempted to communicate with it to no avail before letting go of the soul string and watching the weapons soul flicker for a while. He decided to leave it be and attempt to feed it a mana core later in hopes of it awakening. Time flowed on slowly and Aerwyn was becoming mind numbingly bored.

Thinking back to the dream he had of Rorik he grabbed a hold of Rorik's soul string and attempted to recreate the experience. He imagined he was seeing through Rorik's eyes and the darkness around him shot into action making his thoughts a reality. The darkness seemed to warp and fold around him as he shot forward much like what he had experienced when Tylin had drugged him.

Aerwyn saw an explosion of white light before the scene of the forest flying by entered his eyes. Rorik abruptly stopped and crouched before inching his way over to the edge of the forest. The thought of the ma.s.sive barghest sneaking behind a tiny bush caused Aerwyn to let out a m.u.f.fled chuckle and Rorik flinched as if he heard him.

"..Human?" Rorik asked, unsure if he was hearing things.

"Ah sorry, don't mind me. Carry on, sneaky dog."

"...Get out of my head..."

"Nope, i'm bored and i need to know the situation with the goblins anyway. Deal with it for now, that's an order sneaky dog."

"..." Rorik's anger and indignation were so apparent Aerwyn could feel it in his very soul.

Soon they reached the location of the webs and Aerwyn could see the many dozens of goblins struggling to break free. The hobgoblins barked orders while the rest of their horde seemed clueless on how to resolve the situation. They tried pulling the trapped goblins out only to lose more to the sticky webs.

After hours of failed attempts the hobgoblin that Aerwyn a.s.sumed to be Glik grabbed a torch from a goblin before walking over and lighting the web aflame. The fire quickly spread as if the webs were coated in oil, the goblins unlucky enough to have been trapped were roasted alive. The sounds of the goblins screams only lasted a moment before the crackling sound of boiling fat and shattering bone overtook it.

The hobgoblins were far more intelligent than Aerwyn had previously given them credit. By burning the trapped goblins they were in essence denying him more soldiers as well as removing the only obstacle blocking their pursuit of him.

"Keep your distance but keep an eye on them, try to get behind them if you can. I need to go back and prepare to fight." Aerwyn ordered Rorik, cutting his connection and being warped back into the darkness before opening his eyes. Now that his original plan of trapping and turning the goblins over time had gone awry he decided to fight.

"Erit pick.. me up." The potion was doing its job and his breathing wasn't as strained as it was before but he was still far from being well enough to fight.

"Is something wrong master?"

"Goblins are.. ten minutes away.. They're coming..."

"Are we finally going to eradicate the tiny vermin master?" Erit's voiced perked up at the thought of battle as she placed Aerwyn and his protectors on her back.

"Yes... Hunting group.. i want you.. to flank east.. meetup with Rorik... d.a.m.ned lung!" Aerwyn coughed out a handful of blood and cursed his current situation before laying down on Erit's back and entering the darkness.

He grabbed Erit's soul string and spoke.

"Have a dozen spiders climb the trees outside of the webs. I want them to attempt to capture the archer hobgoblin at all costs. Have them drop webs on her from the trees, anything, as long as she is taken out of the fight. When the goblins spot us make it seem as though you are fleeing, do it slowly. Do you understand?"

"Yes master! What should the other spiders do?"

"Have them near us and seem like they're fleeing with us, when the battle starts i want them to trap as many goblins in webs as they can."

Aerwyn grabbed the soul strings of the thirty or so recently turned goblins ordering them to meetup with Rorik before grabbing Rorik's soul string.

"I'm sending your hunting group to meetup with you along with the goblins i resurrected in the previous battle. Make sure you keep your distance until they engage. I want you and your group to tie down Frakki and the hobgoblin in chain mail from behind. Do not kill them unless left with no other choice."
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Not long after Aerwyn opened his eyes, the goblins arrived.