A few of the goblin warriors had taken it upon themselves to outpace the horde and were closer than the rest. I waited, daring them.
Considering their pace, this was far enough. I took the next back road, quickly making it to full speed, quickly outdistancing the goblins that had rounded the corner to follow me.
I set my sights on catching Victoria. In the world I was in now, it was clear I had to dedicate myself to physical training in the same way I did gaming. It was time I started to fully develop my talents.
Keeping Enhanced Hearing activated and an eye on my Local Map, I soon found Victoria. She had obviously slowed but was still going at a strong pace.
A few seconds later I started breathing easier when no goblins showed on my mini-map. The itch of my back didn’t let me relax. I had defied the hobgoblin despite it.
My lungs were starting to burn as I slowed to a full stride. It was amazing I had as much stamina as I did. There was no way just a few additional points in endurance had helped so much. Had they? Was it the help of the developer’s cocktail?
Turning up another alley I soon reached the one Victoria was using. In the distance, I saw her.
Upping my pace, I was determined to catch her. When I said I would beat her to the gate, that was really just a taunt, but now I was determined to accomplish it.
Using group chat, I messaged her and the entire party. “I’m right behind you!” I hoped it wouldn’t distract, but encourage the others, who were likely still in combat if they were still alive, that we were okay.
Even though she was nearly a quarter of a mile ahead, I saw her turn her head to look behind her. When she stopped to wait for me, it squelched my plan of making a race out of catching her.
After I caught her we didn’t stop. The alley bent back and forth, not nearly as even as the main road, but we found no one in our path. My lungs started to struggle even further. Victoria showed no signs of stopping. It was time to poke our heads out and see if we had made it in time.
A side road was coming up. I took it, rounding the corner. Slowing to a stop on the side of a two-story merchant’s shop, I saw the hobgoblins in the distance. They were maybe a half mile away and had returned to the main road.
“I think we made it,” I choked, spitting out the phlegm that had built up in the back of my throat.
“Keep going.” Victoria nudged me, reminding me every second counted.
Well, at least this exertion should be beneficial to my stat growth. I sighed. She obviously had impressive endurance.
“Open the gate!” I cried, as we shot past the night merchants.
A familiar stocky guy met us, spear lowered. He had an odd name… Gust. We slowed to a stop, panting.
“You guys again?” He smirked. “Scared me to death.”
“Might be a good idea to stay afraid,” I blurted out while trying to control my breath. “Open the gate. We’re being attacked.”
“Of course we are...”
“No! He means that they are in the city. Hurry. Two hobgoblins are coming this way. We need reinforcements!” Victoria pointed behind us.
“Oh...”
“Now!” I insisted.
“Opening!” he screamed.
“Thank you.”
He nodded, as he unsheathed a mace and started barking commands to his sisters in the towers above.
***
Wading through the player barricade was easy enough. Everyone was at their station already fighting. The peril of our situation became clear. An entire army of goblin warriors was making a full out assault. There were thousands of them already in combat with our defenders and thousands more were waiting as reinforcements at the tree line.
At least a hundred players had joined Gust to defend the front gate from the internal attack when we left him. I doubted it would be enough.
Thankfully it seemed that many of the players that had never participated in the defense had answered the call to help. I had no reliable way to number so many people, but I guessed at least five thousand players were spread out north to south to face the threat.
We found Harrison right where we expected him at the heart of the conflict at the head of the barricade. The carts were no longer the front of the player defense. At least fifty rows of people stood between the fighting and the original defensive structure.
Our friend stood on top of the center cart, examining the conflict and messaging his group. He had already reached level 19. Had we really missed so much?
“Harrison!” Victoria yelled as we neared his cart.
He turned, giving us a squinty narrow stare. His Iittle owl looked bigger than before.
“You two. Must mean trouble. Out with it!”
“Goblins have breached the city! Two hobgoblins are on their way to the gate!” I warned.
He looked through me for a moment, calculating. After a quick message to his group, he hopped down and waved us to follow. It was surprising that such a sturdy man could bound about the obstacles of the player camp as he did.
We skirted toward the gate and headed south behind the player line by the city wall. A quarter of a mile later we cut into the player line.
“Cornelius!” Harrison howled.
The colossal man showed up a moment later wearing a burnt orange cloak, sweat drenching his neck and forehead below his full helm.
“Harrison!” he bellowed.
“The city has been breached! Hobgoblins are making their way to the city gate!”
Without hesitation he replied, “My men will handle it! You’re in charge. Send me reinforcements as quickly as you can. A thousand men should do.”
“Yes, sir!”
It's wasn't surprising to see Cornelius taking charge, but hearing Harrison call him sir was just odd.
“We're coming with you!” I bust in. “Our group is on the other side of town fighting. If they are still alive we can find them on our Local Map. They were fighting a large group when we left them.”
Victoria squeezed my arm in encouragement.
“Good. Stick by me.”
Harrison had already run the other way, messaging his group. We found ourselves wading toward the front of the player line. Most of the players wore the same color as their leader.
Cornelius spoke with a man wearing faded blue.
The man looked down and said something we couldn't hear, messaging someone else.
“This way.”
We followed Cornelius back the way we came when a large shift happened behind us. I looked to see the men in orange retreating as blue took their place on the line.
In less than two minutes we were jogging north toward the gate with over one hundred men at our backs. He took the time sensitivity of the matter seriously. How was the training required to pull off something like this even possible in only three days?
We made it to the gate with little time to spare. The goblin warriors were entering the wide road where the merchants lined the area with their carts. Thankfully the night merchants had already fled, but our friend Gust was still standing his ground with a small army behind him. His sisters were already firing off arrows from the towers at the invaders.
Gust and the others made way for Cornelius and his men.
When I saw the hobgoblins I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I had already known they would be here so there was no surprise.
“You two, get off to the side. We will handle this.”
As the weapon master marched away, I found myself conflicted. Part of me was desperate to face a hobgoblin again, but the other part relieved I didn’t have to.
“Come on," Victoria said, pulling me out of the way of the well-formed fighting force.
“I’ll check in with Peter,” she said.
We stood there as Cornelius commanded his men to charge.
These men had already been fighting on another front just minutes before. I feared they would be too spent to face another battle, but as the two forces came together I saw how wrong I really was.