Tsukuru was broken from his stupor, when a green-skinned fist violently rammed itself into his stomach.
The force was so great, that Tsukuru's body lifted slightly off of the ground.
In the upper-left corner of Tsukuru's vision, his health bar decreased by a moderate margin.
Tsukuru's eyes went wide.
Instantly, the muscles in his hand relaxed, and his grip on the spear loosened.
The spear clattered to the ground.
Slowly, Tsukuru looked in front of him.
He saw another one of the Hobgoblins smirking down at him, her fist driven into his gut.
"Ah, ah, ah." She said, ticking her index finger back and forth like a metronome, as if disciplining a child. "You should know that you can't lose your focus on the battlefield!"
Tsukuru let out a pained cough.
Seeing this, the Hobgoblin's smirk widened.
She lifted her other hand high into the air, before swinging it back down in a "chopping motion" on Tsukuru's head.
Tsukuru instantly felt a sharp stinging sensation on the top of his head, and found his body being forced downwards.
He landed on the ground, splayed out on his stomach with a splat.
"Ugh…" Tsukuru let out a groan of pain, as he lifted his head up, his right eye wincing in pain.
His health bar decreased slightly more.
Tsukuru saw the Hobgoblin reach down, and pick up the spear.
He looked up in front of him.
The Hobgoblin had the spear stabbed into the ground by its tip, and was resting her clasped hands on top of the shaft's end, resting her chin on top of her clasped hands as she looked down at him, an amused look on her face.
Seeing the look, Tsukuru's eye began to twitch.
It was as if she was mocking him.
Tsukuru reached out his hand, and activated his Video Stasis Skill.
The aura of glitching pixels enveloped both his hand, as well as the spear the Hobgoblin was using for support.
The Hobgoblin looked down at it, confused.
Tsukuru pulled his arm back.
Suddenly, the spear was wrenched out from under the Hobgoblin.
As it did, there was nothing left to keep up standing, and gravity took hold.
"Ahh!" The Hobgoblin screamed, waving her arms frantically as she fell.
The Hobgoblin landed on her stomach.
"Ow…" She let out a pained mutter.
As she looked up, she saw the same spear floating in the air above her, spear tip pointed downward towards her head.
Tsukuru gritted his teeth, and swung his hand down.
The spear slammed downwards, the stone tip piercing the Hobgoblin's skull.
Her eyes went wide, and her head dropped and limbs drooped down to the floor.
A moment later, she exploded into pixels.
Another System message appeared in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed a Hobgoblin. 50 XP has been awarded. XP: 612/800]
Slowly, Tsukuru got to his feet.
He walked over to where the spear was still piercing the ground from when he had slammed it into the Hobgoblin's skull.
He wrapped his hand around the shaft, and pulled it out.
As he looked at it, a message appeared in front of him.
[Would you like to Scan this weapon?
[Yes] [No] ]
Tsukuru thought the word 'yes'.
The System's "vector" appeared in his vision over the spear.
A line extended from the "vector", which led to a square showing an up-close image of it.
Text was written below.
[Hobgoblin Spear
Basic-Tier Beast Weapon
A primitive spear wielded by a Hobgoblin.
+3 Strength]
Seeing the information, Tsukuru smirked.
'So I was right.' Tsukuru thought. 'This is a Beast Weapon…'
Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, the remaining three Hobgoblins exchanged…concerned looks.
"Well, that backfired spectacularly." One of two Hobgoblins still sitting on the ground muttered, as she pulled a dagger out of her leg.
Instantly, the skin began to heal, closing up the wound.
A few seconds later, there was no sign that there had ever been a wound at all.
She heard an amused snort from her left.
"What are you talking about?" The Hobgoblin to her left asked.
"The plan worked! We provoked him into attacking us!"
The Hobgoblin on the far right narrowed her eyes.
"Considering how violent that last kill was, I'd say those two did more than just 'provoke' him." She replied, looking straight forward at Tsukuru.
He looked up from the spear, to the three of them, a look of intense irritation in his eyes.
"They pissed him off!"
A few minutes prior...
As Tsukuru had launched his first volley of daggers at the Hobgoblins, they immediately realized that something was up.
As the Hobgoblin on the far left twisted her body to the side, and the dagger whizzed past her shoulder, he glanced back at it going past, her eyes narrowed.
"Wasn't he aiming for headshots earlier?" She muttered in annoyance.
The fourth Hobgoblin in the group also twisted to the side, letting the dagger fly past her shoulder.
"He doesn't want to hurt us!" She said with an amused voice. "Aw, that's so sweet!"
The Hobgoblin on her immediate right, the Hobgoblin at the far-right of the group, swung out her spear in an arc.
The spear's tip collided with the thrown dagger, sending it spinning off in another direction.
"It also completely derails the entire purpose of this exercise!" She retorted in annoyance.
"If he can't bring himself to actually kill us, there's no point in us actually being here!"
The remaining two daggers struck true, hitting the two middle-most Hobgoblins in the shins, knocking them to the ground on their other knee.
The Hobgoblin grit her teeth.
"Fine!" She retorted, turning to glance at the other Hobgoblins. "We'll just have to provoke him into killing us!"
The Hobgoblin on the far left nodded.
She re-orientated her spear so she was holding it in a reverse-grip, and pulled her arm back.
She then threw the spear at Tsukuru at high speeds like a professional hunter.
At the same time, the fourth Hobgoblin in the group rushed forward.
Tsukuru had dodged out of the way of the spear, but when he looked up, he had seen the Hobgoblin who had rushed forward looming over him.
'Let's see if this triggers your 'fight-or-flight' response!' She thought with a wicked smile, as she thrust her spear down, aiming for Tsukuru's head.
Tsukuru's hand shot out, and grabbed the spear, his hand wrapping around the tip.
Instantly, the Hobgoblin felt her hand lock in place.
Her eyes widened.
'Holy crap!' She thought. 'For someone with such a small stature, our liege has quite the physical strength!'
Tsukuru then pulled the spear towards him, yanking the Hobgoblin forward.
"Whoa!" She yelled.
Tsukuru then swept his left leg to the right, colliding with the Hobgoblin's right leg.
Her leg swung over, and collided with her other leg.
This resulted in her legs quite literally 'being swept out from under her', and she fell to the ground.
The Hobgoblin grit her teeth.
'Damn it!' She thought, as she pounded her closed fist into the ground in frustration.
As she looked up, her eyes widened in horror.
She saw Tsukuru standing over her, the spear held in a reverse-grip in his pulled back arm, the spear's tip aimed right at her temple.
As she looked into Tsukuru's eyes, she saw a pained look on his face, and she could see a tear falling down from his right eye.
"I'm sorry." He apologized.
He thrust the spear down into the Hobgoblin's skull.
The Hobgoblin was stunned for a second, before a proud smile appeared on her face.
'That's it, my liege.' She thought, as she felt the lift leave her body. 'That's the way to do it.'