In the end, William relented and led the way. After walking for a few minutes, the boy spotted a group of Hobgoblins who were also looking in their direction.
William frowned when he noticed a new monster among their ranks. He immediately used his Appraisal Skill to see its information
----
< Hobgoblin Shaman >
-- Goblins with the affinity to wield magic and have evolved to become a Hobgoblin Shaman.
-- Specializes in the use of Dark and Elemental Magic.
-- This monster is stronger than the Hobgoblin Leader by One Rank
----
William's expression immediately became serious. 'One Rank higher than the Hobgoblin Leader?'
The Hobgoblin Leader was the Boss of the Tenth Floor. Although Ella was able to fight it one on one, it was still a boss monster.
The young shepherd knew that the Hobgoblin Shaman was a threat at the Boss Monster Level. However, he reasoned out that his Mama Ella was also very strong right now. After a brief internal struggle, William decided to give it a try.
He dismounted Ella and stood at the rear.
"Mama Ella, I'll leave the Hobgoblin Shaman to you," William stated.
"Meeeeeh!"
"Aslan, Chronos, we are going to use the same strategy!"
""Meeeeeeh!""
William held the staff in his hands firmly and used Bestow and Ice Armor on everyone, including himself.
(A/N: Bestow doesn't work on William. Only the Ice Armor)
"Go! Rush Attack!" William ordered.
The Goats turned into white blurs as they charged on their respective targets. The Hobgoblin Shaman was unfazed as it looked at the charging War ibex in front of it. It pointed its gnarled fingers at Ella as it chanted a spell in its mother tongue.
"Zak Ruta!"
A red beam of light shot out from its finger and hit Ella's forehead. The Angorian War Ibex immediately stopped its charge and thrashed around like a crazed bull in a rodeo competition. Ella's wild attacks accidentally hit Chronos, which sent the goat slamming towards the wall.
Wisp of red aura surrounded Ella's body and had forced her into a berserk state. She could no longer identify friend or foe and attacked the creatures near it.
Aslan commanded his team to retreat, but it was already too late. The Hobgoblins had joined the fight and waved their wooden bats at the goats mercilessly. The archers fired arrow, after arrow, which pierced the bodies of Echo, Flynn, Griffin, Hades, Io, making them scream in pain.
"Noooooooooooooooo!" William roared as he erected Ice Walls to separate the Hobgoblins and his herd.
"Rakas zhak tu!" The Hobgoblin Leader pointed at William and a black orb of light shot out from its fingertips.
William's vision immediately darkened as the "Blind Spell" of the Hobgoblin Shaman landed on him. He was too focused on the Hobgoblins attacking his herd that he didn't notice the Shaman casting a spell on him.
Black smoke oozed out of William's eyes. He couldn't see anything, but the darkness wasn't able to stop him from hearing the pained bleating of the goats. Clearly, they were seriously injured, perhaps even dying.
"Ring of Conquest!" William activated the ring to forcefully eject all of them out of the dungeon. Before the light enveloped William and the goats, an arrow pierced his right chest.
The darkness had increased his sensitivity and the stinging pain, made his body go into shock. The Hobgoblin wasn't being idle either. Several orbs of different colors hit William's body as the Hobgoblin Shaman fired a barrage of spells. It had recognized the boy as the highest current threat and decided to finish him off.
William's body helplessly fell on the ground and stopped moving. A few seconds later, he, and the rest of his herd, disappeared from the Goblin Crypt.
----
James was meditating outside the goat pen. It had become his habit to wait for his grandson's return from the dungeon every night. When he heard Ella's mad bleating inside the goat shed, he realized that something was terribly wrong.
The old man punched the locked door and made his way inside the shed. The scent of blood reached his nose and it made him anxious. There, in the corner, William laid on the ground with an arrow sticking out of his chest.
Ella was bleating and nudging the young boy's head in an attempt to wake him up. The effect of the Berserk Spell had worn off at the same time that they were ejected from the dungeon. When she saw William's current state, Ella panicked and immediately called out for help.
She knew that James was outside the shed and only he could help William in his time of need.
Black wisps of smoke were coming out from William's eyes and it made James' chest tighten. He was very familiar with this spell because he had experienced it first hand on the battlefield.
The rest of the goats were lying on the ground. Their white coats were stained in blood and several deep gashes showed the bones in their bodies. The corner of their lips were bleeding, and some of them were in near death conditions.
"William!" James roared as he rushed towards his fallen grandson. He checked his condition and was about to take him to Owen when the boy opened his eyes.
"G-Grandpa," William said through gritted teeth. "H-How is everyone? The goats, how are they?"
"They are fine," James lied. "Does it hurt? Don't worry. I'll take you to Owen. He will fix you up in a jiffy."
"N-No." William resisted. "I n-need to save them first. Or else, they will die. I-I can't allow them to die. It was my fault. My fault."
Williams' tears streaked down the side of his face. His vision was covered in darkness, and needed someone to guide him to help him attend to his herd. He was hurting, but the pain of losing his goats was more painful.
"P-Please, Grandpa. L-Let me treat them."
"Okay."
James had no choice but to agree to William's pleading. He carried him in his arms and approached the goat whom William had named as Chronos.
'S-System, h-help me.'
< How may I help you? >
'M-Mass, F-First Aid.'
< Understood. >
< Creating Special Skill…>
< Host has learned skill: Mass First Aid >
William didn't have time to heal the goats one by one. He knew that time was running out and he could only beg the system to help him. Fortunately, the system accommodated his request and created the skill he required.
-----
< Mass First Aid >
(250 Mana Points)
-- Heals twenty hit points of every member of the herd.
-- Only work for creatures that belong to the herd.
-- This skill cannot be upgraded.
-----
James guided his grandson's hand and placed it over Chronos' head. The boy didn't waste any more time and used the skill "Mass First Aid" repeatedly. The entire shed was covered with a gentle green light. William kept using the skill until he had exhausted all of his mana reserves.
After the last dregs of magic power left his body, William finally lost consciousness.
James bolted out of the shed as soon as he saw that his grandson fainted. He made a beeline towards the only Life Magus in Lont. Ella was hot on his tail as she sprinted behind the old man. She was still in her War Ibex Form which allowed her to keep up with James' fast movement.
"Owen! Help!" James kicked the door of Owen's house without caring whether the other person would get angry or not. The wooden door broke sending wood pieces flying in every direction.
"You bastard! What do you think you're doing?!" Owen roared as he angrily ran down the staircase.
He was sleeping peacefully with his wife a few seconds ago when he heard the loud crashing sound of their front door being torn apart. The first thing he saw was James carrying William in his arms.
There was an arrow sticking out of the boy's chest and black wisps of smoke were rising from his closed eyes.
Owen's angry expression immediately became grim as he understood the situation.
"Lie him down," Owen ordered. "Don't say anything until I've finished curing him, do you understand?"
"Yes."
"I just said that you're not allowed to say anything!"
James wanted to slap the old man for being unreasonable, but knew that now was not the time to have an argument. William's safety was his priority, so he kept his lips shut and watched as Owen used his Life Magic on his grandson.
Owen firmly held the arrow that was sticking out of the boy's chest and pulled it out in one attempt. He immediately applied healing magic to close the wound. After that, he used a Diagnostic Spell to give William's body a full scan.
"Darkness Magic, Blind, Poison, and Corrosion!" Owen hissed. "Damn! Just who is this Dark Magician who dares to bully a little kid? Does he have no shame?!"
Owen was perplexed. These kinds of spells were not something that a simple mage could do. Only Dark Magicians on the Fourth Circle were capable of wielding this degree of Dark Magic.
Although there was a Dark Sorcerer in Lont, that person would never harm anyone in town. Owen knew that this was the work of someone outside their circle of friends.
For the time being, he pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind, and busied himself in dispelling the curses in William's body.