Wincing from the pain I grit my teeth, trying my best to contain my rage.
Ignoring the arrow, I deflected the other three goblin attacks with ease as the five had nearly surrounded me. They weren't as skilled as the latter floors and the [Minor Goblins] were almost inconsequential, so I felt confident going forward. That was until [Fireballs] started to randomly pelt different goblins every one and a half seconds.
With the unfocused attacks of the three damage dealers, threat management was proving nearly impossible for me as I had to quickly attack one goblin then rotate to the next. Switching through my targets when they looked as if they were about to be peeled off of me, I barely maintained some semblance of control.
I didn't have the Area of Effect taunt that Barik or other shield bearers had, since I was new to tanking with a shield, so I couldn't force the mobs to focus me. In order to maintain hate, I needed to deal enough damage to them to remain high on their threat priority. Switching back and forth between goblins, was not the way to do that.
And then it happened.
Another wayward arrow hit me in the ribs, and the sudden pain deep in the center of my midsection distracted me as a goblin landed a sword thrust into my thigh. Thinking that was the worst of it, I was quickly disappointed as two of the five remaining goblins took off and started to beeline towards the casters. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as the archer managed to hit one of them in the chest with an arrow, causing the goblin to chase him instead.
And that's when the fight devolved into chaos.
The archer took off running in one direction as he attempted to kite the goblin that was chasing him, shooting off arrows as rapidly as he could without concern to accuracy. Arrows were flying left and right as they bounced off the walls and stuck to my shield.
I had actually turned to face my party with my back against the wall in order to defend myself from my own party member's friendly fire.
Though to make matters worse, the other goblin chased one of the casters as he ran around in circles as well, with random instant cast flames being shot out as he scurried about. The flames flew all over as the healer was forced to run to the side and the other caster started to run to the dungeon portal, completely ceasing his attacks.
I had three goblins on me and ignored the chaotic scene in front of me as I attempted to single-handedly kill them all. No longer receiving any heals, I was essentially left to fend for myself as the rest of the group did their own thing.
Deflecting an oncoming blow, I was barely able to land a counter attack on the wrist of a goblin as its sword fell to the ground. With its hand dangling loosely by a few non-severed ligaments, the goblin shrieked in pain as its eyes bulged in shock. Ignoring it, I turned my focus to the other two goblins and bashed my shield into one, knocking it flat on its back as it flung its arms up in desperation.
Without any hesitation, I lifted my good leg and stomped down on the goblin's face and crushed it beneath my boot as a sword found itself three-inches into my right pectoral. Dropping my axe, I grabbed the goblin's forearm and pulled the creature in closer as it tried to remove its sword.
Utilizing the momentum of my yank, I swung my shield out edge-first and connected with the throat of the goblin as the impact sent a shudder through my elbow. The goblin collapsed to the floor grasping its throat, while I quickly raised the shield with both hands and used the edge to smash into its head.
Turning around, I picked up my axe and threw it into the chest of the gimp minor goblin that was still clutching its partially-severed hand. Watching it collapse to the ground before me, I didn't have any time to waste as I dropped my shield and began to gather electricity in my hands. Focusing my eyes on the goblin that was chasing the mage, I built up a chanted verse as I charted out the path the caster was taking.
He continued to run in circles, zigzagging here and there, but I only needed to lead the goblin by a quarter of a second. That was all the time and space I needed to hit a running goblin that was changing its path every other second.
Once my cast was complete, I let it fly.
Just as the goblin changed its course in relation to the mage, lightning surged and cut through the air as the bolt of raw energy traveled in a straight-line. The goblin managed another step as it was hit in the side and came crashing down into the dark damp dirt floor of the dungeon, its full sprint interrupted immediately by the paralyzing effect of the lightning.
As it lay on the floor twitching, I had already drawn my bow and placed a single-shot up through its chin, ceasing all of its movements. Now all that was left was the archer, as I turned my bow and let a few arrows loose.
And then, it was over.
Silence had returned as I looked at the group standing doe-eyed a little ways away.
One caster had been lingering by the dungeon portal entrance, ready to exit at any given moment and with nearly a full bar of mana. He didn't participate at all once the fight got hectic. He was ready to bail and simply watched the scene unfold.
The healer on the other hand only bothered to heal the archer, and still had plenty of mana while refusing to top me or the other caster off, for whatever reason.
Then there was the caster that was being chased, who had taken a few hits too, but he was largely alright. He missed almost all of his [Fire Blasts] though.
That archer, well, he was at full health thanks to his friend.
I looked down at myself only to realize my health was quite low; that I had five arrows sticking out of me and two burn spots on my body. There was an arrow in the back of my shoulder, my right rib, my neck, my lower back, and one in my right thigh. Sword wounds to my right pectoral, my left thigh, and a few minor cuts here and there.
A strange thing, seeing as the goblins didn't have bows and arrows.
In fact only one person had a bow.
I was angry at them, for being such idiots… for not waiting to consult or communicate, and for not understanding basic dungeon mechanics. They were obviously beginners, but that didn't make it easier to deal with. Not when they had bad attitudes about it.
Yeah, I was mad.
Yet, now that the fight was over, the party returned to normal and sat down, largely ignoring me as I quietly stared at them. They were clearly inexperienced and unskilled, but that wasn't what bothered me. What bothered me, was the lack of teamwork, the inherent selfishness, and the fact that they refused to communicate.
I could tolerate bad players, since not everyone was going to be great.
I could not, however, tolerate bad players who purposefully made the situation worse due to whatever menial reason they had constructed in their minds. Whatever false narrative they were using to convince themselves that what they were doing was proper, I wanted no part of it. If you couldn't even communicate, you didn't deserve to be in a party. These kinds of players pissed me off.
Yeah, I was ready to ditch this party.
But before I could do that, the players had started running their mouths. Enjoying the comedy show, I sat down and started to munch on some jerky to try and recover. My wounds would heal slowly without any healing magic, so I wouldn't get back to full strength, but I didn't need to be one-hundred percent.
"Hey kick this shitty tank, he fucking sucks," said the archer to the healer.
"I know, we always get stuck with the freaking noobs," he replied. "Ugh but we only have two hours to play, let's just carry this piece of trash."
Carry me, they say.
Hah, I couldn't help but smile and laugh at it all, while the two of them continued to insult me, standing a mere ten feet away. I had half a mind to kill them where they stood, but a few random insults weren't enough to make me mad. I was more angry with their behavior during the fight, than what they were saying afterwards.