The player who received an arrow to the shoulder let out a pained scream that echoed throughout the forest. It seemed that even though he was briefed on the pain synchronisation before starting, he underestimated it and didn't turn it down, thinking he'd handle it as he hadn't experienced pain yet.

This was something he would have learnt if he just did the combat training quest, or even just fell over, as the tutorial slimes didn't hurt when they slammed into you, they were just sentient blobs of jelly.

Two more arrows flew through the air, both successfully pinging the same guy in the back. His group watched as their companion went limp, slumping onto the forest floor, he was now a lifeless corpse.

The other two started to panic, both attempting to dash away from where the arrows were coming from. Arrows were flying towards them, lodging themselves into trees or the dirt near where the two were running to. Eventually their luck ran out, as the smallest of the two had an arrow wedge itself into his Achilles tendon, sending him tumbling forward into the dirt as a wave of pain flooded his body.

Merlin took the opportunity caused by this distraction to observe where the arrows were coming from. Doing so gave him the location of several goblin archers, one of which had steered rather close to him.

Unfortunately, at this time, Merlin didn't have the stats to traverse the forest by jumping from tree to tree, so he was forced to climb down. Utilising his strength, he managed to hold a steady grip on the tree trunk and branches as he slowly climbed down, reaching the forest floor without making a sound.

Merlin drew his blade and began sneaking around to where he last saw the goblin archer. Merlin made sure to veer off from the straight path towards the goblin, circling around the goblin and approaching it from behind rather than the side. This would reduce the risk of him accidentally being spotted if the goblin just so happened to turn and see him as he approached.

Making sure not to draw any attention to himself, Merlin traversed the forest floor, making sure to avoid the dried leaves and twigs that made up a large portion of the forest floor, as any loud noise would scare off his target.

Merlin eventually reached within combat distance of the goblin, who was sneaking behind a bush taking potshots at the two players who were barely stumbling away from the arrows flying towards them.

The goblin seemed to notice something instinctively, its ears popped up and it raised its head, but before it could turn around, a sword pierced through its throat. Merlin used his other hand to cover the creature's mouth before pulling the blade out and stabbing it once more in the heart, finishing it off.

Goblins remaining: 4

The last standing player in the three man party turned to look at his teammate who was now screaming in pain while trying to crawl to safety. He was unable to stand due to having an arrow embedded in his Achilles tendon, every time it was bumped a wave of excruciating pain flowed through him once more, causing him to release another terrified howl of pain.

This caused a wave of fear to set in the mind of the player who was yet to be wounded, both his companions releasing deathly wails upon being struck, meaning he'd experience pain if he was attacked too. This fear caused him to abandon his