Chapter 7 - Goblin Warrior (1)

Goblin Warrior (1)

It seemed like the thunder was jumping in front of my eyes.

“Kuk!”

Scarlet red blood embroidered the air. As soon as I had the thought of fireworks, immense pain came over me. It felt as if my stomach and chest were suddenly opened. It hurt badly.

It was painful. A pain I could convince myself similar to that of death.

Like a paper doll, I fell easily. Having done me, it laughed and left the tunnel looking pleased. Its’ footsteps sounded like someone who had a purpose.

That’s when I realized. There was a reason as to why it was even here, in the middle of the Goblin Fighter’s domain.

It sensed the humans that were outside and came to predate on them. Then, it happened to run into my unlucky ass. It was just coincidence that it put me on the brink of death.

I lied there for a bit longer. I was there thinking whether or not it would come back for me or if another high ranking monster would pop out to kill me. However, neither of those scenarios happened.

I stoop up. I was in so much pain, but at the least, I could move.

Truthfully, the wound wasn’t that deep.

“Phew, phew…. Still it hurts. Damn.”

I was aware that it was going to attack me. As soon as he started attacking, I pulled my body back. I could tell he was planning on ripping out my innards, and his knife easily passed through my stomach.

In all cases, this was a gamble. It could’ve easily slashed me more, or even realized his blade only slightly entered my body. However, my acting close to death seemed to have been sufficiently convincing.

In addition, the Ebon heart. My blood flowed quickly and in high amounts, despite the fact that I was only slightly wounded. It did take a lot from my health but proved very useful in convincing it that I was dead.

Anyways, I was alive.

‘I really thought I was going to die.’

I was feeling intense emotions of fear and despair when we both laid eyes on each other. To add another emotion, I would say rage.

Despite the amount of time I’ve been here, just how much more of this fear of death did I have to face! The feeling is practically a part of me.

However, this dungeon is not a place where I could escape danger. It is true that there is a certain caliber of monsters here, but a higher rank could be here, as I just now experienced.

‘I have to become greater. Faster.”

The blood stopped. I had a feeling that the Ebon heart had something to do with my recovery rate. I tried my hardest to move while feeling the gross pain that passed through my stomach and chest.

At this moment, there was a light coupled with a dark figure of a Goblin Fighter in the middle of the entrance I had walked in.

This situation was all too familiar. The situation where monsters appear out of thin air. This was nothing to be shocked of, as the dungeons were the Goblin Fighter’s domain. Plain and simple.

To add, monsters that are just born tend to be quite dumb. Even if I were to open my eyes and be in the body of a monster, I would be just as defenseless.

Anyways, because of this fact, they were excellent prey. That being my prey.

“Guuk! Gluuurrk,” the Goblin Fighter wailed. He happened to be close to me and my steel sword punctured his chest with no resistance. I wasn’t so sure of the upper-level monsters, but I knew that Goblin Fighters only possessed rusty swords. There was no way it could block a steel sword.

“See you later.”

I forcefully extracted my sword from its chest and kicked this Goblin Fighter down. It had definitely lost its life from the blow.

[You’ve earned 100 EXP.]

[You’ve earned 10 Bronze.]

[Level Up!]

At that moment, the scar once there from my stomach to chest disappeared without a trace.

This was a miracle. With my health fully recharged, I felt like I could face anyone that would come my way. The status window from my peripheral fully supported and exaggerated my elated emotions.

[Kang Si-Ha (Fate)]

[Goblin Fighter Lv 11]

[Stamina – 30  Health – 31  Magic – 5  Fate – ???]

[Skill – Ebon heart, Predation Lv 1, Escape Lv 1, Swordsmanship Lv 4, Knife throw Lv 2]

‘My stamina and health both went up 2 levels!’

I opened my eyes intensely and focused. There was a reason why upper levels became so powerful. I felt this fact down to my bones. Because our starting points are different, the rate at which they and I grew from the same level up was drastically different.

If so, who’s higher than the Goblin Fighters? And who’s even stronger than that? It wasn’t even a question that the difference would get drastically higher as the list went on.

I thought of the upper levels that had passed me up. It wielded its sword like that of a maniac following a fly. There was a high chance that it abandoned me without checking because I posed no actual threat to its life.

It probably was the truth. The truth was I had a hard time even following his sheer strength and quickness with my mere eyes. Even with my all, I could barely pierce through his leather jacket with my sword.

However, that is just now. It might be possible in a bit. I will make this a reality no matter what it takes.

“Goblin Warrior!? This is a Goblin Warrior! What should we do?!”

“Damn, the entry is blocked. This is impressive for a Goblin….!”

“Hup, I will destroy everything for you guys! I’ll protect you Miss Seo-rin!”

“Creeeeeaaaaaaa!”

At that moment, the sound became amplified. This meant it finally met up with the mercenary group.

It thought that they were clearly going to be an upper-level species, that they were Goblin Warriors.

But wait.

Does that mean if the Goblin Warrior were to defeat the mercenaries, he would return back here?

The thought captivated me. It usually wanders deeper than here though.

It is known that the format of the dungeon is complicated, that includes the many entrances connecting the Goblin domain, Goblin Fighter domain, and the Goblin Warrior domain. Even so, it probably would enter back through its usual entrance. Right?

I’ll really be dead meat if I continue to stay here until he comes back. Without a doubt, I’ll be finished.

My heart was uneasy and I began to panic. Now was the time to move. I was unsure how long the battle would last. I have to increase my distance from them as quickly as possible.

I had no time to be eating a Goblin Fighter. There was no reason to either, as my state was perfect from just leveling up. I threw its body into inventory just because. It entered with such ease.

Singing to myself in delight, I quickly entered into the tunnel. Now was not the time to be secretive. I had to move as quickly as possible.

I grabbed onto the two swords in my hands, positioning myself in a way that could charge straight ahead given the circumstance. You never knew when a Goblin Warrior was going to come at you. Quietly inching about to sneak attack was safe but took a painstakingly long time. Doing that right now would be fatal.

Ahhh, it’s here. Surely as it was the Goblin Fighter’s domain, there stood a Goblin Fighter in one of the tunnels.

“Creeeeeak!”

As soon as he saw me, he wailed loudly and started to charge towards me. It was just as I expected.

To fight against the enemy of pain. When there were no humans present, Goblins could care less if you were one of them. It would’ve been nice if they were chill with their own species, but there was not a single exception.

I too faced him and charged forward. Compared to a Goblin Warrior, this one was awfully weak and was no more agile than me. Looking at the Goblin Fighter’s rusty knife, the previous feelings of fear and rage were flowing through me once more.

Now, I was able to control the Ebon heart a little at my will. There’s no option but to win against a weak opponent. The Ebon heart was helping me do just that.

“Hap!”

One blow was enough. Its rusty knife was only 30 cm, but my steel sword was 50 cm. No doubt that without a difference in swordsmanship and stance from one another, the sword with a longer reach was to win.

The rusty knife missed my chest and entered my left arm. It wasn’t too deep. Conversely, the sharp steel sword in my hand had accurately punctured its heart, which exploded.

Though Level 4 Swordsmanship is still Level 4, I had the skill to pierce the opponent’s most vulnerable spots. My abilities had to have grown.

[You’ve earned 100 EXP.]

[You’ve earned 10 Bronze.]

[You’ve earned a flimsy piece of cloth.]

“This is good.”

I quickly threw its rusty knife and lifeless body into inventory. Then I quickly went deeper into the tunnel.

“Creeeeak!”

Now this one had more experience than that of a Goblin Fighter. It prepared its body to receive my attack, moving slight from left to right.

It definitely had some experience. If I messed up here, it could be a loss for me.

After all the things that had happened, I just threw my sharp sword at him out of nowhere.

“Creeeak?!”

It didn’t expect me, a savage animal, to let go of the one weapon in my hand. It was dallying when its body received my sharp sword.

My strength was weak wielding the sword, so it didn’t necessarily penetrate through his body. It was, however, sufficient enough to cause him suffering.

I forced myself onto this thing. I had rusty knives in both of my hands.

“Creak! Creeeeaak!”

I was able to snatch its knife easily, as it lost its balance and strength at the same time. With my other hand, I began to stab his face.

[You’ve earned 170 EXP.]

[You’ve earned 10 Bronze.]

[You’ve leveled up Knife Throw Skill to 3.]

My breath was out of control. I couldn’t believe that in this short amount of time I was able to turn my life around. I made the impossible possible. I was completely unaware of these decision-making skills, yet I had used them to kill!

“Whew, Whew…… It seems like there’s always a place for skills.”

Knife throwing skills. For opponents unaware of inventory, this skill was perfect to make them careless. It seemed like it had some experience, but was surprised at my knife throwing. Instead of me, it ultimately experienced defeat.

Furthermore, this one was of a higher level than most Goblin Fighters. This goblin had a significantly higher experience and its bloody bruise on its left arm from its previous fighting seemed to prove my point.

I felt my heart pumping blood throughout my entire body. While my tired body experienced a slight rest, I began to check for any other monsters that would come for me.

It was then I realized something. The noisy battle sounds I heard coming had stopped.