"These guys definitely got bigger!" Arnold mumbled while dodging the attack from a mutated goblin, "Amanda was right, these goblins are more like ogres..."
Arnold remembered facing goblins that were usually 4 to 5 feet tall, had a skinny frame and a funny smell that always surrounded them. Their bodies were almost always dark skinned and they were fairly weak in comparison to a regular D ranked warrior. Even though they didn't have much strength, their agility made up for it, they also specialised in stealth attacks. As most of the time they were outmatched in terms of strength, hence they always traveled around in groups of 4 or 5 and carefully selected their prey before attacking them.
But the goblins who Arnold was fighting right now, didn't resembled the regular goblins at all. Their height had increased by more than a foot, and now they were almost 6 feet tall and looked well built, their weapon of choice had changed as well. Arnold could faintly remember that the goblins only used blunt weapons such as clubs etc, but now they were using swords and shields to attack their opponent. Even though they had gained individual strength, they still traveled around in groups, which definitely made it difficult for low ranking warriors to win against them. But sadly for the goblins, growing bigger necessarily didn't mean that they were stronger, and Arnold was right there to rub salt on their wounds.
Out of the group of five goblins mutants that attacked Arnold, he had already killed two of them. In fact they died from a single blow from Arnold's fists. But after killing them, Arnold suddenly went on defensive mode. To the goblins it felt like Arnold had ran out of stamina, but in reality, Arnold was simply analysing the behaviors of these mutants. If he had wanted, he'd have finished this fight even before it started.
Had he wanted to get rid of them, he could've simply blew their brain out by using the vindicator, or order Cerberus to kill them, but he didn't do that, because, firstly, he wanted to test out his gear in a real combat and secondly, to judge the what the mutants were truly capable of.
"It's getting boring now..." Arnold again dodged the attack from one of the goblins, "They just keep doing the same thing over and over again. Let's finish this and move on, I can only hope to find the real 'ogres' soon."
The next time, one of the goblins tried to slash Arnold with sword. Arnold simply rolled to his right side, dodge the strike, and delivered a punch to the goblin's chest, which got squashed like a watermelon and his fist got covered by a slimy liquid.
"Gross... good thing I'm wearing a hazmat suit otherwise my gloves would've started smelling like animal poop." Arnold shook his hand to get rid of the slimy blue liquid that was oozing out of the goblins body.
After seeing their third comrade fall by Arnold's hands, the remaining two goblins started running for their lives thinking they would manage to outrun Arnold but before they could get far...
BANG
BANG
Arnold, didn't wanted to chase after the goblins and waste his time unnecessarily, so he quickly took out the guns from his inventory and killed them with a single shot for each of them.
___
You've killed a mutated being.
EXP : +1000
First rank C mutant killed :
EXP : +850
First mutated goblin killed.
EXP : +1000
Total number of Mutated goblins killed : 5.
EXP awarded : 5 × 600 = 3000
___
After he was done, he stored one of the dead goblin's bodies into his domain, "I can use the blood from the monsters I hunt to feed the egg. Gotta make sure to raise it to be strong and healthy!"
___
• HEADHUNTER :
[ INTRODUCTION ] : You've proven your worth to the 'Immortal One' and now your true training begins.
[ TASK ] : Hunt down 300 monsters as an offering to the Immortal one.
[ PROGRESS ] :
9/300 monsters hunted.
___
"First Hyenas then goblins... these new monsters are certainly interesting." Arnold mumbled, "Cerberus, are anymore monsters around us?"
Cerberus, furiously nodded it's head to answer Arnold's question and then pointed towards its left to indicate there were more monsters around that area. This was the reason why Arnold wanted Cerberus to accompany him. Cerberus was like a detection dog and could locate the monsters just by the smell, and it acted as a bonus for Arnold that Cerberus was one of his fastest summons, thus making traveling a lot faster. It wasn't much comfortable, but it was faster.
"Alright, but before that let's check on the others first." Arnold said as he brought his left hand closer to his mouth, "Talos, Asterios, Duke, Bad-Breath, any news?"
Talos' voice came up first, "No master. Nothing apart from a few encounters with mutated monsters." The answers from the others was similar, no one had found anything yet.
"Keep looking, and report at once if any of you find anything." Arnold sighed and disconnected the call before mounting on Cerberus once again, "Let's go Cerberus, let's kill some more mutants-"
Just as Cerberus was about to move, something suddenly popped out of the sand below their feet and ended up tossing both of them in the air. Luckily, they both managed to safely land on their feet.
"What the f*ck is that thing!?" Arnold asked as the creature overshadowed both him and Cerberus.
All Arnold could see was a massive reptile that had it's head which looked like a dome, and was covered with very long horns. It had no eyes, no visible ears and no nose, but had a shark-like jaw. It also had a thick neck. Under its body were innumerable legs that made it look like a massive mutated centipede.
As usual, Arnold was quick to use his probe skill on it.
___
CLASS : Leviathan (Mutated being)
NAME :
LEVEL : 92
RANK : S
ROLE : ????
AFFINITY/ABILITIES :
• Elemental shadow (active skill)
• Deathbite (active skill)
• Shadow seeker (active skill)
HP : 10000/10000
STRENGTH (STR) : 120
DEFENSE (DEF) : 68
STAMINA (STA) : 85
INTELLIGENCE (INT) : 65
AGILITY (AGI) : 68
ACCURACY (ACC) : 60
EVADE (EVD) : 68
CHARISMA (CHA) : --
Damage Resistances :
Condition Immunities : Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Stunned.
THREAT LEVEL : Mediocre
REMARK : . Proceed with utmost caution.
___
"Now this is interesting... another leviathan class monster. Well well well! Looks like its time to make your debut."
Arnold smiled and opened up a massive portal that led to his void and soon a gigantic monstrosity walked out of it welding a club. Once the portal closed, Dread looked at Arnold as if he was waiting for Arnold's command.
"Just squash this insect would you?"
Having heard his master's wish, Dread immediately swung his club with all his might and aimed at his opponent's head.