Fully equipped, I walk through my tunnel and enter the sewers, only to feel a clawed hand clawing at my arm from the right.
- You've suffered a Claw attack! 5 HP damage!
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- You've been poisoned! You've taken 7 points of damage!
HP: 292/304
I turn to the right and raise my shield to block the next attack. I see that my opponent is too close for the sword and I pull the Black Razor from my belt. I block another attack with the shield and then swing the dagger towards the thing's neck.
"REBANADE!"
As it collapses to the ground and rolls over before dying, I get a good look at it for the first time. It looks like a six-foot tall rat with fur and a tail, but from the way it stands upright and struggles, I'm guessing it's bipedal in nature.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- New missions available!
- Kill the rat men
- Objective: Kill the rat men 1/30.
- Reward: 10 stat points.
Do you accept? Y/N
- Kill the Rat King
- Objective: Kill the Rat King 0/1
- Reward: Lionheart helmet.
Do you accept? Y/N
"Yes, I accept."
-Ah, so it was a rat man? And they have a king? So there are at least thirty of these creatures down here, and who knows what else! I'm glad I took the time to upgrade my armor!
I check the corpse for anything of value and find nothing. I hoist it over my shoulder and walk back to the trash pile and toss it on top. Then I walk back to the sewers and look around carefully before entering this time.
I turn to the right and start to slowly explore. After about thirty feet I see a small passage to the left, but decide to continue down the main tunnel for now. I can already tell that this place is much bigger than the shaft.
I continue for about seventy feet or so before I see a crossroads, the main tunnel goes straight on but there is a passage to the left and to the right. And the passage on the right is guarded by two goblins. I draw my sword slowly so as not to make noise and then use the shadows along the side of the passage to approach.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Stealth skill has advanced to level 4!
√ Stealth
√ Level 4
- MP cost 15 Agility +3
- You can sneak up on average beings.
Once I am close enough, I charge, hit the first goblin with the upward strike as I pass and continue to the second and hit it with the downward strike.
- Objective: kill goblins 27/50
I hear a noise and turn towards the passageway to see a dozen goblins charging towards me. I turn to face them and prepare to charge, I take out the first two with a swing of my sword and a swing of my shield, but the rest quickly surround me.
- Objective: kill goblins 29/50
- You've suffered a stabbing attack! You've taken 1 HP damage!
- You have suffered a stabbing attack! You have taken 3 points of damage!
- You have suffered a stabbing attack! 2 points of damage have been inflicted!
- Objective: kill goblins 45/50
I look at the mission counter and then at the remaining five goblins, normally I'm not a fan of killing the defenseless but I want to finish the mission and I know from the manga that if I leave them alive I might regret it later. So I step forward and it's over with five swipes of my sword.
"DIZ" "DIZ"
- You have completed a mission!
- Kill the Goblins II.
- Objective: kill goblins 50/50
- Reward: 10 stat points.
Once done, I clean my sword and start gathering daggers from the dead. I carry the daggers up to my room to make more spikes later. I then spend an hour going back and forth to move all the bodies to the trash pile.
Once that is done, I decide to call it a day and return to my room. Before dinner, I clean and arrange my clothes and weapons. Then I update the map with the new area. After all that, I sit down to eat my cold dinner and read some more.
With so much talk about the imperial family line and various rebellions, it makes for pretty boring reading, but I think knowing the history of this world might come in handy someday. So, after reading for a few hours, I meditate for six hours.
The next morning I get up and go about my normal routine. After breakfast I go back to the goblin nest to finish cleaning it, all the garbage I return it to the trash pile. I find nothing useful until I examine the cave walls, where I find a couple of metal veins. I take my last two picks and go back and start mining for ore. As soon as I have a piece I check it out to see what it is.
√ ITEM.
- Iron ore.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, Observing skill has advanced to level 4!
√ Observe
√ Level 4
- Intelligence. +4
- You can identify items with study.
I end up breaking both picks, but manage to extract one hundred and fifty pounds of iron ore. I then spend the next two hours carrying it all back to my room, though I still can't do anything with it. Deciding that the day is not yet over, I return to the sewers and this time turn left to explore the other side.
After about fifty feet there is a passageway to the right, but I pass it by. Thirty feet further on I find a corridor on the left and decide to take a look at it. It stretches for fifteen feet and then opens into a room, it looks like another warehouse full of junk. As usual, I walk through it and carry the trash to the trash pile under the shaft.
As I'm clearing the piles, I discover something: under the pile are a couple of cans, and when I lift them, they move. When I open them, I immediately recognize the smell of oil. I already have a plan in mind for them and take the two cans to my room.
While I'm there, I update the map and, instead of going back down, I look for more bones and start making more spikes with the goblin daggers I got from the nest. I can make another fifteen spikes which I hope will be enough for whatever mining I end up doing there.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Ivory Carving skill has advanced to level 7!
√ Ivory carving
√ Level 7
-Agility +7 Intelligence +3.
- You can carve bones to make objects.
Once I'm done choosing, I sit down to read a bit and eat dinner. After a couple of hours, I finish The Story of Empire II and decide to go to sleep.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Linguistics skill has advanced to level 6!
√ Linguistics
√ Level 6
- Intelligence +12
- You can try to decipher other languages.