Chapter 4

  "Die, you green bastard!"

  I wasn't wasting time with fancy threats. I just wanted these things dead. The last goblin kept taking my hits and coming back for more, but this one? It wasn’t getting back up.

  After Sadie had left, I spent a few minutes catching my breath and refocusing. I couldn’t afford to lose my head down here. I scanned my surroundings, running through my options, mentally mapping out the next move. The longer I stayed, the more I could feel the weight of the dungeon pressing in.

  I pulled my bow and nocked an arrow, moving silently down the tunnel. The flickering light of a torch illuminated the next corner, and I spotted two goblins about fifty feet ahead—one with a bow, the other with a naginata. They were patrolling, but they didn’t see me.

  I stayed low, using the shadows of the curve to close the distance. When I reached thirty feet, I was ready.

  I loosed the first arrow at the goblin with the bow, taking him out with a clean shot to the chest. He staggered, but didn’t fall immediately. The damn things were tougher than they looked.

  Without wasting a second, I shifted targets to the goblin with the naginata. It was already charging, weapon raised. No hesitation. I fired another arrow, but the goblin dodged with surprising speed, and it was right on top of me.

  I had a moment of shock, but there was no time to dwell on it. The goblin’s blade slashed through the air, just missing me. I ducked, sidestepping the strike, and brought my short blade to bear.

  I wasn’t going to outshoot this one. It was time to fight smart.

  The goblin pressed forward, its naginata moving with precision. Every swing was calculated, and the bloodstains on its blade told me it wasn’t its first kill. I couldn’t afford to take risks. One mistake, and I’d be the next victim.

  I feinted left, then darted right, closing the gap fast. I slashed with my blade, cutting the goblin’s arm and drawing a hiss of pain from it. It was faster than I thought, but it wasn’t fast enough.

  I kept the pressure on, knowing I couldn’t afford to let up. The goblin lunged, and I ducked again, this time sliding under its reach. It swung wildly, and I used the opening to strike, driving my blade into its side. The goblin let out a gurgled scream, but it wasn’t finished yet.

  But I was.

  In one smooth motion, I twisted the blade, cutting deeper, and the goblin finally dropped to the ground.

  I took a deep breath, not letting my guard down. The fight was over, but I still had work to do. My favorite work. Loot!

  I needed to stop hoarding my skills. If I didn’t use them now, what was the point of having them at all? Even if it meant waiting for hours for cooldowns to reset, I had to start using everything I had in my arsenal.

  As I made my way through the tunnel, I spotted three goblins ahead. They were spread out, patrolling an area near a torch on the wall. It wasn’t a perfect setup, but I wasn’t going to give up an opportunity like this. I dropped back into the shadows and assessed their movements.

  I waited, letting them do their rounds, until I was certain they were positioned in a way that would allow me to make my attack cleanly. I had time to think. I wasn’t in a rush, and I knew I needed to be calculated.

  First, I would need to take the goblin with the bow. The other two were armed with a naginata and a large club, both of which would be dangerous in close quarters, but the bow user would be my priority. I needed to take him down quickly before he could alert the others.

  I also had to keep track of the other goblins’ positions and make sure they didn’t turn their attention to me before I was ready.

  I set my plan into motion, but before I could carry it out, I knew I needed to center myself. I couldn’t rush this. I had to be precise.

  I activated my reward skill—Clear Mind.

  I’d never used it before, so there was a moment of mental adjustment. But once it clicked, it was as natural as breathing. A cool breeze on a hot day, just when you need it most.

  A wave of calmness flooded me. My thoughts sharpened, every detail falling into place.

  I assessed my priorities. My first move: the goblin with the bow.

  A plan materialized effortlessly in my mind.

  I would wait. Watch for two minutes, make sure their behavior had no strange patterns. Stretch out my shoulders, limber up. Visualize the steps—everything needed for the attack.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  I would activate my two looted items: Bob’s wristband and Bob’s bracer. Everything was so clear. Each move, each moment, laid out in front of me, as instinctive as gravity pulling me down.

  Two hours later…

  I woke up, the subtle shift in the air marking the end of my nap. The goblins had disappeared, and in their place, the loot had materialized, pristine and untouched. I’d delayed looting their bodies as an experiment, wondering if leaving them for a while would result in anything different. It seemed the wait was worth it—no decay, no sign of time passing—the items were brand new, as if they’d been dropped only moments ago.

  The first item that caught my eye was a pair of boots. They weren’t much to look at, simple leather, but they were new and sturdy, likely much better than the ones I had on. I checked them over, testing the flexibility. Perfect fit. I slid them on, feeling the instant comfort and the added stability.

  Next, a small pouch appeared next to the spot where the bow-wielding goblin had fallen. I unrolled it to find a handful of what looked like dried herbs. They weren’t anything I recognized, but the scent was sharp—potent. I stuffed the pouch into my inventory for later, maybe they’d come in handy in a pinch.

  The third item was a helmet. Not a traditional steel helmet, but more of a tight, dark leather headgear with a soft sheen to it. There were strange markings on the inside, almost like runes, but I didn’t have the time or knowledge to decipher them right now. The fit was snug and comfortable, providing solid protection. I put it on, the weight light and reassuring.

  No weapons, no blades. It was a different kind of loot, but useful all the same. I wasn’t going to complain—these items would serve me just as well, if not better, than anything I could’ve gotten from the goblins’ weapons.

  As the last of the loot faded into my inventory, I took one last look around. The area was still and quiet, the soft flicker of the torch casting long shadows. Time to move on.

  “Die, you piece of garbage!” I think I’d been yelling the same phrase for the last five minutes. The hobgoblin I’d been fighting was a smart bastard, and I had never wanted to kill anything more than this one. It had zero care for its fellow goblins, using them as meat shields and even projectiles in its attempt to kill me.

  The hobgoblin really wanted me dead, and it didn’t mind sacrificing the others—or even getting itself killed in the process. This would have been fine, except that the hobgoblin was just so damn smart. It anticipated my moves and was shifty, dodging my strikes before I even thought to make them.

  At this point, I had cuts all over, with one really bad stab in my leg. I knew that if I didn’t finish this fight soon, I’d pass out from blood loss. But the hobgoblin wasn’t making it easy. It refused to hold still, refusing to give me a straight-up fight.

  The only upside was that I had been saving my buffs and techniques for this very moment. I activated Bob’s Wristband and knew exactly what I needed to do. With a burst of speed, I got as much distance as I could from the hobgoblin within those five seconds. While running, I summoned my bow and an arrow from my storage ring.

  Sliding to a stop, I took a good look at the hobgoblin. I began launching arrows as fast as I could, determined to use some of my special arrows on this bastard. After hitting it with two regular arrows, the hobgoblin turned on its heel and began running away. But I got one last shot off—a cold, hard Ice Arrow that struck the bastard in the back of the neck.

  The effect was immediate. The ice spread across the goblin’s body, freezing it in place, and it hit the ground hard enough to slide a couple feet on impact. With every ounce of energy I could muster and ignoring the pain in my leg, I moved toward the hobgoblin and made sure it wouldn’t recover.

  I didn’t do anything fancy this time. Just a series of quick, efficient stabs to the neck—relentless and straight to the point. Then, I pulled out the black club I’d taken from the goblin I’d fought before this group of six had ambushed me. With no hesitation, I made sure the hobgoblin’s head was pulp.

  Sitting down, I leaned back in exhaustion, staring into space for a while. I needed a moment to collect myself after that insane fight. I wasn’t super alert because, in the back of my mind, I was expecting something. This being my tenth fight, I’d assumed it would either be the last, or that something radical would happen, based on what Sadie had told me—or at least, what I thought she was implying.

  I winced as I moved, the sharp pain in my leg searing through my body. The stab wound was bad—deep enough that I could feel the blood pooling around the injury as I limped forward. I had been bleeding for minutes now, and every step made it worse. I wasn’t sure how long I had before I passed out from blood loss, but I knew it wouldn’t be long if I didn’t patch myself up soon.

  I had to keep going.

  Before I allowed myself to rest too long, I dragged myself over to the pile of goblin bodies. The first step was loot, of course. It was what kept me moving, kept me alive. Without loot, this entire experience would be a waste of time. Besides, the quicker I looted, the quicker I could start using any healing items I could get my hands on.

  I hadn’t received much in the last fight, but one of the goblins had dropped a granola bar, which I ate immediately. It healed all the minor cuts over the course of an hour, but it didn’t do much for the serious injury in my leg.

  As I started searching through the pile, the goblins’ bodies evaporated in a shimmer of light. New items appeared, pristine and brand new, as usual. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen it, but it always struck me as odd. They were fresh, as if they had never been used. A reminder that this world’s rules were different.

  The first item I pulled out was a small pouch, almost unassuming. It jingled slightly when I shook it. Inside were a dozen or so small, green pills—roughly the size of a marble, but with a strange smoothness to them. I frowned, uncertain of their purpose.

  With a soft command, I activated Inspect.

  Pills of Recovery x7

  “A potent healing item. Restores a moderate amount of health upon ingestion. Be cautious of overuse, as they can cause mild side effects if consumed too frequently.”

  Moderate healing... that was useful, though I’d need to be careful. The description didn’t sound like a guaranteed full recovery, but any help at this point would be welcomed. I’d seen enough combat to know that it wasn’t the injuries that could kill you—it was the ones that bled out unnoticed.

  I pocketed the pills and moved on to the next item. I found a set of five throwing stars, their edges gleaming in the dim light. Not the kind of weapon I typically used, but certainly something I could try out. They seemed well-balanced, their metal surfaces shining in a way that indicated they were new, practically unused. I’d figure out how to use them later. For now, I tucked them into my belt and moved on to the last item: a small pouch of gold.

  That was more like it. More than I’d anticipated from a random goblin. Maybe this dungeon wasn’t as stingy as I’d thought.

  But as I continued rifling through the bodies, something flashed on the screen—an unexpected notification from the system.

  System Reward: Congratulations! You have reached Level 1 in Lethal Kickboxing.

  "A specialized combat skill involving rapid, deadly strikes using the legs and feet. Unlocks powerful techniques and improved mobility in close combat."

  I froze for a moment, stunned. Kickboxing? I hadn’t even considered it as a possibility. But considering my fighting style—focusing on agility, evasiveness, and using whatever advantage I could—I wasn’t complaining. It wasn’t the type of martial art I’d ever trained in, but the system would make sure I could use it to my advantage.

  A level-up skill? I hadn’t expected that. It made sense, though. The more I fought, the more the system would provide skills suited to my fighting style. It was becoming clear: this was going to be a long journey of adaptation and improvement.

  I took a slow, deliberate breath, trying to block out the pain in my leg. I had looted everything I could from the goblins, and I was in no shape to continue moving for a while. But with this new skill, I had options. More than I’d had before.

  Sitting back against the rocky wall of the cave, I closed my eyes for a moment and focused on the new skill. Lethal Kickboxing was going to be a game-changer. Once I was rested, I’d figure out how to use it. But for now, I needed to patch myself up, pop a couple of those pills, and give my body time to recover.

  I wasn’t out of the fight yet.