Luke had never enjoyed hiking but he especially hated hiking through rainforests. He swatted a comically large mosquito away and turned to the three other rankers. They’d travelled so far from the village that they’d reached some kind of tropical terrain.
“We probably have twenty diseases at this point!” complained Matt as he flicked a purple insect off his forearm.
“You should have learned how to use [Mana shield]” said Luke and Jim at the same time.
The other two scowled, Jim was the only one who’d been able to learn [Mana shield] from Luke thanks to him already knowing [Mana infusion].
“Cheer up, we’re almost there” said Jim, looking at the map he’d bought from the shop.
“Yeah, we can go to a real dungeon instead of getting eaten by a snake” commented Luke.
Matt and Johnny just mumbled some obscenities at them and continued to swat the bugs away. As they continued the hike, Jim picked up his pace to match Luke’s, leaving the other two a few feet behind.
“You don’t have to be so hard on yourself, you know” he said.
“I do. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes” muttered Luke.
“It was a pretty stupid thing to promise” agreed Jim.
“But so what? It did make them feel better” he continued.
“They’ll feel even better if it comes true” said Luke.
“You can’t make it come true by yourself.” replied Jim.
“You may not consider yourself our leader anymore but we do. The best thing you could do for the others is to help them become strong enough to take care of themselves” he finished.
“I guess I’m not the only one who makes people feel better by saying stupid things” said Luke with a laugh.
The rest of the hike was far better for Luke, fear and worry did not weigh down on him anymore. That was good because fear and worry was the last thing he needed before he went into the cave they’d just arrived at.
“Everyone ready?” he asked.
“I bet you 50 game points that there are goblins in there” said Matt.
“You’ve been wrong about pretty much everything since we got here so I’ll take that bet” said Luke.
All four of them stepped into the cave in sync and as soon as they did, an unexpected notification arrived.
*Entered Dungeon [The Goblin’s Den (Lvl.10+)]*
“This doesn’t meant there are literally goblins in here, it could be a metaphor” said Luke, responding to Matt’s smug smile.
“Do we wait here or go deeper?” asked Johnny.
Luke looked around, not seeing any threats in front of him. The place looked like a typical cave with no special structures to be found. He stared into the dark corridor ahead for a few seconds before he decided there was no point in waiting.
“Let’s go but be careful” he said, activating [Dark vision].
The “corridor” was wide enough for all of them to walk side by side and as they did that, Luke heard footsteps approaching them. As the pitter-patter sound drew closer, Luke started to accumulate mana under his palm.
A second later, a tiny creature was revealed. He didn’t know what he was expecting but it certainly wasn’t scaly brown skin and a pig’s snout for a nose. Luke shot a blast of mana at the ugly goblin, which seemed to have the same effect as throwing a bowling bowl at someone would.
*You have slain [Rust Goblin (Lvl.6)], 290 EXP gained*
Luke ignored the meagre EXP gain and stared at the goblin’s bloodied corpse. Despite seeing what had happened to the tree earlier, he hadn’t expected the mana blasts to be so effective.
“I really need to learn that” muttered Matt.
“You have [Basic magic], it should be easy for you. Maybe you don’t have magical talent?” suggested Johnny, causing a horrified expression to appear on Matt’s face.
Suddenly, Jim shot an arrow into the distance and a loud cry rang out but there wasn’t just one goblin there. Seconds later, a dozen green skinned goblins charged at them. Luke was strangely happy to know that not all goblins had pig snouts.
These new goblins were more durable than the last one, a single mana blast wasn’t enough to take them out. Still, they posed little threat to four rankers and a few seconds was enough to slay every last one of them.
*You have slain 4 [Common Goblin], 1950 EXP gained*
“They’re way too weak” complained Matt as he kicked one of the corpses.
“Don’t worry, more are on their way” said Jim.
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“What do your elf eyes see, Legolas?” joked Luke, Jim had put way too many points into perception.
“Frost demons, apparently” he replied.
Luke was about to ask for clarification when he saw the new goblins himself. Their white skin and long blue nails did look winter themed.
Weird as they looked, they were very capable. Luke was surprised to see them dodge his mana blasts and avoid Jim’s arrows with ease as they ran towards the four. Luke readied his magesteel sword, infusing it with mana as he waited for the goblins.
Two of them leapt straight at him with their jaws wide open, revealing serrated blue teeth. He used [Cut] to behead one of them but the other was able to get a chunk out of his forearm. Luke kicked the creature as hard as he could, fueled by rage and pain.
While it was dazed from the attack, he stabbed it through the heart. The others were still fighting so Luke used his mana blasts to help them out and soon, all the goblins were dead.
*You have helped slay 3 [Snow Goblin], 2090 EXP gained*
*You have slain 2 [Snow Goblin], 12,000 EXP gained*
*You have reached level 13, stats allocated, free points earned*
“Do you see any more goblins, Jim?” asked Luke as he drank the health potion he’d summoned from his inventory.
“No, we should move further into the cave” he replied.
Luke decided that now would be a good time to use the free points he’d saved up, he didn’t want to run into some goblin overlord and not be ready. He pulled up his revised status with a satisfied smirk.
STATUS
Name: Luke Carpenter
Race: Human (Lesser)
Level: 13
Rank: 1
Class: Swordsman
Health: 100%
Stamina: 84%
Mana Reserves: 57%
Free points: 0
Skill points: 0
STATS
Strength: 55
Agility: 55
Toughness: 60
Stamina: 53
Vitality: 51
Perception: 48
Soul: 46
Spirit: 43
Am I investing too heavily into toughness and vitality? wondered Luke, but he decided that few things were worth more than not dying.
“Something wrong?” asked Jim.
“What? No, I was just assigning some free points” said Luke.
“You levelled up from these poor sods?!” exclaimed Matt.
“I’d imagine most of it was from the fire breathing bull” replied Luke as they continued on their way.
For the next few minutes, they kept walking deeper and deeper into the cave without any obstruction. Not even a single goblin attacked and they were starting to get a little bored when suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the cave.
Running up to them, was an absurdly large goblin. To be more accurate, it wasn’t running so much as it was making long jumps towards them. Luke had to use [Analyse] on it just to be sure that it was actually a goblin and not a giant.
[Hobgoblin (Lvl.16)]
The green monster stopped in front of them, beating its chest like a gorilla. It was by far the ugliest creature Luke had ever seen thanks to its fat gut, bloodshot eyes and a face that looked like it was meticulously designed to be as unattractive as possible.
Taking advantage of the hobgoblins attempt to intimidate them, Luke and Jim attacked it but both the mana blast and the arrow failed to do any serious damage. The monster let out a gurgling sound and charged at them, waving its arms wildly.
The sheer recklessness with which it ran allowed Luke to use [Cut] on its enormous belly, creating a deep gash. He ducked to avoid its giant fist and sliced at its thigh, making it roar in pain. As Luke retreated, he noticed several arrows on the monster’s chest.
Jim’s getting faster and faster he thought.
The monster continued charging here and there, failing to hurt even one of them. The four rankers fell into a routine of sorts. Luke would slice at the hobgoblin with his sword, Matt used [Cloak] to sneak attack it and while it was distracted, Johnny would claw at the creature. The whole time, Jim would pepper it with arrows.
It really wasn’t a strong monster, all it had was durability but that was sure to run out. A few minutes later, exactly that happened and the hobgoblin crashed to the ground. Luke grinned at the good news from the system.
*You have helped slay [Hobgoblin (Lvl.16)], 21,000 EXP earned*
*Your skill in [Swordsmanship] has reached level 24*
*Your ability [Cut] has reached level 3*
“I reached level 12!” announced Johnny happily.
“I think this creature is a warning to us that durability isn’t everything” muttered Jim, causing a sheepish expression to appear on Luke’s face.
“Hold on, isn’t that loot?!” cried Matt.
The other three followed his gaze to a wooden chest that had appeared out of nowhere. They walked over to it with great anticipation. When they were all stood in front of it, an interesting notification was produced.
*First chamber of the [Goblin’s Den] has been conquered*
“So this was the easiest part?” wondered Luke aloud but the others were focused on the loot.
Matt opened the chest, revealing five vials of clear liquid, two books wrapped in red leather and a small fruit which looked like a shrivelled up apple. They stared at the objects for a while, having no idea what to make of them until Luke remembered [Analyse]. It was his first time using it on non-living things and it produced far more information than usual.
[Minor Strengthening Potion]- A simple potion that raises each of a person’s stats by 1 point, a person can only use ten of these before they lose effect.
[Ironfruit]- A relatively common fruit that can raise a person’s strength and toughness by 5 points, a person can only use three of these before they lose effect.
[Mana bolt spellbook]- A spellbook that teaches [Mana bolt], a more refined version of blasting your mana at a target.
“Use Analyse on the items” Luke told the others as he read the information he was given.
“I want to take one potion and one spellbook, is that okay?” he asked after a few seconds.
“I just want the Ironfruit since I focus on strength and toughness” said Johnny.
“Then I’ll take the other potions. Assuming Matt wants the remaining spellbook?” said Jim.
“I don’t know” he muttered, much to everyone’s surprise.
“Look at what you’ve done” said Jim, throwing an accusing glare at Johnny.
“Hey, I was just kidding about his lack of talent. I didn’t think he’d actually believe it” said Johnny.
“I want magic but what if I really can’t use it?” questioned Matt.
“Jim and I have something to confess” began Luke with a weird expression.
“We gave you the wrong instructions on how to use mana just to mess with you” admitted Jim.
“I hate you both so much” muttered Matt as he picked up a spellbook.
Luke chuckled as he put the other spellbook in his inventory. He picked up one of the strengthening potions and chugged it down, enjoying the citrusy flavour.
*+1 to all stats*
After that, Luke and Matt waited for Johnny to finish his fruit and for Jim to consume his share of the potions. A few seconds later, they were all looking towards the rest of the dungeon. Coming to a silent agreement, the four of them walked deeper into the dungeon.
*Entered second chamber of [The Goblin’s Den], chamber level- (Lvl.12+)]*
“We’ll all reach level 15 by the time we’re done with this place!” declared Luke.
“What did I tell you about stupid promises?” chided Jim.
“…let’s settle for level 14”