Again, the strange sensation of passing between worlds gripped her. A new landscape succeeded that of the outpost bathed in the twilight glow. She was now in a forest lit by a light filtered by the leafy canopy. It reminded her strongly of the world of the hunting ground although the shape of the trees was different.

A System window appeared before her eyes:

Dungeon “The Goblin Glade”

Rank F

Entry requirement: group of 12 maximum, levels 1 to 19

Available Dungeon Objectives:

“Goblin Hunt” (F): Kill 100 Goblins.

“Dungeon Clearing” (E): Kill Little Chieftain Ulfric the Mad and take the Dungeon Heart.

“Oh, so that’s what the monsters see when they attack our Dungeon! And I see that there is indeed a level restriction, as we suspected.”

“Yes, that’s also why our escort is made up of soldiers and not of other princes. The majority of those available were either too young or too high level.”

“So, you’re a low-level prince?”

Stung, Kol-Gaar pressed his head against Xicackna’s, forcing her back.

“You’d better not make fun of me with your own level! There are plenty of princes of lower level than me, but they’re either too young or gone elsewhere. There are other dungeons, other projects, other fortresses to protect! So now you focus, okay? Even if they seem pathetic, monsters can be formidable when you underestimate them… Especially with your characteristics.”

Xicackna hissed a little in annoyance, but she followed the advice. This place was more dangerous than the hunting ground despite appearances…

The soldiers spread out in a wide circle, surprisingly silent even as they dove into the tall brush and hid in the shadows of the trees. Kol-Gaar’s gaze seemed to wander into space, but the many pheromones he emitted indicated that he must be seeing information and giving orders accordingly.

Xicackna followed him as he advanced on a strange forest path, walking on all his legs to skim the ground as closely as possible. She imitated him.

The path brought them to a clearing where a small being was feeding on berries. It could be called humanoid, since it had two arms and two legs like Humans. However, it was much smaller and uglier. A disproportionate snout, large ears almost longer than its head and numerous protuberances on its skin, probably pustules, completed the grotesque picture. The monster was dressed in rags covering only its lower abdomen and had a rope belt with a bone knife stuck through it.

Suddenly stopping eating, alert, the beast turned its gaze around suspiciously.

"Wasa?... Oh, Musav bee é winde..."

And the monster started to gorge itself again.

Xicackna focused his sight on the creature to observe its details.

“Observation” Skill Failed:

The Hidden Trait “Just a Goblin” has canceled your attempt.

The Goblin will be immune to further scrying for 1 Hour.

Ah? That was new. A "Hidden Trait"? And capable of canceling her power? Was the creature more formidable than it seemed, or was it on the contrary a ridiculous advantage that concealed its obvious weakness?

The soldiers suddenly appeared all around the creature, forming a circle of their weapons that cut off any retreat. The monster let out a terrified cry and remained in the center, turning its gaze from side to side while showing its fangs in a vain attempt at intimidation. Kol-Gaar signaled Xicackna to advance:

“Here's a monster: it's up to you to face it.”

She gave him a worried look: without knowing the details of this monster, she was afraid of going into unpleasant surprises.

“Alone?”

“Do you want to progress or not? It's just a little Goblin. The probability that it's a higher level than you are close to zero.”

Reproaching herself for her attitude, Xicackna entered the circle, sword brandished in front of her. She didn't really have any idea how to handle this instrument, but she supposed that it would be enough to violently hit the monster with it.

Realizing that he now had an opponent, the Goblin looked away from those who imprisoned him to stare hatefully at the princess. Its knife, made of sharpened bones, cut through the air in a threatening manner. Raising her weapon high, Xicackna rushed towards the monster and struck as hard as she could.

The Goblin easily dodged her clumsy move and struck with all its might with its blade on its opponent's shell.

You received 0 damage

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Surprised by this announcement, Xicackna received another blow from the monster.

You received 0 damage

You received 0 damage

The monster persisted, sweating profusely as it realized the futility of its efforts. Xicackna tried to hit it again, with more success this time. The weapon split the Goblin's skull and it staggered.

You inflicted 23 damage

Bleeding profusely, the monster was still alive. Logically, it should collapse to the ground and writhe in pain as its blood and life drained from its fatal wound. However, this monstrous System seemed to allow its prisoners to surpass normal reactions and fight to the bitter end.

You received 0 damage

You inflicted 11 damage

Level 1 Goblin defeated:

Xicackna the Observer

Combat XP: 10

Current Experience: 1816

Stored Experience: 3115

Experience needed for next level: 384

Surprised by the ease of her victory, Xicackna stamped her feet with joy. Those pathetic Goblins could do nothing against the solidity of the Zcarbb chitin! If she learned to aim better, she could easily slaughter another thirty-nine Goblins on her own to reach the next level! Well, seventy-eight: she had forgotten that half of the XP earned would be stored…

Less enthusiastic, the prince theatrically hid his eyes with his hand and complained:

“Ah, that’s not true, right? I never thought I would see the practice of swordsmanship massacred to this extent… If only you knew how to aim… Your two unallocated points should be placed in Agility: it would increase both the fluidity of your movements and your aiming ability.”

“Do these two things have a connection? No, don’t say anything, I know: ‘The System.’ Anyway, it would be ridiculous for me to increase this stat. I will become a queen one day and then there will be no question of moving. I believe that although queens receive a 20 penalty to their Agility...”

“I hadn't thought about it. We males don't have this problem to take into consideration. But if we follow your reasoning, there's no point in increasing your Strength either, since when you're queen, you won't move. And then, we don't even know if the System will still exist the day you can found a colony!”

He was probably right: maybe short-term choices had to be made for the moment? She was still going to take the time to think about it.

“However,” the prince continued, “you could actually choose to put your points into Mana instead to increase your Energy... Well, if you had a skill that used Energy...”

The hunt resumed and they quickly reached a larger clearing where caricatures of tents were erected using disgusting skins, probably removed recently, crudely and without treatment, from some animals and sewn together haphazardly.

About twenty of these monsters, infinitely more crude and poorly organized than Humans, were going about their uninteresting activities: they fought, watched others fight, stupidly and salivatingly observed the cooking of some mammals barely smaller than them…

Xicackna smiled: 200 easy XP!

Throwing herself forward, clumsily waving her sword, she quickly found herself surrounded by a gesticulating horde of small, idiotic creatures who were vainly trying to hurt her. Swinging her sword left and right, she was almost guaranteed to hit and hurt several of these monsters with each blow.

Several Goblins had already bitten the dust, but the others continued their futile assaults. However, they seemed less confident than at the beginning and their hesitations made them easier prey. She had to admit that it was rather amusing, although a little messy. If she were Xafara, she would burst out laughing and mock the Goblins. But she was more serious than that.

Suddenly, a shiver ran down the princess's spine: something was wrong. She couldn't put her finger on what was wrong, but her sixth sense was screaming at her to flee. Could it be due to the red light that suddenly emanated from the monsters' eyes? Could it not be a natural phenomenon of these alien creatures?

You received 8 points of damage

You received 11 points of damage

You received 11 points of damage

You received 11 points of damage

Panic flooded Xicackna’s mind: while some blows still ricocheted off her shell, others simply passed through, seemingly without damaging her but causing painful damage.

No! No! No! This wasn’t supposed to happen!

Focusing on her skill, she managed to observe the creature sheet of one of the Goblins:

Goblin [OF CHAOS], Level 1 [rank F]

Hit points (HP): 26(+1)/26(+1)

Vigor: 3(+1)/3(+1)

Abilities:

Strength: 3 (+1)

Agility: 6 (+1)

Stamina: 3 (+1)

Intelligence: 3 (+1)

Armor (natural): 0

Attributes (2):

Weak Constitution (Natural Penalty) [Vitality (HP) halved; At level 5 and at certain specific levels [15, 25, 30, 40, 45, 55, 60, 65, 75, 80, 85], gain 1 talent and +1 to basic characteristics (Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Intelligence)]

Chaos (Supernatural Bonus) [Adds the Chaos property to attacks. Chaos has a 50% chance to ignore armor (including magic). Chaos has a 10% chance to turn the attack against its user.]

Skills (2):

Sneak Attack (F) (supernatural power) Attacking by surprise or from behind systematically doubles the involvement of force in the damage.

Pack Hunting [F] (Natural Power) Increases the likelihood of being associated with a pack and increases base characteristics by +1 (Strength, Agility, Stamina and Intelligence), if there are at least two allied members of the pack nearby.

Hidden Trait (1):

Just a Goblin (Can sometimes keep its creature sheet free from scrutiny: it’s just another Goblin after all…)

50% chance to avoid her armor? That wasn’t fair: why were they suddenly getting a bonus that negated her overwhelming advantage?

She swallowed: she wouldn’t survive a minute…