I continue traversing deeper into the dungeon, keeping my eyes and ears peeled for anything that has even a chance to be a goblin. I travel for about 10 minutes before I find another group of them. This time it’s different. This time, I have the jump on them. Taking in what I see carefully so as not to end up getting caught in another ambush, I spy four goblins with skin that is a slightly lighter green than the ones I fought earlier. Hopefully they’re lower level and I can get this over with quickly. They’re all currently sitting around a lightly crackling fire that looks pretty close to burning itself out. I listen for a while with quiet breaths as the goblins are making what sounds to me like gurgling scratchy throat noises. From how they direct the noises at each other, I assume that either it must be some sort of goblin language, or the goblins are lacking any form of sentience and are barking at each other like dogs.
I shake my arms out in anticipation, count to three in my head so I can’t back out, and then sprint at them! I manage to startle them out of their conversation with a battle cry that squeaks its way out of my already mangled throat. They’re quick to react however, and begin hastily searching for their weapons. Before any of them are able to lay their hands on one, I’m already upon them. “How do you like being ambushed, you assholes?” I shout as I slam my fist down shiv first, straight into one goblins head. A stream of blood gushes out of the fresh wound, painting the air as it keels over. One down, three to go.
I turn to face my next victim that just manages to wrap its filthy little hands around a weapon. Unfortunately for it, that’s just a moment too slow, as my next shiv strike lands at the base of its skull, severing its spine from its neck. I turn around, finding myself face to face with the remaining two, one of whom is charging me. I swing a punch at it trying to catch it before it can get to me, but it reads my attack, jumping over my fist and landing on my arm. Stabbing its shiv into my arm to gain extra grip, it wraps itself firmly around my arm and looks poised to bite down into my bicep. I grin with malicious intent thinking, I may have taken some damage, but now you’re close enough to grab hold of buddy. Gripping it by the foot, I yank it off of my body and swing it over my head by its ankle. Noticing a nearby stalagmite, I make a slight course correction mid air and impale it through the chest.
“Alright fucker, I kept count this time. It’s Mano e Gobbo. Let’s do this!” I say, narrowing my eyes and searching for the last goblin.
A quick glance around the cave reveals the final goblin. I notice it smirking and snickering as it brings a horn to its mouth. As it blows into the horn, a piercing sound that I wouldn’t have expected lungs that small could create is funneled directly into my head as I’m standing in the middle of the nearly spherical room. My ears ring and the sound completely rattles me, causing me to drop my shivs and shield my ears in an effort to try and block it out. The tunnels reverberate with the sound, and in my dazed state, the final goblin rushes to attack me. I may not have taken any damage from the horn, but my ears are still ringing and I’m having a hell of a time focusing. I swing a haphazard kick at the goblin, but in my dazed state I miss completely and it uses its advantage to perform the only tactical maneuver goblins seem to have.
It jumps onto my over extended leg and stabs me in the thigh. I swear if one more of these stupid green fucks latches onto my body, I’m going to hunt this dungeon to extinction. One final punch is all it takes to knock the nasty little beast off of me, and then to finish it I crush my heel down into its chest feeling a sickening crunch as bones shatter under my foot.
[-10 HP]
[-12 HP]
[Level 5 Goblin Slain - Exp. Awarded]
[Level 6 Goblin Slain - Exp. Awarded]
[Level 5 Goblin Slain - Exp. Awarded]
[Level 4 Goblin Slain - Exp. Awarded]
[Level up]
[Level 10 reached! Class upgrade available! Upgrade now?]
[Yes] [No]
Finally, I can get what I came here for. Three long months of waiting, and now I get to choose my path. I remember James told me that most people will usually get between 5 and 7 choices, but occasionally if you get a more powerful class option you’ll get less choices. Here’s hoping I only have one choice and it’s insanely strong. I quickly glance at my stats so I know where I am to compare against what I’m going to become.
[Michael Ward
HP - 99/310
Unassigned - level 10
Strength - 40
Dexterity - 24
Defense - 23
Intelligence - 22
Vigor - 21
Charisma - 18
Skills - N/A
Mutations - N/A
Available stat points - 4]
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
With these numbers firmly in my mind, I click [Yes] to upgrade my class and see what happens, finding myself scrolling through three pretty decent class options.
[Please choose from the following:]
[Berserker - Rage fuels you, it always has, and it always will. Pain drives you, and fury gives you strength. May none stand before you.
Stat Scaling -
Strength: +4
-Previously 40, will increase to 80
Dexterity: +1
-Previously 24, will increase to 34
Defense: +2
-Previously 23, will increase to 43
Intelligence: -1
-Previously 22, will remain at 22
Vigor: +2
-Previously 21, will increase to 41
Charisma: -1
-Previously 18, will remain at 18
Skills -
[Passive] Rage I - Increase your strength stat by % equal to missing HP.
[Active] Berserk I - You are undying for 20 seconds and regain 1% HP for each enemy slain during this period. 8 hour cooldown.]
[Slayer - May no creature escape your blade. No hunt is too dangerous, and no chance too risky.
Stat Scaling -
Strength: +2
-Previously 40, will increase to 60
Dexterity: +2
-Previously 24, will increase to 44
Defense: +1
-Previously 23, will increase to 33
Intelligence: +2
-Previously 22, will increase to 42
-Gain access to Mana, scales off of intelligence.
Vigor: +1
-Previously 21, will increase to 31
Charisma: +1
-Previously 18, will increase to 28
Skills -
[Passive] Tracking I - Increase your stealth ability and senses while tracking a target.
[Active] Final Blow I - Hitting a creature you have tracked that is below 20% HP after activating this skill will guarantee a kill, except when used on creatures using higher level skills that grant resistance to death blows. 2 hour cooldown.]
[Titan - You know the strength it takes to hold the world on your shoulders. You are a pillar that others will rely upon. Overcome or be yourself overcome.
Stat Scaling -
Strength: +7
-Previously 40, will increase to 110
Dexterity: -1
-Previously 24, will remain at 24
Defense: +3
-Previously 23, will increase to 52
Intelligence: -2
-Previously 22, will decrease to 17
Vigor: +3
-Previously 21, will increase to 51
Charisma: Neutral
-Previously 18, will increase to 23
Skills -
[Passive] Overwhelm I - Increase your Strength stat based on physical muscle size. Increase height by 6” and muscle growth rate by 15%.
[Passive] Might I - Two handed weapons can be wielded one handed if strength requirements are exceeded by 50% or more.
[Active] Shatter I - Hitting a creature while this skill is active deals extra damage equal to your Strength stat. 1 hour cooldown.
Debuffs -
[Permanent] You will no longer gain any defense or resistance bonus from equipped armor.]
Three options isn’t bad. These must be pretty decent classes to only get three choices, but for what I think are obvious reasons, I’m immediately drawn to Titan. Not only is it the highest strength increase, but it’ll allow me to physically train my body to increase my strength stat, AND it’ll give me accelerated muscle growth? The only thing keeping me from grabbing it immediately is the fact that I can’t ever see benefits from wearing armor. All the goblin stab wounds I’ve received make me really want a nice set of armor, and the other options honestly don’t even seem that bad. I take a second to think about them, but come back to the [Titan] class. If it will allow me to live my life the way I did before my injury, and even allow me to improve my stats in the process? I find myself hard pressed to pass on that even considering its debuff. After about 10 seconds of repeatedly coming to the same conclusion again and again, I lock it in. I’m going to be a [Titan] and I’ll go back to bodybuilding.
I press [Titan].
[Confirm Selection?]
[Yes] [No]
Everything has led me to this. I’ve never backed away from a challenge, and I won’t start now.
I click [Yes]