The Lesser Goblin cackled. It leapt into the air, kicked off the back of one of the seats, then fell straight at him, its short sword swinging down.
Xavier swore. He managed to block the strike with his staff, hoping the sword wouldn’t be sharp enough to cut through the wood. The strike hit with a solid thunk.
The Lesser Goblin landed on the ground in front of Xavier. It slashed out at his leg. There was a stab of pain as the sword bit into his flesh.
Xavier wanted to run, but he stood his ground. If I don’t figure this out, I’m not going to survive. He struck out at the goblin, swinging the long, heavy staff like a baseball bat.
When Xavier had learnt how to fire twirl with poi—two chains with balls of fire at the ends—he’d also learnt how to use a fire staff, as a few friends he’d busked with used them.
Those movements hadn’t been for fighting, they’d been for performing, but the old patterns—the muscle memory, long embedded into him—kicked in. He twirled his staff around his body in a way that made him look like some formidable expert.
The goblin’s eyes widened, its posture hesitant. Xavier grinned. He struck out again. The goblin tried to block with its short sword, but as the Lesser Goblin was half the size of him it simply wasn’t strong enough to stop the weight behind Xavier’s strike. And Xavier had a huge amount of reach on the little beast.
He actually managed to push it back down a few of the steps.
Another strike and the goblin tumbled to the ground.
Maybe I should have chosen Warrior…
Xavier went in for a killing blow.
He didn’t think about it. He just moved. He’d seen what happened when people hesitated in this new reality. Seen what it meant not to fight.
The head of his staff bashed into the goblin’s skull. Xavier winced as green blood and something that looked suspiciously like brain matter spurted out and onto his new leather boots.
“Eugh.” Xavier stepped back. He wiped the goop off on one of the chairs. Should he feel bad about what he’d just done? He examined his feelings.
That goblin would have killed me. I had no choice.
You have defeated a Level 2 Lesser Goblin!
You have gained 200 Mastery Points.
You have gained 200 Spirit Energy.
Instead of feeling the guilt he’d expected, Xavier felt a burst of pride. He still wasn’t sure what Spirit Energy did—was it some type of mana?—but he’d figured out that Mastery Points were basically like gaining experience points in a game. It was what would bring him to level 2.
What happens at level 2?
He shrugged off the question. If this were like a video game, or like a fantasy novel, he knew what his next move needed to be.
Xavier walked over to the Lesser Goblin corpse. Pain shot up his left leg. An adrenaline spike during the fight had made him forget about being wounded. Now the fight was over, that pain hit him in full.
I don’t suppose there are health potions in this new world…
He grunted and struggled into a kneeling position. The Lesser Goblin had a purse tied to its belt. Xavier, leaning heavily on his staff in one hand, grabbed the short sword that had fallen to the ground and sawed through the string. He tucked the purse into the satchel he’d received when he’d gotten his staff.
This is really weird. I’m stealing a purse from a goblin’s corpse.
Unfortunately, the satchel was empty. When he’d opened it, he’d hoped to find some potions inside. Something to heal his wounded leg. He slowly lowered himself until he was sitting on one of the steps, then he leant his staff against a chair and cut a length of fabric off the goblin’s threadbare clothes.
He was about to wrap his leg when he paused. What the hell am I doing? I’m not in a bloody fantasy novel. There was a first-aid kit to one side of the lecture hall. He passed it every time he came into this room. Not that he’d ever had any need for it. Until now.
Xavier tried to shove the short sword into his satchel, but even though it was rather small—being a sword for a goblin—it jutted out awkwardly. Instead, he managed to stick it through the cord that tied his robes shut.
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Not finding anything else of worth on the Lesser Goblin, Xavier climbed back up to standing. Using his staff like a cane he made his way down the steps to the first aid kit.
He’d been hoping to find the wound half-closed already. This “System” had brought magic to the world, after all. But that wasn’t the case. It looked normal.
Yes, because a sword slash in my leg is normal.
He did the best he could. He dressed the wound and wrapped it with the bandages. He’d never taken a first aid class, so he had no idea if he was doing it right, but he figured it was better than nothing.
At least it won’t get infected. Can wounds still get infected, now the System has integrated us into the Greater Universe? He had no idea.
His mind had kept turning as he cleaned his wound, trying to understand this new reality he’d found himself in. He climbed to his feet and limped to the room’s door. He shut it, turned the lock.
There would be more goblins out there. He was sure of it. The System’s message had told him to protect a settlement. If he’d succeeded in doing that by killing the Lesser Goblin, he would have been transported out of here, or received some sort of success-notification.
He went through his reasoning again. Nodded to himself. Sounds logical enough.
Once the door was locked, he leant heavily against the wall. He looked at the corpse of the Lesser Goblin. Killing one of those things had left him limping. He may have been able to defeat it, but what happened if he had to fight two, four, six at once?
He needed to play to his strengths. Whatever those were. Saying “Cast Element” clearly hadn’t been enough to use his spell, so it must work in a different way. He couldn’t go into his next fight unprepared.
He’d be dead if that Navy Seal hadn’t surrendered.
I can’t rely on luck to survive.
He focused. Before, when he’d needed to choose from options the System had provided, he’d either said them out loud or thought them with purpose. He had an idea. A simple one.
When he’d thought he wanted more information about the goblin, it had appeared.
Xavier frowned, and thought, Spells.
Spells List:
Cast Element – Rank 1
Spiritual Guidance – Rank 1
Summon – Rank 1
Telekinesis – Rank 1
“Huh,” Xavier said. “Is it really that easy?” He wondered what the different ranks were, and if he could see any descriptions of the spells. So, he thought what he wished: Description for Cast Element.
Cast Element – Rank 1
Cast Element is a basic Mage spell learnt by all starting human Mages. It gives the caster the chance to call upon each of the elements of fire, air, water, and earth. As a Mage advances, they may choose to specialise in one of these elements, generalise in several, or abandon the path altogether.
One cannot walk backward on the path.
Xavier smiled as he read the text. Though the description was quite general and didn’t tell him anything about how to use the spell, he was glad his hunch had paid off.
He took note of the references to “the path.” In video games, one never tended to “lose” a spell once it had been learnt, but this seemed to indicate that might change. The path of casting elements could be abandoned completely, perhaps in favour of one of the paths his other spells provided.
I wish I had some sort of manual that explained all of this. The thought struck him. Manual! He frowned. No text appeared.
It was worth a shot.
He thought about himself, and the information he’d seen—his attributes. At the simple thought of “attributes,” nothing happened. But he realised he wasn’t thinking it with purpose.
Xavier tilted his chin up. Attributes and personal information. He threw in that last bit to see if it would change anything.
XAVIER COLLINS
Age: 20
Race: Human
Grade: F
Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth)
Class: Basic Mage
Level 1
Strength: 5
Speed: 5
Toughness: 5
Intelligence: 7
Willpower: 7
Spirit: 10
Mastery Points until next level: 300/1,000
Available Spirit Energy: 300/1,100
Xavier frowned. Why hadn’t it shown him this information before? The fact that it mentioned his race as human made him wonder what other races were out there. Goblins, of course. But what else? Elves? Orcs?
Weird grey aliens?
He shook his head, moving to the next thing.
Grade: F
He tilted his head to the side. Grade F? What did that mean? It didn’t sound good. Was he being graded on how well he’d done so far? I’m still alive, aren’t I? Shouldn’t that at least be a pass?
Maybe it meant something else…
Moral Faction: World Defender (Planet Earth)
Xavier had already figured there must be other worlds, what with there being goblins coming through portals and all. But this only further confirmed it.
His class being Basic Mage wasn’t a surprise.
He looked down at the text at the end. 700 more Mastery Points and he would reach level 2, which made him excited even though he didn’t know what gaining a level would do.
Spirit Energy, he still had no clue about.
He licked his lips, and thought—with as much purpose as he could muster—What is Spirit Energy?
Nothing happened. He deflated.
Well, that wasn’t helpful.
A clatter sounded, somewhere out in the hall. Xavier mentally pushed the notification away—at least that worked—and limped over to the door, wincing when he put weight on his injured leg. He placed his ear against the door.
There was a massive thud as wood splintered.
The point of a blade thrust straight through the wood, coming out an inch away from his face. He stumbled backward, heart racing. Almost fell. The sword was pulled back. An eye pushed up against the hole it made.
Another goblin. The eye flicked toward Xavier. The goblin cackled. Another one cackled out in the hall. Then another.
There were at least three.
Xavier glanced about, considered hiding for a moment, then thought better of it.
Time to fight more of these little beasts.