Still sitting down against the tree stump, Effigy of Endurance still in his left hand, the silver carving knife in his right hand, and a silver band ring lying on the grass in between his legs. Identifying the ring, he read.
Spatial Ring (Rare):
A silver band ring made by an unknown Spatial Mage. The spatial effect of the ring creates a 2x2x2 USU cube that can store any non-living being or item within. Effects: Soul-Bound, Self-Repair & Spatial Storage. Provides: +10 Wis & +5 Int. Status: Perfect. Requirement: Lv 23+ & Humanoid Race.
“Nice! An inventory,” Archie smiled as he put on his new ring on the middle finger of his right hand. Looking up, he noticed a new notification that appeared after he completed the second objective.
Profession Challenge Dungeon
Objective 3: Kill all the goblins 0/30 and the goblin Shaman that live within the goblin village 0/1
Reward: ?
Putting on his Frostiron Gauntlets, Archie got up from the ground and tried to figure out how he could put his Effigy of Endurance into his spatial ring. Creating a mana string he wrapped it around the effigy and placed the end of the string onto the ring, channeling mana through the string, the effigy disappeared from his left hand.
Channeling mana through his spatial ring, he subconsciously saw the effigy within a 2x2x2 meter cube, upon thinking about taking it out, it appeared back into his left palm. Archie smiled while repeating the same motions of making the effigy disappear and reappear.
After a few minutes of using the spatial ring, he went back into the cabin and filled it up with all his valuables. The spatial ring housed; 22 Effigies of Healing (Initiate), 1 Effigy of Healing (Common),1 Effigy of Harm (Common), 1 Effigy of Stealth (Common), 1 Effigy of Wrath (Uncommon),1 Effigy of Endurance (Common), all his potion bottles, some pieces of cooked bear meat and his broken plated chain-mail chest piece.
Archie now fully stocked up on effigies, left the cabin and headed out into the forest intent on trying to find the goblin village.
----------------------------------------
Archie stood atop a tree, twenty meters above ground hidden by leaves overlooking the goblin village, filled with goblins who were gathered in their own cliques.
The goblin village was surrounded by log walls with pencil-like tips, the walls forming a large circle. From what he observed while circling the outside, there was only one opening in the wall that acted as both an entrance and exit. Inside the village, there were several tiki tents made from various pieces of beast fur and bones. One tiki tent was as large as three normal tents combined, and atop it sat a giant bear skull. At the center of the village was a large campfire, surrounded by broken bones and rotting pieces of meat.
Opening his status page, he saw:
Archie Gracefield
Race: Human F-Grade Lv 23
Class: Warrior Lv 23
Profession: Shaman Lv 16
Health: 913/913
Mana: 420/420
Stamina: 430/470
Stats:
Vitality: 87 (91)
Strength: 97 (101)
Endurance: 47
Agility: 85
Intelligence: 88
Wisdom: 42
Willpower: 42 (44)
Perception: 62
Free Points: 24
Skills:
Basic One-Handed Weapon Mastery (Common)
Basic Light-Shield Mastery (Common)
Identify (Initiate)
Savage Charge (Rare)
Adrenaline Rush (Rare)
Warrior's Resilience (Rare)
Deep Meditation (Rare)
Mana Manipulation (Common)
Spirit Link (Epic)
Effigy-Carving (Common)
Material Insight (Uncommon)
Bloodline:
Adrenaline Junkie (Unique) [+5% to Strength and +5% to Willpower]
Titles Collected:
Bloodline Progenitor [+10 Vitality and +5% Vitality]
Tutorial Points:
1,306
Identifying the goblins, he took note that they were on average between levels of 29 – 38, wearing similar mix-mashed fur armor as the goblin group from before. The only goblin that was above level 38 was the goblin shaman; the shaman wore a patchwork of random fur pieces, crude-looking bone pieces protruding from shoulder guards, a bear skull covering the goblin’s face, and it wore no pants.
Okay, I need to kill them in small groups, Archie thought. Divide and conquer.
As soon as the thought passed by his head, just a few minutes later, a small group of four goblins rushed from the forest and into the village. The group of four goblins started shouting, garnering the attention of all the goblins, including the shaman, within the village.
Soon enough, twenty goblins grabbed their weapons; spears, and slings, and rushed out of the village in groups of four. The remaining ten goblins stood guard around the village as the goblin shaman yelled something unintelligible to Archie before heading back into his tent.
As the sun disappeared and the moon rose; darkness started to engulf the forest, Archie watched as the groups of goblins disappeared into the forest holding torches and shouting at the top of their lungs.
The goblins who rushed into the village probably found the corpses of the other goblins, Archie thought, dashing across branches following a random group of goblins. And it looks like they’re going to avenge their fallen comrades. Looks like this is the perfect time to hunt them down.
----------------------------------------
Archie from atop his branch, saw the five groups of goblins scattered in the forest, torches lighting the forest. Looking at the group of goblins below him, he identified them.
[Goblin Lv 35]
[Goblin Lv 32]
[Goblin Lv 29]
[Goblin Lv 30]
Archie stored his potions into his newly acquired spatial ring, took out an Effigy of Stealth, and channeled mana through it, both a cool sensation filled his being as well as his adrenaline slowly rose. Pulling out his sword and shield, he jumped down the tree, landing on the level 35 goblin, Archie’s sword sank into its neck killing it instantly.
Archie pulled out his sword from the goblin’s neck and sliced it into the neck of another goblin. The remaining goblins, startled by the sudden noise, looked to see their two strongest group members dead in an instant and screeched, alerting the other groups about Archie.
Wasting no time Archie activated Savage Charge to close the distance between him and the level 29 goblin, easily slicing him in half. Raising his shield, he blocked the spear of the remaining goblin, pushed aside the spear, and stabbed into the stomach of the last goblin in the group. After the fight, Archie took notice of how easily he killed the four goblins; I guess goblins don’t have a high vitality stat, given how easily I cut through them…But if they don’t have tough skin or some sort of enhanced durability, why fight without armor?
Flicking the blood off his blade, Archie glanced at his notifications.
*[Goblin Lv 35//Spearman Lv 25//Fisher Lv 18] has been slain – XP has been given. 140 Tutorial Points given*
*[Goblin Lv 32//Spearman Lv 28//Lumberjack Lv 16] has been slain – XP has been given. 128 Tutorial Points given*
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
*[Goblin Lv 29//Slingman Lv 26// Fisher Lv 12] has been slain – XP has been given. 87 Tutorial Points given*
*[Goblin Lv 30//Slingwoman Lv 25//Tailor Lv 18] has been slain – XP has been given. 120 Tutorial Points given*
*Your Class has reached Lv 24 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
***
*Your Class has reached Lv 28 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
*Your Race has reached Lv 24 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
***
*Your Race has reached Lv 26 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
This is different. Whenever I killed something, it only showed me their race level on the kill notification. Is it because these goblins are sentient? They have a village, and judging by their professions, jobs. Archie pondered, staring at the goblin corpses. Even Identify didn’t show anything other than their racial level. Hmm…Maybe if I can upgrade it in some sort of way, it would show me that.
Shaking off his curiosity, Archie dashed towards the nearest frantic group of goblins, easily covering the fifty-meter distance between them. He quickly used Identify and confirmed that this group was of a similar level to the one he had just defeated. However, to Archie’s misfortune, another group of goblins had joined the one he was targeting. Now, he faced eight goblins at once—each of them at a higher level than him.
Activating both Adrenaline Rush and Savage Charge, he stabbed into the neck of the closest goblin and sliced through the cartilage with ease and into the next goblin. Upon killing the second goblin the six remaining goblins got their bearings together, four stayed back dropping their torches and pulling out their slings, while the other two held their torches in one hand and spears in the other.
Archie blocked the stones shot at him, but due to the raised shield, he did not see the goblin spearmen’s spears, until he felt them stab into his unprotected side. Archie’s eyes widened as pain erupted from his torso, adrenaline surging through him and snapping him back into focus. Gritting his teeth, he raised his sword high and swung it down, severing the shafts of the spears—though their tips remained lodged in his flesh.
The spearmen goblins, now left with only one-foot sticks, tossed their broken spears to the side and lunged at Archie as the slingshot goblins hurriedly reloaded their slings with rocks. Archie hurled his shield at one of the goblin spearmen, knocking it off balance, and skewered another with his sword.
Without hesitation, he charged at the four slingshot goblins. He dodged one incoming stone, but another struck his clavicle with a sickening crack, sending a jolt of pain through his body. The final two stones slammed into his armored thigh, bruising the flesh beneath.
Archie threw his sword at the furthest goblin, the blade sinking into its chest, easily bypassing its poorly made hide armor. The creature died instantly, teetering on its feet before collapsing. Using the momentum of his throw, Archie delivered a powerful spartan kick to its body, sending it hurtling into the second-nearest goblin, knocking it to the ground.
Shoulder tackling the closest goblin with Savage Charge he launched it into the tree, then pulled out his hatchet and threw it at another decapitating it. Breathing heavily, Archie walked over to the head of the still-dazed and knocked-over goblin, pushing all his strength into his right foot, and squashed the head of the last remaining goblin. Hearing the final ding, Archie fell on his back groaning in pain, chewing his inner lower lip, he reached towards the embedded spear tips still lodged within his torso with both hands and pulled them both out, screaming in pain.
Pulling the spear tips out and letting them fall onto the ground. As they fell Archie released a sigh of relief and deactivated Adrenaline Rush. He took out a health potion, but as he did, he noticed that he only had one healing potion left. Trying to see how much he needed the potion; he opened his status screen and saw:
Archie Gracefield
Race: Human F-Grade Lv 30
Class: Warrior Lv 32
Profession: Shaman Lv 16
Health: 896/1176
Mana: 380/490
Stamina: 328/540
Stats:
Vitality: 112 (117)
Strength: 122 (128)
Endurance: 54
Agility: 101
Intelligence: 95
Wisdom: 49
Willpower: 49 (51)
Perception: 69
Free Points: 40
Skills:
Basic One-Handed Weapon Mastery (Common)
Basic Light-Shield Mastery (Common)
Identify (Initiate)
Savage Charge (Rare)
Adrenaline Rush (Rare)
Warrior's Resilience (Rare)
Deep Meditation (Rare)
Mana Manipulation (Common)
Spirit Link (Epic)
Effigy-Carving (Common)
Material Insight (Uncommon)
Bloodline:
Adrenaline Junkie (Unique) [+5% to Strength and +5% to Willpower]
Titles Collected:
Bloodline Progenitor [+10 Vitality and +5% Vitality]
Tutorial Points:
2,869
Looking at the notifications from killing the goblins
*[Goblin Lv 35//Spearman Lv 29//Forager Lv 18] has been slain – XP has been given. 140 Tutorial Points given*
***
*[Goblin Lv 35//Spearwoman Lv 29//Cook Lv 17] has been slain – XP has been given. 140 Tutorial Points given*
*[Goblin Lv 30//Slingman Lv 32//Fisher Lv 10] has been slain – XP has been given. 120 Tutorial Points given*
*[Goblin Lv 32//Slingman Lv 35//Lumberjack Lv 10] has been slain – XP has been given. 128 Tutorial Points given*
*[Goblin Lv 37//Spearwoman Lv 29//Courier Lv 18] has been slain – XP has been given. 148 Tutorial Points given*
*Your Class has reached Lv 29 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
***
*Your Class has reached Lv 32 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
*Your Race has reached Lv 27 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
***
*Your Race has reached Lv 30 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
*Warrior class skills available. Choose one of the options*
“I guess pain doesn’t equate to reflected damage,” Archie groaned while putting back his healing potion and pulling out an Effigy of Healing of Initiate quality and activating it.
“I should have chosen an attack spell from the Shaman skills, not Material Insight. I still haven’t found a single thing in this forest that sets it off.” Archie said regretfully.
After a few minutes of activating the effigy, Archie pulled himself off the ground and gathered the weapons that he had thrown. He had opened the Warrior class skills menu and saw:
*Warrior class skills available. Choose one of the options*
[Taunt (Common)]: The warrior’s presence on the battlefield alone garners the attention of others, but when issuing a taunt, it is a deliberate challenge that no foe can ignore. With a deep guttural roar that shakes the battlefield, the warrior draws the attention of their foes, daring them to attack. Grabbing the attention of all enemies within a Perception-USU circle.
[Power Strike (Common)]: With a surge of raw strength, a warrior channels their stamina into a single, mighty strike. Power Strike is the embodiment of brute force, designed to overwhelm foes in a head-on confrontation.
[Retaliation (Uncommon)]: A warrior endures the pain of their opponent’s blow, absorbing the impact with their mighty resolve. In a moment of fierce vengeance, they channel the energy of the attack back at their foe, doubling the force and fury of the initial strike.
[Shield Wall (Uncommon)]: As the warrior raises their trusty shield; their trusted companion’s dimensions lengthen, allowing more area of protection. Now able to hold their ground against the overwhelming odds, protecting themselves from the onslaught of blows.
“Taunt isn’t what I need right now. Power Strike is something I should have created by now, seeing as how I’m able to sense Stamina. Shield Wall is useful but compared to Retaliation which I see myself using more often especially considering what just happened.” Archie said to himself while selecting Retaliation.
Looking into the forest he saw the remaining two groups of goblins, both in opposite directions. Looking at the group at his two o’clock he started to run after them.
----------------------------------------
Sun just starting to rise, Archie pulled out both his sword and hatchet from the sides of the last goblin in all five search groups, Archie read his notification messages:
*[Goblin Lv 37//Spearman Lv 35//Cook 14] has been slain – XP has been given. 148 Tutorial Points given*
***
*[Goblin Lv 37//Spearman Lv 35//Tanner Lv 14] has been slain – XP has been given. 148 Tutorial Points given*
*[Goblin Lv 38//Slingwoman Lv 39//Tailor Lv 14] has been slain – XP has been given. 152 Tutorial Points given*
*[Goblin Lv 36//Slingman Lv 35//Courier Lv 13] has been slain – XP has been given. 144 Tutorial Points given*
*[Goblin Lv 33//Slingman Lv 31//Forager Lv 13] has been slain – XP has been given. 132 Tutorial Points given*
*Your Class has reached Lv 33 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
***
*Your Class has reached Lv 35 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
*Your Race has reached Lv 31 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
*Your Race has reached Lv 32 – Points allocated, +1 Free Point*
After placing his hatchet into the empty satchel behind him, Archie sheathed his sword and picked up his shield. Feeling mentally drained, Archie headed back to the cabin.