Chapter 25 - A Close Call
Jae approached the hobgoblin gatekeepers with a cautious step. They, in turn, stood in a defensive stance, watching his every move.
Hmm... Good. Stay like that for a bit, will you?
This was the first time he had met an enemy that wouldn’t immediately either run away or attack him recklessly, and thus, it was the first time he could carry out an experiment he had long awaited.
“Hoo...”
In contrast to the Fighting Spirit blazing like a seething wildfire from his body, he entered a state of deep concentration, delving deeper into his consciousness than ever before with the assistance of the Concentration skill; it was only Level 3, but the degree of enhanced focus one could achieve under its influence was already orders of magnitude higher than what someone without it could experience.
“...!”
His honed eyes, looking at nothing but the hobgoblins in front of him, seemed to pierce them through without moving an inch, giving them no choice but to wait on the defence.
Despite his eyes looking at the monsters, however, he did not see them.
Instead, he saw himself.
Deep within the cave of the goblins, one room away from the Goblin Lord’s domain.
A slightly large cavern containing nothing but the two enemies and himself.
In this unexpected place, Jae closed his eyes and focused.
He vividly perceived the sensation of the Fighting Spirit enveloping his body.
“......”
More.
Something unfamiliar, something he never experienced before could be felt on the lining of his skin and wrapping around him.
The Fighting Spirit flickered like a blowing candle flame, rising and falling intermittently as if imitating the surging waves of an ocean on a stormy night.
With every stroke, every movement, he felt it brush against his skin despite originally emanating from his own body, causing a conflicting, almost uncomfortable sensation to arise.
“......”
More.
Observing the Fighting Spirit as it flowed naturally around him, wildly and seemingly without purpose.
It was coarse, rough, and crude.
Jae―who had watched many shows, read many books, and played many games―had a thought.
Shouldn’t it be possible to refine it?
Fighting Spirit-- Or rather, Aura, wasn’t something that was originally so coarse, so rough, and so crude.
Originally, it was something much smoother, much calmer than that.
And when it’s calm, it’s supposed to be stronger, right?
That was what he had heard, anyway. Even if it wasn’t the case in this world, there was nothing to be lost by giving it a try. It was a rare opportunity to experiment with what he had wondered.
He emulated the process he had witnessed and heard about countless times in movies, T.V. shows and novels.
Taking that Fighting Spirit.
Willing it.
Moulding it.
Refining it into something smoother, something calmer, and something more sophisticated.
Even if it didn’t become all of those things, achieving even one would be a success.
Like that, Jae used all of his willpower to reshape his Fighting Spirit―his Aura.
He felt something warm emerge from deep inside.
And before long.
Conditions met. You have acquired the Perception Skill : 「Aura Sense」
Conditions met. You have acquired the Passive Skill : 「Aura Control」
Skill 「Fighting Spirit」 has levelled up [Lv.5]→[Lv.6]
Skill 「Fighting Spirit」 has levelled up [Lv.6]→[Lv.7]
Skill 「Concentration」 has levelled up [Lv.3]→[Lv.4]
The results proved themselves.
“Pwah...!”
Letting out a deep exhale as his eyes suddenly widened, he wiped the accumulated sweat thrice from his brow; without realising it, his entire body had suddenly become drenched.
Ah, damn... But, it actually worked...?
The ecstatic feeling of having his experiment end in overwhelming success was almost euphoric, but his mind still felt a little hazy.
“Haha... Sweet...”
Glancing down at his hands, he could find the Fighting Spirit previously enveloping him was now much thinner and calmer than before. Despite that, its presence had only grown stronger; he could feel in his bones that it was now incomparably more potent than before.
Though, whether that was a symptom of the aura refining process, or simply due to the skill’s level-ups, he wasn’t sure.
Maybe it's both.
“Gi...?”
Raising his gaze, Jae turned his attention back towards the hobgoblins, astounded that the unfamiliar human in front of them suddenly grew stronger before their eyes.
He smirked. “You’re not the only ones seeing this, right?” He intended to brag about the accomplishment to the sins, but, unusually, there was no response.
What, really? They choose now to leave me alone, of all times?
“...Tch.”
The belated realisation that he hadn’t been pestered by disembodied voices since a short while ago pricked Jae’s conscience in a way he never would have expected, and for some reason, the knowledge that he was genuinely alone made him feel isolated.
Oh, fuck off. I’m not starting to miss them, am I?
He shook his head. No, of course not... Nobody would miss annoying pests like them, making me feel crazy. It’s just because I don’t have anyone else to talk to, so it gets boring by myself; that’s all it is.
He would acknowledge boredom or even loneliness, but Jae would never in a million years accept that he actually enjoyed the company of the damn voices.
Uegh, that’s right. Let alone a thousand... You’ll be long dead by then, you arrogant son of a bitch.
Somehow, he felt himself getting riled up just by thinking about it. He flicked the wrist hanging by his waist.
Clang- clang-!!
In the next moment, two throwing knives clattered on the floor at the monsters’ feet, their ends chipped. His movements were far and away faster than anything he had shown before, but it didn’t even matter as the attack itself wasn’t strong enough.
“Off by a few inches...”
Watching his failed attack bounce right off the younger hobgoblin’s armoured stomach like it was nothing, he clicked his tongue and took another step forward, calling out. “Hey. Your boss stationed you two here to fend off any unwelcome invaders, right?”
There was no reply from either enemy, but the question was rhetorical.
“He must’ve done. But, why is it that the two guys he chose to guard that door are no better than any of the other little green freaks until now?”
Raising his arm, he pointed at the hobgoblins, who appeared puzzled by his words and actions. “Does your lord have brain rot? Else, why would he put two small fry like you here? Of course, all goblins are stupid, so it’s no surprise that the big daddy is also incompetent, right? Hah.”
The instant the words left his mouth―the ends of which gradually curled upwards as he ended with a snort of mocking laughter―Jae felt the demeanour of the two guardsmen shift.
“Human...! You dare insult the Lord!?”
Aha.
Jae’s eyes narrowed, and then―
“Die! Human...!”
“Wait!”
―The younger hobgoblin charged towards him like an enraged boar, growling viciously. and completely ignoring the cries of its senior.
Watching the vile creature come at him so straightforwardly after a simple provocation―its disgusting saliva spewing out of its snarling mouth as it stampeded in his direction―Jae smirked.
Power Burst.
All of a sudden, his body exploded with power, and his physical stats were amplified.
Stomp-! Stomp-! Stomp-!
Sharpening his gaze, Jae heightened his concentration. It now appeared as if the charging hobgoblin was moving ever-so-slightly slower, with each heavy step resounding individually.
Woosh-!
The hobgoblin swung its human-sized cleaver through empty air. Having already dashed to the unprotected side of the opponent before it could notice, now it was Jae’s turn.
There...!
He targeted a vulnerability in the creature’s thick head, guarded by an old metal helmet, and thrust his dagger into a gap at the neck.
The blade, propelled with the strengthening of Fighting Spirit and Power Burst, plunged right into the monster’s toughened flesh without much resistance.
“Giiih...!!”
A cry bellowed from the hobgoblin’s distorted mouth, but Jae didn’t plan on giving it a chance to respond. He activated his primary damage-dealing skill, and in the next moment―
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Wrath.
―The tip of the dagger sheathed tightly in the monster’s neck was ignited.
Boom...!!
Before it could even begin to feel the heat from the fire, the hobgoblin’s head exploded due to the concentrated flames that had nowhere else to go, and the rest of its body quickly collapsed.
You have levelled up
Dismissing the notification without a thought, Jae withdrew his dagger. His eyes shook in realisation.
“S-shit, no way...”
Perhaps unable to endure the force of the explosion he had just caused, the blade of the dagger had shattered entirely as he pulled it from the monster’s neck.
Should I not have done that? Damn it, why does it have to break now...?
Thinking there was nothing that could be done, he tossed the broken weapon aside and picked up the heavy cleaver that the hobgoblin was holding. “Woah, never mind. This is so much cooler than that garbage knife...”
He immediately took back what he thought, all the whilst keeping a watchful eye on the older of the two goblinkin that had only been observing the entire time.
“Are you not gonna make a move even after watching your brother rush to his death like a dumbass in front of you? Moron, just like your lord, huh?”
“......”
He had hoped that provocation would work as well against this one as it had the other, but it didn’t appear to be the case for the veteran hobgoblin, so he gave up.
Woosh! Woosh!
Hmm. It really is something straight out of a soulslike...
Getting used to the weight of the fantastic new weapon in his hands by swinging it around as he pleased for a short while, Jae took his time leisurely seeing as the older hobgoblin was adhering solely to its job of guarding the door.
I might try and stick with greatsword-type weapons from now on. It’s so sick to use something massive like this when I can swing it around with one hand. Well, I'll just use what fits best, I suppose.
Thinking that eating the slain hobgoblin right in front of the other one might work to enrage it, Jae did just that, but unfortunately, it seemed to accomplish nothing more than engrave a heavily disturbed expression on the monster’s face.
Not even a Gluttony proc. Pity.
After a short while of accustoming himself to the cleaver, a notification appeared.
Conditions met. You have acquired the Combat Skill: 「Axe Mastery」
Oh, nice. So, a cleaver is an axe, huh? I guess it’s because of the shape.
Jae welcomed the new skill that was only able to be acquired in such a short span of time thanks to the Otherworlder title. It’s only Level 1, so it doesn’t feel as comfortable to use as the dagger, but it’s better than nothing.
He felt like he had been handling it for a couple of weeks or maybe a month at most, despite having never touched a weapon like this in his entire life. In fact, if his strength had never increased, he likely wouldn’t have been able to lift it up properly even with two hands.
Now, he finally thought it was time to take on the ‘miniboss’ that was the final Lord’s Watchman hobgoblin.
It’s Level 41. With my skills, I don’t think I’ll lose, but I should be careful.
“Living up to your title, you’ve only been watching me this whole time. Isn’t it boring?”
Of course, there was no response, but he was only really talking to himself at this point anyway.
There was another purpose to taking it slowly after killing the first hobgoblin, and that was to ensure the regeneration of his MP; confirming it had fully replenished, Jae nodded.
“...Hey.”
Taking a few steps towards the watchman, he stretched out his arm holding the cleaver.
“You.”
Pressing a foot slightly against the ground, he leaned his body forward―
“Do something.”
―And swung, his body moving in a blur as it seemingly vanished.
Clannggg-!!
The tremendous clashing of metal-on-metal reverberated endlessly through the cave.
“Gih...!”
With a grunt, the hobgoblin blocked Jae’s cleaver with its huge, steel-tipped club as the two hulking weapons collided. Each of their bodies jumping back from the fierce rebound of the impact, Jae didn’t let up―not giving the opponent the time to think, he darted forward once more.
Belatedly, he realised. Wait, I can’t get to its blind spot because its back is against the damned door...!
Still, he had already dived in, and it was too late to stop now. Closing in, he swung the cleaver from a distance, hitting―
Woosh-!
―Nothing. And then, he saw it move.
“!?“
His eyes reactively snapped to the large-statured hobgoblin peering down at him from the side, its downward strike appearing like a falling meteor on his head.
Shit, this thing...!
He was in the midst of recovering from the recoil of his own swing; there was not enough time to dodge.
How the hell--
Unable to comprehend how the heavy monster moved so quickly, Jae pushed against the floor with his foot as hard as he could to escape.
However.
No...!
It wasn’t enough.
Crunch!
Thud-!
“--!!”
His body slammed into the ground; the only sound Jae could hear was that of bones being crushed as he let loose a silent scream. Thanks to moving just in the nick of time, he got away with only his left arm being hit, but the result was nevertheless devastating.
“Nghh-- Gaaahh...!”
He grit his teeth to stand, but the agonised screams couldn’t be contained.
The quick-to-follow notifications were proof enough of that.
Conditions met. You have acquired the Resistance Skill: 「Blunt Resistance」
Skill 「Blunt Resistance」 has levelled up [Lv.1]→[Lv.2]
Skill 「Pain Tolerance」 has levelled up [Lv.4]→[Lv.5]
Bearing the pain had gotten ever-so-slightly easier, but regardless, there was no time for distractions.
Dismissing the messages, Jae clenched his trembling, only-working fist that single-handedly wielded the cleaver and swiftly created some distance before the hobgoblin could launch a second attack.
“Ngh...! You bitch...”
Backing off, Jae grimaced as he felt the torn ligaments and nerves in his left arm―mangled and flattened like a pancake in a pool of blood on the cratered ground―completely separate from his body.
Glancing at what little remained of the limb, he immediately averted his gaze.
“Ugh, ffff-- ohohohh...”
Ow, ow... Ah, it’s gonna come back if I die, right...?
With a single line of hope acting like a dam to block the overwhelming desire to curse, he put a cork in the bottle of negative emotions about ready to erupt and settled his uneven breath in an attempt to calm down.
After all, his leg and head returned after the first time, so it shouldn’t be any different the next time.
Still, it hurts like hell.
He glared sharply at the culprit of his wound, that hobgoblin, who now appeared far more menacing than before. “This bastard...” There was no free hand to clutch the stump of his arm, dripping with blood, but perhaps it was for the best.
“...Wrath.”
Fwoosh~!
A possible temporary solution popped into his mind, and in the next moment, a torrent of intense flames suddenly blossomed from his shoulder and enveloped the cut-off point of his arm. He thought to cauterise the wound to halt the bleeding, but it didn’t seem to work.
“Tsk. Really, what a pain...”
Coming to the conclusion that Wrath simply couldn’t affect his own body, he soon gave up on the idea and the flames dissipated. He honed in on the scratched armour the enemy hobgoblin wore, who eyed him with caution, and formed a plan.
“Hoooh... Let’s not underestimate our enemies, shall we?” Muttering to himself, he glanced at his ravaged arm and back at the enemy, activating Envy. “...Right. Level 41. I’m only 29. This injury is my fault.”
Did Power Burst go on cooldown? In that case, I should’ve realised and not overcommitted. It’s my bad. Don’t get cocky, you idiot. We’ve already seen what happens when you get careless; don’t let it happen twice.
Laying all of his faith in the belief that his arm would return if he died and resurrected, he could afford to call it nothing more than a learning experience, albeit a painful one. Bearing with it required a slight change, but if the power of his undeath was as he believed, then he would do just that.
A shift in mentality.
Immortal. I am immortal. If I die, I will come back. So, what’s the big deal with losing an arm?
Could it be called some kind of supernatural self-suggestion, or was it just the natural tenacity of one with a steadfast mind?
“Ha.”
Whatever it was didn’t matter. Tightening the grasp on the cleaver in his hand, Jae slowly motioned as if about to launch a left-to-right horizontal strike.
“You,” He called out. “You sure must despise your Lord, huh? I mean, look at this. He’s lazing around whilst you do all the hard work. What a lazy bum, am I right--!?”
Not caring about whether the provocation actually proved effective or not, Jae simply cut the end of his sentence by launching the cleaver at the opponent and following just behind it.
“Gi--!?”
The incredibly bulky hobgoblin wasn’t able to dodge the surprise cleaver attack thrown by Jae with all his strength.
It was simply too large an object to dodge from that close a distance.
Clangg~!
Just before the 1.5-metre-long cleaver reached its face, the hobgoblin knocked the weapon to the floor with a downward swing of the club. Due to this action, it was unable to keep an eye on which side Jae had disappeared to, but by the time it realised he had disappeared, it was already too late.
All of a sudden, the hobgoblin felt a heavy weight on its chest.
“Hello!”
“?!”
Fwoooshh~!
“---!!”
The monster let out a soundless cry.
Just a second ago, it was pitch black, but now, all it could see was a blinding mix of orange and red.
Its leathery face, “protected” within the metal helmet, was melting by the second, and the endlessly surging heat was contained inside, trapped within and amplifying the temperature further.
Wrath was already an incredibly mana-hungry skill, but the more MP Jae poured in, its destruction only intensified.
The blaze didn’t care for the toughness of the creature’s hide, and it penetrated all the way through its flesh, searing the bone.
Fwooaaarr~!
Akin to the cheering of a crowd at the gallows, all the hobgoblin could hear was the roaring of an erupted inferno as it burned.
Even the torturous pain of heat and flames assaulting its head from all angles gradually disappeared along with the liquifying of its nerves, leaving only a sense of something numb and its brain melting.
Stunned, it couldn’t even think of how to begin resisting the attack as it staggered around, flaming head flailing.
Its mouth had long run dry, far too hot to produce saliva, and its nose beneath the helm, charred black, could only perceive that unrelenting scent of its own revolting flesh like grilled meat.
Soon, its eyes shrivelled up and sat on the brink, ready at any moment to wither away.
With the last of its persistent drive, the hobgoblin clutched the dearest club in its hands, but that strength too, quickly faded.
The waning Fighting Spirit that once enhanced its body was no more, as if to symbolise the creature’s evanescing vitality.
There was nothing like a final straw at which to grasp, as all said straws had been burned away.
No sight.
No hearing.
No smell.
No touch.
No taste.
All were gone.
All because of one thing.
My... Lord...
“Fucking hell, when’re you gonna die already?”
It was over.
You have levelled up
As if recognising the end of the battle, which had ended in a more anticlimactic manner than expected, Jae’s Fighting Spirit quickly dimmed into nonexistence, and so too did the remaining Power Burst, Concentration and Sneak skills he had utilised towards the end.
“Hah... Seriously...?”
He had received a single level-up despite killing a monster over ten levels above him, but perhaps it was only natural. After all, a hobgoblin was still a low-class mob in the grand scheme of things. Moreover, now that he had reached Level 30, it was evident that the required experience threshold for each level would be exponentially increasing.
Even with the Otherworlder experience bonus, it was a tough ask.
Jeez... I lost an arm, and that’s all I get? You’re shitting me.
It was an extremely bitter feeling, but nothing could be done about it, so he surrendered with an exhale and roughly scratched the back of his head. Basically a third of the way to Level 100. Although, this isn’t a game, so I wonder if there’s even a level limit?
Taking a bite out of the hobgoblin as he pondered something new, Jae hoped for even one small consolation prize, but alas, there was nothing. “Tsk. Really, again...?”
Once more, he was reminded about how low of an activation chance Gluttony actually had. It was practically gambling, so it made sense if he thought about it.
If only I could increase my Luck...
He lamented for a brief moment, not knowing that having more Luck wouldn’t actually affect the activation chance of Gluttony.
“Oh well. I’ll just take this... Woah~!”
Thud!
Lifting the comically large club dropped by the brutalised hobgoblin with his right hand, Jae stumbled and quickly dropped it.
“Ah...” With his left arm gone, the unwieldy weight of the club clearly not meant for human hands was an unreasonable weapon to use single-handedly. “Damn. I was hoping to use it with Club Mastery at Level 5, but it doesn’t seem viable... Guess I’ll have to stick with the cleaver.”
It wasn’t too bad, but it made him feel weak. In any case, now all that was left was to recover his health and mana, see what he could do about his missing arm, and take on the boss room.
“Anyway, let’s see... Oh, Jesus, what?”
Opening the Status to check his condition, Jae’s eyes bulged.