The Chieftain came closer by the second, he knew where Sam was and didn’t have much time to react. However, did have two handfuls of tools as well as a spear.
Picking up the dagger with three Psyhands, and the two needles, he used the spear in his normal hands and threw it with all his might at the Goblin. His lack of skills had the spear completely missed, only getting a laugh in return.
Having little time to form any plans, the plan became the original plan. Needles and dagger. Sam got to his feet properly and got ready to move when needed, and it didn’t take long before it was needed. The Goblin was a natural when it came to moving in the forest, much more so than Sam was. However, he entered Sam’s Area before he was within stabbing distance even with the spear. Sam got to work.
It was hard to hit a moving target in the same way, since it didn’t matter if the dagger or needles hit first, he just went to town with all of them, aiming the needles at his eyes and the dagger at his throat. The needles hit flesh but only his face, they both missed the eyes, and the Goblin shrieked from the stabbing pain. The dagger was going in a good arc to hit the throat but a sudden movement had it miss and instead drag itself across the upper torso, much too shallow for a proper hit.
Deftly dodging the trees the Goblin closed the distance in record time, though Sam could move the Psyarms at great speed, with the objects held, it wasn’t enough to get a proper defence or attack in. However, he did have normal arms and was intending to use them.
The Goblin stepped in close enough and swung the rusty blade towards Sam’s body. Having one dagger in his right hand he instinctively lifted both arms to try and parry the attack. The Goblin had the experience to act here and managed to move the blade’s trajectory ever so slightly, missing the dagger and hitting his arm.
[ Armour, Defense 3 has lowered the damage ]
[ HP: 31 / 35 ██████░ ]
The armour was doing its job, when they got these sets Sam didn’t expect them to do too much, but against starter-level creatures, it seems that they did surprisingly well. Though he had taken damage it wasn’t even a third of his health yet. He still felt good considering that he had experienced backup.
In the brief moment after the Goblin’s attack landed, it had jumped back to reevaluate the situation, in the same moment Sam had pulled in the Psyhands and went for another strike. The needles again went for the eyes but the Goblin seemed to realise something was afoot and moved his head in erratic patterns. It still meant that Sam managed to hit his face, having his opponent let out pained shrieks, even more so when the Dagger again missed its target throat completely, only grazing his shoulder.
During the same movement as Sam’s attacks, the Goblin had stepped in, which was partly the reason he missed the neck, and using both his hands he thrust towards Sam’s body.
Trying to step away and block at the same time, failing to judge the range of the stab, and not having the needed strength to properly parry it, the blade landed incredibly well in his right shoulder.
[ Armour, Defense 3 has lowered the damage. Critical hit. ]
[ HP: 26 / 35 █████░░ ]
Landing a solid hit, the pain of this was immense, enough for Sam’s focus to waver. The Chieftan’s experience allowed him to take advantage of this and he stepped in, dropping his rusty sword as he did so. His claws and teeth dug into Sam’s body, this furthered the pain considerably and fucked with his focus even more.
[ Armour, Defense 3 has lowered the damage. ]
[ HP: 22 / 35 ████░░░ ]
Though Sam didn’t know how the math worked for damage with multiple attacks, this was still a decent amount of damage for only a few moments. The pain was dulled by adrenaline and hate for the fucker who was doing this. His focus was back, if only for the wish to end the vermin who was causing him all these problems. Grabbing the Goblin in return, powering through the pain of the claws and bite, he used the dagger in his hand to stab him in the side. There was no way to miss this attack and the dagger dug deep. At the same time, he had dropped the needles but placed all five hands on the floating dagger, sending that into the Goblin’s back.
Both attacks had landed well. The Goblin let out a painfully loud shriek of pain, which seemed to have two things happen. The first was that the Chief let go of Sam and took a jump away, he was bleeding severely but still alive, and he wanted out. The other thing was that the Goblins in the little village came running, even the one Sam needled in the face before was running in. With a glance towards the village, Sam counted five Goblins. It was more than he remembered but there might have been some in the huts or around.
The Chieftain turned around and started running. Sam couldn’t let that happen and instinctively swiped at him with the floating dagger. The first blow missed but the more, if temporary, stationary part of his body was an easier target. The first swipe that missed was roughly aimed at his back, but readjusting his aim he swiped at his leg. This cut landed well and cut deep into the muscles of his opponent’s calf, causing his leg to fail at the next step, falling over onto the forest floor.
It didn’t take more than a few seconds for the other Goblins to cover the distance, and Sam had lost track of the two needles he let go of earlier, finding them on the forest floor was not going to happen, so he took out two new ones and flailed them at the incoming force.
First needle landed true and hit an eye on an undamaged Goblin, the second needle missed entirely, and didn’t even hit his head. Due to the attention the first one got when shrieking in pain, it was enough for the dagger to properly land on the target Sam had attacked earlier. Managing to swing the dagger at his throat had it dig deep, slicing through arteries. It caused great pause and panic in him, causing him to lose his balance and fall over.
[ Quest: Personally deliver the killing blow on 5 Goblins.
Progress: 4/5 (+)
Optional: Personally deliver the killing blow on a Goblin chieftain.
Progress: 0/1 ]
The quest log was updated, he was close to getting this done, but they were getting desperate. Their leader was on the ground, several dead and one grasping his eye in pain. Being just as adept as their leader at navigating the forest, they closed up the distance in record time, pouncing at the human fucking with them.
Sam did his best to focus, he was on an all-time adrenaline high, slightly panicked but surprisingly focused. Three Goblins had gone for him and he only had the briefest of moments to act.
Holding the dagger in his hands out towards them, just reaching out to make a point they had to navigate around, he used the floating dagger as a flying stab towards the back of the right-most one.
[ Critical hit, double damage. ]
The dagger landed solidly in his back, seeming to have pierced his heart. The light in the Goblin’s eyes dulled mid-step as he fell over with the grace of a sack of potatoes. However like before he couldn’t pull the dagger back out. Not that it mattered at this exact moment as he found himself pounced on by the remaining two.
Flailing his dagger around seemed to only nick one of them, not enough to do more than draw blood. Both of them landed on him properly and started biting and clawing.
[ Armour, Defense 3 has lowered the damage. ]
[ HP: 16 / 35 ███░░░░ ]
The health bar went from the normal Green colour to a disturbing deep yellow, orange colour. Sam had one dagger left and two targets, but the good thing was that he found out the Goblins were surprisingly light.
Bracing himself he pushed them off him, just enough for him to move. He physically threw the dagger at the closest one, grabbing it with his Psyhands at the same time allowing for a thorough stab. The Psyhands wasn’t the strongest but building up the blade’s momentum did a lot to enhance the attack. The thrown stab landed in his target’s chest and dug deep.
[ Quest: Personally deliver the killing blow on 5 Goblins.
Progress: 5/5 (+) - Completed
Optional: Personally deliver the killing blow on a Goblin chieftain.
Progress: 0/1 ]
At the same time as the number updated, a little window in the corner of his eye flashed up.
[ Levelup +1! ]
He felt a rush of energy, like someone just injected adrenaline into his body, it came in a pulse and remained there. As the Quest Log updated, the little plus faded like before, but the word ‘Completed’ remained next to the numbers, that part was done and if he had the option to, he could stop killing them.
However, the remaining Goblin didn’t intend to let that happen. Getting back up he made for Sam with a pained shriek, flailing at him widely as he tried to close the distance.
Sam didn’t have any weapons left, he had some spikes and needles but none of which could properly win this. His last dagger was lodged in the chest of the corpse next to his opponent. The only remaining weapon was the rusty sword. The sword was tiny for a human, almost like a large dagger, and it was rusted to hell and back but it still had a point and an edge, Sam could attest to that.
Reaching out with this Psyhands he grabbed it and to his happiness, he found that he could lift it! The Goblin was on his way in for another attack, but Sam had an idea this time. Through the attacks of the tiny green creature, he managed to grab both his arms. Sam’s arms were considerably longer than his opponent's, so he could hold him like that surprisingly safely since it was only him. The incoming flying sword couldn’t miss and landed true in the Goblin’s neck.
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[ Critical hit, double damage. ]
The rusty blade landed in the side of his neck and severed his spinal column in addition to making deep and dagged cuts into his jugular. Sam was sprayed with pulses of blood as the Goblin’s body went limp.
The quest log didn’t update.
The last Goblin had already fucked off, and just took to the forest on the other side, the only remaining living target in the area was the Chief who had done his best to crawl away, though hadn’t gotten far.
Sam pulled his dagger from the corpse, using his normal arms had plenty of strength to free it, he then floated it over to the Chieftan and with much less hassle than before now that he couldn’t move properly or retaliate, sliced his throat.
[ Quest: Personally deliver the killing blow on 5 Goblins.
Progress: 5/5 - Completed
Optional: Personally deliver the killing blow on a Goblin chieftain.
Progress: 1/1 (+) - Completed ]
The Quest log updated again, to Sam’s satisfaction as he stood, caked in gore in the forest. He relaxed and felt fatigue rush over him like a lead blanket, his body grew heavy and sluggish, even though his hands were still shaking and vibrating from excitement and adrenaline. Though he was extremely dirty and looked like he had been through hell, he didn’t feel negative at all. It wasn’t like he enjoyed the act of killing but he found that it felt more like a means to an end, it wasn’t positive to kill, but it also wasn’t negative. It was just a thing that needed to be done.
The quest log collapsed, changing the text.
[ Quest completed!
Rewards: Random Skill Crystal, 3x Arcane Crystals, Random Box - C.
Experience rewards: 20xp
Will you accept the rewards? ]
Sitting down his legs were giving out and he needed to relax. He didn’t move around that much nor did he expend any mana or something that felt like it would warrant this worn-out feeling. But he had taken some damage and the rush of his first proper fight had consumed a ton of his energy. It probably didn’t help that he hadn’t eaten since lunch last night.
Toren walked in closer, Sam could just see that he was pocketing a potion of red liquid before he got close. He could only imagine that he was getting ready to throw that at him if it was going bad enough.
“Well done!” He applauded as he walked. “That’s not bad for your first Player fight.” Looking honestly happy he crouched down to get on Sam’s level. “You took some damage, but I think your level-up handled that.” His smile changed into a strange pride.
This caught Sam off guard, he didn’t check his health or information about level-up as it happened in the middle of battle.
[ HP: 35 / 35 ███████ ]
He felt oddly relieved seeing his health at full like that. The pain remained in his body from the fight but checking things now, the wounds had closed. He was no longer bleeding and save some light surface scarring he looked fine.
A brief thought about the level-up process had a System Window open.
[ Level-up
Upon getting enough Experience (XP), the Player levels up.
Each level-up grants the Player some bonuses.
- Refilling of the Player’s health and mana (Energy not affected).
- +1 attribute point to be placed by the Player.
Current XP: 5 / 20 ]
Sam thought about a few things, like how he now wanted the XP to display near his health for easy access, and as he considered this a small transparent window manifested and attached itself to the Health Bar, it displayed the numbers and a dim yellow bar hinting at his next level-up.
[ HP: 35 / 35 ███████ ]
[ XP to lv.3: 5 / 20 █░░░ ]
This made him feel surprisingly good about things, he had completed his first quest, levelled up and everything.
“I suggest waiting to complete the quest right away. When you accept its completion you get the rewards right away, objects just manifesting in your hands. But you will have to carry all of it back.” Still smiling he looked down at the tired, worn and weak Sam. “Just a precaution to make things easier. If you need the Experience it can be smarter to just accept it. Levelling up refills your health, so if you’re close to levelling and have a completed quest ready, you can get that boost during battle.”
He shared some good information there. Though suddenly getting items thrust in your hands could be problematic in battle, if it’s that or die from zero health it would be worth it. The idea about waiting to avoid the weight if you can afford to wait also made a lot of sense.
“Good tips, thank you.” Sam smiled back, he hadn’t felt this satisfied in years, since before the Monster event that sent his life falling into a downward spiral. This felt amazing.
A cursory glance at the reward list, especially the XP reward, when he accepted the completion of this quest he should level up again. This only heightened the amazing feelings.
“Now, before we get you cleaned up, it’s a good time to show you monster harvesting.” His smile was still present but had a certain schadenfreude in it.
The following training was not one he liked very much, but he saw the necessity of it. Toren explained that all monsters had a core, usually in their chest. You might get unlucky and damage or shatter it during combat, if so it’s useless and can be ignored, but it’s a decent source of income over time. Creatures can also have certain parts that are good for weapon or item creation, such as horns, hides and so on. Goblins are kind of shit-tier so besides their core and things they might have collected, they are not worth much. Not that their cores are worth much either, but in this case, it was more for the experience of learning how to, more than anything else.
Toron meant this as a training exercise, he also explained that though the quest rewards were entirely his, due to the gathering split the cores would be put in the total pool for everyone. But to Sam, any income increased his survival chance dramatically. If his cut of these cores could pay for a single meal, it was worth it in his eyes. He went through the process of getting the cores out of all the Goblins. Though one of them had been shattered by the dagger through his chest, the other five were fine. The Chieftain’s core was a bit bigger than the others, so he felt happy about that one, even if it would be split amongst the others. During this process, he also learned that the Psyhands interacted with other substances, they got caked in the same gore and goop as he was, looking like disembodied, vaguely hand-shaped masses floating about.
Leaving the camp after checking it, finding nothing of interest, and collecting his daggers, they headed back to the rest of the group. On the way, Toren explained more concepts. Like how Experience sharing worked. In most cases, it was automatically shared by any group members in a certain area, split equally, but in this case, Toren had blocked the sharing so Sam got it all for the Goblins. If two, non-partied Players both fought a monster, depending on who does the most in the fight, the Experience might go to them. High-burst-damage classes could use this to wait for someone to do some of the work, keep the focus and just blow the shit out of a target, stealing the effort. This still happened at times and was impossible to properly track.
“Your combat style is a bit odd, in one way you fight like a Rogue, but you can also fight like multiple people. If you keep being that weak... in how heavy weapons you can carry, you might want to consider investing in some good light weapons. If you find some with invisibility enchants or learn how to cloak your weapons, you might become a decent assassin-style Player.” Toren commented as they walked.
He had a good point, his MO in his only fight had been planning and surprise strike. If he could get some stealth skills, it could really up his survival chance since he can strike from a distance and weird angles. On the other hand, if he made himself a target and somehow upped his defences, he could get his opponents to focus on his body and strike from behind or sides. His options were pretty good, but he would have to look into what makes the most sense for him. More testing and planning were needed, but in any case, this Goblin fight was extremely educational.
It took a short while to get back to the group, Toren radioed them and double-checked their location. As soon as they got there Sam noticed two things. First, the atmosphere had changed dramatically, people looked happier, more at ease and just all around better. This felt kind of good, Sam was not a part of it but joining a jovial group just felt nice. All of that changed as Sam came walking, their expressions changed into almost horror and worry. At first, he thought it was something he did but remembering that he was... not exactly clean, it made a lot of sense.
One of his fellow newbies raised her voice, her tone filled with worry. “A... are you... ok?”
Looking over himself, something he hadn’t done since before he learned how to dig into corpses for their core, he realised that he was way worse than he remembered. “Oh yeah, don’t worry about it, for the most part, this isn’t my blood.” Sporting an honest and strangely satisfied smile, it only seemed to deepen her worry.