Shesmu’s sword cut through the goblin’s neck like a knife through butter. Blood gushed out of the creature’s neck, dyeing Shesmu’s face red. However, even while being showered by blood, Shesmu didn’t flinch; he looked the goblin straight in the eyes. The vile’s eyes that showed fear and surprise just a moment ago slowly became lifeless.

For half a second, the goblins that were focused on Leo shifted their attention towards their dead comrade; this lapse of concentration spelled their doom.

Empowered Thrust!

Shesmu’s sword flashed green before he thrust at thin air.

Dash.

The goblins couldn’t understand why Shesmu would thrust in the open like that—they soon did. Shesmu vanished from his place and appeared in front of one of the goblins. His sword pierced through the creature’s neck, stunning it in place. Shesmu took out his sword from the goblin’s neck and the creature fell on the ground, blood gushing out of its wound.

In less than a second, the group of five goblins turned into three. The remaining viles stepped back in fear. The human in front of them became a god of death in their eyes, ready to reap their lives.

However, what they didn’t know was that there were two shinigamis on this battlefield. From the depths of the shadows, Ryan emerged. His dagger cloaked in an aura of death. He impaled the first goblin, puncturing its heart and reaching out of its chest.

Noticing his presence, the two goblins left stepped away from him. However, there was no running away. Ryan disappeared from their vision only to appear behind their back. He slashed the first goblin’s neck before manhandling the second one. After taking control of the last goblin’s arms, he grabbed hold of his dagger and stabbed away at its chest.

Looking at this scenery, Leo was flabbergasted. Ryan’s face was covered in blood, and his mad grin turned him into a demon.

“Holy damn,” Leo couldn’t help but blurt out. “You’re really a savage.”

Ryan blinked in confusion at Leo’s statement. He then touched his face only to be surprised by the blood on his fingers.

“Haha,” Shesmu couldn’t help but laugh. “Seems like you really got into it.”

Looking at Shesmu’s face, Leo couldn’t help but give him an unimpressed look. “Dawg, just look at yourself. Your whole body is covered in blood!”

Shesmu looked surprised at first before looking down at his clothes. They were dyed red. It looked as if he just survived the purge.

Looking at Shesmu’s surprised expression, Leo couldn’t help but sigh and shake his head in disappointment.

“Really, you two. Are you sure you’re not twins or something? You act literally the same!”

“Hahaha,” Ryan laughed. “Well, we did both carry your ass through this run. So in that spirit, yes, we’re very similar.”

“Oy, that was a low blow!” Leo’s eyebrows scrunched.

“Hahaha, I’m just kidding. You will be useful later when we fight the boss.”

After saying those words, Ryan took the lead in exploring the cave. Looking at him from behind, both Leo and Shesmu sighed. They looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

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After exploring the cave for a few more minutes. They found another group of goblins. This time, they quickly took care of it, with Shesmu and Ryan, again, taking all the kills. They both leveled up, but Shesmu received another notification.

Iron Sword Level Up!

Oh, I forgot that low tier weapons leveled up this fast. Nice! His sword glowed golden for a few seconds before the light died down. He then used Inspect to check its new stats.

Iron Sword Rarity Iron Required Level 1 Weapon Level 2 Attack 45

Oh, a five damage increase. Not too shabby, Shesmu thought. 

“Oh, wow. My weapon leveled up!” Shesmu exclaimed, faking excitement.

“Wait, what?!” said Leo. “That's fast, I wonder why mine didn't yet.”

“Hmm, can you inspect your weapon and see if it has a weapon level?” Shesmu thought before asking.

Leo unsheathed his sword and inspected it. After a few seconds, he said, “Oh, no, it doesn't have it.”

“I guess that’s why,” Shesmu stated.

“Ohh, maybe it’s just the starting weapons that don’t have it. I can’t wait for one of these goblins to drop a good dagger for me to equip!”

Ryan’s excitement was contagious, even Leo was getting fired up.

“You’re right! Let’s continue hunting more goblins, I can’t wait for them to drop a shield and a sword for me.”

As such, the group continued their exploration through the goblin’s den. They encountered a few more squads which they killed easily before finding a worthy opponent. A vile, taller and bigger than any of the goblins they fought until now appeared. In its right hand it held a big butcher knife, on its left a small wooden shield.

Inspecting it, Shesmu found out its name.

Hobgoblin(Elite) Lv: 7

HP: 1000/1000

Behind the hobgoblin were several other smaller goblins—all level five. Shesmu glanced at Ryan. Seeing the grin plastered all over his face, Shesmu couldn’t help but smile too. His golden eyes looked straight at the Elite monster, like a predator looking at its prey.

Let’s have some fun.

Shesmu unsheathed his sword and disappeared. He immediately dashed in front of one of the goblins and slashed diagonally across its body.

Empowered Slash!

Shesmu’s sword glinted with green aura as the slash connected, performing the cancel perfectly. Blood gushed out from the vile’s chest wound like a fountain. All the while, Shesmu stepped back so as to not be circled by the other goblins.

While the monsters were focused on Shesmu, a shadow darted around in the corners, waiting for his opportunity to pounce. He didn’t have to wait for long. The moment one of the goblins broke out of formation and charged at Shesmu, Ryan appeared behind its back and claimed its life.

Not wasting the opportunity, Leo charged at the hobgoblin so as to keep hold of its aggro. Seeing him charging at it, the elite monster raised its knife to slash at him. However, Leo blocked the strike with his shield and counterattacked with a slash of his own.

The moment Leo took hold of the Hobgoblin, Shesmu and Ryan burst into action. Shesmu ran towards the goblins and thrust, slashed, and struck at them with his sword. Meanwhile, Ryan dashed behind them, claiming the life of whoever Shesmu focused with his attacks.

In no time, the small viles were all killed, leaving the hobgoblin alone. Shesmu and Ryan focused all their attacks on the latter so as to relieve the stress from Leo. After a couple of slashes, the elite monster, too, was on the floor, dead.

Empowered Slash Level Up!

Looking at his skill level up, Shesmu smiled. It did take a considerable amount of time for this skill to level up, but it finally did.

Well, with this, the boss fight would be much easier.