[Both enemies are within user’s sight.]
[Critical Eye Skill activated.]
[Critical Eye Skill activated.]
Pulling out the Eldwood stick, I eyed the two goblins eyeing me. One of them looked a bit closer, and its eyes began glowing.
[Cunning Goblin (Lv. 3) has used Analyze.]
“No need, I’ve watched enough anime in my life,” I said, dismissing the messages that I had set up to appear in my peripheral vision. Doing this allowed me to keep my eyes open as I traveled. It had only been half a day and here I was, already being attacked. The goblin who had probably seen my stats, smiled mischievously. I raised an eyebrow at the message. ‘How the hell does a tutorial ‘forget?’ Maybe it’s one of the dumb jokes it’s been telling lately.' [Cunning Goblin] [Estimate Age: 6] [Lv: 3] [Health: 20] [Mana: 31] [Stamina: 25] STR: 2 MAG: 3 AGI: 8 DEX: 4 VIT: 3 INT: 6 ACC: 6 DEF: 2 POW: 4 [Skills: ‘Huh. Not very strong, but looks like they’re fast and smart.’ They were faster than me, but with the new Arm guards I had I hoped I would be okay. “See, tutorial, this is closer to a fair fight. You should’ve told me to run from that Boar.” “Shut up.” “How about you take this stick and shove it up your—“ To accentuate my point, I had rammed the Eldwood stick upwards in a suggestive manner. Belatedly, I realized that the second, and smaller of the goblins had leapt towards me, arm raised to strike with a makeshift dagger. [Cunning Goblin has used Bound.] Both me and the goblins’ eyes widened simultaneously as we realized the trajectory of the stick and where they were jumping, but neither of us had time to react. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I watched horrifically as the end of the stick slammed brutally into the goblin’s crotch. It spat blood out of its mouth from biting its tongue, but the worst had yet to come. [Critical Mark has been hit. Dmg is being adjusted to 350%.] POP! [Estimated Health remaining: 13/20] The goblin, who only hadn’t died because I hadn’t swung the stick, dropped to the ground like a rock dropped into water, writhing in pain. Even though it only took 7 damage, getting hit there wasn’t something a man, whether human or goblin, could shake off. It was clear the other goblin felt the same sympathetic phantom pain I did, as we both held our stomachs solemnly. We gave him a moment of silence for what had clearly popped, before the other goblin screeched and ran towards me. It had clearly learned from its partner’s move, and instead stuck low to the ground as it ran to attack me from the side. [Cunning Goblin has used Slash.] [User may learn this skill if conditions are met.] The shock from a second message delayed my reaction time again, and I faltered slightly as the goblin’s poor excuse for a blade was covered in a subtle green glow, a color that matched the color of its skin underneath all the dirt and grime. The goblin swung, and I had to twist my body at an awkward angle to push the stick in between the blade and my body. The dagger sunk into the wood, and while I was worried the wood might break, I was more relieved it hadn’t sunk into my side. I had to use both my Agility and Dexterity to the max, and my body ached from pushing it to the limit. My feet were barely holding their balance, even with good positioning. Well, due to my current coordination, it was actually an incredibly awkward pose, I just knew I would’ve fallen already fallen if I hadn’t forcefully raised my DEX. However, I was soon rewarded for my action. [The user pushed past their limits and blocked an attack from a faster enemy. This achievement forcefully rose one or more stats. +1 AGI, +1 DEX] “Worth it!” I laughed, using my strength to push the goblin back. Wood chips flew in the air as chunks of the tree branch were torn free due to the exchange, but with the low Health the goblins had I could finish this easily. [New stats taking effect in 3…] Rather than wait for the countdown to be over, I rushed right in, pulling the stick back the way the goblin had when it used the Slash skill. “Tutorial, how do I do it?” ‘I swear to—‘ “H o w do I do that?” I groaned, knocking the dagger away as my AGI rose to match the goblin’s. I felt a strange feeling form in my chest. It was rather pleasant, and felt like a strong warmth that moved easily. Letting instinct take over, I directed the warmth through my arm, outputting it into the stick. I deflected two more attacks from the goblin, absentmindedly smacking the top of the stick to cause the top, about 4 inches, to fly off. The stick could’ve broken while I was blocking, which would not end well for me. A ‘ding!’ notified me it’s Defense and Attack had dropped, but I focused on shaping the mana around the stick. Then… [User has learned the Skill Slash.] It clicked, and a purple glow rushed over the stick, glowing brightly. I felt like some of the warmth had been pulled out of me, but that didn’t matter. With one swing of the stick, I struck at the goblin. It blocked the blow, but thanks to the new skill I had learned, it managed to shatter the dagger entirely. A small smirk slid onto my face at the goblin’s expression as the glow from my stick disappeared. “Analyze this, you asshat.” With another swing of the stick, I smacked the goblin’s side. [Critical Mark has been hit. Dmg has been adjusted to 350%.] BAM! The goblin’s body took off from the ground, flying horizontally towards its comrade. He still hadn’t gotten off the ground, but at least he wasn’t writhing. The flying body collided with the goblin’s rear, sending him rolling until his groin met a tree trunk with a loud THUNK. I winced, then crept over to inspect him. The poor goblin was so far gone it just stared at me with lifeless eyes, waiting for it all to be over. Immediately, I obliged. [Target in sight.] [Critical Eye Skill activated.] [Critical Mark has been hit. Dmg is adjusted to 350%.] With that last swing, I gave the smaller goblin peace at last. I bowed my head. “May you be reunited with your nuts in the afterlife,” I murmured, before popping back up on my feet, and… losing my balance. I waved my arms frantically before falling on my back. With a sigh, I got up normally, brushing myself off. “C’mon, I know it’s not 100 DEX or anything, but even with 4??” Flicking off one more piece of dirt clinging onto me, I decided to check the rewards from the messages that were slowly starting to creep into my main field of vision as more of them spawned. [User has learned Skill Slash.] [The user learned how to use Mana. Bonus: Mid combat. This achievement forcefully rose one or more stats. +2 MAG] [The user learned their first new Skill. Bonus: Mid combat. This achievement forcefully rose one or more stats. +1 INT, +1 VIT] [Obtained 10 EXP from the Cunning Goblin.] [Cunning Goblin description unlocked.] [User forcefully gained an extra 3 exp for fighting multiple enemies at once.] [Obtained Crude Dagger. (Please touch the Cunning Goblin to collect.)] [EXP: 18/50] I blinked slowly several times after reading all the messages. I had gotten several stat raises, but the EXP gain was a lot lower than with the Boar. I hadn't expected such a difference from only one level. "Tutorial, why'd I get so little EXP? I was excited for this part." I looked at the message, thinking deeply. 'That wasn't a bad answer, for once,' I thought to myself, finally finding myself happy with the tutorial. As soon as I saw the new message, I spit at it, but of course it passed right through the screen and landed near the dead goblin. With an aggravated groan, I placed my hand on the back of the corpse to receive my reward. Just like with the Boar, a transparent book appeared. This had confused me the first time, until I remembered that my Statscreen was originally called my Life Statbook. I just assumed this was the dead beast's and monsters' Statbook. "I haven't prefaced or even asked a question." [Obtained the Crude Dagger.] [Bonus reward obtained: Analyze Skillbook x3.] I blinked. "Now that's more like it!"