The next day was sunny, but not extremely hot. The sunlight poured onto both Lisbeth’s face and Rune’s raven black helm. At least for him, he didn’t have to squint to see. Just another advantage of being Cursed Armor.
Lisbeth opened her eyes to find a blindingly bright lights shining in her face. She shielded her eyes from the sun in the sky and slowly got up, yawning. She felt tired and was in a considerable amount of pain after the beating she had received from the Goblins the day before.
She slowly looked around to find that Rune was sitting on a wooden log, scraping some bloody pieces of meat off of a bone. He was using his fingers to shred the meat and pluck it off like it was meat on a kebab.
She started to looked away only to find that there was a large pile of bones to his right and flesh to his left. She had started to feel queasy when Rune turned to look at her. She could see blood dripping down his armor, helm, gauntlets, and all, and none of it seemed to stain him. She tried to cover her mouth as best she could with a paw, but threw up the second the smell hit her.
She couldn’t see him too well in the night before, but now she saw that the armor he had inhabited was extremely intimidating. To her, he seemed like something that would appear on the battlefield only to cut down friend and foe alike. He was like the incarnation of death.
To Rune, however, he just thought that his armor looked cool and was glad that it was both sturdy and deadly. He wasn’t naive enough to think that he was something that others could fear as there were things far more powerful than he.
He had turned back to rending the flesh and muscles off of the bones and was focused on making sure that there was as little of the stinky meat on it as possible. While it was not widely known amongst civilians, adventurers and monsters both knew that Goblin meat was one of the nastiest, most disgusting things of all time.
Even a wolf had second doubts about eating it because of their heightened senses of smell. But still, they ate because there was nothing less powerful than Goblins other than Giant Rats, in terms of monsters, and they could only be found in their small tunnels or in the cities.
She was still not used to him talking to her through telepathy, but it wasn’t as uncomfortable as it was when they first conversed. He was using telepathy while continuing his gruesome work.
Lisbeth gulped as she turned to look at the pile, using all her strength to not vomit. She was, however, hungry and approached the meat at a slow pace before stopping in front of it. Then she hovered her paw over the pile and started to cook it.
The lightning started to heat it up and the red meat turned grey while making a smell like charred pork that was rotting. When it had total turned grey, she cautiously opened her maw and took a nibble. It tasted awful.
In the meantime, Rune was working on cleaning the bones of the goblins. He found out that he absorb them and they increased his Endurance and his [Harden] skill. Once he found out, he started to absorb them one after another, but found that they worked better without the flesh on them.
On top of this discovery, he found that they each had multiple, but not many, small crystals in each of them which contained magic with different attributes. There was red for fire, white for wind, yellow for lightning, light blue for ice, navy for water, brown for earth, black for darkness, green for healing, and a glowing, bright yellow for light. He started to absorb these to find that his magic increased and he gained what seemed like basic spells which leveled up.
He had gained [Shocking Grasp], [Heal], [Fireball], [Ice Dagger], [Wind Strike], [Water Sphere], [Earthen Wall], and [Blindness]. He already had the spell [Light]. These seemed to be the only spell he could get from absorbing the small crystals. If he wanted to get more spells, he would likely have to absorb better things or learn them from experienced magic users.
When he was finished absorbing the crystals and the bones, he turned towards Lisbeth. She was gagging, but she still ate the goblin meat like a ravenous, wild beast. After several more minutes, she stopped and looked back at Rune. He could see that her eyes were tearing up and that she was still on the verge of vomiting.
<...Ok.>
She seemed to sniffle a bit and was holding back tears. She had still not gotten over the fact that she had died, went into a weak wolf’s body, and was about to die by Goblins.
They started to walk through the forest while Rune was looking over the map. He saw that everyone had gotten into groups of two or three already and seemed to be moving somewhat quickly towards a lake-like splotch on the map. Rune had already started walking in that direction. The lake on the map was near the center of the country they were on. It was at the intersection of the forest, mountain and desert, but the dark lands was behind the desert.
While they were walking, they encountered 23 Goblins which they killed quickly as well as three Ogres along the way. Rune had become level 5 and Lisbeth was 4. Rune had [Absorb] rank up to [High Absorb] and Lisbeth gained [Pounce] and [Stealth].
The Ogres proved much harder to kill than the Goblins. However, they were able to trick them into walking underneath the tree branch Rune had stood on and he pounced on them. They were slow, but powerful. A single hit would have likely either crippled Lisbeth or dented Rune.
Rune was able to take his gauntlets and gouge out their flesh, one at a time, until he saw and pulled out their spinal columns.
By the time they reached the lake, it was nighttime and he could only see water and the beach that he was on. He looked around, but could not find another soul other than himself and Lisbeth. He checked the map to find that three of their classmates were coming to their location quickly.
She didn’t have to think about it for a second. Lisbeth was actually in the same group of friends as Brittany and they were actually quite good friends themselves. She also seemed to like thinking about what happened pre death than post death.
She seemed taken aback by the question as she had thought that she was one of the popular kids, which she was. Barely anyone in the school didn’t know who she was. However, Rune was just at school because he was forced to go so he didn’t focus much on people other than teachers, occasionally, and his friends.
Lisbeth took both paws and seemed to slap her cheeks to get herself psyched up. She was about to see one of her best friends since they were grenaded.
A large shadow appeared over the two of them and it blocked out both moons. The two of them stopped staring at the lake and daydreaming and looked up. They could see a large bird in the sky. In one of its claws was a large lizard with eight legs that looked like an ant compared to the colossal bird. The Basilisk seemed to notice the two of them and started to thrash in the Roc’s grasp.
The Roc turned its head towards them and slowed down and descended towards them. It landed on the ground and covered several trees in its shadow and the Basilisk came out of its hold. A Bryad slid down the Roc’s back and landed on the ground with vines sprouting from the terrain to act as her cushion.
The Dryad approached them. She wore green and brown clothes covering her body and her hair was black with light green highlights. In every aspect was she beautiful and she started to speak in an elegant voice.
“Hello! Is that you Lisbeth? Here. I am the party leader. Let’s join parties!”
It seemed like she was the only one out of the five present who could speak. If there was no one who could have spoken, they could have just written in the sand, but this was far more convenient.
She raised her hand and pressed an icon in her vision, then a notification came up to the right of Rune’s vision. He clicked on it an accepted the invite.
Lisbeth shouted using telepathy to talk to the entire group and she bounded up to Brittany and jumped into her arms. Lisbeth was small enough to fit and be carried in another person’s arms. Brittany turned to Rune and thanked him.
“Thank you for taking care of Lisbeth! I know that she needs protection most of the time. If I may ask, what is your level and special skill?”
“Mine is level 3 and I have [Automatic Regeneration]. My boyfriend, Ari, has [Carry Weight] which lets him carry ten times his weight and he is level 4. Ian is level 3 and has [Analyze] which, I assume, needs no explanation.”
There was a pause as Brittany seemed to wait for Rune to say something. Realizing that she was waiting for him to talk, he hastily started to speak.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Well I don’t know when the others are coming, but I know that I followed where Stella was going.”
At that time, a black panther with six legs and tentacles coming from its head arrived in the shadows and a bright, red and green colored serpent with white wings appeared. Then Brittany invited them into the party.
It was Orion, the Displacer Beast, and Riley, the Couatl. They started to talk to the others and Rune turned towards the lake. He was still waiting for his friend, Tyler, who had become a Bone Devil.
Rune knew what he was probably going to look like due to his extensive knowledge in Dungeons and Dragons, but also because the name, Bone Devil, would likely convey the idea that he was a devil creature who is either comprised of bones or looks like bones.
The gods who had created the world had actually transferred some information of the world, monsters and such, into the minds of a handful of Humans on Earth. Those Humans created lore and monsters and, eventually, Dungeons and Dragons was one of the final products of this information. That was why Arborea was so similar to Dungeons and Dragons, but it seemed like Rune was the only one who actually knew about D & D because he had watched some people play it on youtube.
Getting impatient, Rune opened his map to check on how the others were doing to get to their location.
It seemed like the others were still a bit of ways away and he still had some questions to ask the others. He looked around to see a group of monsters that had a friendly aura around them despite their scary features. If any human came across this scene, they would probably run or call for help. After all, this was a meeting for some evil looking monsters.
It was Orion who spoke to him while waving a paw. It seemed that no one wanted to try and build a camp to be safe or to be warm. Actually, most of the classmates gathered didn’t actually need warmth and most monsters would steer clear of some.
To most others, it seemed that Rune was being paranoid. However, his thoughts were that, if a monster more powerful than them were to come, they would all likely die.
After he used his telepathy, Orion turned around and Rune could see his pair of tentacles waving behind him. It was just like in class where the popular students would talk amongst each other and they would fool around without a care in the world. But this world was not Earth. It was Arborea and, unlike Earth, you had to be aware of your surroundings or you would die.
Rune turned away and walked into the forest. He wanted to pass the time until everyone else came, or at least Tyler, by gaining experience points. He pushed past several shrubs until the group was out of his line of sight. He started to stretch out of habit and stopped.
He looked left, then right and started to cast some magic. It was [Earthen Wall] which he cast underneath him. It was more like a column than a wall, but that was what Rune had thought of when casting the spell. It was only a meter in diameter, but he managed not to fall off.
He rose up into the air and was suddenly higher than the trees. After regaining his balance, he squatted down and peered over the treetops. His gaze fell upon five small billows of smoke which dispersed right after they passed over the canopy.
Must be something that I can kill...
With a little hesitation, he jumped down and created a large impact in the ground. As soon as he touched the ground, his feet twisted and he fell on his helmet. He turned himself over and peered down at his feet while thinking to himself, I don't want to do that again.
After turning his feet back into position, he slowly stood up and climbed out of the small crater. Some birds and small animals had heard him crash and fled the scene. Carefully pushing past the brush and shrubs to not make a noise, the fire came into full view.
He quickly crouched down into the bushes. Making as little sound as possible, he peeked out and watched his prey, thinking about the best way to kill them.
He saw Goblins. Enough Gobins to be considered a small army. They were bickering amongst each other and were eating strange looking meat which seemed like the same ones that Rune had in his storage.
He was looking at a single Goblin in particular. This Goblin was sitting on a throne made of, what looked like, animal bones. This Goblin was larger than the rest and more muscular. His body was covered in blue tattoos that seemed to move on his body. He held a staff in his hand and was ordering his Goblin subordinates around.
The Goblins moved at his every beck and call. He seemed to be the king of these Goblins and that was what he was going to call him. This strange Goblin even carried an air about him that made the others fear him.
Rune was watching and waiting for the perfect time to strike when his opportunity arose. The Goblin King hopped down from his throne and stumbled into a tent made of animal pelts and bones. Two Goblins followed behind him carrying shiny, sharp swords.
Of course, Rune had no idea what the Goblin King was doing, but decided that this would be the best time to strike. After all, the big boss of these small fry had left, even if only for a moment.
Rune scanned the area and planned his route. He saw a Goblin making his way near him and it stopped just in front of him as if it was guarding. It stood as if it was asking to be stealth killed, like all the unsuspecting enemies in stealth video games.
As quickly as a cheetah, Rune swiftly grabbed its face and pulled it into the bushes before tearing its head free of its body. When he had grabbed its face, he held it a little too hard causing its jaws to break and its eyes to explode. Wrenching off the head was an easy task after that.
Rune tossed most of the corpse aside, absorbing some fingers and a mashed eye, and moved around the camp. Now, he was planning on killing the entire camp and not letting a single one live.
Along the way, he snapped the necks of Goblins left and right until the outer ring was cleared. It sounded like tough work, but, for him, it really wasn’t. He was having fun murdering all the evil beings as well as taking their things and absorbing them.
One Goblin moved towards the border of the camp, likely looking for the Goblins that disappeared. Behind him, a pair of Goblins lazily watched him as he made his way over. Unfortunately for this trio, their lives would end in the next few seconds.
Even though he was going to the camp border, the Goblin would not find any of his friends because that was when Rune started an all out frontal assault. The Goblin heard a sound like a dart going through the air and his head came clean off in the next second followed by a shortsword embedding itself in the ground.
Rune had thrown one of the shortswords a Goblin had wielded before. The swords were taken from killed adventurers and they were made to be held by not Goblins, but by people like Rune.
Running past the beheaded Goblin, he could see that blood poured from its stump as it tumbled into the ground. He quickly cast [Fireball] twice and blew up the pair of goblins’ heads. They couldn’t react in time for they were in shock of seeing one of their own die.
They exploded in fiery gore as they crumpled to the ground and lay still. Their features now unrecognizable to anyone who looked at them. Rune ran to the thrown shortsword and drew it from the soil. Even though he had equipped himself with multiple swords, he wanted every blade he could get as he didn’t know how strong the Goblin King was.
Several Goblins spotted him as he ran towards the tent the Goblin King was in, but only two Goblins moved from the tent to intercept him. The rest of them were scared of him as they saw three of their dead comrades behind him.
He cast [Light] and a shining ball of light blinded the twenty or so Goblins around him. Rune pushed past them and three goblins found that their hearts had been gouged out in one fell swoop.
They grasped their chests, now void of hearts, and their bodies started to convulse before going limp. The other Goblins were still blinded as Rune reached the tent. He was about to enter when he was hit back and was sent into a trio of Goblins.
That trio had an unfortunate end when he landed on their necks and crushed their windpipes. Gagging on blood and bones, the Goblins let loose one last cough and died. Their spinal columns crushed and their windpipes pulverized.
He looked up to see a green humanoid looking down on him holding two large cleavers. It grunted as it readied its dual blades and seemed about to charge at any second.
Using [Frozen Touch], Rune quickly froze the three goblins he landed on and stood on them to face the goblin king. Even if he hadn’t done that, he still would have been taller than him.
Holding only a shortsword that was broken beyond repair and weapons that were broken in the first attack, things seemed like they would be in the goblin king's favor, but it wasn't. In fact, right as the goblin king charged, Rune cast blindness and the goblin king fumbled into the ground.
The Goblin King was starting to stand when three daggers made of ice were thrust into its throat, heart, and head. He was bleeding terrible and had tried to get up again, but caused even more blood to seep into dirt and it collapsed onto the ground.
Suddenly, rising to its feet, it roared. One last resistance. Goblins surrounding the two closed in on them and the Goblin King seemed to smile an evil smile. However, that was going to be its last smile.
Rune plunged two bent swords into its eyes, on each, and it kneeled on the ground. Not out of choice, but because it was was dead. Removing the weapons from its face, the king fell to the ground and the rest of the Goblins took a step back.
I would have thought that it would be harder to kill something of this magnitude, but I guess it wasn't. How disappointing... Well, time to kill the rest.
Rune grabbed the dual cleavers the goblin king had in its grasp and he faced the rest of the Goblins. They looked at one another before turning right around to try and avoid his wrath.
Several of them tried to run, but he quickly caught up to them and dismembered them quickly with a single slash. Then he turned towards the rest who started to throw down their weapons and prostrated themselves on the ground.
Instead of pity or mercy, Rune took this time to cast [Water Sphere] and engulfed them in water and started to use [Shocking Grasp]. They started to convulse in the liquid as they drowned and then stopped moving after several moments. Rune dispelled the magic and started to loot everything they had of value. Additionally, he absorbed some Goblin bones and flesh.
To him, Rune thought that he was doing nothing except gaining loot and experience points, like other adventurers, but, to Goblins, he probably looked like an evil god of chaos and slaughter. Well, they would if there were any left to tell the tale, but he had massacred all of them. He didn't leave a single trace of life within the camp.
It hadn’t taken too long to delete all life in the camp, but, in that time, the rest of the class may have reached the meeting point. He turned back towards the way he had come.
He checked his map to find that everyone except three groups had gotten together on the beach. He still had some time and he started to take the undamaged swords and put them in his magic storage unit. Then he took magic crystals and shoved them in the storage for later and he took the cleavers, the bones, the blue dye, and the clothes of the goblin king and had either absorbed them or put them into his storage which became [Greater Storage] due to how much raw material was shoved into it.
As he was finishing up, he saw that there were two groups left, but they were moving at a quick pace to reach the meeting point. Quickly, he clicked off of the map and sheathed his new cleavers.
He looked around to check that he took everything he could or wanted to take and he raced to the beach. With one cleaver on his left waist and one on his back, he reached the group.
He had managed to get back through the same path he had come from, but more quickly. The branches were broken and path trodden which made it much easier to walk through.
Walking to the beach, he looked around. It was still nighttime, but it seemed like it was past midnight. Both of the moons had already reached their apex and were moving across the sky to let the sun, or whatever the star was called, move in their place.
Looking back from the sky, he saw that everyone had now met up and a Banshee was hovering in front of the crowd. It was Miss Erryn Smithe who was the teacher of the math class. She looked anxious, but determined.
In the crowd in front of her, monsters of all sorts stood or sat and they looked up at her. Some were talking to their friends and some were trying to not think about their deaths.
The class awaited her words as she opened her mouth several times to speak up, but it seemed that she couldn’t find the right words to speak. She remembered how everyone in the class had died due to some grenades and she herself recalled how the shrapnel felt. And so, with many thoughts in her mind, she used telepathy to speak to the class.