I didn’t take more than thirty steps before a humanoid figure burst through the sand less than a meter from me. An instant before the figure covered the distance a ting~ rang out and time froze.
If you really want to there is a system-assist option, but people who don’t use it will have a massive advantage over those who do! Anyway, you are fighting your first enemy! Normally people would get rabbits or mice, but considering your luck and the tutorial difficulty you have attracted a level 17 desert goblin! Well, what appears to be one at least… Anyway~ Good luck~> THe world unfroze a second later and the goblin swung a shimmering dagger at my side. Stepping back I thrust the blunt end of raphael into the goblin’s armpit, lifting it off the ground but only managing to bruise the thing. Before the goblin regained its footing I swept Raphael towards its neck, hurriedly the goblin defended with its dagger but couldn’t stop the blade and was smacked to the side. Raphael barely cut its muscle, I growled in annoyance and sharpened my focus, and promptly stepped back to avoid a whistling arrow. Two more goblins burst from the sand behind me, spears pointed at my back twirling Raphael I knocked the spears aside and thrust her blade into the throat of the left goblin, the after images following a moment later and cutting to the goblins spine. Hearing the stretch of a bow I hurriedly shifted my entire body to the side, an arrow scratching my leg before burying itself in the sand. >You have been poisoned< I cursed and deflected the spear and dagger of the two close-combat goblins while my ears picked up the subtle guttural chant riding on the desert breeze. Cursing again I desummoned Raphael and brought out Ariel, the switch startling the goblins and allowing me to score a gash across the dagger-goblins cheek as it tried to duck. Continuing my flow I attacked the spear goblin, knocking its spear to the outside and swinging Ariel into the back of its neck, cutting halfway through before stopping. With a roar I felt heat and light approaching from behind while Ariel was still stuck in the damn things neck. Jumping forward into a roll I swung Ariel with goblin corpse attached to it, the goblin detaching from the blade and taking the explosive fireball head on, but the shockwave still caused me to roll in the cool sand. Twang~ I pushed myself off the ground in a hurry, but an arrow still managed to scrape the side of my neck, the area starting to tingle and burn from poison. The dagger-goblin came charging in silently, in response I switched Ariel who was lightly buried in the sand with Raphael and thrust forward, catching the goblin in the chest with a Clang~ and grit my teeth, so they have metal armor underneath their rags, shit. Luckily my blow knocked the breath out of the goblin so I dug my feet in and thrust Raphael into its throat, ending its life. Twang~ “Guh-” An arrow thocked into my gut, driving the breath out of me. Gritting my teeth I glimpsed the two goblins under the sand, jumping to the side I dodged another arrow, while the one in my gut twisted in agony, ignoring it I bolted forward. The goblin mage stood from the sand with his hands angrily spread towards me, and promptly finished its chant. Blue light shot from his hands and the sand around me started to twist, my foot sinking slightly, Shit “Fuck!” “look out!”, I rolled forward, barely missing the section that became quicksand. Coming upright I threw Raphael like a spear at the archer catching it in the gut due to his surprise while his arrow missed me by a wide margin. Bringing out Ariel I covered the distance between me and the mage, who remained calm and chanting while withdrawing a dagger from its dusty robes. I swung towards its neck and the goblin prepared the dagger to defend, but I then forcibly brought my blade lower and caught the goblin in the waist, Ariel slicing through its robes and causing the goblins chanting to interrupt as it grit its yellowing teeth in pain. The goblin then tried to chuck the dagger at my face, which I tilted my head to avoid but still got a cut on my ear that promptly started burning. Withdrawing Ariel I slashed at the goblin’s throat, severing it and ending its life in a gurgle. Panting from the burning spreading through my body I gripped the mages robes and pulled him over to the archer, then promptly searched them both and managed to find a bottle with the word ‘antidote’ written on the cap; which I promptly uncorked and drank. >You have been cured of poison< Slowly the burning faded away and left only sore pain. Desummoning Raphael and Ariel I searched the Archer again and came across a skinning knife, which I promptly used to undelicately cut the barbed arrow out of my gut. Luckily it wasn’t too deep, though I should probably stop the bleeding. “Yeah, we definitely want to do that.” Luckily it appears the archer had a roll of cloth in a container to keep sand from getting in, along with two canteens of water that I could use to wash out my wound. After patching myself up I stood, *ting~ You have defeated a level 17 desert goblin [Assassin], level 18 desert goblin [Spearman], level 17 desert goblin [Spearman], level 19 desert goblin [Archer], and a level 21 desert goblin [Mage(fire/Earth)] You have leveled up twice! You have gained the skill Polearm Mastery Beginner Lv1 You have gained the skill Sword Mastery Beginner Lv1 You have gained the skill Auditory Perception Beginner Lv1 You have gained the skill First-Aid Beginner Lv1 You have gained 15% Familiarity with Ariel and Raphael Blinking after the message finished I looked around the Archer and spotted a few coins dropped in the sand “loot!”. I twitched at the voice in my head, promptly ignored it then checked the rest of the corpses. Besides taking all their weapons and spare food I also found a dozen or so silver along with two items. Desert Leather Boots - D Class (Level 15) Type: Foot Armor Base Defense: 23 - 40 Sand-less A type of boot made for trekking through vast expanses of sand without the need to empty them. Sand will not gather in these boots. Desert Tent - C Class (Level 22) Type: Temporary Shelter Base Defense: 100 - 105 Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. Sand-less | Wind-Resistant | Light Resistant | Camouflage A tent made for having shelter in the desert against sandstorms and the bright glare of the sun while being hidden against monsters and the like. Sand will not naturally gather in this tent, and will fall out when it is folded up. Wind will not penetrate the tent. Damaging light will not penetrate the tent. There is a 70% chance for enemies of the same level to pass by this tent without noticing. “Oh thank god! I don’t think I can stand these tiny grains biting my feet!” A feminine girl cried with relief; “Haaa…” Another woman sighed in content, then giggled “I’m just glad to sink my blades into the goblins unworthy flesh~” My eyebrow twitched, The voices are going to take some getting used to. “Hey! What do you mean by that~” The woman teased, and the girl sniffed disdainfully, “Without me you two wouldn’t be able to do anything.” I sighed and equipped the boots while placing the tent in my inventory. I also had about twenty rations the goblins had been storing on themselves along with five water canteens that were about half-full. The girl seemed to frown, “Couldn’t they have left us a bit more water? Pathetic creatures.” Then the woman giggled curiously as I glanced at a corpse, “I wonder if their blood would serve as nourishment?” ...Maybe in emergencies. “Aw, why are you so hesitant?” She chimed while mentally sprawling out in my head. The girl sniffed disdainfully again, “Why would you even think of us stooping so low to drink from such peasant bodies?” “Because it might taste good~ After all…” She shivered in ecstasy, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin, “Killing them is so delicious without even tasting them~” The girl snorted, “We were merely putting them in their place. Though I think they should have suffered more since they attacked us.” She directed the last at me, as if reprimanding my behavior. Meanwhile I was starting to trudge through the softly glowing desert again, incase of emergencies I put a goblin corpse in my inventory, but that would only be if I couldn’t find other food and ran out. Curiously I opened up my status. ~ Ijus Corona ~ Level: 2 Health: 354.8 Mana: 348.32 General Info Race: Half Dragon (white) / Half Nymph (Wind) Class: SubClass: Profession: Primary Role: Rogue Secondary Role: General Status Str: 26 Con: 25 Agl: 46 Spt: 26 Mnd: 26 Dex: 47 Chr: 35 Luk: 37 General Affinities Light: 210% Dark: 50% Air: 210% Earth: 52% Water: 52% Fire: 52% Qualities Unlikely Boons ADHD Monstrous Growth Rich Man's Charm Subs or Dubs? Slothful Master Godly Artisan Multiple Personality Disorder Proficiencies Light Magic (Expert) One-Hand Straight Shortsword (A) Chain Weapons (A) Wind Magic (A) Axe-Blade Polearm (A) Hand or Fist Weapons (A) Two-Handed Curved Sword (A) Blunt Staves (A) Magic Amulet (A) One-Handed Curved Sword (A) Spears (A) Survival (A) One-Hand Curved Shortsword (A) Throwing Blades & Darts (A) Blacksmithing (A) Enchanting (A) Tailoring (A) Skills Polearm Mastery Beginner Lv1 Sword Mastery Beginner Lv1 First Aid Beginner Lv1 Auditory Perception Beginner Lv1 Traits {Racial} Dragon Breath (Lesser) {Racial} Nymph's Grace (Lesser) Perks Advanced Race Ethereal eyes Martial Artist's Soul Mercantile Prodigy S-Class soul forged weapon S-Class soul forged weapon Silver-Tongued I sighed, I increased by about 10 in every stat. Just a tad overpowered. “Of course,” The girl snorted, “It is only right that we do so.” Meanwhile the woman seemed to be salivating, “Bigger monsters will come right? We can make them bleed right!?” Rubbing the bridge of my nose I summoned Raphael and continued walking while the two in my head talked about whether putting large monsters under our feet or slaughtering them is better.