As it approached, he widened his stance and summoned his mana balls, getting ready for a long and hard fight. The size and shape of the creature would render his mana imbued attacks almost useless except against its head, which was four feet higher up than his own, and almost out of reach. He would have to whittle it down instead, fighting a war of attrition. Jonathan took a deep breath and leaned into the knowledge imparted to him by his martial arts Pathway skill, preparing himself physically and mentally for the fight.

The broodmother closed the last few feet with stunning speed, shaking the ground with every step. Jonathan got his hands up just in time to tank a punch to the face, an attack that sent him flying backwards, straight into the cavern wall. He let out a grunt as the air was driven from his lungs. As he had suspected, the broodmother was monstrously strong, despite its comedic form. The monster dashed in again, seeking to end the fight with another blow.

Jonathan dodged and used the cavern wall to push off, catching the monster in the lower jaw with a vicious left hook, imbued with mana. The broodmother staggered backwards, her rolls of fat lightly seared. Then she smiled at Jonathan, exposing rows of serrated fangs. Each one of those fangs was stained black with ancient blood and detritus. The monster started gagging, as if it was choking on something, and then it vomited a spray of acidic liquid at Jonathan. A few drops landed on his bare flesh, and burnt down to the bone. He hissed in agony and distanced himself from the smoking and bubbling pile of acid on the ground next to him.

Closing the distance rapidly, he ducked under two punches and began to pummel the monster rapidly in the stomach. It bent backwards at the force contained within Jonathan’s attacks, and spat up greenish blood. He backed off as it slammed its meaty arms together, trying to catch him off guard. The monster growled in rage and barreled forwards, clipping Jonathan’s shoulder with an outstretched fist. He spun with the attack, mitigating the force, and slammed his palm into the monster's back as hard as he could, dislodging vertebrae.

The thing staggered, and whirled around, suddenly unable to move its limbs as quickly. It almost fell over, but kept its balance long enough to begin building up some sort of skill. Waves of green light cascaded over its form, and then sunk into its flesh. With a muffled thump, all of the fat on its form suddenly vanished, replaced with lean muscle. The creature stood at its full height for the first time, and at over twelve feet, it was an intimidating sight. Baring those same blood stained fangs, it blurred forwards, almost faster than Jonathan could see. Without pausing once, it slashed at him with long, matted claws, tracing a line of fire across his chest. His tattered clothes gave up the ghost, and his shirt fell off him, exposing his bare chest.

The monster slashed again, but Jonathan held up one hand to block. The blow fractured his forearm, but allowed him to slam his palm into the monster’s stomach, imbuing it with mana. Without the thick cushion of fat protecting the monster from him, the skill burnt straight through, a testament to his growing control over his mana. Howling in pain, the broodmother jumped backward, with a charred hole in its abdomen. Jonathan pressed his advantage, sending his other fist hurtling into the weakened area. His fist sunk into an organ, and blood spurted out around it. The stench was nauseating, and Jonathan realized that he had broken into the creature’s stomach. Fighting in hand to hand combat was certainly a gruesome way to go, especially with his enhanced stats.

Ripping his hand out, he danced backwards as a storm of claws descended upon the area he had just been in, the monster incensed by the pain he had put it through. He could tell that the battle was almost finished, and it had been quite a bit easier than he had expected. His talent for mana manipulation was really paying dividends now. Jonathan watched as the monster faltered, trying desperately to get to him. Somewhere within its mind, it realized that its only hope was to level up, which was unlikely, even if it did kill him, based on its current level. All he had to do was wait it out. However, Jonathan was impatient, and was hungry to test himself. Instead, he charged the beast, weaving through its weakened strikes, and planted both fists into the sides of its head. A wave of mana passed between them as the mana orbs made contact with each other, and Jonathan was blasted backwards, falling into unconsciousness. All he could hear was a long, drawn out scream, which he belatedly realized was coming from himself.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Jonathan awoke to a burning pain in his left leg. One of the goblins was gnawing on it, trying to break through his skin. However, his recent acquisition of a boon was stymieing its efforts, and all it had achieved was to bloody the skin a little bit. Jonathan reached down and picked the creature up, tearing it off his leg with ease. As it writhed and clawed at the air, he felt a sudden sense of emptiness. For the first time, he doubted himself. Did he really have what it took to slaughter his way through the Infinite Hells, growing stronger off the pain and terror of his prey? Could he stomach a killstreak that would eventually become innumerable? As he contemplated his meaning within this world he realized that, yes, he could.

He needed to break free of this terrible place, if he was to ever realize his full potential.The brief glance of the real world that he had gotten, of the rolling hills and the pastoral landscape, reminded him that none of this was real. Besides, even if this was a real place, everyone here were sinners. They were all going to die anyway, and Jonathan might as well be the one to kill them. In any case, he had some notifications to look over, to distract himself from the moralistic ramblings of his brain.

You have killed a Waste Goblin Broodmother!

You have killed a Waste Goblin!(x15)

You have leveled up!(x2)

The rate of depreciation was slow, but his leveling speed was slowing down now. The thing that had put it over the edge likely had been him reaching level 10. Before that, killing such a powerful monster and its children would have given him far more power than he had gotten now. Still, it was a good boost, bringing his overall level up to level fourteen, and bringing his pot of stored stat points to 27. After the level up notification was one telling him that he had advanced in his mana manipulation skills, and he was now at Novice Rank 8. He was almost at the Student Rank, and the stat boost that would bring. Also, it was likely that he would gain a skill out of the matter, perhaps finally turning his mana ball attack into a System registered technique like the Redirection ability. The final notification was as followed.

You have completed a quest!

Babykiller:C

You have been rewarded with 10 Leviathan Marks. Talk with the Taran City guards for entry.

Ten of the dark metal coins that the guard had shown him dropped out of the air and into his palm. They were strangely warm, and had the disturbing texture of flesh, despite being made entirely out of metal. He pocketed them, and then realized that his pockets were all ruined beyond repair as the coins clinked to the ground beneath him. Sighing, he resolved himself to keep ahold of them, despite their foul texture.

Taking one last good look at the cavern, Jonathan spotted a glint of metal from the far corner, coming out of a pile of filth. Walking over to it, he recognized it as a chain. It was connected to something buried in the waste, and Jonathan plucked it out gingerly. It was an amulet, emblazoned with a strange sigil. Thirteen black stars orbited a void, inexorably heading straight into its center. Jonathan quickly scanned it.

Basic Amulet of Sarnakthros

Tier 1 Magical Item

An amulet imbued with the faith of its wearer over many decades, a small portion of energy has entered it, granting it supernatural power.

All true believers in Sarnakthros gain a minor bonus to all stats while wearing this object.

Jonathan raised an eyebrow and put the amulet on, wiping off the filth from the end. As he slipped the chain over his head, a tiny rush of power entered him. There was no change on his stat sheet, but he could feel that he had gained a minimal amount of power, perhaps equal to a single extra stat point per stat. With his new treasure, Jonathan was ready to leave the cave.