In The Pit
Once I settle down and catch my breath I gather the four daggers and the spear and shield and carry them back to my room. Then I return and though I don't want to, I cut open the spear goblin's chest to check for a beast core. Not finding one I drag the goblin corpses to the well room and toss them on the bone pile.
I return to the room to check it over one last time, I even run my hands along the walls to check for illusions. Once I'm sure the room is empty, I return to the locked door in the passageway and sit down. I take out my lockpicks and start feeling around inside the lock with them to try and figure out how to pick it.
*DING*
Congratulations! You have acquired the passive skill Lockpicking!
Lockpicking
Level 1
Agi +1
You can attempt to open a lock without a key.
My good mood at acquiring the skill disappears moments later when the lockpicks break. With a sigh I toss aside the broken picks and get back to my feet, before returning to my room I decide to go through the storeroom. I quickly sort through the piles of trash separating out any wood and piling it by the door. I am disappointed but not too surprised when I don't find anything useful other than the wood.
So I gather up an armful of wood and return to my room. After putting down the wood I update the map and then sit down to take a look at the weapons I took from the goblins. As expected all the daggers are dull and rusty so I set about cleaning and sharpening them first.
*DING*
Congratulations! Skill Repair has progressed to level 3!
Repair
Level 3
Str +3 Int +3
You can repair common items without damaging them.
When I turn to the spear I am surprised to find it isn't rusty and all I need to do is sharpen it a bit. Once that is done I take a dagger and some bone and start to carve ten sets of lockpicks.
*DING*
Congratulations! Skill Scrimshaw has progressed to level 3!
Scrimshaw
Level 3
Agi +3
You can carve normal bones into basic items.
Once the lockpicks are done I gather them up and head back to the locked door to try again. I sit down in front of the door again and begin trying to learn how to pick a lock through trial and error. I figure out from the shape of the key hole that I need to manipulate the bottom of the lock and turn it somehow.
Three broken lockpick sets later...
*DING*
Congratulations! Skill Lockpicking has progressed to level 2!
Lockpicking
Level 2
Agi +2
You can attempt to open a lock without a key.
After breaking five more sets of lockpicks...
*CLICK*
*DING*
Congratulations! Skill Lockpicking has progressed to level 3!
Lockpicking
Level 3
Agi +3
You can attempt to open a lock without a key.
"Finally!! That took forever!"
I stick the remaining two sets of picks through my belt and get to my feet. Being forewarned I close my eyes to slits before opening the door so I don't get blinded. Once my eyes adjust to the light I find myself in a very small room, a small desk, a single chair, and a small bookcase with six books greets my eyes as I look around.
My attention is immediately drawn to the books as I still know nothing about the world I have been summoned to. I grab the first book and flip it open but am disappointed to find I can't read the language the book is written in. I quickly check the other five books but they are all in the same language.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Since I can't read them I just carry the books back to my room, then I go back for the furniture. Once the room is empty I carefully check the walls for illusions, finding none. The last thing I do is reach up and take down the light stone. Returning to my room carrying the light stone I am surprised by the details I miss when using my dark sight.
Looking at the walls under the bright light I get a feel for just how ancient this place must be. I return to my room and try to sit in the chair, but I find it is too small for me and doesn't work with my legs. So I break it up into firewood and add it to the pile, then I try crouching in front of the desk but it is too low and not comfortable so it also gets added to the firewood.
Getting hungry I decide to make soup using the last of the mushrooms and wolf meat. While it is cooking I sit on the floor and open one of the books to start trying to figure out the language. It is a very slow and hard task but by the time the soup is ready I have figured out a few letters.
*DING*
Congratulations! You have acquired the craft skill Linguistics!
Linguistics
Level 1
Int +2
You can attempt to decipher other languages.
As I eat a bowl of soup I keep studying the weird letters, by the time I figure out the next letter the soup is gone. I keep at it for hours figuring out one letter at a time until I can start translating simple words.
*DING*
Congratulations! Skill Linguistics has progressed to level 2!
Linguistics
Level 2
Int +4
You can attempt to decipher other languages.
I keep at it all night and by morning I am able to read the titles of the books. They are History of the Empire I,II, and III, Basic Spellcasting, Magic Theory, and Diary of an Archmage. Once I can identify the books I switch to History of the Empire I and start reading it from the beginning. At first it takes me an hour just to read one sentence but it becomes easier and easier to understand as I go.
*DING*
Congratulations! Skill Linguistics has progressed to level 3!
Linguistics
Level 3
Int +6
You can attempt to decipher other languages.
Is it getting easier because the skill is going up or because my Int is going up? Or I guess it could be both. After reading the first chapter I decide to put the book down for a while.
I meditate for two hours and then go back to the storeroom and finish hauling the wood to my room. That done I go through my normal exercise routine and then do my weapons work. Then I pick up the spear and shield and start working with them.
*DING**DING*
Congratulations! You have acquired the combat skill Spear Basics!
Spear Basics
Level 1
Str +1 Agi +1
You do 5% extra damage with spears.
Congratulations! You have acquired the combat skill Shield Basics!
Shield Basics
Level 1
Str +1 End +1
You gain Defense +1 when using a shield.
I like the feel of the spear and shield so I decide to go with it as my main weapon for now. I attach the mace to my belt and still have two daggers on me. All set I decide to head out and explore the next passageway.
Crossing the well room everything is as I left it but not far into the new passage I see something new. It is a door and it is being guarded by two goblins. There are no turn offs before the door so this is the only way to go.
Both goblins are just armed with daggers so I decide to be a little reckless, instead of sneaking up on them I am just going to attack them openly. So I step out of the shadows and run down the hallway straight at them, I end up laughing as I run due to the look on the goblin's faces. But that doesn't stop me from spearing the one on the right and slamming into the other with the shield.
Objective: Kill Goblins 8/20
*DING**DING*
Congratulations! You have acquired the combat skill Charge!
Charge
Level 1
Str +1
When you charge into battle you do double damage on your first hit.
Congratulations! You have acquired the active skill Shield Bash!
Shield Bash
Level 1
MP Cost 5
When you bash an enemy with your shield you have a 25% chance to stun them.
I have to step on the first goblin to pull the spear free, then it is a simple matter to dispatch the second one.
Objective: Kill Goblins 9/20
I kick the goblins aside and try the door which opens, what I see inside horrifies and enrages me. There are five human women, all of whom have obviously been tortured and abused, what is worse is all of them look to be massively pregnant. They are all lying on the floor not moving and when I look closer I see that they can't, all their tendons have been cut.
Even in my old world with full medical equipment I don't think anything could be done for them, here with no way to treat them I can't do anything. Even if I could get them out of here I have nothing to use on their injuries, no way to feed them, and worse no way to end the pregnancies. I have yet to see a female goblin, which means this is probably like some of the darker manga I have read, the young goblins will eat their way out of the mother.
I hate what has been done to them and I hate even more that there is only one thing I can do for them, no way can I just walk away and leave them to suffer in the dark. As I approach the first woman she opens her mouth to say something but I can see that her tongue has been cut or ripped out. I have tears rolling down my face as I meet her eyes and hold up a dagger for her to see.
"Shh I'm not going to hurt you! I am going to end your suffering!"
She seems to understand my intent as she closes her eyes and gives me a nod. I make it as quick and painless as I possibly can before moving on to the second woman.
"I'm sorry this happened to you and I promise you, I will kill every single goblin!"
At that moment I hate myself and want nothing more than to kill everything down here then climb up the well and kill everyone in the castle. However, I can't do that until I have ended the suffering of these women and made sure the goblins have paid for what they did. Then I am going to find out how these women ended up down here and who put them here, and I will make them pay.
I remove the daggers and rope from the goblins then toss their corpses on the bone pile. The five women I carry back one by one to the hallway outside my room. I gather more bones and sit down to carve a crude shovel and pick.
*DING*
Congratulations! Skill Scrimshaw has progressed to level 4!
Scrimshaw
Level 4
Agi +4
You can carve bone into basic items.
For once the ding of the skill up doesn't make me smile. I proceed to use the new tools to dig into the dirt behind the broken wall. I wish I had more room for separate graves but one is all I can fit.
*DING*
Congratulations! Skill Mining has progressed to level 3!
Mining
Level 3
Str +3 End +1
You can attempt to mine normal ore.
"Oh shut up!"
I proceed to bury the five unfortunate women. Then I return to my room and clean myself up and have a bowl of soup. After a while I hear angry screaming echoing through the hallways which makes me smile. Then for the first time I hear goblins actively moving around. Okay, now it's my turn to hunt you. I've got some rage to share with you monsters!