“From what we’ve divined, Sammuel is no longer in this world.”
Elias rubbed his temples. It was an expected outcome yet something that he still deeply regretted. “That can’t be right. Sammuel should still be alive.”
“There were witnesses that Sammuel was alive after the battle yet… he’s stuck within such a dangerous area. It would be a miracle if he managed to survive.” Another priest wearing a more extravagant set of clothing from Gaben said. It had golden encrusted sleeves and even his miter had a touch of mysticism.
He had tried to seek the world of Sammuel’s identity yet there was one problem, he wasn’t using his own identity as of now. [Ego] had changed his attributes to one of another being. This was nothing but a mere guess of his but considering how great his blessing was, it was arrogant of him to think that Sadin and Sammuel wouldn’t gain something as absurd.
From Verim’s group not wanting to associate with the Salvo Empire’s people to the Salvo Empire putting Sammuel’s safety as a lower priority, to even Sammuel changing his identity. Small mismanaged events eventually piled up to lead at this point.
~~~
It had been an entire month since Sammuel was left on his own. Struggling to understand the world on his own, it had been a desperate journey. Everywhere he looked, he had enemies beyond what he could handle. Countless creatures far stronger than him surveyed this area, suppressing his ability to do anything.
Relying on nothing more than his ability to discern poisonous fruit and berries to survive, he persevered. Looking at how other creatures acted around certain fruits he managed to pinpoint which ones were suitable to consume.
Yet finally, after such a long time, he saw something that greatly increased his morale. It was a familiar green creature. Memories of both despair and progress surged within his mind.
[Species: Goblin
Card Quality: Colorless
Star Quality: 1 | 2/10 | EXP: 43/100%
Affinity Level: 2%
Combat Power: 0.46]
This creature didn’t hold a weapon in its hands. Sammuel didn’t immediately come out and attack it. He recalled just how these creatures worked in a group, just because one was alone didn’t mean that there weren’t any nearby.
Waiting for the opportune moment to move away, Sammuel limited his movements as much as he could. Despite not being able to make any massive progress, he had made his way to training as much as he could.
[Name: Sammuel Arthus
Ego: Goblin
Card Quality: Colorless
Star Quality: 1 | 4/10 | EXP: 23/100%
Affinity Level: 0.12%
Combat Power: 0.89]
His base power had essentially doubled. Now if he used his sword, it would be a whoppingly high 1.89. Adding on [Flowing Swordsmanship] it would have a bare minimum of 6.89, a number that would absolutely decimate these kinds of goblins.
Still, this number wasn’t even half the strength Sadin showed when he faced off against an entire army. The disparity was depressing.
His patience was rewarded with a sudden flock of goblins showing up to reinforce this solo goblin. It tried to converse the information it received in barbaric ways. Sammuel didn’t know whether it was because of his great perception or his [Ego: Goblin] but he slightly understood the body language.
“Intruders killing brothers. Fight.”
“Fight? Fight!”
“Kill!”
This scout led the twenty-man big goblin army. Sammuel saw that their Combat Power ranged from 0.38 to 1.67, with those having greater Combat Power having a stark difference from the rest.
There were only two goblins having unbelievably high Combat Power in this army but 1.54 and 1.67 was truly a number to be afraid of. This was nearly doubled what Sammuel’s [Ego: Base] was of 0.87.
The reason for this was simple.
[Card Quality: Bronze]
Instead of Colorless, it was Bronze. Such an insane increase came from the Card Quality being different. Now that Sammuel saw a way to increase his [Ego: Goblin]’s strength, he was now tempted to make his move.
Following right behind them, Sammuel lurked around. His body was light and nimble, similar to how these goblins’ bodies worked. He fit right in.
Screams and yelling could be heard from the distance. They weren’t coherent human shouts or terrifying beasts’ growls, it was the whimper of goblins dying one by one.
“Charge!” The scout that had been sent out joined in the battle.
Sammuel changed his position, trying to get a closer view of those two high-value goblins. If he could take its ego, his strength would certainly rise by bounds.
Peeking through the bushes, a three-man party was dealing with this infestation before them. It consisted of a shield bearer taking the brunt of the attacks, he had a mace on his off-hand. A swordsman that seemed to be much less experienced than the former. And lastly, a ranger, disposing of escaping enemies.
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Focusing on their most important stats, Sammuel waited.
It looked like the Combat Power of the party consisted of 2.32, 1.44, and 3.88, respectively. Samuel noticed the ranger’s eyes shift his eyes back and forth with clear accuracy.
[Decativated Eagle Eye | Fruent: 1.88]
[Status: Exhaustion | Loss Combat Power: -0.12 | Fruent: 1.76]
As the archer ran out of arrows, he had similarly deactivated his ability. There was no longer any reason to keep straining himself. Like every skill, there was a drawback. As for Fruent’s case, it appeared a very respectable +2 Combat Power was equivalent to -0.12 Combat Power for the rest of the fight.
Grabbing two small daggers from his leather belt, he prepared for close-quarters combat. He didn’t go out on his own, rather, he looked behind the party, ensuring that nothing snuck up behind them.
“Dattir, keep your blade steady! We aren’t fighting men but beasts! Clear your head! To your right!” Holding the shield in his hands, he slammed a goblin away sending it flying.
“Yessir, Sir Reath.” Dattir’s sword struck down the goblin jumping at him. He was a little inexperienced in combat but he was holding on his own. Slashing the remnants of goblin blood on his sword away, he prepared for the next creature to be slain.
They work well together. Sammuel commented. Of course, he wasn’t an expert in this, it was just based on his observation. They have a sole leader ordering the group while the others back him up. At this rate, they would be able to clear this quite easily.
The situation turned out to be as expected, this three-man group was cleaning up all the goblins with such ease. It was going quite well.
Too bad this wasn’t beneficial for Sammuel at all. Seeing that one of those two goblins he had an eye out moved in, Dattir clashed against it and was sent back. He hadn’t expected a goblin to have such immense innate strength.
Dattir’s sword flew out from his hands as he lay on his back. The goblin reached its claws out, aiming to tear Dattir’s neck apart. Reath saw Dattir fall down and acted accordingly. He took his sluggish shield and placed it in front of Dattir, stopping the goblin in its tracks.
Their amazing momentum was suddenly halted by Dattir’s incompetence. The tides quickly changed from a one-sided victory to a narrow defeat. Fruent, the ranger, closed in his area of activity, making time for Dattir to recover.
The situation was starting to look quite grim. The party was slowly encircled by far too many goblins. At this rate, they would have to pay a significant price to get out of this place alive.
Sammuel realized the severity of the situation and came out from the darkness. Fruent was the first person to notice Sammuel’s presence. His eyes truly were the ones of a ranger.
“Are you a friend or foe?” Fruent firmly yelled out. Despite being in such a grim situation, he still had the decency to understand the situation. “If you are a friend, what do you want from helping us out?”
“I want two specific goblins. Just them.” Sammuel pointed at the two goblins that had a Card Quality of Bronze. It was a long shot but it was worth a try.
“We agree! You can even take the rest of the goblins! We just want to survive.” Reath accepted these conditions. From what he observed, Sammuel might seem to be a little weak, but he was still a variable. They couldn’t see just exactly see how strong Sammuel was but they could feel it.
The privilege of understanding the numbers was only granted to outsiders. Yet the very core essence of killing others to become stronger was an inherent system of the world.
“Really?” A surprising reply. There were only a mere few goblins left which was within Sammuel’s capability.
One of the goblins that had a Bronze Card Quality rushed in at Sammuel. Taking out the rusty longsword, he immediately used what he learned.
[Flowing Swordsmanship | Gain Combat Power: +6.43 | Sammuel: 8.32]
The result was clear.
As the goblin mindlessly rushed in, it had unknowingly been swept along the flow of the battle. Before it realized what happened, its head was decapitated from its body.
[Earned 17% EXP | Star Quality EXP: 40/100%]
This goblin gave a substantially greater amount of EXP compared to a weaker version. Thinking further about it, it only made sense. Unfortunately, the goblin didn’t drop a Card. This was within expectations.
Seeing one of their own fall down, the rest of the goblins rushed in at Sammuel. Yet their numbers didn’t seem to have mattered. Letting his sword flow through the air, each swipe passed through numerous bodies. It had been a completely one-sided slaughter.
[Leveled Up | Permanently Gain Combat Power: +0.27 | Sammuel: 8.59]
[Leveled Up | Permanently Gain Combat Power: +0.34 | Sammuel: 8.93]
[Star Quality: 1 | 6/10 | EXP: 21/100%]
Each level raised his Combat Power by a great margin. Sammuel grew by an immense amount. He was a little worried about the seemingly low-level cap but he wasn’t too worried about it. There had to be ways to grow stronger.
Looking down at his spoils, not a single ego dropped. The sheer rarity of getting one made him further realize just how lucky he had been. Of course, the possibility that he couldn’t get another Card was there. He needed to test it out.
There was also [Assimilation Requirements], something that greatly piqued Sammuel’s interest. The most eye-catching [Condition] was definitely [Gain 3 Egos.] He just needed one more to fulfill the requirements.
Sammuel had turned from a seemingly unnoticeable person to a very formidable foe. With one singular skill, he essentially nearly quadrupled his base Combat Power while using his sword. A very formidable ability indeed.
[Deactivate Flowing Swordsmanship | Sammuel: 2.5]
Another beneficial effect was that it didn’t strain Sammuel’s body at all. This made it clear that not every skill was equal, there were others that was just beyond others.
Reath didn’t show any signs and merely came up to Sammuel. He had left both his mace and shield behind, showing his intent. Sammuel kindly reciprocated the act by putting his rusty sword away. He was now down to 1.5 Combat Power but this didn’t seem to be relevant in the upcoming discussion.
“I appreciate your kindness, stranger. Although I don’t have anything else to give to you, I am willing to answer any questions you may have.”
Reath noticed Sammuel’s tattered and messy appearance. That simple black cloak wasn’t able to cover everything. Sammuel awkwardly smiled and made up a lie, “I got lost.”
It was the simplest lie that Sammuel could come up with yet it was the most reasonable. He was wearing casual clothes from his original world, giving a subtle nod to him being from a faraway place. The degree of damage his clothes endured showed how rough it had been for him.
“There are two nearby cities, Aganth and Pruno. Respectively, one’s a city catered to the rich while the other caters to adventurers. Which one are you interested in traveling to?” Reath didn’t immediately assume that Sammuel was anything. Looks could be very deceiving.
“Is there one catered to the lost?” Sammuel joked.
“Aganth has many caravans connected to many trade routes. It might cost you a pretty penny but you can make your way from there.” Reath then proceeded to give Sammuel a series of directions on where he could find his way back.
When Sammuel waved his hand and left, Dattir couldn’t help but tug on Reath’s shirt.
“Why didn’t we escort him?”
“His sword might’ve been rusted but I know that symbol anywhere. He’s either a child from a branch family of a prestigious noble household or someone who killed one. As for getting lost? Don’t make me laugh. Coming out of the Plains of Divinity without a single scratch, I refuse to believe that anyone could achieve that feat.”
Fruent added on, “Getting acquainted with people of questionable origin is the fastest way of getting killed. Remember that.”