Sneaking up to each side of the doorway again, we could hear the goblins arguing in an unintelligible language, and suddenly a louder voice scared the rest of them quiet. Peeking inside the mined out room, I immediately saw 12 different goblins spread throughout the room. There were 4 archers, 4 spearmen, and 4 warriors; with half of them being Lv.3 and the other half being Lv.4. They all wore variations of hide and fur armour on their bodies, some wearing more than others, but the Lv.4 goblins were wearing at least one piece of old metal armour; and unlike the previous room, all these goblins had their weapons on them.
Drawing my attention to the back of the room, a sitting Lv.7 Hobgoblin began talking to all the goblins, and I couldn’t understand anything he was saying. The chair the hobgoblin was sitting on looked to be built from what looked like stacks of iron ore, and a few pickaxes thrust into it; and leaning right against the chair was a large curved jagged sword. Unlike the goblins, the hobgoblin was much more muscular, with a slightly darker green skin colour, and even though he was sitting down, I could tell the hobgoblin was the size of a human; and I would guess he was just under 6ft if I compared him to the 3ft tall goblins in the room. But also unlike the goblins, he wore partially damaged metal armour instead of hide and fur; with the armour being on his shoulders, forearms, chest, leg, shins, and an open face helmet on his head.
Leaning back outside the doorway, I whispered to Mako “The Boss is Lv.7, are you sure you can take it?”
“Yeah I’m sure, he’s the same colour as the Armoured Skeleton in the Tutorial, I’ll just remember that he’s probably faster and he won’t be a problem.” Mako confidently whispered.
“Okay then, just hug that wall and wait for all of them to pass you.” I whispered, preparing 4 arrows in my bow hand and 4 in my draw hand.
“Got it, and Eyes...be careful.” Mako whispered shyly.
“You too.” I replied, stepping into the middle of the doorway.
Using a 4 arrow Rapid Shot, I rapidly fired the arrows in my draw hand at the 4 unknowing goblins closest to the doorway; killing a Lv.4 Goblin Archer, a Lv.3 Goblin Spearman, a Lv.3 Goblin Warrior, and another Lv.3 Goblin Warrior with head shots. I was about to use another Rapid Shot to fire the arrows in my bow hand, but I suddenly needed to dodge incoming arrows from the goblin archers. “They reacted way faster than the other goblins did.” I thought to myself, as the hobgoblin then rose from his iron ore chair, and yelled an order at the goblins. All of the goblins in the room then grinned widely at me, and suddenly they began to charge. Running slowly back up the tunnel so the goblins would want to follow me, I looked back to see that none of them noticed Mako hugging the corner of the tunnel, and just continued to chase after me like I wanted them to. I then sensed multiple things flying towards me, but being only a meter ahead of the chasing goblins, I didn’t have the time to dodge, as I felt five objects pierce and stick into my back.
Health: 237/315
“Fuck, that hurts, but I just have to bear with it until I make it outside.” I thought, glancing behind me as we crossed the fork in the tunnel, to make sure they all followed me, and luckily they did. Continuing back to the entrance of the mine, I sped up and turned around to face the goblins, and I said to them “Here’s some pay back.” I then quickly lined up a Power Shot, and the arrow was able to slice through 3 of the goblin's necks that ran directly behind each other, and they collapsed to the ground grabbing their necks. Running into the center of the clearing, my senses felt so much clearer than they were in the mine, as the remaining 5 goblins then came out of the entrance and looked angrily towards me.
The goblins were a Lv.3 Goblin Spearman, a Lv.4 Goblin Warrior, a Lv.4 Goblin Spearman, and two Lv.3 Goblin Archer; and as they began to talk to each other and circle me, I said to them “I would feel sorry for killing you goblins, but I saw what you did to those people, to those girls.” Hearing the sound of bows firing behind me, I rolled to the side to avoid the arrows, and from a kneeling position, I returned fire with arrows in my bow hand and killed the remaining archers. With my back exposed to them, I could hear the spearmen and the warrior charging behind, but deciding to use Ranger’s Dash for the first time; my body was suddenly surrounded by a blue magic, and I found myself moving a meter forwards unbelievably quickly.
Turning to face the goblins, I saw that all their weapons were stabbed into the ground where I had been, and I found myself thinking “That was way closer than I thought, what a useful Skill that was.” Easily killing the remaining goblins with a perfectly lined up Spread Shot. Then the earlier burst of golden light erupted out of me again, and along with it the replenishing surge of power that filled my body, plus the notification.
Congratulations you have Leveled Up! All Stats have increased by 1, and you have gained 10 Available Points.
Seeing Mako’s and my own increased and full Stats flash in my peripherals, I thought to myself “How generous to bring us back to full, but I wonder if that means the Level Up can heal anything.” Also thinking, “And this time I didn’t learn a Skill, I wonder if the Skills are learnt at fixed Levels or something.” Then I shook my head, and thought “What am I doing, Mako’s still fighting the Boss alone.” Using Sprint, I depleted all of my Stamina to run back, but seeing the 3 goblins I shot with a Power Shot still alive, I quickly finished them off first, just in case.
Standing back at the doorway of the mined-out room, I saw that huge parts of Mako’s armour and clothes were torn and ripped apart, exposing her skin underneath, but surprisingly Mako looked completely fine and unharmed. “I didn’t notice Mako’s Health earlier, but she must’ve been really hurt if her armour and clothes are like that, though if she’s completely fine right now, the Level Up might really heal up anything.” I thought to myself, watching Mako slicing the hobgoblin in unarmored areas—under his arms and behind his legs.
The Boss was now bloodied all over from multiple cuts Mako already made on him, and seeing me by the doorway, Mako quickly gave me a thumbs up to let me know she was fine, so I decided to let her finish the fight alone. Actually being able to pay close attention to how Mako was attacking, moving, and dodging the Boss' reckless sword swings, I could tell she really knew how to use a sword, as she cut deeply into the Boss’ inner thigh, dropping him to his knee. But before Mako could land a finishing blow, the Boss looked unusually angrier than a second ago, as he then let out a loud forceful roar that echoed throughout the mine. The sound produced being so strong that it not only pushed Mako away from the Boss, but even slightly pushed me back. Then out of nowhere, a new message appeared.
The Dungeon Boss has become Enraged, and now deals 100% more Damage.
Standing back up even taller than before, the hobgoblin’s muscles bulged out, his veins protruded, and his mouth started to froth a little. I immediately drew an arrow and took aim, but I hesitated to shoot when I saw Mako sheathe her sword and widened her stance. Even though she whispered to herself, I could still hear her calmly say “Drawing Slash.” Her sheath and sword became enveloped in an orangey yellow aura, and as the Boss charged towards her, she moved with incredible speed; easily sidestepping the Boss’ overhead sword slash, and countering with her own slash to the Boss’ legs again, and dropping the Boss back to his knees; with a single fluid motion, Mako flicked the blood off her blade and resheathed her sword. Then without hesitation, she calmly said again “Drawing Slash.” And almost in a flash, she drew her sword right across the Boss’ neck, and sliced his head clean off.
Your Party has killed the Dungeon Boss. All the Monsters in the Dungeon have been killed. The Open Dungeon has now been cleared.
Reading through the messages, a new Title suddenly popped up and I clicked it.
You have gained the Title: [The First Dungeoneer].
The First Dungeoneer: Being the first Player(s) to clear any Dungeon, you have become stronger for it. +10 to All Stats.
“Ooo, a Stat bonus.” I thought, as Mako fell to the ground and relaxed her tense body. Walking up, I extended a hand to her and said, “You were amazing, Mako.”
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She grabbed my hand and I pulled her to her feet, and she said “Thanks, but if it wasn’t for you making me Level Up, I would’ve been a goner.”
“Yeah, It looks like it was a tough fight.” Pointing at all her shredded armour parts, and her torn clothing.
Finally realizing it herself, her face turned red, and she screamed out “Ahhh, don’t look!” As she forced me to turn around.
“You know only a bit of your stomach and shoulder are showing, right?” Not really getting what there was to be embarrassed about.
“Still Eyes, don’t look!” She insisted.
“Okay, okay, why don’t you go check on the girls on the other side and tell them that everything is gonna be alright, I'll stay here and collect the iron ore for both of our Quests.” I suggested.
“That sounds good, but there’s no way you have enough Inventory Slots, so how are you gonna carry 200 ore by yourself?” Mako asked.
“I don’t have the Slots, but my quiver does.” Patting Infinity on my back, and thinking "Actually it has infinite space."
“Okaay, I’ll trust you if you say so, but if I don’t become Master Drune’s apprentice because you didn’t collect enough, I’m gonna be super mad at you.” She said, smiling as she walked past me, as she made her way to the other side of the mine.
Unstrapping the quiver from my back, I called out “Infinity.” And the same black hole from before appeared, already sucking up the air around it. Gathering up all the iron ore from the chair and the ones I could see, I thought to myself “Is taking all this okay? Though Drune did ask Mako to get him 200, and it looks like there’s still plenty of iron veins on the wall anyway, so I guess it is; not like anyone's here to stop.” Moving around the hobgoblin’s dead body, I also thought “Usually a Dungeon gives rewards after clearing them, but I don’t remember getting any, except for the Title which doesn’t really count.” Opening my Inventory, I decided to check if there was something that I missed, but I was disappointed to see that there was nothing but the clothes I still had. “Maybe it’s dropped by the Boss.” Stopping Infinity, I took a look at the Boss’ body, but nothing stood out.
I spent the next 10 minutes gathering enough iron ore for the Quests, and gathering up all the weapons, armour, and arrows in the room. Choosing not to store the Boss’ 5ft tall sword, I picked it up, and thought “I’ll never use a sword, but maybe Mako will want it.” Reading its Stats out of curiousity.
Jagged Curve Blade
Uncommon
Attack: 60
Requirement: Lv.5, Str 25
"Seems pretty good." Deciding to carry it on my back, I remembered to collect all the eyes in the room.
You have collected the [Eyes of a Hobgoblin].
But the moment I collected the hobgoblin’s eyes, my vision changed into a golden space with floating eyeballs all around, and suddenly multiple eyeballs floated into the center. I could recognize them as the goblin eyes I already collected, and hobgoblin eyes I just collected. All the eyeballs then came together and strangely started to meld with each other, but before I could see what would happen, my vision reverted back to normal, and a new message appeared in front of me.
Collecting all the different eyes of the Goblin Species, they have combined together to become the [Eyes of Goblinkind].
Eyes of Goblinkind: With the combined greed of Goblinkind, things of value shine greatly in your eyes, regardless of direct sight of them.
“I don’t know what that golden space was, but these new eyes seem interesting, but I wonder if they’ll actually be of use to me.” I thought, reading the Seer notifications.
Seer’s Eye Collection increased by 1 Level. Eyes Of A Seer increased by 1 Level, and you now have vision of a Dungeon’s Level. Seer's Visions increased by 1 Level.
“Only Eyes Of A Seer gained something this time, but didn’t Visions say I could see the past of the eyes I collected, so why haven’t I seen any yet? Are the chances of the Skill happening really that low?” I questioned myself, and seeing that I missed a lot of Skill notifications, I just opened the Skills Menu to see everything.
Skills
[Sort]
Class Actives: [Power Shot Lv.3], [Rapid Shot Lv.3], [Spread Shot Lv.3], [Twin Arrow Lv.3], [Turning Arrow Lv.2], [Ranger’s Dash Lv.1] Class Passive: None Subclass Active: None Subclass Passives: [Eyes Of A Seer Lv.3], [Seer’s Eye Collection(38) Lv.3] [Seer's Visions Lv.3] Active: [Sprint Lv.3] Passives: [Dodge Lv.2], [Fitness Lv.3], [Sneak Lv.2], [Perception Lv.2] Racial Passives: [Elven Physiology Lv.Max] [Keen-Sighted Lv.Max] Weapon Proficiency: [Archery Lv.15]
Closing the Menu, I was about to leave the room, when something shiny in the corner of my eye stopped me. “What’s that?” I asked myself, seeing something shiny in the Boss’ right middle finger. Kneeling down to get a good look at the shine, I saw a ring entirely encrusted and covered in dirt that I completely looked past when I looked over the Boss the first time. Removing the ring from the finger, that Stats for it popped up.
Ring of Strength
Uncommon
+20 Strength
Requirement: Lv.5
“Woah, I would've missed you.” I said to the ring. “That shine must’ve been my new eyes, but if that was the shine without the eyes, I wonder how much you shine with the eyes.” Deciding to switch to the Eyes of Goblinkind, I instantly regretted it, as it was almost like the reflecting sunlight from a metal surface shined directly into my eyes. “What the hell is that!” I panicked to myself, quickly switching back to the Eyes of a Wood Elf. “Okay note to self, never use those again.” Pocketing the ring for now, I made my way to the other side.
Regrouping with Mako, I asked her “Do you want this sword and this ring?” Presenting both of them to her.
“Hmmm...I’ll take the sword, I have a plans for it.” She said, grabbing the sword from me, and carrying it on her back. “You can keep the ring, you deserve an item too.” Then she bursted out laughing and pointing at my back. "I can't believe I didn't see those earlier!"
“Huh? What are you laughing for?” Trying to see what she was laughing at.
“Here let me show you.” As I felt her rip out 5 objects out of my back, and it made me lose 24 Health.
“Owww! Mako!” I shouted out in pain.
Walking back in front of me, she showed me 3 arrows, a spear, and sword. Laughing to herself, Mako said “I can’t believe you were walking with these stuck in your back.”
“Ohhh, these must’ve been what hit me earlier.” Storing them in Infinity too. “Thanks, Mako.” Putting on the ring on my left middle finger.
“No problem, but what are we gonna do about the girls? I was able to find them relatively clean boots, but they still don’t have clothes, and the clothes in this room are either ripped or soaked in a lot of blood.” Mako explained.
Approaching the girls who covered themselves up with my cloak, I could see that they were actually more like young women. One was a tan skin Human covered in dirt marks, who had longish messy brown hair; and the other a pale skin Dwarf who was also covered in dirt marks, but had short messy auburn hair. Kneeling down to their level, I tried my best to give them the warmest smile I could. I then softly spoke to them, “I don’t have enough clothes for the both of you, but maybe this shirt will be big enough to cover the Dwarven woman, and the pants and the cloak being enough for the Human woman.” As I took out my shirt and my sweats from my Inventory and handed it to them.
Leaving so they could change in private, Mako stayed behind to help them. While they did that, I collected the remaining eyes, weapons, armour, and arrows; from the goblins I killed outside, as I saw the sun was now completely set. After a few minutes of waiting, they all came out of the mine. The shirt was big enough to be a dress for the Dwarf woman, and the sweats were fully tightened by the strings, with the cloak covering the top of the Human woman. Mako gave me an okay sign with her hands, and we started to make our way back to town.