After ten or so minutes of walking, I finally find what I’m looking for. Goblins! But just as I saw the goblins, they saw me as well. So, I would unfortunately have to fight them head on, no sneak attacks for me!
“GRK AAAAAARHH” The two goblins gave out battle cries and rushed towards me. Their battle cry was surprisingly pathetic, their height didn’t help either, standing at 140cm tall, I couldn’t help but smirk.
The snapping of twigs reminded me of the goblins rushing towards me, so, quickly unsheathing my dagger, I took a deep breath and took a stance. As the goblins arrived close to me, one of the goblins wielding a dagger stabbed towards my thigh, and the other, wielding wooden pike, stabbed it towards my throat.
It wasn’t a bad strategy, but it wasn’t good either. I swiftly parried the dagger and, after dodging the wooden pike, I slashed the face of the dagger wielding goblin, making it blind. The dagger wielding goblin who was now blind, fell to the ground and screamed in pain while holding its face.
The pike goblin looked towards the goblin on the ground, then looked at me, and then back towards the goblin screaming in pain. Then quickly turned around and started running, but it didn’t get far, as I pounced onto it and stabbed my dagger through the back of its head.
After patting away the dirt on my clothes, I turned the goblin around and cut into its torso. I carefully cracked open the goblins ribcage and grabbed its heart. Pulling out the heart, I carefully inspected it and finally found what I was looking for, a mana core.
All living beings had cores; humans included. Whether one used mana, qi or any other mana, a core, or in some rare cases, multiple cores would form at birth. One could of course get multiple cores through hard work, but not many would get more than one even after tens of years.
The core in my hand contained barely any mana, but could be used for alchemy, enchanting, and various other things. But for me, I’m grabbing it as proof of my kill. Putting it in my bag, I quickly did the same with the other goblin.
Now I only had 48 more goblins to kill..
..
Its been four hours, yet I have only found thirty goblins, of which I slayed. But after eliminating thirty, I no longer found any more goblins.
So, I’ve decided to enter the middle section of the forest.
It didn’t take long for me to encounter a hobgoblin, Luckily for me, it hadn’t noticed me. So I stealthily approached it. With its back turned to me, I made easy work of with by grabbing its head from behind and repeatedly stabbing its neck.
Unfortunately, during the scuffle with the hobgoblin, my pinky finger had accidentally entered its mouth. It had taken the opportunity and bit off my finger using its sharp teeth. After thirty more seconds of fighting, It finally died.
While panting, I looked at where my finger had previously been, only to be reminded that I had a pseudo epic skill that enhanced my regeneration. My finger was growing out within seconds, and as I kept staring, I saw the bone being constructed out of thin air, then came the blood vessels and flesh.
When it had finished growing out, only ten seconds had passed. Inspecting my finger, I found that the skin was bright pink, but other than that, it was as if I’d never lost it in the first place.
While I was in the middle of butchering the hobgoblin, I suddenly felt a sharp pain, and breathing became extremely difficult. Touching my throat, I found an arrow. Before I could register what was happening, I felt another arrow penetrate my skull and I was met by darkness.
…
[New Skill: Tough Skin (T1 – Rare) Gained]
[Heightened Regeneration Lv6 – Heightened Regeneration Lv8]
[Pain Tolerance Lv24 à Pain Tolerance Lv26]
[Skill: Pain Tolerance Lv26 Tier 1 has been upgraded to à Tier 2]
[Dagger Mastery Lv5 à Dagger Mastery Lv8]
[Sneak Lv9 à Sneak Lv10]
___
Name: Jack Krileton.
Age: 24
Rank: Peak Two-Star.
Body: [F] – Mind: [F+] – Soul: [F+] – Energy: [F]
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Title(s): Time-Looper, He Who Experienced Death.
Skills: [Heightened Regeneration Lv8 (T1-Pseudo-Epic)] – [Tough Skin Lv1 (T1-Rare)] – [Pain Tolerance Lv26 (T2-Uncommon)] – [Poison Tolerance Lv6 (T1-Uncommon)] – [Writing Lv16 (T1-Common)] – [Reading Lv14 (T1-Common)] – [Dagger Mastery Lv8 (T1-Common)] – [Sneak Lv10 (T1-Common)]
___
Who killed me? What killed me? I mean, sure, it was a bowman, but was it a monster or a human? The pain from having my head penetrated by an arrow had been immense. The fact that I had died almost instantly was probably a blessing in disguise.
“Are you even listening to me?!” Hearing the loud voice of Elise snapped me back to reality. Looking up, I met her eyes that were full of frustration and a hint of worry.
“*sigh* Sorry, I was lost in thought. Give me the bounty book.” The only way to find out who or what had killed me was to repeat what I had done in my previous loop.
…
Arriving back in the forest, I took the same path as before, but I would try to take a sneaky approach this time.
Arriving at where I had fought the first two goblins, I saw them just like I had before, but this time, they didn’t see me. So, I sneakily approached them, but just as I was ten meters away, the goblins suddenly turned around and looked straight at me.
Them turning around had ruined my plan for a sneak attack, so, once again, I would have to fight them in a two vs one situation.
Both goblins rushed towards me, though, the goblin wielding the dagger was slightly faster than the Pike wielder, and as such, arrived much quicker, giving me ample time to fight it one on one.
When the goblin was close enough, it swung its dagger towards me as though it was wielding a sword, I in turn, simply parried, grabbed its throat, and stabbed my dagger into its eye socket.
After doing so, I threw its body onto the ground and rushed towards the Pike wielding goblin that was about six meters or so away.
To my surprise, it suddenly threw its pike the moment I pounced towards it, leaving me no time to dodge nor parry it. But I was once again left surprised, because the wooden pike barely entered my skin, and simply fell to the ground.
As adrenaline pumped through my system, I grabbed the pike that was falling to the ground and stabbed towards the goblin that was looking shocked at the fact that I wasn’t dead.
The pike penetrated its stomach and exited through its back, life left its eyes and it fell.
While panting heavily, I lifted my shirt and observed as the injury healed at an observable speed.
[Tough Skin Lv1] à [Tough Skin Lv5]
[Heightened Regeneration Lv8] à [Heightened Regeneration Lv10]
As the system messages appeared, I got reminded that I now had the skill [Tough Skin] “No wonder the Pike didn’t penetrate my body… That reminds me, why didn’t I put on armor?” It was only now that I realized that I’ve forgotten to bring my armor.
But I think it was a good idea not to bring armor, because I have been gaining skill levels quite quickly. Maybe not using armor was the way to go.
After quickly harvesting the cores from their bodies, I continued my previous trek.
…
Staring at the hobgoblin that I had previously killed, and then died right after, I chose to not attack, rather, I decided to observe the surroundings instead.
But no matter where I looked, I couldn’t see nor sense anyone else in the vicinity. Maybe the killer wasn’t here yet? Deciding that it was no use to look any further, I left my hiding area and rushed towards the hobgoblin.
As the twigs snapped under my weight, the hobgoblin turned around, yet it was too late. My dagger pierced its throat and after a couple spasms, its body fell limp. As I was harvesting its core, I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine, and jumped to the side.
Looking towards where I had previously been, I saw an arrow, but before I could turn towards where the arrow had been shot from, I felt a sudden pain and I was met by darkness once more.
[Tough Skin Lv5] à [Tough Skin Lv9]
New Skill: [Penetration Resistance Lv1] Has Been Gained.
What a bad name for a skill, but nonetheless, its good to have gained yet another skill. The only bad part is that I still don’t know who killed me.
“Give me the Bounty book.”
…
Feeling the chill once more, I jumped to the side and turned towards where the arrow had been shot. Seeing another arrow heading my way, I blocked it using my arm, yet to my surprise, it penetrated my arm and went straight into my eye, and I met darkness once more.
“FUUUCK THIS IS ANNOYING!” My sudden shout seemed to have startled Elise, as she quickly backed away from the counter “What’s wrong?” she said with a concerned tone.
“Sorry, can you give me the bounty book?”
…
As the arrow pierced my arm, it moved and barely stopped before penetrating my eye. Removing the arrow from my arm, I rushed towards where the arrow had been shot from. Two arrows were shot in quick succession and flew towards me.
I managed to parry the one aiming for my head, but the other managed to pierce my thigh, making me stagger for just a moment. But that moment seemed to have been enough, because just as I saw the silhouette of a person, an arrow pierced my forehead, and I met darkness once more.
…
New Skill: [Danger Sense Lv1 – T1 - Rare] Has Been Gained.
[Tough Skin Lv9] à [Tough Skin Lv15]
[Penetration Resistance Lv1] à [Penetration Resistance Lv9]
[Sneak Lv10] à [Sneak Lv19]
[Pain Tolerance Lv26] à [Pain Tolerance Lv34]
[Dagger Mastery Lv8] à [Dagger Mastery Lv18]
[Heightened Regeneration Lv10] à [Heightened Regeneration Lv15]
__
Name: Jack Krileton.
Age: 24
Warrior-Rank: Lower-Three-Star.
Body: [F+] – Mind: [E-] – Soul: [F+] – Energy: [F]
Title(s): Time-Looper, He Who Experienced Death.
Skills: [Heightened Regeneration Lv15-Pseudo-Epic]
[Tough Skin Lv15 – T1- Rare] [Danger Sense Lv1 – T1-Rare]
[Pain Tolerance Lv34 – T2-Uncommon] [Poison Tolerance Lv6 – T1-Uncommon]
[Dagger Mastery Lv18 – T1-Common] [Sneak Lv19 - Common]
__
My skills have been increasing, and I had even become a Three-Star, but I knew I had a long ways to go before I’d be able to beat that archer. If I Had to guess, they were probably either a Peak Four-Star or a Lower Five-Star.
Either way, it would be a while before I’d beat them. But it didn’t fill me with despair, instead, I felt excited in a way I’d never been before.
A wide smile appeared on my face. “Elise, give me the bounty book, I have work to do.”