For his next fight, Wolfram decided to use his cards and see if he could take down his enemies from a distance. He experimented a few times and concluded that the range of his card was actually small; no more than 12 meters. At such a distance, the goblins would have discovered him already.
He hid the military knife and continued his advance inside this dark and narrow corridor. The lights were going on and off and the number of goblins seemed to have increased as he met his next group just after five minutes.
This time, there were only two goblins, both of which seemed to be 'mages' as they were holding wooden staffs. Fortunately, their backs were facing him so he stealthily made his way toward them.
Just as he took one final step, both goblins fiercely turned around and shrieked loudly and unpleasantly. Wolfram didn't know what exactly happened but he must have triggered some kind of defensive or detection spell that alerted them.
The man gritted his teeth and throw two cards at one of the goblins, however, only one was able to hit its target. The card was really sharp as it penetrated the abdomen of the goblin, causing blood to gush out and resulting in a wail to echo across the corridor.
'Tsk! My aim is shit!'
Although the sharpness was just enough for two or three cards to kill a goblin, his card control was low that he missed three out of five card throws. Fortunately, his movements were faster than the goblins and, in no time, each of the two goblins mages were hit by three cards before they could finish casting their spells.
The second goblin wasn't so lucky as two cards penetrated its skull and killed it: but the first one laid on the floor with a puddle of blood under it, thrashing and flailing as it bled out. Wolfram appeared before the dying creature and kicked its head, killing it at last.
*You have killed a Goblin Mage Lv1; +0.1 Card Points.*
*You have killed a Goblin Mage Lv1; +0.12 Card Points.*
Luckily, a stat card appeared under the corpse of the first killed goblin. Wolfram quickly picked it up and crushed it.
*0.09 Magic Control*
'Damn! A stat I don't need.'
Wolfram clicked his tongue in displeasure and inspected the area to see if he didn't miss anything. After a fast glance to his surroundings, he resumed advancing only to meet a lucky harvest fifty meters from the previous fight.
There were corpses of humans and goblins, a fight occurred and both sides had many casualties but it wasn't like Wolfram cared. While humming with a low tone, he flipped the corpses upside down and thoroughly checked everything. In less then two minutes, he found himself holding four cards and that was without including the red card that popped in front of him.
*[Search] Lv1 acquired! +0.13 Card Points.*
*[Search] : Allows the Trickster to search bodies and object more efficiently. This skill can also be used to locate hidden objects.
Wolfram used a bit of his accumulated CP to allow his Card Sharpness to reach '3 points' and dumped all the rest into Card Control. Using his deck of cards to take down goblins was better than having to face them in a melee fight, moreover, the cards were silent, thus even if he battled a large group, if his aim was flawless then it would be more efficient than using loud firearms.
After crushing the four stat cards, Wolfram held the black card and inspected his stats.
Wolfram Sakimoto
--
Race: No Race
Class: 1 Star Trickster
--
Cards Control : 1.24
Cards Sharpness : 3
Cards Speed : 1
--
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Strength : 2.2
Vitality : 1.76
Speed : 1.85
Perception : 2.89
Magic : 2.14
Magic Control : 1.19
Magic Resistance : 1
--
Card Points : 0
---
Skills: Sneak Lv1, Dagger Mastery Lv1. Sensor Hearing Lv1. Lightsteps Lv2. Search Lv1.
--
His stats were steadily increasing and all he needed to do was kill more enemies.
'I wonder how I compare to the others? I don't think they have the same system as me...'
He pondered over this matter, but he was almost certain that the others must have some kind of universal system. It was kind of strange that he had a Special System, but he couldn't find a logical explanation for this odd occurrence.
...
Since looting the numerous corpses, Wolfram strangely didn't find any more live goblins. He sensed that he almost reached the end of this corridor but nothing jumped at him. His survival instincts finally alerted him when he noticed some lights at the end of this path.
He could feel disgusting noises coupled with the heavy breathing of a large creature.
'More than 10... no, 15 at the very least. One of them seems to be the leader controlling this floor.'
Although he has become much stronger since everything changed, he was still hesitant about a frontal battle with such a large number. It would be a hard fight even without the boss, so with it in the fray, it was very difficult to kill them all on his own, at least not in a 'subtle' manner.
Even with the rifle, it would be tricky as they would surely use arrows, spells, and lances. There was also the issue of the boss, which might be in possession of superhuman abilities.
Wolfram steadied his breathing and thought for quite some time before he squatted down and got rid of the rifle, which was slightly limiting his movements due to its weight.
He needed to be as light as possible for the next battle, therefore, giving up on the rifle was the only available option. He did keep the handgun, however.
The knife was also kept as that was what would be used to finish any goblins that came within two meters of him.
As the man was mentally preparing himself, he heard the pleasant noise of a System Notification.
*[Sneak] Lv1=＞Lv2! +0.17 Card Points.*
The CPs were dumped into Card Control and, after a final check, he retrieved a cylindric black object from his back pocket. It was something he found in the corpse party a while ago.
It was none other than a grenade, a strong grenade that could cause possibly obliterate a normal room. Then again, this facility was, more or less, able to withstand strong earthquake and not entirely collapse on itself. Admittedly, some rooms collapsed, but the damage was relatively superficial.
As he looked at the grenade and noticed his shaking body, the man laughed excitedly and mumbled
"How many years has it been? This thrill... this feeling to be this close to death... I shall savor it yet again!"
Without hesitation, he pulled the ring off the grenade then precisely threw it toward the light, where all the goblins were staying. Before the grenade even landed, he backed away five meters and simply waited. Unknown to Wolfram, even amidst this supposedly tense moment, he had a wide grin plastered on his naturally pale face.
A loud explosion that shook the whole place occurred, causing a bit of dust to accumulate and obscure the illuminated area for a some time.
Wolfram charged forward with a handgun in a hand and five cards on the other. Just as he jumped inside this room, he was met with a nauseating stench of blood and dismembered goblins that were either dead or going to die.
Some goblins were far away from the impact so they only suffered minor injuries and as they were getting up, white cards came flying from the center of the room, hitting their heads accurately.
The cards were sharp but Wolfram needed at least three to precisely hit the head and kill the target. He used his five cards at one unscathed goblin and another at one which lost both of its legs. There was too much dust that blocked his view, however, thanks to his perception and previous experience in fights, he correctly guessed the number of enemies alive.
Four goblins and another presence that was shrieking angrily. Before he dealt with the boss, Wolfram dashed toward the nearby enemies and quickly finished them off using his knife. He considered it imperative to remove the weaker ones before focusing on the main threat. Individually, they might be weak, but if they were alive, they'd hinder him and make it difficult to take down the big one.
All of this was done in about twenty seconds and the reason the boss didn't retaliate immediately was due to the grenade, which exploded right next to it, subsequently making it dizzy and disoriented.
When only the two of them were left alive in the room, the dust was blown away by a huge two-handed sword that the boss swept horizontally.
This creature resembled the small goblins but was way bigger than them. With a height that surpassed 2 meters and long fangs that protruded of its upper lips, it looked much more menacing that its inferior kin.
With a pair of jet-black eyeballs, it glared at the attacker while angrily stomping its leg on the ground.
As Wolfram gazed at this big monster and noticed the small injuries it had all over its body, he concluded that the grenade did indeed explode right next to it and would have injured it heavily if not for the other goblins, which unintentionally bore the brunt of the explosive impact.
This creature was known as a Hobgoblin, which was simply a goblin that had evolved once.
'Fuck! The bastard is wearing a helmet.'
Wolfram inwardly cursed the Hobgoblin. He had planned to finish it fast with a bullet in its forehead but it wasn't possible since the big helmet would surely bock the projectiles.
The stillness ended when Wolfram raised his hand and fired three shots successively. The first two shots hit the knees of the hobgoblin and the last was aimed at its heart.
The bullets were indeed strong enough to penetrate its skin but it was barely called an injury as only a small amount of blood leaked out. This was due to the excess fat the grotesque monster had. That, coupled with its strong and durable physique, it was unlikely that a bullet from a handgun would deal substantial damage. Only a bullet from a sniper rifle would be able to breakthrough the Hobgoblin's natural defenses and cause more than just a superficial wound.