First person to reach the hub will be awarded a World First Title.

Time left for reward gain: 41:23:18s

The humid air tousled Noah’s hair as they sprinted through the jungle. He could just barely make out a few figures out in the distance–deep in the depths of the jungle. But as soon as they heard something, they shot up into the trees.

Jungle goblins.

Noah relaxed his shoulders as he watched the goblins approach overhead. There wasn’t a single evolved form. However, it was clear to him that they were within the goblins domain.

No other monster dared to walk within. Not that he had seen, anyway.

With Noah’s barrelling movement and the forward momentum of the goblins, it was only seconds before they attacked.

The bravest–or youngest goblin of the bunch leapt down first. But with falling through the air–it couldn’t move its body to dodge.

Noah made full use of the spear’s range advantage as he [Thrusted] it into the goblins chest. He swiftly returned the spear head, ready for another attack.

It seemed the monsters had some form of intelligence as they decided to all attack at once. They couldn’t wait very long as Noah hadn’t stopped for a second, his momentum was as fast as before. He was waiting for an opportunity.

They bore their fangs and leapt as a collective. All in total, there were seven of them. Their elongated limbs held weapons aimed right at Noah and Krall’s vital areas. Throat, eyes, heart. Noah could feel their gaze, but he grinned. It was time.

With [Charge] in mind, Krall’s movement suddenly exploded forward. The human and beast duo were no longer in the same spot as the goblins fell onto the floor.

Noah leapt off Krall's back as his pet couldn’t stop his forward momentum, but that was okay. Noah rolled on the floor, then approached a nearby goblin and used [Thrust]. His spear tore past its soft, fleshy throat as thick red liquid spat out from the wound.

Unlike normal goblins, their long limbs worked against them when on flat ground. They were clumsy, and it resulted in a lack of balance when attacking head-to-head. It was something Noah had learned back on Earth during his weapon training, and how to deal with it.

Noah quickened his steps to another goblin, only for him to suddenly jolt his spear–then pivoted his feet–causing the goblin to flinch. [False Step] activated. Noah pierced the goblins throat.

Keeping his eyes on his surroundings, he raised his shield to block a hit from another goblin. His Skill [Shield Proficiency] activated and lessened the blow somewhat, then he countered with a [Thrust] of his spear. It shot straight through the monster's eye and clashed against its skull.

By this point Krall had already turned around and entered the battle.

Noah used [Kill Command]. Krall roared with might and swung his club in a wide arc that smashed one, then two goblins at once as they were struck to the side.

“Two left.” Noah confirmed as they had their guards up. It only lasted a moment as they recovered from the initial attack and leapt up into the trees. They disappeared.

Craning his neck, he approached the corpses and looted their bodies. There wasn’t much, only one health potion was added to his dwindling supply.

Once he was sure they were away, he had Krall protect his body. it was time to check his System notifications.

You defeated a - Level 14 Jungle Goblin Warrior.

| You defeated a - Level 7 Jungle Goblin

| …

You have Levelled up!

| Noah ( Mounted Tamer ) level 14 -> Noah ( Mounted Tamer ) level 15

Krall, the Scourge of the Jungle has levelled up.

| Krall level 14 -> Krall level 15

[Strengthened Body] has reached the peak of Level 1.

| [Strengthened Body] Level 1 -> [Strengthened Body] Level 2

| [Strengthened Body] Level 2: Damage is minimally increased. Constitution is minimally increased.

Noah nodded at the added strength. It wasn’t anything to write home about, but any extra was always welcome.

He checked the other Skills that were close to Levelling. The Uncommon and Rare Skills took a lot more to Level up. To the point that that [Shrouded Presence] had only fourteen percent. [Monstrous Allegiance] had barely reached five percent. Of course another reason for that was unlike [Strengthened Body] and [Thrust], it wasn’t used all the time.

Theoretically [Strengthened Body] should have Levelled before [Thrust], but it was because the latter was used to kill. It granted more experience.

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Just as Noah left the screen that covered his vision, a roar made his shoulders flinch. In the distance, a huge monkey-like creature was swinging from branch-to-branch, straight for him.

It wasn’t long before he obtained a clear sight of the monster. It was a goblin warrior, but it was larger than the rest and a tail had even sprouted from its lower spine. It was an aberrant. A monster that had a peculiarity to its evolved form.

Much like Krall and his Mounted variant. It wasn’t normal.

Just from the distance the monster travelled, he could tell how much power was held within the monster's arms. It swung over like a monkey injected with steroids, then disappeared behind a tree–only to reappear on the other side. It used the increased momentum of swinging around the tree to hurtle toward Noah.

Krall was quick to react and jumped in front of Noah. He wasted no time and mounted his pet for the Stat bonus as the attack pierced right for him.

Noah didn’t want to risk Krall taking the hit, so he took responsibility. The goblin swung his heavy hammer from the side.

“Prepare to move into position Krall!” Noah braced himself and blocked the hit with his shield.

A sudden pain jolted through his shoulder, the hammer strike followed through and struck Noah off Krall’s back. He rolled before quickly gaining his stance.

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, the goblin had rolled alongside him and was already preparing a second attack.

However, Noah already knew where it was going to land based on its momentum. Krall stomped into position. [Kill Command] filled his armoured lizard arm with pure strength and smashed his club against the arm of the goblin.

It flung the monster against a tree with a sharp thud.

Noah regained his balance and pierced his spear to its centre mass.

The goblin warrior exhaled a sudden breath, grabbed hold of the tree, then jumped.

Without much time to control his spear, Noah flicked the shaft to its leg. It sliced a large gouge into its thigh as blood splashed. He was expecting the monster to retreat, but it didn’t have that desire. Noah gazed into the beast's eyes–it wanted to kill.

Noah felt something boil within his body. The thrill of the hunt. The unknown if he would make it out alive. It was the excitement of a bloody fight to the death–one that he had quickly gotten used to here.

Readying his stance, the goblin used the tree as a springboard and pounced at Noah. He immediately lodged the butt of the spear under his foot and waited.

The hammer swooshed toward his head–it was a basic attack. A downside of using such a basic weapon. The attack pattern was difficult to change once one got comfortable with it.

Noah was patient despite the incoming hulking monster and its heavy hammer. His heartbeat slowed and the target of his strike lay bare. The arm-pit. It was a vital area that not many targeted, but a massive artery was located there.

Thanks for the incessant reminder, Miles. Noah ducked his head as the hammer throttled past his head. His spear was aimed true. The shaft of his spear warped as it penetrated the soft flesh of the armpit.

An enormous amount of blood poured from the wound. It sprayed out and cascaded down the spears shaft, covering Noah’s arm, and body.

But the monster was stronger than he had thought. It dropped its weapon and grabbed hold of him in a bearhug.

Noah could feel the intense straight away as the air in his lungs was immediately expelled. He could hear the bones in his body creak under the immense pressure. He attempted to reach down for his dagger, but there was no way for him to deal any significant damage from the lack of mobility in his wrists.

He felt Krall’s desperation as his pet had reached them in a second. He didn’t want to risk hitting Noah by hitting the monster's head, so instead focused his aim directly against the goblins spine.

Noah activated [Kill Command] as the attack thudded against the monster. Its grip loosened, but it wasn’t enough for the young human to make use of.

Instead, Noah’s eyes turned cold. He used [Overpower] and felt a chaotic strength fill every inch of his body. Opening his mouth as wide as he could–he chomped down on the monster's throat. The taste of dirty flesh entered his mouth, but he didn’t care. Noah ripped away his head as blood showered him like a red waterfall.

Finally, the monster lost strength and thudded to the floor.

Noah spat out the chunk of flesh from his mouth onto the ground, then wiped his face with his tattered sleeve.

Holding his ribs, he looked In the distance as the golden haired woman gazed at his bloodied figure. She made sure to keep a significant distance–as promised–and was currently fighting a smaller group of goblins.

The warriors reinforcements, he presumed.

He glanced at the woman and her knights as the air crackled to life. Noah ordered Krall to stand guard. The armoured kobold that stood at around six-feet tall postured himself toward the woman’s group and slammed his club within his palm.

Noah shook his head at the sight, but then his shoulders tensed, and his hands itched. The crackling light changed from a colourless hue, to a vivid green one. An uncommon Skill Essence was forming.

As the stone crackled into existence. He picked it up and inspected it.

You have obtained the Uncommon Magic Skill Essence - Water Bullet: Summon a highly concentrated water projectile with the power of mana and fire it at your target.

It wasn’t a Skill he could use. But magic Skills were a lot stronger than the average physical attack–making them worth a lot more than others. Once he reached the Hub, he hoped he could trade it for something else.

Thank god it didn’t give me a biting Skill. I wouldn’t be able to use it, or sell it. Noah sighed in relief, and a droning yawn followed. All the fighting was quickly exhausting him, but that wasn’t the only reason. The sun was lowering and darkness was rapidly overcoming the light.

The fight to his flank was coming to an end, and along with his pained ribs. It was time to find some shelter.