Adam stared at his arm tattoo, watching the numbers that recorded his mana, willing them to change. He considered what would happen if he ran into the negative—would the spell even fire if he didn’t have enough? He only had enough mana for two more shots, so he needed to save it for the next goblin he fought. Abandoning the study of his arm tattoo, he looked around the spacious cavern where darkness still permeated the room. To be safe, he would need to check out the rest of the room and see what was around. He grabbed a glowing kindling from the fire and waved it around. Fire sprung to life on its tip and Adam worked his way back to the cave opening, picked up the guttered out torch he had left there, and relit it.
With the two torches in one hand and the spear levelled out in front of him, he proceeded carefully back into the cavern to investigate further. The pillars of rock caused the torches flickering light to dance across the cavern. Yet, the cavern seemed empty. On closer inspection the chest he had found his gear in was moldy, and barely holding itself together. He turned towards the side of the cavern he hadn’t checked and looked carefully at the end where light barely reached. Was that a wall? It was set up in such a way that a cursory glance would hide it from sight. And was that a corridor leading away from it? Adam carefully and quietly walked through the room, the flickering light casting shadows on the walls. Only the sounds of the torches burning in his left hand broke the silence.
The path led down a narrow corridor and veered to the left where the darkness ended, and a faint glow came from further down the cavern. The smooth stone was cool on his bare feet as he tiptoed around a second bend. He peeked his head around the corridor. Morning sunlight streamed in through the cave’s opening at the back, and a low fire burned in the center of the room. A small squad of goblins were stretching and waking up.
Adam placed the torches against the wall and extinguished them. He considered his position: he still had the element of surprise, but he was certainly outnumbered again. He counted six goblins, noting that one of them was bigger than all the others. A name came to him—an ogre. The ogre suddenly grabbed one of the smaller goblins, snapped its neck and then began to eat it. Adam had to swallow, his rising revulsion crawling up his throat. He covered his mouth in an attempt to stop himself from vomiting his guts out and attracting attention. To leave the cave, he had to get past this guy, whom he was sure would be valuable for his levelling.
He quickly checked himself. His leather jerkin came down to just below his waist, but he needed pants, that was for sure. The leather would protect him from the scratches of their claws but not much else. Adam counted again and noticed he had missed a few goblins—looked like seven—sitting around the fire.
He was still shrouded in darkness, so he crept up to the fire pit and stabbed the nearest goblin in the back, his spear punching through the goblin’s chest.
You have assassinated a goblin.
As he pulled out the spear, the other goblins looked at him in shock. Pulling out the spear was a lot harder than jamming it in; he had to place a foot on the goblin’s back and heft it out, causing the goblin to slump to the floor and face-plant into the fire. The other goblins began to scream. The ogre turned from his dinner and looked straight at Adam.
“Hey! You can’t do that,” it bellowed.
Adam didn’t have the time to process the fact that the ogre spoke to him in a language he could understand, or the fact that it could speak at all. Three goblins jumped at him, swinging their claws. He ducked, knocked over another and dodged again as he stepped forward and impaled another goblin. This time he didn’t push the spear through the goblin.
You have killed a goblin.
Pulling out the spear was a lot easier this time, and he was able to swing his weapon around, forcing the goblins to back off. He raised his other hand and cast [MANA BOLT] the purple bolt of energy smashed into a goblin with a sickening splat as its head exploded.
You have killed a goblin.
With three of their number dead, they still outnumbered him. Worse yet, he had lost the element of surprise, and the big guy was coming.
“Stop,” the monster bellowed as it stomped over to him, crushing one of the goblins underfoot.
Four down, three to go, Adam thought.
“I will fight the puny human,” the ogre said. The stench of blood and bad breath washed over Adam.
The smaller goblins backed away, giving the boss room to fight. Adam looked back down at his tattoo, he could use [MANA SHOT] one more time. He would need to kill more goblins; maybe he could kill a few to level up and then gain back the mana. Had it worked before? Something told him it was worth a try.
The big guy drew a sword from his waist and swung it at him. Adam sidestepped the clumsy blow and jabbed his spear into the big guy’s side.
You have dealt 10 piercing damage to your opponent.
The oversized enemy was worth a lot more hit points than the small guys. Adam pulled out the spear before the ogre could recover and swung the spear wide, hitting a nearby goblin, one in the head that hadn’t gotten out of the way. The message that flashed in his eyes was all the confirmation he needed.
You have killed a goblin.
Five down two to go, he counted off.
Then, the large monster clubbed him in the side with a closed fist. Adam’s vision swam as he sailed through the air. He landed on a rock and more pain flared through his side. He stole a glance at his HP and noticed that it had dropped by half. A message flicked across his vision, and he shook his head to clear it.
As the big one roared at him, Adam stood and braced himself, watching the guy’s next move. He couldn’t rely on dodging forever. A fist to the side of his head was warning enough that the ogre could move when he wanted to. The big guy raised his sword and charged him again. Well, maybe he could keep dodging this guy, at least until he’d cleared the area of goblins. He sidestepped and stabbed him on the other side.
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You have dealt 10 piercing damage to your opponent.
Again, Adam pulled out the spear from his opponent’s side and swung it wide this time, but it didn’t connect with anything. He frowned as he quickly cast about for the remaining goblins. They had retreated to the far side of the cavern and were watching their boss fight Adam. The little goblins had learned from their friend’s death and gotten far enough away. Pain flared in his shoulder as the ogre’s sword pierced through Adam’s leather jerkin.
You have taken critical damage HP down to a quarter.
The large goblin-ogre pulled out the sword from Adam’s shoulder, and it was followed by a gush of blood.
Adam froze. He had taken his eyes off his opponent, and he was now in trouble; his hit points had fallen again, and his health was critically low. There was not enough time to sidestep again as the big brute was only a step away.
The ogre prepared his next attack. Adam did the only reasonable thing and raised his spear to block. The brute’s sword came crashing down onto Adam’s spear and bit deep into the wood. It barely stopped the blow, and it wouldn’t be much use anymore as a shield. He could really use a real shield.
The ogre’s breath overpowered him, and his stomach protested. Adam pushed back against the ogre and the spear head snapped, the ogre’s blade chopping off the spearhead. Adam and the brute fell to the ground. Adam panicked and rolled to the side as the brute plummeted down. He was trapped underneath the brute’s arm. As he pushed against the arm and scurried out from underneath, the brute groaned on the floor. Adam still holding the broken shaft of the spear in one hand stabbed into the back of the ogre’s spine and heard a sickening crunch.
You have dealt 20 piercing damage to your opponent.
You have dealt double damage.
The damage had doubled. He jabbed the spear shaft into the oaf’s back again and the message repeated itself. In quick succession, he rained a barrage of jabs of the spear shaft into the ogre’s back. Blood began to ooze and then gush out of him, splattering the cave floor beneath him.
You have killed an ogre.
For an ogre many levels higher than you, you have gained 2 levels in Commoner {Progenitor}
+2 BODY +4 MIND +2SPIRT +10HP +20MP +10SP
You have gained a perk Evasion You are proficient in dodging attacks and only take half damage on area of effect spells.
The message flashed before his eyes, confirming the kill. Drenched in his own blood—and the blood of an ogre—he looked over at the remaining goblins. They had disappeared.
He cast his glance around the cavern. It was predominately occupied by the campfire and the dead bodies of the goblins near the entrance he had come through. The goblins started to glow and faded out into yellow dust, leaving behind a bronze shard each. The ogre left behind a small sack that Adam picked up. Inside were another two bronze shards. On the other side of the campfire, a small crate sat against the far wall.
Hearing a whimpering noise to his left, Adam turned and saw the last two goblins cowering in the corner. Will they attack me? he thought. As if they read his thoughts, they snarled at him and attacked. The first goblin leapt at him and swung his hand, his talons outstretched. Adam raised the broken spear and blocked the swing. Then he stepped to the right and punched the goblin in the back of the head.
You have dealt 5 points of bludgeoning damage to a goblin.
The second goblin stepped around the first and slashed across Adam’s jerkin, cutting deep gashes through it. Adam brought down his broken spear, which connected with the goblin’s head; a clear crack echoed out as the spear base snapped the goblin’s neck.
You have killed a goblin.
Adam stepped over the dead goblin and drove the base of his spear butt down onto the last goblin.
You have killed a goblin.
The goblins faded into yellow dust, leaving behind two bronze shards. Adam collected them, then sat down and looked at his arm tattoo. He was still without mana, and he was nearly out of hit points. He confirmed the level up and watched the mana and health bars on his arm fill up. A new message appeared before his eyes. Adam called up his status display, and it filled his vision.
Adam (First Man)
Level 4 (Progenitor 4)
BODY
MIND
SPIRIT
7
11
7
HP 35/35
MP 55/55
SP 35/35
Feats
Observant +1 Intellect
Staff Weapon Proficiency +10% damage to use with staves and staff like weapons.
Evasion You are proficient in dodging attacks and only take half damage on area of effect spells.
13 Bronze Shards
He remembered that he had received a notification when he entered; would it also notify him if he completed the dungeon?
Dungeon Cleared
You have cleared Cave Urtganag.
The notification leapt into his vision as he thought of it. Another followed it.
For Clearing a dungeon, you have gained the class {Dungeon Delver}
+2BODY +1MIND +1SPIRIT +10HP +5MP +5SP
{Dungeon Delver} A beginner level class designed to help people delve dungeons.
You have gained the perk Low Light Vision your vision in dark spaces is doubled.
Adam dismissed the notifications, walked over to the crate and looked inside. It contained several folded pieces of cloth, and Adam reached inside to pull them out. The cloths unfolded to reveal a tunic and a pair of trousers. Adam pulled off his blood-soaked leather jerkin and pulled on the trousers which felt coarse against his legs. He pulled the tunic over his head and then pulled the bloodied jerkin over the tunic. It smelled faintly of blood and death.
At the bottom of the crate was a bronze-colored shortsword the length of his forearm with a leather-bound grip.
He picked it up and checked his notifications again. Then went to his Character screen to check his progress.
Adam (First Man)
Level 5 (Progenitor 4, Dungeon Delver 1)
BODY
MIND
SPIRIT
9
12
8
HP 45/45
MP 60/60
SP 40/40
Feats
Observant +1 Intellect
Staff Weapon Proficiency +10% damage to use with staves and staff like weapons.
Evasion You are proficient in dodging attacks and only take half damage on area of effect spells.
Low Light Vision Your Vision in dark spaces is doubled.
13 Bronze Shards