When the blade grew heavy and his arm weary, Kaden sat down on the ground, taking a small rest to replenish his energy. After all of his experiences, he knew better than to let his stamina fall all the way to zero, keeping it above seven in case he needed to react quickly.
So much had happened since he first came to this dungeon that it felt as though he’d lived an entire lifetime within its cold, unforgiving walls.
In truth, only a few weeks had passed. Not that it seemed like it, with every second a relentless struggle. The exhaustion weighed heavily on him, deepening with each passing day. The lack of sleep wore on his mind. He wished more than anything else to just close his eyes and dream for a few hours. A luxury that he lost long ago.
Now, all he could do was sit in the oppressive darkness, accompanied only by his thoughts, trying to come to terms with his grim existence. Some moments were worse than others, and it was particularly the ones like these that disturbed him the most. Those quiet and lonely moments where he had too much time to think.
Keeping busy was the best distraction, but without stamina, he had no choice but to rest.
He stared at his status screen, counting the seconds tick by as he waited for the number to go back up. It seemed to take about a minute per point, meaning he had nine more minutes of waiting to go.
As the time dragged on, his thoughts inevitably wandered, the doubts creeping in again. He had to force himself not to dwell on the overwhelming uncertainty of it all, lest it consume him. This was his life now—he had no choice but to accept it.
Alone in the silence, he waited in boredom, eager to get back to grinding. It was monotonous and exhausting, but there was no other choice. He wanted to get stronger, and one way of doing that was by increasing his combat skills.
What good was a sword if he couldn’t use it properly?
Hours passed as he switched between resting and training, his mastery of the weapon gradually improving with each repetition.
Finally, after ten long hours, he was rewarded for his perseverance. A sweet chime echoed in his mind, signaling his progress.
─ New Weapon Proficiency Learned [ Sword (Basic) ]
─ Description: Gives a minor boost to the user’s skill with a sword.
─ Reward: 50 Experience Points
Relief washed over him. He couldn’t bear another hour of the monotony, having long since grown bored with the training.
The sense of accomplishment was a welcome reprieve, helping him push away the dark thoughts that were always looming in the back of his mind. He glanced around at the bloodstains dotting the ground, the silence of the dungeon almost unnerving.
‘So, the goblins didn’t send anyone after all,’ he mused, a hint of disappointment creeping into his thoughts. He had both thought and hoped that they would. Yet, after waiting this long, there was still no sign of them.
A shame… dealing with them was a lot easier if they came to him, but it didn’t matter—he would just have to find them himself instead. They couldn’t be far.
He waited around for five minutes, letting his stamina refill completely, but as he prepared himself to leave, the sound of hushed voices echoed down the tunnel, reaching him. Shrill with a whiny tone, Kaden could never mistake them. Goblins, and at least three of them.
They spoke in low murmurs, words entirely unintelligible as they argued and chuckled. Was it a search party?
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
He quickly hid his sword behind his back, doing his best to make himself look harmless. If they didn’t attack him immediately, he might have an opportunity to strike first.
Streaks of blood still covered his bones, but it was the best chance he had. The chamber lacked any places to hide and ambush them from.
“Mimi always missing!” a gruff and commanding voice growled, thick with frustration. “Is fifth time!”
Kaden heard some grumbling murmurs that sounded like they agreed, and then he saw them—five… no, six goblins stepped around the bend, their torches casting flickering light across the chamber. Spotting the skeleton, they froze at the entrance with their weapons raised.
With all those weapons pointed right at him, Kaden felt a pang of regret.
Damn it… that wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
He had expected three or four goblins, maybe even five, but definitely not six! And it didn’t help at all that, unlike the typical ones he encountered, each and every one of them carried a proper weapon. They held axes or swords in their small, green hands, and scraps of leather armor covered their bodies.
There was no choice but to roll with it and try to make it work regardless. He noticed the goblins eyeing the room suspiciously, their gazes lingering on the bloodstains. He needed to speak before they drew their own conclusions.
“Hello,” Kaden greeted them, forcing a cheerful tone and lifting his unarmed hand in a wave. “I mean you no harm.”
His eyes quickly shifted between the intruders, observing their reactions. They stood still, watching him warily with weapons at the ready.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about you guys!” he continued, trying his best to sound earnest and friendly while feeding them nothing but pure bullshit. “You’re quite renowned in this dungeon. The name of your Chief Grulak travels far!”
A hint of a smile appeared on some of their faces, giving him hope. But at the front, a rough-looking goblin wearing a metal helmet wasn’t smiling in the slightest. Its cold, piercing glare fell on the bloodstains, then back at Kaden, frowning and appearing entirely unconvinced.
“Skeleton kill Mimi?” it spat, its words dripping with hostility. The tension within the room rose threefold, frowns spreading across the faces of the other goblins.
A shiver ran down Kaden’s spine as he met the helmet-wearing leader’s piercing gaze. He instantly knew that his plan had no chance of working. It wasn’t falling for it.
The goblin leader jerked its head toward the only other way out of the chamber, and a pair of its followers moved to block it.
Yeah… they were going to attack him any second now. They were just waiting until they had him trapped. He was running out of time.
Screw it! Kaden thought, charging at the two goblins that were moving to cover the exit. If he could break through here, he might be able to outrun them in the tunnel.
In a desperate, suicidal strike, he lunged forward, his sword piercing the throat of one goblin and killing it instantly. He barreled through its falling body, a sharp pain in his shoulder telling him he hadn’t escaped unscathed.
Ignoring the discomfort, he sprinted down the tunnel, the sound of footsteps in close pursuit. A quick glance down revealed that his right arm was completely gone—along with his sword.
He yanked out the knife from his belt with his remaining hand and kept running, his eyes glued to his rapidly depleting stamina bar. He could hear several of the goblins dropping back, leaving just one hot on his heels.
Kaden slowed, allowing his pursuer to catch up. The footsteps right behind him, he turned, lashing out with the knife, hoping to catch the goblin off guard. His arm shook as the strike was blocked, the brittle stone blade chipping on the shaft of the axe.
The goblin countered with a wild swing, and Kaden felt the wind pass over the top of his skull as he ducked under it. Holding the knife tight, he drove it into the goblin’s stomach and tackled it to the ground.
The green monster dropped its axe as they wrestled for control of the knife. Kaden’s strength was far greater, but with only one arm he couldn’t overpower the struggling creature. It held the blade down, refusing to let him pull it free.
Hearing the rapid approach of footsteps, Kaden knew that time was running out. He pressed hard on the knife, pushing it further into the goblin, blood leaking out around the wound as the goblin groaned in pain.
Leaning down, he opened his jaw as wide as he could and sunk his teeth into the creature’s throat. Blood filled his mouth as his teeth broke through flesh and tore away at the skin, crushing the trachea.
The goblin wheezed, gasping for air and releasing its hold on the knife in its dying breaths. Pulling it free, Kaden pushed himself up and found himself face to face with the goblin leader thrusting its sword at him.
Kaden raised his knife just in time and parried the strike. Pushed back from the powerful blow, the weapon shattered, pieces flying everywhere.
He hurled the remaining bits in his hand at the goblin’s face and fled down the tunnel, his legs burning from the effort. Several enraged shouts echoed behind him, urging him to keep going.