The first goblin died before it could make a move.
Elise pulled her sword from the goblins chest, not even checking to see if she’d scored a lethal blow. One down, she thought. She hadn’t even bothered to check what skill the goblin had. That didn’t matter right now. What mattered was fear.
Every monster fought differently. Some fought alone, some in packs, some in highly organized teams similar to an adventurers party. Goblins fit into that third category. They liked to surround their enemy, analyze, and only attack once they were sure they’d win. Elise was sure she looked like easy prey, which is exactly why she had to strike first. Her immediate strike had frozen a number of the goblins in shock, and she wasn’t going to waste her opportunity to win the fight before it even started. She lunged again, this time aiming for a goblin’s head. It tried to backpedal, but the foliage worked against it, as the goblin found its foot impeded by a branch, and a sword in its head.
That’s two. Elise’s eyes darted around, taking a quick check of her surroundings before moving on for the next kill. The goblins in the cave had begun to exit, but the crevice would only allow one to pass through at a time, so she had a while before they became a problem. The goblins in the woods, meanwhile, were beginning to back up, realizing that Elise was a much greater threat than they initially anticipated. That wouldn’t do. If they had time to regroup and begin activating their skills, she might have a problem.
Elise dashed at a group of three goblins who had begun to retreat. Unlike the first two kills, she wouldn’t be able to finish these three in a single blow. For starters, they were wary of her now, and ready to react to her movements. And secondly, they’d begun to activate their skills.
Humans weren’t the only creatures in the world with access to a skill interface. Most monsters had skills as well, though they usually manifested in a different way. For goblins, they only ever got one skill slot, and unless they managed to evolve into hobgoblins, this would never change. Additionally, what skill a goblin had was displayed prominently by a mark on their forehead. For most adventures, this was marginally useful information, but for someone like Elise who had spent a good chunk of her life studying skills, this was a lifesaver.
The first of the three goblins Elise targeted had a dagger shaped mark on its forehead. It was some version of the skill Conjure Weapon, and she very much wanted to kill the goblin before it had a chance to activate its skill. Her first slash missed, as the goblin ducked and ran back towards its allies. Unfortunately for the goblin, its allies had already made the decision to retreat as well, and Elise’s next slash made a clean gash in the goblin’s midsection. It fell to the ground, clutching its wound, before being decapitated a second later.
Three down. Elise once again took a quick scan of her surroundings as she bounded after the other two retreating goblins. The rest of the goblins who’d initially encircled her had fallen back, grouping up with the goblins exiting the cave. She could see them passing around weapons, mostly crude knives of sharpened stone, though she did briefly spot a few proper shortswords in the mix, most likely conjured from skills. She’d deal with the horde in a bit. For now, she had to chase down as many separated goblins as she could.
It didn’t take long for Elise to score another three kills. The two escaping goblins had failed to outrun her, and she’d found another one hiding behind a tree. Elise swung her sword at the ground, splatters of blood flying off the blade and staining the forest floor. She’d spent years with her sword, but this was her first time actually using it to kill. She had no qualms about it. She wasn’t a bloodthirsty murderer, far from it, but years of hanging around adventurers had pushed one important lesson to the front of her mind. Around monsters, you didn’t hesitate. Hesitation got adventurers killed.
Elise looked back to the rockface, where the nearly two dozen goblins were organized into an attack formation. A row of goblins held stone daggers with two short sword wielders behind them. A few goblins hung near the edge of the group, ready to encircle Elise if she started combat. The goblins weren’t willing to rush in and attack. With their numbers, they could probably overwhelm her, but after seeing six of their number go down, they weren’t willing to rush to their deaths. Instead, the goblins waited patiently, eyeing Elise and studying her every move.
Elise scanned the crowd of goblins for any skills that might cause her some trouble. Aside from the two conjured swords, there were three other goblins that might cause her problems: a healer, a mage, and one that could apply a group strength buff. Fortunately, the rest of the horde all had various non-combat related skills. This wasn’t a surprise; with so many skills in the world, it was unlikely for a single-skilled creature to get anything pertaining to combat. Of course, if any of these goblins managed to evolve into a hobgoblin, they’d get access to more skills and begin to pose a threat to adventures in the area, which is why the quest was posted in the first place.
For maybe the third time today, Elise was deciding whether or not it was worth continuing with the quest. Now that the goblins were wary of her sword, she could probably run away without having to worry about them giving chase. Instead, Elise began walking forwards, inching closer and closer to the horde.
What good is a sword fighting instructor who can’t actually fight? Elise’s first few kills had very little to do with swordplay and were mostly thanks to her immediately jumping into action against unarmed opponents. Now, with skills, weapons, and numbers in the mix, she’d get the chance to prove that her swordsmanship was top class, even without any system granted skills to support it. She got into her stance, holding the blade in her leading hand as she shuffled forwards like a fencer. Her plan was simple: she’d start off by abusing her range, keeping the goblins at bay and scoring hits where she could.
Realizing that Elise was steadily approaching, the goblins began preparing for combat. The goblin with a group buffing skill began glowing, followed by the entire horde of goblins becoming enveloped in a transparent white aura. At the same time, the mage goblin in the back began to conjure a ball of flames, albeit incredibly slowly. Judging from how long it was taking to form, it was most likely a D rank skill, meaning Elise wouldn’t have to worry about it until later. For now, she’d focus on taking out the vanguard without getting flanked from the side.
Tired of Elise’s slow approach, the goblins decided to make the first move. They charged, most of them running directly at her, while a few tried to use the terrain to sneak into her blindspot, hiding behind nearby trees and waiting for her to be distracted. She took a quick mental note of where the flankers were before taking her first step into the melee.
A goblin slashed at her leg with a stone dagger, while another leaped into the air, aiming for her head. Elise hopped backwards, taking her leading leg out of danger while simultaneously backing out of the range of the flying goblin. Unfortunately for the goblin, the reach of her sword meant she was able to take it down with a simple straight thrust.
Two more dagger welding goblins came for her legs, but Elise was able to bring her sword down in time to block their approach. Her slash caught one of the goblins in the arm, causing it to drop its dagger and retreat. Its partner picked up the fallen dagger and hurled it at Elise’s head, forcing her to duck the projectile. At the same time, a goblin who’d been circling around lunged at Elise’s back, trying to get her while she was preoccupied.
It didn’t work. Elise was able to parry the blow, followed by a quick riposte that ended the goblins life. Its dark green corpse fell to the forest floor, and the remaining dagger wielding goblins paused their assault. From behind them, goblins holding shortswords began their attack, one of them lunging for Elise’s heart. She deflected the blade, but there was no time for her to deliver a slash in response, as the other shortsword wielder was upon her. Elise blocked the strike and responded with a lunge of her own, but the goblin was able to knock her blade off course, surviving with only a small cut to its shoulder.
Dammit, Elise though. The goblins were moving and reacting faster than they should have been able to, likely due to the buff they’d been granted at the start of the fight. They were still no match for Elise, but the two shortswords were able to annoy her, as they repeatedly dashed in and out of her reach, always able to defend against her strikes. She’d managed to nick them a few more times in some brief exchanges, but none of the injuries seemed to stay, closing up after mere moments. The whole time, Elise was keeping her head on a swivel, making sure she didn’t get flanked. While the two shortsword goblins kept her busy, the stone dagger squad had been trying to circle her and strike at her blindspot. To avoid this, she backed up against a large tree, which both protected her back and prevented her from stepping forward, lest she wished to get stabbed from behind. Looking to her left and right, half a dozen goblins were positioned on both sides, waiting for the right opportunity to coordinate an attack. Not willing to give them the chance, Elise turned towards the group on her right and charged.
Four seconds. That’s how long it would take the shortsword goblins to come up behind her. In that time, she’d have to deal with this group of six. Previously, range was her main advantage, but now she was throwing that away in favor of a wild attack. She’d no doubt be injured, but better to be injured now than surrounded and killed later. The six goblins formed up, ready to intercept Elise with their stone daggers in hand. As soon as she was upon them, a clock began ticking in her head.
One. She started with a wide slash, swinging the sword with as much force as she could muster. The first goblin tried to block with its dagger, but her blade was too heavy and the goblin too light. It went flying out of the way as her sword continued to travel along its arc. The second goblin had likely expected its companion to have been more successful in stopping Elise’s swing, so it didn’t even react as its body was torn clean in two. The third goblin had seen the swing coming and ducked under the blade as it passed by.
Two. The goblin came sliding under her sword, thrusting its dagger towards her thigh. Without any time to dodge or parry, Elise simply lifted her leg and kicked, catching the goblin in its ribs. The goblin managed to make a small gash on Elise’s calf right before it went flying into the nearest tree from the force of the kick.
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Three. A goblin jumped at Elise’s left side too quickly for her to bring her sword up in response. She purposefully took another slash, this time to her left arm, as she punched the goblin out of the air. Her right arm brought her sword back up before swinging it down in a powerful overhead cleave, instantly obliterating both the airborne goblin and one of its allies below.
Four. Elise waited for the last goblin to make its move, but after seeing five goblins go down in under a second apiece, it turned tail and ran. Elise swiveled to see the two goblins with shortswords stopped in their tracks, realizing they were too late to join the fight. Instead of engaging in combat again, they looked at each other and began to backpedal, keeping their swords up as their beady red eyes glared at Elise. She wondered why they were backing off, before a flash of light in her periphery caused her to spin around in alarm.
Shit. She’d forgotten about the mage goblin, whose ball of fire had now grown larger than the goblin itself. It flung the fireball at Elise, giving her only a split second to dive out of the way. Unfortunately, she wasn’t quite fast enough.
BOOM! The fireball hit a tree right behind where Elise was just standing, and the resulting explosion instantly singed the surrounding foliage as a small fire began to spread. Slightly dazed from the blast, Elise looked down at her pants, which were charred and smoking. Fortunately, her legs had fared far better, as she only felt a small bit of pain radiating from her calves. She’d make a note to herself to splurge on some fireproof clothing when she went shopping for adventurer’s gear. Elise stood up, adjusting her grip on her sword and surveying the battlefield once more.
The goblins were clearly annoyed that Elise had survived the blast. They’d thrown every skill, every tactic they had at her, and she just refused to die. She heard chatter around her as the remaining goblins muttered to each other in a language Elise couldn’t understand. After a few moments of what she assumed was goblin debate, they turned and fled, heading back to the crevice in the rockface and disappearing into the darkness one by one. Elise watched the procession, not taking her eyes off the crevice until every single goblin had entered. Once they did, she finally let her guard down, slumping to the forest floor and breathing heavily. She’d done it. Sure, it hadn’t gone perfectly, but her first mission as an adventurer was complete. Now, all she had to do was make it back before sundown.
~~~
While reaching the quest spot had taken a bit over an hour, it took nearly twice that for Elise to return. Some of this delay could be attributed to her being exhausted, but really what had made it take so long was the half hour she spent sitting on a tree stump, waiting for her injuries to heal. Only the highest grade potions could close wounds instantly, and the hybrid potion Elise had was close to the lowest grade there was. Not wanting to run back to town with blood dripping from her leg, she opted to wait for the potion to do its job, after pouring half of it on her calf and the other half on her arm. Unfortunately, this meant that she couldn’t drink the potion to restore her stamina, so when she finally made it back to the city she felt ready to collapse.
“Name and occupation?” In Elise’s tired state, it took a few moments for her to process that the guard was talking to her.
“Elise Creston, adventurer,” she responded, and the guard nodded her through, not even sparing a second glance at her burnt pants or goblin blood stained shoes. Elise was thankful for that, as right now the last thing she wanted were delays keeping her from the comfort of her bed. Elise thought about turning in the quest first, but figured there was no point. She’d be at the guild tomorrow anyway, both to pick up a new quest and to teach her class. Right, her class. As Elise trudged home, she thought about just how sore she’d still be feeling in the morning. Class was going to be terrible if she tried to actually teach anything, so she’d probably just resort to having the students duel, or some other activity where she didn’t have to be involved.
Elise finally made it home after what felt like the longest day of her life. She didn’t bother calling out as she opened the front door; no lights were on inside, and her family tended to stay out late. She headed straight for the couch and slumped, taking a moment to shut her eyes before mentally analyzing the events of the day.
I got lucky fighting that group of goblins. If they had more actual weapons or combat skills, I think I woulda had to run. Even just one low rank fireball skill nearly took me out. I need more practice against skills.
Maybe I should join one of the skill based sword fighting classes, Elise thought. Elise was one of the only two instructors who taught non-skill classes. Every other class offered by the guild included skills in some way or another. It wouldn’t normally be allowed for someone without combat skills to sign up for a combat skill class, but if she talked to Leon, he’d surely let her. She mentally added ‘skill combat’ to her mental todo list, but it wasn’t her top priority.
Gear. Leon paid me more than what I make in a year as an instructor, and that was just the signing bonus on my contract. Once I start working as a skill broker for the guild, I’ll have more money that I know what to do with. I don’t need to splurge right now, but I should at least get some better defensive clothing. And some halfway decent potions. And some useful skill-tech. The adventurer’s compass Elise had borrowed from the guild was top of her list for skill-tech to buy, but she was sure that she’d find plenty of other interesting wares once she started looking. Another thing to add to her todo list then.
Unlucky that I didn’t get any skill crystals. I know they’re not that common, especially from weaker monsters, but I was hoping that at least one of the goblins would leave its skill behind. In truth, that was one of the main reasons why Elise had chosen to fight as long as she did instead of retreating at her first opportunity. Many adventurers fought monsters not because of the quest rewards posted by the guild, but because of how valuable it was to kill the monsters themselves. You were guaranteed to get exp that helped level up your skills, but more importantly, you got loot. Some monsters had inherently magical body parts, like cyclops eyes, that could get crafted into useful skill tech. If the monster had skills though, there was a chance of its skill being preserved in a crystal once the monster died. Skill crystals were one of the main ways for adventurers to unlock new skills, and high ranking skills could sell for a pretty penny. Of course, the goblins that Elise killed had D rank skills at best, so the skill crystals wouldn’t have been worth much.
Would have been nice to have more skills to practice Skill Transfer. Elise opened up her skill interface, hoping that maybe she could make some progress on figuring out how to combine skills. The first piece of text that appeared on the screen surprised her.
Exp Gained: 34
Right, she’d forgotten that exp from combat was a thing she’d be getting now. The small amount she got wasn’t anywhere near enough to get Skill Transfer to the next level though. That would take...
How much exp would it take? Her skill interface didn’t tell her, and she didn’t think a generic skill compendium had that sort of information. She’d have to ask Leon the next time they spoke. And also, when Skill Transfer leveled up, what did that mean? She knew the skill had a capacity, a max amount of skills she could hold in the tome, and she was fairly certain that number would increase as the skill gained levels. She had to wonder though, were there other secret functionalities that were only unlocked at higher levels? Was combining skills impossible at level one?
Elise read over the description of her skill one more time to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.
Skills: 1/1
[U] Skill Transfer, Level 1
* Allows the user to transfer skills between other Users or skill tomes with available slots or capacity.
* Allows the user to conjure a skill tome. Current capacity: 95/100.
The only thing she saw that was different from this morning was the capacity. The skills she’d gotten from Leon were now counted by the skills description, taking up five capacity slots in the tome.
Wait. Elise thought. Didn’t Leon only give me four skills? Elise hurriedly summoned the tome and flipped through the pages where each skill was listed.
Slash, Slash, Heat Metal, Summon Shield, Find Herbs. When did I get Find Herbs? Elise was tired, but she was tired enough to have completely forgotten the events of the day. She clearly remembered getting four skills from Leon, and Find Herbs was not one of them. It was a D rank skill with few uses, only ever used by young herbalists or...
The goblins. One of the goblins had this skill. In the heat of the battle Elise had disregarded every goblin forehead mark that wasn’t an offensive skill, but thinking back she vaguely remembered seeing the emblem for some herb based skill on one of the goblins she’d killed.
None of the goblins dropped skill crystals. Elise thought. Skill transfer must have somehow taken the skill directly. She didn’t know that was possible. If that was the case, then had she gotten any other skills from the fight that she didn’t know about? Elise quickly flipped through the rest of the pages of her skill tome, only to find them all blank.
Okay, so killing a monster doesn’t guarantee I get its skill, but it’s possible to get skills without a skill crystal dropping. Elise didn’t know if this newfound ability was useful or not. If Skill Transfer only took the skill because the goblin was going to drop a crystal when it died anyway, then it was little more than an added convenience. But if this ability somehow made her odds of getting skill drops higher... She could see that being marginally useful. Only marginally, because against more powerful monsters with valuable skills, trying to kill them as a Skill Transfer user sounded like suicide. For now, she’d stick to farming goblins, even if the rewards were small. And besides, this new discovery wasn’t immediately important. She pushed it to the back of her mind to focus on her immediate goal: learning how to combine skills.
Elise was mentally taxed for the day, but she stared at her skill tome and tried to envision the two Slash skills coming together to form a single skill. When she tried for an hour at the guild hall, she never came close to making any progress, but now, lying on her couch at home, she felt something was different. The skills didn’t feel like they were combining, which was a bummer, but there was this tingling sensation in the back of her mind, and it only appeared when she really focused on trying to push the skills together. There was some pressure there, not enough to cause anything to happen, but enough to make Elise satisfied with her efforts. She didn't know why or how, but she’d definitely made progress on figuring out how skill combinations worked. It wasn’t much, she could tell, but it was something, and as she drifted off to sleep her only thoughts were on how much more she’d figure out tomorrow.
She couldn’t wait.