While Jack’s group and the young Lorenz were sleeping on the carpets of the living room, he opened his eyes. He quietly stood up and took his sword from the rack of weapons next to the door, before going out.

“You can’t sleep?”

Just as Jack was about to move out, he turned around to see Hassan standing at the door.

“Yeah, I just have too much energy. I’m gonna go hunt a little bit.”

Hassan smiled at Jack’s words. “Then I hope you wouldn’t mind me joining. I also just can’t get myself to sleep.”

“Sure, why not,” Jack replied. “Having some company is always good.”

The duo roamed the streets of the village while killing any goblin that they met on their way. By the time they reached the church, it was already midnight and they were covered with the now familiar green aura.

Jack thought of the word “Status” in his mind, and a screen appeared in front of him.

Stats Attributes Rank Level Strength Sentinel D Constitution Sentinel E- Agility Sentinel D- Mana Sentinel E-

As was usual, Jack’s muscles enlarged and tightened, but the pain was milder than when he had first awakened. Energy flowed through his veins, and he felt that he could fight nonstop for the whole night.

“How are your stats?”

Hassan’s question brought Jack back to reality. “Strength is D, Constitution and Mana are E-, and Agility is D-.”

The knight let out a whistle, “Nice, lucky you. Unfortunately, my best stat is still that useless mana, it’s D-.”

Jack smiled and said, “You really wanna complain when all your stats are Sentinel rank? The guys back at the house would strangle if they heard you.”

“Well, it’s because they’re at the house and I’m here that my stats are Sentinel rank.”

Jack’s eyes crinkled at the corner as he shrugged his shoulders, “To be fair, we’re the weird ones to be going out in the middle of the night.”

Hassan let out a sharp breath through his nose. “I guess that’s true. But it’s just has been always this way with me. If I put more effort into something, then eventually I’ll be better than everyone else.”

“That’s awfully cocky of you,” Jack rolled his eyes. “You know, girls don’t like men who think too highly of themselves.”

Hassan furrowed his eyebrows and had a doubting smile on his face. “Really? My experience has told me otherwise over and over; girls here must be quite different from the city.”

“Damn, you have a sharp tongue,” Jack said with a surprised face. “Thought you were the silent type.”

“That’s just when I don’t know the people I’m talking with,” Hassan heartily laughed.

“You’re kinda the same as Robb. You two would probably get along pretty well.”

The two continued talking with each other as they reached the village head’s manor. The place was infested with goblins, from the garden to the main house.

“Well, isn’t that just perfect? Hassan, what do you say, wanna see who’s gonna kill more monsters?” Jack said with an excited expression on his face.

“Well, that doesn’t seem quite fair. Your stats are better suited for this.”

“I only hear excuses!” Jack unsheathed his sword and walked through the entry gates. “The one that loses will have to listen to the winner for a day, okay?”

Hassan sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, but don’t come to regret it later.”

He then followed Jack and entered through the main gates of the manor. With a quick eye signal, the two split up with Hassan going to the left side and Jack to the right.

The small goblins shrieked and screamed as they charged toward the young man with bloodthirsty eyes. Using his superior agility, Jack continuously stepped back and dodged their strikes. Whenever the monsters would show an opening from their attacks, he would quickly stab them through the chest before jumping back out.

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Soon, he killed the small pack of eight goblins that charged at him. However, his job was far from done; goblins of all shapes and sizes crept up from behind bushes, trees, and even from the windows of the mansion. The strong blue monsters were especially intimidating as they barred their teeth and stared at him with blind rage.

Jack heard a wooshing sound and he immediately ducked. An arrow flew through the spot where his head was just a moment ago, before piercing the ground behind him. He looked back at the army of goblins with apprehension before locating the archer. It was a blue goblin that had calmer eyes and a leaner build than others of his kind. The monster wasted no time and nocked another arrow to its longbow.

Jack clicked his tongue and ran around the garden. As groups of goblins tried to surround him, he dashed in to cut a path. Just as he was about to slash one of the tall goblins, he heard a wooshing sound and stopped dead in his track; an arrow struck the ground in front of him.

Jack looked at the archer goblin, who was smirking at him, and clicked his tongue, “You’re a fucking loser, you know that?”

But even as Jack grumbled and cursed, he could not break through the stalemate that the archer had caused. Whenever he would try to kill one of the goblins in front of him, an arrow would come to stop him.

As the young man was stuck in his thoughts, he saw a shadowy figure run past him. Robb charged at the small goblins in front of him, but just as he was about to attack them, he changed course and dashed toward the archer. The arrow that was supposed to strike him had missed and landed in front of the monster cannon fodder. The blue archer goblin tried to nock another arrow and shoot, but it was too late; Robb had already reached it and slashed its neck open.

Jack looked with surprise at the sudden change in the situation, but just as he blinked, Robb’s silhouette disappeared. The blue archer was also still alive and kicking with a nasty smirk plastered on his face.

“The hell? Am I hallucinating now?” But even as Jack was confused by what was happening to him, he was still grinning. Whether it be an illusion or a hallucination, it showed him the way to break through the stalemate. He would be stupid not to use this opportunity.

Jack followed Robb’s movement and baited the blue archer to waste one of its arrows before dashing toward it. However, the Robb in his mind was much faster than himself, and the monster had enough time to ready another arrow.

Time slowed as Jack focused on the archer’s shoulders, hand placement, and the direction of the arrow. As if by instinct, he knew its exact trajectory and slid slightly to the right.

Woosh! The arrow flew past Jack’s left ear and struck the ground behind him. He then dashed past the encirclement of the goblin army and accelerated toward his main enemy.

The blue archer goblin, who was previously smug and aloof, stepped back in panic and fear. However, it was far too late to run away. Jack pounced at the monster and plunged his sword through its heart.

The battle afterward was much simpler. Jack calmly dodged the goblins’ attacks and didn’t let himself get surrounded. Whenever one of the monsters would overextend or show an opening he would counter-attack before jumping back out.

After a few minutes, the last of the goblins’ screams died out.

“Congratulation, you have unlocked a new skill. You can find the description and the proficiency level in your status window.”

Sword Mastery Description When fighting with a sword, you will show greater skill, dexterity, and predictive ability. At higher proficiencies, you can show greater power with sword attacks and techniques. Proficiency 0.19%

As those words faded, another set appeared right after to cover Jack’s vision.

“Congratulation, you have unlocked an achievement.”

Skill, will, and talent Description Due to either your skills, your mana, or your talent, you were able to unlock your first skill before your class change which is a notable feat. Reward 50 red monster gems (can be accessed once you become an official citizen of a territory).

Jack’s jaw gaped at the barrage of new information. He had unlocked a skill and got an achievement for it? Jack barely understood what either of those words meant.

“Well, I guess it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Setting aside the achievement and monster gems, the skill could only be beneficial. Increasing the power of his sword attacks and his dexterity, and helping him in combat are things that would increase his overall power by leaps and bounds.

With the battle finished, Jack counted the number of goblin corpses before walking toward Hassan’s side.

The garden was covered in blood, and bodies littered the ground. Red, brown, and green mixed to create a ghastly picture. The well-maintained garden which should have represented beauty was now a horrifying battlefield.

Hassan finished off the last of the blue goblins before turning to look at Jack.

“You finished fast. So, how many did you kill?”

“Forty-seven. Six of them were blue goblins.” The young man said with a grin.

“Oh really, that’s very good,” Hassan praised Jack with a genuine smile.

The latter’s chest was puffed in pride. “It’s nothing too impressive. So, what about you?”

Hassan turned around and counted with his finger the corpses all over the garden. After he finished, he turned around and smiled at Jack. “Unfortunately, it seems like I have killed forty-eight. What a shame, it was quite close.”

Jack’s eyes opened wide with shock. “No, no way that’s true.” He then properly counted each of the corpses on Hassan’s side of the garden. After he did indeed find forty-eight bodies, his shoulders slumped and he let out a long sigh.

“I’m sure that you’re not going to go back on your word after you were so confident before, right?”

Jack looked at the knight with a grimace on his face. “Yeah, just tell me what you want me to do. Should I call you mister or sir?”

“No no, nothing like that,” Hassan shook his head. “We’re just gonna be doing what we have been doing this whole time, just at a bigger scale.”