Chapter 3: Almost Died!
[System Notice: You learned a new Ability through {Assimilation}. You learned {Goblin’s Tongue.}]
{Goblin’s Tongue} - A passive ability. You can understand what Goblins say. When speaking directly to a member of the Goblin family, your words will be auto-translated to Goblin.
[System Notice: You started learning a new Ability through {Assimilation}: ???. Status: (1/10)]
[System Notice: Quest option ‘A’ failed. Too many Goblins have died.]
[You took 26 damage from backlash. Current Health: 74/100]
I stared at the scene in front of me. Many notifications. The ground had five Goblin bodies that had started to disintegrate, and it was charred black in about a 10 by 10 meter area. There was also a loot bag that dropped from one of the Goblins.
What the hell just happened? I tried thinking it through as I walked toward the loot bag. Seems like {Biding Eruption} unleashes damage that scales 1:1 with the power absorbed. This is insane. But, I took—what, a quarter of the damage unleashed in return? This can be dangerous if not watched clearly. Plus, I learned new abilities! Unfortunately, I failed to resolve the war peacefully. Would it have even been possible without being able to talk with them?
I grabbed the loot bag and looked inside. A single ‘tube of satiety’. I spent all my mana and activated {Goblin’s Recovery Hymn}. I looked through the dust and smoke that was still settling in front of me, and could barely make out a couple more Goblins through the other side, seemingly afraid to get too close to the smoke. I turned and ran in the direction where I first started coming from, but there wasn’t any place I could hide as the area was just a large field of green.
The dust and smoke settled, and the Goblins took a couple of looks at the charred area before heading back to their village. I was tired, and took a few sips of my ‘hydration bottle’ while resting. After thinking through the events one more time, I started shaking. It wasn’t in fear, however. No, I was shaking because I was excited.
The level 3 Goblin I fought first had about 20 health. The tankiest Goblin in this area, other than if there were a boss, should not exceed 50 health by a long shot. With {Biding Eruption} able to do up to 195 damage to multiple mobs at once. Is this not the perfect tool to grind? Just by tanking one hit with my shield, I should be able to take out the level 2 Goblins without a problem. I have the perfect idea!
I got up in excitement. I shook my legs out and stretched a little. I walked back toward the Goblin village, calming my excitement in the process. As it had been over 30 minutes already, my health and mana had long recovered. I went behind a hut, and started peeking into the village. This village only had six huts. There seemed to be 10 or 11 Goblins here. Actually, there were 11. Two groups of three, two groups of two, and one Goblin by itself.
I need to get the lone Goblin. I watched more and finally found a chance. I stepped out behind the hut to attract the Goblin’s attention. It looked at me, and then I pulled back away from the village. I checked behind me.
[Goblin Scout, Lv3]
Success! It’s by itself!
I faced the Goblin Scout, ready to intercept its attack with my shield. It was wielding a knife. It growled at me a couple of times and dashed in, but rather than growling, I heard actual words. “Evil human! You no can have our treasure!” I raised my shield and took the hit.
[Biding Eruption power at 22/195.]
Good. I need to get it higher. But treasure?
“There is treasure around here?”
The Goblin tried circling around me to get a hit, but I kept my shield in a solid position in front of it to keep the Goblin from trying to sneak a stab into my body. The Goblin cut twice this time.
“Evil an’ trickery human! No allowed talk no more!”
[Biding Eruption power at 66/195.]
I tried to get more out of the Goblin, but it just repeated ‘Evil’ over and over.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
[Biding Eruption power at 132/195.]
After the sixth hit, I repeated what I did with my first Goblin encounter. I didn’t want the power to get too full, in case I needed to take emergency hits. If the backlash already did so much, I could only imagine what would happen if it exploded. So I knocked the Goblin down, and beat its face with my fist. It took 15 hits. There was also a loot bag. It contained a small health potion.
[Health Potion (S): Restore 50 Health immediately.]
[System Notice: You gained 10 EXP.]
[System Notice: You learned a new Ability through {Assimilation}. You learned {Area Scan.}]
{Area Scan} - An active ability. Scan the area around you and receive a report about the number of presences, other than yourself. Distance scales off Perception. [Current Distance: 30 meters]
“Wow. I never thought that {Assimilation} would actually be so helpful.”
With this new ability, my survival should increase. I went back to the village, where I previously was. I activated my new ability.
[Report Received, 8 presences]
Goblin Guard, Lv3
Goblin Bowman, Lv3
Goblin Executioner, Lv 3
Goblin, Lv2
Goblin, Lv2
Goblin Guard, Lv3
Goblin Scout, Lv2
Goblin, Lv3
Eight. So, the other two were out of reach of the scan. Still, this is incredible. Hmmm, an Executioner.
A Goblin Executioner was a rare mob, but not as rare as the Cantor. They used two axes, and wore a black helmet. It also seemed to be bigger than the other Goblins in the area. I also only encountered a Goblin Executioner once- on floor four, after a trap sprung, it appeared and destroyed me when I played as a mage. Floor four was actually the last time I encountered Goblins. Floor five to 20 were void of them.
I searched for a path I could take to try to get the attention of the Goblins on me. I was planning on taking them all out, together. I grabbed a rock that was sitting next to the hut I was by and threw it towards a group of Goblins. The group had the Guard, Scout, and a regular Goblin. I grabbed two more rocks, and ran on the outskirt of the village. The Scout spotted me, and started yelling, “Evil human! Evil human!” That got the attention of the group of two beside them. I threw another rock and hit the Scout in the face. He took zero damage. “Blarg! Evil human hit with rock!” The last group of three were also now interested in what the Scout was shouting.
There we go, that is eight of them. The last two are still quite a distance away. I threw my last rock as far as I could, but it didn’t alert them. The eight Goblins started running at me. I yelled, “Smelly wobblers! Where is your smelly Chief? And your treasure!”
“Ohh, evil human want treasure! We no stink! Kill evil human!” The Goblin Guard sounded upset. Finally, the last group of two started coming, though they were a decent distance away. I kept running to try and group them all together. I began to look behind me, and then it hit me. An arrow. It went straight into my right thigh, and I rolled on to the ground. Three times. The shaft of the arrow broke off, with the remains still in my thigh. I screamed out. The pain was intense.
[You took 27 damage from Goblin Bowman, Lv3. Current health: 73/100]
“FUCK! Why does it hurt so damn bad?! AH!”
[System: Pain sensitivity is set permanently to 150% while playing on Hardcore.]
Due to the pain, I couldn’t help blurting out, “Ahh Hardcore your mom!” I tried getting up, and fell again trying to balance myself. I shoved the tip of my shield into the ground and got up. I quickly activated {Goblin’s Recovery Hymn}. The Executioner was the first to arrive. It hooked the right axe behind my shield, and yanked me back to the ground. It then swung its left axe at me. I rolled and quickly put my shield up. Another arrow came. The axe and arrow both hit my shield.
[Biding Eruption power at 157/195.]
[Biding Eruption power at 195/195. Please discharge within 15 seconds.]
[Shield unable to absorb damage due to fully charged power. You took 2 damage from Goblin Executioner. Current health: 76/100]
What? This shield has 130 defense! It should be able to absorb any hit below 130! Or is it unable to absorb damage because it comes with {Biding Eruption}? Let’s go!
“Biding Eruption!”
Once again, the shield glowed red. This time, it was even brighter. Then, a giant eruption. I felt like I was tossed back a few meters. I couldn’t see in front of me due to the notifications, dust, and smoke.
[Goblin Executioner, Lv3 takes 292 damage.][Goblin Guard, Lv3 takes 240 damage.][Goblin Guard, Lv3 takes 240 damage.][Goblin, Lv3 takes 292 damage.][Goblin Scout, Lv2 takes 292 damage.][Goblin, Lv2 takes 292 damage.][Goblin, Lv2 takes 292 damage.]
[System Notice: You gained 10 EXP. ][System Notice: You gained 10 EXP. ][System Notice: You gained 10 EXP. ][System Notice: You gained 10 EXP. ][System Notice: You gained 6 EXP.][System Notice: You gained 6 EXP.][System Notice: You gained 6 EXP.]
[System Notice: You continued learning a new Ability through {Assimilation}: ???. Status: (2/10)]
[You took 73 damage from backlash. Current health: 3/100]
I started coughing out. “Holy shit! Three health! I almost freakin’ died!” *Cough Cough* I looked ahead of me, trying to peer through the dust and smoke, just in case an arrow came through. I used {Area Scan}.
[Report Received, 3 presences]
Goblin Bowman, Lv3
Goblin, Lv3
Goblin Bowman, Lv2
I used the small health potion I obtained earlier, while hiding behind my shield.
[Current Health: 58/100]
I once again used {Area Scan}.
[Report Received, 1 presence]
Goblin, Lv3
Wait—are they running away? Crazy. I’ve never seen mobs run away before. I guess that is for the best right now.
“Status!”
Status
Health: 63/100
Mana: 0/10
Name: Zeryn Felix
Level: 0 [EXP 120/150]
Class: Miraculum
Titles: None
Attributes:
Vitality: 5
Strength: 5
Dexterity: 5
Agility: 5
Willpower: 5
Intelligence: 5
Perception: 5
Wit: 5
Wisdom*: 8.2
Charisma: 3
Luck: 17
Active Buffs: Recovery Aura
Active Abilities: {Spin!}, {Biding Eruption}, {Goblin’s Recovery Hymn}, {Area Scan}
Passive Abilities: {Assimilation}, {Fire Resistance: B}, {Goblin’s Tongue}
Assimilation:
Unknown Ability: [???] 2/10