I ran as fast as my legs could carry me.
Not toward Mavari though.
I ran away.
[System] notifications buzzed around my head, failing to penetrate the panic that clouded my sight.
For long moments, the sounds of pursuit—real and imagined—hounded my flight. Dread Tigers roared in the distance.
I flung the monster bait aside and ran until the roars receded—until the breath faltered in my chest. I didn’t see the thicket or the brook behind it and crashed headlong into the water. The stones at the bottom shifted beneath my feet. Cool water surged up my nostrils.
I reemerged with a handful of sand and scrubbed myself in a bid to wash off my scent. The action centered me, soothing the worst of my hysteria. The sensation of cool water on my face helped clear my head. Logical thought rose to the surface.
Why had the goblins been waiting in the copse on an important day like today? They scarcely left their mountain, going by what Mavari had said. Did the [System] manipulate events in order to test me?
No, that shouldn’t be the case. I was reincarnated to resolve an apocalypse. How the heck would I succeed if death lurked at every corner?
The [System] notifications revealed that I'd gained three stacks of [Fear] since the arrival of the goblins. Fat lot of good that did, seeing as I’d only hindered Mavari. Nana needed to be warned about the new development, but I couldn’t bring myself to discard the image of a valiant Mavari withstanding the goblin riders.
I simply couldn’t.
“You’re going to die if you return for her, Damien,” I muttered. “You’re not a fantasy hero. You’re a deadbeat dropout from Lagos.”
The pep talk didn’t stop me from retrieving The Blackreach Dagger which I’d lost during my fall in the brook. A quick look at the [System] log revealed crucial information:
Time left till next ingestion: 03:07:14.
Mavari had trusted me to go along with her desires, but of what benefit was that to me?
Returning to the village guaranteed elven reinforcements at the cost of losing an hour. Mavari would be done for in that time. And, I’d follow shortly after unless a miracle occurred.
Selfish though it was, confronting the goblins offered the best chance at survival. I’d be dead in three hours anyway. What difference did it make?
I turned around.
The memory of Dread Tiger teeth flashed past my mind’s eye, forcing me back in the opposite direction. No need to rush things.
A few problems needed to be addressed. Stamina proved the most urgent, having depleted by half during my frantic escape. Health had also been dented, not enough to threaten me, but enough to render me conscious of the sole health potion in my possession.
The three unassigned stat points went into Strength, bringing its value up to seven. This increased to ten soon after due to the massed [Fear] stacks.
A new message appeared:
Ooh. You have upgraded an attribute!
[STR] has improved from [Lesser] to [Common].
Your physical attacks now deal 2x base damage.
You have gained 10% physical resistance.
Very nice. I couldn’t always count on [Scaredy-cat], but as long as [STR] and [DEX] remained at this level, I packed a good wallop.
A sudden roar interrupted my musing. I darted across the brook without a moment’s hesitation and slipped between the submerged roots of a tree.
A young deer bounded into the water, sporting a bolt in its flank. A second bolt sent it careening into the drink. Multiple splashes signaled the footfalls of pursuers, but the tree roots hampered my view of the scene.
“Blast it!” a sniveling voice said. “It's not the runner.”
“Of course, it's not, you idiot,” a deeper voice replied. “Elves don’t run on all fours.”
“Then why do we call them cattle?”
“Why else? It’s because they’re meat!”
Goblins. As if they didn't look terrible enough already, their voices were the stuff of nightmares. They spoke with a grating, stuffy-nosed rasp that sounded more fitting on hag witches.
A terrible growl, which could only have emanated from a Dread Tiger, punctuated the discussion. A large feline, bearing a sturdy goblin rider, wandered toward the deer.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
[Identify].
Tamed Dread Tiger LVL 16.
Goblin Scout LVL 16.
The Dread Tiger licked its chops and nosed the deer. Its actions earned it a swift kick from the goblin which caused the Dread Tiger to bristle. The goblin cursed and kicked it again.
The tigers weren't completely under control despite what the description had said. I could use that.
“Damn elf,” the sturdy goblin said, squeezing the discarded tiger bait in his hand. “He's given us the slip! We should head back. See if we can't catch the other one's butchering.”
“You go on ahead,” his companion said. “I'll follow soon.”
“And what would you be doing, maggot?”
“I got a rumble in my belly. Unless you wanna watch?”
The sturdy goblin made a face. “Ugh. How did I get paired with a numbskull like you? Bograt won’t let me hear the end of it if I return without a head. He’s been meaning to hijack my party, I tell you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Get going, you filthy milkskin.”
“Your sister was bred by filthy milkskins. Wonder how that feels.”
The sturdy goblin left, amid curses from his companion.
I gripped my dagger and peeked with bated breath around the corner of the tree roots.
Goblin Scout LVL 10.
Tamed Dread Tiger LVL 11.
I could take them.
The goblin dismounted from the tiger and allowed the great beast to tear into the carcass with gusto. For his part, he approached the tree roots—the same ones that hid me—and loosened his loincloth. A warty, green behind entered my vision.
I didn't even think.
I lunged for the goblin and thrust the dagger straight into his ass. Not the most sporting of moves, but necessity won out over fairness.
My arm closed around his throat to prevent his screams. Two deep strikes were all it took to empty his health.
The final strike sank into bone, splitting the goblin open from crack to nape. Critical hits existed in Vizhima, judging by the ease I had dispatched the goblin.
The Dread Tiger reacted too late, wailing low in its throat. I slipped deeper into the tree roots and activated my aura.
Dread Tiger has resisted [Fear Aura].
Hint: Build more Willpower!
Oh, come on!
The monster threw itself against the barrier with enough force to rock the tree trunk. Strong paws gouged chunks out of the roots. I huddled away from its onslaught just as it froze. The fur on its front legs rose.
That goddamn attack.
I grabbed the pouch on my hip and lobbed a couple of monster cores into the Dread Tiger’s face. They exploded like miniature fireworks, forcing the tiger onto its back.
It yelped in hysteria, snagging a paw between the roots. No time like now.
I surged from hiding and plunged my dagger into the Dread Tiger’s chest. The attack failed to find purchase, bounced off by health. I tried again and earned claws to the back for my trouble.
But, I had better leverage.
With a final thrust, the dagger broke skin and lodged deep into the Dread Tiger’s chest. Blood welled into my hand.
You have leveled up!
You are now Level 7.
Visit your status sheet to assign free stat points.
I fell back into the water, gasping for breath. The Dread Tiger had thankfully not activated its [Bleed] skill with the last attack, halving my worries.
The dead goblin made for a more gruesome sight than the tiger, and unlike the latter, he qualified as a sapient. But, what did I care? All that mattered was that the Goblin Scouts weren’t as insurmountable as I’d thought. As long as I got close enough, everyone bled.
And so do you, a small voice in my head warned.
[Scaredy-cat] had helped out again, giving the equivalent of twenty-four stat points from three stacks of [Fear]. However, it couldn’t be relied on.
If I wanted to avoid situations like these, I needed to be stronger. Plus, didn’t the other goblin say something about Mavari nearing her end?
I scrubbed myself off and returned The Blackreach Dagger to my belt. Feeling a tad more confident, I murmured, “Status sheet.”
The blue screen appeared.
Damien Njoku
Race: Dark Elf
Level: 7
Affinity: Fear
Class: [?]
VP: 31/25
MP: 31/27
Attributes:
STR 7 (10), PER 5 (8), END 10 (13), DEX 10 (13)
INT 5 (8), WIL 3 (6), V.F 2 (5), MGK 3 (6)
Free stat points: 3
My MP should have read 33/27 courtesy of the three extra stats in Magicka granted by [Scaredy-cat]. The brief activation of [Fear Aura] had something to do with this, which confirmed my suspicions that I could fire techniques from the excess energy.
Other gains were consistent with prior observations: three free stat points per level, alongside a one-point increase in both VP and MP.
Did this growth curve remain constant throughout the levels? If it did, and assuming progression was the same for elves and monsters, didn’t that leave me outclassed? A level 15 goblin like the one I’d seen would thus be twenty-four stat points stronger than me. A gulf I could only eliminate via [Fear] stacks.
Ugh. I had too little knowledge about the [System] to make educated guesses. Might as well just stick with lifestyle improvements.
Put all stat points into [WIL]? Y/N?
Since this affected the effectiveness of [Fear Aura], I couldn’t afford to ignore it. “Yes.”
Done with that much, I turned toward the slain enemies. The Dread Tiger yielded a fang and monster core as usual, though the latter seemed a bit bigger than it should have been. A quick scan with [Identify] revealed that the loot drops were different indeed. Both items registered as Common as opposed to the Lesser types the other Dread Tigers generated.
The partially eaten deer offered no loot prompt, but the goblin corpse disappeared after yielding an ear and a second Common monster core. I rolled the former over in my hands.
Goblin ear [Common]
A popular alchemic ingredient.
The goblin had left behind his clothes and a single jagged knife, both of which I ignored. None of the other loot promised an edge over my enemies, but I pocketed them anyway.
Mavari still lived somewhere within the forest. And, if the roars continued at their current frequency, I knew where to go.
Time to kill some milkskins.