The goblins were not what Dane had expected. They didn’t quite match up to anything he had ever seen in his fantasy games and books except at the most basic level. They were indeed green skinned for the most part, though some were mottled and leaned more towards shades of grey and brown rather than a particularly bright green. More than this they were not particularly ugly or misshapen as they were so often represented. They ranged in size with the largest being almost as tall as Dane’s chest and the smallest being just above his knee. Their limbs were long and lined with whipcord muscle that showed a life of hunting and fighting, scars prevalent across their skin in raised ridges of white tissue.
Their equipment was not slap dash or held together by spit and faith either, but well made leather corselets padded with some kind of grey fur that really brought out the image of a noble savage somewhat. Their spears and swords were where the image returned to its roots, they were rough and showed hammer marks. Where their leather work was superb, their metal work left a lot to be desired. There were a dozen of them all arrayed before the small party of adventurers and the lead goblin stood out like a sore thumb, bigger than his compatriots with an extra layer of muscle to show his dominance, and a tall plume of what looked like horsehair on his leather cap.
There was no time for further observations as the ring of greenskins began to step forth from the undergrowth to attempt to encircle them.
“Alright, David and Brigid get behind me, Lucas you’re covering behind me and Erik you’re making sure they don’t get past my right side.” Dane ordered as he gripped his sword two handed, his left hand working the pommel around the grip of his buckler, “David, if you see a shot with your spells, take it but try to stay in the centre, Brigid you’re on gap duty, anything tries to get between the three of us, you stab them.” They all nodded in agreement as Dane turned to face the oncoming rush of goblins.
His guard was low on his left hip, the point of his blade aimed at the chest of the goblin closest to him. As they closed the blade rose, off his hip like the tusk of an Italian Boar as it lifted its head, the spear that was thrust toward him was knocked over his right shoulder before the blade descended like an avenging angel to cleave skull and brain. The goblins were strong but their bodies were just as fragile as any human, and with his newly reinforced strength Dane’s hand was a fell thing as he sheared half the creature’s head away in one blow.
Notifications slipped past his vision, ignored completely as he reversed his swing and cut a mezzano across his shoulders to the left, before thrusting into a third. The blade punched through the leather corselet easily and before he knew it there was near a foot of blade protruding from the goblin’ s back. It would clearly take some time for Dane to acclimatise to his new level of strength, after all there was no need to waste so much force when it wasn’t necessary.
A fourth goblin closed in while Dane’s blade was run through the third, and he had to step through, rotating his hands to drive the pommel into the oncoming attacker’s teeth shattering bone and sending the goblin sprawling in a screaming heap. Lucas mean while emulated Dane’s approach and his blade darted out like a lizard’s tongue. Each blow was an effective kill, years of training showing their worth as the men killed for the first time.
Behind them Erik was a blur, his twin axes striking out in cross patterns, separating limbs as often as they struck a vital point. Brigid had accepted her role quickly and darted between the gaps of the three combatants, piercing a goblin’s ribs as it tried to step around Erik with her arming sword, and driving her dagger through an eye of another. David had frozen in the middle his eyes snapping around in every direction as the fear really began to take hold.
Luckily the fight was over quickly, even with the numbers advantage the goblins weren’t really a match for the trained warriors and with a last powerful punch with his buckler, Dane caved in the face and most of the skull of the goblin leader. It was gruesome and blood and brain matter splattered against his clothes and armour, there was no way to resist the urge to vomit that came next, his gauge rising like the spring sap.
A few hurried moments later as he fumbled the catch on his visor and Dane was bent over double and losing what little food he had in his stomach, just the free gruel that everyone outside the tower qualified for, hands on his knees as his body shook from the violent expulsion. Erik was with him in a heartbeat, a firm hand on his back.
“It’s alright mate, you got this,” He told his older brother in a soothing voice, “you just have to think of it like a game, a very realistic VR kind of game.”
Dane nodded his thanks to his brother once he was sure no more could come up, “sorry everyone, I didn’t think that would hit me so hard.” He mumbled to them all.
“Honestly I’d be worried if it didn’t affect you a little, they may not have been human, but they were definitely alive and sentient, taking a life shouldn’t be a game.” Brigid answered for them all, chucking a small glare at Erik. Dane nodded his thanks to her before looking at the notifications he had received.
**You have slain [Goblin Warrior] Level 2**
**You have slain [Goblin Warrior] Level 2**
**You have slain [Goblin Warrior] Level 2**
**You have slain [Goblin Warrior] Level 2**
**You have slain [Goblin Patrol Leader] Level 3**
**You have gained a level in [Fighter (Medium)]**
**You have gained a level in [Fighter (Medium)]**
**You have gained a level in [Fighter (Medium)]**
**You have received 7 [Copper Bulls]**
**You have received 7 [Copper Bulls]**
**You have received 7 [Copper Bulls]**
**You have received 1 [Silver Leopard]**
**Currency Deposited in Tutorial Bank**
**Goal Updated: Destroy the Patrols 1/3**
**Skill Upgraded [Strike (Inferior)] >>> [Powerful Cleave (Common)]**
**Skill Upgraded [Basic Swordsmanship (Inferior)] >>> [Sword Adept (Common)]**
It rolled past his eyes in a burst of information, it was like the changes didn’t take effect until he looked because as soon as he read the notifications the stat jump hit, and the now familiar spike of pain ran through his body. Looking around he saw the others having similar reactions, except for David who just looked miserable as he looked at the bodies around them.
With a sigh Dane put a hand on the younger man’s shoulder, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Fighting isn’t for everyone man, don’t worry about it,” he offered a tired smile as his eyes scanned the clearing for any remaining attackers they may have missed. David nodded sullenly, and Dane knew no words he could offer would sooth the fear and feeling of failure right now.
“How’s your eye sight?” Dane asked as an idea began to form.
“Not bad, I mean I don’t need glasses or anything,” David said, curious enough to break out of his dark mood a little.
“One of the goals we got mentioned treasures, can you keep an eye out while the rest of us scout?” Dane followed through having baited the hook, “no idea what they’ll look like, but I have a suspicion they’ll stand out a little given the nature.” David nodded and almost immediately began scanning the undergrowth. With a smile to himself and a pat on the back for his burgeoning leadership skills Dane decided it was time to look at his updated character sheet, after all, who didn’t like seeing those numbers go up?
Name: Dane Grimm
Class: Fighter (Medium) Level 4
Profession: Blacksmith Level 10
Tier: Tin
Hit Points: 100/100
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Mana: 100/100
Stats:
STR: 54
DEX: 12
INT: 25
WIS: 15
ViT: 15
Skills:
Gift of Language [Unique], Identify [Common], Powerful Cleave [Common], Sword Adept [Common], Forge [Common], Reforge [Common], Runecraft [Common]
Blessing:
Lesser Blessing of the Twins of Blood and Flame [Common]
Titles:
Master Artisan [Common], Trailblazer of Artisans [Rare], First of the Blessed [Unique]
It had filled out significantly since he had first acquired it, with some focus he brought up his new titles.
Master Artisan [Common]:
When an artisan accomplishes the feat of creating a Master Work item they are acknowledged as a burgeoning master of their craft. +3 Wisdom, +3 Vitality.
Trailblazer of the Artisans [Rare]:
The first on your planet to achieve a Master Work creation and achieve the tenth level of your profession. +5% Intelligence +5% Strength
First of the Blessed [Unique]:
The first to receive a divine blessing within your Universe, you stand at the pinnacle of what may be. +10% All Stats.
Lesser Blessing of the Twins of Blood and Flame [Common]:
The Twin Gods, the Chivalrous Hero and the Forge Saint, have found a new disciple embodied in you, and have granted you a portion of their power to excel beyond your current limits. +10% All Stats.
He was starting to feel very lopsided, the lack of dexterity was of immediate concern, but his strength had sky rocketed to the point he was pretty sure he could bend any thickness of stainless steel between two fingers now. Something to ask when I get back to the Tutorial town I guess, Dane mused to himself before focusing back on his group.
“Hey Lucas, come here a sec,” Dane called as he finally closed his screens and looked up. The group’s other fighter trotted over with a questioning look.
“You got your builder profession right?” Dane asked, “Did you happen to look at any pricing on materials?”
“Yeah I had a look, the basic timber and stuff is super cheap, I could build us a decent three bedroom house with the dozen coins I apparently just got from that fight, but I’m guessing you’ll want more than that if you intend to have us all living together?” Lucas explained with his head tilted to the side curiously.
“I was thinking more stone, I mean we’ve always wanted a castle right?” The grin on Dane’s face was broad and only matched by his friend’s.
“Big courtyard with our own forge and such?”
“You know it, while our party can only be five strong for the dungeon, I reckon it’ll probably be a good idea to plan for new additions.”
“Ha, we’ll form a guild!” Erik said as he approached them and threw an arm around Dane’s shoulders. Dane chuckled at his brother and shook his head.
“A Company of Adventure suits better, a Guild would imply we were all craftsmen or merchants of the same type,” Dane knew he was being needlessly pedantic and he also knew that wasn’t the context in which his brother meant it, but he was rewarded with the exasperated sigh and eye roll he had been baiting the younger sibling into.
“Call it what you want…nerd.” Erik said with a stuck out tongue.
“Alright come on, we’ve wasted enough time here, let’s go find us the other patrols and treasures.”
*************
It took them all of ten minutes to run into another patrol, but just like the first it didn’t result in much of a fight, although this time David managed to hurl a mana bolt of crimson light into the face of a goblin that seemed to detonate the thing’s skull in a profoundly disturbing display of gore. It netted Dane another two levels and showed that the patrols were perhaps set to be identical as it consisted of the same number of normal goblins and one patrol leader and all at the same levels as before. He was loathe to become lax, but the fact was despite the sick feeling it gave him to end their lives, they were not much of a threat head on.
The second fight was better than the first, he managed to avoid throwing up again, although the immediate aftermath was still off putting and made him queasy, but as before Erik came to the rescue to banter and distract. It helped immensely and allowed Dane to continue moving forward. True to his word, David kept searching the undergrowth as they moved through the forest that seemed to stretch for miles in every direction, and eventually he struck gold. A small wooden treasure chest entwined in the roots of one of the oaken giants. When he opened it they were all greeted with a matching notification advising they had each received ten of the [Copper Bulls] currency, and in its depths was a gold necklace with an amethyst like gem on a pendant cut to resemble the infinity symbol.
“It’s a spatial storage pendant,” David informed them after he used his [Identify] on it.
“You found it, put it on and you can be our pack mule,” Dane said with a grin to the young man. Since he had managed to kill a goblin and find the treasure chest David’s mood was rapidly improving and he was able to banter with them all again, though still far from the loudest of the group. Everyone nodded in agreement and he put the necklace over his head for the pendant to rest gently against his chest.
“Any idea how much you can store?” Erik asked, eager for any new discovery.
“I have a rough feeling of it but it’s quite large,” David mumbled his eyes unfocused as he felt the magic of the new item, “I think it’s about the size of an average bedroom, unless we try to cart back a house we should be able to collect a bunch.”
“Well that’s going to be super useful, next fight, aim for the goblins unarmoured spots, I want to collect the armour, we can take it back with us and I think I can repurpose it and maybe even sell it to some of the others.” A round of nods met their leader’s words and Dane grinned at them.
“Let’s go.”
It soon became apparent the further they went into the forest that just because the goal was to destroy three patrols, did not mean there were only three patrols about. By the time they had finished off and looted their eighth patrol Dane was starting to think they might need to camp out. David found the two additional treasure chests, each provided more coins for each of them and an [Orcish Axe of the Spirits (Uncommon)] that went to Erik and a second spatial item, this time a ring with a garnet set into its gold band that went to Lucas, who as the builder would need to cart a lot of materials. Both were filled with goblin leather armour that upon inspection was all common quality as Dane had expected, meanwhile at prompting from Lucas, Erik cut down several trees with his new axe that went into his ring for building practice.
It seemed like they would have to break for the evening as the sun set within the odd pocket dimension Dane assumed they were in for the Dungeon to function, but just as he was about to make the call, the trees began to thin ahead and a collection of wooden huts surrounded by an abatis of sharpened logs appeared before them. Several large cooking fires could be seen through the gaps and the little village was swarming with dozens of goblins. The party having to throw themselves flat and crawl forward on their bellies to avoid being seen.
Dane felt his stomach go cold as he saw the object of their hunt. Around the largest fire in the centre he could see three humans, each tied by their hands to the top of a stake so that they couldn’t sit or lay down, instead forced to stand with their arms stretched over their heads. Each looked frail and beaten, their armour was gone and their clothing hung off them in bloody rags, barely doing anything to save their modesty. Swollen cheeks and black eyes, split lips and torn skin were almost uniform across all three of the poor kids and Dane grimaced at the pain they must have endured.
While there were plenty of goblins, he was pretty sure that the gaps in the huts were small enough that their group could create a funnel and kill them at will, and having seen the results of the goblins ministrations to their prisoners, Dane all but felt his resolve harden, a deep burning rage curled in his gut and he knew he would kill them all for what they had wrought on the broken boys he saw before him. The real problem as far as he could tell was the core of stronger goblins he could see resting around a wooden and fur throne just behind the main fire. Each was easily as tall as the top of Dane’s chest and their musculature was far more impressive than their fellows, and their armour was better as well. Each had linked steel plates sewn into their leather cuirasses and mail showed underneath covering their arm pits and thighs. There were perhaps twenty of them all lounging indolently before their chieftain, and he was if anything, a worse scenario than his warriors.
The chieftain was just as big as his warriors, but broader in the chest and his armour and axe screamed magic items to Dane all the way across the intervening space, he could practically sense the mana held within them and that gave him pause. The few spears and swords that had connected with him in their previous fights had been deflected by the armour he had made but these looked like they would not have the same trouble with his thin plated leather thorax.
While his helm might turn the blow, the cutting power wasn’t the only consideration for an axe like that, the sheer mass and force it generated would likely be far worse than if it simply cut the steel.
“Why’d he have to have an axe?” Dane muttered under his breath, earning a barely stifled snort from Lucas on his left.
“Erik, if we can wedge ourselves in between two huts, do you think you and Brigid can hold the rear in case any try to sneak around behind us?”
“Of course.”
“Good, when I say go, we sprint for the first two, me and Lucas will form a line facing into the village, you two form behind us and watch for flank attacks, David I need you in the centre providing range support when you can and to warn me if you see anything bigger coming, or if you see any with bows, understand?” Everyone nodded in understanding, even if David’s hands trembled and Erik’s jaw was set a little tighter than it perhaps needed to be but Dane could see the same offended rage in all of their eyes that he felt deep in his own core.
“Let’s go pick a fight.” He said as he began counting down from three in his head and lowered his visor, rising to his knees, “Go!”