After [Converting] every goblin corpse, except for the rogue, they were left with one lumie and thirty-six dims. A short discussion with Vorn later, Rowan learned that a dim was roughly equivalent to an Old World penny. One hundred dims to a lumie, which would be a dollar. One hundred lumies is a bright, and one hundred brights is a blind. Simple.
It seemed a bit strange that the currency would so closely match a fallen civilization from Earth, but it was probably because dividing currency into hundredths was easy and efficient.
With the advent of a universal digital currency, commonly called ‘credits’ mainly due to old sci-fi influence, all physical currency was swiftly abandoned. Not that anyone really had a choice in the matter at the time, but Rowan would prefer not to think about it. Just the stories he heard from the old timers in the military were enough to send shivers up his spine.
They decided that having a weapon would be useful, so took a risk by [Destroying] the goblin rogue. As soon as he selected the option, the corpse became a puff of rainbow smoke, and that mist congealed into the shape of a dagger. A few moments later, it solidified completely. Rowan was slightly worried it would look ridiculous and spiky like the RPGs he saw his comrades playing from time to time, but it was completely practical, if in a slight state of disrepair.
It sported a twelve-inch double-edged blade that was wide at the base and tapered to a sharp point. The handle was simple and featured a small crossguard and sharp pommel. The slight bit of rust in the center groove would have shown a lack of care had it not just appeared out of thin air.
“Magically created items can spawn damaged?”
“Oh, sure. We made this from a low level creature, and not only that, but a goblin isn’t exactly a peak specimen even if it was high leveled. With the quality of its mana... I'm surprised we got a working dagger at all.”
“Is there any chance this could be enchanted?”
“Huh? No way. Enchantments on a weapon this small would take a master.”
“It’s created by the System, though. Could it not enchant it?”
“Well, yeah, but it’s not gonna. It would have to add in its own energy to do that, and it only does that if you’ve done a great feat. It’s working with the mana that was contained in the goblin, so until we get to a higher level, don’t expect to see any enchantments. I’ve heard they start appearing around level sixty, but that could be wrong.”
At that slightly disappointing news, Rowan moved on. It was at least a well-made dagger, if a little rusty.
— — —
The first day continued on in roughly the same manner that it started. Roam around, find footprints or some other sign of goblins, chase them down, and kill them. After doing this to two groups he gained a level, but none of the fights after the first were particularly exciting. Rowan had some slight trouble adjusting to his increased stats, but he was able to adapt pretty well by just toning down his strength. It was more important to be able to move effectively than it was to use his full power, he could adapt to it later.
It was the final fight of the evening where things finally got interesting.
Rowan was silently stalking through the forest once more. His eyes were peeled, always searching for an ambush, when he saw it. A giant smoke stack.
Someone had a bonfire going.
He followed it to a large clearing, and what he saw shocked him. Wasn’t this dungeon meant for level five beginners?
It was a large camp.
The lowest level he could see was twenty.
It would appear that this dungeon would not be as boring as he feared.
“No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“I mean NO. It’s my body too. Veto.”
“I wasn’t thinking about rushing them head-on.”
“Really? That’s literally all I’ve seen you do today.”
“Yeah, against groups of three to seven. Not," Rowan stopped and attempted to count. He gave up past twenty. "That many." He finished lamely.
“Okay, sure. What’s your plan then?”
“Lure them out one group at a time? I haven’t had much time to think about it yet.”
“That might work for a little while, but goblins are intelligent creatures. They’ll realize something is up once a few groups go missing.”
“Hopefully, I’ll be at a high enough level by then to not care?”
“That isn’t a plan. Weren’t you, like, a commander in the military?”
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“Actually, I wasn’t. I was part of a new adjacent division that worked closely with the army. In terms of actual rank, I guess I would have been around the rank of a commander, but I never ordered more than one squad of people. That didn’t stop them from making me take part in officer training, though. It was a very... trying experience. I still don’t understand why they forced us all to participate.”
“Yeah, I see now that you clearly didn’t pay much attention.”
“You aren’t wrong. I don’t think they could have failed me if they wanted to. They had already put so many resources into us that they just made us do the bare minimum to get through. They weren’t going to waste three years of advanced and highly dangerous training. I remember a few people tried to demote me after a mission went wrong, but I had already made such a name for myself that there was almost a revolt.”
“I’m beginning to think you were more than just a ‘good soldier’.”
“A very good soldier then.”
“Whatever. Just… let me think of a plan.”
— — —
The sun was setting over the verdant forest, painting the camp in colorful shades of red, as the last of Vorn’s plans came together. It was simple, but simple meant fewer moving parts, and that meant the chances of failing dropped, so Rowan was all for it.
And, it was fun. Thrilling, even.
All they had to do was wait for the sun to fully set.
— — —
As the sun dipped behind the horizon, Rowan moved for the first time in several hours. He couldn’t risk being spotted by a rogue or scout.
Rowan worked out the kinks in his back and shoulders – you would think that having sixty Constitution would get rid of that – and got ready.
Really, this plan was more a precaution than anything. At sixty in every physical stat, Rowan could hardly be matched by a few common goblins. But… he had a soft spot for the primary element of this operation. It reminded him of his final mission on Earth.
Rowan skulked up to the goblin camp silently. He had no stealth skill, but he was no slouch even without it. It wouldn’t hold up to System-enhanced perception but against a bunch of sleeping, drunk, goblins? It would be enough.
The camp was dead quiet as he entered. Only the crackling of the bonfire and the snoring of the other green monsters broke the silence. He reached the axis of the plan shortly after arriving. A stout little barrel filled with a, quite frankly, rancid liquid. Goblins loved it, though. He grabbed it, and slowly poured out the liquid over a few tents. By the time he had emptied it and had to grab another, he had already covered most of them.
As he was pouring the second barrel, a goblin was roused out of his sleep. Rowan could hear him getting out of his cot and dropped behind a shrub before the goblin could even chance to see him. It shambled over to the knocked-over grog barrel, but finding it empty, turned back to go to bed. As it was walking back, however, it stopped to look at the bush that Rowan was hiding behind.
He wasn’t wearing any metal armor – hell, he wasn’t wearing armor at all – so there was no chance it could see any glare. It stared for a few seconds, unmoving and glassy-eyed. It was clearly suspicious.
"Just run!" Vorn whisper-shouted in their mind. "The plan is a bust!"
Rowan didn’t bother replying. He didn’t breathe.
Slowly, the goblin shambled back to his tent, most likely deciding it was too hungover to deal with whatever critter was hanging out near their camp.
Rowan didn’t breathe out a sigh of relief, he kept his breathing exactly as steady as it was. He got back up after half an hour and got back to his mission.
Finally, the last tent was covered in grog.
Now it was time for his favorite part of this mission.
Fire.
With the bonfire in the middle of the camp, it was honestly harder not to ignite the extremely flammable ‘alcohol’.
All it took was Rowan picking up a grog-covered stick and lighting it with the bonfire.
Stealth was no longer an option, so he ran through camp as fast as he could, setting each tent alight.
The fire lighting up the night inspired him with its intensity, but something else had captured him.
The embers.
They flowed and swayed, moving effortlessly. Following the currents of the air without needing to think or move. They just were.
The goblins had scrambled out of their tents and were now surrounding him, but he didn’t care. Vorn was screaming at him, even trying to take control, but Rowan didn’t let him. The System was trying to tell him something, but he didn’t care.
His eyes were laser-focused on the embers. Their reflection painted his pupils the same shade as his irises, and he tried to move as they did. Swaying with the wind. Reactive. The delay between mind and body, gone. As there was no mind. There was no body. Only Movement.
Vaguely, he saw a goblin trying to attack him, but he swayed around their attack. He could feel it before it even neared him. Before he could see it, even.
Several more tried to attack him, and he didn’t even bother keeping his eyes open. He was trying to focus on emulating the waltz of the embers. He slowed down and tried to focus on the feeling he was having. His body felt as if it were moving through molasses.
As if he were underwater.
There was another sense past that, though. It was similar to water, the way it rippled and moved was analogous, but it was more turbulent. With sudden clarity, he realized he was feeling the mana in the air.
He opened his eyes. All around him, it was as if the goblins were moving in slow motion, but he knew that wasn’t correct. They were moving just as fast as before. His mind was just moving faster.
He could see a thousand little reflections in the mana around him, all telling him what the goblins might do. It could read their intentions. It could read their movements.
At that thought, it clicked. He wasn’t reading intent. He wasn’t analyzing the mana in the air. He could feel the movement of everything around him. The way the goblins’ minds influenced the mana around them was just the effect they were having on its movement.
He wasn’t infatuated with fire, he was in love with the grace and elegance of the way embers danced.
Almost in the background, he could vaguely hear a notification going off. Something about him doing an action that aligned with his Path, but he couldn’t care less. All he could focus on was the movement of the world around him.
The goblins kept attacking him, but he didn’t care. He was on the verge of something momentous. Rowan flowed around their attacks as if he wasn’t even aware that they were there. As if the goblins were intentionally avoiding him. He wasn’t even moving as fast as he could. That would be unnecessary. It would go against the flow.
Finally, he captured the feeling completely. He knew that it would not leave him now, not ever.
So he attacked. His dagger slashed and stabbed as he danced his way around the camp. It followed directly behind him like a loyal companion, and it looked as if it wasn’t even trying to hit the goblins. Like they were simply in the way of the dagger following its master.
The goblins were panicking now, their world was on fire, and the man killing them was dancing around them. His eyes flashed a bright orange and suddenly he moved even faster.
The battle was nearing its end. It was time to up the tempo.
He became a whirlwind. The goblins tried their best to even scratch him, but he was simply not there when their blades swung towards him. His body contorted into strange positions to avoid the swarm of edges that constantly surrounded him, but it managed to look graceful. Beautiful even. Like a ballet dancer, he jumped and twirled mid-air, his faithful blade never far behind him.
And finally, with one last twist, the last goblin fell.
His trance ended.
Congratulations! You have earned your first skill, [Movement - Unique]! As this skill is a reflection of your Path, using it grants extra ‘experience’!
Congratulations! You have had your first Trance! As you have earned one without the aid of medications or a teacher, you get bonus experience!
You have reached level 5!
You have reached level 6!
You have-
You have reached level 8!
“What. The. Hell. Was. THAT!”
"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to suppress you-"
“THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!”
“Thank you? I thought you would be mad?”
“You were fucking DANCING around them! I’ve never even heard of something like that!”
“Weren’t you worried?”
“At first? Fuck yeah, I was! I thought you were going to stand around and die like an idiot! I didn’t know you were having a fucking TRANCE!”
“Are those rare?”
“Are those rare? You bet your sweet ass they're fucking rare! I’ve never even heard of someone having one before level 50! And most people that do have Unique Paths!”
“Does having a Unique Path aid with having them?”
“It’s a common theory. People think that since Unique Classes tend to align more closely with a person's desires, their path becomes easier to follow. That leads to more trances, or so the theory goes. What was it like, anyway?”
“It was like… I can’t describe it fully. The closest I could get is… Imagine that you were finally, completely, at peace. Fully aligned with the world around you.”
“That doesn’t-”
“But at the same time, you were completely and utterly inspired. It was an odd blend of passion and contentment. Maybe the best word would be enlightenment.”
“Damn. That sounds awesome.”
“It was. It really was.”