I woke up. Blinking my eyes rapidly, I dragged my body out of bed leisurely, allowing it time to adjust to being awake. I grabbed a bottle of water, uncapped it, and let it gush down my throat.

I headed over to where I had set my weapon for the night and began to polish it. While honing the blade, I thought about how I could destroy the goblin settlement.

‘Poison could do the trick, that is always an option. I don’t know if there are the correct ingredients to anything worthwhile here, however’. I might be able to raid a nearby supermarket or something for hazardous products, but in the meantime, I would try to come up with another way.

I might be able to get away with just murdering them all, but that would have to be done slowly and methodically, and I’m terrible at that sort of combat. ‘Perhaps I could lure them away and then sneak through?’ If I take care of them, I might be able to save innocent lives, so that plan’s a bust.

While internally debating the pros and cons of sneaking past the goblins, I realized something strange. While I had used the katana last night and killed two goblins, there was no blood on it. I even cut through a sword, and there were no chips. ‘What is this thing made of?’. I realized I had never actually inspected the weapon.

[Inspect]

Lament

[Average] [Enchanted]

A well-forged katana, created by an [Apprentice Blacksmith] on the planet Earth. It was conceived from the despair of a son taken before his time and infused with his ashes.

Material: Damascus Steel

Enchantment: [Script - Japanese]

Enchantment(s): 3

Self-Repair - Any damage taken by this weapon will be removed in 24 hours, so long as the weapon remains intact.

Repel: Liquid - Liquids that come into contact with this weapon will be repelled.

Honed - This weapon is unusually sharp. When cutting, the sharpness of the sword is doubled.

Durability: 100%

‘Wow,’ was all I could think at the moment. ‘Who was that blacksmith lady?’ She enchanted an item prior to the System’s arrival. Not only that, but most created items from before jobs existed were of [Trash] or [Below Average] quality. For it to be [Average] quality, it had to exhibit several distinct traits:

First: It had to be crafted by an [Apprentice] quality blacksmith or higher. When someone gained a Blacksmith job, they were automatically assigned to the [Novice] level. There were a few blacksmiths prior to the apocalypse who were automatically sent to the [Apprentice] tier, but only one that he knew of made it to [Journeyman] before the System.

Second: It had to have a special meaning to the creator. When any crafter of any kind created a product, they invested time and effort into it. That time and effort put a minuscule piece of your soul into your work. The more you invested into it, the more of a soul it would get. Anything above [Extraordinary] quality would be semi-intelligent and capable of thoughts. However, the more quality work a crafter does, the less soul they have to share. After several million [Trash] works, they would only have a small sliver of their soul left. Crafting was dangerous work, and mass production wasn’t possible.

Third: You had to be lucky. Even if you fulfilled all of the above, that was no guarantee that you would create something of quality. Increasing time and effort would increase the likelihood, but nothing short of being a [God of Blacksmithing] would assure anything.

Needless to say, I was impressed. Whoever that lady was, I needed to find her again. To be able to create something of this quality...she must be someone very talented indeed. However, there was nothing I could do about it at the moment. I needed to find a way to get stronger, and Lament should be able to help me accomplish that.

Now that I know the quality of my weapon, there was a chance I could kill the goblins in direct combat, but I would have to be lucky and quick. I prepared a few sandwiches and grabbed two bottles of water.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I left home and found the path that I took from where I had left the bodies. Well, where they should have been. When I arrived, the corpses were gone, leaving only bones behind. It appeared as though they had been eaten. Putting that aside for now, I followed the path I had marked out previously.

Once the clearing was in sight, I found some foliage to hide behind and proceeded to spy on the goblins for the better part of the day. Casing out where you plan on assaulting is always a good idea. As Sun Tzu said in the Art of War, ‘know thy enemy’.

While it was still early in the morning, I saw little to no movement. A little after sunrise, most of the camp came to life. The chieftain appeared to mostly stick to his hut, only coming out for food and to yell at various goblins.

The patrols were slightly more worrying. There were 5 separate patrols throughout the day, and they all were in groups of three. I would have to take them all out and somehow convince the goblins that it was a monster attack, not a lone swordsman. Nobody else really exited the walls, however, several did enter the portal throughout the day, likely getting supplies.

I turned back and began to search for a beast I would be able to kill, while also being plausible to have murdered several goblins. Racking through my brain, I could only come up with one that was in the initial wave: a Dire Wolf. The giant, hulking animals split off from packs and became lone wolves.

With a real plan in mind, I turned towards the southern part of the park and made my way over, careful to stay low to the ground and in the foliage. I had to avoid several small groups of humans. Apparently, they had the bright idea to run into the woods so that they might avoid the monsters. ‘Good idea. If only their assumptions were correct,’’ I thought. Since this part of the woods was infested with goblins, and to someone who was as innocent as most civilians were, their choice was a guaranteed death sentence.

I considered warning them, but ultimately decided I didn’t want to be on anyone’s radar quite yet. I still had things to do that could only be done if I wasn’t well known. The only two people to have seen my face thus far, besides the man last night, were the receptionist and the blacksmith lady, but the receptionist probably didn’t know anything and the smith was an enigma.

Once I got to roughly where the wolves should be located, I started to set myself up as a prime target. I began snapping branches as I walked, trying to look careless and confused while still on high alert. If they snuck up on me, at this point they could very well end my life. After a few minutes, I noticed that there was another set of footsteps cleverly masked by my own. My fingers twitched to my sword, and I nearly bolted, but I held fast. I needed to get this kill. A few minutes later, just as my nerves were the tensest, the ambush sprang.

A muted SNAP! was all the warning I got. Luckily, that was all I needed. I dove to the side, ripping my blade out of its scabbard and I pivoted to face my previous placement. A confused wolf the size of a small car landed where I had been a scant few moments ago. It had a shiny dark grey coat, bordering on black, as well as sharp fangs the size of my fingers.

I swallowed down my fear and charged it, taking advantage of its momentary confusion as it didn’t connect with its prey. I swiped at its front leg, scoring a blow that cut all the way to the bone.

It retaliated, snarling, by biting my side. I could see it coming, so I dodged the blow and sent my katana straight into its eye, severing its connection with life. A few seconds passed before it finally fell, leaving me just as surprised as the wolf likely had been before its end.

That was probably the quickest I had ever ended a fight, and I was left unscathed. If it had jumped me though, I most likely would have died, unable to grab my blade in time.

I sheathed the sword and began to get to work. I needed a fang and a leg for my plan to work.

A few bloody minutes later, I had what I needed. I left the corpse on the battlefield, hoping that some wild animals would eat it.

Approaching the goblins’ camp, I lay in wait for another party to pass. It took a few hours. The blood on the leg was beginning to dry when I spied the next group coming by. Leaving the limb behind, I waited for them all to pass before creeping up to the last in line.

I clamped my hand over its mouth and slid my blade through its ribs, straight to where I assumed its [Core] to be. Feeling its pulse slowing, I lowered my victim to the ground to reduce the noise. After I left it there, I jumped the two remaining goblins. A quick stab at one left it on the ground and writhing in pain, leaving just one in fighting condition.

It ran, trying to go warn its fellow goblins, but I was much faster. A quick sprint and jab ended its already limited lifespan.

Finishing off the incapacitated goblin, I left the severed foot in the vicinity of the area and stabbed the cold bodies with the fangs a few times to mask my involvement. Another patrol was going to come across these bodies sooner or later, and I didn’t want an alarm raised just yet.

Leaving the foot should be enough to convince the goblins that they needed to find revenge on a three-legged wolf, which might lead to even more deaths as they attempted to find a wolf fitting those specifications. After all, what else had they met that was even as close to the blame-shifting ability of humans? I promptly fled the area, leaving the scene to be found by their tribe.

Job [Hero] level increase! (2 > 3)

Fleeing back to my spying spot, I carefully kept watch over the next few hours as the next patrol of goblins left, arrived at the scene of carnage, and ran back to report to the chieftain. A second, larger, party went back to the same spot, then returned to camp.

By the time it was all said and done, the sky was beginning to darken. I left for my base, leaving the camp to its own devices for the night.

----------------------------------------

“I see you chose to be a hero,” a voice declared.

Scrambling to sit up, I nearly fell over myself as I tried to recover what little dignity I had. I identified the speaker as Chronos.

“Fret not, this is merely a vision. I am not truly in your world,” Chronos chuckled.

“Um, yes! I chose to be a hero. After all, I was chosen to save the world, right?” I replied, still off-balance but quickly recovering.

“What have you done that would earn you that moniker? All I’ve seen you doing thus far is slaughter and intimidate. Not once have you attempted to aid another human, even going so far as to ignore those you knew were about to perish purely for time’s sake,” he spread his hands, “Even killing those goblins was for your own gain, yet here you are, deluding yourself into thinking you are the hero,” he finished, glancing back at me expectantly.

‘Was it truly all for my own benefit? I had chosen the job [Hero], but I sure as hell wasn’t acting like one.’ I simply bowed my head in shame. I could not defend myself, for I was guilty of what he was accusing me of.

“You still have a chance. Do not waste it. I selected you, and I do not tolerate hypocrisy. Improve, and I shall reward you. Should you choose not to, however, a fate worse than death awaits you.”

He snapped his fingers, and I returned to reality.