Ch-4: Shadow Dance with Goblins
[You killed a Level 1 Goblin. You gained 20 Exp.]
[You killed a Level 1 Goblin. You gained 20 Exp.]
The system message popped up near the bottom of Ethan's vision, showing him goblin's level and the Exp they provided.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on numbers; the pressing issue was the horde of goblins surely alerted by their comrade's screech.
Peering down the cliff, Ethan's suspicions were confirmed. Goblins poured out of the cave entrance, their guttural screeches piercing the night.
Some wielded wooden torches, their flickering flames casting eerie shadows against the rock.
"Shit," Ethan muttered, feeling the tension coil in his chest. 'I can't take them all head-on.'
He decided to retreat into the darkness, planning to pick them off one by one, Rambo-style. But first, he wanted to try something.
'Can I store the bodies in the inventory?' With that thought, he opened the inventory panel, a 4x4 grid appearing before him, but it didn't show any option for adding items.
Thinking quickly, Ethan touched the nearest goblin corpse. A prompt appeared in front of him: [Do you want to store (Goblin Corpse) in the inventory?]
"Yes," he clicked, and the corpse vanished. A slot in the inventory filled with a pixelated drawing of a grinning goblin head, marked with X's for eyes. Encouraged, Ethan did the same with the second body, erasing the evidence of his kills and leaving only blood spatters behind.
Ethan retreated further into the forest, moving quietly and quickly. He saw a torch in the distance, a small group of goblins making their way up the path to the cliff. He melted into the shadows, putting more distance between himself and the path, ensuring he was out of sight.
Minutes later, the goblin search party arrived at the scene of the massacre. One goblin, seemingly the leader, lifted its head and sniffed the air, trying to catch the scent of the attacker. After a few moments, the goblin lowered its head, looking back at the group with a confused expression. It screeched in a bewildered tone, probably indicating it couldn't find any scent.
Ethan watched from his hiding spot, a mix of relief and anxiety churning in his chest. He knew the goblins were on high alert now, making his task even more dangerous. But he also felt a grim satisfaction. "They have no idea what's coming for them," he thought, steeling himself for the next move.
He tightened his grip on the sword, the cool metal against his bones grounding him. "Time to play the long game," he whispered to himself, his eyes narrowing as he formulated his plan.
He would pick them off, one by one, using the darkness and his wits to his advantage. The thrill of the hunt coursed through him, exhilaration fueling his determination.
The goblin leader barked some orders, and the other goblins scattered a short distance away, searching the ground for tracks.
Their guttural screeches and grunts filled the air, but Ethan focused on one goblin that had wandered just far enough from the others to be taken out silently.
Ethan's non-existent heart pounded in his chest as he crept closer, the night's darkness and dense trees providing perfect cover for his ivory-white bones.
He moved from shadow to shadow, keeping as low as possible. Every step was deliberate, his bony feet making minimal noise against the forest floor.
As he neared the unsuspecting goblin, it was sniffing the air and glancing around, trying to detect any sign of the enemy.
Ethan's earlier confidence, bolstered by the fact that the goblins hadn't detected his scent, gave him the courage to proceed. He waited for the goblin to turn away, his grip tightening on the hilt of his rusty sword.
The moment the goblin looked the other way, Ethan sprang into action. His bony fingers clamped down over the goblin's mouth, muffling any potential cries.
In one swift motion, he drew his sword across the goblin's throat. The goblin thrashed in his arms, its eyes wide with panic, but Ethan tightened his grip, holding it firmly until it went limp.
Breathing heavily, Ethan quickly stored the body in his inventory. Another notification flashed across his vision:
[You killed a Level 1 goblin. You gained 20 Exp.]
He barely registered the message, his mind focused on the remaining goblins. His earlier success bolstered his confidence, but he knew he couldn't afford to be careless.
The torch-wielding leader still posed a significant threat, and any mistake could alert the entire group.
He scanned the area, spotting another goblin a bit farther from the leader. With a determined breath, Ethan began to make his way towards this new target.
His each step was calculated and deliberate. He used the cover of the trees and the darkness to his advantage, inching closer to his prey.
As he approached the next goblin, the sounds of the night seemed to intensify. The chirping of crickets and rustling of leaves filled his ears, mingling with the distant, guttural sounds of the goblin leader.
Ethan's grip tightened on his sword, ready for the next silent kill.
Ethan's stealthy assault continued with precision and efficiency. He silently took out the goblin and yet another.
[You killed a Level 1 goblin. You gained 20 Exp.]
[You killed a Level 1 goblin. You gained 20 Exp.]
[You have leveled up. 10 Stat points obtained.]
[New basic skill "Sharpen" unlocked.]
The goblin group leader, perhaps a bit wiser than the others, finally noticed its missing comrades. With a screech that seemed to convey urgency and command, it called the last remaining goblin to its side.
Ethan watched as the final goblin obediently converged with the leader.
Ethan understood the danger of facing the last two together. He needed every advantage he could get.
He quickly allocated his newly earned stat points: four into dexterity, bringing it up to 10, and six into agility, raising it to 14.
A strange, exhilarating sensation coursed through his skeletal frame, enhancing his coordination and perception.
"Alright, let's see what this new skill does," Ethan muttered to himself as he tapped on the [Skill] tab and read the description of "Sharpen":
{Sharpen}: Level 1
Cost: 10 mana
Duration: 1 minutes
Cooldown: 5 minutes
Applies a layer of mana on the sword making it sharper than normal, decreases durability of non-mana recipient swords.
'Not bad,' Ethan thought. 'Might come in handy, especially with tougher monsters.'
Determined to test his new skill, Ethan activated Sharpen, feeling a surge of mana flow into his rusty sword. The blade shimmered with a faint blue light, an indication of its temporary enhanced sharpness.
Ethan moved closer to the last two goblins, keeping to the shadows. The night was his ally, and his newly boosted agility made his movements quicker and more precise.
He waited for the perfect moment, watching as the goblins turned their backs to him.
Now or never, Ethan thought. He moved swiftly, the leaves and grass crunching softly beneath his feet.
The goblins barely had time to react as Ethan lunged, his enhanced sword slicing through the air.
In one fluid motion, he decapitated both goblins, the torch they held falling to the ground, extinguished by the pooling blood.
[You have killed a Level 2 goblin. 30 Exp obtained.]
[You have killed a Level 3 goblin. 40 Exp obtained.]
Ethan exhaled a non existent breath. The rush of battle, the thrill of his new abilities, and the satisfaction of his success filled him with a sense of purpose.
He looked down at the fallen goblins and the notifications that floated before him, feeling a strange mix of accomplishment and anticipation.
"Well, that was... intense," he said to himself, a slight smile tugging at his skeletal face.
Ethan wiped the imaginary sweat from his non-existent brow, looking around to make sure no more goblins were approaching.
The area seemed clear for the moment. He quickly stored the remaining goblin corpses in his inventory, eager to check how the system categorized his loot.
As he opened the [Inventory] tab, the familiar grid appeared before him. Three slots were filled with the same goblin picture, but the first one showed "x3" on it, while the others just had single images.
"Huh," Ethan muttered to himself, "seems like the inventory works in Minecraft style. Same kind of items get stacked in one slot, probably up to 99 if this follows normal game mechanics."
Just as he was making sense of the inventory, he felt the weight in his hand shift. The effect of "Sharpen" wore off, and his rusty sword crumbled to dust.
"Great," Ethan sighed. "Looks like I'll have to collect some of the goblins' weapons to keep going."
He moved quickly, picking up the sword left by the goblin group leader and the daggers dropped by the other goblin.
Storing them in his inventory, he noticed a subtle difference in the display. The short sword from the leader had a white background, unlike the transparent icons of the other items.
"So weapons in the dungeons have rarity, huh?" Ethan said, a grin forming. "At least that's something."
His mind wandered back to the earlier realization. 'If the group leader was Level 3, then higher-level monsters give more experience.'
Ethan stood up, feeling a mix of excitement and anticipation. "Alright, let's see what else this dungeon has in store for me," he murmured to himself, gripping his newly acquired short sword.
Ethan moved cautiously toward the cliff, curious to check the situation below. He peered over the edge and saw a few goblins skittering around near the cave entrance. None of them ventured too far from their lair.
Ethan grinned, realizing that the group he had just eliminated might have been the only ones sent to investigate. "This could be my chance to take out more of them," he muttered to himself.
He scanned the area for something useful and soon spotted the perfect tool: a rock. It wasn't enormous, reaching just up to his knees, but it was hefty enough to cause significant damage. All he needed was bait to gather the goblins together before he dropped it on them.
A mischievous idea struck him. Ethan opened his inventory and retrieved one of the goblin corpses.
He heaved it over the edge of the cliff, watching as it plummeted and landed with a sickening thud in front of the cave entrance.
The surrounding goblins jumped and screeched in surprise at the sudden appearance of their fallen comrade.
Ethan quickly hid, then picked up the stone and brought it to the edge of the cliff. He waited, bones tensed, as the goblins gathered around the corpse, likely trying to identify it.
Some glanced up to check the source of the falling body, but their confusion gave Ethan the perfect opening.
With a determined shove, he sent the rock hurtling down.
The goblins had just enough time to look up before the rock crashed into them, splattering some to death and crippling others.
The goblins farther away from the impact zone screeched in terror and confusion.
Ethan felt a rush of adrenaline and satisfaction. His plan had worked perfectly.
The cries and screeches of the injured goblins filled the air, mingling with the sound of notifications popping up in his vision.
[You killed a Level 1 goblin. 20 Exp obtained.]
[You killed a Level 2 goblin. 30 Exp obtained.]
[You killed a Level 2 goblin. 30 Exp obtained.]
[You killed a Level 1 goblin. 20 Exp obtained.]
Ethan allowed himself a brief moment of triumph. "Gotcha," he whispered to himself, the blue flames in his eyes expanding with excitement. He knew he had to stay vigilant, but the thrill of victory was undeniable.
But that thrill didn't last long, as it was doused by the appearance of a brutish, hulking monster of a goblin emerging from the cave entrance.
This creature was easily twice the size of the others, its muscles bulging beneath its rough, green skin. It carried a massive club studded with jagged stones.
It snarled in a deep baritone and looked up toward the cliff, its yellow eyes gleaming with malice.