The End of the First Room

There was no way I could take the fireball head-on. I had no fire protection gear, so I attempted to do a dodge roll away. It was an awkward movement that I didn't pull off perfectly and it sent an alarming jolt up and down my left arm.

A small window with [+1%] popped up in my periphery and I knew exactly what it meant. Even though I made my arm a bit worse with the dodge roll, I managed to get far enough away to avoid any kind of damage from the fireball. It crashed into the very spot I had just been a couple of seconds ago and left a seared scorch mark on the stony ground.

Before I could comprehend what was happening, Goblin One of Five took an awkward swing at me that made me have to jump back a little bit more. The five goblins, all in a single file, must have rushed me at the same time as when the Chief shot the fireball at me.

I remembered the attack pattern from the previous waves and slashed at each of the five goblins all in a series of movements, and my investment into my Strength and Agility from Leveling up worked wonders, as they all fell instantly. Even with the damage debuff, I was able to take them down instantly.

"Paradigm, scan the big guy," I mumbled under my breath as the Goblin Chief turned to face me. His information popped up in a Window as he used Rally Call once more.

[GOBLIN CHIEF

LEVEL RANGE: 2 - 10

GOBLIN CHIEFS ARE ONE OF THE STRONGER VARIANTS OF GOBLINS. AS THEIR NAME SUGGESTS, THEY CONTROL BASIC AND RANGED GOBLINS IN BATTLE. AS THEY ARE HIGHER IN THE GOBLIN HIERARCHY, THEY ARE STRONGER THAN THE BASIC GOBLIN. THEY ARE ALSO ABLE TO USE THE MAGIC SPELL FIREBALL.]

Six level one Goblins spawned and started to march toward me. I knew that the Chief's next move was going to be a fireball, and I dodge-rolled away. This time, I managed to do it perfectly without hurting my arm.

I had dodged closer to the Chief and I started sprinting over to it. I managed to take care of all the level one goblins, and when I reached the Chief, I slashed at both its massive calves. The cuts weren't that deep, but the Chief wailed in pain and swung wildly at its feet. I managed to dodge it by taking a small step away.

I looked up at the Health Bar above the Chief. Approximately 25% of the bar disappeared. Before I could respond, a bright, glowing, warm palm that was bigger than my head was almost touching me and I flew back from the impact of the Fireball.

[You are on fire. -1HP per second until the fire is put out.]

[40% Nerve Degradation]

I whistled air in through gritted teeth. When my vision cleared, I realised that the Chief had cast Rally Call and the goblins swung at me. I dodge-rolled out of the way and took off the jacket that was slightly simmering from the fireball.

[You are no longer on fire.]

I ignored the basic goblins and once again rushed to the Chief. I slashed at its right calf again. This time, the dagger dug deeper into the calf and I could feel the muscles shift as they tore apart. The thought of my first attempt at skinning a Qrell popped in my head for a split second, and I realised it felt similar.

The Chief cried out in pain as it dropped onto its knees. The impact was so hard that I nearly lost my balance. It tried to shoot a Fireball blindly in my general direction, but I slunk around and slashed at its back. The cry from the creature was deafening.

A Window popped up in my peripheral saying [CRITICAL HIT!] and when I looked up at the Chief's Health Bar, there was around 10% left.

Thank the gods that the basic goblins' pattern never changed as I manoeuvred my way through the six that relentlessly marched toward me. After the last goblin fell, two Windows popped up and grabbed my attention.

[ACTIVE SKILL: CHAIN SLASH UNLOCKED]

[PASSIVE SKILL: SLASH ↑ LVL 7 = DMG UP!]

I gripped the dagger harder, I swiped to look at my Status Window. My stamina was only at 30/130. If I were to try the skill, I would faint from exhaustion. That wouldn't do.

The Chief had used Rally Cry once more. This time, three Level 2 goblins spawned. I decided to not wait for them and approached them carefully. They still followed the same pattern. I dodged the first goblin's swing and slashed at it. It fell in one go. The other two followed soon after.

Before the Goblin Chief could use its Fireball skill again, I rushed at it and swung at its head. The dagger snagged on the skin on its throat and its blood splattered on the ground.

The heavy body fell with a great THUMP and I stepped back, my throat was gasping for water, my lungs hungry for air. I stumbled and awkwardly fell onto the ground. I managed to cradle my arm in safety to not damage it.

The System made a simple celebratory sound and a Window popped up in the middle of the room behind me with a stifled trumpet fanfare.

I shifted around to look at the Window and chuckled.

[WAVE 5 OF 5 CLEARED!

CONGRATULATIONS! ROOM 1A COMPLETED!]