3 Grinding
The first goblin took a wide swing. Prince easily dodged, leaning back.
He could tell the difference now. Unarmed Fighting helped him see openings in the goblin's strikes. He could tell how inefficiently he fought his first goblin.
It was still trippy.
The goblin landed, surprised its attack hit nothing. The other goblin lunged at him in the next second, aiming for his thigh.
Prince rewarded it with his knee. It connected cleanly with the goblin's jaw.
Prince whirled on the first goblin even as the second one was still recoiling. He launched a hook that connected with the first goblin's temple.
He launched a few more jabs, sending up a spurt of blood with each strike.
He found himself grinning. A flame filled him.
Finally, the goblin's legs buckled.
Energy filled up Prince, neither pleasant nor uncomfortable. If fact, Prince could forget about it if he wasn't actively searching for it.
A claw raked across his chin. Prince cursed and spun into a punch, which connected into the culprit.
As it staggered back, it was revealed to be the second goblin.
I didn't knock it out with that chin strike?
It was Prince's turn to lunge. He came upon the goblin with a flurry of blows. Unarmed Fighting really helped and guided his fists.
Finally, the goblin went limp.
Level-up! You are now level 3.
Prince drank in the notification. Once again, his body underwent the sensation of getting better. I feel like an athlete. He flexed his hand.
Prince looked at the dead bodies, which had started to stain the grass with their blood.
A curious beast might stumble upon this blood. Prince took hold of both goblins ankles. They were surprisingly light. Prince began to drag them into the forest.
He flung one a few feet away.
Prince grinned, throwing the other one away as well.
Either they're really light, or I got a lot stronger. Dusting his hands, he walked back toward his stream. With a long stride, Prince walked over it.
He stared at the cave that was on the other side, cupping his chin with his hand. It'll do.
Prince entered the cave gingerly, surprised by how comfortable the air was inside of it. The cave didn't go too deep, and was fairly large. The light outside illuminated it decently well.
Prince found a tiny little crevice on the far side of the cave wall.
He placed his car keys in the crevice.
Prince retrieved his phone from his pocket. He turned it on. No service.
He sighed and put it in the crevice as well. He might need it when he got it... If he got out.
Now, then, next up on the list: Food!
Prince left his clearing, entering into the forest. He was slightly worried that he wouldn't be able to find his way back, but the System should have a map function. It would make sense.
Unfortunately, no map came up when Prince prompted for it.
I'll have to trust in my sense of direction, Prince thought. By reason, if there were foxes here, then there were also rabbits.
To keep himself occupied, Prince summoned his status screen to allocate his points.
Attribute Screen - Prince Collins
Species: Human
Faction: N/A
Class: N/A
Titles: N/A
Grade: F
Level: 3
Strength: 10
Endurance: 8
Dexterity: 7
Vitality: 7
Mental: 9
Wisdom: 7
Free Points: 3
Prince decided to focus on physical stats for now- everything else would follow him gradually anyway. He allocated two points to dexterity and one to vitality.
Prince closed his status screen and released a sigh. His body, once more, underwent a transformation. Everything was slightly easier now, and as a result, he was faster. Prince restrained a smirk.
Every time he allocated a point or got stronger, the feeling was so addicting that he wanted to do it again.
"Kekeke..." A noise interrupted Prince's musings. With his enhanced senses, he could faintly hear approaching footsteps snapping dry twigs.
He quickly hid behind a bush, peering around it curiously to glimpse the culprits.
A group of 5 goblins trudged through the forest, wearing strips of cloth and skin from animals. Prince inspected them.
Goblin - Level 2
Goblin - Level 1
Goblin - Level 3
Goblin - Level 2
Goblin - Level 5
Since he was scanning a group of monsters, the System had decided to take away the descriptions to not clog his vision.
A group of five... Hmm...
The level five goblin walked at the front, a stern look on its face. The other goblins followed behind it, while the level three walked directly beside the level five, no doubt its second-in-command.
The other goblins were chatting about incomprehensible nonsense.
Can I take them on? Prince thought. He was level three. He could likely take out the level ones and twos without much effort, heck, even the level three. But he definitely couldn't take them all on at once.
However, Prince had the element of surprise here. He could jump out from a bush and aim a punch right at the level five's temple. He might not be able to kill it with one blow, but he could certainly knock it out.
And even if he was overwhelmed, Prince was confident he could outrun these goblins.
Power leveling never hurt anyone, He thought, gearing up for battle.
"Stop!" The level five goblin commanded, turning roughly toward the group of bickering goblins behind him. "No talk! Predator hear us!"
The other goblins stopped immediately, nodding frantically. This goblin was appointed as the hunting group leader for a reason, he was on the verge of becoming a hobgoblin.
The level five grunted in satisfaction before turning back around.
Right into a fist.
Princes fist collided with the side of the goblin's head, landing against it with the force of a amateur boxer.
The goblin stumbled back a few feet, dropping to the ground immediately. Flecks of blood dotted the ground near it.
As I thought... I didn't kill it.
The other goblins stared, shocked. They took a few moments to process what had just happened before the closest goblin, the level three, lunged at Prince.
It was such a predictable move that Princes knee was automatically drawn upward in time to just meet the goblin's chin.
Prince then hit the goblin with a punch that made an audible crack.
The level three dropped to the floor, dead. The energy from the kill was almost enough to level him. But before it even hit the ground, Prince turned around.
Only to see a clawed hand racing toward his face.
As it turned out, one of the level ones had leapt from the back of a level two, aiming to gouge his eyes out.
Prince backed away, but only barely, sustaining a light cut across his nose.
As he backed away to size the goblin up, the other two level twos joined the level one's side.
They locked eyes with Prince, their fury now replaced with malicious grins.
"You," A level two pointed toward him. "Human good hunt." The other goblins cackled.
"Hell yeah." Prince grinned. The goblins rushed toward him, swinging their claws with wide abandon.
Prince, on the other hand, struck quickly and decisively, and five seconds into the exchange, the level one dropped out, dead.
The combined effort of both of the other goblins, however, allowed them to finally claw through his shredded hoodie and get to the skin underneath. Adrenaline pumped through Prince as he felt the sting of numerous cuts.
But his fists never stopped flying.
Both were killed soon after, leaving Prince's fist bloodied as he soaked in the reward for his slaughter.
Level-up! You are now level 4.
Prince heard groans behind him. When he turned, he saw the level five sluggishly trying to stand, wobbling on its feet.
It looked at Prince, dazed. Before it even had time to process the dead goblins strewn about the area, Prince was already launching a straight into its face.
The head of the goblin slammed against the bark of a tree behind it. A loud crack echoed throughout the area as a surge of energy entered Prince. He was a little over halfway to the next level already.
That was easy. Prince grinned again. Quickly, he opened his status screen and allocated his points. He put two into strength and one into vitality to increase his health and quickly left the sight of the scene, lest a predator come sniffing.
...
Prince stood over the skewered rabbit, watching the flames slowly cook the raw meat.
He had found it with its nest, and had quickly immobilized it with a punch to the leg. The fragile bone had shattered immediately, leaking a pool of blood.
He'd then carried it back to his cave and had skinned it with nothing but his nails and strength. He'd even managed to get a fire going, though it took all of his brain power.
It was nighttime now. And as Prince stared at the sky, he just thought wow.
Not once in his life had he ever actually seen the night sky in all of its beautiful glory. To some, the arrival System might've been a bad thing. But it had also been a good thing.
The galaxy twinkled above him. For the first time now, he felt he could really see the world in color.
There was uncertainty in the dungeon. An uncertainty whether he would survive or not, if he would live and die. And that uncertainty, that unpredictable situation- it brought excitement to Prince.
I feel like the last man on earth, Prince chuckled. Here he was, cut off from the rest of society. How were others fairing? He had no real family and he trusted that his friends could handle themselves.
Prince decided just to enjoy how simple his life was now.
And so he stared at the stars, eating the now-roasted rabbit.
