Tests(2/?)
(A/N: I sincerely appreciate the heads-up I received yesterday in the last chapter. Apparently, I forgot to include/translate a small part of the chapter into English. Since I don't write the chapter in English but in my primary language and then translate it into English, things like this can happen {and perhaps that's why some word choices may seem repetitive or strange to you}.)
[Small World] - ???/???/???
Five hours had passed since the start of the true 'test.' Vesper had successfully defeated all the summoned Animal Monsters, gaining a substantial amount of experience as he repeatedly killed them, rapidly strengthening himself.
The distributed experience was directly sent to his Active Skills while he allowed {Fate Theft} to fortify his physical body. In this way, Vesper's growth skyrocketed at an enormous speed.
Currently, Vesper found himself in a new Plain: perfectly crafted with no signs of destruction. He sat on one of the small rocks that adorned the place, gazing at the System.
...
[The initial phase of the tests has been completed.]
[Part two of the Tests is ready to be initiated at any moment.]
[From now on, the generated beings will be at various levels above what the User is accustomed to.]
[It is necessary to remember that from this Level onward, whenever the User desires, completed Levels can be repeated indefinitely. Thus, if the User finds themselves stuck on a Level ahead, they can always return to the previous one for a higher level of training.]
Various small tabs from the System surrounded the Status Window that Vesper stared at, making him feel a bit relieved with the wealth of information he had to deal with.
"What are my chances of completing all the Tests in this part?" He questioned the System, looking somewhat anxious.
[The chances of completing all the Tests at this exact moment are precisely 20%.]
"20%..." He murmured with a complicated look before shaking his head to dispel a somber layer of thoughts that had suddenly surfaced. "Better 20 than 10; I can deal with this." With a reassuring statement, Vesper gave one last look at the Status Window to gain some 'extra confidence.'
[Name: Vesper Chronothread Nebulaspiral]
[Level: 5]
[XP: 0/10,000]
[Age: 1 Year and 1 Month]
[Gender: Male]
[Race: Veserithorn]
[Title: {Spectral of the Divine Spiral}]
[Strength: 10/1,000] > [Strength: 17/1,000]
[Agility: 10/1,300] > [Agility: 19/1,300]
[Speed: 10/1,300] > [Speed: 20/1,300]
[Stamina: 10/1,000] > [Stamina: 20/1,000]
[Focus: 20/1,200] > [Focus: 26/1,200]
[Skill: 30/2,000] > [Skill: 34/2,000]
[Energy: 120/2,000] > [Energy: 122/2,000]
[Leadership: 1/1,000]
[Tactics: 12/1,000] > [Tactics: 20/1,000]
[Passive Abilities: {One with Destiny(MAX)}, {Veserithorn Advantages(MAX)}, {Elemental Affinity(MAX)}, {Spiral Lover(MAX)}.]
[Active Abilities: {Fate Theft (Lv.2)}, {Eyes of Destiny (Lv.2)}]
[Mastery: {Spiral Energy (Lv.13)}, {Bow Mastery (Lv.10)}]
[System Points: {0}]
"Everything is infinitely better than before, so I don't need to worry as much." Vesper consoled himself once again as he moved away from the resting place, sending a command to the System to initiate the new stage of tests.
[2nd Stage Successfully Initiated.]
[Each stage will be divided into 10 Steps; when the 10 Steps are completed, the User can advance to the next Stage.]
[Stage 1(1/10) Initiated.]
A strong amount of Spiral Energy spread across the sky before disappearing completely. Seconds after this, a light emerged 50 meters away from Vesper, drawing his attention to the designated spot.
Vesper held the bow in his hands while waiting for the light to diminish. When it disappeared completely, a new life form stood where the light had been before.
A small, green creature, half the size of Vesper, could be found there, staring at him. Initially fascinated by the creature's appearance, Vesper quickly snapped back when he saw that 'thing' move without him having to do anything, indicating that from now on, the battles would start the moment he was spotted.
Vesper quickly positioned himself and generated a Spiral Energy arrow. He took a deep breath as he aimed at the green creature closing the distance rapidly. When it reached the 25-meter mark, he released the bowstring, shooting the arrow towards the small monster.
The spiral arrow tore through the air at an absurd speed before colliding with the Goblin's head. At the same instant, upon contact, the spiral effect was activated, reducing the goblin to a small mass of flesh, demonstrating that the arrow activation speed had improved tremendously as Vesper faced the 'countless' animals.
[The received experience will be stored until the User wishes to use it, as previously ordered.]
[The first part has been completed.]
[Do you wish to proceed to the second part?]
[(2/10) Y/N]
Vesper read the messages while nodding to himself, moving his finger to start the second part. Due to the significant amount of experience he received and kept appearing on his interface, Vesper ordered the System to save notifications until he desired to use the experience, which occurred whenever a Stage was completed.
[The second part has been initiated.]
The notification quickly appeared as Vesper's finger finally pressed the option, causing a sudden light to appear in the same spot as before, but this time with a small difference: the light appeared in greater quantity.
In a few moments, the light disappeared, allowing Vesper to see the same strange creature as before, but this time, with its 'group.'
[Random Goblin - Level 2]
[Danger Level: Low]
Various small tabs hovered above the heads of the now-named Goblins, totaling 12 of them. All 12 seemed to have noticed Vesper before running towards him at the same speed as the Goblin from the previous part.
Vesper, still standing in the same place, materialized a new spiral arrow and aimed it. When the Goblins reached the 30-meter range, he shot an arrow that quickly crossed the space between them and hit the ground in front of the most advanced Goblin, distorting the ground instantly upon contact.
The distortion area was enough to make the Goblins lose balance. Thus, Vesper gave a slight jump in the air, targeting the center of the now unbalanced group while materializing a new spiral arrow, shooting it the moment the materialization was complete.
The arrow crossed the 30-meter distance in an instant and hit the Goblin in the center of the group, creating a new distortion. However, this time it was focused on the Goblins, pulling them toward the central Goblin as they were crushed against each other until they finally died, perfectly distorted.
[The second part has been completed.]
[Do you wish to initiate the Third Part?]
[(3/10) Y/N]
Vesper confirmed the start of the third part as soon as he touched the ground.
[The Third part has been Initiated.]
He quickly glanced to where the light emerged again, in a greater quantity than before. This time, when the light disappeared, Vesper was greeted with a different sight than the previous one.
It wasn't just a 'group of Goblins' this time; there was a slightly larger tab above them, encompassing them as a whole.
[Small Goblin Army - Level 10]
[Danger Level: Moderate]
Vesper stared at the red flags some Goblins carried with curiosity, feeling somewhat surprised at the first time he saw a Moderate Danger Level.
'I don't believe they can defeat me, but it's still better not to underestimate them...' His attributes in 'tactics' were showing some basic usefulness since he almost died before when facing a group of more than 30 Wolves.
Vesper took a deep breath, tightening his grip on the bow, and quickly took action when he felt the movement of the Goblins starting.
The blue sky was filled with small black dots descending towards Vesper at high speed: arrows shot by possible Goblin archers.
Vesper quickly leaped backward, avoiding the arrows that pierced the ground where he stood before, opening a certain distance from the Goblin Army approaching at a good speed, as they were stronger than the previous ones.
Two spiral arrows materialized on the same bowline as Vesper's gaze became slightly sharper, his pupils seemed to rotate extremely slowly, almost like hypnosis.
[{Eyes of Destiny} activated.]
Vesper's vision was highly amplified as he shot the two arrows simultaneously, releasing them into more precise points quickly as he finished his breath.
The first arrow hit the frontline of the Goblin Army, composed of Goblins wearing leather armor. Without any surprise, the arrow pierced the Chain Mail armor without any resistance, locating itself in the heart of the hit Goblin, generating a quick distortion that destabilized the advance of the Small Army as its frontline was quickly sucked into a single point.
The second arrow passed slightly above the goblin sphere that was forming and hit the center of one of the three divisions of this small army, twisting the ground where this division was, causing the Goblins of this division to injure their feet and others to fall to the ground, unable to advance for now.
In response to Vesper's actions, the fury of the Small Army was ignited as they seemed to shout at each other before those who could: run at full speed towards Vesper.
The archers of the Small Army shot at Vesper again, making him need to focus on two things at the same time.
A small idea came to Vesper's mind, quickly confirmed by a slight pulse of Spiral Energy; it seemed to be telling him that this idea was perfectly possible.
Thus, Vesper stopped holding the bow with both hands and quickly extended one of them forward. The hand extended forward began to release a small distortion that started to accelerate as each second passed.
When the arrows finally reached Vesper, the palm of his hand released a moderate amount of Spiral Energy that seemed to suck all the air into its center: Vesper's palm. This way, when the arrows entered the range, they were quickly sucked to a single point, perfectly nullifying the enemy archers' attack.
'Much more efficient than expected,' he thought, surprised as he watched the arrows floating in circles in front of his palm; he instinctively knew that there were about 54 arrows floating at this moment.
The Spiral Energy in his hand began to get stronger as he released a greater amount and suddenly pulsed throughout his body, confirming the possibility of this new thing he was going to do. Thus, the entire small vortex that was being generated was suddenly expelled forward from Vesper at high speed, shooting the arrows from the Small Goblin Army against the Goblins that were approaching him: who were now less than 15 meters away from Vesper.
The Goblins had no shields to defend themselves, and even if they did, it was highly unlikely that they could defend themselves from the arrows that were shot with a Spiral Energy Boost.
In this way, the entire new attack line of the Goblins was pierced and killed by their own arrows, leaving only the remaining Goblin archers.
The Goblin archers seemed nervous about the fact that only they were left, but fortunately, they didn't need to worry for long. After all, a single spiral arrow was quickly shot in their direction, hitting the head of one.
This same arrow sucked all the archers around towards this one and created a new sphere of flesh, bringing an end to this part.
Vesper's heart beat a little faster than usual due to the things he had just done in this stage; he felt more excited than he would normally be.
'It's... enjoyable...' He thought to himself as he looked at the bow in his hands, amazed. The Spiral Energy inside his body seemed to agree with him as it rotated more smoothly, making him again display a slight smile.
[The Third part has been completed.]
[Do you want to start the next part?]
[(4/10) Y/N]
Vesper took a deep breath and quickly clicked [Y], appearing excited to start the next parts.
[The Next part has been initiated.]
[The difficulty has increased slightly.]
Two small notifications appeared in front of Vesper, causing him to nod slightly before shifting his gaze to the light that emerged from a different place, the opposite direction from where the Goblins came.
The light wasn't relatively large, signaling that it was a single entity.
When the light disappeared, a new life form entered Vesper's field of vision.
[Hob-Goblin - Level 20]
[Danger Level: Notable]
A green monster slightly larger than Vesper stared at him with a threatening gaze before letting out a loud roar, making Vesper's body tremble slightly in surprise.
'This guy is strong,' he thought, marveling at this New Species.
The Hob-Goblin quickly started running towards Vesper, closing the distance by 15 meters with each passing second, a result that came after a simple impulse every time its legs touched the ground.
Seeing the physical capabilities of this Hob-Goblin, Vesper quickly reacted, preparing a Spiral Arrow and shooting it at the Hob-Goblin, aiming for the center of its chest.
The Hob-Goblin moved its weapon, a Club, toward Vesper's Spiral Arrow, creating a great collision from both sides.
A distortion emerged at the moment of the weapon collision, increasing the force of Vesper's blow against the Hob-Goblin's. This made the monster stagger backward for a few meters, blood dripping from the hand that swung the Club.
The Hob-Goblin stood still for a moment before veins appeared all over its body, causing it to scream in fury.
[Hob-Goblin used an Active Ability.]
[Active Ability {Fury (Level 1)} detected.]
[Hob-Goblin - Level 20] > [Hob-Goblin - Level 25]
The Level on the Hob-Goblin's head suddenly increased by 5, causing Vesper's eyes to widen in surprise. It was the first time he saw someone other than him using an Active Ability, especially one that increased the Level when used.
The Hob-Goblin advanced towards Vesper, crossing the entire distance between them with a single leap, as they weren't far from each other. In the blink of an eye, the Hob-Goblin's Club moved towards Vesper's head, who had just returned from his thoughts.
In a desperate attempt to defend himself, Vesper's arms quickly raised to receive the blow, causing the Club to hit his arms with tremendous force.
The force of the Hob-Goblin's blow sent Vesper flying a few meters away as he rolled through the grass, getting quite dirty.
'That hurts!' he thought to himself, forcing himself to stop rolling before shifting his gaze to the Hob-Goblin, which had already jumped towards him again!
Vesper threw himself to the side, using all the strength in his legs to dodge the Hob-Goblin's blow at the last moment. He didn't have time to observe the damage the blow had done, only hearing an extremely loud noise.
Vesper's mind was focused on getting up and reacting as quickly as possible due to this near-death experience he just had. When Vesper stabilized minimally, he concentrated a large amount of Spiral Energy into his feet.
The Hob-Goblin jumped out of the dust cloud and crater it created with the Club strike, leaping towards Vesper with a roar of anger.
Vesper quickly raised his leg and moved it towards the Hob-Goblin's Club, causing a strong collision again.
The large amount of Spiral Energy in Vesper's legs distorted the Club on both sides of the Hob-Goblin's hands, destroying both the object and the monster's flesh, sending it flying for dozens of meters.
'Not yet!' he thought urgently as he moved his extremely sore arms to grab his bow. However, he stopped when he realized that the bow was broken.
Vesper didn't have time to think when he was forced to jump away from the spot he was in due to a furious Hob-Goblin that threw itself there, delivering a powerful headbutt where Vesper was previously.
[Hob-Goblin - Level 25] > [Hob-Goblin - Level 29]
The strength of the Hob-Goblin had increased again, this time by a large margin. Only one level was missing for its strength to increase dramatically.
'What do I do?!' Vesper thought with a great amount of anxiety/desperation. His eyes, which were rotating slightly, kept staring at the Hob-Goblin at all costs to avoid distraction and receive a blow with such force, as it was certain death.
Heartbeat
A loud sound echoed throughout Vesper's body as the Spiral Energy in his body began to move violently, illuminating Vesper's mind.
Vesper's eyes stared at the figure of the Hob-Goblin as if he were in a trance; his eyes dared not blink for a single moment. All this line of thought happened in less than a second due to the large amount of adrenaline in Vesper's body at the moment. As he detected the Hob-Goblin throwing himself towards him again, his body reacted instinctively, completely surrendering to the embrace of Spiral Energy.
A dangerous gleam appeared in Vesper's eyes as they began to rotate at a relatively faster speed, and with an extremely precise movement, Vesper's body leaned slightly to narrowly avoid the Hob-Goblin's headbutt.
Vesper's leg quickly rose as the Hob-Goblin approached colliding with the ground, and it quickly hit the monster's chest.
BOOOOM
An extremely loud noise echoed through the vast plain as a huge dust cloud rose where this last clash of techniques occurred.
A disturbing silence filled the next moments when the noise of the explosion faded, leaving the dust cloud to prevail in the area.
[The Fourth part has been completed.] / [Veserithorn has died.]
[Do you want to move on to the next part?] / [The Resurrection ability has been activated.]
[(5/10) Y/N] / [Veserithorn will resurrect in 2 weeks.]
END
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And that was my first attempt at writing battle scenes. How was it? Acceptable? Good? Bad? Terrible?
I realized that I am quite flawed when it comes to group battles. I forget how many people are on the battlefield, their powers, and even names, so it ends up being a disaster.
I ended up enjoying writing this battle against the Hob-Goblin much more than the entire part of fighting various Goblins, but overall, it was a good experience.
I was quite indecisive about how to end this battle, and after thinking a lot, I came to this conclusion, which I believe is the best possible.
I will leave the general explanations about the strength of this Hob-Goblin and many other things for the next chapter because, no matter how hard I try not to, I love explaining things and making them as clear as possible, even though I sometimes forget to explain many important points~
This experience of writing a Fanfic is being much more enjoyable than I expected it to be. I probably should start reading some of the writing lessons that Webnovel provides to see if I can understand something and apply it to my writing. I hope to improve a lot.
Until the next chapter~
(PS: I am still accepting suggestions for Worlds or Characters to interact with Vesper in the [Chat] option of the System T^T)