The First Level

SO PEACEFULLY ASLEEP one minute, and so dead the very next. With the edge

of the black sword Greed, I said goodnight and goodbye to the life of another

hobgoblin.

Gluttony skill activated. Stats increased: Vitality +440, Strength +220, Magic

+110, Spirit +110, Agility +110

After the forty-fifth dead hobgoblin, my body suddenly felt quenched of its

thirst. Little by little, my uncontrollable urge to devour and eat subsided, then

vanished. I was at last released from my starvation. I gasped with relief and

sagged against a tree in the somber darkness of the forest.

"Fate, if you mean to take a break, do it up in the branches of this tree," said

Greed. "There may yet be a few hobgoblins wandering the wood. Now that

you've freed yourself of your starvation state, you've lost the boost to your

senses, so no more heightened smell, and no more seeing in the dark."

"Good point," I said as I began to climb. I perched on a large branch. "I should

be fine if I hide up here. But I'm surprised; I had to kill so many monsters before

they even touched my hunger…"

"Indeed you did. Depending on how long you wait, the starvation may

madden you. You may lash out at any and everyone. It will not be so easily

appeased. If you do not wish for that to happen, you must make a habit of

hunting monsters and feeding their souls to your Gluttony."

"I'll make sure I do," I said. "I don't want to feel like this ever again."

I stretched out along the big branch and tried to rest. Moonlight filtered

through gaps in the leaves above. The forest was a moist, damp place, and a

little chilly too, but it felt just right for my body, weary as it was from all the

hunting.

Below me, I caught sight of the occasional hobgoblin passing by. Hobgoblins

weren't known to be nocturnal, but some of them still patrolled. I was glad I'd

listened to Greed.

Just as I was about to climb down and head back, the ground trembled

through the tree, as if something big was approaching. Footsteps, and they

grew heavier as a hulking goblin came into view. It was at least two times taller

than me, with a blue-green color to its skin. In its hand, it carried an unwieldy

club that looked as though it had been carved from one of the forest's

enormous trees.

"What?!"

By the light of the moon, I saw flesh and blood stuck in clumps along the

goblin's club, and I recoiled instinctively. But what the goblin held in its other

hand made me even sicker. Though I didn't know exactly what the body had

looked like before the goblin's club pounded it to death, the mangled shape

was definitely human.

None of the regular townsfolk ever came to Hobgoblin Forest in the middle of

the night. That meant the dead body dangling in the goblin's hands likely

belonged to one of the adventurers I met at the gate in the Merchant District.

For all their big talk, in the end, they were little more than goblin fodder.

However, even if they had ended up goblin bait, those adventurers had been

experienced. They knew the dangers of night hunts. To have killed one—or all—

of them, the huge goblin must have been formidable. As it passed beneath the

tree I was hiding in, I took the opportunity to analyze it with Identify.

Goblin King, Lv 30

Vitality: 21,000

Strength: 24,000

Magic: 5,230

Spirit: 4,560

Agility: 11,200

Skill: Health Regen

A goblin king?! So that was what they looked like. I'd heard about them from

a fellow servant at Hart Manor. In these parts, goblin kings were basically like

bosses of the goblins, and they were frighteningly tough. Only a few of them

resided in the forest, and their encounter rate was extremely low. If you

happened upon one, you went into that battle prepared for death. They were

nothing compared to holy knights, but a regular adventurer was looking at a

potential one-hit kill.

Even just going by stats, the goblin king was on an entirely different level from

the hobgoblins. I used Identify to further analyze Health Regen.

Health Regen: Wounds heal automatically over time. Does not work on fatal

injuries.

Damn, now there's a fantastic skill . With that, I could keep on fighting even if I

got hurt. I want it…!

With my current stats, fighting the goblin king wasn't an impossible task.

While I worried about whether to take the risk, the beast trudged deeper into

the forest. It was a rare monster, and if I waited until I was stronger, I might

never see one again. I made up my mind. I slid down from my tree, and I

followed.

True to its name, the goblin king looked like it owned the land upon which it

walked. Not a single hobgoblin remained in sight. They had fled at the sound of

the king's footsteps.

The monster came to a stop at a hollowed-out section of the forest, where a

small field of flowers surrounded a withered tree. It settled against the tree and

placed its club on the ground. Then it began devouring the mangled adventurer.

The disgusting sound of the beast's wet chewing echoed through the forest,

and with it, the occasional crunch of bone under goblin teeth.

"Why are you so scared?" Greed asked. "You know goblins do this."

"But…"

"You know what happens to people who are killed by monsters. They are

eaten. Humans are a delicacy for such creatures. Especially human children."

"That's enough! I get it. I know. This is… It's just my first time actually seeing

it."

Yes, I knew. I knew monsters ate humans. But imagining it in my head and

seeing it happen in front of me were two entirely different things. Witnessing

an act so visceral was a greater shock than I expected. Still, I steeled my nerves

and kept watching the goblin king, absorbed in its meal.

If I was going to take this king down, it made sense to attack from behind.

Targeting an enemy's blind spot was just basic strategy, though there was

nowhere to hide in this open field of flowers.

I moved from tree to tree, cover to cover, monitoring the goblin king until I

reached a position directly behind it. The monster had its back to me, and the

tree hid most of it from view. From where I now stood, I could see only its

shoulder, poking out past the side of the tree.

"Slow and steady from here," said Greed.

"Yeah."

Moving carefully, I stepped into the field of flowers. As expected, the goblin

king was still focused on its food. Anxiety made my heart beat rapidly in my

chest, and I focused on keeping my breath calm and quiet. Eventually, I made it

to the withered tree. The goblin king's wet chewing echoed in my ears.

"Fate, now!" Greed's signal came loud and clear through my Telepathy.

I brought the black sword's blade down onto the goblin king's jutting

shoulder. With my first attack, I separated its log-sized arm from its body.

I loosened for a moment, thinking my preemptive strike a success, but

Greed's voice snapped me back to attention.

"He's not dead yet, Fate. Get back!"

I dashed backward as the goblin king raised its club and brought it down

through the withered tree. It crashed into the place where I had stood. The

force of the swing sent the club deep into the earth, and rocks flew in every

direction. A direct hit like that, and I would have been dead.

"That was close. Thanks."

"Don't let your guard down yet. Here he comes!"

The goblin king roared and raised its club high. Blood poured from the gaping

wound that was once the monster's right arm.

I was prepared to dodge the strike when Greed spoke. "Believe in me, Fate. A

club like that is nothing to my strength."

"In that case…!" I put my faith in Greed, stepped forward, and slashed with

the black sword in a flash of light.

Greed's blade was sharp, and the goblin king's club toppled to the ground, cut

off at the handle. But I couldn't let up from there. I leapt into the air with Greed

raised high above my head. The goblin king roared as it fell to its knees, and I

amputated the monster's remaining hand.

Even broken and defeated, the goblin king glowered at me as I stabbed Greed

into its face. I drove the sword deeper and deeper until I felt the disgusting pulp

of flesh around my wrist, and then I drove deeper still. At last, I pulled the

sword free and shook the fresh blood of the goblin king from the black blade.

Gluttony skill activated. Stats increased: Vitality +21,000, Strength +24,000,

Magic +5,230, Spirit +4,560, Agility +11,200. Skill added: Health Regen That

had been a true battle with an enemy of equal level, more tense than any I

had experienced before it. In the chaos of combat, the ever-present feeling

that I could die at any moment had pulsed within me. Thus, winning came

with a sense of accomplishment—of surviving, of emerging the victor—like

nothing I had ever known. Was this the true pleasure of monster hunting?

The battle was won, and I fell to my knees, my body released from its nervous

adrenaline.

"You did well," Greed said. "And your stats grew nicely, meaning we can

release my First Level."

"First Level?"

"My new form. Wielders of the black sword can grant it new forms in

exchange for a stat sacrifice. So how about it? Want to try?"

"Just how much of a sacrifice are we talking here?"

"Our starting point was when you first picked me up. If you sacrifice all the

stats you've earned since that point, you can awaken the First Level."

In other words, after all the work I had done to get more powerful, I had to go

all the way back to where I'd started in order to strengthen Greed. On top of

that, I'd have to sacrifice even more stats to unlock the Second and Third Levels.

Then, however, Greed made it clear I had a choice…of sorts.

"When my wielder attains a certain stat level, they must either awaken my

First Level or relinquish their right to wield me."

In other words, I made Greed stronger or I gave him up.

"And I have to choose now…?"

"Yes. So long as you wield me, it is unavoidable, as with the hunger of your

Gluttony."

I asked Greed how much of my power he intended to take.

"I am as greedy as my namesake, and I will take everything I can. Now make

your decision. We grow stronger together, or you grow stronger alone. Make

your choice! But let it be known: my higher levels will not disappoint."

There was nothing else to weigh. Greed was my only partner, and if we grew

stronger together, there was nobody I could trust more.

"I understand. Do it."

"You won't regret it. Here we go!"

It was as if my words had signed the contract. Greed began to glow. At the

same time, I felt power draining from my body. As the glow faded, I found a

black bow in my hands.

"This is the form of the First Level. You may now wield me in two forms: the

one-handed sword, and this black bow."

I used Identify to check my stats. As expected, after sacrificing all the stats I'd

earned, I was now back to where I'd been when Greed and I first met.

Fate Graphite, Lv 1

Vitality: 121

Strength: 151

Magic: 101

Spirit: 101

Agility: 131

Skills: Gluttony, Identify, Telepathy, Conceal, One-Handed Sword Technique,

Two-Handed Sword Technique, Strength Boost (Low), Vitality Boost (Low),

Vitality Boost (Medium), Health Regen However, my skills remained