Hobgoblin

3rd pov

"KREEEIIIK!"

"KREEEIIIK!"

"KREEEIIIK!"

"KREEEIIIK!"

"KREEEIIIK!"

"KREEEIIIK!"

"KREEEIIIK!"

"KREEEIIIK!"

"KREEEIIIK!"

"KREEEIIIK!"

Dozens of shrieks escaped from the grass, with little footsteps following behind them; these footsteps belonged to goblins that were currently converging on Aiden's position. Realizing the urgency of the matter, Aiden began thinking of what to do.

'Damn that little shit. I need to get out of here." When Aiden was about to turn around and leave, he saw something glistening on the back of the goblin.

*Shuffle* *Shuffle* *Shing*

"Huh, a sword this will be useful." Aiden pulled out a short sword from the back of the dead goblin though it looked more like a long dagger in his hands.

Having a weapon now, Aiden took off in the opposite direction from where the goblin horde was coming.

Upon arrival, the goblins saw the battered corpse of their comrade; the expression on their faces became even more disgusting, if that was even possible.

"Shrik shrik shrik shrik!" One of the buffer and taller of the goblins said to a similarly big one.

"Shrik shrik shrik?" A smaller goblin asks the two.

"Of course, it's an intruder."

"Intruder hobgoblin must tell boss." One of the smaller goblins said to the larger one in a broken sentence.

"Shut up, you insignificant goblin." Now known as a hobgoblin, the larger goblin said to the smaller one while using their race as an insult. "I will go kill the intruder on my own."

"We'll head back and inform the lord." The group of goblins, along with one of the hobgoblins, left, and the other hobgoblin started looking for tracks belonging to the intruder.

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Aiden's pov

To think that the bastard would get a scream out before I killed it, how unlucky can I actually be first that girl stole my wallet now this.

*Criiiick-Kadoom!* *Shhh* *Shhh*

Seriously it started raining. Could my day get any worse than this?

"*Sigh* I should find somewhere to stay and stop complaining." I guess that could; it's not like it's the first time I'd be sleeping in a cave.

Now it's time to think about what the hell I'm going to do; there's a whole horde of goblins out there, and I'm pretty sure the ones that I heard weren't even a quarter of them.

The only way for me to get out of here is if I kill them now; I don't have any shadow army to call and help me currently, and this is the first time I'm going up against magical creatures.

I can't kill all the goblins here; that'd be suicide; the next best thing would be killing the boss. But am I strong enough to even be considering killing a dungeon boss?

I don't even know if it's an evolved version of goblins. If only I finished watching Goblin Slayer.

*Crack*

"!!!" What the hell was that? Did they find me already?

"Shrik shrik shrik shrik. Shrik shrik shrik shrick shrick!" This one's larger and buffer than the goblin from before. Is it a hobgoblin? It doesn't matter; I'll have to kill him.

*Shing*

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Aiden drew the short sword that he took from the goblin and went into a defensive position while the hobgoblin took a large rusty broad sword from his hip.

*Shring*

"Kriiikikiki!"

He gave Aiden a creepy laugh that sent chills down his spine. If the laugh was intended to intimidate Aiden, it sure did his job.

'Damn, this bastard is mocking me.'

Realizing that the hobgoblin was mocking him, Aiden kicked off with superhuman speeds while raising his short sword in the air for a downward slash.

With the training Aiden did over the past month, his physical abilities are now at the peak of a D rank hunter. His speed and strength would render almost any human being utterly helpless.

*Fwoosh* *Slash* *Clang*

But unfortunately, this was no human just before Aiden's sword, and the hobgoblin head was about to make contact. It sidestepped at incredible speeds that to Aiden seemed as if it vanished.

'What the hell!'

This feat left Aiden stupefied; before he could recover, the hobgoblin already had a counter-attack coming.

The hobgoblin's left leg was bulging with power as he delivered a vicious kick to Aiden's unguarded stomach.

*BAM!* *Crack*

"AHHCK!" Bright red blood flew from Aiden's mouth when the kick landed, breaking a few ribs along the way. It didn't stop there as the force from the kick sent Aiden flying into the cave ceiling.

"ARRGH!" More blood spewed from his mouth and dripped from his head. Some landed onto the hobgoblin, but rather than being disgusted by it, it excited him more.

Not waiting on Aiden to fall to the ground, the hobgoblin hit him in the face with the side of his broad sword.

"Euh-ahhck!" The force from the hit sent Aiden tumbling and rolling on the cave ground.

*BOOM!*

His rolling was eventually brought to a stop by the cave wall.

*Thud!* *Thud!*

The hobgoblin approached Aiden with heavy, intimidating footsteps that shook the whole cave.

When it finally reached him, the hobgoblin raised his right hand and brought down a mighty blow on Aiden's head.

*Bam!*

Aiden's vision became blurry after that hit; the blood dripping from the crown of his head worsen it even more. The hobgoblin brought his broad sword in the air to land the final and decisive blow.

'Is this where I'm going to die after my third chance at a better life? Is it just going to waste away like this?' Giving up hope, Aiden closed his eyes, readily accepting his inevitable fate.

*Thump-Thump* *Thump-Thump*

The black heart in his chest started beating with rage; reacting to his loss of will to fight.

'NO! I won't die here. I won't break again, not after getting the power to turn my life around. I won't! I won't! I won't!'

"I WON'T DIE HERE, NOT BY YOU!!!" New strength was awakened inside Aiden. It wasn't any new power or ability that suddenly awakened; no, it was his will to fight and win.

*Clang!* *Boom!*

Aiden brought up his short sword, but instead of blocking the broad sword with it that would break it, he barely parried it to the side of his head.

The hobgoblin stumbled because of the force of the attack pulling him when the attack suddenly changed direction.

*Slash*

"KREIIIIIIK!"

Not giving the hobgoblin time to recover from his fall Aiden cut it under his armpit, slashing his tendon and effectively disabling his movement in his right arm, which held the broad sword.

*BAM!* *Clang*

Aiden raised his foot, put as much power as he could into it, and kicked away the hobgoblin, which unintentionally dropped his broad sword.

*Thud* *Thud*

The force of the kick sent the hobgoblin rolling outside the cave.

*Tap* *Tap* *Shriiiing*

Aiden came walking out with the broad sword dragging on the ground in his left hand and his short sword in his right. Blood was dripping from his head and running down his forehead while his black hoodie and white t-shirt were tattered and torn.

*Tap* *Tap*

Aiden's slow walk turned into a full-on dash at the hobgoblin.

"Krieee" The hobgoblin shouted with rage at Aiden, who didn't slow his speed. Aiden getting closer to it, the hobgoblin raised his left leg and gave a powerful front kick. Aiden brought the broad sword in front of him and blocked the kick.

The kick force pushed Aiden away; using the momentum, Aiden spun and threw his short dagger.

*Shpluck*

"SHRIIIIIEIEEE!"

The thrown dagger pierced the right eye of the hobgoblin, which consequently released a painful scream. Not wasting any time, Aiden stabbed the broad sword into the ground, stopping his momentum, and then dashed off at the hobgoblin again.

With the short sword in his eye, the hobgoblin didn't even notice Aiden. Aiden didn't use a frontal attack; Instead, he went behind it and cut the tendons at the ankle and behind the knee.

*Slash!* *Slash* *Thud*

"Krieeeee."

The hobgoblin screamed in pain as he fell to his knees with only his left arm holding it up.

"Shriiieek shriiiek!" The hobgoblin shouted unintelligible words at Aiden as if begging for his life.

Aiden bent down to his level and twisted the short sword while pulling it out of the hobgoblin's eye.

"Skriiiiie!!!"

Aiden flashed the blood off of it and sheathed it with the short sword out of the hobgoblin's eye.

{AN: You can't actually flash blood off sword and daggers expecting that it's going to get cleaned. It won't work.}

"Shrieek shriek shiek shriek!"

Aiden held the broad sword over the neck of the hobgoblin as it begged for his life.

*Slash* *Thud*

Aiden ignored the pleads and brought down the sword on the hobgoblin's neck, killing it immediately.

{AN: It actually takes a few seconds for you to die when your head gets cut off.}

When the hobgoblin died, Aiden an unimaginable ecstasy like a refreshing blast of air entering and then leaving his lungs.

When the feeling left his body, he felt a bit regretful, like an essential part of him was gone. Ignoring the feeling, Aiden noticed that his wounds were healed; he felt more robust than before.

"Incredible. Did I get stronger from killing it? I thought that only if I had a system would this happen. Then again, Jin-Woo did say that if It trained, I'd get stronger."

"Wait, does he takes clearing a whole dungeon as training!?"

'Sung Jin-Woo, that crazy bastard, of course, he'd think that.'

'Well then, time to slay some goblins'