Chapter 19: Shock

System Notification: +10 Experience Points

My eyes widened as I read this notification.

"Congratulations on your first experience points," Ever suddenly said.

"Wait. Experience points?" I mumbled somewhat incoherently.

"Yes, you've earned 10 experience points. You need another 190 experience points to reach level 4," Ever explained.

"So, I need to kill 19 more goblins. Excellent!" I exclaimed, realizing that the remaining two goblins were charging at me. Countless thoughts raced through my mind, and my heart pounded as if to the beat of a war drum.

"Crimson Arrow, attack the first goblin!" I shouted to the red bird, while I used "Shadow Leap" to close in on the second goblin, readying a charged "Slicing Strike."

Unfortunately, my plan didn't go as intended; the goblin, sensing my presence, covered its head with its hand. As a result, the goblin's hand separated from its body, leaving a dagger-shaped mark. I couldn't believe he survived, as the strike was supposed to inflict even more damage than before.

"This is not a game, but life," Ever suddenly stated.

And it dawned on me. Killing that goblin and my desire to be here had thrown me off from reality. This was not a game; it was damn life. The goblin wasn't an NPC from a game that could be killed instantly if the damage exceeded its health.

"Earthen Snare!" I yelled, extending my hand toward the goblin. After my words, the ground behind it stirred, and serrated earth loops ensnared its legs. It screamed, struggling to maintain balance, but its efforts were futile.

Before it could break free from the trap, I delivered a lethal blow. The dagger did its job, and the goblin's body fell to the ground. A sense of victory slowly enveloped me, but the battle was far from over; one goblin from the group still remained.

As I prepared to attack the last goblin, which was now engaged by the Crimson Arrow, I noticed that it was close to defeating the goblin. Therefore, using "Shadow Leap," I swiftly finished off the last one.

Lowering my gaze, I noticed two new notifications.

System Notification: +10 Experience Points +10 Experience Points

I was one step closer to leveling up. All that was left was to kill the remaining goblins and then go in search of their lair. Fortunately, the Green Arrow had been watching over the remaining goblins the whole time. So, without much thought, I communicated with her through the Red Arrow, which was beside me. The red bird sat calmly next to the fallen goblin, observing me.

"Contact Green Arrow and tell her to lure a small group of goblins toward the traps set by Blue Arrow," I said to her gently, as if trying to establish a connection.

My mana had almost fully recovered by now, so I just needed to wait for Green Arrow to complete her task. Meanwhile,

"Ever, will I get something from these corpses if I give them to you?" I asked her.

"I can convert these corpses into points, but there won't be much, as these are weak monsters," she replied.

"Then do it; I don't know what I can get from them anyway," I said.

"You've earned 72 core points," she announced before the light took the goblins' bodies, leaving only their weapons behind.

"What should I do with this stuff?" I asked her.

"You can leave it if you don't need it," she replied sarcastically.

"Fine, I'll gather it myself," I said and picked up the two remaining daggers. Then I remembered that I didn't even know how much damage these daggers could deal.

"How can I find out how much damage this dagger does?" I asked, holding the first dagger I had acquired.

"The easiest way is to check your inventory, which you don't have. But you can see how much your damage has increased by checking the information panel," she explained with a knowing tone.

Information Panel: Health: 99 (99) (regeneration 0.44 + 0.25 per second) Mana: 62 (70) (regeneration 0.40 per second) Armor: 1.35 + 0 Physical Resistance: 25% Magical Resistance: 25% Damage: 25

It turned out the dagger only dealt 7 damage, but considering the "Slicing Strike," it added up sufficiently. Well, it was time to head to the traps set by the Blue Arrow. Thanks to the "Shadow Leap," I quickly reached the location and climbed a tree, hiding as I had done before.

Beside me were the Crimson Arrow and the Blue Arrow. We were awaiting the arrival of the enemies provoked by the Green Arrow. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long, as the goblins' shouts reached me long before they arrived. However, what surprised me greatly was the stones flying upward.

I didn't attack immediately when I saw them but waited for someone to fall into the traps set beneath me. Fortunately, two and three goblins fell into the trap. While they struggled to free themselves from the earthy restraints, I activated "Shadow Leap" and struck the goblin who had escaped the trap directly in the heart.

The blow hit its mark, and the goblin fell lifeless to the ground. At the same time, the Crimson Arrow dived down, striking one of the remaining goblins with its head. I attempted to deal with the last one quickly, but at that moment, the wretch threw a stone at me. Caught off guard, I couldn't even dodge it. The stone struck my face, grazing my nose and causing a trickle of blood.

Stunned by this stroke of fate, I fell into a stupor from which the Crimson Arrow's cry pulled me. It had stopped attacking its target and was now engaged in combat with the goblin who had thrown the stone at me. I wiped the blood from my nose with my hand, trying to clear my vision.

Utilizing "Shadow Leap" in combination with a "Slicing Strike" charged with 10 mana points, I struck the goblin. The scene was even more brutal than the previous one, with the goblin's body splitting into two, leaving only lifeless halves behind.

After finishing the battle, I looked at the Crimson Arrow with a tinge of gratitude in my eyes, trying to mask the anger on my face. After calming down a bit, I saw the same notification, but something else caught my interest: how much health did I have left? Thankfully, my health was now at 87 points, and considering the regeneration, it would take no more than 30 seconds to reach the maximum of 99 points.

Now, I needed to find the remaining goblins. They had a leader among them, the largest goblin of the group. I was sure he had at least 200, if not 300, health points. So, I needed to wait for my mana to fully recover and then set out to find them, as I remembered that the group had stayed in the same place where I had last seen them. I believed they had a hunting camp there, as I had seen smoke rising from a campfire.

"Exchange them just like the previous ones, please," I said to Ever. "Oh, you're asking now. Of course. You've earned another 72 core points," she said, and the goblins' bodies and debris disappeared.

This time, I didn't bother picking up the weapons left behind by them; instead, I immediately followed the Green Arrow, who was leading me to the remaining goblins. I needed to finish them quickly, as their lair awaited me ahead.