Chapter 23: Slaughter.
As the goblins drew nearer, my fist clenched tighter, as if affirming my determination. Fortunately, the twilight cast by the setting sun provided me with the perfect backdrop for swift, concealed kills of the smaller goblins. What set the stage for this was the fact that the towering goblin leaders were at the forefront.
Their rough armor was wrapped in tatters, as if attempting to conceal the rust beneath. Each of their movements resonated with a cacophony of clanging and clattering, mingling with their clumsy strides. Their malevolent eyes, dimly visible, emitted an eerie crimson glow.
Amidst this clamor, I had the opportunity to pick off the weaker and more detached goblins. Therefore, without much hesitation, I selected the first goblin in line for death, and through gritted teeth, I whispered, "Shadow Leap."
The goblin I chose was a stocky little creature with menacing red eyes. He turned toward me, bewildered by my sudden appearance. Although his reaction was instantaneous, it was already too late. My dagger pierced his heart, and his mouth opened in a silent scream of terror. In his eyes, there was confusion and fear as he realized his time was up.
I withdrew the dagger, and his lifeless body fell to the ground. My heart pounded furiously, and adrenaline coursed through my veins. Although everything had happened in the blink of an eye, the first victim I had ever killed left a profound impression on me. A sense of wrongness welled up within me, as if I had slain an unsuspecting child taking a leisurely stroll in the park. The horror I had seen in his eyes confronted me, filling me with disbelief.
Fortunately, his death went unnoticed by the goblins marching ahead. Silently, I requested Ever to consume his body. With the goblin out of sight, I managed to cast aside the tumult of emotions that had washed over me. Dissolving into the shadows, I moved on to the next lagging goblin.
The second goblin, taller than the previous one, appeared gaunt, with bones protruding from beneath its skin. The only intimidating detail about it was its blood-red sword. Though it was of similar size to my dagger, the metal gleamed with a bloody hue, possibly due to dried blood.
Appearing behind it, I confidently thrust my dagger into its neck. It froze and emitted only a low whimper, which was drowned out by the clanging of the goblins' armor ahead. Turning helplessly towards me, it gazed with its dimming, red eyes until its body lost all strength and collapsed to the ground, vanishing instantly.
It happened as swiftly as with the young goblin before. This time, I retrieved its bloody sword, the sole reminder of its existence. I didn't have time to check how much damage it could inflict, so I chose the next goblin and attacked it using "Shadow Leap."
To the goblins' misfortune, my surprise for them continued. Finding myself behind another goblin who appeared to be wielding a club, I thrust my dagger into the back of its neck in an instant. In the midst of horror and pain, it dropped its club, and its body quickly grew limp before vanishing, leaving no trace of its existence. In the next moment, I vanished as well. All that remained was the club, once wielded by the hapless goblin.
My next target was a short but stocky goblin with a scar running down its back. Appearing swiftly behind it, I struck in the same spot where I had hit the last goblin. The dagger, plunging into the goblin's neck, swiftly drained its strength. Only its cry, muffled by the blood flowing from its lips, remained in my memory. And so, I dispatched the fourth goblin.
In total, I had expended about ten mana points on "Shadow Leap" and twenty on "Rending Strike" for these four kills. By using an axe, I could have saved at least eight mana points, possibly even twelve. However, wielding the dagger was easier than the axe.
I still had mana left, so I decided to continue dispatching goblins one by one, rather than engaging the entire group at once. I darted toward my fifth victim, concluding it quickly and effortlessly. I no longer felt the fear and tension I had earlier. Although watching the life drain from these creatures and hearing their final cries was draining, I had developed a sense of exhilaration. It emerged after I killed the sixth goblin. I felt like a game character operating in stealth mode, as if I wasn't taking the lives of living beings but merely eliminating game mobs. My dagger had become a deadly weapon, dealing precise blows to my targets.
It continued like this until the goblins dwindled to the point where their scarcity couldn't be ignored. Only after 14 kills did one of the larger goblins turn around and notice that their group had been halved. He shouted something, and the entire group erupted in fury.
They split into three groups of six goblins each, with one large goblin in each group. Dealing with them simultaneously became both easier and harder. They were now expecting my attack, so I couldn't approach unnoticed to eliminate the weaker goblins. I would have to rely solely on my speed to kill the weak ones before the large goblins stopped me.
I decided to replenish all the mana I had used up to this point, so I headed to a large tree branch from which I could observe all three groups. Seating myself comfortably, I finally paid attention to the notifications that had accumulated while I hunted goblins.
System Notification:
+10 Experience Points
+10 Experience Points
+10 Experience Points
+10 Experience Points
+10 Experience Points
+10 Experience Points
+10 Experience Points
+10 Experience Points
+20 Experience Points
+20 Experience Points
+20 Experience Points
+20 Experience Points
+20 Experience Points
+20 Experience Points
Your level has increased!
This experience was enough to level up, leaving me with an extra 30 points. Now, I needed 170 more experience points to reach the next level. I invested all the points into intelligence, giving me a total of 19 intelligence points, translating to 133 mana points, with a regeneration rate of 0.76 per second. Now, I felt more confident about defeating these groups. All I had to do was wait for them to spread out enough.
After 7-8 minutes, the groups had separated sufficiently for me to attack without concern. As before, I chose the weakest-looking goblin as my initial target. Approaching quickly using "Shadow Leap," I struck him once with my dagger towards his neck, ensuring the hit was on target before leaping to the next goblin.
This continued until I had killed the third goblin from this group. He had managed to emit a shrill sound that drew the attention of the remaining three goblins. Fury burned in their eyes as they witnessed me slaying their comrade. They were beside themselves, launching their attacks at me with extreme aggression, albeit with coordination I couldn't quite understand.
But at that moment, I retrieved an axe from my inventory, the one I had obtained in the battle with the large goblin. Its blade was as sharp as a razor, and I felt a surge of strength from it. The first goblin charged at me, yelling and swinging his weapon. His face held a more sinister malevolence than before, but I parried his strike and retaliated with a devastating blow of the axe, cleaving him in two. Blood sprayed, and the goblin fell lifeless to the ground.
Immediately afterward, I lunged at the goblin standing nearby. Investing the maximum amount of mana into "Rending Strike," I severed him just as I had his comrade. The last remaining goblin in this group was as large as the owner of the axe. He glared at me with malice, as if trying to kill me with his gaze.
And then he drew his weapon, something resembling a large cleaver that deftly found its place in his hand. He eyed me, not rushing to attack. I, on the other hand, focused entirely on him. Suddenly, I remembered the red arrow that had been concealed among the branches of the surrounding trees all this time.
At the moment he became distracted, I swiftly summoned an "Earthen Trap" beneath his feet. Using "Shadow Leap" and a swing of my axe, I toppled him to the ground. However, the goblin, by striking the ground with his cleaver, managed to destroy the trap that had tried to hold him by the legs. Unfortunately for him, the one-second delay was enough for me to invest 10 mana points into "Rending Strike" and plunge the axe into his chest. His rusty armor couldn't withstand the blow.
System Notification: +100 Experience Points