Clink!

*clink clank*

*clink clank*

'These feet are so damn annoying' Cal thought, staring daggers at his bony feet.

He had no idea how those bones managed to keep themselves attached to each other but the sound they made when he took steps in the dungeon sounded like a handful of pebbles being dropped onto the ground.

Cal had tried to remedy this by wrapping some cloth around his feet, but his bones and the dungeon's rough surfaces quickly tore any and all scrap pieces of cloth that the lone skeleton could scavenge, eventually, he just gave up.

Cal had delved deeper into the dungeon, more out of curiosity than anything else. Cal had at first felt the need to go outside of the dungeon and try to explain his situation to others, however, he was sure that the moment that he stepped out of the dungeon, the people keeping guard would've destroyed him before he managed to show them he wasn't dangerous; there was no way to explain his situation. Cal didn't feel like staying still either, exploring the dungeon was his only real choice.

The deeper Cal went, the more shocked he grew.

Monsters of varying size and power were all marching upwards, he passed by a few more Knolls with their own group of skeletons and even a large spider-like creature that he had never seen before. This sort of dungeon activity was unheard of, Cal wracked his brain but he couldn't think of any reason for the strange behaviour of the creatures.

He even queried this new system he had acquired.

[Sorry... I have no idea! ] it said, chiming sweetly.

'Ugh what's the point of being able to talk if you can't even say something worthwhile!' Cal was irritated, and understandably so.

[...]

[That's a lot of talk for a guy without a-] as the system spoke, words started to be written across its orange screen.

Cal, hyperaware of the system as well as of his own 'state' looked at the screen with murderous intent the second his brain realised that the system was about to reference his "breakdown" earlier.

The words across the orange screen slowly erased themselves.

'Hmph.' Cal had given up on trying to understand what this creature/system was. He had no idea of his own situation and having someone who acted with such levity and happiness just made his own despair seem even worse by comparison.

He knew he wasn't being totally fair to... whatever that thing was, but Cal couldn't be bothered to care about someone's feelings at this moment in time.

While musing over his own troubles again, Cal spotted a treasure.

A walking, green, pot-bellied, and club swinging treasure.

'A lone goblin!' Cal thought, excitedly.

Cal had been on the lookout for some prey he could take on, so far, none of the encounters he had come across were weak enough for him to have a surefire victory against; they were either too strong or had too many in one group.

Cal's hollow eyes twinkled.

'Even with the Asura system, monsters could evolve and grow stronger! Could it be the same with this one?' Cal thought to himself, referencing the so-called "Brahma system".

Either way, he had to try.

Cal walked past the goblin just like he had walked past every other creature he came across, he didn't spare it a glance and only reacted once he was out of the goblin's peripherals.

'Now!'

Cal swiftly put the rusted dagger he was carrying into an attacking position and ran at the goblin from behind.

*clink clank!*

*clink clank!*

The skeleton's noisy feet notified the goblin immediately, the creature snapped its neck behind it and noticed the lump of bones charging at it with a knife.

"OuGHA!!!" yelled the goblin.

The goblin lifted its club, gripping it with both hands, and charged at the skeleton. Its eyes were ablaze with murderous intent and its mouth was upturned into an ugly snarl. Monsters attacking one another wasn't uncommon, however, monsters like skeletons usually laid low.

'Shit! It noticed me! These damn feet!" Cal cursed his clinkity foot and kept charging forward with the dagger. Even with the skeleton haven been noticed, he didn't think that he would be in much danger.

Once the goblin got close enough to swing its club, it did so with a ferocious speed, its club was swung vertically and slammed into the ground, a cloud of dust sprouted from the ground as it hit.

'Fast!' Cal thought, using his feet to jump back and dodge the club, he stepped back a few steps.

Even with a weaker body, Cal thought he could win against that goblin with no trouble.

'Am I that much slower or... is this goblin some kinda freak?' he thought.

Cal remembered the monsters in the horde that attacked him back when he was human; the ones who killed him. Even then, he had realised that the strength of the creatures was way above their usual states. Could the strength of this goblin be related to that?

While Cal had lost himself in thought, the goblin spared no time in readying his club for the next attack.

"HOGAAA!" The goblin didn't extend any curtesy and charged at Cal after he retreated.

Cal restrained himself from jumping back again and waited for the goblin to come close, a battle like this between two weak monsters wouldn't be drawn out; whoever landed the first blow would surely win.

"UWAAAGGAA!!!" The goblins screech grew louder and its speed followed suit, dust jumping up as the green body sped up.

Cal readied his dagger and clenched it with his bony fist.

'Not yet...'

"UUAAHHAA!!" the goblin was about 3 meters from him.

'almost...' now it was 2 meters.

'...' 1 meter.

The goblin reached striking distance and lifted its club to swing.

'It's going to swing from right to left!' Cal read the goblin's movements.

Before the goblin had a chance to strike, Cal used his legs and pushed himself to the right, bouncing to the goblin's side.

"UffwA!"

The goblin missed.

Cal didn't let the goblin's mistake go unpunished.

Before the goblin could react and perform a counter-attack, it found itself with a dagger embedded in its throat.

'F-Fwugh...'

The goblin dropped the club and felt around for the dagger, but it had lost too much strength to keep fighting.

*Thump*

The goblin's body lay limp on the floor.

Cal wasted no time, he swiftly took the knife out of the goblin's neck and stabbed its heart quickly. There was no way he'd be caught off-guard like that again.

'Oi system!'

[Hm? Yes?]

The orange screen popped up, it had disappeared after their previous "argument"

[Oh! Did you kill that?]

The orange screen moved by itself and glided across the dungeons skinny pathway, looking over the defeated monster.

'Yeah... but...'

[Something the matter?]

'Nothing... it's just that I didn't expect my current body to be so weak...'

It was true.

Cal had both underestimated his opponent and overestimated himself, he had been tempted before to try and kill two goblins side by side but if he had this much trouble merely killing one, two would be out of the question.

'At least with this... I should be a bit stronger!'

'Hey there... uh system boy!'

[What did you just call me?]

'Um sorry, tell me your name later! Please, open my stats!'