Chapter 7

Satsuhiro guessed accurately from Ash's Level 1 that she had never killed anything, which was a problem considering the fact that she'd be doing that a lot as a Savior. So, he gave her a map and told her where to go to do this while he researched ways for her to become attuned with her affinities.

"Don't fight anything too strong," Satsuhiro had said before she left. 

Keiko decided she would stay with Satsuhiro so she could, as she put it, "work on something". Ash was fine with that, so now she was walking out of the house on her own, on her way to her first fight since getting this job.

So, let's see. She glanced down at the map. Currently, she was southwest of Jade, if she headed to the left for enough time, she'd eventually run into Pearl. So, this forest over here, she tapped it on the paper, is a beginner-level area. There are just low-level goblins and orcs there, huh? She nodded to herself. Well, let's go.

Even though she'd been living all her life inside Jade's walls, there were some monsters even commoners who had never lifted a sword knew of. Goblins and orcs were some of them, famous for being exceptionally weak. 

I guess this is fine. 

She walked through tall grass with the distant forest in her sight. The way the sun hit the exposed parts of her body had her sweating already. With Lust tied to her waist, she made her way there. The tall trees blocked out the sun and the leaves crunched under her boots as she looked for targets. The last thing she wanted was to get caught by surprise.

The smell was so strange. She'd only ever been in Jade, so when the scent of dirt and nature hit her, it was stunning. She heard more birds singing than she thought she ever had. But, she couldn't focus on those things. She had a job to do.

Where are these things? She wondered. I'd definitely like it if I didn't run into a whole pack of 'em. Maybe if I spot one alone, I can try to take it by surprise.

Soon enough, the sounds were joined by another set of thudding footsteps ahead. Ash hummed to herself. Alright. She looked for the source.

Ahead, what looked like a short, stocky big-nosed man with green skin wearing a loincloth walked out. There you are, you ugly motherfucker. Just as hideous as what Satsuhiro described. Now, let's see.

The goblin's stats showed up in front of Ash.

Level 4

MP: 10/10

Hm, so this goblin's killed a few things. Ash understood. I could ignore him and look for any others that are a lower level, but I don't know if I'll find another one that's just walking around alone like this. I think I should probably take this opportunity. Ash nodded to herself and walked up. The goblin's beady eyes landed on her and she quickly brought out Lust.

"Sword," She muttered and the cube transformed around her hand into a brilliant blade. With it, she took a few swings to get a feel for what she'd be doing in a few seconds.

The goblin shrieked as Ash stopped. The goblin pointed the club it had been carrying at her and Ash narrowed her eyes, preparing herself. Then, the goblin started to move.

Okay, okay. She thought. So, all I have to do is swing this thing at the monster until it dies. Take it easy, it's a low-level goblin. What's the worst that could happen?

Ash waited until the thing was close enough, and then she readied a swing. Surprisingly though, the goblin was faster. Her eyes widened as, just as she was about to launch a swing of her own, the goblin beat her to it and aimed an attack straight for her head. She ducked under it, looking up at the green creature. With a kick, she tried to put some distance between them. The goblin wasn't even tickled by her strike, but the kick did the job.

Ash took a deep breath. Fuck. The goblin made some animalistic sounds and came charging back up to her. I should probably just focus on defending myself.

She waited until it was about to attack again and raised Lust up to block its club. She succeeded, but the goblin didn't stop. Like a construction worker pounding away with a hammer, it attacked once, twice, and then a third time. That was when Ash's arms gave out under its strength.

Shit! The sword fell out of her hands as the goblin readied one more strike.

All she could do was dodge it. The goblin tried to hit her twice, but she managed to move out of the way both times. The goblin took a few deep breaths.

That took a bit out of you, huh? Ash slowly got up to her feet as the goblin staggered back. She laughed. I guess we both suck. Don't want that happening to me. I have to take it easy for a little bit. God, fighting is way more exhausting when you're not trying to run away.

"Aaarh, guargh!" The goblin made strange noises and pointed its club at her menacingly.

"Yeah, fuck off." Ash spat in his face.

The ten seconds they spent waiting for the other to do something was like an eternity.

I have the speed to dodge. But, fuck, that thing is strong. I don't think I can block much. I just need to time my dodges well.

Ash did not time her dodge well.

The goblin attacked once more. She tried to lean out of the way of what was a hit to the head but didn't do so in time. The club struck her right below her left horn, and Ash fell back. The world spun for a second. She hadn't been hit that hard in a very long time. Drops of violet fell in front of her. I'm bleeding. Great.

The goblin didn't stop there, it went to pound her into the ground, but Ash rolled out of the way before it could do something she guessed would actually finish her off. It tried again and failed. When it appeared to slow down, Ash felt that it was her turn. She reached for her sword, which was still on the ground, and went for a strike of her own.

And it landed. She slashed its left thigh, eliciting an ear-piercing screech from the green creature. Yeah, how's that feel? Ash got up and stood over it. Okay, let's just end this. She walked forwards, raising the sword up to bring it down on it.

The goblin did to her exactly what she'd done to it. It grabbed its club and struck her leg with it.

"Agh! Motherfucker!"

Ash dropped her sword as she went to clutch her leg. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

At that moment, something started to stir within her.

Involuntarily, Ash found herself growling at the creature. She could feel her body warming up to the point of it being unbearable. The goblin basically smirked at her and Ash bared her teeth.

I'm really starting to hate you. She thought. She grabbed her sword and the goblin stood up.

Ash ran forwards. She went to stab the creature but it smacked her sword out of the way with its club and tackled her. Then, it mounted her and raised its club up. Ash leaned her head out of the way and tried to push the goblin off of her.

The goblin was too heavy, so she went for a different strategy. As the goblin was about to turn her head into mashed potatoes, the half-demon punched it in the groin. As expected, the goblin froze and got off her, falling to the side to clutch its balls.

Yeah, even with a low strength I figured that would work.

Anger bubbled inside of her as she decided to ditch her sword and instead, mounted the goblin herself. Raising a fist, she brought it down on the goblin's mouth. Once, twice. Despite her low Strength, she dealt some damage. The goblin spat out some teeth as Ash tried to attack a third time.

However, she had underestimated just how much this fight was taking out of her. She was breathing heavily. Her punches had no weight behind them anymore. The goblin realized this.

The goblin went to shove her off and barely had to expend any energy to do so, as Ash was pushed away as easily as a feather. She was taking deep breaths as the goblin mounted her. Ash tried to reach up with her hands to block, but her arms had barely any energy anymore.

That meant that as the goblin went to punch her, she was nearly powerless to defend herself.

One blow after another, Ash's vision was starting to turn red.

It went on for quite a while.

Ash's nose was now broken, and she was bleeding from her bottom lip and had a cut above her left eyebrow.

No thought came into her mind as the goblin struck her over and over again.

Then, Ash felt her very being changing. Fifteen seconds passed, Fifteen seconds straight of being punched in the face. Something was happening.

"You... Motherfucker…" She snarled as, feeling a sudden boost of energy, she pushed the goblin off of her.

She stood up. Her violet blood fell in drops onto the dirt below. And then, Ash's body changed. She felt her teeth grow into animalistic fangs, nearly pricking her tongue on them. Claws growing from her fingers tore through the cloth of her gloves. Finally, as the goblin cackled ahead of her, another change happened.

The world took on a slight tinge of violet, with most of it focused around the goblin. That was the biggest change of all. It got to the point where she didn't see the goblin as an enemy anymore.

She saw it as prey. Something to be destroyed and devoured.

She wasn't thinking anymore. It was like someone or something else had occupied her body. Instead, she listened to her instincts and pounced. She tackled the creature. Looming over it, Ash's wide, feral eyes peered down at the goblin.

And then she used her claws.

It was effortless. She ripped the goblin apart. Shredding its body with her hands, ripping and squelching sounds came up as Ash continued. As she tore it up, she saw its exposed neck and opened her mouth. Then, she leaned in, bit down on it as hard as she could, and ripped its throat out with her teeth.

And finally, the goblin was dead.

Only then did Ash regain her sanity.

Huh? She looked at the corpse beneath her. The goblin was unrecognizable. Most of its insides were outside. Ash reached up and found red blood pouring down her chin, mingling with the violet.

Holy shit. She thought. What the fuck just happened to me?

A series of messages appeared.

EXP Gained: 30

Note: Defeating an enemy of a higher level will yield more EXP.

EXP: 30/15

Level Up!

2 Attribute Points Gained

Trait Discovered!

Demon Inside

Prolonged fights will result in you entering Demon Form. While in Demon Form, all physical attributes, Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution are increased by 5. Demon Form ceases when either the specific target who caused you to enter the form dies or the user does not wish to fight them anymore.

Ash shook her head. She was too stunned by what she'd just done to take all this information in.

What the fuck?