Did someone say goblins?

'The sun had just woken up from its nap, casting its brilliant warmth and light upon the massive temple surrounded by a sea of trees. The cold morning winds slowly scattered into nooks and crannies, where they would wait for the night to return.

Orion awoke to the arrival of the sun and let out a sigh. "I'm screwed." He stretched and surveyed his surroundings. "I wish I could go home for a bit, but it takes a month to get there. Once I finish everything, I'll come back, Mom."

He gazed towards the opposite direction of the sun and said, "The Ishtaria Queendom's territory starts two hills beyond that horizon. Unlike inside the ruined temple, I need food and sleep, so I should start now."

Thirty minutes later...

Orion perched on a tall tree branch, peering down at the wooden fortress that housed the green monsters. They were goblins, equipped with weapons and leather armour, with a massive green monster slumbering at the centre of the fortress. "Goblins. I can take them out, but that Hobgoblin will be a challenge. And..." He noticed a group of human females, naked and with distended bellies, lying lifelessly in a corner. "They capture humans for breeding too. Their fighting power is not to be underestimated."

The fortress encompassed a vast circular area, teeming with over 200 goblins. Orion observed the patrolling goblins wandering near the bushes. "This should be more than enough." With his longsword in hand, he leapt down from the tree. 'Fuck you, goblin.' He swiftly thrust his sword into a goblin's head, silencing its cries. 'Nice.' Taking the goblin's dagger, Orion retreated into the bushes. 'When another one comes to check on this one, I'll ambush it and move to a different location.'

Concealed within the foliage, he patiently waited as ants crawled over his face. Suddenly, a surge of power coursed through his body. 'This must be what Omnipotence meant.' The sound of grass being cut and footsteps approaching grew closer. 'Ready... one, two, three.' He sprang out, severing the goblin's head. "Nice. It worked perfectly, as always." Sheathing his longsword, he scavenged from the fallen goblin but heard a sound to his right.

A goblin blew a horn, trembling at the sight of its fallen comrades. Orion swiftly slashed at the goblin, removing its hand along with its head. "FUCK!" He started running as a pack of goblins, mounted on wolves, gave chase. They closed in on him with alarming speed. His heart raced, but his power surged once again. "Good timing." His speed matched that of the wolves. Glancing back, he saw a goblin throwing a spear. He narrowly dodged it by a centimetre and continued his sprint. 'Damn, I should've been more cautious. This goblin fortress is much larger than the ones I raided before.'

Drawing his dagger, he hurled it back, striking the goblin in the head. "FUCK YOU, BITCH! I won't die before seeing my family."

But the wolf, now riderless, sprinted even faster. It lunged at Orion with its jaws wide open, but he rolled forward and exclaimed, "AMATEUR TRICKS!" Another volley of spears followed, grazing his arms and legs. "This won't slow me down."

Ahead, he spotted a cliff and leapt off without hesitation, plummeting into the river below. "Fucking goblins." Yet, he heard a howl on his back. Something pierced his left shoulder, and he looked at it. 'Wolf?'

The goblinless wolf had bit his shoulder. "FUUUUCK!!"

He grabbed the wolf by its head and threw it into the water. The wolf quickly got out and Orion unsheathed his longsword. He gritted his teeth and stabbed the wolf's head. "AWOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

The river's violent currents took him and the wolf toward the forest valley with great speed. With his shoulder healed, Orion swam on the currents while dodging big rocks. 'I feel pretty powerful after killing those four. With enough time, I can protect my family and even take revenge- No, I shouldn't think like that. I will complete these trials and provide for my family. That is all I will do.'

He swam out of the river as soon as he reached the valley with dark trees. The stench of blood and rotting flesh had covered the entire area and the dense trees blocked most of the sunlight, making it more gloomier than it should be.

Orion checked the surrounding and found a cave with some armoured bones. Those bones had swords in their ribs where heart should be. "Suicide, huh? I will never understand these suicidal people. If you're at your lowest, why not just try everything you can?"

He sat near them and checked their pockets. "Well, gotta take what nature gives, I guess."

He unsheathed his sword and looked at the hilt where a bit of rust had formed. "This will kill me for sure."

He put it away and took the bow and the arrows which were the only usable weapon there. 'Oops, I forgot.'

He took off his wet clothes, revealing his lean muscles full of cut scars and a tattoo of a black sword on his back.

'I don't feel cold. So this ability increases cold resistance. Probably heat as well.'

He sat on the ground and fixed the bowstring. "This will do for now. As long as I don't encounter anything dangerous, I will be fine."

He took off the bones' clothes that were made out of strong monster materials. 'So tight. They must've been rich people from probably Ishtaria. I need to take them off when I reach the borders.'

He put on his longsword belt and put the quiver on his back. "Okay, gotta go hunt. I need to secure food to sustain the two hills after this. Fortunately, they had a bag so I can store everything there."

He walked out of the cave and toward the plains between the cliff and the forest.

"Those goblins must've retreated, right?"

Just as he came out of the dark forest, he saw the hobgoblin and many leather-armoured goblins scouting the area. "Shit. I need to retreat first."

Then, he turned left and saw a goblin staring at him without flinching.

"Fuck."

The goblin screeched and ran away. Orion swiftly looked at the hobgoblin that struck his arm, sending him flying across the forest while breaking trees.

"Monster."

With the distance created, Orion crawled for a bit and started running again. 'I'll fucking die.' He hasted inside the cave and stuffed his old clothes inside the bag. The goblins had started to close in. 'SHIT. SHIT. SHIT.'

He ran by the wall of the vertical hill, but the goblin riders cornered him bit by bit from all sides.

"Fuck this."

He zigzag climbed the hill with the help of numerous handholds and footholds. "I am a Grandmaster at escaping, fuckers." His hand throbbed

While the goblins threw spears, they all missed. The hobgoblin also climbed the hill with its bigger physique.

"You really want to kill me, huh?"

He climbed to a big ledge and threw an arrow at the hobgoblin. It dodged it and climbed even faster. "FUCK!! WHY ALWAYS ME? IS THIS ALSO THE PART OF THE FUCKING TRIAL?"

He threw another arrow which missed again. "Fuck."

The hobgoblin nearly arrived at the ledge as well, but Orion didn't get flustered. He stared at the hobgoblin and fired another arrow, aimed at its eye. He launched the arrow, but it still missed.

"Fuck you, Hob."

He went back and waited for Hob to climb the ledge.

'Come.'

Hob jumped at launched at Orion headfirst. Orion rolled left and stood back up, his eyes on his opponent. "At this distance, I can do this, Hob."

He fired his final arrow, but Hob caught it again.

He wiped off his sweat and smiled. "I just wanted to go home and be idle around every day. And now, I am fighting a green man who will chew me up if I stay still for an instant."

He ran toward Hob with a big slash, but Hob tried to punch him. Orion dodged to the left and did a downward diagonal slash on his neck. The hit connected, but only a small part was cut. Orion who thought the battle would end there stood shocked and Hob smashed his chest with a back punch, crashing into the rocky walls. He vomited blood and sat against the wall. Hob ran toward Orion with a clenched fist. It punched him, but he rolled to the right and stabbed at the neck with all his hand muscles engaged. The sword stuck to its neck and Orion let go of it. "Fuck you, Hob."

He clawed on the wall to barely stand up on his feet and punched the handle of the sword.

"GAHHHHHHHHHHH!!GAAAAAAAHHHHHH!! GAAAAAAAA!! Gaaagha."

The hobgoblin lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Orion's wounds recovered so he pulled out the sword. "If those goblins come, I will fucking murder them."

He pulled out the sword, but it broke and only half came out.

"Just my normal luck, I guess."