5-The First Boss

After traversing the dungeon for hours, Theo had accumulated many cuts and blisters, leaving him exhausted. However, now he was finally standing before the door to the boss room. One more fight and then he could rest and heal.

"The boss room!! Alright, let's finish this."

Theo placed his spear on the floor and pressed both of his hands against the door. The door was big and heavy, so it did not budge when he pushed.

"Fuu, that's heavy!"

To increase his power, he moved his feet back and once again pressed his hands against the door, this time with the help of his body weight and leg muscles too. Pushing with all his strength, the door slowly but surely opened slightly, releasing a mountain of dust, which drifted into the boss room with the air rushing inside from the passage.

Upon the door's opening, the darkness inside the room made Theo feel like he could be swallowed at any moment.

He thought "If I go inside, I may never come out again. I can't see anything in there, if the enemy can feel me with their other senses, then I am dead for sure. I should grab a few torches before going inside."

Theo walked back through the passage, passing the corpses of the last goblins he stepped on a puddle of their blood, almost falling after slipping.

So much time had passed since he arrived that he was hungry and thirsty. He even contemplated eating the wolf corpses, but believed he could probably find something decent after the boss fight.

Soon he had four torches in his hand, including the one he had carried from the beginning. Carefully, as to not burn himself, he carried them back to the boss room.

"I will only open the door a little, leaving a gap I can escape through. From behind the door, I should throw the torches aiming to form a square, with the door and wall securing my back from attacks."

While Theo threw the torches, there was no other sound, whatever was inside waited for him in the darkness. Once the torches were set up around the door, Theo swiftly entered the room, just like the dust from before. Immediately, he got into a defensive stance with his spear.

"BOOM!" The exit was blocked behind Theo as the door slammed.

"What happened!? Did the door close on its own? Now I don't have any way of escaping, I win, or I die."

"kukuku…" A sinister laugh echoed throughout the room, followed by a resounding growl.

Theo broke into a cold sweat as he frenetically scanned the room looking for the origin of the sounds. Slowly a big figure surfaced into the light, and after realizing what it was, he was horrified.

A big wolf, not too big, but bigger than the ones he saw before, and on top of it, a goblin. The goblin sat upon a saddle and had a short sword and a small shield in his hands. The bloodlust these two creatures gave out was almost too overbearing for Theo.

"System?"

"Beep"

"The quest?"

[Tutorial-Test 2-First Dungeon: Defeat the Goblin Rider and its wolf to conquer the dungeon.]

[Defeated Wolf: 0, Defeated Goblin Rider: 0]

[Location: Boss Room]

"Goblin Rider? This is not going to be easy."

Following his experience fighting wolves, Theo maintained eye contact with the beast, which kept circling while the goblin taunted him to create an opening.

"I need to deal with that wolf first, the goblin on top is carrying a short sword and a small shield, he won't be very agile on his own. I'll try to kill the wolf as fast as possible."

In that moment when Theo inspected the goblin, the wolf saw an opening and ran at him from the side. However, Theo was waiting for the attack and reacted fast.

"Now!"

He thrust his spear aiming for the wolfs throat, the beast ducked, and the goblin swung his short sword at Theo. Shocked, he barely avoided the sword, and only managed to graze the wolf on its back. The beast had also taken advantage of Theo's reaction and managed to cut the side of his leg with its claws.

"Aaarghh!!"

[Mind of Steel]

Thanks to the skill, time slowed once again, giving Theo a second to think.

"I can't forget I am fighting two opponents! I focused on the wolf and didn't notice the goblin attacking. It might be better to land blows to the wolf's legs and slowly tire it. I'll be careful of the goblin and once the wolf is down, kill it immediately!"

Time flowed naturally again, the wolf backed up and once again started circling Theo while growling, who had already taken a defensive stand and looked calm thanks to Mind of Steel. Once the beast found an opening, it attacked.

This time, Theo moved to the side, outside the goblin's range, and thrust at the foe's hind leg. The cut was small, but it was enough to slow the wolf's movement a little.

"Nice! This strategy works."

The wolf and Theo kept attacking and dodging for a few rounds, he got injured a couple times, and the beast was now very slow. Meanwhile, the goblin could do nothing about the difference in range between the spear and his short sword.

"Haah haah… it's about time… for you… to die!"

The beast attempted to attack Theo again, but it was very slow and barely able to run. Theo easily avoided the attack and threw his spear through the wolf's side.

"Howl"

The wolf emitted a high-pitched cry as it fell on the floor with a spear stuck in his side. The goblin, who was on top, of him fell together with the beast.

"Finally! One more of these green bastards and I can rest!"

With his plan coming to fruition, Theo pulled out his dagger and sprinted to attack the goblin.

"You are dead!"

The goblin, lying on the floor, could only raise its shield to protect itself from getting stabbed. However, Theo jumped at it, grabbed the shield with his left hand, and stabbed the goblin rider's neck. The creature, who managed to grab its sword, was trying to swing at Theo, but strength left its body. Its arm dropped to the floor while holding the sword, which made a metallic sound that echoed throughout the now silent room.

Theo, now exhausted and on his knees, furrowed his face and began crying. Shaking and with a firm hold on his dagger he exclaimed "I survived!! Take that you fucking gods!! You can't kill me you miserable bastards!"

[CONGRATULATIONS!!]

[You have passed the second trial, resetting status now]

Theo's wounds instantly healed, and his physical exhaustion disappeared.

[You have obtained the following rewards: (Random F Grade Equipment Box), (Survival Pack)]

The same portal that had taken him to the dungeon appeared next to him. He stayed on the floor for a while, and then he slowly stood back up.

"Time to go back."

He walked through the portal, immediately appearing in the white room. The amount of light in the room was too much for him so he closed his eyes partially, until they adjusted. On the floor in front of him, were two objects, one leather bag and a black box with a button on top.

"Those must be the rewards the system talked about. That weird box is probably the random equipment, and the bag the survival pack. Maybe the bag has food!"

He rushed to the bag and opened it, inside he found a canteen with water, several pieces of beef jerky and bread, and a sleeping bag.

"Water!"

Without even thinking about it, he grabbed the canteen and started drinking.

"Gulp, gulp, gulp, ahhh, how refreshing."

Then, he brought out the beef jerky and bread and began devouring piece after piece, until his hunger and thirst were satisfied.

Even though the system had fixed all his physical injuries and stamina, it did not fix his mental exhaustion. As soon as he saw the sleeping bag, all he wanted to do was eat, drink, and sleep, even forgetting to open the other reward and the system to look at his skill progress.

Theo slipped inside the sleeping bag and since he was so mentally taxed, fell asleep immediately. Hours passed before he eventually woke up.

He let out a yawn and said "I really needed that. I spent hours on edge advancing in the dark, fighting enemies, and thinking about strategy. I was about to collapse due to how mentally tiring that was. I should check the other reward!"

Theo slipped out of his sleeping bag and took the black box.

"I guess I need to press this button."

"Beep"

He briefly raised his eyebrows surprised from the unexpected gain.

"This is…"