Chapter 2: System
Eric swallows back his fear and focuses on putting one foot in front of the other. He raises his sword to point directly in front of him, ready to swing at any moment.
After around five minutes of walking deeper into the cave, Eric hears a noise. It sounds like somebody slurping soup, with an occasional crunch noise.
Eric freezes as soon as he hears it and curses at himself for not bringing a light. He peers around the corner and makes out a toddler-sized figure crouched over another person, eating away at their stomach.
Eric forces himself to look away and he notices that the goblin's back is turned to him. He gets control over his breathing using a trick a kid at his group home showed him. By counting to ten.
And it worked, Eric took a deep breath and slowly made his way over to the goblin, being as quiet as he can. Once he's about one foot directly behind it he sees its ears move in his direction
Eric panicked and made a jabbing motion with the sword, stabbing the goblin in the neck with the tip of his sword. The monster lets out a gurgle as the sword goes through his spine and throat. It instantly crumples like a sack of potatoes.
Eric leans on the cave wall as he catches his breath. The only thing Eric had killed before was a bird, he had shot it with a bb gun he had stolen from a store.
Eric nearly shits his pants when a yellow star flies by his face. His body is instantly filled with adrenaline as he jumps back. Eric stands still for a second thinking he had imagined the star when he realized he was in a fantasy world with goblins.
'Why hadn't I thought of that!?' Eric screams at himself in his head
'Status'
A white, almost transparent screen appears in front of Eric's face making him jump again before he excitedly looks at the contents.
+========+
Name: Eric Bird
Race: Modified Human
Level: 7
Stats: (+1 per lvl)
Strength- 13
Stamina- 10
Durability- 17
Dexterity- 10
Perception- 9
Will- 21
Intelligence- 14
Free Points: 18
Skills: (**- means something is new!)
N/A
Traits:
N/A
+========+
Eric looks over his stats with a smile. He had a system!
'Now I know why I gained six levels from a single goblin…what does each stat mean?'
+========+
Strength- This stat decides how much you can lift and how hard you can hit.
Stamina- This stat decides how long you can run or fight.
Durability- This stat decides how much physical damage you can take.
Dexterity- This stat decides how precise and fast you can move
Perception- This stat decides how well you can see, and how far.
Will- This stat decides how much mental damage you can take.
Intelligence- This stat decides how good your memory and learning skills are.
+========+
'They aren't very specific but beggars can't be choosers.'
After contemplating it a bit Eric throws six free points into dex and stam and puts 3 in dura and perception. Eric needs to be able to swing his sword better and be able to fight for a longer amount of time and he needs to be able to take more damage and see better
Eric can feel his control over his body grow, he feels like he could run for miles, and he can feel the little muscles he has, tighten and expand and he can see slightly better in the dark.
Eric remembers that swinging your sword in a cave is a bad idea from watching Goblin Slayer, so he will stick to jabbing.
He continues walking deeper into the cave before he sees a faint blue light. He peers around another turn and sees around five goblins sleeping on the cave floor.
But what catches Eric's eyes is the wrinkly old-looking goblin with a red wooden mask, snoring. It's sitting on a wooden throne and next to it is a wooden staff.
'The leader and it may be a shaman from the mask and staff but I can't say for sure.'
Eric isn't dumb enough to try and fight all of the goblins at once.
'The chief might be the strongest, but it also might be the weakest…'
Eric decides to risk it because if it is a shaman he's going to die in this cave.
Eric shuffles along the cave wall toward the chief, being as quiet as he can. He has to step over a couple of limbs and dodge a random kick from a sleeping goblin, and finally, he stands in front of the sleeping chief.
Eric looks away a bit as he slices the throat of the sleeping chief and he put one hand on its mouth to not wake the other goblins, in case it screams or something.
The goblin's red eyes shoot open and it tries to pry Eric's hand off but it only lives for a few seconds, and a golden star shoots by in front of him. Unluckily for Eric, the chief's flailing knocks the staff over.
Eric quickly grabs the staff right before it makes contact with the floor and sighs in relief.
'Status'
+========+
Name: Eric Bird
Race: Modified Human
Level: 16
Stats: (+1 per lvl)
Strength- 22
Stamina- 25
Durability- 29
Dexterity- 25
Perception- 21
Will- 30
Intelligence- 23
Free Points: 27
Skills: (**- means something is new!)
*Soul Eat (1 white soul=1 free point)*
Traits:
N/A
Titles:
Player
+========+
'What's Soul Eat..?'
+========+
Soul Eat- Eat the soul of anything you have slain yourself and gain their strengths and skills.
+========+
'WHAT?!' Eric almost yells out loud. 'That's… so overpowered!'
Eric glances at the corpse of the chief and sees a weird white mist seeping from the body.
He reaches out and grabs the mist. Eric pulls on it and with a *PLOP* noise a weird white orb comes out of the body, the source of the mist. It's the size of a marble. Eric looks at it for a second before throwing it into his mouth.
He instantly swallows it and a new screen pops into his face.
+========+
Pick one trait and one skill:
Skills:
Fireball
Poison Mist
Traits:
Dark Vision
Enhanced Nose
+========+
Eric smiles.
'What's Fireball?' An explanation doesn't come up.
'Fireball or Poison Mist… Fireball for sure. I'd rather be able to see in the dark than be able to smell better…' Eric presses on the Fireball skill and the Dark Vision trait.
'Status'
+========+
Name: Eric Bird
Race: Modified Human
Level: 16
Stats: (+1 per lvl)
Strength- 22
Stamina- 25
Durability- 29
Dexterity- 25
Perception- 21
Will- 30
Intelligence- 23
Free Points: 28
Skills: (**- means something is new!)
Soul Eat- (1 white soul=1 free point)
*Fireball*
Traits:
*Dark Vision*
Titles:
Player
+========+
Eric's brain is filled with the knowledge of what his new skill and trait do, as well as how to use them. Fireball summons a ball of flame that can be launched at an enemy. Dark Vision is a passive ability, making Eric able to see through the dark.
'I'm gonna put seven points in stam, dura, and dex…and put the rest in strength.'
Eric feels his body getting stronger and turns to the goblin pile. He cracks a smile and whispers "Fireball" while pointing his palm at the pile.
A baseball-sized fireball forms into existence right in front of his palm. Eric's smile grows as he can feel a weird energy leaving his body fueling the fireball, making it bigger and bigger.
It grows to the size of a basketball before it stops growing and Eric lets it fly at the pile. It sails seven feet before it slams into the closest goblin to Eric and explodes like a grenade, throwing Eric into the cave wall.
Eric instantly jumps up and back onto his feet and puts his sword in front of him. The smoke dissipates after a few seconds and all that's left of the five goblins are ashes.
Five white marble-sized orbs hang in the air, bobbing up and down silently. Eric looks down at his body and most of his clothes are incinerated, leaving him in his underwear and a belt.
But what surprises Eric more than him being unscathed from what was pretty much a grenade to the face, is the fact he's no longer fat. His once big stomach and chest are now a lean six-pack and pecs.
"This is the best thing ever!" Eric laughs and flexes his new muscles.
Eric looks around and spots the staff lying on the ground, now darkened and charred. He puts his sword on his waist and picks the staff up off the ground, dusting it off a bit.
Then he notices the hole in the cave wall. It was hidden behind the wooden throne that is charred and breaking apart. Eric kicks the throne completely out of the way and looks into the hole and he stumbles back and vomits on the ground.