Dungeon

´Okay yeah,... maybe not the best idea to try to kill something, when I have literally zero fighting experience.', I said to myself as I am currently standing in a large group of goblins.

You might be wondering, how I got here. Well, as you know I entered the dungeon today. I didn't have a great plan or something. I just thought I could improvise and somehow increase my stats.

Don't get me wrong, it worked in the beginning. The first monster I encountered on the first floor was a goblin with a stick as a weapon. It's a green ugly human-like monster. First, I tried to keep my distance and used appraisal on him. Cause you never know it might be a variant. Though I also could be overthinking it.

'Appraise...', I thought to myself.

"Ding"

*Goblin Lvl 1

*HP: 10/10 (=END/2)

*MP: 0/0 (=MAG/2)

*STR: I 11

*END: I 20

*DEX: H 110

*AGI: I 32

*MAG: I 0

*Abilities:

*Nimble Hands (passive)

...(*, stands for objects and beings appraised)...

The first thing I saw was its high dexterity.

´Why is its dexterity so high, Hope?´ I asked.

"I can only give you a general reason as I currently have insufficient data for more. It is most likely caused by its passive ability. It should give him an increase in dexterity to be better in handling weapons (or in his case, a stick)."

'Ohh, I should have guessed that, but thanks anyway Hope.', I said.

"No problem Host. I am always here if you need help."

Okay, I focussed again. I first tried to approach him from the front, so I could gain some fighting experience. The goblin immediately swung the stick down to my face. I dodged it thankfully. Then, I used the most straightforward way of fighting that I could think of, I punched him in his face.

*Goblin...

*HP: 9/10...

'That worked, I guess. My strength must be too low to do any proper damage this way.', I thought.

Of course, the goblin got angrier. He charged at me, waving his stick around while trying to bite me.

So I just kicked him in the nuts.

'Arghh...', the goblin grumbled with a pitiful look on his face.

Goblin...

HP: 6/10...

I realized that his crown jewels were probably his weak spot. So I started circling around it with my high agility. And kept trying to crush them. ´Hehe, my morals might be a little f*cked up.', I thought to myself while doing the last kick that resulted in the goblin´s high-pitched screaming throughout the upper floors.

I then looked at the corpse while thinking about my skills. ´Should I eat it?´, I thought to myself.

"Ding!"

"Host, thanks to a side effect of your skill Hell Ambrosia, you can eat raw meat without getting food poisoning."

´Ohh I would prefer to cook it. But, I still have no idea how to do fire magic.', I thought. So, I just started eating it raw.

It was nasty green meat with a rancid smell. I quickly shoved a part in my mouth to get it over with.

"Ding!"

"Hell Ambrosia activated..."

"... analyzing meat quality... low-class monster goblin detected... deciding max allowed stat transfer for low quality... max 100 stats for low-class being... transferring stats....

... successful... trying to transfer random ability... successful."

"Ding!"

"Congratulations host, for killing your first monster!"

´Thanks, Hope', I responded while checking my new status.

STATUS

Name: Cain

Age: ???

Race: Human?

Level: 1

STR: I 0 -> I 34 (+11 from goblin, +23 from excelia)

END: SSS 1420 -> SSS 1440 (+20 from goblin)

DEX: I 0 -> H 111 (+100 from goblin, +11 from excelia)

AGI: SS 1169 -> SSS 1214 (+32 from goblin, +13 from excelia)

MAG: I 0

Abilities:

Appraisal, ???, Hell Flame Affinity, Pain Immunity, Dimensional Gate Manipulation, Hell Ambrosia, Nimble Hands (New!)

...

I started shaking my head with a smile, as I realized again how overpowered this system was. Then I noticed the new ability. 'Hope, can you give me a better description of this ability?', I asked.

"Ding!"

"Acknowledged..."

"Nimble Hands: a passive racial ability that allows you to move your hands and wrists in a more accurate and efficient way. As a side effect, you also gain increased excelia for the dexterity stat."

'Well another useful ability again huh.', I muttered. The next second however I started hearing some angry grunting noises in the distance. So, I got ready to fight again with a small smile. But I immediately regretted my decision. As it was a large group of goblins that was approaching.

When they saw me standing over a dead comrade of them, they got furious and charged at me.

So, now you know how I got in this situation. Let's try to get out of it. 'But how..?´, I wondered.

I mean I could try the same tactic and kick them in their private spaces. But it might not be the best strategy, as I'll create some exploitable blind spots for the other goblins that are surrounding me.

Then my mind started drifting to one of my abilities... the hell flame affinity. I felt it in my bones. This could get me through this. But how should I use it? I tried to remember the feeling of the flames that burned me for eternity... the crimson-hot flames that scorched my skin every second. I tried to envision the form and pull it in the atmosphere while trying to keep my distance from the goblins.

One of the goblins suddenly started muttering a chant.

I quickly appraised him.

"Ding"

*Goblin Lvl 1

*HP: 32/32

*MP: 16/16

*STR: I 9

*END: I 16

*DEX: H 101 (high again due to racial trait)

*AGI: I 5

*MAG: I 8

*Abilities:

*Nimble hands (passive), Fire magic manipulation (active)

...

'Devora inimicum meum et obtempero voluntati meae flammae!', the goblin grumbled (translated from latin: devour my enemy and obey my will, flames!)

Then a red magic circle started forming. I tried to pay attention to how he did it while trying to dodge the incoming fireball that the goblin formed.

While doing so I stumbled in the reach of one of the other goblins. The goblin started biting me. And for the first time in this world, I got hurt. It reminded me of the pain I felt in hell. Which, resulted in me chanting a spell that I didn't know I could do, purely out of instinct.

'Flammas Orci. Memento regis tui et veni in adiutorium meum. Incinerate inimicos meos!', I said in a cold tone. (translated from Latin: Flames of hell. Remember your king and come to my aid. Incinerate my enemies)

Another magic circle started forming. But this time I formed it. It was a 2m crimson circle with a tone of amber on the inside of the circle. If you looked at it for a while, you could hear the cries of the people suffering in the flames of hell. The surrounding goblins started shivering, some even tried to flee. However immediately after, the circle was completed. Everywhere around me, flames started to form. They started to burn everything, the goblins, their weapons, their souls. Even the dungeon walls started trembling. I wouldn't even be surprised if a juggernaut spawned, because of the damage to the dungeon. And I could feel that I started growing tired. The mana I didn't know I had, started decreasing at an explosive rate. And for the first time, I experienced what happens when you spend all of your mana. I fell asleep in the middle of the dungeon in a sea of flames that I created with a small smile on my face.