Crystals

'Finally! It took longer than expected to find these f*ckers.'

Two goblins can be seen walking in the forest, slashing at some random leaves with their weapons.

Ransom is waiting patiently in a squat position on a bush ahead of them. One of the goblin is holding an axe made of animal bones while the other is holding a wooden club.

When the two goblins walked past him, he jumped out of his cover and stabbed hard the back of the axe-wielding goblin.

"RAGHHH!" The goblin issued a high-pitched scream as it flail its arms, hoping to chop the assailant with his weapon.

The other goblin took a second to respond as it smashed Ransom with its club.

Ransom easily evaded the goblin's clumsy attack, seeing this, the goblin rushed like a crazed animal. Ransom was forced to pull over and reposition himself.

'I need to get rid of this one first.'

He did a fast strike at the leg of the club-wielding goblin. Surprisingly, even though they look feeble with their thin and small stature, their bones are very hard due to them living in forests and harsh environments for generations. His full-blown strike only left a black mark on its leg.

This action enraged the club-wielding goblin. With a roar, it grasps the wooden spear and tries to tackle Ransom who's twice as big as him.

"Shit!" He pulled the spear, but this goblin has monstrous grip strength, he couldn't take it off. Realizing that he can't win the spear, he touched his waist. The goblin's shoulder slammed him in no time, his chest was hit and for a moment intense pain overwhelmed him and he couldn't breathe properly.

"RAAAGHHH!"

The goblin's scream reverberated within the place as a piece of wooden pike was pushed into his stomach. The pike was created by Ransom himself and acted as an emergency weapon. It measures around 12 inches in height and 2 inches in diameter, perfectly fit to be put in the hidden compartment of his black jacket.

'Got yah!' He slides the pike and turned it around making the goblin howl in pain again. The spear was dropped. The moment he regain control over his spear, he trusted it forward, stabbing the left eye of the axe-wielding goblin straight into its brain.

'Two down.' He counted on his mind.

Meanwhile, the last goblin couldn't endure the pain, with its last remaining strength, it raised its club and slammed it on Ransom's head.

Ransom, who's keeping an eye on the situation since the start, already saw its intention. He back-stepped twice, leaving the pike in the goblin's stomach, making it stumble with its movement.

With a big thrust, he stabbed the neck of the last goblin, killing it.

"Crack!" The spear made a cracking sound.

Immediately after that, he saw his nerves sparkle in transparency. For a whole 2 seconds, he felt like his soul replacing his body. All his senses come to life, and every cell of his body lights up. He knew that at this moment, he has grown again.

[Congratulations you have advanced to Level 2. You have been granted 2 Free Stat Points to allocate]

What just happened is such a fleeting addicting feeling that Ransom wants to experience once again.

"It takes 1 goblin to integrate this system. 3 goblins to Level 2. If the level system compounds, then I need 9 goblins to reach level 3..." Ransom smirked. 'It's a challenge worth trying' He thought.

"It's a shame the system only appears every 12 Midnight until 1 PM, which means I can't allocate my stat points now... Or can I?" It would help him so much if he could just add 2 points to his strength...

He visualizes in his head the status screen he saw yesterday night.

[*Status*

Strength: 8

Agility: 6

Fortitude: 6

Psyche: 8

The last time he used his Free Status Points, he directly tap the screen. But now that there's no screen, what should he do?

"Add two of my Free Status Points in strength!" He genuinely shouted in a prayer gesture.

"..."

3 seconds, 10 seconds, 3 minutes. No burst of strength or whatever happened.

"Sigh, it's a shame that I can't increase my stats in the middle of the day... Well, I guess this will do." He took the deceased goblin's axe and swung it around, taking a feel at it.

"Quite heavy." He muttered.

He stared at it and was quite amazed. The axe is composed of wood as a handle and a dozen wolf teeth integrated on what looks like a skull as the edge, while the other side is blunt. He could count the number of times he has seen a bone in his life, this is the 7th time and is indescribably beautiful yet dirty.

He struck it on a tree and a huge chunk came flying. The edge dug 3 inches in depth.

"Good!" Ransom smiled.

Around 7 minutes after he defeated the goblins, he saw a red gel-like substance crystallizing in the epigastric of the goblins. (The upper part of your abdomen, which sits below your rib cage)

'That's not there before! Just what is that? Do every goblin I defeat has that?'

He waited a couple more minutes until the crystallization process stopped. When he saw that the gel-like substance has completely solidified, he took it.

The crystal is red and sometimes he saw magenta colored dots appearing.

"Fascinating. This is living proof that magic and the supernatural exist. This crystal may even contain elements that have never been discovered." Ransom grasped the stones in his hand and pocketed them. He has decided to come back to the goblin he first killed this morning.

He doesn't know what these stones are, but they came from his hunt. This is his, everything he owns he treats it preciously.

At this time 8 goblins came running while shouting angrily at Ransom's direction. When they saw Ransom, they rushed at him like mad dogs.

"Oh shit! Here comes the fun part! Come at me you f*ckers!" He raised a middle finger at the group enraging them.

2 goblins threw a stone at him while 1 shoot him with an arrow.

He dodged them cooly and started sprinting in a random direction.

The goblins chased after him, saliva flying.