Cornered

[Goblin Lieutenant]

[Level: 5]

[HP: 320/320]

Looking from afar made Joshua shiver. For a moment he thought it was the goblins chieftain, the boss of all of them. But in the end, it was only a Lieutenant.

Still, the situation was far from good. The two guards were easy for Joshua to deal with, but this Lieutenant had more HP and defense, so Joshua could not one-shot it. The problem was that tons of goblins were sleeping in that room, and if the fight did not end instantly, they would wake up.

Joshua had already decided to use his Blazing Rage, and wipe everyone inside that room. The skill would weaken Joshua's stats and he would be unable to use it again in the meantime.

'I'll just clean this room today, wait for the Blazing Rage weakened state to pass, and then come back.' With that thought in mind, Joshua grabbed tightly into his greatsword and faced the enemies who were bloodthirsty, wanting badly to kill the human who had caused them so much trouble lately.

The human and the goblins clashed. Joshua noticed that the Lieutenant was way bigger than the other goblins, and it looked more like a troll. It had a robust physique, and it also wielded a greatsword.

'Let's find out who's stronger,' Joshua thought as he got closer and closer to the enemies.

Once he was at a certain distance, he set his feet on fire, making his speed increase by a lot. Using that momentum, Joshua exerted his immense strength into his legs, jumping directly at the Lieutenant. In his mind, it was an easy hit. But much to his surprise, the goblin made a strange move with its greatsword, blocking Joshua's attack.

'How?' it was the first time someone blocked one of his attacks. The Lieutenant was level 5, but something was off about this goblin.

'Is he like a mini-boss?'

Monsters could be separated into three kinds. Normal monsters, mini-bosses, and bosses. The level had nothing to do with that. The principle behind it was more like evolution. Monsters that had more potential would suffer more changes with the mana, and mutate somehow.

Things were not going in the direction Joshua had planned. The Lieutenant did not wait there for another attack but instead dashed into Joshua's direction. Both swords clashed once again, and this time Joshua retreated five steps due to the impact.

That monster was no joke. It was strong enough to fight toe to toe with Joshua. Well, Joshua was level 1 after all, and he did not have good gear to go out and adventure like that. It was already a blessing that he got the greatsword.

The fight would be the first real fight Joshua faced since he got back. All the others were things he easily overcame with his divine powers. Not that he would not use them in this fight, they were his powers after all. But perhaps the only divine power that could save him would be his Blazing Rage.

How would he survive that fight? The Lieutenant kept attacking non-stop, and after each attack, Joshua would retreat due to the force. The normal goblins could not hit him, as his speed was way higher. But if the fight continued like that, he would be doomed.

Goblins who were sleeping started to wake up due to the fight, and once they understood what was happening, they would rush to grab their weapons. It would not take long for that fight to become chaos. The only reason the normal goblins could not reach Joshua was due to his Fire Manipulation skill, which had set his feet on fire, increasing his speed. But, he was losing HP at each second, coupled with a wound in his thighs caused by the Lieutenant greatsword, things were not going well for him.

In desperation, Joshua avoided fighting the Lieutenant head-on and started to aim for the weaker goblins. They were a lot slower, and all it took was one or two slashes for them to die on the spot.

A goblin lost its head, as a giant greatsword passed through like it was cutting bread, and with that, Joshua finally leveled up.

[Ding]

[+1 level]

[+5 free points]

Joshua quickly bumped his newly acquired points into strength.

[Name: Joshua Moore]

[Level: 2 (0/100)]

[Class: Solan's Warbringer]

[Health: 210/370]

[Mana: 128/180]

[Attributes:

[Strength: 14]

[Endurance: 7]

[Dexterity: 6]

[Wisdom: 6]

[Intelligence: 6]

[Free points: 0]

Joshua and the Lieutenant matched with speed, but the latter had more strength. So, Joshua thought that at that moment he needed more strength to clash with the enemy.

Both parties clashed swords again, but still, Joshua retreated after the impact. Before it was at five steps, but now only two. That did not matter, as in both situations Joshua had less strength, and would always get pushed back.

'If only I had better equipment. Fuck. I' don't want to be the hero so I might as well open up a blacksmithing shop.'

More and more goblins joined the fight, and slowly Joshua's body was filled with cuts. His health points were getting lower and lower, and at that point, he had no other choice but to use his triumph.

[Blazing Rage activated]

[All attributes tripled.]

Joshua grew taller and taller, to a point that he was almost the size of a smaller tree. All of his muscles increased in size, and Joshua was terrifying. His eyes were already deep orange due to his skill, but now, even his hair was a deep orange, resembling the color of a phoenix.

The greatsword became as light as a feather, and Joshua's wounds started to heal at a fast speed. It was due to his other divine ability, Phoenix Blood.

Everyone stopped at that moment, and the weaker goblins lost their eagerness to fight. The only one that still had the courage was the Lieutenant.

Both parties exchanged glances, and the goblins were taken aback as Joshua's greatsword sparked up, turning into a huge flaming sword.

"Now, who will be strong enough to face me?" Joshua challenged the goblins; due to the adrenaline, he forgot that goblins did not speak the human language...

'Oh, right. They are goblins...' Joshua felt dumber, but still, he dashed in, looking for blood.