Chapter 2: Combat Struggles

Makoto was not someone who feared the dark but being trapped in this cave together with enemies that could very well one-shot him put a lot of strain on his mind.

The only thing he could really do was staying close to the wall and going alongside it while trusting his sense of touch, which was not impended in the dark.

After a few minutes of quietly shuffling alongside the wall he reached a corner again, unsure if there was another way to go or not he stuck close to the wall and the sudden shine of a daggers blade made him stop dead in his tracks.

This time he saw the thing that killed him even when it was only the letters above its head that marked it as something else except wall and stone.

Goblin: lvl 3

In just 3 quick stabs Makoto's body fell, again he had been killed unable to do anything at all...

Frustrated he revived and was back where he started.

Trying to calm himself and go about this logically, Makoto went through what had happened.

These monsters were goblins, considering it showed 'lvl 3' they should be above his level, right?

Unsure what his level or overall stats were, he opened his character tab.

Status WindowName:MakotoLevel:1Alignment:NeutralClass:NoneRace:HumanGender:MaleTitlesNoneHealth:100/100Mana:100/100Strength:10Agility:10Vitality:10Wisdom:10Intelligence:10Fame:5

So he started with level 1 and 10 in all his stats except fame.

Pretty normal in that regard.

Next he examined his weapon.

Used Dagger:A used dagger that has been neglected by its previous owner, if one examines it carefully, little signs of rust can be found.Damage:1-3Durability:InfiniteRequirments:None

… so in other words a shitty dagger...

Now the next step was to find out how to fight that goblin and to get out of this cave.

Glancing at his dagger he pulled it out of its sheath and stabbed as well as slashed with it a couple of times.

Still unsure and not feeling up to the task Makoto went back to the Goblin.

As always the little bastard was hiding behind a corners bend so he could easier ambush unknowing players.

Grinding his teeth Makoto ran around the corner and in an act of anger and frustration, kicked the little creature right in its face.

7 Damage dealt!

Grinning he stepped forward, wanting to stab the goblin but surprisingly the 3 foot tall thing was quite agile and jumped out of his reach.

Before he could do anything else another window appeared and a sluggish feeling creeped into his body.

Warning! Because your enemy (Goblin lvl 3) has more than double your level, after entering combat against it the battle-effect 'oppression' activates.

Oppression: If you have double your enemies level, applies 30% stat reduction (Also works against player).

Shocked Makoto read the effect again.

So because he was level 1 and the Goblin level 3, effectively having over double his own level he was burdened even more by cutting all of his stats by 3 each?!

"Are you goddamn kidding me?!"

Unable to hold back his rage Makoto rushed the little critter, wanting to end its life.

Unfortunately he ran right into the Goblins own dagger.

You have received 45 Damage!

With a sudden pain radiating from his stomach Makoto jumped back and held his free hand against the bleeding wound.

It did not hurt nearly as much as it would have in real life because pain was the only thing dulled in a players sense of realism.

The reduction was quite big with only 10% of the actual pain being simulated but having been stabbed right in the lower intestines still hurt like hell even with that.

Breathing heavily he tried to gauge the Goblins next move but it was difficult to even make out an arm in this darkness.

With stomping sounds the Goblin ran forward and a hand shot towards Makoto.

Leaning back as far as possible another box appeared above the Goblins head.

Miss!

This time it was his own turn and Makoto rammed his weapon right beneath its armpit.

Critical hit!

21 Damage dealt!

Happy about the lucky critical he checked the Goblins health, only to notice that maybe one fifth of its overall HP was missing.

Horrified Makoto was unable to dodge yet another attack and the Goblins dagger was rammed right into his own throat.

Critical hit!

You received 92 Damage!

You have been killed!

…..

"Goddamnit!"

Shouting angrily Makoto hit a wall after reviving yet again.

The punching fit went on for a good while until he finally calmed down and went over what he learned.

Because his level was not high enough he got punished in a fight.

Two good hits from the Goblin would kill him at this point.

He was able to dodge an attack if he put his mind to it.

Generally the thing had an easy attack pattern that even someone without battle experience like Makoto could follow.

His own Damage paled compared to the Goblins.

A quick look at his experience bar confirmed that he had lost all the exp he had gotten from discovering this dungeon already.

Sighing, Makoto sat down for a few minutes to calm his mind and form a strategy.

First things first he knew he had to get used to battles inside Azalon.

His inexperience in a fight and now pitted against a stronger and more experienced enemy could only work against him.

He couldn’t change the Goblins level or his own without gaining exp but he could gain a different kind of experience, it might be crude but dying a few times to get used to fighting against an enemy and gaining battle experience was definitely the only option here.

This time Makoto took his time and practiced with his dagger for one hour.

In his mind he went over the past fight over and over again and swung his dagger, imagining ways to counter attack or handle a situation differently.

After that he went and fought the Goblin again, this time he was able to dodge three attacks and lower its health by half before tripping over a piece of stone and dying a fourth time.

Practicing, fighting, dying, repeat.

That became his mantra for the next few hours until now.

Gripping his dagger tightly, Makoto ran around the corner and jumped, hitting the Goblin with both feet square in its chest.

15 Damage dealt!

While he stood up, the 3 foot tall thing was still stunned on the ground, he used that timeframe to get a good few hits in before an angry growl and a dagger swinging for his face made him back off again.

Right away the message informing him about 'oppression' appeared again and he dismissed it, not wanting to get distracted.

He could feel the stat reduction in his bones, making his movements slower and attacks weaker but after fighting so many times he had gotten used to the effect.

Evading a huge swing from his opponent Makoto punished it in return with ramming his own blade deep into the Goblins throat and twisting it in an ugly way while backing off again.

He had learned a few nasty tricks after fighting so many times in life and death situation, only confirmed by the next system message.

Critical hit!

19 Damage dealt!

You have put a status effect on your opponent!

Bleed: - 5 hp every 2 seconds for 10 seconds

Putting a hand on his blood gushing throat the Goblin stared at him with eyes squinted in hatred and roared out his anger.

Again Makoto saw the attack coming from a mile away and kicked its knee, he was rewarded with another system message and a satisfying scream from the disgusting thing.

You have put a status effect on your opponent!

Cripple: - 15% movement and attack speed until the fight is finished.

Smiling wickedly Makoto started his barrage of stabs and slashes on the limping Goblin, not letting up in the slightest or giving it a chance to retaliate.

After nearly five minutes of fighting he lunged forward and rammed his blood soaked dagger into the Goblins heart.

Critical hit!

24 Damage dealt!

With another satisfying scream the Goblin fell on its knees, waving its arm one last time in a miserable attempt to hit Makoto.

A sudden rush went through Makoto and grinning from one ear to another he watched his experience bar jump.

"Not bad, not bad"

He said after looking at the few copper coins that had been left behind after the Goblins body disappeared.

Oddly enough the blood that his own clothes had been soaked in had not disappeared.

If someone else had seen him at this moment, giving a wicked smile and a loving look to his sleeve after bathing it in the goblins blood they would have surely been creeped out and only moments away from calling the police, thankfully this all happened in a game.

.....

After successfully defeating his first Goblin Makoto was careful to not let this small victory get to his head, being cocky here right now only 2 good hits away from death was definitely not smart.

He had been taught the hard way that currently he was far from well equipped, without any proper gear and being only level 1 inside this frightening dungeon.

Going deeper and deeper he encountered many more Goblins, most of the time they wandered the cave alone but a few times there was a group of them and after barely surviving against two he started avoided groups of three or more.

Thankfully he was able to lure each one of them away from their respective group by simply throwing stones at them...

Goblins must have a very poor intelligence stat...

His Journey deeper into the cave was uneventful except for fighting the Goblins from time to time, surprisingly there were no other monsters or traps, even the level range did not change.

After his 9th or so Goblin he got his first level-up with 10 stat points available and distributed 5 points each to Strength and Agility.

More Damage and Speed was dearly needed right now, without any armor protecting him, being able to tank was out of the question and upping his intelligence or wisdom didn’t seem like a good idea.

For now at least he would focus on Strength and Agility.

The next time he fought the difference was visible right away, first of all the battle effect 'oppression' did not activate because the Goblins were only level 3 and not 4.

Secondly, his own level-up made it so that his Strength and Agility stat more than doubled from one fight to another.

After hitting a critical hit for nearly 40 points of damage he himself was speechless about the devastating thing he was doing to the Goblin and it took him only a minute to dispose of the creature.

With newfound vigor Makoto engaged in slaughter, even daring to fight 3 or 4 Goblins at the same time.

His battle sense had improved to the point that even 4 Goblins hacking away at him with their swords were unable to even leave a scratch on him.

The only real reason why he was able to fight so many opponents at the same time was his increased speed and damage, making it possible to focus on one Goblin at a time while evading the others.

After killing an especially nasty group of Goblins with two of them wielding spears and nearly skewing him alive a couple of times, a new system window popped up.

After dodging your opponents many times and being able to read their movements you have become a quick footed tempest in battle, able to kill without being touched even once.

For evading attacks 50 times in succession you have been rewarded with a new stat.

Evasiveness:

For every point in Evasiveness a 0.1% chance to evade Damage even when hit is added.

Smiling, Makoto checked his stats.

Status WindowName:MakotoLevel:2Alignment:NeutralClass:NoneRace:HumanGender:MaleTitlesNoneHealth:110/110Mana:100/100Strength:15Agility:15Vitality:10Wisdom:10Intelligence:10Fame:5Evasiveness:5

So he had a 0.5% Chance to neglect damage when hit.

True, right now the stat was pretty pointless but later on when it was maybe 5% or even 10% that could be a big life saver, especially when fighting against bosses or other players.

Happy about this randomly gained stat he couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible to gain other stats in a different way.

Considering someone had to dodge 50 times in succession against an opponent and if you got hit once the counter for it was reset, that was a pretty high requirement, on top of not knowing one would get a stat for being able to do said thing to begin with.

Makoto didn’t know how to get other stats or even a skill at the moment so pondering about it didn’t help him either with getting out of this damn cave.

.....

He fought his way passed many more Goblins until he reached another bend in the normally linear path.

The light that was emanating from behind this bend was clearly visible to his strained eyes and with the hope of finally exiting this dark and goblin infested cave Makoto rushed past the bend only to find himself in a big and circular room with torches lighting the walls.

Before he could examine his surroundings more or even get used to the light a sudden movement in the corner of his eye made him jump forward, evading a spear that flew passed his head.

Turning around he saw two Goblins in full armor and both wielding two long spears standing left and right to the dark corridor he had just exited.

Goblin Guard: lvl 5

Luckily for Makoto the many Goblins inside the cave had allowed him to level-up again to 3 or he would have been under the effect of 'oppression' once more.

"Stinking human, why you inside our den?!"

One of the creatures asked him with a lisp to his voice.

This was actually the first time he saw a Goblin properly.

The only thing he was able to make out before was their overall height and posture, sometimes also a glint from their eyes or a spark from their weapons but never had he seen faces or color in the dark.

Simply put Goblins where small creatures, their eyes too small, noses too big and whenever they opened their mouths a row of thin and misplaced yellow teeth was visible.

Even their green skin color had been unknown to Makoto but the hatred in their eyes and their postures was something that had been etched into his mind.

"If you don’t answer you die, filthy human!"

The Goblin to his right had lost patience after Makoto stared at them for a few seconds and ran forward with his spear.

Without even having to look he stepped to the side, letting the little creatures run past him screaming and kicked the Goblin into his behind, sending him sprawling on the floor.

After stabbing the grounded Goblin 3 times a gust of wind made Makoto aware of the other and only after jumping to the side and rolling on the floor was he able to escape the scarily accurate penetration of his own behind.

If that was planned from the Goblin or not was unclear but the thought alone spooked Makoto to the point were he heightened his concentration even more.

After circling the two for a few second and letting the first Goblin Guard stand up he decided to test them a little and kicked off towards them.

Right before reaching the nearest Goblin and getting his chest penetrated by a spear, Makoto let himself fall to the ground, sliding now he was able to kick the Goblins ankles away and made him fall to the ground a second time, this time with a system message following his actions.

You have put a status effect on your opponent!

Cripple: - 15% movement and attack speed until the fight is finished.

After dodging the spear thrust of the nearby Goblin and exchanging a few blows he saw the other stand up slowly, favoring one leg more than the other.

Smiling about the lucky status effect he was able to pull off, he started a barrage of attacks on the other armored Goblin, looking for a gap and stabbing every opening he found.

It took Makoto many minutes and after receiving a glancing blow that took away 30 of his HP he was finally able to kill one of the Goblins.

They possessed nearly two times the health of lesser Goblins and their armor and weapons made it difficult to get close as well as land a good blow.

Panting, Makoto hacked away at the remaining one and after only 20 more seconds another body hit the floor.

They left behind a few more copper coins and luckily for Makoto he finally was able to acquire a piece of equipment.

Plated Gloves:A Pair of iron plated gloves, giving the wearer decent defense while not hindering their movement at all.Defense:4Vitality:2Durability:18/20Requirements:None

Smiling happily he examined the gloves that reached to his elbows and noticed that his health had gained a good chunk after equipping them.

2 Vitality did help a lot if you only had 10 to begin with.

After finally not having to worry so much about getting his head crushed by a spear thrust, Makoto had time to examine the room.

To his surprise he found big metal cages on one side, holding a bunch of children and women prison.

After approaching the cages one of the women noticed and called out to him.

"Oh the Divines be blessed, Adventurer please help us!

We are from the Village of Salem, it has been many nights since we last saw daylight and our children are starving, please safe us from this place!"

A new system window appeared this time.

Rescue of many Damsels!: (Quest)The Women and Children of Salem have been imprisoned by vile Goblins.

To Goblins, humans, especially children, are a fine delicacy and all of them are doomed to be eaten alive if you don’t rescue them!

The men of Salem will reward you generously if you bring all of them back alive and in one piece.Rewards:UnknownPenalty:If Quest is refused, Alignment changes from Neutral to Evil and Villagers in the whole continent will detest you, making it impossible to gain intimacy and trade with them.

On top of that the villagers of Salem will set a bounty on your head for allowing such a cruel thing to happen and will chase you till the ends of the world to avenge their loved ones.

Makoto stared at the window with a blank face for a few seconds, finally, without any emotion in his voice he replied.

"Oh what great joy it brings me to be forc- I mean help you in achieving freedom Miss, what can I do to free you of this vile prison you have been put in?"

Quest accepted!

Damn right I did, what other choice do I have...

The woman smiled after hearing his words and continued.

"To free us you must get the key from the Goblin Chief that ordered our capture, he has it with him at all times and is an especially disgusting creature but quick witted so beware of his tricks, Adventurer."

Nodding Makoto stepped a bit closer and continued the conversation.

"And this Goblin Chief can be found where exactly if I ma-"

"HUMAAAAN FIILLTTHHH!!!"

A sudden thunderous roar echoed through the room interrupting Makoto mid-sentence.

Turning around quickly to another entrance of the room, Makoto saw a six foot tall, pot bellied and fat Goblin hobble into the room with a double bladed war-axe in each hand and wearing heavy armor from head to toe.

Goblin Chief: Elite Monster lvl 7

...oh for gods sake...

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AAAAAAND Done!

Man these tables are something else i tell you guys, took me a while to figure out and get them how i wanted them.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the Chapter and cya tomorrow :lahla: