It was still morning when Jude arrived near the goblin camp. The newbie area was quite big. Without the map, it would have taken a day to find the place.

Goblins were short green humanoid creatures of low intelligence. Their facial features were highly exaggerated, with long noses and large chins. They had no hair at all, from the top of the head to even fuzz on the legs. Their arms were elongated and they tend to hold basic swords or spears. Basically, they looked like any typical goblin would. The bad part was that they linked if attacked, unlike the wolves. If you attacked one, others would join in.

The whole of Allur Forest was controlled by a spawning system, Jude had learned. That means if a wolf or goblin was killed here, they would respawn later. This also meant that they had much less intelligence, relying solely on very base instincts set by the spawn system.

No one knew what the spawn system was, and no one seemed to question it.

Jude didn’t either. His goal was to get stronger and gain some money. That was why he was here. Goblins were the only ones who dropped money.

The village butted up against a cliff. Huts dotted the landscape everywhere, each was about 5 feet diameter, with a thatch cone roof. In the center, there was a much larger hut, to the point where it was not really a hut anymore.

The problem was that there were 3-5 goblins per hut. If he attacked, not only would he have to deal with the 3-5, but also about 5 additional huts worth of goblins as they were too close.

Jude guessed that most people hunted the goblins on the outskirts of the village rather than the village itself. He noticed that after a certain density the goblins would break off in 2s and 3s and head out into the woods. A while later their replacements would respawn.

Jude needed to get a good gauge on how tough the goblins were. He was able to determine the ones in the village were weaker, about level 4. However, when they left, their name would change from to or . When the change happened they seemed to be level 5 or at least an even match for him by the system.

He broke away from the village following two . When they were far enough away, he closed the distance as quietly has he could. Goblins would attack on sight, unlike the wolves. Sneaking however was not a skill a wizard really has, so the goblins quickly noticed.

“Gerbog!”

“Kerzen!”

The turned around and charged Jude.

“Spectral Weapons!” Jude immediately launched his attack! The goblin he aimed at blocked one spectral sword by pure chance, but the rest hit well inflicting 30 damage. The goblin had an enormous amount of health and was still over two thirds.

By this point, the goblins reach Jude and started swinging their own weapons. A spear and sword hit his Spectral Shield and Jude knew that it would only last for another hit or two.

“Spectral Weapons!” This time Jude aimed at the goblin’s neck the same way he did the wolves. All eight swords flew in a linear formation, curving down and sweeping towards the wounded goblins neck.

Critical Hit!

The goblin's head flew and a shower of blood spewed forth.

The spear goblin launched another attack. This time it seemed to be some sort of skill as the tip of the spear shown with light creating a line of light as it pierced the shield and straight into Jude! Luckily the shield had taken most of the damage leaving him only 2 points of damage.

The strength of the goblin, however, was massive. The force of the hit, even after dampened by the shield, still knocked Jude back. Luckily he wasn’t stunned.

Jude launched another attack attempting to lock off this goblins head as well. But the goblin was smarter than it looked. It raised its spear and was easily able to block the attack.

The attack however was much stronger than the goblin realized. If it had been just a single sword this block would have sufficed. But with eight swords striking the same spot and since they struck the same spot. The first three swords directly cut through the spear. Leaving the last five to strike into the defenseless neck.

Critical Hit! 26 damage + Bleeding effect

Jude’s attack had gotten through, but it still lacked the full power it would have had. Still the situation was looking up for Jude, he had disarmed the goblin and applied a bleeding effect!

The goblin now started using its fists. Now that it was in close, it made it really hard to use his magic. Jude had to make the correct hand and arm movements along with saying the skills name for any spell to work. But the goblin was keeping him from doing just that.

The goblin finally landed a punch in his stomach. The punch threw him back and he rolled on the ground from the force. The goblin was really strong! But for some reason, it’s fist attacks didn’t do much damage. His hit points only went down by 3.

“Spectral Shield!” Being knocked back gave Jude the small opportunity to put his shield back on. It took a lot of MP, but it was worth it. 20 MP for a 10 HP shield didn’t sound like much, but it did give him the opportunity to attack while the shield was up, even if he was being attacked at the same time.

One last Spectral Weapon cut the goblin’s head off as it tried to pound its way through Jude's shield.

The bodies disappear leaving behind 5 copper coins.

“Five coppers! You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Jude risked his life for five coppers. It was kind of depressing.

***

Jude spent the next few hours hunting down goblins. It was too bad he couldn’t get any ‘quests’ related to killing them, but the different Trainer organizations had a monopoly on them. You had to join one to get access to them.

After killing over twenty of them he had gotten level 6 and 72 coppers. He now wondered how much it would cost to stay at an inn.

I should have checked that before leaving…

He also needed a new weapon. He’s getting a 20% bonus to magic attacks though his stats and another 30% on top of that from . When you add in the fact that his skill then hits 8 times, it turns out to be a lot of damage. Especially when his weapon right now only does 2-4 damage. Getting a new weapon would sky rocket his damage even more.

Then there was the last problem, durability. Even though he doesn’t physically swing the sword, mana running through it seems to degrade its condition. Jude was lucky enough for one of the goblins dropped another at full durability, so he switched to that one.

Jude has also learned a few interesting things. First, critical hits don’t always mean more damage. You cut someone’s leg off and it’s a critical hit, instead of extra damage however, they get a movement debuff. Because their leg is cut off!

This whole experience has also desensitized Jude to killing.

He had given up on sneaking… he was terrible at it anyway.

“Spectral Weapons.” Jude threw out a salvo of swords towards a pair of . By this point he had a well-established strategy. Sneaking around was no longer part of it. He wasn't sure if it was a wizard thing, but he just wasn't good at it.

The spectral swords, didn’t attack one, but both goblins. And they didn’t attack high, but low making it much harder to block. The swords cut into a leg of both goblins and because of the pinpoint accuracy each blade striking the same spot. He almost always got a critical hit.

Critical Hit! 19 damage! Movement debuff!

Critical Hit! 23 damage! Dismemberment!

Jude had tried Spectral Objects to tie goblins down, but they were far too strong for the spell and would break free. This method seemed to work the best to he stuck with it.

Now that the goblins movement was slowed, he kept his distance to about 10 feet and kept attacking until they were defeated.

“Ugh, only 3 copper?!” Jude hoped that copper was worth more here than he thought.

“I guess it’s time to go back.” It was evening now and he wanted a few more wolf skins. They were easy to get and who knew, they might be worth more than what the goblins dropped.

***

The closer you got to town the more people there were hunting the wolves. So Jude took a roundabout way. It had more and which, at this point, was fine with him.

He had already collected a few pelts when he heard some noise in the forest. At first, he figured it was just another party out hunting, but he heard something that made him change his mind.

“HELP!” sounded a girl’s voice.

In this world, there were few that would actually endanger themselves to help another. Jude was different, he didn’t come from this world and his values were based on his faith. So he rushed towards the sound as fast as he could, leaving behind a partially skinned wolf.

While he was running he checked his sword and spectral shield. The condition of the sword was poor and wouldn’t last more than a fight or two. The shield would need refreshing in another 15 minutes or so.

He was getting close enough to actually hear voices now, though the forest undergrowth kept him from seeing what was happening.

“You can’t run anymore girl!” Boy A said.

“That’s right and now I’m going to stick you so many times there won’t be a corpse left!” Boy B said.

“Hey now, I’m not doing a corpse again. You can do that after I have her!” Boy A said.

“Fine, but she’s all mine afterward.”

Jude nearly threw up.

He knew that there were despicable people here, but he didn’t realize how low they could go!

“Stop! Aren’t you guys afraid of becoming the Thief Class?” The girl asked.

“The Thief Class? No, we are trying to get to the Bandit Class!” Boy A says with pride.

“Thieves only steal. We will steal, kill and rape. Then we will be a second tier class right from the get-go and not have to level up the Thief class.” Boy B said pensively.

“That doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t work that way!” The girl pleaded.

“Well, we won’t know until we find out right.” Boy B said soberly.

The Thief class turns a person partially into a monster. It gives them a skill called Monster Revival and allows them to respawn in a place they deem their home or base. Bandit was an Advanced Class of Theif. Advanced Classes all have their own requirements to attain, but they all require a corresponding job of level 30 from the class below. Meaning to get the Bandit class you would need to get Thief up to 30. However, there have been times when someone has gotten an Advanced Class without the level 30 one below it. Most of these people, though, are born with said class.

The Bandit wannabes were either very stupid or knew something that they shouldn’t. Either way, they were dangerous!

By now Jude had a visual on the trio. They had entered a small clearing that were surrounded by thick brambles and thorns. These thorns were no laughing matter. Some were as large as spikes on vines as thick as a leg! There was only one-way in. Jude now stood there.

The Bandit wannabes had separated to encircle the girl, but their backs were still turned towards him. The girls face lit up when once she saw him.

There goes the element of surprise! Jude now didn’t have any time to ponder things over. It was now or never!

Jude rushed in, “Spectral Weapons!”

Jude aimed for the one he thought was Wannabe A. Wannabe B was a lot colder, so he was warier of him, plus Wannabe A was closer. The blades formed almost instantly, catching Wannabe A off guard. Jude’s tactics for disabling opponents first also kicked in.

Apparently, since goblins have a lot more HP, it means that they are a lot sturdier. Using this tactic on a goblin would either wound the leg or occasionally cut it off. Against Wannabe A, it cut through both legs!

“Ghaaaaa!” Wannabe A shouted!

Like Jude thought, Wannabe B was the one to fear. Not only did he completely ignore his companion, he had rushed in to attack. The two daggers in his hands glinted with a cold light that seemed to mirror his dead eyes.

The two strikes were incredibly fast and nearly broke his shield.

“,” Jude said calmly. This felt very similar to fighting goblins, except the opponent was faster. However, one hit would probably end the fight.

Wannabe B kept attacking while trying to get behind Jude. Jude figured he had some sort of backstab skill, luckily he was young so his moves were being telegraphed.

Jude launches another Spectral Weapons, but Wannabe B is surprisingly fast. He dodged the blow to his legs by jumping over it and rolling behind Jude!

“Backstab!” He shouted!

Jude's weakened shield was easily pierced, but I had turned around enough for the full effect of backstab to be diminished. Still the dagger struck him on the side. The searing pain was nothing new to Jude by this point. He had experienced it a number of times today already.

Wannabe B brought his second dagger up to strike him while Jude launched a kick as hard as he could to Wannabe B's nether regions. The second dagger didn’t hurt as much as the first. However, Jude's kick to his balls made him tumble over in pain, leaving both daggers in Jude.

“Spectral weapons!” Jude rasped.

The weapons this time struck in a random array creating a field of sword swings. This time he wasn’t going to dodge!

But it didn’t seem to matter as he didn’t dodge anyway. The blade struck leaving lacerations on the boy everywhere. It wasn’t enough to kill him, but it did bring his health down very low. Jude guessed he didn’t have more than 10 hit points left.

Jude pulled out the daggers and was pleased to find that there was no bleeding debuff. He lost half of his HP, but it would come back.

“,” Jude said and simple one piece handcuffs materialized on the Wannabes hands and legs.

“T-t-thank you,” said a timid voice.

“Your welcome,” I replied painfully.

“Your hurt! Here take this, it’s a health potion. It’s the least I can do after all.”

Jude gladly accepted the potion and drank it. His wounds instantly healed leaving only the holes in the clothes. Although by now, there were quite a few holes.

“My name is Jude. What were you doing out here by yourself?” Jude introduced himself.

“I’m Ellie,” she said, “I’m a craftsman, but I’ve been on a bit of bad luck and I have no customers.”

“Oh, what is a Craftsman?”

“You don’t know?” Ellie looked at me strangely, “It’s the first level of the crafting classes. I want to be a blacksmith or an artificer one day. But at this moment I’m just a Craftsman. We can do the basic parts of all the crafting jobs.”

“Then can you repair gear?”

“Yes, that’s one of the basic tasks that a Craftsman can do.”

“Great! Then I’ll be sure to bring my business to you!”

“R-r-really? I would really appreciate that!”

“Then it’s settled, I don’t suppose you could help me drag these to back to the town?”

“Yes! Though, it is a shame that so many fall into becoming Thieves.”

“What do you mean?”

“You might not know since you seem so strong, but a lot of us newbies will die out here. But the very first skill that a Thief gets is . If you die, you will wake up the next day in a safe place.”

“I’m guessing there is a drawback.”

“That’s right, every time you die, you lose a little bit of yourself. Take these guys for example.” Both the wannabes had fainted by this point. “They have probably died over 10 times by now. Their thoughts are crazy and unstable, there is little hope for them now.”

“What will happen when we take them to town?”

“They will be taken to the Temple. Removing the Thief job will most likely kill them permanently, but there are some who survive.”

“I see.” Jude may be desensitized to killing by now, but that didn’t mean he wanted to if he could help it. Still, the Temples option was much better than allowing them to run amok. They clearly had killed before.

“Let's get to town before it gets dark.” Jude finally said.

Name Ellie Copper

Gender: Female

Age: 16 Race/Echelon Human/Peasant 3 Primary Class Craftsman 3 Other Classes 0 Stats HP MP Str Spi Agi Char 31 31 14 10 11 10 Job Skills Special Skills General Skills

Repair

Basic Craft

Gather

Common III (Lang) Equipment Titles Other Stats Clothes (Starter Set) HP Rgen .02 HP/M Tool Kit MP Rgen .52 MP/M