Lone immediately twisted the wooden spear in his hand and sent it towards the closest goblin. It swiftly dodged, but Lone was still able to nick it in the shoulder, drawing blood and forcing the creature to cry out in pain and rage.

Two of the other goblins, one holding a rusted knife and the other holding a sharp stick, both jumped onto Lone's body and began wildly stabbing him.

"Ahhhh!" Lone roared in agony as his flesh was torn open and his organs were punctured.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Physical Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 8. Congratulations! The host's unique skill [Basic Regeneration] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3.

Lone ignored these notifications and dropped his spear before he grabbed one of the goblins, the one on his torso, and ripped it off of himself, throwing it to the ground. He left the one on his back for now and pried the stick out of the downed goblin's hand and then jammed it into the creature's throat.

With that done, he flopped to the floor and tried to crush the goblin riding him under his weight, unfortunately, the monster was smarter than it looked.

It couldn't pull the knife out of Lone's back fast enough, but it did manage to jump away and flee to the safety of the other four goblins.

The weapon in Lone's flesh only lodged itself in further as he hit the hard sand, making him scream at the gut-wrenching feeling.

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Physical Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 9.

Lone tried to ignore the terrible sensations and alarm bells that his brain was making his body experience, so he crawled back up to his feet. With quick movements, Lone flung his left arm behind him and grabbed onto the only part of the knife's hilt that wasn't inside of him before he grit his teeth and ripped it out.

He then bent down and picked up the dropped spear and held it in one hand as he held the knife in the other.

Lone looked at the five frightened goblins menacingly as the Hobgoblin by the teepees watched with a cautious expression.

Congratulations! The host's unique skill [Basic Regeneration] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.

Lone's skin and flesh wriggled disgustingly as it made an ear-piercing noise that seemed to attack the soul, that was simply how gruesome Lone's regenerative power was.

The goblins and Hobgoblin all held their ears and screeched before they ran into the forest at full speed.

Lone watched this with amazement. He was sweating, out of breath, and honestly, very confused. "We-were they scared of the noises?"

Lone sat down, still vigilant of the treeline, as he calmed himself and let his body heal. He was covered in blood and his previous work clothes were in tatters. 'I should make a few outfits that Soph and I can change between to stay hygienic, shouldn't I?' he thought as he looked down at himself in mild disgust.

"Ah! Right! Soph! Summon Sophie Vladimirovich!" Lone got her name correct on the first try this time.

The small girl who looked no older than ten or eleven appearing out of thin air. Her perfect and long golden-blonde hair was in a mess and her face was stained with tears. As soon as she saw Lone, she jumped into his chest and began sobbing wildly.

"I was so scared! I was sleeping, then suddenly.. then suddenly I was in the dark room! I thought... I thought something had happened to you! What.. What if you had died?! What.. What if I was trapped in there forever?! I-I was so scared!" Sophie cried into Lone's neck as she hugged him tightly, not minding the fresh blood in the slightest.

Lone immediately felt guilty. He didn't know what to do, so he decided to wrap his arms around Sophie and whisper two words. "I'm sorry."

'I did know she had such a large phobia of dark spaces... I knew it was bad after I first summoned her, but she was only in the summoning room for maybe two minutes at most this time...' Lone truely felt apologetic, but he didn't regret it. He couldn't risk letting Sophie get hurt, or even worse, killed, by those goblins.

Sophie pressed her body against Lone's and grabbed a few of his tails and included them in the hug. Lone's cheeks reddened a little bit. 'She's soft...'

He shook his head to expel these strange thoughts and gently pushed Sophie away from himself. He used the unstained sleeve of his shirt to wipe away the tears on Sophie's face and he smiled. "I'm truly sorry, Soph. You know that I did it to protect you, right? Just look at me... I was stabbed over ten times... Thank God I have this Basic Regeneration skill... it's a bit OP, hahaha..."

"OP?" Sophie asked with a sniffle.

Lone's expression loosened at how much Sophie reminded him of a small animal right now. "It means 'Over Powered'. It's a gaming term."

Sophie sniffled a little bit more and held one of Lone's tails closely. She traced her fingers across Lone's exposed muscles which were only now completely healing. "Does it hurt?" she asked weakly.

Lone nodded and grinned. "It hurts like a motherfucker."

Congratulations! The host's passive skill [Physical Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 10. Congratulations! The host's unique skill [Basic Regeneration] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 5.

After those notifications, Lone's final puncture wound has fully closed up and the only pain he could now feel was the welcome sensation of Sophie squeezing his tails too hard.

He laughed a little bit when he saw Sophie frowning. "Even though you look cute, you should smile. I don't mind being stabbed, bit, punched, or even impaled, if it means I can protect you. Also, every time I passively heal myself, the skill gets stronger, so it's not a bad thing."

Sophie's face flushed crimson at the unexpected compliment. She got up off of Lone while still holding one of his tails and she awkwardly stood next to him. "M-Mmm..." she weakly replied.

Lone followed suit and got back on his feet. He unconsciously placed his hand on Sophie's head and rubbed it softly. "You really are too adorable."

Sophie's face, now as red as a tomato, looked down at the ground as her feet carelessly fumbled about, allowing the sand to slide through the gaps between her toes.

"I should really make us some better clothes. Something durable and warm. I noticed it last night and the night before, but it gets really cold in the evenings here. I wonder if that's just because this world is free from mass pollution or if it's a magic thing? Could be a normal climate thing, I guess, but that's a bit boring, isn't it?" Lone asked himself rhetorically.

The first thing Lone wanted to do though before he did anything, was check his status.

Status Name: Lone Immortus Sex: Male Age: 24 Level: 7 [+2] Species: Golden Foxkin Rank: I Race: Golden Foxkin HP: 470/470 [+60] SP: 2,200/2,200 [+100] MP: 4,030/4,030 [+30] Basic Stats Strength: 24 [+2] Vigour: 47 [+6] Dexterity: 54 [+1] Agility: 62 [+1] Vitality: 220 [+10] Luck: 53 [+2] Secret Stats Charm: 72 [+1] Charisma: 40 [+1] Magic Power: 403 [+3]

'Oh, a far lower increase this time, but I did gain a little bit of magic power, and it's safe to conclude that's linked to MP now, though it was a bit obvious anyway... I wonder why I gained so little though? All I can assume right now is that you gain a portion of the stats of what you kill and that the majority of it comes from your actions between level ups, but that's just a theory at this point...' Lone thought to himself.

"Well, Soph, what kind of clothes would you like?" Lone asked with a charming and friendly smile on his face.

"Eh?" she asked with a quizzical look on her face. Lone was sure that were she not blind, her eyes would be shining with curiosity right now.

"Well," Lone scratched his cheek as he looked at Sophie. "You can't just wear that jumper and nothing else forever, now can you?"

"But this is all I've been wearing for the past six hundred years..." Sophie replied as she tilted her head to the side and frowned cutely.

Lone looked at her strangely and flicked her forehead. "Ow!"

"You're not immortal anymore, so the cold is a real threat to you and your tiny body. Just do as I say and tell me what you'd like to wear, okay?" Lone said with his usual teacher temperament making a comeback.

"Muuuu..." Sophie pouted sweetly. "Anything, I don't really care... And I'm not tiny... I'm fun-sized..."

"Okay, something cute and girly, coming right up," Lone said, completely ignoring Sophie who apparently couldn't care less about what she wore.

'I actually used to sew pretty often to save money by patching up old clothes so I had more for my gaming habits... one of the many reasons no one liked me, I bet. Anyway, that should make creating something to wear a bit less expensive than the spear and knife were, right?' Lone hoped.