Chapter 4: The Goblin Chiefs

I hadn’t moved from where I was. I made sure to stay vigilant in case the Goblins came back, but it truly seemed they had run off. Which was very strange. I have never seen mobs run away before, but I also had never shown such power and fought so many mobs at once. I wasn’t sure if it was always this way, or if it was a feature due to Hardcore.

Anyway, it has been a few minutes now, and there were no signs of any Goblins in this area. They must be further in, or perhaps fighting in the war. I stood up, but limped on my right leg. The arrow was still stuck in there.

Right. The Goblin Bowman hadn’t died, so its arrow didn’t disintegrate. I was wondering why my health stagnated at 99.

I pulled the arrow out of my leg. It hurt—not so bad as it did entering my leg—but it still was painful. After a few seconds, my health was back to 100, and the wound on my leg fully healed. I stretched my leg to make sure everything was okay, and looked at the loot bags in front of me. There were four. I walked over to them.

Hmm. I only need 30 more experience to hit level 1. This leveling speed is impressive—Level 1 before completing Floor 1. I just need to be more careful.

From the loot bags, I got two ‘tubes of satiety’, one small health potion, and a ‘hydration bottle’. I started walking to the village in front of me. There was still no sight of Goblins. I was glad, because I was tired. Not so much physically, but mentally, I was exhausted. I started looking through the village, and the huts.

The Goblins said there was treasure. Where is it? I looked in all six huts, but didn’t find anything like treasure. There were some mats—presumably their beds, and that was about it. I looked around a bit more, and then I noticed something. It was a little further away than the distant group of two Goblins that was in the village earlier. It looked like a well. A really thick well, made out of stone.

I approached the well, and peered in. It looked like there was water below. There was rope attached to the well bucket, and I started pulling it in. I looked again, and there didn’t seem to be anything in the bucket. I finished pulling up the bucket, and immediately heard a tick. Suddenly, the left side of the well opened up.

“A trap!” I yelled out, and threw myself back, hiding behind my shield. Nothing happened. I approached the side of the well. There was a treasure chest there! I took it out, and opened it. Inside, there was a tiny orb, about the size of a pearl, resting on top of a gray cloak. I touched the orb.

[System Notice: Congratulations! You found the hidden treasure of Floor 1. You gained the Title: Treasure Dabbler.]

The orb—it was a title! The orb disappeared when the system notice sprang. I then picked up the cloak.

[Cloak of Slumber (Rank: F)] - A gray cloak. Just gazing at it seems to tire foes. Has a defense value of 8. Grants ability: {Sudden Slumber}. Requirements: 5 Perception.

{Sudden Slumber} - An active ability. The next foe you touch falls asleep. Cooldown scales off Perception. Five minute cooldown. Cooldown caps at 30 seconds.

I checked out my new title, too.

[Title: Treasure Dabbler] - Passive effect: +2 Perception. Active effect: +5 Luck, +5 Perception

Wow, incredible! Just owning the title gives me two Perception, and having it equipped gives me a total of seven, with five luck!

I instantly equipped my new title, and cloak.

Status

Health: 100/100

Mana: 10/10

Name: Zeryn Felix, The Treasure Dabbler

Level: 0 [EXP 120/150]

Class: Miraculum

Titles: Treasure Dabbler

Attributes:

Vitality: 5

Strength: 5

Dexterity: 5

Agility: 5

Willpower: 5

Intelligence: 5

Perception: 5 (12)

Wit: 5

Wisdom*: 8.2

Charisma: 3

Luck: 17 (22)

Active Buffs: None

Active Abilities: {Spin!}, {Biding Eruption}, {Goblin’s Recovery Hymn},

{Area Scan}, {Sudden Slumber}

Passive Abilities: {Assimilation}, {Fire Resistance: B}, {Goblin’s Tongue}

Assimilation:

Unknown Ability: [???] 2/10

I looked at the cooldown of {Sudden Slumber}. [Current Cooldown: 3 Minutes, 50 seconds.]

It seems as every point in perception decreases the cooldown by 10 seconds. That’s fantastic. Now, I think I need to continue on. I need to complete this quest so I can get to the next floor.

I started walking in my original direction. After about 10 minutes, there was another village, but it was empty, so I continued on. After a few more minutes, yet another empty village.

Are they really all fighting? Why are they at war anyways?

I took a break. I drank out of my ‘hydration bottle’, finishing a bottle, and sucked the contents from the ‘tube of satiety’. After I finished my break, I got up, and just started running. Finally, I saw something. Something I was just somewhat expecting, but not completely. Not this many. In front of me, I saw the field going down. It was a wide valley.

Holy hell. Inside the valley, there were very, very many Goblins. They were all fighting, and at the bottom of the valley, in between the fighting Goblins, was a ruined spiral staircase. It looked like it only climbed up a floor, and just rested in the air. The steps seemed to be hanging. I got closer to where the valley started to descend, and tried looking for the Goblin Chiefs.

I am too far away for—actually, with my Perception increase, my {Area Scan} should reach much further than before.

[Current Distance: 72 meters]

It still isn’t enough. I decided I needed to get closer. I needed to be down there. I gulped, and started descending. I kept looking around, and spotted a huge Goblin. It seemed like it was taller than I was. It must be one of the Goblin Chiefs. I tried to look closer.

[Goblin Chief, Fartul Saberblade, Lv5]

Wait. The chief is actually a named mob! Oh god. I attempted to try and stop my descent, but that didn’t go as I planned—as I tripped and started rolling down into the valley. As I got to the bottom, there were two Goblins who spotted me.

[You took 2 damage from falling. Current Health: 98/100]

I activated {Goblin’s Recovery Hymn} and steeled myself for battle. One Goblin was reddish-brown, the other brownish-green. They began talking while looking to me, and then back to each other. The brownish-green said, “Haak! See, see! Me said so there was evil Human attack! Chief, the Chief needs to know!”

“Ohh, ohh, you right! Is human right there! No more fight. No more.”

“Use the horn! This human the one who killed the village!”

[Goblin, Lv3] [Goblin Spotter, Lv3]

Suddenly, the Spotter nodded, and grabbed a horn off its waist. It blew the horn three times. Some of the Goblins stopped fighting with each other. Then, the Spotter and Goblin started yelling, “Stop, stop! It is evil Human! Kill the Human!” The Goblins that stopped fighting looked where the two in front of me were pointing and shouting. There was another large Goblin toward the back of the group. I used {Area Scan}.

[Report Received, 92 presences]

I felt my head get sweaty, and I saw two more names that stood out.

[Goblin Chief, Sarif Razorface, Lv5] [Goblin Chief, Bakril Ingotbreaker, Lv5]

Gulp. All three Goblin Chiefs are named, and level 5. And 92 presences. I don’t think my scan reached across the whole valley. How many more are there?

I made sure I was up as near to the valley slope as I could. It was decently steep, so I shouldn’t have to worry about them getting behind me. I heard an arrow coming, and quickly blocked with my shield. A few Goblins started charging at me. I had to do this.

[Biding Eruption power at 22/195.]

“Biding Eruption!”

Notifications popped up, a few of the Goblins died. I couldn’t really pay attention due to the explosion and group of mobs still nearby. I took about five damage, but it didn’t matter because of a certain notification that made me feel rejuvenated.

[System Notice: You leveled up to Lv1! Congratulations! Health increased by 10. Mana increased by 2. You received 2 AP.]

Another arrow flew at me. I used {Area Scan} while blocking the attack.

[Biding Eruption power at 22/195.]

[Report Received, 111 presences]

This time, all three Goblin Chiefs were in the report. Two more arrows arrived.

[Biding Eruption power at 66/195.]

At this point, it was like I was just tanking arrows, the Goblins didn’t want to move too close to me, probably because of the explosion. I started inching forward through the smoke, while staying as close to my shield as possible. Then, I felt a very strong pressure that threw me back. I saw a club, one like an ogre would use.

[Biding Eruption power at 195/195.]

[Shield unable to absorb damage due to fully charged power. You took 7 damage from Goblin Chief, Sarif Razorface, Lv5. Current Health: 103/110]

“Uraaaah! Pummel this human, you weaklings!”

As the club strike dissipated most of the smoke, I could start seeing hordes of Goblins converging on my location. Okay, let’s try this out. {Area Scan}!

[Report Received, 146 presences]

“Biding Eruption!”

Sooooo many notifications. This shield was such a blessing.

[You took 73 damage from backlash. Current Health: 30/110]

[System Notice: You leveled up to Lv2! Congratulations! Health increased by 10. Mana increased by 2. You received 2 AP. ]

[System Notice: You continued learning a new Ability through {Assimilation}: ???. Status: (10/10)]

[System Notice: {Assimilation} condition complete: Kill multiples of 5 mobs at once using {Biding Eruption}. You learned a new Ability through {Assimilation}. You learned {Biding Eruption}.]

[System Notice: {Biding Eruption} and {Biding Eruption} formed the new ability: {Biding Hellfire Rupture}.]

{Biding Hellfire Rupture} - An active ability. Hellfire ruptures out of your shield. Damage absorbed by the shield increases rupture power. Value cannot go above 2x the defense of your shields. If fully charged, you must discharge the power within 30 seconds, or it explodes. No cooldown.

[System Notice: Quest updated. 1 Goblin Chief has been killed.]

Damn! It worked. I’m really, really glad my thoughts were correct- there was no way for a level 5 mob, even if it is a named mob, to have over 250 health. Alright, fully healed from the level up. The massacre shall continue! {Area Scan}.

[Report Received, 106 presences]

That’s a difference of 40. The Goblin Chief encouraged them to group up to get me! Blessed!!

I started charging at the mobs. They seemed furious that one of the chiefs were killed. I took three arrows. Then I activated my new ability.

[Biding Hellfire Rupture power at 66/260.]

“Huuu! Biding! Hellfire! Rupture!” The blast this time seemed to spread out over a much larger area than {Biding Eruption}. The flames had a tinge of black as many more Goblins died. I took 16 damage in response. Down to 104 health, I tried to situate myself in front of the horde of Goblins, and activated {Area Scan}.

[Report Received, 58 presences]

The distance of {Biding Hellfire Rupture} should be able to reach the archers now. Ranged mobs will become a lot easier. Let’s finish this.

I looked between the two remaining Goblin Chiefs. I need to build up enough damage to take them both down in one shot. The Goblin Bowmen didn’t seem to catch on to how my ability worked, so I kept getting closer. Then, a spear was thrown into my shield, followed by a couple of arrows.

[Biding Hellfire Rupture power at 117/260.]

[Biding Hellfire Rupture power at 161/260.]

Not enough! The 117, that must have been from the spear. It looked like the Goblin Chief in the back threw that one!

The Goblin Chief closer to me raised his two-handed axe into the air, and he rushed me. He was actually really fast, and went for an overhead strike. I raised my shield to take the blow.

[Biding Hellfire Rupture power at 260/260.]

[Shield unable to absorb damage due to fully charged power. You took 37 damage from Goblin Chief, Fartul Saberblade, Lv5. Current Health: 83/120]

I quickly popped my last small health potion, coming back up to full health.

“Let’s finish this. Biding Hellfire Rupture!”

[Goblin Chief, Fartul Saberblade, Lv5 took 390 damage.] [Goblin Chief, Bakril Ingotbreaker, Lv5 took 390 damage.] [Goblin…]

[You took 97 damage from backlash. Current health: 23/120.]

[System Notice: You leveled up to Lv3! Congratulations! Health increased by 10. Mana increased by 2. You received 2 AP.]

[System Notice: You started learning an Ability through {Assimilation}: ???. Status: 1/50]

[System Notice: Quest option ‘C’ has been completed. The stairs are no longer blocked and are fixed. Quest option ‘C’ reward: 20 EXP].

It’s finally over. So much experience, so many levels. Quest complete, 20 experience, maybe the real reward was all the experience from the Goblins. Alright. I looked around. There were loot bags all over the place. I gathered the items together into my inventory, and headed to the stairs. I took a couple of steps up.

[System Notice: You cleared all the mobs on Floor 1: 164/164. You will get a reward on Floor 2.]

[System Notice: Floor 1 complete. Heading to starting point for Floor 2.]