Chapter 7: Unexpected Occurrence

Again, after taking those few steps up the spiral staircase, I was enveloped by the aura of light. My eyes opened, and I was in what looked like a room inside of an inn.

[System Notice: You completed Floor 2. You gained 200 EXP.]

[System Notice: For conquering Floor 2 on Hardcore difficulty, you have received the item: Upgrade Jewel.]

[Upgrade Jewel - Upgrade a piece of equipment by one full rank. Disintegrates after one use.]

[System Notice: You leveled up to Lv4! Congratulations! Health increased by 10. Mana increased by 2. You received 2 AP. ]

[System Notice: Welcome to Floor 3’s starting point.]

I looked around the room. There was a single bed, a rickety chest of drawers, and a small table and chair. Where am I this time? There were no windows, and only one door that said ‘Exit’. The chest of drawers had a button on top that said ‘Shop’. The table also had a button that said ‘One Free Meal’. I decided that the first thing that needed to be done was a good rest.

After waking up, I added my two attribute points to Dexterity. I wanted to get to ten as soon as I could to use {Shrouded Blink}. I went over to the ‘Shop’ button and activated it. I sold the ‘Goblin Chief essence’ for 25 points, which put me up to 26. I also tried to sell ‘The Honorable Assassin’s Head’ but it was untradeable. The same equipment as before was available.

I only had six ‘tubes of satiety’, nine ‘hydration bottles’, and one small health potion. The tubes cost two points, bottles were one point, and health potions were four points. I really wanted to save up points but I couldn’t afford to, literally. I picked up four tubes, four bottles, and three potions. I was left with two points, and hoped the low amount of goods would hold me over for the floor. Lastly, I went over to the table, and pressed the button for a meal.

[System Notice: Due to the upcoming quest, you can pick a meal to enhance your attributes during this floor:

A: Goblin Sprouts and Oats; increases health by 150, decreases damage taken by 25%, gain five health regen every second.

B: Goblin’s Curry; increases Strength, Dexterity, and Agility by 10.

C: Gobby’s Homemade Pie; increases mana by 40, increases intelligence and willpower by 20.

What is this? I’ve only seen attribute enhancing meals at the hub. I wasn’t expecting this—the curry—it would allow me to do more damage with my ‘Buckler Blade’, make me quicker, and allow me to use {Shrouded Blink}, but option ‘A’ definitely seems to be better overall for my survival. But with such high attribute boosts, what is the upcoming quest?

I picked the ‘Goblin Sprouts and Oats’. My health jumped to 290. I went out the exit, and into a lobby like room. There was a Human seated in a chair. He got up when he saw me.

“Hello there, chap. You the one they sent this time, eh? Well, the boarding was provided, and as you stepped out of the room—seems you are ready to go. Good luck.”

[Innkeeper Saratul, Lv??]

I got a glimpse of the Human before I was sent away by some teleportation. I seemed to be in the middle of a town square—with no town around.

[System Notice: Quest Received. Gather information and find the elusive bounty target. There are three avenues that lead to places to gather information! Do anything necessary to complete the quest.

A: Go to the Arena

B: Go to the Villages

C: Go to the Safe House

To complete the quest, you must find the location of The Honorable Assassin and bring news to Innkeeper Saratul. You will then receive assistance to vanquish the mighty enemy.]

The—The Honorable Assassin? Is that an error? Zilmazil… was the Honorable Assassin, I thought? Wait, does it mean I don’t need to do anything? Does this mean I effectively already beat this floor?! I viewed the area around me. There was three signs in front of me, and one sign behind me. The three signs in front of me said, in order, ‘Arena’, ‘Villages’, and ‘Safe Houses’, while the sign behind me said ‘Inn’. Then, an idea came to mind.

“System. Remaining Mobs!”

[System Notice: There are 300 mobs remaining. Mobs cleared: 0/300]

“Holy damn. 300 mobs! That—that is a lot of experience if I cleared it up—and I could get a conquering reward, but...” But is it worth the time to go through all that or do I just go up a floor? Going up a floor won’t provide me with much benefit, while clearing the mobs would make me stronger—which is what I definitely need. Not to mention I got the meal buff! Okay. One thing to check.

I approached the sign that said ‘Inn’ and touched it. I vanished, and appeared inside the inn I previously was in.

“Oh. Back so soon? Piss yourself?” Innkeeper Saratul looked at me and sighed.

“No, Mr. Innkeeper.” I retrieved 'The Honorable Assassin’s Head' from my inventory, and held it out in front of me. “I was told you wanted information—about this.”

Innkeeper Saratul seemed astonished. “You—how do you have this? You were gone for two minutes.” He looked down at the watch on his wrist. “Two minutes and 36 seconds to be exact.” He brought out a staff from behind his back. It seemed to be made of a dark wood, and there was a blood red orb on top of it. Innkeeper Saratul himself was adorned in golden robes. “Now then. Explain to me how you came about this so quickly, or this is your end.” He pointed the staff towards me.

I panicked. I couldn’t see his level, but he had to be strong, and I couldn’t risk myself dying now, especially to a Human—again. No. I calmed myself before explaining, “I was approached by the assassin earlier, and managed to deal with it.”

Innkeeper Saratul seemed to make a face of enlightenment, and asked, well, more like stated, “Ah. One who knows Goblin, are you? But, you actually managed to defeat the ol’ Zilmazil, and all by yourself to boot? A floor ahead, mind you. Impressive work.”

“I’m sorry? How do you know about stuff like—”

“No worries, chap. Never you mind now. I acknowledge quest completion, and for solving this without my assistance and so quickly, I assume a reward is due. I have been after that bugger for awhile. You may leave whenever you please, the stairs to the next floor will be at the signs. Ta-ta, now.”

“Wait, I still have questi—” I was cut off, the head disappeared, and I was teleported outside. The sign that said ‘Inn’ was hanging, seemingly unusable. These NPCs—the hell, man.

[System Notice: Quest completed. The stairs are now available. Quest reward: 250 EXP.]

[System Notice: In return for bringing ‘The Honorable Assassin’s Head’ to Innkeeper Saratul in an ~OUTSTANDING~ 4 minutes and 58 seconds, you are being rewarded 500 Trade Points and a new piece of equipment. Ta-ta.]

[Grace of Saratul (Rank: D)] - A pair of onyx-colored gloves. They seem to have been enchanted by a mighty sorcerer. Increases Strength by 5 and increases held weapon’s attack value by 50%.]

Whoa. I have many questions, but this is... confusing? These new gloves though, and 500 points! I quickly equipped the gloves, and my Strength shot up to 12. I looked around me, and the spiral staircase was indeed sitting in the middle of this square. I went over to the signs.

Alright. Time for some swift grinding. These gloves will definitely speed it up as well. And if I do end up getting in a bind, I can fall back and use my rupture. I should not try to rely on it. Hmm, three areas and 300 mobs. Is it divided evenly? I looked between the signs. I decided that I would do the clearing in order. I touched the sign that said ‘Arena’.

I appeared in the middle of an Arena. Fitting. I looked around, and the audience was filled with Goblins. Ah, what did I get myself into? And then, a voice could be heard, seemingly from an announcer.

“Hok hok. Hello audience! I am your announcer for today, Mr. Gokins. The challenger today is a Human! Oh, just a Human you says. Wrong! This Human is an Evil Human who gets off on our Goblin kinds’ death!”

The audience started booing and shouting. I heard many vicious words through the shouting. It was quite unpleasant. I don’t get off on Goblins dying. I just get experience points. Ugh. I understand everything that is being said. Maybe having this Goblin language was more of a bane than a boon.

“Hok hok. The first challenge—Four of our mighty Goblins, ‘The Execution Crew’!”

Execution crew? I looked ahead of me, and there were four big Goblins coming out of the other side of the Arena. I quickly activated {Area Scan} to see what I was dealing with.

[Report Received, 4 presences]

Goblin Executioner, Lv5

Goblin Executioner, Lv5

Goblin Executioner, Lv5

Goblin Executioner, Lv5

I was expecting more to show up. I assume the audience doesn’t count towards the presences—interesting. Four Executioners at the same time is going to be a difficult fight, though.

I activated {Goblin’s Recovery Hymn} and then the show was on. The Executioners looked at me, and I looked back at them. I decided that for me to win this fight and continue on, I’d need to have these Goblins in my sight at all times. Right now, with the meal buff and the recovery hymn, I can heal 30 health every five seconds. I also take a lot less damage from their attacks while having loads of health. Things are looking up. Come here, my experience points!

I didn’t bother testing the Executioners’ damage. I rather tried to eliminate who I could. With my new gloves, my damage had shot up—tremendously. My strikes with my ‘Buckler Blade’ on unarmored enemies used to only hit 14, and now was hitting 40. It would only get higher with a stronger weapon and higher strength. It was quite unfortunate the ‘Miraculum’ class got no bonuses for certain weapons like ‘Blademaster’ or other types of classes got. I did end up getting hit by an Executioner a couple of times, but I swiftly healed up and the damage they did was quite similar to the Lv4 Executioner who almost ruined me back at the beginning of Floor 2.

I kept receiving boos and jeers from the Goblin audience as I slayed through the waves. Each wave contained four Goblins. I didn’t need to use a single potion, and as my damage was high enough, the events went by quickly. I did meet one group that had a Goblin Ninja, but it was nowhere near as powerful as Zilmazil had been, with the group combined. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn any abilities from the mobs in the Arena, nor gain any attributes. What I did gain was a sizable amount of experience points, 2500.

Now at level five, I put one point into Dexterity and Vitality. My goal for the foreseeable future was to get to ten in each melee attribute, and then see if increasing Luck would do anything. My class, after all, is focused around Luck. I just don’t know how yet. What I did know is that I need to focus on my future survivability, and now with {Shrouded Blink} available, as well as the experience that is about to be raked in, I shouldn’t struggle too much with the next floor- hopefully.

“Status!”

Status

Health: 300/150

Mana: 20/20

Name: Zeryn Felix, The Treasure Dabbler

Level: 5 [EXP 490/4800]

Class: Miraculum

Titles: Treasure Dabbler

Attributes:

Vitality: 8

Strength: 7 (12)

Dexterity: 10

Agility: 10

Willpower: 5

Intelligence: 5

Perception: 5 (12)

Wit: 5

Wisdom*: 9

Charisma: 3

Luck: 17 (22)

Active Buffs: Goblin Sprouts and Oats, Health +150, DMG taken -25%,

HP Regen 5 per 1s

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

{Area Scan}, {Sudden Slumber}, {Shrouded Blink}

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

{Battle Prowess}

Assimilation:

Unknown Ability: [???] 2/50