Chapter 8

Alex was violently awoken from my peaceful slumber by the urge to vomit. He jumped to my feet as whatever was rushing from his stomach up towards his mouth. He slung the table that was pushed in front of the door to the side and yanked the door open. As soon as the door opened, black liquid spewed forth from his mouth.

That taste was god awful but I assume it was more of that ki purification that Alice was talking about.

Alex grabbed one of his skins with water in it and swished around before spitting it out of his mouth.

“Now what should I enhance with my allocation point? Hmmm… Right now I fight head-on and I have a shield to block attacks so I think physique would be great but maybe I should increase my speed so that enemies can’t hit me or I could strike faster.”

“Spartan increasing your physique will increase will have an impact on the amount of ki you possess. If you increase your physique the amount of ki will increase. In addition, if you can learn to harness your ki energy you will gain significant temporary increases in your strength and speed.”

“Then I guess we are going with physique.”

As soon as he put the point towards physique his body’s muscles began wriggling uncontrollably again. Since he had no shirt or pants on he could see the muscles moving. Just like the last time he increased his physique, there was no pain involved just an awkward feeling of not being in control anymore. After a few moments, the spasms ceased, and he was back in control. Alex took a moment to examine my body and noticed that nothing had really changed. His muscles didn't look any more defined than they had previously been.

What happened this time? I don't look any more muscular than I had been previously. So what changed?

“Alice, status please.”

“Affirmative.”

Name: Spartan

Level: 3

Class

Physique: 4

Mental Ability: 2

Physical coordination: 3

Reaction Speed: 3

Speed: 2

AP: 0

Abilities

A.I. Companion Tier I

Ki Manipulation Tier I

SP:

Skills

Nanite manipulation Tier II

“Alice, can you scan my body using the nanites and let me know what the increases to my physique have done?”

“Scanning… Scanning…. Scanning complete Spartan. Your physique has changed internally this time. The capacity and efficiency of your lungs and heart have increased by 30% allowing you to take in and circulate more oxygen in your body at a much faster rate. This will allow you to sustain activities for much longer. Your bones have become 25% denser causing your body’s mass to increase. You now weigh 285 lbs. even though you do not look like it. Finally, your skin and all of your connective tissues including ligaments and joints are now reinforced so your body is more resistant to damage and injury.”

“That sounds good except for the mass part.”

“Spartan, your planet’s physicist discovered the formula for generating force. To increase the amount of force on an impact you either have to include the mass or the acceleration. You have just increased your mass so the amount of force you can generate has increased.”

“Yes, but won’t that slow me down some?”

“Yes, but with the current connective tissues and level of strength you possess, it should be negligible or you could possibly be slightly faster. In fact, once you learn to channel your ki energy you will significantly increase in speed, strength, and power.”

“Then that is what I will spend my time training.”

“No Spartan you should add that to your training but do not forgo your weapon practice or your physical training. In order to unleash your full potential as a warrior, you must master your body, weapon, and spirit. They must work in harmony.”

“You’re right as usual. Now about the nanites. Where are we with the number you can produce and the number that I possess currently?”

“You currently possess 6084 nanites and through the course of an 8-hour resting period, I can increase the number of nanites by 5000 as long as you have 5000 within your body. With your current level of energy that is the maximum that I can do.”

“That sounds great! So starting tomorrow we can start doing more nanite upgrades?”

“Yes”

“Great I only have one thing that I would like to see if you could do.”

“What is that Spartan?”

“I saw a project in the military before I was discharged called sub-dermal body armor. They were trying to infuse titanium body armor into the skin which would make the soldier’s sking and muscles virtually impervious to small arms fire as well as short-bladed weapons like knives and daggers.”

“That sounds excellent but to do that we would need a metal strong enough and malleable enough to accomplish the task from this world or you would need enough nanites to cover your entire body beneath your skin. You can search for the metal in your travels but right now I would suggest that each day your upgrade your equipment because your nanite manipulation is now tier-II. This means that they can be released outside of your body into other things like sword, your shield, or even a companion beast that you tamed. Once you upgrade your equipment you should begin working on nanite augmentations to your body again. When you are ready we can go through what can be upgraded.”

“That sounds good let’s get to it tomorrow. I will keep an eye out for that metal.”

As Alex re-entered his shack he looked around and saw the filth and squalor that he was living in. He had no way to clean up the blood and guts other than pouring water on it and burning the pieces he didn’t use. The women were still asleep or at least they looked as though they were.

“Alice, I don’t know how to sew clothes or make armor is there any way the nanites can be used to form some basic clothing from the fur of these rabbits?”

“Yes, they can be programmed to make alterations to the animal fur and skin. Simply place your hand on it and tell me what you wish to make. Unfortunately, the animal skin has not been cured and you do not possess the necessary materials to do so. Without curing the fur and skin it will fall apart really quickly.”

“Well there goes that idea to make some simple clothes for the girls. Alice, based on the data you have about goblins, calculate the probability that there is a goblin colony nearby.”

“Calculating… there is an 89% chance that there is a goblin colony in the direction you found the human females.”

“Then that is where I will be going. There they may have more captives and they may also have clothing and equipment that I can use.”

Alex looked over the women again before going outside to train. He began with jumping jacks and sprinting around the shack to get warmed up. He really felt the increase in his stamina immediately. It felt as if he could run forever and the deep breaths that he took felt like they expanded his chest and diaphragm even more than usual. Once Alex finished he began his body training as normal with his calisthenics. After finishing pushups, he noticed that the regrown arm had now become even with the one that wasn’t severed.

Is it from the point in physique? When I allocated the point did it return my body to its optimal condition? That is good to know.

Alex quickly finished his workout and began practicing with his new, longer sword and the shield he took from the goblin. Each thrust and slash became faster and more precise as he trained. He visualized his enemy in front of him. Each time the enemy would attack Alex would raise his shield to block and follow up with an attack from his sword. Each time Alex attacked he would use his shield to follow up and knock his opponent off balance before following up with a kick or a slash with his sword. As he trained, he heard the women begin stirring in the shake. Soon after they got up and come out of the shack. They didn't speak to him so he ignored them and kept up his training. He continued on until his fatigue reached its peak and he could no longer train. When Alex stopped he noticed that both women were watching him.

“Good morning. I’m sorry for ignoring you but I was kind of wrapped up in my training. I never introduced myself. You can call me Spartan.”

The black woman replied, “Spartan…. Must be ex-military. The way you stand and your posture give it away. My name is…. Well, that doesn’t matter here. Just call me Eve.”

“Alright Eve, nice to meet you, and who might you be?”, I said to the blonde woman.

“My name does matter either so you can just call me Bella.”

“Ok. Well, we all know that we are in here for heinous crimes so I propose a simple pact. We fight together to survive. We protect each other because that is the best way to keep living.”

“I have no objections to that but let me make this clear, I don’t owe you anything. I will make my own way with my own two hands”, said Bella.

“Me too so don’t try anything funny.”

“I understand you went through something really traumatic but that is no reason for you to be rude to me. Especially since I'm the one who fought off the goblins that attacked you."

"How do we know you are any different than those little green fuckers? Huh, you could have just saved us so you could do the same to us", said Eve.

Both woment stood standoffishly as the covered their breasts with their hands. At this point Alex could no longer contain his anger from the ungrateful women. He put his sword and shield down on the ground and walked towards them.

"First, if I wanted to there is nothing you could do to stop me. I killed those things that captured you like it was nothing. Second, stop acting all high and mighty with me. I just saved your ass from getting raped by some little green sex fiends. You do owe me. You owe me your life. If I hadn’t saved you those little green guys would still be using you as cum dumpsters and filling all of your holes with their man juices. ”

“You piece of….”, yelled the blonde.

“Shut up!”, Alex interrupted. “Look I tried to be nice but you have a crap attitude so this is how its going to be. You will do what I say when I say it or I will kick you out of my home and you can fend for yourself without me! I guarantee you there are things stronger and more dangerous than those goblins that took you prisoner. If you have a problem get out now!”

“How dare you talk to me like that, I ran one of the biggest crime rings in New York City”, said the blonde.

“Oh you did?”, I said sarcastically as I backhanded her across the face.

She fell to the ground and wiped the blood from her mouth.

“What crime ring are you running now? Where are you goons that protect you? Huh? Where are they? Right, they are nowhere to be found. I am the one who has protected you so far while you are here. I saved you from those monsters and what they were going to do with you. If not for me you would probably be pregnant with one of their kids now or have more of their dicks shoved in you!”

She stood up laughing and said, “I’m no one’s bitch! I do what I want when I want and how I want to do it."

"So you must have wanted to have your mouth full of little green goblin cum then."

"Screw you jarhead", she yelled in reply as spittle erupted from her mouth.

“Screw me!? Screw me?! Are you kidding me?!”, Alex said as his anger reached its peak. “Screw me? That’s what you say to the one who saved you? No problem. I haven’t gotten laid in a while and I’ve got plenty of pent-up aggression. I can use your body as my personal fuck doll. I can release it all.”

The black woman rose up as if she was going to fight to protect the blonde but a fierce stare from Alex's eyes made her pause in her tracks.

“Please no!”, Bella screamed as he grabbed her by her hair and threw her into the wall of the shack.

“Oh now it is please no? A moment ago you were a tough crime boss.” Alex said as he slowly walked towards her.

“I’ll kill you!”, she screamed.

“No, you will do nothing because you can do nothing. You won’t have a chance to do anything because after I’m done with you, I’ll end your miserable life."

"I'm going to...!"

Just then he heard movement from behind him. Alice detected the danger and began hypercognition. Eve had picked up the hatchet and was about to swing it at Alex from behind. Everything went slow just as before and he used his full strength to throw a spinning roundhouse kick at where Eve was going to be. The kick hit her in square the abdomen just below her ribs knocking all of the air from her lungs. Alex heard a gasp as his kick sent her body flying back several meters before she hit the ground hard and stopped moving. Then Alex turned back towards Bella who was still cowering.

“Deactivate hypercognition”

Alice did as asked and I walked over to Bella and grabbed her by her throat. She screamed and kicked but with his physique, her attacks amounted to nothing more than a child's punch or kick. She was completely helpless against his overwhelming strength.

“You still want to insult me?”

There was no answer

“Huh!? Do you?!”, he screamed as he shook her.

Tears poured from her eyes and she replied, “No, I am sorry for insulting you.”

I released her and she fell to the ground gasping for air.

“I risked my life to save yours. I feed you and give you a safe place to sleep and what thanks do I get a nasty attitude. Get out! If I see you again I will kill you.”

“Please no, I can’t defend myself out there.”

“Not my problem. I wanted to make a pact to protect each other. Now, I can’t trust you. Get out!”, Alex said with a wave of dry anger coming from his voice.

“Please I will die out there or worse!”

“You should have thought about that before you mouthed off miss high and mighty crime boss. We’ll see how far boasting about your crime ring gets you in here! Now get out before you don’t have to worry about something out there killing you.”

Eve started to stir from where she was on the ground. She slowly stood up and began walking toward the two of us. I watched as she moved slowly towards me without saying a word. When she got close enough she stopped.

“I cannot fight off those things out there and I don’t want to go through anything like that ordeal with those, what do you call them... goblins again. I’m sorry I attacked you but I thought you were going to rape her. After what I experienced and saw her go through I couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Again, I am sorry that I attacked you. I will do anything that you say just please do not throw either of us out there into the wilderness”, said Eve.

With her words, my anger subsided like a flame being extinguished. This woman’s words reminded me of what my wife would say when we fought.

“I understand your pain and anger from what happened so I will be lenient this time. If you ever lift a hand to harm me again, either of you or defy me, I will cause you pain in ways you can’t imagine before you slowly die!”

They both nodded vigorously.

“Now, go inside! I need some time alone do not follow me into the woods and do not come outside.”

The two nodded as they dried their eyes before rushing inside of the shack.

I need to kill something right now.

Alex grabbed his equipment and rushed off into the forest until he found the trail of the goblins again.

“Alice, illuminate the goblin tracks.”

“Spartan, are you planning to go to the goblin settlement?”

“Yes, I need to kill something.”

“I would advise against that. Even with your new physique and equipment, you are still not a match for potentially several dozen goblins.”

“Don’t care lead me to it! I want to kill something now!”

“As you wish Spartan, my programming will not allow me to disobey you.”

The tracks illuminated in yellow on the ground and I took off. He followed the tracks until he found their cave. Out in front were two goblins that had spears that were slightly taller than their own heights with sharpened stone tips. They also wore some type of animal skin that covered their chests and some fur boots on their feet. Alex climbed the closest tree and knocked an arrow. The crosshairs in his vision activated the moment he was ready to fire. Once it turned red he let loose the arrow and it buried itself in the throat of one of the guards. He knocked another immediately and fired again. The result was the same this time the arrow went through its eye.

Alex jumped down from the tree and began looking around the opening searching for any signs of enemies. He could find nothing. All of the tracks led inside of the cave. As soon as the light became too dim to see clearly, Alice activated his night vision making the inside of the cave as bright as day without all of the vivid colors. As he walked deeper into the cave he encounter two more goblins. They seemed to be talking to each other.

“Language acquisition initiated.”

“Well done Alice. Please learn it. Understanding what they are saying may give me an advantage in my abmbushes and I think I have a way to end my rage”, Alex said with an evil grin.

Alex sat in the cave motionless for he had no idea how long before questioning Alice.

“Progress?”

“I have compiled nearly 35% of their language. I will begin translating words so that you can understand.”

He started listening but there were only a few words here and there that were translated so that he could understand and he was growing impatient. Alex knocked another arrow and fired it through the back of one of the goblin’s skulls and then snuck up behind the other and began choking it until it passed out. Alex quickly bound its hands and feet and threw his prison over his shoulder. Once he had his victim he absconded out of the cave. Unfortunately, there was a small group of goblins returning just as walked out of the cave.

The goblins noticed him as soon as I vacated the cave. The goblins saw their tied-up brethren as well as the dead guards posted outside and began screaming before rushing towards Alex. There were 8 of them in total. Alex instantly dropped his hostage to the ground and knocked an arrow. He fired 3 shots and killed two of them before they were within melee range. Alice activated my hypercognition. Time slowed down as he began to attack. Their defense was basically non-existent. These monsters only focused on overwhelming their opponents with numbers and taking them to the ground. Once they were on the ground the goblins would savagely beat their foes to death. This made it easier to fight them. Alex just needed to keep moving and do damage while whittling down their numbers.

The close combat struggle began as he blocked the first attack with his shield and then thrust his sword into its neck. He did a forward roll to avoid a sword slash from one of his enemies who was wielding a two-handed sword. As he returned to his feet from the roll, he bashed his shield into the face of another. The collision of flesh and wood made a sickening thud as teeth and blood flew from its face. The blow knocked the beast to the ground where I stomped on its head crushing it. He lost focus for a moment and something pierced his back. Alex threw a kick backward and hit his attacker. When he reached behind and felt a spear sticking out of his back he felt relieved that his new and improved physique made a difference. His strong skin and muscles kept it from piercing him all the way through but it had definitely punctured one of his internal organs. He pulled the spear out because he knew that Alice would have his nanites begin to heal him. He turned with blood coming out of his wound and smiled at the little green men.

“You think this little attack can kill me?!! No chance!”, Alex yelled.

They looked confused but the 3 remaining combatants began to try and use some tactics. Each of them spread out and began trying to encircle him. One wielded a two-handed sword, one wielded a spear, and one wielded a wicked-looking club and shield. Alex watched carefully trying to come out with a way to stop the encirclement.

The one that is the most dangerous is the one wielding that two-handed sword. My skin and muscles will keep that spear from doing too much damage but that sword looks like it could be a major problem. I need to kill him first.

Alex faked moving towards the shield and club-wielding goblin then dashed as fast he could towards his real target the sword-wielding goblin. It swung its sword down vertically but with hypercognition active it missed by a mile. Alex quickly countered and slashed the goblin across its throat as he blocked a piercing thrust from the spear user with his shield. His training had paid off because his repeated actions appeared as they did in his imagination. The spear dug into his shield and then Alex thrust his sword towards the spear user, he felt a heavy blow hit him in the back of the head. Alex fell forward and tried to roll so that he could quickly get back up to his feet. The blow made his vision blurry and he felt unsteady on his feet.

Did it just give me a concussion from that blow to the head?

Alex struggled to maintain his balance and composure as he thought I was seeing 3 of them.

"Can you help with this please, Alice?"

"I'm already sending nanites to take care of your injuries, Spartan"

Alex backed up and tried to get himself together but those things were not waiting around to see him return to full strength. They quickly pressed their advantage and dashed towards the still wobbly human opponent. The club-wielding goblin struck first and he blocked it with his shield smashing both to pieces. Alex kicked it in the chest and tried to dodge but the spear was already too close. Alex managed to move enough that the goblin didn’t damage anything vital but his right arm was now useless as his opponent's spear was embedded firmly in his shoulder.

Alex howled in pain but that didn’t stop it from pushing toward him even harder. He backed up trying not to let the spear pierce all the way through my arm which would have made the injury much more serious. Unfortunately, his back hit a tree, and the monster forced the spear to pierce all the way through him and into the trunk behind him. The goblin followed up by releasing its spear and jumping up trying to claw at his face. Alex tried to move to avoid the attack but he was stuck in place by the spear. It scratched at his face and chest repeatedly causing a sea of red to cover Alex's face. With the blood and concussion impairing his vision, his right arm incapacitated, and a large wound in his back Alex was not doing so well even if I had already killed 6 of them.

Alex did the only thing he could think of at the time to get it off of him. He grabbed it by the throat with his free arm and smashed his forehead into the bridge of its nose. The little green man fell back to the ground with blood gushing from the goblin's nose. Alex quickly yanked the spear from its arm and thrust it forward piercing it through the creature's chest as it writhed on the ground. The final goblin was already coming toward him when Alex coughed up some blood and a sharp pain erupted in his head.

“Hypercognition limit reached! Disengaging now!”

Time sped back up to normal speed. The last goblin began swinging its club at Alex. The former soldier really had no competent way of defending other than dodging. So one by one he dodged the furious attacks. The battle raged on but the two of them were at a standstill. Alex could hit the goblin and the goblin could hit him. Alex could feel the bleeding stop and his vision had become clear again. He continued dodging and he saw that the goblin was becoming tired. It was breathing heavier and its attacks became slower and much less frequent

That increase in my stamina is really paying dividends now and Alice has got me almost patched up. It is only a matter of time.

Alex continued waiting for my opportunity to strike back. Then he saw it gasp for air as it swung its club and missed completely. The goblin lost its balance and fell forward from its wild miss. That was all the opportunity Alex needed to finish this. He grabbed it around the throat and slammed it to the ground as hard as he could. Its head hit the ground hard and Alex could see its eyes glaze over as spittle burst forth from its mouth. He stood up and took his foot and smashed it down into the monster’s face crushing its skull. The battle had ended and Spartan was victorious. Alex fell to one knee breathing heavily at his exertions.

The nanites were already tending to his wounds and he glanced over noticing that his prisoner had not regained consciousness. Alex quickly checked to see if any of his victims had anything worth scavenging. He took the leather shirts from the two that guarded the cave and a quiver with more arrows from one. The final things that he took were a few more skins to put water in and a knife that had pieces of fur on the blade. It seemed that it was for removing the skin from dead animals.

Alex wasted no time in grabbing his prisoner and getting back to his shack as fast as he could. When he returned to his home he found the women inside with the fire still going. They were cooking more of the rabbit from the previous day. They looked at him without saying a word as they saw that Alex was bloody and in no mood for conversation. He threw the goblin on the ground and then smacked it in the face.

“Alice, what is the status on the acquisition of goblin language?”

“43% Spartan.”

“That will have to do?”