It was another goblin. It was about the same size as the goblins that James had fought before, but this one felt strange. It took a while before he placed his finger on what was happening. James felt as if the pressure emanating from this goblin was much weaker than from the goblins before. He didn't feel nearly as apprehensive.

"What's going on? What's wrong with this goblin? It feels…weak."

James suddenly came to a realization.

"Is this goblin one of the 1st tier?"

[Exactly. It is a normal goblin, much weaker than the ones you had fought before. The reason you feel that it's weak it because it is. The amount of mana in this goblin is much lower.]

James nodded. He had the ability to roughly perceive mana now. Additionally, his body had already adapted to the mana-filled environment. Would his understanding of mana continue to improve?

"Alright. We will attempt the sneak attack again. This time, there is only 1 goblin. I have a knife, and the goblin is unarmed. Those nails do look kind of sharp though. I have to take care to avoid them."

James prepared himself to attack. Then, with all the strength he could muster, he lunged towards the goblin pointing the knife at its head.

Even though James launched himself with all his strength, his speed was that of a 5 year old who just learned how to run. He approached the goblin, and as he got within 3 feet of it, it turned around.

{Eik?}

This goblin wasn't the most intelligent. Was it due to the difference in tier? The other group was smarter than this. Even though some of the archers and mages had killed a warrior on accident, they still had some sort of teamwork.

The knife in James' hand dug into the goblin's skull. The goblin shrieked pitifully. However, it had yet to die. James used even more effort, and slowly pushed the knife deeper into the wound. Green blood came spilling out. Eventually, when a few inches of the blade were embedded in the head of the goblin, it stopped moving.

"That was…surprisingly easy. Is this what the 1st floor is supposed to be like?"

Before, the party that he had defeated had been like a mini-boss on the 6th floor! How had he even defeated them? Was it luck?

James pulled the knife out of the goblin's head, and the corpse fell to the ground. After a little bit of time passed, the goblin's body lit up.

"Whoa. Is this what she meant when she said the goblins disappeared?"

[This will only occur when all monsters in the vicinity have disappeared. Then, the drop items will appear.]

The goblin's body dissolved into particles of light. However, the particles didn't disappear as James expected them to. Instead, they coalesced into two different objects. When the light died out, he was finally able to see the two items. One of them was a small clear stone, and the other was a small red orb with a single stripe on it.

James pulled out his ID card and touched them to the objects.

"A tier 1 magic stone looks like this, huh. And a tier 1 orb of strength. I guess I'll be able to raise my strength rather quickly."

James put the clear magic stone in his bag and put it down along with his knife. He wiped the surface of the red orb, and then mentally prepared himself before swallowing it.

The same pain in his muscles assaulted him, albeit weaker than the first time. Now, instead of feeling like his muscles were being torn apart, he felt like he had tried to do a deadlift with a weight he couldn't handle. Again, the pain subsided and he felt stronger than before.

James pulled out the ID card and checked his status once more.

{STR: 7

DEF: 1

END: 1

AGI: 1

INT: 41

LUK: 9999}

"A tier 1 orb only raises a stat by 1 point. Well, of course it wouldn't be as good as the tier three I ate earlier. Also, it didn't hurt nearly as much this time. Going from 1 to 6 is a lot more than going from 6 to 7, after all."

James was satisfied to see his stats go up, even if only by a little.

"Very soon, I'll be at the average strength of a human child!"

[…]

The announcer woman was silent for the time being. It was unknown what she was thinking.

"Alright, let's go."

James picked up the bag of magic stones and his knife, and continued walking down the dungeon.

====================

"What is this? A boss room?"

It had been some time since James had killed the 1st tier goblin. His dungeon exploring had been quite successful. He had killed 4 more goblins and gotten 4 more magic stones. Unfortunately, he hadn't gotten another orb from these goblins. Eventually, the corridor came to an end, with a large wooden door blocking the way forward.

[That is right. Or, more specifically, this can be referred to as a mini-boss. True bosses only appear on floors that are multiples of 5.]

"Okay. This is the last obstacle before clearing the first floor, I suppose."

James was a bit apprehensive about fighting the stronger goblin. So, he decided to take extra precautions.

"Announcer woman, can I trade for more potions right now?"

The announcer woman pondered for a moment.

[Fine. Because I'm here, I can make an exception for you. Usually, you can only buy potions at the shop, so you have to stock up on potions before you dive into a new floor. What do you want?]

"Can you trade 3 more of the tier 2 stones for 2 recovery potions and 1 stamina potion?"

James didn't expect the battle to go on for too long, and he was more worried about receiving wounds. James picked up the 3 vials and placed them in his pocket.

James took a deep breath to calm himself down. He thought of a very nice strategy to successfully defeat this mini-boss.

1. Stab the enemy.

2. If the enemy is still alive, stab them again.

3. Repeat for all enemies.

He was quite worried, really. The above strategy was about the best plan he had. He didn't know if the mini boss would have multiple goblins. All the goblins he had really killed (except for the first party) were alone. James wasn't expecting himself to be able to pull another accidental victory out of his ass if he were to face off against a group of hostiles.

Making sure he could easily reach the potions in case of an emergency, he opened the door.