On the third day since the start of this new regimen, the results were finally visible. After Running for half the day, he had hurriedly decided to catch a quick nap before they started moving again, when he got the notification:

Level 2. Skill: [Lesser Athleticism]

As soon as he gained the skill, his whole body became numb, to the point that he couldn’t even move, and his eyes drooped until he fell unconscious.

Since leveling up used all the mana the body had stored, it was inevitable that someone already tired would be incredibly fatigued when such phenomena occurred.

When El regained consciousness, it was in the seat of the wagon. It was not comfortable by any means, but it was better than sleeping on the ground. It had already gotten dark by the time he awoke, and after a supper provided by the merchant he had gone back to sleep, to recover his physical strength.

The fourth day was when El was finally able to test out the effects of the skill. It seemed that the skill was passive, as he had no need to recite it, and yet he noticed its effects.

Like the three days before, he ran for the whole day, and while he was undoubtedly tired afterwards, it was to a much lesser degree. In fact, his physical condition was so great that he thought he might have been able to run through the night.

It was advised to him that he should take it easy for now, as his body was still healing from the drawing of mana required by leveling up. He heeded this advice from the much-experienced adventurers, taking it easy for the rest of the day.

The fifth day, when El’s condition was dubbed to be fit again, Respen had decided that while running and doing physical activities were a good way to develop a routine, they would not have enough time if they continued to level him up to level four by just physical activities.

The Academy would expect him to be at level 10 when they reached Rine, and the Iron Roses did not want to be seen as a team unable to meet expectations. It was decided that at midday, Bruden would take him hunting to accelerate the leveling and would meet up with the caravan at night.

When the sun finally reached its peak, marking the middle of the day, Bruden started to prod El, giving him as he called it “encouragement” to get ready, and continued as El went to retrieve his dagger.

At last, they departed from the rest of the party, and Bruden, despite his large, muscular frame was very nimble. Once he started to run, it was undoubtedly clear that El would have to work double time to catch up to him, while making sure that he did not make too much noise so as to not scare off any monsters.

After running for some time, the pair found a stream, where Bruden suddenly started to be very quiet, making a shushing motion with his hands to El.

The party of two, under Bruden’s guidance, followed the stream upwards to a point where it opened up a bit more, and settled there, waiting for unsuspecting monsters.

After some time had passed, there was finally some motion near the stream when Bruden stood up getting ready to see what was coming.

From their left side, occupied by vines and thick bushes came out creatures the likes of which El had never seen before. He guessed they were goblins, since their diminutive form, combined with green skin, large ears and sharp, spikey teeth all pointed towards the typical description he had heard of them before. Their most noticeable feature being their large, beady eyes, with which they inspected their surroundings.

This was a jarring experience for El. He, like most other people, had of course imagined fighting these creatures before, but that had been his imagination, where they had been weak as a baby, and he had grand skills capable of destroying them in seconds. However, reality was harsh, as these goblins were nothing like he had imagined them to be. It seemed as though that while they were small, they were also deceptively fast.

Their teeth, which from stories didn’t seem to be very dangerous, were extremely sharp, to the point that they were eating their way out of the thicket of vines covering the bushes.

Their fingernails, while small, had a sharpness that was showcased by the way they destroyed the bushes.

While he was shell-shocked, Bruden whispered to him, “I will take care of the three in the back, you fight the other one”

El wanted to show some bravado and say, “Okay, lets do it” but the reality of it was completely different.

He was shocked to a standstill, and his mouth was dry all of a sudden. Even though he wanted to move, his body was shaking from the thought that he would have to fight these monsters.

As he tried to get his dagger with his shaking hands, a dagger which he suddenly realized he had very little practice with, he dropped it to the ground.

The goblins had by now realized that something was wrong. Their long ears were huge assets for their hearing, which was how they found and ambushed their prey, as they attempted to discern what was wrong.

Bruden, seeing El’s condition, clapped him in the back, hard, whispering, “If you can’t even fight one goblin, you will never be able to level”.

“Forget the academy, even being a bronze adventurer will be a dream.”

While these words were powerful, it still wasn’t enough to rid El of his fear. Wanting to appear strong enough to overcome trials like these, El pulled a brave face and nodded at Bruden.

“I will not help you fight against the goblin”, Bruden said, adding, “If you can’t even beat one goblin, there is no chance you will ever become a magus”.

El was, of course, aware that Bruden was trying to use scare tactics to spring him into action. While his words were uninspiring, El knew that he would have to face a lot more than goblins, who were just the bottom of the barrel when it came to monsters, in the future.

With shaking hands, he signaled to Bruden that he was ready to begin the battle, and Bruden, instructing him to wait until he had killed the other goblins, stealthily went around the bushes, quickly launching an ambush.

The goblins, weak by comparison, were not even able to sense his attack, and with one swing of his axe, Bruden beheaded the three goblins just finding their way out of the bushes.

The poor goblins stood no chance against a silver adventurer like Bruden, who had fought against creatures of much more might.

It was at this time that El decided to step out of where he had been hiding and attempted to run at the other goblin.

The last goblin, intuitively feeling Bruden’s strength, sought an avenue of escape, but he only saw another being rushing towards him.

Using the modicum of logic it possessed, the goblin saw that on one side was a threat that could easily slay him, the other side was a stream, which would slow its escape, it decided that running towards the weaker being would option for escape.

Without much more thinking it sprinted towards El.

In spite of his nervousness, El bravely made his way towards the goblin, who by now had made its decision and came barreling towards him.

The goblin seeing a glint of the dagger carried by El, ran towards him at full speed and attempting to rid him of the dagger, swiped with his razor-sharp claws towards El.

Luckily, El had managed to bring the dagger up before the goblin’s strike, and somehow managed to block it. However, it was quite clear that the goblin was much faster and possessed a great incentive to try to crush him with his full strength.

By this time the goblin, who had seen the blood of its fellow goblins spilled, and seeing a dagger come towards him, had lost all notion of its safety, was on a full-blown attacking course.

It’s only thought now was to take its attacker with it, since it seemed that the hindrance would spell its doom.

The goblin lunged at El, swiping towards his neck in an effort of incapacitate him in one strike, but luckily, El managed to stumble his way back, and continued to stumble back, his feet not finding any purchase in the ground.

The goblin was still on its collision course, but by now, dimly realized that its attacker was getting away. It, of course, had no idea that the evasions were accidental, and in no way a show of skill.

El, now in a situation where he had no time to think, and no skill to protect himself, had to make a split decision, forgetting that Bruden, even though he had said he wouldn’t help him, would have probably interfered if his life was threatened.

The goblin, not wanting to let El get away, finally lunged at him, using all its strength.

Having forgotten all the moves he had practiced in the face of real danger and no time, in a split-second decision, El closed his eyes, holding the dagger with both hands, and held it out in front of his chest hoping that it would take care of this goblin.