Chapter 11

Tehemena Falls - Vigilant Eyes

"Guaaagh!" the Blue Treasure Goblin shrieked in pain.

[The target has taken 762 damage.]

[Precision Stab has reached Lv2!]

!

[System warning! Your Mana points are below 5%.]

Only 762 damage? Bellamy was momentarily disconcerted and became even more lightheaded due to low Mana.

It meant that the Treasure Goblin's Defense was insanely high. The initial Goblin Warriors and Goblin Shamans had taken over 1.200 to 1.800 damage from a single stab or slice of his Shortsword, killing them instantly. Currently, it was a surprise attack that had firmly stabbed into the Treasure Goblin's open back. Soulseeker had 1.050 to 1.250 Attack-power, and with the addition of the bonus Strength, Agility, and Dexterity, a typical Level 5 to 10 monster would easily take 1.200 to 1.400 from a normal attack. Precision Stab Lv1, which granted +25% to Attack, only dealt a mere 762 damage to the goblin.

So its stats must be very high, or maybe it has around 500 to 600 Defense? That's three times more than my Defense with Soulseeker equipped, Bellamy frowned, and I nearly got Incapacitated for overspending Mana. He quickly opened his Soul Inventory and chugged down two Mana potions Lv1.

[You have restored 200 Mana points.]

[You have restored 150 Mana points.]

The second potion's potency was reduced by 25% because he gulped them down without respite. This meant that if he drank four potions of the same grade, the last potion would have minimal effects, while the fifth potion would have no effect at all. As a Hunter rose in Levels, their Mana pool would increase, meaning that it would be more efficient and less time-consuming to drink higher-leveled potions. However, the pricetags of such potions would also increase exponentially. For instance, a Mana Potion Lv4 had a market price of 10 to 12 gold coins as only high-tiered Alchemists could brew them.

The Shortsword-wielding young man's instincts accurately discerned another truth. A Hunter discovering a Treasure Goblin would notify Guild members or Party members, then attack it together. It was unheard of to single-handedly kill a Treasure Goblin unless the Level disparity was tremendously in favor of the Hunter. Even the lowest in their rankings, a Level 1 Treasure Goblin, needed at least a Party of five Level 5 to 10 Hunters or a Party of three Level 10 to 12 Hunters to bring down. More so, this was a Treasure Goblin with a color attached to its name, which meant that it was even tougher and more challenging to kill than their non-colored kin. And there was also the off-chance that a Treasure Goblin might flee. With lower Speed than an average fleet-footed Treasure Goblin, Hunters needed good teamwork and slowing Skills to block its path and prevent fleeing.

The Blue Treasure Goblin turned around and stared coldly at Bellamy before pulling out three daggers and threw them in quick succession.

Bellamy hurriedly parried the first dagger with Soulseeker and raised his Small Iron Buckler. Unfortunately, one of the daggers got past the small shield and heavily grazed the abdominal area of his Cuirass, leaving a significant wound underneath the armor.

Pint!

Tack

Shiiing

[You have taken 121 damage.]

[You have received Chilled Lv1.]

[All Attributes are reduced by 12 for 10 seconds.]

[All damage taken is increased by 10% for 10 seconds.]

[Warrior's Plate Armor has lost 31 Durability!]

[Pinnacle of Retribution has activated.]

"Kuugh," Bellamy groaned. The Blue Treasure Goblin found an opening and fled.

"Judgment, Wind Sprint Lv1"

Bellamy activated his title and speed buff to make up for the loss in stats and movement speed and began his chase.

"System- allocate 20 unspent stats points- to Intelligence," he informed while tearing through the air.

[System notification! Stat points have been allocated.]

"Gale Lv1!"

Bellamy held the Small Iron Buckler like he would a normal shield. Rather than grasping it with his hand, he had it strapped around his forearm. This allowed him to shoot five consecutive torrents of wind from his unrestricted palm.

[The target has taken 99 damage.]

[The target has dodged.]

[The target has taken 90 damage.]

[The target has taken 97 damage.]

[You missed the target.]

Its Elemental Defense is surmountable.

His fast-paced pursuit continued. The Treasure Goblin staggered three times and was immediately caught up by its pursuer.

Three new daggers flew toward Bellamy. He preparedly dodged the first two incoming knives and skillfully parried the third one.

Fhew

Fhew

Piint

"Drown Lv1"

Water particles started forming around the Blue Treasure Goblin’s head. But to no avail.

[The target is immune to Water Skills.]

"Meh," Bellamy scowled and threw his Shortsword at the Treasure Goblin, "Precision Stab Lv2!"

[Critical hit!]

[The target has taken critical 2.334 damage!]

[The target has been defeated.]

[You have gained 15.000 experience.]

[You have gained 1 Luck!]

[You have gained a Level!]

[You have gained a Level!]

[The Blue Treasure Goblin has dropped 5 items, 30 gold coins, and 101 silver coins.]

Pant, pant

"Touché," the fatigued young man declared with the shield-borne hand clasping his wound.

The fallen goblin slowly started to crystalize as it was returning to its original form. After a short moment of heavy panting, Bellamy realized that the Blue Treasure Goblin had turned into an ice sculpture. Cracks started forming on the sculpture before crumbling into several pieces.

Bellamy speedily picked up all the scattered loot. He still had over an hour left before his planned rendezvous with the Hunter duo. Consequently, he decided to revisit a nearby goblin outpost he had previously destroyed.

"Luny, you stand guard here. Notify me if you see trouble."

Bellamy brought out pieces of dried meat from his Soul Window and gave them to Luny, "and by trouble, I mean goblins or other monsters," he continued as he did not wish his intellect to be insulted any further.

Inside a small goblin hut, he browsed through the items he had looted from the Blue Treasure Goblin. Curiosity struck when he examined the first item. It was a cowhide parchment.

"Now I know what the goblins do with the missing cattle, I guess." Bellamy sheathed Soulseeker and promptly rolled out the parchment.

"A map?"

[Map Generator Lv2]

[A magical map that will reveal Dungeon details of a Dungeon you have previously encountered.]

[The Map Generator will only work on Silver-rated Dungeons or below.]

"Hold on a sec. Does this mean I can get information on Goblin Hideout Lv2?" Bellamy asked excitedly, and the parchment started to draw itself.

[Goblin Hideout Lv2. Rating: Silver]

The text on the parchment was scribbled in Gnomish. Yet, in the blink of an eye, the Soul Window transcribed the text into Thraean letters.

"Lucky!" Bellamy's eyes shimmered.

This information will be important if I'm to defeat the Elite Goblins without Soulseeker. Either way, I mustn't rely too much on Soulseeker.

The remaining items were two Skill books and two pieces of equipment. The prior two items were a Rare Non-Elemental Skill book and a Unique Thrae-Elemental Lv1 Skill book!

It's a shame I can't learn both...I'll learn the Rare skill at least.

[You have met the requirements to learn Vigilant Eyes.]

[Due to your Class, Vigilant Eyes will be turned into a growth type Class-specific skill.]

[Do you wish to learn Vigilant Eyes?]

[Yes/No.]

!!

An emotion of intrigue welled up in Bellamy's entire being, followed by void inscrutability, and questions again formed themselves. What exactly was the Soul Devourer Class? Who exactly, interjected by Luny, was 'Old Master'? And why the heck was I chosen as some protagonist with 4 Awakenings?

Can Luny tell the difference between spoiled cow meat and normal steaks? Bellamy honestly pondered as sinister imagination suddenly entered his mind; give the carcasses in the Goblin Hideout to Luny, and increase the Pet Loyalty without spending a single coin. Had his pettiness and greed spiraled out of control under the influence of his pet?

His adrift mind returned to reality and answered the system, "yes."

Vigilant Eyes – Bronze (0%)

A passive Skill that gives the user a perfect 180-degree peripheral vision; the user's vision has been refined by 50%.

Perception, +10

'Congratulations! You have unlocked the Perception attribute!'

Growth type passive Skill.

Unlock more characteristics at higher ratings.

While being dumbstruck by the Soul Window, the world Bellamy saw around him had started to change. Dull colors became more vibrant, contrasts of light and darkness became more pronounced, and small details in his surroundings that had previously escaped him were now present.

There was a certain feeling of omnipresence; Is this how gods see the world? Bellamy pondered. He had overlooked a fact with his newfound rising ego; even flies had better peripheral vision than himself.

The pieces of equipment dropped by the Treasure Goblin now enticed his attention; a bow and a pendant.

[Bow of the Night - Rating: Gold]

[Pendant of Hostility - Rating: Platinum]

The Bow had a Level 8 user requirement, some Strength and Dexterity requirements, and decent attack power. It also dealt +25% bonus damage in areas sunlight was not present. The Pendant had no Level requirements but had a 35 Intelligence requirement and was rather bizarre in nature. It gave no additional stats bonuses but offered a +10% bonus experience gain whenever the wielder combated three or more foes simultaneously. The wielder would also draw +50% 'Aggro' from hostile enemies within a five-meter range. In addition, for each hostile combatant encountered, the wielder would receive a +5% increase to Elemental Defense, up to a maximum of +25% Elemental Defense.

Why does the universe want me to become a Tank? Bellamy sulked after looking at the Pendant's information. It would be much cooler if I went for a Rogue-type build like Fleeting Space.

Nearly 2 hours had passed since the trio separated. Meanwhile, Bellamy stood by the riverbank, occasionally tossing fishing spears he had hand-crafted into the waters. His moons of hard work spent in Hroar's shop was not for naught. He had learned several crafting techniques on metalwork and woodwork, so sharpening arrow-like objects and starting bonfires were among his current adventurer skillsets.

Fheeew

A large fish was pierced, and Bellamy took hold of the rope attached to the fishing spear and started to haul the fish toward him.

Splash, slash

He took out the small knife he had used to craft his fishing spears and tactfully eviscerated the fish. His train of thoughts was still lingering on the same questions. Questions no one he knew could answer.

"I need to meet more people," he recalled, "people with answers."

Bellamy knew that entering the Hunter Institution of Farinmore was his most reliable option. He unsure what sort of trials awaited him, but he had grown remarkably as a Hunter the past few days and was not too worried. Another topic that bothered him was the recent Returner incident. There was no way to know if his parents were among the 5.000 or so Returners. He could only put his trust in the Guilds and that everyone would be returned home eventually. It might take weeks and even moons before everything is settled, so he could only patiently await the news. Bellamy had also considered traveling to Softshire City but decided to put his patience to the test. With a situation still chaotic, going there could result in getting unreliable information or being stuck there for days. He had a promise to uphold and an entrance exam to pass.

Bellamy saw leaves rustling across the river due to Vigilant Eyes being active, and two familiar figures emerged. A small bridge connected the east and the west river coasts further away from the Tehemena Falls.

Pant, pant

"We've both reached Level 9," Frederick announced as they walked toward Bellamy's fishing spot.

"Shhh. You're scaring the fish," Bellamy whispered calmly, "over there. Eat those. Luny likes them a lot too," he pointed toward Luny, who sat by a bonfire and enjoyed the freshly caught grilled fish.

"Oh! He's so cute!" Loretta said in an infatuated manner.

"You have a pet? And a Sprite at that?" Frederick murmured into Bellamy's ear, "those are extremely rare, and yours is an Elemental one, isn't it?"

Frederick was referring to the dim greenish halo that surrounded Luny.

"Yeah. It's a long story," Bellamy said and threw his last wooden spear into the river, "right now, you guys need to eat. Then we move into the Dungeon."

While eating, Bellamy disclosed that he had also reached Level 9. In reality, he had gone from Level 4 to Level 8, helped Luny Level up, and spent his remaining time formulating a plan while fishing.

"These are Tickets for Warrior's Beginner Equipment. I farmed the goblins here and gained quite a few," Bellamy gestured and gave Loretta and Frederick five Tickets each through a Soul Window trade. The faces of the duo narrowed in disbelief once they accepted and confirmed the Tickets. "Also, a goblin dropped this," and out of the Soul Window, Bow of the Night appeared, which was handed to Frederick.

"How did you..." Frederick began. He pursed his lips, "Nevermind. I guess we all have our secrets, so I won't pry. We have an important task at hand. Saving Mina is our top priority. I'll make good use of the bow. Thank you."

"I agree," Bellamy responded, "our defensive capabilities should be considerably strengthened with the Warrior's Tickets. It's time to move," he announced and quenched the bonfire with Water flowing out of his palm.

Luny sat jauntily on Loretta's lap while leaning back and was met by two voluptuous cushions. Bellamy's scarcely pigmented face became red-hued, but he continued, "we'll form a spearhead formation once we enter. I'll function as the Party's Tank and engage the Hobgoblins. Luny will be the main Healer, while Frederick, you'll be Ranged Support and a secondary damage-dealer. And Loretta," Bellamy continued while avoiding the gaze on a woman's reserved region, "you'll be the main AoE damage-dealer."

The newly formed Party spent their remaining time distributing stat points, redeeming new Ticket items, and mentally prepared themselves for the coming onslaught of vigilant monsters. Time was still of the essence.