Chapter 12: Exclusive Store (1)
[Blood Colossal Sword (81/194) – Attack 94]
[Bronze Shield (300/300) – Defense 80]
When I was a Goblin Fighter, wielding the sword was not a joke. But now that I had evolved into a Hob Goblin, it was possible to use the sword in one hand and hold a shield in the other.
I rushed in one direction, a bastard sword in my left hand and a bronze shield in my right hand. It was laughable watching Goblin Fighters at the front who were wielding rusty swords.
“Ki-ang!”
[You gained 90 experience]
[You acquired 10 bronze.]
The Goblin Fighter lashed his sword with all the strength he could muster. Watching him, I thought he was much like me when I first met a Goblin Warrior.
With the abilities that I had now acquired, I was confident that even if my opponent were a Goblin Warrior, I would not suffer defeat.
[You gained 90 experience]
[You acquired 10 bronze.]
[You gained 90 experience]
[You acquired 10 bronze.]
I wielded and swung my sword, and each time, one or two, Goblin Fighters died. The Goblin Warrior’s rusty black bronze shield couldn’t be penetrated.
However, it bothered me that the Goblin Fighters were coming in from all sides. This was my first time fighting against enemies coming from both the front and the back. I used the Detection Skill to track all enemies around me and struck them before they got too close to me.
[You gained 90 experience]
[You acquired 10 bronze.]
[You gained 90 experience]
[You acquired 10 bronze.]
[You gained 90 experience]
[You acquired 10 bronze.]
As the battle ensued, gradually, a mountain of corpses built up around me. I thought the inventory would increase once again because I had evolved, but even so, it was impossible to insert the bodies of a large number of Goblin Fighters.
It was getting harder for me to move because my space slowly became smaller as I continued dropping more Goblin Fighter bodies on the ground. But even still, the number of Goblin Fighters that were rushing towards me just kept increasing.
[You gained 90 experience]
[You acquired 10 bronze.]
“Crack!”
Just when it seemed that I was going to be beaten by a group of Goblin Fighters, an enemy suddenly propelled away when it hit the edge of my sword. At that moment, a group of Goblin Fighters near the tip of my sword trembled. I realized why. It was Black lightning! I was able to pull it out with the tip of the sword!
This was an excellent opportunity to slay the opponents. Recognizing that my Mana was still over 70%, I stretched out the sword once more and issued a black lightning bolt. This time, the black lighting strike was visible. Shortly after that, the Goblin Fighters that had gathered together were electrocuted and solidified in place.
“Ah, ah, ah!”
Not missing the chance, I kicked the floor and ran forward, swinging the sword over the side. Twenty or more Goblin Fighters got electrocuted. The upper and lower parts of their waists burnt all at once, and their bodies fell to the floor.
I ran over their bodies and rushed with a shield towards the Goblin Fighters, who appeared behind them.
“Oh, ah, ah!”
As the battle lines collapsed and the siege chain became weak, the Goblin Fighters were unable to resist and fell.
I pulled the sword out of the shield and sliced the Goblin Fighters in range.
[Level up!]
All the wounds I suffered during the short battle disappeared. Only my level increased, but I felt that my arm strength had grown as well.
I cheered and wielded my sword. The screams of the Goblin Fighters reverberated in the entire cave.
‘Wait.’
It was at that moment that an ominous thought crossed my mind. With the Goblin Fighters’ screams, won’t more come out?
My assumptions were always accurate and damn! A Goblin Warrior appeared at the opposite end of the corridor where I was fighting!
He was carrying a wooden shield, not a bronze shield, and he had leather armor equipped. The weapon seemed a little lighter than my sword, but the blade looked just as sharp.
“Kii!”
He wielded his sword and killed nearby Goblin Fighters. Goblin Fighters started flocking together with hostility.
“Kick, Kii-ii!”
He also realized what the Goblin Fighters were doing, and with a very annoying cry, he rushed towards them, slicing, throwing, and hitting them.
I also cut as many Goblin Fighters as possible before they got close to me. Of course, since the moment he appeared, he hadn’t used black lightning, and half of the Goblin Fighters now rushed towards him. It became more comfortable for me to deal with them without a Black Lightning strike.
“Shhh! Damn it!”
But it was impossible to kill them all without getting hurt. No matter how strong the bronze shield was, I couldn’t cover my whole body with it. My wounds were caused mainly by the guys who attacked me from behind.
[You gained 85 experience]
[You acquired 10 bronze.]
I violently swung my sword across and cut them off at once. Blood sprang from their wounds and flowed down their bodies. The pain must have been excruciating for them, but they couldn’t show signs of weakness because of the battle’s rising momentum.
It was better to level up, and those who would give me more experience were piled up on the ground like a mountain. I pushed exhaustion out of my mind and rushed towards them again.
“Wow!
Then I heard a Goblin Warrior yell quite close to me! I tried to grasp his approximate location and intent with my detection skill. I quickly rolled to the ground full of corpses and cut off a Goblin Fighter’s hand with my sword.
I stood up, put the hand in my mouth, and started chewing.
I continued eating it while rolling to the floor, evading the Goblin Warrior’s attacks, and I recovered my health a little.
“Ki-yi … …!”
When he looked at me and realized that I wasn’t a normal upper-class, he pushed all the Goblin Fighters out of the way and revealed himself to me. I also reached out to him.
A black thunderbolt popped out and hit him.
Crack!
However, he gave me a very calm look, as if he was expecting the Black Lightning strike. Damn! I had never seen such a thing before.
I was nervous, and I hit him. He also had a knife, but he dropped it.
But suddenly, there was panic on his face, and he tried to reach out for his shield with his hand, but he ended up dropping it the next moment. Only then did I fully realize that he was not completely resistant to the black lightning.
Black Lightning. A thunderbolt with a curse. The curse seemed to work properly. For a moment, I thought of its power, then my body went into auto-pilot and automatically launched my huge sword, stabbing the neck of the Goblin Warrior.
“Ki-ay, kii-iay!”
The sword couldn’t penetrate properly because of his angled position, but the impact was felt because there was so much of blood gushing from his neck. It wasn’t until then that the curse worked, but he still rushed towards me, picking up his sword. I wasn’t sure what he would do, so I decided to use black lightning twice more. I again stabbed the Goblin Warrior’s neck. He was already cursed and weak. Then he dropped to the ground and died.
[You gained 600 experience]
[You acquired 90 bronze.]
I put the Goblin Warrior’s body straight into the inventory. Then I looked around.
“Are you going to keep trying?”
The Goblin Fighters, who were now afraid of my strength, stepped back little by little. However, something changed in them because their eyes suddenly changed, and they started rushing towards me with their rusty swords.
It was not a normal reaction. Something was probably controlling them!
“I need to break it.”
However, there was no time to think about such things. I knew I needed to survive first, so I sighed and ran to engage with them.
For the time being, there will be no rest.
I wished I knew what time it was so that I could measure how long I was wielding the sword. But I had to focus only on the battle, and because of this principle, I wordlessly swung the sword and lifted the shield to stop the enemy’s attack without keeping tabs on time, or counting the number of fallen enemies, or checking the status.
Only
I realized that the wounds that were inflicted on me were a result of my lack of competency with the shield. It did not fit me. It had nothing to do with my skills.
I was moving my body without hesitation; I needed to finish the enemy as quickly as possible. I needed to avoid the enemy attacking me with the shield.
Moreover, unless my level rises quickly, I will need to eat the enemy’s body during the battle to revitalize my tired body. But both of my hands are occupied by the sword and shield, so I knew it wouldn’t go smoothly. I put the shield into the inventory.
The wounds on my body increased gradually. I knew I needed to consume a dead Goblin Fighter’s body. Physical fitness and injury were two completely different issues, but as long as I don’t suffer significant damage, I could withstand the battle.
I knew that eventually, I’d level up, and all the wounds would heal. A fact that, if known, would probably annoy the enemy.
Still, this was true when it comes to engaging against the Goblin Fighters. Attacks by guys like the Goblin Warrior were fatal, so I must always have a shield when fighting them.
However, I was aware of this natural fact only after fighting bitterly against the third Goblin Warrior and consuming the last remaining potion.
At that point, the number of Goblin Fighters, who were continually coming in, began to decrease.