Nova retrieved his spear from the goblin general’s head, slowly breathing in and out.
“Phew, I wonder when the fight will be. Ah, let’s not fet about the stat points I gained. Let me see” he muttered to himself. With a thought, he called up his status to che his progress.
‘Status’
[Status]
Rank: 0
Name: Nova Grey
Species: Human
Affiliation: None
Level: 0 (150/500)
Css: None
Titles: Goblierminator
Stat Points: 0
Attributes:
Strength: 4
Vigor: 3
Dexterity: 11
Speed: 12
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 8
Will: 6
Luck: 10
Skills
Active: Spear Thrust (0) (69/500)
“5 points, huh? I think boostierity and Speed is the way to go for now” Nova muttered. He then allocated the points he had left, and the status window updated accly.
‘Status’
[Status]
Rank: 0
Name: Nova Grey
Species: Human
Affiliation: None
Level: 0 (150/500)
Css: None
Titles: Goblierminator
Stat Points: 0
Attributes:
Strength: 4
Vigor: 3
Dexterity: 11
Speed: 12
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 8
Will: 6
Luck: 10
Skills
Active: Spear Thrust (0) (69/500)
“I already feel the differeh just 2 points... I o start training more seriously. Time to push Spear Thrust further.” Nova muttered, notig the ges in his body. If he were to face the goblin general again now, he was fident he could defeat it without much effort. His maximum speed had likely increased to around 80 km/h, though he had no idea how fast his explosive burst speed had bee.
With that, Nova didn’t even take a full mio rest before resuming his spear thrusts. Luckily, food wasn’t a ihe portals. Somehow, his cells always felt fully energized, making training much more ve.
With his improved dexterity, the 500 thrusts that should have taken 16 minutes now only took 10, and that was with him taking his time, perf each thrust with perfe.
Soon, the 500th thrust was pleted, and a notification appeared:
[Spear Thrust proficreased][Skill Spear Thrust (0) (500/500) -> Spear Thrust (1) (0/1000)]
When he performed ahrust, he could immediately feel the differehe power, the speed, the angle—everythi stronger and more refined. A surge of excitement rushed through him, almost making him burst out ughing. He grinned and said aloud, “Man, once I’m doh this, I’m going to go beat Jack’s ass.” Just imagining Jack’s face after losing filled Nova with immeisfa.
After taking a brief moment to catch his breath, Nova resumed his position and began thrusting again.
[Spear Thrust proficreased]
Sweat drenched his body, but he kept going without stopping. His foever wavered—his sole objective was to bee as strong as possible ihis portal. He had finally gaihe ce to trol his own life, and he wasn’t going to let aake that away from him now.
About 20 mier, the thousandth thrust was pleted.
[Spear Thrust proficreased][Skill Spear Thrust (1) (1000/1000) -> Spear Thrust (2) (0/2000)]
Without hesitation, he performed the first thrust of the new set.
[Spear Thrust proficreased]
The thrust felt far more powerful this time. In his mind, it seemed like it could’ve taken the goblin general’s entire leg with it, though he k was just the rush of adrenaliill, he was certain it would’ve been enough to make the general kneel in a single blow, rather than two.
Forty mier:
[Spear Thrust proficreased][Skill Spear Thrust (2) (2000/2000) -> Spear Thrust (3) (0/4000)]
At the one-hour mark since he had killed the goblin general, a notification resonated in his mind.
[Fight starts in 05:00][Be at the arena by the end of the tdown. The penalty is death.]
"One hour" Nova thought to himself. "Do I really have to fight every hour for a day straight? This is insane. Who came up with this?"
He took a deep breath aled into a calm state, knowing he had no choice but to prepare for the uping battle. He regretted not taking a break earlier, as exhaustion began to weigh on him.
[Fight starts in 00:01][Fight started]
Nova’s eyes locked onto the opposite side of the arena, his gaze sharp and focused. He braced himself for whatever would e .
Then, two goblin generals appeared.
[Goblin General]
Rank: 0
Name: None
Species: Goblin
Affiliation: None
Level: 0
Css: None
Attributes:
Strength: 14
Vigor: 15
Dexterity: 6
Speed: 6
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 4
Will: 0
Luck: 0
Nova's lips twitched. "Really? I hope this isn't a trend, or I'm going to die out here. Ah, my poor dreams."
The two goblin generals strode toward him, their movements slow and deliberate as they readied themselves for battle.
Nova didn’t hesitate. He had fought these kinds of oppos before. He surged forward with full speed, spear in hand, heading straight for the right goblin general.
Ihan a sed, he was already thrusting his spear toward the goblin, his momentum carrying him forward.
The right goblin general was caught off guard. It hadn’t expected such speed and decisiveness. It tried to raise its sword, but by the time the sword was lifted, Nova had already driven his spear into its knee. A golf-ball-sized hole appeared in its left knee, and the goblin colpsed, kneeling on its right knee.
[Spear Thrust proficreased]
The right goblin general roared in pain, pressing his hands to the ground to keep himself from colpsing.
Nova, having anticipated the movement, was already mid-motion to thrust at the goblin’s head. However, the left goblin general intervened. With a swift swing of his sword, he forova to halt his attack. The sudden strain shot through Nova’s body, his blood rushing backward, his muscles tightening. He barely mao dodge the blow.
"Jeez, you really had to make me injure myself. How about I kill you first, then?" Nova smirked at the left goblin general before charging at him.
The left goblin general seemed to uand Nova’s i. For a moment, it almost looked like the goblin was sneering. Without waiting for Nova to get any closer, he swung his sword, knowing full well that he couldn’t react to Nova’s speed. Instead, he took the gamble, swinging pre-emptively.
Instead of retreating, Nova dove into the left goblin general’s swing. As the vertical ssh came down, he sidestepped, quickly positioning himself on the goblin’s left fnk. Without hesitatiohrust his spear into the goblin’s left knee.
[Spear Thrust proficreased]
A howl of agoed from the goblin general. His left leg was severed just below the knee, and without the ability to kneel, he colpsed, filing on the ground, his hands kig up dust as he struggled to strike at anything.
Nova approached the goblin slowly, a thought f in his mind. ‘Shouldn’t I try learning the other spear basics?’ He looked down at the goblin, noerfect practice dummy. ‘Let’s see if I work on the Jab skill.’
With that deade, Nova took the jab stance, positioning his feet shoulder-width apart. His spear was held firmly in both hands, his left hahe ter of the shaft, and his right hand at the end. Rexing his grip, he stepped forward with his front foot, extending his arms quickly as the tip of the spear was towards the vital areas of the goblin general.
[Spear proficreased]
Nova repeated the jab over and radually being more fortable with the motion. As he gained fidence, he started increasing the speed, turning the jab into a true on. Notificati stantly in his ears, but he ighem, too focused on perfeg his teique.
The left goblin general’s body was riddled with holes, his lifeless form lying in a pool of blood that had spread beh him. Nova didn’t stop until he heard the notification he had been waiting for.
[Spear proficreased][Skill: Spear Jab has been learned][Received 2500 Stat EXP]
"Finally" Nova muttered as he caught his breath. His eyes shifted to the kneeling right goblin general. "Whie should I lear? Sweep seems like the best choice at this point. I leave Lunge and Overhead Strike for ter."
Having made his decision, Nova approached the right goblin general, getting into position. His knees were slightly bent, his body tered, and his grip firm on the spear with both hands. His right hand was he middle of the shaft, while his left hand trolled the end of the on, ready to guide the sweep.
With a fluid motioated his body, swinging the spear horizontally in a wide arc. He used his entire body, from his legs to his hips and then to his arms. The tip of the spear struck the goblin general’s side, leaving a deep line of blood in its wake.
[Spear proficreased]He repeated the motion, each sweep slig through the goblin general's body, limbs falling to the ground as it was filled with cerations. It resembled death by a thousand cuts.
Nova didn’t stop until he heard the notification he had been waiting for.
[Spear proficreased][Skill: Spear Sweep has been learned][Received 2500 Stat EXP]
With a smile, Nova stopped. “It feels good to improve so quickly. Now, I should have an hour to either rest or train more. I’ll rest for at least 15 mihen train for another 45 before fighting again. This should give me the best rest-to-training ratio without pushioo hard.”
He checked his status, notig he had points to allocate.
[Status]
Rank: 0
Name: Nova Grey
Species: Human
Affiliation: None
Level: 0 (150/500)
Css: None
Titles: Goblierminator
Stat Points: 10
Attributes:
Strength: 4
Vigor: 3
Dexterity: 11
Speed: 12
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 8
Will: 6
Luck: 10
Skills
Active: Spear Thrust (3) (2/4000), Spear Jab (0) (0/500), Spear Sweep (0) (0/500)
‘I o i some points in Vigor; it will allow me to train more. I also better increase my Strength to 7 at least. Let’s do 10 Vigor and 7 Strength—they’re the stats I need mht now.’ Having made up his mind, he acted upon it.
[Status]
Rank: 0
Name: Nova Grey
Species: Human
Affiliation: None
Level: 0 (150/500)
Css: None
Titles: Goblierminator
Stat Points: 0
Attributes:
Strength: 7
Vigor: 10
Dexterity: 11
Speed: 12
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 8
Will: 6
Luck: 10
Skills
Active: Spear Thrust (3) (3/4000), Spear Jab (0) (0/500), Spear Sweep (0) (0/500)
Nova felt the ges taking p his body. His poor stamina was now gone, and he felt like 15 minutes of rest was too long. ‘Make it 5 minutes of rest and 55 minutes of training every hour before fights’ he thought to himself.
For the 5 minutes, he sat down and started thinking about his friend. "I wonder how Jack is doing? Not even 2 hours have passed since we split up, but it feels like it's been days. Hopefully, he's doing well" Nova muttered while looking up at the sky from his sitting position.
He soon stood up—he had training to do.
For the 55 minutes, Nova focused on Spear Jabs. He mao perform 4,200 jabs without taking a single sed of break.
[Skill: Spear Jab (0) (500/500) -> Spear Jab (1) (0/1000)]
[Skill: Spear Jab (1) (1000/1000) -> Spear Jab (2) (0/2000)]
[Skill: Spear Jab (2) (2000/2000) -> Spear Jab (3) (0/4000)]
[Skill: Spear Jab (3) (700/4000)]
Nova took a deep breath, his mind sharp as he g the tdown timer.
‘Good enough for now. It should be time soon,’ he thought, mentally preparing for the challenge ahead.
As expected, the notification appeared.
[Fight starts in 05:00][Be at the arena by the end of the tdown. The penalty is death.]
Nova stood tall, his spear resting horizontally on his shoulders, his arms rexed but ready. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, letting his mile into focus. The arena was about to bee his battleground once again.
[Fight starts in 00:01][Fight started]
From the other side of the arena, six goblin generals emerged, walking with their swords raised and their eyes locked on Nova. They were identical to the ones he had faced before. A feeling of uirred within him as he realized the pattern was repeating. His stats were growing rapidly, but that only made him more apprehensive—was he fag the same challenges for a reason?
Shaking off the thought, Nova ched his spear tightly a his sights on the goblin general. He rushed forward with speed and purpose, taking his jab stance.
‘Kill four quickly. Then I use the st two to perfect the missing spear forms’ he decided, a smile on his face.
