POV Tom

  As we entered the store I noticed 6 goblins. Uncle Herald alongside his three grandchildren, Kate, Rant, and Frant, were hiding in the kitchen. They used one of the chairs in the dining area to block the way. They were throwing knives and other things at the goblins, which was probably to get some wounds on them. They had guns but they probably wanted to conserve ammo.

  I wasted no time in lifting my coat and taking out my custom pistol. Uncle Herald helped me make it around 2 years ago, but that's not important now. 3 of the goblins were now running at me and the woman. As they jumped over the counter I aimed carefully and shot two of them in the head.

  I wanted to conserve as much ammo as possible, since I didn’t bring any more ammo with me. As the last one alive neared me I quickly kicked it in the chest. After that, I grabbed its arm before pinning its stomach to the ground. I used my leg to hold its arm in place before grabbing its head. I yanked its head back as I slit its throat with the blade on my pistol.

  “BEHIND YOU!”

  I heard Uncle Herald yell and quickly looked back. Two goblins had jumped on the women. One held her legs while the other gripped her head. I saw them trip her but, thankfully she used her arm to prevent her head from smacking into the ground. The relief was quick lived as I quickly stood up and aimed once more.

  Suddenly I felt the temperature rise by a couple degrees, but I ignored it as I shot the first goblin. Before I could aim at the other one a bright flame ignited. The woman was covered in flames temporarily blinding me.

  “Shit!”

  Cursing was a common theme when it came to me. I blocked my eyes with my arm before quickly lowering it. The screams of the goblin resounded throughout the small restaurant. I looked at it, and sucked in a breath of cold air. There were 2nd and 3rd degree burns all over its body. It was basically unrecognizable as it soon fell onto the ground.

  I looked at the woman and she was equally shocked. Before I could even question her a voice appeared in my head.

  {Congratulations! You have reached level 1 and unlocked the system. You have unlocked the innate abilities Hardened Mind and Extraordinary Physique. Every level you gain will grant you 5 status points. Say “Status” to see your status screen.}

  I was briefly stunned, but I knew now wasn’t the time to be in my thoughts. I turned around and saw the other 3 goblins were already dead. Rant had a nasty looking cut on his forearm. Other than that though they seemed to be fine.

  “Kate, go get the medkit. Tom, where's Jack?”

  I shook my head.

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  “He was at the house when this all started. He should be on his way here.”

  I turned to the woman who was now on the verge of passing out. I saw the knife she had being dragged to her by her hand.

  “Shit!”

  I quickly grabbed her arm and lifted it up. I took her pocket knife, folded it, and then put it in my pocket. I bent down and picked her up in a princess carry.

  “Uncle, you know what’s going on?”

  He shook his head.

  “I don’t. All of our phones suddenly shut off. The lights wouldn’t be on right now if not for the backup generator. These creatures alongside this makes me think this is some kind of attack. I tried my radio but the frequency was messed up. Lay your friend on one of the cushioned seats, and then help board up the place.”

  I nodded and quickly found a place to lay her down. I went and closed the doors. The glass was one way and reinforced. Soon wooden planks, nails, hammers, and some other things were brought from the basement. We quickly went to work boarding up everything. The only problem is that this brought a lot of noise.

  I looked over at Frant. He had black hair, white skin, and bright blue eyes like his twin brother Rant. They were both 20 and 5 '10 Kate was their cousin and my friend. She had long brown hair and green eyes. She was 22 and 5 ‘7. Uncle Herald on the other hand had gray hair. His wrinkles were somewhat evident but he looked good for a 74 year old. He stood straight with his cane at 6’0.

  I saw Kate was over attending to the woman. I then looked over out the window. People were still running, screaming, and fighting. Soon I noticed 2 people coming over. There were 5 goblins behind them. I looked over at Uncle Herald.

  “A man who seems to be in his mid thirties and a young girl no older than 15. Let them in.”

  I nodded and opened the door. They quickly ran inside. I aimed my gun and shot two of them.

  “Leave one of them alive. I need to see something.”

  I took his words in as I shot one more. The goblins weren’t stupid though. They quickly stopped and turned. I shot one in the leg making it scream and fall. The other quickly left the scene.

  “Rant, watch my back.”

  I went out and quickly restrained the goblin. It wasn’t very strong but certainly not weak. I knocked it unconscious and brought it in. I looked at Uncle Herald.

  “ Set it to the side and dump those bodies somewhere outside. We’ll deal with them later. “

  I nodded and did exactly as he told. As I did I watched what he would do with the goblin he asked for.

  “Kate, come over here.”

  She stiffened a bit and slowly walked over. He handed her a knife.

  “ Kill it.”

  She looked at the knife and shook her head.

  “Why? Can’t you do it?”

  “ You’re a med student aren’t you? A little blood shouldn’t be anything to you. You barely flinched when we killed the others.”

  She looked at the goblin.

  “But I didn’t actually kill anything. Blood isn’t the problem. It's the fact that you want me to kill something.”

  He took her hand and forcefully put the knife in it.

  “Kate, I wasn’t asking. Did you hear the voice?”

  At his words everyone looked at him like he was crazy. He scanned all of our expressions.

  “Tom, Rant, and Frant you all killed at least one. You heard it didn’t you? Not to mention that girl caught fire a couple minutes ago. Despite that fact her clothes are completely fine. The goblin however was burnt. I haven’t just been standing here this whole time. These status points seem to enhance us physically or mentally. These skills seem to have a somewhat similar effect.

  The thing is the voice only appeared after killing one of the goblins. If you don’t kill then you will inevitably be killed. So Kate, kill it. Is it’s life worth more than your own?”

  I looked at kate. It wasn’t hard to see the struggle in her eyes. The thing is he was right. Everything was moving too fast though. We need to hunker down and talk about things. With that said I quickly went back to my task.