The bright full moon illuminated the path as Jean approached the pile of dead goblins that Al-Hek and Dih had just created in the middle of the countryside. Erish and the group followed close behind her. “It really doesn't hurt?” Jean shook her head. “I thought you were going to die when that beast...”
“For an instant, when I saw my arm in his mouth, I believed it too. I almost lost because of that stupid thought... It won't happen again!”
Erish looked at her puzzled. “Jean, just believing it won't make you invincible!”
Jean was aware of how much the cursed relic had modified Choog. She needed to figure out how to get that level of link to the curse.
“More important, what happened when Choog pounced on me?”
“Huh... The beast... Choog deformed into a mass of flesh that moved like an intelligent metallic liquid. Then, its color gradually turned a very dark green. After about a minute, ... it joined you as if it was absorbed by a sponge. Did… did you do it on purpose?”
“In a sense!”
Jean approached the goblins and touched them one by one for a few seconds. “Stay back!”
“Move aside! Didn't you hear the lady? It’s dangerous for us.” Al-Hek insisted, moving away as well.
“Who the hell are you?” asked Erish, somewhat jealous that he knew more than she did about Jean.
Al-Hek poked right where he knew it hurt. “I'm his baby!” He said pointing at Jean with an evil look on his face. “And who are you, Dimples?”
“What?! Baby?!” She quickly looked at Jean waiting for an explanation.
“Jean created us a body with a lot of effort and sacrifice!” Dih assured. “That's all Erish.”
“Are you serious? You are spawn and you say that so blithely?” Yarosh remarked with disgust.
Jean raised her voice in annoyance. “They're both free aspirants just like you and me.”
“Yeah, sure!”, muttered another.
Corruption gradually took over the more than 36 corpses.
“What are you doing to those corpses?”, asked Erish with a look of disgust after she finally took a step back.
Jean ignored the question. She knew what her reaction would be.
One of the village women raised her voice anxiously, breaking the awkward silence. “We should leave! Killing goblins will attract those creatures again!”
“Really?! We've already killed a few hundred and nothing happened.” Dih commented.
“Hundreds?!” The peasant women screamed, covering their mouths. Two of them fled in terror toward the village.
Al-Hek tried to calm them down, but only one stayed. “I know you are strong, but the mayor didn't go looking for the ancient relic because of some stupid goblins. It's very dangerous when the creatures inside get angry.”
“You go and rest. I'll stay at the entrance and keep watch.” Jean said, trying to reassure them.
“So the sun won't kill you, demon?” mumbled one of the guys.
Erish stared at her in confusion, unable to articulate a word.
Jean stared at the guy and smiled. “You think so?”
“No Cursed One can escape the sun.” Yarosh interceded.
Erish abruptly turned away from Yarosh. “You knew? You knew she could die under the sun and you didn't tell me! Is that why you didn't let me come? You... expect to find her dead?!”
“Yeah, I knew that, but ... but that wasn't why Narhad wouldn't let us through. The portal...” One of the other guys elbowed him.
“She's a demon! You hope she doesn't kill us someday?” The other guy blurted out.
Jean laid her hands on the goblins. “Go and rest! It's late!”
“We don't follow your orders, Cursed One!”
“It's not an order. I have no intention of babysitting you. I just don't want tears when I assimilate your corpse.”
“No, no! You're not like that! There is no way I'm letting you go in there alone!” Erish shouted.
Dih stepped in to try to calm her down. “You too!? You're going to let her get hurt again? Are you going to let her absorb that thing that darkens her soul more and more? Jean would never say that! She...”
“Erish!!! She doesn't remember us! She's not our Jean, but that doesn't mean she doesn't love us! Now, let's go!”
Dih gently pushed her to the village. “But she...”
Jean turned away to avoid looking at her disappointed face. She had mixed feelings. She had less and less interest in her friends.
“[Don't let their fear of who you are now change you! Don't let your goals be influenced. They are still your friends and you are still important to them, but...]”
“It's not that!”
“[...]”
“Something inside me pushes me to be alone! I feel that people hinder my resolution! Everyone is a burden! I myself don't understand what has changed!”
“[Don't nurture such ideas! You need a divine relic as soon as possible! Your inclination towards darkness is too intense with 4 cursed relics inside you!]”
She nodded. “Is there any divine relic I can assimilate without it killing me?!”
“[I think Zattank has one between his personal possessions.]”
“Okay! How powerful is an angel?”
“[Relax! It's absurd for you to even think about that.]”
“Then, how can I ...”
[Mission: ?Create a distraction and steal the Lumiath relic from the Celestial Zattank!?]
“[Interesting!]”
“Interesting?! That's all you have to say? Why does the system seem to constantly challenge me?”
“[The Gods are constantly watching us, child.]”
“Gods?” Jean stared at the starry sky with a frown. “What do they want from me?”
“[You are looking in the wrong direction. Everything is connected to the system, and the system to the Gods.]”
“And I'm actually talking to one, right?”
“[I appreciate the compliment, but I am not a ...]”
“… God yet!”
“[I told you. Don't gamble. It's not your thing.]”
“Are you a demon who wants to destroy them? A celestial tired of seeing how his peers stand idly by in the face of evil?”
“[I'm an ally! Permanent, if you want.]”
Jean didn't think it was enough just to wish for it. She was sure there was a lot of fine print. “Yeah, sure!”
“[Perfect! Leave Zattank for now. You need a hell of a lot more power and the Chameleon skill vastly upgraded to outwit his defenses and steal it from under his nose. Or did you think I'd keep it away from him?"]
Jean nodded in silent disappointment. She needed to keep being underestimated. Improving her attributes without leveling up seemed like a good way to do it.
”Okay! I'll explore as far as I can!”
“[I like that you still have that positive attitude after your last confrontation, but maybe you should do more preparation.]”
“No! I felt weak against Choog and I plan to change it now!”
“[Don't punish yourself! His symbiosis with the cursed relic was deep!]”
“Why was it better than mine?”
“[Don't mistake symbiosis with bonding. Besides, Cursed Frenzy is not a minor relic like the others. When you try it, you will understand. But be careful!]”
“Will it try to control me?”
“[In a manner of speaking, yes! Just stand firm and don't let it control you! Use it only in an emergency].”
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Jean nodded as a smile appeared. She shivered with excitement at the thought of testing it.
“[Do you even hear me when I talk to you?]”
Jean entered the forest with a broad smile. “Of course I do…”
“[Wait a minute! You're not actually thinking of trying to get the mission reward, are you? You won't be able to survive a fight against Ak-Crest for 60 seconds.]”
Jean smiled even wider.
“[Are you out of your mind?! He'll kill you in an instant! You can't manifest your chains or the overpowered advantage that Cursed Binding gives you! How you do you plan to close the gap between you and them.]”
“Them?”
“[Did you think he would be alone? A king has a personal guard.]”
“You know... Back on Earth people always told me I was just a pretty face. A good-for-nothing. I closed a lot of mouths when no one expected me to pass with flying colors in my first year of college. When I placed first in the swimming championship, when I worked on my vacations because I couldn't afford college, when...”
“[What's the point?]”
“I love being underestimated!”
“[Why bother to prove anything to them?]”
“To them? Never!”
Jean clenched her fists as her eyes glazed over. “I know he is watching me!”
“[Joseph?]”
“Yes! My father!”
“[I like you as you are now, so… do yourself a favor. Don't screw up by getting drunk on power.]”
Jean ventured into the forest. The goblins that had fought bravely against Dih and Al-Hek were now fleeing because of her presence. That didn't inflate her ego. In fact, it made her wary.
The few who remained hid behind the stone ruins of a splendorous past. By the voussoirs of the scattered arches and the large stone ashlars partially engulfed by the undergrowth, there must have stood a tall and beautiful city. The entrance of the dungeon in the distance had probably been part of a castle hundreds of years ago.
Stronger goblins soon appeared to cut her off. Jean wasn't too happy about breaking into anyone's house, but from the sadistic faces of the goblins, they didn't mind her being there.
?Goblin Soldier?
Level 18
Name: One Eye
Marks: [Human Killer], [Torturer]
Details: This creature alone doesn't pose a real threat to you.
Highest Attribute (Strength): 29
Their clothes, armor and weapons were still primitive. However, several of them had some rusty steel swords with them. They probably belonged to the adventurers who never made it out of there alive.
Jean didn't need any weapons, she simply imitated the fighting stances she had seen Dih perform. She liked to watch her fight; she kept learning new things.
The goblins charged even though the level difference was disproportionate. Perhaps they thought they could overcome the difference by attacking her from all directions with their poisoned weapons.
The first ones to reach her tested the ground after a sweep. Cursed Armor allowed her to endure their attacks while Cursed Manage easily converted the poison into energy for Cursed Graveyard. She also tried to activate Cursed Binding, but it only worked for the tenths of a second that she maintained contact with their skin.
At no time did she kill any of them. Close blows to the shoulders and groins allowed her to incapacitate them without too much trouble. She even allowed herself the luxury of practicing her blocking skills just as she had seen Dih do.
In the end, more than 50 goblins bellowed in pain around her. Only a few goblins were still coughing defiantly as they dragged their broken limbs. Most of them had already given up and were panting on the ground, more and more cursed.
When she saw that the corruption had spread greatly, she began to execute them one by one. Cursed Cemetery reached 82% by sacrificing half of them to replenish it. The other half ended up in ashes.
[You have defeated Goblin Soldier. Level 18.] x25.
[You have defeated Goblin Soldier. Level 19.] x36.
[You have acquired +2 Strength, +1 Endurance.]
[You have learned Efficient — Level 1.
Trait of individuals trained in combat. You consume 5% less Stamina.]
[You have learned Evil Seed — Level 1.
You have discovered a trait of creatures born in a demonic dungeon. Your mana and stamina regeneration increases by 5%.]
[You have learned Cursed Efficiency — Level 9. Unique Skill. Combines the effects of:
? Efficient
? Evil Seed
? Source's Link.
Your Stamina and Mana regeneration is now 100% higher. You lose the individual effects of the previous ones.]
[Cursed Rush, Cursed Tenacity and Psychic Scream have increased up to level 3.]
[Swift Strike has increased up to level 7.]
[Cursed Perception and Cursed Search have increased up to level 7. Rank 2.]
[Cursed Armor has increased to level 3. Rank 3.]
[Pupil of Evil and Hunger for Evil have increased to level 8. Rank 3.]
“Let's check out how much my attributes have grown.”
Status
Strength: 40
Dexterity: 36
Vitality: 61
Endurance: 35
Intelligence: 57
Willpower: 85
Perception: 26
After a quick calculation, she realized that she had practically the equivalent in attributes to a level 54. It wasn't a bad feeling, but she only excelled in Willpower, and even that hadn’t been enough against Jerok. In fact, she barely made it. That combat gave her a new perspective.
It was useful to learn to defend herself in unarmed combat, but she doubted that it would be of much use against something as powerful as the Goblin King. She needed a strategy that would allow her to take down several adversaries without the need to corrupt them.
More goblins appeared only to hide again. Jean didn't plan to waste time waiting for them to decide to attack again, she simply advanced towards the huge hole that indicated the entrance to the dungeon. It could easily fit a bus.
As she moved closer, she analyzed the scattering of the eroded stone blocks. It looked as if the hole had been tunneled from the inside out, as if a giant creature had dug up to the surface and destroyed part of the castle.
Out of curiosity, she cast Soul Collector. The place was littered with souls. None where her fighting occurred, so she deduced that the goblins didn't have a soul as such.
Before she could get lost in the map, they surrounded her again from both directions. This time it was not only goblin soldiers that came out, mixed among them were a few veterans. Their weapons and armor were of low quality iron.
?Veteran Goblin Soldier?
Level 31
Name: Spots
Marks: [Human Killer], [Sadist], [Torturer]
Details: This creature can pose a threat to you in a group.
Highest Attribute (Strength): 46
Dozens of them attacked in droves. After conjuring Cursed Tenacity and boosting her Intelligence, she let them corner her. They belatedly discovered that the trap was not of their own making. A Psychic Scream pierced their eardrums knocking out the weaker ones. The veteran goblins were the only ones to remain standing, but they alone couldn't stand up to her.
The fate of the weakest was to feed the Cursed Graveyard, the strongest ended up in ashes.
[You have defeated Goblin Soldier. Level 30.] x31.
[You have defeated Veteran Goblin Soldier. Level 31.] x8.
[You have acquired +6 Strength, +1 Dexterity +3 Endurance, +1 Vitality.]
[Cursed Rush, Cursed Tenacity and Psychic Scream have increased up to level 4.]
[Cursed Efficiency has increased to level 10.]
[Cursed Binding has increased to level 8. Rank 2.]
[Cursed Armor has increased to level 4. Rank 3.]
[Pupil of Evil and Hunger for Evil have increased to level 9. Rank 3.]
While disposing of the last corpse, a new goblin appeared accompanying more veterans. The new goblin's weapons and armor were made of steel. He was almost as big as Jean and lacked the aura of inexperience of the rest.
?Elite Goblin Soldier?
Level 48
Name: Slaughterer
Marks: [Human Killer], [Sadist], [Torturer],
Details: This creature represents a threat to be taken into account.
Highest Attribute (Strength): 82
“This is getting interesting!”
