The elite goblin raised his huge steel sword, bragging in front of the veterans. Yet, his bloodshot eyes and wicked grin were fixed on Jean.
“Despite their levels, these goblins have no skills or magic. How have they managed to defeat adventurers? Thanks to their numbers?”
“[It's normal that you don't see many skills. This is the low breed of the goblins.]”
Jean couldn't help but widen her eyes. “Low breed?! He's an elite!!”
The elite goblin shouted to the others as if for an instant he had smelled fear on her. They all coordinated to surround her, but Jean was about to deflate their egos.
She clenched both fists and charged Demolishing Blow in her right hand. She then rushed forward with her arms crossed, but not before paving the way with a Psychic Scream. The mob of goblins ended up on their knees. The veterans were slightly dazed and the elite barely turned his head, as if her attack was nothing more than a car horn.
Before Jean reached him, the elite made a vertical slash with all his strength, demonstrating a good response speed. A glow traveled through his weapon until it ended up cutting the surface of the ground in the direction of the attack.
A slight turn to the right was all it took to dodge the attack. She didn't even need to decelerate. Seconds later, the elite's right shoulder disjointed and his arm bent in a direction it couldn’t afford. The impact extended to his ribs, fracturing them. His weapon fell to the ground and his screams flooded the cavern.
The combination of Cursed Punish and Demolishing Blow sank his nose, giving him the calm he needed to take a quick nap. After falling to the ground, he couldn't stop her from completely destroying his other arm and legs. He was now ready for a good dose of Cursed Binding.
Panic spread among some of the veterans and chaos ensued. The braver ones attacked with hesitation, but only until they saw their comrades fleeing. They then froze in terror. Jean ignored them and went after the fleeing cowards. A sustained psychic scream augmented with Cursed Tenacity forced everyone to cover their ears. The blood in their noses and ears soon accompanied the blood in their legs and arms. None of them got very far.
“I feel let down! The whispers assured me that they could pose a threat.”
“[With your level of Identify, the whispers base their calculations on attributes. These goblins have a lot of Vitality and Strength. Fighting is not their specialty. They purpose is to feed the dungeon master.]”
“So these are their sheep…”, she mumbled. Was getting in there suicide?
New goblins arrived as Jean reduced the elite goblin to ashes. Five veterans and two elites. Each with a steel greatsword.
[You have defeated Elite Goblin Soldier Goblin. Level 48]
[You have acquired +1 Strength, +1 Endurance, +1 Vitality.]
[You have learned Mist Slash— Level 1.
Multiple enemies and you only have one edged weapon? This will make it easier. You project the slash in an energy blast that loses power as it moves away.]
[Demolishing Blow has increased to level 3.]
Her curiosity got the better of her and she picked up the elite goblin's steel greatsword. It was heavy, but not so heavy as to be uncomfortable to swing.
The goblins hesitated when they saw her brandish the weapon. Even more so when they realized that she had arrived there unarmed. This encouraged Jean to attack, conjuring Cursed Tenacity to increase her Strength.
The elite goblins charged a vertical Mist Slash as the veterans cut her off by surrounding her, ready to pounce on her as soon as she was hit. Sparks from the two attacks flew across the ground in her direction, but she was no longer at the end of the path. She dashed away with Cursed Rush and then executed a horizontal Mist Slash at ground level.
The first elite goblin lost his feet on the spot. The one behind received deep cuts to the bone. As they fell, Jean chained another horizontal attack towards the veterans. After reducing their bravery to knee level, their arms followed. Before they bled to death, she corrupted them and recharged Cursed Graveyard.
[Mist Slash has increased to level 2.]
[Cursed Rush has increased to level 5.]
[Cursed Efficiency has increased to level 10.]
“This is frustrating! I came here for their attributes, but I get almost nothing after degrading their bodies with corruption. I need a skill that allows me to...!”
“[Don't worry, you've only covered 70 meters of the dungeon and there are kilometers here. You won't be short of material.]”
“I don't like to waste material.”
After gathering away all the corruption spreading in them, no goblin arrived to fill the silence. It was at that moment that she had the time to appreciate for the first time some symbols painted in red on the stone walls of the huge cave.
“What the hell are these drawings? Cave art?”
Runes very different from any she had seen so far. Also small silhouettes of goblins with different characteristics and one larger than the others. One that didn't look like a goblin. It had horns.
“Is the goblin king?”
Faced with his silence, she moved on. She discovered branching paths that led to the outside. She didn't take them when she saw goblin soldiers in the distance. She preferred to leave them for what they were. Food for Cursed Graveyard.
When she detected a commotion and an unpleasant smell, Jean conjured Chameleon. The map of the dungeon expanded into a large hollow filled with a large red mist. The smell of roasting meat became so strong that she almost threw up. “Yuck! Are they really cooking…?”
Peeking out of the corner of her eye, and still channeling Chameleon, she saw that about 60 individuals were eating there. Huddled around three bonfires that continually roasted young goblins on the spit, forming a kind of huge picnic area.
Nearby, and on higher ground, nearly a dozen elite goblins were eating together.
Jean intended to backtrack to plan something when from another route came a creature different from the ones seen so far. At first it looked like a shaman, but after concentrating, she noticed that his body did not look weak at all. His skin tone was reddish and two small goat-like horns protruded from his head. One was larger than the other. He carried a staff that almost looked like a spear and dirty rags covered him almost completely.
?Demon Goblin?
Level 41
Name: Sharp Horn
Marks: [Killer], [Sadist], [Torturer]
Details: This creature represents a threat to be taken into account.
Highest Attribute (Strength): 62
Whispers murmured danger as she focused on him, and the roar inside her shook her. Even the chains tried to manifest themselves without result. Sharp Horn had demonic blood and his power wasn't like the others.
Sharp Horn began to give orders and a great silence settled in. A group of about 20 veteran goblins and an elite rushed off the way he had come. Where were they going? They looked ready to fight.
Jean asked the whispers why the elites obeyed him so willingly. They were concise. Hierarchy and power. She wanted to fight him even though the whispers warned her that Sharp Horn was the equal of an aspirant adventurer among the goblins. He possessed enough skills and power to not disappoint her, but it was a terrible idea to fight him with such a numerical disadvantage.
Jean retreated for the moment. She needed a ruse to isolate him. However, her plans were about to fall apart. She was so focused on Sharp Horn that she didn't notice a huge group of goblins advancing toward the dining area. She tried to sneak away, but they rapidly detected her scent. She was quickly surrounded as one slipped away to raise the alarm.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Jean let fear wash over her, but the roar inside her spurred her on. She couldn’t make the same mistake as with Choog; doubt had almost been her undoing. Besides, those who ate their own kind deserved no compassion.
The dance between them and her new sword began. Their shrill cries of pain led the melody just before the orchestra arrived. A wave of over fifty veteran goblins and three elites. Among them, the demon goblin. His shouts resembled the concertmaster's orders; no one was willing to disobey them.
Jean didn't show her hand yet. She incapacitated everyone in her path, but she didn't kill them. She let corruption slowly take over their bodies. She would need to replenish her reserves of corruption if she wanted to make good use of them in the middle of the real fight.
The wave of goblins soon fell without seriously harming Jean. Sharp Horn's rage reached his limit when he was left with barely a quarter of his troops. He slammed the ground with the shaft of the staff as it projected a blade of flames that overlapped the tip. Now it did look like a spear.
With a devilish look, he grabbed his staff with both hands and pointed it at Jean. Whispers warned her to protect herself. Jean hesitated as his fellow goblins were still in the way. The whispers didn't warn in vain. It didn't take a second for the tip of the weapon to light up and a meter wide stream of flames to reach everything in its path.
After calcining everyone it encountered, the blast of fire quickly lost its power until it became an insignificant thread of fire. Jean managed to avoid much of the damage thanks to a barrier. Most of the goblins on the other hand, writhed in pain from severe burns. The ones she had corrupted didn’t survive.
She stepped back to heal the minor burns. Her hair hadn't suffered the same fate, more than half of her mane was gone. “Bastard!”
He laughed arrogantly to conceal something that Jean was quick to notice; his breathing was heavier. The powerful attack had come at a great cost, yet Sharp Horn wasn't about to stand by and let her heal without consequence either. The tip of his flame staff took on a green hue. After hitting the ground, a vibrating halo spread through the ground.
The green glow began to run through the dead goblins. It was so slow that she had time to heal herself and start charging Demolishing Blow . She gave up when she saw every dead goblin begin to rise. There were too many to reach him and at that distance he could easily strike back with the flame burst again.
She backed up to a turn and hid behind. There, she conjured Cameleon and poked her head out. The movements of the dead were slow. They were crawling together into a single point, merging into a mass of death a meter away from Sharp Horn. That was trouble.
?Meat Golem?
Level 41
Details: This creature represents a threat to be taken into account.
Highest Attribute (Strength): 93
Jean took advantage of the invisibility to approach with Cursed Rush. In a couple of seconds, she was only five meters away from him, channeling a Psychic Scream boosted with Cursed Tenacity. However, her footsteps were not imperceptible, and the still unfinished golem raised its arms.
She managed to slow it down thanks to the few still moribund goblins that made it up while Sharp Horn shook his head with his eyes closed, unable to concentrate on casting magic.
She charged again, planning to ram him with the sword and then finish him off. She had to change her mind when the whispers screamed madly; Sharp Horn had more than magic in her arsenal.
After opening his eyes and gritting his teeth, he performed a horizontal Mist Slash powered by the flame of his staff. Jean tried to dodge it, but she was too close. The attack hit her squarely in the side despite sacrificing the greatsword, pushing her against the wall. As she intended to roll to dodge another but vertical attack, pain hindered her. Her left arm was exposed, ending up almost amputated but still attached by the biceps tendon.
Blood gushed out as the whispers warned her again. Another attack was being charged as she tried to heal her arm. A boosted Psychic Scream at the precise timing managed to make him miss the attack, but another was being prepared as she spread corruption across her arm to make the healing twice as effective with less mana.
“Shit! I need more time…!”
On the verge of panic, she began to run in circles keeping up the scream. She finished healing her arm in exchange for leaving a trail of blood. When she was able to close her fist, she tried to charge Demolishing Blow. However, maintaining the shout, building up power and healing at the same time was unsustainable. Her mana would end up in the red.
“Shit, shit! I'm not going to fall here! What can I... Cursed Frenzy!!”
Just by wishing it so, spikes began to form from her armor around her first. The phenomenon merged until it formed two huge 25-centimeter claws over her knuckles. Not like Wolverine's claws, but more like Predator's. As soon as she felt the power coursing through her, an intoxicating homicidal frenzy took over. A maddened voice inside her screamed for blood and poisoned her being with a monstrous hunger.
“This is what he meant?”
Jean charged Mist Slash while trying to maintain her sanity and the Psychic Scream, but it eventually weakened just enough for Sharp Horn to break free, retreating with two deep cuts in his chest and right arm. However, the blood didn't flow for long. He, too, could heal at great speed as the tip of his staff once again burned with devastating power.
Jean dodged the blazing Mist Slash by the skin of her teeth with a feint that closed the distance. She turned invisible and attacked from the side taking advantage of him giving an order to the half-formed golem.
Although that deformed mass only had arms, it was more than enough to try to swat her like a gnat. However, evading its master made the attack slow and predictable, which Jean used to her advantage. When both hands were about to crush her, she jumped back as she pulled Sharp Horn. The latter's eyes widened when he realized that he would end up taking Jean's place.
Screams flooded the cave. His organs burst and his bones creaked as the meat golem remained frozen rigid. A light engulfed him in a desperate attempt to heal. Jean reacted instantly. The claws pushed her to violence with such intensity that resistance was unthinkable.
A minute later in which she nearly lost control multiple times, the golem fell apart, marking the end of its master. Jean deactivated Cursed Frenzy immediately, but it wasn't that easy. It took several seconds for the bloodlust and hunger to leave. Not even minutes later they were completely gone.
[You have defeated Veteran Goblin Soldier. Level 32] x68
[You have defeated Elite Goblin Soldier. Level 48] x6
[You have defeated Demon Goblin. Level 41]
[Experience bonus awarded for killing creatures corrupted by evil.]
[You have reached Level 35. +5 attribute points.]
[You have acquired +5 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +1 Vitality, +3 Endurance, +1 Intelligence, +3 Perception.]
[You have learned Cursed Needle — Level 1.
Trouble manifesting your cursed skills outside of Nimireth's dungeon? You create a tiny projectile of mana that can be imbued with any cursed skill from your repertoire.]
“At last! I thought you weren't listening to me anymore!”
[You have learned Meat Golem — Level 1.
It will not manifest as an independent skill, it will be combined with Cursed Servant.]
[You have learned Cone of Fire — Level 1.
It will not manifest as an independent skill, it will be combined with Elemental Curse.
Your combinations with fire are 10% more powerful.]
[Pain Resistance and Cursed Frenzy have increased to level 2.]
[Elemental Curse has increased to level 4.]
[Cursed Rush, Cursed Tenacity and Psychic Scream have increased to level 5.]
[Rapid Assault has increased to level 9.]
[Cursed Efficiency has increased to level 1. Rank 2.
Your Stamina and Mana Regeneration is 150% higher.]
[Cursed Binding has increased to level 9. Rank 2.]
[Cursed Armor and Cursed Healing have increased to level 5. Rank 3.]
[Cursed Perception and Cursed Search have increased to level 8. Rank 2.]
[Pupil of Evil and Hunger for Evil have increased to level 10. Rank 3.]
“I escaped by the skin of my teeth! If I had let my guard down for a second, the golem would have crushed me! ... ... ... Hey? Won't you say anything Keeper of Souls? ... ... ... Where the hell has he gone?”
Jean looked in all directions in case more new enemies appeared, but he still remained silent. That made her nervous. When Al-Hek was wounded, the same thing happened.
She was thinking of looking for the way out when the beast inside him roared again. On the path ahead, something large and rather hulking loomed. Identify didn't answer because of the distance, but she didn't plan to get any closer.
Jean conjured Chameleon and ran inside the dungeon to throw it off, she needed to find a detour to get back out and calm down. Cursed Frenzy's anxiety had not yet worn off and she couldn't concentrate at 100%.
“I don't have time for this.”
