My first mana bolt was been infused with quite a lot of mana. I wanted to be sure it would take out the goblin I’d been aiming for, and I’d worried it wouldn’t be able to cross the roughly 40 meter gap between me and my target. The spell upgrade had proven it’s worth though, and the goblins head was still been caved in by the force of the bolt.

  I fire off another one, but at this range the alerted enemies had plenty of time to get out of the way. Thinking quick, I instead aim for the archers who had much less room to move on their perches. I take out one of the two that I could see before the goblin guards were close enough to draw my attention back to them. I send a mana bolt into the face of one of them, and raise the wooden club I’d been carrying to level the charge of the other.

  It’s weapon slams against mine, and we are nearly even in strength. It likely has a higher level, but my titles come in clutch to make up for the difference. I quickly move my club to the side, throwing the goblin guard off balance and causing him to stumble forward towards me. I place my hand on the side of his head and cast mana bolt, sending the attack into his head point blank and saving me from needing to use the much stronger mana blast.

  With the three guards down, my main worries for now were dealt with. The three from the other side of the wall would no doubt be here soon, but I would deal with them when they did.

  I traded out my club for the spiked one the guard had been carrying and began running to the left. The archer I’d killed had been on the right corner, and I wanted to get close enough that I could take out the other archer with as few missed shots as possible. After firing off 3 bolts, I manage to down that archer as well.

  The entire city of goblins now seems well aware of my presence, but that didn’t mean the advantage of stealth was completely lost. I back up into the tree line again, circling the city. I spot one of the guards from the other side running along the length of the wall, and I figure the other two must have gone around the other way. Lucky me, I could single this one out. I shout to get its attention, and it turns and begins running my way. With a well timed block and a mana bolt, that foe is put down too.

  I now have another one of the archer perches in my sight, though no archer was on it. They must have at least realized that I was staying far enough away to be out of their range. I grin, knowing that they’d done exactly what I’d been hoping. I run towards the walls, getting within just a few meters of it. I run around the edge until one of the two entrances comes into view. It was the one opposite of where I’d initially begun my attack, which meant that the guards who’d been here had left to go deal with me, and they still thought I was on the other side.

  I try to push open the door, only for it to not budge an inch. I frown, realizing they must have barricaded it. Had the other guards run to the other side? Maybe they decided to bunker down and wait for me to leave, or to try and attack them on their own turf.

  Well, I think you can guess which option I was about to pick.

  Since the wall wasn’t too much higher than my head, all I need to do is get to one of the corners and pull myself on top of it, right onto one of the archer perches.

  My eyes scan the horde of goblins within the walls. Most held melee weapons, and I shot a bolt of mana towards any that held a bow. Some started throwing things at me, so I start running along the top of the wall.

  The wall itself wasn’t very thick. Only about 30 centimeters. That was enough for me to treat it like a very thick balancing beam though, and with coordination that was almost certainly assisted by my stats, I run across the wall without falling.

  I have a pretty good view of the city now, though I am curious . To me it didn’t look like much more than an outpost. There are tents scattered around, a few campfires with meat cooking over them, and one wooden building that doesn't appear to have anybody guarding it.

  The entire time I am running, I fire off mana bolt after mana bolt into the crowd, killing goblin after goblin. I spot one particular big bad that looks like it could prove to be a good bit of trouble due to having full leather armor and a shiny metal helmet, but since it wields two short swords, I won't have to worry about it getting me all the way up-

  “Shit!” I shout, diving off the wall and landing in a roll outside the perimeter. The sword that had just been thrown with scary accuracy flies over head, landing somewhere past the tree line. That... that had been thrown far. This goblin clearly had a level of strength exceeding my own by a lot. I take a moment to feel my internal mana reserves, and it was not looking good. I had only a little over half my remaining mana, with my robe having been drained empty. Maybe I’d been a bit too liberal with those mana bolts.

  The gate nearby flies open, and every single surviving goblin floods out towards me. Now, I truly got to see what the system meant when referring to goblins as being strong in a group. The wall of short green creatures swinging clubs in my direction is certainly intimidating. I fired off the remaining mana bolts that I was willing to use, bringing me down to half of my remaining mana.

  Now, only five enemies remained for me to fight. one goblin guard, three goblin scouts, and what I am going to call the goblin leader.

  The guard, being the first to arrive, falls quickly as I dodge its slow strike and bring my own club down onto the top of its head. The two scouts that reach me next go down with a few strikes as well. The last goblin scout, the brave survivor, charges me with all the determination in the world. The determination is quickly squashed, and by that, I mean its head is squashed by my club.

  The final goblin, the leader, had been slowly lumbering towards me this whole time. It didn’t seem like it was that slow due to being unable to move any faster, but due to wanting to have some sort of dramatic effect or something like that.

  I stare the goblin down, and it stares right back at me through the slits in its metal helmet. After a few seconds of this stare down, it charges at me. It must have picked up another sword in the walls after I’d dived, because it once more wielded two of them.

  I steadily back up and clumsily block the attacks sent my way as it slowly begins overwhelming me with its sheer strength. This was clearly not an enemy that I could outmatch in raw power.

  Given its size and strength, I assumed that it must have focused on strength and constitution in its body stat. That meant that I would likely have a slight edge when it came to speed.

  Right as I was about to take advantage of an opening, the monsters' swords began glowing, and with a motion far swifter than he’d managed before, brings them both down in an overhead cleave.

  I raise my club to block, but it doesn't help much. The club gets chopped in half and splinters are sent out in all directions. The goblin's swords impact the dirt, and I see what is probably my best chance at taking this thing down.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I take two quick steps forward, grabbing the back of the goblins helmet. I jam my wand through the slit of the helmet. The wand barely fits, only the first centimeter or so actually managing to penetrate, but that was all I really needed. I cast a mana burst channeled through my wand, and before even taking a moment to see the results I cast it again a split second later.

  I get light headed as I could feel my body almost entirely drained of it’s mana, and I step back as the goblin slumps forward, falling to the ground with a thud.

  *You have cleared a Goblin City (Small)! Would you like to see the full breakdown of enemies defeated?*

  I suck in a breath as I try to recover from the adrenaline rush, and manage to get out a response between breaths.

  “Yes.”

  You have slain goblin scout (level 2-level 5) X18

  You have slain goblin fighter (level 7-level 9) x6

  You have slain goblin archer (level 4-level 7) x4

  You have slain goblin warrior (level 10) x1

  Bonus experience for fighting while outnumbered. Bonus experience for fighting enemies of a higher level. Bonus experience for clearing a small goblin city for the first time.

  *You are now level 9.*

  For reaching level 5, you may select a class relevant skill/spell.

  “Didn’t even reach level 10?” I ask nobody in particular. I wasn’t actually upset about not reaching that level, but it would have been nice considering what I’d just gone through. The goblin leader had apparently been level 10, and it had a significant jump in strength when compared to whichever goblin fighter had been level 9. That makes me think that level 10 may very well be the first milestone at which someone evolves. I wish I'd been able to get that bonus just now, but it definitely was not far off.

  No time to worry about that though, as I apparently had gotten a bonus. I get to pick some kind of skill for reaching level 5. I mentally select that part of the notification, and a screen appears before me.

  Select a skill from the available options.

  Offensive:

  Mana Spike (Common)

  Send forth a spike of mana from your hand, sacrificing damage for penetrative power.

  Basic Two Handed Proficiency (Common)

  Slightly increases the effects of the body stat when wielding a two handed weapon.

  Disrupt (Uncommon)

  Through physical contact, send a shock of mana through the system of your opponent, causing brief but intense pain.

  Defensive:

  Mana Shield (Uncommon)

  Coat yourself in mana, protecting you against physical attacks and slightly protecting you from magical attacks.

  Mana Barrier (Uncommon)

  Coat yourself in mana, protecting you from magical attacks and slightly protecting you from physical attacks.

  Basic Light Armor Proficiency (Common)

  Supportive:

  Active Regeneration (Common)

  Drop into meditation to significantly increase mana recovery rate.

  Passive Regeneration (Common)

  Recover mana slightly faster when out of combat.

  Infusion (Uncommon)

  Infuse your mana into an object.

  Well, that was a lot of choices. What upsets me was that I could only choose one, because almost all of them looked enticing. The light armor proficiency and two handed proficiency didn't appeal to me as much as the others did, but even those sounded like they'd be pretty useful.

  Mana spike seems pretty cool. It definitely would have helped against that goblin warrior, as its armor had basically forced me to find a way to circumvent it entirely rather than break past it. Having some form of armor penetration would certainly have been nice.

  Disrupt seemed alright to distract enemies for a moment, but they’d more than likely just push past the pain and keep attacking. The two defensive skills seem great, with one being focused on physical defense and the other magical. I was leaning towards the shield rather than the barrier, but it was still pretty even.

  The two regeneration skills seem like they’d be nice to have just to make things move along a bit quicker, but overall I didn’t believe that either would be as useful as any of my other options. The same thing went for the infuse skill, as while I felt like it would be absolutely awesome to see what various things did when infused with mana, it just wasn’t as immediately useful to me.

  If I am being totally honest, almost everything on this list seemed like something that I could eventually develop on my own, especially the mana spike and disrupt spells, which basically told me how they were made already. The only two that I would even consider that I didn’t know if I could eventually create myself were the two regeneration skills.

  Right now though, I couldn’t be thinking about what I shouldn’t get due to maybe being able to do it in the future. I should be thinking about what will help me on the next floor, and right now, it was between the two defensive skills.

  I decided to trust my gut, selecting the mana shield. It would help me survive fighting any physically powerful enemies, like the goblin warrior. If his attack with the glowing swords had landed, I can’t guarantee that I’d have lived. The adrenaline rush had been crazy good, but personally I'd like a little more security. Actually, with my level ups now, that warrior probably would have been a breeze.

  I squeeze my hand, feeling the raw strength that I suddenly had. I feel about twice as strong as before, and that didn’t take into account that I was tired from the battle. Wow, these stats really do make all the difference. If my mana wasn’t completely drained, I would have tried casting mana bolt right then and there just to see how much stronger that was.

  I check my status sheet, seeing that indeed most of my stats were nearly twice as high as they had just been.

  Name: River Banks

  Race: Human

  Level: 9

  Class: Mage

  Displayed title: S+ tier pioneer

  Statistics:

  Body: 55 (Agility-Strength-Constitution)

  Mind: 78 (Potency-Capacity-Recovery)

  Spirit: 55 (Perception-Aura-Soul)

  Class Skills: N/A

  Class Spells: Mana Blast (Uncommon), Mana Shield (Uncommon)

  Personal Skills: Basic Mana Manipulation (Common)

  Personal Spells: N/A

  Titles: S+ tier pioneer, S tier populous

  Man, that pioneer title was feeling more and more like cheating. It just made things so much easier. I don't doubt that others would be able to do what I had just done, but having the extra stats just made it so much easier. I was almost certain that eventually the title wouldn’t matter nearly as much, as the +15 to all stats that the two titles gave me would likely become irrelevant in the face of my hundreds of stat points I would have in the near future. The percentage bonus to my stats felt like something that would never stop being useful though.

  I sigh and grab the two swords off of the warriors' corpse. They were of nice quality, and maybe somebody back at the camp could find a use for them. Somebody will probably also find a use for this metal helmet too-

  “Ooooo.... never mind.”

  I gently place the helmet back over the puddle of gore that sat where the warriors' head had once been. I feel a little guilty for giving the monster such a gruesome death, but at least it had likely been quick. I then walk into the goblin city, finding a staircase right in the center.

  I walk down it, and get a different notification than last time.

  Floor 2 Cleared! You can now teleport to the entrance to floor 1, 2, and 3 from any floor entrance or exit. Would you like to continue to floor 3?

  “No, take me back to floor 1.” I say, and the screen disappears before thankfully acknowledging my request and bringing me back to the first floor. As I walk up the staircase and see that the group had once more gotten significantly bigger, I sigh and shake my head. How much bigger was this group going to be getting?