Chapter 17
Just when Zen thought that he was done, just when he thought he had achieved victory, the world decided to throw another challenge his way. He quickly sprinted upright, his sword held firmly in his hands, but his breath came in ragged gasps.
"I guess there's no break for a lazy NPC like me, huh," Zen chuckled dryly as beads of sweat trickled down his face while he baited his breath for his next challenge. It didn't take long before his eyes widened in horror.
Stepping into view with a guttural hiss, the beast could finally be seen.
Its wiry green frame was hunched yet quick, like a vulture ready to pounce. The beast stood just under five feet, its limbs lanky and disproportionate, but packed with twitching muscle.
Its skin was a sickly moss-green, leathery in texture and riddled with old scars and boils that oozed a faint, foul-smelling liquid.
A pair of glowing yellow eyes flicked side to side with rapid, erratic movements: feral, intelligent, and bloodthirsty. Jagged teeth lined its wide, sneering mouth, some broken, others too long for its jaw, jutting out like tiny ivory daggers.
In its hand, it clutched a crude weapon: half-rusted blade, half-sharpened bone with its edges stained brown with dried blood.
A cracked, patchwork leather harness covered its chest, strung together with rope, metal scraps, and what looked like human teeth.
It didn't look particularly strong, but it moved fast. It twitched. It sniffed the air like a predator zeroing in on its next meal. And then it grinned, spinning around to glare at the now visibly shaken Zen.
'I don't need the system to tell me the beast type. I already know. Th… th… this is a goblin! I thought they were myths. Right! I'm in a game,' he thought as he took a slight step back and quickly activated his only skill.
{Inspect Activated}
{Name: Goblin}
{Rank: D}
{Health: Stable}
{Veil: none}
{Status: Hostile and ready to kill}
"I don't think I needed you to tell me that it's ready to kill. I already saw that," Zen gulped loudly, his voice trembling under the pressure. The beast didn't even waste a second before it bolted right for him.
'Crap! It's faster than the slime beasts, but slower than the trolls I faced… still too fast!' he screamed internally as the goblin immediately appeared in front of him, swinging its crude sword at him.
'Move your hand,' he chided himself as Zen quickly brought his sword right in front of his face in an attempt to block.
'Argh! Too strong!' he cried internally as he was sent skidding a few inches. Then, without warning, the goblin leapt up above Zen and disappeared from his line of vision, only to reappear directly behind him, already mid-swing with its weapon.
"I'm a pro gaming player, damn it! Your weak tactics won't work on me!" Zen roared as he spun around, meeting the goblin's sword with his own. The clash forced him to skid again, but this time, he noticed something.
'Wait! I'm a little faster? What… oh right! My reward from earlier was a +1 to my AGI stat,' Zen thought as the goblin immediately pulled back and swung its sword again toward the human's neck.
As if sensing it before it happened, Zen ducked just in time. The blade nicked a few strands of his hair as it whistled above his head.
In one smooth, unnerving movement, the goblin swung its knee toward Zen's face, aiming to bash it in. But anticipating the move, Zen brought his sword up in time to block.
Still, his body wasn't strong enough to fully absorb the blow. The force of the strike sent him flying backward, and his arms felt slightly numb from the impact.
"Tchk!" Zen spat blood-tinged saliva to the ground as he staggered to his feet, his breathing ragged. His disheveled hair fell across his eyes, partially veiling the burning glare he threw at the snarling goblin.
A crooked grin curved Zen's lips. "You think cheap tricks will work on me? I've already faced something smarter and nastier than you a somewhat sentient beast." He chuckled darkly, his tone laced with defiance.
But before he could properly recover or adjust his footing, the goblin lunged with astonishing speed...its crude blade a blur of jagged metal.
"Crap!" Zen hissed, instincts kicking in as he barely brought his sword up in time.
CLANG!
CRACK!
A deafening clash erupted as their blades met. Zen's arms trembled from the force. His eyes widened in disbelief as a deep chip split across his sword. The goblin's raw power surged through the blow, forcing Zen backward.
His boots scraped the earth, heels digging twin trenches in the dirt as he struggled to hold ground. The moment he tried to recover, a vicious green foot smashed into his jaw.
THWACK!
A sickening crack rang out as a tooth flew from Zen's mouth, accompanied by a spray of blood. The world spun.
BANG!
His body slammed against a cracked stone wall with bone-jarring force before crumpling face-first to the ground. Blood oozed from a gash on his forehead, dripping down his cheek, pooling in the dust beneath him.
Click... Click... Click...
The sound of footsteps echoed ominously, slow and deliberate. The goblin was enjoying this.
Zen's fingers twitched in pain, his whole body wracked with tremors. His vision swam. A sharp ringing dominated his hearing.
'I… I don't want to die. Not here… not now.'
He clenched his fists.
'Stand up, Zen! Get the hell up! You're not some helpless NPC. You're Zen the Destroyer! Stand up!'
With a guttural cry, Zen threw himself to the side just as the goblin's rusted blade came crashing down.
BOOM!
The sword slammed into the earth, sending up a cloud of dust and gravel. Zen rolled to his knees, wobbling, but alive. Blood streamed down his battered face, and his breathing was shallow but his spirit remained unbroken.
Through strands of hair, he locked eyes with the goblin. In his trembling grip was his chipped sword, held firm with gritted teeth and raw desperation.
The goblin sneered, its yellow eyes gleaming as it licked its jagged blade with sick pleasure.
"If I don't manage to beat you, I won't be called a Reaver so I will use all I have to beat you. As long as I still have breath in me, and my sword is good!" Zen declared as he wafted his sword in the air with a grin when…
With renewed fire, he raised his blade—
Shatter!
A brittle snap echoed through the dungeon.
Zen froze.
Half of his sword clattered to the ground. The tip, chipped and worn, now lay useless at his feet. All that remained in his hand was the hilt and a jagged half-blade.
"Huh?" he whispered, stunned.
The goblin's twisted laughter filled the air.
Then, in a blur of movement, it charged faster than before, murder in its eyes and its blade raised high.
Zen's heart skipped a beat. His eyes widened in disbelief.
"Shit!"