Carl stood on top of the rock and scanned the surroundings with his [Dragon sense]. An ancient landscape unfolded before his eyes.
The towering, ancient trees stretched toward the horizon, and countless pools, both large and small, appeared here and there behind the mountains.
"I didn't expect things like this inside a dungeon. Tsk. I shouldn't have blindly trusted that so-called ancient book from my family. That's the biggest pile of garbage I've ever read."
Then, suddenly, a chill ran down his spine—someone was watching him. He quickly glanced down and spotted a few girls, their eyes fixed on his body.
"Hah, I know! I'm just too handsome…"
Ting!
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[Main Quest]:
– Destroy Arcadia Academy.
– Rewards: ?????
[Side Quest]:
– 1:Clear your first dungeon.
.Reward: ?????
– 2: Kill 10000 goblins(0/1000)
.Reward:?????
Penalty: Suffering from dark spikes for 1 hour.
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[System Notice]
Warning: Don't draw the girl's attention, Carl!
"Oh no!" Carl immediately wrapped himself in his cloak, then bit his nails nonstop in worry.
His voice trembled as if in prayer:
"P-Please, my wife, I'm sorry! Just… don't punish me with those dark spikes. I can't endure that for a whole hour."
"Have mercy, my wife…"
It seemed the system had heard Carl's desperate plea, because another sound rang out right after.
Ting!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Main Quest]:
– Destroy Arcadia Academy.
– Rewards: ?????
[Side Quest]:
– 1:Clear your first dungeon.
.Reward: ?????
– 2: Kill 500 goblins (0/500)
.Reward:?????
.Penalty: Suffering dark spikes for 2 hours.
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[System Notice]
• You should have noticed your actions, I'll be jealous and have no mercy anymore!
Carl let out a deep breath, shaking off his worry. Just the thought of suffering through those dark spikes made him want to die. Still, he had endured it once before, back when they first met. He rubbed his chest to calm himself and glanced around cautiously, trying to bury his entire body inside the cloak.
"I have to go."
He leapt from the top of the rock, sliding down the mountain slope. Before long, he reached the edge of the ancient forest.
Activating his [Dragon Sense], he scanned the area, then caught sight of a group of candidates, about five hundred meters away.
"I should pick another hunting ground if I don't want those girls staring at my body. Who knows what my wife might do if she gets jealous again! Better play it safe until I find some proper clothes."
"…But, damn, she really is cute when she's jealous."
Carl drifted into a lovestruck daze, lost in thoughts of his wife. But then he snapped out of it and refocused on his mission. Failure wasn't an option—another punishment from the system was the last thing he wanted.
He dashed deeper into the ancient forest, brushing past sticky thorn bushes. Strange creatures crossed his path—beasts he had never seen outside the dungeon. It seemed they could only exist in this sweltering environment, deep within. That explained why he'd never encountered them before.
Though curiosity tugged at him, he quickly suppressed it and pressed on with his mission. He could always explore later—after he survived.
Soon, he broke into a vast hunting ground teeming with goblins. If he could take them all down, it would be more than enough to complete his mission.
"I'll make a mistake if I pay attention to all of them. I should lure one to come here and test its strength."
Carl hid behind an ancient tree, then peeked at the goblin nearby.
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[Inventory]
Slot 1: Mana Stone (Common) ×1
Slot 2: Water Flask ×1
Slot 3: Gold Coin ×1
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He stared at the screen for a while and pulled out a mana stone from his inventory.
"As far as I know, the goblin's favorite is mana stones."
He placed the mana stone on the ground by the ancient tree at just the right spot, enough for its scent to linger and draw a goblin over.
He drew his sword, ready to slash the goblin at any moment. Waiting for the right time, he hid himself behind another ancient tree nearby.
He looked around cautiously. After about five minutes, a goblin finally showed up, wandering toward the tree where Carl had left the mana stone.
It twitched its nose, sniffing for the faint scent of mana stone drifting in the air, without the slightest caution. It looked rather stupid and careless.
"Arg!" Suddenly, it stopped sniffing and focused on something, as if it had noticed something unusual. Yet the scent of the mana stone quickly pulled its attention back. It shuffled closer, licking its lips, drool hanging off its tongue.
At last, it snatched up the mana stone and held it in its palm, then began performing some strange dance—one that no outsider could possibly understand if they weren't part of its culture.
Eventually, it stopped its strange performance in satisfaction, as if it had just completed some kind of ritual. It opened its mouth wide, showing jagged, yellow teeth, ready to bite into the mana stone.
However, before it could finish its act, an arc of light sliced through its throat, leaving behind a crimson line. Blood dripped down right after.
Tap!
Carl stepped along the fresh grass walkway, approaching the goblin that was now nothing more than a soulless shell.
[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [1/500]
"Ah, damn it! I forgot—I should've tested its real strength first. Attacking like a coward means it's bound to die too easily."
A few seconds later, he let out a sigh.
"Never mind, since it didn't eat the mana stone yet, I can still try again."
He bent down near the corpse and picked up the mana stone, but then decided to test one more thing.
[Soul-Devouring Flame activated!]
Carl exhaled, spitting out a blue flame. The fire quickly rushed forward, wrapping around the goblin's body like a snake tightening its prey.
He didn't expect much from the goblin's soul energy. After all, creatures like goblins were nearly worthless compared to advanced beings like humans. He figured there wouldn't be anything to gain.
[System]: Target offered no resistance.
In less than half a second—
[System]: Target has died. The soul cannot be devoured.