"Damn! It makes me look like such a silly clown." Carl crumbled.
Actually, once a creature was dead, he guessed its soul had already vanished from this world. He should've left the goblin on the brink of death, so he could use the Soul-Devouring Flame without any issue.
However, there were tons of goblins in the hunting area, so he didn't really need to worry.
If he failed, he would just start again and again. He was no longer in that situation where he had to stay perfect all the time.
He wouldn't be tormented by failure anymore. Yet, the obsession from his bad childhood had left an unhealed scar inside him.
"Come to think of it, I just feel tired and in pain."
Carl let out a long sigh before placing the mana stone on the ground beside an ancient tree, then breathed a small flame to erase the corpse. He didn't want the next goblin to notice anything strange here.
Cleaning up all the traces of the previous fight was a good option.
"Alright! Just wait." Carl snapped out of the sad mood and looked at his trap with pride.
He quickly slipped back into the bushes not far away and stayed ready at any moment.
Before long, the next unlucky goblin showed up at the ancient tree where Carl had placed the mana stone.
This time, he wouldn't mess it up. He instantly leapt out of the bushes and landed close to where the goblin was standing, staring in shock at Carl's sudden appearance.
But the goblin quickly shifted into a fighting stance as soon as it realized it was facing the same F-rank as itself. Like every other brainless goblin, it lunged at Carl without thinking, its face twisted with hungry desire.
Yes, all monsters in the dungeon could boost their strength by eating humans—just as humans could by killing monsters.
If mana stones were a monster's "normal meal," then humans were a fancy delicacy.
But right now, that hunger had completely overwhelmed its mind as it wielded its stick at him wildly.
"Why would I expect anything else from a stupid monster like this? Its brain only holds one thing right now—eat me."
Carl moved swiftly, knocking aside the goblin's crude stick. But then his eyes narrowed as the goblin suddenly abandoned its weapon and lunged at him with sharp nails instead.
In truth, monsters never cared about polite or honorable combat. Their only goal was to kill. Their fighting style was savage and wild. If some noble who lived in luxury ever faced this kind of battle, they'd be stunned on the spot—or worse, dead before those despicable methods.
Of course, Carl wasn't that kind of fool.
To him, this goblin was an opponent, not a prey. He always fought with full force from the start and finished his enemies as quickly as possible, by any method necessary.
He gave up an honorable, fair combat style—because that wasn't the way to survive.
[Flame Breath activated!]
Carl focused his mana through his lungs and blew a large flame at the goblin, right as it was about to strike him cowardly.
Carl's flame completely engulfed the goblin, which had no time to show a shred of emotion, and Carl didn't need to see its horrified face to feel satisfied.
The goblin screamed and thrashed around in desperation, trying to snuff out the fire. Of course, Carl wouldn't let that happen—he immediately drove his sword forward, piercing the goblin's belly and pinning it to the ground.
"Die!"
Soon, the goblin's desperate howls echoed through the forest no more, signaling its life had come to an end.
[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [2/500]
Carl frowned as he looked at the corpse, then shuddered.
"Guess I should hurry up. It's already afternoon."
After assessing the goblin's actual strength and wit, he could roughly measure the chance of completing his mission.
He smirked.
"100%."
Then he caught the noise of goblins approaching. They must have realized what happened after hearing their friend's painful scream.
At this point, their arrival was a matter of seconds.
"No matter! That's good for me." Carl glanced at the forest around him and grinned slyly.
"Because this environment is on my side."
His attention instantly shifted to a few goblins behind him. Naturally, their numbers would only grow with time.
Without hesitation, they lunged at Carl.
He smiled faintly, then he darted to a nearby ancient tree and, at the same time, swung a flurry of strikes at the goblins trying to block his path.
[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [3/500]
…
[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [6/500]
He quickly climbed up the tree, his fingers turning into dragon-like claws that dug into the bark.
After five minutes of climbing, he glanced down at the goblins at the base of the ancient tree before leaping into the air.
Time seemed to freeze for him as he took a look at the crowd below. His body was nearly transformed into a Half-dragon.
His lungs heaved in rhythm with his chest muscles, a streak of flame overflowing from his mouth.
Finally, he spun in the air and unleashed a massive burst of fire, engulfing everything within the flame's reach—at least 100 meters. But the fire would spread even further, thanks to the countless flammable materials all around.
Although he was only F-Rank, he could still do a lot. But this was a forest. And the wood would be the fuel for his flame, making it stronger and more destructive than ever.
He just needed to light a single spark, and the forest would take care of the rest.
Standing on one of the branches of a burning ancient tree, Carl simply looked down and enjoyed the result.
[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [7/500]
[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [8/500]
…
[System]: You have slain a Goblin. [30/500]
…
[System Notice]: That's cheating.
"No… no… that's not cheating. You see, my honey? They're completely burned by my flame."
Carl raised the corner of his lips as he watched his mission progress shoot up at a ridiculous speed. He didn't even need to face them anymore—just watched the goblins dance in that maniacal waltz of death.