I grabbed a rock as the goblin leaped.
No time to think. No room for fear. Just the weight of stone against my palm and twenty-five dead men whispering advice I didn't ask for.
Don't hesitate.
I stepped forward. Planted my feet. Turned my hips. Everything my grandfather drilled into me before the cancer ate him alive.
The goblin's eyes went wide. It saw my movement too late, already airborne and committed. Its bone weapon cut through empty air where my throat used to be.
I swung up. Put my whole body into it. The rock smashed into the underside of its jaw with a wet crunch that shook my arm.
The shriek died. The goblin's head snapped back. Its neck bent at an angle that made my spine hurt just looking at it. The body flipped backward through the air and slammed into one of the stone pillars.
Something jolted through me. Warm current flooding my muscles, settling in my bones like liquid heat. My skin tingled. My vision sharpened. For one perfect moment, I felt absolutely fucking alive.
The goblin twitched on the ground. Its jaw hung broken. Blood and spit mixed into pink foam. One arm pushed weakly at the stone floor, trying to drag itself away.
I walked toward it. Slow. No rush.
My bare feet made no sound on the cold stone. I stopped to grab the bone shiv it dropped, testing the crude edge with my thumb. Sharp enough to do the job.
The goblin's eyes tracked me, rolling in their sockets. The mindless rage from before was gone. What replaced it was way more satisfying.
Fear.
Pure animal terror.
It recognized the predator. Knew what was coming next.
I stood over it and watched it squirm. Its chest heaved with wheezing, panicked breaths. A gurgling noise escaped its ruined mouth. Might have been begging. I didn't care.
"The only good goblin," I said, "is a dead goblin."
I knelt down. The goblin whimpered. A wet, pathetic sound that almost made me laugh.
The bone shiv slid into its eye socket with barely any resistance. Just a small pop as it pierced the jelly surface and sank into brain underneath. The body went stiff, then slack.
I pulled the makeshift weapon free, wiped it clean on the goblin's rags, and stood.
"Suck it."
Blue text boxes popped up in my vision.
► Hostile Entity Neutralized. [Goblin Scout]
► Experience Points Acquired [+10 EXP]
► Your understanding of raw force has deepened.
My status window appeared without me asking for it. Next to Strength: F(0/25) was a small glowing arrow pointing up. The number was still zero though.
"Arcan. What's this arrow? My Strength is still at zero."
『Congratulations. You killed a starving, brain-dead creature with a rock. Don't get cocky. The arrow means you earned Attribute Experience for your Strength stat.』
I looked at the bloody shiv in my hand. "So I get free stats for fighting?"
『It costs 5 Attribute Points to raise an F-Rank stat by one level. But by doing things related to a stat, like crushing skulls, you can fill that progress bar naturally. It's slow as hell, but it means you're not completely dependent on AP from quests. Now stop admiring your handiwork and check the loot.』
The goblin's body started glowing with a faint, sickly light. It dissolved into particles and vanished completely.
A small crystal no bigger than my thumbnail sat where the corpse used to be. Silver-ish. Pulsing with soft light.
I bent down to grab it. The crystal was warm, vibrating slightly against my skin like something alive.
『That's an Essence Fragment. A minor one. Your first spoil of war.』
I turned the crystal over in my hand. "What do I do with it?"
『Store it. They're usually components for crafting or skill enhancement. But you can also absorb them directly for a small boost to your essentia reserves. When you actually have essentia, that is.』
I sent the fragment to my inventory with a thought. It disappeared from my palm.
"You mentioned essentia before," I said, moving away from where the goblin died. "What is it? Some kind of magic juice?"
『It's the power that lets people in this world become Hunters. Only about fifteen percent of the population has it.』
I stopped walking. "And do I have it?"
The eye icon in my vision narrowed.
『No. You're an anomaly. I am your power source.』
"That sounds limiting."
『It is what it is. You don't have essentia, but you have me. Fair trade considering the alternative was bleeding out in an alley.』
Couldn't argue with that.
I turned my attention to the bone shiv. Crude weapon. About eight inches long with a jagged point and wrapped cloth handle. The bone itself was yellowish-white with weird grooves along its surface.
"Better than nothing," I muttered.
I scanned the chamber now that immediate death wasn't breathing down my neck. The space was massive. A forgotten temple or hall buried under who knew how much earth. Those stone pillars stretched up into darkness, supporting a ceiling I couldn't see.
The weak beam of light from above lit up maybe a tenth of the space. The rest stayed in shadow. Perfect hiding spots for more green bastards.
"How many more of those things are down here?"
『My sensors detect multiple biological signatures. At least five more entities similar to the one you killed, plus several larger signatures I can't identify without more data.』
"Great. Any exits?"
『There's a passage going up about seventy meters to your left. My scans say it eventually connects to the surface.』
I looked that direction. Nothing but darkness. "Can you light the way?"
『I'm a symbiotic analysis system, not a flashlight. But...』
A small window appeared showing an overhead map of the chamber with my position marked. A glowing trail led from where I stood to what looked like the exit.
『Will this suffice, your majesty?』
"It'll work." I started moving, keeping close to the walls. "What are the odds I get out of here without fighting anything else?"
『Given your current naked state, lack of proper weapons, and the distribution of hostiles? About twelve percent.』
"Love the optimism."
『You love sarcasm. I'm programmed for accuracy.』
I kept moving along the perimeter. The map in my vision updated as I went, filling in details as Arcan's scans picked up new information. The exit she mentioned was on the far side of the chamber, which meant crossing a lot of open ground at some point.
"Any way to avoid the others?" I asked quietly.
『Unlikely. Your best route still requires passing within ten meters of at least two more goblins. They appear to be stationary for now. Possibly resting or eating.』
"Perfect. Just how I wanted to spend my first day in a new world. Naked goblin hunting."
『You could try diplomacy.』
"With goblins."
『I said you could try. I didn't say it would work.』
I almost laughed. Almost. The situation was too ridiculous. Died in an alley. Reborn in a cave. Now sneaking around ruins with a sarcastic AI in my head while naked monsters tried to kill me.
This was either the worst isekai experience in history or exactly what I deserved.
The map showed two red dots ahead. They weren't moving. I crept closer, staying behind pillars and keeping my footsteps silent. The stone was cold under my feet. Every breath sounded too loud in the quiet.
I stopped at a pillar about fifteen meters from the nearest red dot. Peeked around the edge.
Two goblins squatted near what looked like a small campfire. Except it wasn't a fire. It was some kind of glowing moss scraped into a pile. The weak green light illuminated their faces as they hunched over something between them.
Another corpse. This one was bigger. Humanoid shape. I couldn't see details from this distance.
The goblins tore into it with their claws and teeth, making wet sounds that echoed off the walls. One of them looked up suddenly, sniffing the air.
I pulled back behind the pillar. Held my breath.
Footsteps. Slow and shuffling. Getting closer.
My hand tightened on the bone shiv I still held. I bent down to grab another rock. Two weapons. Two goblins.
The math wasn't complicated.
The first goblin came around the pillar. Its nose was in the air, sniffing. Those beady black eyes scanned the darkness.
They found me.
The goblin opened its mouth to shriek.
I threw the rock. Hard. It caught the creature in the throat. The shriek turned into a wet gurgle. The goblin stumbled back, clawing at its neck.
The second goblin heard the noise. It came running around the pillar, bone weapon raised.
I was already moving. Stepped inside its guard. The bone shiv in my hand came up and caught it under the ribs. Warm blood spilled over my fingers. The goblin's momentum carried it forward, driving the shiv deeper.
Its eyes went wide. Mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
I twisted the blade and pulled it free. The goblin collapsed.
The first one was still alive, gasping for air with a crushed windpipe. I walked over and stomped on its head. Once. Twice. The skull crunched under my heel.
Blue text boxes appeared again.
► Hostile Entities Neutralized. [Goblin Scout] x2
► Experience Points Acquired [+20 EXP]
► Total EXP: 30/100
► Your understanding of vital strikes has deepened.
Two more glowing crystals appeared where the bodies dissolved.
"Three down," I said. "How many to go?"
『At least three more goblins in your path. The larger signatures haven't moved. They might be deeper in the ruins.』
I wiped goblin blood off my hands onto my legs. Didn't help much. I was covered in gore now. Green and red mixing together in a pattern that would give a horror movie props department ideas.
"Alright." I looked at the map. The exit was closer now. Maybe forty meters.
"Let's keep moving."