Cassian didn't hesitate. With his Agility pushed to 13, the five-meter gap was nothing.
He moved with a predatory grace that felt alien even to him, his boots barely whispering against the damp soil. But as he crossed the threshold of the clearing, the goblin's ears pinned flat against its skull.
The creature dove to the ground without even turning its head.
It was a clumsy, frantic roll that saved its life.
Cassian's wooden blade hissed through the space where the goblin's neck had been a millisecond prior, instead slamming into the bark of the oak with a sharp thwack.
The goblin scrambled to its feet, letting out a sharp, jagged inhale. It was opening its mouth to shriek, to alert every goblin within a mile.
'Not today.'
Cassian lunged. He didn't even try to do a refined strike this time.
He leveraged his Strength of 11, tackling the creature mid-breath. They slammed into the base of the tree.
The goblin was surprisingly wiry, its muscles like bundles of wet rope, but Cassian's new stats were a physical mandate.
He pinned the creature's throat with his left forearm, the [Squire's Leather Bracer] digging into its windpipe, while his right hand cut the goblin's arm, dropping the flint tool to the ground.
The struggle was brief and ugly. The goblin clawed at Cassian's face, leaving thin red welts on his left cheek, but the strength difference was too great. With a grunt of effort, Cassian drove his knee into the creature's stomach and twisted his sword, driving the hardened wooden tip through its heart.
The goblin gave one final, spasming kick and went still.
[Level 2 Goblin Scout Killed. +20 EXP]
[Experience: 20/40]
Cassian stood up, breathing heavily, and looked at the tree. The carving was deep and jagged, but it was the smell that hit him now. It wasn't just the iron of goblin blood, it was a sharp, acrid stench of ammonia.
He leaned in closer, his nose wrinkling. The goblin hadn't just been carving; it had been urinating on the markings while it worked.
"Great," Cassian muttered, wiping a fleck of green blood from his face. "Two days in a new world and I'm sniffing tree bark that smells like dog piss. I really feel like I'm acting like a sociopath."
The deduction followed the scent. The Goblins weren't just scouting the area; they were expanding their "area" as their numbers increased. This was a boundary line, and based on the freshness of the mark, the expansion was happening now.
He turned back to the corpse. 'Harvest.'
The body dissolved into grey particles.
[Acquired: Goblin Ear x1]
[Modifier Extracted: Sensitive (F)]
Cassian then looked at the ground, picking up the jagged piece of flint the creature had dropped. It was a "discarded" tool now, its purpose finished.
'Extract.'
The flint crumbled into dust in his palm.
[Modifier Extracted: Hardness (F)]
In the distance, the forest groaned. It wasn't the wind but the rhythmic, hollow thump-thump-thump of feet hitting the ground. The scouting phase was over and the expansion force was moving in.
Cassian didn't even think of staying for a minute more. He turned and ran toward the village, his feet light and his mind working faster than his pace.
He reached the village gates twenty minutes later. The sun was fully up now, and the veterans were standing near the fountain, trying to organize a group of thirty terrified survivors into something resembling a militia.
Alex, the man from the training grounds, was shouting instructions when Cassian walked straight up to him.
"You need to get everyone inside the stone buildings," Cassian said, his voice level despite the sweat on his brow.
Alex narrowed his eyes. "Kid, we're busy here. What are you talking about?"
"The woods are marked," Cassian replied, loud enough for the nearby survivors to hear. "Scent-marks. Territory lines. There's a force moving in from the treeline. If you leave these people in the plaza, they're just dead meat. You have to prepare better."
A ripple of panic went through the crowd. Alex looked toward the forest, then back at Cassian. Bypassing questions, he focused on the green blood on Cassian's bracers and the hard look in his eyes.
"Get to the barracks!" Alex roared at the crowd. "Now! Move it!"
As the survivors scrambled toward the limestone dormitory, Cassian drifted toward the edge of the plaza. He had given them the warning, but he wasn't joining the defense line.
He watched as the veterans took positions at the gates. They were the bait. The Goblins would hit the main force, the loud, concentrated group of humans. And in the chaos, when the goblins broke formation to chase down those who panicked or when they retreated to nurse their wounds... Cassian would be waiting.
He slipped behind a cluster of smaller wooden huts near the perimeter. A few minutes passed in silence until the first scream echoed from the treeline.
The attack was a blur of green and brown. A dozen goblins burst from the grass, shrieking. Most hit the veteran's line, but one, a scout already bleeding from an old wound, panicked when it saw the wall of humans and turned, sprinting toward the narrow alley where Cassian was hidden.
The creature was desperate, its breath coming in ragged gasps as it tried to flee the main skirmish. It never saw the shadow move.
Cassian stepped out, his movement fluid. His sword, now bolstered by his increased Strength and Agility, was a blur. He caught the fleeing goblin mid-stride, the blade shearing through its throat.
The creature collapsed without a sound.
[Level 2 Goblin Scout Killed. +20 EXP]
[Experience: 40/40]
[Level up! All attributes increased by 1.]
[5 Stat Points awarded.]
Cassian looked at his hands. They were steady. He felt the hum of the system in his veins, the raw potential of his third level waiting to be shaped.
He opened his panel and immediately dumped all five points into Agility, he needed all the speed he could muster. The world seemed to drag, the sounds of the battle outside the alley becoming a slow-motion cacophony.
He didn't stay in the alley. He became a ghost in the smoke, circling the village perimeter where the chaos was thickest and the veterans were spread thin.
He found two Level 3 Goblin Warriors trying to flank a group of survivors near the grain silos. They were larger than the scouts, carrying crude bone hatchets and wearing patches of cured hide.
Cassian arrived behind the first one and before it could register his presence, he drove the wooden blade through the base of its skull and spun, his 19 Agility allowing him to parry the second warrior's strike effortlessly redirecting the momentum and countering with a precise thrust to the throat.
[Level 3 Goblin Warrior Killed. +40 EXP]
[Level 3 Goblin Warrior Killed. +40 EXP]
[Experience: 80/80]
[Level up! All attributes increased by 1.]
[5 Stat Points awarded.]
He allocated the five points into Agility again, bringing it to 25. His movements were no longer just fast; they were beginning to blur.
He kept moving, drawn by a shrill, piercing noise near the residential huts. He found the three goblins at the wooden shed, two level 2 scouts and a Level 4 'Screamer' that was drawing a deep breath to alert the main raiding party.
Cassian killed the first scout in a single breath, his sword a streak of dark wood. Before the second could even raise its stone knife, he had already pivoted, driving his elbow into its temple, creating a huge dent in its skull.
[Level 2 Goblin Scout Killed. +20 EXP]
[Level 2 Goblin Scout Killed. +20 EXP]
[Experience: 40/160]
The Screamer finally let out its cry, but Cassian was already mid-tackle. He slammed the creature into the wooden wall of the shed, the impact shattering the goblin's ribs. He finished it with a cold, downward thrust.
[Level 4 Goblin Screamer Killed. +80 EXP]
[Experience: 120/160]
He didn't wait. He sprinted toward the southern gate, where a Level 3 Warrior was chasing a panicked teenager.
Cassian intercepted the creature mid-stride, decapitating it with a force that surprised even himself.
[Level 3 Goblin Warrior Killed. +40 EXP]
[Experience: 160/160]
[Level up! All attributes increased by 1.]
[5 Stat Points awarded.]
He spent the next hour in a trance of violence, pouring every point into Agility. He stayed far from the veterans' line, focusing on the stragglers and the wounded runaways.
He moved beyond simple defence, he was now harvesting every goblin life in his path.
He found a pocket of resistance where three Level 4 Screamers were pinned down by a few survivors with pitchforks. He moved through them like a reaper through wheat.
[3x Level 4 Goblin Screamer Killed. +240 EXP]
[2x Level 3 Goblin Warrior Killed. +80 EXP]
[Experience: 320/320]
[Level up! All attributes increased by 1.]
[5 Stat Points awarded.]
By the time the sun began to set, the goblin force realized the village had become a meat grinder. The survivors were emboldened and a "ghost" was thinning their ranks from the rear. They began a frantic retreat toward the treeline.
Cassian chased them. He focused on the Level 5 Vanguards who were trying to cover the retreat with their wooden shields. They were sturdy, but to Cassian's 43 Agility, they were moving through molasses. He circled them, striking the gaps in their armor and harvesting their lives to fuel his final ascent.
[4x Level 5 Goblin Vanguard Killed. +640 EXP]
[Experience: 640/640]
[Level up! All attributes increased by 1.]
[5 Stat Points awarded.]
He stood at the edge of the forest, looking at the blood-slicked needle-grass. The rhythmic thump of the goblin retreat faded into the deep woods. He took his final 5 points and placed them into Vitality, feeling a deep, warm thrumming in his chest as his endurance and health surged to meet his new physical tier.
[Status Panel]
Name: Cassian Nil
Level: 7 (0/1280)
Talents: Modifier [S]
Class: None
Titles: None
Health: 210/210 Stamina: 71/210
[Attributes]
Strength: 16
Agility: 38
Vitality: 21
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 13
Available Points: 0
Cassian wiped his blade on a patch of clean grass. He looked back at the village. The guards and the veterans were regrouping near the fountain, exhausted, bloodied, and battered. They had survived the expansion force, but they were looking at the piles of corpses with hollow, shell-shocked eyes.
None of them noticed the boy standing in the shadows of the treeline. The Level 1 recruit they once ignored was gone, replaced by a predator who had just finished a harvest, his stats now eclipsing everyone in the village except Alex.