Rupegia Ch. 03: Royd’s Kerfuffle

--

I detect a goblin ahead of me with [Sense Presence]. There's no way for me to sneak around it in these tight corridors, so I decide to face it from the front.

I first hear its footsteps, then it comes around the corner, and I wrinkle my nose in disgust. The first thing I notice is that it's naked, and it's a male. He's a green ugly thing around one meter tall wielding a crude spear. He doesn't have any clothes or armor, so his genitals are exposed, freely dangling about. I feel sick just looking at him.

Once he notices me, he immediately charges forward and braces his crude spear, but he shows no emotion.

There's no room for hesitation, I have to fight him, to kill him. My sword is shorter than his spear, so I decide to fight cautiously.

He seemingly doesn't know how to use his weapon as he simply thrusts with dull movements and continues to advance, getting within the range of my sword.

I easily deflect his attack with my shield then counter, and the blade sinks into his chest with little resistance.

He drops his spear and tries to grab my sword, but I kick him with the sole of my boot and he falls on his ass.

He tries to grab his spear again, but it's too late. I chop downwards and my sword gets stuck midway through his skull.

He immediately goes limp, and the red dot in my [Sense Presence] fades away. He's dead.

I use my foot to dislodge my sword and brain matter drips out of the wound.

Fucking hell.

Now there's blood on my boots, but just a quick [Clean] is enough to remove most of it.

That was easy. This sword cuts cleaner than the previous one, so it's like a hot knife through butter. I'm also not afraid anymore of taking a hit after Toga taught me how to defend myself. The wonders of healing magic may be affecting how I think about wounds, though.

I'm getting kind of hot with the leather mittens, cap, and pants, but considering how safe I feel, I can't complain.

I cut the ear as proof of extermination and wipe my blade on a piece of cloth. The reward is only five copper if there's no corpse, but I can't really appear with dozens of goblin corpses in my [Item Box]. Showing the Gray Berserker might have been a mistake, and I won't repeat that again so soon, though I think that Sonny and Gordon were so happy with the Berserker that they've ignored my strangeness.

In a few minutes, the dungeon will completely reabsorb the goblin corpse, but I think it'd be a waste to leave it there, so I'll just store it as emergency funds, and I also want to try to find the limit to my "Items."

--

As I explore a dead-end, I encounter another naked goblin, this one wielding a dagger. I kill it before it reaches me with a single chop to the head and move on. A second appears soon after, and this time it's a female with small breasts. She also wields a dagger, so I dispatch her with ease.

The gore coupled with the free nudity is making me feel sick.

Then a fourth goblin appears. It has a spear and a loincloth.

Finally, some decency. But does this mean that he's more experienced?

He charges at me and his spear slides off my shield. I try to counter, but he keeps his distance this time.

Question answered, he really is smarter.

It takes a few hits, but I manage to deflect his spear with my shield in a way that he opens up his guard, so I lunge forward and slash his face.

He trips and falls, then tries to bring his spear back, but I put my foot on his arm, and I stab his heart. With his free hand, he grabs the blade of my sword and his face distorts in pain.

"Grah..." He lets a small groan and dies.

That was odd, the first three didn't show any emotion, but this one did.

I'm getting creeped out by the flashbacks of the goblin drowning in his own blood.

I cut the goblin's ear and store the corpse, then I quickly move on.

Soon after, I meet another naked goblin, this one with a sword. I want to try something out, so I let him hit my shield with his sword, then I riposte and kill him.

The hits don't hurt, but they tire me out. The spear doesn't have much weight behind it, but the sword does. If I want to last in this dungeon, I can't let myself get tired after every fight. Just because I can block, doesn't mean that I know the most efficient way to mitigate the weight of a weapon, so I need to be careful since I currently have low physical stamina.

--

I wander about without meeting anything for a while, then I finally encounter a Mandrake. It's an ugly thing about half a meter tall, just like the books said.

Immediately after seeing it, I get dizzy and almost fall as my ears get attacked by an extremely high-pitched buzzing, then I hear a horrific scream in the background. It's not just my ears that hurt, this thing is also magically attacking my mind.

This is fucking terrible I don't want to meet this little shit ever again.

The monster immediately charges, and I can see it pointing its two spear-like arms towards me.

I barely regain my footing in time to desperately slash at it before it collides with me. I feel the sword sliding along its chest, but it doesn't sink as deep as before. Its skin is much tougher than a goblin's.

With the slash, I send it back to the ground, then a greenish, transparent fluid starts pouring out of its chest wound.

The little fucker is tenacious, it immediately gets up again and points its arms towards me. In my rage, I do a savage chop, and my sword gets embedded into its head, then it goes limp.

"You are now level six," the familiar female announcer's voice echoes in my mind, then I quickly get to work and chop off the monster's head.

"What the fuck..." I whisper as I stare in horror at the decapitated baby head in my hand that drips greenish blood on the dungeon's floor.

Then a sigh escapes my lips.

Fuck this world.

I suck it up and cut off its two ugly distorted yellow feet because they're valuable as ingredients, then I open my skill window and put my four new 4 points in [Mental Resistance]. This way, the next Mandrake will be more bearable.

I could put these points in [Sword Use], but the difference each point makes seems to be decreasing drastically. Just knowing "how" to swing a sword won't help me if I can't physically swing it the way I want. I have to raise my "Stats" some more, I think.

I continue forward and meet another goblin with a dagger. This time, I test my [Lightning Bolt] on it, and it takes four hits before it dies.

Took too long and used too much mana. I need to put more points into magic before I can use it as a main source of damage.

--

A few hours pass, so I start to become hungry. I sit down and pull out some meat and vegetable sticks to eat.

After that, I heed nature's call. The dungeon absorbs anything I leave around, so it's going to be okay. It's really embarrassing to be so vulnerable in the open like this, but with [Sense Presence], I know when someone is coming.

I temporarily put a point into [Conjuring Magic] and [Light Magic], then I use them to clean myself. It takes one-fourth of my mana since I want a much "deeper" cleaing, so the mana cost is kind of high.

After moving a good distance away, I decide to sit down and wait for a little until my mana is back to full.

--

While resting, a wandering goblin appears. This one has a loincloth and a sword.

He screams while charging, but his skill can't compare to mine, and I easily decapitate him. I wasn't fully rested, so I change resting places again.

I notice that the enemies are giving less experience than before, so I guess I'll have to go to the next floor once I level up.

The next monster that I meet is a Bush Baby. Its vines are long, about three times the length of a spear, so the strategy is to cut the vines multiple times until I can approach it safely. If I rush it, the vines will bend and pierce me from the back.

This monster is quite annoying to deal with. The attacks are fast and start to tire me out. My [Block] isn't good enough, and neither is my "Endurance," so my body complains from the exertion. It's taking me too long to cut the vines, so I cast [Lightning Bolt] three times, and after the third spell, it gets stunned.

An opportunity!

I jump forward and cut off the first vine, but the second escapes my following attack. At least now I just have to deal with one vine until its body is in range of my sword.

The vine slams against my shield once, and I slash the air, then it slams a second time, and I miss again. On the third slam, I get the timing right and cut it off in a perfect counter. Now I can reach it with my sword.

I dash towards it, then I slash across its face, opening a long and deep cut. It loses its balance from the pain, and that's enough of an opening for me, so I chop, and my sword gets stuck midway into its head.

It's a bit of a shame that the leaves got damaged, but I have no time to care for it. I cut off its head and apply [Regeneration] to myself, easing my tiredness.

After a minute, my muscles feel relaxed again, and I move on. I go towards the stairs to the next floor because the monsters around it are stronger.

--

Two Mandrakes appear side-by-side, then I'm forced to my knees by their combined scream.

Fuck!

I was overconfident. Even with [Mental Resistance] I'm just barely able to remain standing up. This is a problematic situation.

I instinctively cast [Lightning Bolt], and it hits one of the monsters, slowing down its charge. The other jumps and aims for my heart with its pointy arms.

Good thing that they're dumb. I just slash at the first one, then the second comes right behind, and it slams against my shield. Its attack packs more punch than the Bush Baby, so I grit my teeth and hold my ground.

The first one falls back due to the push from the slash, and the second one falls by my feet. Feeling the danger, I kick the second one and it flies away a few meters. The little shit is tough as fuck, and it hurts my toes even through my thick boot.

The first one gets up and jumps again, then I bash its head with my shield. It falls backward on the ground, then I pierce its face with my sword, right through the forehead. It wriggles for a few seconds then stops moving.

I look forward and the other Mandrake is mid-jump, so all I can do is block with my shield. The impact makes me step backward, and I lose the grip of my sword that's still stuck on the body of the dead Mandrake.

This is bad.

I kick the Mandrake again and feel an immense pain on my toes. This time it doesn't fly far.

I cast [Lightning Bolt] twice, and on the second time, it gets stunned. That's enough of an opening for me to wrench my sword free from the corpse.

The Mandrake stops convulsing after a short moment, then it charges again, but it's too slow. I chop down with all my strength before it can react, and my sword sinks into its skull until it touches the nose.

I dislodge my sword and sit on the ground while trying to avoid looking at all the gore. My head is spinning, my right toe hurts, and my arms are tired from my savage chops, so I cast [Regeneration] again.

That was brutal. My heart is racing and fear courses through every inch of my body.

Mandrakes are a weak enemy, but two at the same time is no joke. I need to go back to near the entrance and keep killing goblins. If it wasn't for my [Mental Resistance], I think I would have been forced to use my Escape Bomb.

I harvest the enemies and notice something change within me. I open my "Skills" and see that I got [Dismantling] level 1.

That was easy, shouldn't I need to practice more? Or was it because I had already acquired some knowledge through books? Eh, whatever...

--

I store the bodies, then I hurry back to the entrance and hunt goblins. After the sixth one I hear, "You are now level seven."

I put all my points in [Sword Use] (now 9+1). Even though the skill isn't increasing my combat effectiveness as much as before, it's still the most important one for me to raise.

I decide to rest, but my break is interrupted a few minutes later as I get three large hits on my [Sense Presence], and they aren't monsters.

Soon enough, I start to hear footsteps, then I see three adventurers coming towards me from down the corridor, so I quickly put points in [Andraste Language].

"Oh? Greetings," the man at the front politely greets with a smile. He seems young, perhaps slightly older than me. He has neatly combed brown short hair, giving him a refined air. He carries a shiny short sword, a pristine large kite shield, and he's wearing some really-well made black leather armor with thick padding. He seems wealthy.

On his right side, there's a rough-looking man wearing chainmail and a bastard sword. He looks a few years older than us, and I see short light brown hair peeking from below his chain coif.

Behind them, there's a woman in a dark blue robe wielding a simple wooden staff with a blue gem at the tip. She's a fully grown woman with straight brown hair that reaches her shoulders. She has a cute and calm face with a button nose and a small chin.

"Hello," I answer in kind, then I get up and nod as I believe this is the standard neutral greeting.

"You're here for training?" The young man gently asks.

"Yes, I'm practicing my sword," I respond calmly, then I eye his companions, but they seem mostly uninterested in me.

He flashes a smile. "Well then, be careful when you meet more than one monster. It's easier to just run away because it's really hard to fight while alone. Be well." He waves and moves on.

"T-thank you. Goodbye," I answer meekly, then I roll my eyes at my own awkwardness.

What an odd exchange, but I also wish had I met him about an hour ago.

Are they planning on staying here for the night? It's going be dusk soon, so starting to explore now isn't efficient time-wise.

I shrug and continue hunting goblins.

--

I meet another Mandrake, and it's alone this time, so my current level of [Mental Resistance] is enough to make this fight bearable. I'm no longer dizzy, but my ears still hurt a lot.

It seems that the extra points in [Sword Use] make it much easier to slit its throat in a single slice. This takes some aim, but at least this way it's much harder to get my sword stuck in the body like what happened last time.

Then I meet another Bush Baby. This time, I make steady progress and shave away its vines until I can bury my sword in its head. It's still tiring to fight them, but at least I don't need to use magic.

This is considerable progress for just one day. It's very motivating, but I have a feeling that the people of this world don't level up as fast as I do.

I kill two goblins and rest again.

The Experience they're giving me is very low, now, so the diminishing return is painfully obvious. I need to kill forty goblins just to level up, so the best way to grind Experience is to find Mandrakes or Bush Babies, but it's already late, and I'm way too tired to continue hunting.

I go back towards the dimensional door, then I exit the dungeon, and I'm teleported right beside the entrance. I see that it's already night, so at least my sense of time wasn't completely screwed by staying so long inside the dungeon.

--

The squad of guards has changed. There are five of them and they mostly stay inside their small hut while a single one stays outside, near the entrance to the dungeon.

We trade a nod, then I go towards the grove to find a secluded corner. I find a pair of adventurers making a tent in a small clearing, so I move away from them and set up my own camp.

I pull out of my "Items" a ready-made meal. Near the Crafter's Corner there are plenty of stalls that sell small boxes with food that's easy to eat, so I bought a few. This one has a loaf of bread with bean paste inside, a handful of a vegetable that reminds me of broccoli, and a few pieces of fried Rabid Rabbit meat. I feel a little uncomfortable with eating anything with "Rabid" in the name, but it actually tastes really good. It's slightly marbled, which surprises me with how cheap it is.

I brush my teeth, put a lot of points into Conjuring so that I can fill a bucket of water to wash, turn on my [Monster Repellent] crystal, position my [Proximity Warning] crystals around me, bring out my sleeping bag, and finally, I try to sleep. Let's put emphasis on try because this bag is really uncomfortable. I should've bought a tent and a better sleeping bag.

The dungeoneering guide says to sleep with your armor on, or at least have leather armor if you can't sleep in your plate or chain. So I guess this can't be helped, adventurers are just fated to sleep badly.

I stare up at the sky, but I only see clouds, not even a single star. Eventually, my tiredness overwhelms my anxiety and I fall asleep.

--

I dream again of the goblin drowning in its own blood.

--

The sun wakes me, and I feel that my body is sore and stiff. This was a terrible night.

Fuck, is this going to become a trauma? I'm already uncomfortable sleeping in the open like this, I don't need recurring nightmares screwing with me.

I break fast with a goblin meat stick. It's very salty and dry, but I only have water to drink. I need to buy some fruit juice when I go back to town.

I miss coffee, I miss chocolate milk, I miss tea, I miss soft drinks (diet only).

I look at my "Stats" and notice that my "Magic Power" and MP have risen by 5. It seems that using spells slowly builds up your mana and power. Unfortunately, no other stat has risen, so I guess I need to nearly kill myself every day to raise my "Strength" or "Endurance."

I stretch a little, recover my crystals, store my tent, and turn off my repellent stone, then I get ready to go back inside the dungeon.

--

I decide to get closer to the stairs again. Mandrakes or Bush Babies are too rare, and it's taking too long to level up, so I'm getting greedy.

I meet two Mandrakes in sequence and easily dispatch them. I'm really getting used to handling their shrieking. My strategy to deal with more than one is also ready, but I'm a little dubious about how to deal with two Bush Babies.

My theory-crafting is cut because I detect a goblin coming towards me. I meet it head-on and see that it's wearing a full set of padded leather armor: jacket, pants, mittens, boots, and a cap. It wields a small round metal shield and a shortsword.

I need to aim for the neck or face, trying to cut through that armor just won't be possible.

"GYEEEH!" The goblin screams and charges forward.

I deflect the first blow and attack with my sword, but it dodges backward and evades. I try to follow up with an upwards slash, but it blocks my attack with the edge of his shield.

It tries to slash sideways towards my face, but I evade by jerking my body backward. The goblin is short, so his sword barely reaches me, but still, it was dangerously close.

The goblin overcommits and swings wide, creating an opening for me. I bash its shield and it loses its balance, then I follow up and thrust at its neck.

It jerks its body and avoids a fatal wound, but I still manage to inflict a nasty cut on the side of its neck, and blood starts pouring profusely over its shoulder.

It jumps backward and tries to regain its balance, but I cast [Lightning Bolt] and immediately slash towards its face. The bolt hits and its entire body twitches. The goblin didn't get stunned, but its reaction is dulled enough that my slash cuts at its cheek deeply.

"GAAAAH!" The goblin screams and loses its balance again.

This time, its guard is fully open, so I lunge and jam my sword into its eye socket. It groans as its body twitches, then goes limp and dies.