Chương 17: 16. A Boost of One's Choice

Keeping my distance, I slowly circled my opponent. Berserkers of any type had one annoying quality: they got stronger the more pain was inflicted on them. The most common rookie mistake was to rush at them head-on. I, myself, had been guilty of that. In my defense, the fault wasn't entirely my own. As any average participant, I was merely copying what I had seen others do. The elites in my group at the time had instantly rushed to take down the threat before the monsters had a chance to attack.

However, the approach was only viable for those who could kill with one strike. When I had wounded the creature, it struck back with such strength that both my weapon and armor had been shattered. The only reason I had remained alive was that I had created a good enough distraction for someone else to take out the beast. Since that day I had learned my lesson: never wound a berserker—either kill it or let it make the first move. Seeing that I wasn't about to make the first move, the goblin snarled.

Its sword slashed the air in front of it in a final provocation. Then, the creature stabbed itself in the leg. That was the trigger needed to double the creature's power at the expense of its focus and reasoning. Additionally, I saw the percentage of its devourer weapon jump to twenty-five. So, that's how it is… My instinct was to blame Harlequin, but I knew that this change went beyond him. Normally, blood weapons increased with kills, yet there were instances in which blood alone was enough to boost them.

Such a weapon couldn't have been given to an early trial enemy without the say-so of a deity. Looking at it, I didn't know what was worse: having to face a berserker with such a sword or knowing that Marcus had one in his possession. With a loud roar, the berserker dashed at me. The goblin's speed was impressive, though not to the point I couldn't react. The blade sliced the air, moving just far enough to slit my throat. Evading the blow, I dashed to the side. Striking now would be counterproductive.

Even with the berserker status in effect, it always paid to observe its abilities before jumping in. The goblin didn't pause. Its strike done, it immediately followed up with another aimed in my direction. At no point did the monster even attempt to defend itself, tempting me to take advantage of its openings. There was a time when I could have taken advantage. That would have been a costly mistake. Anyone with enough experience could see that all vital areas remained protected.

I could definitely hurt the goblin, possibly severing a left arm tendon, but nothing that would end the fight. I leaped to the side, blocking the next attack with both swords. The force of the attack was greater than expected, causing me to leap back again. Clearly, blocking was a big no in my current condition. That left hit-and-run tactics. Carefully choosing the moment, I thrust a sword at the goblin. The aim wasn't to strike or even injure him, but rather check his reaction.

The blade passed inches from the monster's left shoulder. At that point, the berserker reacted. A patch of its skin visibly hardened, acquiring a metallic glint. That had to be the effect of one of the cards, the Five of Rings, if I had to guess. Nice trick. I immediately followed up with another attack, aiming at his throat. My blade easily passed beyond his defenses only to bounce off the hardened flesh. A counterattack immediately followed.

The vicious monster's weapon slashed through my clothes, wounding me in the process. The pain was unimaginable, as if layers of my stomach were peeled off with a spoon. Even with the means to heal, this put me at a serious disadvantage. Gritting my teeth, I slashed the air with both blades, allowing me to leap back. The pain didn't diminish, feeling like a fire caterpillar crawling under my skin. Instinct made me check my wound. It was as good as could be expected.

Nothing physical was there, yet even seeing it couldn't trick my mind into ignoring the agony.

"Pain infliction," I whispered through gritted teeth. No wonder the creature was so strong. Its special fed it power regardless if the pain inflicted was on itself or an enemy. Right now, I expected both to be true.

"The odds are no longer in your favor," Harlequin noted from the stands.

"Many deities are upset, although some are still hoping for a better performance." The warning was clear. So far, I hadn't met their expectations. Regardless of what I thought, there was no arguing with a deity. One quickly got to know that deities were never wrong, and even when they were, it was the mortal's fault. There were two silver linings in this: one—as petty as deities were, it was easy to change their opinion; two—the goblin wasn't going to get any stronger than it currently was.

At the start of the fight, I feared that inflicting additional wounds might boost his strength or aggression. Now that I knew that the wound it had done to itself caused persistent pain, there was nothing to hold me back. It was me versus a level six monster. All I had to do was prove that I had the will and stamina to see the fight through. Attacks and counterattacks merged together, turning into one bloody whole. I became unable to tell when I received a new wound, fighting through pain and exhaustion.

The goblin held an advantage over me in several areas. It was stronger, more vicious, with—for the most part—better cards and weapons. Even so, it remained a monster. Its only drive was to kill me for the sake of killing. On my part, I viewed this fight as a necessary step towards achieving my true goal. Each strike that made contact was countered by the goblin's hardening skin. Yet, the defense wasn't absolute. Even with the low-grade weapons in my possession, I was able to slowly chip away at it.

It soon became clear that the card only allowed it to protect a single patch of his body. That meant that a surprise attack would sink into the flesh before the area was hardened. Furthermore, the berserker couldn't deal at all with attacks in immediate succession. The battle lust that fueled the creature kept it on the offensive, making it view defense as an afterthought. That was likely how Marcus had killed it. Instead of focusing on a single killing attack, he had slowly worn it down.

Knowing his character, he might even have considered it fun. Right now, I decided to do the same. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. The minutes of fighting turned into a quarter hour. My entire body felt on fire. Every wound felt as if it were filled with acid, and my lungs felt like they would explode at any moment. Despite all that, I refused to give up.

Each of my attacks was specifically aimed at the goblin's arms and legs, making it less efficient in its attacks, despite the cards. Several times my ribs were almost broken, yet that only increased my resolve. Then, finally, my opportunity came. Ever-eager to inflict the greatest amount of pain, the berserker ignored its current state, attacking my right side. For the last five minutes, I had slowly made myself increasingly vulnerable, tempting it to do just that. When it did, I responded with my own counter.

Instead of blocking or evading, I thrust both my blades right at its head. At attack to meet an attack. It was a desperate move that always caused harm to both sides. Overconfidence with its hardening skin skill, the berserker didn't even think of evasion or defense, allowing the tips of my blades to move towards it unhindered. I watched its grotesque face acquire the characteristic glint of hardened skin. Yet, I was never aiming for the skin.

My target had always been the eyes, and those weren't affected by the card. Maybe the monster didn't give it any thought. Maybe it thought that its skull would be hard enough to prevent my swords from skewering its brain. Whatever the case, it failed. As the goblin's devourer ripped through my body, shredding half my upper thigh, I felt the aelf blades sink into its head. The back of the skull made an attempt to stop them, but only succeeded half-way. Time froze in my mind.

On a real battlefield, we would have tied in death. There was no way I'd be able to fight in my current condition. Even with the cards I had at my disposal, I wouldn't be able to walk or fully heal myself. After a while, the effects of the adrenaline wouldn't be enough to counter the constant pain pulsing through my body. At best, I'd lose consciousness. At worst, I'd die of shock. This was a combat arena, though. Here, consequences didn't matter once the fight was over.

"Congratulations," Harlequin rose from the stands. His current tone was as close to sarcasm as his nature allowed.

"You are the first to achieve a full victory at the combat arena." The corpse of the berserker burst into flames, leaving a charred outline on the arena floor. A hundred fights, I thought. Even without the reward, it would be worth it. The agonizingly painful experience was the equivalent of months in the gym, which itself was the equivalent of years of training in the real world. In addition, there was a reward, one worth all the effort and more.

The combat arena was the only practical way to obtain booster spheres outside of trials. Gambling was always an option, as were deities and merchants, but all those either involved greater risk or had strings attached. Suddenly, the intense pain vanished.

"The deities have decided to bestow upon you an increase of your choice." Harlequin made his way to the arena.

"You can increase any value by one."

"Does that include items?" I asked, knowing it was the wrong question. My question was followed by a pause. The porcelain mask made it impossible to tell whether Harlequin was laughing at my stupidity or disappointed in my lack of imagination.

"It includes anything you have," he specified.

"Cards, items, skills. You can obtain a new skill for a card, increase the strength of your weapon, or—""I want to increase my inventory slots," I interrupted. Early on, that was always the best choice. The current gear and weapons I had access to were utter crap and cards had other ways of being boosted. Inventory slots were one of the few constraints that remained even after years of going through trials.

"If that is your choice. You are granted one additional slot to hold an item of any size." Liar, I thought. It would have been too nice if there were no size requirement. In effect, "any size" meant from tiny up to large. Potentially, I could keep a full set of armor there, but I couldn't stash an entire treasure vault.

"Thank you." I said, looking back to the charred outline on the ground. The flames had long died out, leaving a single gem behind. To my surprise, it wasn't a sphere. Rather, it was angular, like a deformed cube.

"That's not a boost sphere," I said, instantly recognizing the true nature of the reward.

"Curious that you're aware of so many secrets, yet don't know something this simple." Harlequin approached me.

"If you complete a hundred fights, you are rewarded with a monster sphere." That much I knew already.

"If you do so in less than an hour, the reward is changed to an Arcana core." That wasn't something I expected. There always were rumors about Arcana cores. It was considered that they could only be obtained during trials and never bought or exchanged. In a way, it made sense. The arena was a sort of trial. Defeating a hundred levels of monsters wasn't by any means easy. An ordinary participant would have struggled to reach the end, let alone complete it in under an hour.

Thanks to my past knowledge and the cards obtained in the goblin city, I had managed to do so and, in the process, discovered a substantial loophole. Now, it was time to take full advantage. Arcana cores were similar to spheres, only a lot better. They could be consumed at any point and had no associated side boosts. What they did was permanently increase a person's level. Each level increased the effects of cards and monster cores by a few percent.

More importantly, they did the same for all passive abilities: resistances, endurance, tolerance, as well as mana and stamina restoration. Being a level two meant I'd get into shape a lot faster than if I were a level one. Additionally, my development limits were also increased. Cautiously, I took the core and shoved it into my mouth. Swallowing it was even more painful than the monster core. I could feel my insides getting ripped and healed multiple times in immediate succession.

Even the pain inflicted by the goblin berserker couldn't compare.

"The pain is equivalent to the reward," Harlequin said beside me, fully aware of what I was going through.

"Sometimes the opposite is true as well." It took minutes for the pain to subside, and all the time the monster was there. It hurt like hell, but I gritted my teeth. No matter what, I had no intention of giving him the satisfaction. Not again.

"How many times can I use the arena?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"A person can fight as long as they can pay," Harlequin replied.

"There are no other requirements at this point."

"Good." The pain and exhaustion felt far away.

"I want to go again." I tossed another gold coin onto the arena floor.