Chương 8: Chapter 7 – Danger Close

~ Goblin Hunter, Level 5 Kai hastily evaluated his options. He could dive behind the next tree, but that would leave Lena exposed, who might be able to handle an arrow with her new barrier spell, but that was far from guaranteed. He also might take a hit from the goblin fighters in front of him in the process, a prospect he did not find appealing.

"[Thorn Whip]!" A branch flicked down from the treetops, striking the goblin facing Laura. It took two more steps, then faltered, foaming at the mouth. That opened more options. Particularly, quickly finishing off the second fighter. He took a step forward, lined up the edge–"[Mana Beam]!" The goblin's entire lower torso disintegrated as Lena's spell hit the mark. It fell over, motionless. Damnit, I had that one! Pushing useless thoughts aside, he refocused.

His best option was closing in– Two arrows impacted the mossy ground next to his feet, shot from somewhere deeper in the forest. Fuck, just let me think…!

"That's enough! Run!" Laura ordered. She had a nasty-looking cut on her face, slowly closing thanks to her healing spell. Kai abandoned his half-formed plans and prepared a mana beam to throw at the archer as a distraction– A blazing ball of fire raced through the dimly lit forest and crashed into Kai's shoulder. The stench of his own scorched flesh assaulted his nose at the same time as the brutal pain almost knocked him out.

Moving on pure adrenaline, he whirled around to find the way out blocked off by a goblin wielding a large wooden staff, adorned by bone amulets. ~ Goblin Shaman, Level 7"[Regrowth]!" he heard his mother scream as he cast the spell meant for the archer at the shaman instead.

"[Mana Beam]!" The ray hit the goblin right in the face, knocking it to the ground. It quickly scrambled to its feet and fled towards the boulder the archer was still sitting on. Lena was throwing mana beams towards the boulder, trying to keep the archer in check, but was forced to spend the last of her mana on a hasty "[Lightning Barrier]!" as one of the hidden goblins shot at her.

She managed to get the barrier up in time, but it was too weak – the arrow tore right through it, thankfully losing enough momentum to only leave a scratch on her leg. The fleeing shaman barely dodged a branch flicking down from the tree and fired one more ball of fire at Kai. Somehow, through all the stress and panic, he noticed something about the shaman's spell. It did not feel like his own fire bolts at all. There was no structure to it, it was simply a ball of fire and hatred.

It felt like the very first spell he had ever cast. The attack hit him square in the chest, scorching his skin and knocking the air out of his lungs. The goblin dove behind the boulder, and Laura screamed again. More arrows impacted around him as he desperately gasped for air. Things were not going well. They weren't going to make it out of here, not without help. Pain and fear turned into background noise as he forced himself back into rationality.

He raised his hand towards the canopy and tried to call on the sorcery within him, to burn away the leaves. It did not answer. So, with the last point of mana at his disposal, he fired a pathetically weak fire bolt into the obscured sky. It would not burn the treetops, but it did not need to. It only had to break through. The spell left a trail of smoking leaves as it burnt its way to the top. It broke free, flew a few more meters into the air, and fizzled out. And then there was LIGHTNING.

The forest was bathed in gleaming, blue light. The smell of ozone overpowered the stench of his burnt shoulder. The goblins melted. It took less than a second. Flesh liquified, bones were turned into dust, and nothing but scorch marks remained. ~ You have been displaced. ~ Quest complete: Investigate the half-eaten cow in the forest. ~ Reward: 2 SP (+3 SP for relative danger) ~ Follow-up quest unavailable due to interference.

~ Goblin Fighter (4) slain, 8 EXP awarded ~ Goblin Fighter (6) slain, 12 EXP awarded The last thing Kai saw before losing consciousness was the worried face of his father looking down on him. = = = = = He woke up hours later in his childhood bed, shoulder covered in bandages. To distract himself from the pain, Kai let his eyes wander around the dimly lit room. It was large, as one would expect from a house in the countryside. Easily as large as his entire apartment in the city, bathroom included.

His old toys, posters, and books were still on the huge shelves that seemed much smaller nowadays. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. His gaze fell on a wooden sword – or a minimally carved stick, rather – that was still kept in a sheath made from a telescope broomstick. Fire. Spears. Arrows. He took a deep breath. The quest had not gone well. Judging from the bandage and the burning discomfort, Regrowth had not been enough to fully heal the wounds he had suffered.

He had fucked up, big time. There was no way to sugarcoat it. He had gotten overwhelmed, unable to think straight. Without his father's intervention, they all would have died. It was… embarrassing. Kai knew he should probably be frightened. Panicking, anxious about what was to come, since he doubted goblins were all this system had to offer. But all he wanted was to try again, and crush the goblins. ~ SP available: 21 Just enough for Fighter and one point in Sword. The system followed his unspoken command.

~ Class acquired: Fighter ~ Proficiencies gained: ~~ Defensive Weapons: Beginner ~~ ~Primary Weapon Proficiency pending~ ~ Skills gained: ~~ Charge ~~ Feint ~~ Leg Sweep ~~ Shove ~ Civilian Proficiencies gained: ~~ Warfare 2 ~~ Monster Lore 1 Another 'pending', huh? The system allowed him to choose between 'Blunt', 'Slashing', and 'Stabbing'. A mental prod confirmed: his sword was categorized under 'Slashing'. Fair enough. ~ Proficiency gained: ~~ Slashing Weapons: Beginner Kai felt something settle in his mind.

He was not sure what it was, until he mentally went through the goblin fight again. He immediately cringed when remembering his footwork – fine for HEMA matches, atrocious for chaotic combat with his life on the line. Looks like the proficiency is patching some holes in my training, huh? The skills seemed self-explanatory, but he would have to try out how they behaved compared to, say, just shoving someone without system support. The final skill point went into the Sword proficiency value.

~~ Slashing Weapons: Beginner ~~~ Sword 1 Good. He climbed out of bed, found an old shirt in the wardrobe that was only slightly too small, and left his room in search of his family. Following the sounds of intense conversation, he found them in the living room. Lena sat on the couch and stared at the carpet. His parents, however, were embroiled in an entirely unsurprising argument.

"–way too hasty! Kai got burnt! By a fucking fireball!" Laura hissed. Kai chose that moment to announce himself by clearing his throat. His entire family flinched when he spoke, not having noticed him entering the room. His father gave him an appraising look, then a nod. Lena did the exact same thing at the same time, which Kai found mildly amusing. His mother immediately rushed to his side, checked the bandage, and cast another Regrowth for good measure.

It helped; the pain lessened as he felt his skin trying to pull itself over what probably looked like a grisly burn. Then she turned towards her husband again.

"Why the hell should we go out there again, at any point?" Daniel usually backed down the moment she whipped out that voice, but he remained implacable.

"It was a bad idea not to get equipment first. I miscalculated the danger goblins would pose to total beginners. We will rectify that," he explained, his calm visibly infuriating his wife.

"But you need to take every quest you get."

"Why?!" She half-screamed.

"You keep telling me that, so EXPLAIN!"

"... It's only a matter of time before other people get integrated. They will all be competing for quests."

"Then LET THEM HAVE IT!"

"No." Laura took in a deep breath in preparation for a frustrated scream, but stopped herself. With forced calm, she asked, "And why not, honey?" He clenched his jaw. The sight caught Kai off-guard, despite having seen more emotion from his father today than he had shown in years. His mother caught it as well and frowned.

"Explain," she said, much more softly. Daniel hesitated. After a brief moment, his jaw relaxed, but his eyes became… distant. Steely. Kai was suddenly very aware of the cataclysmic power the Wizard had unleashed earlier. The memory of ozone and melted flesh became uncomfortably vivid.

"As a rule of thumb, you need to kill one hundred monsters your level to get one level-up," he began, more monotone than ever.

"Fifty if they are sapient, like goblins." He turned his back to them, staring out of the window into the dark yard.

"Or you can kill ten people." …What?

"That's insane," Kai breathed.

"That's like…"

"... Like the System wants people to kill each other. Yes," Daniel confirmed.

"When you two were kids, I told you of my adventures. Dire wolves, goblins, trolls, wyverns. But I did not get to level one hundred and twenty-six only by killing monsters." The silence lasted for almost a minute. Nobody even breathed loudly while they waited for him to continue, which he clearly did not want, but could not avoid.

"I have taken many lives. Most of them didn't even give me EXP. But it was unavoidable in that world." He turned around again.

"There will be a lot of deaths. One group of murderous lunatics is enough to terrorize an entire region because they will grow so much faster than anyone else," he droned on.

"Others will follow their example. It will be chaotic, violent, and deadly for everyone unable to defend themselves.

"I can protect you for a while. Five years, maybe ten, until the first party of insane killers can challenge me in a meaningful way. But at that point, you will be easy targets if you don't grow stronger. Not even because you would be worthwhile targets, but because you could be used to get to me. I don't want that." Laura was silent, lost deep in thought. Lena listened intently, but did not seem sure of what to say. So, Kai voiced his thoughts.

"Meaning we need to level up as quickly as possible."

"That is secondary, actually," his father replied, hard, grey eyes settling on his son.

"The main priority is to be among the strongest in your level bracket."

"... Level bracket?"

"You cannot get EXP from monsters or people who are more than ten levels beneath you," Daniel explained.

"That's both bad and good. Bad because you can't keep farming low-level monsters forever and expect any progress. Good because high-level killers are usually not interested in you. That was the primary civilian survival strategy in the other world – remain around level ten, so only weak redcaps want to kill you, and the guard can handle those."

"Redcaps?" Lena piped up.

"Ah. Adventurers – well, bandits – who actively hunt people to level. A slang term. This world will come up with something else. Anyway–" he cleared his throat, "–what you need most is skill points. A level 15 with lots of well-spent SP can hold their own against a level 25 with the same amount. Perhaps even win, though I'd consider that unlikely. Of course, levels are important as well, but they come with the tradeoff of attracting more dangerous enemies. SP do not."

The tense silence that followed was suddenly interrupted by Laura clapping her hands once.

"Alright, kids. Find something to eat and go to sleep," she ordered.

"I'm going to have a long talk with my husband."