Chương 7: Fangs in the Dark

"Gahh wah!"

"Wagah!" Kyle quickly crouched and crept forward. It didn't take long for the source of these strange sounds to appear in front of him. It was three goblins fighting over a wooden stick while making strange noises. Kyle quickly checked around for any trace of other goblins before focusing back on those three.

'A wooden club, a bone knife, and a rusty sword. Hmm, I should take out the one with the sword first.' Kyle checked their weapons, gauging their threat level before closely examining them.

'They look almost the same as in the illustration,' Kyle thought as he looked at the three short, hideous creatures. Yellow eyes with frog-like rectangular pupils. A hooked, long nose and a hideous, large mouth with shark-like teeth. Even when they were not making sounds, their tongue hung out of their mouth, dripping saliva; they had disproportionate limbs and a beer belly and wore a dirty yellow loincloth. They were hideous by any normal being's standard. However, what Kyle found most repulsive was their smell.

'What the fuck, I'm more than 10 meters away from them, and this smell is still overwhelming.' Kyle's stomach churned, his brows scrunched in disgust as an overpowering smell of feces, carrion, and feet reached him.

'The smell is already this overpowering; even though I'm this far away, I can't even imagine how bad it would be if I got closer.' He even felt like giving up on this quest for a moment. If the guild didn't pay so much for goblin extermination, he felt like no one would bother with those green monsters.

'Get a grip, Kyle. This is the usual for low-level adventurers. If you can't even deal with low-level monsters like goblins now, how would you deal with stronger monsters in the future?' Kyle cheered himself up. Taking a deep breath, Kyle suppressed his churning stomach and crept towards the goblins. He moved step by step. As he approached, faint blue streaks flashed through his veins as he activated [Mana enhancement].

As he focused on determining the best way to attack, the overwhelming stench and the noises of the forest gradually faded away. Only the three goblins remained. He suddenly sprang forward. In a single burst, Kyle closed the distance, his blade flashing as it carved cleanly through the sword-wielding goblin's neck.

"Gahh!!!" The other two recoiled, panic flashing across their twisted faces. The one with the bone knife jerked its arm up, intending to throw the knife at him, but Kyle was faster. His kick snapped into its wrist, sending the blade spinning into the grass. He followed with a clean thrust, piercing the goblin through its mouth. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Turning to look at the club goblin, it panicked and ran away.

"Get back here!" Kyle surged forward, rapidly closing the gap. Sensing death at its back, the goblin suddenly spun around, its expression twisting into ferocity and desperation as it smashed its wooden club at him. Kyle deflected the club through a clever parry, staggering it before slashing through its neck, beheading it. Kyle breathed heavily. Although this entire sequence took just a few seconds. It was undoubtedly thrilling. Almost perfect for his first fight.

"For my first real fight, I guess I did well." Kyle took a deep breath before calming down. He slashed his sword to the side, scattering the dirty blood on it, then cleaning it with a rag before sheathing it. Looking at the goblin corpses around, Kyle didn't feel much discomfort, only disgust for their filthy appearance and smell. He deactivated [Mana enhancement] and slowly walked towards the goblin corpses. Taking out a small knife from his parcel, he started gathering the required proof for the quest.

"Wa Gah!" Suddenly, a goblin sprang out from a bush not far away, rushing straight toward him.

"There's more?" Kyle quickly dropped the small knife and drew his sword in one motion. More and more goblins appeared, some jumping from bushes, and some jumped at him from the trees.

'So many goblins were hiding?' Kyle's eyes widened as he parried a goblin's strike as it jumped down. He quickly kicked away a goblin that tried to hang on his leg before slashing a goblin in front of him.

"Gah!" The creature collapsed, writhing in agony.

'Damn, it was too shallow. I can't strike with the same power without [Mana enhancement]!' Kyle groaned as he jumped back, avoiding a tackle, but he didn't notice a root behind him, causing him to stagger on it. The nearest goblin didn't miss this opportunity. It jumped straight at him before he could stabilize himself.

"Ugh!" Kyle groaned in pain as the goblin's claws tore into his leg, ripping through fabric and skin, leaving bloody scratches behind. Another one tried to jump on his back, but he quickly elbowed it before stabbing the goblin that had injured him. Looking at the goblins slowly closing in, Kyle had an unpleasant expression on his face. His brows furrowed when he noticed goblins hiding in the bushes or climbing up trees to ambush him. Things had completely turned around. Now, he was the one getting ambushed.

The worst part is that he couldn't even activate [Mana enhancement] at the moment.

'Five seconds… I need five seconds, but these green midgets won't give me the opportunity.'

'This is bad; I need to find an open ground, or the goblins will inevitably wear me down.' Kyle quickly glanced around, punching a goblin that jumped at him before running away.

"Wa-gah!" The goblins screeched with excitement as they quickly followed behind. Kyle quickly ran through the forest, jumping across bushes and avoiding thorns. Feeling the screeching wind from behind, he twisted aside. A rock slammed into the ground where his head had been. They were right behind him. Looking at the goblins following closely behind, Kyle gritted his teeth and continued running.

The thorns he couldn't dodge in time left scratches on his face and arms, but he couldn't feel the pain due to adrenaline. After running for a while, he finally located an open spot. He jumped, avoiding a tackle from behind, catching a branch overhead. His body swung forward and let go. He tumbled down, rolling on the grass and dissipating the impact force, then quickly got up and got into a stance.

"Get here, you green fuckers; I'll show you hell." Kyle grinned, blood trickling from his cheeks, his veins flashing blue. He used the time he gained to activate [Mana enhancement].

"Gah!" The goblins screeched as they jumped into open space one after the other, fearlessly darting towards him. Kyle quickly dodged the wooden club from the first goblin before splitting it into two. He tilted his head; a rock screamed past his ear.

"You really like throwing rocks, huh?" Kyle muttered as he dodged a goblin that tried to latch onto his back, followed by a swing that left an afterimage. The goblin's head detached from its body as it fell onto the ground, terrifying its companions. However, they quickly recovered as they jumped towards him with fierce expressions, each holding a different weapon.

"Heh, come on!"