Free Web NovelChapter 7: Tutorial (3)
After wiping the blood off her face with her arm, Misha gathered the three blades the goblins had used and wiped the blood off them using the rough ground.
If someone had told her two weeks ago that she would be sitting in a forest collecting goblin daggers after a fight to the death, she would have laughed in their face. Now she was checking the edges like it was a normal Tuesday.
Life was funny sometimes... In a terrible sort of way.
After she had cleaned the blades, she used one of the daggers to cut the bottom part of her shirt and split the fabric into three strips.
The first was used to bandage her wounded left arm. She tightened the cloth firmly while gritting through the pain just so she could stop the bleeding. As for the remaining strips, she used them as a strap to hold the blades on each side of her thighs, fastening them securely so that they wouldn’t slip.
She held the remaining blade and fell silent. She could hardly believe that she, of all people, had gone this far by herself.
Mateo... Caleb...
Her brothers’ faces crossed her mind, making her chest tighten slightly. She could only hope that they were doing well. Knowing them, they were probably waiting for her somewhere on another floor.
Once she encountered other people, Mjsha decided she would try asking around their Tower names.
More than anything, oh how she hoped she would be lucky enough to meet someone familiar who could help her look for them. It had only been a week since they vanished so how far could they possibly climb already?
She rose to her feet and dusted herself off her free hand.
Since there were only two goblins left, there was no need to search for them anymore. Even if they were somewhere in the distance, there was an easier method to draw them out. Those creatures had not appeared despite all the screams earlier so she figured she still had enough time to get ready.
She rested her hands on her hips, filled her lungs with air then shouted at the top of her lungs. "AAAHHHH!! GET OVER HERE YOU NASTY PIECES OF SHIT!!"
Of course, the remaining goblins did not immediately come running toward her. Her gaze shifted toward the corpse of the first goblin she encountered. The goblin’s head continued to crackle beneath the flame while the stench of burnt flesh spread through the air. Smoke rose steadily, burning its head and her gaze followed the rising smoke as it drifted upward into the sky.
Misha was feeling bad but she knew the rules in a place like this. It was either to kill or to be killed.
Since she had no idea in which direction the remaining goblins would come, hiding behind a tree was useless. Climbing one would have been better, that would be easier if only the trunks of the trees were in a normal size. Aside from that, at her current situation, she didn’t have the strength to do so.
She needed to save her energy especially when her stamina wasn’t enough for all the work she had in mind.
So Misha simply waited, and waited. And waited...
≈≈≈
「 〔 SYSTEM NOTICE 〕
Time Remaining: 00:37:43 」
Misha bit her lower lip anxiously. Perhaps remaining in one spot the entire time had been a mistake? She had already screamed a few times to the point of her almost losing her voice.
The sky overhead was no longer blue. Orange light stretched across the horizon. It was going to be evening soon...
Well if she concealed herself somewhere and used the darkness to her advantage she could ambush the goblins instead. She would have a higher chance to complete the quest.
Unfortunately, Misha was running out of time so she couldn’t just stay put anymore.
Just as she decided she needed to move, a faint rustling sound was heard nearby. Her grip around the dagger tightened immediately as she locked her gaze onto the bush ahead.
Seconds slowly ticked by. Then, a small bunny suddenly leaped out from the bushes.
"..."
Misha stared at it, and the rabbit stared back. For a brief moment, neither moved.
Then it casually hopped away.
Only then did Misha realize that she was holding her breath, so she exhaled loudly in relief.
Crack.
The sound came behind her.
Misha was smart enough to tell that the sound didn’t come from an animal. It was the distinct snap of a branch beneath something... or someone heavy.
She froze in place without making a move.
「 Trait in Effect: Analytical Thinking 」
「 Perception accuracy increased. 」
「 Killing intent detected. 」
Staring at the window floating in front of her, she knew her instincts had been correct.
Her gaze slowly lowered toward the ground, carefully watching the angle of the shadows beneath the orange light of the sunset. Thankfully, she was in the right direction since her shadow stretched out in front of her.
Not long, another shadow entered her view. It crept closer, holding a dagger.
The side of her lip curled into a faint smirk.
One...
Two... ƒreewebɳovel.com
The instant the goblin’s shadow lifted its blade, she quickly ducked and swung a kick behind her.
Her kick landed squarely against the goblin’s chest, sending him back to a distance.
Misha gave it no chance to recover. She immediately dashed forward and tackled the goblin to the ground before mounting on top of it. She pressed her legs against its shoulders to keep it pinned down before digging her dagger deep into its chest.
「 You have successfully killed a goblin!
EXP +3 」
"KIIIKK!"
Another goblin came sprinting towards her. She quickly grabbed the blade strapped on her left leg and threw it.
「 Trait in Effect: Steady Hands 」
「 Hand stability enhanced. Accuracy retention increased under stressful conditions. 」
Swishh!
Chk!
The goblin’s body fell on the ground.
「 You have successfully killed a goblin!
EXP +3 」
"Ah... finally..." Misha was panting heavily. She finally felt how badly her whole body was aching throughout her exhaustion. Everything hurt, her arms, her legs. Her stamina was almost at its limit, so if not for her adrenaline kicking in, things probably would have ended differently.
Slowly, she sat down on the ground and smiled weakly to herself. "I did it... I really did it."
Ding!
She lifted her gaze to look at the message window that appeared.
「〔 TUTORIAL QUEST 〕
Goblin Extermination (5/5) 」
「 Congratulations! Tutorial Quest Cleared! 」
「 〔 TUTORIAL CLEAR REWARD 〕 ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
EXP +15
<Items Obtained>
Goblin Dagger x3 」
"Ugh... Seriously? Why is the additional EXP reward so low? You’re telling me my life was worth 15 EXP?"
「 〔 LEVEL UP 〕
Passive Trait: Analytical Thinking has leveled up! (Lv. 2 → Lv. 3)
Passive Trait: Steady Hands has leveled up! (Lv. 1 → Lv. 2) 」
Seeing two of her traits leveled up, her smile grew. "This is what I’m talking about!"
「 〔 TITLE ACQUIRED 〕
The One Acknowledged by the Tower
Effect: Trait proficiency grows slightly faster during critical situations. 」
"Acknowledged by the tower...?" She frowned slightly at the unfamiliar title.
