Free Web NovelChapter 23: Goblins’ Ground
[Your spirit has entered a new realm and expanded.]
[Your maximum capacity of Imprints has been increased to 4.]
[Body +10]
[Mind +10]
[Soul +10] fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
Nuri felt instantly lighter. His muscles felt stronger, his head clearer, even his eyes picked up more detail in the dim cave than before.
[Congratulations.]
’Thanks, Rosie.’
He immediately checked his updated status.
────STATUS────
Name: Nuri Natlan
Level: 2 (XP: 20/8,000)
Star Rating: 1.0
Body: 34.4 | Mind: 29.6 | Soul: 26.4
Attributes: [Burst Agility +10], [Toxin Potency +8], [Weapon Sharpness +5], [Armor Toughness +5]
Imprints (1/4): [Midnight Mantis] (1★)
Patron: <Unknown>
Blessings: [Life Canvas]
────────────
Nuri’s eyes widened.
’8 freaking thousand!? That’s gonna take forever! What’s 8,000 divided by 12?’
He expected the curve to be steep, but seeing it with his own eyes was different. To be exact, the Academy told him that the curve was cubic, so to reach Level 4, he needed 27,000 XP.
’Ah! Forget it!’
Dwelling on how many mobs remained to reach a certain level was a horrible mindset. He only needed to focus on improving day by day.
Nuri checked the progress on Imprints as well.
────TRAIT────
1★ [Venom Gash (P)]
Affix: [Common]
State: [Wet] (0%)
Proficiency: [Novice] (25%)
Description: [Your slashing wounds carry venom, building poison in the target.]
Effect:
[Poison Buildup +12] (8 + 0.5 per Toxin Potency)
───────────
1★ [Skitter Lunge (A)]
Affix: [Common]
State: [Wet] (0%)
Proficiency: [Novice] (37%)
Description: [A short dash to close distance or reposition, empowering the next strike.]
Effect:
[Dash 3.5m] (3m + 0.05m per Burst Agility)
[+5% Bonus Damage] (2s)
────────────
’Not bad.’
These Imprints dealt physical damage, so they would scale with his Body stat, his highest out of the three main ones. Nuri felt he could deal a good amount of damage to a 2-Star if he had another Painted.
But this would do, for now.
"I reached Level 2!" he announced to the three.
"Congratulations, Nuri!" Diana cheered, clapping softly.
Murray placed a hand on Nuri’s shoulder and shook without a word.
Hugo ruffled Nuri’s hand hard enough to nearly knock him over.
"Right on time, kid! Now you’ll actually pull your weight in there."
"Get off me, man!" Nuri ducked away.
Murray summoned the map and studied the routes. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
The map wasn’t like the usual ones. It was a magical map that only showed the way once you accepted the journey.
"It’s further up north where the goblin territories are."
Diana cupped her chin.
"Goblins, huh. They’re one of the trickier monsters down here, so we’ll need fluid teamwork."
Murray nodded in agreement.
"Even Second Constellations have a hard time against a group of them. They’re cunning and smarter than any of the 1-Star monsters."
Nuri was familiar with goblins from the Academy’s lectures. They had no bodily reinforcement or special traits like other mobs, but their intelligence made them a pain in the ass.
The goblins used the dark to set traps and wear their targets down. They would never appear in front of humans unless the situation favored them.
"Anyone have a detection-related Imprint?" Nuri asked.
Hugo lazily raised his hand.
"I’ll bark orders this time around."
With that, the formation was set. Hugo took point, Diana stayed in the middle, and Murray and Nuri flanked below her.
The four moved steadily through the slick passageway, heading north. They passed a few Explorers along the way, exchanging only small nods. That was the most interaction anyone could expect between strangers.
They also encountered a few Steel Wolves and Mud Hogs, which they dispatched in under a minute each time.
As the hours passed, the path grew steadily darker. The vibrant crystal enclosures and pearl ceilings faded away, leaving the walls washed in ghostly, dying light from connecting paths.
The temperature steadily dropped as they progressed, until frost glazed some of the cracks in the stone. The cold also brought new monsters Nuri had never seen before.
White Earthworms, Frost Wolves, and White Foxes, each with their own ways of preying on humans. Nuri struggled at first, but they were still 1-Star monsters. Once he recognized their attack patterns, his sword flowed like whiskey on a rainy night.
They stopped halfway to the Rift, resting in an alcove to eat lunch.
’Balance and XP.’
[Balance: 22,750 LC]
[XP: 416/8000]
Nuri was even more exhausted than yesterday’s run. The diverse range of monsters was tough to adjust to, draining much of his stamina even though his stats had increased.
The northern monsters were much harder to deal with because they could affect their surroundings. White Earthworms, for instance, could freeze the ground and make it slippery. White Foxes could breathe cold air into the atmosphere, hampering their fluidity.
After the party disbanded, Nuri wanted to farm here for Essences, just to collect these Traits. Poison and movement debuffs were overpowered on both humans and monsters.
They rested briefly before continuing their journey. This time, few monsters came out to greet them, and before long, they reached the territory of goblins.
"Glowstone," Murray said, scanning the darkness around them.
Diana summoned a glowstone, but it did not glow as brightly as Nuri had expected. It was only bright enough to see his party members, not the surroundings.
"Gonna activate my detection skill now," Hugo said.
"How does it work?" Nuri asked.
"It increases my vision and sensitivity for a good while, and it detects traps and even the slightest presence nearby."
"I see."
Nuri wanted to hear more details: how far Hugo’s vision and sensitivity extended, how long it lasted, and what "nearby" really meant. But he also understood that revealing those metrics was like stabbing yourself in the foot.
While the information on low-Star Imprints was available to the public, detailed numbers were mostly hidden because many could exploit them for malicious purposes.
"Alright, let’s move," Hugo said.
The team moved in absolute watchfulness. Hugo’s steps made no sound on the frost-covered stone. Every few seconds, his head turned toward a wall or a corner that Nuri couldn’t make anything out of.
Suddenly, Hugo held up a fist. And the party froze.
He pointed at the ground ahead and motioned for the party to avoid it. They went around and spotted a jawed leghold trap.
It happened twice more.
’These goblins are just something...’
Then, Hugo stopped. He didn’t point at anything, and he didn’t need to.
Up ahead, there was a body slumped against the wall.
The leg had been gnawed beyond recognition by the trap. The flesh around the bone had long since blackened. They had dragged themself to the wall, leaving a huge blood trail.
The sword hung loosely in their hand, and when Nuri looked up, he saw three bolts lodged in their chest.
The goblins had killed them before they could even fight back.
