Before the sun began to rise and the moon was still overhead Prim and I began our first hunt together. Despite the armor being on the heavier side it was rather quiet and almost nothing could be heard from Prim's footsteps as we traversed the outskirts of Ranstor, hills kept us from moving too quickly. The quest we had accepted was to take out some goblins that were harassing a farm and killing their livestock, the farmer's arm was also injured by the goblins. Since there was no choice all we could do it carry out the mission and help these people out. After about an hour of traveling by foot we we're able to reach the farm that was attacked.
"Are you here to help with those goblins?" -unknown
"I take it your the farmer who put up the hunt?" -Elias
"That would be me, stranger" -Farmer
"Great, that makes this easier, do you know where the goblins are located?" -Elias
"Unfortunately we don't exactly know, but they do come from the north when nightfall comes." -Farmer
"Okay, Prim we'll head north and keep and eye out for caves and openings, I've read that they prefer to be out of direct sunlight." -Elias
"Sounds good, lets go" -Prim
Heading off we made sure to give the farmer a small smoke bomb that would alert us that their in danger. As we were walking it didn't take long for us to to notice a cave opening that had a rotten stench to it, almost as if the goblins were trying to give away their position.
"Prim, the cave's ceiling is to short for me to use my great-sword, so i will tank in the front, luckily I have these brass knuckles as a gift to becoming a hunter. follow my lead."
"Will do, be car-"
before Prim could finish her statement, blood curling scream echoed out from the cave entrance. Before it continued any longer, the scream was cut short and banging could be heard. Stepping into the cave with a lantern, the smell of blood and rotting flesh was overwhelming.
"They've been attacking more than just the villager, we have to make sure we don't leave any of them alive."
With a simple nod, we began delving deeper into the cavern, only to be met with 2 pairs of yellow eyes that were to large to be called human. Monster grades can be found out as they rested upon the creatures body in the form of a tattoo along with their level withing the star. If they had more than one star then the first star would be filled and have no number. The number would be contained within their current star grade.
As the light glow of the lantern revealed the goblins body the their star grade was 1 and level 7 was marked within it. Before they got the chance to react I rushed forward and threw the first attack, swing my arm in a wide arc I managed to connect with the first goblin and slam it against the wall to my left. The sensation of boned cracking was not a pleasant one.
The first goblin tried to cry out in pain but only came out as a horrifying noise, it looked towards the second goblin with a dangling jaw and angry look. Without hesitation the second goblin lurched forward and tried to stab into my armor only to recoil from the impact. Its blade and strength wasn't enough to penetrate my armor. Even without its blade piercing, I could feel a slight pain coming from where it struck.
As the second goblin tried to recuperate Prim was already in front of it and stabbed into it 5 times before taking a step back.
The 5 cuts began spraying out blood as the life of the goblin began fading. Without missing a beat I swung once more toward the first goblin and smashed it head into the wall. Even with the heavy impact, the goblin remained full of life and used its small claws to dig into my cheek leaving four small wounds.
Struck with surprise I had let my guard down and it took that chance to attack, before it could happen again I slammed my fist into its skull until I could feel its skull collapse inward. I suppose no one said that this would be a pretty job.
"Prim cut the ear, they'll fetch a couple coppers."
Without hesitation she sliced them in one go and we continued our walk deeper into this wretched cave.
We entered what seemed to be a chamber within the cave and found a goblin that was crouched and the sound of crunching and chewing could be heard. As it noticed the light it began to rise and its height reached that of an average human. If the initial goblins we fought stood at 3 feet, then this one was double in size. It even carried a sword covered in rust that befitted its size. dangling from its mouth was an intestine and blood dripping from its chin. looking at whatever was unfortunate to become its prey was a human child that couldn't be any older then 10. Its body was ravaged and fresh. Fear and anger were the only emotion I could in this very moment. Fear of not wanting to be in the same position as that child and anger that there was no way I could have prevented this.
In that moment, My mana began to flare and Owslo came out and casted his enchantment upon my weapon causing small obsidian spikes to grow from it. My mana then began to cover the brass knuckles and caused them to glow a faint blue. Before the Larger goblin could react I dashed forward and threw the strongest punch i could must, a gazelle punch. This short uppercut packed the momentum of the dash within it and connected with the goblin's chin. The obsidian spikes easily penetrated its flesh and dug into bone. My mana covered weapon flashed and a flare to commence at the very tip of every knuckle. The result of all this was small pillars of flame to protrude from different directions of its skull along with the spinal cord being dislocated.
It could only star into my eyes with utter shock before death came to claim yet another monster.
Suddenly feeling nauseous from the scene before me I couldn't but throw up besides the goblin. Owslo quickly rushed forward and sat besides me.
"H-Hey are you alright, I can't believe you killed a Hobgoblin in one hit." - Prim
"I, I don't know what happened, I just dashed in blindly with the intent to kill and next thing I know is that its staring at me while dying." -Elias
"We should continue, If there is one hobgoblin it means that there is at least 10 adult goblins within these awful caves." -Prim
"Yeah, your right, sorry, its just a gruesome sight to handle." -Elias
Slowly getting to my feet I couldn't help but remember the rush of power I felt in that moment. Concentrating my mana and recreating that feeling I could hear that small ding go off in my head. My first skill had finally been Unlocked!
opening my status window my skill name was,
-Mana Reinforcement: You can Empower your strikes with mana causing the to increase damage and has a slight chance of causing an elemental burst. Element burst chance: 2.5%
Now I can deal some good damage with these brass knuckles and hopefully finish this mission faster.