James had proudly shit-talked the goblin about 2 seconds ago, but now regretted his choice. It was unclear if it was due to James' taunt, but the goblin became even angrier. It stabbed towards James.
James expected this though, and managed to barely dodge. Then, the goblin again swung its spear horizontally – which was exactly what James was waiting for. While the spear was approaching him, he threw his knife at the goblin and then prepared to intercept the shaft of the spear. He was trying to take the spear from the goblin.
The knife hit its mark and buried itself into the eye of the goblin, which yelped in pain. James had aimed for its head because it was wearing armor on its body. However, James was met with misfortune. He had greatly underestimated the strength of the goblin opposing him. James had thought that while the goblin was distracted by the knife, he would be able to catch the spear and yank it away from the goblin. However, when he grabbed the spear, he wasn't able to stop it, and the shaft slammed into his chest.
"Oof!"
Although he was hit with the spear, James held onto it anyways, hoping that he would still be able to snatch the spear. He couldn't have imagined what happened next.
As he was trying to pull it away, James was still holding onto the spear with all his might. The goblin's body, however, started spouting blood from multiple places on its body. James was confused, because he hadn't wounded the goblin except for its eye. However, the goblin then picked up the spear, with James still holding onto the other end, and threw it.
The goblin tossed the spear and the 100 pound James as if it were doing the javelin throw at a sports competition.
James knew he was skinny, but this was ridiculous!
After a moment of weightlessness, James crashed into the throne that the goblin was sitting on when he first came into the room and crushed it. It turned out it was made out of wood. James was stunned for a second. His entire body was in pain.
"I think I broke all my ribs," James thought to himself.
The goblin, didn't intend to let James take a break. It pulled the knife out of its eye, ignoring the stream of green blood that came out of its socket, and rushed at James again.
James quickly pulled out his second recovery potion and downed it. Then, with the remaining few seconds before the goblin arrived, he grabbed the spear, which had landed next to him. The spear's point was stuck into a piece of the throne's remains, and with his injuries, James couldn't pull it out. So, James took a sitting position and pointed the blunt end of the spear at the goblin, intending to stop it with the pole.
"I just have to stall like this until my ribs get a little better!"
The goblin made a beeline for James. One could tell from its bloodshot eyes that it had lost all sense or reason. James readied his stick. But, just as the goblin was about to step into the range of James' stick, disaster struck. For the goblin, that is.
The goblin had stepped on the vial that James had thrown at it earlier. An ordinary glass vial would've simply shattered due to the weight of the goblin, and the shards may have cut its feet. A normal person would've avoided it, but this goblin didn't care. All it cared about was stabbing James, so it didn't mind a few small injuries. But, this potion vial didn't break. Instead, it rolled forwards a little bit, causing the goblin to slip. The goblin fell backwards and slammed its head against the ground, staying still afterwards. James kind of sympathized with it. He had experienced something very similar not too long ago.
"Is it…dead?"
As he was wondering, James heard a voice. The voice was very similar to announcer woman's voice, but it was slightly different. This voice was automated, and sounded a bit robotic.
[Congratulations! You have cleared the 1st floor! You will gain +1 stat point in each category! You have gained access to the dungeon shop!]
"I guess it is dead."
James breathed a sigh of relief and then laid down to rest for a moment. He really needed it.
"Announcer woman, I feel like that single goblin was much stronger than any of the goblins in that large group I fought earlier. Yet it died in such a lame way."
[That goblin went berserk, meaning that it sacrificed all of its vitality and defense in exchange for strength and speed. This occasionally happens to monsters in the dungeon, but it should only have started from tier 2, the 6th floor. Berserk monsters are very tricky to deal with.]
The announcer woman replied immediately, as if she was expecting James to pose this question.
"I see. I remember the goblin started bleeding out of nowhere. I guess it really did sustain massive injuries in exchange for tossing me like that."
James got up. He had caught his breath and rested for a while. His ribs were still a bit tender, but they didn't hurt any more. He would be fine walking around a bit.
The goblin's corpse was already gone, and was replaced by the item drops. However, James ignored the drops for the time being. It wasn't as if they were going to disappear. His attention was focused on the potion vial the the goblin had slipped on. It didn't even have a single scratch on it. James tapped it on the ground. Nothing happened. He tapped a little harder. Nothing happened.
It didn't take long before James hurt his wrist by slamming the vial as hard as he possibly could into the ground. The vial, however, wasn't even scratched.
"What the fuck is this made out of?!"
Announcer woman didn't respond.
James decided to put the vial in his pocket and move on for now. Instead, he looked at the drop items.
There was a magic stone of the 2nd tier. However, this magic stone had a red pattern engraved into it.
[The magic stone of a berserk monster. It's worth 50% more than a regular magic stone of the same tier.]
James nodded. The announcer woman had answered his question before he could ask. James then looked at the other item. It was a piece of upper body armor that would cover his chest and upper back. It looked like it was made out of leather.
James pulled out his card and touched it to the armor.
[Berserker's Magic Beasthide Armor].