The small green child-like beast was still observing Leon from a distance, watching him flounder around in a mild panic after what he heard Hermes say.
-Goblin: Level 1-
'Oh god, there are goblins in this place, and seemingly they're quite weak as well, there must be more dangerous beasts in this place'
That being said, Leon slowly backed away under the goblin's watchful eye. He also took the bow out of his inventory, along side one arrow. Leon wanted to distance himself from the goblin so that in the scenario that he had to use his weapon, he would be safer.
Unfortunately, although having child-like qualities, seemingly the goblin was not stupid. It saw what Leon was doing, and it's eyes narrowed slightly when it saw the bow and arrow.
With a screech it started charging towards Leon, dagger in hand, before Leon could distance himself from it.
Leon nocked his arrow onto the bow, drew back the bowstring, and shot. Though the [Basic Archery] helped him correct his form and technique, it was his first time ever using a bow after all. The movements had not yet become instinctual, and thus as the arrow flew towards the goblin, it merely grazed the skin on it's cheek, resulting in some of the goblin's green blood to flow from its face.
Seemingly that did not discourage the goblin from rushing towards Leon. It had closed the distance between them and was now only a meter or so away from Leon.
'System, put my five points into agility! Now!'
As he thought this, his sight seemed to increase ever so slightly and as did his speed and reflexes. Leon darted backwards all the while facing the goblin, keeping it in his sights. He once again took out another arrow from his inventory and nocked it onto his bow. As he held the bow a sense of calm permeated in his body.
'Deep breaths. You just need to calm down Leon, everything will be alright'
He pulled back the bowstring as he faced the goblin, which was still charging towards him. Leon noted that the goblin was charging in a straight line. He thought to himself that this will make it way easier to hit. The goblin kept charging and when it was just a meter away from Leon, he let go of the bowstring.
/Whoosh/
The arrow flew straight, intercepting the goblin's path. This time however, luck seemed to be on Leon's side. The arrow hit the goblin's kneecap and pierced through the bone. The arrow was visible on the other side of the goblin's skinny leg.
It screeched in pain and to Leon, who was quite close to the goblin it felt like his eardrums were about to burst. He staggered and almost fell, but fortunately he was able to keep his balance. He saw the goblin that was writhing in pain on the ground and looked at it in pity.
'Do I have to kill it?'
*You don't have to kid, but I recommend it. It'll help ya' get used to the kind of place this World is. It's a dog-eat-dog world kid. If you had missed with your arrow there, all I can say is that I would have had to find me another User.*
Leon listened to what Hermes said and nodded. It made sense, I mean it was a life-or-death situation for him. Luckily this time he only encountered this weak monster, otherwise he'd have been dead. He took out an arrow and then looked at the goblin with a resolute gaze. He aimed the arrow at the skull of the goblin and then released it. With a splat, it's skull was pierced. The tension Leon felt diminished and the adrenaline stopped pumping. The first thing that he noticed when he started to relax was the horrifying smell. He flinched which caused his aching body to fall to the ground.
'That was a living being. It may have been trying to kill me and I know that I had to act in that scenario, but nonetheless..'
*Like I said Kid, you better get used to it soon. Of course I'm not telling ya' to kill everything you see, but in situations like this, best be prepared to kill.*
Again, Hermes' words made sense, but they still hurt to hear. Leon stood up and went to collect the arrow that had grazed the goblins face. He checked the notification he had gotten from the system when he killed the goblin.
-One experience had been granted upon death of Goblin. Current experience: 1/10-
-Achievement: First Kill Reward: Monster Part Collector - Able to collect parts from monsters that are able to be sold to merchants and or the system for currency
Leon saw this and the used it on the goblin that he had just killed. After he used it, the goblin's body disappeared and he was then told to check his inventory. He opened it up and saw that there were two goblin ears that were worth 0.5 CP each. Given that there were no merchants or salesmen anywhere nearby he sold them to the system, giving him 1CP.
'Hermes, quick question, you said that there was a time-limit but you never told me what it was and I also wanted to know when the shop gets updated.'
*Well the time-limit for this mission is about a year and a half. Of course it goes without saying that you can complete it earlier. How long it takes to complete, and the method of completion will both have an effect on your Reward. Regarding the shop, well it will update every 5 levels and usually the items in the shop will not reappear again in the future unless you're lucky. So I recommend getting them all before your level up. The shop also corresponds with each World and it's respective Laws, so when you get to a new world the shop will be cleared out and replaced. That's all there is to it so try your best Kid to get all the items, then you'll be OP, hahaha*
'Alright, now it's time to figure out where I am. Hermes, give me hand'
*I am a soul I don't have hands*
'You know what I mean...'
*Kid, at the moment you're in Hundred Beast Forest. Luckily for you you're on the outskirts, which is good news, because otherwise you'd be dead.
Bad news though is that you're about 50 kilometres from the edge of the forest. So my suggestion is find yourself a place to stay for the night. There's a cave on the map about 1 kilometre away from you and I'll lead you there*
Leon looked up into to the sky and indeed he could see that the sun was setting. So he followed Hermes' directions and about 20 minutes later found himself in a cave. It wasn't very deep and was clearly uninhabited. So Leon decided that this would be his resting place for the evening. He sat down and leaned onto the cave walls, whilst closing his eyes. Leon was terribly fatigued at the moment from his first encounter with a monster and just couldn't wait to sleep.
Before he was able to properly drift off into unconsciousness, Hermes' voice resounded in his mind.
*Kid, I'll be honest here. You're incredibly weak. A 5 year old could break your jaw with a slap. In this place, lack of cultivation is equal to death. What I suggest is that we stay here for a while, so that you can gather up some skills and become a little bit stronger. What do ya' think?*
'Whatever you say Hermes you're the Big Boss'
With that Hermes quietened down, and Leon closed his eyes and drifted into the realm of unconsciousness.