After the tedious sparring which resulted in Yin getting bodied by Suna, the three sat down in a campfire.
"Since you're a close quarters combatant like Suna, you should choose a weapon, Yin. A man's chosen weapon says a lot about him, choose well!"
Yin was thinking hard.
Luken and Suna gave him every usable Slayer weapon.
For what felt like forever, Yin had finally settled on one.
"This is perfect for me. I would not want to sacrifice agility for anything else."
Yin chose a piece of steel brass knuckles.
"I'm not one to judge but… isn't that quite odd?"
The Commander says that while judging his choice.
Suna glowered at Luken angrily.
"Yep, that's a good choice, Yin!"
"What do we do before supper?"
Yin asked, tapping his feet impatiently.
"You, my child, are going to exterminate a rank D hideout by yourself."
Suna was about to protest due to the sheer danger of it.
But the Commander signaled a reassuring hand motion.
Yin took on the challenge.
"I'm a C rank Slayer. If I fail, then I die. If I don't try, then I'll never be able to fight stronger monsters."
Luken claps happily, like a toddler given candy.
"That's my boy!"
"Be careful Yin."
Suna warns him cautiously.
The Commander had made her go through the same procedure when she was a C rank too.
Yet she could not shake this feeling of dread.
The three of them walked towards the highlands.
"These places are flocking with weak monsters. You should be able to deal with them, boy."
Yin readied his knuckles with force.
Sweat began to accumulate on his forehead.
The group kept walking until the see a dark opening.
The Commander points to a cave.
"Right here."
"I'll be back as soon as I finish them all off."
Yin stretches.
He then rubs his hands together.
"Remember, don't use Decay if you can't control it. You might bring the whole cave down on yourself."
Yin nodded.
As soon as he stepped into the cave, the system began to show messages.
[ Quest : Exterminate Goblins 0/50 ]
He breathed in and exhaled.
They were approaching.
Five? No. Twelve goblins, in fact.
Five in the front, seven at the back.
These goblins were half the size of him.
It should be easy, Yin thought.
They had light-green skin, coupled with sharp teeth.
Noses that took up thirty percent of their faces.
It was as if their faces were permanently contorted into a sick grin.
They wore dirty, brown garments.
Most of them had swords, hammers, even knives.
They were trying to flank him.
"Okay, time to try something out."
Yin took blew on his brass knuckles and focused Anima energy over it. This caused his fists to be imbued with the elemental power of black lightning.
"Let's dance."
He takes his first step forward, hitting the first goblin with a punch straight into the heart.
Yin's fist was stuck. This was a problem.
Two goblins were closing in on him from behind. Another four were also quickly approaching from the front.
With his right hand still trying to free the left which was stuck.
Yin was desperately trying to pull out the stuck knuckle.
The first of the two goblins coming from the back was met with a swift kick to the stomach.
This incapacitated it, and further agitated the remaining ten in that specific area.
They slowly closed in on him from all angles now.
"Little did they know, this was all according to plan."
Yin whispered to himself.
When all of them were in a fifteen-meter distance from him, he pressed his palms against the ground.
Luken, who was hiding in the shadows was surprised.
"Is he going to cast Decay Aura?"
He continued to watch, albeit cautiously.
All the while this was going on, Suna was outside eating roasted hotdogs.
Black lightning entered the cave from the entrance.
Yin electrocuted all twelve of them in one motion.
The Commander was amazed.
Not only did he not use Decay, but he actually used his brains in a fight.
[ Quest : Exterminate Goblins 12/50 ]
The fight took way longer than Yin expected.
His stamina was already starting to dwindle down.
But he must not falter.
There are still more goblins to be executed.
Black Lightning enveloped his limbs.
"It won't last long, but with this, I'm faster, faster than I've ever been."
Yin's speed was increased tenfold due to his Anima skills amplifying it.
He got down, assumed the starting position of a runner.
All the while enchanting each fist with the black lightning.
"Thirty seconds."
"That's all the time I can keep black lightning up."
He zipped through goblins left and right.
Slicing through them with ease.
His attacks were combined with speed and electrocution.
[ Quest : Exterminate Goblins 20/50 ]
"All right, almost halfway there."
Meanwhile Luken silently claps at a distance.
Yin only had ten seconds left of black lightning amplification.
A goblin tried to swing blindly in hopes of hitting him.
It almost did.
It blindly swung its sword with all of its might in a backwards swinging motion.
"Ah crap!"
He barely evaded the attack unscathed.
Yin hadn't thought about them adapting to his speed.
This miscalculation had frustrated him greatly.
Just as he was about to compose himself and strike, it ran out.
The black sparks of lightning faded.
"Thirty more… every single one of them are aware of my presence now."
The Commander watches in anticipation.
"What will you do, Yin-boy?"
Yin knew he could not use Decay Aura if he couldn't control it.
"The Commander said that. But he didn't say I couldn't use it if I COULD control it."
He removes the enchanted gloves given to him by Luken.
Yin's hands were white as ash.
"Come."
A single goblin tried to close the gap between them.
Yin had let go of his earlier shabby knuckles.
He assumed a fighting motion reminiscent to that of a boxer.
"I hope I can do Suna's stance as well as she does."
Just as the goblin was about to lift its massive hammer, Yin had struck its face first.
"I can't go all out and use Decay Aura on my surroundings. I have to channel it, focus it on my fists. And then release the energy on impact. I can do this!"
A massive hole substituted where the goblin's face could've been.
It was gone, turned into ashes.
But the toll it took on him was noticeable.
Time suddenly halted.
The system's red message box popped up.
[ Thanatos, your weapons of old are available to you at any time. ]
[ Your fighting style is deemed worthy of the Execution Gloves ]
[ Would you like to redeem it? ]
A glint of hope flashed in his eyes.
"Hell yeah."
With that, his bare fists were covered with red gloves.
They were noticeably dusty, was it from being shelved for millions of years?
The Execution gloves amplified his close quarters combat significantly.
As the goblins continued to approach him one by one, by fear of being struck by the black lightning all at the same time if they all approach him at once.
This was Yin's domain now.
A stadium with the audience coming down to face him one by one.
A goblin smack down, if you will.
"Fu-fu-fu"
As Yin hits them with a jab-right-cross combination, it was enough to eliminate them.
The gloves helped with the Decay, it allowed him to expend as little energy as possible.
Two goblins bet on him not using black lightning.
They sprinted towards him at the same time.
"Both sides, huh?"
As the two were about to pierce him with their swords from left and right.
Yin ducked as low as he could, after seeing the blades pass by him, he extended his two hands.
"Take this!"
With a synchronization of his left and right arms, both performed simultaneous uppercuts.
Erasing the goblin's faces entirely.
He was panting from fatigue.
But it was different this time.
He was not afraid.
He was not powerless.
Yin had become a Slayer worthy of his rank. Even more.
Luken watches like a proud father seeing his son succeed in life.
The Commander then frowns.
"Crap, I'm getting old."
Yin thought he had taken out all of them.
He checked the system.
[ Quest : Exterminate Goblins 49/50 ]
"Hmm, I don't see any Goblins left. Maybe the system made a mistake?"
A few seconds after…
Loud thuds could be heard.
Were these footsteps?
Yin was bewildered.
There it was.
Slowly walking towards Yin.
A Goblin King.
It stood at about 15 meters.
It had a distinct eye patch, covering up a scar in its left eye.
A hammer which was not larger than he was.
The dark-green complexion of the Goblin King separated it from the rest.
The various war-scars it wore like badges of pride.
Red were the eyes as though it activated a specific bloodlust directed towards Yin.
Yin felt fear.
Cold sweats began to drip from his temple.
His hands were shaking noticeably.
As it prepared and stretched its body by jumping up and down.
Luken shouted.
"Yo, good work kid! I've been watching you since you came in."
"That's a bit creepy, Commander."
Yin retorted in a playful way.
"Anyway, I'm not helping you."
"You either die or win. There are no alternatives. If you can't beat the Goblin King, the Six Blades has no place for you."
The Commander says as his brows and face form an infuriated expression.
*Gulp*
Yin swallowed his saliva and collected his thoughts.
"Don't worry Commander, I don't plan on dying."
Luken lets out an enigmatic smile.
Yin's black lightning should be ready now.
He tightens his fists and summons it.
"Black Lightning : Amplification!"
Black sparks of electricity covered up his limbs like an armor.
The Goblin King pounces towards his direction.
A split second too late and Yin would be crushed to his death.
He looked at the Commander who was still noticeably smiling for some reason.
Yin immediately understood.
Luken was serious, he was prepared to let Yin die if he didn't win.
He placed his fists just a few inches above his head.
The sparring with Suna definitely helped him.
"I'll end you."
Yin says with pure anger.
His eyes were flickering red.
Yin took charge and sprinted as quick as lightning towards the Goblin King.
Leaving behind a trail of fulgurite, which immediately decayed shortly after.
His white hair elegantly moved with the wind.
The Goblin King tried to squish him to death with its foot.
But Yin was faster. Much faster.
What he had in speed, he lacked in firepower.
His punches noticeably hurt the huge Goblin, but it was not enough.
"If one punch isn't enough, I'll just have to do a hundred."
"And if that's still not enough, I'll just have to do a thousand."
He says as he lets out a confident smirk.
The Goblin King stomped his hammer on the ground.
Causing Yin to lose his footing.
He hadn't noticed it because of the adrenaline, but his feet were bleeding from running too much and too fast.
That's when his attention was fixated on one thing.
The Goblin King's heart.
Yin had to punch it with a force as strong as he can humanely muster.
The Goblin King clobbered at him with the force of a tank.
Each hit was slowly about to hit Yin.
When an opening presented itself to Yin.
The hammer swing was too slow.
That realization made him instinctively leap towards the hammer.
Once it was lifted, he jumped straight at the heart.
The Goblin King's claws were only a few inches away from Yin's face.
But Yin's bet paid off.
He had pierced the Goblin King's heart with a combination.
A one-two punch combo.
His right hand was filled with Black Lightning while his left was focusing on Decay.
On that day.
The Goblin King fell.
Luken didn't tell Yin. But the Commander knew that the cave was a rank B monster den.
[ Quest : Exterminate Goblins 50/50 ]
[ EXP Gained : 300 ]
[ Experience Points : 400/2000 ]