'Well, shit.'
I look out over the gathering of three small green men, all wearing pelts and carrying crude wooden and stone tools. Their noses poke out further than a mosquito's proboscis, and their ears shoot off to the sides far enough to make a house elf blush. They all look up at me with a slight tinge of fear that slowly gets replaced by angry scowls. Their eyes, once similar to regular animals, are suddenly tinged with red.
I feel the anger beginning to fill my body once again, but just like last time, it's manageable. As the first one flings itself towards me, wooden spear in hand, I don't even bother protecting myself. The wooden tip caves in as it meets with my iron leg.
[Forest Goblin | Level: 3]
I look down at the goblin who committed too much to his stab, and is now about to stumble past me, and use [Slam] again.
*PUH-CHI!*
As my hand collides with his head, the fragile skull encasing his brain is turned to dust. His deep crimson blood, dark enough to be in a film, sprays out over my hand and back onto his gobby buddies.
[Experience: 70/100]
[Coins: 13]
The second one finally reaches me right after, wielding a stone axe, something that could actually do damage to me.
[Forest Goblin | Level: 4]
I attempt to dodge backwards as it swings for my midsection, but am just barely caught by the tip of the axe. Its blunt stone edge proceeds to cause a slight dent in my body. I use slam again, sending my fist hurtling down towards the green creature and smashing it on top of the head, turning its spine into an accordion.
[Experience: 100/100]
[Level up!]
[Coins: 16]
I feel an impact on my side and see a wooden arrow poking out from my side, having dug itself half an inch into my body. I look up at the one responsible, and see the third and final goblin looking at me with red eyes.
[Forest Goblin | Level: 7]
The bow in its hands is shoddily made, and looks as though it would tear itself apart with one more shot. Nonetheless, the goblin takes another arrow from the waistband of its loincloth, loading it up to shoot at me. I begin to lumber forwards at it as the next arrow shoots forwards, glancing off my head as it hits an angled section. As the goblin realizes that its used the last of its arrows, it charges forwards with a small dagger it had hidden in its waistband. The dagger is small, and seems to be more of a pocket knife, but is still seemingly made of metal. Something much better than the other two goblins had.
As the goblin reaches me, it slashes at me, scuffing the surface of my body and removing some of the rust from me. I slam my arm down, and miss entirely as the goblin ducks out of the way and behind me.
'Fuck!'
I can help but curse as I twist around, swinging my left arm out behind me, only for the goblin to duck down. Sparks fly as it runs the blade of its dagger across my arm, doing nothing but scuffing up my rusty paint job. As the goblin stands in front of me, I come up with a way of tricking it. I start to swing for its head again with my other arm, and just as I'd thought, it goes to duck again. As my arm is right above it, I use my skill.
'SLAM!'
All the momentum of my arm suddenly shifts from moving to the left, to going straight down. It impacts on the back of the goblin, squeezing its guts out of the sides of its body and crushing every bone in its torso. It starts to squirm in panic as the red begins to fade in its eyes before shock sets in and it falls unconscious. I lift up my leg and finish it off by stomping on its head.
[Experience: 70/100]
[Coins: 20]
I take a second to calm down as the fight finishes, letting that nagging hatred slowly disappear. God that's really unsettling. Having an emotion that's not your own being forced into you isn't the most pleasant experience. Hey, on the bright side, I finally have enough coins for the core shielding.
'Store.'
'Essential parts.'
————————
[Lesser Weight Reduction Rune - 50]
[Lesser Weight Addition Rune - 50]
[Core shielding - 20]
————————
'Core shielding.'
As I say this, my coins drop back down to zero, and a new feeling emerges from my body. I hear a static sound in the back of my head as an error screen appears,
[Error: Interference detected. Attempting to merge interference with system…]
[Attempting…]
[Success!]
[New system function added: Modifications]
As the error messages disappear, the system opens up to show me the new page.
——————
[Status:]
[Rusty Iron Golem]
[Level: 3]
[Experience: 70 / 100]
[Str: 50]
[Agi: 4]
[Def: 100]
[Dex: 2]
[Mag: 20]
[Stat points: 20]
[Skills:]
[Slam: Attack with double your Strength and Agility. Cooldown: 10s]
[Brace: Brace yourself. Damage taken is reduced by 50% unless damage taken is crushing damage. Duration: 1min. Cooldown: 5min]
[Modifications:]
[Core shielding]
——————
Ah, so it's having to make me a new section, huh? Alright, that's pretty convenient. I can keep track of everything I get a lot easier now. I notice the stat points I have available under my stats. Am I able to just apply those myself? If so, I'd wanna put them evenly in Agility and Dexterity. Help me move a bit easier.
I watch as the stat points go back down to zero, while my agility and dexterity go up to 14 and 12 respectively. Instantly, my joints begin to feel much more loose and maneuverable. My speed didn't increase all that much, maybe going up by another mile per hour. However, my maneuverability has gone up incredibly so. Before, it'd take me a couple seconds to actually lift my arm up for a slam. Now, I'll be able to lift my arm up in half the time. I imagine that the weight reduction rune will be a massive help with that.
Now, as far as the core shielding goes, I look down at the blue orb in my chest and find a thin green layer above it, similar to a thin pane of glass. However, I'd recognize that color from anywhere. It's an actual shield array. Now, there's no triangulation that there would be in more advanced shields, which gives it more strength, but it's still something. Now I don't have to worry about glancing blows to it, potentially killing me. Though, a strong enough attack will still sail right through.
After taking a second to get my bearings again, I start walking again, trying to find any more things I can fight. I'm gonna need a ton of coins, after all.