Compared to its inferior counterparts, the F+ graded shadow goblin had a brief but respectable ability to hold its own in battle. Even one of these solitary creatures could withstand attacks for up to 15 seconds, and possibly longer if I hadn't become familiar with their movements and Node patterns.
When encountering a double threat, the confrontation lasted a mere 45 seconds before I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead - a first for today. Their enhanced abilities also meant that they could recover quicker, giving me less time to take advantage of any potential openings.
Challenges came my way when I encountered a group of four foes.
As I stepped into their territory, they charged at me from different angles, attempting to overpower me with basic tactics. But I quickly found a gap between the two goblins and darted through before they could react. My speed proved to be my advantage once again.
My movements were sharp, precise, and almost like a dancer's as I twirled through the air with my sword. The first goblin was easily dispatched, but the remaining three were relentless. With grace and skill, I struck down the rightmost goblin and aimed to kill with my glinting blade.
The projectile moved quickly, catching the light, and glinting off its metal surface. I dodged to avoid the dagger aimed at my back, raising my sword to deflect it towards the goblin. Blood spurts from the wound as it slices into the goblin's arm.
After an intense hour of fighting real opponents, I finally understood what made up a Node. My enhanced eyesight showed me nodes that resembled preprocessed information. These nodes were a combination of muscle movements and gravitational forces, and by passively analyzing them, I could identify weaknesses or anticipate potential attack points.
Even though this damaged dagger maintains its course once thrown, my training and encounters with goblin ambushes have allowed me to determine the most effective way to strike.
'Still… it's only possible because of my ridiculous intelligence.'
The goblins did not allow me to fully grasp the concept of Nodes; instead, they became more impatient in their actions as a time limit was set for their wounded companion.
The impact of the deflected dagger threw me off-balance, leaving my stance awkward and limiting my reactions. With their blades closing in, I could only hop back quickly to avoid being struck. Gripping my weapon tightly, I swung downward with all my might.
As I did this, the only uninjured goblin attempted to stab me in the back. As I dodged to the side, two daggers were hurled toward me.
Whether it was intentional, or their injuries distorted their aim, the daggers had slightly different trajectories. I deflected one dagger and distanced myself from the uninjured goblin but was not fast enough to completely avoid the second dagger.
Naturally, this was not enough to penetrate the durability of the E-ranked nanotech armor I had donned before entering the dungeon.
Despite my frustration and anger at my current lack of skills, I charged towards the first goblin I wounded. It had been bleeding for nearly a minute now, and its stamina was clearly diminishing. Exploiting its injury, I swiftly delivered three slashes, knowing it wouldn't be able to defend itself well. As its stamina hit rock bottom, I pretended to go for a leg sweep and used the opportunity to slice through its neck.
As two of the goblins lay on the ground, one seemingly with multiple broken ribs, it was clear that the fight was coming to an end. The third goblin, who had tried to attack me before I killed its companion, became enraged when it failed, and this anger made its movements predictable. It raised its arm in a futile attempt to save itself from being cut in half, making it an easy target for me to remove its limb with my blade.
As the goblin's hand hit the ground with a thud, I readied my weapon to decapitate it. However, my attack was halted by another goblin who had suddenly appeared with a dagger in its hand from an unknown source.
Even with the goblin's desperate attempts to wound me, I easily deflected the dagger into its other foot. This not only stopped the goblin's assault, but it also fell in a position reminiscent of a knight preparing for execution by guillotine.
As its final kin lost its head, the goblin seemed to feel reality set in. The look of despair on its face was truly…
'Delightful.'
Without bothering to rush over, I nonchalantly kicked the head of the goblin I had slain earlier like a soccer ball. Despite its swift evasion, the dagger it hurled at me was swiftly returned with even greater velocity.
With a dagger embedded inside its heart, the final goblin's eyes lost their light.
After the altercation, I paused to take a deep breath and calm myself. Rose approached me with purpose.
"Excellent job, Young Master, you improved greatly in just two hours." Pride in me dripped from each word she spoke.
"Let alone facing one F+ rank, you took on four at the same time and killed them in only two minutes."
'Excellent? This isn't nearly enough. Using my other style would still be more effective…'
While my thoughts on the recent fights were less than positive, indeed, a normal month-old awakener making four opponents of similar stats is an absurd feat. Taking on just one would have been a daunting challenge even for other prodigies.
Let alone being a daunting challenge, the fight took just two minutes, and the only risk of injury wouldn't have been much worse than a paper cut.
Although there may not be a significant difference between low ranks such as D, E, and F, someone with extensive experience can still easily handle opponents one or two ranks above through sheer skill. However, only those at the S rank and above possess this level of mastery.
Engaging in a battle against multiple opponents is significantly more challenging than one-on-one combat. It is uncommon for a newly awakened individual to participate in a fight against four enemies with similar abilities and emerge only slightly exhausted; this is an anomaly.
'Problem is only my body is truly that of a newly awakened. Even with disjointed memories of Michael's abilities, I should be able to do much more.'
Having never practiced any fighting techniques till a month ago, it would have been counterproductive to show any of Michael's old skills. Despite being downgraded, it was far more than I should have been able to execute.
Even with the numerous restrictions on my fighting abilities and the somewhat impressive outcomes, I couldn't help but feel a sting to my pride as a former SS+ ranked awakener, having been injured by a lowly goblin.
'Killing the boss would be too much with the skills I can show off, not to mention Michael's ego is rather annoying at times like this.'
Sigh…
"Rose, we are done for the day." As I said this, I went around and collected the goblins and their parts into my space ring.
"Okay, I was worried you would want to face the boss as well. That would be too much for you right now."
Twitch…
Thankfully my back was turned on her, or else my twisted face would have been shown to her.
'Knowing it doesn't make hearing those words any less annoying…'
With my composure back in place, I spun around and followed Rose as we made our way out of the dungeon.
It took us less than 20 minutes to reach the exit, where the workers eagerly awaited our arrival. They had been anticipating our presence for some time now and greeted us quickly.
I paused to scan my surroundings before addressing the person in charge.
"How can I help you, Young Master?" Although the man's attitude was servile, it didn't seem to be out of greed but rather a caution of being singled out.
"Have these sold and the money wired to my account."
Thunk… Thunk… Thunk…
After stacking up a mound of goblin carcasses, I turned on my heel and walked away without a second thought.
The man, Rose, and all the other workers were confused by my sudden change in behavior. But Rose, who had seen me act differently before, didn't pay it much attention, and simply shrugged it off as she walked away with me.