As Ellis stepped through the gate, he felt a strange sensation of weightlessness, as if he were floating for a moment. The world around him seemed to shift, and before he knew it, he found himself on the other side. His sister stood there, waiting for him.
He couldn't help but compare this teleportation to his last experience. This time, he felt almost at ease, with barely any pressure on his body and his breathing steady. In contrast, the gray gate previously had left him feeling nauseated and breathless, overwhelmed by the intense pressure.
Feeling relieved, Ellis looked around, he realized he was inside a cave. The air felt a bit damp and uncomfortable but was still bearable. And oddly enough, the cave was well-lit. Then on closer inspection, he noticed that the walls were faintly glowing, and the light was actually emanating from them.
"you don't feel anything wrong?"
"No?" As Ellis walked toward his sister and heard what she said, he began to wonder if there was something wrong because he didn't have the Twilight Codex system.
"Nothing, it's just a little uncomfortable for the first time normally. But maybe because you are strong, you didn't feel anything."
"Maybe" While saying so, Ellis finally saw the hobgoblins coming from afar toward them.
Looking at the hobgoblins, with body statures as tall as normal adult humans. With rough, deep green skin, pointed ears, and tattered, filthy rags hanging from their loins. Their prominent noses were triangular and crooked, adding to their overall ugliness. While their orange eyes like orbs seemed to glow eerily in the cave. And even from afar the stench of decay and mold they carried with them was unmistakable.
But even so, seeing something other than the zombies—especially something that have more fantasy elements, like what he had always read about—made Ellis feel delighted.
Unable to wait for the hobgoblins to approach, Ellis crouched down, taking a stance with one foot forward and the other back. Then launched himself forward, covering a considerable distance with a single powerful leap. Then taking another step, he was now right in front of the five hobgoblins.
While they seemed a bit surprised by his speed, the hobgoblins were still not intimidated.
Seeing how four of them began to surround him with their crude weapons while one distanced himself and readied his bow, Ellis felt a bit amused. However, he still didn't want to go out of his way and wait for them to get ready and attack.
Taking a step forward, with smooth and deliberate movement he knew from watching his sister from before the Awakening. He threw a punch, connecting his fist with the hobgoblin's head with a sickening crunch. The force of the blow was so immense that the hobgoblin's skull shattered like a fragile melon, the head exploding in a burst of dark green blood and fragments. While the corpse fell to the ground, lifeless, as if it had been nothing more than a low-level zombie,
[You have obtained 0.4 blank points.]
The blank points he got were a little more apparently. Ellis continued his attacks, quickly finishing off the other three nearby hobgoblins. Then, after dodging the incoming arrow, he moved on to the last one and finished him off swiftly.
[You have obtained 0.5 blank points.]
Seeing his sister approach, looking bewildered by his strength and complimenting him, while he didn't show anything, Ellis couldn't help but feel a bit smug inside. Especially when he remembered how she was the stronger one before.
"Brother, you are really very strong."
"I'm your brother after all." While replying with a relaxed tone, Ellis picked up the bow from the ground and examined it. Finding it shabby, he tossed it aside and glanced at the other weapons. But seeing how they were all similar, he just gave up and said to his sister.
"Where are the magic stones located? Let's take them out and move on."
"It's near the heart." Saying so, she took a dagger from her back and made a cut in the chest of the hobgoblin, as if it were the most natural thing. After checking a little without finding one, she moved on to the next corpse. Finding a magic stone in the second one, she extended her hand and retrieved it.
Seeing the scene, especially with his sister's hand covered in green blood, Ellis felt uncomfortable. But after hesitating a little, he decided not to comment on it.
Turning his head, his gaze fell on the arrows coated with poison. As he thought deeply of his initial goal, An idea suddenly came to him. But first, he needed to talk to Aurora, so he tried to communicate with her in his mind.
'Aurora, can you hear me like this?'
[Yes, host]
'Good. The effects of the blessing I received from Mother—the healing ones—how are they administered? Can you control when to use them?'
[When healing is objectively required, it will be applied. If your mother determines that healing is needed, or if I control its activation.]
[And in your mother's presence, she will still retain greater control over the blessing.]
'So now, with the absence of Mother, you can control when to use it, right?'
[Yes.]
Ellis couldn't help but clench his fist in joy at the answer and continued.
"Then, one chance should always stay as a backup for emergencies, the second is debatable, and the third is for experiments."
[Got it]
Bringing the arrow in front of him, he lightly stabbed his palm, creating a superficial wound that caused the fragile arrow to break instantly.
"Ellis, what are you doing?."
While he was waiting for the effects of the poison, he suddenly heard his sister shouting at him with great worry in her eyes, as if he were someone crazy. So he tried to explain and reassure her.
"I'm just trying to get a poison resistance skill, and I have healing abilities, so don't worry."
After the episode with his sister, feeling the changes that happened to him—just his body becoming a little sluggish—Ellis wondered, "Is it because of my strong body, or is the poison weak?" And decided to push on through the dungeon and use the healing ability when he felt he can't endure it anymore.
"Let's continue. And sister, can you teach me a bit of hand-to-hand combat along the way?"
After staring at him silently for some time, his sister finally replied, "Okay."