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[Welcome to the 3rd Floor, the Goblin Forest]
[You unlocked the following privileges]
[Friends: You can add friends to your list of contacts]
[Chat: you can chat with others]
[The 3rd Floor is a Solo Floor. Complete the Quest to Advance]
[Quest: Goblin Slayer]
[Description: The Goblin Forest is full of Goblins and their number will continue to increase with time as long as the Goblin Chief is alive. Kill the Goblin Chief, the more Goblins you kill on the way, the better your end reward.
[Reward: Depending]
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"Interesting, there doesn't seem to be a time limit or maximum number of how many Goblins can spawn, does that mean I can increase the reward practically infinite?" Orthis read the Quest
"Let's not get ahead of myself, maybe there is an upper limit to how good the reward can get and I don't even know how strong these Goblins are" he shook his head
"All right, let's see how strong they are and continue from there"
Orthis spawned in a small clearing surrounded by forest. It didn't even take him two minutes to find the first Goblin after entering. The result of the encounter could be summarized in two words.
"So weak" Orthis shook his head disappointed
"I shouldn't be too surprised, they are just beginner monsters and I am a lot stronger than when I entered the 2nd Floor. After the Cleave sub-skill reached level 10, I started being able to make small cuts into wood, after it reached level 20, I could cut through wood without problems and began being able to leave marks on stone with my wooden spear"
"My Insight showed no hidden quests and I highly doubt the Goblins have books. Let's just look for the Chief and see how strong he is. If he is so strong that I can't handle him with a horde of Goblins around me, I will kill him now, if he is just as weak, he will get to life for a while longer"
Orthis plan was that if the Chief was weak, he would just explore the floor for a few days, allowing the goblin population to grow. As long as he could handle the risk, he wouldn't say no to better rewards.
After killing over two dozen of these ugly green dwarfs, he found the Chief in a small primitive village they built. Orthis killed almost all the Goblins on his way to him but once he actually defeated the chief, he just let him live and walked away.
The floor was just a giant forest with very big and old-looking trees. There were also some other lifeforms except goblins but they were all common animals like deer, foxes, and wolves. He used this opportunity to restock his supplies and practice hunting.
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[Sub-skill: Throw reached level 9]
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To get some rest at night, Orthis climbed up some big tree and slept in its crown. Survival skills were very important in the Tower, he wouldn't even be surprised if some future floor even tested them.
Orthis had food and water in his inventory but he didn't know when he might need them on future floors that didn't provide them.
To eat, Orthis drained the hunted deer and either turned it into a stew or grilled it. The forest had some small rivers and ponds of fresh, drinkable water.
It was on his fifth day on this floor that one of these ponds gave him a shocking but at the same time terrifying surprise.
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[A naturally formed old well]
[Description: It's just an old well. Its water is very clean and safe to drink]
[Insight: Mímisbrunnr, one of the three wells under the roots of Yggdrasil. If you are willing to pay the price, drinking from it will give you a glimpse into the future and show you secret knowledge. If you don't sacrifice anything, it will just be normal water, safe to drink.
Since it has been connected to Yggdrasil's root since almost the beginning of time, why don't you throw in your spear and see what happens?]
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"WTF?! You're telling me THIS is the place where FUCKING ALL-FATHER ODIN plugged out his eye? How is something like this on the 3rd floor?!" Orthis was near a mental breakdown.
After freaking out for a few minutes, he finally calmed down and began analyzing the situation.
"I mean, it makes some sense for a well under the World Tree's roots to be on a lower floor but still. This also means that many gods from Earth's mythology originated from the Tower, or at least entered it at some point."
"If Odin sacrificed his eye here to gain secrets of higher floors, then it's no wonder that he became a God-King. While I am tempted by this offer of untold knowledge, I am not yet ready to sacrifice my eye for it, maybe in the future but for now my talent is showing me enough secrets and hidden knowledge"
"But why does it want me to throw away my only weapon? I understand that the well and spear have a deep connection but that doesn't mean that they will react to each other. Screw it, let's risk it." He threw the spear into the well and watched it slowly sink until he could no longer see it.
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[The spear is evolving, 1%]
[The spear is evolving, 1,4%]
[The spear is evolving, 1,9%]
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"This is going to take a while, isn't it? Better look for a place to stay and make sure I don't get ambushed by a group of goblins. My stats might be way higher than theirs but I have no experience with my fists."
"Now that I think about it, this could become a big weakness, I should at least learn some basics. I will see if I can find some lone goblin to practice on."
After scouting the area and finding a good place to stay, Orthis left the well in search of a goblin to practice fighting without a weapon. These small creatures were just a bit stronger than when he entered the Tower but nothing compared to him now.
At first, he only targeted lone goblins and slowly worked his way up to larger groups. With their difference in stats, even with his inexperience, the goblins would instantly die with a good hit to the head.
"This isn't working, they are far too weak to give me any form of training. Maybe I can ask Urman to teach me the basics the next time we spar. That reminds me, I should add him to my friend list."
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[Sending a friend request to Urman]
[Request accepted, you can now find him in your contact list]
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The friend request was accepted almost immediately, followed by an angry message.
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[Urman: What the hell, man? I tried to send you a friend request but the system just said 'not found'. Is this a bug or is Orthis not your name? And why are you only contacting me now, what took you so long?]
[Orthis: It's complicated but as you can see, Orthis is my name. And sorry about the late contact, I got a bit busy on the third floor.]
[Urman: Seriously? Killing some goblins shouldn't be a problem for you, if you can't kill the chief then there is no way you could have fought with me on the 2nd floor.]
[Orthis: It's not them, something else came up. It should be over in a few hours. Are you still on the 3rd floor?]
[Urman: Hell, no. I finished that place two days ago, got some nice rewards too. I'm currently stuck on the 4th floor for the next five days. Friendly reminder, drink and eat as much as you can before coming here]
[Orthis: Noted, but you're not going to tell me why, are you?]
[Urman: Nope, have fun. I gotta go]
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"Well, this wasn't very helpful. At least he gave me some advice. I wonder how the spear is doing"
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[The spear is evolving, 99%]
[Evolution halted]
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"Why did it stop?"
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[Insight: The user's blood is required to finish the evolution]
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"Seriously? All right, let's just hope it won't need too much, or else it will attract the goblins."
Orthis used a nearby sharp stone to make a cut on his forearm and let the blood drip into the well. Instead of diluting with the water, the blood just made its way down to the dark ground the spear was lying on.
"With my current endurance, I'm not worried about getting an infection but the blood loss is making me dizzy" Orthis thought
At this point, he lost nearly 500 ml of blood and there was still no sign of the evolution finishing.
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[The spear is evolving, 100%]
[Evolution complete]
[Artifact successfully bound]
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Not caring about the notifications for the moment, Orthis ripped off a part of his shirt and put it around his arm to stop the bleeding.
The endurance stat was showing its power as just a few minutes later, his blood pressure normalized and dizziness disappeared.
"Phew, it finally stopped. Now, let's figure out what I have been losing my blood for."
Orthis could feel a connection to the spear at the bottom of the well but that alone wasn't telling him anything. He needed to dive down there and grab it.
Since there was no one else on this floor except goblins and some animals, he took off all his clothes and dove, following the connection into the dark.
It didn't take Orthis long to find his spear, just as he was about to head back up, he saw a golden glimmer somewhere a few meters away from him.
"Could it be?! There's no way my luck is so good, is it?" he thought surprised.
It was too dark to see anything, so he just grabbed the object, put it in his inventory, and swam back up.
Once he surfaced, he found a spot under the sun to dry off and took out the same-looking but slightly heavier wooden spear.
"All right, let's see what we got here"
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[Artifact: World-Eater Spear]
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"Hold, stop, stop, stop, time out. What in the 69 divine orgies is this? Artifact? World-Eater Spear? Why do I feel this is a bit too high level for me?"
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[Insight: Artifacts are extremely powerful items capable of growth. They often only serve their owner and come with unique powers. Artifacts are unique and even if the same materials and process are used, the result will always be different]
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"Holy shit, that means I got a fucking growth weapon! Jackpot, baby" Orthis cheered
"Let's see what this baby does"
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[Artifact: World-Eater Spear]
[Description: A weak artifact with more potential than any other artifact before it. It was carved from a seed of Yggdrasil and baptized in Mímisbrunnr. It is eternally bound to its master, Orthis.]
[Powers: Perfect Weapon, Absorption]
[Perfect Weapon: This weapon is perfect in every aspect, even a god of craftsmanship would marvel at its perfection]
[Absorption: A trait inherited from the root of Yggdrasil. The spear absorbs part of its foe's strength and uses it to grow. Its master will receive a small share of the absorbed power. There is a small chance that the spear can absorb traits, abilities, and skills]
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"…"
"Deep breaths, take a deep breath, don't start screaming like a madman now"
This time it took him many minutes to calm down. His talent ability, Sage's Mind, could have suppressed his excitement if he wanted it to, but what self-loathing person did you have to be to not allow yourself to be happy?
In fact, he preferred to not suppress his emotions unless it was truly necessary or a case of deep fear. He didn't want to become an emotionless machine. Even after somewhat calming down, he still had a large grin on his face.
"Phew, all right, I can test this later, there are more than enough test subjects in this forest. Now let's see what the other thing I brought up is"
He looked in his inventory and was ready to take the small object out when he was suddenly stopped by a screen.
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[Insight: Danger! Taking out the Eye of Odin will alarm Odin and he will be able to see you through it. Its connection was previously severed by the strong magic in the well]
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Orthis' first two thoughts were, "Shit" and "Holy Shit!"
"That was close, I was almost discovered by Odin. I don't know the dude but he probably won't be too nice to the guy who found his lost eye. But, holy shit, this eye belongs to fucking Odin himself"
"I have no clue what to do with this thing now but I will just keep it in my inventory for now. It seems even Odin can't bypass the Tower's protection and access other's inventory. Good to know." He analyzed.
Orthis inspected the eye through the inventory. The eye looked almost similar to a human's eye, the only difference was that it was probably 1/3 bigger and his iris was a glowing gold. Even through the inventory, Orthis couldn't help but feel like this eye was alive and looking right at him.
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[Artifact: Lost Eye of Odin]
[Description: This is the eye Odin sacrificed in his youth to get forbidden knowledge. After lying on the bottom of Mímisbrunnr for so long, it absorbed a lot of Mana and other energies. This eye belongs to Odin]
[Insight: This is a copy created by the Tower left behind on every 3rd Floor. Once someone retrieves it from the Floor, it will be replaced with the original and all copies on every 3rd Floor will disappear]
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"And it's an artifact too, of course, why not?" he sighted
"Graah!" a scream from behind him startled him
There stood a single goblin.
"Perfect, a test subject, just what I needed" Orthis' grin reappeared
"Grah?" the goblin was confused as to why its prey seemed happy to see it
Before it could react, its head was blasted off by a powerful, yet precise thrust pierced its head.
"Hm, did it get sharper too?" Orthis wondered as he noticed the goblin die even faster than usually
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[World-Eater Spear absorbed a Goblin, Strength +0,003, Endurance +0,004, Agility +0,003, Mind +0,001]
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"I don't feel any different. Maybe it's because the increase in stats is so small which would make sense, it is very weak after all. Lucky for me, there should be a few thousand goblins after letting them multiply for a few days"
"It's about time to clear the floor anyway, I don't think there is anything else here. Let's hunt"
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[World-Eater Spear absorbed a Goblin, Strength +0,004, Endurance +0,004, Agility +0,003, Mind +0,001]
[World-Eater Spear absorbed a Goblin, Strength +0,002, Endurance +0,003, Agility +0,004, Mind +0,004]
[World-Eater Spear absorbed a Goblin, Strength +0,003, Endurance +0,004, Agility +0,002, Mind +0,002]
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"This is amazing, I can actually feel myself growing by the minute." He marveled
Orthis also learned that a part of the absorbed power was used to restore a small part of his stamina and heal him. He's been fighting for hours and except for something to eat or drink, he never paused, even the wound on his arm completely closed after killing just a few hundred goblins, leaving just a light scar to remind him how he got his beloved spear.
He wasn't the only one growing either. The spear had become much harder, sharper, and taken on a slightly darker color. Both of them have yet to get lucky and get a trait or power from a goblin but that might be for the better, goblins didn't have any special power and their few traits were not desirable.
He also noticed that the higher his stats were, the less power he absorbed from the goblins, he needed to kill stronger enemies. It would have been too unfair if he could become a god by just killing weak monsters like goblins and slimes.
After spending almost an entire day and night killing thousands of goblins, he was finally left alone with only the crying goblin chieftain.
"Wait, crying?" something didn't feel right
The chief was kneeling in front of two goblins like they were his immediate family or lover which might have been the case.
"Why do I suddenly feel like I'm the bad guy? Actually, I probably am in this situation. The Tower told me to massacre the goblins and I did" he thought confused.
He didn't care too much about being a villain if he could achieve his goal but seeing your victim act like this is still unnerving. At least that's what he thought until he saw the chief's next action.
The chief bowed down to the two corpses while crying and began eating them. Orthis was too stunned to react, trying to understand what was going on.
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[The Goblin Chief is evolving]
[Goblin Lord]
[Strength: 7]
[Endurance: 8]
[Agility: 5]
[Mind: 4]
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"Wow, I didn't expect that. You would have been a tough nut to crack if this was when I just entered this floor, but now…"
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[Name: Orthis]
[Talent: Sage (???-rank)]
[Race: Tower Human]
[Class: none]
[Floor: 3]
[Health: 100%]
[Mana: 180]
[Strength: 11]
[Endurance: 12]
[Agility: 9]
[Mind: 9]
[Skills: Crafting, Spear Mastery]
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"… your fucked" he grinned
After killing nearly ten thousand goblins, his stats looked unlike anything someone on the 3rd floor should have. If there was one thing he regretted, it was the sudden change in balance. His mind used to be his best stat but because the Goblins were all so dumb, it barely grew, same with agility. At the same time, Strength and Endurance became his best stats.
Orthis played with the newly evolved Goblin Lord for a few seconds before cutting off one of his arms. Just as he was about to deliver the merciful finisher, the Goblin Lord exploded into fire.
Orthis was already too close to dodge, leaving him no other choice but to defend. One of the tricks Bael taught him was how to spin the spear fast enough to defend against many things. According to him, this was a very basic defensive technique in Murim and even people who didn't specialize in spears or staffs could use it.
"Huh, that surprised me. Is this your trump card? You should have used it before losing your arm" he casually said while blowing out his smoking fingers.
The one weakness this technique had was that it left the finger exposed, though that was still better than getting your whole body burned.
The now burning Goblin Lord screamed angrily and charged at Orthis in one last attempt to take down the monster that killed his entire family, twice.
"Time to end this"
Before the Goblin Lord could reach him, a spear flew straight through his chest, leaving behind a large hole.
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[World-Eater Spear absorbed a Goblin Lord, Strength +0,07, Endurance +0,08, Agility +0,05, Mind +0,04]
[Your resistance to Fire increased slightly]
[Your Fire Affinity increased slightly]
[You gained the Goblin Lord's fertility]
[Description: Your fertility is unnatural. Whether old, young, or race, as long as it can give birth, it can have your offspring with a 100% success rate]
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"…"
"What bullshit is this?! Why is the first trait I get something so weird?"
"Forget it, just be sure to use a condom from now on" Orthis saw no use in complaining
This was actually a trait many gods wished they had. It was a universal rule that the more powerful someone was, the harder it was for them to have kids.
"Let's eat and drink something like Urman advised and then go to the next floor"
Ten minutes he appeared in a scorching hot desert.
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[Welcome to the 4th Floor, the Wasteland]
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