The night sky unfolded above the tree top, the forest was deadly silent, and the smell of leaves and rain filled Miles' nostrils, but all he could think of were the pair of blood-red eyes before him.
When the thing stepped out of the shadows cast by the plentiful leaves at the end of the branch, Miles could see the thing's information displayed above its head, flowing in an orangish light.
[Creature: Goblin foot soldier]
[Level: 07]
The Creature stepped towards Miles, making the branch sway ever so slightly, while the boy shivered as he looked at the goblin's level.
'Damn it…!' He began to untie the rope around his waist as quietly and slowly as he could, but when he was almost done, it looked like the goblin understood what Miles was doing, and jumped towards him with a frightening speed.
'Shit!' Miles tried to move, but all he managed to do while launching a punch against the goblin's face, was to not fall from the branch, as the rope loosened around him, the knot still half-untied.
His punch landed, though, and even though Miles' stats were low, even for a level 05 player, the strike managed to put a distance between him and the goblin, along with dealing some damage.
Even if too little to Miles' liking.
He used the time he could buy with the punch to finish untying the knot, but the creature was already on his way, its maw wide open and full of razor-sharp teeth. Saliva flew around from its mouth as it closed the distance between them, ready to much on Miles' head.
The memories of New Year's Eve hammered in Miles' mind, his heart pounding even harder in his chest, and beads of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
'Come on, think! Think!' Miles huffed, the silence through the dense forest suddenly deafening and overwhelming.
His body acted on its own, though, doing the only thing Miles learned to do during the six months of strenuous playthrough, and another punch flew towards the goblin's face.
This one, however, was not a straight punch, but a cross. And even though his STR stat was not as high as the regular sub-ten players, it was enough to make it up for the lack of space he had to move, trying to stand precariously on the tree branch.
As his punch hit, Miles' heart skipped a beat as he felt like falling sideways, while the goblin was sent off course by the attack, missing its grasp and falling along with Miles towards the ground, grassy and full of protruding roots.
He fell over one of the roots, seeing stars as he felt one of his ribs crack, but there was no time to think, the goblin was already on the move towards Miles, so he got up, stumbling, and raised his arms to defend from whatever attack the creature was going to use.
'I should've read the monster's manual, damn it!' Miles exhaled, grimacing as he felt the creature's claws rip the skin of his arms. Countless thoughts crossed his mind, from when he started his alleged career as a streamer to everything that happened from New Year's Eve onwards.
Even though he knew he had to keep his guard up, he was filled with the regret of being nothing but a mediocre gamer, and even more of a mediocre streamer, at best.
'And now there's this stupid hidden quest that I don't even know if I'm going to complete…' A deep sigh mixed with the panting from blocking the creature's attacks escaped his lips. 'What a joke…'
He had no focus on the battle, but there was the tingle of an idea, tickling the back of his mind, even though it was not something very smart.
'Well… Who said I was smart?'
There was no opening, and Miles' arms were bleeding profusely already. He felt his HP drop like a meteor, but there was not much he could do, weak as he was, so he just lowered his guard, exhaling deeply.
In the next moment, when the goblin launched a claw attack towards his face, the creature's eyes widened, and the attack suddenly stopped.
A grin twisted Miles' lips upward as he felt the solid touch of the goblin's arm within his grasp.
"Gotcha…" He whispered, throwing a punch right at the creature's face, which twisted sideways as the attack landed cleanly. "Just because I'm the weakest of the sub-ten…" He landed one more punch, this time hitting half the goblin's face and half the creature's precariously raised guard. "That I'm letting the game get me killed this easily!"
Punch after punch, Miles bled and the creature's face swelled, the goblin only able to try and block Miles' attacks, as its attacker did not let go of its arm for one second.
Huffing, Miles fell on top of the goblin, its knees buckling and finally giving up. But he did not stop punching until the system window showed up, after his knuckles were all bloodied and ripped open, and his muscles ached in protest again, wasting the night's rest away.
[You have slain a Creature – Goblin food soldier]
[You have received Experience points; Alus flask X02; Foot soldier's Emblem X01; Drop of corrupted blood X01]
Miles felt the tiny amount of experience gather around the rest of what he had accumulated since he reached level 05, but still, it was not enough for him to level up.
No matter how much he tried, it felt like getting past level 05 was taking longer than the regular players took. With a heavy sigh, Miles stumbled and fell leaning on the tree he had fallen from, and opened his inventory.
"At least that joke of a battle was not for nothing." He whispered, his lips curling slightly upwards as he looked at the items' descriptions. "Jackpot, finally!"
[Alus Flask X02]
[Item Description: Fully recovers the player's health and Stamina]
He drank one of the [Alus Flask] and felt his HP and Stamina being swiftly replenished, but when Miles looked at the description of the next item, his eyes grew wide.
He gasped.
[Foot soldier's Emblem]
[Item Description: Enhances three of the bearer's basic stats in 05 points]
He had to cover his mouth with both hands to choke the laughing fit that took hold of him.
"Finally!" He muttered between laughs. "I'll finally be able to fight toe to toe with the creatures of this forest!"