After a few brief moments of feeling joyful, Miles got to the last item he had been rewarded with, and his lips curled upwards in a grin full of malice.
[Item: Drop of Corrupted Blood]
[Item Description: When thrown against the enemy, causes a massive explosion that deals considerable damage to every player or Creature at Level 10 or lower]
"Now that's what I'm talking about." Miles exhaled through his nose and got up. "Maximized EXP income."
Opening the map that showed the relics' location, he thought for a second.
'If I keep the pace for at least four hours, I could arrive at the trifurcation not long after the sun is up, but let's make it quicker, shall we?'
Summoning the [Foot Soldier's Emblem] from his inventory, Miles marveled at the small necklace made of black rope, with a single, pearly fang as pendant, and wore it.
As soon as he did, the system window appeared in front of him with a message.
[Which basic stats do you wish to increase?]
As Miles looked at his basic stats, he could only think of how frustrating it was to be such a crappy player, of not even knowing how he had been able to survive this long without the help of other players, too selfish to land a hand when he needed it.
And as the wind blew through the leaves, whistling in Miles' ears, he made a promise, watching the numbers in his STR, AGI, and DEX stats go up.
"As soon as I'm done with this quest, I'm going to sit down for no matter how long it takes, and I'm going to read the goddamned tutorial to this game…"
[Strength: 18]
[Agility: 13]
[Dexterity: 14]
[Perception: 15]
[Intelligence: 20]
"… And I'm going to become the best player in this god-forsaken game!"
[Your muscles feel stronger]
[Your body feels lighter]
Miles jumped and launched a short series of punches as the system messages popped up. Smiling, satisfied with the result, he closed his eyes for a few seconds, breathing in and out, trying to set the pain and fatigue aside. When he opened them again, he started walking towards his goal.
He increased his pace little by little, afraid that the sudden increase in stats could mess his muscles up, but before he could even notice, he was already running at full speed, stopping every half an hour or so to quench his thirst and have a few bites of his rations.
It was not long until he watched the forest landscape give place to what looked like the foot of a mountain.
At its base, however, under the dark radiance of the night sky, the entrance to three caves stood open before Miles, like three gaping maws waiting to swallow him whole.
"Now… Which one…?" Miles bit his knuckle, remembering what the quest description said.
[But beware, for you only have one chance to find it.]
A sudden motion in the woods made him turn, startled. Thanks to his PER stat, even though quite low, he was able to perceive low-level players and Creatures, and he did not know if it was a blessing or a curse, this time, as a shiver ran down his spine.
"Damn…" He bit his knuckle even harder, feeling the metallic taste of blood on his tongue, as he saw a few pairs of blood-red eyes glowing through bushes, treetops, and behind the trees.
At first, there were just a couple of them, but as the seconds passed, a couple became a dozen, and then two dozen, three, four…
In the blink of an eye, Miles' heart was beating like a caged beast, with Creatures swarming in front of him, and a choice to be made right at his back.
However, when the first Creature stepped into the small clearing that surrounded Miles, his skin crawled as he saw a goblin as tall as him — which was not much, but definitely way taller than goblins should be — holding one knife in each hand, its skin red, with tattoos running from its neck to the tip of the fingers in its right hand. Its eyes, though, differently from the foot soldier Miles had faced just a couple of hours ago, carried a kind of intelligence opposite to the tiny creature from before.
One after another, the goblins stepped into the clearing, slobbering and grinning, growling and grunting, making Miles gasp in utter horror.
The Creatures' names and levels were displayed in a reddish hue of orange right above its head.
[Creature: Goblin Ranger]
[Level: 10]
[Creature: Goblin Shaman]
[Level: 09]
[Creature: Goblin soldier]
[Level: 09]
Miles' eyes widened in fear as he read the names and levels of each Creature there, but…
'Why aren't they attacking?'
Before he could think of an answer, as if reading his thoughts, the reason for such unexpected behavior revealed itself.
The Creatures scattered, making way for an even more frightening Creature.
A tall, muscular goblin-like Creature, with gray skin covered in tattoos from its bald head to the tip of its toes. A thick leather armor protected its body from neck to legs, leather pauldrons covered its massive shoulders, and it held one cleaver in each hand, an evil grin spreading its lips open.
'No… Not a Creature…' Miles shivered as he read the name and level of the monstrosity, displayed in deep red above its head.
[Monster: Goblin Chieftain]
[Level: 21]
'T-twenty-one?' Miles' mouth fell open, quivering. 'It's… It's a Monster…'
It was the only information Miles had read in the Monster Manual, and even then, just in passing. First came the Creatures, then the Beasts, which were hard for even the Level 10 players to kill without a party.
Then, there were the Monsters.
To sub-ten players, these things were ungodly beings that could not be killed even with a full, well-rounded party. And there was one, right in front of Miles, right when he had to make the most difficult decision of his life until now.
He could not think of anything, because the next second, Miles saw the two cleavers coming right at him, ready to rip him to shreds.