Making my way through the tunnel, the fight with the goblin was slowly replaying in my mind.
'Now that I think about it... the goblin was quite weak, wasn't it?'
I could still feel the pain near my knee – that would definitely leave a bruise.
However, considering I didn't even have trouble walking right now, it wasn't too bad.
Actually, if an average, grown adult hit with the sa club with similar montum in real life, it wouldn't end with just a small bruise – I'd probably end up in the hospital.
I already realized my body beca much tougher than before, but not by an absurd margin. Looking back at so of the guys I've seen at the gym, even the relative ease of handling this sword and carrying the backpack didn't seem anywhere near superhuman – maybe far above average, but not to an impossible degree.
However, one big difference lay in the way I handled the sword itself.
I never did any fencing or recreational roleplay – the closest I've ever gotten to swinging a sword was swinging sticks back when I was a small child.
Yet, for whatever reason, my body was now used to the motions, slashing and stabbing like it was a matter of course.
Co to think of it, despite the clear muscle mory, it was my own lack of familiarity that caused that swing to miss – a mont of delay, a slight hesitation, it was more than enough for the green creature.
Stopping for a mont, I tried to recall my previous stance, and my body had no trouble obeying.
Swing. Swing. Thrust. Swing.
The movents I've never even seen before felt vaguely familiar. Within a few dozen swings, I could approximately gauge the speed, reach and strength of each move, and the slight delay from the last fight gradually disappeared.
'Thrusting... Swinging...'
The fight replayed again in my mind. Thinking back about it, didn't it remind of sothing?
As if responding to my thoughts, the translucent text appeared once again in my vision.
---
【Skills】:
[Charge Thrust] - Lv2 (73/100)
[Arc Slash] - Lv1 (14/100)
---
Could it be?..
But the mont I focused my mind on each of the skills, I instinctively understood that none of my previous flails with the sword were comparable to those skills.
Well, perhaps so of the core movents were similar – the indicator near those skills suggested they were sothing that could be trained, so perhaps what the body rembered was precisely that training.
'Actually, why didn't I try to use those skills?'
Perhaps due to the sudden shock of the whole situation, those skills, which I discovered beforehand, have completely slipped my mind.
'Hmm...'
The tunnel wasn't very wide, barely enough for the regular swings, so I wouldn't want to risk the sword hitting one of the stone walls. However...
I focused my mind on [Charge Thrust]. Unfamiliar knowledge filled my mind once again.
Taking off my backpack, I adjusted the grip on my sword. My leg muscles tensed, as I lowered my posture and prepared.
At first, it didn't feel much different than my previous swings, but gradually, a subtle feeling began to appear – for so reason, it felt as if the world itself would support if I were to move my body and thrust my sword in just the right way.
[Charge Thrust] ~
For a mont, everything blurred. My legs launched forward with unexpected montum, as my arms stretched in a powerful forward motion.
In an instant, I covered a few ters of distance, thrusting my sword at... nothing.
The montum caused to tumble and fall to the ground, sliding another ter across the rough stone floor.
I had a feeling that if not for my armor, bracers and leg guards, I might have lost a few inches of skin just now. Going over the leather leg guards with my hand, I could tell their texture had beco slightly more rugged.
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I stood up, and made my way back to my backpack. As I started walking, I noticed the feeling of fatigue, and the pain in my muscles.
Judging by the toll [Charge Thrust] took on the body, I could probably perform it two, maybe three more tis before I'd be out of commission.
Still, just familiarizing myself with it right now was worth it – there was no telling what lay ahead.
Just as I finished my thought, I noticed the tunnel ahead beca slightly brighter.
Slowing down my pace, doing my best not to make a sound while stretching my senses to the extre, I made my way forward.
***
Until now, the tunnel itself was sloped slightly upward. However, as I moved forward, the slope decreased, until it was completely flat.
Moreover, as I moved forward, the yellowish, subtly fluctuating light from up ahead beca distinct.
It reminded of the light of a candle. Or, a torch.
Still on high alert for any sound, I continued forward, step by step.
The curved tunnel continued on, until finally, I could see the source of the light.
In one of the tunnel walls, there was a large hole, just big enough for an adult to crouch through.
I noticed the lack of debris near the hole – it was probably not new.
The tunnel itself continued onward.
Getting closer to the hole, I could still hear no sound beyond my hushed footsteps.
However, one thing changed – as I approached the hole, a faint sll beca more distinct. A rancid sll I was recently acquainted with.
I stopped, leaning against the wall right next to the opening. Carefully, I peeked through.
The hole itself was less than a ter deep. Through the hole I could see another tunnel, this ti made of earth rather than stone.
However, unlike the last tunnel, this one had.. a wooden beam? Even more, this wooden beam, half-rotten and old, still had a rusty tal torch stake attached to it – with a burning torch placed in it.
Perhaps due to my newly increased awareness, I picked up on another detail – while everything else looked decrepit, the wooden base of the torch looked quite pristine, as if recently made. The wood itself had a slight crimson hue.
There was also one more detail, perhaps more important than the rest.
Gaping the bottom of the hole, which was slightly above the floor, was a hand. Its thin and crooked fingers were covered with dark green skin.
Very slowly, I crouched down and went through the hole, careful not to step on what awaited on the other side.
The shaft - I could now clearly see this was so kind of shaft, perhaps a mining one - was littered with goblin corpses. Counting, there were eight, including the one near the hole.
All of them wore rags similar to the one I found (or rather, was found by) earlier.
Most of their weapons were crude clubs, although there were a few rusty daggers, and on the floor near , I could see a crude wooden bow and a couple of poorly fletched bone-tipped arrows, adorned by so dark-brown feathers I've never seen – although even if they ca from a bird I've seen on Earth, I wouldn't be able to guess it by those feathers.
Still, I took a mont to look for every clue that would explain the creatures' fate. Whatever did this to them could co for , and every bit of information would raise my chances of getting out of those damn caves alive.
There was clearly so kind of fight. One of the goblins was cut in half, its torso resting a few steps away from its legs, entrails scattered across the ground.
Another two goblins clearly had their skulls caved in by sothing blunt. One more goblin had its chest suffer the sa fate.
Two goblins had small, precise wounds – one had its neck slit, the other had his heart stabbed from behind.
One more goblin had a large wound piercing its chest, sowhat similar to the one I myself inflicted on that green little shit not too long ago.
Finally, the goblin near the hole had a small, deep wound in the back of its chest, and the blood, which was no longer flowing, was pooled underneath.
Also, all of the goblins were missing their left ear, as if those were intentionally cut off.
'Looking at all the blood, so of it has already dried on the edges, but most of it is still liquid. I think sobody who knows how much ti it takes for different volus of blood to clot in different temperatures could probably tell how long ago this battle took place.'
That sobody wasn’t , though. Still, the short investigation was not in vain.
On the one hand, while I could not determine the exact ti, both the torch and the blood suggested the battle didn't happen too long ago.
'Perhaps that goblin from earlier is one who managed to flee in ti.'
On the other hand, it was clear the goblins fought at least three opponents with different weapons and fighting styles.
'Of course, it could be so psycho who carries a big sword, a big hamr, and a dagger, and likes using all of them to kill goblins. But realistically, even if soone like that exists here, I don't think it's likely.'
Moreover, it also ans the opponents were intelligent, and the torch suggested at least so of them could not see in the dark.
Yes, for now, I assud goblins can see in the dark – I rembered glowing eyes, like those of cats, an that an animal (or another type of creature) can see in the dark.
Moreover, those goblins seed intelligent enough to use tools, so if they really had trouble seeing in the dark, they'd probably be carrying so type of light source themselves – and, so far, I haven't seen a single one.
The cut-off ears were also a sign of intelligence, although I couldn't guess whether this was so barbaric trophy collection or custom, or sothing with practical aning.
Finally, unless there are much bigger and stronger goblins, at least two of the attackers were physically stronger than goblins – significantly so.
The main questions that remained were:
‘One – If there are goblins in this place, could there be other fantasy species, such as orcs?’
If so, whoever killed those goblins are not necessarily humans, and could be equally hostile, and clearly much more dangerous.
‘Two – If the ones who killed those goblins were humans, then why are they here?’
Since I knew nothing about where I am, humans could end up being even worse than goblins.
it seed I wouldn't have to ponder those questions for long – at the far end of the shaft, I heard the faint sounds of hushed voices and footsteps.
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