A grand side Quest

The adrenaline had worn off, and the world hit me like a thousand boulders. Every part of my body hurt. The cold ground tried to numb the pain, but failed. I couldn't see out of my left eye, and my right side burned. My leg stung and breathing was hard again—but worst of all was my left arm. Pain like I couldn't imagine was coursing through my veins while my arm throbbed. The bite marks on my arm were oozing dark pus and blood. I tried to stand up, but found that I was unable to do so. I was completely spent. My mouth was dry when I went to open it. I rasped out a breath, trying to talk. I managed to get one word out: "system" before slumping my head back to the ground.

[Congratulations, you have defeated a level 1 goblin scout. XP received. Your stats have improved. Would you like to absorb its essence? Yes / No]

I stared at the message, trying to understand the words as my mind was now foggy and it was hard to think. What did that mean? After lying there for a bit longer without responding, the system continued.

[You should take the essence and activate 'Accelerated regeneration.']

I mumbled "yes," then mentally activated 'Accelerated regeneration' as instructed. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth, wishing sleep would take me so I could be away from the pain. The rain picked up again and the sky darkened from the returning clouds, plunging me back into pitch black. I lay there in pain, just wishing it would end. Every now and then, I would heave, sometimes having puke and bile come out, other times nothing.

Time passed, as it often does in situations like this. I don't know if it was minutes or hours, but the pain finally subsided to a manageable level and I was able to function again.

I dragged myself out of the mud and looked around as best I could. I was completely covered in nasty gunk, blood, and mud. The water was not rolling to my feet, so I was also drenched. I went to activate 'Foot wetter' and started to feel the pain come back, so I turned it back off. "System, why was the 'Foot wetter' skill turned off? And why does the pain return if I try and turn it back on?"

[Each skill has a draw that can be split between your current skills, but they will become less effective the more divided it becomes. You still have a lot of healing to do and the venom has not been completely eradicated from your body. You will need to leave 'Accelerated regeneration' as the only active skill on until your body has mostly recovered before splitting it with other skills.]

I looked down at my mangled arm and shuddered. Yes, I was going to leave that on. "Thank you, system." I searched around in the dark and found both my knife and the goblin spear that I took with me. It was still completely dark and I didn't want to look at or touch the body of the goblin. I would have an adult deal with that for me later. I returned around the corner and headed the short distance back to my home. I was good and done with this day and wanted to head back home and hide under the bed.

After I closed the door, I felt an odd mental pull. The Nightstalker. I groaned. It was closer now; I could sense it with this strange temporary quest bonus. That goblin got past the wall somehow. If one small one like that made it, there would be more. I needed to find help. I begrudgingly went back outside, kitchen knife in one hand, goblin spear in the other, as I headed slowly for the main gate.

The mental pulling kept nudging me to step off the path and go to the right instead of following it to the main gate. It was a subtle thing and since I was stumbling around in the dark, it was pulling me right along. I was very quickly lost and wondering down an unfamiliar cobblestone path. The system had said I should go the opposite direction and more and more, it felt like I was proving to be a fool. I hoped I would find the wall soon. How big could a walled city be, I wondered?

I found it, or more to the point, stumbled upon it. I'm not sure when I passed the silence barrier. How did I miss a glowing line in the ground while walking in the dark anyway? Even though the climate was more tropical than I was used to, it was cold from the rain. Most of the muck had washed off me, leaving my fair skin visible again. Surprisingly, I had not seen or heard a single elf along the way, or maybe not, as the heavy rain was loud and the darkness made it so I could barely see my feet. This also left me shivering; my small body was not used to this. I really needed to find some proper clothing. Couldn't the goblins have waited until after I got my new clothes before they attacked? Well, then, I would have gotten ruined in the fight anyway, I guess. No, what I really needed was armor.

I started walking along the wall, looking for someone or a path up it. I came across a metal grate located at the bottom. It was smashed open and was just big enough for a small person or a goblin to squeeze through. I couldn't see the other end of it; it was a well of complete darkness. Well, everything was in darkness. I also needed a flashlight and going along with that, a fully automatic rifle with thousands of rounds. Yes, that would be nice. I continued past the hole. I was not going in there. Now I wanted an adult. Not sure how I would communicate with them to show them this, but that was a future me problem. I took a few more steps and stumbled over something squishy. I bent down to look at it. It was an elf. A dead elf! His body had been mostly picked clean. Armor and weapons appeared to be gone and the body was mangled. I heard a noise behind me. I whipped around as lightning momentarily lit up the area. For a brief moment, an outline of a head popping out of the hole stared at me. It had the same pointed ears and sharp nose of the goblin I had fought before. Without hesitation, I shoved the spear into its face with all the might I could muster, one-handed with my tiny arm. It connected and there was a crunching noise followed by a yelp. The spear was stuck. I let go of it and charged in, swinging the knife with my left arm down on the head as well. An arm grabbed at my leg, and I chopped down on it, causing it to go limp. I switched the knife to my right hand and continued to hack at the goblin until it stopped moving and then I hit it a few more times for good measure. This thing had tough skin and was hard to kill.

When I stopped, another notification appeared.

[Congratulations, you have defeated a level 5 goblin cook. XP received. Your stats have improved. Would you like to absorb its essence? Yes / No]

I felt even worse than I did before. This was not even a combat class. I just killed a cook. I did, however, manage to not throw up this time. "System, why was there a goblin cook crawling under the wall to get into the city?"

[Goblins follow the orders of higher beings like orcs and the orcs don't care what class a goblin is. They send them in to be cannon fodder when fighting. That cook would have been more than willing and capable of cutting you to bits. Then it would have used you for its profession. Don't feel bad, it is an uncaring monster. Take the essence; you will need it.]

That did not make me feel any better. I reluctantly agreed again and took the essence. A quick glance at my stats sheet showed the word 'some' next to mana. The system was using video game mechanics, but not showing me the numbers. Not that I would have any point of comparison for the numbers anyway.

I built up the nerve and pulled the dead goblin out of the hole in the wall and put it beside the wall. I then steeled myself to search the corpse. I kept the body between me and the hole so I could keep an eye on it. I also kept both the spear and the kitchen knife close to me. First, I noticed the spear the goblin had. It was just a sharpened stick. The one the scout had used was obsidian-tipped and of much finer craftsmanship. Not that it was good; it just clearly had more time and effort put into it than what the cook had. With that said, the cook did have a single metal pot with him and a very worn, rusty knife. I would not be taking that. As for the clothing he had on, well, I would rather be stark naked than put that on. My loincloth would have to continue to do for now. I did find two pouches. One had some sort of spice in it, but I was not going to try it. The other had some coins and what looked to be shiny junk in it. I would sort that later. It was attached to a short rope that I used to tie it to my loincloth.

About the time I finished looting the goblin. I stood up and noticed another spear tip poking out of the hole. I carefully picked up my goblin spear with both hands and crept forward, standing right beside the hole. As soon as the head popped out, I gave it one clean strike, coming down right on top of its neck. It fell limp and dead.

[Congratulations, you have defeated a level 2 goblin thief. XP received. Your stats have improved. Would you like to absorb its essence? Yes / No]

"Yes," I said through clenched teeth, then I pulled it to the side as well. The dead elf constantly reminded me that this was a war and I would need to push my feelings aside while I went about this grisly business. I did not choose this. They were actively attacking the city to kill me and everyone else. The adults were not around. It was just me and now I had a job to do. I was going to defend this hole in the wall.

I searched the goblin and found its spear was junk. However, it had a heavier coin bag than the cook and I was in better condition, so I switched it out and dumped the contents into it. It also had a collection of daggers strapped to its chest. All but one of them were junk. The one that caught my eye had a handle that was finely crafted with a gem on the pommel. It was too dark to make out the colour of the gem. The blade reminded me of a modern hunting knife, and there was no rust that I could see in the dark. When I held it, it felt like it belonged in my hand. It was as if the dagger wanted to be part of me. I whispered, "System, is this a magical knife?"

[Identify skill to low level to detect magical items. Would you like to expend essence to expand its capabilities to include magical items? Yes / No]

I pondered this for a moment, then realized I might be able to expand other more important skills instead. I asked, "Can I expand other skills like 'Accelerated regeneration' or 'Foot wetter'?"

[Not at this time. Criteria has to be unlocked before that becomes available.]

"And what is that criteria?"

[I am unable to provide that. Each skill is different and circumstances vary. When it becomes available as an option, it will be presented to you.]

I guess I had nothing to lose and possibly something to gain with this dagger. "Yes, upgrade identify skill."

I then activated the skill on the dagger and a notice appeared above it. (Magical Dagger: Essence striker)

I wondered who the goblin had stolen the dagger from. Was it taken from a dead elf? I shuddered at the thought. Well, now it was going to be used for protecting my home by killing goblins. "What does an Essence striker do?" I asked

[I am unable to provide further information on this. You will need to continue to increase your 'Identify' skill when the option is available.]

Well then I guess I would have to find out the hard way.

I decided to try the dagger on the next goblin that crawled through. I did hope another elf would come along and take over. This guard had to be missed at some point. I stood next to the hole, freezing cold and still shivering. 'Accelerated regeneration' apparently did not care if I was cold. It was not long before another goblin came crawling through the hole. It looked around before getting its head completely out. I wanted to be as merciful and quick in putting it down as possible. I shoved the dagger, aiming for its neck, but missed and hit it in the eye as it lifted its head. The screech that came out was positively wretched. The gem glowed just the slightest bit for a moment and then the goblin slumped dead.

[Congratulations, you have defeated a level 1 goblin grunt. XP received. Your stats have improved. Essence stored in Essence striker. Would you like to absorb? Yes / No]

"System, could anyone holding the dagger absorb the essence even if they did not make the kill?"

[You must improve the 'Identify' skill to be able to know the effects of the dagger.]

I shrugged and decided to absorb the essence anyway. "Yes, I would like to absorb the essence." No point in saving it, I guess. I bet the elves have plenty of their own.

As I finished checking over the goblin's body, I realized it was a bit of a chonker. I was a little surprised it was able to squish through that tight space and it was quite the challenge to pull it out of the busted grating at the hole exit. I deposited it next to the rest. This one also had a coin purse that I pillaged the contents of. I was sure most of it would be worthless junk, but I would sort that out later. This goblin did have something that looked like chest armor, but it was little more than a plain board strapped to its body. I did not want it. I did not see any weapons on this goblin. Whatever was in its hands must have got stuck in the hole and I was not going to have a look for it. It was probably more useless junk.

Just as I finished checking the body, it started to move. The thing was dead, even the system told me so. I stabbed it again with my new dagger in the neck and it went limp then the gem lit up for a brief moment again. The thief started to move and the baker stood up. I stabbed the thief in the side and it fell limp with the dagger flashing again. I turned to the baker just as it jumped onto me and started clawing me. Its face was mangled and there was no life in it. I stabbed anything I could on it and it went limp. I noticed another goblin had crawled out of the hole while I was struggling with the baker zombie. I think it was a zombie that was now dead for a second time. I activated 'Identify' on the new goblin and got more than a single word this time.

(Goblin: Necromancer)