Jamis felt the icy wind blow against his bare skin as the massive Dire Frost Bear charged at him. Neither the snow nor the wind caused him discomfort.

  The party moved to surround the beast as it fought with its clawed, armored gauntlets.

  It roared and grappled with the bear as Mira’s arrows struck its side in a rapid volley.

  Torvin charged in from the left flank, lance in hand, radiant light surrounding it in a nimbus. The lance struck the bear’s side, and it threw back its head and roared in pain.

  It tried to breathe a cone of ice at Torvin, but Jamis grabbed the bear’s jaw in both hands and began to pull it apart.

  The bear clawed at its skin. Its talons left long streaks, but a golden glow suffused it, sealing and healing the wounds as soon as they were made.

  With a tear and snap, the jaw broke and the bear dropped down on all fours and then collapsed, its pain too great to continue the fight. It was ultimately felled with a fatal mercy strike to the skull. As it died, it released one last agonized whimper.

  “A good fight,” Torvin said. “Did anyone gain any abilities from it?”

  “Just points for me,” Mira said, lithely jumping down from a tree. Her wings extended out as she glided down, making no sound as she landed.

  “I got an extra rank point for bringing justice to the family of the slain,” Torvin said. “I need to double it again to complete the quest. I didn’t get any abilities from it either, just more rank points.”

  “I gained a Special Attack,” Jamis informed them. “It’s called Winter’s Claws. It lets me apply a moderate amount of frost damage to each unarmed strike for a Mana cost. It fulfils the requirement for my Spirit Attribute.”

  “Good. Let’s get off this mountain. I’m freezing,” Helen complained, rubbing her arms.

  “I’m doing all right,” Felrick said, amused, as he stood in his full fur-padded plate mail.

  “We need to find more Gifted beasts to slay and find the Dark God’s Champions,” Jamis said, flexing the claws of his gauntlets. “I wish Artrix would just tell me where the other champions are.”

  “If he did that, then their patrons could tell them where we are,” Mira reminded him. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the Champion of the God of Assassins to know where I am before I’m ready to face him.”

  “I suppose so,” Jamis grunted in agreement. “So, back to the Lunar Kingdom?”

  Everyone in the group nodded, so they quickly skinned the bear and began the long hike down the mountain. They talked a little, enjoying each other’s company as they skirted the edges of the Cursed Forest until they came to the Old Road.

  They completed the half-day journey from the outskirts of the Cursed Forest back into farmland. At nightfall, they stopped at an inn.

  Jamis and the barmaid made eyes at each other. Collectively, the group rolled their eyes, fully aware of what would happen next.

  “Just because the women say yes doesn’t mean you need to sleep with them,” Torvin said. “You’ve probably conceived half a dozen children with all the taverns you hit the other night.”

  “You must not remember the night,” Jamis said, laughing as he pulled the smiling barmaid into his lap. “I remember you siring a few yourself.”

  Torvin reddened. “That didn’t happen,” he protested.

  “You were pretty drunk,” Mira said. “I do remember you disappearing with a girl a few times.”

  “And what were you doing?” Torvin asked, trying to deflect some of the attention away from himself.

  “Drinking responsibly,” Mira said. “One of us needed to be ready in case there was an emergency. Besides, I have no interest in being a parent right now. You two might be able to just abandon your responsibilities but we women have a harder time doing that.”

  “Why don’t you tell the tavern a story?” Felrick asked, taking mercy on the embarrassed Torvin.

  They drank into the night, Torvin recounting the story of their adventure to the whole tavern. Everyone from the town came to meet the champions of the gods. They shook their hands and received blessing from Helen as she cleansed various ailments.

  ***

  I was shaken awake and nearly tore out my vassal’s throat. I managed to hold myself back before killing him and composed myself, panting. The stress from my battles had obviously affected me more than I’d thought.

  I threw my Nemean cloak on and strode out of the cave, hearing the growls and scratching of claws on the wall put up around the cave. Walking up the steps of the wall, I looked out over the hoard of undead. At least a hundred creatures clawed up at me.

  Something flashed in my Foresight. I ducked, and my hand snapped out, wrapping around a zombie bat and crushing it. I didn’t get any notification for killing it.

  “Guess that answers that,” I said. “The small ones aren’t good for anything.”

  I stayed on the wall for now, hurling my stone spearheads.

  Quin’s maul swept the ground, clearing out the smaller ones.

  When I’d culled enough of the horde for me to have some space, I jumped down with my club and shield at the ready.

  A zombie bear charged me.

  I jumped, clearing the bear, also smashing down with my club. My entire weight was behind the blow, smashing into the base of its skull at the spine, severing the connection. I continued fighting, using my Foresight to dodge the most dangerous attacks. I could have stayed on the wall, but needed to learn to fight as much as I needed rank points.

  More and more undead animals and beasts came at me, but I kept fighting.

  I was dimly aware of my vassals as they watched the battle from the wall, their torches illuminating the area.

  I didn’t get through the fight without injury.

  My cloak prevented my skin from getting pierced, but I felt my ribs crack when something resembling a bull charged and hit me from behind while I was fighting a skeletal giant cat. Exhaustion claimed me, and there were many bloody gashes over my forearms and thighs, but the pain only increased my angry determination to overcome it.

  The fight was finally over, leaving me sagging with exhaustion but I managed to climb back over the wall and fall into bed, asleep again in moments.

  I woke up groggily, seeing the sun in the sky outside the cave and I rolled out of bed.

  My vassals having already packed everything else up, I sat down to eat and finish my final rank-ups before heading out. I would rank up before eating, just in case doing so messed with my stomach. “Increase Dominion by one rank,” I told the System.

  The fiery burning of my Spirit increasingly surrounded me. It was normally low, but felt incredibly intense this time, like stepping into a bonfire. I gritted my teeth until the pain subsided, breathing in and out.

  “Raise Dominion by one rank,” I said.

  The heat of the fire increased, cold sweat beading all along my body which felt a heat that didn’t actually exist. I pushed past the pain and breathed in and out.

  “Pain is weakness leaving the body,” I grunted out. “One more rank into Dominion.”

  I let the fire wash over me and did my best to blank it as I breathed in and out as calmly as I could. The notification came and vanished, to be replaced by another one.

  Agony coursed through me, not any specific physical pain, but it pervaded my entire being, a little as though a little demon had broken into my soul and committed arson, my spirit beginning to ravage my being.

  I gasped in agony, my mind momentarily going blank with the pain. I came to my senses, realizing I had fallen to the ground and forced myself up.

  “Pull up my Attributes,” I told the System.

  Great, my Might has increased. So, I can raise my attributes without rank points, for now at least. And… I didn’t notice before but the bonus to my speed has been ticking up.

  I pulled up the description for my boots again, noticing it had been changing as I’d been ranking up.

  I was pleased with my choice of artifact. It might not have been a magic sword, but I could raise my speed to 44 at a pinch, making me a blur in motion. I perused my abilities and thought back over past fights, considering how I’d be able to handle them now.

  All would have been fine except the one with the Nemean lion.

  My rank was twice as high as the Nemean lion’s had been, but looking back, I still didn’t think I could take it on in a direct fight, its armored hide providing an effective counter to my every attack. I’d need some sort of elemental attack or to massively overpower it physically, like Hercules, to take it on in a straight-up fight.

  “Maybe it’s just a bad matchup between the two of us,” I mused.

  I ate a quick breakfast of dried venison and roasted bread leaf.

  We left the camp I’d made and headed north again.

  Jand pointed out the rough direction we’d have to take to get to Bandit King’s fort. We hiked for over seven hours, taking a break every couple of hours and for lunch.

  We headed deeper into the forest, having to navigate around some lakes and massive cliffs. I kept an eye out for other beasts, but we weren’t attacked.

  I did manage to find some more cauter fennel, red yarrow, bread leaf, and violet nullifier as well as a new plant.

  The rose bushes spread for a hundred yards, creating a deadly meadow of scarlet blossoms. Their thorns were black and dripped a dark orange sap.

  I created some bottles, methodically harvesting the sap by carefully squeezing the thorns. I gave some to my vassals, telling them to be careful when harvesting, explaining what the poison would do to them if they ever were to get it in their blood.

  We spent an hour in the meadow, Maria even digging up a small, healthy new bush for me.

  I added it to our gear along with nine bottles of the sap, estimating each bottle would coat around a hundred arrows or ten swords, based on the amount it contained.

  We kept moving, stopping four hours before sunset to set up camp where I’d discovered a cave near a river.

  I used Compress Earth to set up some more walls and expand the cave, carving some rooms with the ability and creating another fireplace and chimney. Looking over my gear, I now had the ability to work with uncommon stone and make much harder material.

  I needed to replace my stone spearheads, all dulled by vigorous use.

  Quin’s maul was also damaged. The steel shaft was fine but the wood of its head had splintered and was barely held together by the iron bands.

  My club was also in need of maintenance.

  I replaced the stone bindings that held the claws in place, beginning to search for uncommon stones. I wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but felt that I would be able to discern the difference when I spotted one.

  I picked up rocks and examined them, not able to identify them all, but I did find some chunks of quartz and onyx which resonated as uncommon to my ability.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  I removed the stone bindings of my club and replaced them with bands from the onyx and quartz, creating a smoky, black, glass material. Then, I kept hunting along the riverbed, tossing rocks onto the shore, also smacking my forehead as I realized there was a much faster way to do this. Getting out of the water, I realized that my boots were waterproof but my pants were not. Using telekinesis, I levitated stones out of the water, forty-eight at a time.

  I tossed them onto the bank.

  Within a few minutes, a very large pile had accrued, and I began to sort them into two distinct, flat, empty sections of ground: one for common rock and the other for uncommon.

  Having finally gathered a huge pile of uncommon, I grabbed Quin’s maul, removed all the wood from its head and set aside the iron bands which had already almost broken.

  Then, I began to create a new head for the maul, compressing earth around the steel rod which acted as its handle. I created a flat side for one section with a convex bulge to one side and a spiraling spike to the other like an antelope horn.

  I decorated it with geometric patterns.

  The head of the maul now weighed around two hundred pounds, and there was no way I could wield it without Telekinesis. So, I started on my stone spearheads, creating forty-eight of them, each weighing twenty pounds. I could have lifted more, but did not have a surfeit of material and figured there was no need to overdo it.

  I returned to camp and stretched out, loosening my muscles. I had not had any proper rest in a while and decided to go to bed early. I soon fell asleep but was abruptly awoken.

  “Undead, this early?” I wondered groggily, pulling my cloak around me.

  “Goblins, my lord,” Maria said fearfully.

  “Well, at least that’s new,” I said.

  Standing up, I wandered up the stairs to the top of the wall which overlooked the dimly-lit forest floor. The area was clear for around a hundred feet either side of the river.

  A group of approximately fifty humanoids, no taller than four feet were gathered around the outside of the wall, carrying a variety of weapons. None of them looked particularly pretty, but they did all appear effective.

  “What do you want?” I asked, not wasting any time.

  “You are trespassing on our land,” the lead goblin said. “Our chieftain demands you pay him tribute.”

  “Then please tell him to fuck off,” I said.

  The goblins stirred and bristled at my words.

  “You dare mock our chieftain, human?” the goblin demanded.

  I analyzed the goblins but none of them was Gifted. “If he isn’t man enough to come here himself, then he’s not worthy of respect.”

  “Who do you think you are, human?” the lead goblin challenged, sneering.

  “Dominion,” I answered.

  Forty-six of the Goblins reached up to their necks and felt at their wrists, yowling as white brands appeared. “Dominion,” I said again and the remaining four succumbed to my ability.

  “I am Mordred, Champion of Kelesa, Goddess of War and Conquest.”

  The goblins that had been filled with confidence a moment before now cowered beneath me. “We serve you now, Warlord,” they groveled.

  “You should kill the filthy creatures,” Jand muttered, looking down at them from atop the wall.

  “They may prove useful,” I said, thoughtfully. “But I’ll need to make sure the undead don’t kill them first.”

  I spent the next hour creating an outer wall, extending from the cliff to the river in a half circle around the main camp.

  “You will stay here for tonight. Tomorrow, you take me to your leader,” I commanded.

  I went back to bed to get a few hours of sleep before the undead rose and came to attack us. After what seemed like only a minute, my name was being called. I got up to fight.

  I left the inner wall and climbed up the stairs of the outer wall and looked over the banks of the river at several hundred milling undead. There were humanoids among the usual bears, wolves, deer, and beasts snarling and clawing at the walls.

  While my newly improved maul pulverized undead into gore or bone powder, I also set about hurling spearheads from the wall. Finally, I jumped off, at last able to properly test my new Speed and Foresight. I didn’t activate the speed boost from my boots but just used my own natural sprinting prowess, stepping forward with unfathomable stealth, each footfall propelling me forward two yards as my club lashed out in a blur of frenzy.

  The skull of a human-sized skeleton flew off at my first strike. I ducked under the swipe of a giant ape-like creature and my maul swept in from behind it, caving in its skull.

  I was aware of the goblins in my periphery. They, and a few of my braver human vassals had gathered on the walls to view my battle. I attempted to ignore the distraction of an audience and gave my complete focus to the fight.

  In this moment, it was as if I had ceased being human and had transformed into a whirlwind. I ducked, dodged, teleported, and blocked. My club moved rhythmically, methodically as I took off heads or bashed them in, killing undead after undead. I took wounds on my thighs and arms, feeling the familiar rising anger.

  Eventually, I altogether lost track of the battle, driven by my now habitual Foresight and by instinct, possessed by the need to kill.

  I couldn’t even register the notification as fervor for the battle consumed me. Kill, dodge, kill, block, kill, teleport. Repeat. Over and over.

  My body was moving like a machine programmed to destroy.

  I came out of my fury and breathed out heavily, out of Stamina and Mana and the ground was littered with bones and corpses of all shapes, sizes, and creatures. I got up from the ground, reached down, pulled out a broken piece of antler from my thigh and dislodged some teeth that had been embedded in my arm.

  I dismissed the notification to be greeted by another one.

  This title was different from most of my others and affected others besides myself. This was to be a first for me. So, I returned to bed, exhausted from my twice-interrupted sleep.

  I hated birds, swearing I wouldn’t rest until every last one of them was dead and there wasn’t another feathered menace left on the planet.

  It wasn’t even light yet and they were already squawking up a thunderstorm, rudely waking me and preventing me from getting back to sleep.

  Grumbling irritably, I got up and took a bowl of stew, digging in and draining the broth. Leaving the inner wall, I surveyed my goblin vassals.

  “Which one of you is in charge?” I asked.

  “I am!” one said.

  “No, me!” another butted in.

  Soon, they were all fighting, each proclaiming themselves the leader.

  “All right, I’ll make this simple. Which one of you is going to be the one I kill when you mess up?” I asked.

  Their desperate bids to be the leader ended. Finally, they shoved a medium-heavyset goblin forward and he stood before me, shoulders slumped.

  “What are you called?” I asked.

  “I am Juruk,” the goblin said.

  “Where is your chieftain?” I asked.

  “That way,” he said, pointing to the east.

  “Lead the way,” I said.

  I followed Juruk, all the other goblins following behind me. We broke through the trees into a wide section of plains where the area had been mostly stripped of vegetation and was an ugly brown color. At the center of what was predominately dirt plain, there stood a ramshackle village. As I looked over the area, I realized the fifty goblins under my control weren’t even a quarter of the population of this place.

  “How many Gifted does your tribe have?” I asked Juruk.

  “Only the Chieftain,” Juruk said. “No other Gifted allowed. Otherwise, they challenge Chief.”

  “Can I challenge him?” I asked.

  Juruk snorted. “You human.”

  “I’ll take that as a ‘no,’” I said. “How good are you at fighting?”

  “I’m the best, My Lord,” Juruk said, puffing out his chest.

  “Great. We’ll be attacking in an hour,” I ventured.

  “I meant, I’m the worst.” Juruk amended his statement.

  “Then you will be an adequate meat shield,” I said, dryly.

  I needed to handle some rank-ups before the next fight. This included two remaining rank points and the quest rewards from last night. I had, in total, thirty-nine rank points available.

  Retreating into the forest, I sat down against a tree. My only ability still at Rank 1 was Bestial Senses. Thus far, I had chosen not to increase this skill but raising it would be the cheapest way to upgrade my Perception and it might prove more useful at higher ranks.

  “Increase Bestial Senses by one rank,” I requested.

  On this occasion, the stabbing needles in my eyes caused by the upgrade appeared to be coated in cyan pepper juice. The accompanying ringing in my ears rose steadily to a deafening, wailing tone. I gritted my teeth, breathing in and out to try and block out the pain.

  “Raise Bestial Senses by one rank,” I told the System.

  More needles stabbed into my eyes, jabbing into the ocular nerves, spreading the burning pain. The wailing whine rose, and I slammed my head backward, involuntarily hitting the back of my head on the trunk of the tree.

  Breathe in, breathe out, I reminded myself, doing all I could to shift focus from the pain.

  “Increase Bestial Senses by one rank,” I grunted out, sitting back up straight.

  The needles changed from being smothered with cyan peppers to ghost pepper level. They stabbed faster. Meanwhile, the ringing became a thunderous, deafening, continuous roar. Breathe, breathe, breathe! I repeated the mantra to myself over and again, feeling the pain recede. Cracking the bones in my neck, I steeled myself for the final push.

  “Increase Bestial Senses by one rank,” I said.

  Focusing past the pain in my eyes, I read through my options. They were all interesting, but I wasn’t sure which would be the most useful. The ability to magnify my vision seemed as if it would be best for a sniper or archer. The infrared vision was cool and gave me Predator vibes that made it extremely tempting. The ability to sense when I was being watched could be useful but it overlapped too much with Foresight.

  It also gave me no additional information beyond that I was being watched.

  I chose the second option and went back to blocking out the pain.

  The needles stabbed and jabbed into the backs of my eyes, while the roaring seemed as if it would shatter my eardrums at any second. Finally, the pain receded. I blinked and enjoyed the clarity of vision and crispness of hearing, then activated my Bestial Senses. Initially shielding my ears with my hands, I slowly uncovered them, becoming inundated with the sounds of bugs and birds. I could also make out every goblin conversation as the tribe bickered, squabbled, and fought amongst themselves. I could smell the foul odor of badly managed sewage, also clearly able to see goblins on patrol around the village.

  I deactivated the ability and my senses returned to their newly heightened state but without the overwhelming sensory overload of Bestial Senses.

  “I’m going to need to practice with that,” I said.

  I still had twenty-five rank points available, but all my skills were now at Rank Five, except for Dominion. First Dominion, then I can finally raise Telekinesis, I promised myself.

  “Increase Dominion by one rank,” I told the System.

  These were all interesting but each had its flaws.

  The first could be useful, but I dismissed it on the grounds that it seemed like a way to save time. I had yet to even encounter a group of creatures larger than a few dozen.

  The second wouldn’t do anything for me but could help to make my vassals significantly stronger and resilient by putting all their Attributes at the peak of the Mortal rank.

  The last one benefited me but only if I were fighting with my vassals in a group formation or commanding them to do my fighting as if I were a general marshaling troops.

  Ultimately, I decided to take the second option. This ability was about acquiring vassals and at that moment, they needed all the help they could get.

  The burning through my entire being increased. I felt as though I was in a furnace. The sweat erupting all over my body, however, was a cold one. Only through a superhuman effort of will and concentration would I withstand this ordeal.

  “Good to know,” I grunted as the pain faded. “But sadly, I can’t quit yet. Increase Telekinesis to Rank Six.”

  The burning was intense, making it feel as though someone was using a blowtorch on my insides as the fire bloomed out, spreading farther than my chest toward the rest of my torso and up my neck. My breathing was ragged as I tried to focus through the pain.

  I waited until it subsided and braced myself again.

  “Increase Telekinesis by one rank,” I told the System.

  The scorching in my chest returned, doubling in intensity.

  My clothes were now drenched in sweat, and I found myself both burning and shivering. I bit back a scream, the sound dying in my throat.

  The pain was gone, and I gasped for breath, having momentarily forgotten to breathe.

  I had seven rank points left, not enough to raise Telekinesis again, but I could potentially raise one of my other abilities. I thought about Heightened Speed but dismissed it almost immediately on the grounds that I was already very fast, especially with the bonus from my boots. I decided to go with Compress Earth.

  Despite not really being used in combat, it was an ability that I found myself utilizing as much as Telekinesis. It also raised my Mind Attribute which was nowhere near twenty.

  “Raise Compress Earth by one rank,” I said.

  Upgrades completed, I stood up. I was sweaty but cleaning myself could come later since I’d likely be covered in blood and sweat anyway before the day was done.

  I approached the goblin village with my own goblin vassals following reluctantly behind.

  The patrols and goblins milling about noticed us, a clamor arising from the village. They assembled in rough lines. Short but powerful looking bows were drawn on us.

  “We should run,” Juruk whimpered.

  “Keep your cowardice to yourself,” I told him, looking over the village defenders. “Is your chief here?”

  “Chief big, you’ll see him,” Juruk assured me.

  A volley of arrows was launched at us.

  I raised my hand and employed telekinesis to grab approximately half the arrows, proceeding to fling them back toward the archers.

  They screamed and cried out as their own arrows rained back down on them.

  When I displayed my ability, they scattered.

  Whilst not Gifted, their village was designed for this style of fighting. They ducked into holes and trenches around the village, popping out to shoot before disappearing again.

  My Foresight was entirely focused on dodging arrows as they buzzed past me or broke against my Nemean cloak, leaving only bruises underneath.

  I moved forward, sniping the few goblins I could but there were hundreds of the little shits, and my spearheads were only able to get five or six at a time when they popped up. I rolled to the side, dodging a volley of twelve arrows, and retaliated with an artillery strike of my own.

  Juruk and the others hung back, following me from a distance.

  They shouted something at me, but I couldn’t hear them and didn’t have time to go back and listen to what they were saying.

  Moving dexterously on the balls of my feet, I rolled, dodged and teleported about the goblins, following them as they trudged through their trenches and tunnels to the center of the village. I didn’t think I’d need their help but kept them around in case I required information or a way to carry back loot. I kept moving and reached the center of the village, needing to strafe lithely as the volume of arrows increased. I teleported up into the air using the superior height to send out spearheads down into the trenches, skewering two dozen archers.

  Moments before hitting the ground again, my Foresight went into overdrive as a new threat revealed itself. My teleportation was on cooldown, however, and I didn’t have time to move as the floor gave out beneath me. Then, I dropped into a massive pit.

  Landing in a roll, I sprang back to my feet, club and shield at the ready.

  I looked up but had fallen over fifty feet, and couldn’t teleport out. I looked down at the wooden wreckage of the floor around me, seeing barred, iron gates made of crude iron.

  One of the gates opened and out marched a humanoid figure, seven feet tall.

  He wore armor like a Roman gladiator which looked to be of higher quality than any of the armor I’d seen the other goblins wearing.

  On his head was a Greek-looking helmet, obscuring his features in shadow.

  The notification popped up as I surveyed the entry of the newcomer into what I suddenly realized was an arena.

  “I take it you are the chief?” I asked.

  “I am,” Mugro said, his voice deep and growly behind his helmet. “And you are dead.”

  Smoke began to pour out of the gates, filling the arena and rising thick in the air. It obscured the goblin chief and made me cough, being foul, thick, and black, smelling like burning tires. I ducked as my Foresight showed my head being taken off.

  I teleported behind Murgo, slashing out at his back, but he swayed out of the way, surprisingly agile for his size.

  My maul swept around.

  Mugro bent beneath it and released a concussive wave from his hand, knocking my spearheads off course as I tried to skewer him.

  I coughed heavily, the noxious smoke rising even more, growing heavier with every second. Mugro seemed unaffected by the smog; I hadn’t heard him cough once.

  He plans on suffocating me, I realized. This was similar to how I had considered killing the Nemean lion. Unfortunately for him, I’ve got tricks of my own.

  I teleported upwards and took a breath of clear, fresh air, now seeing the goblins had formed a ring around the top of the arena and were peering down, trying to see the fight.

  Their eyes widened when they saw me. They cried out, but their voices blended, preventing any words from being made out.

  I fell back through the smoke, holding my breath as my eyes stung, but I didn’t give up searching for Mugro in the murk.

  The crack of wood behind made me spin, blocking with my shield, being tossed practically the length of the arena as the strike slammed into it. I leapt back to my feet, feeling the bruises forming all over my back from when I’d impacted the ground. I heard the pounding of feet and activated Bestial Senses, growing nauseous from the sensory input but I focused only on the sounds of footfalls and breathing from in front of me.

  I ducked and dodged around Mugro, who did not even try to block my assault as I swiped at him with the claws of my club. They slashed along his belly but barely broke his skin.

  Mugro snarled, kicking out at me.

  I sidestepped and brought my own knee up into the back of his.

  Mugro swore and stumbled.

  I seized the opportunity, my maul swinging in from behind.

  He blocked with his forearm but much like me, was unprepared for the force of the strike.

  Bone cracked and Mugro howled, the sound not just of pain but of an area-effect attack.

  I felt my head spin and froze as my body locked up, stunned by the force of the sound.

  The effect only lasted a few seconds, but Mugro was already bearing down on me with a short, serrated blade in his good hand.

  I bent it back, sliding across the Nemean pelt, then I grabbed Mugro with my Telekinesis, lifting him and attempting to crush him like a boa constrictor.

  He grunted and groaned, but my Mana was draining fast as I held him and he fought against my mental hold. Mugro slumped to the ground, now panting heavily.

  I had to teleport upwards, gasping for breath as I took in another fresh burst of air.

  Goblins threw trash at me as I appeared, but they all missed as I fell back into the smoke.

  Mugro was prepared for me and was swinging at the spot where I’d landed before even touching down fully.

  I fell to the ground under his attack, quickly rolling, pulled a dagger from my belt and slashing upwards. I pierced the armor at his waist, right into a man’s most sensitive area.

  Mugro howled and fell, thrashing on the ground.

  I grabbed my club from the ground and was on him in a second, bringing it down on his chest over and over, blood splattering over me.

  I kept smashing down, my breath heaving until finally, I got up, ripping the gates off their hinges with my Telekinesis and striding through. I found fires burning and goblins throwing various bits of debris and green-leafed branches into the fire. I slew the goblins and smothered the fires with clouds of dust and dirt created with my maul.

  Once all the fires were out, the smoke finally began to thin. I could see clearly once more.

  I stepped out into the arena, finding the goblins quiet now as they looked down at me standing over the body of their chief.

  Stooping, I began stripping him of his gear.

  As I took off his helmet, I noticed he wore a black, silk mask embroidered with silver runes. Removing it, a notification came from the System.

  So that’s how he did it.

  I put the mask in my pocket, not intending to wear it until I’d given it a good wash. I took off the armor on his forearms too but unfortunately, it wasn’t the right size for me. Next, I removed the armor from around his waist and legs, but didn’t need his shin guards thanks to my boots, leaving those on him. He had a ring on his finger.

  When I touched it, another notification popped up.

  “Very nice,” I said, slipping it on and instantly feeling I could lift more. It was different from the feeling of increasing my stats; there was no pain as my muscle grew and toughened, only a sense that I was stronger than I’d been.

  I looked up at the watching goblins above. “Now is the time for all of you to explain why I shouldn’t kill you to get progress on my quests for Kelesa.”