The world around me morphed and spiraled as I stepped through the portal. For a moment I felt light-headed, and I could feel bile rising from the pit of my stomach, but that all disappeared the moment my feet were back on the ground.
The space around me was pitch black. I took out the light source I bought and attached it to my chest before turning it on. Immediately the space was lit up, and I could see more clearly.
A cavernous expanse laid before me. The ground was made of sharp, jagged black rocks, and so were the walls. Behind me, the portal machine was still active. I found it strange that there were no monsters in the area or that the machine managed to remain intact inside a dungeon.
Putting that aside, there were several paths branching off before me. The space was narrow and only wide enough for two people to walk side by side. This made it all the more dangerous since there wouldn't be enough space to fight.
A swordsman couldn't effectively swing his sword in a place like this. Also, I could imagine a party easily being trapped in this small space and ultimately killed. In the end, it was a good thing that my weapon was a dagger and that I was alone.
Taking the dagger from my bag, I chose one of the paths at random and entered. Immediately as I entered one of the paths, I heard a buzz that sounded almost like electricity. I quickly turned around to see a force field in front of me.
Ah, so this is how the portal machine remains safe from dungeon monsters. It was protected by some kind of barrier.
Putting that aside, I continued forward with the dagger in my hand. I walked for more than two hours without encountering anything. Soon it became 2 more hours of walking down the narrow path without encountering a single dungeon monster.
At this rate, surviving here for the 2 days didn't seem like such a big deal.
Thinking that, I took out my water bottle and began rehydrating myself. This bottle held 10 gallons of water, so I didn't have to worry about conserving it. I took a seat down on one of the rocks and placed my bag beside me as I contemplated surviving here for an entire weekend, but just then I spotted something.
It was a shimmering red crystal. It was so small that if I wasn't looking closely, I wouldn't have noticed it. It was tightly lodged into the wall of the dungeon.
"Grok!"
Just then, I heard a strange sound and quickly turned my head in its direction. What I saw caused me to clutch my dagger tightly and hop to my feet.
Green skin, pointed ears and a face that looked like an old woman.
It was a goblin.
It had yellow slitted eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness and It was about the size of a human child. My eyes were immediately drawn to the jagged clump of metal in its hand that resembled a sword.
It's just one goblin. Usually, in RPGs and stories, they were the weakest of creatures. Plus, I was a demon, so this should be easy, right?
Wrong!
With unprecedented speed, the goblin lunged forward, bouncing from left to right with every kick of its feet.
Why the hell is a goblin so fast and agile?!
It's a damn goblin.
Since its body was small and light, it made the goblin fast, more agile, and hard to keep track of when it was bouncing around. But I was used to fast movement by now after training with Sensei Barrett.
In just a few steps, the goblin was to the right of me. The ugly creature thrust its sword forward by propelling itself upwards. I parried the strike and slid my dagger down its blade and stabbed the goblin in its shoulder.
My dagger struck something hard.
Bone!
"GRAWW!!"
The goblin let out a monstrous scream and swung its sword down once again, forcing me to take a few steps back.
Now, the two of us were on the ground, circling each other. The move I used to counter the goblin was something I learned in Wing Chun. I redirected the goblin's sword from my centerline while simultaneously attacking the goblin.
It really was the perfect martial art for me.
With Wing Chun, I could protect myself from being hit in any vital area, like the heart or the head. Wing Chun uses a lot of slapping motion to redirect attacks, so I transferred what I learned into fighting with the dagger.
"GRAWW!"
The goblin continued to snarl at me as we circled around each other. The deep wound on its shoulder was seeping out thick yellow blood.
Seeing it reminded me that this wasn't an RPG where a monster goes down with one hit. Everything here will fight till its last breath to survive. It was survival of the fittest.
After shaking its arm and gripping its sword tightly, the goblin lunged at me once again. It hopped from left to right and back and forth just as it did before while inching its way closer to me.
But unlike last time, I didn't try to follow its movements.
I knew it would attack my centerline once again.
It was the primal instinct of every creature to always go for the kill.
And just like clockwork, the goblin lunged into the air, swinging its sword at my head. Seeing the sword aimed towards my head, I simply raised my hand, and the moment the sad piece of metal touched my skin, it liquefied and turned into water.
"Grok?"
Before the goblin could even process what happened, I caught it in mid-air and rammed my dagger into its oversized stomach.
The goblin screamed and thrashed, and in response, I twisted the knife and slit its stomach wide open. The sound it made was reminiscent of a human child. I guess hearing it would have an effect on most people, but I couldn't care less as I continued stabbing it over and over again.
The thing just wouldn't die.
I then released the goblin from my grasp, allowing it to fall to the ground. But even with its intestines dragging on the ground behind it, the goblin continued to crawl away in desperation.
It was like a cockroach. A part of me hoped that every creature was like this goblin; fighting to the very end until they take their last breath. If they weren't, then I could easily see myself getting bored of this world.
Since stabbing it wasn't going anywhere, I opted for a different approach. I picked up the biggest and most jagged rock I could find and strolled towards the goblin as it crawled away in desperation.
I stood in front of the goblin so I could see its eyes. I wanted to know if I would feel anything watching the life drain from its eyes. If even just a flicker or a spark of something.
THWAK!