A few minutes had passed since Oliver and the Crow summon had entered the Goblin cave.
The cold, dark, foul-smelling cavern gnawed slowly at Oliver's mental alertness, the heavy stench of rot and damp soil clinging to the back of his throat like poison.
'If not for me being so used to this stench from my past life, I would have run out for a breath of air.'
The same could not be said for his Crow summon as it rocked along his shoulder like it was about to pass out, wings twitching in visible protest.
"You are being sarcastic, aren't you? It's not all that bad," Oliver taunted with a faint smirk.
At his reply, the crow flew off his shoulder, clearly no longer interested in its master's odd company.
Oliver felt a bit lucky. Clearly the goblin cave this time was unlike his first life. Back then he had been at the edge of his sanity and had walked into the goblin cave with nothing but a crude long sword and a burning flame torch.
His plan had been nothing more than to let his instant regeneration do its work as he cleared the cave.
The flame torch had been his downfall then, as it gave away his location and with it the element of surprise.
Luckily, in this life, his Crow Assassin blessings came with the ability to see as clear as day in the dark.
'Being able to see in the dark makes everything twice as easy...'
Clang! Clang!
And then, it finally came.
Sounds from deep within the cave echoed through the narrow stone tunnels, metal scraping against metal somewhere beyond a small two-way intersection.
'Goblins,' Oliver noted as he pressed himself close to the rough cave wall, carefully peeking around the corner where the noise had come from.
What he saw made his eyes narrow.
It was a whole group of goblins… about twenty of them or so, all gearing up. They picked up weapons such as short swords, jagged daggers, bows with quivers stocked with crooked arrows, ropes, and thick wooden clubs stained with old blood.
'Shit, I didn't expect a situation like this of all times,' Oliver thought, biting his lips slightly as memories from his first life surfaced.
From his past experience with the goblin cave, the goblins usually placed all of their weapons in one of the tunnels, while the other tunnel served as their main base where they rested defenseless.
He had hoped to enter their home when they were all resting, taking the advantage of killing them while they were unprepared and unarmed.
But with this small hunting team already strapping themselves in with weapons, this was surely a complication.
'I can't go back and wait for them to leave. The dead goblins outside will give away my advantage and plan. I would be unable to even try infiltrating again.'
Oliver's face dimmed with worry.
'No… stop overthinking it. There is only one way this Goblin cave raid can still be successful,' he thought while glaring at the hunting party of goblins.
"I'll just have to kill them all."
He turned to his Crow summon, which had returned to his shoulder once again.
"Support only. Block attacks at my blind spots and stop all fatal attacks. But first..."
Wham!
A low noise echoed through the cave, loud enough for the goblins to hear and immediately become alert as they turned toward the intersection, weapons raised.
But they turned to face nothing.
There was nothing there…
Wait.
There was.
A red dagger stuck upright in the ground by the intersection, its blade gleaming faintly in the dim cave light.
At this, the goblin in charge turned to the others and mumbled something in their ancient tongue, its crooked teeth clacking together as it barked orders.
In the next moment, three goblins heeded its command, each moving forward with wooden spears gripped tightly in their clawed hands as they cautiously approached the dagger.
They were wary, knowing the dagger could only come from some sort of attacker.
Surely with their numbers they could overwhelm this mysterious enemy.
But they were wrong.
Their attention was misplaced.
While they approached the dagger with caution, Oliver had already made his move using his Stealth skill.
He hurried silently to the rear of the group, avoiding contact with the goblins as he slipped past them like a phantom.
And when he reached the rear, he began his plan.
He struck at the throat of one goblin, slitting it quick and precise.
[Goblin slain]
[+3 Karma Points]
Then he hurried to the next goblin, stabbing it directly in the back, his dagger sliding between bone and flesh.
[Goblin slain]
[+3 Karma Points]
Wasting no time, he did the same for the third.
Then the fourth.
'I need to hurry before my Stealth skill is exhausted,' he yelled to himself, moving toward the next goblin closest to him.
However, with every goblin he killed, the more his presence began to feel… noticed.
His distraction was dwindling.
[You have leveled up]
'Just a few more!' Oliver yelled within himself, feeling the exhaustion building in his arms and tightening around his grip.
It was hard repeating the same brutal action over and over, driving a dagger through thick flesh and bone while warm blood splashed across his hands.
Despite that, his mental endurance was unshakable.
So he continued.
However, time had run out.
On his tenth goblin, his Stealth skill reached its limits.
At that moment, the confused expressions on the goblins, the fear, panic of an invisible force slaughtering them one after the other suddenly vanished.
"KIEEECK!" the leading goblin screamed at the top of its voice, grabbing a spear at its side and hurling it at Oliver.
Oliver sidestepped the attack, barely evading it.
'He is abnormally stronger than the rest… he's a danger.'
He wanted to dive forward and attack the leading goblin immediately.
However, he was no longer under the effect of Stealth, so the other four goblins nearby gave him no space to do so.
One jumped high into the air, raising a massive club twice its size before swinging it toward Oliver's face with monstrous force.
"Shit!" Oliver jerked his head back quickly, letting the attack barely graze his nose.
Too close for comfort.
The next goblin dove in with a pair of metal knives thrust at Oliver in rapid succession, a flurry of untrained yet dangerously aggressive attacks.
Oliver evaded and retreated back.
He attempted to counterattack, but the moment he moved forward, a spear came flying at him once again.
This time he had to block with his dagger as the spear was too fast.
The force behind the throw was almost enough to knock the blade from his grasp.
Yet he remained calm, despite being pushed into a corner by the group of goblins.
'The crow?' he thought, using his peripheral vision.
His crow was in its own predicament, taking on four other goblins while having already killed one of them.
"Right now… I can only rely on myself."
Oliver gritted his teeth, mustering all the energy left within him as he prepared to attempt something ideally insane.
He was running out of stamina fast.
If he continued at this pace, surely his end would not be far.
"I have no choice but to try this one last ace..."
Oliver steadied himself and moved back a few paces, escaping the range of the attacking goblins.
When he was clear, he took in a deep breath and released it slowly, straightening his stance.
His focus sharpened.
He watched as the goblins rushed toward him.
Their laughs.
Their battle cries.
The sound of their crude weapons slicing through the air.
And the spear about to leave the rotting hands of the goblin leader.
He absorbed every piece of information.
And then—
In one swift motion, he sprang forward.
With speed incomparable to the goblins, his body exploded with a warm energy as he reached the first goblin and paid it no greater respect than a quick stab through the skull.
Before the corpse even hit the ground, he leaped toward the next goblin, shoving his elbow into its face.
The impact was like a jagged rocky surface smashing with full force into the goblin's skull.
Its face collapsed under the blow.
At that moment the goblin leader had thrown his spear, but compared to the speed Oliver was moving, the attack was nothing more than horseplay.
Oliver caught the spear mid-air.
With brute force he stopped its trajectory and hurled it back toward the goblin leader.
The spear impaled its left eye, bursting through the back of its skull and lodging deeply into the ground with a loud crack as the rock beneath it split.
The final goblin met nothing but the same fate as Oliver drove his dagger beneath its jaw, letting its verdant blood spill across his hands and the cave floor.
Caw! Caw! Caw!
His crow cried in victory as it stood upon the corpse of one of its decapitated victims.
At this, Oliver smiled faintly before swaying slightly and collapsing onto his back in exhaustion.
"Gaaah! Agghhh! Haha," he forced out a low laugh between heavy breaths.
"Even after regressing… I still know how to do it."
[Congrats, you are the first Player to use a High Ranked Skill in the Base of Alkarya]
[Skill: Ki]
[Achievement has been received]
[What alias would player like to use]
Oliver stayed silent for a while, recalling his first alias which had been 'Demon', all because of his dark history and how he healed endlessly.
This life, he wanted to be known for something else.
[Alias has been chosen]
[Player Alias: Crow]
[Congratulations to the Crow for being the first player to learn a High Ranked Skill in the Base of Alkarya]