Spearbound

‘Dormant’ is the rank of your [Soulrend]. If you wish for that to change, use it often. To activate it, you must verbally attempt to say [Soulrend].

Kade noticed the odd wording but didn’t pay too much attention to it. He pushed himself off the ground to stand up and checked his right leg and arm. He had been missing an entire calf and an arm that had a hole that he could see through to the other side.

Now, it was like that never happened.

My new healing factor is insane.

He quickly returned to get back to the cover of the tall grass and examined his surroundings. That fight was violently loud, and it was very possible there were other monsters that were attracted to it.

All the more reason for me to activate it.

“Soulrend,” Kade wasn’t sure what to expect, but he had his hand open in anticipation of a spear appearing.

His anticipation proved to be right.

The seven-foot-tall spear that appeared was plain and unremarkable. Its dull, iron-like blade showed signs of heavy wear. The shaft of the spear consisted of simple wood, showing slight aging and even cracks in some places. However, despite all these disappointing visual marks, Kade was happy.

He could see something faint underneath in those small cracks in the shaft. It wasn’t obvious, but he didn’t miss that there was something lying dormant within the spear.

‘Dormant’ is a fitting name for its rank.

He had been curious about how it would feel to give up half his health to summon the [Soulrend], but it wasn’t drastic. He certainly felt more fragile—like he was aware he couldn’t afford to take too many hits—but there was no weakness. It was the best-case scenario.

Kade picked up his bundled spears and made his way past the destroyed gnawers. He was so cautious about any change in the surroundings, but it was hard to detect anything with the noise the tall grass made as if fluttered in the wind.

He tried to block out the sound by making it background noise in his mind and was surprisingly successful. He heard wood being chipped away to his right.

Before he did anything else, he quickly disputed his free points. Half to [Dexterity] and half to [Speed].

Free Points: 5—>0

Dexterity: 2.5—>5

Speed: 3—>5.5

Kade hasn’t had a problem with any of his other attributes in his fights so far. If it weren’t for his low [Dexterity] and [Speed], he was confident those gnawers would’ve never been able to touch him.

He would’ve preferred to dump his points into [Speed], but trying to fight higher-leveled monsters while having slow reflexes sounded like a recipe for disaster.

Kade felt his footsteps become lighter. He was quick to connect that to his increased [Dexterity].

The more he walked, the closer he got to the sound that attracted his attention. He would say that somebody was making a weapon if he had to guess. A spear.

Kade tightened his fist around his [Soulrend] as he imagined a spear goblin waiting for him. He took great pleasure in taking them out of existence.

When he saw what was on the other side, all thoughts of rushing in and causing havoc left his mind.

It was no village, but it was as close as he might get with the goblins involved. It resembled a makeshift camp with an extra-large bonfire in the middle. A few gnawers were spit-roasted over the fire as several goblins tended to them.

The wood-chipping sound that he heard came from multiple sources. There were six spear goblins on the far side, making new spears for themselves or for their brethren.

Kade noted that as he took in the rest of the camp. Spear goblins were surprisingly the least in number, with the archer goblins taking the lead. However, there was one type of goblin that he could not recognize.

Whatever this goblin was, it was the leader.

It sat on a shoddy facsimile of the throne, but the poor craftsmanship didn’t matter. It was the only goblin with a seat of any kind, and it was being served with strips of cooked meat by the others.

Kade considered he might be a little insane. Instead of taking these goblins on one by one, he was thinking about how much of a fun challenge would be to go with his original idea of causing havoc.

He was surprisingly confident of taking down almost all these goblins without too much damage to himself. The only problem was the leader. He knew nothing about it, and that was the only thing that might make him change his mind.

Kade silently observed the camp of goblins for several more minutes when he finally saw a clue. The leader got annoyed at a goblin serving him meat and suddenly grabbed its face with the clawed hand.

There was a bright flare of fire before a headless goblin toppled to the ground. Kade felt shocked, but no one else reacted. The rest of the camp went about their business as if it was normal.

He reconsidered his plan to cause havoc. Of course, that only lasted until he realized he could take out the leader goblin right at the start.

Kade shifted his position till he was in the blind spot of the leader goblin. He had two wooden spears remaining, and he intended to use them efficiently.

He unwrapped them and let the makeshift harnesses he had made from his shirt fall to the ground. He let his [Soulrend] rest on a blade of grass before preparing himself. Getting rid of the leader goblin was the key to eradicating the entire camp.

If he failed… no, he wouldn’t fail. There was only success on his mind.

Kade had moved to the blind spot to prevent the leader goblin from doing any magic mumbo jumbo to save itself. This would definitely work.

He heaved the first spear at the leader goblin, with the second following soon after. The first was meant to shock the leader goblin into action, and the second was to kill it if it jumped off the chair to the left.

Kade shot forward with his [Soulrend] to cover the right side. The points he added to [Speed] blurred his surroundings as he covered the ground quickly.

He saw the first spear he threw meet its target. The leader goblin became alert at surprising speed, but it did something he didn’t even think of.

There was a burst of fire around the leader goblin, vaporizing the chair, a few goblins serving it, and the second spear he threw. It destroyed his plan.

Kade was already too deep. He continued his attack. The blade of his [Soulrend] was already at the side of the leader goblin’s head. It had its arm pointed directly at him, and a fiery red spell was about to be released onto his body.

He felt his [Soulrend] piercing the leader goblin’s head, but a wall of fire slammed into him at the same time.

It was for the briefest moment, but it was enough for it to thoroughly burn the front of his body and throw him backward by over fifty feet.

Warning: Your health has fallen below 10%!

He grunted when the tall blades of grass softened his fall. He immediately started thinking about how to kill enough goblins to get his health back into a comfortable zone. Then, the interface gave him a welcome message.

You have destroyed a Mage Goblin (Arcana Level 15)!

Spear Thrust (Level 1)—>(Level 2)

Kill 10 Monsters (8/10)—>(9/10)

Level-up! (x2)

Arcana Level 10—>Arcana Level 12

Free Points: 0—>2

Level-up bonuses applied.

Constitution: 12—>14

Endurance: 7—>8

Strength: 11—>13

Kade let out an almost manic giggle. His insane plan worked, but not how he intended. He would take it.

He looked back into the camp and saw that all the goblins were staring at a white powder—what used to be the mage goblin—with shocked expressions. More notably, the explosion flung his [Soulrend] far away from them.

Kade had barely looked at his [Soulrend] before it flew back at him shaft first. He caught it with an amazed expression before a wicked grin grew on his lips.

Killing the mage goblin hadn’t been enough to fully heal his body. Luckily, there were enough goblins left in the camp to ensure his body was back at a hundred percent.

Kade launched his [Soulrend] at the furthest archer goblin before returning to the fray. The instant he killed his target, he summoned the [Soulrend] back, which destroyed two more goblins.

It took the goblin camp those three extra fatalities before they got their act together. Not that it helped.

Kade finally started causing the havoc he wished for at the start. Whatever [Arcana Level] these goblins were at, it was far too low to pose any challenge to him.

He destroyed most of them before they even realized he was close to them. The few that could try attacking with their spears had no chance of ever making contact. His body was almost fluid as he avoided the thrusts before they met their ends.

The archer goblins tried their best to stick him full of arrows, but unfortunately, most went into their spear goblin brethren. Kade could nimbly step between where the arrows would land without breaking stride. In the end, the archer goblins lost all hope when there was nothing keeping Kade from meeting them head-on.

Kade had a grin with a light sheen of sweat on his body as he rested the spear on the ground and leaned on it to admire his work. Only the spit-roasted gnawers and the three goblins killed by their leader remained in the goblin camp.

The rest were piles of white powder.

The interface made a soft sound before showing him the messages he received during battle.

You have destroyed 4 Spear Goblins (Arcana Level 5)!

You have destroyed 7 Spear Goblins (Arcana Level 8)!

You have destroyed 15 Archer Goblins (Arcana Level 8)!

Footwork (Level 2)—>(Level 5)

Spear Thrust (Level 2)—>(Level 4)

Title gained!

Goblin Slayer - The bearer of this title is feared by goblins across all worlds. Upon entering combat, you instill an overwhelming sense of dread in all goblins within your line of sight, causing them to freeze in place for a second.

Kill 10 Monsters (9/10)—>(35/10)

1 objective complete!

Level-up! (x3)

Arcana Level 12—>Arcana Level 15

Free Points: 2—>5

Level-up bonuses applied.

Constitution: 14—>17

Endurance: 8—>9.5

Strength: 13—>16

The goblins had much lower [Arcana Levels] than he had assumed. He had gotten rid of twenty-six goblins, and it only gave him three levels.

But that wasn’t important.

He had gotten a [Title]! And [Goblin Slayer] almost seemed overpowered. He already lapped nearly all the goblins in a fair fight, and this [Title] would make any encounter a no-contest.

Kade thought briefly before asking, “System, what are the highest-level lifeforms in Class F Rift Zones?”

There is no set level since there can be unforeseen variables in a Rift Zone. However, it is most commonly at level 15.

“… Shame,” Kade sighed as he realized his fun was most likely over. He still intended to search this world for anything else that might give him a challenge before returning to the lake.

But first, he was going to spend his points. It would be the same as before, half to [Dexterity] and half to [Speed].

Free Points: 5—>0

Dexterity: 5—>7.5

Speed: 5.5—>8

Time to hunt.

***

Kade had spent hours upon hours searching in the never-ending, freakishly tall grass plain. Still, he found no monsters at a high [Arcana Level]. He couldn’t even find any more mage goblins.

If it wasn’t for the system’s mandate for him to destroy any monster he came across, he wouldn’t have even bothered lifting his [Soulrend].

He had decided a short while ago to return to the lake to finish this Rift Zone and leave it.

Kade frowned with annoyance when he ran across another small group of goblins. They froze with fear. Less than a second later, three piles of white powder were on the ground.

He glanced at the interface to satisfy his curiosity at the number of monsters he destroyed. He had long disabled the messages after he tired of seeing it congratulate him repeatedly on destroying the small fries. What was more frustrating was how his [Skills] no longer improved because of only facing weak monsters.

Kill 10 Monsters (782/10)

Kade blinked in shock. He genuinely did not know it had reached such a ridiculous number. In hindsight, he should have expected it after coming across either goblins or the rare gnawers at a rate of what seemed like every other minute.

He felt it was a travesty that hundreds upon hundreds of these monsters didn’t amount to even one increase in his [Arcana Level]. The rest of the trip was thankfully interruption-free.

Kade was soon standing before the beautiful blue lake. The Arcana Well.

He now feared little in this Rift Zone. He no longer had the patience to test out how dangerous this lake was because, in his mind, it simply wasn’t dangerous to him.

Kade strode toward the lake confidently. He jumped into the lake with a bare torso, singed pants, and a weathered spear in his hand.