I immediately noticed the difference in my body.
Leveling up had made me stronger.
My muscles felt tighter, my movements smoother, and my senses sharper.
Curious, I opened my stat window to see the changes.
(Available Points to Distribute: 3)
A grin crept across my face.
Each attribute had gone up by one point, and I had three extra points to play with.
Where to put them was a no-brainer.
My chest was heaving, and my legs still felt like jelly from the little running I’d done earlier.
Stamina was my obvious weak point, and it was holding me back.
Without hesitation, I dumped all three points into it.
The difference was immediate.
My breathing steadied, and the tension in my muscles faded like someone had turned off the pressure valve.
I smirked, mentally flipping off Gandalf.
Balanced now, old man. Eat that.
With my newfound strength and energy, I scanned the battlefield.
Hobgoblins were still rampaging, but one of them caught my eye—a massive brute smashing its way through a group of panicked goblins.
I sprinted to the cliff’s edge and leaped off it again, the wind tearing at my face as I plummeted.
My heart raced, but this time, there was no hesitation—just the thrill of what I was about to do.
The ripple came, and in the blink of an eye, I was back on solid ground.
The hobgoblin I had targeted took my place, its massive frame tumbling through the air.
Another scream. Another sickening thud.
Another glowing notification:
[You have killed a Hobgoblin Soldier, Level 2.]
I grinned wider, adrenaline coursing through my veins. This was too easy.
That sweet, satisfying chime was quickly interrupted by a yell.
I turned to see a goblin sprinting straight at me with its eyes tightly shut, its crude weapon raised high.
Then it hit me—since I had swapped places with the hobgoblin, this poor idiot must have thought it was charging at the big brute.
Still, attacking with your eyes closed? That had to be the dumbest strategy I’d ever seen.
No wonder the hobgoblins were wiping the floor with us.
As the goblin lunged, I sidestepped with ease.
Its wild swing missed entirely, and in one smooth motion, I slapped it across the face.
The goblin yelped and fell to the ground, sprawling on the dirt.
Its eyes snapped open, and it stared up at me in confusion.
When it realized I wasn’t the hobgoblin it was expecting, its expression shifted from shock to anger.
It gritted its teeth and scrambled to its feet, growling aggressively.
Before it could finish complaining, I cut it off with a swift kick to the face.
The goblin yelped again as it flew backward, hitting the ground with a satisfying thud.
The goblin’s aggression vanished instantly, replaced by a wide-eyed look of disbelief.
It stared up at me, clutching its bruised face like it couldn’t believe what just happened.
Then I said, my voice firm
"Next time you attack, do it with your eyes open."
The goblin blinked, then straightened up, saluting like I was some kind of commander.
"What are you waiting for? Join the others and attack!"
Without hesitation, the goblin scrambled to its feet, snatched up its weapon, and charged toward the nearest hobgoblin.
My attention shifted to the remaining hobgoblins.
There were three left, each massive and brutal, but they were cornered now.
A swarm of goblins had surrounded them, and the hobgoblins looked like cornered beasts, snarling and swinging their weapons wildly.
One of the hobgoblins roared and raised its enormous axe, ready to cleave through a cluster of goblins in one brutal swing.
The goblins froze, their faces contorted in fear, realizing too late that they couldn’t dodge in time.
I activated [Swap], focusing on the goblin directly in the path of the axe.
The ripple came, subtle but effective, and the goblin was instantly swapped with one of the hobgoblins.
The axe came down with a sickening crunch, and the swapped hobgoblin was cleaved in two by its comrade’s brutal attack.
Blood sprayed across the battlefield as the hobgoblin froze, its axe embedded in its ally.
It blinked, confusion and horror flashing across its grotesque face.
Okay...the hobgoblin that swung the axe didn’t actually yell it, but from the look of sheer disbelief on its face, that’s all I could hear in my head.
Its jaw hung slack, its bulging orange eyes flicking between the bloody remains of its comrade and the goblins surrounding it.
Before it could process what had just happened, it too met the same fate as hobgoblin number 1 and 2.
A scream. A sickening thud.
And then, the sweet sound of a kill notification:
[You have killed a Hobgoblin Soldier Level 2]
That left only one hobgoblin standing.
I turned to face it, the grin on my face widening as I watched its expression shift from rage to shock.
Two of its comrades were gone in an instant, and the realization was sinking in that something was wrong.
Its beady orange eyes locked onto me, narrowing in suspicion.
That’s when I noticed something different about this one.
Its stance was more poised, and there was a certain authority in the way it held its massive weapon.
A glowing notification confirmed my thoughts:
[Hobgoblin Lieutenant, Level 3.]
"Well, well," I said, cracking my knuckles. "Looks like I’ve found the boss of this little raid."
The goblins charged recklessly at the hobgoblin lieutenant, their crude weapons raised high, but it was clear they stood no chance.
The lieutenant moved like a whirlwind, its massive blade cutting through the air with deadly precision its destination was me.
Goblins fell left and right, their numbers dwindling by the second.
And at this rate, none of them would survive—except for me, of course.
So I sighed, shaking my head.
"Guess it’s up to me to save your sorry green asses."
And without hesitation, I walked toward the edge of the cliff, feeling the wind whip against my face and paused, crossing my arms over my chest like I was about to perform a trust fall, and then tipped backward.
Gravity took hold, and I plummeted toward the jagged rocks below.
The ripple came again, and I reappeared right in front of the goblin mob, their weapons aimed at me.
Some of them flinched back, startled by my sudden appearance.
Most were breathing heavily, their faces slick with sweat and fear.
Ahead, a distant scream echoed, followed by a dull thud.
Then, the now-familiar chime of a notification rang out:
[You have killed a Hobgoblin Lieutenant.]
A grin spread across my face.
My small body surged with newfound energy.
But my moment of triumph didn’t last long.
As one of the goblins—panicking—swung its weapon at me, aiming straight for my head.