Now Daemon had a problem: he could not have light and also be armed at the same time.
"I can't remain without a light here, nor can I remain without defense," he muttered to himself. "I can't put down the shield or the glowing stick, but to put down the weapon is also stupid. What should I do?"
He thought for a moment before making a decision. "Ahhhh... I can only put the axe back. If I need it, I can equip it the fastest."
Moving further into the corridor, with the shield in his left hand and the glowing stick in his right hand, Daemon felt a foul odor filling the air. It was a heavy, stagnant smell that made his stomach turn.
"What a terrible and disgusting smell," he whispered. ·I can't even concentrate, It gives me the constante sensation of vomiting "
That was when Daemon first heard a sound in this place. It was undoubtedly a small noise, but in this place, it sounded incredibly loud. The sound was coming from behind.
"Come out, you bastard."
But nothing came. Despite that, Daemon was sure he was not alone anymore. So he increased his pace. He was only slightly faster than crawling, but to Daemon, it felt like sprinting a marathon at full speed. One step, another step...
The thing also moved. Click-, Click-
Each step made the sound of something very small hitting the ground. So it was probably a smaller creature, likely a goblin.
Even though he knew it was less than a meter tall, the pressure he felt was as if a gigantic monster was pursuing him.
To shake off the fear, Daemon kept repeating. I am an A-rank awakened, I can take on a goblin.
"Don't just follow, come at me, you weakling, I need you to level up."
Daemon was trying to provoke it with words. But the creature maintained a constant distance, just following.
He continued to move forward; after all, time was not on his side. If he was to fight it, the sooner the better.
He couldn't ignore the possibility that the creature was waiting for reinforcements. After all, if his assumption was right and it was a goblin that followed him, then it was definitely leaving traces for other goblins to follow.
In the mandatory lessons he had taken, he learned that goblins were generaly the weakest of the unranked creatures The Tower threw at the Awakeners.
They used poison and they set traps, but without that, their usage of weapons was subpar and they were physically weaker than most humans, and definitely more stupid. But they were very social.
"If I can just lure it into a close-quarters fight, there's no way I'll lose to whatever the creature is, especially if my assumption is correct and it is a goblin that followes me."
"You're not coming out?"
Daemon increased his speed even more. In response, the steps of the creature also quickened. As its footsteps neared, the sound became sharper and more distinct.
Click, click, click, click.
It didn't even bother to hide itself anymore. Probably because I am getting away too fast for his liking, Daemon thought.
"Grrik, grrk…!" It was the sound of a beast indeed, yet there was an emotion in it. "Grrrruk! Grruk!"
He was chuckling now. He was really happy to see his prey fear him. He wanted me to hear that sound and be afraid. What a twisted and clever bastard.
"Alright, change of plans."
Daemon stopped in his tracks, then stumbled and fell as hard as possible on the floor, dropping his glowing stick.
Thud! The impact on the rock was harder than expected, and his knees felt miserable, but he just cursed and tried to look as helpless as possible.
Why the hell did I drop so hard? Whatever, as long as it takes the bait, is worth it.
Now, it was a test of intelligence and patience.
"Grruk?" Click- Click.
The sound of its footsteps gradually approached. It was fast. Click – Click. Then the goblin stopped.
"Why?"
As Daemon wondered about the reason, a dull thud hit his shoulder. Thud. De-gurrrr.
What? That little bastard just threw a stone at me?
Despite its prey appearing to have fallen and losing his only source of light, the creature was cautious. Insane. Why is this goblin so cautious? Daemon could only curse in his mind.
It was no laughing matter. He now understood why the goblins were titled "Newbie Killers." This one seemed to possess several times the intelligence described in the books. To Daemon, it felt like a human was hunting him.
Click – Click.
Finally losing its patience, the creature revealed its presence for the first time. "Grrrruk! Grruk!" Click – Click – Click – Click. It rushed toward him quickly. Daemon could feel its excitement from the quickened pace of its hopping.
Suppressing his own excitement, he calmly measured the distance by sound. When he judged it to be close enough, he broke a new glowing stick.
"You little shit! I'll show you how it is to feel terror!"
Grabbing the sword would need him to let go of the light. If the goblin couldn't be killed right here and the battle stretched on, he could lose the light offered by his only two glowing sticks in this confined space; so, he formed a fist around the glowing stick and punched. But he soon realized his plan had gone awry.
"Griek!"
The goblin dodged swiftly, moving backward. Its movements were much nimbler than expected. Daemon was so furious that he wanted to bash his head on the ground.
"Weren't you guys supposed to be dumb? Why are you leaping? You are not a monkey, you are a goblin, you fucker! Act like one!"
Realizing he had missed, Daemon prepared his next move. He sprung up and rushed with his shield toward the goblin.
"Griek?!"
Not expecting Daemon to go "full beast mode," the goblin panicked and wanted to run back, but it hit the wall.
"Aaaaaaaaah!"
Slamming the creature between the wall and the shield, there was a sickening crack! Something had broken. But he couldn't relax yet; he quickly let go of the light and, grabbing the only knife he had, he stabbed its torso through the ribs, most definitely hitting the lungs.
"Griek, Gr!"
And like a madman, he didn't stop; he stabbed continually. The goblin's face was filled with horror. Before long, the creature's movements ceased.
[You have killed a Level-2 Goblin, +1 exp]
Daemon's head, once cluttered, felt surprisingly clear. It was an oddly liberating feeling.
And then… Ssssssssshhh!
With simple movements, he started cutting into the poor goblin, looking for the magic stone. Every living organism that wields even a minimum level of magic produces one; it is basically a storage container.
Before he knew it, the goblin's body was on the floor and he had moved most of its organs outside.
"I can't believe it smells better now," he remarked. "The strong smell of blood must have washed away some of his disgusting odor. So, to deal with goblins and their bad smell, I only need to make them bathe in their own blood."
Soon after desecrating the goblin's body, Daemon found the magic stone. Picking up the small stone that was in the open torso, he was disheartened.
It was an unranked Magic Stone. It emitted a faint glow, though not a strong one. In the Tower, magic stones produced by living organisms served as currency. The average value of a magic stone spit out by an unranked goblin wasn't anything great.
"To think, all this ruckus, and this is what all get?"