AuthorPalt

Tutorial Rewrite 34

Added 2023-01-07 16:50:48 +0000 UTC

As I have come to learn, a good sneak attack is worth more than any ally. Dropping down from above and biting and tearing up the level six’s throat quicker than she can even try to scream is so effective it’s almost scary. In seven seconds flat, she’s dead.

<You have learned:

Fang Lv.7>

<You have learned:

Bite Lv.6>

And the one goblin left is so startled by my appearance that he doesn’t even have time to react before I descend upon him like a fury of the night, clawing and ripping and tearing. Maybe it’s weird to say, but ripping things to shreds is just very stress-relieving. All I need to do is imagine that this guy is LionMawMadness or some other bully and my hands just move on their own to tear open his chest and crack his ribs in two and tear out his organs. Very relaxing.

<You have learned:

Rip Lv.10>

<You have learned:

Tear Lv.10>

<The skills [Rip(Lv.10)] and [Tear(Lv.10)]

have combined into the skill

[Eviscerate (Lv.1)]

…That’s a new screen? Eviscerate. Hm. I like it! I’ll make sure to try it out the next chance I get. Since the other two small groups aren’t nearby, I don’t bother trying to hide the two bodies, rather, I head straight for the next one.

A level six and a level nine. Nine is only two above seven. It should be fine, I think.

Once I have the upper ground, I leap for the level six, crashing down on top of her.

[Eviscerate].

Ohh, that’s effective! My hands are going through the gobin’s guts like a hot knife through butter. Honestly, the feeling is almost mesmerising. Squishsquishsquishsquishsquishsquish…

Mmm. Gloopy—

A hot piece of fire is shoved into my face, but mostly into my eye. Ouch! What was that for? Rolling back, I grip at the wound. I can hear my flesh sizzling.

<You have learned:

Burn Tolerance Lv.1>

I think I might have gotten shards of coal stuck in my eye. Not cool, level nine. Not. Cool.

“F-, friie, derecho!” the goblin stammers, waving the torch from side to side. Shouldn’t he have a real weapon or something? All he seems to have is that torch. Not even a knife or something. In that case, there’s no real need for me to feel any real danger from him.

I rush him. In fear, he waves the torch more, jabbing it at me to try to cause me to feel some sort of fear, but I don’t really care that much, so once I’m in range, I grab the torch by biting into it of my free will. My teeth crack like popcorn and my tongue sizzles as my saliva instantly evaporates, but I’m too focused on jabbing my fingers into his throat to really care. The way I act apparently startles him so much that he doesn’t even try to fight it as I check if the Eviscerate skill can be used on a neck. It can!

<You have learned:

Burn Tolerance Lv.2>

<You have learned:

Burn Tolerance Lv.3>

<You have learned:

Eviscerate Lv.2>

Hm. Unlike that first big goblin, these ones aren’t exactly fighters. I wonder what that’s all about. Eh, it doesn’t matter too much. All it does is make my quest easier, so I have no complaints.

I head for the final member of this group.

I don’t like this guy. I don’t know how or why, but unlike all the other goblins, he and I are the same height. To make things worse, whereas I’m slim and stick-like, this guy has a robust, steady figure. Worse yet, he’s actually carrying a sword with him. I wonder what poor human warrior he looted it from.

But right as I start to consider when the best time to strike might be, he suddenly moves out into a brightly lit meadow. Carefully, he puts the torch into the soft ground, jimmying it down far enough in the dirt to make sure it doesn’t topple over. Then he straightens back out, and like a man going to war, he unsheaths his sword. He turns to me, and beckons towards himself. Inviting me.

…He shouldn’t be able to see me. I am very well camouflaged, so there’s no way for him to—well, there is, but I don’t want to think I might have gotten outwitted by some stupid goblin of all things.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that he has sighted me, and instead of trying to draw me into an ambush or whatever, he’s inviting me to a duel.

…Suspicious. He must have laid a trap here somewhere. If I were to just walk into this obvious trap, I’d never be able to live down the embarrassment. No, there’s a better way to handle this.

After I don’t emerge for several minutes, he takes a slightly more relaxed pose. He knows I’ll have to get him sometime. He’s in no hurry. He’ll still be here when I return.

We’re pretty close to where I defeated that level 5, and I still have some goblin rope, so… yeah. It’s possible.

After a few minutes of preparations and painstakingly dragging a body through the treetops, I return to the glade. Yup, he’s still there. Waiting patiently. But not for much longer.

A few metres into the forest, fully visible from his meadow, I drop her down. The goblingut noose around her neck tightens and her descent stops just a few inches from the forest floor. In the light of the stars, it would be obvious that she was no more, but in this dark forest? Not quite so much.

Looking back to the meadow, I have a perfect line of sight to how the level twelve’s eyes widen and all pretence of calm evaporates. “P-, Patrieff!” he exclaims as he dutifully leaves the protecting light of the meadow and enters the dark, dark forest. He doesn’t even reach her body before he realises the jig is up, but still, maybe guided by some desperate, feeble mob hope, he continues all the way until she’s in his arms. The time is right.

I let go of the goblingut rope, making her body slump into his stiff arms, and at that exact same time, I drop down, right atop his head and shoulders, my fingers clawing at his throat.

But as shocking as my scheme was, it wasn’t quite enough, and after less than a second of my attack, he shrugs me off, leaving me to clatter down to the ground. However, he made a fatal mistake. Right now, we’re in my territory. The darkness is mine. Here, his sword will hurt him more than it will hurt me.

My surprise attack was able to inflict a few deeper wounds to his face and neck, but it isn’t enough. Without a single second of hesitation he throws himself towards me, sword raised. I had hoped he would drop it to catch her, but I guess you can hold both a sword and a maiden, apparently.

Crouching down, I dart for his legs. His sword easily lodges itself into my lower back but that’s okay. Leaping up from below him, I aim for his bowels but change target at the final second to attack his neck and face instead, but he foresaw my faint and had already raised both arms in protection by this point, but it’s not like his arms don’t contain any arteries, so I just went for them instead, scratching up both of his wrists to leave him bleeding like a geyser. And still, he didn’t make a single sound of pain. It was almost a little anticlimactic. At least the question of What do I need to do to make him scream? was able to elicit a bit more passion in me as I quickly leapt back to avoid a swipe of the feet from him.

Taking a step back, he prepares to attack me again, but I’m just a step faster, though since I don’t aim directly for him, he can’t counter with anything more damaging than a look of pure confusion.

I pull the level five’s body off the ground and lift her up in front of me. I can only just catch a glimpse of his eyes widening before I rush at him with her in front of me. Man, this is kind of nostalgic.

And just before I reach him, I plunge my clawed hands into her soft dead back and burst through like a chestburster, right into his horrified, pale green face. He didn’t even try to defend himself against her, and I, covered in her cold intestines, have no trouble clinging onto his upper body, eviscerating his neck and chest and face and bowels just like I did with her.

<You have learned:

Eviscerate Lv.3>

Once I’m done, since I was only able to pop halfway through her bowels, I have to step out of the rest, kind of like taking off a frilly skirt. N-, not that I would know what that’s like!

<[Level Up]>

<Agility has increased by 3.

Strength has increased by 2.

Stamina has increased by 2.

Magic Power has increased by 1.

Enhanced Vision has increased by 1.

Eviscerate has increased by 1.

Stealth has increased by 2.

Claw has increased by 1.

Fang has increased by 1.

Slash Tolerance has increased by 2.>