Kieran set off, following the direction set by his bracelet. It led him over the plains of tall grass towards a tall knoll.
While walking, Kieran kept switching between his sword and dagger, practicing some basic swings to get used to their weight. He couldn’t help but marvel at the lethality of these weapons. Both were of fine make, perfectly balanced and incredibly sharp.
He even experimented with wielding both weapons at the same time, but quickly realized he was nowhere near skilled enough for a fighting style like that.
Roughly a mile of walking brought him to the knoll. From its top, Kieran could see a small patch of forest.
Big enough to hide a camp, he thought, pressing on.
Another mile later, Kieran reached the tree line. Even before he passed the first trees, he heard voices coming from within: high-pitched and unpleasant, just like before. Though he could make out three distinct voices, he was too far away to tell what they were saying.
He wondered, then, how he had understood those other goblins in the first place. Or Vahr’Khul, for that matter. He had comprehended everything perfectly, but when he thought back, the words both goblins and god had used weren’t any language Kieran knew or had even heard. It was as though his mind was automatically translating the words into his own native tongue without any delay.
Was he, too, speaking another language without realizing it? Or were his words also being instantaneously translated? Of course, the only being he had spoken to since being plucked from the morgue was Vahr’Khul… There was a real possibility the denizens of this new world wouldn’t be able to understand Kieran.
A perk of being a god’s Chosen, perhaps.
He slowed down as he entered the forest, taking time to move carefully from tree to tree. The goblins had surprised him in the first encounter. This time, he planned to return the favor.
As he crept towards the voices, Kieran could make out more and more of what was being said. Again, the words made sense to him, though he could tell the creatures were speaking a language he wasn’t familiar with.
“… of people hiding around here,” one goblin snarled. “Boss wants ‘em dead, we make ‘em dead.”
“Can we loot ‘em when we make ‘em dead?” another goblin asked, its screeching voice grating against Kieran’s ears.
“Loot ‘em, don’t loot ‘em, I don’t care! Boss just wants ‘em dead!” the first goblin replied.
Kieran ducked low into the undergrowth and crawled forward. Peeking from behind a tree, he spotted three goblins sitting in a circle around a fire pit.
One of these goblins was visibly larger than the others, bound in muscle and a couple inches taller. Kieran spotted a vicious-looking sword slung over the thing’s back. It looked like it had been carved from a large bone.
Kieran wondered who exactly the goblins were hunting. If there were regular people nearby, he was keen to meet them. He decided to leave one of the goblins alive for interrogation.
The others would make excellent specimens for research.
The goblins continued arguing, now about the food they were preparing. Kieran readied his weapon and his mind. Based on a rapid assessment of the enemies’ positions, he knew he should eliminate the two lesser goblins quickly and leave the larger one for last. It would be easiest to incapacitate the strong one rather than trying to kill it.
He was also curious about his new abilities. The shortsword was ready in his hand, but he determined to use it as little as possible. After the battle in the stone room, he was confident he could handle three goblins. Why not use this fight for a little research?
It was time to experiment with ‘Maim.’
Kieran crouched low. Then he lunged forward, free hand outstretched towards the nearest goblin.
Before any of his adversaries could react, Kieran placed a hand on the goblin’s head and called on his newfound power, focusing himself entirely on Maim. As the other two stared in wide-eyed silence, their compatriot became a blood-stained mess and went limp in Kieran’s grasp.
The other two goblins managed to draw their weapons and stand up, but they weren’t quite quick enough to retaliate before Kieran continued his assault.
Drawing his shortsword and holding it in both hands, Kieran ran towards the other lesser goblin. He swung as he ran, aiming at the creature’s arm. The goblin attempted to parry, but failed, still distracted by the sudden death of his ally.
Kieran’s sword sank into the goblin’s flesh, blood spraying from the deep gash right at the goblin’s elbow, its blade falling out of its grasp. With the goblin’s sword arm thoroughly ruined, Kieran pressed on, channeling his spell again as he placed an eager hand on the goblin’s chest.
Focused to the point that his perception of time slowed, Kieran watched his foe’s skin split open, inch by inch. Up close, it looked as though invisible blades were cutting into the thing’s flesh. They were fine cuts, beautiful in their precision, In fact, as the wounds spread, their pattern and shapes reminded Kieran of the work of scalpels.
But the spell’s effect ended just as quickly as it began. Kieran swallowed his disappointment as he turned away. Locking eyes with his remaining opponent, he let the lacerated goblin body in his hands fall to the forest floor unceremoniously.
The final goblin was clearly intimidated. Still, it stood its ground, its sword arm extended towards Kieran in an attempt to hold him at bay.
The two stared each other down. The goblin seemed too afraid to make the first move. Kieran waited calmly.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
This standoff continued for a full minute before the goblin, cracking under pressure, lunged forward. The attack was slow and sloppy, giving Kieran plenty of time to block with his own weapon.
Yet as their blades clashed, Kieran realized he had miscalculated. The goblin was small, certainly, but Kieran had failed to consider how strong the creature was.
Even though Kieran supported his weapon with both hands, he found himself in a deadlock with the goblin. Neither side could push the other’s weapon out of the way, both straining due to the other’s pressure.
Neither fear nor anger sparked within Kieran. Combat was like surgery. Any tiny mistake caused by needless emotions could lead to deadly consequences.
Maintaining his composure, Kieran dove to the side, using the goblin’s own strength against it. Now suddenly pushing against nothing, the goblin stumbled forward, knocked completely off-balance.
Kieran discarded his previous plan to keep the monster alive. He brought his blade down in a backhanded swing, aiming to deliver a crippling blow to the enemy.
Recovering just in time, the goblin raised its blade with both hands and managed to block Kieran’s sword. Then it pushed its blade against the shortsword with all its might. Kieran broke off quickly with a backwards hop. But the goblin was ready this time, maintaining its balance.
Another standoff began as the two combatants stared at each other.
Kieran’s time on the front lines had taught him the power of fear. He took a moment to stand upright and square his shoulders. Blade held to the side, he locked eyes again with the goblin.
The enemy wavered slightly, stepping back.
Kieran instantly lunged forward and swung his blade with both hands. But his intention wasn’t to land that specific strike. Instead, when the goblin raised its weapon in defense, Kieran cut his momentum by digging in his heel and turning on it. Then he swung his blade at his opponent's now unguarded flank.
The goblin was caught entirely off-guard by the gambit. Kieran’s blade cut into the thing’s left leg at the knee.
Kieran felt the blade sink into flesh, then collide with bone. He smiled grimly. While he wasn’t strong enough to break the goblin’s bone, he was precise enough to cripple the thing.
The goblin fell forward onto his knee. Kieran didn’t cease his assault. Carried by his momentum, he continued moving until he was behind the goblin, then slashed the back of the goblin’s other knee.
In the same movement, Kieran placed his free hand on his adversary’s head and channeled Maim. The goblin tried to scream as its flesh tore open, but he was quickly silenced.
Kieran took the chance to observe the effects of Maim up close once again. It was clear to him now that the spell created wounds in the body, as if razor-thin blades were cutting into it. He wondered how deep the cuts were.
As soon as the spell ceased, Kieran checked over all three bodies to make sure his enemies were dead. When he was certain the goblins posed no more danger, he sat wearily beside the firepit in the middle of the camp. It had been a long time since he had been this active.
As Kieran sat down, a screen popped up in front of him.




Quest Complete
Reward: 200 essence




Kieran felt somewhat disappointed. He had half-expected the deity to speak to him more after the combat was done, or at least convey more information through the screen. And what was ‘essence’, anyway?
Sighing, Kieran warmed his hands by the fire. He noticed that, ever since he awoke in that stone room, he couldn’t shake the feeling of being cold.
The fact that every spell he cast also sent a wave of cold through his body certainly didn’t help, but that was irrelevant. He wasn’t about to give up his main combat advantage just because it made him chilly. And while warmth did bring some comfort, the cold brought a sense of familiarity. It reminded him of cold storage in the morgue.
Kieran’s mind turned towards what the goblins had been talking about before his ambush. They were hunting people, presumably nearby. Connecting the dots with Vahr’Khul’s larger task of freeing the world from a monster invasion, Kieran could only make assumptions about his own current circumstances.
None of them were good.
He might just be in a particularly dangerous area. Perhaps this one spot had been overtaken by the monsters, and the goblins were hunting runaways. Or, even worse, the world at large might be already under the invasion’s rule, and the goblins were hunting a group of survivors.
Either way, Kieran concluded that wandering around with minimal direction, given by an entity he barely knew, wasn’t the best idea.
Yet, for the time being, it was the only choice Kieran had.
He didn’t know where he was, where he could find friendly folk, or how many safe areas were even left. And his only guide seemed to be interested only in giving orders, without answering questions along the way.
Sorting through the options as logically as he could with limited information, Kieran decided he would continue on towards the ruins, then to the mountain. Those buildings carved into the mountainside looked like a defensible position. If survivors were going to be anywhere, they would be there.
His eyes wandered to the dead goblins. He shook his head, lamenting the fact that none of his tools had come with him when Vahr’Khul decided to snatch him from his morgue. He would have to make do with what he was given, at least until he found someone to craft the necessary tools for him.
Out of curiosity, he drew his shortsword and focused on visualizing the gear screen. As he expected, the screen popped up in front of him.




Shortsword
A reliable weapon favored by beginner adventurers. Not the flashiest blade in the armory, but it will keep you alive long enough to find something better.
Has Slain: 19 goblins, 3 wolves, 1 lesser imp




“Three goblins with the sword, three with the Maim spell,” he said aloud, reflecting on his kills thus far.
Then another screen appeared:




Quest
Ruins Exploration — Tracking Inactive
Reward: Recall (Spell)
The ruins of an old church lay decaying near you, Chosen Contender. Search them for a ring, platinum, engraved with a nine-pointed star. Do not delay: goblin looters loiter near the ruins.




With a sigh, Kieran willed the screen away and returned his attention to the crackling fire.
“Can’t give me a moment to catch my breath, can you?” he remarked.
His gaze drifted again to the dead goblins. Curiosity leapt up in his gut like a white-hot flame, starving for knowledge. If only he had the time and tools to examine the corpses properly…
Briefly, he considered taking some time for a rough examination with his dagger. Surely an hour or so wouldn’t make that much difference to the quest. What was Vahr’Khul going to do to him if he disobeyed, anyway?
Then again, this was a god Kieran was dealing with. A god who had warned him specifically not to delay.
Kieran stretched his fingers, finally feeling the warmth returning to his hands. Then he pushed himself to his feet.
“Guess I have to find the ring before the goblins do,” he whispered. “To the ruins, then.”