Slay the Hobgoblin

"GYAARRGH!!"

The hobgoblin roared at me, picked up his weapon and began running towards me with fervor to kill me gruesomely.

Gris ran through the air and launched multiple Windball spells at the goblins and managed to kill 4 goblins instantly.

[4 F rank targets slain. 40,000 EP acquired.]

That instant death was enough to terrify the goblins even more. In a state of panic, the goblins began to scramble, but cannot. 10 goblins are stuck in place because of Paura's webs. Hyoran dashed forth and cut the necks of the goblins ensnared by the web, killing them quickly.

[10 F rank targets slain. 100,000 EP acquired.]

Wait...those two messages. I already broke 100k, right?

"System, how much EP do I have?"

[234,000 EP]

"Woah...not only I broke 100k, but 200k!? Wait, who killed them? Paura or Gris?"

[Neither. It is Hyoran. The reason is that the moment you increased her rank, she is bound to you. Naming Paura and Gris is one of different ways for them to be bound to you.]

"Huh...interesting."

[Warning. Incoming attack from Hobgoblin.]

With that message, I see a large wooden club coming at my face, I dive forward and cut the two ankles with my daggers. However, the sensation is different. My daggers only did a scratch on his ankles. The reason for that is because of the Thick Skin skill. It reduces damage against slashing and piercing weapons. However, it doesn't protect him from magic.

The hobgoblin turned and horizontally swung his club behind him. I dodged it with no problem, but the amount force he uses is enough to make gusts of wind which could be a pain in the ass. I gained distance and created swirls of wind in my hands.

"Sonic Boom!" I said and launched a Tier III Wind spell called Cyclone, but it is weaker than the previous one where I charged it up. I launched the Cyclone at the hobgoblin and another one for good measure.

The hobgoblin growled and smacked my first projectile away, but the next one broke it to pieces. I launched another Cyclone at the hobgoblin's head. If this doesn't kill, it'll hurt him.

The reason I was able to kill enemies so quickly is because it's not like the game. I'd be seeing numbers exceeding 1000 points of damage at rank E and the battles might last much longer than normal. I already knew this since I first killed a slime, but this ramps up the stakes.

I die like any monster just like I died in my own world. Since that whore of a goddess, Arukatha sent me to the void, I just had to break out. By doing so, most of my unique skills are sealed and lost all my powers. To get 'em back, I have to kill. Sounds messed up, but I gotta live.

Since I don't plan on dragging this battle out, I'm gonna get stronger and use my EP well.

"System, increase my Wind, Earth, and Dark magic to Tier V."

[The cost is 30,000 EP. Proceed?]

"Yes."

[Acknowledged. Earth, Wind, and Dark magic risen to Tier V.]

"Grant me Elemental Weapon too!"

[Notice. This is a Unique Skill. The cost is 30,000 EP. Proceed?]

"Yes!"

[Acknowledged. Unique Skill, Elemental Weapon acquired.]

Elemental Weapon is a unique skill for those who got skills of a Swordsman AND a Mage. In the game, one must be a Magic Swordsman. Elemental blades only deal magical damage and have effects depending on an element, but since Thick Skin is useless against magic, I can go ham.

I sheathed my daggers which made Ezo assume I am switching to magic.

"You're gonna do magic to keep it at bay?" Ezo wondered. Boy, Imma do it better.

I opened my hand and silvery green wisps of wind swirled around my hand to a shape of a ball. It then narrows down to a cylinder. Next, the wind forms into a sword similar to a Falchion. My very first elemental weapon.

"Damn, that looks good." I said, inspecting the weapon out of wind.

"Man...this is something I never see everyday." Ezo said, chuckling in disbelief.

The hobgoblin that saw his weapon is destroyed and resorted to his fists. The hobgoblin performs a right hook that is aiming at my head. Obviously, I ducked and went inside his range and swung my Wind Sword to cut his arm, his torso, and right leg.

*Slash!* *Slash!* *Slash!*

Upon my slashes, blood came out of the hobgoblin from my attacks as it now has gashes, but it wasn't deep enough as this sword has a short reach.

Gris as a Silver Wolf continued to chase down the fleeing 16 goblins. Gris launched a Tier III Wind spell called Wind Blade, launching a crescent-like projectile. The crescent cleaved 6 more goblins in half, killing them swiftly.

[6 F rank targets slain. 60,000 EP acquired.]

Then the other 10 are too far apart, his projectiles won't kill multiple goblins efficiently. Gris then ran on the ground to hunt down the rest.

*Swoosh!*

Gris ran with the speed of a howling wind and the sound of that howling wind was the last sound the goblins will ever hear.

In that instance, Gris tore off the head of a goblin closest to him with his jaws, spit out the head, and move on to the next. In one motion, 10 goblins were decapitated, silencing their screams instantly.

[10 F rank targets slain. 100,000 EP acquired.]

Me on the other hand is trying to find an opening again, this time the hobgoblin tries to get me again with his injured arm.

"For a B rank, you ain't so bright, huh?" I chortled.

I dodged and changed my Wind Sword into a spear and impaled the hobgoblin in the chest where the lungs and heart are located. The hobgoblin vomited blood profusely, staining the green grass a deep crimson. He then fell face first on the pool of his own blood, letting out a loud thud.

[Rank B target slain. 100,000 EP acquired.]

I brushed my black hair back to wipe off the sweat on my forehead only for it to flop back into place. Gris barked and ran on top of me, knocking me over.

Gris then began licking me in the face, panting, wanting for my approval.

"Hey, Gris. You were awesome out there against the goblins." I said, patting Gris' head. Paura screeches to me, saying that if he did a good job also.

"You did good too, Paura." I said, patting him gently. Hyoran also came to me, wagging her tail, waiting to be patted on the head too.

"What about me? I did fight too." she said.

"You did good too, Hyoran." I said, patting her head. She giggled as her tail wagged around as she is happy.

"Don't forget to bring proof of completing a quest." Ezo said. Bringing a hobgoblin corpse takes too long so cutting the ears off the goblins or the severed heads brings enough proof.

[Rank B crystal detected. It is located in the heart.]

The system notified me and I rolled the corpse so it is facing upwards.

"Is possible to get the crystal without touching it?"

[It is possible. Since you pierced its torso to the heart, retrieval will not be difficult.]

[Try doing a pulling motion, the crystal will come to you.]

With that, I did what the system said and the crystal came to me rapidly, spraying blood on my face and clothes. This B rank crystal is the size of my head and showed off a green color. However, I crushed without a second thought for extra EP.

[Rank B crystal consumed. Select a skill to acquire.]

"Thick Skin."

[1000 EP required. 99,000 remain.]

"Gimme that. I'll have the 99k."

[Acknowledged. Skill Thick Skin acquired. 99,000 EP acquired.]

The reason I took that skill is because my Pain Nullification skill does not reduce damage in any way. Also, I can go a little reckless when things go south. I still better watch out for magic though.

I cut the ear of the hobgoblin where Hyoran and Ezo cut the ears of other goblins, even if the heads are severed.

We returned to the village that was being threatened and showed them the ears of the goblins including the hobgoblin. The residents were shocked by this.

"Unbelievable...to think there was a hobgoblin threatening our village. If they attacked now, we'd stand no chance." said the elder. "We thank you for preventing such a tragedy."

The other residents bowed to show gratitude, some even prostrated as thanks.

"Our able bodied villagers tried to fight the goblins off before, but some were killed or too injured to fight." the elder said.

"I can see that. Those goblins have better equipment and became bolder." Ezo said.

"Can I see the injured?" I said.

"Since you saved our village, I see no reason to refuse. Follow me."

We followed the elder to a large hut where they tend to the wounded and sick. 30 people were covered in bandages. Some wrapped over their eye, chest, legs, arms, and some were groaning in pain.

"These people managed to defend the village, but the goblins are getting stronger until we don't have the means to fight back." the elder said.

I walked to one of the injured who is a man with brown hair and hazel eyes. His eye was covered, entire torso was covered which also have blotches of blood on him. He looked at me wearily just like at the time where one of my allies in the rebellion was shot by a .45 ACP round, he managed to survive, but a 5.56 did him in despite our medics.

"System. Upgrade my Healing Magic to tier V."

[10,000 EP required. Proceed?]

"Yes."

[Acknowledged.]

"Are you the guy who saved our village?" the injured man said wearily.

"Yeah. The goblins won't threaten you anymore." I answered.

"Thanks...it was going to a point where we have to flee, but the resources are too valuable to leave." he said, wheezing.

I nodded and put my hand over his body and emitted a green light. The women who are tending to them are shocked, including the elder. The brown haired man who was wheezing is now breathing normally and sat up quickly as my healing also gave him a burst of energy. He unraveled the bandages around him and see that all the wounds he suffered has been healed.

"I'm healed...you healed me." he said.

"My goodness, for him to heal him to full health so quickly." the elder said in awe.

I healed the other people to where their injuries was never there in the first place. Some of the women who are wives, sisters, or daughters of the injured men hugged them tightly. The also shed tears, thinking they might not see them again.

"Thank you! Thank you for healing them!" one the women said. The rest bowed in gratitude as there is rarely anyone who has Healing Magic if at all.

The children outside are laughing and giggling which brought my attention. I walked outside to see the kids petting Gris. Some even bury their face in to Gris' silver fur.

"Oh, they took a liking to Gris." I said. "But we have to turn in our quest."

"We still cannot thank you enough. Do come by when you have the chance." the elder said, bowing again.

We bowed back to them to return our gratitude.

"Gris, we're leaving." I called out to him. Gris stood up and walked towards me, leaving the kids behind.

"Aww, you're leaving?" one child said.

"Yeah, gotta turn in the quest." I said.

The villagers waved goodbye to us as we head out to turn in our quest. Although we have to keep Paura out, but I ordered him to go hunt while avoiding humans. We turned in our quest and earned ourselves 3 silver coins. It was initially 1 silver, but seeing that there was a hobgoblin, they gave us a bonus.

"With this, you are now ready for a promotion." said the female.

We immediately went to the promotion center to go up to Stone rank. As we walk out of her view, something was nagging her.

"Wasn't that wolf gray before? He's silver now." the receptionist said.