Chapter 1 WTF?!
Chapter One
I opened my eyes and saw several fire crystals illuminating the area around me, I slowly looked around to see where I am at. I look around and see that I am in a spacious cavern surrounded by fire crystals.
I'm alive? Was the first thought that crossed my mind. The last thing I remember I was fighting in Nepheliums Crypt, and I got stabbed by one of the expedition members next to me as we were being chased by monster.
Suddenly a transparent window appears before me, and I hear a voice in my head.
(Hello James, welcome back to the world of the living).
I freak out and call out, who's there?! What's going on?!
The system responds (you were murdered by your fellow adventurer, and you have been reincarnated, I am the Animus System, and I will be helping you grow stronger).
Murdered? I repeat after the system. So it wasn't a dream?
(No, it was not).
I looks down at my body to see if there is still a stab wound through my chest and sees my body for the first time. WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?!?! My hands are green, and I have sharp craws for nails, my feet are also green with sharp talon like toes.
What am I, I ask the system?
(You've been reincarnated as a goblin).
A goblin?! Are you fucking serious!
(Due to an unknown reason, you have been reborn as a goblin with a system. Although you aren't an ordinary goblin, you're much worse).
What do you mean I'm much worse than a normal goblin?
(If you think the word status you will be able to view all the information about your new self).
Status:
Race - Goblin Runt
F Rank
Strength - 4
Intelligence - 15
Stamina - 4
Dexterity - 5
Vitality - 4
Agility - 6
Magic -
Luck -
Available Attribute Points - 0
An F Rank goblin runt, I was a D Rank adventurer, what the hell kind of joke is this, I yell at the system!?!
(Due to your soul being that of a human it was necessary to regress your body in order for your soul to fuse with this new body. Although it may seem like a bad thing, it's actually a blessing in disguise).
What do you mean it's a blessing in disguise, I ask looking both confused and angry.
(With your body being a goblin runt, you will have to now evolve into a goblin and in doing so you'll be much stronger than the other goblins).
I was momentarily shocked by this, as that would mean I wouldn't have to worry about being killed by the other goblins unlike how I was killed by my fellow human adventurer. With all of this in mind I start looking around the cave to see if there is a way out. Ten minutes later I spot a small crack in the wall behind a growth of fire crystals just big enough for my now small body to squeeze through. This is going to be a tight fit, I wish I had a map or something so I can see what this place looks like, I say out loud to myself.
As the words left my lips a 3D map popped into my mind showing the cavern that I woke up in and a blurry corridor leading out.
Damn, isn't that nice, I say laughing out loud.
I slowly make my way into the crack climbing at a slight downward angle.
Man, this is a tight fit, I mutter as I squeeze my way through.
Ten minutes later I finally see light ahead of me as I draw nearer to the end of the crevasse. Pulling myself out, I tumble to the floor and end up in a corridor with more fire crystals lining the walls.
Looking at the map I notice that the map has now cleared up along the crevasse that I just squeezed myself through.
So that's how it works, I say as I watch my map auto fill the areas of the tunnel that I just squeezed through.
Welp, I guess I'll follow this corridor and see where it goes, I say to myself.
After walking down the corridor for almost an hour, I begin hearing some scraping sounds coming from down the corridor ahead of me. Slowly creeping forward sticking to the shadows, I see some rats, the size of a medium sized dog, scuffling around. Stopping in a shadow I observes the rats, that're roughly two feet tall and about four feet long including their tails.
While observing the rats I think, it sure would be nice to know what it is I'm looking at.
(Skill Acquired)
(Appraisal Skill gained)
I gained a skill just like that, I exclaim in surprise!?
(Due to your abnormal soul you're able to gain this support skill. Now that you have this system you'll be able to gain quantification of your skills and status unlike how normal life forms just have the knowledge of their skill but not numerical representation of it.)
Interesting, so that means whenever I learn something or do something combat related it should show up under my skills, I ask the system.
(Correct)
Alright, let's see what kind of monsters these rats are then, I say as I activate my appraisal skill.
As my appraisal skill activates for the first time I feel an itching sensation in both of my eyes.
Race - Shadow Rat (Pup)
F Rank
-Travels in small packs while exploring dark or dimly lit tunnels. Weak against piercing and fire-based attacks.
Shadow Rats huh? Well, I guess it's good that they're the same rank as I am, but I don't have any weapons, I mutter to myself.
Looking down at my hands and checking my claws to see how sharp and sturdy they are, I guess I'll have to use my claws for now until I can find a weapon.
I slowly start to sneak closer to the nearest rat out of the three, I can see down the corridor. As I gets closer the rat I suddenly receive a notification from the system.
(New Skill Acquired)
(Sneak Skill gained)
I stop in shock for a second due to the sudden acquisition of the sneak skill, in doing so the rat notices me and turns and attacks. The rat jumps at me trying to bite my shoulder with its razor-sharp front teeth.
I barely dodge the rat and swipe my claws at the rats left flank leaving three long gouges in its side. The rat screeches in pain as it lands on the ground and stumbles from the pain, It's screech alerts the other two rats several feet away and they turn and start to run in my direction.
Damnit, I curse as I see the other two rats heading in my direction.
I have to kill this one first before it ends up three vs one, I say out loud to no one in particular.
I run to the injured rat and stabs his claws into the rats injured side and pierces its heart by sheer luck.
(Shadow Rat killed)
Sweet one down two to go I mutter as I turn around to face the incoming pair of rats. As I turn, the other two rats are three feet away from me and they both jump simultaneously. I instinctively take a step back and both rats collide in mid-air and fall to the ground. I lunge forward stabbing my claw with all my strength and pierces through the head of one of the rats barely missing the second one cutting it along its neck.
(Shadow Rat killed)
The last remaining rat moves to the side and smacks me with its tail causing me to slide back a couple of feet. As I am sliding backwards the rat runs at me again and goes to rip my throat out. I drop down onto my stomach and rack my claws along the rat's belly as I drop, opening it from throat to tail. The rat lands on the ground behind me with its entrails littering the tunnel floor.
(Shadow Rat killed)
I turn around after killing the last Shadow Rat to see all three of their body disappearing into light particles, as they disappear they leave behind three small balls of light. Well, I guess I won't have to clean up after myself, but it doesn't leave anything behind if I need food, even though I really don't want to eat rat, I mutter out loud to no one in particular. I walk forward and pick up the three balls of light and examine them.
Rank F Core
A Core of spiritual energy dropped by a Rank F monster. Absorbing monster cores will raise ones attribute levels until they reach the pinnacle of that Rank. Once an individual has reached the pinnacle of their rank they will need to absorb the energy of a core of the next Rank higher in order to breakthrough to the next Rank.
System can you tell me about the max attribute levels for my current Rank, I ask out loud.
(In order for an attribute to be considered maxed as a Rank F you'll need it to be at 20)
20 huh? Well at least I was lucky that they were only Rank F and they were juveniles, if they were a higher Rank I might have gotten hurt and I don't have any medical supplies to patch myself back up, I muse to myself. I guess I should use these three while I have the chance, I say.
I sit on the ground and focus on the three cores in my lap and start to feel their energy flowing into me. After about half an hour I manage to absorb all three cores and gain three free attribute points. I think I'll save these for now in case I might run into a situation where I might need to increase an attribute in order to survive.
I get up and start heading down the tunnel and see where it goes, I'll just have to watch out for anymore rats, I don't want to end up getting surrounded or anything, I muse to myself as I continue to make my way down the tunnel.
After walking for another half an hour, I begin to hear some more squeaking and scuffling from up ahead. Slowing down and making sure I'm hidden using my sneak skill; I slowly start sneaking forward and come upon an open cavern that looks to be about fifty feet in diameter. The cavern slopes down slightly from where I have hidden myself and so I can see six rats spread out below me on the rock filled floor.
There's a rat that's roughly ten feet away and it's the closest one to me and so I start to make a plan on how it can be lured over to this side so that I can try to kill it without alerting the other five rats. Looking around I notice a couple small stones laying by my feet, picking them up, I pull my arm back and throw one at the rat trying to get its attention.
The stone sailed through the air and smacks the rat in the ass, the rat jumped and let out a screech while looking around. It slowly started making its way towards where the stone came flying from, as it makes its way towards me it begins sniffing the air trying to find out what caused the rock to hit it.
As it gets closer, I ready my claws, when the rat was just a couple of feet away, I lunge forward and stab the rat in the head with my outstretched claws killing it instantly. As the body disappears I grab its core and store it behind the rocks that I'm hiding behind since I have no way of storing it on my person and I still need to kill the remaining five rats.
(Shadow rat killed)
Status:
Race - Goblin Runt
F Rank
Strength - 4
Intelligence - 15
Stamina - 4
Dexterity - 5
Vitality - 4
Agility - 6
Magic -
Luck -
Available Attribute Points - 3
Skills:
Appraisal Rank F
Sneak Rank F