Bricked up

Wellyn stared at Teyo and then grabbed him by the shoulder. " Some good rewards ladd, S'worth your troubles. Says it's limit one, it was nice meeting ya kid. Get after it."

" Huh? " Teyo responded looking up at Wellyn who then squeezed the scroll and it caught into a quick flame. The menu in front of Teyo blinked. As if asking for an answer. " Shit.... Fine! " He pressed yes. The door next to the counter opened slightly and the dark like miasma that was usually there was replaced by a shaded blue miasmic aether. The color reminded Teyo of the Praise tier reward. " Oh shit!"

Teyo quickly clicked through his menu. and accepted the reward. He closed his eyes in anticipation....

" Eh?"

Sitting in front of him was a small rock. On the rock was a small etching of a goblin holding hands with another goblin. Teyo picked it up.

" Goblin Stone"

Bobble - Praise tier

Use: Sharpening an item ( Stick, Weapon, Etc) Gives the item + 1 Damage for the next 5 Strikes and a shiny edge.

Character Bound.

Description: Yeet

" What the.. Your joking.." Teyo looked up at Wellyn.

Wellyn looked at Teyo. "Nice.. Rock"

Teyo walked into the quest level aether, cursing under his breath.

Stepping through teyo entered another cave however this cave was well lit. It seemed to be no larger than your average recreational field. From where he was standing and intermittently through the space we're a bunch of pillars made of stone. Between them every so often we're stalactites. Teyo stepped forward into the area. As far as he could see there weren't any monster around. He kept walking through and once he was halfway the torches along the walls began to blink in unison from red to yellow then green. Sections of the wall on all four sides began to rise with a stony grumble. Stepping out of it in all directions around teyo small goblins walked out. At once they all began to speak and charge towards him yelling obscenities.

" Oh everybody? Shit Fuck!" Teyo began to run around. All of the goblins had spears or daggers and they were quickly catching up to him in pinching maneuvers.

Teyo ran as hard as he could dodging and weaving, the occasional pan smack of a blade or spear being knocked away.

" There to many of them!" Teyo running forward was looking behind him as the pack began to consolidate. Without paying to much attention he ended up running smack into a pillar and onto his bum. The pillar began to sway Teyo looked up in fear as it began to topple towards him. He quickly rolled away and the pillar crashed on the ground next to him into the next pillar into the next into the next then BOOM. A long line of pillars fell in succession across to the far wall. easily taking out at least a tenth of them. Teyo stood in the dust

level 1 Goblin killed --989/10

1/5 monsters for "Natural Predators" quest achieved

" Oooooooooohhh... Yeah I guess I should have ahggh * PUNG*" Teyo realized how to deal with the situation and in that moment a goblin stabbed him in the arm He turned and quickly slapped the goblin in the head with the pan. " Asshole" he said

The goblin dazed " Hue speaks gob"

Teyo also realizing he understood the goblin, swung forward with his axe directly above and onto it's head.

" I guess so " Blood sprayed and more goblins began to see Teyo and charge again as the dust settled now below their eye line. Teyo darted off. Following the line of fallen pillars he eventually began to get cornered again and quickly hopped onto the large chunks of rubble and over to the other side where even more goblins were. " Damnit!" He darted off again already out of breath. Running for what felt like eternity he finally began to make his move behind him were a large congregation of goblins he quickly stopped and turned around a pillar and with his weight began to push. Eventually it gave and toppled over, he tried to keep it from knocking into a line of pillars but almost against his exertion the pillar just toppled diagonally into a line of pillars that direction. Zero goblins died.

"Agggghhhh CRAP" Teyo darted off again.

This process continued over and over again for many minutes. In the end he only ended up killing three goblin with this method.

Randomly scattered pillars stood tall amongst the almost chalk filled air of the cave, lit through the green glow of the torches at least twenty some goblins gave Teyo chase all ready to stab and pierce him as soon as they caught up. The good thing was as he grew tired so did they. Every so often he would lose them and take a quick breather hunkering below the stone rubble until a goblin sniffed him out and it would all start again. Teyo decided he would start taking a more cunning approach. From the wound he received earlier He began to swipe blood on random sections of stone as he made his rounds. Eventually he became rather faint and decided to cauterize it with he pan. Teyo ended up at ten health before long. He knew this needed to end.

Finding another now lone pillar Teyo crept awaiting a goblin to find him. Staying low and away from the eyes of the few who deciyto become lookouts above the broken rubble he waited. Eventually he could hear the sniffs and footsteps of a lone goblin. Before the goblin could get to close, he hopped out around the side of a stone outcropping and with a hearty swing of both hands he swung his pan sideways depth side first and shortly behind it the backside of his axe right at the goblins closest leg. *Pung PANG* Like a hammer to nail and a high pitch squeel the goblin leg shunk to the side knee cap backwards and leg contorted, It screamed for help. Teyo stepped back and then pushed over a pillar.

"4/5 ONE MORE!" he darted away quickly trying to stay as low as possible. The next closest pillar still far off in the distance. On the way there though Teyo had to stop in a dead end. Behind him Another group of goblins hot on his heels. Trapt and corners quickly he didn't dare give them his back. " Shit." He was stuck. Five goblins stared him down. They fanned out and tried to keep him in a corner.

" Hahaha Gots you now"

" Yeaaash stinking rabbit!"

" Hu's taste good, to bad nots a girl"

" Yeah hahahahah"

" Stickem in the bricks break his manhood's"

" Whoa, Frognaks that's not nice"

Three others in unison

" Yeah not cool" " Who hurt you"

" Gro come on"

Now blushing Frognaks

" We're nots nice remember! "

" Oh yeah... Stick'em in the bricks! "Manhood's!"

" Huh, where'd he go?"

The goblins turned back and realized Teyo was gone. With a large crackle they looked up. Teyo pushed with all his strength, once again using the stalactites a large stone spear came falling down tumbling sideways it landed amongst the group killing two instantly and injuring another. The other two ran away screaming " He's got big bricks aaaaaah"

Teyo landed down near the dead goblins and rolled the stone a bit further squishing the pinned goblin whom lay there unconscious dead. The torches in the room dimmed and then brightened again the still running goblins disappeared and from what he could tell no longer did he hear any of them. Looking down at the corpse's he quickly cut into them grabbing out their gems, He also took their small spears and one small knife made from crude stone chiseling. None of these goblins wore armor aside from shoes sometimes made of toad and a loin cloth. After cutting their ears he got up and looked for the exit. Off in the distance he could see a door.

After getting to it he stepped through and was back in the tavern. Dirty and covered in dust now limping he made his way to the table and plopped down. Staring at the pile of ears he threw down he let out a deep sigh. A moment later Wellyn came and set a mug in front of his face. It was frothy on the top and bubbled voraciously.

Teyo didn't say anything and just drank it.

The blue liquid entered his mouth and foamed wonderfully releasing a berry like flavor tingling on his tongue. It went down smooth and sweet and tangy with a zest similar to a citrus fruit. Teyo's eyes widened and a moment later he felt all the bubbles in his stomach burst sending a huge burp up and out of him. The waft of air from his gut came up and swiped away all flavor left in his mouth. Teyo's eye again widening realizing it was beautifully crafted and could be used as a pallet cleanse. He look up at Wellyn who was just laughing at him. " What is this drink??"

" ahaha Good one. It's a Slime Soda, should patch you up. How was it did you enjoy your first Tavern quest?"

" Slime soda.... huh ..Well.. I suppose it was... exhilarating. Every step I took there was death looming over me but in the end I got through it. Stupid goblins." He pulled out the gems in his pocket and looked at the pile of ears, and crude weapons. Outside of a harrowing and narrow victory the tavern quest seemed ridiculously lucrative. He wondered if perhaps the goblins were that easy to deal with normally. This one level one after all.

Even though a large part of the quest forced him to use the terrain as a means of fighting back. It greatly improved his sense of kiteing the little fiends. Having been chased by them he got to know their top speeds sometimes slowing to even push them to try and run faster. It was like being chased by a 9 year old, quick, but awfully clumsy. Sharp turns were their enemy. Goblin's were honestly quite weak, there strengths lie in the nimble bodies. Swiping at their midsection or arms and they would shrink or dodge. Their head was the only real target as it was rather large for their size. They were very good at using their range sometimes even stabbing out with a spear or dagger at seemingly impossible lengths for their size. They also naturally cornered when in chase sometimes seemingly guiding your movement like herd dogs with stabs at air conditioning you towards dead ends or other goblin's. When they were together in small packs they almost instinctively worked well together but when they got complacent or were sure of victory they let their guard down possibly their biggest weakness. Teyo only confirmed it, after being trapt into that dead end. Thinking back to that and replaying the time he saved Reilly, as well as the time he dropped the stone on them in their "bathroom" outcrop. Surprise attacks were relatively easy when they were calm. While in pursuit and locked on to you good luck but devastating attacks could happen to them caught off guard. The last thing was their scent. It wasnt to difficult to trick, knowing they were also blind to darkness using their nose was their next best move but with the smells all around it would be useless.

Teyo knew exactly what to do to defeat the first level. But he knew he would need help. Teyo opened his menu drinking more soda. He then accepted the reward for completing the Tavern quest. In front of him a Praise tier gatcha ball landed and rolled on the table towards him. And then he got an alert.

"Appraise" skill learned

Description- Examine objects found in levels to determine attributes, abilities, and value (*based on a gem economic value*) by holding them for a minute in good lighting. Can be used at range for 2 mana.

"Whoa wait what?!" Teyo looked over at the table and grabbed the goblin spears.

" Sharp Stick "

+2 Damage

Description: It's a stick.

Value: Worth about a stick.

Teyo sat back. "What the heck how does a stick have more damage than my pan???"

Wellyn began laughing so hard he folded at the waist. After a moment he sat down across from Teyo. " Well, it's good to see you learning boy. Let me answer that for you. Your base strength is what's applicable to your hits, with your weapon's a top that. Slicing, Bashing, and piercing will have different uses against certain foes, Something there may even save your life. To top it off, your wielding a mundane pan like a force of virtue. Purely charismatic truly. But I'd wager you're better off using an actual weapon. All though I have know a man to use manacles as weapon's quite well. Who knows perhaps it's just your style. You can always look for ways to enhance or enchant your gear."

Teyo closed his eyes and sighed. Deep in thought. " Hmph well the pan works I'm not gonna stop using it, but maybe I should take care of it a bit better.. " Teyo looked down at the pan. Even though it was thick and heavy, there were obviously dents and dings. He had curved the rim a bit with all the slamming. " Without this I lose pan sear.. I guess I should be a bit more respectful to my gear."

" Well shall we open this then? " Teyo tossed the gatcha ball in his hands.