Change.

I had gotten up to stretch, this must be the tenth time I woke up so it must have been roughly over a week.

Though I wondered, is there purpose in keeping track of this when I'd lose count eventually.

I haven't deluded myself into believing that I'd leave anytime soon. None of this was in my control, well not anymore than I was used to.

I still can't believe some people fantasize about being in this situation.

God my mouth felt gross, but it feels good to yawn and stretch.

I spent my "morning" gargling water from my flask and spitting it on the ground. It's the only thing close enough to brushing in this place, I used the rest to hastily wash my hands and face.

I'd love to wash my entire body but goblin lives are only worth so much water.

Well even this much is pretty wasteful, I know that much, but so what?

These green vermin drop a surplus amount. It comes with the [Ration] drop and enough to "waste" doing this much.

That along with the driest and most tasteless biscuit in the world, and the toughest jerky i've ever had the displeasure of eating.

I could go on all day about what I hate about this place, but I'm definitely sick of this food.

Well enough about the morning routine, I have to get up and keep walking.

Luckily I started to see an end to this, the other paths are either littered with green corpses and blood or are dead ends. Leaving the path I was currently walking in as the last one to explore.

In the time I spent here I learned a few things, though the most important was that this place was lacking the regular mechanic I was familiar with.

In most RPG games, experience and levels are a staple, in that you get rewarded with mindless slaughter. The more you kill, the stronger you get and so on.

But this was ultimately missing here, I didn't get rewarded with killing goblins, unless you count my [Plunder] trait.

So as it stands I haven't grown since my first encounter, that is stats wise.

Though I still suspect that [Significance] has an important role to play in all of this, although I haven't figured out the condition in how to increase it just yet.

Ultimately I'm left with more questions than answers. I only think of these useless questions to which I have no answers to when I'm bored.

Which is often.

There isn't much to do in this place after all. So far all I've done is a boring loop of eating, sleeping, exploring, and killing. In so far that the only meaning to do so is extending my life.

Either way I've realized in that time period what I'm capable of.

Though that is if you can call exterminating vermin "capability".

At the rate I was going I'd die sooner from boredom than from any sense of threat these goblins give me.

I can't believe I was ever afraid of these things, they're more annoying than anything else.

I can't believe I was ever afraid of these things, they're like bugs once you get the hang of killing them.

Ha, I'm starting to sound like a third-rate villain.

to call them bugs is a harsh statement but its kind of the truth.

If you catch a bug you don't have much of a choice but to kill it, it's almost necessary to kill a bug since they're such unsightly creatures.

But even bugs are smart enough to leave you alone, these things are goddamned mindless.

Well this is just how I see it anyways.

But soon enough I had to stop in my tracks, that's when I saw them.

They had appeared just as I had grown bored with the predictable goblins that i've slaughtered before.

They were in a pair, they looked to be well equipped and even showed some signs of intelligence in their bloody irises.

Perhaps the dungeon decided I needed a difficult spike, I froze in place deciding to not get any closer and tried to observe them for as long as I could.

The two were adorned with a lightweight leather armor, in their little stubby hands were daggers.

But as my luck would have it my observations were soon cut short, they responded to my presence with a blitz towards me, not bothering to assess me as I've done to them.

What a classic goblin strategy, a goblin will goblin. But these guys were evidently different, unlike their mindless cousins they made my intuition flare up.

The hairs on my arm had been raised and I could feel alarm bells endlessly going off in my head. If I made just one wrong move my life would be forfeit.

However, in spite of this I started to feel that strangeness from before return.

Anticipation and excitement overwhelmed whatever anxiety and fear I had, I wondered how long these green fucks could keep me entertained rather than if I would die to them today.

I can see that this place had changed me, but it's not as if the sane minded could survive in these conditions so I welcomed it. Rather, it's ok if I've gone a little crazy.

The one who loved to overthink and analyze would cower in the face of pressing danger, I who feel nothing but anticipation loved it.

The two that had charged at me split, one flanking my right and the other charging at me head on.

The first one headed towards my flank aimed towards my neck, while the one making its beeline to me intended to plunge its dagger deep into my abdomen.

There was no space to think, strategize, my intuition had completely taken over it.

I felt the adrenaline and excitement consume me, the one that felt the most dangerous was by my flank but the one that'd reach me first is undoubtedly the one at front.

I side stepped the bloodthirsty midget in front and soon thereafter narrowly avoided the one aiming to behead me in one swift strike.

I followed with a counter swing to the one by my flank, though it had managed to avoid the hit by a hair, recovering rather fast from its failed assassination attempt.

Though the one in front wasn't so lucky or fast to adapt.

The one in front backed off expecting its partner to complete the kill, when it had failed it tried to use the gap in my counter to injure me.

I didn't give the cunt an opportunity.

In my time here I've realized a reckless fighting style.

I'm calling it "No-Guard" based on a game I used to play with a reckless character.

Why?

Offense is the best defense, that's why.

I didn't give it a chance to think, I started to pressure it with my barrage of swings.

There was no technique or thought behind my charge, just my intent to cave its head in. It tried to parry my fatal swing in vain, and much like its head it soon enough caved in to my relentless attacks.

Man these goblins had such trashy strength, for now I wouldn't have to worry about assailant one.

Though it's not as if I came out unscathed, my fighting style is reckless after all.

"No-Guard" causes some gaps, and in the instant I finished off its partner assailant two had taken the opportunity to leave me a gash in my abdomen.

Although I had sustained an injury, one so painful the adrenaline struggled to numb it, I found myself grinning ear to ear.

I felt a surge of nothing but happiness flooding my body, this must be what it means to be alive.

It had responded to me by furrowing its brow and growling as if I had repulsed it somehow?

It dared judge me?

I taunted at the creature, "Am I repulsive?", I growled out despite knowing it was a question in vain, it couldn't understand me after all.

why couldn't it savor this the same way I could?

What did it see in my eyes?

In response to my query it swapped into a more defensive stance, I see...

I have to be the one to make the first move.

I rushed at it recreating the barrage I gave its partner, though It performed better than the one before it as it focused entirely on defense and did well to avoid my reckless swings.

"Where did your ferocity go beast?!", I bellowed in an excited manner.

It danced around my swings, in the gaps I showed with my reckless rush it gave me small cuts all around my body. Though none were grevious wounds, it must have planned to drain my stamina from a drawn out battle and achieve its victory through blood loss rather than to end it in a critical strike.

Cunning bastard, why does it feel like I'm the beast here?

To give it some credit, it was a flawless plan. That is if it didn't account for this bullshit dungeon being unfair to both sides. The contrary had come true.

In the middle of our skirmish I had heard a chime, and then that's when the tables had started to turn.

I hadn't grown any weaker, nor were my movements slowing down to a sluggish pace.

No, it felt as if my blood had started to boil, with strength rushing throughout my body enveloping my entire being.

I was faster, stronger, and even more reckless.

In it's final moments I paid attention to its intelligent eyes. They flashed an unwillingness as my club closed in connecting with its neck and popping its head off.

The one I had subdued in the corner was twitching but still alive, I then finished it off like its partner with considerable less difficulty.

After all was over I felt my emotions die down until it returned to nothingness.

What did I feel at the end of it all?

I was the victor but I felt a lingering bitterness, it was over too soon...

How bittersweet.

First things first, I'm in fucking pain.