The Ferocious Creatures part 1

It took him only another step for the young man to enter the room, and as Atlas had expected, there was someone inside, a creature with greenish skin and at least three or four palms shorter than him.

Most of its body was covered in thick leather armor. However, it was clear from the questionable workmanship that the defensive properties were poor. There was also a long wooden club with small rusty spikes on the top at the creature's side, but that primitive weapon was nothing to worry about.

'A goblin... I found one in the end!'

Although the enemy was alone, Atlas was not foolish enough to underestimate that treacherous creature. Indeed, he tried to feel its power and even used the Obsidian Eyes to quantify its realm.

'A goblin with power equal to a Primordial Chaos Realm at the Advanced Stage... Nothing special...'

Astra was already clutched in his hands, so Atlas mutated his faithful companion into a deadly battle axe and hurled the blade at the creature's back.

The young man had acted quickly, trying to catch the enemy off guard, but that slimy creature was cunning and prone to deception. In fact, it had let on that it was unaware of the human's presence, but in truth, it was preparing one of its meanest tricks.

The blade of the axe had almost reached its target. However, the creature moved its body to the side and threw backward a handful of glowing ash directly into the eyes of the aggressor.

Everything happened in an instant, but Atlas acted promptly and, with his free hand, protected his eyes.

"Damn you..."

The axe struck the hard stone, and the recoil shook the adventurer to such an extent that he was forced to back away and make way for the enemy.

"Perfidious creature... You are very fast, but you are nothing without these petty tricks! AH!"

The first attack had failed, but Atlas did not give the goblin too much time to reason and instead pounced on him like an enraged tiger using one of the battle techniques at his disposal, Wrath of Yinsu.

The axe struck the armor with one lethal slash after another, but its excessive thickness managed to protect the goblin every time.

Of course, the goblin did not just avoid or support the adventurer's blows but swung its reinforced club toward the young man's legs with the intent of crippling him.

Unfortunately, although the armor had its uses, it finally gave way, and the icy blade pierced the creature's tough greenish skin.

The blow shook it to the core, and terrified by the opponent, the goblin screamed ferociously, but the young man seized that moment of weakness and raged more, venting his thirst for blood.

With a succession of decisive blows, the first goblin had been overwhelmed with ease, but Atlas did not immediately rejoice. Instead, he absorbed the energy flowing from the still-warm corpse and enjoyed that peaceful sensation.

The battle was over very quickly, but the young man knew that those creatures could only show their lethal side with companions.

Not all the treasures on the creature's body were useful, but Atlas did not let anything slip through his fingers and deposited all items with any value in the space Nihiste.

The room where the first battle had taken place was not very large, probably because it was used as a controlled outpost against that cursed den of monsters.

Atlas lingered no longer in that place and, after a brief general check, continued on to the next room.

Another long corridor awaited him, but this time sloping slightly upward, denoting that he was heading toward the surface.

A few minutes passed, and after a long climb, another room appeared along the way.

This time, there was no one inside. In fact, it was utterly empty outside of a few rotten wooden planks scattered here and there.

"What a shitty place..."

Another slightly inclined and circular climb followed, but this time, the room at the end of the path was completely different...

"How strange...the opening seems to have been destroyed. Maybe it was a hidden passage..."

Indeed, when Atlas approached the end of the corridor, the passageway was narrow and misshapen, in deplorable condition.

Small, partly shattered blocks of stone were scattered everywhere, confirming the young man's assumption. Still, there was something far more intriguing that attracted the adventurer, and that was the vast room that awaited him beyond the passageway.

'It is gigantic and so different. The structure seems to be much more complex... Maybe this is the dungeon of the stronghold. There will be many more enemies. I have to be careful.'

As the adventurer entered the room, he immediately noticed giant stone arches supported by mighty circular columns covered with a slightly opaque material.

Moreover, almost every column had crude support for a torch, but most were without it, leaving part of the room hidden in shadows.

Those dark areas were a good thing for the young man because he could make the most of Darkisher, the precious cloak he got as a reward.

"This place also looks deserted, but it is better to stay in the shadows..."

Wrapped in the soft fabric of the cloak, Atlas moved from hiding place to hiding place, keeping his body away from the light at all times.

The room was huge, and the long expanse of columns did not allow him to see every corner of it, but suddenly, the noise of some goblins alerted the young man.

'Hmm... There's definitely more than one... If I want to defeat them, I can't let them get organized. Otherwise, there will be trouble.'

Atlas remained hidden behind a column, trying to locate the enemies from a distance, and finally, about fifty feet from him in one of the corners of the room, he saw three silhouettes reflected by the warm light of a fire.

'There are three of them at the same time... Huu... it is going to be an arduous battle. After all, I can't compare them to that group of wolves.'

Indeed, he could not underestimate them because the goblins' most terrible weapon was their cunning and wickedness.

The adventurer sneaked up on the group and stopped when it was only ten steps away.

Perfectly hidden by the shadow of a column, he observed the enemies.

'There are three of them, and they do not seem weak. In fact, they are probably on par with the one from before. Only two of them have leather armor on their backs, though... how strange.'

The presence of a goblin different from the others put the young man on alert.

He couldn't leave anything to chance, so he tried to unearth as many details as possible before attacking.

Suddenly, Atlas noticed the two sharp, short blades at the armorless goblin's side, and a terrible revelation hit him.

'It's a goblin specialized in close combat! He is even worse than I imagined. If I let him loose for even a second, that bastard will go for my throat. I must kill him first.'

Sure enough, the situation had worsened, but Atlas did not allow himself to be demoralized and instead went around that little group, positioning himself behind the weird goblin.