To Save A Life

The baby Panda was terrified hiding behind his mother, he didn't even know how to cry anymore when the blood was spilled all over his face. Instead of tears, blood was dripping from his eyes.

Two blue pandas lay on the ground dead nearby. This seemed to be their territory. They didn't look violent, just peaceful. Alex wondered how they had managed to survive in such a harsh place.

Alex quickly dismisses his thoughts, as right now, his eyes looked red in anger, as if blood was gonna explode from his eyes. 

The mother Panda was barely holding on, but it never showed any tired feelings as the baby was staring right next to him.

The Goblins had a nasty appearance, they had pale eyes, thin body almost as if they were starving for days. Slimy grey skin, with long pointy ears.

None of that mattered for Alex.

In an instant, the nearest goblin gets shot right in the head. The force was quite strong. Either Alex had gotten stronger or the goblins were too weak.

The goblins were scared after realising the situation. "Arghh Grrrg Daaarrg Maaaffgrrgh" In panic all seven of them started arguing among themselves. 

The largest of them knocked out the loudest one in the head and all of them went silent. That is when they realise they had to kill the unknown person. 

All of them start to crowd Alex and attack from all directions. Alex effortlessly dodges them and lands a perfect kick on the first one charging at him.

"This kick....? Oh ya, now that I think my father used to take me for Taekwondo classes. 

"Wake up, it's already 5:30! I've been calling you for half an hour. You're late," Alex's father said, dragging him to the Dojang every Saturday.

A bubble of snooze clung to Alex's nose as his father pulled him out of bed. Meanwhile, Ethan was peacefully sleeping in the other room with their mother.

Thanking his father for teaching him everything, Alex gives a small nod, his thoughts briefly drifting back to those lessons as he snaps back to the present.

*******

Alex now lands a perfect kick. 

Shadow Strike!

All of the enemies were reminded of their fear and started to scramble all over the place. 

However the largest one steps forward and screams. "Waaahekkk Waarhhh Grrreeaaw" As if posing a death threat to the goblins, they turn back afraid and charge at Alex. 

Alex grabs his fist, stands straight and is ready to respond. "I did learn a thing or two from street fights too. Let's practice it on these dummies. 

Alex uses quick dash and covers the distance between him and the other two goblins and slams them in their heads. 

Double Roundhouse kick!

'Oh crap, I forgot this was a taekwondo move and not a street move.'

Alex steps toward the largest goblin and delivers a powerful straight kick to its stomach. The goblin spits out saliva, sent flying two meters before crashing hard to the ground.

This time for sure, the goblins starts retreating with their strongest getting defeated in one shot.

Alex chases for the goblins one by one, ultimately he beats all of them, however one of them has successfully escaped. It didn't matter much anyway, they were pretty weak. 

One of the goblins pretends to be unconscious and tries to stab Alex with a sharp stone in its hand. But Alex's senses are sharp enough to notice the trick. He kicks the goblin with full force, sending it flying 5 meters away with a loud impact.

[You have slain a Myst Goblin!]

[You have gained 2 exp]

Alex almost forgot about the mother Panda, by the time he went to check, she was already dead. Infuriated, Alex goes back and kills all the goblins, for both his own safety and to avenge the mother Panda.

[You have gained 2 exp]

[You have gained 2 exp]

...

[The System has registered a new skill]

[Martial Arts : Level 0]

[Proficiency : 55%]

"All that learning I did in my childhood, and it's only level 0? Are the expectations of this system too high or perhaps I need to show all my Martial Arts knowledge to the system, how does it even work?"

The baby panda was in shock, sitting motionless and staring at its mother. Alex didn't know what to say or do, so he quietly sat next to it, leaning against a boulder, feeling the heavy silence of the moment.

"I'm sorry if I came a little late." Alex stares at the Panda until he stands up and starts to climb the boulder. Before climbing he takes out a small piece of meat from his pocket, it was the Hyena's, he places it close to the Panda.

Slowly the Panda's dry eyes were being covered in water, small drops of tears were dripping from his eyes as he sat frozen.

Alex stood at the top of the boulder, taking in the vast view. Far to the southwest, only dry, withered trees stretched endlessly. Opposite him stood the massive, towering tree. A lone creature flew in the distance, but the others were out of sight. Toward the southeast, there was a small clearing with no trees. Using his Sage Vision, Alex noticed it was a small pond.

"Finally, I found water to quench my thirst." Alex quickly jumps to the ground, but the moment he turns around, a huge snake is coming out of the pond, Alex just misses to see it just by an edge of a second.

Yet again Alex faces a new problem. He couldn't leave the Panda alone. He would definitely die if left all by himself but Alex didn't want another dead weight when he could hardly protect himself. 

Exhausted, Alex sits back down next to the Panda, clears his mind, pats his face to shake off the fatigue, and begins meditating.

Fire slowly began to emerge from every edge of Alex's body, gathering into his heart. Inch by inch, he felt the fire growing stronger, focusing it all into his core. By the time he was satisfied, the Panda was gone. 

Alex was meditating for the past 5 hours, he had no idea where the panda went, since he was deeply invested into it.

Shortly after, a huge bear comes out, more precisely a hybrid Panda with muscular body, and behind him were two other Pandas, just as big if not bigger. They were extremely angry seeing their fellow Pandas dead. 

Alex grabs the stick ready to flee anytime since this wasn't the perfect scenario that can simply be explained, even if they could talk with him.

The hybrid Panda walked toward Alex, its eyebrows furrowed in anger. With slow, deliberate steps, its claws scraped the ground, until, in a brief second, it charged at him with incredible speed.

Soon the baby Panda stops in the middle of the face off. 

After a brief moment, the hybrid Panda stopped, its body relaxing. Its eyes, once filled with anger, now carried a deep sense of guilt and regret.

The baby Panda's father kneels down apologising, but right after the formalities he quickly runs over his wife. 

They mourned for an entire hour, tears streaming down their faces as they shared the weight of their grief.

The father Panda now approaches Alex and brings something from the corner of the boulder. It was an old bag. The father Panda speaks in its own words. "Baa aa aaa aar a" 

"You want me to take it?" Alex with a clueless face points the finger at himself.

The Panda nods.

When Alex opened the bag, he didn't have high expectations and was just generally curious, but when he opened it, the bag was shining brightly. It was full of gold coins. 

Normally, Alex would have been more than happy but he didn't need no gold at this moment. 

He just sighed at the reward but he thanked them for the gift so he carried a few couple of coins and was about to give it to them back. But he sees something unusual, upon closer look it was an old rusty dagger.

"Finally!!" Alex now was trembling in excitement. 

"A weapon!"