Solo leveling

Ten more minutes. If they don't show up, I'll just do another quest.

A murmur rippled through the guild hall.

"Wait… is that Valor?" someone whispered.

"Yeah, I think so. What's he doing here?"

"What do you think? He's here to hunt demons, obviously." The scoffing tone made it sound like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The crowd naturally parted, clearing a path for Valor. Guess being the leader of the strongest guild came with a lot of influence.

A large group of adventurers followed behind him, all clad in protective gear, weapons secured but ready. Their movements were disciplined.

Valor approached the receptionist. "Vena, we'd like to go to the 38th world."

The woman behind the desk barely blinked. "Of course. Please wait a moment."

She disappeared into the back and returned with a key, a crimson aura leaking from it.

Valor took it, stepped back, and… unlocked nothing?

No. A door materialized. It was massive, its frame etched with grotesque carvings of monstrous creatures. The door swung open with a loud creak, revealing a scorched land inside.

That was pretty sick.

Valor handed the key back to the receptionist. "Thank you."

Then, turning to his party, he simply said, "Let's go."

With that, he and his well-equipped crew marched into the portal. One by one, they disappeared, and once the last member stepped through, the door vanished.

…Would be funny if I snuck in.

Anyway.

Time to focus. I needed a quest. Something easy, something I could handle alone.

I scanned the board.

Kill some goblins.

The requirement was level 5 or higher.

I was level 7.

This shouldn't be too bad.

The quest location was a forest near our guild.

Goblins weren't known for their intelligence, but if they used their surroundings, I might be cooked. Or I could just start a forest fire. Would that be bad?

A rustle.

I turned sharply, staff in hand.

Behind.

I jumped back just as something lunged at me and fired off a fireball without hesitation.

[-5 MP | MP: 85/90]

[-70 HP | HP: 130/200]

Tougher than that something something wolf. What level—

The goblin screeched and bolted into the underbrush. I could chase it, but running in blind wasn't exactly smart.

Still. I'd felt it just before it pounced. My reaction time wasn't bad. Maybe I wasn't completely hopeless at this. Good job me.

I tracked the goblin's footprints, keeping my movements cautious.

Eventually, I reached a small clearing. Six huts, roughly built. Goblins shuffled around, unaware of my presence.

[Basic Analysis Activated]

Name: Goblin

Level: 10

HP: 200/200

Alright. Plan time.

Charging in headfirst was stupid. Fireball had worked well before, if they were inside the huts, I could flush them out and control the fight.

Before that, though… I had some attribute points to allocate.

[Character Status]

Name: Rin

Level: 7

Class: Mage

Health: 180/ 180

Mana: 90 / 90

Stamina: 100/100

[Title: N/A]

[EXP: 250/700]

[AP: 15]

[SP: 0]

[Attributes]

Dexterity: 11

Strength: 10

Agility: 14

Intelligence: 18

Endurance: 12

[Abilities]

[Basic analysis]

Rarity: F

Type: Active

Description: Allows the user to check monsters and creatures Lvl and HP.

[Mana Reflux]

Rarity: B

Type: Active

Cooldown: 5 min

Description: Allows the user to recover 50% of the mana used if used within 10 seconds of casting a skill.

[Tier 1 Magic skills]

Fireball - Lvl 5

Minor Heal - Lvl 1

Arcane Shield - Lvl 5

Ice shards - Lvl 1 -

Whirlwind - Lvl 4 -

Minor earthquake - Lvl 5

Intelligence increased mana and probably magic damage. Dexterity was for accuracy. Agility… movement speed? Casting speed?

I dumped 12 points into Intelligence and 3 into Dexterity.

Hopefully, that was the right call.

Back to the goblins.

If they were inside, this would be simple.

I raised my staff.

[Skill Activated: Fireball] [-5 MP]

The huts exploded in flames, sending smoke and embers into the air.

Sadly, I could only shoot at four huts before they came out screeching.

The goblins spilled out, angry obviously. And the star of the show? I, me myself of course.

[-100 HP]

Perfect.

The ugly greens locked onto me, their beady eyes burning with rage. And there were a lot of them. More than I expected.

A hundred, at least.

Those lvl 5 must be cracked to fight them all.

I turned and ran. I needed them grouped together. All of them.

A goblin lunged. I sidestepped, shot a fireball at its head, and kept moving.

[-100 HP]

[You have killed a Goblin Lvl 10. EXP gained: 100]

Another one down.

More followed, their furious shrieks echoing behind me.

Just a little more.

No power me would have shat myself. But I felt no fear. Was it confidence? Instinct?

I didn't know.

But when I reached the spot I'd chosen, I stopped.

Turned.

Raised my staff.

[Skill Activated: Whirlwind]

A violent gust of wind tore through the goblins, sending them crashing into each other. Some tumbled back, others slammed into the ground.

The earth trembled beneath them.

[Skill Activated: Minor Earthquake]

The ground split. Goblins lost their footing, tumbling into the crevices, their shrieks turning to panicked wails.

Burn like vegetables.

[Skill Activated: Fireball]

[MP: 60/150]

The explosions sent smoke and flames billowing into the air.

[You have killed a Goblin Lvl 10. EXP gained: 100]

My notifications flooded in, filling my vision with message after message. Fuck tons of notifications.

[Level Up!]

The flood of texts finally ended, and I checked my stats.

[Level: 16 | EXP: 150/2400]

[AP: 45 | SP: 90]

[Tier 2 Magic Skills Unlocked]

I exhaled slowly.

With that, the quest should be done. That was pretty satisfying I must say and pretty easy too.

I walked up to the crack caused by my skill and looked below. It looked and smelled disgusting to say the least. Yikes.

They were burnt. Badly so.

I remember the corpses selling. How should I get them out? I can't let their body go to waste after all. But I don't want to touch them either and I'd look weird as fuck carrying them...

Hmm would they work like my staff? Lemme see...

Yup, the next second, the Goblins beneath vanished. That's convenient. I don't have to carry them all the way.

Just to be sure, I summoned a single body from my inventory. It worked. Thank god.

This was easy enough, and I have recovered my mana too, I should check out the area a little more before heading back.

I scourged the whole village but nope, nothing. So I decided to wander the dense forest a bit. Nothing either.

I sighed. Looks like those were all of them.

vanished from sight. Okay, that's convenient. No need to drag their bodies around now.

Just as I was about to leave, a chill crawled up my spine. I barely had time to react before something glittered past me, an arrow. If I hadn't moved, I'd be dead for sure.

Who the hell...? I summoned my staff in one swift motion.

A rustle came from the bushes, and then bam, a giant goblin charged at me with fury.

It was fast. There was no way I could dodge it in time, so I braced myself, trying to block with my staff.

The hit sent me flying backward.

[-10HP]

I grunted as I hit the ground.

[Ability activated: Basic Analysis]

Name: Goblin Chief

Level: 18

HP: 500/500

I swear, these level 5s are on steroids if they fight these things daily.

Another arrow zipped at me from the side, and I barely dodged it.

I scrambled to my feet and backed away, using Whirlwind to buy myself some space.

Tier 2 skills. Time to unlock them.

Ice Spears—Level 1.

Earth Wall—Level 1.

[-20SP]

I had a few more skills to check, but no time. I leveled up Ice Spears and Ice Shards to Level 5. These things are expensive as hell, only 10 SP left now. Oh well.

Time to test out my A-rank affinity.

[Skill activated: Ice Spears]

[-25MP]

Three magic circles appeared above me, glowing light blue as they formed an intricate pattern. Damn, this takes some time to cast.

The Goblin Chief was closing the gap, but thankfully, the ice spears materialized just in time. I sent one flying toward him, but the ugly bastard dodged it with ease. The ice shattered against the ground.

Another arrow. Seriously, I can't catch a break.

I deflected it with an Arcane Shield. These damn archers, so annoying.

[-10MP]

The Goblin Chief took advantage of my distraction, charging in with a brutal punch aimed at my shield. It cracked, but held firm for now.

Annoying.

[Skill activated: Earth Wall]

[-20MP | 95/150]

The ground rumbled, and massive stones erupted from the earth, forming a ring for me and our dear goblin.

The Chief threw another punch. This time, the shield shattered, and the blow landed square in my stomach, sending me slamming into the stone wall behind me.

[-50HP | 120/180]

I groaned, clutching my stomach. That hurt.

But the Chief didn't wait. He hurled another punch, but I managed to dodge at the last second. His fist slammed into the rock wall, creating a small crater.

I pointed my hand at his chest and summoned a familiar fiery ball. Fireball.

[-5MP]

The fireball hit him point-blank, knocking him back with a roar.

[-100HP]

He staggered, trying to recover, and I sent the remaining ice spears at him.

The Chief tried to block with his arms, but luck wasn't on his side today. Both ice spears pierced through his defenses and lodged into his body.

[-150HP]

The Chief screamed, enraged, and charged at me blindly.

"Getting desperate, huh?"

I sidestepped, letting him crash face-first into the rock wall.

Without hesitation, I jammed the tip of my staff into his ugly mug and fired another Fireball at point-blank range.

[-100HP]

[You have killed Goblin Chief, Level 18. EXP gained: 3000]

[Level up!]

[Level: 17 | EXP: 750/2400]

[AP: 50 | SP: 20]

"Weaker than your subjects."

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