Chapter 6: Into The Second Floor

The goblins studied Zoey for a moment, looking at each other with stern expressions. They nodded, and immediately began to surround her from all sides, to prevent her from escaping.

'Hmmm...smart, I suppose.' Zoey thought, a drop of sweat running down the side of her face.

The goblin from earlier, roared as it charged at Zoey again. Swinging in a wide arc with brutal force, Zoey dodged nimbly, ducking under the attack, she could feel the air brushing against her short crimson hair as she did. A refreshing feeling despite the situation she was in.

Just when Zoey was about to counter attack, her skin crawled as she felt the presence of another goblin behind her. With quick reactions, she rolled to the side, barely avoiding the brutal attack of another goblin.

'Teamwork, huh?' Zoey thought, gritting her teeth slightly. She was a bit worried, as these goblins were quickly adapting to her in the battle.

'I got to get rid of them quickly.'

Zoey dashed forward, swinging her knife as she aimed for the throat of another goblin. The goblin reacted quickly however, blocking her attack with it's club and pushed her back.

Zoey stumbled a little, taking a few steps back, her eyes widened as her ears twitched, quickly dodging another attack from behind with fast speeds. But before she could react, she had already fallen for their trap.

"Ack!" Zoey coughed up blood as she felt a club smash into her side, pain coarsing through her body, her hand twitched as she dropped her knife, her knees feeling weak as the air in her lungs took a strong hit.

'Arghh...it hurts...so much.' Zoey thought, clutching her side with her hand, her knees barely holding her from falling to the ground.

Her eyes burned with fury as she looked to her side, seeing a goblin cackling happily, finally happy that it managed to land a hit.

[Stamina: 30%] 'My Stamina suffered a huge hit, I don't have much left. This is bad.' Zoey thought, her breaths laboured as she fought against the pain coursing through her body.

Her senses peaked as she felt another attack incoming, her eyes locking onto it with lightning fast speed as she barely dodged it.

'While my senses are powerful, it doesn't help if I'm not fast enough to dodge their attacks. Plus, these creeps set up a good counter attack, and caught me off guard!'

Zoey quickly knelt down and grabbed her knife again, 'I need to kill these guys quickly, before my stamina runs out!'

Zoey dashed towards the goblin closest to her, thinking quickly and coming up with a plan, she threw the knife straight at the goblins face.

The goblin reacted fast and aligned it's club to block the attack, leaving it's stomach unguarded, just as Zoey wanted.

'Fell for it.' Zoey smirked.

With all her strength, Zoey punched the goblin hard in it's stomach. The goblin coughed up air and spit as it felt the air in it's lungs leave it's body, weakening it as it's club slipped from their hands.

'Now's my chance!' Zoey knew that once the goblin was defeated, the weapon it was using would dissapear, but if it should remain, then it would count as a drop and arrive in her inventory.

Reacting quickly, she grabbed the club with both hands, feeling it's rough grip on it's hilt. With all her strength, Zoey swung the club hard on the goblin's face, a small crunch sound echoed in the air as it was flung backward, hitting it's back into the wall while crying in pain.

Zoey didn't let it rest though, as she followed up with another attack on the side of it's face, sending it falling to the ground. Another goblin tried to sneak up on her and attack her, but she had her guard up this time, and quickly spun around and parried the blow with her own attack.

The goblin let out a suprised shriek as it was sent crashing into the ground while mid-air, but before it could react Zoey dashed toward it and crashed her club on the goblin's head hard, knocking it unconscious after one blow.

'Two...huff...down..two more left....' Zoey thought while panting, a small smile etched on her face, she could feel her arms ache and throb from the constant swinging, but she had to endure it till the end.

She dashed toward the two remaining goblins with quick steps, the goblins flinched slightly in suprise, but soon readied themselves.

Zoey made the first move, swinging her club in a wide arc. The first goblin reacted quickly and blocked her attack just in time, taking the opportunity the second goblin sneaked behind her and decided to try attacking her, but Zoey quickly avoided it.

The battle raged on as both sides fought vigorously to gain the upper hand, the goblins were a team, defending each other and looking out for their weak spots, but Zoey was quick and nimble as she concentrated with every nerve of her body, allowing her to dodge and react quickly. 

Both sides stood panting tiredlessly, barely able to keep standing. Zoey's condition was far worse, her muscles ached, her heart was beating like a drum, and her breaths were hot and came in heavy gasps, as if her lungs were on fire.

'These two are something else...' Zoey contemplated, a bit suprised to how long these goblins managed to last against her.

Zoey knew she had to make a move, she had to defeat these two remaining goblins before the others woke up, and before her stamina runs out. With that in mind, Zoey took a deep breath, calming herself as she began to think.

'One last attack.' Zoey thought, turning around and picking up her knife. She then walked back towards the goblins who were still steadily waiting for her, before breaking a sprint, dashing towards the goblins with all her might.

Once in range, the goblin at the front swung it's club at her quickly. Zoey then used her club to parry the attack, sending the goblin stumbling back. The other goblin reacted quickly, trying to prevent Zoey from following up with another attack, but she had anticipated this, and swiftly avoided the attack.

She then stabbed her knife into the stomach of the goblin she had parried, and pushed it away before dodging another attack.

[Stamina: 1%] Zoey glanced at the window next to her with gritted teeth and sweat rolling down her face, she could only use one more move, move her body in one last motion, before it was over.

'Die!!' Zoey yelled inwardly as she threw the knife at the last goblin, hitting it perfectly in it's skull and killing it.

[Stamina: 0%]

'Ack!' Zoey felt the strength in her body leave her as she collapsed to the ground, her muscles aching hard and her breaths laboured. She couldn't nove her body, as trying to move a muscle felt like lifting the weight of a truck, which was impossible for normal people.

"Hahaha..." Zoey laughed weakly, excitement and a huge sense of accomplishment filling her body.

She gazed up at the ceiling of the cave, her eyes roaming over the Mana crystals embedded into the walls like shining stars lighting up the night sky. She lied there for about ten minutes, before feeling her strength return to her body.

[Stamina: 100%]

'Finally...' Zoey thought, pushing herself off the ground and standing up. Just as she did, the unconscious goblins soon jolted awake, their eyes roaming around confused, before landing on Zoey, a shiver running down their spines at the sight of her.

"Don't try to run...it's inevitable anyway." Zoey said with a smirk, approaching them.

.....

[Exp: 11,500/ 100,000] Zoey checked her experience bar, a small smile forming on her face.

'So the goblins with the weak aura gave about 5% experience, while the ones with the red auras gave 10% experience. So, it means that the stronger the aura of a monster, the more challening they are, and the more experience they give.'

Zoey thought, flicking her wrist to clean the blood of the goblins of her knife, smiling excitedly. She then turned her attention to the [Inventory] section of her status window, a chill running up her spine as she nervously opened it and observed the drops she had received, her shock evident in her eyes.

As she pressed on the [Inventory] option, the system window changed and expanded. It showed a large interface that were categorized into [Materials], [Weapons], [Armor], [Items], and [Skill Books].

The interface had grids that were organised into small, crimson cubes that were used to navigate through the [Inventory], similar to that of a video game.

[Inventory]

[Materials]

Goblin Ears(F) x100

Goblin Cores(F) x100

[Weapons]

Crude Club(F) x100

'Woah....this is alot....' Zoey swallowed, a cold sweat running down her face as she grinned excitedly, her body trembling.

'If this is how much a few goblins could give me, then....' Zoey's thoughts drifted to the countless possibilities her [A Hundredfold Ascension] could bring her, her eyes lighting up at the vast amount of resources she could gain.

"I need to head deeper, hahaha!" Zoey laughed excitedly, running up the stairs that would take her up to a second floor. Her excitement carrying her steps like a young kid running to open their Christmas presents.