Freeing Juliana

The next room contained five victims. It appeared to be living quarters, decorated with three bunk beds and two treasure chests. 

Two of the beds were against the wall on either side of Nick, while the third was directly in front of him. 

At the end was a door leading to the next room. 

Somehow, they were still sleeping when he entered. Nick managed to kill one of them, but his sneak skill wasn't high enough to eliminate the rest. Still, they were goblins. 

Such monsters were not hard to kill. 

Within seconds, they fell to his blade, two of them just rising from their beds when they were suddenly decapitated. The other two were bisected at the waist. All of them painted their living quarters with their blood as they lay in their final resting place. 

Nick pressed on, indifferent, killing the two goblins in the hallway. 

Then he entered a large clearing in the cave. His breath caught in his throat for a moment as he watched the small hallway open into a vast, multi-storied cave. In the far distance, he could see the entrance, covered with moss and hidden by a waterfall. 

Below him, six goblins were gathered around a girl: Juliana. 

Torches lined the cave walls. Overhead, at least one hundred meters above him, was the ceiling of the cave. He had essentially just emerged from a small tunnel. 

Now, he was walking down a slope at least twenty meters long. The group of goblins and Juliana were at the edge of this slope, at least twenty meters below him. In short, the cave was far too spacious to contain only goblins. 

The tutorial had already thrown one curveball with the mini-boss, so Nick was wary of what would happen after he killed the goblins. Sure, Juliana would be safe, and maybe he'd complete the quest. 

But the objective wasn't to kill all the goblins or free Juliana; it was to clear the goblin nest. 

Maybe he was just being paranoid. All he saw were six markers—one for each goblin. 

Looking around, he didn't see anything suspicious either. There were no hidden tunnels, no empty shackles that once held a gigantic dragon. 

Instead, there were just a few small tents. From where Nick stood, they almost looked like ant hills. 

The cave really was big. 

"Missus! Missus! Summon the master!" 

More than their threat, the goblins' sudden ability to speak almost coherent language drew Nick's attention. They were much more intelligent than the other victims. Moreover, something about them felt almost... sinister. 

As if every action they took was deliberate. 

The further Nick traveled down the slope, the more he sensed a menacing energy, as if it were trying to force him to retreat. Of course, he wouldn't, but it still made the hair on his arms stand on end. 

Once he reached the base, he was just meters away from the group of goblins. Two of them had shortswords and frail arms. They were also the closest to Nick. 

A second and a few screams later, those goblins were decapitated. One to the right instantly rolled back to load its slingshot. The one on the left lunged at Nick. 

Yanking Left into Right's line of fire, Nick waited for the soft impact of rock bashing Left's heart. Then he stabbed his sword through its chest and threw it at Right. 

The goblin fell under the weight of its dead comrade. Nick jumped to exploit this opening. 

A bolt of lightning hurled him into the cave wall. As his hands pushed off the ground, something moved beneath him. Black spots danced in his vision as he grew woozy. 

Still, he pushed himself to his feet. There were three goblins left. Once they were dead, he could rest. 

'Maybe,' Nick thought as he glanced at the ground. 

Looking past the goblins for a moment, he saw that Juliana was bound in chains, like he had been just moments before. Her chains were etched with runes. 

They must be preventing her from using her magic, which is how they captured her in the first place. Otherwise, if she was as strong here as she was in Aether Babes, all the goblins should be ash by now. 

'No matter,' Nick thought as he gritted his teeth. 

One of those goblins was a shaman. That must've been the presence he felt moments ago. It was substantially stronger than its peers, but still not close to the Goblinmaster. 

The other two were mere fodder, just like the rest of the goblins. If they didn't have the shaman's backing... 

No matter. They did, and those were the cards he was dealt. It didn't matter if they'd die within seconds without the shaman's help. 

At the end of the day, it wasn't that hard a challenge anyway. The shaman's spells likely had cooldowns, so he'd just have to time his strikes accordingly. 

A collection of energy formed in the shaman's hand, signaling that it was time. 

'Three... two...' 

The lightning erupted from the shaman's hand, but Nick was already moving at a much faster speed. If they wanted to kill him, they should've landed a better cheap shot. 

As his sword cut through all three of them at once, Nick smiled. When he performed a sneaky move, he followed through. That's what happened after hours of playing stealth builds. 

With the death of the last few goblins, the quest updated again. This time, it came with a few extra messages. 

>--< Objective Completed: Clear Goblin Nest >--< 

>--< Quest Completed: Free Juliana >--< 

+-- Loading --+ 

>--< Rewards Obtained >--< 

--(Fang of Finality)-- 

Fang of... he had never heard of a name like that. Not in Aether Babes or in any other game he had ever played before. However, just by its name, he could tell it was beyond powerful. 

+-- Loading --+ 

>--< Weapon is sealed >--< 

'Sealed? What?' 

+-- Loading --+ 

[Collect the 9 seals of Annihilation to upgrade Fang of Finality] 

'The 9 seals?' Nick was still confused, but he was starting to understand. Upgrading the sword was linked to some kind of fetch quest or something. 

Wanting to at least see the weapon for himself, Nick summoned it from his hammerspace. He gasped as it entered his hand. 

Even in this weak state... it was far too finely crafted to exist. 

The blade itself was curved and had a serrated edge, mimicking what he imagined a fang would be. It had a milky white cover and a small indentation in its middle. The hilt was a bright golden color that exuded a sense of authority. 

Nick swung the sword through the air, and though it felt like there was no weight, he could feel an insane force in each attack. It was as if the sword converted all the stress he should've felt into the attack. 

And it was only going to get stronger... 

This was like getting an endgame weapon at the start of a game. Such a reward made the tutorial more than worth it. 

"Hey! A$$hole deckhead! You gonna flucking free me or what!" 

A shrill voice yanked him from his awe. 

Turning to the still-captive redhead, he almost couldn't believe the voice belonged to her. Her? 

Juliana?