Chapter Nine: I’m Cooked

I don’t breathe. I don’t move. I don’t blink.

< Goblin Seeker – Level 6 >

The new monster is significantly more slender than the other goblins I have come across. Its lean stature also moves with a fluid grace while it carefully inspects the body of the level 4 I killed mere moments before. Bending down to sniff the body, its back turns to me and I see two hunter knives looped on a dark leather belt around its waist.

I use the time it is turned away to roll onto my stomach with as much caution as I can. As I turn over, I feel a foreign object blocking my path. I tear my eyes away from the new monster for a split second to check what’s in the way.

There is a knife still in my side.

I cuss quietly but decide to leave it be so as to not lose any more blood. The goblin seeker is still examining the body of its friend, so I attempt to get up as smoothly as I can. Before I reach my feet, I decide against it and instead get on all fours. My best bet is to not make a single peep, so I am careful not to step on any twigs as I begin to crabwalk away from the scene. My position unfortunately causes the blade still in my body to move around and burn with pain, but I continue to ignore it and proceed with my sluggish journey. I am almost behind a tree nearby when suddenly some kind of wave emanates from the goblin seeker and rolls over my body. I can feel something inside me become exposed and I freeze in place due to the sensation.

Within less than a second after the wave hits me, the goblin turns around and locks its beady black eyes on my location.

Shit.

I throw caution to the wind and scramble onto my feet while pulling the blade out of my side with my left hand and pressing the heated knife in my right hand directly onto the now open wound. I hold the goblin’s gaze as wafts of cooked flesh stream into the air causing me to wrinkle my nose. Only when I am finished cauterizing the wound does the goblin step toward me.

I ready the two knives I have now, but in the time it takes me to do so, the seeker is already in my face. I quickly slice my blades toward the slender goblin, but it is useless. The monster easily dances around my swings like it is playing with me and delivers a clean kick to the back of my knee. In the midst of me losing my balance, I feel a shove from behind that pitches me directly back into the dirt I had being laying in seconds ago.

A heavy weight places itself in the middle of my back and I grunt in exasperation as the knife in my left hand is wrenched from my grip. I can feel the goblin attempt to grab the one in my right hand, but a hiss escapes from its mouth as it touches the hot metal. I struggle in vain against the goblin, but it has me pinned down in a way that I can’t get any leverage.

A metal clang rings out when the goblin slams the butt of the knife into my other fist, causing my hot blade to fall free of my hand and the chain to untangle from my fingers. It presses its knuckles into my joints to make my grip weaken and then uses the loosened chain to tie both of my hands behind my back.

I let <Emit> loose and my entire body starts to radiate heat, but I can tell it isn’t enough. Without me using <Cogitation> to concentrate the energy in one place, I just don’t have enough firepower to do anything other than warm up the air around myself.

Looking back, it was so stupid to invest every free stat point I had into BDY. Realistically, I started off with a -10 BDY debuff when I got here almost three days ago. That means that every monster at my level would’ve had an inherent ten extra points over me. Going even further than that, the goblins probably started off at a higher stat basis too due to their beefier body makeup. Who knows how much more points they have in BDY than I do.

The goblin finishes binding my hands and then moves down to grab my feet. I flail around like a worm and try to kick the creature, but a quick jab of its fist into my face causes my head to spin. One hand grabs each of my ankles and I let out an annoyed grunt as my body is dragged through the dirt. Small rocks and broken sticks scratch up my face and chest while the goblin pulls me along the forest floor.

“Train! Come an- bleh! Come and get this guy!” I scream as the undergrowth gets into my mouth.

I go to scream for Pawl to help, but my open mouth is met with another punch to the face that makes my eyes roll back. I struggle to remain conscious but my head smacks into a rock buried in the dirt and my vision goes black.

*****

I wake up in complete darkness.

My hands are still bound behind my back but given the uneven ground beneath me, I can tell I’m not back in the cave.

“Status.”

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[Status of Sebastian Bet]

Pillar Difficulty: Death is Certain

Floor 1: The Last Tribe

Time Used: 03:21:01:57

Time Left: 2186:02:58:03

Level: 5

Body (BDY): 11

Mind (MND): 8

Agility (AGI) : 6

Power (PWR): 5

[Unallocated Points: 0]