'It's been a while since I've been in a real fight... I can already feel the difference. All that training really paid off.'
Luki kept his eyes fixed on the goblin in front of him. Inside the helt, his ears caught every sound in the mist, and his muscles vibrated with tension, ready to respond to any threat.
'The level difference in this world, especially at the lower tiers, isn't as stark as it seems. With the right conditions, even a Level 1 adventurer can take down a Level 2. The sa goes for monsters.'
'If it were the old , I would have died without understanding half its moves. But now... it's almost like fighting a child who's too strong for its size.'
'Still dangerous, of course. But predictable. If I maintain the right distance and don't get carried away, all I need to do is wait for the opening and strike. Simple.'
Reaffirming his resolve, Luki raised his sword before him and advanced with consistent, unhurried steps. His eyes read every detail of the goblin, attentive to any sudden movent.
Perhaps intimidated by the presence of such a superior enemy, the monster stepped back. For it, there was no reason to fight when victory was uncertain.
But, suddenly, a wave of savage fury flooded its mind, extinguishing any trace of rationality. For an instant, its eyes glowed deep red.
KILL! INVADER! KILL IT!
Like a profane voice echoing from the depths, those words reverberated in its head. The goblin, with its fragile and vulnerable mind, couldn't resist. Worse still: it didn't even realize what was happening.
— WRRRUUUAAAHHH!!! — The goblin let out a primal, visceral roar, as if the mist itself had inflad its fury.
Any trace of rationality was lost. It charged like a rabid animal, eyes bloodshot, breathing heavily, mouth drooling saliva.
Luki was caught off guard by the abrupt change, but reacted instinctively: short steps back, keeping his sword raised while following the creature's frantic advance.
The goblin charged mindlessly, bellowing like a caged animal, and began to unleash uncontrolled blows. Its nails beca claws, lashing the air in a dizzying sequence.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Luki raised his sword and tried to defend, but the monster was too fast. Each defense was imdiately swallowed by two or three more follow-up attacks, forcing him to retreat step by step.
TAC! CLANG! SCRAAK!
The claws incessantly scraped against the armor's steel, leaving deep scratches on the polished sheen, yet unable to pierce the protection.
Even so, the impact reverberated with every strike. The brutal weight made Luki's body sway inside the armor, muscles taut, bones vibrating with the transmitted force.
The goblin seed tireless, as if it intended to tear him apart with pure animal rage.
'Damn it... he won't stop...'
And it truly didn't stop. One attack succeeded the next: punch, kick, arm-swipe, head-butt. The yellowish nails scraped and clawed against the armor's steel, making Luki stagger with each impact, but never giving way to the point of being knocked down.
CLANG! THAAK! SKRRAAASH! CRUNCH!
With every blow, Luki's body felt the force of the assault, tense muscles absorbing the impact. He retreated only as much as necessary, controlling his footing to better absorb the strikes.
Blood began to seep from the goblin's hands, dripping onto the floor, but it wasn't the enemy's blood, it was its own. Its nails couldn't withstand the stress of colliding with tal.
Luki started to notice small cracks in the enemy's consistency: irregular breathing, the rhythm of its attacks slightly out of sync.
Even exhausted, the goblin pressed on. Punches and head-butts flew with cracking impacts — THRAK! — while kicks tried to unbalance him, but the force was absorbed by Luki's armor, which groaned under the weight of the assaults.
Until, finally, exhaustion seed to knock on its door. All the weariness that the adrenaline rush had been suppressing hit all at once, nearly destroying its mont of fury.
The goblin attempted one last lunge, pressing its shoulders against Luki and trying to push him with all the weight it had left.
— Hngh... argh...! — the creature puffed, teeth clenched, arms trembling with effort.
But, at this point, its legs no longer responded. With a dull snap of joints, it fell to its knees, gasping, slipping on the stone floor.
'Now!' Beneath the helt, Luki's eyes glead as he saw the opportunity.
Two steps back, he adjusted his grip on the sword hilt, lifted the blade over his right shoulder, and rotated his hips slightly.
'This one goes straight into the collarbone.'
The fallen goblin saw the attack being charged in front of it. The hatred seed to drain away, making space for rationality to return, but the weakness was total.
It tried to get up but stumbled and fell on its side, clumsily dragging itself, its eyes still fixed on Luki.
— Ugh... shwriek...! — it whined, panting with futile effort.
— Inhale... — Luki took a deep breath, raised his great sword even higher, held his breath, and delivered the blow with all his strength.
The goblin tried to protect itself with its arms, but the impact was inevitable:
CRAAACK! — a sickening sound echoed through the corridor, making the stone faintly vibrate. The creature gasped, a strangled scream escaping its throat.
Luki allowed no ti for recovery. In a continuous movent, he kept the sword in a downward arc and delivered a diagonal slash, opening a deep cut from the left shoulder to the waist.
— AAARRRGH! — the goblin howled, staggering to the side, warm blood spurting onto the stone floor. Every crackle of the blade tearing through flesh resonated like hamr blows through the corridor: SHRAK! CRANG!
Without pause, Luki spun his hip, using his body's montum to execute another cut, this ti horizontal, which sliced across the goblin's chest, drawing more screams and blood:
— UGHHGGAA! — the monster's muffled voice echoed; this ti the blow was strong enough to throw it a short distance away.
Even smashed in several places, the goblin still tried to move, crawling, but total exhaustion and pain made it slow, barely able to move its limbs.
Its wide eyes desperately searched for an escape, but there was none.
Luki adjusted the sword grip, took a deep breath once more, and advanced another step, closing the distance to the enemy that his blows had pushed away.
In a precise movent, he plunged the Hestia's Blade into the goblin's neck, pressing down with his full body weight while stepping firmly onto the enemy's chest.
CRUNCH! — the sound of crushing bones echoed through the corridor, resonating in the silence that followed.
The greenish body trembled under the blade's pressure, and then beca motionless, defeated. Only the dripping blood and Luki's heavy breathing filled the corridor.
Luki raised his sword, panting, sweat running down his face, his chest rising and falling with the effort, as he observed the enemy fallen at his feet.
— Yeah... now I'm really back... — he murmured, still absorbing the adrenaline.
He lifted his head, breathing deeply as his body began to cool down. The fervor of the battle slowly faded, giving way to exhaustion and clarity. It had been a difficult fight, harder than he had imagined... but, in the end, he won.
'That was much more complicated than I expected. In the end, if it weren't for the armor, I probably would have died... or, at least, I'd be all broken up now. Having better equipnt truly matters in situations like this; it's understandable why mbers of big Familias succeed more.'
'And the Hestia's Blade also did its part. My blows weren't having much effect on him... not that I attacked much, but the weight and edge of the blade compensated for my lack of brute strength.'
'In the end, I didn't win by being stronger, but by being better prepared, better equipped. There's no rit in that... but a victory is still a victory.'
'And victory ans Excelia. More strength. Next encounters will be easier to conclude. So that's it... I'll keep seeking ever-greater challenges.'
A brief silence. The sweat dripped under the helt, while his thoughts settled.
'Yeah... I guess I can live like this for now. As long as the world doesn't take my legs... I'm content.'
He closed his eyes for an instant, took a deep breath. A final thought sparked through his mind:
'Ah... there's also this.'
Adjusting his grip, Luki slid one foot back, rotated his hip, and brandished the sword in a swift, precise horizontal cut, the air whistling against the blade.
SHRRACK!
The sword sliced through the throat of a goblin that was sneaking up behind him. Blood sprayed in an arc through the air, splattering on the floor and even on Luki's own armor.
The goblin's eyes widened, it tried to utter a grunt, but only a grotesque bubbling ca out before it slumped to the floor, instantly dead.
Luki held his posture for a second, his breathing steady, watching the body fall.
— No matter how much it changes... you're still the sa, aren't you? Dungeon. — he murmured, raising his gaze to the stone ceiling.
Instinctively, he tried to run his hand through his hair to wipe away the battle sweat. But the glove's mail found only the cold, solid touch of the helt.
— ...Ah.
A silence. He lowered his hand and sighed, half-laughing at himself."
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