CHAPTER 16: ABSORB

Without wasting a moment, the goblin launched, moving so fast it was in Silva’s face in only a few seconds. It slashed, going for the head. The blade made a beautiful arc, cutting the wind perfectly.

Silva pulled back fast. He dodged the blade by a hair, keeping his eyes on it even as it passed. Every moment counted, so the moment the blade was a few inches past his face, he pushed forward.

He might not be crazy strong, but in the desperation of growing stronger, he had trained in martial arts, so he wasn’t a noob at throwing a punch.

He punched the goblin right in the guts, BAM. The abdomen caved in, his hands dug deep. The goblin arched back in pain, eyes rolling for a few seconds as it staggered.

This was the right opportunity to follow up and defeat the goblin, but the second one came in swinging. Silva sensed the attack and leaped out of the way, rolling and getting on his knee, a hand placed on the ground as he looked up.

The goblin was already rushing toward him. He gritted his teeth and kicked the ground, lunging forward like a bullet.

’I just have to react fast enough. I can sense his attacks before they get to me, that’s all I need to win this.’He thought as he watched the mace swinging from behind.

At the right moment, he skidded low, passing right under the mace. He turned his head and looked at the leg of the goblin. He stretched his hands, grabbed it, and pulled hard.

The leg slipped off the ground and the goblin went crashing down. BAM. It slammed into the ground hard, shattering its nose and cutting its lips.

"Rooooar!"

It cried out in pain, but Silva wasn’t scared. He got on his feet and rushed to the goblin’s hand. He grabbed the mace, it was heavy, and he had to use everything he had to swing it up,then let the weight do the work, slamming it down into the goblin’s head, shattering the skull and killing it instantly.

[You have gained 20 EXP, 10 demonic energy]

Before he could take a breath, he sensed an attack from behind and rolled. He got on his feet and ran, putting distance between him and the goblin.

He looked at the goblin. It stood there, glanced at the body of its dead companion, and then let out a growl.

"You’re angry? Don’t worry about it, you’ll be joining him soon," Silva said, dashing forward. He waited until he was halfway there and used Claw Strike. The goblin blocked, but Silva attacked again, the purple arcs hit the sword, and this time snapped it in two.

The goblin was stunned. He watched as one part of his sword fell to the ground. He looked up to find Silva, but he didn’t see him.

"Looking for me?" Silva asked from behind. He went low and swept the goblin off its feet. It slammed into the ground.

Before it could turn or move, Silva grabbed the broken part of the sword. Not caring that it was cutting his palm, he lunged it into the goblin’s neck, killing it.

[You have gained 20 EXP, 10 demonic energy]

[New skill available: Absorb]

He stared at his palm as it slowly healed. When it fully healed, he picked the broken sword by the handle and used it to dig through the goblin’s head to get the core. It was slightly bigger than a normal goblin’s.

After he got them out, he looked deeper into the forest. He had only made 80 EXP. Luckily, he had gained something better, a new skill,and he was eager to check it out.

[Absorb: Extract demonic energy from defeated opponents. 30 minutes cooldown]

After reading the skill, the smile refused to leave his face. He already knew what demonic energy was for him: it allowed him to heal and also to use Claw Strike. So far, it seemed he was limited to a few uses before running out, though he was yet to push it and find the limits.

He turned to look at the body on the ground and walked toward one. He could only use this once before waiting thirty minutes.

And from what he already knew, gathering demonic energy required a good residue of negative energy, so this goblin had to have at least a fair amount.

He placed his hand over the goblin and thought about using the skill. Instantly, he felt something enter his body, like a flow.

When he looked at the body, it appeared shriveled. ’So taking away the negative energy causes this? Doesn’t make sense,’ he said.

[Negative energy is interwoven with a person’s life force. The more negative energy, the greater the life force you’ll have to pull out when using Absorb.]

The system’s voice explained to him.

[You have gained 5 demonic energy]

"Huh? Only five? Five, and he dried up like that? What’s even the metric for these calculations?" he asked. Taking a deep breath, he calmed down and stood up. Gain was gain, and he was sure it was because he was in the simplest gate. If he went to something higher, he would have gotten more for sure.

With that out of the way, he went deeper, determined to level up before leaving the dungeon. He didn’t run into more hobgoblins, only small goblins.

He killed them one after another until his entire body screamed in fatigue. But finally, after a grueling grind, he leveled up.

[You have leveled up. 4 free stat points]

He stared at the screen in joy, falling backward on the ground. He took a deep breath. Despite the exhaustion, he was filled with joy.