The goblin rushed me, swinging its sword wildly. I prepared to throw the last fireball that I had overcharged and hoped for the best since it was the last bit of mana I could summon up. I back peddled as the goblin closed in on me and kept my eye on it. Its rusted sword cutting swathes through the air as it swung recklessly at me.

 I waited till the very last second before the sword swung towards me before I cast my spell. The fireball shot through the air and impacted the goblin's chest. It screamed once more before it stumbled forward and fell face first. Its sword hit the dirt with a clatter and fell to the side. I carefully walked over it and eyed it carefully. I nudged it carefully with my foot and nodded my head. Good, it was dead. I picked up its sword and ripped off the odd bone necklace that it was wearing around its neck. Sadly, it was only wearing a loincloth, so that I couldn’t loot anything from it. 

 I took a look at the notifications that were blinking in the corner of my eye. 

  Title Earned: Savagery: You used your nails like they were claws to try and shred your foe. This title unlocks a future evolution for your scratch skill. 

  Minor Flame of Judgment III has been unlocked.

 Basic mana manipulation II has been unlocked. 

 Basic Mana reduction I has been unlocked. 

 That was a pretty good haul on that fight. I glanced at my status screen and saw that I was really close to unlocking my first class. I only needed a few more skills to go. I really couldn’t wait. This was taking far too long for me. I glanced at the sword that I held in my hand and looked it over. It looked like it was a simple iron sword. It was rusted and chipped in a few places, but it was still usable. The hit was torn off, but chunks of leather were still attached in various places. I swung it a few times to get a feel for it. Other than its abysmal condition, it felt perfectly weighted. It must have been a soldier's sword at one point. 

 I would have to get it repaired, and a sheathe made for it. However, that may cost me a bit. But now, since I have a sword, fighting these little guys maybe a little easier. My mana bar was close to being empty, and it left me with a pounding headache. This was the first time I experienced this, and let me tell you, it was dreadful. 

 I checked over the dead goblins corpse one more time to make sure I did not miss anything. Once I finished, I started to head back over to where the goblins were camping out. I know that there were stupid, but they couldn’t be as stupid as not to notice their compatriots vanishing one by one. Right? 

 I crept silently next to the rock and looked across the area. There were still goblins milling about, yet they were still oblivious to their kin missing. One more is all I can manage. Hopefully, I can get a good haul from it. Most of them were only wearing loincloths and held various makeshift weapons. It seems that clothes are a rarity amongst them. But that's a shame. I was hoping to grab a few more coppers from them while I am out here. I am going to need all the money I can get. 

 I grab a few more loose pebbles and stare at the little monsters. I need to pick wisely and be careful about it. I need one more, and I get my first class. I could feel the excitement boiling in my veins. I had to take a deep breath to calm myself. Calm down, Ziva. It will come, no need to be in a rush. I watched the goblins pull at some weeds while others were walking with handfuls of stones and twigs somewhere in the distance. They must have a small settlement nearby, which doesn’t bode well for us.  

  It wouldn’t be smart to try the stone-throwing trick again. It was risky to do it a third time. I instead decided to wait until one wandered off alone from the pack. I pressed myself into the ground and waited. 

 I watched them for what felt like hours. My mana bar has refilled a bit and just managed to refill past a tenth of the way up. It was a slow, painful process; at this rate, it would take most of the day and into tomorrow to refill the entire thing. I need to find out what stat increases mana regeneration. But I also have to worry about everything else. Thank Helios for this Everchosen title, and the Chosen of Kairos as well. It will make things so much easier. 

 I glanced back at the goblins and was slowly growing irritated with the wait. The goblins were sticking close together. They must know something was happening to their kin and were being careful. But they will slip up. 

  My headache slowly started to fade, just as one of the goblins broke away from the group. Finally, it took one long enough. The little greenskin, er well, I guess tan skin at this moment was carefully looking around and sniffing. It was looking for something but what. 

 I carefully followed along, taking each step as quietly and carefully as I can. I saw my screen blink once, but I ignored it. I will check that later, now it is time to hunt. I crouched low and moved as quietly as I could. Sadly there was very little in the way of cover here, maybe a boulder or a tree, but it was mostly just grass that barely came up to the middle of my shin. I pressed myself as low as possible to keep my profile minimal as I stalked the lone goblin. 

  It suddenly froze, and I did as well. It looked to the sky and sniffed and suddenly turned its head to me. Oh no. It let out a snarl and raced towards me. I whipped the sword around and brought it up into a protective stance, or at least a semblance of one. The monster rushed me, baring its fangs and claws. I felt the sweat start to drip down my forehead, and I gripped the hilt of the sword tightly. It felt like time started to slow down. 

 I waited till the last second to jump to the side, and I swung the sword widely in an arc and caught the goblin in the arms. It let out a shrill shriek as blood dripped down its arms. The sword wasn’t sharp enough to do substantial enough damage. However, it could still cut. I just had to land a decent hit. 

 The goblin screeched and lunged at me again, and I stepped back and swung the sword again. It impacted the goblin's arms again, and I felt the vibrations rattle through the sword and into my hand. This time it managed to cut deeper into the arms; I must have struck the bone with that blow. Sadly, however, the blade caught, and the goblin yanked it away from me when he recoiled away from me.

 However, I won’t let that stop me. I tackled the goblin and brought my nails across its face. I grabbed the sword with my spare hand and yanked it away from him. Blood spurted out from my the wounds left from my nails, and I fell backward from the force. I quickly got to my feet and steadied my self again. The goblin stood up; its left arm dangled weakly to its side. My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to catch my breath. This was exhausting. 

 I gathered enough mana to cast another fireball in my free hand, and I threw it as hard as I could at the thing's face. Another splitting headache almost caused me to stumble, yet I held on. The fireball caught the monster's face causing it to scream in pain and swipe at the air in front of it, letting out a tortured scream. I stepped forward and swung the sword as hard as I could. I managed to maneuver the sword through the goblins flailing arms and cut a swath through its chest. 

  It let out a gurgle and fell backward. A spurt of blood came out of the open wound and splattered the ground around it. Blood dripped off of the tip of the blade onto the grass under me. I stepped forward and placed my foot on the goblin's chest, and plunged the sword through its throat. It let out a gurgle before it finally stopped moving. 

 I cleared my throat and pulled the sword out, and dropped to the ground. My breaths came in hard and fast, and I did my best to get it under control. This was harder than I thought it would be. I glanced over to my settings, eager to see what the fight yielded me. 

  Basic Sword proficiency I: Increases the ease of sword use.

 Budding Fighter I: You have taken on monsters before you were classed. Are you seeking power, young one? Continue on your path to unlocking more titles and future class evolutions.

Hunter: You stalk your prey as if they were animals. Flat increase to movement speed and stealth

 Congratulations! You have collected enough abilities and titles to achieve your first class. Due to your status as an Everchosen candidate, the following classes have been added to your status screen. You can cycle through your classes at will. However, please note that there is a five-second delay before the class becomes active. All skills will be locked out until the five seconds are up. However, all passives will remain active along with current stats. 

  All skills learned will remain with you. You can either cycle between skills with your current class or separate skills based on class. After your quest, all classes and class passives will be combined into one. 

Please pick your current primary class: 

Retributer-rare class

Assassin-uncommon 

I stared at my screen in excitement; it was time to get to my first class.