Chapter 4: RAID THE GOBLIN'S CAVE

The first goblin tried to scratch me but I used my spear to defend myself.

*aarrrggghhh*

The goblin screamed in pain when it touched the iron spear. The hand had some signs of burn marks because of my Skill.

I thrust my spear in its head, piercing through its skull. The goblin collapsed with blood and brain juice gushing from the back of its head.

When I looked at Lexis and Christian, I could see that they were fighting pretty well. Christian used his Fireball to burn one goblin to ashes, while Lexis used her Earth spike to penetrate a goblin's head.

"So Lexis skill is an Earth Spike huh, hm do you need help, Miriam? You look desperate."

"Kuck, help me please."

"Okay "

I stabbed the back of the goblin that was facing her. The strike broke his spinal cord.

*kragh!*

The goblin shouted because of the electricity. It fell and twitched like an electrocuted animal.

Several goblins came out of the cave, disturbed by the noises outside their home. We killed them again. This process happened until we kill every goblin we could see coming from the cave.

[LEVEL UP]

"I have reached level 6 now"

"Me, I'm level 4"

Miriam said.

I searched the entrance to see if there are still any goblins.

"Mikael, be careful, maybe there are still goblins inside that."

"Okay."

I step backward and distanced myself from the cave. 

"What do you think, is there still a monster inside?"

Lexis asked Christian.

"Wait I'll use my skill and see if there's any movement. "

Christian shot a Fireball inside the cave and after some time he used another one. We waited for a minute before walking near the entrance.

"All clear, there's no monsters now. What a waste, I want to kill more of the-"

*crash!*

Blood splattered around the area and Christian is... dead.

"Oh sh*t!!!"

I shouted, then I heard garish stomps inside the cave. Something's coming!

*cccrraarrrrhhhh!!!*

A goblin, a huge goblin. An ordinary goblin only reached around a meter, but this one...

"Tw- two meters!"

Lexis's broken voice came out.

" Run!" 

Miriam screamed. She ran to the forest and escaped. Lexis stumbled but she followed Miriam's direction.

I also tried to run but being the nearest person in the entrance, the hobgoblin sure hated me.

" ..........!!!!"

A big rock was flying in my direction and hit me.

*crash!*

The barrier activated but the force alone blew me away. That damned goblin. No, hobgoblin.

My mind became blank and I felt nothing. For a moment I lost myself.

"Michael what are you doing!? You should've run faster!!! WHY DID I NOT RUN EARLIER!!! THESE DAMN FEET!!!"

I shouted to my inner self.

The hobgoblin attacked me but another barrier activated, now I only have one last defense. I flew and crashed into a tree.

"Guh! Ack!"

I can't breathe, my sight was blurring. The only thing that I see was the Hobgoblin's sneering face.

"...ugh"

I blackout.

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Kyle was on his way to find Miriam of the Eye. He gave importance to this mission because...

"Because I know what kind of Skill she has.  She can find any person no matter where. Even if it's on the opposite side of the Earth. Her last Skill can see the glimpse of the future."

For him to find a good comrade, he must first find that woman.

" She's not only good at finding people. Gathering intel is one of her fortes. She's one of the best information gatherers. "

Since they are in the same district and he didn't have anything to do. He decided to find Miriam.

"Well I'm sure right now she didn't give any importance to her Skill because it's a non-attack type"

But Kyle knew what would happen when her Skill evolved.

"We have a saying in the new era ' if you want to know anything, then go and look for Miriam of the Eye' "

*Boom!*

A loud explosion could be heard near his area.

"Looks like there's a battle nearby. Base on the sound and aftershocks, someone's fighting a large monster... Let me see it "

His priority was to find a comrade, perhaps he could scout some talented warrior there.

He dashed into the fight scene and saw a bloody man and a hobgoblin.

"The man already lost his strength and lying on the ground. Looks like he's gonna die. Boring~~ "

Kyle only looked at the dying man, he didn't help.

"In this Awakening event, the weak always die first, this is their filtering area. If that man can only reach this even if giving his all. He won't surely live an hour in the Apocalypse"

Kyle experienced the living hell in the Apocalypse. He saw weaklings dying first.  He didn't need any weakling in his group, so why bother helping him?

*crack crack*

He disregarded the man and turned back, but he heard a crackling sound. He determined that the sound came from the bloody man. 

He paused and squinted his eye, examining the dying man.

"... Seriously! Skill evolving! It's too early for a human to learn his second Skill!"

He knew how to evolve a skill, it needed time and practice. But there were others who evolved in a near-death experience.

"But I don't know about this man. Based on what I know, there's no person that ever evolved in the 1st Awakening Event. "

That is why he found it mysterious.

"Nope... Perhaps he died here even though he had his second Skill. He lost too much blood, even if he won this situation, he will die"

The bloody man attacked the hobgoblin. The hobgoblin stepped back. It felt the massive power behind the attack.

The hobgoblin stumbled backward. He realized that his arm was broken because of the smash that Mikael gave. The hobgoblin started to sweat...

Mikael used another attack but this time he used his spear to thrust the hobgoblin.

*stab!* 

"Aarrrrggghh!!"

The hobgoblin screamed his voice out. His chest was overflowing with blood. Mikael's weapon reached the hobgoblin's heart. The monster tried to do something to ease the pain but nothing happened. And for Mikael's last attack, he stabbed it directly in the eye.

The hobgoblin fell and died.

Michael lost his strength in his knees and he started to fall but Kyle caught him.

"Impressive. You use your Skill to increase your strength. An evolved Skill that centers around strength improvement. I can use you... huh"

Kyle realized that Michael was unconscious.

"Kukuhahaha Good! I find a good seedling! Hahaha, to defeat the hobgoblin while being unconscious. You sure want to live huh. "

He looked at the dead hobgoblin and found that it dropped an Item.

[ ITEM ACQUIRED: HEALING POTION]

"Look at this, kuku. You're a lucky bastard, the heaven is smiling on you. This is not the time for you to die. "

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"...What!? That's impossible..."

Miriam Poloma, the woman who had the Skill Clairvoyance, saw everything. 

She received a mental shock when she saw how Christian died. She ran leaving Mikael and Lexis. She hid beneath a large tree fearing that the hobgoblin would follow her.

To assure that no one was gonna find her, she used her Clairvoyance to monitor the area. Then, she saw everything. She saw how Mikael made a miracle.

She witnessed how Michael killed the hobgoblin with just three attacks. A smash and two stabs, that was what he did to kill the hobgoblin.

"He killed it on his own... Oh no! Someone's coming!!"

Mikael was in danger, another man came and looked like he wanted to steal the Item that Michael should have.

"I need to stop him. I will help Mikael!"