I paused when I heard the cackling coming from the thickets. I had heard the small sounds constantly as I made my way back to the entrance but chose to ignore them. If it was some kind of extreme monster then I’d be done for, even with my extremely boosted stats. 

I knew that even though I thought my stats were high, I was still level 3 and had never been in a fight in my life unless you count stomping on a fish until it died. This meant that I couldn’t get cocky and rush forward in every situation. I could have a strength of 100 but miss 100 strikes on an enemy and they could hit me 100 times, which would still kill me regardless of my boosted HP. 

 

A better comparison would be that a genius swordsman could be impressive, they could be born with the talent and could beat everyone around them. However, it was inevitable that they would get beaten by a commoner with experience and training, this was just how life worked.

I was still dragging the corpse over my shoulder but the shark was so huge that if you looked at me from the back you just wouldn’t see me at all. I didn’t really know what I would do with it since I had many other, tastier fish but I couldn’t just leave it after killing it. Since I left my bag back at the stream with Char, I didn’t really have a choice other than slinging the shark over my shoulder and hauling it. 

 

It was extraordinary how a stat increase can change someone by so much, I would have barely been able to lift a table but now I’m lifting a huge hundred-pound shark back home. As I passed by everything, I started to use my analyze skill more constantly. No matter what it was, be it bugs, flowers, trees, or small critters, I used the skill on virtually everything that I came across. It turned out that the whole system could remember everything that I analyzed, so by analyzing everything I would actually be able to learn more about the world. 

I had to stay grounded into reality somehow, or I would mistake this place for a game world and lose my life in the process. I looked up the rugged path and saw the entrance that I came in from, which had been completely clear when I had come in, blocked off by a barricade of roughly stacked logs/

 

Okay, now they’re just asking for it.

 

I knew that the creatures that were following me the whole time were more than likely very weak, which was why they were hiding and stalking me. Blocking the road with logs did nothing more than piss me off, I was already having a bad day with everything that had been going on. You don’t pour fuel on a fire and expect it to go out.

 

[Obtained skill: Intimidation I]

 

“Alright you bastards, come out here!”

 

My voice even shook the tree’s, making leaves start falling down. The cackling went silent, as the sounds of the creature's movements in the bushes ceased.

 

Huh, I guess they must’ve run off.

 

Warning: Over 10 hostile entities closing in 

Or not.

 

I got out my dual knives and gripped them awkwardly in my hands. I really didn’t know how to knife fight and it showed. Even so, I got my makeshift stance ready as the warning opened my system map, showing multiple red dots closing in on me from three sides of the forest. However, I couldn’t clearly see any of them since the greenery likely camouflaged them. As the dots closed in right in front of me, I finally started hearing the rustling of leaves of bushes directly in front of me and to the sides of me.

 

Small, green creatures started to pop out of the woods and bushes, some of them jumping off of the trees to bare their teeth at me. Some of them had rough, iron weapons whilst others only had wooden clubs. Most of the weapons had dried blood stains on them, showing that they had at least killed before and were looking to kill again.

 

 

 

Goblins. Heh, time to get some grinding done.

 

I know I said that I shouldn’t be cocky since that could be my downfall, but to anyone who even knew a tiny bit of fantasy, you would know that these guys are pushovers to any mediocre adventurer when fighting one on one.

 

The only advantage they have are numbers, which they use to overwhelm unsuspecting civilians or new adventurers, however, they were still pests that were put down regularly.

They started cackling again when they only saw me standing in front of them. They probably marked me as an easy kill since I was alone and I wasn’t exactly intimidating with my slim build either. 

 

I readied my daggers as they started closing in on me, even though I knew that I outclassed them in every way possible it was still nerve racking fighting for the first time.

Video games and anime don’t actually show you the harshness of actual battle, so I was extremely nervous, maybe not scared, but nervous. 

The largest of the goblins stepped forward, holding a club. This one's level was 20, double all of the other one’s. 

 

“KREEE!”

 

It shrieked a loud, ear piercing sound as it came towards me with it’s club raised. It had a large grin as its face flushed red from the excitement of a new victim. Even though it was small, it was incredibly fast and covered the distance between us in a second before swinging downwards with all it’s might.

 

Except...the strike was much slower than it’s running. It could have been my enhanced stats boosting my confidence somehow, but I stuck my hand out right in front of me to catch the club instead of dodging it.

 

CHHK.

 

“Kre?”

 

Even though it was fast, it couldn’t swing the club as fast as it could run though I doubted that it would matter at this point.

The goblin tried to pry the club from my grasp but no matter how hard it tried to tear it away from me I didn’t let it budge even an inch. I could clearly see the goblin straining with all the strength it had to take it’s weapon back and club me over the head but I wasn’t letting that happen.

 

I clenched my hand, making the club crack and splinter into pieces. The goblin backed away just as quickly as it had rushed at me, watching as the pieces of it’s weapon fell to the ground.

 

“You guys done?”

 

Unlike them, I wasn’t even going to try to test my depths here. I rushed forwards with my knives drawn. I ducked and weaved as makeshift spears and kitchen knives were thrown at me but either I was extremely good at dodging or they were just hitting me and doing nothing. 

I reached the first Goblin before they could even lift their weapon in a defensive position and stabbed downwards just as I did with the fish, except, these guys were much smaller than the shark or most of the fish. 

The knife went through it’s skull and exited through it’s chin. Even though I knew that I was at such an advantage I still couldn’t believe it unless I saw it with my own eyes, and boy did I see it. 

Scarlet blood burst out of it’s corpse as I wrenched the dagger out and turned around to slash at the other goblins that were just standing there in shock. I swung the knife in a wide arc, which if I was fighting against a normal sized man would cut into their stomachs...but

 

SCHLP

SCHLP

SCHLP

 

I had thought it would’ve made contact and just cut them in half, but instead since the goblins were so short I ended up aiming too high and decapitated them instead. 

And with that, three headless goblin corpses collapsed to the ground with a loud THUD as they hit the earthy ground of the forest. 

 

“KREEEE!”

The goblins, who had identified me as an easy victim when they first saw me, started running back into the forest. Goblins were by no means smart, but even they had identified me as a foe that was of a different calibre and they knew that they were immensely outclassed.

They scurried towards the thickets which would give them cover and make me lose sight of them. I know that usually if you see a running enemy you let them leave in most isekai but, in this case, I’m following military doctrine that if an enemy is running you shoot them before they can kill you another day.

 

Alright, time to practice some magic!

 

[Frozen Spears]

 

I thought about the words of the first spell that I had ever heard since being reincarnated, the spell of the Ice Queen that cut down the thousands of bandits and marauders all at once. Suddenly, I felt a cold chill run down my spine and spread throughout my body. All the hairs on my body stood up straight as I looked to the sides of me, seeing the formed spears lining up to the sides of me and floating.

As I saw them, I couldn’t help but shrug and let out an “eh...:”

 

I want to say it’s cool, and it is, but I think calling them spears is a bit of a long shot.

 

I had pictured them to look like actual military spears. Instead, my hopes were dashed as the “spears” turned out to be giant icicles that used to hang on to the side of my home's roof. 

I sighed, more bummed out about this than the goblins that had almost made it to the bushes by the point I was done with my inner- monologue. 

 

“Well, you can’t get everything in life I suppose”

 

I swung my hand forwards like I was aiming for the areas that the spears should hit but they didn’t move.

 

“Oh crap! Uh, Uh, HMPH!”

 

I focused with all my strength on the backs of the goblins, this finally caused the spears to launch forwards. However, I didn’t know if it was my aim or the spell, but every single one of the spears missed the goblins entirely and flew ahead of them and buried themselves into the ground right in front of them.

 

“KEKEKE!”

 

Even though the goblins were running for their lives they still had the time to turn their heads back at me and laugh, though I couldn’t say I didn’t deserve that. 

 

That was just straight up embarrassing...WHAT WAS THAT!?

 

I should probably just somehow get Char to teach me magic when I get back, at least he knew how to use this stuff. I just went full chuunibyou like how I saw they did it in the animes and just looked like an idiot.

As I was contemplating how to erase this whole incident from my memory, the goblins had rushed forwards towards their exit. 

 

“KREE!!!”

 

Once I finally looked up after shaking my head at the disgrace at the voice, I saw that the ice from the spears had spread throughout the ground and it had started to climb up their bodies, making the slip and instantly freeze as their bodies made contact with the spreading ice. The Goblin’s cried out in terror, but the screams of agony were all completely covered with ice. Then, they were no more.

 

“Thank god! I don’t think I could have lived on if any living being witnessed that!”

 

“...Master….I finished….the fish”

 

“AHHHHHH!”

 

I turned around suddenly as I saw Char standing there with my bag in one hand and his staff in the other. I completely forgot about Char since I was so excited at the prospect of combat, I never even considered the fact that he could have finished early. Despite not having any skin, I could somehow still tell that he was extremely amused at the situation which he had just witnessed.

 

“Char! How long have you been standing there!?”

 

“....Since...Ice spell…”

 

“GAHHHH!!!!”

---

A bit late but still kept the chapter- a - day promise.