"Wake up," Voice said in an anxious tone. This sudden change from its usual robotic one couldn't mean anything good. "I sense the presence of several hostile entities nearby." Just as I said, this couldn't mean anything good.

I took a deep breath to prepare myself for whatever trouble approaches. "In the dead of night, what good timing, at least I am aware. Before I check the situation, do you know anything about the enemies, or have you only sensed them?" I said while grabbing a spear from the weapon pile next to me.

"Only presence."

"Still better than nothing." I played with the spear a bit until I felt confident enough, then began approaching the only entrance to my shelter. I am putting myself on a gamble, but the upside is too good to be ignored. If whatever the hell is approaching me is not powerful enough to defeat me waiting at the narrow entrance, I will win, but if somehow I find myself pushed back into the cave, that means dead, at least for me.

"Whatever is out there, I hope you are not coming towards here." I think this situation is my mistake. The remains from my cooking probably gave a scent indicating a chance of food in this area. I should have changed my position when I saw those creatures scouting the area. No, this is no time to think if it's my fault. I should focus on the problem in front of me.

I peeked outside. The clouds are blocking what little light is coming from the moon, I can't see much, and constant snowing is blocking most of the sounds. Tonight is a perfect night for an ambush. I smiled. "If only my enemies weren't carrying torches, my job wouldn't be this easy. I can see their every move."

Not too far from the cave, maybe a hundred meters or so, five creatures, with four carrying torches approaching. It is a little hard to say what exactly they are, but if I must assume from their silhouettes, I say the green creatures I saw around my shelter would fit the size, and I think they are searching for somewhere to escape from the snow, their best bet is this cave. Polyana will be jealous of my positivity if I assume they will go away and search for a new shelter. Like my father always said, it is not the words of peace that stop a war from waging. It is guns and the risk of losing. Too bad he was wrong, my country had enough weapons, but the war started anyways. Still, I couldn't say its words don't hold some truth.

"I might need more things to throw." I moved back into the cave to the weapon pile. I have a ton hanging around here thanks to skeletons visiting me every day, it's been some time since their quantity passed more than I need, but I won't say no to expandable equipment. I grabbed my fur coat from the ground, which I use as a blanket, placed the long sword on its back, then picked one spear and put a short sword on my belt.

I will throw the spear and eliminate the first enemy coming, then use my long sword for when I fight and my short sword for, well, you never know when you might need an extra weapon. Now, be fast and take your position before they come too close.

I gave my back to the wall and peeked outside. Those monsters look like a hybrid of a monkey and a human, their structure resembles that of a chimpanzee, but they are mostly hairless, except for some parts of the body, in which they have almost fur-like hair. They also have sharp, long ears, also no clear indicator of their gender. Except for one anomaly, a larger one carrying an almost human-sized basket on his back, it moves in the middle of the group with a large male reproductive organ open for all eyes. And while other monsters have spears two heads shorter than the one I use and torches, this big boy has a two-handed club.

Back to the small ones, they are around a meter tall. Compared to the big one, which I assume is a little longer than two meters, their size is nothing. Yet, while the height difference is clear as day, each has one common attribute, the fur covering some parts of their body. I wonder if it's just for protection against cold or provides more.

Well, I think I will find it soon enough. Monsters are slowly closing the distance, but long as they don't sense my presence from far, I will be the one to hold the advantage.

I waited a little longer until one of them got close enough for me to kill it with a throw of my spear. I won't waste a such opportunity, so I prepared the weapon and peeked outside to confirm the distance between me and the monsters. "What are these things even called?" I said in the hope of Voice giving me an answer.

"Snow Goblins." Voice surprisingly answered. "One of the common monsters plaguing this side of the world."

"A plague, you say? Good, let's purge it then." I waited for some more time till the monsters decided to send one of them as a scout to inspect the cave for any threats, or that's what I assume. Then the second chosen goblin got close enough. I dashed outside. My enemies are standing right in front of me. I began running forward with my spear ready and launched it toward the closest goblin.

The weapon flew with a whistle and landed in the goblin's chest from a safe distance. The power behind it made its tip rip through the fur and flesh like paper. And I suppose I hit somewhere crucial because the monster stopped moving after a short, painful scream.

While this little shit passed fast enough for me to have enough time to reposition myself before other goblins got over the shock of my sudden attack, it also got stuck on my spear. And before I lose my advantage, it would be nice to get my weapon back.

Closing the distance, I got next to the goblin that died. I pushed the corpse to the ground, pressed it over with my boot, then pulled out the spear. Some pieces of its inner organs and a little blood flew out of it and messed up my pants and boots. I can wash them later.

Other goblins are not too far right now, but they are shocked by the sudden attack, and while their torches act like beacons showing their locations, I can hide behind the veil of darkness and snow. Life is spoiling me lately. I aimed toward my next target, stretched my upper body, and threw the weapon.

The spear landed on the goblin's head. The monster flew back a little with the impact and rolled on the ground. "Perks of joining athletics club in university, you got to use some tools you don't think you will use in such ways." I am not sure how deep it went, but considering how it is peacefully lying over snow and mud, I say it moved deep enough to kill it on the spot.

Two are dead, but there are still four more. It's time to pull out big guns. I pulled the long sword from my back and grabbed it with both hands. I feel courage when I hold this thing, but I guess anyone holding a sword with a blade longer than one meter would feel the same.

"Let's see, which one wants to be the first to die, or do you all like to come as one." I looked at goblins. Two smaller ones are slowly approaching with their spears directed at me, and the big one is trying to drop the thing on his back, but he is doing it carefully. I wonder if he is carrying anything valuable. Well, there is only one way to find it.

I grabbed the goblin corpse from the ground. "Light enough." Perfect to use as a distraction. I threw the corpse toward the goblin on the left. My bloody tool for distraction hit the monster and caused it to fall, and I immediately began closing the distance between me and my target. In no time, I gained enough momentum and leaped toward the goblin recovering from my distraction. My sword went through its skull and smashed it like a watermelon in a single strike.

Then to get my sword back, I cleaved it sideways. The upper part of the goblins head, many flesh and brain pieces, and some blood scattered around. I have a short amount of time before the big one joins in. I must act fast.

I turned around and began charging toward the other goblin. When the distance closed, I slashed my sword forward. The monster made something like an X in the air using its spear and torch to black my attack, but I think whatever wood they used in their equipment wasn't too durable because when my heavy attack landed, the blade slashed through the tools, then cut down the goblin.

"And time for the main event." I pulled my sword from the last goblin's corpse and pointed it toward the big one. "You, the big one. Do me a favor and give me a challenge, will you? I want to feel some adrenaline."

The large goblin roared and hit the ground with its club.

"I take that as a yes."

"Be careful," Voice said. "Goblins, especially hobgoblins, have higher muscle density than humans, and while smaller ones are still weaker than the average human, a hobgoblin larger than a human will hold a significant power on its body."

"Better." I charged forward and slashed my sword the second hobgoblin got into my range. The monster was quicker than I expected, and our weapons collided in the air, and I needed to use some force to pull my sword back from its club. I hope the edges are not chipped.

We clashed some more blows, and I got pushed back a little. Well, I wasn't expecting this, but my bad, I got my warning. Hobgoblin is much stronger than average humans, but I am not your everyday Joe. I dropped the long sword. "Now, I dealt with ones like you quite a lot, and I think I have the tool I need right here." I pulled out the short sword and dashed toward the hobgoblin.

As I expected, he raised his club and swung towards me. The attack is fast for the size of the weapon he uses, but not enough. I got under its arms and stopped any future attack by tackling the hobgoblin.

And while the big guy fell, I stabbed it through the ribs. The monster gave a violent roar that ached my ears. But I can't let such small things stop me. The sword is stuck deep into his flesh, but his club is not. I moved away from the monster before

he managed to grab me and picked up his weapon.

This thing is heavy. It's like I am carrying a log rather than a piece of wood, but it will do my job. I began striking the hobgoblin's head. Monster tried to resist the first one or two strikes, but I finally killed it by crushing his head in my fourth.

And before I let even a speck of frustration appear in my mind, the fight ended. I haven't felt this kind of adrenaline in years. Even in my days at war, this kind was rare. In modern combat, especially in urban warfare, you must stay vigilant. Unlike swords, a bullet is not something you can block, and it doesn't matter who fires it long as it lands, and adrenaline won't spike until everything goes down.

"Enough life force sensed." Voice suddenly said. "Must feed."

Before I even reacted to this stupid line, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. Almost like a blade pierced through my flesh and activated every single nerve.

I grabbed my stomach with both hands, but it didn't help to ease the pain, and before I noticed, I lost my balance, stumbled several steps, and fell to the ground, right next to the hobgoblin's body.

"Eat." A sinister sound echoed inside my head. "Devour the flesh of slain enemies and get stronger. It is what you must do. Every living being is only food for you. Consume every last one of them."

Saliva began dropping from my mouth, and without my control, I opened my mouth and got it closer to the corpse of the hobgoblin. I can almost taste it. Just an inch later, my teeth will pierce through its skin, and I will devour its flesh. Just one more inch...

"No." I pushed the corpse away and jumped away from any dead goblin. I don't know what is causing that, but it isn't me. Something is playing with my head! "Voice!" I screamed. "Tell me what is happening."

"Temptation isn't coming from the flesh, but the power lies in it. For things out of my knowledge, your body craves the power of living to get stronger," It stopped for a second. "But you don't need to consume the flesh, just try touching it and keep the contact for some time."

I slapped myself to get back to my senses, and I think I got a second or two before I lost control of my body to this unholy hunger again. Better do what Voice says. I moved forward and touched the hobgoblin's chest. A greenish light came from the monster's body and flowed into mine. I still feel wrong, but my hunger seems to be getting satisfied.

But seconds later, my muscles and bones started itching, then sometimes more, and they began hurting like they never did, and I found myself rolling on the ground in pain. My body feels like it is getting deformed. I can feel my muscles getting stretched and pulled. And the pain of it is almost like getting surgery without anesthetics.

"User's physical attributes increased using the targets life force. Warning, the next one will require more." I heard Voice's talking right before I fainted. Perhaps this amount of pain was too high, even for me.