Dismissing the notification, he looked at the goblins’ bodies. This was the first time that anything he killed in a dungeon had something he might want to use. The grubs had always kind of just disappeared, and he had never bothered to figure out where they went or how long it took. But given that he didn’t have much, it didn’t hurt to scavenge. He grabbed both the spears and a short sword from one’s belt.

The sword was in horrible shape - all rusted with notches in it. If Brett hit something solid with any strength, it would probably snap. Still, he could hold it in his off-hand and swing it around. Something just felt right about having cold steel in each hand. Plus, the goblin-sized shortsword was a bit longer than his dagger. 

He slid his dagger into his belt, not wanting to risk losing it, and held the spears in that hand. He wasn't sure what to do with them, but he had an idea that he could throw them or something. Walking up to the door, he pushed gently, confirming that it was indeed latched. He slid his sword into the three-inch gap between the door and frame and slid it up, raising the beam up and over its catch. He could have easily used his hand to do the same thing, but if someone was on the other side, they would have had a free swipe at him. Brett rather liked his fingers. The beam came free and clattered dully to the floor on the other side of the door.

As he pushed the door open, he held his sword ready but found nothing but an empty tunnel. My hand would have been safe after all. Brett thought. Looking around, he found a bench and a table on its side, missing two legs. This might have been a guard post, but that was it. There was no indication of what it was guarding. He set off down the tunnel with a little bit less caution as, so far, these goblins were not much harder to kill than the grubs. If an average person with no levels and no class could walk through this like he had, it would be no challenge. How is this a level-two dungeon?

***

After a bit of exploring, he found another guard station. These goblins weren't asleep, but it wasn't much more challenging. The next couple of guards yelled and ran at him on sight. He was sure he was about to be mobbed and torn apart, but no reinforcements appeared.

He dropped one of his two new spears and flung the other at the leading goblin as hard as possible. He had played some baseball as a kid; how much different could this be? 

Quite a bit, apparently. The spear’s point had drifted down, and the length of the shaft slammed into the goblin, thoroughly stunning him instead of spearing him through. It gave Brett an easy time dashing up to it and smashing his stolen sword over its head. The sword promptly snapped, but not before leaving a massive dent in the helmet and skull underneath. The goblin behind hesitated long enough for Brett to bury the metal shard still attached to the hilt into its gut, releasing the handle and letting it fall.

Really, this was too easy. Something was wrong. Brett went to retrieve his spears and replaced his short sword with another equally rusted one. He could use the dagger Alan had given him, but he liked the extra length the blade gave him. 

He eyed the other sword on the ground. Did he really need the spears? He sucked at throwing them, apparently. He sighed. He wanted to have a ranged option; everyone seemed to have one around here. My gun would be an ultimate trump. Brett thought. It could be as game-changing as hot running water. If he could get bullets, of course.

So maybe learning how to use a throwing weapon would make sense. Perhaps the system could work that into Brett's class or something.

He experimented with trying to stick the spear into his belt, but he just couldn't get it to work, and he didn't want the rusty sword near his skin at all. Eventually, he gave up. He would try the spear for a bit longer, leaving the dagger as a backup. Besides, he could draw the dagger with his other hand after throwing the spear. It would be a little awkward, but he would have time to work things out if the goblins stayed this weak.

***

Brett discovered a couple more goblin guard stations down various hallways. At this point, he had no idea what they were guarding. There never seemed to be anything of value behind their doors. Maybe it was just something the dungeon generated that had no meaning. He had no idea.

His spear work didn't get any better. Everything he tried seemed to make the spear go in even worse directions. He hit the walls, ceiling, and floor more often than any goblins. After the spear flipped 180 degrees in flight and the butt bounced off a goblin's stomach, he gave up. When he got out of here, he decided that he would ask Alan what was up with the spear thing.

Throwing rocks was much more efficient than spears, but he didn't bother with that very much. On the other hand, carrying two swords was a level of fun that he didn't think he would ever get from combat like this. He felt alive in a way that he hadn't for years. Being able to move each hand independently made him feel so much more productive and it felt like he never wanted to stop moving. Like the momentum would never stop carrying him forward.

The grubs didn't give this feeling at all, mostly because they were too simple to dispatch. But as the goblins tried to fight, he found new ways to finish them off. As he got deeper into the cave complex, he noticed the goblins were getting taller and more muscular. Not that any of them posed much of an issue even with that. 

His first challenge came when the time reached a little over an hour. Coming around a bend, he saw three goblins, each about level with his chest. They were not sleeping, and the largest's sword only had a little bit of rust speckled across it. 

They saw him right away, and instead of running at him like the rest of their kin did, they approached slowly and fanned out to come at him from as many sides as possible. Alamrbells went off in his head, this level of teamwork might be an issue. After all, he was just a guy swinging some rusty swords. He didn't really know what he was doing with them.

Not wanting to wait to be surrounded, he charged the one to his right. His movements were swift enough to catch the goblin off guard, but the enemy still managed to get its spear point between itself and Brett. He cut at it with the sword in his left hand, batting it aside, while simultaneously spearing his right hand forward. The point drove through the goblin’s face. Spinning, he viciously yanked the blade free just in time to throw himself out of the way of a stab from behind.

Rolling to his feet, he sized the two remaining goblins up. The larger one stepped backward slightly, allowing the smaller one to stand in front of him. It held its sword up threateningly but didn’t make a move to attack. What were they doing? At first, Brett thought the goblin was about to run away, but then it started fucking throwing rocks.