The moment Lucas saw the woman, he swung his elbow and smashed it into her face, forcing her to stumble a few steps back.

  She was almost as tall as Lucas, but nowhere as strong. If she had been, the knife she had driven into his back would have gone much deeper. But now the leather armor had absorbed most of her force.

  Still, the wound hurt, and the pain in his back made it difficult to control his right arm. It sagged under the weight of the wooden staff.

  Realizing his situation, Lucas let go of the weapon and visualized a health potion in his hand. The ring on his finger shimmered faintly as a vial filled with green liquid appeared in his palm. He uncorked it with his teeth and swallowed it quickly.

  The burning sensation that came with healing scattered his focus for a brief moment. That moment was enough for the goblin to squeeze out from beneath his leg and for the woman to regain her balance and reengage.

  She was already near his exposed back when Lucas turned and drove a left hook into her face. The knife she had swung still managed to deliver a shallow cut across his right shoulder, but Lucas followed with a kick that sent her rolling backward.

  At the same time, the goblin engaged from behind. It had already grabbed the spear and thrust it into Lucas’s thigh.

  Lucas grimaced from the pain, though it felt nothing compared to the burning from the healing potion that was still numbing his mind and blurring his vision.

  He accepted the spear in his leg and grabbed onto the shaft, making sure the goblin would not be able to retreat and reengage with its weapon. Then he tore the spear out of his own wound and disarmed the creature with a single, swift motion.

  The green creature’s eyes widened as it screeched and bared its teeth. However, instead of intimidating Lucas, the display only fueled his anger. He lunged forward and buried the spear in the creature’s chest.

  The spear tip met resistance against bone, but the goblin’s weak body could not withstand his strength. Lucas felt the bone crack, and then the shaft drive deep into flesh.

  As the creature’s facial muscles spasmed and twisted, Lucas rotated the spear and pulled it free with force.

  [You’ve gained 6 Experience Points!]

  [You’ve leveled up!]

  [Spearmanship (Beginner) Proficiency increased to 1/10.]

  Lucas ignored the blue windows, unwilling to waste even a second on them. He didn’t need to read them anyway. The green sheen covering his body once more and forcing the open wound on his thigh to close told him everything he needed to know.

  As the discomfort faded and the spear felt more natural in his grip, Lucas spun and thrust it toward the woman.

  She failed to dodge.

  The spear tip entered her abdomen and exited from the other side.

  Lucas felt almost no resistance in his hands. A through-and-through wound like that should have required more force. He knew better than anyone that he had not put enough strength into that thrust.

  Without wasting time, he activated Coward’s Eye on the woman, who stood frozen like a puppet held upright by the spear.

  [

  Name: Velumorph

  Description: A humanoid creature that can copy the exterior of a living organism of similar size. Emits an intoxicating scent that lowers vigilance.

  Rank: Bronze

  Resistances: Piercing damage, Blunt damage, Slashing Damage

  Weaknesses: Fire, Mana, Silver…

  ]

  As Lucas scanned the information, his jaw clenched so hard his teeth ground together.

  He was furious.

  Furious at himself for falling into such a stupid trap. If only he had stopped to think for a moment, he would have realized that no woman would survive alone among goblins. Especially not in a dungeon.

  Not now… He forced the distracting thoughts aside and let go of the spear, stepping back toward the wooden staff.

  The velumorph finally regained control - or snapped out of its daze - as the spear slid down through its body, passing cleanly through as though there had been no resistance at all.

  Then it charged.

  Then it charged, but Lucas already held the staff.

  He had two options: either try to push the creature into the fire or use the wooden staff, which was a magical artifact and likely had mana inside.

  The creature was no longer trying to use a knife, but was charging at him with a speed and momentum that convinced Lucas its plan was to tackle him and pin him down.

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  But Lucas jumped to the side the moment it came close enough, widening the distance just enough that the velumorph wouldn’t be able to grab him, while keeping it within reach of his staff.

  He swung it like a club and struck the creature across its side.

  The white, ragged clothes clinging to its body began to hiss as the tip of the staff cut through it. The tissue around the gemstone bubbled, and a swamp-colored gelatinous mass revealed itself beneath the disguise.

  But the staff was now stuck inside, and Lucas failed to pull it free.

  “Have it your way,” he sneered as he shoved the creature backward.

  The velumorph failed to resist the push and began stepping back, its pace increasing with each unsteady step. Its eyes widened in terror as it felt the heat of the fire behind it, and it clawed at the staff lodged in its body, even attempting to tear off an entire side of itself to escape it.

  But Lucas didn’t allow it.

  He closed the distance and kicked it as hard as he could, driving it straight into the fire.

  The creature screamed the moment it hit the roaring flames, and its human appearance collapsed instantly. It transformed into a swamp-colored gelatinous mass with four limbs, hair, and even the shape of a chest, but it was made entirely of one material - that same viscous substance now struggling against the flames.

  The fire began to weaken, and so did the velumorph’s screams.

  The entire struggle lasted less than ten seconds, leaving behind only a thick, rancid mist that burned Lucas’s eyes and nose.

  [You’ve gained 43 Experience Points!]

  Forty-three? Lucas couldn’t believe his eyes. The bears had been far stronger than this creature, and yet it had earned him twice as much experience as two bears combined.

  Is it over? He thought as he looked around, searching for the column of light and the reward chest, but instead blue notifications flashed before his eyes.

  [You’ve successfully cleared the Chamber of the Goblin King who was about to evolve!]

  [You’ve received 5 AP & 5 SP as an additional reward!]

  Lucas was still in awe when a column of light descended beside him and a chest materialized.

  This time he didn’t bother testing whether it was safe to open. Partially because he was too exhausted, but mostly because he was now convinced that dungeon rewards were genuinely safe.

  Inside, he found a pouch containing sixty-nine silver coins, one healing potion, one stamina potion, and a shield.

  He quickly moved the potions and the pouch into his Veilspace and picked up the shield.

  It was nearly a meter tall, the kind knights would carry into battle to use on horseback together with a lance. It wouldn’t be very useful for Lucas, as it would greatly affect his mobility, but that didn’t mean he was going to discard it. He had more than enough space in his Veilspace.

  After using Coward’s Eye on it and confirming it was a common item, he stored it inside his ring and turned toward the camp.

  He wanted to waste as little time as possible in this chamber because he understood that every minute here would cut into his sleeping time.

  And he was far too exhausted to prioritize anything else.

  Inspired by the fantasy games he had played in his youth, he briefly considered cutting off goblin ears or fingers as proof of his kills, but quickly dismissed the idea. He had no idea whether he would even be able to sell them.

  He checked the only shelter in the camp, made of branches and leaves, then the cage, and finally returned to the body of the goblin leader.

  The corpse lay in a dried pool of blood and dirt. Lucas still turned it over, but found nothing.

  Am I getting strong or were these goblins much weaker than the bears?! He thought as he grabbed loose dirt and scrubbed his hands clean of the sticky mass.

  Lucas understood that despite his mistake, too many things had worked in his favor. That scream which distracted the goblins had given him the perfect opportunity to kill the goblin leader, who had clearly been far stronger than the others. Had he missed that first shot and alerted them, he would have likely died or been forced to flee.

  Besides, compared to the bears, he now had a bow - a much safer and deadlier weapon than the wooden staff he had relied on before.

  He turned toward the fire, where the magical artifact was still jammed into the remains of the velumorph.

  As he walked over, he decided to check his updated stats.

  [...Level: 28; Status: Exhausted; XP: 43/61; AP: 6.1; SP: 5…]

  [Archery (Basic) - Passive Skill. +40% increase to all damage dealt by bow.]

  [You may awaken one of these archery-related skills: Eagle Eye (active), Vital Marking (active), or Piercing Shot (active)]

  Lucas got excited seeing he could choose a new skill, especially one related to archery. But first, he needed to confirm what each one actually did.

  [Eagle Eye - Entering a focused state slows time slightly and improves precision. Duration: 10s. Cooldown: 30s.]

  [Vital Marking - Reveals weak points on a target of lower Rank.]

  [Piercing Shot - A charged shot that increases penetration power. Cooldown: 1 minute.]

  Lucas had expected to thoroughly compare each option, but after reading their descriptions, the choice seemed so obvious that he hesitated for a moment, wondering if he was overlooking something. But no matter how he examined it, Eagle Eye was simply better.

  Revealing weak points on enemies of lower Rank made little sense to him. If they were weaker, he could defeat them without assistance. And while Piercing Shot might be useful against heavily armored enemies, such as dragons, the benefit of slowing time and improving precision was far more valuable in nearly every situation. Besides, he had no idea if he would ever become strong enough to slay a dragon with a single shot…

  [New skill acquired: Eagle Eye (0/10)]

  Lucas glanced at the wooden staff a few steps away and focused on it.

  His vision shifted, and it felt as though he could zoom in on whatever he was looking at. The tops of the nearby trees, and even the owl perched against the artificial moon, seemed much closer than they actually were.

  Yet more important than that was the slight slowing of time. It wasn’t dramatic enough to make it feel as though everything had stopped, but moving targets would clearly become easier to hit.

  “One more chamber before I can leave this place,” he muttered as his vision slowly returned to normal.

  The next chapter on Saturday!

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