Chapter 8 - Goblin Warrior (2) (2/2)

Of course, its weakened lightning ability was more than enough to drive out Goblins. But man, Goblins really aren’t that bright.

I’m not like them.

I took out my sharp, steel sword. The Goblin Warrior’s face had turned completely white and was unable to move. I stole a look at its wound, which could not be stabbed more violently. Seeing me, it started to slowly inch its body backward.

I was wary of it and distanced myself, factoring in the chance of it attacking me with its last strength.

But, it could barely move. Just as I thought, there was a limit to its strength.

With all my strength, every last ounce of it, I aimed my sword straight for his stomach and shoved it in.

“Hukkk!”

It shrieked in utter pain. Its intimidating arm was of no comparison to my scrawny one, which it swung about to knock me down. I ducked low to avoid it and shoved my sword in even deeper.

Instead of knocking me down, its arm was flailing about in the air and it fell to the floor dead.

My revenge was successful.

[You’ve earned 700 EXP.]

[You’ve earned 95 Bronze.]

[Level Up!]

[You’ve attained Swordsmanship Level 5.]

I thought that the amount of EXP I gained from only hitting the Goblin Warrior with a finishing hit was weird. It seemed to me that this world was all about gaining much from little effort. Maybe it was because the mercenary who was supposed to get the EXP had died instead.

To sum things up, it seemed like I earned this crazy amount of EXP by slaying the Goblin Fighter solely by my own self.

It hadn’t been too long since my last level up, but here I experienced it again. My body that was once a mess from the lightning magic was now completely healed and normal.

I felt the utter happiness that was coming from the depths of my soul. But, I didn’t shout. It would be a waste to call attention to myself, after all I did to run away from the Goblins.

‘Fate was on my side.’

It was true. My luck was unbelievable. It was as though someone somewhere had felt sorry that he or she had turned me into a goblin, and completely set this whole thing up.

I now didn’t have to worry and tremble in fear about the Goblin Warrior coming back to kill me. It only took me this one experience to level up, and I obtained a multitude of powerful prey.

…Multitude?

I stopped thinking up until this point and looked down at the Goblin Warrior’s lifeless body. It was then I saw a female corpse that had been eaten down to her bones and the uneaten corpse of a male mercenary.

‘Eating….humans?’

My heart then split into two. When I was human, there would be no contemplating. Thus, it was more shocking for me. I was astounded at the fact that I didn’t feel any disgust at the thought of eating humans.

It was then I resisted. For the first time, I resisted my belief that staying alive and getting stronger was not mutually exclusive.

I knew that I had to be prepared to kill a human to stay alive. But, eating a human was a different story. Humans will kill each other to stay alive, but they absolutely don’t eat each other.

So that’s what it is.

I realized something. I still regarded myself as a human.

Human food wasn’t the only thing I was craving. Stuck in a tiny dungeon amongst the bodies of Goblins, I had been longing for the human life that I once had. A foolish idea.

Though one thing was certain. The moment I decide to eat a human I could no longer identify with humankind, even if there was a chance I turned back. I couldn’t return back to society.

There was no way I could nonchalantly meet eye to eye with a human. Not my mother, father, siblings, nor friends.

Standing at the crossroads, my following actions were that of a coward. I placed the two male corpses into inventory. A bad decision.

There was no humanity left in me to abandon, and furthermore I couldn’t help but acknowledge the absolute needs of my monster body. That is why I decided to delay making a choice. I know I’m talking about myself, but man I was a coward.

‘Someday, and probably not far in the future, the time will come where I have to make a choice.’

I was able to justify my actions by convincing myself that when I did make a decision in the future, it would be firmly and without wavering.

Along with the Bastard Sword on the floor, I took out the knife and sword shanked into the Goblin Warrior’s body and placed them into inventory. Afterward, I individually moved the Goblin Warrior and Fighter’s corpses to a safe location, far away from the entrance and Goblins.

I gave up on the Goblin corpses, as it would take way too much time to move them.

Finishing moving the corpses, I firmly made up my mind on the spot.

“What a sight.”

I was looking at this corpse. It was so big that I questioned if I could finish it all. However, I had to finish it all in one sitting. There were no more spots left in inventory, and I could not allow myself to pass up on eating a monster that would make me stronger.

After making my mind up, I tore off the Goblin Warrior’s arm. This muscular arm was way different from that of a Goblin and a Goblin Fighter. Not an ounce in my body wanted this food, but I threw away all thoughts interfering with my determination to get stronger.

“Thank you for this food.”

I finished it whole, after removing his scrappy leather jacket or otherwise what had become trash. My Predation skill helped me quickly eat him. It didn’t taste too bad.

At this point, I was beyond full but suppressed all emotions and turned my head towards the Goblin Fighter’s corpse. Even before I ate it, I felt my body change.

My slender arm which had become more muscular since becoming a Goblin Fighter became even bigger. Even more, my insides felt like it had grown.

This wasn’t all of it. It was different from a Level Up. I felt something like I had something new that was filling my insides up.

I became stronger. But how? I soon found out when I looked at the status window.

[Stamina increased by 2.]

[Health increased by 3.]

[Magic increased by 1.]

[You’ve earned a new skill, Lightning Magic.]

[Swordsmanship increased to Level 6.]