Floor 1, Tutorial (4)

"Yes."

A fading of vision, and with it, a strange floating sensation.

The instant the weightlessness vanished, gravity returned. I felt the ground press against the soles of my feet, and opened my eyes.

Before me stretched a circular stone floor about half the size ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of a soccer field, ringed on all sides by churning, bubbling red lava.

It looked just like an arena.

An arena rising above seething magma. And I was standing on it.

Feeling the suffocating heat, I turned my gaze toward the far side of the platform.

…What the hell?

One hulking goblin clad in plate armor.

Seven goblin warriors carrying swords.

Two goblin assassins armed with crossbows.

The moment I registered the enemies, the message updated.

With ten seconds left before combat began, the goblins hadn't yet noticed me — perhaps that was why.

Ten goblins. Could I actually take them?

The most I'd ever fought at once was four.

Four ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hadn't been all that hard, but ten would be a different beast entirely.

What worried me most was the one in the plate armor.

The instant I focused my eyes on the big goblin, a notification window appeared.

A goblin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠paladin? Seriously?

My head rang as if I'd been clubbed from behind.

Goblin warriors, goblin assassins — sure, I could believe those.

But a goblin paladin? That just wasn't right.

Five seconds remaining.

I quickly drew my crossbow.

"Kkiik! Goblin! Too hot!"

"Shut up already!"

After barking at Dobby for his racket, I spent the fleeting moment sketching out a plan for the fight ahead.

A one-versus-many battle. The most important thing was space.

I had to carve out room to move. If I got surrounded, I was dead.

I'd use the crossbow to create that opening.

Keep the goblin assassins' crossbows in mind, and watch out for the paladin.

The message ended, and from across the arena the goblins began to charge.

Alright. Here we go.

"Kkiek! Human! Die!"

"Kkieeek!"

Goblin warriors rushing straight at me. The goblin paladin holding perfectly still. Goblin assassins fanning out wide along either side of the circular arena.

"Kkiik! Human! Watch out, you must!"

If I stayed near the edge of the circle, I'd be surrounded. I'd lose all the space I needed to move.

Crossbow in my left hand, longsword in my right, I charged out to meet them.

Thwip—

An arrow came flying in from the right; I dove forward into a roll to dodge it.

Thwip—

Another arrow, aimed at where I'd landed.

I rose and immediately stepped back a pace, slipping past it.

While the goblin assassin reloaded, I had just enough breathing room to take aim with my own crossbow.

I'd meant to save it for creating space, but the bolts flying in from both flanks were the more pressing threat.

I snapped my aim toward the goblin on my right and squeezed the trigger.

Thwip— The bolt streaked out and punched straight through the goblin's brow.

"Ggok…"

The goblin assassin toppled out of the arena like a puppet with its strings cut.

A goblin cremation — the boiling lava greedily swallowed up the lifeless body.

"Kkiek!"

There was no time to reload.

I hurled the crossbow at a goblin warrior barely three meters away.

It struck the lead goblin square in the face. He staggered, clutching his face in pain, lost his momentum, and tangled legs with the goblin behind him. Both went down in a heap.

A gap opened up in the charging line of goblins.

Gripping my sword tight, I threw myself into that gap.

"Kkiik!"

A blade flashed at my eyes; I bent my upper body to the left.

The goblin's sword sliced through empty air with a sharp hiss.

Charging through the open ground left by the two fallen goblins, I stabbed my sword into the ones still trying to rise.

Two thrusts in a single breath.

Throat and chest pierced, both goblins lost their balance and crumpled to the floor again.

Five goblin warriors behind me.

Without turning around, I sprinted at the goblin assassin leveling its crossbow.

"Kkiik! Human!"

Thwip—

The report of the crossbow was swallowed by the shrieks of the warriors at my back. But I'd been watching the shot, and a single sidestep carried me clear of the bolt.

Before the assassin could even draw its dagger, I kicked off the ground and leapt at it.

I drove the sole of my foot into the goblin's chest as it fumbled for its blade.

"Kkiek…?"

The kick launched the goblin out over the lava.

I didn't watch it fall. I twisted my body around instead — just in time to find a blade that had followed me already arcing toward my head.

"Kkieeeeeek!"

A scream — the goblin being cremated alive in the molten rock — and in the same instant I parried the sword flying at my face sideways.

I drove my blade into the widening gap in the goblin's chest.

"Kkeuk!"

The goblin buckled, and in the space it left behind, another gap opened.

I pressed into it and swung my sword to the right.

The goblin, its throat cut deep, collapsed still holding the posture of its own dying swing.

Three goblin warriors left.

The goblin paladin watched me with its arms crossed, as if observing a child's antics.

Anger boiled up in me. I hated that arrogance. I hated the look of it.

"Haah… haah…"

Separate from that, the scorching heat and my own frantic pace had left me gasping.

Fighting to steady my breathing, I leaned my upper body back from a blade slashing in on a diagonal from the left.

The sword grazed the hem of my clothes and carved through nothing.

Off-balance from the missed swing, the goblin swayed — and I thrust my sword into its teetering body.

"Keuk!"

The goblin, its brow split open, crumpled where it stood.

Using its falling weight, I drew the buried blade free with ease.

"Kkiik! Huuumaaan!"

Two goblin warriors left.

They charged from both sides at once.

I deflected the diagonal downward slash from the left, then cut horizontally through the goblin rushing in from the right.

The instant the cut landed, I twisted the tip of the blade and drove it into the left goblin's collarbone.

"Kki, kkiik…"

Green blood trickled down from the gaping throat of the goblin I'd cut first.

The one with the blade buried in its collarbone clutched at it with both hands and dropped to its knees.

Two goblins down in a single breath.

"Haah…"

I yanked my sword free and steadied my breathing as the goblin fell apart before me.

Only one remained — the goblin paladin.

It still stood there, arms crossed, watching me.

I took my time steadying my breath.

I had to get my breathing under control before it moved.

Scorching heat filled my lungs to the brim. Sweat trickled down along my jawline.

Stay right there.

Just a little longer.

Hold still. Let me catch my breath.

As if it had read my mind, the paladin uncrossed its arms the moment the thought ended. It unslung the shield from its back and drew its sword.

A broad, inverted-triangle shield, and a longsword gleaming silver.

It looked immeasurably better than my battered longsword.

And with the plate armor flashing in the light of the boiling lava, a sigh escaped me unbidden.

I looked down at my own worn longsword.

That shabby, aged blade had lost much of its edge through battle after battle. Honestly, it looked ready to snap at any moment.

…How the hell am I supposed to get through that armor?

"Kkiik, human. Impressive, for a human."

"Oh, screw off, what's that supposed to mean."

Impressive for a human? Wasn't the real miracle here that a goblin had become a paladin?

Irritation flared up in me. I didn't like the way this goblin, of all things, acted like it stood above me.

"Kkiik, human. But now that you have met a goblin, all that remains for you is death! Atone with your death, you must!"

With that, the goblin paladin kicked off the ground.

The sudden charge caught me off guard, but I quickly corrected my grip on my sword.

Fast. No wonder they'd given it the paladin title. I shifted left to dodge the descending blade.

While its sword was still buried in the ground, I swung at it.

The goblin paladin snapped its shield up to block.

Clang—!

…Huh?

My battered longsword — the one that had struck the shield — broke.

Nothing left but a stump of blade above the hilt. Why, of all times, now?

I froze for a heartbeat, losing track of the paladin's movement — and in that heartbeat, a sword came flying in from the right.

Out of habit I raised the stump to block, then remembered mid-motion that the sword had broken, and frantically rolled to the left instead.

Damn it, what do I do?

Then it hit me — the dagger I'd recovered from the goblin assassin.

I flung the broken longsword aside and whipped out the dagger.

Roughly thirty to forty centimeters — about a third the length of my old longsword. It felt alien in my hand.

But I had to adapt to the new reach.

"Kkiik! Human!"

I shifted my upper body out of the path of the goblin's sword, then thrust the dagger through the gap left by its overextended swing.

Kang— The dagger glanced off the plate armor without penetrating.

That was when I spotted a seam in the armor. A flood of calculations ran through my mind in that sliver of a second.

Stab? Or disengage and reset?

Damn it — one more, at the gap in the shoulder!

Kang—! I aimed for the narrow joint between the plates, but the goblin shifted, and my thrust went wide.

…Ah.

Greed. I saw the shield flying up under my chin.

I tried to pull back a beat too late — the goblin was faster.

A monstrous impact slammed up into my jaw.

Ahh… the pitted, uneven ceiling of the arena swam into view.

For a moment it felt like flying — then gravity came crashing back down on my body.

With a thud, my mind went white.

Had I landed headfirst? The violent pain ringing through my skull arrived a beat late.

Hah… strength draining out of my limbs.

I wanted to rest. I wanted to just lie here and sleep.

Was this some kind of nightmare?

Through my clouding vision, a flash of silver light burst into view.

I rolled to the side on pure reflex. Something smashed into the ground where I'd been.

Every roll sent another shockwave through my skull, scattering my thoughts.

Right. I was in the middle of a fight. Pull it together. Pull it together.

"Kkiik! Human! Die! Kar-lein! You shall join him!"

Gritting my teeth, I dragged myself up.

The moment I was on my feet, a thrust came hurtling at me in a dead-straight line.

My body wouldn't generate any strength.

I didn't have the confidence to sidestep it with a full step, like before.

Half a step. I wrung out every ounce of strength I had.

Shifting my weight forward, I twisted my waist to the left to slip the thrust.

But my body wouldn't obey. My waist wouldn't turn as far as I'd intended.

Shk! The horrid sound rang out crystal clear. My right flank seared with fire.

Still — it hadn't gone clean through me. Using the forward-tilted momentum of my body, I shot my left leg out.

Before it could recover its shield, my right foot followed.

I wedged myself in between its outstretched thrusting arm and the drawn-back shield, and locked my arms around the goblin paladin.

However big it was, it was still a goblin. In weight and raw strength, I had the better of it.

Like wrestlers grappling, I hooked my foot behind its right heel and drove forward with all my weight.

It lost its balance. There — I had it.

"Kkiik!?"

With the dagger in my right hand, I grabbed its head and shoved it down savagely. As we fell, I had to slam it into the ground.

Thud—thud! Thud! Thud!

After we hit the floor, I hammered its head against the stone again and again.

The goblin paladin, unable to gather its wits.

"You son of a bitch!"

With my left hand I yanked its head back, wrenching open the gap between armor and helm — and there, peeking through, was green flesh.

Thuk— I drove the dagger in toward its collarbone.

Thuk—thuk— Green blood sprayed upward. The goblin paladin jerked and convulsed beneath me.

It's over. It's over now. I've got him.

"Haah…"

Feeling the heat of my own blood running down my cheek, I flopped back onto the floor and lay there.

My head was swimming. I closed my eyes and breathed deep. My chest rose and fell in great heaves.

The air flowing into my lungs, the air flowing out — all of it was scalding.

Hm?

A low muttering came from beside me, and I turned my ear toward it.

"Kki…ik. Wounds… heal…"

I turned my head — and there, a glow of holy light was gathering around the creature's throat, flickering and bright.

Ah…

This little bastard really was a paladin, wasn't he.

A goddamn paladin.