The First Key
The goblin's level was exactly the same as Gular's. In other words, it was ridiculously weak. It couldn't hold a candle to me now that my level had reached a whopping 28. I swung my bones around and stepped forward. The goblin spat at me with a face full of wariness.
"Keeek!"
I'm not kidding. It actually spat at me. Right toward my face.
"......"
Was this thing seriously picking a fight? It didn't want to go down easy, huh. A spark of anger ignited in my previously quiet mind. Fine, I'll smash you with the full Fallen Knight skill set. I assumed a stance, ready to unleash every ability starting with Hatred's Charge.
"Keruk!"
Then another sound came from behind. More goblins. At least a dozen of them. Did it think it had the upper hand now? The goblin that had been cowering moments ago now looked all smug and full of itself.
Oh yeah? Look at these punks. They weren't seriously thinking they could take me just because they had numbers, were they? Skeletons look easy to you? I raised my shield, determined to show them what for.
'Hatred's Charge!'
My body shot forward, slamming straight into the goblin.
Bam!
"Keruk!"
The moment it hit my shield, the goblin went flying pathetically. Huh? Was it always this powerful? The impact felt way stronger than when I body-slammed bare-boned. Had something changed when my level went up? I checked the skill description again.
Hatred's Charge Lv. 2
Charge at full speed toward a target, inflicting massive damage and stiffness on the first enemy struck. Damage increases with the user's weight.
Oh yeah, there was that line. The key phrase finally caught my eye: damage increases with weight. So if I threw on some heavy armor, it'd hit even harder? Yeah, that tracked for a knight skill. Ramming into foes decked out in full plate mail! I might not have a voice yet, but once I did, the power would skyrocket.
"Clack! Clack! Clack!"
I was looking forward to it.
"Keruk!"
As its ally got knocked out so easily, unease rippled through the remaining goblins. But it was too late. Realizing it now wouldn't change a thing.
Thud!
I dove into the goblin pack and swung my bones wide once. I felt multiple light impacts through my palms. By the time I pulled back out, every goblin neck was cleanly severed.
I shook the goblin blood off my bones and turned away.
After that, things went smoothly. The occasional goblins we ran into posed no threat. Just low-level trash squealing and spitting their stinky saliva. Why did they keep spitting, anyway? They weren't some alien species from a game.
It seemed like their way of intimidating foes, but it just puzzled me. No poison or anything—just gross and smelly. If the goal was to ruin the mood, mission accomplished.
After thoroughly checking the second floor, only one spot remained. A suspicious room with a firmly shut door. The key had to be inside. I opened it expectantly and stepped in.
A musty stench hit me first. If I'd had a nose, I'd have pinched it shut. That distraction made me drop my guard for a split second.
Shoo!
An arrow whistled from somewhere. Where? I tried to trigger Evasion in a panic, but the arrow was faster.
Clang!
It grazed my helmet and clattered to the floor, knocking the helmet off in the process. My vision, previously blocked by the helmet, suddenly cleared, revealing the room in detail.
A horde of goblins aiming various weapons at me, on high alert. Signs of their lives littered the area—walls and floors stained with filth. That explained the stench.
Then my gaze locked on the biggest goblin—and
Craving
Ah, that familiar feeling. A different personality—not my usual self—bubbling up. My eyes scanned the room and fixed on one spot. A burly goblin draped in what looked like high-quality leather. A necklace hung from its chest.
The key. The one I'd been hunting for, right there on its chest.
I charged without a second thought, closing in on the goblin horde in no time.
'Spinning Slash!'
A few skill uses later, the fight ended anticlimactically. When I snapped out of it, the area was drenched in red blood. The corpses—goblins just moments ago—were colder than expected.
Craving effect fades.
My mind cleared. I'd felt it plenty of times, but coming back to myself always felt unpleasant. I shook my head, my blurry vision sharpening.
No more enemies here, right? I looked around.
And there, in a dark corner of the room, was a human. Ears sliced off. Limbs twisted unnaturally. A woman sprawled on the floor.
"......"
I thought she was a corpse at first. But as I approached, her head twitched. She was alive.
Her hollow eyes fixed on me.
"Clack clack."
Realizing I wasn't a goblin, a flicker of hope lit her eyes. But it wasn't the kind of hope I knew.
"Kill... me..."
She forced out the words with her last strength. She was desperately begging for death.
Death. No one knew its weight better than I did. A body always dead. No spark of life, no vitality—just hollow flesh. Every step made weird noises, and all I could do was clack my jaw since I couldn't speak.
Yet this human craved death. The abyss I'd kill to escape was her only refuge now.
Life was hell. Body broken. Mind shattered. What kind of life could she even have like this? Was it any different from being dead?
On the flip side, if I chased life as a human... would that make me alive?
Buzzing like bugs in my skull disrupted my thoughts.
"Clack!"
I gnashed my teeth to snap out of it. All this emotional crap was Craving's fault. Lately, I'd been getting all sentimental.
Where's my helmet? Time to ditch this useless skill. I looked around for the helmet to equip my Earring of Serenity.
Luckily, it wasn't far. I hurried over.
Should be able to slap it on and clear my head any second now. But then, unexpected intruders.
"Ugh...! What the hell is that smell?!"
A group of wanderers burst in, immediately clutching their noses. Yeah, the stench was brutal. Even I was thrown off at first; now that I was used to it, it was tolerable.
Spotting the goblin corpses, the wanderers looked shocked. Then their eyes shifted behind me.
"Hold on! We'll save you!"
"......"
I glanced back at the woman. No joy at her rescuers. That confirmed it—her plea for death was pure truth, no lies.
...Okay.
"...Clack clack."
Slice.
I raised my bones and severed her neck.
"You bastard!"
No blue smoke—she didn't vanish. Just bled out into a cold corpse. Not a wanderer, huh. Makes sense why she begged me.
"Daytime monster scum dares kill a human?!"
The leader-looking guy roared. But I was confused. Why were they mad at me? I just granted her wish.
She asked to die, so I did it. Where else would you find a skeleton this nice? I gave her exactly what she wanted.
I protested with all the injustice I felt.
"Clack clack."
Of course, all that came out was pathetic clacking.
"It's just one. Take it down quick!"
No talking my way out. My bad for expecting that. Sighing inwardly, I stood.
What do you do with pests blocking your path? Simple.
Craving
Just kill them.