Are Goblins Really That Weak? (2)
What comes to mind as the most iconic race in fantasy fiction?
Elves? Dwarves? Or perhaps dragons?
It is never an easy choice, varying wildly depending on personal taste. But tweak the question just a little:
Q: Name the weakest race in fantasy fiction.
A: Slimes. Or goblins.
Indeed. Slimes and goblins are underdog staples so inextricably matched that choosing between them comes down to pure preference. Any test examiner with an ounce of mercy would happily accept both as correct answers.
Which was precisely why the viewers hadn't expected to see a hulking, muscle-bound behemoth when they pictured a goblin.
Wipe out creatures like this in under three hours?
"Can't blame them," Regressor Arin chimed in. "All they've seen so far was the cave wolf, right? And up until that point, it looked pretty much like an ordinary wolf."
Had they witnessed the Floor 2 mutant slime's tentacle spectacle, they never would have casually dropped lines like 'wipe them all out in three hours.' That was Regressor Arin's assessment.
Yeah. Honestly, I figured something abnormal would pop up, but this really shatters all expectations, doesn't it?
"What did you expect from the Tower?"
Fair point.
The Tower was by no means a welcoming place. He had heard countless times that etching that truth deep into one's soul was the only way to survive as a Climber in the long run.
Eunho sighed deeply and shook the blood from his hand.
“Krrrk…… Gurgle……”
Behind him lay the goblin, neck snapped and foaming blood at the mouth, staring blankly toward the beyond as if spacing out over the flowing waters of the River Jordan.
Ah. Looks like it had just dipped a toe in to check the temperature of the River Styx.
It was just as the comments said. The instant Eunho stepped onto the 4th floor, he crossed paths with a goblin and ripped its throat open before the creature could even pounce. How? With his bare hands.
Thanks to that, I picked up the Unarmed Combat skill.
Since he perceived martial arts utilizing the body as another form of 'weapon,' it seamlessly aligned with his mastery over other armaments. As a result, his Unarmed Combat started at C-rank right out of the gate.
Hmm.
Squatting down, Eunho poked and prodded the goblin's corpse here and there.
“What are you doing?”
Finding the sight bizarre, present-day Arin asked with a perplexed look. Not that he particularly enjoyed touching a dead monster either.
“Just sizing up how tough these goblins are. The name of this floor's been nagging at me.”
Mountain of Green Skins.
That was the name of this floor.
Only one has shown up so far. But there'll definitely be more later. Otherwise, they wouldn't have slapped the word 'Mountain' onto it.
Or perhaps there was another reason entirely. Still, rather than chasing only best-case scenarios, a Climber must always prepare enough to turn the worst situation into the lesser evil.
When I struck its muscle, the recoil felt surprisingly dense.
Granted, its hide wasn't as tough as a cave wolf's pelt. Nor were its raw power and agility notably superior. Yet a monumental difference separated the two.
The presence of intellect.
As a beast-type monster, a cave wolf lacked the capacity to think of using tools. Goblins, however, were different. The wooden club gripped in its right hand—as thick as a grown man's torso—was proof enough.
And another thing. That item by its waist that looks like a flute.
Resembling a flute or a blowgun straw, closer inspection revealed fine needles tucked inside. Tapping it lightly until a needle slipped out, he noticed a foul-smelling liquid coating its sharpened tip. Poison.
"That's probably what they call Body-Binding Poison," Regressor Arin observed. "It's the only kind goblins ever use. Though its potency here seems... pretty bizarre."
Even without having taken the hit herself, Regressor Arin was uncanny at pegging these details.
Body-Binding Poison. A type of paralytic that halts movement, huh.
"Right. You know how goblins operate, don't you? They only pick easy prey. Regardless of the species, they keep the females as broodmothers and slaughter the males to eat. The women probably end up dosed with that poison for the rest of their lives."
"Though..." she added, "my Purification should easily be enough to neutralize it. At my current level, I could even purge most poisons from the 2nd Stratum."
Really? Then I can go ahead without worrying.
"Uh... what? What are you going ahead with without worrying?! I'm definitely worried!"
Don't worry. It'll be over in a flash.
“Arin!”
Giving Regressor Arin no room to argue, Eunho immediately called out to present-day Arin. She tilted her head and walked over.
“What is it?”
“Could you get ready to cast Purification?”
“……What are you up to now?”
“Just testing something out.”
Before she could get another word in, Eunho jabbed the goblin's poisoned needle straight into his own hand.
Stab.
Venom seeped from the needle embedded in his finger, mixing directly into his bloodstream. A sharp, prickling sting rode through his blood, flooding his entire body. It felt as though pulverized glass rather than blood was circulating through his veins. Before long, his strength began to drain away, as if numbing every sensory organ from the inside out.
Poison is far more dangerous than I thought.
His intellect had already known that fact, seeing as poison was a hazard capable of wiping out countless lives. But understanding something intellectually and experiencing it through the body were two entirely different beasts.
The difference between knowing in your mind and issuing a command, versus your body learning it and dodging on pure instinct.
In the life of a Climber, that very distinction could mean the difference between life and death. Only now did Eunho truly fathom just how hazardous poison really was.
"Anyway, shouldn't you stop now? Huh? Be a good boy, Eunho. Let's purify it, okay?"
Seeing his regressor mother figure fussing and coaxing him like a baby beside him, Eunho decided to wrap things up.
Alright. My head was starting to spin anyway.
"You should've told me that sooner?!"
Regressor Arin whipped around frantically toward her present self, but unfortunately, the present Arin couldn't see her.
"Aargh... You absolute idiot! Why on earth are you just standing there taking that?!"
Her scolding was loaded with fiery temper, yet the underlying worry made it endearing all the same.
It's fine. I have a plan.
Eunho chuckled softly and recalled that sensation from before.
The Silence Boots. The sensation when I wore them.
More precisely, he was retracing the sensation and the movement of mana when his Poison Resistance had risen. Eunho introduced a variation to the flow of his mana.
He transformed the motion of his mana from gently flowing water into a blazing inferno. A raging fire stoked with fresh firewood could incinerate anything. The instant he naturally focused his mana with that visualization—
'Poison Resistance' has increased.
'Poison' has been added to Resistances.
“Oh. It went up.”
His talent answered in kind, as it rightly should.
Following that, an additional item made its way onto Eunho's agenda for the 4th floor.
1. Slaughter goblins.
2. Test the Grudge Tooth.
3. Train diligently.
4. Raise Poison Resistance. (NEW!)
A bountiful list of four full tasks.
Among them, #3 'Train diligently' and #4 'Raise Poison Resistance' could basically be treated as the exact same entry. Slaying goblins naturally fulfilled both. In fact, looking at the big picture, all four were straightforward objectives that could be cleared simultaneously just by encountering goblins.
"How can anyone call that 'easy'?"
Regressor Arin muttered in utter disbelief, but Eunho smoothly ignored her and plucked out the Body-Binding Poison needles that were jammed into his arm one after another.
Poison Resistance reacts.
Poison Resistance successfully resists.
Resistance has increased.
At first, sticking a single needle into his palm sent his resistance shooting up, but now, jamming dozens into a single forearm barely bumped the resistance by a point—if at all.
Tsk. Should I start chewing on poisonous herbs or toxic mushrooms?
"Don't you dare. Besides, the goblins have probably already harvested all the toxic mushrooms and herbs around here to brew their poison. It's already mixed into that Body-Binding Poison, so eating raw plants won't do much."
A pity.
"More importantly, what about the Grudge Tooth? You haven't used it yet, have you?"
I haven't had much chance to.
The goblins didn't possess thick hides like beast monsters. Their bodies were roughly on par with well-built humans. Granted, they were a complete 180-degree departure from conventional goblins, but they weren't formidable in the way cave wolves were either.
In other words, as long as he read a few moves ahead of what they were thinking, combat posed virtually zero challenge.
Eunho retrieved the Grudge Tooth from his inventory. It remained an incomplete item. He had tried whittling a wooden rod into a shaft as an experiment, but the artifact had rejected it.
"Watching those tooth-like things pop out and gnaw straight through the wood was quite the shock."
Living up to its name, I guess.
Eunho sighed and rose to his feet.
“Time to clear the 4th floor.”
Though barely any time had passed since entering, Eunho had wiped out every goblin in the vicinity. Muscle-head goblins. Turns out all that bulk was just water weight.
Come to think of it, the reward from Floor 2 came in handy on Floor 3. If that's the pattern, the Grudge Tooth might prove useful on this floor too.
"Or maybe something to complete the item will drop!"
Exactly.
The Grudge Tooth was still incomplete. Yet even in this state, it was rated C+.
What would it become once finished?
When speaking of the Tower's most renowned weapons, one naturally looked to the armaments wielded by the Rankers. Salwang's Dark Night Slaughter Sword, or the Witch Empress's Orb, for example. Their weapons were all A- rank—four whole grades above his unfinished artifact.
Once completed, B- rank is practically guaranteed. Maybe even higher.
Barely a single day since entering the Tower. And he could become a rookie wielding a weapon of that caliber.
The thought sent a thrill of anticipation racing through Eunho's chest.