Alex swings the dagger, trying to get the feel of it. He imagines himself as a ninja, slashing at multiple enemies from all directions.
He practices simple moves, straight jabs, hook slashes, and reverse stabs. For the next two hours, he continues the repetitive motions, growing more familiar with the weapon. Eventually, boredom starts to set in.
Alex looks at the baby Panda, its head lowered in sadness. He sits next to it and points up at the stars.
"Your mother is still with you, watching over you from up there."
The Panda lifts its head slightly, feeling a little comforted.
Alex lies down and closes his eyes, feeling at ease. The father Panda rests beside the mother, while the other two take turns guarding the area. He feels reassured, knowing they are keeping watch.
Few hours later
The father panda was quietly getting ready to move out. Alex slightly opens his left eye, peeking at their sudden movement.
The moment the father panda and the other two quietly leave the place, Alex also vanishes into thin air.
"Arrrnnn Baaagggrrr Kkaarrn" Chattering among themselves.
Alex was following them just 50 meters behind, hiding from one tree to another.
'I'm an expert at camouflage, all these days of hiding from ferocious monsters has definitely helped in achieving it.'
'I wonder where they are going so secretively.'
After a long 50-minute walk, a hole appears and the pandas jump inside.
'Is this a hunting place, like an underground animal den or something?'
Just as he thought, it was a running stream of water underground, four meters deep. As they went deeper, they saw long-nosed fish, weird-shaped fish that looked like catfish, and eels.
When the Pandas caught the fish, Alex shouts,
"That is dangerous!"
It most definitely was a catfish, but what's worse was it could be even more deadly in this magical world.
The Panda drops the fish in shock. They now stare at each other like, 'He saw our hideout, should we kill him?'
Alex sighs,
"I don't care about this place, I was just curious about where you guys were quietly heading."
The father Panda hits the other two in their faces, as if scolding them for not knowing when to show respect to their savior.
The pandas didn't seem to care despite Alex's warning and caught all the fish they could get.
When they arrived back, they gave some fish to the dead bears too. Maybe this was their way of paying tribute to the dead?
It was time for lunch, all of them gathered and started eating. The moment Alex took a bite, he knew it most definitely was poison. Seeing how they ate without any issues, he was sure they were immune to poison.
Alex wanted to take things slow. He finally met some companions after all those days of hardship, so he decided to stay a little longer before heading out to the pond.
Over the next 3 days
Alex played along with the baby Panda and went on hunts in different holes. Each had different fish, and even the baby tagged along. Although he was almost eaten by a huge eel, the baby kept crying for hours because of it.
Alex dug a hole to bury the dead pandas with his dagger. They all prayed together.
That night, for the first time in weeks, Alex didn't wake up with a blade in hand or fear hanging at his chest.
The soft snoring of the baby panda beside him was oddly comforting.
"They trust me," he thought, watching them sleep.
He knew he should keep moving danger never stayed far behind, but something in his chest resisted.
"I've fought so hard to survive...I forgot what it felt like to breathe in peace."
During his stay, Alex's poison resistance level gradually increased.
[Poison Resistance: Level 2]
It was a fun three days, until Alex decided to leave.
All of the Pandas were sleeping. Alex was now staring at the pond, making sure not to get lost. The place was roughly 9 kilometers away, so this might have been their last farewell with each other since Alex didn't have a destination to stop at.
As he was about to leave, just a few meters away, he saw a group of goblins heading this way along with the goblin who had run away earlier. Alex knew what they came for...
It was to get their revenge.
"Perfect timing."
Alex smiles hysterically.
"Time to put these daggers to the test."
In less than 10 seconds, Alex closed the distance between him and the goblins. They had no time to react as he swiftly cut them down one by one. The speed and force of his strikes were so quick and powerful, each swing landing deep into their bodies.
Scared, the previously escaped goblin sat on the ground, but it was too late. He lost his right hand before he could even react.
"You should have just run when you had the chance."
Eight other goblins standing behind all charged at Alex, but Alex was way too fast and his body was incredibly flexible. Bending into an impossible position and kicking them in an instant was not something a human could do.
Alex throws the dagger at the goblin reaching for its bow, landing a perfect headshot.
In just one minute, all of them were neutralized.
Alex puts a dagger to the throat of one of the survivors.
"Tell me, why did you guys come back?"
The goblin spits at Alex.
"I guess they really hate other living beings. I'll have to take them out from the roots or else they'll keep coming back."
Alex tries to see any remaining footprints and walks straight, when the father panda interrupts.
"Arrr arr rrrggg"
"You want to tag along?" Alex points at himself cluelessly.
The Panda nods aggressively.
Of course, why wouldn't he? Nobody wants to kill the goblins more than the panda.
"Then what are you waiting for, let's go." Soon the other two quietly follow behind.
"One of you stay..."
"RAARRR! RRAAHH! RAAAHHRR!"
The two Pandas growled at Alex, clearly upset, trying to retaliate against his words.
"Who's gonna look after the baby Panda?"
They both went quiet after all that tantrum.
"Don't worry, I will make sure to get revenge for you."
The footprints weren't clear enough to follow, so the Panda used its nose to track the scent instead.
After 40 minutes of tracking, there was a small cave entrance. Alex was sure this was the place.
He takes out the dagger and leads the group quietly. Deep underground, the cave inside was quite large, about 4 meters deep.
The goblins were sleeping left and right, some were fighting among themselves, others were having a banquet. The place was messy. Leftover food, fish bones, and sharp stones everywhere.
There were approximately 45 goblins.
"It seems killing them will be easier than I thought."
The biggest issue was the goblin sleeping at the furthest end. He was a 7-foot-tall giant goblin.
Alex swings his dagger and smoothly kills all the goblins coming after him, but he then felt his martial arts were more convenient since he didn't know much about daggers other than normal attacks.
Like the sound of the wind, Alex was kicking the enemies and hitting them at rapid speed.
"Using hands and feet was the right choice."
From one side of the cave to the other, Alex was moving like an angry cat, kicking everyone straight in the face.
He accidentally hits one of the goblins in the mouth, all the goblin's teeth breaking in an instant.
The pandas were watching him in both awe and wariness. They didn't have to do anything. Alex was plundering them all by himself.
The goblins extinguished the torch, thinking Alex wouldn't be able to see in the dark since he was human. However, Alex grabbed one of the extinguished torches and began using his fire magic. The flame was tiny, barely visible to the naked eye.
The goblins smiled sinisterly, thinking they finally got him, and started to march toward him, only to get beaten up again.
"Who's laughing now?"
Alex accidentally sends one of the goblins flying straight toward the Giant Goblin.
The Giant Goblin wakes up, holding a huge stone tied to a large stick. He swings the stick at Alex. Alex dodges it, but the attack lands on the wall. The wall was left with a huge hole from the collision.
'Once it hits me, I'm dead.'
Alex shifts his attention toward the Giant Goblin.
"I leave the rest to you guys."
The pandas shout with pride, finally having a role to play.
"Arrrnnn!"
Alex takes out his dagger.
'My physical strength would hardly hurt this monster.'
Alex dodged every swing with ease. The giant's attacks were powerful, shaking the entire cave with each strike, but they were far too slow for Alex to miss. He swiftly cut through the goblin's vital areas, and in an instant, the giant lost its balance. With one decisive move, Alex drove the dagger deep into the giant's neck, delivering a fatal blow.
The cave started shaking, and Alex and the pandas quickly ran to the entrance. Just like that, all the goblins were either crushed by the cave or killed by their hands.
[You have slain a Hobgoblin]
[You have gained 12 exp]
[You have slain a goblin]
[You have slain...]
12 exp for that muscle head?
After the battle, Alex bids farewell to all the Pandas, especially the baby bear. He had no reason to stay here any longer since the bears' issue was solved.
The baby bear looked at Alex with a very sad expression. The poor thing had gone through so many difficult events all at once. The father bear hugged him and raised one of his paws toward Alex in a gesture of thanks, waving at him one last time.
And they went their separate ways.
Now that the goblins were all dead, Alex could leave the place with no hesitation.
After walking for the past two hours, Alex was getting close to the pond.
He didn't feel any aura coming from the place, but his instincts were telling him to back away.
A massive 40-meter-long snake was hidden just beneath the surface of the water, its eyes locked on Alex, who was curiously gazing at the pond, completely unaware of the creature's presence.
The snake was obviously defensive and was about to attack him, but just then Alex throws a stone.
The stone hits the snake.
"It isn't that deep?"
Alex looked at the water, still unsure how deep it really was. It was dark and covered with thick grass, the kind that made it hard to see through.
It looked shallow at first, but something about it felt strange.
He had thought it was deep before, and now he wasn't so sure.
He leaned in a little, squinting at the surface, trying to figure it out.
But his instincts were telling him to back off.