Once I made sure none of the humans were still around, I crawled out of my hiding spot. Honestly, I didn't care about the ranger's condition, what mattered was that I had survived this bizarre little skirmish.
The place where the fight had finally ended was a complete disaster. The thick smell of blood and dirt washed over me the moment I stepped closer. There were signs of battle everywhere. From where I stood, I could see both sides of the final clash. On one side was the pool of blood the ranger had left behind, along with the trail they'd dragged him across. From that same puddle, another groove cut across the dirt, the path the last goblin had carved out when the fireball sent him flying.
I took a few steps toward my fallen companion and stumbled over something. The ranger's knife. Looked like he'd dropped it when he was wounded, and none of them had bothered to pick it up.
It didn't seem like the finest craftsmanship… but I grabbed it without hesitation. Now I had two weapons, the hammer, and a knife. I weighed the blade in my hand, and an idea popped into my mind. If humans and monsters both had levels, then weapons should have something similar, right?
"Inspection," I muttered under my breath. The humans were far enough away that they wouldn't hear, but still, better safe than sorry.
Nothing happened.
"Identification."
This time, a tiny blue screen flickered into existence.
[Knife – Common]:"The simplest knife."
"Great," I thought dryly. I glanced at my other hand and tried the command again, but only in my head this time. I needed to test everything I knew from the novels now that I was alone. A second small screen appeared.
[Trash]
It didn't even bother giving the weapon a name. I guess that was fair.
Satisfied with my little experiment, and with my new toy, I walked over to inspect the goblin's corpse.
One of his arms was twisted at an unnatural angle, and the other was pressed against his throat in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. His rusty knife lay beside him, but I didn't intend to pick up more junk. I tried to use Inspection on his body, but nothing showed up.
Since there was nothing to gain from that corpse, I moved to the other spot, the one where the warrior and the brute goblin had wrestled on the ground.
Blood marked the entirety of their struggle, and at the end of the trail lay the brute goblin's body. Maybe the shovel he carried would be useful, so I walked closer.
He was lying on his back, staring blankly at the cave ceiling. His face was completely crushed by the warrior's armored punches, and the rest of his body was riddled with too many cuts to count. The broken shafts of several arrows still jutted from his flesh.
I stepped a little closer, and to my surprise, the goblin let out a weak growl, eyes still closed. He wasn't dead.
I instinctively stepped back and used Inspection.
[Goblin – Lv. 2]
I frowned. I expected more information, but apparently that was all I would get. Maybe I should have tried it on the adventurers… though I still wasn't sure if people could sense when you inspected them. Something I'd need to test eventually.
The brute goblin was barely conscious, and it was only a matter of time before his wounds finished him off. I thought about turning around and leaving. It wasn't like I could help him.
But then an idea crept into my mind, maybe this was an opportunity.
I stared down at my own green hands, feeling a bitter weight settle in my chest. This is what I was now, a goblin. I wasn't a human anymore, and I had no clue what I could or should do in this world.
A new world… new rules…
I sighed and rubbed my temple as a faint headache began to build from the whirlwind of thoughts. I just wanted to go home… to return to my daughter, to my family.
But was that even possible anymore?
If there was even the slightest chance of returning to my world, I wasn't going to find it while being a weak level 1 goblin. I needed to get stronger. And I needed to be ready to do things I never thought I'd be capable of.
I turned my eyes toward the brute goblin lying on the ground, and the hesitation evaporated from my mind. Maybe one day I would hesitate if the target were humans. But today… today I was going to kill a goblin.
I took a deep breath and stepped toward him, knife in hand. Without giving myself time to think, I raised my arm and drove the blade into his chest.
The goblin jerked violently, releasing a faint growl. I had aimed for his heart, but judging from the sound and the way he struggled, I'd pierced a lung instead. He forced his eyes open and tried to lift a hand toward me, but before he could touch me, I yanked the knife out and stabbed him again.
His arm fell limp to the ground and I watched him as the light drained from his eyes.
[You have killed Goblin – Lv. 2]
[Congratulations, you have reached Lv. 2]
Just as I suspected, killing your own kind also counted.
My fingers slipped off the knife, and I stumbled back. My heel caught on a stone, and I fell hard onto my backside. My breathing turned ragged, and a wave of shock crashed over me. I knew I had done what needed to be done. I knew I was willing to do far more if it meant going back home. But even so… I had taken a life.
I turned to the side and vomited onto the cave floor. Afterward I sat still for several minutes, eyes closed, trying to steady my breathing. Eventually, the trembling faded.
I stood up and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. When I looked at the corpse again, I remembered the knife. With a firm motion, I pulled it free. A thin line of blood trailed down the blade. I wiped it as best I could on the brute goblin's own body, then gave him one last cold glance.
To calm down more, I checked my status:
Name: Unknown
Race: Goblin
Level: 2
Strength: 1
Dexterity: 1
Constitution: 2
Intelligence: 1
Wisdom: 1
Charisma: 1
Free Points: 2
It looked like I had gained one point of Constitution and two free points to spend. Focusing on numbers soothed me, so I analyzed things carefully. Constitution increasing made sense, monsters in games always grew sturdier as they leveled. They always had more health. The other stats were less important compared to raw endurance, but even so, I couldn't afford to make a careless choice.
I didn't want to assign points right away without knowing what awaited me next, but I needed to test how it worked somewhere safe. At least Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma were easy to discard for now. I wasn't using magic as I didn't have any spell, and charming my way out of danger wasn't exactly realistic for a goblin.
I had to choose among the physical stats: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution.
My first instinct was Constitution, it was the safest choice. More health, more resilience. But if the tribe had another level-2 goblin who had dumped points into Strength, I'd be facing a Strength 3 monster while I stayed at Strength 1. Fighting something three times stronger than me… terrible idea. The same logic applied to Dexterity.
It felt stupid to overthink things, but this wasn't a game where I could reshape my character if things went south. A bad choice here meant death.
So, Strength it was. I could raise the others later, but right now I needed raw power.
With a mental command, I assigned all my points to Strength. A tingling sensation ran through my body, like a rush of cold water flowing through my muscles.
I looked at my arms and legs but they were the same. I didn't feel stronger, but I also hadn't tested myself too much before assigning the points.
I picked up a stone and hurled it at one of the huts with force. The difference wasn't dramatic compared to before.
I sighed and, obsessively, opened my status again.
Name: Unknown
Race: Goblin
Level: 2
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 1
Constitution: 2
Intelligence: 1
Wisdom: 1
Charisma: 1
The "Free Points" line was gone, but I couldn't help smiling. Even if the difference was small, I was stronger, at least on paper.
My eyes drifted back to the goblin's corpse. My expression hardened as my resolve solidified. I didn't know who brought me to this world or why, if there even was a reason, but I would survive. And I would make it back home.
No matter the cost.