Leaves rustled wildly.
Branches snapped like brittle bones.
Zen crashed through the dark forest underbrush, his heart hammering against his ribs like a frantic drum.
Behind him, the chilling shouts of the goblins echoed – harsh, guttural sounds filled with cruel excitement.
"Damn it!" Zen gasped, his lungs burning. "They're too fast!" He tried zigzagging between the thick tree trunks, hoping to lose them.
But the goblins moved like a pack.
Their movements were smooth, coordinated.
They knew this forest.
They knew how to hunt.
He risked a glance back.
His stomach lurched.
The goblins had spread out, like hunters driving prey.
They were forcing him towards a narrow clearing.
Thick trees and sharp, jutting rocks formed walls on three sides.
A dead end.
He skidded to a stop, his back slamming hard against the rough bark of a large tree.
Trapped.
"Smart... for goblins," Zen muttered, sweat stinging his eyes.
He could smell their sour, unwashed stench mixing with the damp earth and rotting leaves.
Suddenly, a glowing rectangle flashed before his eyes:
[Quest Alert!]
Objective: Fend off the goblins chasing you.
Reward: Ability Unlock -- Absorb.
Zen stared, bewildered. "What the hell is this, Iris?" he thought, the words sharp in his mind.
"It's your first mission," Iris replied calmly inside his head. "This is your chance. You've got to fight your way out. Focus. Use what you've got."
Zen took a shaky, deep breath.
The damp forest air felt heavy in his lungs.
He clenched his fists, feeling the rough skin scrape together. "Alright," he whispered, bracing himself against the tree. "Time to see if I can actually do this."
The goblins moved in.
Seven pairs of yellow eyes glinted in the dim moonlight filtering through the leaves.
They held crude weapons: a jagged dagger made of sharpened bone, a wooden club studded with sharp stones, sharpened sticks, and small blowpipes.
They surrounded him, chattering in their rough language, clicking and hissing.
They had a plan.
The first attack came fast.
A goblin lunged, its dagger aiming straight for Zen's stomach.
Panic flared, but Zen reacted.
He focused, pushing the strange energy – mana – into his legs with the Empower skill.
His muscles buzzed with sudden strength. He twisted sideways.
The dagger sliced through his shirt, scraping his side with a hot sting, but missed its mark.
Zen swung a punch at the attacker.
But movement flickered at the edge of his vision.
Another goblin, silent and quick, thrust a spear-like stick from his blind spot!
Zen jerked back, but not fast enough. The sharpened point ripped across his forearm.
A line of fire bloomed on his skin.
"Damn it!" Zen hissed, scrambling backwards.
Blood trickled warmly down his arm.
The fight became a blur of snarls, flashing weapons, and desperate dodges.
He felt heavy, clumsy compared to their quick, coordinated strikes.
THUD
Then, a solid THUD smashed into his ribs. Pain exploded, stealing his breath.
The Empower skill flickered out.
He staggered, gasping.
Another club swung towards his head.
He barely ducked, feeling the wind ruffle his hair.
In that desperate moment, a memory flashed, sharp and painful: Derik.
The mall hallway. Lena's terrified face.
The ugly laughter of Derik's gang as they surrounded her.
The blinding rage that had erupted inside him then.
He remembered throwing that first punch, catching Derik off guard.
He remembered fighting like a wild animal, ignoring the blows raining down on him, knocking three of them out cold.
He remembered Derik and the others finally running, leaving him bruised and bleeding, but victorious.
After that day, they'd avoided him.
The memory burned through the panic.
The goblins pressed harder.
Two feinted attacks – one high, one low – forcing Zen to flinch.
A third goblin, unseen, darted from behind, swinging its heavy club straight at Zen's skull!
Instinct screamed. Zen dropped low.
CRACK
The club whistled over his head and smashed into the small tree beside him with a loud CRACK, sending splinters flying.
Without thinking, Zen lashed out with a wild, backhanded punch.
It connected hard with the goblin's jaw.
The creature stumbled back, screeching.
"They're working together too well!" Zen panted, his breath ragged and painful.
Sweat and blood mixed on his skin. "I'm gonna die if I don't figure this out!"
"Focus!" Iris's voice cut through the noise in his head. "They're predictable! Watch the one who barks orders! Look for their signals!"
Zen forced his eyes to dart between the goblins, ignoring the pain.
One goblin, slightly larger, gave a sharp, clicking bark.
Immediately, two others stepped forward threateningly, while one near the back raised a blowpipe to its lips.
Thwick!
A small dart hissed through the air, aimed right at Zen's chest!
Zen poured mana into his legs again.
Empower!
He threw himself sideways.
The dart thudded into the tree trunk where his heart had been a second before.
Using the momentum of his desperate dodge, Zen lunged.
Not at the dart-thrower, but at the goblin who had just feinted.
He got right in its face. Before it could react, Zen grabbed its head with both hands.
He felt the rough, bumpy skin, the greasy hair.
Ignoring the creature's shrieks, he jammed his thumbs hard into its bulging yellow eyes.
The goblin screamed, a horrible, high-pitched sound.
Thick, greenish-black blood spurted over Zen's hands, warm and sticky.
Disgust warred with survival.
He didn't stop.
He focused, pushing mana into his hands and arms, feeling the power surge.
He squeezed. Hard.
CRUNCH
There was a sickening, wet CRUNCH.
The goblin went limp.
Zen dropped the body.
It crumpled to the forest floor, unmoving.
Green blood coated his hands, dripping onto the leaves.
He had just killed something that looked almost human.
A wave of nausea hit him, mixed with a strange, cold horror.
But there was no time for feelings.
The other goblins hesitated for a split second, shocked by the sudden, brutal death.
Then, with angry hisses, they attacked again, even more fiercely.
The goblin with the heavy club swung again.
Zen jumped back.
His heel hit a root.
He stumbled, off balance.
The goblin with the bone dagger lunged, aiming for his exposed side!
Thinking fast, Zen grabbed a thick, fallen branch lying nearby.
He swung it up just as the dagger thrust forward.
CLACK!
The branch blocked the dagger's point.
Before the goblin could pull back, Zen swung the branch sideways like a baseball bat.
It connected solidly with the side of the goblin's head.
THUNK
There was a dull, heavy THUNK.
The goblin's head snapped sideways.
It collapsed, its skull misshapen.
More thick green blood oozed onto the dark earth.
"Two down," Zen gasped, his whole body trembling.
His arms ached.
His side screamed where the club had hit.
The remaining four goblins hissed, circling him like angry wolves.
Their leader – the one who gave orders – barked sharply.
Two goblins feinted high, jumping and snarling.
At the same moment, another goblin dropped low, sweeping its sharpened stick like a club at Zen's ankles!
Zen saw the low attack too late.
The stick cracked hard against his shin.
White-hot pain shot up his leg.
He cried out, crashing down onto one knee.
The rough ground scraped his skin.
"This isn't good!" The thought screamed in his mind.
Pain clouded his vision.
The goblins saw their chance.
They closed in for the kill, weapons raised.
Desperation, colder than the forest night, flooded Zen.
He gritted his teeth so hard his jaw creaked.
He pulled every scrap of strength, every drop of mana left inside him.
Empower!
He poured it all into his arms.
They felt like iron bands.
Ignoring the pain, he scooped up a handful of dirt and rotting leaves.
As the goblins lunged, he flung the dirt straight into their faces!
They screeched, blinded, clawing at their eyes.
Zen didn't hesitate.
He surged forward, straight at the leader.
He snatched a heavy, jagged rock from the ground.
The leader goblin was still wiping dirt from its eyes when Zen brought the rock down with all his empowered might.
CRUNCH!
The rock smashed into the top of the leader's head.
The sound was wet, final.
The goblin dropped like a sack of stones.
Its head was a ruin.
Warm, sticky green blood sprayed over Zen's face, chest, and arms.
He tasted its coppery tang on his lips.
The remaining goblins froze.
They stared at their leader's crumpled, bloody form.
Their yellow eyes widened with pure terror.
Panic replaced malice.
They turned and scrambled, tripping over roots in their haste to flee into the dark trees.
Their terrified shrieks faded quickly into the forest.
Silence fell, heavy and sudden.
Zen stood amidst the carnage, breathing in ragged gasps.
Blood – both red and green – covered him.
Pain pulsed from his ribs, his arm, his shin.
He felt hollowed out, trembling violently.
[Quest Complete!]
Reward Unlocked: Ability -- Absorb.
The glowing notification appeared.
At the same moment, a strange, warm rush of energy flowed through Zen's battered body.
It felt like a sip of warm water spreading from his chest outward, easing the worst edges of his pain and exhaustion just a little.
Another notification appeared:
[ABILITY UNLOCKED]
Absorb
Rank: Unique
- The user can absorb 5% of the stats from anything dead within an hour
Zen didn't fully understand it.
He was too wrecked.
His legs gave out.
He dropped heavily to his knees on the blood-soaked ground, gasping for air like a drowning man.
His clothes were torn rags, sticky with blood and sweat.
"I... did it," he whispered, his voice raw and trembling.
He had survived.
"You survived," Iris said softly. There was a hint of something new in her tone – maybe respect. "And now you're stronger."
The words barely registered.
Zen forced himself to his feet.
His legs shook violently, threatening to buckle.
He couldn't stay here.
The goblins might come back with more.
He was hurt.
Exhausted.
He stumbled away from the clearing, leaving the dead goblins behind.
The new Absorb skill completely slipped his mind in his dazed state.
Survival was the only thought.
"Climb a tree," Iris suggested firmly. "It's much safer than staying on the ground. You need rest."
Zen nodded numbly.
He scanned the dark trees.
Nearby, a large oak had strong, low branches.
Groaning with every movement, he hauled himself up, scraping his already raw hands on the rough bark.
He pulled himself onto a thick branch high above the forest floor and slumped back against the sturdy trunk.
Every muscle screamed.
He looked up, gulping in the cool night air.
His breath caught.
The sky... it was incredible.
Nothing like Earth.
Millions of stars blazed, impossibly bright, scattered across the deep black velvet of the night like scattered diamonds.
No city lights dimmed their glow. And the moon... it hung huge and luminous, bathing the forest in a soft, silver light far brighter and more beautiful than anything he remembered.
"It's... so different here," Zen murmured, a wave of awe washing over him, followed immediately by a sharp pang of homesickness.
The beauty felt alien, highlighting how lost he truly was.
Then, his stomach growled loudly, a harsh rumble in the quiet.
He realized with a jolt – he hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day.
Exhaustion pulled at him like heavy chains, but hunger gnawed painfully at his insides.
Yet, his body felt like lead. Rest wasn't a choice; it was a necessity.
"Tomorrow," Zen whispered, the word barely audible.
He closed his eyes, the image of the alien stars lingering behind his eyelids. "I'll find something... tomorrow."
Leaning against the rough bark, surrounded by the sounds of the night forest and the lingering scent of blood and battle, Zen drifted into a shallow, uneasy sleep.
High above the danger, he clung to the fragile hope that dawn might bring a chance to survive another day.