23. Goblin Den (Patreon)

Luke finally stepped into the dark den, his movements slow and deliberate. The moment he crossed the threshold, the dim lighting forced his eyes to adjust. Goblin-made torches, barely more than crude sticks wrapped in burning rags, lined the jagged walls, casting flickering shadows that made the cave appear alive. His grip on the Kalthoff Repeater tightened as he recalled Yorth’s words.

Goblins weren’t individually strong, nor were they particularly intelligent. Their strength lay in numbers and their underhanded tactics. They thrived in environments like this—tight, enclosed spaces filled with hidden traps and ambush points. New adventurers often underestimated them, and many paid the price.

Luke took another careful step forward, scanning the uneven ground. Just as he was about to put his foot down, a soft hiss reached his ears. Szeth had coiled tighter around his arm, his tongue flicking rapidly. Luke immediately froze, his sharp gaze shifting downward.

A nearly invisible tripwire lay inches away from his boot.

“Good catch,” Luke murmured, giving Szeth an approving pat on the head.

Taking a step back, he glanced around for something he could use. A discarded, half-rotten branch rested nearby. Picking it up, he gently pressed it against the tripwire.

Shhk-Shhk!

A barrage of crude arrows shot out from both sides of the cave, their tips glinting in the torchlight. Luke instinctively flinched as they clattered harmlessly against the rock where he had been about to step. The sheer number of projectiles sent a chill down his spine. Individually, they lacked the power to be lethal, but if someone were caught in the middle of the volley, it would be a different story.

Luke crouched and picked up one of the arrows, examining its rough craftsmanship.

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Crude Trap Arrows (Poison-Tipped)
 Type: Ammunition
 Attack Power: 8-12 Base physical pierce damage
 Poison Effect: Deals 5 damage per second for 10 seconds (stackable up to 3 times)
 Accuracy: 45%
 Rarity: Common
 Durability: 16/20

Details:
 Hastily crafted arrows used by goblins, made from brittle wood and chipped stone tips. Coated in a weak but irritating poison, these arrows are more of an annoyance than a true threat—unless enough of them find their mark. Their crude design results in poor accuracy and reduced durability, but in large numbers, they can still be deadly.

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“Sure enough, they’re poisoned too,” Luke muttered, tossing the arrow aside.

Steeling himself, he moved deeper into the cave, his eyes scanning ahead. Soon, he spotted a lone goblin standing at a fork in the tunnel. The creature barely reached his waist, its green skin mottled with dirt. Its yellow, beady eyes darted around warily, and in its clawed hand, it gripped a crude dagger, likely scavenged from a previous victim.

Luke stilled, ensuring the goblin hadn’t noticed him. He had the advantage of distance. However, he knew better than to assume it was truly alone. Narrowing his eyes, he activated his skill.

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Skill: Far and Wide (Level 2)
 Effect: Enhances the user’s visual prowess, allowing them to see farther than the average person. Grants the ability to zoom in on distant objects with precision, adjusting focus at will.
 Cooldown: 1 minute 50 seconds
 (As skill proficiency increases, cooldown and mental strain decrease, and the range of vision enhancement expands.)

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Luke’s vision sharpened as he focused on the cavern behind the goblin. At first, it seemed empty, but then—a faint movement. Another goblin, slightly larger than the first, emerged from the shadows, shuffling forward.

“Alright,” Luke muttered. “Two should be doable.”

Raising his newly acquired Kalthoff Repeater, he lined up his sights—not on the goblin in front, but on the one in the back. He needed to eliminate the second goblin first to prevent it from alerting others.

This was the perfect time to test something he’d barely used.

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Skill: Lock On (Level 1)
 Effect: Allows the user to designate a target area on an enemy, rendering their stealth useless. Attacks aimed at the marked area deal 100% extra damage.

Duration: 10 minutes per enemy

Can be applied to multiple enemies at once

Can be used multiple times on the same enemy to mark different areas

Cooldown: 2 minutes

(As skill proficiency increases, cooldown and mana consumption decreases, and the extra damage increases.)

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This skill had been his reward for crafting the rare-rank flintlock pistol. He’d tried using it on training dummies, but it hadn’t worked. Over the past month, he’d activated it on various people just to test its limits, but the skill level had never increased. Now, he was certain—Lock On’s proficiency would only increase through actual combat.

Luke aligned his sights with the goblin’s head and squeezed the trigger. The instant the gunpowder ignited, a deafening bang echoed through the cave. The bullet, enhanced by Lock On’s extra damage effect, turned the goblin’s head into a gruesome mess of flesh and bone. The impact sent fragments flying, and before its lifeless body even hit the ground, the other goblin’s beady eyes went wide with panic.

“Kiek! Ambush!” it shrieked, its dagger trembling in its grip. The goblin immediately turned on its heels, sprinting deeper into the cave in a desperate attempt to escape.

Luke didn’t hesitate. He adjusted his aim, tracking the goblin’s back, and fired again. The shot tore through its frail body with a sickening crunch, the force of the bullet sending it sprawling forward. A final pained cry escaped its lips before it went still.

A sigh escaped Luke as he lowered his weapon. He murmured to himself, “I really need to do something about the noise.”

The Kalthoff Repeater was a powerful tool, but its explosive sound was a double-edged sword, the same was true for all his current guns. Against weak enemies like goblins, it wasn’t a huge concern, but in future encounters with foes that were highly sensitive to sound, this drawback could prove fatal.

As he mulled over the issue, Szeth slithered up his arm and affectionately rubbed his head against Luke’s cheek. The iron-scaled serpent coiled loosely around his neck, his tongue flicking playfully.

Luke smirked. “You want some action too, huh?”

Szeth bobbed his head, his three-pronged crystal tail rising as if in a salute. His expression, as much as a serpent could have one, turned serious, his body slightly tensing as though awaiting orders.

Luke chuckled, finding Szeth’s antics amusing. “Be patient. I’ll handle the goblins alone for now. Just keep watch for traps.”

With an exaggerated flick of his tongue, Szeth remained vigilant, his sharp eyes scanning their surroundings.

Moving deeper into the cave, Luke encountered more of the crude traps—tripwires, spiked pits, and falling rock triggers. But with Szeth’s keen senses and his own caution, he managed to disarm them one by one. It became increasingly clear that the goblins were smart enough to avoid their own traps. They had deliberately set them in a way that allowed them safe passage while ensuring intruders would suffer.

Just as he was disabling another tripwire, a sudden chime echoed in his mind, and a glowing blue screen materialized before him.

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Achievement Unlocked!
 Disarm more than 5 traps!
 Reward: Detection (Lvl 1)

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A new skill? Luke quickly pulled up the details.

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Skill: Detection (Level 1)
 Effect: Enhances the user’s senses within a 5-meter radius, automatically detecting and disarming crude traps.
 Cooldown: 30 seconds
 (As skill proficiency increases, range and efficiency improve while mana consumption decreases.)

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A grin spread across Luke’s face. “Now this is useful.”

Eager to test it, he activated Detection. A subtle pulse radiated from his body, heightening his awareness. Instantly, within a 5-meter radius, hidden tripwires snapped, pits sealed shut, and crude spikes disarmed themselves harmlessly.

“Whoa.” Luke watched in fascination as the traps neutralized themselves. This skill alone would make dungeon crawling much safer.

With Detection clearing his path and his naturally high mana recovery balancing out the skill’s cost, he pushed forward with newfound confidence, eliminating goblins with ease. However, as he ventured deeper, a nagging suspicion crept into his mind.

The entire time, he had only encountered goblins in groups of two or wandering alone. While it made them easy to pick off, it was unnatural. Goblins thrived in packs—where was the horde?

Absentmindedly, Luke reloaded his repeater back to fifteen shots, his fingers moving mechanically. Soon, he noticed something—light, much brighter than the flickering torches scattered throughout the den. The end of the narrow tunnel ahead opened into a much larger chamber.

Moving cautiously, he pressed himself against the rough cavern wall and peeked inside.

A large, open cavern spread before him, its walls lined with torches, illuminating the scene in an eerie orange glow.

At the center of the chamber, a dozen goblins were gathered around the carcass of a massive boar. They tore into its flesh with jagged teeth, pushing and shoving each other, their grating voices overlapping in crude speech.

“Mine!”

“Kiki! Get away!”

“Big piece mine!”

There it was—the horde.

Luke weighed his options as he observed the chaotic scene before him. His hand hovered over his pistol, fingers itching to pull it out. The rare-rank firearm had an Explosive Bullet skill that could deal devastating AoE (Area of Effect) damage, but the downside was its slow reload speed. With over a dozen goblins feasting in front of him, he wasn’t sure if it was worth using—until something much more concerning emerged from the shadows.

A hulking goblin, nearly twice the size of the others, stepped forward. Its muscular frame was partially covered in looted leather armor, and a single, jagged tusk jutted out from the right side of its mouth. The moment it arrived, the smaller goblins scrambled back in fear, making space for the brute as it dropped onto the ground and tore into the carcass of the boar. Despite their obvious terror, the other goblins lingered nearby, their greedy eyes locked onto the meat, waiting for their chance to snatch whatever scraps were left.

Goblin Brute.

Luke recognized it instantly. Unlike regular goblins, these were smarter, stronger, and much harder to kill. If left alone, it could potentially rally the remaining goblins into an actual coordinated fight. That settled it.

“Guess that makes my decision easier,” Luke muttered under his breath, pulling out his pistol.

The weapon gleamed in the dim light, streaks of dark blue energy dancing along its barrel. With a practiced motion, he loaded the firearm, raising it to take aim directly at the back of the brute’s skull. His lips curled into a smirk as he activated his skill.

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Skill: Explosive Bullet

Cooldown: 10 minutes
 Effect: Upon activation, the next bullet fired explodes on impact, dealing AoE damage equal to 200% of the weapon’s base damage in addition to the bullet’s base damage. The explosion can damage multiple enemies within a 2-meter radius.

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Bang!

The gunshot echoed through the cavern like a thunderclap, the bright muzzle flash illuminating the goblin den for a split second. However, just as the bullet was about to make contact, the Goblin Brute moved. It was an instinctive reaction, but it saved its life—the bullet barely missed its head, instead slamming into its left shoulder.

Boom!

A powerful explosion rocked the cave as flames and shrapnel engulfed the goblins around the brute. Their charred bodies crumpled to the ground, reduced to lifeless husks, while the brute itself stumbled back with a guttural roar. Smoke cleared, revealing its left arm—or rather, what remained of it. The limb had been blown off at the shoulder, leaving only a bleeding stump. But instead of collapsing, the creature turned its bloodshot eyes toward Luke, fury distorting its already grotesque face.

With a deafening roar, it pulled a massive bone club from its waist and charged.

Luke let out a sigh, shaking his head. “I’d love for this to be dramatic too, you know?” He chuckled, raising his pistol again. “But I’m just too overprepared.”

Without hesitation, he activated another skill.

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Skill: Double Round (Level 3)

Effect: Upon activation, instantly fire another shot using the same type of ammunition as the previous shot without consuming ammunition. Works even for firearms that require manual reloading. The second shot deals 100% additional damage.
 Cooldown: 4 minutes
 (As proficiency increases, the cooldown will decrease, and the additional damage will increase.)

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Bang!

The second bullet flew straight toward the charging brute. This time, there was no last-second dodge. The projectile pierced directly through one of its eyes.

BOOM!

Another explosion tore through the goblin’s head, the combined effects of Explosive Bullet and Double Round stacking together. A shockwave rippled through the cavern, sending chunks of flesh and bone flying in every direction. The Goblin Brute staggered mid-stride, its club slipping from its grip before it collapsed onto its knees. A second later, its massive body crumbled into dust, leaving behind a lot of scattered items where it had stood.

A bunch of notifications popped up right after.

Luke watched as the last remnants of the goblin bodies dissipated into shimmering dust, signaling the clear of the dungeon. A soft hiss tickled his ear. Szeth, coiled comfortably around Luke’s neck, flicked his tongue in excitement. Luke chuckled, reaching up to give his familiar a gentle pat.

“Well, that was satisfying,” he said with a grin before glancing at the loot. “What do you think, buddy? Should we check out our haul?”

Szeth let out an enthusiastic hiss, his three-ended crystal tail twitching with excitement.

Luke smirked. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

With that, he stepped forward, ready to claim his rewards.