[Level Up!]

  You have reached Level 14

  Stat Points allocated

  +3 Free Points Available

  Max let out a shaky breath when the glowing text faded from his vision. Proof. Proof that some of the council members were dead beneath the mountain of shattered stone. Proof that his insane gamble had worked.

  But the cavern wasn’t silent for long.

  The snarls started first—dozens of guttural voices carried from the shadowed edges of the council hall. The smaller goblins, those not seated at the table, still lurked in the surrounding chambers. And now they poured forward, screeching, their crude blades glinting in the firelight.

  “Of course,” Max muttered grimly, summoning Solaris Edge into his hand. The familiar weight of the rare sword settled against his palm. His mana reserves were low from the fireball—time to save his spells for when they mattered most.

  The first goblin lunged from the dust. Max sidestepped, blade arcing in a sharp riposte. Solaris Edge bit through its neck in a single clean strike. Another rushed in, shrieking. Max spun low, his blade flashing upward in a vicious slash that split its chest wide.

  One after another, they came. Max became a storm at the cavern’s edge, his sword whistling in deadly arcs. Every swing carried the weight of his training, every dodge and counter sharper than the last. Within minutes, a half dozen bodies littered the floor.

  Then the rumble began.

  Max froze, breath ragged. The ground beneath his boots trembled faintly. He turned his gaze back toward the collapsed chamber where the council had been buried.

  The rubble shifted and his heart sank.

  Stone scraped against stone as a massive slab shifted aside, falling with a thunderous crash. Dust plumed outward, and through it rose a towering silhouette. The leader. His armor was cracked, blood streaking his tusked jaw, but his eyes still burned with ruthless intelligence.

  Another section of rubble exploded outward as a second figure clawed free. The tank—broad as a wall, a massive shield strapped to his arm, his bulk shedding debris like an avalanche.

  “No…” Max whispered, his stomach twisting.

  The cave erupted in chaos. Goblins screeched, scattered, fought each other in panic. Max didn’t wait—he knew hesitation here was death. He sprinted forward, while raising Solaris Edge with both hands. Strike after strike he rained down on the emerging leaders, desperate to kill them before they could regain their footing.

  But the tank was already moving.

  The massive shield slammed down in front of the leader, absorbing every blow with a sound like steel meeting steel. Sparks flew, the shield ringing with each strike as if mocking Max’s fury. Not a single attack made it through.

  “Damn it!” Max roared, sweat dripping into his eyes. His mana dwindling with every wasted strike. He was burning fuel for nothing.

  Snarling, Max blinked—his body shattering into shadow as he teleported beside the tank. He reappeared with Solaris Edge already arcing toward the goblin’s exposed side.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  The tank was ready. His sword lashed out in a brutal counter, faster than something his size should have allowed.

  Max barely had time to raise a mana shield across his arm. The blade struck like thunder, the impact numbing him to the bone. Pain tore down his arm and his shield shattered in a spray of blue sparks. He staggered back, gasping.

  Then his danger sense screamed.

  He threw himself sideways instinctively, and a spear whistled past where his heart had been an instant before—straight into the tank goblin’s chest.

  The tank froze, eyes wide with betrayal, the spear’s iron head punching through armor and flesh alike. He turned, disbelieving, to see his leader lowering his arm from the throw.

  The hesitation cost him.

  Max surged forward with a roar, his sword flashing in a wide, brutal arc. The blade carved clean through the tank’s neck, sending his head tumbling even as the body collapsed like a felled tree.

  Max didn’t wait. He pivoted instantly, locking eyes with the final survivor.

  The leader.

  Their duel began with no words.

  Max pressed forward in a flurry of strikes, Solaris Edge ringing against the leader’s dark steel armor. Each impact left new fractures spiderwebbing across the plates. Sparks flew with each strike. Dust clung to their sweat. The leader countered with savage precision, his blade hammering back, his tusks bared in fury.

  Max ducked one slash, his sword biting into the goblin’s thigh. Blood sprayed, but the leader barely slowed, slamming his armored fist into Max’s chest and hurling him backward. Max hit the stone hard, ribs screaming.

  He staggered to his feet, spitting blood. “Not… today” and cast a Greater Heal on himself while getting back to his feet.

  Mana surged through his sword, the blade glowing faintly as Max poured the last of his energy into one final sequence. He let out a Solar Flare and blinded the leader before launching into one final assault. He struck again, and again, each blow heavier than the last, each one widening the fractures in the leader’s armor. Sparks exploded as steel cracked. The goblin staggered under the relentless barrage, his defense failing.

  Max roared and brought the blade down in a final, crushing overhead Power Strike.

  The armor shattered. The sword cleaved through flesh, bone, and stone floor alike.

  The leader collapsed in two pieces, his glowing eyes dimming at last.

  Max stood over the corpse, chest heaving, sweat and blood dripping from his brow. Solaris Edge trembled in his hand, the glow fading as silence reclaimed the cavern.

  Then the System chimed.

  [Level Up!]

  You have reached Level 15

  Stat points allocated

  +3 Free Points Available

  [Quest Complete!]

  Tutorial Objective: Defeat the goblin outposts – Complete

  Reward: 5 Genesis Crystals, 5000 Credits, Access to the inner tutorial island.

  Max sank to his knees, leaning on his sword for balance as the glowing prompts filled his vision. Relief flooded through him, relief and exhaustion so deep it was almost enough to drown in.

  The quest was finished.

  But this wasn’t the end.

  This was only the door to what came next. Before he could relax, he needed to finish clearing out the camp.

  The cavern felt like a tomb now, smoke still clinging to the air and the reek of blood heavy on every breath. The silence was unnerving after the chaos of hours past — broken only by the occasional crack of stone settling under the weight of the collapsed ceiling. It took Max roughly two hours to finish clearing the stragglers. Most of the goblins had either killed each other in the chaos or fled into the forest, leaving only thirty or so cowering in holes dug into the walls. He rooted them out one by one until no hostile presence remained.

  By the time the work was done, Max’s body screamed with fatigue, though the energy from his recent level-ups kept him from collapsing outright. As he stood alone in the cavern, Solaris Edge faintly glowing in his hand, the thought struck him with sharp clarity: months ago he had been nothing more than prey, fighting to survive against a single goblin. Now, he had crushed their leaders, destroyed their stronghold, and stood victorious where an army had once ruled.

  But the completion of his main quest left a hollow unease in his chest. If this was only the first stage of the System’s design, then what could possibly be waiting beyond? The thought lingered like a shadow as he pulled a compact tent from his storage ring, rolled out a bedroll on the cold stone, and finally let exhaustion claim him.