< < Wave Two > >

  < 90-Second Timer >

  90 seconds already? That’s not a good sign.

  Adam was standing near the third row of huts, but he had no idea how much further the boundary expanded with the second Wave.

  He gripped his spear with his slime-gloved hand, preparing to launch himself forward at the first sign of goblins.

  A shrill pig-like yell came from several metres behind him, just as two blue figures leapt from the fifth and sixth huts along the right side.

  At least three this time! Adam realised.

  He made a split-second decision and charged for the two in front of him, while keeping his ears perked for the one approaching from the back.

  I have to kill all three in 15 seconds to get the rarity bonus for the Wave… That might be impossible, unless I can snipe the last one with my glove.

  The goblins this time were blue-skinned and taller, standing at about a metre-and-a-half. They had lanky builds and held primitive wooden spears. Their heads weren’t big like the green ones’, but rather elongated. The ears were also narrower and flopped less. Along with their thin noses and toothy grins, they seemed far more cunning than the club-wielding greens.

  With a grunt of exertion, Adam flung his right arm forward in a jab. The shaft of the spear slid through his hand, aiming right for the neck of the closest goblin.

  The blue bastard moved out of the way just in time, his spear-tip missing its throat by a hair. Its sudden movement surprised Adam, but he took a step forward and swung the weapon sideways. The goblin, pressed up against the wall of a hut, had nowhere to go. The spear sliced through its neck, severing the throat and left carotid artery.

  As its blood sprayed across the soil and hut, Adam quickly sidestepped a stab from the other goblin. It was too close for him to strike back with the spear, so he quickly switched the weapon to his left hand and grabbed it by the throat using the Slime Glove. Then he squeezed.

  Its pained scream was smothered by his pincer grip.

  Despite it being taller than the green ones, it was still more than a head shorter than him and much weaker.

  [Green Slime Glove is ready.]

  A yell came from behind him and he whirled around, just as the last goblin lunged forward with its own spear. With a few quick steps, he positioned the goblin he was holding in its path. The attacker paused, clearly worried about hitting its friend, and Adam exploited its hesitation. With a stab from below, he rammed his spear into its abdomen.

  The goblin collapsed with a squeal of pain, pulling his spear out of his hand. Adam discarded the dead goblin he was holding and aimed his right palm at the kneeling figure.

  Then he fired his acid point-blank. It died within seconds as the slime ate through its head.

  [Excellent! You cleared the Wave within 15 seconds.]

  Adam looked down at the melting goblin. The glob wasn’t done devouring its skin and flesh.

  I think I’m gonna be sick.

  < < Wave Two Complete > >

  < Choose your Upgrade >

  He took a few steps away as Shitbox unfolded itself into a podium. Then he noticed that the goblins had left their primitive spears behind. The green ones had also dropped their simple clubs, but those were of no use to him.

  “Can I use the weapons they drop?”

  [No.]

  He frowned. That’s stupid.

  Despite its answer, he stooped to pick up one of the spears. As soon as his fingers touched the wood, it became like sawdust and the soft particulates slipped through his fingers.

  Why would they not allow me to keep it?

  That makes no sense.

  He looked over to where the next set of upgrade options had appeared.

  Whatever. I’ll just have to make do with this.

  < < Upgrades Available > >

  < Spear Damage (Uncommon) — Increases spear damage by 10% >

  < Throw Speed (Uncommon) — Increases throwing speed by 20% >

  < Luck (Rare) — Increases luck by 3 >

  A Rare Luck isn’t bad, but I’ll pick Damage. After all, the next upgrade is the sixth. Then I get to evolve my weapon.

  But, before I select, I need to see how far the boundary goes now.

  Adam continued down the rows of huts. Like before, he couldn’t go to the other side of them, so the accessible area was still just the corridor between the huts.

  He stopped moving forward once he got to the eight row at the end of the ‘street’. Past them were two raised wooden platforms sitting atop trees that’d had their tips chopped off. They were accessible by ladders so narrow they were obviously designed for goblins. Beyond the platforms was an open stretch of forest, which led to the hill with the cave entrance.

  I’m guessing the next Wave will make this open area accessible and then the following one will lead me into the cave.

  Although…

  He recalled the goblin appearing at the far end of the huts.

  That’s a dirty trick for sure. I might lose time if I move too far forward too quickly and something spawns behind me.

  Adam made his way back, quickly scanning the interiors of the huts just in case.

  [10 seconds remaining before Wave Three begins.]

  He paused. Right as the announcement had hit him, he’d looked into the sixth hut on the left side. There was a hole in the floor and thick cobwebs visible within.

  Adam went into the hut to look closer.

  The hole was deep enough that he couldn’t see the bottom, but the thick webs didn’t help either.

  [5 seconds remaining.]

  “Select spear damage,” he said, having no doubt that Shitbox could hear him.

  < < Upgrade Selected > >

  < Spear Damage (Uncommon) >

  There’s gotta be something down this hole.

  He suppressed a shudder. It was just wide enough for him to crawl down into, but it was quite possible that he’d get stuck. And whatever had spun the silk had to be at least half the size of Lucca.

  I’ll have to come back here after I’m done with the Stage.

  < < Wave Three > >

  < 120-Second Timer >

  Adam exited the hut, his grip tight on the shaft of his spear.

  “Glove cooldown?” he asked, as the tesseract floated over to him.

  [20 seconds until it is ready.]

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  He frowned.

  I shouldn’t use it to end a Wave. Better to open up with it as my first attack.

  And this Wave might be trouble. 120 seconds. That probably means 5 or more enemies. Or maybe a new tough one. Like something with armour or a shield.

  Pig-like squeals came from the end of the huts as four green goblins charged for him. Their clubs were raised in the air threateningly, but he doubted they could hurt him more than the slimes.

  Then he saw two yellow goblins in the distance. They were climbing up a platform each. Appearance-wise, they seemed no different than the green ones, but he was fairly sure they were this Stage’s equivalent to the ranged green slimes.

  “Tell me when the glove is ready,” he told Shitbox, then ran to meet the green goblins.

  As soon as they got close, the four small creatures tried to surround him like wolves, showing they had some rudimentary tactics at play. He backed up, not allowing them to box him in.

  Adam let the first one swing for him. He easily dodged the attack and stabbed his spear into its neck. As he tore it free, he swung his weapon widely, causing the other three to back up. On the distant platforms, the two yellow goblins stood ready, each with a small bow.

  Shit!

  He drove his spear-tip into another green goblin, piercing it through the mouth and wrenching it free as he ran towards the end of the huts. At the same time, the yellow archers took aim.

  The sound of their strings firing was almost melodic.

  Adam dashed to the side, but one of the arrows caught him in the shoulder, sticking to his Bark Armour, but failing to penetrate. It no doubt still counted towards the Relic’s durability. He quickly pulled it out and it became sawdust in his hands.

  A pained squeal from behind him indicated that one of the two pursuing goblins had caught the other arrow.

  The one he’d pierced through the mouth was lagging behind the other two and bleeding profusely. Adam almost felt bad for leaving it in pain, but then he reminded himself that they were trying to kill him.

  He broke from the huts and went directly under the platform to the left, so that the archer above couldn’t hit him. Then he turned and lunged for the goblin that’d caught an arrow to the forearm. With two quick jabs, he punctured its ribcage and destroyed its heart.

  The second one balked at the brutality, but then squealed indignantly and charged for him with a wild flurry of swings. Adam had no choice but to back away, dancing around the tree that held up the left platform.

  On the right, the other archer had a clear line of sight and it launched a couple arrows at him, though he managed to avoid both.

  [Your Green Slime Glove is now ready.]

  The frenzied goblin was almost out of stamina, so Adam pushed towards it instead of running away, surprising it long enough to leave it open. A stab through the eye socket immediately killed it.

  He whirled around and pointed his right palm towards the platform across the way, aiming for the tree holding it up.

  Despite guesstimating the trajectory, he launched a slime glob across the way with just the right arc to hit the tree right below where the platform was attached. The acid hissed loudly as it ate through the wood and the whole platform quickly started to tilt. As it collapsed, the archer dropped to the ground and was quickly pinned by the platform falling on top of it.

  The remaining green goblin had only just gotten to the end of the last row of huts, but it had to steady itself against a wall, while blood continued to pour out of its face.

  Above him, he heard the other archer stomping about, no doubt waiting for the moment he would emerge from below it. The platform itself wasn’t overly thick and his weapon had a lot of extra damage, plus penetrative power.

  I could probably stab through that, but my weapon will 100% get stuck.

  Then he realised he had an easier method.

  He switched the spear to his left hand and started using his gloved right to dissolve the tree holding up the platform. After only a few seconds, he’d severely weakened it by eating halfway through it with his slime Relic.

  Adam ran out from under its cover, moving towards the pinned archer across the way. At the same time, the other one shifted its weight on the platform to take a shot at him. The tree below snapped and its squeal was cut short as it hit the ground with a crunch.

  When he reached the pinned yellow goblin, it snarled up at him. He noticed how, up-close, it had two differences from the green goblins: its ears were smaller and its nose was thinner. He couldn’t tell how it was any different besides that, but it didn’t really matter.

  Adam killed it with a quick stab, before running down the last green goblin, which died without a fight.

  [Well done! You cleared the Wave within 40 seconds.]

  A shame I was hit. That probably means I won’t get the bonus Points. Though I didn’t take any actual damage it seems.

  All things considered, I think I did pretty well.

  < < Wave Three Complete > >

  < Choose your Upgrade >

  I’ve gotta remember to go back to that hut with the spiderwebs when I’m done.

  He watched in anticipation as Shitbox unfurled into a podium and the three options appeared.

  < < Upgrades Available > >

  < Spear Speed (Rare) — Increases spear attack speed by 35% >

  < Throw Aim (Uncommon) — Increases accuracy with throwing by 10% >

  < Dodge (Uncommon) — Grants a 10% chance to dodge a direct attack >

  Rare Speed, huh? I suppose it’ll be more useful than growth at least.

  < < Upgrade Selected > >

  < Spear Speed (Rare) >

  Then something new happened. Even though he’d been anticipating it, it still surprised him when the spear in his hand started to glow brightly, as though covered in sunlight.

  The tesseract had folded itself back into a cube and was hovering in front of him. He hoped this little interlude paused the time before the next Wave triggered.

  [Your Lancer Weapon Type has reached Level 6.]

  [At Level 6, your Weapon Type can be evolved in one of two possible directions.]

  “Is there another evolution at Level 12?”

  [Yes. Level 12 is the second milestone. Level 18 is the third and last.]

  “What happens after I evolve for the third time?”

  Shitbox didn’t reply.

  I guess I’ll have to wait until it happens to find out…

  The eye on the black box looked down at the weapon in his hands. Then it started glowing with the same light and the spear became like tiny gold-glowing flies, which quickly vanished into the cube.

  For a moment he thought his weapon was lost, but then Shitbox dropped to the ground and became a pyramid shape rather than a podium. Two new floating Weapon Types projected from its left and right faces.

  On the left was a spear with a leaf-shaped tip and next to it was a bronze shield about 60 centimetres in diameter, which had a circle bitten out of the top. With the unique shape, the missing top of the shield seemed to serve the purpose of allowing blocking and attacking simultaneously. Although, it was perhaps a bit too small for blocking.

  The option on the right was four spears bundled together, clearly designed for throwing.

  < < Select an Evolution > >

  < Hoplite — Trade throwing capability for a small parry shield >

  < Javelineer — Gain 3 additional spears purpose-made for throwing >

  Pretty sure Hoplites had bigger shields than that.

  Unsaid in their descriptions was the fact that the spears themselves were vastly different. The Hoplite’s spear was clearly meant for stabbing, given its leaf-shaped tip that would cause large wounds. The Javelineer’s spears were thinner and shaped with more centre mass, giving them excellent balance for throwing, but making them less effective for stabbing due to their narrower tips.

  I wonder if Ilya went with Javelineer because of his Boomerang Relic.

  “Shitbox, how does parrying work?”

  [Enemy attacks can be parried by moving the shield into the strike mid-motion and pushing it aside or interrupting it. Parrying enemies is a great way to create an opening to strike.]

  “Do my attacks following parries have increased damage?”

  [No.]

  Adam frowned.

  If it doesn’t help me kill faster, then I’m better off not trying to parry. Overextending myself will just get me injured or worse.

  Of course, there might be Relics that increase follow-up damage or something.

  The ability to disarm would also be useful.

  Guess I’ll check the Tavern for Parry-based Relics when I’m done here.

  Adam reached out and touched the Hoplite Evolution.

  < < Evolution Selected > >

  < Lancer => Hoplite >

  The bronze shield manifested itself on his left arm, already strapped to his forearm, and the leaf-tipped spear appeared in his gloved right hand. Despite the changed appearance of the tip, the rest of the spear was more or less the same as before. The wood was still caramel-brown, but it now had a lacquer-like sheen to it. The spear-tip, which had been some kind of dark metal previously, was now the same bronze as the new shield.

  < < Mastery Shard Obtained > >

  A pyramid gem, like what Lenard had showed him, appeared in the air before Adam. As soon as it touched his outreached hand it vanished.

  “Status,” he said.

  < < Player Status > >

  < Adam Fischer >

  < Hoplite >

  < Level 8 >

  < Stats >

  < Health — 100 >

  < Stamina — 150 >

  < Mana — 0 >

  < Damage — 100% >

  < Defence — 125% >

  < Speed — 165% >

  < Upgrades >

  < Force (Rare) >

  < Movement (Rare) >

  “Armament.”

  < < Weapon Status > >

  < Spear & Parry Shield >

  < Common Quality >

  < Level 6 >

  < Stat Upgrades >

  < Spear Damage 30% >

  < Spear Speed 45% >

  < Spear Growth 30% >

  He nodded, pleased. Despite not knowing what came next, he felt very sure of himself.

  Perhaps I am developing a combat sense like Ilya after all?

  If all I really had was my ability to go back in time and retain knowledge of the things I saw, then I doubt I would’ve made it through the first three Waves of this Stage as easily as this.

  Once he’d gotten over his disgust at killing sapient creatures, he found that the goblins were no great threat. They were easy to kill and seemed to mostly rely on their numbers to fight him.

  Still, I wonder what kind of boss this Stage will throw at me.

  Adam walked to the end of the boundary, where it looked out on the forest in front of the cave. There were only a few trees here and all of them were smaller than the apple tree from Stage One. There weren’t any obvious places the goblins could pop out from, but also no hiding spots, aside from the canopies. Until now, the Waves had always spawned the enemies from realistic locations, usually out of sight to give the illusion they had been lying in wait for him.

  Yeah, I doubt they’ll make them appear up in the trees. Though I should keep an eye out for any more of those archers.

  < < Wave Four > >

  < 150-Second Timer >

  Adam spun the spear in his grip and flexed his left shoulder. The shield was heavy despite its size, but he already had a few ideas for how to utilise it in his fighting style.

  A small smile played on his lips and he realised he was looking forward to trying out his new ideas.

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