Adventuresse
patreon
The Apocalypse Grinder - Chapter 15
🕑 Added 2025-06-18 09:00:39 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 14 | Index | Chapter 16 >>
Ronan went with the simplest strategy first. As he punched towards the lesser goblin archer’s face, he cried out the name of his skill.
“Magic strike!”
The goblin’s nose shattered under the force of his punch, blood squirting out across his knuckles and the mud. Ronan growled.
Nothing had happened, which meant the easy option was a non-starter. That left him mystified, but the goblin was far from dead.
He had as many punches as it took to kill the monster to figure out his skill. It depended on how hard he hit, but Ronan didn’t want to pull his punches just for the sake of experimentation.
There was another goblin after all. And the lesser goblin warrior would soak up a lot more hits than the frail archer, so if it died before he worked out the trick it wasn’t an issue. Next, he imagined himself ‘using’ the skill as he threw a quick right jab.
While this was simpler than shouting the skill’s name, it involved more mental effort. He focused, imagining himself magically striking the goblin with his fist.
Ronan didn’t know what real magic was. He only had the clue of ‘mana’ in his status, but he had watched plenty of shows and read dozens of novels during his life and felt he had a rudimentary grasp of what magic could entail.
Then again, it was easy to explain that but the reality was he just threw a heavy punch and focused on his skill. This time, Ronan felt the difference.
As his fist shot through the air, an electrifying tingle spread from his chest and travelled down his arm. It was faint, barely a tickle at first.
When his fist smashed against the goblin’s face he felt as if his fist was held above a warm fire. That wasn’t all.
His gentle jab should’ve shaken the goblin and perhaps broken a little more bone. Instead, as his knuckles buried themselves in its face, a wave of force burst outwards into its skull.
There wasn’t any bruising or blunt force beyond Ronan’s expectations. However, what happened next caught him by surprise given that he’d only struck it a few times.
You have killed [Lesser Goblin Archer Lv.5]!
+6 Copper Credits
+4 [Pugilist] Mastery
+Lesser Goblin Ears (Common)
+Rusty Dagger Lv.3
You have leveled up to Lv.2!
You have been restored!
+1 Vitality
+1 Endurance
+1 Free Stat Point
He’d succeeded! Ronan had used magic strike. He felt the power coming from his chest as he punched and willed his skill to activate, bursting out of his fist as it made contact.
Ronan couldn’t help but giggle. That had been real magic. Maybe it wasn’t as fancy as waving a wand and shooting fire from his fingers, but it had killed the goblin instantly.
He was keenly aware of the yelling of the goblin warrior and what had to be Keith screaming. There was no time to waste, but he spared a glance at his resources to see how much mana it had used.
And immediately cursed. He’d levelled up, which meant his health, stamina, and… oh. It didn’t restore my mana? he realised.
Health: 80/80
Stamina: 110/110
Mana: 42/50
That was essential information to keep track of. He didn’t want to use all his mana in the hope he’d get a free load to keep fighting on. He would have to keep track of his resources at all times.
There was a silver lining. Ronan had feared the variable cost would drain a large portion of his mana, but a light jab had only cost an extra 3 points. A stronger punch shouldn’t drain too much more.
When he read through the notification he got another surprise. He’d gained more pugilist mastery than he had the first time he killed the goblin archer.
That confused him. His punches hadn’t been particularly skillful, so why? Was it because he’d used magic strike? That also made no sense, because that was a magic skill, not a combat skill.
The only thing he could think was that it was related to the strange new additions to his status. He vowed to keep a closer eye on his kill notifications this time to check any discrepancies.
First though, he had to save the useless Keith from being carved into flesh strips by the lesser goblin warrior. Turning, he had to stifle his laughter when he saw the chubby guy clumsily running through the mud as a screeching goblin chased after him, stabbing a chipped shortsword at his backside every time it drew near.
While it was hilarious, there were cuts across Keith’s legs and his suit trousers were ripped up. He wouldn’t last forever, so Ronan started to run.
He already had experience moving across the slippery mud from the first time he lived through this tutorial. It only took a few seconds to close the gap—the archer hadn’t made it far before he fell upon it.
The warrior turned when he was a couple of steps away. The sound of squelching mud alerted it. It snarled at Ronan, daring him to take another step as it raised its buckler and waved its shortsword feebly in an attempt to threaten him.
Ronan didn’t even blink, taking the ugly green monster’s actions in stride as he lowered his centre of mass and smashed his shoulder into its shield. The wood groaned under the impact.
The goblin squealed as its arm was crushed between the hulking man and its own body. It tried to stab him, but he kept running and it slipped in the mud.
The sword flailed overhead, missing him completely. The goblin screeched and struggled, its broken arm unable to shift the shield between them.
Ronan raised his fist. He knew how to use magic strike, so there was no point wasting time. He focused his intent on the skill, willing it into effect. This time he felt the tingle as soon as it appeared.
It wasn’t all in his chest, but on the left. He realised the mana for the skill originated in his heart.
Oddly, the tingle from heart down the arm resembled a heart attack, but the only one in danger was the lesser goblin. His fist smashed into its chest, the physical force breaking its ribs and winding it. The magic that followed unleashed hell.
The first time he hadn’t seen the damage from the surface. The skull was hard and his strike was not powerful enough to cause enough damage that it showed through bone, flesh, and skin.
This time he’d struck the centre of the goblin’s chest. His fist shattered bone and broke flesh, but the magic tore through its lungs and out its back. Blood and gore sprayed outwards from underneath the goblin’s corpse and its chest exploded, showering Ronan in liquified goblin goop.
You have killed [Lesser Goblin Warrior Lv.4]!
+4 Copper Credits
+1 [Pugilist] Mastery
+1 [Mana] Mastery
+Lesser Goblin Ears (Common)
You have leveled up to Lv.3!
You have been restored!
+1 Vitality
+1 Endurance
+1 Free Stat Point
The moment the notification appeared, Ronan realised it was different than before. Once could be written off as a coincidence, but twice meant correlation. If it happened a third time…
Everything could be traced back to the fact he’d come back to life after dying in the third stage of the tutorial. Only, he wasn’t sure if that was a function of the tutorial or a unique situation he was stuck in.
Ronan was already in disbelief at the all encompassing power of the system, but keeping eight billion people locked in a time loop was far-fetched. What was more like was that strange interference with the system during his first assessment manipulating his tutorial.
He suddenly became acutely aware of his strange heritage and the change since his first death. The extra numbers in his status were likely a consequence of that too.
Despite these many realisations, Ronan wasn’t going to change his course of action. What was he supposed to do? He was just some guy.
Alien forces that could control time and space were above his pay grade. Goblins, however? Now those he could handle.
He received less pugilist mastery, which made sense—he’d only thrown a single punch this time. However, he gained a point in mana mastery, which was new.
Either using skills that cost mana automatically increased it, or his minutely improved understanding of where his mana came from had triggered the reward.
Whatever the case, the only way to get more answers was by punching more goblins. He’d have his chance soon.
Congratulations, you have cleared Stage 2 of the tutorial!
+25 Copper Credits
+Endless Treasury Token (Common) x2
Stage 3 will begin in 1 minute!
59…
First, he had some sweet loot to collect and a chubby office manager to wrangle. Despite the ease with which he’d slaughtered the goblins, Ronan found that his hands were shaking ever so slightly when he thought back to the image of Keith’s corpse peppered with arrows.
Well, men were good at suppressing their feelings. It was only Keith, what could go wrong?
<< Chapter 14 | Index | Chapter 16 >>
