Hinata felt a chill run down his spine.
'Five goblins… can I handle that many?'
It was true that he felt stronger now, and the goblins were only as strong as regular humans, but fighting five still seemed like a little too much for him, especially when one considered the element of surprise.
However, seeing no path to escape, he steeled his heart for the battle to come.
Within a few seconds, five goblins appeared, surrounding him on all sides. Their footsteps were silent. If he did not have the system, Hinata doubted he would have even noticed them.
As a huge breeze howled from the east and a twig snapped under his foot, the five goblins rushed towards him.
Hinata formed a staff with the slime and blocked the attack of the first goblin. With a twist of his body, he kicked the dagger out of its hand, ready to lunge at the others, only to feel something crack against his ribs.
In an instant, he was sent flying towards a tree like a rag doll, blood spurting out of his mouth and rolling from the corner of his lips.
Hinata clutched his side and grimaced. 'They're stronger than I thought.'
Just a single baton swing from the biggest goblin was able to reduce a few of his ribs to dust.
Looking at the blights now, Hinata could not help noticing a slight difference between them and the other goblins he had encountered.
Aside from the obvious fact that they were moving in a pack, one of them was far larger than the rest and had bumps all over its nose. Two others wore full-body cloaks instead of the usual ragged pants, which made Hinata believe they were a different class, while the last two were exactly like the ones he had encountered before.
From his knowledge of Earth, Hinata could piece together a little from their appearance, though he was not a hundred percent certain that his thoughts were correct.
Forming the slime into dual thin blades, he made the first move, lunging straight towards the blights.
The goblins did not waste a second reacting, and just as Hinata had anticipated, the bigger goblin moved to the front of the group, its spiky baton already raised high.
At the last moment before reaching the large goblin, whose baton was already halfway down, Hinata twisted his body downward and drove one of his katanas deep into the ground, using it to stop his momentum.
The moment he came to a halt, the goblin's baton slammed hard into the ground where Hinata could have been, sending dust into the air.
Hinata, however, did not waste a second before moving again with great speed. This time, he used one of the several spikes on the baton to launch himself into the air.
The goblins all stared up in disbelief as he transformed the katana into a deadly scythe, slicing the large goblin's head clean off.
When he landed on the ground, the corpse of the blight collapsed behind him, and blood from its decapitated head spilled over Hinata like a king being anointed by the heavens.
Ding!
[You have killed Blight Grade Humanoid Monster: Low-Ranked Hobo-Goblin]
[You have earned 5 life points.]
The two ordinary goblins took hesitant steps backwards, while the other two raised their hands high. Before they could make a move, Hinata activated his new ability: Deception.
Several blades emanating shadow energy appeared around the forest, each one pointed at the blights. They were all formless blades without any substance, mere deception that could not harm a mortal body, but the goblins did not know that.
The four beasts' faces went white, and they turned on their heels. Hinata used that moment to attack immediately. He launched himself forward, his cloak billowing in the wind, his blade singing with the slight breeze. With one clean strike after another, he killed the four remaining goblins.
Ding!
[You have killed Blight Grade Humanoid Monster: Goblin] x2
[You have earned 6 life points.]
[You have killed Blight Grade Humanoid Monster: Low-Ranked Shaman-Goblin]
[You have earned 5 life points.]
Hinata let out a heavy sigh and collapsed to the ground, gripping his side. Every single breath he took sent jolts of pain through him.
"Goku!"
At his call, the small dragon figure of his companion materialized into existence. The dragon was about to say something, but when he noticed Hinata's state and the monsters around him, his eyes widened.
"How did you do that?"
Hinata stared up at him, the dark circles under his eyes turning even darker. "How the hell else was I meant to do it? I just killed them, simple."
Goku swallowed hard. He could not believe his eyes or make sense of what the strange human was saying.
One thing was being able to survive after countless loops, but being able to kill a shaman and a hobo goblin without a class or a team? He did not think it was possible.
For a moment, he began to speculate whether Hinata already had a faction or if he was the reincarnation of some war god. The thought soon faded when he remembered he had already seen Hinata's soul and knew he was nothing extraordinary.
Goku let out an exhausted breath. Only a day with Hinata made him feel like ten years had been taken off his lifespan.
"So why did you call me?" he asked after some thought.
Hinata was too weak to even glance up at him. "Do you have a way to heal me?"
Goku shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. I never expected you to complete the mission anytime soon. I thought you would take your time and get used to your powers first."
Hinata clicked his tongue. "Useless."
Goku stared at him with a blank expression. Knowing Hinata's personality, he understood it was best not to say anything to avoid being ignored.
Hinata, on the other hand, pulled up his status panel. 'If there's nothing that can help me, then I'll have to go to where humans live.'
However, he knew that was a last resort. After all, he did not know where he had landed or whether the people around here would be friendly towards outsiders.
The system screen flickered into existence. When Hinata raised his eyes to study it, his hands, which had been clutching his side, fell to the ground.
"I… I have a new ability?"