Black Gate

Jack turned the key like he was opening an invisible door, a green gate suddenly appeared in front of Jack as his eyes open wide.

" Woah."

Jack slowly stepped into a dimly lit cave, around him the sound of water dripped from the stalactites hanging above. His footsteps echoed through the open space; probably the unseen result of the fact the cave must be fairly large.

The flutter of wings above his head and a small squeak as a bat dive-bombs past his head, prudent smell drift toward him form the depth of the cave.

" What is that smell, God," Jack scampered to cover his nose as quickly as he could.

Jack continued to walk forward despite the smell, his foot suddenly caught a rock and the rock flew hitting something in front of him. Jack opened his watery eyes as much as could, to see a green creature holding a short sword. The creature was stout, about half the size of a human, had long thin fingers, dark-green reptilian skin, bald-headed, forked tongued, and vicious, lidless eyes. More and more of these creatures came out of the shadows and sneered at Jack as their eyes gleamed with what seemed to be a red light.

[Kekekekeke][Neeee-ahhh]

The creature's sounds made Jack's skin crawl as he slowly reached into his inventory and drew his sword, ready to defend himself. Jack looked forward and saw a blue nametag appear above the creatures' heads in front of him.

[Goblin]

As he drew his sword he suddenly heard a voice but it wasn't the usual female voice but a sterner, rougher male voice.

[Training Dungeon: Goblin's Cave]

[Commence!!!]

Without a moment notice, a goblin jumped toward Jack with a small sword in hand. Startled by the sudden change in events, Jack swang his sword with all his might, chopping the goblin in two, splattering miasmic blood everywhere. The blood infuriated the other goblins while its fumes made Jack's eyes water but he dare not close them.

The goblin started to gnash and glare at Jack but none of them attacked which made Jack feel uneasy. Jack didn't move his eyes off the goblins ahead of him as he thought, " This sword is pretty sharp."

This acknowledgment gave Jack some solace in this despair.

Two of the five goblins attacked Jack this time, one jumped into the air while the other simply ran at Jack. Their speed wasn't necessarily fast but slight hesitation could result in death. Even though Jack knew the worst thing you can do in battle is hesitate, the change in the goblins' attack pattern made him do just that. Jack seeing the two blades coming towards him, He swiftly rolled to his left, dodging the goblins. However, the goblins gave him no time to regain his footing or gather his thoughts. They continued their relentless assault, as they rushed at Jack, slightly faster than before. Jack's body suddenly reacted, he swiftly let go of the sword with his right hand, only thrusting toward the goblin in the air with his left hand. The goblin charged into the awaiting blade, seeing the goblin impaled, Jack let go of the sword as he punched the incoming goblin in the face with all his might, knocking it back a couple meters. The exchange only lasted moments but to Jack, it seemed like he just fought the most intense battle.

" Huff, Huff." Jack quickly began to settle his beating heart as he pulled his sword from the goblin's corpse.

Jack walked to the goblin laying on the ground unconscious and stabbed it in its head while looking towards the other goblins.

[Level Up!!!]

The announcement snapped Jack out of the stance he was in, " Uhh, killing these creatures seems to level me up. Ok. And also it seems like leveling up restores my stamina as well."

Jack smiled as he faced the last few goblins before him with eagerness and determination, preparing for a fight. However, to his surprise, the goblin turned and ran. Jack chased after them into a cave but he suddenly came to a halt, he found the cave had very little light this far in. A chilling wind suddenly blew pass Jack, chilling him to his core like it was carrying the god of death itself. Jack quickly opened his status window.

Name: Jack Squartatore]

[Class: NONE]

[Title: One Who Overcomes]

[LVL: 2]

[Rank: E]

[Stamina: HIGH]

[HP: 240]

[MP: 90]

[STR: 26]

[AGI: 17]

[SEN: 17]

[VIT: 12]

[INT: 12]

[SP: 10]

"10 skill points, huh," Jack allocated all his skills points to SENSE.

The surroundings in close proximity to Jack suddenly became more illuminated and he started to hear more of his surroundings clearly. Jack started to notice little shadows moving behind rocks and stalagmites. Jack smirked and started to move forward slowly, heightening his senses to the maximum. The three goblins from before attacked Jack from the shadows. Jack, who saw the goblins' every action, swang his sword and spun around, hitting all three goblins with his sword's blade.

Jack saw the goblins were severely injured, he walked towards to check on their death. Seeing the goblins stillness, he turned around to leave when suddenly he felt a stab in his leg. He swiftly turned to see what happen, only to see a smirking goblin draw its last breath.

" B*tch!!" , Jack exclaimed in fury as he placed his hand on the wound.

Never would Jack have thought that goblins were so vicious and sly. Weren't they supposed to be weak?

"That mistake could have cost me my life." Jack acknowledged. This was the first and last time Jack underestimated a goblin.

Jack continued to explore the cave, killing whatever goblins he came across in the name of perseverance and leveling up. The goblin tricks were the best teacher for Jack in the art of battle tactics, Jack as he transverse this cave found himself, constantly observing his surroundings, thinking and strategising.

....

[ Swoosh] [Clank]

" Damn, the sword broke," Jack exclaimed as he killed a goblin.

Jack stepped over a sea of dead goblins picking up their daggers and putting them into his inventory as he thought to himself. The prudent smell of the miasmic blood hardly having any effect on him now.

"The goblins' nametag went from Blue to green to white, the stronger I got. It even took me longer to level up. Hmmm, from my observation Blue is stronger than green and green is stronger than white. Where white poses no threat to me."

Jack saw the cave becoming larger in front, it even had a certain structure. Before he went any further he decided to check his status.

[Name: Jack Squartatore]

[Class: NONE]

[Title: One Who Overcomes]

[LVL: 6]

[Rank: D]

[Stamina: MID]

[HP: 570]

[MP: 140]

[STR: 42]

[AGI: 30]

[SEN: 30]

[VIT: 18]

[INT: 18]

[SP: 0]

Passive Skills]

[Unyielding Fighting Spirit][LVL 1]

[ Receive a 30% boost to all stats when HP is below 30%]

[ Muscular Body] [LVL 2]

[ Stamina depletion is reduced by 22%]

[Active Skills]

[Boxing][LVL1]

[Swordmanship][LVL2]

[Sprinting][LVL1]

Jack smiled at the change in his rank, it was now D-ranked, his path was becoming clearer and clearer to him. Jack stepped forward into the large room. As Jack looked around he soon realized that the room had many paths. Perplexed, Jack stood still, observing his surroundings when he suddenly heard a repetitive sound becoming louder and louder. Jack quickly located the source of the sound, it was coming from the path to the northeast of him. Jack took out two of the goblins' daggers and focused on the path.

As Jack assumed his battle position, the loud noise came to stop and a figure stepped out of the path.

" You got to be kidding me!" Jack blurted out.