Whoosh!
Air billowed through Hinata's cloak, causing the fabric to rise dramatically.
The sheathed katana was in his firm grip, and his posture was low, legs spread apart.
"What are you doing?" Goku asked, a puzzled expression framing his face. Hinata was indeed a talented child. After all, not just anyone could survive against actual cultists on their first day in the world. But to act so nonchalant about facing a monster? That was insanity, no matter how one looked at it.
Hinata's gaze was focused as he answered Goku, "I'm going to slay the goblin. What else?"
Back on Earth, he had trained in the art of the sword from the day he could walk. That was also the reason why he could easily play fantasy roles, even getting the role of the handsome teacher in the famous live-action of JJC.
However, most of the things he did in movies were with stunt equipment since there was a limit to how much the human body could do. This exact phrase was also what his mother told him each time he trained: "The human body is fragile, no matter how much we train it."
But things were different now. He was in a fantasy world where one could wield flames and fly without planes. If the fundamental hindrance in his way was gone, what prevented him from slaying a mere goblin?
Hinata, with a lowered posture, curled his fingers deliberately around the scabbard of his katana.
The goblin didn't waste a second. It immediately turned on its heels. Hinata pushed his body forward, ready to lunge. He felt the muscles in his feet strain beyond measure, but they didn't hurt.
With a sudden burst, he was launched forward, unsheathing the sword right before reaching the goblin and cutting its arm clean off.
A loud, pained growl rang through the forest as the goblin rushed forward, its dagger raised.
'And I was planning on finishing it with a clean strike.'
Hinata could feel that his body was nearly two times stronger than it had been a day ago, but since he couldn't fully control that power, it was basically useless to him.
However, he knew that if it was just this much, then he could handle it.
He raised his blade high, the bright sunlight making its surface glint. The katana sang through the air as he blocked the goblin's attack and swept his leg forward, knocking it to the ground.
The moment his leg connected, the goblin's gaze widened, and Hinata stabbed it cleanly through the center of its throat.
"Ha… haah… ha," he breathed, finding the entire scenario quite amusing. "For a creature known for mischief, you're really dumb."
Ding!
[You have killed Blight Grade Humanoid Monster: Goblin]
[You have earned 3 life points.]
[Kill one more goblin to unlock goblin evolution option.]
Hinata grinned. "One more to go then."
He glanced at the map. From the direction the red marker was showing, the goblin wasn't too far from him, and it was alone.
Hinata sheathed his sword and rushed towards the area where the new goblin was. Just as expected, the blight was there scavenging for food.
Hinata lowered his posture again. This time, he wasn't going to miss his clean strike or reveal his position.
With one forward burst, he moved in, slicing the goblin's head clean off before smashing into a tree.
"Ouch…" he winced, standing to his feet.
Immediately, the system rang in his ear, and the dark golden interface manifested in front of him.
[You have killed Blight Grade Humanoid Monster: Goblin]
[You have earned 3 life fragments.]
[Mission Progress: 2/100]
He waited for a moment longer before several chiming sounds rang in his head.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[You have unlocked Goblin Evolution option.]
"Goku, pull up my stats."
[Loading status interface.]
In an instant, another interface appeared in front of him, overlapping with the existing one. Hinata dismissed the first notification and focused on his stats.
[ SHADOW SOVEREIGN SYSTEM ]
Nishikawa Hinata ⟡ Human
Lifespan: 18/125
Class: None | Rank: —
Adventure Rank: —
STR 21 | AGI 37
CON 19 | INT 32
MAN 0 | CHA ??
Bloodline ⟡ Shadow God
↳ Rank: Unholy One
↳ Talent: The Extractor Who Evolves Shadows
*Skill: Navigation
Shadows:
• Goblin [Blight]
– Progress until [Hazard]: 0 / 100
– Ability: Deception
…
Hinata immediately noticed the difference in his status panel after killing the two goblins. Not only did he now have attributes like strength, constitution, charisma, and mana, but he also had a lower compartment that showed his shadows.
He quickly clicked on the goblin ability he had obtained, and a new window appeared.
[Ability: Deception]
[Description: You can deceive others with your words and actions, making them see, hear, or feel what isn't there. The more the ability grows, the more the range, timing, and realism of the ability will increase.]
Hinata nodded at the ability. It was a good one, kind of like illusions but even better. Just the thought of what he would be able to do in the future made him grin.
Shaking off the feeling, he studied his other stats. "Goku, where are my life points?"
Goku soon appeared with a small cloud of smoke. "What life points?"
Hinata pointed at his status panel. "The system said something about life points. Isn't that what's used to upgrade your stats?"
"Oh, those life points? Well, since you haven't awakened to mana yet, the system is automatically converting all of those points into mana."
Hinata nodded in understanding. With nothing else to ask, he began going deeper into the forest to find more goblins.
On his way there, he tested the new ability he had gotten. Since he still couldn't use mana yet, he had to rely on the slime when using the ability.
Hinata opened his palm in front of his face and created a fireball using Deception. The fireball looked exactly like the ones in movies, but when he brought his face closer to it, he couldn't feel an ounce of heat.
That much was to be expected from a low-ranked skill. However, he knew that if this skill evolved further, he would be able to create things that very well shouldn't exist. After all, deception could very well become reality.
Jumping lightly to avoid a branch jutting out of the ground, Hinata came to a stop as the map showed another red mark on its radar.
Hinata smirked for just a moment before it faded completely.
On the map was not just one but five red dots.
And they were all… surrounding him.