Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

He looked at the map, which showed a several kilometre long, more or less straight stretch, from his home to here. This place was even marked on the map as jungle biome.

"Why is there a tropical jungle...hah.. In the outskirts ?", he complained panting.

The humid air made his clothes stick to his skin and it didn't really help, that he wore a thick leather jacket. Seth had actually hoped to get somewhere with less... green. You can say whatever you want about a wasteland, but at least it's a lot harder for things to hide...

"gi gi gi!"

Seth faintly heard noises not too far away. He had jinxed it. It sounded similar to the goblin he had killed in the tutorial. Seeing a more or less intact building; he slowly sneaked over and entered the dark gaping hole left by the broken down door.

The inside wasn't pretty. Smashed furniture, broken glass from the windows, dirt and roots covered the floor. He walked down a short hallway and to the right. It was the living room. On the sofa were some mangled corpses, they looked as if wild beasts and gnawed on them. The stench was unbearable, but at least they were no sucked dry mummies. He hoped that this meant, that he really wouldn't meet any more vines.

Seth could hear the noises outside getting louder, so he anticipated that he wouldn't leave the house any time soon. Since he was here anyways he could look for something usable.

Other than the living room, he found a dining room, a small bathroom and the kitchen on the ground level.

The fridge had been ripped open, with the door lying on the ground. It's contents were spread all over the floor, with some squished and other having bite marks. The rest of the kitchen looked similar with nothing left he could take with him.

The squeaking and snarling noises were now really close. When he looked down the hallway he could see a group of goblins outside on the street.

He decided to go up the stairs to avoid being seen. Looking around the upper floor he found a bigger bathroom and a children's room and…the bedroom.

Seth rushed back out, about to puke! It was <Calm Reaction> that forced the urge back down. Leaning against the wall outside the door, he slid down to the ground.

"What the f...", he mumbled when he remembered the pictures of what he just saw. On the wide bed, in the middle of the room, laid the corpse of a woman. If only it was just that... she had been strapped to the bed with crude ropes. Her whole body and especially her privates were horribly mutilated. She was covered in bite wounds, cuts, blood, and…more.

"Something" had fun doing its worst to make her death a long and painful procedure. And to top it off, the body wasn't nearly as old as the two below. Seth had even caught a glimpse at the soul hovering above it. This woman had survived, he even believed to have seen a starter weapon lying on the floor. She had survived the apocalypse to find this kind of tragic end...

A noise from downstairs alarmed him. Did 'it' come back? Maybe it was the goblins? Did they do this and came back to check? He swallowed hard and entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him. This was the only door that wasn't broken up here and he definitely wanted to have a door between him and what was down there! Even if he had to go back in there, he entered and locked the door behind himself.

When he turned around, he was a lot calmer. It was even worse than before. She had chunks of meat bitten out of her arms and legs, while she was still alive! The wound had bled. She must have had fought a lot, the ropes at her wrists and ankles had dug deep in her flesh. Seth wasn't an emotional person, but the rage was growing in his chest.

As if it had felt his feelings, the soul had started floating towards him! It had a tinge of red and was a little bigger than the pure white ones he had seen on the Hanging Tree.

<Vengeful Soul(Small) Crafting Material: Uncommon.

A soul filled with rage and wishes to take revenge on it's enemies.>

Seth didn't do anything. The Soul was just gently floating up and down in from of him.

<Ding! A quest has been triggered!>

< Quest: Revenge of the Fallen

Difficulty: C

You have encountered the horrifying murder scene of one of your fellow players. Despite the desperate situation she had not given up. Even after death her soul still wishes for revenge!

Will you help her with her revenge?

Requirement: Kill Goblins 0/10, kill Orc 0/1

Rewards: Vengeful Soul(small), 3000exp. >

<Do you accept the quest?>

He didn't know how much 3000exp actually was, but Seth gladly accepted the quest. It even confirmed that the culprit had been goblins.

"What a cliché...", Seth mumbled. But was it really a cliché, when it truly happened?

The soul had vanished after he had confirmed his decision. It was probably stored in a special space for pending quest rewards or something.

Now what? Seth had a quest. He needed to kill 10 Goblins and an Orc. He was pretty sure, that some of his quest targets were downstairs. Maybe they would come up to look for their ... he grimaced. He would mess those little **** up. He opened the door and used the billhooks handle to smack the hallway's wall to lure them up. He also took out the cane, it had more reach and was better than an empty hand. The woman's weapon had been a staff, but it was broken, so he couldn't use that.

The sounds of steps on the stairs announced the arrival of his opponents. It sounded like 3 or 4. Seth wasn't dumb. He wouldn't fight an open battle. He would ambush them the moment they opened the door.

Not long later the door swung open and a Goblin jumped in! Just to be greeted by a massive brass knob smashing its face! The Goblin crumbled on the floor and didn't get up anymore.

Such an enthusiastic hello had shocked his little companions, which resulted in a billhook piercing one of their heads and popping out an eyeball on the way back out.

Seth kicked the goblin on the ground away, jumped back, and slammed the door shut again. One of the pair that was left had reacted a little faster than his friend and jumped forward, which rewarded him a broken nose as the door hit him in the face.

With one only reacting now and the other falling back after being hit by the door, the door opened again and the billhook saved him the worries about his broken nose.

Now Seth stood face to face with the last Goblin. Its eyes ripped wide open as it screamed, faltered and...fled. Well, an attempt was made. Seth rushed after it and smashed its skull from behind with a swing of his cane.

<Ding! Skill Weapon Mastery(Beginner) lv.2 had become lv.3>

<Ding! Skill Weapon Mastery(Beginner) lv.3 had become lv.4>

Seth went back to the room and finished off the first Goblin, who was only unconscious. He knew, because had not gotten a kill notification for this one. They had all been lv.3 and brought him a few percent experience and 3 Soul(tiny).

They were the first thing he killed, that dropped souls. This strategy had actually worked quite well, but Seth doubted that it would work a second time. If more Goblins came, then to look for their lost companions. They would be alarmed and hard to ambush. Once the adrenaline rush had died down and his hands stopped shaking he went downstairs. Leaving the house via the backdoor led him to a small yard. Or what was left of it after mother nature went berserk. But he found enough space to summon the Spirit Smithy.

"Good…", he mumbled and went back upstairs to get the goblin bodies. Seth had come up with a good use for these guys.. There would be a great surprise waiting for their friends.