Noa's body perished as he gained control of the dead monster.
Clenching his fists to get used to the lowered stats, he gripped the dagger to ambush them once more.
The mastery skill appeared in his status window, assisting his movements.
Their proficiency varied on a goblin, but the difference was always so minuscule he could barely feel it.
Backstabbing was the easiest thing to do.
When goblins weren't expecting an assault, Noa delivered them at that exact moment.
He was constantly changing attack patterns.
A quick horizontal slash was followed by a swift diagonal stab, and even if he missed the target, pulling out the blade from the flesh and thrusting it in succession didn't complicate his schemes.
Twisting the dagger as he applied more pressure, Noa pierced another heart.
[ You killed a Primitive Green Goblin Lv. 1 ]
[ You've gained 20 Experience Points ]
The system's notification still hovered at the corner of his eyesight, but his concentration never wavered.
His killing act required him to pause for a moment, allowing goblins to strike back.
Yet he could manage one or two attacks, deflecting them with precise motions.
Unfortunately, his opponents were in high numbers, and he still got hurt.
Blocking or sidestepping every strike was impossible even for him, especially in this narrow hall when he was surrounded by this many monsters.
As soon as Noa sustained an injury that weakened his puppet, he quickly got rid of it.
Shifting into another goblin's body, he felt a headache coming.
However, it was more bearable than the last time.
'My stats increased for a reason,' he scoffed, rising from the ground with a new corpse to control and a new dagger to draw blood with.
The sharp edge of the blade was directed at yet another back to cut.
Cleaving unprotected flesh like a true assassin brought extreme satisfaction and experience to Noa.
[ You killed a Primitive Green Goblin Lv. 1 ]
[ You've gained 20 Experience Points ]
[ Level Up! ]
[ You've gained 0.3 stat points in Strength and Agility. You've gained 0.6 stat points in Vitality and Intelligence ]
[ You've gained 1 Attribute Point ]
After losing his previous level, he gained another one.
Five measly kills were enough for him to obtain stats that increased his fighting capabilities even further.
He even got one additional Attribute Point he could spend however he wanted.
Not dwelling too much on it, Noa put it into Intelligence.
'I wish I could get smarter as well,' he joked.
Corpse Puppet was his ultimate ability, the only skill he depended on in a fight, but it required an atrocious amount of mana.
With freshly boosted stats, he went back to his killing spree, slaughtering poor goblins without taking or giving a break.
However, something unexpected happened.
The goblins, who were dumb and violent creatures, felt fear for the first time.
Noa was an opponent they didn't comprehend nor knew how to deal with, and fighting their own kin exhausted their mental capacity.
It was a fight that would deem their total annihilation.
This revelation arrived to them collectively, and as Noa aimed at their vital areas, covering the floor with more blood and heightening a foul smell of metal, the goblins turned around and ran.
They wanted to get away from him as soon as possible.
Noa was stunned for a second.
'This never happened in a game. They have never been pussies. But it's good. I was getting bored anyway.'
Instead of basking in his victory, he chose to kill a couple more.
His actual body was the best option, as he no longer needed to be a goblin, and transferring back to a human, he relished in his real stats.
Then he dashed, adding backstabs to his collection, as it was much easier for him to secure additional kills.
As Noa was slaughtering goblins, a couple of youngsters appeared, hidden amidst the towering shadows.
With his mouth agape and hands pointing in Noa's direction, one of them called his peers.
"Come here quickly! You need to see this!"
All they saw was a bloodied figure, grinning with malice, looking down at the piles of corpses he left behind.
But the figure couldn't quench his hunger.
Not yet…
It lunged at the helpless goblins as these poor monsters ran for their lives.
But Noa was merciless and butchered them, birthing enormous rivers of blood.
Then he abruptly stopped.
His eyes darted as if searching for more flesh to cut.
None of the boys uttered a single word.
Their breaths halted as their bodies trembled with a mix of fear and excitement.
But all of that heightened when Noa's piercing gaze landed on them.
Too afraid to budge a single muscle, the students could only flee for their lives, fearing they would become his next target.
As for Noa, he was watching the transparent system panel.
[ You killed a Primitive Green Goblin Lv. 1 ]
[ You've gained 20 Experience Points ]
Noa didn't want to follow the goblins to the depths of the hall.
There was too much uncertainty inside, and he might encounter something that could easily extinguish his Echoes.
[ Level Up! ]
[ You've gained 0.3 stat points in Strength and Agility. You've gained 0.6 stat points in Vitality and Intelligence ]
[ You've gained 1 Attribute Point ]
The moment Noa saw this message, he halted his steps.
'It's better to go and loot them. And instructors must be searching for me. I don't have time to waste.'
He summoned his stats and put 1 Attribute Point in Agility, completely going against his class.
[ Noa Osborn ]
[ Species: Human ]
[ Grade: Evolved ]
[ Class: Wizard ]
[ Level: 1 → 3 ]
[ EXP: 3/100 → 3/500 ]
[ Strength: 1.2 → 1.8 ]
[ Agility: 1.1 → 2.7 ]
[ Vitality: 1.9 → 3.1 ]
[ Intelligence: 1.1 → 3.3 ]
[ Attribute Points: 0 ]
[ Talent: Death's Companion ]
[ Talent Rank: SSS ]
[ Skills: Echo of Doom ]
[ Class Skill: Corpse Puppet (Proficiency: 0.9%) ]
Reaching level 3 at this point wasn't a simple thing to do.
After leaving the Abyss for the first time, even Klaus and Artur were only level 4 and level 5, respectively.
The two key figures, the first one from the novel and the second one from the game, were OP characters with an amazing set of skills and talents.
Noa was completely nerfed when he arrived, but he still managed not to fall behind.
His stats were improved, and he also understood how his abilities worked as he created a good number of corpses.
But now it was time for the main event—something that every gamer loved to death.
Of course, it was looting.
Looting the slain monsters was fairly easy in this world.
One needed to know where the cores were hidden, and just touching them was enough for the items to appear.
"I might get rich after this."
Noa said as he neared the corpses.