Novice Reincarnator

I still had nightmares every night, but the severity of them lessened a significant amount once I started going to bed while wearing Lime as a leotard. Even if it wasn’t the warmth of a person that I desired, the fact that I wasn’t alone in the darkest moments of those nightmares made a huge difference.

I hadn’t needed to comfort myself with my fingers ever since the day I decided to change. Unfortunately, my decision had come a little too late.

“Status.”

Name: Ash

Class: Novice

Level: 6/10

Personal Skills (3/3): [Weak Bladder], [Breast Binding], [Clumsy Fingering]

Racial Skills: [Contract I]

Class Skills: [Novice]

There were plenty of useful Personal Skills I could have learned through my dungeon exploration, but my skill slots were all full. Every skill that appeared in my status was somehow enhanced. For example, I would not be able to make my chest appear as small as it did without the [Breast Binding] skill.

If I had a [Slash] skill, then the effect of my dagger slashes would all be much more effective than if I did not have the skill. Even though one’s status did not reveal the full extent of a person’s abilities, the skills that made it to their status all held strong bonus effects.

I didn’t mind having the [Breast Binding] skill as I saw it as a necessity, but it hurt to have my other two skill slots filled up with [Weak Bladder] and [Clumsy Fingering]. A regular Common talented level 6 was already weaker than an Uncommon and Rare level 6. Since I even had three non combat skills, I was far weaker than any other level 6 explorer.

That was to say, I needed to be careful in Goblin’s Nest even if other level 6 explorers could easily clean it out.

Life continued without me during the day. Nobody had gotten on my case for skipping school, perhaps because explorers were individuals that placed a great emphasis on their own individual activities.

I spent my free time either studying up on dungeons or keeping an eye on news about Leo. Even though a Legendary talent individual took far more experience to level up than a Novice, my best friend had already surpassed me in level.

Poor Leo, or should I say Leah. She(?) had received an overwhelming number of confessions and marriage proposals from both men and women. I smiled happily at her misfortune. Half of my troubles would be neatly solved if Leah hooked up with someone.

Eventually, it hit 2am and I set out for a new destination. Much like the bored cat Beastman receptionist I encountered at the entrance to Slime Corridor, I found an equally bored elf reading a book at the entrance to Goblin Nest.

The Elf’s eyes never left the book as he did his job. Within a few minutes, I found myself in a new dungeon. A sinking weight of dread settled in my stomach. The dark, torchlit cavern that made up the Goblin Nest dungeon reminded me of my time at the entrance exam dungeon.

I nearly died the last time I entered a dungeon of this nature. I thought I had sufficiently mentally prepared myself, but I found my hands trembling.

White: Good evening.

“Good evening, White. Thank you for joining me.”

White’s timely arrival into my stream brought me out of my downward spiral. I wasn’t alone like that time. I had Lime with me and White watching me. This time, things would end differently. I took a deep breath and entered deeper into Goblin’s Nest.

The noisy snarling of goblins summoned unpleasant memories. Unlike Slime Corridor, Goblin Nest’s first level was a maze of connecting rooms and dead ends. If an explorer wasn’t careful, they could easily become lost and get ambushed when they least expect it.

Thankfully, it was a straight shot from the entrance to the first room containing goblins. The torches lit up to reveal three goblins. Two held wooden clubs and a third had a rusty sword. The three green skinned monsters raised their weapons and charged at me.

I drew my daggers and measured the distance between us. They were on me in no time. Two clubs slammed towards me. I took a quick step back and the clubs hit nothing but air. I readied myself to strike at the generous opening that presented itself. A sword slashed at me from the side, prompting me to leap out of the way.

“Tsk.”

My opportunity vanished and I was back to square one. The three goblins surrounded me from different directions. I struggled to keep track of where my enemies were as I desperately avoided their blows.

Panic rose up from the back of my mind. This was bad. I had no chance to counter attack. If things kept up like this, then I would be the first to run out of stamina. I racked my brains and settled for a simple and stupid method.

I dashed at one of the wooden goblins holding a wooden club with my daggers ready. A wooden club predictably arced towards me in an effort to force me back to its friends. I parried the blow with one of my daggers and stabbed the goblin’s throat with the other.

One goblin died, but there was no time to celebrate. The other two goblins were on top of me and I was in no position to defend myself. I barely got a dagger up in time to block the rusty sword, but the full force of a wooden club slammed into my back.

“Kuh!”

I cried out in pain. My training kicked in as I let the force of the blow carry me out of reach. It hurt to breathe, but I couldn’t get distracted now. There were still two enemies left. They pounced on me and our battle resumed.

Their formation was full of holes with three of them. With only two, I was able to capitalize on their openings when they overextended themselves. I did not run into any issues killing the last two goblins one by one.

A surge of warmth filled my body, signifying I had leveled to level 7 at the end of that fight. Even so, I wasn’t in a celebratory mood.

“Ugh, goblin blood.”

My hands and white hoodie were covered in dark green blood. I wanted some water to at least wash my hands off, but I hadn’t even brought a bag into the dungeon. The stinging pain in my back reminded me of my foolishness.

I hadn’t needed armor to deal with slimes, but I needed better armor to take hits from goblins. I was no longer the same weak level 1 explorer who could not even pick up a sword. I could afford to wear some heavier gear if it meant I would be better protected.

I sat down in the corner of the room far away from my kills and reviewed the fight out loud.

“Dealing with multiple opponents is tough.”

White: Most explorers form parties to handle multiple enemies at once. Have you considered finding some friends to dive with?

“White… If I had those kinds of friends, do you think I would be diving alone in the dungeon at 2am?”

White: Sorry.

I shook my head feeling rather silly about the whole situation. White was right. Battles would be a lot easier if I had companions I could trust to protect my back. Contracted monsters could fulfill that role.

In a sense, Lime was already fulfilling that role. I was confident I could take the goblin’s blow because I had Lime protecting my upper body.

“If I had a ranged weapon, I could have maybe taken down one of the goblins while they ran at me. Additionally, I let them encircle me too easily.”

I needed to bring a bag next time. Even if they weren’t worth much, I could sell the goblin fangs, ears, and cores to the school. It would at least allow me to save up to buy a potion.

The dead goblins' bodies gradually disintegrated while I waited. It was thought that the dungeon reabsorbed the fallen monsters to recycle the resources it spent creating them. The weapons remained behind. Perhaps the next set of goblins that were created in this room would pick them up.

After a few minutes, I got up and picked up one of the fallen wooden clubs. Sure enough, I had more than enough strength to carry it around now that my level was higher. I spent a minute familiarizing myself with it before continuing my journey through the dungeon.