Aevintyr Elds

Bjorn immediately turned around and assumed his usual defensive stance, both hands in sword, whilst pointing it downwards towards the right. 

He then threw his sheath away so that it would not interfere with his movements. Together with the sheath, Bjorn also removed his bags from his body and threw them away from him.

He looked around him and noticed that the enemies were goblins, rather than kobolds, which is also found within the same first floor. Bjorn then noticed that the way he came from was blocked by 3 goblins…. 

All in all, he took note that there were at least 11 goblins surrounding him.

The goblins facing him right now are a rather rowdy bunch, as compared to those in the overworld. They immediately rushed towards Bjorn who was standing at the ready.

Seeing this, Bjorn calmed himself down… He took a deep breath, and got ready for his first dungeon fight….

Seeing the incoming goblins, Bjorn immediately strategized. Time slowed down for him, slowing down any sounds, and maximizing his perception and his ability to think…

After a while in the slowed world, he had already finished strategizing. Time for him returned to normal.

Bjorn moved closer to the left, so that the goblin located there would first reach him.

Once the goblins were at least a meter away from him, Bjorn stepped backward towards the left, and delivered an upward slash towards the incoming stab of the goblin. The goblin was pushed back.

He then surprisingly lunged towards a goblin in his right and slashed his swords downwards towards it. This resulted in the goblin's torso to be cut in half. 

Bjorn then grabbed a knife from the back of his belt and threw it towards the incoming goblin from the front. 

The goblin, surprised, has no way of dodging or deflecting the incoming knife resulting in the knife hitting the left side of the goblin's neck, lodged there, and was sent back due to the sheer strength of the throw, though the goblin tried to remove the knife, ultimately, it succumbed to the fatal wound.

The goblins continued rushing towards Bjorn so he stepped back multiple times, while still looking towards the goblins, in order to dodge the knives of the incoming goblins.

It's strange…

Bjorn then found a weak point between the group of goblins. He noticed that the right side of the group was a bit undernumbered so he sidestepped to the right, spun, and slashed his sword, resulting in 2 goblins being slashed on their back. 

Bjorn immediately jumped backwards in order to dodge an incoming knife that was thrown.

This… is much much different… The goblins in the overworld and the dungeon are very much different…

Whilst in the air, with his left hand, Bjorn grabbed another knife behind him and threw it into an incoming goblin, which hit it straight to the face, instantly killing it.

Bjorn then landed on the ground and immediately ducked. Two goblins jumped and slashed the empty air above the human. While the goblins were in the air, Bjorn spun horizontally, cutting the two goblins in the air in half.

Unfazed by their comrades dying, the four remaining goblins continued to rush. 

In the overworld… the goblins knew how to think… even rationalize partially… They also know how to put themselves into complex formations… Their instinct is to survive whatever threat they may have fallen… They also are conscious of their members dying…

Bjorn continued to dodge, weaving through the multitude of attacks by the remaining goblins.

On the other hand, the goblins in the dungeon… do not know how to survive…. Their only instinct is to kill and to fight the dungeon divers… like a laboratory creation whose only function is the task they were tasked with… Though… I know some monsters know fear as well but will still choose to fight…

Bjorn then immediately rolled towards his left, making it so that the goblins were lined up. Seeing that the four remaining goblins are in a line, Bjorn immediately stabled both of his feet on the ground, slightly bent. He then assumes an offensive stance, with both of his hands on the hilt of the sword, and is placed just above his left shoulder. 

Time slowed down for Bjorn.

Hmm… a little bit more to the left…

Bjorn waited for one of the goblins to be placed a bit more to the left. Once he noticed that the goblins were now located where he wanted them to be, he then cast his magic.

[Burst]

Mind filled Bjorn's feet, like an engine readying to be revved. Bjorn then shooted outwards, slashing his sword towards the goblins.

The goblins' head/torso were immediately cut in half. 

Seeing that the goblins were wiped out, Bjorn immediately put down his sword. He then took a deep breath and sighed.

"*Sigh* I'm done, finall-"

Bjorn heard multiple soft rumblings, like a child being birthed out in between the rocks. 

He then looked towards the source of the sound and immediately slapped his mouth. There, he saw numerous goblins being birthed out by the dungeon… He counted them and noticed that there were at least the same number of the group of goblins before…

He then looked towards the way he came from and noticed that there were also numerous goblins being birthed out there… 

Fuck! I just need to jinx myself…

Bjorn took another deep breath and sighed… He then readied his sword into his usual defensive stance.

Well, let's finish this immediately…. I need to cook for my Goddess.

_______________________

After at least 3 hours, Bjorn stepped out of the first floor of the dungeon…. The guardsman there saw Bjorn's state and shook his head.

"Rough day, huh?"

Bjorn tiredly looked at this guard and sighed.

"..... yeah…."

Bjorn continued walking. His destination? The guild.

He lined up into Rose's line which was a bit smaller than the other lines.

After a while, he was face-to-face with Rose…

Rose noticed his state and said…

"Rough day, huh?"

Bjorn tilted his head.

"Yeah…."

"You are wounded in two places…"

Yes, Bjorn was wounded by the goblins…. You see, after the group of goblins sent by the dungeon was wiped out, the dungeon sent another one…. 

Bjorn fought a total of at least 80 goblins… After wiping out the last group, the dungeon insisted on sending another group of goblins… Deciding that it was enough, Bjorn immediately bolted out of the dungeon… 

"I'll tend to my wounds later… That dungeon seems to have a personal vendetta towards me, huh?.... Anyways, Rose, I came here to sell these."

Bjorn put his string duffel bag on the counter. It was full of monster cores and goblin fangs due to the sheer amount of goblins that came to him…

"Wow… what an amount on your first day…"

"Right? The dungeon just keeps spewing out goblins after goblins… Just looking at them makes me sick."

Rose softly smiled.

"Well, that's good. Since this duffel bag here shows your potential… Keeping you on the 1st floor will only hinder you… Tomorrow, you may proceed up to the 3rd level."

"Really? Thank you!"

"Don't get excited. The deeper the floor you go, the more dangerous it is. Just… please promise this to me… Please do not die."

Rose looked sadly towards Bjorn. She knew numerous adventurers, who also have potential, die, because they underestimate the dungeon. 

Bjorn knew the sadness in her eyes, and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I promise, Rose."

The two gave each other a soft smile.

"I'll still give you a hundred valis each though."

"Oh come on! Those cores and fangs have my blood, sweat, and tears literally!"

"Tears? So you cried?"

"Alright, that one's figuratively!"

The two haggled until they reached a price of 11,000 valis for all of them. After the haggling, the two shared a soft laugh, which surprised Rose's coworkers….

After his tasks at the guild, Bjorn then headed straight towards the Dian Cecht Pharmacy.

There, he asked Airmid for first aid. Bjorn's potion supply was emptied during the goblin stampede in the dungeon… 

Bjorn also presented the golden egg to Airmid to which they haggled with one another… 

To Airmid's displeasure, Bjorn came out on top. 

The final deal was 1.3 million valis, however, Bjorn's first choice of store to sell herbs to will be the Dian Cecht Familia. Bjorn happily agreed, since he knew how rich the Dian Cecht Familia is… Plus, the potions the familia have are of top quality.

After the pharmacy, Bjorn went back towards his home…. The Twilight Manor. 

Bjorn went inside the gates of the Manor and noticed Loki at one of the gardens, located at the front of the manor. Loki was looking intently at the fire in the middle of the garden.

The fire swayed, like a child dancing for her mother.

Bjorn smiled at this scene… The usually loud Loki was silent, staring at a fire….

Loki sensed Bjorn's presence so she looked at him and smiled widely.

"Hey Bjornyyy!"

Hearing his nickname, Bjorn softly smiled and went towards his Goddess.

Once near, Loki noticed Bjorn's state. 

Bjorn, knowing that look, knew what Loki would say, so he decided to say it at the same time as his Goddess.

"Rough day, huh?"

"Rough day, huh?"

Loki was surprised, but she eventually smiled.

"Hahaha, you joker. It seems that you heard that phrase a number of times now, huh?"

"Yes, Goddess."

Loki stood up and went towards Bjorn. She then reached out and patted Bjorn's head. She opened her eyes and looked towards Bjorn's eyes, 

"You did well, I am proud of you."

The warmth coming from the hand that was patting him, is enough for him to let go of any remaining adrenaline in his body. It was comfortable, to the point that he wanted to fall asleep standing…

Who would have known that his Goddess was warm...

Bjorn bowed his head, moving closer towards the hand that was patting him. He then closed his eyes and said.

"Thank you, Goddess."

….

..