Chapter 12 - Middle Boss and Starting Town (Patreon)

The Hobgoblin stood up menacingly once Nova finished the last Goblin.

They walked towards each other slowly, since there would be no escape. The Hobgoblin measured him up, while Nova did the same.

Both of them snorted disdainfully and both of them paused in their footsteps.

Neither of them could believe that his opponent would insult them like this!

The Hobgoblin slashed first.

Nova tried to parry his sword without breaking his wooden sword.

[You have parried the Hobgoblin!]

He was surprised that it worked and he noticed a glistening thing on the Hobgoblin's chest.

'Am I supposed to plunge the sword in there?' Nova tilted his head and he tested that theory.

The sword slid into his opponent, who was under the stunned effect.

The Hobgoblin roared angrily as Nova kicked him away from his wooden sword. It would be bad if he lost his sword due to his carelessness.

The Hobgoblin was bleeding, but it was not dead. Nova would have to deal more damage, but...

[Your [Wooden Sword] reached its limit and is broken.]

He would not be able to use his sword again.

Nova dodged the next slash and frowned. He would have a hard time in this fight without his sword, but he had his fists and Martial Arts!

'I should've checked the effects!' Nova cursed inwardly, but he didn't think that the riposte would cost so much durability!

He dodged the sword until the Hobgoblin tired out a bit, but Nova was likewise tired.

He dodged the sword one more time before punching at the Hobgoblin.

The punch connected and the Hobgoblin staggered.

It looked incredibly angry.

Nova raised his fists and smirked.

Due to anger, the Hobgoblin threw away its sword and charged at Nova with its own fists.

Nova was startled and was smashed into the gut.

He staggered backwards before finally recovering and dodging the next blow from the Hobgoblin.

Now it was his time to punch the Hobgoblin's stomach.

[Martial Artist has reached established Warrior stage, please choose one Skill Tree: [Breathing Techniques], [Fist Techniques], [Movement Techniques]]

Nova glanced at it, but he had to ignore it for the time being, as he was currently still fighting.

The Hobgoblin kicked Nova, which he didn't expect.

He rolled around due to the powerful kick before standing up.

They both threw a jab and it connected on their faces, but since Nova landed the first hit in the beginning, the Hobgoblin was stunned.

Nova could see a shining light on the Hobgoblin's chin, but this time he didn't go for it right away.

He punched the Hobgoblin a few times before connecting it with the well-known uppercut.

The Hobgoblin staggered and collapsed on the ground.

Nova wasted no time and rushed next to the Hobgoblin.

He stomped the Hobgoblin's face again and again, until the Hobgoblin stopped moving.

[Congratulations! You have defeated the middle Boss!]

[Reward: 100 Existence Coins]

'Not bad.' Nova nodded happily. Another 100 Existence Coins into his pockets.

'Now for the Skill Tree...' Nova narrowed his eyes.

[Breathing Techniques]

[Rarity: Unique]

[Techniques revolving around breathing.]

[Your breathing allows you to gain powerful buffs.]

[Fist Techniques]

[Rarity: Common]

[Techniques revolving around using your fists.]

[Your fists will become more powerful and deadly.]

[Movement Techniques]

[Rarity: Rare]

[Techniques revolving around movement.]

[Your moment and Movement Techniques will be enhanced.]

'This is a tough choice...' Nova narrowed his eyes. It was difficult to choose only one of them...

The Breathing Techniques would allow him to gain versatility.

The Fist Techniques would allow him to fight if his sword broke.

The Movement Techniques would allow him to dodge more easily and explore faster.

'No. Am I thinking about this incorrectly?' Nova tilted his head.

'Breathing Techniques would certainly allow me to gain versatility, BUT it should have no problems increasing my damage and movement speed as long as I keep breathing.' Nova narrowed his eyes. 'The demerits are any injuries that will happen to my lungs.'

'The other techniques in this case are much safer, but at the same time they are more of an edge case scenario.' Nova paused. 'The Fist Techniques would only work once I lose my sword and until now I was able to manage its durability somewhat well, so it would help me only in edge-case scenarios.'

'Meanwhile, the Movement Technique is much better in this, but it can't aid me in battle, unlike the Breathing Techniques.' Nova surmised that while the breathing part was the biggest flaw, with some kind of armour that flaw can be reduced or ignored altogether.

[You have chosen: [Breathing Techniques]]

[You have obtained your first Breathing Skills: [Healing Breathing], [Calming Breathing]]

[These are entry-level skills, as such, they will become obsolete over time.]

Nova nodded gently. At least it rewarded him something.

He sat down in order to try that breathing, since it was not kicking him out of this place yet.

'Now let's activate that Skill-' After Nova activated the Skill, he realised that HE would have to do the breathing part!

This skill was not autonomous and he had to focus on breathing!

'Fuck!' Nova didn't think it would be like this, since his previous Skills were 'click' to use!

'Dammit!' Nova ruffled his hair in frustration.

[You have cleared the fourth part of the Tutorial!]

[Proceed further?]

[Yes/No]

It felt like the system was mocking him, but he still pressed yes.

...

[You have entered the Starting Town!]

[You have hit a checkpoint, you can start your adventure from here!]

[Most functions are still locked until you clear the Tutorial!]

Nova's vision changed greatly. He did not have time to clean his wounds, but thankfully this transfer included that too.

'Starting Town, huh?' Nova snorted disdainfully. This was not a Starting Town, but a Starting Village! There were only a few houses around and even they were pretty bad. Moreover, they were made completely out of wood!

Nova clicked his tongue and walked around. The only redeeming thing about this whole situation was the fact that this place also had a checkpoint!

There were only a few Hum-NPCs that walked around or did anything.

"Welcome to the Starting Town." A girl greeted him. "Would you like to register this location as your 'Respawn Point'?"

"No need." He refused, just in case he would not be allowed to enter the first area again. He still wished to buy things from there and from the Tavern.

'Right! I completely forgot about that.' Nova smacked his head. "So what can you tell me about this place?" He asked her.

"You can sell your loot here and buy equipment from both us and other newcomers." The girls continued. "You can also book a room for 1 Existence Coin, but if you reach 'higher' Starting Towns, you will be able to rent better rooms."

"What does that do for me?" Nova would not be truly 'tired' as in needing to sleep, so it was pointless for him to book a room.

"You can buy furniture that can help you progress your Magic or help you recover faster when you are exhausted!" The girl proclaimed happily.

She was the typical cheerful brunette with medieval clothing.

"But I'm not exhausted." Nova did not want to spend 1 Existence Coin just to book a useless room.

"Not now, since you have not cleared the 'Tutorial', yet! But once you do, you will feel the exhaustion creeping up on you!" The girl proclaimed.

"Oh." Nova nodded. That would make a lot of sense, but it could also be quite dangerous...

If the exhaustion piled up a bit too much, then you could 'collapse' until your body completely recovered, which in some cases might take weeks!

This was important information.

"How does the room look?" Nova asked her.

"That depends on the price, but I can only show you for the 1 coin." The girl sighed.

"That is fine. Lead the way." Nova smiled gently and the girl stuttered.

"P-please follow me!" The girl immediately hurried away.

Nova could already feel some sharp gazes on him, but he held no interest in her, so it should be alright.

...

They walked through the Starting Town, arriving in front of a large, depilated building.

'Don't tell me it's inside this...' Nova groaned.

"We are here!" The girl happily pointed at the building.

Nova groaned again, but didn't say anything.

"There is a shared room for cooking, cleaning, bathing, and the rest is outside." She explained how this place worked.

Nova didn't like this place at all, it would definitely stink inside!

"Let's go in, so you can see for yourself."

They went inside. The shared rooms were small and could barely fit a few people, the bathroom was just a small bucket with a towel.

The rooms were not better, as Nova expected it stank pretty badly and it was rotting almost everywhere. He was sure that if he jumped on top of those beds right now. They would certainly break under him and give him all kinds of diseases!

Nova groaned even more, this was worse than he expected!

"As I said, higher 'Starting Towns' would have better rooms, but if you don't care about that, then you can just finish the tutorial with the Boss." The girl said. "I also advise you to book a room, since it would make you more powerful if you include furniture."

'I would definitely want a window...' Nova groaned. 'But booking this kind of room is a no-go!' He was unwilling to spend money on something so disgusting.

"That is all. You can easily find the 'market' once you go outside, the layout is similar to the bigger 'Starting Towns', but there might be some small changes, like the market being inside the building and this place having multiple stories."

'This room at best is 2m2, there is no way that bigger cities would have bigger rooms.' Nova snorted. It was all about the money, so it was obvious that there would be changes in 'better' 'Starting Towns'.

"What is the final Boss?" Nova asked cautiously.

"It's a projection of a beautiful Elf!" The girl was very enthusiastic about this part.

"Projection?" Nova tilted his head. "Does that mean she is not real?"

"Yeah, we are just a small 'Starting Town', so it's only natural that we would not get the real deal." The girl sighed. "But she is still breathtakingly beautiful you know!" Her eyes shined as she spoke about her.

'It might be possible to defeat the final boss if I start from this place.' Nova nodded slowly. He would be able to clear this Tutorial if he did that.

"Once you defeat her, do you have to continue?" Nova asked.

"No, but you can defeat her only 100 times!" The girl warned. "Even if you try to defeat her 101 times, you would get no reward!" The girl exclaimed.

Nova nodded gently, it was nice that he could grind her too. He needed more experience against proper humanoid monsters like that Hobgoblin.

'Let's return all the way back for the time being.'

"Nova?!" A shocked voice sounded behind him. 'What is he doing here? Did he already pass the middle Boss?!' She looked shocked.

"Oh, Nina, how are you doing?" Nova smiled gently. His face after training looked much better and he upgraded from depressed addict to just addict.

"Not good, the last Boss is too tough for us." Nina shook her head. "Oh and here." Nina gave Nova some kind of bag.

[You have received 100 Existence Coins from [Nina].]

"Are you sure you will be alright?" Nova took those coins without a second thought.

"You can take missions that can reward you with some Existence Coins. Moreover, we got some loot on the way here and we were able to cash it out for a handsome amount." She said gently as she smiled.

"Gotcha." Nova was now more interested in that market.

"I will be going, since I have a mission. I don't want to be late, even if they won't penalise me for that." Nina said before running away.

"See you around!" Nova chuckled. He was sure that they would see each other again.

"Do you need anything else from me?" The girl asked.

"No, thank you. I will just buy some things and leave." Nova smiled gently.

"O-okay!" the girl blushed before running away.

'This place is so odd.' Nova sighed. He got used to it quite quickly thanks to the disconnect between his old memories and new ones.

Unfortunately, his comfort zone was pushed into the abyss when he considered those rooms. There was no way that he would buy them!