✨ Please, Take your time to read.. ✨
I wake up disoriented and lying in the bathtub with both arms hanging off the edge, numb from being in that position. As I rub my head, I slowly sit up.
When I'm standing, the first thing I see is my own reflection in the mirror. (Who are you?) I ask myself.
The answer comes immediately with a series of images that fill my head and cloud my mind. Among them, one name keeps repeating itself: Drake.
"Drake." I mutter, and in my head, all those images begin to make sense, from my birth, childhood, and adolescence to the present day. But the craziest thing wasn't me or my large security detail.
Because yes, my body was big, compared to my old self, standing 1.95 meters tall, with tanned skin, short black hair, and honey-colored amber eyes.
My physique resembles that of a classic antagonist.
Suddenly, the bathroom door opens and one of my sisters enters. She doesn't even flinch when she sees me naked and still wet. "See those monsters, they're about to arrive," she says, pulling my arm.
"Wait, wait a second," I manage to say before grabbing some clothes to cover myself.
Vanessa nods, but she doesn't leave the bathroom; she simply waits right by the door. Meanwhile, I put on some clean clothes.
Suddenly, more and more information began to surface in my mind, making everything make sense: my awakening, this place, my body, and these people I'd never seen before. Yet she calls me brother, even though we're clearly not related.
⁜ ⁜ ⁜ ⁜.⁜
The house isn't very big, but it has a long hallway and a basement that also serves as a refuge for these kinds of extremely dangerous situations.
The only thing we're supposed to do when a dungeon is breached is take refuge in the basement and wait patiently for help, but this time was different. By the windows, several women are looking out at the street.
One of the women points toward the street and whispers, "There are three, and they're coming." Everyone looks in the direction she pointed, and sure enough, three goblins soon appear, walking toward the house.
From the surrounding houses, we hear arguments, cries, and screams of terror calling for help. It was only a matter of time before one of those monsters reached our house, and since I'm the only man there, all the women look at me with burning eyes, seeing me as their salvation.
When we both reach the living room, the older woman steps forward and pulls out an object wrapped in a red handkerchief. "Here, Drake," she says, offering me a gun and an extra magazine.
The gun is a black 9mm semi-automatic pistol, and the target is those three Goblins at the end of the street. But my problem wasn't getting rid of those three; the problem was that any loud noise would attract more Goblins, and those 20 bullets wouldn't be enough to defend myself.
These women's plan was as obvious as day: give my life for the cause. With some hesitation, I took the gun in my hand, but just as I grabbed the semi-automatic, the women in the windows ran toward the basement without looking back.
Without a thank you for my sacrifice or one of those heartbreaking goodbyes that break your heart, you know, the ones with sad tears and running snot.
No, those five women just turned around and ran down to the basement, leaving me completely alone with the gun in my hand. Me, a kid of barely 18 who doesn't have the slightest clue how to use a firearm.
Before deciding on a plan, I waited for the women to finish taking cover and secure the basement door from the inside, while my mind carefully analyzed the best option.
Which would mean taking care of those three Goblins before running away, and since there isn't much time to think of a more viable plan, I hide in the safest and most secluded spot from the door, but with enough space to deal with those three creatures.
Minutes later, those three creatures arrive in front of the house.
The front door of the house was kicked open, and seconds later, two Goblins, laughing, enter the house, each carrying a club, sniffing like dogs, followed by the third Goblin carrying a spear on his back.
The Goblins look alike. (1.30 meters tall, green skin, and wearing tattered brown clothes,) as if they were three clones or copies of the same being.
Bang. !!!
Bang. !!!
Bang. !!!
After those first three shots, the goblin with the spear fell to the ground. Then I aimed at the next one and fired three more times. As the second goblin fell, I aimed at the third and final goblin, firing three more shots.
The adrenaline in my brain was pumping. Without thinking twice, I ran to the door and slammed it shut, but when I looked at the three goblins lying on the floor, their bodies vanished in a black mist.
There were no weapons, clothes, or blood. Instead, there were three cards that looked very much like tarot cards, but the figure inside was a goblin, and even that name was written at the bottom of the card, with a [0.] in the upper right corner.
On the back were three stats:
Strength: [6]
Speed: [4]
Stamina: [3]
As I held one of those cards between my fingers, a message suddenly appeared before me.
[ Do you wish to summon?] 0/4
Yes ✅ No ❌
Before making a decision regarding the perplexing summon message right in front of me, I picked up another card, and the message next in front of me was different.
[ Do you wish to empower?] 0/10
Yes ✅ No ❌
The noise of the goblins around the house woke me up. I was running out of time, so my next decision was to grab one of the cards and summon.
The card in my hand, after a golden glow, disappears, and a couple of meters away, a Goblin appears, very similar to the image on the card, even holding a club.
Immediately, I summon the other two Goblins and patiently await the arrival of the next group.
This time, four Goblins enter the house, but they are intercepted by my three summoned Goblins, while I fire the last bullet in my gun at the head of the fourth Goblin.
The sudden death of the fourth enemy Goblin took everyone by surprise and had a significant impact on both attackers and defenders. After a sudden cry of victory for my three summons, they became even more furious in their fight and quickly killed the attackers, thus obtaining four new Goblin cards.
I immediately summoned the next Goblin to have a total of four, while I reloaded my weapon, but this time eight Goblins attacked. We had to retreat deeper into the house and away from the windows for fear of surprise attacks.
Although the windows were closed and had curtains, they wouldn't last long, so we resorted to traps and ambushes against these new attackers.
This time our fight wasn't quick, nor easy, and we even lost a summoned Goblin, with the other three injured. But we managed to get 12 new Goblin cards, allowing us to replace the injured and previously fallen Goblins.
After holding two Goblin cards at the same time, the previous message reappears.
[ Do you wish to empower?] 0/10
Yes ✅ No ❌
This time I press [.Yes ✅] and immediately one of the cards disappears, but that 0/10 becomes 1/10, and with the next card to disappear, it becomes 2/10, and so on until it becomes 10/10.
When it reaches 10/10, a new message appears right in front of me.
[ Do you wish to advance your card? ]
Yes ✅ No ❌
I press [ Yes ✅. ] Everything lights up in black before a new card appears with the image of an olive-green goblin with a short sword in one hand, a wooden shield in the other, a hat, boots, and leather armor. The 0 in the upper right corner becomes 1, and its name at the bottom changes to [ Goblin Soldier. ]
The stats on its back are now:
Strength: [ 14 ]
Speed: [ 15 ]
Stamina: [ 14 ]
Ability: Slash [ 12 Strength ]
I immediately summon the new Goblin Soldier, and as soon as it appears, its presence immediately catches the attention of my other three Goblins, who look at the new member with a certain admiration.
Next, I watched a group of amateurs fight a professional, as long as the professional wasn't surrounded. Even though his experience was superior to the other Goblins, it didn't mean this Goblin Soldier was immortal.
After obtaining the ten necessary Goblin cards, the second Goblin Soldier card arrived minutes later. With two Goblin Soldier cards, the third was much easier to get.
All these items are in card form, which doesn't take up much space. Each goblin, in addition to their own card, also receives me 25 copper coins, a weapon, and some other extra item.
The weapons weren't very appealing; they were mostly clubs, makeshift spears, or rusty short swords. The clothing was ragged and dirty, far too dirty for my liking, and among the belongings were stones, sticks, and beast tusks.
Moments later, the house became a safe haven, completely free of danger. The next step was to search the surrounding areas. We checked yards and neighboring houses, rescuing several families from danger, although there were some areas we didn't reach in time.
Not only did I get my fourth Goblin Soldier, but there were also other types of goblin cards like marksmen, assassin, scouts with their own weapons, clothing, coins, and the most important thing of the night: two spirit cores.
I'm not going to check on my family at home. As long as the basement remains closed, everything will be fine for them.
When we finish cleaning our street, I continue with the nearby streets, house by house, street by street. Although some people decide to stay in their homes, others seek safer places, and several invite us to follow them.
It made no sense for me to follow them.
I had my own scout checking the streets, avenues, and nearby forests, supported by three soldiers who were far superior to the average citizen, but everything changed when night fell and I had to return home.
◈—◈—◈
To be continue...
I'm writing several things, nothing official, just drafts. I'll include them in an additional volume; take a look when you can...
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Thanks for your time, have a great day..!!!