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The Apocalypse Grinder - Chapter 189
🕑 Added 2025-08-25 23:55:30 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 188 | Index | Chapter 190 >>
The class distribution of the goblins was exactly the same as it was the last time. Two rogues, two warriors, and two rangers. There would be no issues taking them out. His own level was a little lower than theirs, but his stats were in another dimension entirely thanks to his legendary class.
He felt that he’d been lacking recently when it came to his pugilist mastery. While weapons were great force multipliers, Ronan missed the feeling of flesh and bone breaking under his fists.
That was a little dark, accepting that he enjoyed such a sensation, but it was the truth. Even the greatest heroes had a little darkness deep within them. And he wasn’t exactly a hero.
Even with his skill, going in with fists flying might not be the greatest strategy. He could even the odds by employing a spell to intiate the ambush.
Rainbow bomb might just obliterate the entire camp, killing all five goblins in an instant. If his goal was to keep practicing his sorcery, that would be the best way forward. That wasn’t what he wanted to do, though.
Mana bolt it was.
Gathering the mana in his left hand and compressing it into the shape of the spell, Ronan kept his breathing steady and observed the five goblins sitting around the fire. Taking out the rangers first would mean he could just focus on the brawl with the other three goblins. The warriors and the rogue wouldn’t flee from a close-quarters battle. It wasn’t in their nature.
The moment his mana bolt was ready he edged out from behind the tree trunk and launched it at the furthest of the two goblin rangers. It was on the other side of the fire and he didn’t want to give it a chance to flee.
As soon as the first bolt left his hand he started forming a second. The first bolt exploded in the ranger’s face, killing it instantly. By the time the other goblins realised where it had come from, he was ready to launch the second and wasted no time in doing so.
Before Ronan even reached the first goblin warrior, the second ranger was dead, the mana bolt burning a hole through its chest. His first opponent wielded a short spear and shield, its screeches filled with rage when it stepped forward to kill him.
Leading with the spear, the goblin warrior made a telegraphed feint, thrusting at his gonads. Ronan had seen similar attempts from goblins a dozen times or more in the past and knew what its true target was.
When the goblin took a small step towards him and suddenly shifted the spear upwards, he was ready for it. Instead of piercing through the base of his ribcage and into his lungs as the warrior intended, Ronan’s conjured shortsword cleaved right through the shaft of the spear, sending the metal tip flying to his left.
The goblin’s eyes widened as it realised its feint had failed. Before they could fully open, Ronan conjured a dagger in his left hand and stabbed it into the side of the warrior’s neck.
He knew it was dead before he even yanked the dagger out. A shriek to his right gave him forewarning as the second warrior swung its longsword in a clumsy overhead slash towards his right shoulder.
Ronan swept the dagger across his body, catching the sword between the blade and hilt of his own weapon. The goblin’s longer weapon gave it a force advantage, but Ronan’s stats were simply that much greater that he barely noticed. Pushing his left arm downwards, he redirected the longsword into the dirt.
The warrior stumbled forwards, carried by its weapon. The monster’s gnarled head tipped a little closer to Ronan and he took immediate advantage. He thrust the shortsword in his right hand over his left arm, the tip of the blade piercing the goblin in the centre of its forehead.
There was a squelch as he pulled it out of the goblin’s brain, a little of the monster’s blood spraying onto his face. The body dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
A soft thump behind him was all the warning he needed to throw himself forwards. The rogue’s knife swished through the space he’d occupied a moment earlier. The sneak attack would have seen it stab him right in the kidney, but his heightened senses and rapid reactions meant he’d avoided that fate.
Not that it would have done much damage even if it did connect. His resistances and stats were that great. Still, not getting hit was the better option most of the time and Ronan wasn’t about to get into bad habits simply because he was in easy battles. He grinned at the infuriated goblin, twirling his shortsword once before darting in to strike.
It took just three exchanges to disarm and decapitate the rogue. For its level and species it was quick, but Ronan had felt as though it moved in slow motion. Killing these low-level monsters was becoming less and less of a challenge. It was still enjoyable, but with every iteration he felt the desire to seek out stronger enemies growing.
As expected, the sixth and final goblin made its appearance shortly after he’d killed the first rogue. It seemed surprised that he turned to face it almost as soon as it neared the camp. Such poor stealth couldn’t fool him.
The creature’s gaze passed over the corpses of its kin, causing it to grow enraged. The hideous goblin shrieks made him wince, the sound just as jarring as it had been the first time a goblin had screamed at him.
Still, a little noise wasn’t enough to scare or slow him. In just a few strides he’d closed the distance between the goblin and himself. The creature was surprised at his speed, fumbling its knife as it sought an opening move. It opted to dart to the left and then try to cut back in, stabbing at his thigh.
A strategically sound decision from the monster, but not enough to let it actually reach him. Before its arm even stretched more than a few centimetres towards him, Ronan had pierced its heart with his shortsword. The twin chime let him know that he’d successfully cleared the stage and earned the relevant rewards.
You have killed [Goblin Warrior Lv.12-14] x2, [Goblin Ranger Lv.12-13] x2, and [Goblin Rogue Lv.12-14] x2!
+2 Bronze Credits
+407 Copper Credits
+5 [Mana IV] Mastery
+8 [Sword III] Mastery
+4 [Stamina IV] Mastery
+6 [Dagger I] Mastery
+Goblin Toes (Common) x6
+Goblin Bracers Lv.14 (Common)
+Worn Bow Lv.13 (Common)
You have leveled up to Lv.13!
You have leveled up to Lv.14!
You have leveled up to Lv.15!
You have leveled up to Lv.16!
You have leveled up to Lv.17!
+25 Vitality
+25 Endurance
+10 Wisdom
+10 Intelligence
+15 Acuity
+430 Free Stat Points
Congratulations, you have cleared Stage 2 of the tutorial!
+1 Bronze Credit
+308 Copper Credits
+Endless Treasury Token (Rare) x2
Stage 3 begins now!
Ronan was about to distribute his stats in the exact same manner when he had a sudden thought. Favouring strength, agility, and dexterity over his other stats made sense when he’d been almost exclusively a melee fighter, but now that he could use two offensive spells proficiently, the argument could be made that he should up his investment in wisdom, intelligence, and potentially acuity as well.
Wisdom’s main effect was increasing his mana pool, but he knew it had other benefits as well. His decision-making seemed to be slightly stronger the higher the stat grew, for example. Intelligence was still a bit of an unknown, but he had observed that increased intelligence allowed his spells to deal more damage. That was a benefit well worth the investment.
As for acuity, that was almost entirely shrouded in mystery. He’d seen it named as a ‘mental’ stat, which usually correlated with magic, but there were no guarantees when it came to the system.
After some brief internal deliberation, Ronan decided that he would increase his investment in both wisdom and intelligence and slightly pull back his investment in the physical stats. That way those five would be his ‘main’ stats that he would distribute the majority of his stat points into, with the rest being ‘secondary’ stats that he would only raise in small increments.
His new stratagy decided, he made the investments and delighted in the rush of power that flooded into him. Over 400 stat points at once was still a large increase at this level, one that almost made him freeze as the feeling of his muscles growing stronger and his mana doing the same raced through his entire being.
He realised he’d neglected to use the myriad skills tome after completing stage 1. Knowing there would be no more goblins to kill until he approached the next group, Ronan sat down a little way away from the goblins’ campfire, leaning against a tree for support.
He also had the two endless treasury tokens to use, which would hopefully provide him with some potent items to help him in this iteration. The two rare items he’d obtained the last time he was in the harder difficulty tutorial had been fantastic and he was hoping for similar luck this time around. Tossing all three into the air, he used the items simultaneously, not wanting to waste time.
As the sounds played in his mind, he thought about what he might want the most…
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Comments
IdolTrust
I’m surprised that he didn’t try the nightmare mode. But I expect he would get to tier 2 job on stage 3 which is the goblin town. Maybe get to level 100 at the end. Plus he kept his race upgrade. Which that could greatly increase his power. This would lead to admins taking a really close eye to him.
AetherBoye
Factual, I agree with this assessment
Sami
i wanna see him go all in on luck again, now that he has hundreds of stats to "spare" instead of just 100 ish. luck bananas would be good too! cant have plot armor stat without investing in it
