"Monster", "Abomination", "Freak", "Cursed Child", "Mutant"...

I was called by many names, but none of them was my own. I always held it in, always shut my emotions deep inside, thinking that it would be alright in the end, that I would be relieved of all my suffering.

But facing death face to face made me realize... No More.

No one is coming to my aid, no one cares about me... I'm all alone.

But I won't hold it in any longer. In this despicable world, only the strong survives, so I'll be one of the survivors, no matter the cost: I. Will. Survive.

I suddenly came back to my senses, realized that staying still was dangerous. Nothing could be done for Tristan, he was weak, that's all.

And so I ran as fast as I could, avoiding others which were in a severe state of panic. I couldn't afford helping anyone, especially not the people who were always hurting me.

Goblins kept entering from the tunnels, some of the guards tried holding them off, others ran to call for reinforcements. But being all bark and no bite, they could barely hurt the goblins, who were considered one of the weakest monster species individually, but dangerous as a pack.

There was blood everywhere, on the ground, on the cave walls... Everywhere. How many had died? I had no time to check for answers.

Some goblins were injured, but not dead. The guards were able to fend them off but couldn't finish them, and so I decided.

While slightly looking at one, I whispered: "Appraisal"

Goblin

Danger Level: Individual: D- Group: B

Description: One of the weakest monsters; usually lives with its group; is weak indiviually but could pose a threat as a group.

It Attacks mostly villages in order to capture women and kill men.

If cornered, it will attack with a vicious strike even if it means giving its own life away.

I picked up one of the dead goblins' weapon, a small curved sword made from rusted metal, but it was good enough for the job. I was surprised at how calm I was.

I approached one of them, they were hideous creatures, rumored to have kidnapped human women for breeding purposes, only to kill them after some time. Even though the Adventurers' guild would take care of them, most villages were still in danger.

They were large, not as large as an adult. They were fast, and strong, but didn't have any techniques, only knew how to wave their weapon savagely.

It was lying painfully on the ground, trying its best to get up, but its legs were slashes by one of the guards. It tried grabbing me but could not reach, nor had the strength to do so. And so, without a moment of hesitation, I held the sword high while pointing it to its chest, and plunged it in. Blood splashed everywhere, even though they were monsters, their biology was still close to that of a human.

It shaked intensively, violently, trying to pull the sword out of its lungs, but failed. After a few painful moment, it stopped moving, and foam came out of its mouth. It was dead.

Suddenly I felt a warm sensation all over my body, it was very calming.

My Status Window opened.

Lucius Ashbridge

Job: None

Level: 3

Status Points: 6

HP: 30

ATK: 4

AGI: 20

MP: 12

DEF: 6

Weapons:

Rusted Blade

Equipment:

Slavery Choker:

Embodied with Slavery Magic, allows the owner to give orders that could not be opposed by the user, if tried; a lightning bolt will generate from the choker, shocking the user.
Restrains the user from doing anything that could harm his owner.

Worn Out Clothes:

Clothes wore mainly by slaves. Do not contain any material other than leather.

Skills:

Forbidden Child

Appraisal (Beginner):

Allows the user to get limited information on a person/object by simply saying "Appraisal".

Finally, for the first time in my life, I had leveled up. But it was not over yet, so I pulled out the weapon and went to the second. This one had struggeled a bit more, but it wasn't anything a child couldn't handle.

With all the panicking, no one could seen me, and the guards kept fighting goblins, making them weak enough for me to finish them off.

People were pushing each others, violently trying to break out of the crowd, the exit was quite tight, since it had only recently been dug.

After finishing most of the goblins off, I sat down in place and turns out I became level 6, forget killing goblins, it was my first time even wielding a sword, my hands were roughed up, full of bruises from my poorly-made weapon.

I was full of Adrenaline so I didn't feel any pain, even though I was calm, killing my first monster, ending a life, was still quite a shock, so my heart was beating quickly.

One of the guards saw me, and shouted.

"YOU! WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE? HURRY AND RUN! IT'S DANGE-"

The moment he looked away, another goblin came running to help its comrade, surprised, I tried warning him.

"S-Sir! Watch out! Behind you!"

But I was too late, it had pierced its blade through the guard's chest, and quickly pulled out, only to slash him again. It kept slashing and slashing even though he was already dead, as if trying to avenge its dead comrades.

After viciously cutting the guard to pieces, it took a deep breath, and then looked at me. Even I, an inexperienced fighter could feel its blood lust, its anger, its desire to kill me.

They came running at me while waving their weapons... Is this it? Will I finally be put out of my misery? Of this life?

And so I calmly stayed still, as if trying to embrace death itself. But a mysterious figure suddenly came out, and dashed towards the goblins, only to slay them swiftly, whereas not even blood stuck on the blade, his movements were light, as if reinforced with wind magic.

This figure... This snow-white hair, It was Sera!

"Are you trying to get yourself killed stupid Luci? And here I thought I finally made a friend! I'll never let you die in a place like this."

She picked me up, as a vampirekin, she had supernatural physical powers, so carrying me in her arms was an easy feat. She started running towards the tunnels where the goblins had came in.

With the strength I had left in this fragile body of mine, I whispered.

"Don't go that way! That's where the goblins came in from!"

And so she answered.

"I knew you'd warn me, but don't worry, when we first reached the mine I took the liberty of wondering inside these tunnels, I found the actual exit too, but it never occured to me that there would be a goblin nest deep inside this maze-like cave."

I looked at the battlefield one more time, goblins were still coming in, but then I saw the guards carrying the one who tried helping me, trying to keep his body away from the carnivorous goblins, who would eat its prey's flesh after defeating it, as a sign of victory and domination...

We entered the tunnels, and as expected their was no light, only the sound of the fight which kept getting further and further away, and was replaced by the sound of Sera's shoes while running... It was dark.

It's my fault...

It's all my fault...

Anyone who tries to help me will always die, I'm a cursed child after all...

Damn it! DAMN IT ALL!

Why does it always end like this?

Curse this world, curse these monsters, curse them ALL!

[Overlord Job Acquired]