The silence of Zanshin's practice field, once a sanctuary, had become a dull, infuriating drone.
His mastery of the Vertical Square stood at a consistent 95% success rate.
He could chain it with the Horizontal Slash in quick succession 80% of the time. But this plateau was dangerous.
He was Level 6, and the mobs required for the necessary EXP to unlock the critical Rage Spike (Level 8) were already Level 7 and above.
He could no longer rely on low-risk errands.
He found his target posted on a frayed notice board near the eastern gate of the settlement:
ELIMINATION QUEST: GOBLIN SCOURGE.
The reward was high EXP and a decent sum of Col, requiring the subjugation of four Armored Goblin Scouts guarding a nearby mountain pass.
These were his kind of enemies: defensive, predictable, and heavily armored, forcing a geometric solution.
The pass was a rocky, uneven stretch that led toward the hazy silhouette of the Second Floor.
The ground was littered with loose shale, the kind of terrain that would previously have guaranteed a Red Flash and a compromised Skill Cue.
He spotted the first Armored Goblin Scout immediately.
It stood maybe five feet tall, its skin thick and scaly, covered in mismatched pieces of scrap iron bolted over heavy leather. It carried a short, serrated axe and moved with a jerky, calculated gait—not fast, but defensively stable.
Zanshin drew the Worn Steel Longsword. He didn't rush.
He had calculated the approach: lure it onto a flat piece of slate, initiate with the Vertical Square to force a stagger, and finish with a Horizontal Slash to cleave the exposed flank.
The Goblin spotted him and lumbered forward, axe raised.
Zanshin waited until the last moment, using his high AGI to perform a tight sidestep, avoiding the predictable, wide swing of the axe.
The Goblin's momentum carried it slightly past him, creating the necessary window.
Now.
He shifted his weight instantly, forcing the upward thrust.
The moment of commitment, which had caused him such agony for weeks, was now a reflex.
Blue Flash!
The Vertical Square screamed upward, hitting the Goblin beneath its chin guard, the only exposed skin.
The massive damage number — 145 — exploded over its head, forcing it into a full stagger.
Zanshin didn't hesitate. He knew the recovery window.
He executed the second part of the chain—the pivot and sweep.
Blue Flash!
The Horizontal Slash connected across the Goblin's torso, where the scrap armor plates were loosely overlapped.
— 98 —.
The Goblin dissolved into shimmering polygons, leaving behind a satisfying plume of EXP.
Two down.
Two to go.
Zanshin calculated the remaining EXP needed to hit Level 7.
He needed one more perfect kill to unlock the defensive Slant skill, which would be crucial for surviving the full encounter.
He pressed deeper into the pass, spotting two more Goblin Scouts guarding a large boulder.
This was the final set.
The Goblins saw him simultaneously.
One rushed him, axe high; the other stayed back, covering the rush with a series of quick, low-damage javelins.
Zanshin recognized the two-pronged attack pattern—crowd control and melee pressure.
He could not rely on pure evasion here.
He met the rushing Goblin head-on.
He used a short, sharp feint to make the Goblin commit its axe swing high.
The moment the axe started its downward arc, Zanshin broke his own internal rule of "one-motion-at-a-time" and executed a rapid, non-skill strike to the Goblin's knee.
— 15 — (Normal Damage)
It was a distraction, not an attack.
The Goblin flinched, but the hit cost him an open flank.
The javelin-thrower seized the opportunity, launching a fast, dark-tipped projectile straight at Zanshin's chest.
He couldn't dodge.
The missile was too fast.
Instinct took over, born from the thousands of times he had practiced the geometry of a precise diagonal motion.
He didn't think about the Slant skill; he thought only of blocking the path of the incoming javelin with the flattest part of his blade.
He threw the sword into a quick, sharp diagonal cut—up-left to down-right—just as the javelin hit.
Blue Flash!
The Slant skill cue activated instantly, despite him being mid-combat and below the skill's true Level 7 requirement.
The system registered his perfect, defensive trajectory.
The blade deflected the javelin with a loud CLANG, and the force of the block staggered the melee Goblin he was fighting.
[Skill Unlocked: Slant (Lvl 1)]
[Level Up!]
The notifications flashed in brilliant gold, but Zanshin ignored them.
The enemy was staggered. The opening was absolute.
He leveraged the momentum of the Slant into an immediate, devastating Vertical Square on the melee Goblin's exposed skull, ending it instantly.
Now, only the javelin-thrower remained.
It stared at him, briefly terrified by the sudden demise of its partner.
Zanshin knew this mob would now panic and flee.
He sprinted toward it, closing the distance before it could register the command to run.
He initiated the Rage Spike movement—a slow, deep commitment into a thrust. He put everything into the kinetic chain, concentrating all his Level 7 force into the point of the Worn Steel Longsword.
Blue Flash!
The blade pierced the Goblin's iron chest armor with a sound like shattering ceramic.
— 250 CRITICAL —.
The final Goblin dissolved. [Quest
Completed: GOBLIN SCOURGE.]
[LEVEL UP! Level 8 Achieved!]
Zanshin slumped onto the smooth slate rock, chest heaving.
He had successfully run a multi-skill, multi-target combat sequence, achieved two levels, and unlocked both the Slant and the crucial Rage Spike (which he immediately put his new Skill Point into).
He was now Level 8, ready to tackle the difficult Stone-Faced Golems that Alina had warned him about.
But the sheer exertion of forcing three different Skill Cues in quick succession had drained him.
He felt the familiar, crushing weight of mental exhaustion. He needed data, not combat.
He made his way back toward the Town of Beginnings, bypassing the crowded central square and heading for the dark, less-trafficked alleys near the northern blacksmith.
This area was known for black market dealings and unofficial information exchange.
He was waiting near a stack of discarded wooden crates, checking his potions inventory, when a figure suddenly materialized from the shadows.
The figure was slight, wearing dark brown leather armor that made her movements nearly silent.
She wore a deep cowl that obscured her face, but a pair of bright, observant eyes peered out from the shadows.
She moved with an unsettling quickness, like a small, highly effective predator.
"Level 8, freshly minted," the figure stated, her voice sharp, high, and laced with a strange, nasal inflection.
"You just wiped the Goblin Pass clean, Swordsman. Fast, clean work. Expensive on the crystal usage, though."
Zanshin tensed, his hand instinctively gripping his sword handle.
He hadn't told anyone his new level, and he had used a secluded path.
"I don't know you."
"The name is unnecessary. You can call me the Key," she said, leaning against the crates with deceptive casualness.
"I trade in information, shortcuts, and data—the things the System doesn't give you for free. And you, Swordsman, need data more than you need Col."
"My data is sufficient," Zanshin replied, maintaining his cold, distant tone.
She laughed—a dry, rasping sound. "Your data is what you killed for. I sell the data you didn't know existed. Like the fact that the Stone-Faced Golems you need to farm for the next leg of your EXP aren't weak to the Rage Spike thrust—they're weak to a Vertical Arc to the nape after their first two strikes. A multi-hit sequence, not a single pierce. You can pierce their chest, sure, but you'll burn your stamina for 50% damage when the Vertical Arc gives you 150%."
Zanshin's composure wavered slightly.
He had just staked his entire Level 8 strategy on the Rage Spike being the answer to the Golems.
If she was right, he would have wasted weeks of training on a suboptimal strategy.
"Why tell me that?" Zanshin asked, narrowing his eyes.
"To establish the market price," she replied, holding out a single, gloved hand.
"The information—the true weakness, the best spawn rotation, and the guaranteed access point to the Second Floor that bypasses the high-traffic zone—all of that costs 500 Col. Pay it now, and I'll send the full data package to your inbox. Refuse, and you'll waste three days finding out the Golem's truth the hard way. Your choice, Swordsman."
Zanshin stared at the gloved hand.
He hated reliance. He hated unknown variables.
But he had just earned 1,200 Col and the information, if correct, would save him days—and possibly his life.
His rigorous self-discipline told him that if he could find a way to eliminate risk, he must take it.
He opened his menu.
"500 Col. Send the package."
The broker's grin was hidden by the cowl, but Zanshin could sense it.
The Col transferred immediately.
A small, encrypted file appeared in his message log.
"Wise choice," the figure stated, already fading back toward the shadows.
"Look for the Vertical Arc skill cue next. It's a Level 10 unlock, but if you master the two-hit chain, the Golems will fall like paper. You'll need it before you hit the Labyrinth."
Before Zanshin could question her further, the figure was gone, swallowed by the darkness of the alley.
He was left alone with his newly acquired data, his Level 8 strength, and the chilling realization that he might need more than just his own geometric precision to survive Aincrad.
He needed secrets.