"There's no time…" Leonard muttered.
His voice echoed softly against damp stone as he slipped into the goblin cave, leavibg the outside forest to be swallowed instantly by darkness. The green torchlight lining the cave walls cast long, warped shadows that stretched and recoiled as if alive.
"From what I recall," he continued under his breath while scanning the familiar terrain, "I have approximately fifteen minutes."
No timer hovered in the air. No countdown was displayed at the edge of his vision.
But Leonard didn't need one.
He had cleared this level more times than he could count. Speedruns. No-damage attempts. Challenge clears using only basic gear. He knew the invisible clock embedded into the level's scripting and the moment when the sacrifice cutscene triggered, the exact corridor where delay became fatal.
Fifteen minutes now turned fourteen...
And every second mattered.
Leonard dropped into a crouch, folding his body effortlessly. Kael Veyrin's muscles responded like coiled wire with perfect balance. His breathing slowed and his heart steadied despite the adrenaline.
He smiled faintly.
This cave wasn't random.
It was designed.
The tunnel split ahead. One was wide and sloping downward, lit and obvious while the other was narrow, half-hidden behind a spiky stone outcropping.
Most players took the wide path.
Most players died faster.
Leonard slipped into the narrow passage without hesitation.
The hidden route forced him sideways at first as stone scraped softly against his armor. He twisted his body instinctively, rolling his shoulders and shifting his hips just enough to pass without slowing. The tunnel opened into a ledge overlooking the first goblin patrol zone.
Below him, four goblins clustered around a crude fire pit, arguing in their guttural language. One picked at its teeth with a bone. Another lazily dragged a spear across the ground.
Leonard exhaled.
"Shadow Step."
The world blurred.
Kael's signature ability activated, flooding Leonard's limbs with unnatural lightness. His body slipped from shadow to shadow. He dropped behind the farthest goblin with his blade already in motion.
One slash.
The goblin collapsed without a sound.
Leonard pivoted, carrying himself into a low spin with his momentum. The second blade flashed upward, severing tendons before the goblin could scream. He flipped backward as the third goblin turned with a confused look as its eyes widened just in time to see steel pass through its throat.
The last goblin raised its spear.
Leonard vaulted.
His feet touched the cave wall for half a heartbeat, pushing off into a twisting aerial flip. He landed behind the goblin and drove both blades forward.
The body slumped.
Leonard landed lightly, barely making a sound.
"…God," he breathed with exhilaration buzzing through his veins. "This is insane."
His body felt right.
Every movement flowed into the next. No hesitation. No stiffness. His obesity... his limitations... were gone. In their place was speed and accuracy.
Leonard kept moving down the tunnel... Over broken stone... Across narrow beams placed deliberately over bottomless drops. Leonard leapt without fear, flipping midair, grabbing ledges by instinct alone.
"Evasion Roll."
He dove as a trap snapped shut where he'd been a moment earlier causing rusted spikes to slam into the ground.
"Assassin's Focus."
His vision sharpened and the world before him outlined enemies in faint red silhouettes through walls. Patrol paths burned into his awareness.
Leonard grinned.
He dropped from a ceiling crevice onto a goblin shaman mid-chant, driving a blade down through its skull. Green blood splattered across the ritual markings beneath it.
He slid under a swinging blade trap, rolled, sprang up, and cut down two charging goblins in a single fluid motion.
Time melted away.
Leonard wasn't thinking like a scared kid anymore.
He was playing.
He wall-ran across a narrow corridor, kicked off, flipped over a spear thrust, and decapitated the goblin mid-rotation. He laughed once, breathless and exhilarated.
"I can't believe people struggled with this level," he muttered, ducking into another hidden alcove to avoid a brute patrol.
Deeper.
The cave architecture transformed into wider chambers, blood-stained floors and crude statues depicting a horned figure carved into the stone.
The sacrificial zone was close.
Leonard dropped silently behind a goblin guard and snapped its neck with a twist he'd practiced a hundred times with a controller in hand.
He sprinted.
Up the ramp. Across the hanging bridge. Past the final trap cluster.
Then he stopped.
Something was wrong.
Leonard frowned.
The chanting.
It was too loud.
And… layered.
"…That's not right."
He reached the final chamber entrance and peered inside.
The altar stood at the center, slick with old blood. The princess—Elmyra—was bound to the stone, unconscious with her chest rising faintly.
But surrounding her…
Too many goblins.
Leonard's blood ran cold.
"This isn't the spawn count."
There were nearly double the number he remembered.
To make matters worse, standing behind the altar was a goblin unlike the others.
It was taller and broader.
Its skin was darkened with its veins glowing faintly green, clad in crude armor that was etched in symbols Leonard had never seen in this level.
And above its head was a crown of bone.
Leonard's heart sank.
"…That's not supposed to be here."
The goblin turned.
The moment its eyes locked onto Leonard, it smiled.
The system text flashed suddenly at the edge of Leonard's vision.
[ Anomaly Detected ]
[ Boss Variant Introduced... ]
Leonard swore.
"Fuck! You definitely did this on purpose!"
The goblin raised its staff and slammed it into the ground.
The cave shook.
Stone cracked. Torches flared violently. Goblins screeched in unison, rushing toward Leonard from every direction.
Leonard burst forward without wasting a second more.
"Blade Tempest!"
He spun into motion with blades whirling as he carved a bloody path through the charging mob.
He leapt, flipped, cut and rolled, moving in ways that was impossible for a regular human.
But this wasn't a scripted fight.
The goblin king roared and hurled a wave of corrupted energy across the chamber.
Leonard barely dodged, feeling the heat scorch past his face.
"…This is new," he panted.
The invisible timer screamed in his head.
And then, Elmyra's bindings began to glow faintly.
Sacrifice phase had begun.
Leonard's eyes hardened.
"No."
He activated everything.
Shadow Step. Assassin's Focus. Evasion Roll—stacked, chained, abused.
He sprinted through the battlefield, vaulting over goblins, running along the altar wall, flipping midair to land directly in front of the princess.
The goblin king lunged at him and Leonard turned, crossing his blades instinctively.
Bam!
Steel met corrupted magic and pain exploded through his arms... but he held.
With a roar, Leonard twisted, broke through the binding magic, and cut the ropes holding Elmyra free.
She collapsed into his arms and the cave trembled violently.
The goblin king screamed in rage as the chamber began to collapse.
Leonard didn't wait... he grabbed Elmyra and ran.
Stone fell. Goblins died screaming. The cave itself seemed to reject them.
Leonard burst through the exit tunnel just as the entire chamber imploded behind him.
He skidded to a stop outside breathing heavily as his arms shook.
Elmyra stirred weakly and the world froze.
Light engulfed everything.
Leonard collapsed to his knees as the system interface appeared before him.
[ Level Cleared ]
[ Objective Completed: Princess Rescued ]
[ Reward Pending… ]
Leonard laughed—half hysterical, half euphoric.
"…I knew it," he gasped. "I knew I could—"
The system text flickered and then changed.
[ Warning... ]
[ Boss Variant Data Registered ]
[ Future Incursions Will Adapt ]
Leonard's laughter died.
"…What?"
The interface faded and the world began to dissolve.
---
"Leo! Leo!"
He could hear a familiar feminine voice beckoning him back to reality.