That was going to take some getting used to, Cain thought as he read the text.

[Status: Cain Kim]

Class: None

Level: 1

Body: F (10% -> 8%)

Mind: F (12%)

Soul: F (13%)

Active Skill: True Sight

Passive Skill: None

Noel was staring at Cain, since he had gone mute mid-sentence.

“No, no, it’s all right. Try saying status,” Cain said, trying to assure her that he was completely sane.

Noel raised an eyebrow, but complied with a “Status.”

“Whoa. It does look like something out of a game,” she remarked, but Cain was busy assessing his stats.

As he thought about it, he felt a bit of worry snaking through his stomach.

The System considered his body, mind, and soul at the F grade? Did he technically fail at everything then? And what did the 10% mean?

He did feel tired, but he definitely felt at more than 10% of his physical abilities and stamina…

Perhaps the numbers meant that he was at 10% of F grade’s potential?

“Do you mind sharing your stats, Noel? Maybe we could compare” Cain asked.

Noel shrugged.

“Sure. They’re all F grades, but I’m at 15% for Body, and 10% for Mind and Spirit. Whatever that means.”

Cain considered it. Noel was definitely freakishly strong for being a member of the fairer sex.

He’d need more data points to figure this thing called the System out.

But if it gave out Achievements, Skills, and Items…

"All right, noob. I'm going to need to get stronger. Way stronger. What do you say, time to go hunting?” Noel said, jokingly.

The grin that spread across Noel's face sent chills running down Cain's spine. It was all teeth and no warmth.

----

They didn’t go hunting that day, as the wound on Cain’s leg wasn’t going anywhere and they still needed time to get used to their new weapon and Skill, respectively.

This mostly involved Noel swinging around the ax at various angles and chuckling to herself, which Cain thought was rather unsettling, and [True Sight] making his eyes glow occasionally.

[True Sight] could apparently show him the status windows of things that didn’t belong to him too, such as Noel’s ax.

[War Ax of Enyo - C grade weapon]

Strengthens the Body (Focus: Strength) of the wielder by 5%.

Opens path to [Berserker] Class once requirements are met.

Other functions are locked.

He was relieved to see that Noel didn’t have 

It was a cool ability, to see such blue windows, but seeing the girl swing around a giant ax taller than her with obvious glee made Cain feel… a bit inadequate.

The second day, Noel scouted the area near his neighborhood by himself.

Just to get a feel for the area, she said.

He had half expected her to return with a goblin head or something, but her outing was mostly uneventful. She had raided a few empty houses and brought back some more food supplies to make up for the food that she had eaten, which he appreciated.

On the morning of the third day, Cain’s leg wound had closed up enough that he felt comfortable moving, albeit slowly.

It was strange. He had never been stabbed in the leg before, but he wasn’t sure whether a wound like that was supposed to heal that quickly…

Another possible mystery of the System and being Awakened, he supposed.

Noel yawned and stretched her arms when Cain commented on it.

“Who cares? If you can move, you can move. Want to go hunt now?” 

Cain rolled his neck experimentally.

“...Yeah. The nearby areas should only have the occasional goblin hunters in groups of two or three. I think we could handle them.”

“Good,” the girl smiled wolfishly. “Let’s go!”

Cain grinned sheepishly in response, then promptly packed some emergency supplies while Noel went through various stretches.

The two survivors of the apocalypse left the house quietly, eager to test their new powers against actual foes, and began poking around the streets.

They saw the rare human here and there, but they were mostly inside homes and quickly and fearfully looked away or shouted at them to get away.

It was sad, but the end of the world had made most humans more fearful of each other.

They ran into trouble not long after that.

Cain had been looking the opposite way while traversing the streets littered with cars in various stages of rusting and damage, when Noel suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“I hear goblins. A group of them getting closer.” She whispered.

“Huh? I don’t-” Cain began, but Noel slapped her mouth over his hand with a seriousness that made him take her seriously.

A couple minutes passed as they crouched behind the car, and Noel and Cain held their breaths as guttural noises began to sound from the other end of the street.

Eventually, a group of five goblins walked into view.

Strange. That’s the biggest group of goblins I’ve seen this far from the city center…

None of them held a dagger like the one in Cain’s hand, but did have other weapons like primitive spears and daggers, and even a wooden bat.

Another strange thing. Most goblins that Cain had observed seemed to prefer their claws and teeth.

There was an unusually large goblin that brought up their rear, like the one that Cain had taken the crystal dagger from. 

It suddenly paused and sniffed the air, as if it had caught a scent.  

Before they could get too close, Cain focused and directed the warmth, manna, into his eyes.

The world snapped into clarity, and he quickly focused on the largest of the goblins.

[Goblin]

Class: Scout

Level: 2

Body: F (18%)

Mind: F (21%)

Soul: F (23%)

Traits: Acute Smell, Voracious

Cain gulped and quickly scanned the rest of the goblins before looking over to Noel and whispering as quietly as he could.

“They’re all level 1, around our strength. Strongest one in the back is level 2 and averaging 20% in stats.”

There was a flash of hesitation in Noel’s face, and an unasked question.

They might have been able to run when Noel had heard the goblins, but now…

It would be a close call.

Cain felt a sense of indignation. This was their first ‘hunt’! Why had the goblins suddenly and apparently decided to start forming larger groups?

Three goblins had nearly killed Cain a few days ago, much less five goblins…

But…

Cain grit his teeth. There were thousands and thousands of goblins settling in the city, and multiple ‘warbands’ of orcs.

If they couldn’t handle this small hunting group… If they ran now, even with these new weapons and Skill…

Cain nodded in answer, and Noel nodded back grimly with an undercurrent of excitement.

Noel gripped her ax and Cain adjusted his own sweaty grip on the dagger.

He still wasn’t used to fighting with it, or the concept of ‘hunting’ living beings, but a rush of adrenaline washed over any and all hesitation.

It was do or die. Kill or be killed.

Noel and Cain made one last eye contact before simultaneously jumping out from opposite sides of the Jeep, rushing at the group of goblins who started at their sudden appearance.

Manna coursed from somewhere in his body and into his eyes as he activated his Skill once again.

[True Sight]

He wasn’t looking for any blue screens this time, though.

He was looking for… focus.

The two goblins nearest to him sharpened in resolution, and he could see their feet shift as they changed stances, and their pupils widened with surprise.

He maintained his momentum, running past and slipping by a thrust of the spear he was able to see like slow motion.

Before the goblin could withdraw its weapon, Cain closed the distance until he could see the leathery texture of the goblin’s skin and dragged his crimson dagger across its throat.

Hot blood sprayed into the air, seemingly in slow motion. 

Cain ignored the falling goblin and continued running towards the second one, which had begun screaming.

Lesson one in one vs. many - keep moving.

Cain dodged a wild swipe of claws and stomped his left foot on a flat surface diagonal from the goblin, converting his momentum into a pivot, right foot whipping out into a roundhouse kick that thundered into the second goblin’s head. The goblin fell onto the ground.

Cain felt his breath beginning to catch up to him in greedy gasps as the world began to slow down, when a third goblin screeched and rushed at him.

Fast and vicious, it jumped, and its teeth snapped around the air where Cain’s neck had been a split second ago.

To his own surprise, Cain had been able to see the way its balance shifted, muscles clenched in preparation to jump, and its eyes hone in on his throat. It'd been almost too easy, how he'd known exactly when and where it would jump. 

Still, I would’ve been toast if it hadn’t screeched.

Cain gulped.

He side-stepped to let the goblin past, and instinctively stabbed the dagger towards where it would land. The dagger found the goblin's neck, and it fell to the ground with a surprised gurgle of blood as he quickly wrenched it out. The goblin he’d kicked was struggling up when he walked over, and he kicked it down again.

Clamping it down with his foot and grimacing at the gruesomeness, Cain finished the job with a quick slash across its throat.

His own battle over, he looked towards Noel to see if she needed help, and...

...She did not.

She stood like a conqueror over the mangled remains of the goblins she had claimed, surrounded by great streaks of blood painted over ground like careless brushstrokes on canvas.

She was panting, but otherwise unharmed.

She was also smiling maniacally.

Cain gulped and deactivated his [True Sight] before he could see more detail than he was comfortable with, and felt a wave of exhaustion settle over him like a blanket.

“Not bad, Cain. You should teach me how to move like that,” Noel commented, walking up to him.

I think you’re fine.

Cain bit back the reply with pure will.

“Years of getting the shit beat out of you by an old man,” Cain grinned. 

Cain knew bits and pieces of various martial arts… but his skill made him, above all, effective and efficient.

He was able to take out each goblin with a couple of moves, while Noel was… an overpowered butcher. He was never going to say that to her face, of course.

Before he could respond further, another blue screen popped up as if it had just been waiting for the battle to conclude.

[The battle has left your Mind slightly stronger.]

Nice! 

He did feel a tiny bit... stronger, mentally speaking?

Or maybe that was just the adrenaline still settling down.

He brought up his status to check whether it had changed, but unfortunately, ‘slightly’ apparently really did mean ‘slightly’.

[Status: Cain Kim]

Class: None

Level: 1

Body: F (10%)

Mind: F (13%)

Soul: F (13%)

Active Skill: True Sight

Passive Skill: None

…His Mind had gone up by a single percent.