When he managed to focus his sight, Atom found himself in an environment alien to everything he knew.
An intense glow pierced his pupils, and he frowned. He felt a disconcerting tingling in his eyes, and his vision staggered, as if flying at great height without protection.
The dizziness faded in a few seconds, which allowed him to examine his surroundings with greater clarity and precision.
Humid air weighed on his lungs, saturated with the pungent smell of humid earth and dust accumulated for centuries.
He was in a corridor that extended forward. The walls, constructed with blocks of solid stone, rose imposing on both sides, and created a claustrophobic sensation that accelerated his pulse.
The passage faded into darkness in both directions, illuminated by torches placed in oxidized metal supports adhered to the walls. The flames danced on the edge of extinction, but remained lit by some unknown mechanism, and provided a faint but constant light in all directions.
But the penumbra was so thick he could barely discern objects at a meter of distance. Beyond that, everything sank into an impenetrable veil of shadows that hid any potential danger.
He was determined, but still hesitated to enter. He did not want to enter alone, just like that. He gritted his teeth upon taking a step.
His heart beat strongly in his chest, and betrayed the nervousness that invaded him to the marrow.
"It is only the first floor," he murmured to reinforce his courage.
Despite all his accumulated experiences, he still did not feel prepared for what awaited him. A bitter smile curved his lips; he understood that no additional time would have diminished his anxiety.
Venturing into the Tower alone and without supernatural powers... his fear was natural and justified. However, he had no viable alternatives; after all, greed had always been his greatest defect.
Reason and logic screamed to him that such attempt equaled premeditated suicide, but he had to deposit his faith in his survival abilities.
"This is the only way to become strong enough," he reminded himself.
The oppressive darkness obstructed his vision, and obligated him to guess the presence of walls and possible exits that led to other chambers.
Atom advanced with caution through the somber and deserted corridor, maintained one hand pressed against the wall to maximize his protection as much as possible, while he held the lance before him.
He moved dragging his feet over the floor of compact earth and polished rock. He avoided any sound that could alert potential enemies.
"Am I wasting time? Is this a mission with time limit?"
Fear and uncertainty intensified within him with each second that passed.
His infantile body began to show unmistakable signs of fatigue; his right arm and shoulder felt rigid from the continuous effort of holding the lance in defensive position.
His back, arms and shoulders trembled without control, and he could swear he heard his muscles protest with each movement. Sweat sprouted from each pore of his skin, and the acrid smell of his own breath betrayed his extreme anguish.
Atom maintained his legs flexed, back hunched forward, shoulders and neck tense from tension, gripping the lance as if it were his only link with survival.
He felt he would collapse if he continued in that antinatural position for his body, but he forced himself to endure the terrible discomfort.
Suddenly, a disturbing sound paralyzed him. Something was approaching.
A guttural growl was his only warning before a shadow lunged at him. He felt a sharp pain when sharp claws sank into his arm, and warm blood began to flow from the wound.
If he had not reacted by pure luck, he would have lost the extremity completely.
"Arrrgh!"
The pain was unbearable, but he managed to balance his other arm forward with force in a desperate act of self-defense.
His elbow struck his attacker's skull with sufficient force to stun it.
The flickering light of the torches revealed a repulsive creature: its dark green skin covered a deformed and emaciated body, with a bestial face that resembled a corrupt human baby.
Its long and pointed ears rose toward the sides, and its yellowish eyes shone with savagery, while its mouth revealed sharp fangs in an aggressive grimace. It wore only a rough and worn loincloth of light brown material that barely covered its waist.
Atom identified the creature in a second.
They were the goblins that inhabited caves in fantasy games.
The creature clung to its prominent bones, affected by severe malnutrition and lacked significant muscle mass. Besides its greenish color and skeletal constitution, its bald skull stood out.
Beyond their impressive reproductive capacity, goblins were considered the most basic and fragile monsters of the fantastic bestiary.
They barely equaled a human child of primary school in size, strength and intelligence. The only significant advantage they had resided in their capacity to see in darkness, a gift he did not possess.
But the difference between the goblins he had faced in videogames and this reality seemed as vast as the distance between heaven and earth.
The goblin staggered and retreated some steps from the force of the blow, while Atom fought to recover lost balance.
The goblin's resistance exceeded his by far, reason why he could not give it a decisive attack.
Atom dragged himself across the floor and tried to bandage his wounded arm to stop the bleeding that threatened to weaken him.
The goblin, however, was not disposed to give him truce. It lunged at him again, while he remained paralyzed by the shock of the first encounter.
The speed at which it moved was impressive, everything contrary to the mental image he had constructed of these creatures.
Atom swallowed while he rolled across the floor to evade the incoming attack, conscious that if this continued, his destiny would be sealed.
By pure chance, his hand brushed a rock during that maneuver. His survival instinct activated, and urged him to get up and firmly grasp that improvised weapon.
With an overwhelming impulse, he charged against the goblin emitting a primitive howl he did not recognize in himself.
He threw the rock with all his strength, and struck the goblin's skull. The projectile pierced the greenish flesh with a nauseating crunch, and caused dark and viscous blood to sprout from the wound.
The impact made the tooth stagger, emit an agonizing scream, and unbalance enough to crash it against the floor. Atom had created a perfect opportunity to finish it off, and he was not going to waste it.
He lunged at the fallen creature and struck it repeatedly with the same rock he had used as projectile. In his mind, only existed the urgent necessity to survive at any cost while he dealt blow after blow to his adversary.
Despite the brutal beating it received, the monster continued resisting with tenacity, emitted sharp sounds and tried to incorporate itself again and again.
The more the goblin screamed, the greater was Atom's determination to silence it once and for all with that bloodied rock.
Sweat and blood ran down his face while he struck without mercy and channeled each ounce of strength that still remained to him in each impact.
Finally, the hardness of the rock surpassed the goblin's skull and crushed it with a decisive blow. Blood sprouted from the wound, and with a weak growl, the goblin exhaled its last breath.
A moment later, that vaguely familiar voice resonated in the air again, as if it had been observing the skirmish from some superior plane.
It was, without any doubt, the most melodious sound he had heard:
[You have killed a goblin (G).]