The goblins didn't have much strength from what he had learned. However, even a low-level goblin was as strong as a 1st circle Apprentice mage. Rudra knew that if he wanted to have any chance of defeating the goblin in front of him, he had to think of a plan. He was sure that if he were to fight the goblin without any plans, he would die in vain. From what he was able to see from afar, he was able to spot a whistle made of bone hanging on the goblin's waist.
Rudra figured that this must be a patrolling goblin; even though they were dumb, they still had a very good survival instinct. If he attacked the goblin head-on, it would blow the whistle the instant it felt Rudra's presence. So the first thing that Rudra did was to scout the surrounding area; fortunately, there were no other goblins in the immediate vicinity of the area.
'Although I might be able to fight this goblin and even win, there must be more of them that I need to kill. I can't even use spells yet. How am I supposed to fight if there are more of them in a single group? According to the information I gathered, killing goblins or other creatures of the same strength was supposed to be the tribulation for someone who was advancing to the novice realm. What's up with the insane level of difficulty for my tribulation? Does the world just want me to die?' Rudra contemplated.
Facing their first tribulation is usually the easiest tribulation one faces in their lifetime; however, seeing his luck, he was left just bewildered and discontent. Even while he complained about his situation, Rudra still kept his eyes on the goblin, as he knew there was no way out of this if he didn't kill the goblin. After just waiting for a few minutes, he finally saw an opportunity.
'I just need to approach slowly..' Rudra thought as he made his way towards the area where the goblin was staying. He slowly advanced carefully, making sure he didn't walk over any dry twigs or anything that made a suspicious sound. He made sure that he picked up a rock whose size was about the size of his palm.
"Khri khri." Rudra was finally so close that he was able to hear the sound the goblin made. The goblin was currently sitting on a stone, while it seemed sleepy. A while earlier goblin sat on the stone as it seemed like it was feeling a little tired. As soon as the goblin started resting, it started feeling drowsy. Rudra figured this was the perfect opportunity for him to strike.
'SHIT....' Rudra panicked as the goblin suddenly stood up. He was hiding behind a bush just a meter away from him. At first, Rudra thought that the goblin must have been alerted to his presence somehow; however, he soon dismissed the thought as the goblin didn't reach for the whistle.
Goblin just got up and started walking towards a nearby bush, and that was when Rudra felt relieved, as the goblin didn't carry his club with him. This meant the goblin was going to take a piss, and sure enough, the goblin started pissing on the bush.
'This is the perfect opportunity.' Rudra thought as he came out of the bush as he walked towards the club, which was still resting on top of the stone. He grabbed the club and, without wasting any time, appeared right behind the goblin. Rudra didn't have to worry about being discreet because the sound he made was perfectly masked by the sound goblin was making while it was pissing.
"Kiii..." squelched the goblin as Rudra swung the club behind its head; the goblin didn't even see the attack coming. While winching in pain, the goblin turned around to see who attacked it. When the goblin saw that the attacker was an intruder, it tried to reach for the whistle. However, he found out that there was no whistle hanging on his waist. Thankfully, Rudra had already grabbed the whistle and thrown it before the goblin got its hand on it. Feeling cornered, the goblin opened its mouth wide; it wanted to shout on top of its lungs.
"GUHHH GUHHH." Unlucky for him, the Goblin could only squeak a few times as Rudra had shoved a rock in the goblin's throat. When Rudra shoved the stone, he used all the strength he had in his body, so when his hand made contact with his mouth, the goblin fell to the ground. As the goblin fell to the ground, its head was the first thing that made contact with the ground. Green blood started oozing out of the goblin's head. The wound from the earlier attack was rather small; however, when the goblin's head hit the ground, its skull got fractured, as Rudra was clearly able to hear the sound. The reason for the skull fracture was the smaller stones that were all over the ground.
Rudra counted his lucky stars as the goblin had instantly lost its consciousness. Even after the goblin lost its consciousness, Rudra didn't dare to stop, he continued pounding the head over and over again until the brain matter didn't started to ooze out of the goblin's head. Rudra still didn't believe that the goblin was dead, so he placed his hand on top of the goblin's chest. He wanted to see if he could still feel any heartbeats.
"PHEEEEW..." Only after confirming that the goblin was truly dead on then did he finally let out a long sigh of relief. As he stood up, Rudra could feel his hands shaking uncontrollably. This was the first time he was put in this kind of situation, where losing the fight meant certain death. This was also the first time he had killed something that resembled so close to a human so closely.
"I will have to kill many more of these monsters in the future if I have to survive this world. I might even have to kill a human someday. I have to make myself stronger both mentally and physically if I ever wish to kill someone like the masked man." Rudra contemplated his life as he slowly sat down on the same stone the goblin was sitting on earlier. As he sat down, his head started to fill with many thoughts, and he slowly tried to navigate through all of the thoughts.
"Huffff... What is happening? Why do I feel so energized and clear-headed all of a sudden?" As he was thinking about his current life, he suddenly started feeling very different. He had never felt this kind of sensation ever before; even without him doing anything, the Spiritual power in his body started circulating on its own. The slow and controlled circulation of energy through his body had some kind of healing effect on his body.
Seeing the situation unfold, Rudra suddenly had the urge to sit cross-legged, and he started meditating. Just like that, the time passed, and Rudra had no idea how much time had passed as he was totally concentrated on meditation. While the spiritual power circulated, something slowly started forming around Rudra's heart; he could instantly tell what it was in his body.