The first goblin approached James, and swung its sword. James dodged. Then, he stabbed at the goblin. The goblin moved to the side, and attempted to attack with its sword again, but James blocked the attack with his knife took the opportunity so kick the goblin in the side. The goblin, caught by surprise, fell down after losing its balance. James stabbed downwards with the knife. The goblin tried to block with its sword, but it was only able to use one hand. James twisted his wrist and knocked the sword away. Then, he thrust the knife into the goblin's chest. He took care not to get hit by the sword while his knife was still in the goblin, which died miserably.

"I think I'm getting better at this."

James pulled his knife out of the goblin and faced the armored goblin. This was the real challenge. The goblin stood up and pulled a spear out of thin air, just like before. However, James noticed something. This time, the goblin's eyes weren't bloodshot. They were normal. Ugly, but normal for goblins. James correctly guessed that this meant that the goblin wasn't going to go berserk like last time.

The goblin charged towards him. The speed was noticeably slower, but this didn't mean James could relax. Its speed was still rather high. The spear James sidestepped. But, instead of swinging the spear at him like the last time, the goblin pulled back its spear and stabbed at him again.

The patterns were slightly different than last time, but that didn't catch James by surprise. The attacks were very straightforward, and he had plenty of time to relax. This back and forth exchange continued for some time: The goblin attacked, and James dodged. After a while, James felt that he could dodge the attacks consistently, and decided to move things forward.

The point of the spear sped through the air towards James again. He sidestepped, but this time, he stepped forwards as well, closing some of the distance between him and the goblin. The goblin now swung the spear sideways. James, instead of dodging, used both his hands to stop the spear with his knife.

James was able to completely stop the spear, and he smiled. It was as he expected. This goblin was nowhere close to being as dangerous as the berserk goblin. The strength that the berserk goblin had used to throw James like a bean bag came at the cost of hemorrhaging all of its muscles. The goblin in front of him was still stronger than him, but not to the ridiculous extent the berserk goblin was. The goblin was swinging the spear sideways, while James used his entire body to brace against the blow. In this position, James was able to exert a lot more of his strength, allowing him to stop the goblin's attack.

Having come to this conclusion, James grabbed the spear with his left hand. Now that he was sure he wouldn't be lobbed into the sky, he decided to stop the goblin from moving the spear freely. The goblin tried to yank its spear backwards, but James expected this. He held onto the spear, and used the goblin's pull to propel himself even closer to the goblin.

James was only about a meter away from the goblin. His knife would be almost in range of the goblin if he stretched his arm out. At this range, the long spear was useless.

Seeing this, the goblin let go of the spear and whipped out a knife.

"Where the fuck did that come from? I didn't see it last time."

It didn't matter, that much, though. James didn't expect the goblin to just lie down and offer its neck. He had gotten rid of the biggest obstacle. Now, the one with the bigger reach was him – he had longer arms than the goblin.

But James didn't attempt to engage the goblin in close combat. He wasn't sure he could win against it. Instead he crouched and put his left hand on the spear on the ground. If he could grab the spear and keep some distance, he would greatly reduce his chances of getting injured.

But, the goblin saw this and rushed towards James. Surprisingly, it was quite intelligent, considering that the last time James fought it, it had died by tripping on a vial. The goblin recognized that if James had the spear, it was best to not let James keep it at a distance, and so it closed the distance.

"Surprise, motherfucker!"

The goblin may have been smart, but James' only redeeming quality was his intelligence! Of course, James took into account the possibility that the goblin would approach him. So, he blocked the goblin's attack with his own knife in his right hand. At the same time, James used his left hand and swung the spear, which was on the ground, at the goblin's legs. James was only using one hand, and the spear was somewhat heavy, but a blow was a blow. The hit was enough to knock the goblin off balance.

As the goblin was distracted by the spear, James leapt up. This was his chance. As the goblin was stumbling, it saw James approach him. The goblin shifted its focus to blocking James' incoming strike, and did so successfully, But, it didn't notice James' next move: he kicked it in the side.

The goblin had been in a bad situation, and thus didn't notice anything except for James's knife. So, James' foot landed straight in the goblin's torso. The goblin cried out in pain. James didn't waste any time and stabbed the goblin in the eye. Then, he pulled it out and stabbed the goblin in chest one more time.

James retreated a bit. The goblin was on the ground, not moving, but James stayed vigilant.

Both the tier 1 goblin and the tier two goblin's bodies began glowing. There was no announcement this time, but the door leading out of the dungeon appeared. James took this as confirmation and sat down, breathing heavily.

"I'm so tired after that."

He hadn't suffered any injuries, but this battle had been quite taxing. It had lasted for a while.

"Well, it's progress. At least, I beat the mini-boss by myself. This time, it wasn't a fluke."

After recovering, James picked up the magic stones. This time, there had been no drops.

"I fought both goblins and I kicked both of them in the side. It this my signature move now?"

James muttered. He hoped not. He would've preferred his signature move to be a bit more aesthetic, a bit flashier than "Kick to the Side."

He checked his watch. It was 3:30 AM. It had taken him about an hour and a half to clear the floor. He should have time to do it once more before it was time to wake up.

"I think I'm becoming addicted."

James' face was showing an almost maniacal grin.