Chapter Two: Tracking

Walking into the woods Elias saw the goblins' trail immediately. Plants were hacked away with broken branches on the forest floor and the grass was pressed down. Following their trail was child's play, as the goblins walked through mud formed in a depression near a tree. Their tracks were strange only having four toes and seemingly flat feet, because each print was full indicating no arch.

Luck was on Elias’s side as the wind was blowing toward him. The goblins could potentially have a good sense of smell, and Elias knew he smelled as he had been sweating all day.

“I need to make a plan.” The goblins had numbers on their side but seemed wounded and exhausted after the fight. Taking account of his gear Elias looked down. He had a bow that was in rough shape, 15 arrows that might not fly straight, and a rusty cleaver-like weapon that just didn’t sit right in his hand.

“I should do some practice, this bow might have a unique personality.” While Elias mainly hunted with a compound bow, shooting was his hobby as well. He owned and practiced with many bows from many cultures such as the longbow, many recurve bows, flat bows, and his favorite were the ones he made himself.

Aiming at a spot on a tree around 30 yards away, Elias pulled back on the string. It pulled back with ease, the draw weight was only about 20 to 25 lbs. He couldn’t pull back all the way without fear of snapping the bow in half due to it being made for beings about half his height. With these limitations, this bow would only have an effective distance of around 60 yards.

Refocusing on the tree Elias took aim. As he was about to release his intuition made him aim a little more left. Releasing the string, the arrow shot forward and hit the tree producing a small dmp sound. It hit just right of where he was aiming, if he hadn’t adjusted his aim he would have missed the tree completely. With this knowledge, he strung another arrow and released hitting spot on. He turned back to the goblin trail, holding his quirky bow more confidently.

“Oh yeah, I need a plan,” Thinking hard he paused for a moment “I’ll just take out the ones in the back as fast as possible.” Content with his plan Elias continued on his march.

The sun was starting to get low casting long shadows and the sky was starting to turn orange. Not wanting to fight in total darkness Elias picked up his pace. The trail was getting easier to follow as he was catching up.

Level Up: Lvl 2 Tracking (Common)

+.2 Perception

“What? There are levels?” Elias looked confused at the blue words in the corner of his vision “Do I have stats?” Elias waited a second in silence before saying, “Can I see them?”

Physical Stats

Strength- 12

Constitution- 13

Dexterity- 15

Vitality- 12

Perception- 14.4

Mental Stats

Alacrity- 5

Willpower- 11

Memory- 5

Insight- 7

Charisma- 3

Magic Stats

Reservoir- 25

Mana Regeneration- 2.5

Refinement- 1.8

Dominion- 1.1

Luck- 50

Titles

Trophy Hunter (Epic)- You have hunted the best animal of a species a feat not many can claim. Req- Kill the peak specimen of a species. Effects- Can identify when a creature is the peak of the species, +5% damage to non-humanoids

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Demigod Champion (Legendary)- Don’t get cocky, thousands have this title and millions have died because of it. Req- A Demigod picked you as a champion. Effects- Can sense other nearby champions, can receive quests from your patron, 10% increase to soul size, increased potential.

Unscarred and Whole (Epic)- You were torn apart, crushed, and eaten but here you stand without a scar. Req- Have most of your body destroyed/damaged and heal back to your peak with no lasting damage. Effects- 30% increased constitution, 20% increased Vitality, If you’re not dead and your soul isn’t damaged you can always heal back to your peak.

Skills

Lvl 1 Archery (bow-Rare)- Greatly increases effectiveness with bows

Lvl 2 Tracking (Common)- Marginally increases ability to track

Effects

N/A

Quests

Quest: Finish off the Survivors

“Damn! That's a lot of words.” Elias read the entire status before closing it. “I don’t know if my numbers are good, but I hope they are, and those titles seem extremely powerful. I feel a little better.”

Elias continued following the trail with renewed vigor. It may just be a placebo effect but Elias felt like he could see better. Looking up, the sky was beginning to darken and some stars were already visible.

As he walked quietly, Elias heard branches snapping ahead of him. Crouching lower Elias slowed his pace. Staying behind trees he approached the sound. About 50 yards in front of him he saw the line of goblins. At the head of the line was a goblin that stood a couple of inches taller than the rest and carried a rusty sword. Next in line was a goblin helping another walk, both had wooden clubs belted to their hips. Behind them, a goblin carried another goblin that seemed unconscious. The one carrying the goblin had a knife in his waistband. In the back of the line stood a rather short goblin carrying a bow in his hands and a club on his waist.

‘Ok, stick to the plan. Kill the ones in the back as quick as possible.’ Elias snuck forward-moving just slightly faster than the group until he was 30 yards away. At this point, the sun had dipped below the horizon and the forest was bathed in shadow.

‘I need a kill shot.’ Aiming at the back of the head of the last goblin Elias took a breath, aimed a little to the left, exhaled, and released. The arrow pierced the skull of the goblin, and like a marionette whose strings had been cut, it fell to the ground lifelessly. Without a wasted second another arrow was notched and released at the goblin carrying another. It was in the motion of turning when the arrow pierced the side of its head and rag-dolled to the ground.

Elias hid behind a tree when he heard a piercing scream from the other three goblins. Swiftly he relocated to the nearest tree while keeping to the shadows. He heard rapid footsteps approaching near to where he shot from. Looking out from behind the tree he saw the one wounded goblin hobbling over to the corpses. The other two were out of his sightline.

With little hesitation, he raised his rickety bow and pulled back on the string. Taking an extra second to aim he released his arrow. Without looking if it hit he ducked behind a tree and made more distance. A soft thud permeated the air, and Elias nocked another arrow. He listened for the other goblins but only heard silence.

He waited for anything and tension grew. His grip tightened and worry grew in the pit of his stomach.

‘Where are they!?’ Elias peeked out from behind the tree. Straining his eyes in the dark he saw an arm poking out from behind a tree. The two remaining goblins are trying to hide but don’t know where he’s shooting from.

‘Where’s the other one?’ Elias moved slowly until he could see the leg of the goblin, but the other one eluded him. Raising his bow Elias moved slowly, he wanted a clean shot. The goblin he was watching moved and its head peeked out where he could see it. It was looking around when Elias loosed an arrow. The goblin saw it too late and couldn’t react before the arrow sank into its eye piercing the brain behind it.

Rapid footfalls came from his left and Elias saw the tall goblin hurtling toward him with its sword raised. Unprepared he loaded and pulled the string of his bow, but as he pulled back his nerves got the better of him. Using too much strength to pull the string he snapped the bow in two. The creature was almost upon him and Elias’s hand shot to his enlarged cleaver.

The goblin seemed to gain an unnatural burst of speed and its sword was moving in a downward arc. Elias stepped back in reaction, he started to pull up his cleaver from his belt when the goblins attack met him. The attack cleaved his shirt in two and left a shallow red line down the upper part of Elias’s chest.

The pain and fear of death hurled Elias’s muscles into overdrive. Using the cleaver in an upward slash he aimed for the goblin's chin. The goblin pulled back narrowly dodging.

The two of them looked at each other for a moment and Elias watched the goblin's eyes. The goblin stepped forward and its gaze was on Elias’s heart. Relying on instinct, Elias reacted to the attack. The goblin thrust its blade toward Elias’s chest, but Elias stepped to the side and swung his blade at the goblin's hand. He had longer reach and his blade connected with his target severing the hand at the wrist.

The goblin screamed in horrid agony and took a panicked step back, tripping. Elias lunged forward and hacked at the creature's throat. Its screams stopped but it still flailed so he raised his blade and did a two-handed chop severing the head completely.

Exhausted Elias fell backward and sat down

Quest Complete: Finish off the Survivors

Reward- Information. You may ask your patron three questions

Level Up: Lvl 2 Archery (bow-Rare)

+3 Dexterity

+1 Perception

Elias clutched his chest, the wound was shallow but it hurt like hell. Taking deep breaths Elias tried to think rationally. ‘I need to rest.’ Standing up slowly Elias grabbed the goblin’s sword as it was longer and seemed better than his weapon, then he walked to the first goblin he killed as it had a bow and arrows. He quickly looted both and started to walk away.

Looking around the ground Elias saw a big thick bush. He got to the ground and crawled inside it hoping he was covered. His chest was sore and he felt exhausted. ‘I’ll deal with everything tomorrow.’ Within minutes of curling up under the bush, he passed out.