As the army closed in on me from all directions, my heart was gradually pounding faster and faster and my entire body started trembling as a small grin creeped onto my face.
"We-we-weit! Hoomz halp Zuka! No heart heem!" The child I had just saved ran up to me and stood between me and the army with his arms spread while yelling at his people.
What I assumed to be the chief soon stepped up as the entire army just stopped in its tracks, the chief stopped a couple of meters in front of me and revealed a scary-looking, warm smile.
"Youngezt Zuka, you zay what is true, yez? Human, I thank for helping youngezt my zon, you name?" As I pat the kid's head and thank him for the help I started explaining everything.
After explaining the situation to the chief 'Zina'ho', he invited me into their village for today so they could thank me properly.
As we climbed up the mountain I got to know some of the people of this mountain goblin tribe called Zinzangi'er, I even made friends with the archer named Zoing'e.
His stories about archery are so intriguing, is there really a way to make an arrow fly around objects? He says he can hit a person standing directly behind a tree, I need to get him to teach me that!
"Friend human Lifez, home iz here." Chief Zina'ho pointed in the direction behind him to a large spherical area in the mountain. The front was just an empty space but the walls were riddled with square-shaped caves, is this where they live?
Suddenly his eyes glowed and he announced while drooling as if asking for confirmation "we make feazt of wolf meat az thank ritual, okay?!" I almost laughed out loud at the childish display but decided that it could be dangerous.
"Sh-sure. I don't mind you eating that wolf, just let me take the fur and the fangs alright?" To which he responded by furiously nodding.
Are Colossal Water Wolves such a delicacy? Maybe they taste like tomatoes…?
As preparations were on-going, the burly chief told Zoing'e to teach me his incredible shooting technique.
Together with young Zuka,- that decided to use my shoulders as his new carriage - we didn't enter the village and instead went to a small area that seemed to be a dedicated archery range made out of white stones almost entirely. How weird, are the stones soft enough to allow for it?
Feeling Zuka's small body shivering over my shoulders I put him down and gave him my old Slayer's black jacket, his cute smile revealing a row of almost black teeth, was all I needed to warm me up.
My new teacher opened his scary looking mouth which made the scar on the left side of his lips twitch in a funny manner.
"Here me learn you to zhoot arrow, now I zhow, you look, yez?"
Without waiting for my response, He pulled out his weird looking red bow that was covered with small spikes and 1 arrow made out of some animal's bones.
Placing the arrow normally on the bow Zoing'e took a second to aim and told me to look behind that big boulder in front of us.
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I found what seemed like a cemetery for broken bone arrows and white stones, my new teacher then counted to 3 and released the string.
The arrow never went in a straight line, instead it just circled around the huge boulder in the middle and hit one of the targets on the other side. Not only is he able to shoot an arrow at targets behind objects, he's also able to accurately hit them without seeing, was this luck? Or is he using Sy?
As if reading my mind Zoing'e explained "I no luck, me know how other zide iz look in mind, zee it many timez." I see, so this technique might not be as good in more of a… dynamic setting.
Looking at him pleadingly, I asked "Can you teach me?" to which he replied by raising the scarred side of his lips, containing my laugh due to how ridiculous he looked, me and Zuka just sat and listened quietly.
Apparently he didn't place the arrow normally on the bow, he used the arrow on the right side just like me of course but the special part was how he drew the string.
"Drawing ztring like thiz, make arrow fly like that." What an incredible explanation, had he not shown how it's done, I would've never understood anything…
"Now human Lifez, look, learn, do, not make happen, do again, make happen, yez?"
"So, when you draw the string in certain angles, it makes the arrow fly in certain angles, how interesting, that feels like something I should've been able to think of on my own… this will be unbelievably useful in the future, I'm sure. Thanks a lot, Elder Zoing'e!" After trying the technique out for a bit, I got the gist which got me some excited claps and cheers from the adorable Zuka sitting on a boulder to my right.
Of course I wouldn't be as good as the elder but that didn't matter right now, practicing can always be done after you've learned the basics for a skill.
Only after a few hours of practicing did I realize that climbing the mountain must've taken almost half a day seeing as how the sun was almost completely gone by now.
"Go beck better, okay bigger brader Life'ez?" Big brother?! Ahhh he is too cute!
"Of course, your father might be worried if we stay out any longer. Elder, thank you again for teaching me your amazing technique!" Zoing'e zmirked as I bowed before we started heading back to the village.
While we were crossing a small wooden bridge over a river inside of a cave, Zuka was excitedly tapping my head pointing at different rocks while Zoing'e explained what each of them was when suddenly a realization came to me.
I don't feel as arrogant or spiteful toward those guys as I do toward humans, it feels weirdly nice.
Finally reaching the village area, my cute little new brother jumped down from my shoulders and started pulling me towards the huge fire that now appeared in the middle of the circle-shaped array of caves.
"Welcome back human friend! Ztrong Zoing'e teach good?" Chief Zina'ho said while walking up to me with open arms as if asking for a hug.
"Yes, strong Zoing'e was an amazing teacher, I'm very thankful!"
"Good! Good! Now go to there, we make party to thank friend human Lifez!" His deep, raspy voice made it sound more like a threat, an incredibly unthreatening threat.
The heavy smell of smoke that filled the area combined with the sound of the crackling of fire gave such a warm feeling. I would wonder why but that feels stupis considering how hot the flame is. But jokes aside, I do wonder why I feel so at ease here.
As everyone sat down around the big fire on the many carpet animal furs, the chief that was standing in the middle near the fire together with his son signaled me to join them.
The big, burly fighter-looking goblin took my hand as well as Zuka's and lifted them high up in the air with his big, scary-looking but very warm smile.
"Today human Lifez zaved youngezt Zuka, zon of me!" Every one of the blue-skinned goblins around us erupted into a loud cheer.
"Tonight, we make rezpect and thank for human Lifez! Zeeeeeeeee!" His weird ending soon turned into a loud war cry-sounding chant.
"Rinka! Zeee-Rinka! Zeee-Rinka! Zeee-Rinka!" Everyone screamed rhythmically.
"QUUUUIET!" Zuka's father shut everyone up with a shout that almost made my eardrums explode before letting go of our hands, signaling for us to go back to our seats while winking to me with a smile as his drool almost reached the floor.
He then proceeded to lift something up from the floor behind him, it looked like a goblin-sized stone coffin.
Has this become a funeral?
Also judging by the size and thickness, that should weigh at least 200 kilograms, yet he's lifting it up above his head as if it's nothing… Just how strong is this guy?
As I sat down cross-legged Zuka decided my lap would make a good chair, to which I didn't complain.
We soon noticed the atmosphere shift. Everyone turned from excited to serious in a matter of seconds, all of the goblins were now holding themselves in the air only with the strength of their hands in the same seated position I was in while their eyes were closed, what a weird ritual, Zuka seemed super excited.
What an incredible sight.