Frank sat between a tree and a rather large bush of beautiful crimson flowers. He had scared a couple of rabbits with small horns out from under it. He wasn't entirely sure but his best guess was that they were kits, baby rabbits. If its mother had a bigger horn, he wouldn't want to be on the business end of it so he decided to be somewhat quick with his study of the map. First, Frank waited for the cooldown of [Total Invisibility] to finish. He would need to turn on his flashlight to see the map properly, and if something came running to check out the light, he didn't want to be caught without being able to disappear cleanly.
In the meantime, Frank decided it couldn't hurt to skim over the description of his new ability.
'[Sub-skill: Hide Object, Rank E Level 1]
While using [Total Invisibility], you may add an object you can touch to your skill's area of effect. This effect will not work on living beings.
Doing so will expose and make visible parts of your starting area of effect, drawing energy from your core to replenish the original area.
Cost: Spiritual power drawn from your core to replenish [Total Invisibility] effect'
Frank checked his core and found he had used five spiritual energy to cloak the map, or rather to restore invisibility to his hand after taking some of the mist-like energy and forcing it to hang around the map. Not a bad trade-off, but he had to be aware that this effect actually came at a cost, not just a cooldown like his other active skills. In that sense, it was more akin to how [Amateur Enchantment] worked except he was manipulating his own active energy to move it around an object rather than combine his stored energy with an object as he had done to charge Lauren's knife.
How was everything back home, anyway? On the drive to the forest trail on Earth, Frank and his dad talked a little bit about how the family planned to keep preparing while Frank was away. Harold promised he would convince Lauren to take up a martial arts class of some sort, which sounded like an excellent idea. Frank's sister had been going out with her friends less often, opting to spend her time online instead. It was her way of reacting to the invasion the System promised, and it wasn't healthy. It was one thing to spend time learning and preparing, but to cut out friends and spend all that time worrying? It wasn't good for anyone, especially not Frank's bratty little sister. She used to go out all the time before. She would go to concerts, to the beach, she would even go on trips with her friends' families. Not anymore. Not since Frank got his powers, not since the System showed him the danger waiting for their species in the wider universe, not since the orcs, goblins, and whatever else scared the cheer and light out of his family's eyes.
Frank held his head in his hand, wondering what he could do to put things back to normal back home. He brooded until the cooldown for [Total Invisibility] finished, then he snapped back to reality, back to business.
Flashlight in hand, he unrolled the parchment and put a rock down on one side to keep it in place while he held the other end with the hand he wasn't holding his flashlight with. He didn't like being visible with his gun set aside, but he only had two hands and needed to read this map. He clicked on his flashlight and took a good look at the spoils of his theft.
The map was surprisingly detailed, showing a bunch of black symbols representing trees, with little spots in what seemed to be clearings marked in green showing a small fire. given how close these were to the marked trails, Frank's working guess was that these were established rest sites for patrolling goblins. He scanned the other symbols to see if there was anything familiar. He couldn't read any of the text scrawled in small letters around the landmarks, but one landmark caught his eye.
A duo of familiar pillars stood out on the map. The wavy triangle shape between them only reinforced Frank's certainty that these were the Portal Stability Control Pillars, or as Frank preferred to call them, the portal pillars. There were four others at the actual site in addition to the two pictured, but Frank was certain this was where the map indicated. When he followed with his eyes down the trail it was roughly the same route he had followed the goblin patrol to their rest stop.
Sure enough, Frank found a green fire symbol down before a bend in the road, just the same as the road back towards the goblins he just robbed. If he followed the road it led down to a fork perhaps a few hours of goblin marching further. This fork led to a river on one end, and a structure marked by a strange symbol. Frank thought it looked like it was some sort of alphabet character since it seemed similar to a few of the symbols seen on the text written on the map. Upon closer inspection, there were tiny, rough drawings of tents and palisades bordering the area around the tents. This must be the camp the System wanted him to find. If it wasn't, that place would be a solid lead towards finding out where it was.
Frank swept the map looking for any other landmarks. He saw around the center of the map there were strange looking hills pictured, marked with red text and repeating red symbols. They looked artificial. If he was remembering his history classes right, these looked like burial mounds. Did the goblins store their dead there? Perhaps it was the orcs, seeing as the goblin's map seemed to heavily imply they shouldn't go near the mounds. Sir Granspier mentioned that the goblins were enslaved to the orcs, so it would make sense for the orcs to have some restrictions like keeping the goblins away from their sacred burial sites.
Frank made a mental note to check it out anyway. If there was anything video games and history had taught him, it was that there was always treasure to find inside of big, important burial sites. It wasn't like he respected the funerary rites of the orcs, anyway. They were attacking his world after all, so why should he care what they thought of him?
Frank rolled up the map, took off his backpack and carefully placed it in one of the smaller pockets in the front where he had less stuff packed in. This compartment had little elastic straps for writing utensils, where Frank had decided to stash away a few pens and pencils as well as a little plastic bag with a pad of paper inside a mesh inner pocket. Frank wasn't sure he'd need any of it, but at the very least having some space in this pocket turned out to be useful for storing his new map. Frank took a quick drink of water from one of the water bottles he had stored in his bag and snacked on a few pieces of jerky.
As he ate his quick dinner, he clicked his flashlight off and thought about what his next move was. He had taken the map, and sooner or later the goblins would find out, even if their leader had memorized the way back. This would confirm to them that he was around, and that he had successfully stolen from them. He couldn't take that chance. Better to kill them and hope to be long gone by the time the camp decided to do react. If he was careful, he might be able to infiltrate the camp and do some damage before they knew who or what they were dealing with.
That was a whole lot of "if" and "maybe", not enough solid action. Frank may be a scout according the System, but he was also behind enemy lines. He wasn't just on a freaky hiking trip, he was in the middle of a war. The goblins just didn't know Frank brought the war back home to their doorstep. Not yet.
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Frank once again had the familiar grip of his pistol in his hand, and his [Total Invisibility] skill active. He [teleport] jumped to the rear of the goblin patrol's little campsite, ready to reduce the number of goblins that could invade Earth by five. He aimed for the head of the sentry with the half paralyzed face, who was returning to his watch after taking a drink from a water skin.
Inhale. Steady. Exhale. Fire.
The goblin fell forward, his misshapen face now splattered over the forest floor.
The shot had been louder than Frank had anticipated, even with the silencer on his gun. The other goblins were stirred from their slumber by the strange noise, getting to their feet rapidly. Frank decided the next priority target was the leader, he would be the most experienced and the one his subordinates would look to for orders before they came to their senses.
Aim. Steady. Fire.
Frank had less time to line up his shot, and with the adrenaline pumping in his veins his shot missed the leader's heart and hit him in the left shoulder instead.
The leader cried out and leapt behind the log he sat at during dinner, he began yelling commands to his underlings, who grabbed their spears from their bed rolls and began to circle up. Frank decided to teleport away from his current position and target the leader again. He stepped forward to get a better shot, certain he wouldn't miss this time. A stray branch snapped under Frank's boot and the goblin leader called out.
"Hebok, Ohmog!"
Two of the goblins ran towards Frank, in the direction they heard the branch snap, ready to impale whatever they found in the way. Unluckily for them, Frank reacted faster than they did. He shot one of the rushing spearmen, then triggered [teleport] to get behind the other one and splattered his brains with another pull of the trigger.
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The goblin leader was no fool, he knew now that they were dealing with one assassin at least, and with his trusty knife in his uninjured hand he sprinted from his cover position and tried to tackle Frank. He slammed into Frank's hip, but held on tight despite the blow barely managing to push the human back a few inches, more from shock than any effort on the goblin's part.
Frank was now revealed because the wizened veteran had him in it's grasp, while Frank held tight to the wrist that held the knife. The remaining spearman bellowed out a war cry and made ready to charge at his exposed target, but the leader halted him in his tracks.
"Nee, Likra!" The leader began chanting under his breath, Frank had a bad feeling as his [Supernatural Sense] began to stab warnings through his head, while [Teleport] was still on cooldown for a few more precious seconds. Frank struggled against the small being and tried to aim his gun in a way that would allow him to shoot the goblin at his side without injuring himself as well.
Frank suddenly felt a choking sensation and stinging pain in every joint from his waist down. He couldn't bear to stand and struggled to breath. The goblin leader reached into a pouch at his side, kissed a small stone that glowed blue and white, and threw it at his last remaining ally.
He heard the goblin leader issue commands as Frank felt something pull him to look back toward the dying fire and the path to the road. What was this? Some kind of skill or spell? Frank hadn't accounted for magic, even though he himself had powers. The young spearman who was the cook earlier in the day aimed his spear at Frank, talking back to his leader. The leader wasn't having it, he cut the younger goblin off and repeated his command. With a gust of wind, the cook goblin sped away at an impossible speed. The leader goblin sighed, sharpening his long finger nails as he walked in front of Frank, who was still spasming with pain.
"Ahhh, numam. Mmmm, kokyom. Kokyom jalitz!" He spouted what sounded like utter nonsense to his human captive. Frank decided if he was going to die, he would die understanding what this little freak was saying. He looked the bastard thing in its ugly, goat-like eyes and activated [Limited Telepathy]. Frank couldn't tell if it was working, so he directed a thought at the leader goblin.
Frank felt utterly reviled, the feeling of disgust only worsening the pain he felt throughout his body. He held tight to his pistol, but felt like knives were being shoved into his elbows and shoulders whenever he tried to move them. How long would this spell last? He had to find a way out of this torture before the cook made it back to the main camp. It would be a few hours march at their normal pace, but with that magic ability he was using, who knows how much quicker he would be?
Frank asked the goblin leader as he searched for anything to help him break free, or anything to kill the monster before him. The little bastard chuckled at Frank's request and complied.
"Numam"
"H-hu-man" He spoke aloud, a sudden pride welling up in his chest. The goblin laughed out loud, his disgusting tongue lolling out to the side as he did.
"Human. Ga-gaosha"
More laughter from Gahnol as he pulled Frank along by a hazy chain, dragging him through the dirt towards the body of the sentry Frank had killed first. If he wasn't sure Gahnol was toying with him before, he was certain of it now.
Of course the invaders have a fanatic religion that teaches them horrible spells like this, what else was he expecting? To be fair, Frank was the invader here.
Gahnol curled the hazy chain around his small hand and gripped it tightly, Frank saw energy travel down the chain for a split second before he was engulfed in a world of pain. Blinding, searing, sickening pain. He heard screams in the distance and felt himself being pulled once again, this time he was being stood back on his knees where he had just fallen. Frank had a sudden realization that the screaming he heard was his own and he steeled himself to stifle his expressions of agony to mere grunting and panting.
When he turned the body around and found the pouch of smokes hanging from his neck, he took one out, holding it between his fingers, and held the strange crystal lighter in his other hand, his back turned to his captive.
Frank could feel something loosen in his [Supernatural Sense], like the chains weren't gripping so tightly anymore on his joints. Gahnol was shuffling around, distracted from trying to light the cigarette with his injured arm! Frank saw his opportunity and quickly took aim where he figured the goblin's face would be if he turned around and stopped moving. The crystal was roughly bigger than Gahnol's hand, and if Frank had to guess would fit neatly into his palm if he were to hold it himself. It wasn't the biggest obstacle, but Frank wanted to get a clean shot at Gahnol's head and punch a nice hole right between those long, green, upturned knives he had for ears.
Gahnol finally got the cigarette to light and took a puff as he turned back around to find Frank aiming his pistol. The pain quickly returned to Frank's joints with Gahnol's renewed concentration, but he hadn't sent a burst of blinding pain through the chain yet, now was his chance!
When he got to his feet, he found Gahnol blown onto his back, sizzling. He was black and red from intense burns, with part of his mouth completely burnt away and exposed. Frank realized then he had missed his target, Gahnol was still alive. Barely. Frank's bullet hit the crystal lighter and it shattered, exploding into flames over Gahnol's body.
Frank took the first deep breath he could manage since the spell had been placed on him. Time was wasting and the other goblin was still far ahead of Frank. But he couldn't pass up this opportunity.
Frank stretched his legs before he stepped over to the writhing form of the goblin veteran. He stepped firmly onto the crispy chest of the goblin who had just been torturing him, toying with him.
Frank suddenly found his mind flooded with images of a young goblin, one who looked like a true goblin. Snippets of training, sparring, meals over fire light. Then a distant sense of pride as the young true goblin was enveloped by light and emerged from a long ritual as the fallen goblin that ran away on Gahnol's orders.
Frank didn't know it, but all blessed goblins were meant to die in battle, in service to the orcs and their master. Gahnol had died a pathetic death weeping and begging, not doggedly pursuing the death of his enemy with his final breath as he had been taught, and how he taught other freshly blessed goblins under his tutelage. His corpse sat waiting for the scavengers of this alien ecosystem as his killer teleported away, in pursuit of Gahnol's treasured apprentice, Likra.