The sounds of crunching softly filled the air. Every now and then, tiny burps would interrupt the otherwise peaceful tempo. A young goblins body lay face down on the grass, except for the scattering of blood surrounding it, its green body almost perfectly blended in with the grass.

Three furry, balloon like monsters continued their feast on the corpse. The Squips furiously chewed on a scrawny arm as though it was their last meal on the planet.

Which of course with how this world worked, was perfectly understandable.

Branches creaked loudly, and in the next instant, a being covered in steel-like scales burst out from beneath the leaves. An ivory sword swiftly descended as the entity swung down with as much strength as it could muster. The blade only managed to give a glancing blow to the nearest squip, but the force was enough to send it spiraling away. It bounced on the ground hard, injured and stunned, but still very much alive.

I ignored it, and focused my attention on the remaining two who were already snarling in my direction. Two familiar sets of serrated teeth bared themselves at me. Gripping the bone in my hands tightly, I lunged at the one closest to me. With surprising agility, both monsters leapt away to the side, wholly avoiding my attack.

With a grunt, I tried to bring my weapon back but the split second delay was enough for one of the squibs to latch onto my arm. Sharp fangs jabbed into my forearm, tearing into my flesh.

"Araagkk!!"

With a yell, I dropped my blade and slammed the creature into the ground, but the tenacious ball refused to let go. A painful jolt hit my back, courtesy of the remaining squip. Maybe it was how round and soft they looked, but I had clearly underestimated the fur balls.

I tried my best to endure the pain while I retrieved my sword with my free arm. The creature steadfastly gnawed on me, refusing to budge until I sent the tip of my sword through its eye.

The last of them hung on my back, teeth still trying to break through the scaled leather protecting me. Trying to remove it by hand was like scratching an itch you just couldn't reach. I tried for a while before resorting to just taking the leather piece off. A quick stab finished the creature without any fuss. It seemed despite their sharp teeth and unexpected speed, their tactics ended the moment they chomped down.

In the end, they were still simple minded beasts.

My forearm was a mess of bites and tears, but fortunately none of them so severe that I'd actually need anything more than clean water and bandages. Gro'Bur stepped out from behind a tree hooting excitedly. He carried the crushed carcass of the first squip. He flashed a thumbs up at me, which I promptly returned.

My respect for him grew, since I remembered that he'd hunted two of the same creatures on his own, without the aid of my equipment. An impressive feat considering I still ended up receiving similar wounds. This was the first time I actually killed something, small insects aside. The feeling was honestly unpleasant and made me question myself more than a little.

But it was something I needed to do repeatedly if i ever wanted to see Lynn again, so I psyched myself to get over it quickly.

I had hoped that with this first hunt, it'd be enough for me to earn my name but it seemed that wasn't the case. No woosh woosh! or clap! seemed to happen so I took it that i'd have to try harder.

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"Hunt good, son. Real good. Tasty Meat tonight!" My father chuckled with a twinkle in his eye. "Soon Gro'Bur rest, son hunt?"

"Father hunt more better. Will learn." I replied humbly. The experience had taught me not to overestimate my own skills.

For all his language ineptness, Gro'Bur's hunting experience still surpassed mine by a large margin, and I'd be a damned fool not to take advantage of a mentor.

"Hunt, again?" I asked hopefully.

The proud grin on his face told me all I needed to hear. With a nod, the goblin leapt away into the forest, while I followed behind quietly. We passed through the forest and into a small grove that cause my excitement to spike. In games this would be what I'd call a POI.

Invoking my magi-sense here though, only served to let me know that magic was absent. That was probably what caused the trees here to grow so differently. It was unfortunate, but my shallow dreams for a shortcut to power were dashed as quickly as they had formed.

Here, he signaled me to stop, and the two of us crept into a sneaking stance that I'd grown familiar with. With a crooked finger, he pointed towards a tall coniferous tree. At first, I saw nothing. Just bark, pines and a multitude of other trees surrounding it.

Then I noticed it. The creature was so still I would have missed it if he didn't point it out. On one of the lower hanging branches was a chameleon, though not like any I'd ever seen. A crocodile's elongated snout gave a clue as to its diet, but vicious claws confirmed it. Large knots of muscle adorned with sharp spines could be seen protruding from its back, the curvatures causing it to blend even better on the tree.

Easily as large as ourselves, this hulking beast was definitely not what I expected for my first day's hunt.

The sight chilled me to my core. How the hell were we supposed to hunt that with just the two of us? Three blood sucking balloons I could handle. Mr Universe here? Not so much.

Just as I was about to signal to Gro'Bur to leave, he hefted a large rock and launched it before sprinting off. In shock, I watched in amazement as my father quickly closed in on the muscular monster. With a roar, the not-chameleon dropped on to the ground, claws out and teeth bared. Every instinct in my body cried out to me to run, but I wasn't willing to leave alone. Gro'Bur was unarmed and unarmored.

If I left here now, there'd likely be nothing left of him by the time I returned.

Gripping my sword tightly, I burst out from the bushes, charging past my father with reckless abandon. It seemed to work since it immediately focused its attention on me. A terrifying growl came from its lips, threatening to stop me in my tracks. Pushing through the fear, I threw my arms forward, channeling whatever force they had into the blade in my hands.

The edge of the sword sank into the creature's flank, but thick hide and even thicker muscles prevented it from penetrating even further. As I tried to remove my weapon, the muscles on the beast tightened up, forcing me to let go. Unarmed now, I leapt to the side as it swiped its vicious claws at me. Luckily, my armor prevented it from tearing me apart, but the force was enough to send me tumbling into the dirt.

"Yaaraackkaaa!!" yelled Gro'Bur, as another stone came spinning towards its forehead.

From the ground, I watched in amazement as he ran circles round the beast. With unnatural precision, rock after rock came flying past, each one landing on its forehead.. I could already tell by the fifth rock that Mr Universe was dazed. It shook its head left and right, wildly swinging its arms around in an attempt to catch him.

With a skillful lunge, Gro'Bur leapt on the monster's back and holding on to the sword I left in its shoulder. Every time the beast thrashed about, it would sink just a little bit deeper.

Eventually the blade must have hit something vital within, since the oversized lizard slumped to the floor, spent and broken. Shattered scales decorated its forehead, and green gooey blood leaked from the stab wound.

"Best Father! Best Goblin! Grracckkkk!!!" screamed Gro'Bur.

He climbed on top of the defeated lizard, before once again performing an enthusiastic jiggy. To me, it was in bad taste to teabag a fallen opponent, but clearly sportsmanship as a concept didn't exist yet for my father.

Internally though, I questioned whatever it was that I just witnessed. There was no doubt in my mind that Gro'Bur was abnormally skilled in monster hunting. He took care of the beast with far more ingenuity than I gave him credit for, and the accuracy of those stones was breathtaking. I highly doubted that all goblins were this proficient, since if not they wouldn't be hiding in a cave nor afraid of the Badlands. No, this was Gro'Bur plain and simple.

It was to me a lucky break, seeing as he was there taking care of yours truly since the very beginning. But the convenience of it all troubled me greatly and if it really was planned, someone or something went through alot of trouble to set everything up.

After he was done celebrating and mocking the dead, I convinced my father to help carry the lizard back to camp. I swallowed every question that arose, since I highly doubted he'd recognize the magnitude of what he was capable of. No, those questions were reserved for when me and my maker finally had our little face to face. I reckoned there'd be a ton of them by the time it happened.

Slinging one of its brawny limbs over my shoulder, the two of us hauled the monster back to the camp, looking forward to a well deserved meal.

And the meat wouldn't burn this time, not if I could help it.