“With the liberation of the Sol system, humanity cast its gaze on the Centaurus group.

The red dwarf Proxima Centauri stood as the getaway to the cluster of stars. Since humanity had yet to develop the warp drives we later came to depend on, a gateway would need to be constructed.

The newly constructed Apollo class capital ship Destiny, was tasked with this journey and the subsequent gateway construction.

The capital ship would become the home of the newly raised 9th Command. The command would become the forerunner to the standard military composition for humanities forces.

The command would consist of the 9th planetary assault group and the 9th Legion. Later, when the human war machine was at its peak, it would become customary for a capital ship to be escorted by a swarm of dreadnoughts, battleships, carriers, cruisers, frigates, and auxiliary ships.

However, these were still the early years of the liberation, and neither side fully understood the other's capabilities.”

- Elistar Iscariot, Grand Magister during the second Kingfisher dynasty.

I have been learning.

Clutching the head of a goblin, I spun around with the piece of shit in my grasp, slashing its throat, watching the bright blood spray out in an arch, before using our momentum to throw it at the last of the little buggers whose entire contribution was managing to get its spear stuck in the one I was holding.

With a burst of energy moved towards the goblin at a speed it couldn't match. My bloodied appearance must have been startling since it fell on its ass again just as I was about to drive my sword into its chest. Since it was lying down, I comprised by stomping on its head. The feeling of my boot squishing the goblin's head was just as disgusting as I imagined it to be, but I was slightly annoyed. They had managed to give me two new wounds, one to my left leg and one to my left ass cheek.

Letting out a sigh of pleasure as the latest stream of power entered my body, I looked around the little clearing, now with twelve more dead goblins. It was the fourth group of this size I had come across in the last few hours. They had infested this part of the forest. Despite that, I had yet to find any anomalies or dungeons, sadly.

Thus group had wised up and had tried trapping me with nets. Maybe the word was spreading about some unhinged maniac blundering around Goblindom and attacking their people? It would probably have worked if I hadn't picked up their stench minutes before I entered the area where they had staged the ambush. Well, that and I had been working on my control over the rift connection. Instead of constantly filling myself with power, I was now doing it in bursts. My next step was only to empower the part of me needed to complete a task.

Shaking loose goblin bits from my clothes I cleaned my sword as best possible before dumping ice-cold water over my head.

It was one of my coping techniques besides trying to deal with the insane hunger and losing the sense of self when keeping my connection to the domain open. I had put myself on a diet, using it as little as possible because the thought of fully submitting myself to the dark, hungering void of the domain was not something I wanted to do anytime soon. Who knows how long it would take for me to find my way back? Still, the power it offered was too addictive not to use at all.

Walking around the clearing, I removed the left ears of the fallen goblins. It came to me through one of the memories my subconscious was working on that the Guild paid a bounty on goblin ears. Two copper an ear, so not much, but I had approximately sixty left ears at this point packed away in the sack the brothers had given me.

Cleaning myself as best I could with more cold water from my waterskin, I drank deeply before fastening it on the backpack. I wondered why I had not met any more Awakened goblins. Then again, the Awakened were few enough within humanity. For all I knew, that was just as unusual for goblins.

I was moving out in the same southwest direction I had been taking to make my way deeper into the forest while scouting for other people and more goblins. The dampness of the leaves covering the forest floor didn't make traversing it any easier on account of my slight limp, but the rest of the wounds were mostly healed already, so I should be fine.

The tiny marble of power slowly growing for each slain goblin was something I would need to figure out, too. The initial burst of power from killing them flooded my body, but the power it gave was impure. That's where the domain seemed to come in. As long as I was holding the rift open, the parts of the power that felt impure were sucked in through the rift. Leaving behind something I was calling pure power. The pure power that remained in my spirit body wasn't really doing anything tough, just floating there, no matter how I nudged with my mind.

The ability crystal was also feeding on some parts of the impure power before the rift could gobble it all up, but it was a tiny amount, and I couldn't really feel that it had grown all that much since I took it into my spirit or wherever it went.

That said, I wasn't complaining. The Ironwoods were mostly serene, with the exception of the sudden moments when it was anything but. That didn't stop me from enjoying the tranquil peace between those moments. A slow jog between massive tree trunks, plenty of open space and a stream or two I wanted to try fishing in later…It was too bad it had so many issues with dungeons and other anomalies. It did make me curious about how it had become this monster-infested theme park. I would have to see about doing some research when I got back to Murktown.

There were a lot of things that needed to get done when I got back to Murktown. The main one was figuring out if my aunt was actually behind my murder. I just couldn't see what she would gain from it. In the end, she would lose the regency either way.

I would need a spy in my old home, but I frankly couldn't think of a single one I knew there I would trust with the information that I was still alive and about not to sell me out. Buying the sort of information I needed from a broker was costly if I even found someone I could trust.

However, my aunt would have to show her cards by the time I turned sixteen. If the regency didn't end by then, the barons would send word to the king. She couldn't have worked out a deal with all of them, hopefully. That left me with keeping a low enough profile for almost a year or messing up her plans before she could send more people to poke holes in my body.

Not that I was completely discounting others standing behind my demise, but with the parting words of the brothers and my memories of the last few years coming back… Aunty dearest was starting to look mighty suspicious. I just wish I knew what she expected to get out of this.

Sadly, my plan for hedonism would have to wait for a bit. Now, I needed money and power. Everything circled back to me joining the Hunters' Guild. That's where the money and getting help to increase my power was. Speaking off, I was picking up another group of short-legged bipeds—time to do some slaying. Goblin s…

Moving silently through the forest was getting easier, not that the wet leaves and almost no underbrush made it difficult, but unlike my latest target I at least tried. Why goblins thought constantly yapping at each other was a good idea was something I had yet to understand, but if there were more than one, they would argue. If there were only one, it would be grumbling to itself. I still couldn't make heads or tails of what they were saying.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

It took me around ten minutes to find the lot. Only nine of them. Now, wasn't this interesting?

They had a person tied up like a pig on a spit carried by four of the goblins. Either they had a prisoner for torture, breeding or dinner. By the curves and the length of the hair being dragged across the ground, the second option. To be fair, it could be all three. Goblins didn't put a label on people. Quite open-minded of them, actually.

Then, there were two of them dragging sacks of what I imagined had been clothes at one time. By the sound of it, they now contained the valuables and armor they hadn't equipped already from the wiped Hunters group. A tragedy… I was rubbing my hands and grinning, jackpot.

Armor was something I had been sorely missing. Even strapping a bit of chain on my arms, if it didn't remotely fit, would have made a big difference. I may have been getting used to taking hits and wounds, but it didn't mean I enjoyed it. Also, if it was halfway decent, I could get myself a bit of money.

That left three goblins with nothing to do but argue. They all were in the back of the little convoy, fighting over what looked like a helmet, one that would be too big for any of them.

Following them for a few minutes, I waited until the bickering trio had fallen behind enough to be separated by a tree from the rest of the group before dropping my backpack in the hollow of a tree root.

I had made a habit of taking the best of the goblin spears from my previous disagreements with them. Maybe a bit on the short side for a human, but as a throwing spear?

Throughout the battles, no more Awakened goblins may have shown their face, but the equipment varied wildly from naked to fully covered in whatever pieces of armor they could lay their hands on. What bothered me was that they strapped and wore things on their skin without any form of protection under the armor. Shuddering at the thought of wearing chain mail straight on my skin… My poor nips.

Flaring my connection to the domain, I threw three of my spears. The first one hit the largest goblin through the head, bursting completely through. I could see brain matter being pushed out from the spear even before the last spear left my hand. The second one let out a squeak as a spear entered the left side of its chest, throwing it forward in a spectacular face plant. It almost landed on its back from the flip but fell back, landing face-first. Fingers crossed that the spear did not kill it and that it would drown in a shallow pool instead. One can always hope.

The third one had wised up and managed to avoid my spear. I was already moving towards it at full sprint, and for some reason, none of the goblins I had fought so far expected me to be this fast. To be fair, I never expected to be this fast, but with a burst of power, it only took a blink of an eye before I had one of my few remaining spears planted deeply in its chest. The choking sound it made as it died drowning in its blood was like music for my soul.

The others would have to be deaf if they hadn't heard that something was going on behind them by now, so I started moving to the left clockwise around the massive tree that separated us since they had taken a counterclockwise route to go forward.

The gambit paid off as I heard goblins talking to each other and scrambling to get over some of the larger roots to my right.

Drawing my sword, I set off at a normal jog around the tree root, my sword raised, ready to chop, dice, hack and slay.

From the corner of my eye, I could see they had dropped the captive and the two sacs of loot by the roots of the next tree.

Then, I was on top of two of the goblins as they made to go under one of the larger roots. Opening a sliver of the rift to my domain sent power coursing through me again. It was enough to make my strikes a blur, and in two swift slashes of my blade, separated two heads from their bodies before their owners could react. Like a fountain, blood squirted on the forest floor, mixing in with the already damp earth. Five wisps of power had entered my body since this fight started. Four remained, or five, depending on what the captive said.

I would have to end this fast. The darkness was starting to creep up on me despite my attempts at using as little of the power as possible. The insidious thought of just keeping the rift open and becoming one with the nothing that was on the other side flashed across my mind. At the same time, my stomach let out a loud groan as my ravenous hunger made itself known, and the idea of a good meal kept me going for now. I promised myself a short rest in the near future, possibly while going over my loot.

Vaulting over the same roots the goblin duo had been trying to get under, I landed feet first on the chest of a goblin hunched over from the same root. The satisfying squeak and crunch almost made me smile despite another goblin scoring a hit with its club against my ribs while I was busy turning his former friend into mulch.

To my right, I could see the goblin was looking at its club in confusion. More than likely, the goblin hadn't expected the rebound that came from striking my barrier.

When it noticed me looking at it, it froze for a moment before letting out a gurgling shout. The world's least intimidating war cry? Then again, I was so emotionally dead at this point that I doubt I would have reacted to one given by a creature ten times its size. The goblin seemed to be moving in slow motion as it jumped towards me with its club raised high. Almost heroic. Only to be met by cold steel mid-jump.

It crumbled around my blade as I let it impale itself before lowering my blade and letting the creature slide off my sword to land limply on the ground. It drew its last few breaths before a stream of power entering my body confirmed its death.

The last one lay in the crook of a root, shivering. The tip of my blade tasted goblin one more time before I cleaned it and slid it home in my scabbard.

Going around the tree, I picked up my backpack and trophy sack before meandering back the way I had just come from.

Nine new left ears joined my collection, as well as any of the armor they had worn. For a moment, I thought it strange that they didn't use the weapons they no doubt had pillaged from the other group, but they may just have been too big for the little runts.

Continuing towards where they had dropped the loot, I picked up a bag in each hand and sat on a root close to the captive.

I have to say, even scratched up and bruised, she was far from bad-looking. That most of her clothes were in tatters brought me a stark reminder that It may only have been a night since I died, but in my mind, I had lived thousands of lives as I wandered the dark place.

Taking out a salted fish I found in one of the waxed pouches the brothers had filled my backpack with. I almost moaned in pleasure at the fatty salt taste hitting my mouth. I was ravenous.

Grabbing a piece of bread with some cheese, I stood up, looming over the girl. She had been nonstop moaning or trying to say something through the gag filling her mouth. It would have been fine if she kept it somewhat quiet, and I could eat my fill and go through the loot with a modicum of peace. The young lady was not having any of that, however, and was looking at me with something in between fear and hope, all the while prattling behind the gag.

She had apparently tried escaping, but instead of moving her bound hands up and past the branch she was tied to, she had somehow managed to get her ankles and wrists stuck on the knots in the branch while stretching herself out fully in both directions at the same time. She looked like a virgin sacrifice being taken to an ancient god. Then again, I found it doubtful she was a virgin, so that would be one disappointed god.

Finishing my snack, I took a step closer and, with my left foot, stepped on the branch so she was lying on her back and not her side as I drew my sword. The ring of the blade leaving its sheath seemed to echo through the woods.

With the tip of my sword, I gently dragged the tip of the blade from her toes and over the binding on her ankles. She had gone completely still. From the corner of my eyes, I could see her wide-eyed staring at me. Her wide pupils almost fully ate her light brown eyes.

Sorry, girl, but I want no misunderstanding about who stands where in the coming negotiations, I thought mirthlessly despite the drama I was putting on.

Instead of cutting her bound ankles, I let the tip of my blade continue its journey up her leg. Since she was only wearing a tattered shirt, there was a lot of leg to move my tip over and up until I reached her throat.

Letting my blade lean ever so slightly towards her throat as if I was about to cut it. She made the first sound since I dew my blade. It was a squeak. I almost broke character and started laughing at that, but I was having too much fun at being a piece of shit. Anything but the hollow, indifferent darkness was a win in my book at this point.

The squeak seemed to have brought her back, the annoying part at least. Once again, she went into full blabber mode. Yeah, my approach had obviously failed. I was looking down at the tangled mess of her brown hair and eyes fully arrested on me as she tried to convince me about something of great importance. I was debating with myself if I should just stab her now and save myself the headache.

She must have seen something in my gaze as she abruptly grew quiet and then started making a keening noise. It was almost as bad as her inane babbling.

The tip of my sword hung in the air between us for a moment. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, I guess, as my blade struck.