Chapter 7 - Return

On the sixth day of Training I got to finish early with the sparring. It was the second time I made Val yield. Obviously she wasn’t using any Spells and I didn’t even know if she was physically going all out, but I still felt pretty damn proud. While we were cooling off Val spoke to me: “We need to talk about [Human Anatomy].” I raised an Eyebrow at that. She continued: “You can only learn so much in theory. We need to cut up a person, if we are to get your knowledge to a usable point.”

“So what? Are we going to rob a graveyard?”

“Well that would be a start, but those are already decayed. A fresh body would be better. Ideally an alive one.”

“So we are kidnapping and torturing People now? I mean there were some dicks in the Village but none of them deserve that. Right?”

Val gave me a handwiggle and an: “Ehhhh. There are some real pieces of shit back there. But I was actually thinking I keep someone comatosed and alive, while you cut them open. We can also do it with them conscious. I don’t really care.”

That was a side of Val I hadn’t seen so far. “Does life mean so little?”

“Kind of. The world runs on the rule of the strong. If you can’t defend yourself, you better not draw attention. That is the reality of… well, reality.” She took a big drink of water, which gave me the opportunity to place my jaw firmly on the ground. “Look. There are Benevolent kingdoms and stuff, if you want to go in that direction. But the truth of the matter is that protection for the weak is a gift from the strong, not a right. In my estimation you could beat every person in your village, except maybe a [Ranger] that gets the drop on you. That means if you can get in, grab someone and get out, then there is no moral guideline against it. The morals you were taught make sense in a small community with roughly equal power levels. It becomes irrelevant where we are heading.”

“OK, I do not want to engage with that amount of nihilism this early in the morning. How about a compromise. We go in and look for the most recently deceased body. We grab that one without anyone knowing. Sounds good?”

Val muttered something that sounded like “Knows the word nihilism for three days…” I didn’t get the last part. Then she sighed and agreed with my proposal. So the next day we were going back to my home.

The next day:

We decided to set off right after Breakfast. I shared the leftover Deer with Skadi. I considered adding a few berries I had found, but I wasn’t really in the mood for those. In fact I had been interested almost solely in meat for the last few days. Maybe the Bond with Skadi was influencing me. Or maybe eating something that you killed, butchered and cooked yourself was just immensely satisfying.

Anyway, after eating we set off. The trek to the Village was going to take about 4 hours, so we should be there at noon. After about 2,5 hours of travel I stopped, because I heard something. The forest was never silent, but this sounded very distinctly of a woman screaming. A human woman. “Did you hear that?” I asked Valeria.

“Yeah, something is going on there.” She responded. Then I heard another scream. Male this time, but still very much human.

“We should speed up.” I suggested.

“I agree,” Val agreed “Go half again your current speed. I’ll scout ahead.”

I did as I was told. Maybe even a bit faster. After half an hour I started to smell smoke and the screams weren’t abating. I sped up even more. I was just over the edge of what I would consider a full run. With my stats that meant I was moving pretty damn fast. It was not long after that, when I saw the plumes of smoke above the village. It was being torched.

At this point I was moving at a dead sprint. I was barely able to stop in time when I saw the [Rangers] at the front gate. They were letting in a horde of small green-ish, humanoid creatures with long, ugly nails, almost like claws. Goblins.

I told you before, that I was not overly attached to my home. By that I mean I wouldn’t mind running away and seeing the world. Not seeing them burned alive and kidnapped by goblins.

I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t fight all of them. I had that much rationality left. So I decided to do the smart thing. Look for survivors. Get a headcount of the enemy. Look for an advantage.

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The first of those was a dud. All the buildings were either rubble or aflame. If there were survivors, they had fled into the forest. The headcount also wasn’t easy, but I could gather there were about 20-30 goblins and 5 or 6 [Rangers]. Those were apparently overseeing the whole effort. Last point was to find an advantage. Honestly I struggled with this one, until I realised that these goblins seemed to be extremely unobservant and unorganised. They were smashing stuff apart and setting things on fire with glee, but only the ones supervised directly by a [Ranger] were tying up and carrying people. That gave me an Idea. If I could find a group without a [Ranger], I could probably take them out pretty quickly. Maybe I could thin them out. Val was nowhere to be seen and Skadi wouldn’t be of much help, if I had to climb the palisades first. I told Skadi to make sure the area was clear, so that I would have a safe area to retreat into, behind the wall.

So I climbed over the wall and started my hunt.

There was a group of three goblins nearby. They were each smashing up some furniture like a child destroying a sandcastle. I tried to lure one away by throwing a stone near it, but it either didn’t notice or it didn’t care. So I decided to use my hunting strategy. I climbed up the wall with sticky hands and when I was near the goblins, and they weren’t looking at each other, I pushed off the palisade and dove for one of the goblins, claws outstretched. A goblin has the stature of an eleven year old human, so I easily knocked it over, my claws lodged in its chest. The stunt wasn’t quiet, but looting a village is pretty loud by itself, so the other two didn’t hear us. I finished the creature under me with a swipe across its neck and moved on to my next victim. The other two fell easily. They were neither armoured nor aware of me, so I could easily muffle them with my offhand and slit their throats.

After I was done I climbed back onto and then over the wall. I held myself at the top, because I wanted to see if anyone was going to notice that goblins were missing. After A few minutes a [Ranger] actually came to investigate. I saw a massive chance in that. When he knelt down to check on the corpses, I climbed back over the wall and lunged at him. He was probably a higher level than me and had a similar build, but he was also unprepared and had his back turned to me. I attack-hugged him to the ground and executed my plan. I held his face in the ground with all my might, while injecting his neck with my claws. Once I felt his mana I gave my all into making him sleep.

With 22 Strength it isn’t hard to carry an adult human. It was a struggle to do it one-handed, but it was possible. I carried the [Ranger] over the palisade and down to the ground. Once on firm soil I put the ranger on my shoulders and sprinted off into the forest, Skadi just behind me, watching our backs.

After a ten minute sprint I laid the [Ranger] on the ground.

Valeria’s POV:

She was floating above the burning village, looking at the facsimile of goblins that were ravaging said village. Dungenborn creatures can be somewhat intelligent, but these creatures were barely even capable of walking in a straight line. She had known Goblins. Real Goblins. Fiercely intelligent, whitty, competitive, capable of making incredible contraptions from just a few twigs. These things were not goblins.

However disgusted she felt at sight of these creatures, she did enjoy seeing James killing them a bit more. Actually she had to chuckle a bit, because his fighting style reminded her of the terrible Drop-Bears. Fierce little buggers. Anyway, James had cleaned up a small group and was now retreating to look for the next vulnerable target. Good for him. He was internalising the mindset of a predator quite nicely. She had a few targets picked out and was considering giving him a hint, when he didn’t actually move. What was he doing? There wasn’t anything to do within his reach. Was it the [Ranger]? Did James think his sight was based on movement? Strange. No, wait! He attacked the [Ranger]. Smart way to do it too. Now he was carrying him. He wasn’t dead, just sleeping.

Valeria was impressed. Taking a hostage in this situation was a great move. He was seriously performing beyond her expectations right now. The raid was supposed to teach a different lesson, but that could be postponed for now. Now she just had to make up a proper excuse for why she had disappeared. She had hoped to say something along the lines of “I had to prevent the others from coming after you” but that was moot. He was actually stealthier than she had expected. Actually, maybe she didn’t even have to lie. It would be a delicate balance, but maybe she could put him on a collision course with greatness a lot earlier than she had predicted. Now she only needed to hope that he got angry enough during interrogation.

James’s POV:

I glued my hand over his mouth and stuck him with my claws. Then I gave him a leg cramp … I could feel the scream more than I could hear it.

“Good, you are awake. You are going to answer my questions, or I will make you experience new levels of pain. Understood?” I removed my hand from his mouth, but I kept my claws in him.

“James? Is that you?” He asked somewhat bewildered. I muffled him again and gave him a cramp in his left bicep. “That was not an answer to my question.” After he stopped screaming I removed my hand again.

“Yes! I understand!”

“Good, then tell me. Why are you helping the goblins kidnap people and destroy our home?”

“We found a dungeon on patrol. There is a mage of some kind inside. He forced us to help him. He controls the goblins somehow. He needs sacrifices for some ritual he is preparing. Please James, he had us at his mercy. He would have killed us all.” The [Ranger] - I think his name was Thomas - started sobbing at the last sentence. I can’t say that I didn’t understand his position, but I also didn’t quite buy his story. Also the [Rangers] were the ones who were supposed to defend the village. They have, or rather had, a duty to protect the common people, with their lives as necessary. So no, I couldn’t excuse him. In fact I got rather angry at him. In basic training they hammered into us again and again that we should be prepared to lay down our lives for those who can’t defend themselves. That was what my mother had always told me. That was what my father had admired about her. That was how she died. And now this asshole is trying to wiggle out of his duty? Betray the people he swore to protect? That would not go unpunished.

I got a few more details out of him, like where the dungeon was - two days travel from the Village - and how long until the ritual is finished - 25 days. Afterwards I put him to sleep. I was petting Skadi while thinking of a plan of attack for the dungeon. There wasn’t an obvious way for me to get the people of the village back, but one thing was absolutely clear in my mind. I will kill that Mage and the [Rangers] or die trying.

From the distance, yet somehow from within my head I heard a voice say: “Oh, no!”

Congratulations! For swearing vengeance upon those that have betrayed your people you have gained the personal Perk [Oath of Vengeance].

[Oath of Vengeance]

While working towards the target of your Vengeance, you will require only half as much food, water and rest. Should you succeed on your quest, this Perk will evolve. Should you fail to deliver your vengeance within 25 days, this Perk will become negative.

“Goddamn! Shitballs! Asshole! Cuntbugger!” There was that voice again. “You! With me! Right! Now!” I didn’t have time to process that, before everything turned white.