I could not find the leader no matter how hard I tried searching, I guess he went to hunt without me, I hope he dealt with the orcs yesterday, I tried hard to get on their good side, with his intelligence I am sure he did not screw it up

I took out a level 5 mana stone from my armor's inner pocket and started looking at it, it was of the highest level that I have hunted so far, I do not have other stones to exchange for refining it and that stingy old man won't do it for free either, sigh...

After killing the bear and taking out the mana stone, I did not have time to feast upon it, because I wanted to treat her wounds, I was also afraid that some predator would find it and steal my food, so after making sure to hide her away I woke some goblins and told them to carry that to tribe, while I have heard that bear meat is delicious and really wanted to eat it, I could not keep the thing I had to do on hold either, so I just told them to leave me some, it's not like they could finish the whole bear in half a day despite being gluttons... I hope...

If it was another goblin, he would boast endlessly that he beat a bear that was 2 levels higher than he was, but I told them that I just found its corpse, they did not get suspicious either and happily carried the bear... after calling for more goblins. I bet it was heavy to carry

So since the day has passed I wanted to check on the bear, it was gone... I thought it was a waste and felt regret while secretly cursed them for not leaving me some, but, since they love to share their food I had to make up for the hunger with some old deer meat, which tastes perfectly fine by the way, even if it's rotten I am sure it would taste good

It was boring, I had nothing to do, I was waiting for leader to come back, I did not want to join the other team or make my own, even though I was level 3 and had the authority to form my own team and many would not dare to look down upon me and bully me, I still did not find it necessary to do these stuff

So I sat down in my own dug hole, the sun was shining and it was hot outside, and yes, it was also hot inside the hole, but there was little sunlight, if I crawled to the deepest part I would be covered in shadow

I turned the mana stone in my hand and started playing with it, I could feel the mana fluctuation upon touch, but I knew that it would not leak, what would happen if I broke it? I thought

I tried crushing it but as expected it was not damaged in the slightest

...

 - Ah, so bored

I wanted to sleep again since I had nothing else to do when I heard uneasy goblins' screeching sounds and noises that could not be ignored

I came out of my hiding and saw that about 50 meters away there was a giant that was about 5 meters in height and possessed two heads, but it was not alone, there were 5 of them in total

They held huge clubs and with a whooshing sound one of them swung it, crushing nearby goblins to death

 - What the hell is this?

I was starting to panic, but then tried calming myself down

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

The appraisal would not work from this far, but I knew that they were dangerous, I had to run

It was a sight to see, the army of goblins were out of their huts on full alert, they had their weapons prepared, some were running, the monsters roared which did not have much effect, was it because I was too far from them?

I wanted to flee but stopped my steps since I saw certain someone who could probably deal with the situation

It was the chief and his two guardsman

POV change

Why would ettins come down the valley? They don't like to have much contact with outside world, something's not right here, they will be hard to handle

 - Gruntar, Gnar, evacuate everyone to the empty cave that we found before, I will delay them

They nodded wordlessly, I grinned inwardly, want me to die here? It won't be so easy, while I can't kill them all, I am confident in taking down 2 of them while gravely wounding others if their levels are not too high, I will have to use my trump card though, which I am reluctant to part with

 I made a huge leap and landed on nearby hut, with big steps, I soon appeared near the monsters, I appraised them, they will be very hard to handle, I did not cower, I appraised them from up close, 2 of them were level 15 in total, another one was level 16 and 17, good, there's not a single one whose single head exceeds level 10 or else I would have no chance

 - Ettins huh? Did you guys get kicked out?

I smirked at them

 - Are you the chief here? Quite the sharp tongue you have here pipsqueak

 - Yeah, if we wanted to, we will crush you to death with a single blow

Ettins replied annoyed by my attitude and released their aura but I did not flinch

I can't lose my tribe here, else earning sufficient mana stones will be tough by myself, I leveled to 14 couple of days later, if i consume that pill and use my skills, I will make them regret coming here

 - I would not be so sure, do you really want to test my patience? 

I replied coolly and took out a red pill

 - You guys know what that is?

 They looked confused, of course they would not know, it was a lucky loot from looting human merchants, did not expect them to have this high quality pill with them

I activated my skill and my skin turned red, I put the pill under my tongue and told them

 - Don't force me!

And I lit a small fire on my hands, they flinched

 - Kuh, path of rage? You a mere goblin mastered it? Alright, cool, but if you think you can beat all of us you are terribly wrong

 - It's simple, let's reach a compromise, I won't disturb you and you won't disturb me, while I may not be your match, I can still make you guys regret!

I said without backing down

They were silent, their boss who was level 17 hesitated and answered

 - Fine, but this area is ours, you will pay us 100 mana stones every month, their quality should be higher than level 10, otherwise we won't comply

These greedy bastards! Oh well, I can afford this much and if I hide away in that cave, I am sure they won't fit in, I will have territorial advantage and fry them to crisp if they try to forcefully enter, it's safe to play along for now

 - Deal, now then, we are leaving

I did not leave myself until everyone left then disappeared along with them

POV change

 - Kuh, that arrogant pipsqueak, why would you spare him, Jox?

 - That's right, he was so arrogant, I wanted to smash him with this club

The two heads complained one by one

 - He's not so simple, not to mention fire affinity that he had, his skill would increase his chances to win along with that mysterious thing that he was about to consume, my instincts felt danger, I could not risk it, don't worry, they are under our control, we will be lords here and if nearby tribes resist we'll either exterminate them or make them pay us constantly, once we grow in power, we will return and make them pay

 - Jox is so clever, we will do as you say

 - Yeah, jox is the greatest

6 heads kept on boot licking separately

 - Ah

Jox exclaimed

 - DAMN IT! I forgot to make them leave their treasures, well, it's fine, there's nowhere they can escape, with our detection skills, they can't hide... ANYWHERE

The giant said proudly and crashed his club on the ground as if to demonstrate his power, small crater appeared on that place and dust flew at his feet, he stood proudly, with both of his heads having delighted expression