' Now that I've become stronger than ever, this place will just hold me down

Only weaklings are left, they fed my guardsman while their hunted was consumed by me, since mana stones 5 level lower than I don't increase my progress. They can no longer provide any help, now they are all useless

I no longer have any use for them, except for him '

Chief visited the old hunchback goblin and that night they both disappeared in night

Without notifying anybody the tribe was left without the powerhouse

The goblins were left defenseless, without chief they would be easily devoured by the cruel forest, their reactions were of utter despair, while some higher level ones such as level 6 goblins showed their greed to take the lead

Since the chief who guaranteed their safety and unworried sleep was now gone, they were anxious, they did not believe at first, but chief and hunchback wordlessly disappeared

The most of the goblins that stayed in cave differed from level 2 to 6, they did not know that neither could they devour mana stones 5 level higher than them and nor 5 level lower than them, they were never told that, because they never had any need to know, since they were destined to be weaklings

Even the ones that reached level 7 were too old to lead the tribe, they could use their brains and lead them as an elder, but still, the tribe has become an easy prey, goblins were in uproar, they did not know the reason why this happened, only some elders could guess correctly, which made most of them despaired and disheartened

They were anxious about ettins too, so they decided to hole themselves up inside this cave and restrict their movements

They did not know that chief would dispose of arrogant ettins since he has already gained the qualifications to do so

POV change

I was confused, why would he leave the tribe? Was not it his easy source of income?

The goblins were aggressively curious, I did not want to stand out and just listened to them, but still could not understand the reason

Once elders gathered they deducted the reason, I believed it, because it was plausible, but why did sovereign never mention that consuming 5 levels lower or higher mana stones does not have any effect? 

That bastard should have forgotten or left it out intentionally, wanting me to suffer, huh, good to know at least, also I have a reason to scold him, haha, I'm sure he'll just laugh it off

Now what...should I stay or go? It's temporarily safe here...or not, anyway I have learnt a lot from the leader, I am sure that if I am utterly careful I can live somehow if my luck is not too rotten

Now chief is gone, so protection disappeared along with his departure, I don't blame him though, he got too strong for us, we were just useless luggage, even if he kills us off we are not worth a single strand of mana since his level is too high now

I was contemplating whether to depart alone or not, if I've learnt something from leader it would be that hunting alone is a big no, everyone will go for a single prey, because it's an easy kill

While I got stronger I am still level 3 with progress of 14/20 mana stones, I wanted my consumed mana stones to be of good quality so I'm somewhat left behind

That bastard also brought hunchback along with him, leaving me with no choice but to eat lower quality mana stones... that sucks

Let's forget about it, I can't do anything aboit it, so I might as well accept... but there are still some things that are harder to accept

...

WHY am I unable to understand mana? I've been a good boy, meditating all day, every day in my free time, which is surprisingly big in this cave, I have almost nothing to do, I want to learn magic, I also want to be as cool as chief, I know it should be rare, but... hard work should pay off no? While I don't like fire and its destructiveness that can bring really nasty results, I would like to master other elements, healing would also be good for support... man can dream right?

I silently cursed lucky protagonists of many stories that had cheat powers yet grumbled, what about me then... sigh

- Reckless one, do you remember me?

The goblin approached me as I was resting my back to the cold surface of the cave,

I felt my head start to ache as I recognized the pervert from the last time, I've not seen her until now

Then I had a brilliant idea, I know of the rule of a loner, if I go alone everyone will aim for me but if I were to have a party, the chances of attracting enemies will slightly decrease, she offered herself as a slave right? Good, then I'll make full use of her... not in that way, idiot!

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- What have you been doing up until now?

I asked while avoiding an eye contact

- Umm, I had a conflict with other goblins, they did not like that I raised in power and I fled for some time but kept an eye on them from nearby, once I knew that chief has left, I knew that nobody would care about me again, the fact has not spread so fast yet because you know... the things that happened were much more intense, I think it's safe now, what are your orders master?

- You still want to follow me?

I teased her in mocking tone

- Yes, absolutely, my life belongs to you... forever

Right, right, alright, cliche, so cliche, I want to bang my head on the wall and... no, that'll hurt, no, but no thanks

- I accept then

- Really?

I saw her eyes widen, tch, not cute, stop acting like that, you are harming my health yet again

- Ahem

I awkwardly coughed and told her my rules

- I am planning to leave this place, if you are going to follow me, there are rules that you have to follow, first - avoid horny rabbits from now on, you are not allowed to... hunt them again, second - you are not allowed to make decisions without discussing it with me, the third - uhh, let's leave it at 2 rules for now

She nodded, I looked at her once again, how exactly can she be useful except for her rather hurriedly improved level of 4? She's inexperienced in battles, sigh, it's going to take a lot of time to mold her into a cannon fod... I mean a warrior

What, I have a thick skin, I am completely fine with being protected by an opposite sex, you can't even differentiate our race's gender easily anyway, males, females, they look almost identical so all is good, all is within calculations

We did not immediately leave, I stayed that night, meditating like always, although in vain, it has become my habit to do so, while I did not sense the speck of mana or whatever ( Not that I am sure that I am doing things the right way ) my mind still managed to become more tranquil, which is surprisingly addictive, sloth is getting me

After eating to our heart's content we left without notifying anyone

The fresh air, dim sunlight that barely gets through thick trees, I felt revitalized, thrill and excitement were also there

Knowing that danger always lurks in surroundings, it makes me vigilant and sharpens my senses

...

We took the different route from the one that we came from

This place should be farther from the human villages

For now, I want to avoid any kind of contact with them

I learnt from leader that I should always scout ahead before going onwards, that helped us perceive danger

I did not have far sight, perception or something like cheat abiliies that I found protagonists had in manga and anime, am I proud of it? Kind of, knowing that I am managing myself without cheat abilities is fun feeling to have, close to being a narcissist, yet self pity is mixed in it

Calling her '' You '' would be inconvenient so I started calling her Henna, I know, pretty humane name for such monstrosity but I can't help it, I don't want to call her something complicated, further reminding myself of my o' pitiful life

She did not object, I even felt a faint happiness from her tone, is christening something to be happy about? Well, I don't remember as a baby so I would not know... it's weird now that I think about it

As I've heard only strong ones were gifted names, was that the reason she was happy? That's more like it

As she returned from her scouting job, she reported

- There's a small hidden cave up ahead, it's covered in massive plants and vines, I would not have noticed it if I was not careful

Hmm, could be a lair of some monsters, could also be empty, but let's go with the vigilant attitude

...

We've been going for quite some time, we avoided danger, I wanted to find a little place of my own if possible, sleeping on the tree branches... I don't want that to become my habit, who knows, I might roll a bit too much and well... I don't want to meet a laughing sovereign, telling me that I died in sleep

Most importantly the nightmares still bother me to the point of anxiety, meditation helps dissipate a feeling a bit, but it's still bothering me, I can absolutely never sleep on tree branches, it's a suicide, sleeping on the ground is the same, I need home, I am homeless hobo and I look like one...

 - We hide and watch over that place, let's see what goes in and comes out, once we know our enemy and if it even exists or not, we'll make our move accordingly, if it's a high level enemy, we don't disturb them, got it?

I asked in low voice, still was not used to my new sounds that I was making, my vocal chords should be differently constructed compared to human's, my anatomy should also be different, I wonder if humans have high technology in this world? 

She nodded wordlessly, she acted rather obedient, she did not talk much and did everything I asked her to wordlessly, ate whatever plants we encountered without complaint and basically I was content with her performance... I remember her being a bit enthusiastic at the start of the journey... did I order her to be silent? Don't remember, that should be the case, who cares, it's better this way

We hid behind a huge branch and spied on the cave entrance which was covered in vines, bushes and many plants, the cave was rather wide and about 5 meters in height, on top of the cave was a small hole covered in vines, I guess small sunlight would be able to get through, making perfect night light, I want to make it my home even more urgently

The dawn was approaching, the sun was about to set, soon the world would be engufled in darkness, I won't absolutely make my move at night, that's plain death sentence

At that time I heard rustling sounds

Small pack of wolves were about to enter the cave, I should have fucking guessed

...

They were about to enter, but one of them did not enter, it looked around and growled vigilantly for a while, I even stopped my breathing, does it sense me? That's ridiculous, no, I should be fine here

After growling for a while it stopped and slowly entered the cave too

I huffed the sigh of relief as silently as possible, Henna did not move a single bit

I could not appraise the wolf from this far, if I want to measure their strength I will have to get near, but it's tricky, they'll definitely notice me if I go near, I should at least be able to flee, but I can't guarantee it... that's it, I'll order Henna to be a cannon fodder, distraction to let me flee, will I feel remorse? Hell no, it's an ugly pervert goblin, If I feel bad if such creature died then what can I ever kill, how can I get stronger?

While it's true that it would be a pity that such dedicated subordinate to die and could not be used in future, well... if it's for the sake of saving my skin, then it's all good

I saved her life and I might as well be the one to take it, I talk like a villain no? Told you, I am not an angel, never was... I tried to change, but showing weak side to monsters? This is different world, forest is full of predators and humanity and morality does not apply here, not unless I see an innocent human being bullied, which makes me pissed off since I was one previously, that aside... what should I do now? I can't wait until tomorrow, I can't wait for darkness to come since wolves would have a clear adventage at night

It's time to act