Snik’s POV:

The past few weeks could be said to be the highlight of Snik’s life. Not only was he the one who found the location of the new sanctuary the ancestors pointed out. Snik was also able to enter the domain of their Deity, though it is true Snik did not know about what it was when he entered it with all the other scouts. However, the most satisfying thing that happened in this period was that this time Vexa Nightshade, Snik’s dream goblina did not look down on Snik when Snik tried to approach her. In fact rather than her usual irritated expression on seeing his visage, this time Vaxa even nodded at Snik when she saw Snik. Snik was over the moon. Snik was sure that in no time at all, Vexa would fall in love with him. Afterall Snik is currently the best scout in the tribe, the best scout who found God's domain all by himself. Now the only question was, should Snik approach Vexa to tell her the story of how he found the Domain? She seemed interested, the last time he told it to a group of tribe members. She looked at Snik six times, Snik counted.

“Snik what are you doing here daydreaming?” Sir Draker bellowed forcing Snik out of his important musings. “Did you not hear the Chief say that we need all able bodied Goblins, to help out on the reconstructions of our tribe? Go and get the layout of the land and resources. We will do another expedition into the domain in the next few days to see if the Cave deity wishes to provide us with any extra materials. I want to see the survey of the valley before then. I will give you two days. Now go and no Daydreaming.”

“Sir, yes Sir Drakar” Snik shouted with a salute. Although Snik thought that Sir Drakar’s ideas of discipline and mimicking the humans was silly, Snik was a clever goblin and knew Snik would get pummeled if he said his thoughts out loud to Sir Drakar. Yes, in fact Snik was so clever that he waited until Sir Drakar was gone, to grumble behind his back. Afterall Snik was doing important thinking when Sir Drakar interrupted him. Snik understood that not all goblins were as handsome as him, and some had to compensate with other things. But Snik thought Sir Drakar was being foolish and that there were better ways than imitating their enemies, after all humans were the ones who destroyed their last village. But what could Snik do, Sir Drakar was the leader and Snik was still only a follower, so off he went to map out and survey the Valley in these two days. At least Snik would get extra bragging material, when he visited the Cave deities domain again in two days.

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Two days later Snik joined the Expedition party into the God’s domain along with Sir Drakar. The expedition party consisted of seven goblins including Sir Drakar and Snik. All of them were E-rank with the exception of Sir Drakar. Snik was exhilarated to know that Vexa was joining the party as Herbalist and Alchemist. The rest of the team members consisted of Pyrok, a Trigger happy fire mage covered in red runic pattern. Gnash, a brutish goblin warrior with bulging arms, wielding a massive, rusty knife two heads taller than himself. Thorn, a nature-focused goblin druid and Beasttamer, with an affinity for poisonous plants and animal companions, who had an obsession with his spotless white robe he wore at all times. And Scrap, a goblin tinkerer and trapmaster with spiky hair which looked blown up as if surviving an explosion, he was a strange goblin always lugging around gadgets and explosives giving off a disorganized scatterbrained appearance, he would however turn into a quick and sneaky rogue, always ready to pick a lock or stab from the shadows once he was under danger.

Around midday our group made our way up the mountain towards the cavern housing the domain of the Cave Deity. For most of the goblins present this was their first time in the domain. Even for Snik, who had already been to the domain once, being previously tense and on the lookout for enemies, this was the first time Snik really took in the allure of the domain. From the entrance, the cavern walls sparkled from slight light reflected off of them. Thick pillars of natural wood were interspersed throughout the cavern from floor to ceiling as if holding up the whole mountain. On a closer look Snik could see many of them spreading through the ceiling and veins of wood coming out of the thick pillars and realized with astonishment that they were roots, most likely from the humongous trees growing above the Cavern at the top of the mountain. Strange twinkling sources of light could be seen from different points of the ceiling. A closer look with Snik’s Eagle-Eye skill, that every scout ranger learned, allowed him to determine that the light points were coming from glowing rocks on the ceiling. From the Cavern entrance a forest extended into a downwards sloping manner, looking no different from the forest in the valley outside if not for the previously noted inconsistencies. Snik’s passive skill Fox-Ears allowed him to pick up on movements and cries of different animals in the immediate vicinity. Snik even heard the sound of the gurgling brook flowing to the domain, which he had noticed in the previous dive.

“Keep a look out for resources for the use and construction of our tribe. Don’t pick fights with guardians if they do not challenge you. We are here to survey and map out the domain, not challenge it. We are going to comb through the first floor instead of rushing through it like we did last time. Remember, our deity challenges not just our brawn but also our wit.” Sir Drakar reminded us. “Vexa, Pyrok, Thorn and Scrap be on the lookout for resources that might be useful. Gnash, Snik and I will protect you guys if there is any danger. Do not wander off on your own.”

With all the instructions received we started combing through the domain from the left in a semi circular parallel manner. From time to time we met some of the guardian animals of the dungeon. However they were nothing like the initial mad rush of creatures we experienced on our first attempt.

“There, those are Hazemeberries, something our shamans use to connect with our ancestors.” Vexa’s pointed excitedly towards some bright blue berries growing from a soft leafy herb close to the ground. When she rushed forward and bent down to pluck them, a shimmering blue hummingbird suddenly rushed towards her from some nearby bushes. The bird had wings tipped with silvery feathers and was reaching unbelievable speeds, shooting forward as fast as the wind towards Vexa’s face. Without having time to think, Snik released the arrow he had in the ready, since entering the Domain. The arrow zipped by, missing her face by only a centimeter and causing the bird to adjust its flight direction slightly. The bird flipped in the air and shot forward to peck Vexa’s cheeks just below her eyes and retreated by the time Snik had nocked and readied his second arrow. A deep gruesome wound around an inch long could be seen marring Vexa’s lovely green visage, and bright red blood started pouring out of the left side of her face.

“Thorn, you should know some lesser healing spells as a druid, use them on Vexa. Snik, shoot down the bird.” Sir Drakar ordered. However, Snik was already prepared and did not need to be ordered. Anything that attacks Snik’s pretty goblina, has no sense and deserves to die, Snik thought as Snik aimed properly and shot at the bird with Snik’s next arrow. The Hummingbird released gusts of winds through the flap of its wings and almost deviated the flight of Snik’s arrow. But it was ultimately still too near and went down with an arrow to its chest. Making his way towards the fallen creature Snik prodded it with another arrow. “This one seems to be bigger than the hummingbirds we saw previously, Sir Drakar.” Snik remarked after examining the bird. Then without waiting for a reply from Drakar, Snik puffed up Snik’s chest and made his way towards Vexa who was being treated. “Snik avenged you Vexa!” Snik emphasized.

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Vexa eyed Snik from the corner of her eyes for a few moments, and when the silence got almost too prolonged grumbled out a “......Thanks”. Snik knew that Snik was getting along splendidly on Snik’s goal towards love, as Vexa finally replied to Snik.

“Okay continue…” Drakar said while clapping his hands, “This time try to take out all guardians before rushing off to harvest things.” A series of Ayes and yeses answered him in return.

Continuing on our way we found various other similar useful herbs and minerals, commonly used in the tribe such as Al-mahti Grapes, which were pink grapes that had slight regeneration properties but cause dizziness as a side effect. Clearmind Stones, which were translucent glass like pebbles found on the banks of the brook, which as their name stated cleared the mind when in contact with the skin, as well as Blueferns which were blue coloured ferns and had the property to stem blood flow when mashed together and applied to wounds.

A rather embarrassing episode for Snik happened when Snik tried to help Vexa get a sample of the Purple Sleepers, so that she could concoct a potion to resist their effects. Snik tragically fell asleep halfway through the harvesting process and had to be rescued by Scrap who took out a gas mask from one of the huge bundles he was carrying. Other than these few mishaps the rest of the trip went rather uneventful, with the C-Ranked Drakar guarding the party.

The final verdict of the first floor made mostly by Vexa and Scrap was that the current herbs were useful for common goblins. And that the trees had nothing special other than their growth speed and could be used for construction, but that it is easier to harvest the trees directly from the valley. However the Extra hard stone and iron ore that was found were definitely useful and needed to be mined. Pyrok added his two cents saying that the domain was lacking the property of fire, whatever that meant.

After collecting all the cores and other resources from all the slain guardians including the two tailed fox guardian, and stashing them in Scrap's endless bundles we made our way down the stairs towards the second floor. The end of the spiral staircase led into a small passage which opened up into a Cave mouth. Reaching the Cave opening we realized that we were at the top of a hill around a hundred meters tall. As far as the eyes could reach we could see hills of differing shapes and sizes spread out all over. Narrow shaky drawbridges with a single rope as handholds were connected to the different hills and nearby trees at variable height and lengths. It was basically a maze in the air, Snik could even see a few of the bridges swaying from wind coming from who knows where. Gulp. “Soooo, do we need to take these drawbridges? They seem like a lot of work. How about we climb down the hill, so we can make out what all resources there are, in these parts?“ Gnash’s gruffy voice sounded from behind Snik. Was Snik imagining it or was the bruteish bear sounding a bit squeaky? “Ha ha what Gnash, afraid of heights?” Snik asked.

“Actually I agree, we won’t be able to see any useful material if we are on the bridges.” Vexa chimed in. “Snik also agrees.” Snik changed Snik’s stance immediately under the mocking looks of the other party members.

The climb down was almost impossible, with loose rubble and no hand and foothold. After five almost falls, from different party members and a slide down from Gnash they somehow made it to the base of the hill. “If there had been Mountain goats as guardians in this area, we would have been so dead.” Thorn remarked. “As if the climb was not difficult enough. Please shut up.” Gnash grumbled while sweating all over.

“Maybe I should melt footholds into the mountain with my fire magic?” Pyrok mused. “As if your fire temperature is high enough to melt rock.” Scrap scoffed. “But maybe ….” and then he started mumbling to himself. “Keep your squibbling down and keep moving, we are here for work and not on a field trip.” Drakar said as he led the way.

Three quarters of an hour in, Scrap was leading us around areas that were apparently traps, and Vexa had found another herb called Purpure Grass, which was a low growing grass with purple tips and had detoxification properties. We were continuing on our way, when we met a group of fifteen boars. “Spread out and formation” Draker commanded as he took point and engaged with the Sounder. Snik and Pyrok provided ranged support from the sides while Gnash and Scrap protected the team’s non-combatant Vexa. Though a bit more difficult than the previous floor, Drakar was still managing to keep the sounder away from us, and was facing off mainly with the Earth Boar matriarch while the other sounder members were interfering to keep the matriarch alive. We were down ten boars when we suddenly heard Vaxa screaming from behind. “GNASH!!! …Gnash he suddenly stopped breathing. Help!!” Looking back Snik saw Gnash lying on the floor and Vaxa bent over him with her fingers on his pulse. However, there were no other signs of danger.

Suddenly with the sound of cutting air towards the front of the group, Drakar used a skill, Steel-Spin, to finish the rest of the fight within minutes. “ Thorn, try healing Gnash. Vexa, what happened? Nobody drops dead without reason.” “I …I don’t know! One minute he was fine and the next he dropped like a stone.” She said while swiveling her head around looking for clues.

“Gasp… Everybody step back from that shrub. I think I have read about it somewhere.” She suddenly exclaimed while she started taking out a small leather bound journal from her pouch and flipping through it continuously. After a while we heard her exclamation. “Aha, this is it…. That shrub there is an extremely rare plant monster called the Soul Eater. It can pluck out any soul of the same rank as itself, within a certain distance from it. Don’t get close to it, from its height and color it should be E-Rank.”

“Su..Suck out the Soul? So Gnash can not be revived? Can we save him if we kill it?” Scrap asked incredulously. “Should I use my Fire?” Pyrok asked, extending a flame from his hand. “It might work if the body is not dead for long, right? I don’t know. How many minutes has it been? Thorn, keep healing him. Pyrok we need your fire. Burn it down.” Vexa shouted while running back towards Gnash and starting up with chest compressions.

“Whahahaha….” Pyrok started laughing maniacally as fire magic started pouring out of him continuously. The black leafed shrub gave out a high pitched baby-like scream as its roots came out of the soil and it started running away from the fire. “Don’t let it escape!” Somebody shouted even as Drakar made his way to its other side and started hacking at it with his sword.”

“Nooo, don’t get close Sir Drakar…..Huh?... Why is he fine?” Snik asked. “Because the shrub is too low ranked to hurt Sir Drakar, you Dumbass.” “Oh” Snik said while scratching his head.

With their combined effort the Soul Eater was obliterated within seconds, and everybody looked at Gnash to see whether it had worked. After a few painful seconds, Gnash took in a deep breath and started gasping for air. “Great, it worked.” Everybody celebrated the return of our warrior goblin.

After a brief rest, we continued on our way. After trekking for several more kilometers we reached an area where the whole floor was dropping off for around twenty five meters. As everybody was still wondering on how to get down to the next level, Snik suddenly saw a stone sailing through the air and smashing into the face of a lonely monkey hanging from the drawbridge. “What did you do that for?” Snik asked Gnash as the monkey gave a shrill scream and then a few loud barks. “Dunno, it was looking at me funny.” He replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Oh crap! THAT was not a GOOD idea!!! RUNN!!!!!” Snik heard Thorn’s shout as he turned around and started running. “Yeah RUN, I can’t SAVE all of you from THIS MESS.” Drakar echoed. “What..?” Snik questioned as loud chattering from multiple voices could be heard from a distance. Turning around Snik saw hundreds of Monkeys rushing at them from a distance over the drawbridges. “Oh SHIT!!”