15 Broka 10,391

Exhaustion took Six and he nearly closed his eyes right there but instead he activated his healing ring, pulled some rootbust from his spatial and popped it into his mouth. He started chewing on the watery root as he checked his HP.

138/537

Not at close as he felt but that was relatively low and that was with the 27 HP his ring healed. It was more than the average human but still, fuck bleeding. He checked Chakret for loot and found nothing that he personally wanted, the sword was sharp but chipped and the dagger too. Yet, he took them and the bits of metal armor that Chakret wore, Ravna could use the metal.

Six stood and took a deep breath and felt confusing tears coming. He growled and flexed as hard as he could, pushing the tear away. If he wanted to cry he could do so later, there was still work to do.

He approached the lip of the pit trap and saw the goblins look up at him with expectant faces that fell when they realized who it was who looked down upon them.

“Fuck around and find out.” Six closed the pit trap with Stone Wall. The goblins were too small to climb out but you never know. The lid of stone was just intended to keep them in while Six performed the last phase of his plan. He would return to finish them later.

Six began to jog back to the goblin village, his health slowly rising. Almost immediately he found crippled and exhausted goblins that had been abandoned by their snared and fitter comrades. When Six came trundling through the forest they tried harder to flee back to their home but Six caught up like a slasher villain and ended their struggles with a precise stab from his glaive.

Six walked out from the depths of the forest and approached the goblin village. He could see the milling about and general fighting. They believed in Chakret but when they saw Six emerge that belief crumbled. Goblins shrieked and while a few scattered most gathered in the center around their fire pit.

Six walked up and saw the fear on the faces of the goblin men, women, and children. Children, in the back of his mind he knew that they were part of the enemy, but his old morality screamed at him. He knew he wouldn’t be able to finish the job, he sighed, even leaving the children alone would just gift them to the animals and monsters of the mountain.

It is what it is, he thought, and marched forward.

When he was but a few meters away a goblin moved forward and prostrated herself in front of Six. “We trade!” he cried, “We trade!”

Six sighed and shook his head and the goblins trembled at his refusal. But it was himself he was shaking his head at. But he took this opportunity to bellow in goblin, “if anyone ever attacks me ever again I will end them. Understand?”

The chittering, “yes,” came from them all.

Six turned and walked into the forest, moving away from his cave and hiding his trail. He eventually circled about and made his way back home. A few times he waited to see if he was being followed but nothing ever came of his vigils.

Did he really fix the problem or just murder the best defence for that village? He felt like a monster, a bully, what kind of person does what he just did? It didn’t matter, it was what it was and Six knew that the inevitable conflict would have come eventually. He just arrayed the board in his favour.

He arrived back at his cave and despite his full health and stamina he stumbled in disassociation. Nibbler came bounding out from the nearby underbrush and chittered at him, she rubbed her paws together in a nervous gesture and sniffed at her.

Six looked down at his pet and smiled, he went to pet her and stopped when he saw his own blood covered hand.

Instead he went to his stream to wash himself but hesitated, until he created a wastewater system he should probably clean himself downstream of the settlement. But before that he at least pulled out a pot of water out of the stream and cleaned his hands.

He sat down, almost reclined, and Nibbler sat at his side. Running his hand through her fur was a salve on his soul. There was just something about fluffy creatures that hit something deep in most humans. He pulled his pipe and smokeweed out and blazed. The drug hitting him and melting his tension away. It eased the sharp edges of his emotions and created a grey acceptance of what just happened. It eroded the scenes of violence that played in his mind.

“Ok Six, time to get up and keep going,” he said to himself, pushing himself up to his feet and taking a deep breath.

He and Nibbler walked down the mountain and into the glade, by the sun’s position it looked about midday and the people of the glade were working furiously on a new longhouse, there were five completed already and another was going up fast. Six waved at the people who saw him march past their palisade and go further east, downstream of them.

Six wondered if the villagers threw waste in the river but at this point, he didn’t care, he just wanted to soak. So he found a spot on the shore that was shallow and doffed his armor and clothing down to his undies, His body had changed with his new attributes but not in the musclely way the tropes usually went. Instead of a bodybuilder like figure he was more powerlifter, not ideal aesthetics but whatever, it was probably the massive disparity between constitution and his other physical stats. He paused and wondered if there was any clear disadvantages to min maxing one's stats. He probably lost some mobility with this powerlifter build. He did some scapular stretches and found that yes, his range of motion had decreased somewhat. Something to ask Charles about when he saw that kid next.

He blazed some smokeweed again, chasing apathy and enjoying the slight visuals of the weak psychedelic. Now, after the second session, he was quite stoned. He put everything away into his spatial and stood at the edge of the river.

“I’m the iceman!” he said to himself as he walked into the mountain fed river. It was absolutely frigid but he slowly immersed himself, he wanted to shout it was so cold but he breathed through that impulse. Convincing himself that this cold was what he wanted because ice baths are good for recovery. He knew he was lying to himself, the initial immersion was hell, he did not like it. Still, it was good mental training to acknowledge and control that part of himself.

He floated on his back, and stared up at the clouds floating past. He breathed and despite how stoned he was the guilt came back, it was dulled but it was still there. He splashed the water in frustration before focusing his mind on his body.

Six had always found it an impossible task to not think of something. That the attention on the goal of not thinking of “X” in of itself brought his thought to “X.” He had found it much more effective to focus his mind on “Y” instead of “X” and there was nothing more mindless than one’s own body.

He washed himself and pulled his shivering body out of the river.

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“Hey, you ok?” a light voice called.

It was a human woman, dressed in dark, serviceable, boar hide leathers, a bow on her back and sword on her hip marked her as a martial settler, perhaps a hunter or something.

“Yup,” Six said as he put fresh clothing back on. “What’s going on?.”

“You’re Six right?”

“Sure am.”

“I was just curious, seeing a bloody man trudging around with a stony look, we were just wondering about you.”

“We?”

“The hunters.”

“Ah, and you are?”

She gestured to herself and inclined her head. “Ethel.”

“Nice to meet you Ethel.”

She smiled. “What got you like that? Anything we should know about?”

Six waved a hand dismissively. “Goblins.”

She raised her eyebrow in a questioning manner. “You fought goblins alone?”

“Yea, I guess eh.”

“How many?”

“Like thirty, fourty.”

Ethel snorted. “No really.”

Six looked at her and sighed. “Well anyways, I took care of them.”

“All of them? They breed like, well, goblins. We could have a problem in a few years if you missed any.”

“I left most of them alive.”

“What? Really? Why?”

“They stopped fighting.”

She looked at him as if he was a dumbass, which he might be by her reaction. “They stopped fighting?”

“Yea.”

“They stopped fighting for now you mean.”

“I suppose.”

“Then you gotta tell me where you found them so we can finish the job.”

Six laughed. “No.”

Ethel paused in confusion. “No?”

Six nodded.

“You want to go murder a bunch of people that don’t want to fight? I’m not helping with that.”

“Goblins are evil pests.”

“They can talk and don’t have mana cores in em. That's enough for me to not murder the ones that don’t want to kill me.”

“But they all want to kill you. They’re goblins!” She stressed the last two words.

“Some of them are children.” Six said calmly.

Ethel did have anything to say to that.

“I’m not killing children.” Six noted.

“It only takes a few years or so for goblins to mature, those children will kill you eventually.”

“If and when it comes to that, they can try. I killed their chieftain so I’m confident I can defeat any that come after me.”

Ethel relaxed a bit at that. “The forest will take them then. If there are no martial goblins then a monster will fix it.”

“Maybe, I left the fighters that made it back alive alone, so perhaps they will be able to defend themselves.”

Ethel rubbed her temples in frustration. “Do you want a horde of goblins?”

“Because this is how you get a horde of goblins,” Six said with a grin.

“So you know?”

“Nah, not really but now that you tell me, I’ll visit again in a few months and see if they act up again.”

“What is wrong with you?”

“Eh, that’s rude.”

“Sorry, but it just makes no sense.”

Six shrugged. “I think it's wrong to kill people that are not trying to kill you?” he said in a confused questioning tone.

“BUT THEY”RE GOBLINS!” Ethel shouted.

“And we are humans?”

“Goblins are evil!”

“Like all of them?”

“Yes!”

“Oh.”

“So tell me where they are and us hunters will take care of it. People talk about you like you’re some powerful defender but you won’t even cull goblins? Are you a softie?”

“No, I’m hard as fuck.” Six said, dropping his voice to ridiculously edgy batman levels.

Ethel laughed. “Suuure you are. Where can I find them?”

“Nunya.”

“Nunya?”

“Nunya business.”

Ethel narrowed her eyes at him and threw her hands into the air before complaining, “what are you? Five years old?”

“No, I’m Six.”

She scoffed before stomping off towards the village.

Six shrugged and finished dressing before heading into the settlement for some stew and bread. Hopefully fluffy bread instead of the flatbreads that have been the standard.

He was in luck as Min had fresh fluffy bread coming out of the oven. He and Avi waved waved at Six over the line of villagers that Six queued up in, Six waved back. The line moved quick but Six still felt the irritable impatience of a hungry stomach. He shrugged, it was good food and ultimately free, no point complaining to himself or others about free stuff. He was almost at the front of the line when he heard a familiar voice shout at him.

Alison stomped up with Leoka and Ethel at her side. “Six. We need to talk.”

Six held a finger to the approaching women. “Patience please, it's almost my turn.”

Alison scoffed. “Eat our food and expect me to wait for you?”

Six chuckled.“No? Go do something else and I’ll find you once I have eaten. I’ll pay for the stew if you want me to but I made a deal with Min for free bread and free bread I shall have.”

Min waved at them. “Ladies.” He smiled and inclined his head towards the women.

Alison shook her head in surrender and waited the minute it took Six to get his food.

Six thanked the cook and baker and joined the leadership and hunter who looked at him expectantly.

He raised his bowl and bread in triumph and dumb grin on his face. He was excited for these hearty munchies. “Good food. Beautiful day. I see you’re on to what, the sixth longhouse? Very nice. How can I help you?”

Alison questioned him about his interaction with the goblins and he told her the story. At the end she facepalmed while Ethel made the clearest I told you so face at her.

“Whaaaat?” Six asked in a whiny voice while shoveling hot soup into his mouth, it wasn’t as hot as he expected, must be his high constitution. He dipped some of the steaming bread into it and popped that into his mouth too. The taste was simple but deep and flavourful.

Alison went red and raised her voice. “What? Ethel was right is what!”

Six was tired and stoned. He didn’t appreciate being yelled at either. “About what?”

“The goblins!”

“What about the goblins?”

“They’re evil!”

“None of you have ever seen a good goblin? Not one?”

Leoka and Ethel shook their head in the negative but Alison didn’t respond.

“Alison?” Six prompted. “No imperial goblins?”

“There are a few. But those goblins are unique and extremely rare.”

Six giggled. “Come on ladies. Racism is a bottom tier trope. Bare minimum. Lowest bar to clear.”

“What is racism?” asked Leoka and Ethel, mistified.

“Is a stupid term that pacifist scholars use to criticize the empire, it is nonsense. Why are you giggling harder Six? These goblins represent a real threat.”

“I’m very stoned.”

Alison sighed. “You are an outsider to our ways. You have admitted as much why are you arguing with us? Do we not have a right to defend our land?”

“Sure, but I have decided the goblins live on my land.”

Six could see Alison suppress a scream of frustration.

“Don’t worry,” Six said, “they’re a problem to me too so I’ll keep an eye on them. How common are goblins anyways?”

“Extremely.” Alison and Ethel said at the same time.

“So go find your own tribe of goblins to genocide. These ones are mine.” Six held a straight face and then chuckled at the absurdity.

“We most likely will encounter more goblin tribes if one already exists close by.”

Six wondered if the goblins and koatl contributed to the Orison density of the mountain. Probably. “Look. I suppressed them. If I need help to do it again, I’ll ask.”

“No you won’t,” Alison huffed.

“Probably not, no, but maybe! Now I think it's time for me to go home. Need anything else before I go?”

Alison pursed her lips before nodding. “Franklin was wondering if you could assist with the construction.”

“Eh? I’m grinding right now, when is the town hall going up?

“A little less than a week. Grinding?”

“Grinding is like training.” Six shrugged. “And sure, sounds neat. See yah then.” He said his goodbyes and made his way back to his cave.

The sun was setting and he was extremely tired, he pulled an all-nighter into a battle and then smoked some dankness. He was burnt out and exhausted, it was time for sleep.

He locked himself and Nibbler in and settled down with his pet, it was right before sleep took him that he received a prompt.

You have killed level 4 Aitbo. Experience gained 126.

You have killed level 4 Shugud. Experience gained 126.

They must have suffocated. Six made a grimace and rolled over. There was nothing left to feel.

“Fuck around and find out,” he mumbled.