I spent some time today making a spreadsheet with Luke status that I will hopefully post tomorrow.

Also, Luke acquiring his class is approaching (it will happen after the fight with the goblins ends) and I am looking for suggestions for the name. It will be close to nature mage and druid but won't be neither. I am considering a few naming options but am not satisfied by them. So any idea you have put it in the comments.

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Luke and Steve advanced slowly in the settlement’s direction. They were careful to not get caught like in the most recent encounter.  Their carefulness was rewarded when they avoided several goblins, more than two groups, going toward the recent battle site. The path was hard to travel through due to the closeness of the trees and the abundant vegetation. They seemed to be imprisoned in a sphere of green. As a consequence, every sound could signify an enemy giving Luke the sensation of constant danger.

Suddenly, the greenery stopped and a gray and desolate landscape can be seen. There was a large valley that wasn't there before. The cliffs surrounding it are more than thirty meters high. There was only one way in and out made by ladders of wood and rope. The three climbing spots are five meters from each other. This transformed the place into an easily defended fortress. The depression formed a perfect circle. Luke tilted his head and thought

‘It looks like a crater. Something really huge or at an insane speed should have fallen to make one this size.’ He was confident in his knowledge of the area this close to his home. There definitely wasn't a valley here before. The most probable explanation was that something landed there making it in the process.

The radius was near a kilometer and marked the end of the forest. Luke could see that the only trees present were on his side. After the valley, there was no more forest, just some hills and mountains near the horizon. This meant that the changes had been bigger that what Luke thought. The hills and mountains weren't the problem: they had been there before The Beginning, no the issue was the lack of trees. This was originally a heavily wooded area. However, looking at the wooden buildings in the valley, he could guess where some of the trees went. There still should be another cause, but for now it eluded Luke (it was impossible for the goblins to cut down so many trees in such a short time lapse).

The hamlet was not in the center of the valley. It was at the midpoint between the center and the cliff with the ladders. It had no more than thirty huts that were barely better than a tent, and an improved version in the center which was taller and bigger. This building also appeared to be better made. The small ones could house four or five goblins he estimated while the other could be used by more than a dozen. This suggested that there were more than a hundred and fifty goblins. Luke however, thought that it was unlikely that the center hut was utilized to full capacity. After all, the chief probably lived there and it wouldn't allow any common goblin to live in its house. There should be a group of goblin elite serving as guards to the chief and maybe the tribe shamans.

Taking into account the goblins he already killed (5 with Bob, 3 with Jack, 31 with the pack and 21 with Steve), and the ones patrolling, the hamlet should be deserted. Luke realized that trying to thin their ranks brought an unexpected benefit: most goblins were ordered to search for him and as a consequence left their base mostly vacated. If he had sneaked to his current location without fighting, it would have been impossible to invade.

Nonetheless, the situation wasn't peachy. The commander was smart enough to leave a dozen goblins (two shamans, four archers and six soldiers) to protect the sole access to their territory. Luckily they couldn't notice Luke nor Steve.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He looked around but didn't found any way to go down the cliff without exposing themselves. They did have the camouflage, but he didn't want to put too much trust in something he didn't know the real power. Besides, it would be hard for Steve to climb down if Luke didn't help him.

He had thought of only one option: jumping down. His stats had grown exponentially thanks to the awakening skill and the mind over body achievement. He didn't know if he could pull it off and not get hurt, however if he survived, he could heal himself immediately.

Abruptly, he heard noises coming from behind. He turned around and saw a group of goblins walking in his direction.

‘Shit, they found the bodies of the last fight’ thought Luke.

Paying more attention, he observer that there were a dozen goblins advancing in a moon shaped formation. They seemed to have discovered that Luke and Steve couldn't be found by sight. Realizing that he was out of options, he put Steve under his arm, ran toward the cliff and jumped. He wouldn't have done it if the land below was clustered with objects or had an irregular terrain. Although he couldn't be completely sure, it seemed that the ground was made by several layers of loose dirt, no rocks could be seen. So even though it was dangerous, the danger came solely from the height, not from other factors. The height was after all the issue Luke thought his attributes could solve. Thus the decision to jump wasn't totally insane.

As was to be expected from such an awesome guy, he landed perfectly, making three rolls and prepared to fight whatever those hateful goblins could throw at him. He even had the time to put Steve on the ground after the first roll, allowing the wolf to also be ready to fight when Luke ended his acrobatics. Or not. He did jump and land on his feet, but when he tried to lessen the impact, he overcompensated for Steve weight and landed hard on his face. Steve didn't suffer any damage as he was cushioned by Luke’s arm. The young man, on the other hand, spent the next couple of minutes dazed and with his nose out of place. When he recovered he wanted to scream from the pain. He gritted his teeth so he didn't. It wasn't a good idea to make so much noise inside the enemy base. Despite the first hut being more than a hundred meters  away, they were behind the enemy lines.

It took awhile for Luke to calm enough to heal himself. The fall didn't do too much damage but being stunned for so much time was equally dangerous. Before Luke could move towards the hamlet he saw a new notification.

You have entered a restricted zone. The restriction has been empowered by an unique magic that affect any creature not from the goblin race or evolved from it. As a consequence, your abilities had been lowered and will continue that way until you leave the area or remove the cause of the Magic.

Effects:

-10% to all attributes

-10 HP and MP every minute

If you remain too long, you may suffer a random negative status effect (such as stunned, poisoned, dazed, bleeding, burned, asleep, rooted)

‘That explains how those weak goblins could injure the Ancient Guardian of the Forest (Bob).’ thought Luke. The only thing that worried him was the negative status effect. He recovered Mana faster than 10 per minute (1% + 0.6% from the awakening bonus or 60% of 1%, with his Mana pool of 1210 equals 19 when rounded). He could also keep healing himself and Steve with the extra recovered Mana. After all, he didn't need to heal himself every minute. He could heal the damage done by the zone in a dozen minutes with a single Minor Heal (yes, his Intelligence is slightly overpowered). Taking into account the zone debuff, he could still do so, but not as easy as without it. However, it signified that extended battles didn't bode well for the duo.

With that in mind, Luke decided to make haste toward the hamlet.