The rest of the day was spent in a more relaxed manner. Roguk showed me a few more of his concoctions and I even helped out here and there. He also started teaching me more general words. We quickly got a system down where I let out a short whistle if I wanted to learn what something was called. I learned the most when it was time for dinner and the whole village came together again. A few more villagers sat close to us and helped teach me. When it was time to rest my head was spinning from all the information.
I was woken up by a voice calling out to me.
“Fio, §(/$& go.” followed by a line I did not understand the slightest.
Grumpily I opened my eyes. Grag stood in front of me. I was resting on a wooden stand someone had brought into Roguk’s hut yesterday. His face was too close. The black pupils studied me intently and his ears twitched.
I clicked my tongue and snapped at his gnarled nose. He flinched back and retreated a few steps lifting his hand in a placating gesture. After eyeing him for another moment I went to preen my feathers. He said something including “I” and “you” and left the hut but I did not really pay attention. But I had understood he wanted something from me and so I followed him a minute later, once I was done [Preening].
Outside most of the village was having breakfast. Grag was sitting with a group of four other goblins and waved me over. A bowl with rats had already been prepared and I dug in hungrily. Meanwhile, the goblins introduced themselves. There were three males, including Grag, and two females. I was able to make the distinction based on the smaller and more curvy shapes of the women, though if they had human skin colour and ears they might have passed as girls early in their development.
The men were called Jiro and Luk, the women were Haro and Meeny. I was not really sure why I needed to remember names, I could not say them anyway, but I still committed them to memory. The group wore similar equipment to Grag, simple clothes from leather and scales. I noticed the scales were placed around similar places in the chest and stomach area with a few even covering their necks. They were probably some form of simple armour. Everyone had a pouch tied to their hips and three long sticks leaned on a hut nearby. There were also two unstrung bows complete with a set of filled quivers. This was their scout team.
We, and by that I mean the goblins, had a small chat over breakfast before we soon departed. Our destination was the barred tunnel next to the exit leading to the river. Grag opened the path and once everyone was through locked it up again. Jiro and Meeny took the lead walking down the tunnel. They held lanterns in one hand and their sticks in the other. Behind them, Haro and Luk walked side by side, their now strung bows in hand. Grag took up the rear with me sitting on his shoulder.
The tunnel was tall enough for me to fly over the goblins if I needed to. It looked almost three metres tall and just as wide. The walls were smooth as if dug out by skilled hands and the floor was flat and easy to walk on. It led slightly right and downwards.
After a bit, the tunnel straightened out and the walls became more uneven. A few cracks appeared in the walls and ceiling, insects milling about here and there. The ground was still flat but turned more gravelly and crunched slightly with every step of the goblins. I was impressed by how little sound they made walking on such ground. Soon another source of light appeared at the end of the tunnel. It was a faint whiteish-blue colour and it did not take long to find out where it came from.
The tunnel opened up into a wide cave. White trees with dark blue leaves blocked sight of anything deeper in. They had crooked branches growing in almost fractal-like patterns with blue and white vines hanging off and in between them. Their trunks and the cave walls were covered in a sporadic layer of luminescent moss. Its glow was reflected as a sparkling sheen off the leaves and trunks. The ceiling spanned upwards even higher than the village cave and the walls on the other side were barely visible in the distance. The ground was gravelly dirt with a few patches of moss growing here and there. In the distance, a waterfall splashed down, though I could only hear it. Skittering noises and occasional cries of animals or monsters sounded out of the trees. A hidden treasure of life deep beneath the earth.
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I knew now where the goblins got their wood from. Around the entrance, a large patch of ground was cleared. Signs of a campsite were seen which the goblins appropriated. One of those magical crystal fireplaces sat in the middle and a few wooden spikes were stuck into the ground pointing into the forest. Some of them had red and brown stains running down their lengths.
As the goblins spread out Grag signalled me to be quiet and stay by his side. Jiro and Haro stayed behind while the rest of us stepped towards the forest. I hopped off Grag’s shoulder and walked on my own. If it came to a fight with whatever was hidden in this forest, I did not want to hinder his movements. Meeny took the rear this time with Luk and myself side by side in the centre.
Stepping beneath the trees Grag started to scan the ground thoroughly. After a bit, he beckoned me over and pointed at a spot in the dirt. At first, I wondered what he wanted. After a few more stops I realized we were tracking something. It was small and light so the disturbances on the ground were difficult to make out but as soon as I knew what to look for my superior eyesight noticed the tracks easily. Not before Grag though. He really knew his tracking.
Time flew by as I was shown different kinds of tracks. Some of them Grag told me to avoid following since they were dangerous. Whenever we reached the end of a track and found an animal, Luk shot it with his bow. He was very skilled, only one out of ten shots missing his mark. A few times we approached a flowing river, as I could make out from the sound of rushing water. However we never actually reached it. The hunting grounds seemingly did not extend throughout the whole cave.
At some point, we returned to the camp and found another group of six goblins had made their way there. They had cut down a few more trees and were now preparing food together with the scouts we had left behind. I was concerned the small group of hunters would not be able to feed the whole village. Especially with me slowing them down. This, I found later, was due to the other barred exit from the village being far more profitable hunting grounds. The underground forest was a place for the goblins to train their young and gather materials.
On a second pass through the cave, we started gathering some of the moss and leaves and even dug out the occasional root. Once we had tracked another prey, Luk did not shoot it. Instead, Grag signalled me to take it out. It was a mole chomping on the leaves of a fallen branch. I took off and silently glided over it, then took it out with a quick strike. Easy. The goblins looked impressed as I sat on my prey imperiously and hooted. Meeny even covered her mouth with a hand because she was staring so much. I was pleased. I even deigned to carry over the mole, but before I took off a ring sounded out in my head.
~ding~ Requirements fulfilled! For tracking and hunting prey under the guidance of a specific teacher, you have unlocked the [Goblin Hunter] class. Only one class can be equipped at this time. Do you wish to replace your current class with [Goblin Hunter]? Note, all progress will be lost in your current class.
Another one! Were they trying to give me some options as to which Class I take? I already had [Assassin] though and I was rather satisfied with it. Dismissing my confusion I brought my prey over and Grag bound it to his belt. He asked a question and judging by his tone he was asking if I had gotten [Goblin Hunter]. I knew “Goblin” already so it was easy to figure out!
I answered with a nod and then circled my head. I had gotten access to it but I would not equip it. Grag nodded and patted my head which earned him a snap of my beak. He dodged and laughed it off before it was back to the camp.
The next few days took form in a similar manner. Grag woke me up and after breakfast headed out with me and a group of goblins. Two more times we went into the forest. They tried to get me some kind of logger class, but it was impossible for me to use their bone axes and knifes to cut down a tree, so I stopped trying. Other days were spent in the village. I was shown to the [Leather Workers] and [Tanners], [Bone Cutters], [Carpenters] and even the [Goblin Chef]. Not the chief, the chef. The most chief-like goblin was Roguk. He managed disputes and day-to-day business around the dinner gathering.
Out of all these Classes, I only got access to [Leather Worker] and [Goblin Chef]. The others required tools I was not able to use. I also learned more and more words and could follow most basic conversations after spending almost a week in the village. Most of the goblins were able to read my body language and owl sounds well enough to make me feel included.
There was another thing I spotted during this time. The goblin children that looked to be a little older were treated the same as me. They spent every day with adults learning about their professions.
I hunted very little in this time. Only a few targets together with the [Hunter] squad, though a few of them rotated out for others and showed me their own personal tricks. I had not forgotten that I wanted to grow strong but life in the village was comfortable. At some point, I would look for some proper targets nearby. Most likely in the tunnel I still had not entered. Roguk had explained to me, after a roundabout way of asking my question, the tunnel was dangerous. Or rather what lay behind it.
Only experienced hunters went there to provide food for the village because the prey was much larger there. This was also the reason the goblins had adapted to a nocturnal cycle. Whatever they hunted there seemed to be asleep at night. Or maybe whatever was dangerous? I was confused about how the day-night cycle played into hunting underground but there had to be something to it.
One night I woke up and panicked a little when during my [Preening] two feathers on my wings fell out. It took me a while to realize I was moulting. Soon I would have my fully adult plumage! I had also gained another race level, this time it brought my strength up by one point. I was a little confused about how it chose the Attribute but it did not bother me too much. My Class was much more important to gaining good Attributes and it was time to get some more levels. I had been slacking much too long.