It was obvious from the beginning, that this would take off at a short pace. That was the cost associated with evolving from an infant goblin, to a higher quality monster with more appendages.
In reality, such an occurance could only be called an abomination of chance, or the true start of a legend.
Oer couldn't care whichever it was, however. None of the trivial things mattered as long as he could continue on a set path towards his next evolution. Which also, unbeknowst to him, was a far ways off - in terms of requirements.
Oer helped himself to these passerby thoughts, as he walked slowly, imprinting a more and more efficient method of walking into his head every passing second. Soon it began to seem more and more relaxed, instead of forced and uncomfortable.
His destination: the suspicious, trembling, shadowy lump in the far end of the oval-shaped room. It was the only other "occupant" that was anywhere to be found, replacing Yotap, and the dozens of other newborn goblins that once resided here.
But upon his 'closing in' on the thing, he realized that this was in fact, the exact opposite of what truly presented istelf before his eyes.
This halted Oer's movements, as he stared in half-shock, half-mirth.
The organic object he sought to identify, turned out not to be a singular "object", but dozens of "them" in a heap...
It was the newborns. They clustered themselves into a mound, as if trying to escape some fearsome predator. Even the ones pressed heavily against the rocky walls gave not even a wail from their mouths. Their pupils widened at Oer, as he ever so slowly approached. To them, his lessening distance, seemed only to represent magnified terror. They shook vehemently.
They were scared of him? Why?
But the question quickly dissipated, when a severely frightened newborn goblin accidentally shook itself right from the pile. Rolling downwards and out into the open, before ending up at Oer's feet. The newborn looked around, confused, unaware of it's situation. But once it identified the pile of bodies it had fallen from, now in the distance, its whole being froze over, rigidly looking up to face Oer.
So...they ARE scared....
A serpentine tail appeared from behind Oer, like a snake indeed, wandering up to the unmoving newborn goblin, and wrapping itself around tightly. All he needed - was to add strength to his grip and the thing would become a fine red pulp. The little one shut it's eyes, pouted and vibrated even more. The poor little thing also paled, though nowhere near in comparison to Oer's skin. One of his special traits was "Pale" after all.
He lifted the newborn off of the ground and towards his face. He wanted to inspect it. To see what may be causing this behavior.
It was obviously Oer whom was the cause, but that didn't mean he knew exactly what it was about him that they feared.
...
.
As he obsered the tiny goblin, he noticed their comparatively less ugly features with the other newborns, and from underneath his tightly binding tail, the lack of outward genitals.
In other words...
This was a female.
And though the fact was interesting, it held no value to the situation. "She" made no moves to react either, other than continuing that pitiful appearance.
So he tossed the thing aside harshly, watching it tumble further away on the ground, then easily plucked out another one.
...
After numerous repetitions, and no results to show from it; no reactions differing from the first, Oer dicided to forsake the idea.
What is it? Do I smell or something?
He stiffled a laugh, before carelessly swatting at the mound of newborns with his versatile hindquarter limb. The action sent some flying, while immediately killing others.
...
Two interesting facts arose from that single swipe, that he could not foresee. One made him relieved, and the other only slightly served to make him ponder.
...
The "good" peice of news, was that he wouldn't have to go around searching for a certain blind goblin. That was because he'd found one, in the center of the conglomerating bodies.
There was his target, in all their glory, shaking like they'd been thrown upon Ice. Seemingly shoved in-between the mash of newborns, or more like, forced his way in. Yotap.
Either way, it troubled Oer that not only were the young goblins trembling in his presence, but the old ones as well.
...
This truly piqued his interest as to what, originaing from his being, could cause such an effect. His eyebrows were creased, in preperation to delve further into the topic.
..
The other "news", the one specified earlier, which would "make him ponder", existed as the fact that; even after killing a few of these tiny, green spawns, Oer couldn't gain levels off of them, or at least not enough of whatever a level was consisted of...
It was quite easily unearthed, from his tail killing about a dozen of the things, yet not a single notification popping up in his head.
So what did he have to do to gain more levels? Kill bigger, stronger, better organisms?
It would only make sense.....
...
Oh...
But he could find out immediately! There was Yotap here before him after all! The goblin Oer had set out to kill from the get-go!
How convenient!
The spade tip of his tail jerked upwards like a floating knife, before his tail whipped, jerking the point so fast it broke the air, generating an instant, loud, sharp noise, plunging swiftly into Yotap's forehead.
...
Just how easily could Oer kill others without a thought?
...
The answer....was - very easily.
The results themselves didn't disapoint either. Oer was rewarded with a screen:
Ding!
=================================
[Level Up!] ~ [( 0/70 >> 1/70)]
[Levels Until Evolution] ~ [( 69 )]
=================================
Oh? 69 more levels?
The number necessary had increased quite a bit! Exactly 10 times so!
Oer looked on, thoughtfully as he pulled his tail out from inside Yotap's messy skull. This also confirmed the fact that he would require the sacrifice of more sufficient prey to advance any further; Prey which was at least as powerful, if not more 'powerful' than Yotap.
...
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
He contemplated the number of goblins outside of here which he could kill, their numbering over 50, from what he saw earlier outside of this 'newborn tunnel'. But somehow, even that sort of option didnt seem worth it. He firmly believed there had to be an easier solution to his leveling problem, other than simply killing exactly, or more than 50 of the needed number of monsters.
Perhaps one would only need to kill a few lifeforms of higher rank than those who would satiate the requirement one level after another.
Meaning: instead of killing three regular goblins....three... Yotaps, for example... He would only need to kill one Iki-Min or red goblin to compensate for that amount.
Though, in truth, he had no Idea how much killing an evolved goblin like Iki-Min would be worth. And it wouldn't hurt to find out.
...
But once more, current events ripped the thoughtful Pale Imp Gobln Earl from his subconscious self-enlightenment. Interesting events seemed to contiuously take place around him. Not that he disliked that....
*SHeeetttt!!!!*
The room's unsighlty wooden door opened, slowly.
Oer casually turned his head to face it, looking on with visible expectancy.
light footfalls made their way to his ears. One person. Oer's eyebrows raised.
...
The sound amped up, audibly as a foot made its way beyond the door, light green, and recognizable. Oer had only ever seen one light-green skinned Goblin since his two eyes had first opened. And from what he had come to expect, only one should have a semblance of a reason to be here in this tunnel.
Gootche.
This didn't serve to make Oer anything but more interested in what was to happen, for several reasons...
Why was she here? Did she come here to apologize? To make up with Yotap? To see him before he died? Oh the irony. Oer held the unbearable laughter within himself. This realy was some next level romance material. Too bad it was all worthless.
..
He watched on ardently as events proceeded, observing the female goblin as she slowly peeked in to the room, becoming confused when the vast majority of it was empty, except in the little bloodstains here and there, from a few minor "incidents".
He wanted to peek into her head... into her thoughts....
Was she wondering where Yotap was? Or Where the newborns were? Or both?
...
The lady-goblin searched the room strangely with her eyes, from the left to the right. Oer....was on the right, now pleased with his choice of being there.
The Imp Goblin lightly maneuvered himself so as that the newborn pile and Yotap were the first two things she saw. After all, he didn't want her running off in fear or for whatever other reason these newborns were petrified by him.
...
Thus he waited for his work's fruition, taking on a blank expression for when it came to pass.
And it did.
..
Upon making visual contact with that newborn female he had tossed aside earlier, Gootche stepped away from the safe confines of the hallway, and into the room, mumbling some thing urgent in her breath. Though her eyes made their way further around, as she headed towards it, only pausing when she saw some of the other frozen newborns, laying there, stiff, on the bare floor.
?
Confused uneasiness criss-crossed her face.
She stopped completely when her eyes met the pile-up. She scanned over it, growing cold inside, not yet realizing what it was. But like Oer, she could tell it was "living" from a distance, especially with the trails of blood permeating the earth around it, courtesy of our artistic Pale protagonist.
...
Oer could see her growing scared as she approached it, forgeting the stiff newborns entirely, infavor of some new unfounded concern.
She didn't take her eyes off of it, not for a second. And Oer didn't move a milimeter, so as that she shouldn't...
...He didn't need to anyway. His eyes could follow her figure just fine, by theselves. Moving now would spoil the fun...
...
..
The present Oer was incapable of realizing just how impish his actions had become.
..
...
How slyly he studied that terrified expression, when Gootche found Yotap and his masterfully caved-in upper noggin, resting disfigured on his throne of petrified beings.
How mischeviously - he shifted his foot noisily, to draw her attention away from that body of her abandoned lover, so cynically that she flinched as it happened.
...
How... devilish, the deep grin on his face was, as she met his eyes with her own, and couldn't steal them back. The sheer trauma gained in one glance could impress a sage. How haunting was his face in her mind now? Was she scared too? Like those little insects? Like Yotap, who witnessed this monster, without eyes?
Yes. He could tell she was frightened, she quivered to show.
....
...
...
But that was as far as he would allow these roaming emotions..
A heavy weight descended on these feelings, and ushered them promptly into oblideration.
Such things were dangerous to have - those feelings; mischief and the like...
So Oer would witness them, feel them, know them, and therefore know how to destroy them. This little escapade with Gootche helped with that. He had used her by chance to strengthen his phsychological state, to overpower this new biological condition, and the emotions it would stir.
Ah. But other than that, she held no real purpose here, now did she?
His tail shot out from behind him, wrapping around her entire head within the duration of a few seconds, leaving her no room to respond, before brefly flooding with strength at Oer's command.
Her head popped like a watermelon, quite gruesome. The act splotched blood all over his tail, though Oer chose to pay no mind to it.
What to do? What to do?
Oer had done all he needed to do in this room by this point, besides find out what made him so unatractive... Was it his mere magnificent presence before them? No, probably not....What about the way he looked in general? That could be it! But he shouldn't be all that ugly.... his face was rather smooth when he traced it with his hands earlier, contrary to the bumpy scaly green goblin skin.
~~
*GROUROROUR*
~~
HIs stomach plainly rumbled, funnily mimicking the sounds of an otherworldly beast.
"!"
Hmmmm? Hunger?
Oer realized that he hadn't eaten aything... at all... since birth, or at least that he knew of, so he would undoubtedly become hungry to this extent at some point. Though he supposed it was 'better' this way.
Imps had no need for biological fuel and sleep. They relied completely on magical energies, but the same could not be said for goblins. And Oer, was now a hybrid of the two, only requiring less than half as much food and rest. But the simple truth; the reality which he had just evolved, still drained him of a majority of his body's power.
So he neaded to regain it through food. Plain and simle.
...
Then what would he eat?
...
- These frozen idiots, of course!
Oer hated the idea of inefficiently letting their bodies waste here on the ground, whereas they could help him replenish his strength. He wasn't repulsed at all with the thoughts of eating these buffoons either, so he would do just that
The imp goblin sauntered up to the pile of newborns, picked one up, and sampled it's leg in his mouth with a vicious chomp. He only ever did these things with certainty....
He could describe its properties, churning within his mouth in clear detail: The taste of the muschles... their flavor... was really quite bitter, but their texture was soft as expected of a newborn. The skin, was preferably thin, and durable; a blessed wrapping material to contain the meat held inside. What little blood was retained in the leg was undoubtedly a great delicacy, ...addictive... he could now see why his first victim was so bound to it. The bones, crunchy, and delectable, were the equivalent of a delightful after-snack.
Overall...it wasn't too shaby.
Though, the newborn who's leg he had sampled could not agree less.... The verity of which the delectable subject would undeniably scream out crazily, and writhe within his grasp, irked him.
But Oer had already resolved to eat the whole damn thing, so he twisted it's neck and stuffed it within his mouth, whole - this time.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=
After having just one, Oer's hunger was satiated greatly. Even so, he chose to devour another for the added benefit of alleviating that desire completely. It was pleasant to know he should be able to survive off of the amount of nutrients only two newborn goblins equated to.
Oer sighed, angling himself towards the open door.
What now?
...
He didn't want to exit this cave, or rather couldn't, without risk to his wellbeing; It wasn't out of the list of possibilites for the red goblin leader, Iki-Min, to go against him, even if Oer ranked two stars above.
Besides his tail, and his bare hands, Oer held no means of offense or defense. Heck! He was standing here butt-naked! He wouldve taken clothing from Yotap or Gootche if they weren't too small, or if he didnt have to dismante them for a simple loincloth.
How would his skin fare against their small, crude daggers and spears?
If he could help it, he didn't want to find out. Putting himself at unnecessary risk was not on Oer's agenda. He did firmly believe, however, that if it was truly critical to the situation, or if he really wanted to, he could ruthlessly kill his way out of this place.
However, the Imp Goblin currently/ already had a plan in development, be that as it may.
And it was: To wait....
Wait, for the means of which Iki-min would come here and try to murder of force out Yotap with. The chances were high that Iki-Min would come personally, and when he did, Oer would kill him.
The red goblin would be sure to bring more than just his body with him on this quest. Perhaps those guards fom earlier; the ones with leather vests, tin caps, and daggers. They would be more difficult to deal with, but low-tier humanoid monsters, especially goblins were know for their rough movements. If he could work his way around that, or better yert, use their decreased agility to his advantage, victory would be simple.
Oer didn't know why he concerned himself with beings, whom, from his height, were comparable to the size of children, but it didn't hurt to be cautious and wary.
He would wait here for Iki-Min or whomever he sent.
Then he would bare witness to how many levels he could gain from eliminating a once-evolved, 3-star red goblin.
...
Until then, he would sit here and wait, thinking, and organizing his thoughts.
...
...
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
==========================================================
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+==+=+=+=
Seconds.
Minutes.
Hours had passed, and nobody had entered the room at all. For some, it would drive them insane - all of that waiting.
Nothing in relation to anger could be percieved on Oer's facial features. He was unexpectedly blissful at the room's lack of sound, stacked with the span of time he had, some of which was spent examining this very situation.
He was clear of mind now.
A large speculation of the outside world for hours here, and minutes there. He though of humans, of elves, of dwarves, of monsters, of mana. It was all in his head - factual knowledge. But experiencing these creatures, who may very well roam the land outside of this cave, first-hand, was something else entirely.
It excited him at thoughts of when he would finally leave this place. He had no desire to stay.
Out there, resided a greater chance and opportinity to evolve.
Just imagine all of the creatures and people he could convert into levels!
Levels towards evolution!
Those thoughts remained a blanketing layer to his others. Them being: his new magical powers, and the plan of action from now until he left....
The former was truly vague; he couldn't identify how to make 'it' work, no matter what he did or tried or thought even. Some grand plan was needed to sort it out, one that entailed finding a teacher, maybe. The latter, by all means, was a bit facile to put togeter.
1. He would kill everything here and gain the corresponding amount of levels.
2. he would leave.
Simple...
His goal was evolution, therefore, steps were to be taken towards it. Utilizing everything around him. He may sound monsterous in saying this. But the truth was easily identifiable; as him centering his very existence around the concept of evolving.
Maybe it was just after his birth, but he had ultimately decided that evolution was the single most prominent reason in a monster's continuation. To him, reproduction was only a method of ensuring some manner of your genetics had the opportunity to ascend if you couln't.
Then again, Oer didn't really participate all too well in the category of 'feelings', like most other sentient lifeforms.
(In reality, he's just the product of highly supressed emotions, massive intlelect, demonic self-appreciation, and a cold-hearted personality.)
About another hour in and something finally happened.
The door, which Oer had relaxedly closed 3 hours ago, or maybe more, burst open.