Five hours had passed. And the four goblins were all bored. Fen had claimed one whole side of the cart to himself. Leaving Pok and Pebble to sit next to each other shoulder to shoulder. Causing each other greater and greater amounts of annoyance as their skin rubbed up against each other.
Red was at the front of the carriage. Trying his best to keep a good pace. But even though the cart was lighter than normal. He was not an animal of burden. And this thing was heavy! Either that or Pok was getting fat.
The strain of walking while dragging this thing caused his stamina to drain at a prestigious rate. Many times he had to slow down before his stamina bottomed out. If that happened they’d have to wait up to half an hour before he could do this kind of heavy lifting without vomiting. He was about to tell one of them to get off and walk alongside him. But then he got a prompt.
Congratulations! Your dedication to your fitness has paid off. You have gained one point of strength! Forge your path to power!
And then another!
Congratulations. Your dedication to your fitness has paid off. You have gained one point of endurance! Keep on the path to power!
This was a shock. Red had never seen this before. Back at the warren. He was one of the stronger goblins thanks to his racial bonuses. He’d have to ask about this later. But for right now he would just focus on getting back.
As Red looked up. The sky darkened. Part of him wanted to keep on running through the night. But that would only risk them being attacked by predators. Red slowed to a stop. “Alright. Time to set up camp.” Letting go of the shafts. He felt his arms begin to get sore. His stamina was half full. And it would take some time after it refilled for his body to not feel like a whipped hog.
A round of groans came out as the three goblins got up and off of the cart.
Red walked over to a tree that looked to be the thickest in the general area. There was no road in this part of the forest. That was part of the reason they weren’t farther into the journey. The good news was that they wouldn’t be found by any travelers. Animals however would find them fairly easily.
He had no idea what was a good or bad idea when it came to setting up camp in a forest. But he couldn’t let his gang see any weakness or hesitation. After some time examining the large tree. He turned back over to see the three goblins fighting over the best quality pelt to use as a cover. Each of them was increasing in volume by the second. And the pelt didn’t look like it would last much longer if they kept at it.
Walking over with a strong stride. He yanked the pelt away from all three of them. “Quiet!” He whispered in a commanding tone. Now holding the fur. He tossed it to Pok. “We sleep next to the tree.” He pointed back at the one he had been looking at for the past few minutes.
Fen curled his face in annoyance. He spat a single word in a similar volume to Red. “Why?”
Red wasn’t sure if he was asking why he didn’t get the pelt. Or why they had to sleep next to the tree. He wasn’t going to go back on the first question. So he answered the second. “Sleeping at the base of that big tree will make it harder for animals to find us.”
Wrinkling his nose in disgust. The gray goblin swiped his hand in dismissal. Though he walked over to the trunk of the tree. And laid down on the grass.
The other two either didn’t care about the small spat. Or they didn’t notice. Either way it was time for him to get some sleep.
Now that he had stopped moving. His body was starting to ache from his muscles punishing him for working them too hard. He didn’t understand why his body did this to him. Feeling pain from getting stabbed and clawed made sense. But from improving yourself? Ridiculous.
Following the other three goblins. He sat up against the trunk of the tree instead of just laying on the ground like they all did. Laying up against the trunk. Red let out a deep breath as he relaxed. Leaning his head back he truly let his body let go. Unclenching his jaw. Letting his shoulder’s drop. It was the first time in a while that he let himself truly relax.
The small sense of tranquility he had found was interrupted when Pebble asked a question. “Whys is it that you mountain goblins are so big? I’ve never knowns why a goblin needed to be taller than four feet.”
Red grumbled. He stayed in his same spot and stretched as he tried to get even more comfortable against the tree. “I’ve heard others say that Trolls, and Dwarves are what goblins fight in the mountains. So goblins have to be as strong as a troll. And taller than a Dwarf to survive.”
Fen let out a chortle as Red said that. “You mountain goblins may be tall and strong. But Bog Goblins are the fiercest. We have strength in numbers and in magic! Your kind don’t even have very good affinity with magic. So you have to rely on how big your stick is.” The gray skinned goblin laid on his back. Using his hand to prop up his head. Taking in a sharp sniff after saying his piece.
Red was about ready to flay Fen’s skin with his words. But Pebble beat him to it. “Hah! Bog Goblins have shiny magics. But you bleeds from the winds touching you wrong. Rock Goblins have the toughest skin. And with our claws we don’t need weapons. We’re natural killing machines!” There was a gleeful giggle at the end of his voice.
Red also joined in the laugh with Pebble. “Yea. But you also have rocks in your head!” He said with his finger tapping his own forehead. That got a laugh from all three of the other goblins.
The three were laughing for a good while. Pebble seemed to be upset that he had been put on the end of the other’s joke. But just kept quiet instead of trying to fight back. With that the four goblins allowed the night to take them away. All four of them falling asleep.
As quickly as the rest had come. It had been snatched away even quicker. Red’s eyes opened to see some kind of animal trying to bite his shoe off. His eyes attempted to pick out details. But his focus hadn’t returned quite yet. He could make out what he thought were teeth. Each was about as long as his pinky finger.
Making out brown fur, a size equal to that of a small wolf, and wicked curved claws. Hedecided now was the time to act. Reaching for his club on his waist. He swung in one powerful motion. Hitting the head of the animal. But also sending the top row of teeth through his shoe and into his foot. He let out a blood curdling scream. And his three goblin companions woke up and tried to find the cause of the sound.
As they stumbled to consciousness. Red reached for the head of the biter and attempted to rip its teeth out of his foot. But the little bastard had plans to stay in until the goblin was dead. The pain had cleared his foggy mind. And could not make out what this thing was. Getting a look at one of its paw prints his tracking skill activated.
Badger
Subtype unknown
Level 9
Exp: 40,020 / 45,000
A badger? This thing was twice the size of any badger he had ever seen. Not to mention he couldn’t even see his subtype. He wasn’t the most advanced in the tracking skill. But he could detect the subtype of most lower species of animals. This one must be rarer than others.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Red tried to go for another swing with his club. But the skull of this thing had left the thing in two separate halves. He was already pushing his luck with the crude shaped object. Now it was completely useless. So he tossed it to the side. There was a silver prompt in the corner of his vision now. But that was for later.
The animal on his foot was still going at his limb. And he had progressed to causing the bleeding effect.
Warning! You have received an injury. You are bleeding. Until the bleeding stops. You will lose 1 hp every 10 seconds until the bleeding is stopped.
That got his attention. The prompt had been there and gone in an instant. Allowing him to process his new status in less than a second. His hand reached for the dagger handle on the back of his belt and pulled out the rusted blade. He wanted to go for a clean stab at the brain. Anything else would just damage the dagger and possibly leave him without a weapon. Throwing the dagger to his left hand. He reached down to hold the neck of the badger. To keep it from moving its head around. And choke it a tiny bit.
Feeling the strong fingers around its neck. The badger went into fight or flight mode. Flailing its front claws. And scoring blows on Red’s thigh. The slashes had caused Red to loosen his grip. But he steadied himself. And held on just enough to keep him in place. With a thrust of his arm. The dull slightly serrated blade managed to pierce the skull of the animal. Landing a critical blow!
Unfortunately his attack seemed just shy of piercing the brain. And the badger increased its panicked attack. Raking the hooked claws against his red skin as many times per second as the animal’s stamina bar would allow. Each attack causes several points of damage. Ranging from 5-8 points with each swipe. Red’s health pool was getting below half full.
Hp: 39/90
Mana: 50/50
Stamina: 45/70
As soon as the badger made its last ditch effort. Red also began to fight back. His left hand balled into a fist and slammed against the leather hilt. He punched the hilt of the dagger. Attempting to drive it deeper and deeper. And finally pierce the brain of his opponent. The swings of his arms were wild. And they didn’t always land cleanly on the center of the pommel.
With each punch Red became more and more angry. Something this small should have been easy for him to kill. But keeping an eye on his health bar showed that he was slowly coming to the end of his health bar.
Hp: 9/90
Mana: 50/50
Stamina: 28/70
Seeing himself so close to death he opened up his hand. And slammed it down. Striking with all twelve of his strength points. The dagger sunk lower into the animal. And two distinct snapping sounds could be heard. One a bit fainter than the other.
Finally the furious rodent succumbed to his might. Its neck went limp and its limbs dropped with no more strength. The jaws loosened. And its body lost any semblance of life.
A prompt filled Red’s vision. Letting him know it had finally died.
Congratulations! You have killed a level 9 Hookclaw Badger. You have gained 125 experience points. May you find your way on the path of power.
There was no time to celebrate his kill. He needed to assist his goblin troop in the fight. Attempting to stand caused a great shot of pain in his foot. Spurting black blood from his injury. The hulking goblin was left to simply watch the others fight this battle as he bled on the grass.
Over by the cart things had been developing interestingly.
The scream had woken all three of the smaller goblins up at once. Pebble was the first to come to his senses. And he was about to go and attack the tiny creature gnawing on Red’s foot. But then he heard the racket coming from the cart. Turning his head around. He saw another two badgers climbing from the outside and into the cart. He let out a call to the others. “The cart!” And made his way over to stop the furry little shits.
With a running start he leaped onto the wooden wall. Holding onto the top of the cart’s side with one hand. Pebble was to the left of one of the badgers. Putting him in the perfect position to swipe his hand down the back of the badger. Hoping that the pain would cause it to fall off.
Unfortunately the animal had no trouble holding onto the wood its claws were scored to. The attack did open a large wound on its back. The two animals used their powerful claws to fling themselves a few inches upwards. Allowing their bodies to bend over the side of the cart. Draped like pieces of cloth set to dry.
Seeing his new opportunity. Pebble grabbed the feet of the badger who he had already injured. Then the rock goblin pulled on the back paws. Jumping off of the wall to bring both of them down onto the ground. Pushing off the wood with his legs. His clawed hands wrapped around the two furry paws. The two fell backwards. While the other badger scurried into the cart. And the spikey headed goblin was ready to savage the animal once they hit the floor. Unfortunately he never made it that far.
Yet again the large claws foiled the goblin’s half baked scheme.
Hooking into the wood for a second time. The momentum of the jump was stopped. And Pebble immediately landed on the ground.Still standing the badger was now connected to the cart. And was being pulled by its goblin attacker. He began to pull. Attempting to dislodge the furry critter from the cart. He was getting nowhere fast. And it would have been a long drawn out stalemate. If not for the assistance of the Bog Goblin.
In the background of the shenanigans of his rock headed party member. Fen had been forming the somatic components for a spell of water magic. The casting time was longer than most of his other spells.
Weak Freeze Ray dealt water damage to any target it hit. It also had a chance to freeze targets. Seeing Pebble holding the beast still Fen thrust his hand forward. Letting a white blue beam of frost shoot out of his hand. Striking the badger on its back. Hitting not only its fur. But also the scratches that Pebble had left. The offensive cold creeped inside the open wounds. Dealing a large blow to the Badger’s health. Ice formed on the outside of its body. Small white blue ice crystals formed on the outside of its body. Encasing where its arms and legs connect to the rest of the body. Forming a ring around the joints. And keeping its arms and legs in place. Seeing that it couldn’t run away. Pebble gave an evil chuckle. And began savaging the body with his claws. Tearing into the flesh of the creature. And ripping chunks out. Slowly bringing the badger to its final rest.
While Pebble and Fen were battling the badger. Pok had climbed onto the cart. Holding a foot long rusted iron blade with a leather handle that was torn in places. He faced the badger who had gotten into the back. And who was digging through the sack of rations they had pillaged. The pale green skinned goblin bared his teeth and let out a low growl. The badger brought its head out of the bag with a bit of dried meat in his mouth. Returning a growl back. Lowering its body and getting ready to attack.
Grabbing the handle with both hands. Pok walked forward. Ready to bring the sharp end of his cleaver down on the stupid creature. And be done with it. But as he took the step forward. The badger leapt forward with its claws facing out. Going for Pok’s beady eyes. Before it had leaped. Pok had already begun his swing. Swiping his blade at the lunging animal. Iron made contact with the claws. And pushing forward to push the animal back. Sending it back into the bench.
Turning to the side Pok got his blade back into position. Reading for another swing. In the half a second it took. The badger got back to its standing. Taking no further time it swung a claw out for the goblin’s belly. Wanting to make him keel over to take him out with the next attack.
Pok had begun another swing. But this time he was too slow. And his stomach was slashed open by the animal. Leaving four horizontal gash wounds on his stomach.
The badger went for an attack with its other paw. The tips of its claws pierced the goblin’s side. Instead of another slashing attack. The badger tried to pierce its claws deep into Pok. Trying to pierce any organ it could get to. The claws dug themself in. And with a twist of its paw. The claws were hooked. And couldn’t be removed without proper leverage.
Pok whipped his sword around in another arcing motion. Cutting into its side. The blade slamming against its torso. And the rusted blade cutting and forcing itself deeper into the badger’s body. Separating blood vessels, flesh, tendons, and bone just from the one swing. Blood spurt out onto the cart floor. Pok smiled at its sight. And waited out the trickle of red liquid. It slowed over the course of a few seconds. He waited until it visibly stopped coming out. Then using the leverage from his sword. Pok slammed the animal against the bench. Pinning its body down.
The badger flailed under the weight of Pok’s strength. The goblin pressed more onto the badger with his sword. Keeping the badger pinned. He began pulling his body away from the claws. Slowly twisting his body. He moved away from the animal. Slowly pulling out the intruding objects. Pok received a prompt as his knees went weak and caused him to fall to the seat.
Warning! You have received an injury. You are bleeding. Until the bleeding stops you will lose 1 hp every 5 seconds.
Pok’s health bar was half empty. He wouldn’t die immediately. But if he sat here for too long. He would be the first of the goblin troupe to pass away.