Eric rolled over in his sleep obsidian face scraping across the abrasive, rocky floor of the cave.
He groggily sits up the pain in his face is a little too much to allow him to go back to bed. This irritated him, because he was still worn out from yesterdays events. He sighs knowing that the forest fire could have been prevented, but he was only trying to free himself from the gobliness's extremely cruel form of travel, and lodgings.
"I mean seriously she's the worst air BnB I have ever been to; 1.5 concussions out of 5."
Feeling amused at his own poor sense of humor he couldn't help but be a little stressed at the current predicament that he now finds himself in. Stuck in a cave with a girl he can't even communicate with, plus he saved her from the fire yesterday, and still cannot wrap his head around why. If he had to give himself a better explanation it would be that he thought his dad would've been disappointed in him knowing he could have saved her, but chose his own skin over helping others.
'Old man would have had my head if he knew I was even kindling the idea, let alone actually putting the idea into action.' He mused silently to himself trying not chuckle as fond memories of his father started to flood his mind.
Trying not to become too sentimental he brings his mind back into reality from his day dreams. They were incredibly happy memories for him, but it would do him no good to dwell on the past at this current moment in time. First things first I need to learn to communicate with my ex-captor to at the very least learn what I can from her, because I seriously doubt a goblin, even an adorable female could be entirely trustworthy.
'I will have to figure out what to do with her later, especially if I can't learn to establish some form of communication with her, but thats a whole seperate can of worms I really don't want to open right now.' A sigh of contempt at where he now found himself made him a little depressed, but he knew he would get no where moping so he had to put on his big boy pants, and get moving.
"If I can figure out how to talk to her great, but if not well we will cross that bridge when we get there, which I really hope I can since it would be great to have an ally that could give me a better chance at survival in this new world, however little that help may be at least it would be something. Enough dwelling on could bes, I need to figure out if this tunnel goes any farther, cook us up some grub somehow, and check on the damage I caused to the local wildlife with my reckless behavior. I must've not killed anything, because It doesn't look like my experience bar went up any. Sigh that would have been way too easy for me, and life likes to kick me rather than hug me so I should expect this by now."
Standing up Eric decides to use his newly gained firefly spell to brighten up the cave a little bit so that they wouldn't get hurt, or worse snuck up on by someterrifying cave beast. With that accomplished he looks around for the goblin girl, seeing her still sleeping form huddle, and shivering on the cave floor made his heart flutter a little pitter patter of anxiety, and worry began to fill him.
'Get it together man you can't worry too much about the girl, she captured you for god knows why, possibly to eat you, but here you are sympathizing with your captor.'
Deciding to worry about the steady decline of his mental health later, he decided to follow his brains logic, and began to map out the interior of the cave. Near the cavern's eastern most edge he noticed a hole just big enough for him, and the girl to crawl through to possibly find another way out of this cave. Getting down on his knees he looks into the dark abyss that is this new found escape route. A weird sensation overtook him as he began to feel a slight pull from the other side of the hole It wasn't a bad sensation, it was actually sort of weak, similar to feeling a cellphone vibrating in your pocket, compared to your ringtone blaring that new Katy Perry song to the entire world.
He knew whatever was on the other end of the tiny tunnel wasn't something that would hurt him, better the feeling seemed to pull him in like the smell of fresh baked cookies, or a fresh pot of hot coffee.
"Dammit I just realized I won't be able to have coffee ever again! I need to find a way to fix that, maybe I can pray to the blue boxes to show me some leniency! Yeah! It might just work!" A wicked grin on his face as he spoke, halfway between exhausted, and going insane. If someone were to see Eric right now they'd mistake him for a serial killer with how obtuse his face was right now.
In fact someone could see Eric right now, barely, but she still could. His face made her facinated, but fearful at the same time, causing her to withdraw in on herself just a little bit more. The only thought on her mind was 'What have I gotten myself into this man is very scary! I should have listened to my parents when they told me I was too young to hunt alone. Noooooo I had to scream, and yell, and throw a fit until I got my way, but I need to be strong. I refuse to be like everyone else in the tribe. The males always taking what they want, a few males had even tried to take what tey wanted from her by force, needless to say the tribe gained a few more females that day.'
She was prideful for a her age, and especially so for her species. Most Goblins only had very few goals in life, eat, sleep, and fuck. Their way was a brutal, and savage upbringing where the women were just toys for the males to do with as they pleased, but she refused to be like this. She was smarter than the average Goblin, and she knew she had to be strong, to ascert her dominance in the tribe, and hopefully take control as head shaman one day. Now however that day may never come, all because she thought she had run on a lucky break finding this man unconscious in an open field, but seeing his face painted with a sinister grin not only captivated her, but filled her with fear, and made her regret this very dumb decision.
Eric however was very unaware of the girls internal struggles, as he tried to think of a way to make the hole slightly bigger, the answer came to him while he was holding a piece of rock in his hand wishing he had some form of stress ball to get him through his issues right now. He was growing more, and more irritated almost wishing for the rock to turn into putty, when he strengthened his grip he however noticed that the stone itself had become more malleable, and a new notification was awaiting him.
Congratulations, You have unlocked Earth Mana Manipulation
Earth Mana Manipulation allows the user to mold the ground between their fingers, and toes to however they see fit, so long as they have the imagination, and the Mana to do so.
Consumes 40 mana per second
Current level: Beginner lvl 2 (1.5%)
This was incredible! If he could now mold rock to his will he could do so many cool things! He was almost drooling with anticipation to try this new skill out.
Looking over his shoulder at the girl he noticed fear, why was this girl afraid of him? Maybe she was afraid of his magic, or at the fact that he was once her prisoner, and that her life is now in his hands whatever the case may be Eric decided to just brush it off, and worry about it later.
"I have some magic to perform after all!" He giggled like a school girl, a very unbecoming sound coming from the 5 foot tall obsidian colored man.
The weird mans sudden mood change had seemed to stupefy her once again, causing her mouth to gain a bitter taste she was acting as if she was a child in this strange mans presence. If she wanted to ever be taken seriously she had to get used to this man's presence, and persistant mood swings. Consoling herself concluded she began to watch the man shape solid stone as if it were made of wet dung. Her whole world perspective had begun to shift slightly as she was engulfed by the prospect of shaping solid stone in such a way. She decided from this point on to spend the rest of her life learning from this strange being if need be, but she had to learn this incredibly beautiful art she was witnessing. The irregular male had walked slowly up to the edge of eastern corner of the cavern, and began to push on the rock as if he could move it by pure strength. This act had caused he to chuckle bemusedly to herself that anyone would think it possible to move solid earth in such a way. Her face became one of intense shock as he began to rock forward, and back as the surface of the tiny hole had begun to ripple. What had started small was now a whirlpool of seemingly liquid stone as it funneled itself to the was of the cavern causing the once tiny whole to grow in size abruptly until it was four goblins high, and three goblins wide.
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Eric chuckled to himself at the green girls amusement, and then utter shock as the tunnel he was attempting to form began to rush into place like a giant whirlpool of stone causing even Eric himself to be stunned at how well he had managed to widen the hole in the wall. This was until he remembered that he an intermediate rank in his Earth Affinity. This amused him even more as it had come so much easier than fire had, 'was this the difference that a higher tier skill could provide compared to a beginner tier spell?' the answer to his question stood resolute in front of him. Unmoving this newly formed access shaft in the cave appeared to be ancient with how well it had formed.
"I don't mean to toot my own horn, but this is a damn good entrance if I do say so myself! It's weird though opening the wall up like this had increased the strength of the pull I was feeling weakly just a minute ago."
The once soft, and gentle pull had become a strong current pulling on him as if he were a tiny minnow in a raging river. This excited him even more than before, he couldn't really explain the good feeling that he had, but if he had to sum it up it was like knowing there was a christmas present waiting for him on the otherside of this dark portal. He turned to look over just in time to see the girl pick her jaw up off the floor, she noticed him staring at her, and her face flushed a soft pastel pink tinting the lime hues of her face. He couldn't help but find her embarrassment amusing, and adorable. Lifting his arms nonchalantly he gives her two thumbs up while flashing a feral grin. He was hoping to charm her to his side a little bit, but the opposite seemed to happen the color drained slightly from her face upon seeing his malevolant looking face.
"Well that is the exact opposite of what I wanted to do tsk." He clicked his tongue in sadness at his inability to interact with other sentient beings.
Shrugging it off Eric decides it is time to see what is pulling him into the deep darkness of the cave. Putting one foot in front of the other he moved forward at a slow pace at first, he didn't know why he was scared to see what was hiding in the dark, but he was also excited at being the first to discover something. Without his firefly skill Eric knew that there would be no feasible way for him to light up the dark like he is now. The shadows seemed to be thick like a dense fog of darkness that seemed to ripple off the two weary travelers as if afraid of the light. The two pressed on deeper, and deeper until the pathway branched off into a y.
'Hmm we are going to have to decide which way to go from here. The pull tells me to go farther down the left passage, but curiosly I get the feeling like the right pathway going up may take us to the surface...hopefully.'
Stressing out over which way they should go Eric was paying no attention to the gobliness huntress as she edged towards the right passage.
'This is it my chance to escape from this weird creature. I can smell the fresh air coming from the right tunnel, and hopefully it will lead me out of here so I can try and make it back to my tribe. I have to get back to them I'm the only one who isn't sick. In the short time I have been alive we'd never suffered the wrath of the gods too such an extent.'
Stressed out, and hungry the Hyowai, the Night Hunter decided it was time for her to make a break for it. She started slowly egding towards the right tunnel, but as she realized the man thing wasn't paying attention to her she abruptly turned, and started tiptoeing away. She couldn't help but be proud of herself, since she had escaped the clutches of her once prey to make it to safety, and hopefully save her tribe. This feeling lasted until she realized that her feet were no longer treading solid ground. Confusion began to spread through her like wildfire. A soft yet resolute chuckle came from behind her, as she turned her head she noticed that the man thing was holding her up by her hide clothing. Hanging her head in defeat she felt nothing but shame. She was the best hunter of the tribe, they praised her for her stealth skills, but this guy had snuck up on her, and lifted her without her notice.
Eric coudn't help but be amused at the girls efforts to escape him, which means 'if she was so keen as to go the right way then that must mean that is the way out. Before I go out though I need to figure out what is pulling me deeper into this cavern of boredom.'
Determined that it was now or never they began to make their descent further into the unknown. After 100 meters the tunnel began to gradually get lighter, which confused Eric to no end. How could it even get lighter down here, this definitely makes no sense, these were some of the thoughts that swam endlessly through Erics mind as he tried to deduct a reason for this soft pink glow that was gradually getting stronger.
It had become as bright as a sunset a soft probing light show of pink, purple, and orange seemed to dance softly around the duo as they neared the mouth of the tunnel. Trudging the corroded dirt, and rock passage way the feeling of becoming lighter, and less fatigued started to permeate the two spelunkers.
"This is an unreal feeling, I was completely exhausted 10 minutes ago, but a few seconds bathed in this fluorescent aura has done wonders for me. It feels like I took a quick nap to boost my energy, I wonder whats making this light what ever it iss.s......"
The words had become stuck in Erics throat as they reached the edge of the passageway only to stumble upon a miniature eco system supported by three giant pillars of Rose Quartz bathing the tiny world in a pink haze. Tiny crystals of Amethyst, and Topaz give off ambient rays of some form of unnatural light giving the entire place an ethereal quality almost unfit for mortal beings. Towering grey cedar-like trees stood as guardians of this crystalline paradise. Cracks encompass the entirety of the tree emitting a pink light that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat. Dotting the landscape of the guardians were bushes, and flowers of all shapes, and shades of purple, pink, and orange.
The breatheless atmosphere not only affected Eric, but also Hyowai his goblin traveling companion (for now), neither being had ever seen such an ephemeral place in their entire existence. The whole place gave one the feeling of comfort, and safety; as if nothing could touch you here. Tiny hairless creatures could be seen running through the brush, this intrigued Eric, and he secretly vowed to do what it takes to explore this sanctuary, and make it his. As if reading his mind a blue prompt appeared in front of him almost as if excited to tell him of his discovery.
"Well lets see what the blue wonder has in store for me now...wait why is the box purple now?"
HA HA SMARTASS...from now on I decided the boxes will be purple, just because you find me predictable. If you would learn to not look at a gift horse in the mouth you'd be as happy about finding this place than I am. Be happy that one as awesome as me is in charge of you for I am benevolent.
Eric couldn't help but be stunned at the cringeworthy audacity of the now purple box guy. At first he thought it was just some snarky Artificial Intelligence, but now he thought it may be something more than that. He'd have to postpone his musings though as a new purple box flashed, and dinged over, and over again like a petulant child demanding attention.
DING! You have discovered a place of wonder!
Welcome to the subterranean oasis of Gnoram's Hollow.
Home of the Gnomosapien.
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As the first non native sentient being to discover this place you receive +1 to all stats, as well as a permanent increase to regeneration rate of 2%. As the first to discover this sanctuary you may claim it as your own, and take a drink from the Sapphire mana spring, and receive one free passive skill at random. Gnoram's Hollow is home to many diverse plant species, as well as having an abundance of Crystaline minerals, and iron ore. Beware the wild Gnomospaiens original inhabitants of this place. A violent, and semi intelligent race of little people that are very protective of their home.
After he was done reading he dismissed the new prompts, he was super excited at the permanent bonuses he had received just by being the first person to find this place outside of whatever a Gnomosapien is, He didn't have long to enjoy his gains before another box decided to invade his personal space. This box however was a deep red in color, and Flashed the words 'New Quest received!'
New Quest Received: Gnomeland Security!
Subjugate, or Decimate the local Gnomosapien Population to gain control of Gnoram's Hollow for yourself. Rewards vary based on effort put into the quest. Subjugation offers greater rewards, but decimation yields greater experience. Only you can decide the fate of these creatures.
User Must claim ownership, and authority of at least 25 gnomosapiens, or kill 50.
Bonus will be given if completed in under 24 hours.
Eric didn't think his jaw could hit the floor harder than it did in this very moment. This was the first quest he had been given, only further cementing the idea in his head that this was not all just some crazy dream he couldn't wake up from. Not that he still didn't have his doubts, it is just that the excitement of doing a quest like from a video game outweighed his negative outlook.
With one final deep exhale He had resolved himself to claim this hidden gem as his new place of residence, and learn as much as he can from this crazy underground ecosystem, and figure out whatever the hell Gnomosapien's are. Standing behind him in an even more intense state of shock was Hyowai she had heard legends of gnomosapiens, but thought them only broodling tales to scare the young. She was beginning to regret ever picking this man thing up, but a tiny glimmer of hope shined through that maybe he could help with her tribe after all; she could feel the healing effects of the Crystaline cavern. She needed to bring her tribe here, and this all hinged on befriending the terrifyingly strong creature before her. How to achieve this vexed her, but she will remain strong, and she will do what she thinks is an impossible task, at all costs.