Chapter 5: A New Task

Gob drags the final rabbit over to the dimly lit corner of the cavern, and takes a sharp rock to the skin. He glides the rock around the body as he skins his prey.

Skill name:  Skinning Skill level: 2 Skill exp: 42/200 Skill info: Gob has learned how to remove the hide from any beast-type creature and use it to craft rudimentary items such as hide armour or baggage.

"Gob." The voice appears, and speaks in a soft tone, "I fear that you may have taken some of my words too harshly."

"Me no take words bad," Gob replies, downtrodden "Me just think voice no like Gob."

"Gob, I don't dislike you. It's just that the other 14 creatures are at the apex predators of their respective areas. You're the weakest individual I have met. To be forced to lower myself to your level isn't fair."

"Big monster say Gob have potential. Gob work hard, Gob be worth!." Gob shouts, his words echo throughout the cavern. "Me work hard to be strong, you no help Gob, tell Gob he not worth, tell Gob he too weak! Look! Gob kill rabbit, you say rabbit too strong for Gob. But Gob win anyway!."

He rips at one of the rabbits legs in frustration, tearing it out of its socket.

Stat Points Earned:

All stats +4

Reason: Gob singlehandedly killed 4 superior beings, and stood up for himself against an omnipotent being. Event: Gob managed to take out 4 hostile enemies, by using hit and run tactics, and turning the environment against the enemy. He also stood up against 'The System' an all-knowing being that is in contact with several apex predators.

"Show Gob numbers."

Name: Gob Species: Slave Goblin Title: The Unexpected Savant Rank: G- Strength: 11 Dexterity: 11 Fortitude: 11 Intellect: 8 Wisdom: 8 Charm: 6

"See, Gob numbers bigger than when start."

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"You are correct Gob, your stats are improving significantly, and your physical body is changing also. I was wrong to judge you as a weak creature. Any creature that is granted access to me is worthy, simply because they were granted access. I shall do my utmost to provide you with a nurturing environment from this point forth. As another apology, here is another task for you. I believe it will help you immensely."

"Gob want new task, but Gob want good reward."

"As you wish. The reward will match the difficulty."

Task:

Train your:

Strength, Dexterity, and Fortitude by 10

OR

Intellect, Wisdom, and Charm by 10

Stat increase: 0/30 Rewards:

A bonus of 5 to any stat of your choice

Evolution knowledge

Any weapon of your choice

"Gob like new task, Gob will do good."

And so, Gob continued skinning and butchering his prey. After completing the task, his skinning was almost at level 3, and he began to think about his new task. He could take the easier route and train his physical body to be much stronger, but Gob wanted a good reward. So he thought, and thought harder, then kept thinking as hard as he could, until his intellect went up by 1.

"Gob did it!" He exclaimed, his voice echoing far down the cave.

He sat and looked at his entire collection of items, 4 sharp rabbit horns, 1 blunt rabbit horn, a sharp rock, 3 okay rabbit hide, 1 ruined rabbit hide, 1 set of hide scraps, and a pile of rabbit meat.

"Hmmm." Gob hummed, as he thought of a way to increase his mental stats.

Gob stood up and started looking around the room for anything he could use. He scoured the walls in search of dry roots, the floors for dead plants or sticks. He searched high and low, but only found a few scraps of useful items. A few dried roots, a large boulder from the hole in the wall he had created earlier, some dried leaves. He thought back to when he was a captive, and the bright lights the humans would carry.

"Gob make red light." He said, hoping the voice would chirp in and correct him. But no voice came.

He piled up the dried roots, and made a rough circle out of loose rocks. He thought about how they made the lights. There were 2 ways, one was with a rock and a shiny rock, or thought really hard and it happened. After the success of him thinking earlier, he tried thinking about the red light and wanting it to be in front of him. He thought harder than ever, staring at this pile of dried rocks. Veins pushed themselves to the skin as he forced himself to picture the red lights. Out of instict Gob shouted "Tân", and the dried roots light up in red light.

"Gob did it! Voice, look, Gob make red light!"