Outside the dark cave, rain was all he could see. On days like this hunting was impossible to go out and hunt for food, instead one would have to rely on food that had been stored. Unfortunately for him, his rank in society was too low to allow any of the village's precious resources to be spent on him.
All he could get were some bugs born from infestations and the deepest pits of the cave. Even fruits and the like were much too good for him in the eyes of his fellow villagers.
“Me eat. Then go children!”
Hearing the screams of one such villager he almost burst into tears. Four years, it had been four years since he returned to this village and only then had he realized how truly dumb these creatures that thought of themselves as intelligent beings were. Before he was taken from the village he already had a feeling that he was different, unlike his kin he questioned what made sense and what didn’t.
Once he had gotten the opportunity to go out and hunt with a group but just stayed back aghast at his kin’s way of hunting. He couldn’t comprehend how five hunters died simply to kill one rabbit and could still call that a successful hunt. While thinking back on that dreadful day he felt pain from the back of his head. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to simply come up to him and strike him to get his attention.
Looking back his eyes reflected a green monstrosity. Long arms disproportional to its body, short legs, a wrinkled face, and jagged broken fangs protruding from its lower lip. A goblin his kin, unlike them however his appearance was closer to that of a ten year old human boy. Although his skin was a sickly pale green, his body was more or less proportional and his fangs were relatively small, though he still shared the same hideous face.
“You get Work!”
He didn’t answer the goblin in front of him and instead simply began walking to the back of the cave. The work the goblin mentioned was simple, all he had to do was catch some bugs from the back of the cave and leave them near the younger goblins so that they had something to eat.
Beneath him a white light shone, surprised he almost jumped out of the way but was able to suppress his instinct, this had happened once before. Just like four years ago he was being called to a different location, simply going by his last attempt to escape the light he already knew it was impossible.
After a brief moment of blindness he saw a familiar scene, the inside of a large tent were he had once spent a weak trapped. Looking closely it was slightly different but the design was the same sturdy walls made of beast skins and five large poles to hold up the structure. He wondered how long it would take someone to find him this time.
When he was summoned here four years ago he could not get out regardless of how much he struggled, that was not due to the strength of the tent but the summoning circle beneath his feet. Unless the summoner completed a contract with the summoned he would either have to be sent back or make a deal with the summoner a barrier would lock him in side the circle.
This time his wait was relatively short and soon four figures appeared from the entrance of the tent. Prince Seff an adolescent from the wolf-man race, Iefyr an elf male and the guard of Prince Seff, Nima a female minotaur the prince’s maid, and Soora Enkas a high elf female but most importantly she was the one who summoned him and owed him a debt.
“... So Soora I’m guessing you didn’t call me back just to pay me what I’m owed?”
Soora looked at him for a moment before answering, he knew what she was thinking. He was a goblin and tricking one wasn’t to hard of a task, so she could possibly voice any number of statements that seemed agreeable.
“Child do not call me that. But the simple answer to your question is no… Going past that there is much more trouble than originally thought and your contract has yet to be fulfilled so I need you to venture forth once more.”
He looked at her wondering how little she truly she thought of his intelligence, previously he had proven that he was an adept thinker. Though knew little in the form of actual knowledge his learning ability and wisdom were quite excellent. Looking at the other three there faces were quite anxious.
“So how much did you know?”
He no longer cared to listen to Soora, eventually he would get back to her, but for now he had to ascertain where his so called friends stood.
“I had a vague idea but did not foresee the end result.”
The first to answer was the prince, he stood at roughly six feet tall with a muscular body and could be mistaken for a handsome young adult in his early twenties. His appearance was simply that of a human’s with the ears and tail of a wolf. He however knew that the prince’s appearance was deceiving just four years ago the prince was only an eleven year old brat.
“... Thank you.”
He could tell the prince wasn’t lying and readily bowed his head, if it wasn’t for the prince the possibility of him even succeeding in repelling the ghost threat was too small to even consider.
“I thought you were simply going to join us after we finished the mission.”
Looking at the half cow half woman he smiled. Unlike a male minotaur, a female’s head was still that of a human’s, excluding the horns. She looked the same as she had four years ago. Standing at eight feet with a well proportioned upper body of a human and the lower body of a bipedal cow. He said his thanks once again, having never known her to lie he decided to put his faith in her. Lastly he looked at Iefyr the only other elf in the room.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“... I knew the outcome. Elven law is strict and even more so are the laws placed on the high elves. For that I could not tell you nor could I tell these two. I was given a mission and I accomplished it.”
Looking at the man who he once thought of as a friend the lone goblin was truly hurt. Out of the three it was Iefyr who was closest to him. Out of a desire for knowledge he often spoke with Iefyr and during the time they had spent together he had truly come to think of Iefyr as a true friend. Often he would fight with death looming over him with the thoughts of helping his comrades rather than the reward he was promised.
He looked back at Soora without saying any words of gratitude towards his former elf companion. The previous two he thanked were for what he could not say before being sent back to his original location. But it was clear that Iefyr was simply obeying orders and doing his job therefor he didn’t need gratitude the goblin had done his part and that was enough.
“ You shouldn’t have expected more then what you could grasp in your hands.”
Hearing Soora express herself as if this had nothing to do with her he was infuriated.
“... You, are you really saying that? You were the one to make the offer I only accepted!”
Getting his hands on a high elf? That was an impossible dream not even a goblin king could accomplish.
“I was given an offer and then denied my prize after going through hell. So do not say that my greed was the problem… Regardless, what offer do you have for me this time witch?”
As soon as he uttered the last word Iefyr drew his word and struck the barrier that divided them.
“Insults to the high elves are punishable by death.”
“Iefyr clam down there is no issue. Good now that we get to the point I’ll inform you of the situation. The ghosts are back and in greater numbers, this time however the undead have not yet gathered in such large numbers so the task should be simple enough. As for the deal, how about after you complete the task I give you a legendary treasure from one of our armories.”
Seeing the astonished faces of the wolf prince and his maid he already knew that the deal was too good to be true. Iefyr looked back at the two and began to scowl.
“So going by the reaction I’m guessing that your deal is too good to be true and most likely another lie. Try again?”
Soora was finally beginning to grow frustrated, after all despite being a high elf she was still relatively young and could not shrug off everything like the elders of her tribe who could sleep even if the world was being destroyed.
“Prince i would ask you to not interfere with my plans.”
The young prince simply shrugged.
“I owe a debt to a friend and this is the simplest way in which I can repay him.”
Turning back to the goblin, Soora resigned to herself to give up something as long as it wasn’t anything to important.
“So then tell me what you want.”
Looking at her slightly defeated expression gave the goblin a small amount of joy.
“It’s simple I want a name.”
Soora smiled looking at the goblin whose thoughts were so small.
“Good after you complete your task I will give you a name.”
Looking at her he could only tilt his head in amazement.
“How? How little do you really think of my intelligence? No you give me what I want then we make a deal. Anything else isn’t worth even mentioning.”
This was something that he would stand firmly by, first he would receive his reward then do his given task. Any other way would just be setting himself up for failure.
“... Hmm a name is simple enough, okay I’ll agree to those terms.”
The small goblin could only smile on the inside as he heard those words, a name something most took for granted was quite special for monsters.
“Then you can call yourself Yorgen.”
The goblins smile disappeared due to the wording that Soora had use. Having a name and calling himself by a name was a different thing altogether for a monster. A monster with a name was generally given one by a stronger being for a goblin that could mean anyone but most of the time it was done by a goblin general or priest.
A named monster would always be stronger than the rest of it’s kind and would even have a chance to evolve into a higher species. However a monster that simply called itself by a name had no such advantages, it was simply making itself more of an individual.
“Hahaha, do you think that’s enough, no. What I desire is a true name one which would make me stronger, one bestowed upon by higher being, a high elf such as yourself will do. Considering the drastic difference in rank between you and I, I just might be able to become a hobgoblin or a goblin knight.”
Now Soora was truly annoyed, she did not expect the small goblin to know the meaning of a true name, instead she believed that there might have been a named goblin in his village and he simply wanted to be similar.
“I can have Iefyr give you a true name.”
Watching the exchange Prince Seff and Nima were content, their goblin friend had not asked for to much or the impossible, instead a name for a monster was quite a common agreement when it came to seeking their aid. Although most of the time the monster would end up in a life long contract, but they would not allow such a thing to happen to someone they considered a friend. Iefyr however was not happy with this arrangement, he knew exactly why Soora was unwilling to name the goblin herself.
After all giving a monster a true name would weaken one slightly for a period of time and in a way naming amongst elves was kept between trusted tamed monsters or family. The goblin had his own thoughts and was even a bit hostile so he could not be considered tamed or family.
“No, this is a contract between you and me. So either you name me now or send me back."
Soora weighed the pros and cons of naming the goblin, on one hand she could get rid of her problems fast, wouldn’t have to deal with any new variables, and avoid the hordes of undead that plagued her villages before. On the other hand she would lose some of her mana for a time.
“... Fine goblin I will name you.”
“My lady you should allow me to be the one!”
Despite his reluctance to name the goblin he could not let Soora, a high elf, name a goblin. A creature that was considered nothing more than a pest to be exterminated.
Soora simply shook her head after hearing Iefyr’s words it was common knowledge that the monster would need to accept the name, normally this would be easy, most monsters could hardly be called intelligent.
The goblin in front of her however, was not like most monsters, its intelligence had to be acknowledged. Soora had been planning to deceive it not by using his lack of wisdom but of knowledge. However it seemed have had picked up a fair bit of information from his time spent with Iefyr.
“Then goblin… I Soora Enkas bestow upon you the name Vulk Balor.”
As she spoke a light began to envelop the goblin signaling the beginning of his naming ceremony.