《Goblin Artist》


 Chapter 1: A New Beginning

    The first thing I felt after waking up was bliss.


    An exquisite warmth spread throughout my body, relaxing my muscles and conveying a sense of safety and security I haven¡¯t felt in a very long time.


    It permeated my very being, assuring me that everything was all right, that I could remain in this wondrous state of preconsciousness as long as I wished to.


    No thoughts were needed. I was just a tender ball of contentment floating in an endless space.


    [...]


    At some point I felt something warm and sweet as honey entering my mouth and dripping down my throat.


    It was new and it disturbed the perfect harmony of my previous existence, but it was also nourishing and intoxicating, so I continued to drink it in.


    The nectar filled me with strength. No longer was I just an ethereal wisp of life. I could sense my limbs and my tiny chest rising and falling with every breath.


    It was good. But it also filled me with a sense of loss. I could already tell that the untainted delight I experienced before was slipping away from me, never to be found again.


    I bawled.


    [...]


    My mouth latched itself onto the source of sweet nectar again.


    I relaxed. The previous memory had already faded away into nothingness.


    Slowly, I opened my eyes.


    My head was resting on a green, soft, leathery bag. My lips were coiled around its nozzle, and I could see tiny drops of white liquid rolling down, their color growing muddy as they picked up the grime covering the surface.


    I raised my eyes.


    An ungovernable terror gripped me, and it was only due to my undeveloped throat muscles that I haven¡¯t asphyxiated myself on the liquid in my mouth, bringing an end to my story here and there.


    What looked back at me were yellow eyes of a monster.


    I bawled again.


    [...]


    A long time had passed before my mind managed to come to grips with my current situation.


    I have gone insane.


    Oddly enough, this thought brought me a measure of relief. In a way, so long as I was simply suffering from a complete mental breakdown, the world as I knew it was still there. I just temporarily lost my connection to it.


    But time continued to go by and nothing changed. I would grow hungry, eat, and fall asleep. If I pinched myself, I¡¯d feel pain. When I used my nails to break my skin, a blister would be waiting for me when I woke up again. Even if I was caught in an elaborate fantasy of my own creation, it seemed that not following its rules would only hurt me.


    I tried to recall my former life and it was all there. My parents, schoolmates, a girlfriend, work. I used to be employed as a concept artist in a small company, and I could even remember the details of the latest project I had worked on. Only the memories of the last few days were fuzzy and whenever I thought I caught onto something, it¡¯d elude me as if there was nothing there to begin with.


    The caretaker who fed us would leave as soon everyone was sated and one time I fought against the compulsion to sleep and instead mixed some dirt with my spit to make some simple paint. Despite the clumsiness of a newborn, the moves I performed thousands of times in the past didn¡¯t fail me. I drew a simple circle with my finger and laboriously added to it, till a realistic likeness of the caretaker emerged from it.


    So the memories of my former life were valid.


    Have I really come to a different world?


    Once more I inspected the strange new body I found myself in. My skin was brown in color with hints of green. It was surprisingly rough, unlike what one would expect from a newborn. I couldn¡¯t see my face, but my tiny arms and legs didn¡¯t seem to differ extremely from that of a human, save for the black and surprisingly sharp nails growing out of my fingers.


    I could only suspect that my face looked similarly to that of our caretaker. If I had to describe her physiognomy in one word, I¡¯d say: angular. Her features were exaggerated like those in a caricature drawing, with high cheekbones, protruding forehead, long nose, and beady yellow eyes. Whenever she nursed me, my attention would be drawn to her plump dark lips, hiding behind them a set of savage-looking, brown teeth.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    She reminded me of a fantasy creature I had to design from time to time for my work.


    A goblin.


    ****


    It was impossible to measure the passage of time. The room the other infants and I were locked in was shrouded in darkness. The only source of light came from colonies of lichen that grew on the walls and pulsated with a hazy, blue glow.


    Whenever I struggled to stay awake after a meal, it was those countless specks of blue light, so similar to a starry sky, that would leave me spellbound. I would stare at them in a daze, completely hypnotized. At those times my mind became muddled, my eyelids grew heavy, and no longer being able to worry about my circumstances, I¡¯d give in to temptation and fall asleep.


    Still, even if I wasn¡¯t able to count the sunrises, I was able to take notice of the very clear changes that were happening to our bodies. My limbs grew longer at an alarming rate and I discovered that I could now make a few steps without falling over like a toddler.


    I took advantage of my newfound mobility to scrutinize the room we were kept in. Its walls were made of white bricks, identical to the ones that paved the floor. In addition to the lichen, there were numerous vines hanging down from the ceiling. The most vegetation grew around a hole in one of the corners of the room, where the caretaker had us take care of our business.


    There was also a door. It was made of dark wood and was further reinforced with metal bars that ran perpendicular to the planks. It didn¡¯t have a handle.


    This left my fellow goblins. I had hoped that some of them may be lost souls like me, similarly trapped in this incomprehensible situation. Unfortunately, they all reacted to my nudging the same way one would expect from an infant. They stared at me with blinking eyes, sometimes they clumsily tried to grab me with their hands, but ultimately they quickly grew bored and returned to sleep.


    I was alone.


    I knew that I couldn¡¯t allow myself to simply sleep away all my time here and that I needed to prepare for whatever was to come. There just wasn¡¯t much I could realistically be doing. In the end, I focused on improving my mobility. I trottered from one end of the room to the other, trying to limit the number of times I fell on my bum. When I could no longer stave away the thoughts that this was it, that I¡¯d spend the rest of my life locked in this dark and gloomy room, I¡¯d mix up some more mud and paint.


    It was on one of these occasions that I finally made a connection with one of the other goblins. I was just finishing a drawing of my dog Bernie, finding solace in his goofy grin I somehow managed to capture, when I spotted one of the toddlers curiously observing my work.


    I acted as if I hadn¡¯t noticed and continued drawing. I kept the pictures simple and engaging. Cute animals, smiling children, this sort of stuff. The goblin¡¯s eyes never stopped following my actions. At some point he dipped his fingers in the small mud puddle I was using to draw and started to create doodles of his own.


    It was my turn to study him. I was genuinely curious what images would emerge from the mind of a goblin. It turned out to be the same abstract mess of lines and shapes that any other young child would create. I supposed it could be considered impressive in its own right, given that he had experienced only a fraction of the visual stimulus human children were exposed to.


    We kept drawing alongside each other for some time, but I noticed that the young goblin was slowly growing bored. This was the first time I had ever made a connection with someone else in this world and I didn¡¯t want to waste this opportunity.


    I caught his attention and pointed to myself saying, ¡°Rhys.¡±


    He stared at me uncomprehendingly.


    ¡°Rhys.¡± I repeated, this time striking my chest with a fist.


    The goblin seemed interested, but he clearly wasn¡¯t grasping what I was trying to convey.


    I pointed at our doodles, ¡°Drawing.¡±


    ¡°Dog.¡±


    ¡°Cat.¡±


    ¡°Sun.¡±


    Nothing. He wasn¡¯t even babbling anything, shouldn¡¯t toddlers babble? Maybe I¡¯m going too fast. I should just stick to our names. Only what should I call him? It should be something simple to pronounce.


    I grabbed his hand this time, and pointed to him, ¡°Bob.¡± Maybe not the best name for a goblin, but what can you do.


    I held his hand in mine and continued pointing.


    ¡°Rhys.¡±


    ¡°Bob.¡±


    ¡°Rhys.¡±


    ¡°Bob.¡±


    ¡°Bob.¡± I suddenly heard him say. A wide grin appeared on my face, as the little goblin kept pointing to himself, repeating happily: ¡°Bob!¡± ¡°Bob!¡± His pronunciation was a bit off, but it was good enough.


    I pointed at myself again. ¡°Rhys.¡±


    ¡°Rhys!¡± The goblin echoed my words. ¡°Rhys!¡± ¡°Bob!¡± ¡°Rhys!¡± ¡°Bob!¡± The precocious little brat was full of himself and I¡¯d be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t proud of him too.


    He got so loud and excited that he woke up the rest of the goblins who began eyeing us with interest. Suddenly I became wary. I had already tried communicating with the caretaker, not in full sentences but just simple, random words, hoping to attract her attention. She never reacted, and I didn¡¯t persist, seeing as other goblins rarely made much noise.


    I was afraid that if I pushed too hard, she would notice something was wrong with me and deem me a demon. Which all things considered, wouldn¡¯t be that far off the mark. My soul was inhabiting a body it shouldn¡¯t be. Who knew where the original resident got moved to. Chances were some human parents were in for quite a surprise.


    Now I was acting as if I threw all my previous caution to the wind. Drawing complex pictures in the open, teaching language to other goblins. Have I gone insane? Again?


    I quickly distanced myself from Bob and curled down to sleep in the opposite corner of the room. He would tire himself soon enough. And if he didn¡¯t¡­ Well, I was probably just being paranoid.


    Comforting myself with this cowardly consolation, I gazed at the blue stars languidly pulsating on the ceiling. As usual, my mind quickly grew calm and soon enough, I fell asleep.

 Chapter 2: A Gruelling Fight

    Thankfully, my worries about Bob being mistaken for a demon in my stead proved to be groundless. The little brat wouldn¡¯t shut up when the caretaker came to feed us again, but she didn¡¯t pay much attention to his excited yelps.


    I returned to my routine. Every day after being fed, I¡¯d fight against sleepiness and traverse the nursery, slowly adding to my repertoire. When I mastered the art of walking without faceplanting every few steps, I began running. Then I started doing jumping jacks. I wasn¡¯t really trying to build up my muscles, which struck me as a ridiculous goal for a young child, but I never stopped improving my mobility and coordination.


    We were all developing at a rapid pace. It seemed that every few meals the ground would distance itself from me a little more and the same was true for the other goblins. At some point, when I stood up, my head reached the caretaker¡¯s waistline.


    I still had no idea what my actual height was. Goblins in my world were supposed to be on the short side and transforming into a child messed with my sense of scale even further. I could only compare myself to other objects in this world, without ever knowing how it translated to good old centimeters.


    One day the caretaker brought in with her a large trough filled with gruel. Having spent all of our lives locked in this dark room, we were extremely sensitive to anything that broke the usual routine. We all sat up, eyeing this new development with great interest.


    The aroma wafting from the trough was overbearing. It quickly permeated the whole room, sticking to the walls and assaulting our nostrils.


    It was extremely harsh, to the extent that it even irritated the eyes. But even more so, it was intoxicating. It carried traces of things tangy, hot, and sour. For children who had only ever experienced the mild taste of breastmilk, it seemed to expand our senses, forcefully opening up taste buds we never knew we had.


    Seeing our group of five little monsters all flushed and breathing heavily, the caretaker seemed to be satisfied. She simply placed the trough in the middle of the room and left.


    The atmosphere in the room grew thick. It wasn¡¯t just the heady aroma of the gruel that suffused it. There was a rising tension in the air and a sense of instincts that were previously buried waking up.


    The first goblin to act wasn¡¯t me or Bob. In fact, I didn¡¯t readily recognize him. In the beginning, I tried to study my other cohabitors, but they all looked fairly similar to each other in my eyes, and since they spent all of their time sleeping, I never learnt to distinguish them properly.


    The one who stood up was even taller than me. There was something discernibly grander about him than the rest of us. His eyes were sharp and domineering.


    He bared his dark teeth and let out a deep growl.


    Some primal part of my being faltered at this sound. It seemed to scream at me to obey and step back. This effect was even more pronounced in the other goblins, they halted their advance and started reluctantly moving back. Bob seemed to be the most affected and retreated to the corner of the room.


    Only, there wasn¡¯t such an option for me. I could vaguely sense that this was a test I couldn¡¯t afford to fail. It was a tragedy in itself to end up reincarnated as a goblin, I definitely wasn¡¯t going to make it worse by staying at the bottom of the ladder.


    I took a step forward, pushed my chest out and gave a growl of my own. It didn¡¯t have quite the same innate power like my opponent¡¯s, but it helped me shake off the wariness I was feeling.


    The aroma permeating the room seemed to be stirring something deep inside of me and when I stood up to fight, I could feel the blood in my veins growing hot, and my heart pounding vigorously. Even if the goblin I was facing was an Alpha, I wouldn¡¯t falter.


    My opponent seemed enraged that someone dared to challenge his authority. He roared loudly and charged at me. I tried to take advantage of all the effort I poured into honing my coordination and sidestep him, but it was still a little too much to ask from a young child.


    He threw himself at me and we both fell to the ground.


    The fight devolved into a chaotic mess. Neither one of us knew how to fight, so we just continuously pummeled each other with our fists, not caring one bit about defense.


    We were both learning on the go. When we discovered that hitting with fists wasn¡¯t enough to seriously hurt the opponent, we started using our claws, carving bloody wounds all over each others bodies.


    In the end, my victory came from having more experience. Betraying the rules ingrained in every boy who went to elementary school, I used my elbow and struck with all my strength at the spot between his legs. His mad roar suddenly turning into a falsetto was music to my ears.


    Without a shred of guilt I hit him again in the same place. His claws finally stopped tearing wounds on my body and relocated to guard his nether region. I took advantage of his brief immobility to stand up and began savagely kicking and stomping all over his body. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    I didn¡¯t stop until the former Alpha turned into a sobbing, whining mess, writhing helplessly on the floor. Seeing his state I felt a little sick. In reality, I hadn¡¯t done any permanent harm to him, but when the rush of the battle subsided, I did feel disturbed about being so merciless towards what essentially was a child.


    I have also never imagined that hitting a boy in the balls would be the manner in which my supreme otherworldly knowledge would reveal itself in this new life.


    I used my hand to wipe away most of the blood covering my face and shook it, spraying scarlet droplets all over the ground. This action struck fear into the hearts of the goblins who were thinking about taking advantage of my weakened condition. I growled at them menacingly and felt deep satisfaction seeing them retreat under my gaze.


    The prize was mine.


    I walked up to the trough, lowered my head, and took in the incredible aroma rising from the gruel. It was even more powerful at close distance. Beads of sweat started running down my face, mixing with blood and irritating my wounds.


    My mouth began to water and unable to wait any longer I dipped my cupped hands into the gruel and brought the mixture to my mouth. It was scalding hot. I drank it greedily.


    My mouth erupted in an explosion of contrasting flavors. Unrelenting heat contested with sourness and piquancy, neither yielding an inch. It should¡¯ve been the most foul and repulsive thing I have ever tasted, but my body reacted to it like a dried shrubland to a lit match.


    The gruel was extremely thick. I couldn¡¯t readily recognize any of the ingredients. There were various roughly chopped bits of something squishy and gooey, squirting savory juices when I chewed them. They floated around in a brown liquid of extreme viscosity. It stuck to my hands and behaved like molasses, forcing me to expend a bit of effort to raise my hands when I dunk them into the trough.


    I only stopped my frantic feast when my belly visibly expanded and I physically couldn¡¯t stuff more of this pungent delicacy into my stomach.


    I licked my fingers. My muscles were completely relaxed as a deep feeling of physical satisfaction spread throughout my body. My immediate instinct called on me to quickly go to sleep and focus on digesting this heavenly meal, but there remained one thing to take care of. There was only about a third of the gruel left. It obviously wouldn¡¯t be enough to feed all of the remaining goblins.


    I could already see the recently defeated Alpha standing up and trying to intimidate the other children.


    Allowing him to eat the leftovers didn¡¯t sit well with me. The lethargy I was feeling wasn¡¯t like that caused by physicalexhaustion, but rather a sign of my body beginning to absorb something extremely rich in energy. I could sense the hidden potency of this gruel, and sharing it with someone who didn¡¯t bother hiding his hostility whenever he looked at me was suicidal.


    ¡°Bob.¡± I said.


    It wasn¡¯t just that he happened to be the only goblin here I developed something of a connection with. Throughout the whole fight he proved himself to be the most cowardly. Whereas the two other goblins remained on the sidelines, their greedy eyes searching for an opportune moment, he scurried away to hide in his corner from the get go. Already resigned to meekly observing the situation and not showing a trace of aggression of his own.


    The fact that he was unlikely to later turn on me was only one part of the equation. The truth was, he was a typical runt of the litter and whenever I looked at him, he reminded me of my old dog Bernie. I could only hope that my girlfriend took good care of him now that I was gone.


    The scaredy cat didn¡¯t react when I called him and I had to actually walk to him and pull the brat myself towards the trough. He just sat there, staring at me.


    Looking at his hopeful eyes I almost burst out laughing. He really was similar to Bernie when he was just a pup.


    I was about to gesture to him that he should just dig in, when something hard struck me in the back.


    It was that Alpha goblin again. It seemed that even if he might have submitted to me, he clearly wasn¡¯t about to do the same for Bob.


    I was already pretty banged up after our previous scuffle and this sneak attack made me furious. I quickly turned around and smacked him hard in the face. He fell to the ground and I stomped on his hand, till he let go of what he was holding.


    A rock rolled down the floor. I was surprised. I have studied our room fairly exhaustively and never found anything that could be used as a weapon. He must have snatched it pretty early on and hid it on his person all this time.


    This only confirmed my suspicions that restricting him access to the gruel was the correct choice. This quick bout revealed that even in this short time, my strength has increased by a small margin. Letting him eat it would be akin to giving steroids to a vengeful monkey.


    I confiscated his stone and then finally convinced Bob that it was okay for him to eat. At first he was still wary, but as soon as he took his first gulp, his expression became so fierce, I thought he¡¯d actually fight me if I tried to stop him.


    The gruel was gone in no time. Bob went so far as to even lick the trough clean.


    I was finally able to rest. I took a last look at the remaining goblins. Alpha was in the worst state, but the other children didn¡¯t paint a happy picture either. They were still drawn to the aroma left behind in the trough, futilely trying to find a drop of gruel that Bob might have missed.


    If this continues they will all starve to death, I thought. As desperate as I was to get stronger, visions of the other goblin children slowly growing emaciated and finally perishing in front of my eyes filled me with dread.


    Only, there clearly wasn¡¯t enough gruel to go around. I even suspected that if it was Alpha who got to it first, there wouldn¡¯t be anything left for the second person.


    Furthermore, distributing it evenly between everyone wouldn¡¯t just hamper my growth but also attract attention. If all the goblin children had to go through this sort of survival game, then who knows how the caretaker would react when she discovered a child immune to his instincts.


    In contrast to the dark thoughts in my head, my body was completely relaxed, radiating nothing but pure bliss and satisfaction. At some point I was finally unable to continue agonizing over my situation and fell into a deep sleep.


    I awoke when the caretaker returned with another trough full of steaming gruel.

 Chapter 3: Bloody Carnage

    When I stood up, I quickly realized that I had gone through another growth spurt. Being able to personally experience the rapid pace at which young children develop from an adult¡¯s perspective was confusing to begin with, but this time I think I grew by at least two fingers in a single night.


    I stretched out and heard cracking noises of my popping joints. It felt good. Like waking up fully rested after a day of vigorous exercise.


    My muscles were brimming with newfound energy. I wasn¡¯t quite ready to break stones with my fists, but my punches should carry enough force to at least leave a bruise. Something that was unlikely just a night ago.


    Bob¡¯s physique also went through some impressive changes. He was now as tall as me, which meant that his growth spurt had been even more remarkable than mine.


    His eyes flickered with vigor and carried hints of ferocity I haven¡¯t noticed before. At first he just happily gaped at his changed body, but he quickly straightened himself out, raised his head high, and started strutting around, showing off in front of the other goblins.


    The caretaker seemed momentarily taken aback when she saw the two of us, but she quickly got a hold of herself and placed the trough on the ground like the day before. However, this time, she didn¡¯t leave the room and instead stayed to observe how we¡¯d deal with it.


    I growled at the other goblins. The sound that let out had a deep timbre to it and I could feel my whole chest vibrating with it. It reverberated off the walls of our room, staving away any thoughts of defiance reignited by the gruel¡¯s powerful allure.


    It must have been really effective, because not even the goblin I dubbed Alpha appeared to be in the mood to fight me for the right of first meal.


    With the caretaker observing us, I couldn¡¯t entertain any thoughts of dividing the food equally between everyone, so I resigned myself to just eating my fill.


    Of course, calling it ¡®resigning myself¡¯ was a bit dishonest. When the gruel¡¯s pungent aroma entered my nostrils again, I felt intense heat spreading throughout my body. I was resigning myself in the same way a penitent monk would resign himself when trapped in a larder.


    Sweat broke out on my face as I knelt by the trough and once again lost myself in the feast of all things gooey, smelly, spicy, and sour.


    Like the last time, I kept gorging myself and didn¡¯t stop until I reached the physical constraints of my body. I¡¯d love to tell you otherwise, but instead of thinking about the other children, my only regret was that even now I couldn¡¯t fit more than two thirds of the gruel inside my stomach.


    Stumbling a bit, I got to my feet, and left the trough alone. Wary of the caretaker¡¯s watchful eye, I planned not to interfere in the further distribution of the food.


    The other goblins read it as their cue, and all four of them got up, surrounding the trough from all sides.


    The whole room erupted in a cacophony of growls and hisses. The two days they were forced to spend without any food, coupled with gruel¡¯s bewitching aroma, strengthened their resolve to the fullest.


    Alpha appeared more savage than when we clashed before. He roared with force that even I couldn¡¯t hope to match and started mercilessly swiping at the goblins in front of him.


    The two who never fought before went through the unenviable experience of having their skin torn for the very first time. For a while they tried to retaliate, but suddenly, in a real life example of fight or flight response, they broke away and ran off, whimpering pitifully.


    To my surprise, Bob held on. Strengthened by the gruel he got to consume previously, he was now slightly taller than Alpha and even managed to dodge some of his attacks in a way I hadn¡¯t been able to previously.


    He quickly picked up on the rules of the game too, and deftly used his claws to tear anew the barely healed wounds on Alpha¡¯s body.


    Blood spurted every time they exchanged blows.


    I watched in awe from the sidelines. It was one thing when you were the one fighting, but now I fully grasped the sheer bestiality of what was going on. You couldn¡¯t even compare it to the play fighting young animals engage in. Every attack was aimed to inflict real damage.


    The sight of the caretaker, the same one who personally nursed us from the day we were born, simply standing there and watching impassively, contrasted with the fierce struggle taking place.


    Bob appeared to be in the more advantageous position. Every now and again he¡¯d skillfully dodge one of Alpha¡¯s attacks and go on to retaliate, leaving new wounds on his body.


    His opponent didn¡¯t show any signs of weakening, however, and instead became more and more fierce as the battle progressed.


    Suddenly, Alpha managed to grab Bob¡¯s hand, locking him into place, and delivered a strong kick between his legs. Bob yelped, but didn¡¯t collapse, and took the opportunity to headbutt his opponent straight into the face.


    They both fell to the ground.


    They were both slippery with blood and it seemed that if Alpha planned to reduce the distance between them to counter Bob¡¯s greater agility, it didn¡¯t do much.


    It was then that Alpha howled, flashed his teeth, and sunk them into Bob¡¯s throat.


    Dark viscous blood started pouring out of Bob¡¯s neck, quickly dyeing his shoulder and Alpha¡¯s face red. No longer caring, I jumped to my feet trying to separate them, but the caretaker, who never stopped keeping her eyes on me, suddenly moved and grabbed me. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    I tried struggling and even biting her myself but to no avail. With my arms locked behind my back and her other hand tightly gripping my head, I could do nothing else but stare at the increasingly grisly scene.


    Growling and crying in anguish Bob tried wrestling his arms free from Alpha¡¯s control but all the previous advantage he had in this fight was gone. The jaws were clamped tight and with Bob laying on the bottom he didn¡¯t have the strength to push his assailant''s body off him.


    Blood kept pouring out of his wound and his desperate eyes were now filled with fear and reluctance that were horrific to see on the face of a child. The parts of his skin that were still untainted with gore were growing ashen, his movements dulled.


    Seeing that the fight was coming to a close, the caretaker finally let me go and quickly pulled the maddenned Alpha away. The little monster, somewhat dizzy but clearly satisfied, cast a last glance at his defeated opponent and walked to the gruel filled trough.


    Bob¡¯s body was in a truly dreadful state but the woman quickly pulled a small flask from her sash and poured it into his mouth, simultaneously bandaging his neck with a dirty looking cloth.


    Seeing some light coming back into Bob¡¯s eyes I breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever was in that flask, it evidently worked wonders and though the amount of blood left me horrified, it was clear that this vicious bite had luckily managed to miss an artery.


    Bob was still in a state of confusion but he already managed to stand on his own, his gaze searching around the place. When his sight locked onto Alpha happily gorging himself on the gruel, a look of true hatred flashed through his face. With swiftness totally unbecoming of someone who just had a brush with death Bob pounced on the unsuspecting Alpha.


    The caretaker moved to stop him, but to our shared surprise, Alpha fell down after a single swing. Bob clearly wasn¡¯t satisfied with just that and continued to pummel him into the ground. His gaunt arm rose and fell, each strike accurately landing on Alpha¡¯s face.


    A total reverse of the previous situation had occurred, with Bob sitting on the enemy¡¯s body, his body arching back to put its whole weight into every attack. For a while, only silence punctuated by the sound of something very hard hitting something very soft reverberated in the cave.


    The caretaker finally came to her senses and separated the two again but the aftermath this time was possibly even more gruesome than before. Alpha¡¯s face looked like a battlefield after a savage battle. In contrast to Bob¡¯s pale visage, it was brimming with every color imaginable - if ones imagination mostly consisted of shades of red. Numerous open cuts were only the beginning of it, his nose was smashed, the mouth which suffered most of the blows displayed teeth that were barely held in by the gums and sticking out at disturbing angles. Even the forehead was visibly caved in.


    This time the caretaker really lost her patience. She roughly grabbed Bob¡¯s hand and revealed a stone, which I recognized to be the one I previously snatched from Alpha and must¡¯ve been later swiped by Bob. Seeing the tool that caused this mayhem, she grew even angrier and slapped Bob¡¯s face, sending the already exhausted boy to the ground.


    Then she pulled yet another flask from her sash and poured it down Alpha¡¯s throat. Like before, the effect was immediate, but the scale of destruction was on another level. The little goblin was waking up and the blood coming from his wounds started to slow, but there was no magical fix for the destruction waged upon his nose and teeth. The skin mended but the shape of his face was permanently altered.


    Done with the basic aid, the caretaker stood up and cast a vicious look at the two goblins but neither of them was in the state to really register it. That didn¡¯t stop her from instead focusing on me, as if I was somehow responsible for this carnage. Which in some small way could be attributed to me, but I¡¯ll be damned if I¡¯ll feel a shred of guilt for the result of their own savage traditions.


    Seeing I didn¡¯t cower under her gaze, she snorted in a surprisingly human fashion, growled something indecipherable and left the rest of us alone in the chamber.


    I carefully walked to the place where Bob collapsed. That last bout completely exhausted the rest of his strength and he was now laying limply on the ground. His face, hair and clothes were soaked in blood. I won¡¯t say his performance didn¡¯t inspire some genuine fear in me and I admit I had a fleeting thought of leaving the two of them to their own devices, lest one day I¡¯ll be the one to have my face caved in with a stone, but, still, I decided to help him.


    Part of it stemmed from the fact that he didn¡¯t use the stone until Alpha mercilessly bit into his throat. But the real reason was that all things considered Bob was the first person I truly met in this world. What we did could hardly be called talking but he knew my name and, hell, I¡¯ve even given him his. Granting personhood to a baby goblin is maybe a bit much, but after the show I¡¯ve just seen, it was difficult to see him as just a child either.


    I shook Bob gently, wary of triggering his bloodlust again, and indeed the eyes that opened were that of a savage. Startled, I quickly started saying in a soft voice:


    ¡°Bob.¡± ¡°Bob.¡±


    A flicker of recognition ran past his eyes. In a voice devoid of any strength he weakly said:


    ¡°Rhys.¡±


    At this point I stopped caring about concealing my language and carried Bob to the trough, all the time speaking in a hushed, calming voice:


    ¡°There you go, buddy. It¡¯s all good now. You really whipped his ass, didn¡¯t you. Now you just need to eat your fill and then you can go back to sleep, ok?¡±


    There was still around a third of the gruel left, since Alpha didn¡¯t get much chance to partake in it. Stumbling along the way I managed to drag Bob towards it. The whole fight didn¡¯t take more than a few minutes and the food remained hot, its powerful aroma wafting into the air.


    Bob was still dazed, so I fed him gruel with my own hands. After a few mouthfuls some color returned to his face, turning it healthy green. When he got strong enough to eat on his own, I returned to my corner. These two fights must¡¯ve obliterated whatever measure of courage was left in the other goblins cause at no point did they try sneaking in closer to the trough. To be perfectly honest, I wasn¡¯t feeling much confidence either.


    Whatever this world is, it won¡¯t be easy to survive in. Even if today''s fight got a bit out of control, Alpha¡¯s and Bob¡¯s actions clearly followed the expectations of the caretaker. A tribe which treats their young this way must be accustomed to battle.


    Furthermore, we were growing too quickly. It was nearly impossible to tell the passage of time in this dimly lit room, but it couldn¡¯t have been more than a few months since we were born. Yet every one of us boasted strength comparable to a child of about twelve years old. If the rules from my world carried over, and for the most part they clearly did, a species that developed this quickly couldn¡¯t be long lived.


    Even if I grow in strength and somehow avoid dying during a hunt or some moronic tribal war, how long can I really expect to live? Twenty years? Ten? Is this my fate? To struggle to live every day, only to die after a dozen odd years?


    My dark thoughts were interrupted when I saw Bob wobbling towards me. After finishing his meal his vitality clearly started to replenish but the exhaustion was clear on his face. He slumped on the ground close to me and quickly dozed off. His obvious trust raising my spirits a bit.


    Oh well, I thought. It is what it is. And with magical potions like those I¡¯ve seen, it¡¯s not impossible that there are some ways to prolong one''s life as well. Highly doubtful if they¡¯re within the reach of a pitiful goblin, but so long as the situation isn¡¯t utterly hopeless I can¡¯t lose¡­ well, hope. And with that thought, I too, fell asleep.

 Chapter 4: Welcome to the Tribe

    The next few days gave testament to the notion that anything could become routine. The caretaker would bring us fresh gruel as if two of our group didn¡¯t just nearly lose their lives fighting over it. The pecking order was firmly established with me as the big dog which, oddly enough, not even Alpha contested. The second to eat was Bob who did have to fight for his meal against the little brute, but after some time even those fights lost their suspense.


    Bob had an advantage in strength to begin with and having his jaw crippled, Alpha lost his only ace in the hole. Even an unyielding spirit will eventually lose to the absolute difference in strength which the gruel provided.


    What relieved me the most, was that after the third time around, the caretaker started bringing two types of gruel with her. The new one was just as gooey as the main one, but it lacked its incredible aroma, firing up all your senses and making you insatiable. It was plentiful and its purpose was simple nourishment. That sat perfectly fine with me. As determined as I was to grow stronger, I really didn¡¯t relish the idea of it happening at the cost of prolonged starvation of the remaining goblins.


    Gaining strength wasn¡¯t that easy, however. Alpha seemed averse to fighting me and I wouldn¡¯t risk jeopardizing my relationship with Bob, should my attempt at a spar lead to a misunderstanding. The remaining goblins were just as unresponsive as Alpha, kicking them didn¡¯t elicit much reaction, only they lacked even the basic courage to respond with a hate filled scowl.


    In the end I resigned myself to doing simple exercises. Surrounded by perplexed gazes of the remaining goblins, I¡¯d do crunches, push-ups, bridges, pretty much anything that I remembered from my previous life. At first my body seemed to protest, as if my very instincts insisted that eating the gruel and then sleeping till the time of the next meal came was all my body needed for its development, but I persevered.


    As pleasant as it was to live in this sort of mind-numbing daze, reducing oneself to some sort of an eating and sleeping machine, and having my days pass filled with a feeling of warmth and contentment, I still felt fear. Whenever I woke up, my gaze would be drawn to the brown blotches of dried blood that stained the formerly white bricks paving the floor of our nursery. The lone door that used to inspire sense of excitement now served as a portent of trials that were to come.


    So train I did. It could be attributed to the fact that there wasn¡¯t all that much to do besides sleeping, but I displayed perseverance in physical exercises that I sorely lacked in my previous life. As soon as the caretaker left, having made sure we wouldn¡¯t hurt each other too much in the daily fight for food, I would go to my corner and start wetting the ground with sweat.


    Bob and Alpha were usually too exhausted to pay much attention, but the other two goblins observed my actions with keen interest. The effect of their food clearly wasn¡¯t as overbearing as ours, but even if they had energy to spare, they never went as far as to imitate me.


    I never learned if what I did at that time had served any purpose or not. My progress was clear, but that could¡¯ve come around naturally from my gruel-fueled development. My coordination did improve, however, and I felt more confident in my new body. Young goblins were expected to fight for their food, so if there was no one who would challenge me, I had to challenge myself.


    The undeniable boon of undertaking that training regiment was that it broke me free from the malaise I was caught in. My thoughts cleared and I felt more self-asserted. The situation didn¡¯t allow to make much use of this newly rediscovered sense of agency, but just having something concrete to put my efforts into improved my state of mind.


    Days continued to pass this way for what felt like months. Bob and Alpha persisted in fighting come every mealtime. What left me completely flabbergasted, was that despite having to make do with the second grade gruel, Alpha never stopped being an opponent for Bob. What he lacked in strength, he made up with sheer ferocity, and despite the fact that the gap between the two was only increasing with time, it never reached the point where Bob could completely disregard him.


    This made me all the more glad that back then I decided to allocate the remaining gruel to Bob. If Alpha could reach this level of strength on his own, then fueled by the steroid-packed grub we¡¯ve been eating he¡¯d become a veritable monster.


    The two other goblins never stopped developing either. The caretaker that used to tower over us was now just a head taller than me - about the same height that now separated me and the two goblins. During this period of time they seemed to reawaken their savage nature, cause even if they never challenged us, they would often fight amongst each other.


    With our growing bodies, the cave started to feel a bit cramped and I think we all shared the feeling that we were approaching some sort of a boundary. The time when we would leave was approaching steadily, filling our bodies with increasing giddiness.


    Finally, the day when instead of our usual caretaker, we were welcomed with the sight of a massive goblin adorned in colorful armor, inspecting us with a gaze filled with satisfaction, has come.


    The goblin was even taller than the caretaker. The top of my head barely made it to his shoulders. His body was adorned in a motley of mismatched body armor. His shoulder pads came from two different sets, one flat, while the other had what looked like sharp nails extending out of it. His torso was protected with leather armor over which he strewn a layer of chainmail that made a faint jingling noise whenever he moved. On his head he wore a medieval helmet, open at the front, revealing a face not that much different than Alpha¡¯s.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    His original goblin physiognomy was remodeled over what must have been years of hard abuse. The nose, though short, was impressively broken and crookedly healed in two different places. His lips looked unnaturally large and leathery. They were covered in a bungled mess of tiny threads of scar tissue that must have been healed and ripped open time and time again. Small eyes sparkling with vigor hid under the hollows of his protruded forehead, it too marked by several indentations.


    Most of his body and face was covered in intricate streaks of paint that emitted a faint bluish light, similar to the one produced by the lichen growing on the walls of our cave. It highlighted every groove and indentation, be it on his armor, or his face, and gave his appearance an unreal feeling.


    Clearly satisfied with the effect he was impressing on us, he pushed his chest out and gave a booming roar, further magnified by the small space we were in. We still didn''t have an inkling regarding the goblin language, but there was something so royal and domineering in that voice that everyone of us stood up to attention, all our gazes focused on his figure.


    The goblin gave another roar and turned around through the open doors, not even checking if we followed, because, of course, we did.


    He led our group through a labyrinth of dimly lit corridors, the blue glow he radiated casting long shadows along the brick walls. As we tried to keep up with his steps, our ears began to catch sounds of a thunderous din, echoes of which reverberated along the passageway.


    As we followed, the noise steadily became more distinct. It was just two sounds really, a massive thud followed by a frightening bellow coming from countless throats.


    Boom. Roar! Boom. Roar!


    Just these two eruptions of sound, undulating once slower and then faster, but clearly increasing in tempo as we were nearing their source.


    When the clamor began approaching intensity that we could barely stand, even making the vines growing along the walls tremble, we reached a massive open hall.


    In its centre stood a giant figure, almost too large to still be called a goblin, dwarfing even our guide. His bulging body was completely coated in the glowing dye, radiating light so bright that it illuminated a great pyre behind him and a group of around a dozen young goblins standing in front of it.


    Surrounding them in a circle was a horde of adult goblins, their skin similarly covered in streaks of fluorescent paint. A hazy sea made of countless threads of blue light was pulsating in the darkness to the rhythm of their dancing bodies.


    The uproar increased even further as our group joined. The savage melody exploded in intensity. Hundreds of feet stumped the ground as one.


    Boom.


    Heads arched back as hundreds of voices bellowed at the same time.


    Roar!


    The tempo kept increasing as we were brought to join the group of young goblins. The elder looked us over and turned towards the pyre in front of us.


    The din grew unbearable, shouts completely overlapped with thuds of the shaking ground, even our bodies trembled with the walls of the hall.


    With a bang, the pyre suddenly caught fire and blazed in a blindingly white light. It enveloped the hall, banishing surrounding shadows and even the sounds along with them.


    In a completely white, silent space I heard a voice.


    System integration initialized.


    Race: Goblin (juvenile)


    Type: Dungeon species


    Proceeding with advancement¡­


    Calculating physical characteristics¡­


    Collating psychological traits¡­


    Calculating hitherto experience...


    Error.


    Error.


    Mentality incongruent with the current race.


    Some attributes exceed the limits of the current race.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Initialize normalizing of subject¡¯s psychology and attributes?


    5...


    4¡­


    3¡­


    2¡­


    ¡°No!!!!¡± I snapped back out of my confusion, hoping to God that it wasn''t too late.


    Normalizing canceled.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Advancement to Goblin (youth) cannot continue.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Proceeding with subject¡¯s evolution...


    Calculating optimal evolutionary pathway...


    Recalculating physical characteristics¡­


    Recalculating psychological traits¡­


    Recalculating hitherto experience¡­


    Analyzing environment¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    No congruent evolutionary pathway found¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Creating temporary variant species¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Complete.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Proceed with evolution to Azure Goblin (youth)?


    5¡­


    4...


    3...


    2...


    1...


    Evolution in progress¡­


    Assigning attributes¡­ complete.


    Assigning skills¡­ complete.


    Assigning traits¡­ complete.


    Remodelling subject¡¯s body¡­


    ¡°Aaah!¡± An incredible wave of pain assaulted my body. It felt like every pain receptor was stimulated to its extreme at the same time.


    ...complete.


    Evolution complete.


    You have two unspent attribute points and four unspent skill points. Would you like for the system to assign them automatically?


    5¡­


    4¡­


    ¡°No!¡± I shouted, barely holding on to consciousness after the torture I had just suffered.


    Unspent points will be available for later use.


    Your status window is now available.


    System integration complete.


    As the voice in my head disappeared and the bright light faded away to once more reveal the ceremonial hall, the last thing I heard before fainting was the shockingly intelligible voice of the elder:


    ¡°Welcome to the tribe.¡±

 Chapter 5: Shakhra!

    ¡°Rise and shine, brat! Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re planning to sleep through your own coming of age party!¡± I found myself repeatedly slapped in the face by the ridiculously adorned goblin that previously brought us out of our chamber.


    ¡°Fucking hell, I¡¯m awake! I¡¯m awake! Stop hitting me already!¡± I growled angrily to goblin¡¯s great joy.


    ¡°Haha!¡± he roared. ¡°Blessed by the Mother just moments ago and already using Her grace to curse his elders! Good blood!¡± I looked at his beaming face questioningly, what is he talking about? Wait¡­


    ¡°I can understand you?¡± I asked and realised that what I heard wasn¡¯t my native tongue, but rather some strange mix of raspy growls and hissing sounds. My throat and tongue nimbly executed all the required actions without any hesitation, as if they were trained to do this all my life.


    ¡°Sharp one, aren¡¯t you?¡± He laughed, displaying his collection of not so white teeth. I found myself shocked once again. Despite facing what objectively could be called a beast brandishing its fangs in my face, even discounting the context of his words, I could feel no malice coming from this person.


    This mangled face, from which the most I could read previously was that I wouldn¡¯t want to cross its owner, now displayed, if not exactly a plethora, then a fair amount of meaning. It wasn¡¯t that I could only understand their spoken words, even their body language and facial expressions became clear to me!


    ¡°Hurry up and get on your feet, already. We haven¡¯t had a weakling dropping down during the ceremony in a long time, but, then again, I don¡¯t remember ever getting a blue warrior, either!¡± He unceremoniously lifted me up by the shoulders and set back down next to the other goblins. ¡°Today marks the day you lot truly joined the tribe. We¡¯ve nursed you and fed you for a long time. You can consider this party to be the last time you¡¯re going to be pampered this way. Now that you¡¯ve received the blessing, you¡¯re going to fight for the tribe like the rest of us. Which reminds me¡­¡±


    ¡°Chief, isn¡¯t it time?¡± he turned towards the massive goblin who conducted the ceremony. The chief, who I just realized couldn¡¯t possibly be a goblin, but rather some sort of an orc, nodded his head.


    ¡°Warriors of the tribe.¡± He spoke in a deep, booming voice. ¡°You have received Mother''s blessing and became true tribesman of Shakhra. She bestowed upon you the gift of tongue, but also the gift of strength. Show us now that you¡¯re worthy of Her grace.¡±


    As his words echoed along the walls of the hall, the surrounding mass of goblins grew excited again. The droning melody picked up again, only this time I could understand the word that came after the thud.


    Boom. Shakhra! Boom. Shakhra!


    Our group was separated into three teams, following the composition we were in when they first brought us here, and directed to the opposite sides of the main ring of the hall. It was the first time I had the chance to look at the changes that occurred in the bodies of my companions.


    Alpha¡¯s face was miraculously healed. The bridge of his nose no longer followed an unnerving zig-zag line, and his mouth sported a brand new set of teeth. This was clearly a source of joy to the grinning savage. He kept opening and closing his mouth, his molars making clicking noises as they hit each other.


    That is not to say that his visage lost its ferociousness. Goblin physiognomy isn¡¯t too pleasant to begin with, and Alpha¡¯s face certainly didn¡¯t stop at that baseline. His skin gained a reddish tint. Eyes that were previously yellow now turned black, his faintly golden irises being the only source of color in these twin pools of darkness. His stature itself didn¡¯t change to any great extent, but his muscles seemed to hide more energy within them.


    The two goblins who never managed to partake in the better gruel also experienced clear benefits from this so called blessing. While their skin color maintained the usual muddy green shade of the goblin race, their height increased, now coming close to mine and Alpha¡¯s. Their change could be considered the most comprehensive, since their bodies lost all the trappings of a child and looked fully developed.


    Bob also underwent some significant changes. His body became more lithe and springy. His gait displayed now a certain sense harmony and energy that was pleasing to the eye. His skin, unlike the muddy shade of most goblins, was a clear, vibrant green. It was difficult to say to what extent his strength has increased, but judging by the confidence and satisfaction he exuded, it couldn¡¯t have been trivial.


    It was the changes in my body that were the most difficult to judge. Lacking a mirror, all I could see was that the ground once more distanced itself from me and the blue tint that my skin now possessed. It wasn¡¯t as clear defined as Bob¡¯s, more of a mix between blue and brown, rather than a true clear-sky-blue azure.


    I didn¡¯t have much time to ponder these changes, because soon the chief¡¯s voice was heard once again. ¡°Warriors of the tribe. The time has come to show your prowess. Challenge each other and show your valor in the arena.¡±


    I was still confused by what was going on, though that didn¡¯t apply to the rest of my group. It seemed like it wasn¡¯t just the gift of language that we were granted but also a sort of common heritage. A memory of various rituals and norms was imprinted onto my mind. However unlike the language, which I could command without even thinking about it, these records of goblin culture required conscious effort to access.


    Before I had time to make sense of the situation, I felt a hand falling on my shoulder. ¡°I, Gharak, challenge this one for the position of group leader!¡± announced red faced Alpha. ¡°Very well¡± replied chief. ¡°And what is your name?¡± he asked, turning to me. ¡°Rhys¡± I answered. I had already managed to remember some details of the coming of age ceremony and knew fully well that I wouldn¡¯t get any chance to ponder my situation until it was over. Young goblins were made to challenge each other to establish a ranking among themselves. First came the inner group contest and later the group leaders would fight each other again, till a clear hierarchy was created.


    We walked to the center of the ring. Alpha, or I guess it¡¯s Gharak now, was brimming with excitement, almost unable to wait for the fight to begin. I¡¯ve always wondered why he never challenged me back then, and the goblin memories I inherited finally helped me solve this mystery.


    It turns out that since he could never defeat Bob, who considered me as his superior, he felt he didn¡¯t have the qualifications to challenge me. Now, after the advancement, our positions were once again thrown into the flux, so after months of waiting he jumped at the first occasion to fight me.


    ¡°Begin.¡±


    Gharak charged before the chief¡¯s command even fully resounded. His speed has increased dramatically. I barely managed to sidestep him, when he turned and charged at me again.


    His tactics didn¡¯t evolve much and I could see he was trying to grapple with me, but just knowing it didn¡¯t help me much. Alpha''s newly reformed jaws were clearly aching to bite into my body, and all I could do was barely evade the swipes he made with his extended fingers.


    His nails weren¡¯t any less sharp than his teeth, though. Whenever I haven¡¯t retreated in time, they¡¯d leave deep scratches on my pristine body. This couldn¡¯t go on, but there was little I could do. My lack of fighting experience, something that worried me previously, revealed itself clearly.


    As I kept utilizing my speed advantage to dodge his attacks, I realized that it wasn¡¯t just his strength that increased. It wasn¡¯t readily apparent, but his stance and coordination have also improved. His fighting style was still akin to that of a maddened beast, but there was some newfound logic to his actions also. At the very least, I couldn¡¯t find any easy openings to sneak in a hit between the dodges.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    The battle had only just begun and I couldn¡¯t count on him running out of stamina any time soon. Instead, his attacks only increased in ferocity. Dodging became useless, and my forearms, which blocked his furious swipes, had long started seeping blood.


    Still, I couldn¡¯t let that monster become the leader of the group. If I couldn¡¯t stop him from grappling with me, then at least I¡¯d be the one to initiate it.


    Evading another swipe of his claws and taking advantage of the brief moment before he regained his balance, instead of retreating, I charged at him myself. I could see clear happiness on his face when he realized this game of cat and mouse had come to conclusion, but I didn¡¯t care.


    His jaws opened, revealing two rows of teeth ready to bite and I satisfied them by plunging the side of my arm in between of them. They clamped, instantly piercing flesh and assailing me with incredible pain, but I continued my charge. For a second I thought it was all for naught and I couldn¡¯t topple him, but I¡¯ve managed to sneak one of my legs between his, finally imbalancing him, and we came falling down, with me on top.


    My instincts were screaming at me to pull my arm from this monster''s jaws, but I fought them down, instead using my left arm to push his head to the ground. My right fist meanwhile started its assault on his face. Alpha first tried to push me off, but I held steady, and when he finally thought of grabbing my other arm, it was too late.


    One blow after another landed on his renewed face, recreating its former appearance. I didn¡¯t have a stone this time, but my newfound strength after the advancement finally revealed itself. Just two hits were enough to break his nose again and a few more smashed even the cartilage. The following blows moved onto his forehead. It might not have been the most optimal spot, but I wasn¡¯t in the state to consider it anymore. Roaring and crying I wailed on his head like a beast. My blood was constantly pouring down his throat and I wasn¡¯t going to stop till he finally let go of my arm.


    It wasn¡¯t until I was pulled of by someone that this fight had ended. Alpha never let go of my arm but he did lose consciousness at some point.


    My victory was announced to common jubilation of the surrounding goblins, but I wasn¡¯t in a mood to celebrate. The flesh on my forearm was ripped open, the wound so gruesome, you could barely even tell that it was caused by teeth. There were just two ravines of bloody meat with the white of the bone at the bottom. The sight was nauseating and even after I received a bit of the healing potion, these wounds wouldn¡¯t heal at the amazing speeds I¡¯ve seen previously. In the end I had to be satisfied with having them bandaged and hope they would mend overtime.


    A chorus of excited howls marked the beginning of the next round to determine the leaders of our three groups. I wanted to observe it closely to glean something about our relative strength, but the constant throbbing in my arm was distracting me and the duel ended too quickly to learn much anyway. The two goblins didn¡¯t even bother with trying to dodge each others attacks, just punching and swiping, until one of them fell. At which point the one still standing started pummeling his opponent with his fists, till the goblin acting as a referee separated them.


    In the case of the third group, there wasn¡¯t even a fight at all. A hulking red goblin simply stared the other members of his group down, and they all cowered under his gaze. I noticed that unlike the rest, he was the only colored goblin in their group.


    This made everyone¡¯s gazes turn back to us. To my horror, I heard a somewhat melodic voice declare: ¡°I challenge Rhys for the position of leader.¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s your name, young one?¡± The chief asked in his usual, somber tone.


    ¡°Bob.¡±


    I stared at Bob with a reproachful look, but he was already walking towards the centre of the ring, and I had little choice but to follow.


    The potion I drank somewhat alleviated injury, I could move my arm at least, but that was about it. I definitely couldn¡¯t use it in a fight, and if Bob targeted it, the pain itself would nearly immobilize me.


    Once we were facing each other I glared at him again, hoping to convey all the resentment I was feeling. Sadly, it didn¡¯t really seem to register with him, anticipation for the coming fight all too clear on his face.


    I grumbled inwardly, bemoaning the fact that I didn¡¯t just dump all the remaining gruel on the ground, while my eyes were at the same time searching for a possible stone hidden in his fist.


    The referee declared the beginning of the duel and I immediately noticed the difference between Bob¡¯s and Alpha¡¯s fighting styles.


    Whereas Alpha¡¯s advancement pushed him to double down on pure strength and ferocity, Bob went the opposite way. Similarly to how I fought in my previous match, he focused on agility.


    His attacks were swift and seemingly unending. The only upside I could see was that they didn¡¯t pack enough strength to instantly knock me out.


    Faced with no other choice, I resorted to blocking his onslaught using both of my arms. Which quickly proved to be a mistake. A punch I blocked with my wounded arm sent waves of pain that eclipsed even the suffering I felt when they were literally bitten into by Alpha.


    I dropped my arm and stumbled, earning myself a quick swipe to the face. Any hopes of ever finding a mirror and seeing my body in the pristine condition of post-advancement forever dashed.


    The situation wasn¡¯t looking good. In theory, I could have just surrendered this fight. It wasn¡¯t like the battle against Alpha, I didn¡¯t really care if Bob was the one to lead our small group.


    The thing is, I was so infuriated by the fact that a brat, who wouldn¡¯t even get a whiff of the nourishing gruel if it weren¡¯t for me, was now punching and scratching me bloody, that I didn¡¯t want to give up.


    I understood that it was part of their customs and Bob clearly wasn¡¯t aiming to really hurt me. To him it was socializing. Still, I never stopped considering myself a human, and it enraged me to no end that someone who I¡¯ve once helped, was now giving me a walloping.


    The only advantage I had left was my somewhat greater endurance. Bob may have enjoyed a far larger share of the gruel than Alpha, but ultimately, he wouldn¡¯t have gotten zilch if not for my initial help. I could only barely contend with him in speed, but that wasn¡¯t the case with sheer physical strength. Wrestling your opponent to the ground seemed to be the go-to strategy for these fights and I had no qualms about employing it again.


    The only problem lied in getting a hold of the slippery brat. I missed my first attempt, and once he noticed the change of strategy, he became annoyingly wary of my charges. Still, it wasn¡¯t like he could elude me for long if I simply gave up on avoiding his strikes.


    When his fist came flying again I made a feint, seemingly to dodge it, only to bend forward straight into the path of his attack. Hard nails stabbed into my cheek, blood spraying from under his fingers, but I pushed ahead. Making use of the forward momentum, I grabbed his torso with my right arm, and we both came crashing down.


    Unfortunately, I somehow forgot that what I just performed was precisely the favorite maneuver of Alpha, who Bob spent the last few months fighting exclusively. Instead of pinning my opponent to the ground, like I planned, we found each other tumbling on the floor, constantly contending for the position on top.


    My arm flared up in excruciating pain every time we rolled. Having lost my patience, I stopped holding back and went for any advantage I could grasp. My hand would rip Bob''s clothes, choke his neck, while his fingers, similarly, didn¡¯t shy away from clawing into my wounded arm or trying to pierce my eyeballs.


    Our bodies were at this point completely drenched in each others blood. The spectating goblins grew ecstatic watching the fiercest battle yet, and chanted the name of the tribe in rapturous voices.


    When I finally made it back on top, I arched my head and then snapped it back down, headbutting Bob with all the strength I had left. A loud crack resounded when our skulls connected, the impact shaking my brain.


    For a second my vision grew dark, but I powered through it, and managed to repeat my feat. This time even the sounds grew fuzzy. I couldn¡¯t even tell if Bob was moving any more. So just to make sure, I headbutted him again.


    I came to just a few moments later. The referee was holding my arm up in a victory pose, this act of mutual destruction somehow counting as my win. All the goblins erupted in cheers, and I¡¯d be a dirty liar if I claimed that their adoration didn¡¯t fill me with satisfaction.


    As hateful as I found this whole affair, this sort of no holds barred, blood and glory melee had a certain bit of appeal. At least until the pain, temporarily held off by my head concussion and buckets of adrenaline flowing through my veins, made itself apparent again.


    Bob regained his consciousness not long after I did and we were both brought back to our group. There, we chugged down the healing potions which alleviated our wounds to a certain extent.


    They couldn¡¯t do much for our clothes, however, this short bout having reduced them to tatters. Bob smiled at me with a radiant smile, and I couldn¡¯t find the strength in me not to reply in kind.


    I glanced down at his exposed chest, still dizzy from our repeated head smashing, and asked in a confused voice.


    ¡°Hey, Bob.¡±


    "Yeah?"


    "Why do you have breasts?"

 Chapter 6: Emergence of the True Leader

    Bob looked at me.


    "Cause I''m a girl."


    "Oh."


    "You didn''t know?"


    "No."


    There was a moment of awkward silence as we looked at each other.


    "I wouldn''t have given you a boy¡¯s name if I did." I added.


    Smack.


    Now, I feel I need to explain that at this point my mind was still groggy. The advancement ceremony alone had been enough put me out of whack and that was followed by two fights, the second of which culminated in some extreme noggin abuse. I really wasn¡¯t at my most clear-headed.


    ¡°Listen, Bob, I¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking speak to me!¡±


    Still, that didn¡¯t explain how I could confuse Bob¡¯s gender after being quite literally locked in with her for several months. Yes, our facilities, which amounted to a hole in the ground, were obfuscated by a sprawling bush of vine. And it¡¯s not like I made an effort to spy on the children when they went there to do their business. Still...


    ¡°Couldn''t we just change your name, how about Mary, or Rosie?¡±


    ¡°My name was bestowed upon me by the Mother!¡±


    That was a problem. It also reminded me that after all this time I still haven¡¯t had the chance to actually check my status window. I guessed that must have been what Bob was talking about and grew quite interested, only it wasn¡¯t the time to ask about it.


    ¡°We could just call you by some other name. Between each other. And if it was Mother herself who named you this way, I don¡¯t see how I¡¯m responsi-¡±


    This cop out earned me another smack on the head. Even not knowing a thing about the system, I realised that the odds of her being named Bob not having anything to do with my previous actions were pretty much nil.


    The situation was growing dire. There really wasn¡¯t anything I could say to defend myself, safe for the fact that I¡¯m a human from another world who got reincarnated as a goblin child with all my former memories intact, and that wasn¡¯t a road I was willing to take.


    Bob stood next to me fuming, her face no longer pale but swelling with deep shades of green. Alpha stood beside her, clearly playing the support role, his eyes full of righteous indignation mixed with a distinct trace of schadenfreude, oh my God¡­ Don¡¯t tell me Alpha¡¯s a girl too. If these two joined forces with each other, there really wouldn¡¯t be a future left for me.


    It was chief¡¯s announcement that the final contest for the leader was to commence that saved me. I jumped into the ring, ready to face anything if it let me escape Bob¡¯s righteous fury. This elicited cheers from the spectating goblins. My act of cowardice luckily misunderstood as youthful bravado.


    Truthfully, I wasn¡¯t in a state to do battle. My left arm was still busted and the previous two fights cost me a significant amount of blood. In fact, I could claim with some degree of confidence that close to half of the fluid splattered around the arena came from my own body. My head felt woozy. It was an achievement in itself that I was still standing. Especially since I¡¯ve never even been in a fight in my previous life.


    I couldn¡¯t tell if I was getting swept in the atmosphere of the ceremony or if the system had made some alterations to my psychology after all. One thing was for sure, in my previous life, the pain of getting my arm mutilated alone would have been too overwhelming to bear.


    The goblin who received my challenge came from the group that didn¡¯t have any other colored goblins. I tried to size him up and only now I realised the sheer difference between the two of us. He was about a head taller than me. When I looked up I could see two tusks jutting out from between his lips. His skin was red like Alpha¡¯s, only its hue was much deeper. There wasn¡¯t any hair on his bald scalp. Only the flecks of white light from the burning pyre reflected of it in a hypnotizing manner.


    I found it incomprehensible that he could be a newly advanced youth like the rest of us. He looked more akin to the chief than anything else. It wasn¡¯t just that he was taller. He was larger too. Goblins didn''t really boast a chiselled physique, you could tell if one looked stronger, sure, but they never were bulky. He was.


    When the fight began, I planned to create distance between the two of us, only it didn¡¯t quite work out. My opponent didn¡¯t charge at me like Alpha, but when I swiftly retreated, the distance between us instead of growing, shrank. His movements were unhurried, but they carried within them a sense of inevitability.


    When the first blow came flying my way, I couldn¡¯t even dodge it. A massive fist crashed straight into my chest. The sound of breaking ribs was instantly followed by a wave of excruciating pain and a horrifying sense of something being very wrong with my body. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Earlier I was surprised how I could continue fighting despite my injuries and now I understood the difference. Only I wasn¡¯t in a state to really understand anything. This one punch completely debilitated me. I was reduced to a spasming ball of hurt, unable to move at all, even if my life depended on it.


    ¡°Pathetic.¡± the red goblin uttered his first words since the beginning of the match. He walked up to me and possibly considering using his hands too troublesome, straight out kicked me in the face. And then again. My body kept erupting in pain until darkness enveloped me, as the true leader of our generation claimed his rightful place.


    ****


    I woke up on the ground in a cramped, dimly lit room. The same type of lichen that grew in our nursery covered the walls, its fibrils pulsating in a faint blue light. Memories of the ceremony came back in flashes. The white of the blazing pyre in my mind clashing with the calming glow which surrounded me now.


    I tried moving my body. That action must have sent a signal to my pain receptors, cause suddenly numerous regions flared up in pain simultaneously. I paused shifting, but that couldn¡¯t stop the flow now that the dam had broken.


    My whole body appeared to be staging a violent protest against the abuse I had put it through. Sore muscles teamed up with lacerated flesh while pulled tendons coordinated with broken bones - all of them united to give me a thorough understanding of all the subtleties and multitudes of meaning hidden in the simple word hurt.


    I began regretting waking up. Even as weak as I was right now, I couldn¡¯t imagine being able to fall asleep again when tormented by this level of pain. The efficacy of the healing potion that I was so impressed with before must have a sharp drop-off point. If I was given one to begin with.


    My mind started churning, the distraction bringing me a slight relief from pain. I skipped past the flashbacks of my battles, they were too directly related to my current condition to offer much reprieve. Instead I thought further back, recalling my advancement process. Wasn''t it high time I checked my status window?


    I didn¡¯t know where to start, so I simply concentrated, trying to will the status window into existence - only it appeared on its own as soon as I thought about it. It didn''t exactly materialise itself per se, I would rather compare it to a very clear and direct awareness of my whole being. Still, if I were to share it, it¡¯d look something like this.


    STATUS


    Name: Rhys


    Species: Azure Goblin (youth)


    Health: 87/140 (175)


    Mana: 0/0


    Level: 1 (0/1000)


    -Attributes-


    Strength: 6


    Dexterity: 7


    Agility: 5


    Constitution: 6


    Intelligence: 12


    -Secondary Attributes-


    Perception: 9


    Focus: 10


    Willpower: 10


    Resistance: 9


    [2 unspent attribute points remaining]


    -Skills-


    Hand to hand combat (Basic): 1/5


    Sneaking (Basic): 1/5


    General melee weapon proficiency (Basic): 1/5


    Goblin tongue: 3/3


    [4 unspent skill points remaining]


    -Traits-


    Awakened monster


    Lowlight vision


    Variant species (goblin)


    Dungeon species


    It was¡­ brief. It really didn''t sit well with me seeing my whole person reduced to some rows of arbitrary numbers. Especially the skills category. Maybe it could suffice for a young goblin, but my body housed the soul of an adult man, how come none of my abilities carried over?


    Not that I had any real fighting skills to begin with, this being the one category the system was most interested in. It couldn''t escape my notice that if transplanted to my previous world, the status of an accomplished scientist wouldn''t look too different from that of a random schmuck.


    I was at least glad that I still had my unspent points. If I wanted to, I could instantly max out any of the three skills I had. I wondered if that''s what Bob and Alpha did. I may be wrong, but their improvement in technique struck me as much more pronounced than my own.


    What about the attribute points? Had I raised my strength to eight, would have I been able to turn the tables on that red monster? The answer¡­ probably no. I was completely spent when we faced each other, but I still didn''t believe that even if I was fully recovered, increasing a single attribute by thirty percent would''ve been enough to give me an edge in that fight.


    That is as long as the attributes scale up linearly¡­ The greatest hurdle I am facing right now is the lack of information. Coupled with little to no leeway for experimentation. Are these points the only method to increase my stats? Do I receive them every time I level up or is it a one time deal? Should I save them for later to instantly raise a useful skill or will this sort of greed lead me to a premature grave?


    Countless questions with no easy answer. The one attribute I was eyeing with most interest was intelligence. It was clearly an outlier when compared to my physical stats. It reminded me of the message that ran past my eyes during the advancement ceremony: ¡°Some attributes exceed the limits of the current race.¡± This alone had nearly spared me from my goblin fate.


    Yes. Breaking the mold was the simplest way of escaping my current predicament. Earlier I had mused about the possible existence of some miraculous, life-extending medicine, but now I had an even better way. Changing my race altogether.


    The process got interrupted back then, but what if I pinned down the requirements, wouldn¡¯t it solve all my problems? Could I return to being human? Or even go a few steps further and transform into a dragon?


    Images of my bright future ran past my eyes. I saw myself as a human warrior, charging bravely on my loyal steed and skewering that red bastard with my lance. My mind then filled with visions of me as a massive black-scaled dragon, lazily picking out the remnants of a certain goblin from between my teeth.


    I broke out of my brief reverie and turned my attention back to the status window. Without waiting any longer I focused and thought: Add one point to Intelligence.

 Chapter 7: Big Brain Time

    As soon as I did that, I grew depressed. How was I even supposed to tell the difference of one extra point in intelligence? I should¡¯ve prepared some simple math problems to compare the time it took me to solve them before and after.


    Only it proved to be unnecessary. The same moment I sensed my intelligence increasing to thirteen, my thoughts instantly became clearer and more agile. I was afraid of experiencing a placebo effect, but the change was too pronounced for it to be a mere autosuggestion.


    This is incredible, I thought. The feeling of instantly improving like this was exhilarating. This was nothing like my old world where any substantial growth took months of hard work to achieve and was too gradual to clearly perceive.


    Sure, I didn¡¯t suddenly transform into a genius ready to unravel all the mysteries of the universe aided with nothing but hard logic. It was more on the level of being able to think a little bit quicker and maybe have a glimpse at solutions that beforehand would¡¯ve eluded me. Still, becoming a better, no, becoming more of a person by just raising some arbitrary number in my mind shocked me to the core.


    My increased intelligence quickly came in handy, because in my elation I was about to spend my last attribute point to push it all the way to fourteen. I realized, however, that splurging this way wasn¡¯t the best way to go. Intelligence would remain my main stat but it was still to early to cut myself off from other paths of development.


    At that moment the doors to the room I was lying in opened. Bob and Alpha, followed by the two other goblins, whose names I never got the chance to learn, came in and quickly noticed that I was no longer unconscious.


    ¡°Rhys!¡± Bob exclaimed, ¡°You¡¯ve woken up!¡±


    I smiled at them. It was surprising even to myself, but seeing them genuinely care about my wellbeing really raised my spirits. Well, Bob cared at least. Alpha¡¯s reaction was a bit more mixed. It was also a relief to learn that at least temporarily the issue of giving Bob a boy¡¯s name has been brushed aside.


    Looking at them now, with the help of the memory packet I received during the ceremony, it was easy to spot the differences between sexes. Mercifully, Alpha was a male, but it turned out that one of the basic goblins in our group was also a member of the fair sex. Well, fair was a bit much, given that they were all monsters.


    ¡°How long was I out?¡± I asked. Bob frowned. ¡°Long. We were afraid you¡¯d starve yourself before regaining consciousness.¡± This made me realize that my throat was completely parched, something I hadn¡¯t noticed before, due to other injuries drawing most of my attention.


    ¡°Could you pass me some water?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ve got something better. We¡¯ve been learning how to make healing potions today, and we¡¯ve managed to stash one away before Kahr took the rest for himself.¡± Bob turned to Alpha. ¡°Gharak, give it to him.¡±


    ¡°Why should I?¡± he replied. ¡°It took us two outings to find the herbs, when he was just lying here. And it¡¯s not like we don¡¯t have our own wounds to tend to.¡± I noticed that they really weren¡¯t in the best shape. They were dressed in a new set of clothes, which they probably received after the ceremony. These looked to be made of leather, but they were all fraying on the seams and there was no shortage of holes ripped in them.


    Bob was wearing a fringed loincloth on her waist and a vest on her torso. Alpha was dressed similarly, only his chest was bare. Their bodies were covered in bruises and many shallow wounds.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked. ¡°Kahr.¡± Bob answered. Seeing my confusion, she elaborated. ¡°He¡¯s the one who put you in this state. He takes advantage of every sparring session to beat us down, and takes away everything we manage to gather on our outings. If we try to save something for ourselves, he beats us again.¡±


    ¡°Which is why we shouldn¡¯t give our only potion to someone who didn¡¯t contribute at all!¡± Alpha interjected. Instead of replying, Bob just suckerpunched him in the jaw, clearly not so averse to Kahr¡¯s system, so long as she was the one benefitting from it.


    ¡°Rhys is our leader and the strongest of our group. When he joins us, we will be able to gather more food.¡± she said, quickly extracting a small bottle from under of Alpha¡¯s loincloth and feeding me its contents. ¡°Trax, Rubi, go and ask for some of the stew, there might still be a bit left.¡± she said to the two other goblins.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, gulping down the potion. As the rejuvenating liquid poured down my throat, I took the opportunity to observe my status. I saw my vitality steadily increasing, eventually reaching 127/155 (175) and stopping. I was still weakened and it seemed that I wouldn¡¯t return to my top condition until my ribs fully healed, but I still felt much better than before. My bruises and cuts receded, leaving only the issue of internal injuries to deal with.


    There were a number of things I wanted to ask about. What exactly have they been doing during the time I was passed out? What was the structure of our tribe? This was all I¡¯d learn on my own in time, however. Instead, I decided to ask about the system.


    ¡°Can you tell me about your advancement ceremony?¡± I asked Bob. I was a bit vague due to a certain premonition in my head.


    Bob was at first hesitant. She chose her words slowly, her eyes glazed as if in a trance. ¡°It was incredible. I felt the presence of a great being enveloping my whole body. She spoke to me in words I couldn¡¯t understand. But I could feel her goodwill. Mother looked at me and knew me. She recognized me as her child, gave me knowledge of who I am and power I would need in life. When it ended, I felt like I opened my eyes for the very first time.¡±


    I was startled. Her experience bore only a passing resemblance to my own. I turned to Alpha. ¡°How about you?¡±


    He scrunched his eyes, but replied nonetheless. It was clear that he simply wanted to share his story with Bob rather than to answer my question.


    ¡°I found myself in a place filled with white fire. I too saw Mother. She looked at me and knew that I was a warrior. She showed me countless images of great battles. My ancestors triumphing over fearsome enemies many times their size. When I woke up, I knew that my destiny was to lead the tribe to greatness.¡±


    Bob listened to him with interest and turned to me. ¡°How was your meeting with the Mother?¡±


    I felt completely flabbergasted. Is that what was supposed to happen? Bob¡¯s story of feeling divine presence could¡¯ve been written off as excessive reverence of a neophyte. Gharak, however, described being shown visions of other goblins? And both of them received some sort of a directive to follow?


    I didn¡¯t have time to ponder all of this new information right now. I had suspected that my ¡°Awakened monster¡± trait might have separated me to a certain extent from the rest of the goblins, but that was a bit much. I only knew that sharing my own experience of hearing an impersonal voice following a script wasn¡¯t the best idea.


    ¡°When the pyre was lit, a bright light filled my eyes and I was transported to a white space of immaculate beauty.¡± I started, doctoring my own story to adhere closer to a revelation than a character creation screen in a video game. ¡°I heard Mother¡¯s voice. She said that my path is great and leads outwards. I could see images of strange lands, cities filled with people, incredible creatures flying in the skies. My body started changing and when I woke up, I knew that I had just taken the first step of a long journey.¡±


    Bob looked at me with wide eyes. ¡°You could understand Mother¡¯s words?¡± Crap. ¡°No, no. I heard her voice, but couldn¡¯t hear any sounds. Only, when she spoke, the knowledge would appear in my mind.¡± I quickly added, hoping this would cover up my slip up.


    It seemed to have worked. Bob was sufficiently impressed with my fabrication and even Gharak, who was clearly jealous of her reaction, didn¡¯t poke any holes in my story.


    I was stepping on thin ice, but I had to ask the most pertinent question. ¡°During the ceremony, Mother bestowed upon me knowledge of something called a status window.¡± I ventured, cringing at my own sloppy storytelling. ¡°It¡¯s supposed to reveal to me all the information about my body and abilities, but I wasn¡¯t able to access it. Do you know anything about it?¡±


    They both looked at me incredulously. As I expected. They had no idea what I was talking about and only exhorted me to do my utmost to discover it on my own. When it came to the Mother, even Alpha pushed his petty rivalry aside to grudgingly encourage me.


    The two other goblins, Trax and Rubi, returned carrying a small metal bowl. It looked like it used to be a shoulderguard that someone had clumsily hammered into a general shape of a container. It was half filled with pasty gruel, not the steroid packed kind I grew used to back in the nursery, but nourishing enough for my current condition.


    I already felt quite a bit better now, thanks to the potion I drank, so I didn¡¯t require help eating. I quickly slurped it down. Pleasant warmth started radiating from my stomach.


    ¡°Is there more?¡± I asked. This put a damper on the atmosphere. My question was met with silence and four pairs of eyes showing varying levels of resentment. Ashamed, I realized how brainless my question was. They all looked hungry and downtrodden. Meanwhile, as soon as I opened my eyes, I consumed their only potion, ate their food, and even asked for seconds.


    I closed my eyes, not saying anything more. The other goblins also didn¡¯t have the energy for more conversation and curled up to sleep on the ground. Just like we did back when we were children. The pale blue light giving the impression of covering our resting bodies with a soft translucent blanket.

 Chapter 8: First Foray into the Dungeon

    I awoke several hours later, my shoulder shaken by Bob. I still didn¡¯t feel well enough to walk about, but I couldn¡¯t continue leeching off them. I was also eager to learn more about the world I got reincarnated into. If I didn¡¯t count the brief foray into the great hall where the ceremony took place, my experience so far had been limited to the two samey looking rooms.


    The memories of goblin culture I received during the ceremony proved to be more difficult to access than I anticipated. It was easy to recall relevant information when facing a specific situation, but browsing them at will wasn¡¯t all that easy.


    Without some kind of a stimulus to grasp at the connecting thread it felt like tangling with water. Everything was mixed together and, disturbingly, some of the shreds of information I did manage to get a hold off contained knowledge completely at odds with what I experienced so far.


    I got on my feet and inspected my condition. My vitality continued restoring overnight, standing now at 147/160 (175). I was slowly getting closer to the 175th mark, which I assumed I would be able to reach only when my bones and other internal injuries finished mending.


    The other goblins got ready at the same time as me and we all followed Bob outside. I might have been the nominal leader of our little group, but as I¡¯ve spent all this time unconscious, that mantle temporarily passed to her.


    The way led into a small anteroom. It was just as dim as our room, the lichen being the only source of light here as well, but I could see that the walls were made from uniform white bricks.


    Another group of goblins was already waiting there. Amongst them were the two red ones who fought for the position of leader during the ceremony. I easily spotted the victor by contrasting them with each other. In their duel there wasn¡¯t a huge difference in strength between the two, but now one of them was clearly maintaining a respectable distance from the other, keeping his head slightly lowered. This posture was further magnified in the remaining green skinned goblins.


    Not long after we came, I heard the sound of heavy footsteps announcing the arrival of another group. This one was led by Khar, the red half-orc who beat me into a coma. Unlike the rest of us, he wasn¡¯t clothed in tribal wear but a hodgepodge of various pieces of armor. The most eye catching weren¡¯t his garments, though. It was the massive rusted sword he rested on his shoulder, likely due to lack of a sheath. The scrawny goblins beside him served as a backdrop that further emphasized his enormous size.


    His gaze demanded absolute obedience and even I found myself lowering my head when his eyes fell on me.


    ¡°Bring me food.¡± he announced. ¡°The group which brings the most will get to eat after me.¡±


    That was all.


    Having said his piece, he turned back the way he came in, leaving even his own entourage behind him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Bob said. She led us through a labyrinth of corridors and after a few minutes of walking, we arrived at the great hall. This was the first time I could take my time to study it. It was no longer lit by the great pyre, making it even darker than ordinary rooms. Due to its enormous size, even the colonies of lichen growing on the walls weren¡¯t enough to supply it with sufficient light.


    This wasn¡¯t a problem for goblins. Their eyes were made to thrive in low light environments and I could see dozens of them hustling and bustling all around the place. Groups were coming in and out of the many corridors, all leading to this core area of the tribe. Some of the passageways were blocked with doors, while others seemed to be just simple tunnels, likely dug by the goblins themselves.


    I was able to catch traces of warm light coming from some of these places, followed by an enticing aroma of cooking food. Bob didn¡¯t dally, however, and led us away from the crowd, into yet another set of corridors.


    We navigated these maze like hallways for some time as the sounds of the tribe gradually grew fainter till they couldn¡¯t be heard at all. Our group slowed down as well.


    ¡°This is it.¡± Bob suddenly said. I looked at her not understanding. We were in a tunnel not very different to the ones we walked through before. The only visible difference lied in greater density of vegetation. The walls were covered in sprawling ivy and peculiar types of mushrooms grew from rare spots where a missing brick revealed dark soil.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°This is what we¡¯ve been doing these past few days.¡± She explained. ¡°An elder from the tribe would take us into the dungeon, guiding us and showing which types of plants are edible. Starting from today we have to do this on our own.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t we get lost?¡± I asked. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could manage to return to our own room on my own, let alone if I had to traverse deeper into these dark tunnels.


    ¡°We can find our way back by simply following the scent we leave behind. At least that¡¯s what the elder said.¡±


    I took a deep sniff trying to determine the validity of this method. We definitely left what could be euphemistically called a rich aroma. The most pungent stench hung around Alpha, the not so little devil revealing a surprising usefulness to his person. Still, I wasn¡¯t sure how long it took until our smell would disperse, and I wasn¡¯t about to venture forth with this as my only lifeline.


    I looked around. ¡°Gather the ivy growing on the walls. We¡¯ll drop its leaves along the way to mark our path.¡± My group members only looked at me. ¡°Elder said its poisonous, if you want to, do it yourself.¡± Gharak grumbled.


    I briefly considered following the goblin custom and simply beating him into submission but my injuries still weren¡¯t completely healed. Whenever I forgot myself and took a breath that was too deep, my chest would flare up in pain. It wasn¡¯t worth it.


    ¡°How poisonous did he say it was?¡± I asked. ¡°We don¡¯t know. He only told us not to touch it.¡± Bob answered.


    I curiously rubbed one of the leaves. It didn¡¯t look too different than the poison ivy I knew from my own world. If all it did was cause an irritation of the skin, I wouldn¡¯t really care. Past days increased my threshold of tolerable pain. The thing was, plants in my world required sunlight to grow. I couldn¡¯t fathom how these circumvented this basic need and managed to flourish in the dark corridors of the dungeon.


    This also meant that they could be far more poisonous than the species I was familiar with. Still, I had an inkling that they shouldn¡¯t be too different. I crushed the leaf in my hand, letting its juices come into contact with my skin.


    As expected, I saw my skin becoming inflamed. The blue of my palm turned purple as burning sensation radiated from the affected area. It was more severe than I expected, but not unbearably so. Most importantly, my vitality didn¡¯t drop. It seemed that the poison only stimulated the pain receptors and didn¡¯t pose any real threat to your health.


    I clenched my teeth and gathered an armful of the leaves from the walls. The skin on my chest and forearms quickly became irritated. Admittedly, I felt silly. Furthermore, I had no idea if my plan would prove any more useful than the method the elder taught them. If I had some hopes of impressing my companions with this display of otherworldly knowledge before, I was now fueled by sheer stubbornness.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I said leaving a few leaves behind as I walked onwards. Doubtful eyes of my party members kept burning holes through my back.


    We walked in silence. Every now and again Rubi or Trax would spot an edible plant or mushroom and we¡¯d stop, waiting for them to pick it up. I was honestly surprised at their sharp eyesight. Everytime they found something they claimed was good to eat, I¡¯d ask them to pass it over and then diligently try to memorize its characteristics. Tiny shrooms with brightly spotted caps, big and fleshy conks, some were just mucus covered balls dangling from stems twisted in a corkscrew fashion. There really wasn¡¯t any rhyme or reason to it.


    Yet despite my high perception stat, they kept spotting them before me. It seemed that even the unevolved goblins had some areas they excelled at. I also suspected that it couldn¡¯t have been the few odd days they spent with the elder that taught them all of this, but rather some part of the inheritance they received during the advancement.


    It was also possible that they were grabbing stuff at random. Given that Khar was the one who would eat it first, I didn¡¯t care too much one way or the other.


    I suddenly heard some noises coming from behind a corner ahead of us and motioned the rest of the group to halt.


    ¡°Did elder tell you anything about other creatures living here?¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Some will kill you and some are good food.¡± Bob whispered back.


    Great, so we either continue to starve or solve the hunger problem for another monster instead.


    I carefully put one foot in front of another and slowly inched forward. We couldn¡¯t just run away from every living being we came across here. And there were five of us. Our group should be able to deal with it unless it turned out to be an apex predator. In which case it must¡¯ve sensed us long before I heard it, so we were doomed anyways.


    My increased intelligence stat kept churning out these logical observations. They made no difference to my dawning realization that I was trying to creep up on an unknown, terrifying beast in a dark dungeon. The sounds of paws scratching the ground and energetic sniffing grew more distinct. God, I should¡¯ve agreed to have my psychology altered by the system. These fucking goblins keep following me without a worry in their hearts. Wait. Are they even following me?!


    I nearly snapped my neck suddenly jerking to look behind me. The group stared back at me. Okay. They¡¯re still here.


    I¡¯ve reached the corner. The source of the noises was just behind it. I could now envision its long sharp claws that kept striking the brick wall. Why was it being so loud?! Only creatures that don¡¯t care about being heard can be this audacious!


    My breath held in, I took a peak behind the wall.

 Chapter 9: Fighting a Dungeon Monster

    I saw... something. It was the size of a large dog and sit on the floor using its front paws to furiously dig into the crevice between two bricks. The creature¡¯s body was covered in rare patches of fur but mostly naked.


    Its skin looked like someone took a massive heaping of dough, flattened it with a rolling pin, and then stretched it over a haphazard assortment of sticks. The skin covering the shoulder blades was incredibly taut, seemingly ready to rip at a sudden move, whereas the folds around the rib cage sagged in a sickening manner.


    Dark, matted fur covered most of its head. Instead of a nose, the center of its face revealed a long horizontal slit. There was a fold of skin dangling from the top of it, and it kept trembling in tandem with the creature¡¯s furious sniffing.


    Most disturbingly, I could see a long tongue slithering from between its sharp teeth, trying to reach into the crevice whenever its paws managed to enlarge the opening a bit.


    I stared at it dumbfoundedly. Even integrating into the goblin society never prepared me for the sight of such a monstrosity. Should we retreat? As bizarre as it looked, I had no way of gauging its strength. It seemed too preoccupied to notice us, but whatever it was trying to retrieve could prove useful to ourselves as well.


    My thoughts were interrupted when my party acted of their own accord and charged at the beast themselves.


    Gharak was the first to move. He simply rushed forward, his arms outstretched, trying to immediately pin the creature to the ground. Rubi and Trax were the second to act, following closely behind him. Only Bob and I were a step behind everyone else.


    As absorbed with excavating its treasure as the monster was, it couldn¡¯t miss a goblin launching itself at its body. It let out a high-pitched shriek and nimbly jumped to the side to avoid the impact. However, the corridor was too narrow to dodge Gharak completely, and the red goblin managed to grab onto its body.


    This beast howled in indignation. It swiped one of its front paws at Alpha, the claws carving a bloody wound on his chest. The duo of green goblins meanwhile surrounded the beast from two sides and started to attack it with claws of their own. Their assault managed to leave some marks on its skin, but the drawback of having no weapons was evident.


    Finally, Bob and I joined the fray as well. We both targeted the beast¡¯s head, Bob¡¯s fingers went for the eyes, whereas I tried to rip its throat out. That was easier said than done, the skin around the jugular was stretchy and leathery and I couldn¡¯t quite pierce it.


    All this time the monster never stopped biting and scratching in retaliation. Most of its attacks focused on Alpha, who wrapped himself around its legs, preventing it from running away.


    I had to quickly do something. We clearly didn¡¯t have the strength to break through its defences and prolonging this struggle wasn¡¯t to our advantage.


    I gave up on the throat, and instead pushed my fingers deep into the slit the beast had on its face. My fingers sunk into a soft, mucus filled cavity. The feeling was disgusting, but the response it provoked proved that we finally managed to find its weak spot.


    The monster howled horribly. Its strength suddenly increasing, it finally shook Alpha off its body. I still held on, using my claws to dig as deep as I could into its tender flesh. My other hand was wrapped around its neck, so the beast didn¡¯t have many ways to throw me off, save for furiously clawing and biting at my chest.


    Distraught, it did what I didn¡¯t expect it to, and ran straight into the wall. The impact shook my body. My grip slightly weakening, I finally couldn¡¯t hold on when it attempted to shake me off again.


    I fell to the ground, my right arm completely drenched in a sticky mixture of mucus and blood. The beast didn¡¯t continue its attack, thankfully, and ran off into the depths of the dungeon, wailing pitifully as it did so. The green goblins looked set on following it, but I ordered them to stop.


    My chest hurt like hell. Checking my status, I saw that my painfully restored vitality dropped down again to 113/152 (175). Alpha¡¯s state was even more miserable. A layer of blood obfuscated the shallower wounds, but there were plenty of areas where his flesh was ripped open or straight up bitten off.


    I had no way to view his status but Gharak¡¯s condition couldn¡¯t have been good. I took off what remained of my clothes, this wasn¡¯t the time for modesty, and ripped them into bandages to tie around his injuries. The leather clothing the rest of us wore was of better quality, but it didn¡¯t serve well in these kind of emergencies.


    Despite losing a lot of blood, Alpha¡¯s condition appeared to be stable. He had managed to hold on to his consciousness throughout the entirety of the battle, and with some help from Trax and Rubi, was even able to walk, if a bit unsteadily. It remained to be seen if he would develop an infection. That would be disastrous, since we didn¡¯t have any healing potions left, but there wasn¡¯t anything we could do about it.


    With the most pressing issue taken care of, I decided to investigate what had gotten that beast so fixated in the first place.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    I quickly located the place where I spotted it originally. Near the bottom of the wall there were two bricks, one of which was slightly loosened, creating a narrow gap between them. I kneeled down to take a closer look.


    I saw numerous claw marks, yet what caught my attention was a glint of faintly shining red light deep inside the crevice. I tried sticking my fingers inside and pulling it out, but they wouldn¡¯t fit.


    I wasn¡¯t discouraged. A small stick would¡¯ve worked best, but there was so much vegetation all around us that creating a quick substitute wasn¡¯t an issue at all.


    I grabbed a piece of sturdy vine hanging from the wall. It was the right size, only a bit too flexible. Next, I took a thin string of ivy and tightly coiled it around the vine. It wasn¡¯t as stiff as a real stick and would come undone very quickly, but it was sufficient to push towards me whatever was stuck there.


    A small red stone came tumbling down. It was about the size of a fingernail, with a glossy, semi-translucent surface.


    ¡°Do you know what it is?¡± I asked the party. They all shook their heads.


    Well, whatever it was, I wasn¡¯t throwing it away. It was the only bounty we¡¯ve obtained from our fight, save for a number of wounds. I could only hope it really had some value and it wasn¡¯t the case that the dumb beast was simply looking for daubles to decorate its lair with.


    ¡°Rubi, pick up the food you dropped during the fight. We¡¯re heading back.¡±


    It was too dangerous to continue our expedition. Alpha was completely out of commision and I wasn¡¯t feeling all too well either. During the battle I had to go all out and now even shallow breaths sent painful reminders of my recently broken ribs.


    If we chanced upon another powerful monster, our only option would be to split up and run away in different directions. It was best to just head straight back to the tribe. Which reminded me of something.


    ¡°Trax. Give me your clothes.¡±


    The goblin protested, but I was able to convince him with a few kicks. It showed me once again just how strongly ingrained the sense of hierarchy was among their kind. He could¡¯ve made it far more difficult for me if he wasn¡¯t so reluctant to retaliate against my attacks or simply showed a bit more spirit. He definitely wasn¡¯t so cowardly when we were facing the beast just a few moments ago. Wait a second¡­


    ¡°Why did you attack before I gave the signal?¡± I asked him. The buck naked goblin didn¡¯t respond, however, after a moment, Rubi chimed in.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. At the moment it felt like I stopped thinking. I just knew I had to kill it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an intruder. It shouldn¡¯t be here.¡± Alpha suddenly added.


    Oh? I was certain that what we faced was just another monster from the dungeon. Did it break in from the outside?


    ¡°How could you tell it was an intruder?¡±


    ¡°I just knew it.¡±


    ¡°Why did you want to kill it?¡±


    ¡°I just did.¡±


    Gharak¡¯s responses were becoming more and more succinct. Part of it stemmed from his exhaustion, but it was obvious that he found the subject itself difficult to speak about.


    ¡°How about you, Bob?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t felt anything like that. When everyone started attacking, I just joined in as well.¡±


    Same as me. I fell into thought. The green goblins acted fairly closely to what one would expect from a monster inhabiting a dungeon. When they discovered an outsider, their instincts kicked in and they recklessly attacked it, with no thoughts about their personal safety.


    The issue became more convoluted when it came to colored variants like me. I rejected any changes to my psychology, but even goblins like Bob and Gharak, who never heard any questions during their advancement process and most likely undergone the automatic evolution, displayed some measure of independence or at least self-reflection.


    Alpha kept silent, but I could tell that he was brooding over his recent actions. His face was impassive, but getting his teeth smashed as a child must have left a trauma on the poor guy, because now whenever he became agitated, he¡¯d start absentmindedly clicking his molars together for comfort. Walking close to him felt a bit like having a stroll with cuckoo clock.


    ****


    The way back took us close to three hours. In the end, the ivy leaves I so painfully gathered and left to mark our way turned out to be a mixed success. Our scent did grow faint at some point, but maybe my memory was better than I expected, because whenever we came to a fork in the tunnel, I could somehow intuit which path to take. They still saved us some time, cause even if I felt I knew which way to take, I was bound to spend minutes hesitating at every intersection without the assurance the leaves gave me.


    ¡°Is there any reason we can¡¯t eat the food we gathered ourselves?¡± We started hearing the distant sounds of the tribe and this was the last chance to do something before we had to surrender our bounty to Khar. It didn¡¯t seem to be enough to feed the five of us, let alone after our leader took his share.


    ¡°You can¡¯t eat them raw. They need to be boiled in a stew to remove the bitterness.¡±


    That¡¯s it? Compared to starvation, even if the taste was the most vile thing imaginable, I¡¯d stomach it.


    I grabbed one of the mushrooms and took a bite out of it. Chewed it. Spit it out. And then spit again to get the rest of the saliva from my mouth. Too late. I bent over a wall and started heaving, my stomach muscles convulsing to eject any remnants of the thing from my body.


    It wasn¡¯t just bitter. It transcended the very notion. The stomach acid that rushed to my mouth was sweet in comparison.


    When I got a hold of myself again, I abandoned the idea of trying to consume the food on my own. This only left the tiny red stone I held in my hand. It didn¡¯t have any obvious use, but it held a certain attraction that I suspected could catch Khar¡¯s interest.


    I couldn¡¯t think of any better place to hide it, save for one place that reminded me a bit too much of prisons, so I popped it into my mouth and held it under the tongue. Having something to suck on had the additional benefit of stimulating my salivary glands, further diluting the bitter aftertaste that still lingered in my mouth.


    We returned to the anteroom that was connected to our rooms. The other goblins were already waiting for us.

 Chapter 10: Fighting for Mothers Attention

    We still had to go through the mandatory sparring session before we had the chance to eat anything.


    Despite feeling tired and sore all over, I found myself looking forward towards the upcoming training. Our dungeon excursion didn¡¯t improve my stats or abilities one bit, but I was convinced that even in this strange new world some good old practice would eventually yield benefits. It just felt too bizarre for your skills to be restricted to the point system.


    Moreover, the spar would be overseen by Derak, the same goblin who guided us out of nursery to the ceremony hall. His brand of cheerful boisterousness has left a good impression on me. If he would instruct us in proper hand to hand combat, I could finally learn some real techniques and stop relying on just throwing myself at an enemy and madly swinging punches until one of them connected.


    My hopes were quickly dashed.


    ¡°Stances? Fighting moves? He looked at me with amusement. ¡°That¡¯s not something that can be learnt. Mother blesses her warriors if she deems their efforts worthy and that¡¯s that. You just have to keep trying your best, jump into every battle you can and fight tooth and nail till you can¡¯t distinguish whose blood is staining the floor.¡± He revealed a broad smile as his eyes shone with mirth.


    ¡°Only then will you feel her grace again. Suddenly you¡¯ll find yourself moving faster, hitting stronger; your fists will execute a move you¡¯ve never seen before. This is when you¡¯ll know that you¡¯ve finally earned yourself another peck on the cheek from Mother herself¡± he finished.


    ¡°A peck on the cheek?¡± I asked. Some red came to the old goblin¡¯s face. He laughed loudly to cover his embarrassment. ¡°You¡¯ll know what I¡¯m talking about when the time comes, brat.¡±


    He turned to address the goblin youths gathered around. ¡°How about it? Are you ready to fight for Mother¡¯s attention?¡± An enthusiastic roar was his response. Starved and beaten as they were, his words managed to light a fire in their bodies. I was the only one who was still unconvinced, but whichever way this all worked, more fighting experience was always welcome.


    To my surprise even Alpha stumbled forward, eager to temper himself despite his numerous wounds. That was too much. I wasn¡¯t sure if he would be able to follow us tomorrow and now he was all fired up for even more abuse.


    ¡°Stand down.¡± I said.


    ¡°Make me.¡± He growled back.


    Seeing the valiant spirit animating Alpha¡¯s wretched body, Derak was ecstatic.


    ¡°Good blood! That¡¯s how it¡¯s supposed to be done! If someone¡¯s telling you to cower, lay them on the ground!¡±


    I sighed. There was no other option. I had to quickly knock the fool down. It wouldn¡¯t take much effort, but it still felt ridiculous to fight with someone who I worried might succumb to infection during the night.


    The fight began, only Alpha didn¡¯t rush me as usual, likely cause he would just fall on the ground if he attempted to do so. My best course of action would be to circle around him and tire him out with continuous attacks, only that ran contrary to my aim of hurting him as little as possible.


    Knocking him out with a single punch would be the best option. His head had suffered comparatively the least damage from that monster¡¯s frenzy, so it should be the healthiest place to hit him, right?


    I approached him steadily, planning to end it with a single strike to the jaw. Maybe an additional kick or two, once he fell to the ground. Just to make sure he really was out of it.


    To my surprise, as soon as I got in range, his fist flew towards my chest, crashing into my recently fractured rib cage. A wave of pain assaulted me and I swear I could feel some of the bones getting slightly misaligned from their positions. Motherfucker!


    I couldn¡¯t even retaliate cause that single attack burned through all the strength the fool had left in him. Bastard just fell on the ground right after, so despite the pain and indignation I was feeling, I couldn¡¯t really pummel him in this state.


    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Derak roared. ¡°Mother will surely smile upon that one.¡± I grumbled inwardly what Mother could do with her blasted smile and returned from the ring.


    The next to fight was Bob. Surprisingly, she didn¡¯t choose to challenge me and instead went for the leader of the opposite group. She strolled onto the ring with her characteristic gait, somehow leisurely and brimming with energy at the same time. Her eyes shone with excitement.


    She impressed me further during the fight. I even found myself reevaluating whether she went easy on me during our previous spar. It¡¯s not like I wasn¡¯t confident I could deal with that goblin, but I definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to do it in the same style as her.


    Bob¡¯s movements were agile and light. She cleanly evaded her enemy¡¯s attacks by ducking and sidestepping at the key moments. Everytime her opponent overextended himself, she¡¯d pounce, her claws drawing blood. It wasn¡¯t like the other goblin wasn¡¯t her match, but his attacks never quite reached her. From the side, it looked like a ferocious cat playing with its prey. Shallow cuts slowly accumulated on goblin¡¯s chest and face till he eventually collapsed, too weakened from blood loss.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    In the end, every single goblin present fought. Even Trax and Rudi gave an impressive performance against other basic goblins. It solidified my belief that my party consisted of true maniacs.


    To tie the whole thing off, each group had to fight a round against Khar. This might have seemed like it would even the odds quite a bit, but no such luck. The red half-orc casually started by taking out the green goblins one by one, and then proceeded to make short work of Bob and I.


    She survived a few moments longer than I did. Possibly because her attacks, though quick, had a hard time actually piercing his freakish skin. As for me, I gave it my all. The memory of my previous defeat still burnt brightly in my mind. Though it didn¡¯t matter.


    Whereas Alpha got a heaping of raw stats during his advancement and Bob appeared to benefit more from improvement in her movements and technique, Khar really proved himself to be the Mother¡¯s favorite, cause he got both. Despite his massive size that would suggest sluggishness of movement, he was surreptitiously agile. His instincts were on point too, he seemed to be able to predict my every move as if he trained all his life. It didn¡¯t take long for me to fall behind on tempo and receive that single hit, which ended the fight.


    Of course falling to the ground didn¡¯t end the fight in Khar¡¯s mind. It had to be followed by a round of merciless kicking.


    He didn¡¯t break my bones like the time we fought before. Even he must have become aware that crippling the same goblins he depended on to bring him food wasn¡¯t the best way to go about it.


    No, the aim of his thrashing wasn¡¯t to break bones but spirit. One kick after another landed on my curled up body, accurately targeting every spot soft and squishy. Mother in her great wisdom must have blessed him with some sort of a beastial instinct, cause the beatings wouldn¡¯t end so long as he could sense a sliver of protest or indignance coming from his victim. The only way to end this torment was to surrender completely and accept the harsh truth he was kicking into you. Khar was the leader and you were nothing.


    Reaching that point did bring a measure of relief.


    Your mind became empty of all thoughts. The bruises didn¡¯t stop hurting, but once you really let go, the pain was no longer coupled with a sense of injustice and desperation, but rather a certain tranquility. It felt like cutting of a part of yourself that only brought you suffering. In a way, it was liberating.


    I dragged myself up from the floor, instinctively keeping my head lowered. The other goblins fared no better than me, Khar didn¡¯t limit himself to group leaders and exercised his will on every person present here.


    Only Derak who spectated the whole fight was still beaming. The ill fitting chainmail on his chest jingled softly as he kept muttering under his breath, ¡°Good blood. Good blood.¡±


    ***


    We cooked the meal in Khar¡¯s room. It wasn¡¯t any larger than ours, so fitting three groups of goblins at the same time made it feel quite cramped. There was a pit in the center which he filled with dry fuel made from plants and lit on fire using a flint. The fire rose and started licking the pot hanging over the pit.


    Calling it a pot was a bit of a stretch. In reality, it was an iron chestpiece, repeatedly hammered to fashion it into a general shape of a bowl. This was something I noticed about the tribe in general. They didn¡¯t possess the tool making skills that seemed necessary to sustain such a primitive society. Most of what they used appeared to be repurposed pieces of armor and other knick knacks they must have found on bodies of adventurers challenging the dungeon.


    Some of it stemmed from lack of wood. It wasn¡¯t really possible to craft a spear from some vines and mushrooms. Even animal bones were a rare sight. Either other beasts roaming the dungeons were an uncommon occurrence or their corpses didn¡¯t make for good materials.


    This resulted in a situation where most goblins I saw didn¡¯t carry any weapons whatsoever, with the exception of colored variants that led their own groups. Some weren¡¯t even clothed, like the poor Trax, who had to surrender his wardrobe to me.


    The savory aroma of the cooking stew slowly rose and suffused the tightly packed room. Despite the open door, there wasn¡¯t enough air in the room, so hunger coupled with light oxygen deficiency left us dizzy and in a sort of trance. There were around twenty of us, our shoulders pushing against each other, and beads of sweat glistening on our bodies.


    Still, no one made a move to try and steal any of the stew from the pot. Khar seemed completely unaware of the surrounding atmosphere, as if he was the only person in the room, but the pressure he was exuding was only stronger for it.


    When he deemed the stew ready, Khar grabbed a bowl and filled it directly from the pot. He languidly brought the bowl to his lips and gulped down its contents in a single motion. Then he repeated this action, completely unconcerned with dozens of eyeballs anxiously observing his every move.


    This continued until more than half of the pot was emptied out.


    He belched with satisfaction and wiped the rivulets of spilled stew from his mouth. Only then did he turn his attention to the hungry mob in front of him, as if our existence temporarily slipped his mind.


    His eyes fell on me. I quickly lowered my head. There was no shred of dissatisfaction in my body, only a loyal dog hoping for his master to feed him.


    The time seemed to stretch in eternity as I waited. Finally, he snorted and threw the bowl towards me.


    I almost stumbled catching it, fear mixed with excitement making my moves jerky and uncoordinated. Disgusting feelings of gratitude and pride at being chosen first stirred up in me as I walked to the pot. I filled my bowl to the brim, just like Khar did, and slowly slurped down its nourishing contents.


    The long wait and knowledge of being in the center of attention made this stew taste even better than the one I ate in the nursery. My stomach, which shrivelled up and tightened during the day, suddenly woke up and grew ravenous. The blood in my veins roused, spreading wondrous warmth throughout my body.


    I licked the bowl clean. Initially, this one serving made my body feel full, but I quickly started covetously eyeing the rest of the stew in the pot.


    I looked at Khar, trying to gauge if it would be permissible to get myself another helping. He stared back at me, his face expressionless. I shuddered and passed the bowl to Bob. I didn¡¯t quite dare to gamble on the meaning hidden in these eyes.


    We returned to our room after each member of our group has had a serving. There wasn¡¯t any talk between us. The exhaustion of the day pushed down on us and the food in our bellies demanded time to be digested.


    I curled up on the ground. My mind was completely blank as I was ready to doze off.


    Suddenly I heard a message.


    [Resistance has increased to 10.]

 Chapter 11: Resistance Training

    My eyes flashed open. My resistance has increased?! How was that possible? I quickly opened my status to look for changes. The resistance has indeed increased. The other stats didn¡¯t budge, but there was one other discrepancy that was even more jarring.


    My vitality showed 132/165 (175).


    I gazed at the numbers incomprehensibly.


    It was down to 113 after the fight with the dungeon monster, I was positive I was remembering that correctly. Yet even though I was later thrashed by Khar, instead of dropping further, it actually went up? Did his kicks carry a healing touch?


    I exited the status window to inspect my condition the old fashion way. The scratches on my chest were pretty much healed. Even my broken ribs have almost returned to their normal condition. Only the fresh bruises from the sparring session continued to trouble me.


    How is it possible?


    Was it the stew? It did taste like manna from heaven when I ate it, but that was mostly because of the hunger I felt.


    I gulped and almost choked on something hard in my mouth. The stone. I spit it out and observed it carefully.


    It was a miracle in itself that I didn¡¯t swallow it with the stew. By then I was too distracted to remember about it and if it hadn¡¯t hidden itself so snuggly under my tongue, it would¡¯ve already landed in my stomach.


    Were my wounds healed by this little thing? I futilely tried to curb my enthusiasm. The feeling of resignation that had sunk into my bones wasn¡¯t just kicked into me by Khar. This whole time I tried to raise my stats without any progress and the later beatings only fueled the dread I was already sensing.


    Without being able to raise my levels I would never have the strength needed to escape from here. If the food continued to be monopolized by Khar, let alone getting stronger, maintaining my current condition would be difficult.


    The anxiety I felt was replaced with giddiness. I popped the stone into my mouth and watched my vitality attentively. After about 5 minutes elapsed, my vitality once more increased by one point.


    This proves it. The stone greatly sped up my recovery. And the stats could be increased without spending any points. It was even possible that if you raised them enough, you would trigger a level up.


    I didn¡¯t sleep a wink that night.


    My mind was abuzz, furiously analyzing my situation and churning out plans for the coming days. I admit I was frantic, but now that I had found a ray of hope, I felt all the more terrified of losing it again.


    When the next day began, I was the first to rise and woke everyone else. The concept of a new day was a bit of a misnomer in this case, since there wasn¡¯t any difference between night and day here, but goblins followed some sort of an internal clock and you could hear increased sounds of activity coming from the outside.


    My vitality continued increasing throughout the night and only slowed down when it reached 170/170 (175). As far as I understood it, the number in brackets designated what my vitality would look life if my condition was perfect. Should I suffer some permanent or incredibly slow to recover injuries, my real vitality would drop, leaving the number in brackets as a signpost. Without using a potion or, in my case, the red stone, it could remain at that level permanently.


    The other goblins stared at me, clearly aware of the different aura about me. Still, no one said anything, they were all too hungry and bruised to spare the effort.


    I walked to Alpha, who stood unsteadily.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He hissed back. There was something to be said about the strength of his spirit. Looking at his barely healed wounds, I couldn¡¯t say I would be able to show similar determination. Though one of my plans required exactly that.


    ¡°Great.¡± I replied, smiling at his battered face. ¡°Stick it in your mouth and suck it.¡± I said, giving him the stone. ¡°If you somehow swallow it, I won¡¯t wait for you to shit it out, I¡¯ll cut you open and pull it out of your stomach.¡± I didn¡¯t growl or bother to display any menace, but the calm certainty that resounded in my words still made him flinch.


    ¡°The rest of you¡± I turned around and faced them. ¡°Gather as much of that glowing plant growing on the walls as you can and bring it here. Alongside a canteen of water.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a canteen.¡± Bob said.


    I thought for a second. Didn¡¯t one of the other goblins have one? They shouldn¡¯t have left by now.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll borrow it from someone else.¡± I said. ¡°Gharak, you stay here, the rest of you, follow me.¡±


    They followed me outside. In the anteroom the other group of goblins was already waiting for Kharak¡¯s daily announcement.


    I didn¡¯t bother saying anything and simply walked up to their leader and before he managed to put up his guard, I punched him square in the jaw.


    The other gobs were taken aback by this unexpected act of aggression and were stunned for a second before they reacted. I managed to land one more hit on their leader, when the other red goblin of their group took a swipe at me with his claws.


    I nimbly ducked under his attack and punched him in his unprotected gut. The force sent him reeling, which allowed me to deliver a quick kick to his nethers.


    The difference is incredible. During the night I decided that it was high time to spend my unassigned points. Saving them for later would only hamper my future growth. I put one point into Strength raising it to 7 and two of my skill points into Unarmed Combat. That felt like a massive waste, but I had little choice when there was no way I could get my hands on a weapon and even if I managed to, it¡¯d probably end up being taken by Khar.


    The three green goblins started surrounding me. I literally grew stronger overnight, but it wasn¡¯t to the point that I could take on their whole group on my own, especially if they all threw themselves at me.


    ¡°What are you waiting for?! Help me!¡± I shouted at my own entourage who was even more stupefied by my actions than the group I attacked.


    My words finally woke them up and they joined the fray. Bob went for one of the red goblins whereas Rubi and Trax focused the two green ones.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    This allowed me a nearly unobstructed access to the leader of their group. The lone green goblin who still tried to assist him was dispatched with a single kick to the chest.


    The leader¡¯s eyes blazed with fury as he charged at me, employing the standard goblin maneuver of tackling your opponent to the ground. This didn¡¯t faze me. My speed remained the same, but the instincts in my body reached a new level. When he got close, I easily sidestepped him and then gave him a good kick in the back.


    He fell to the ground with a loud thud. I gave him one more hard kick to the head and moved to help out the rest of my group.


    The whole fight probably didn¡¯t take more than three minutes. Bob was virtually unscathed while her opponent moaned on the floor, his hands tightly clamped over his eye, some blood pouring from between his fingers. Trax and Rudi fared a bit worse, mostly trading injuries with their enemies until I came along. Still, I could feel their renewed enthusiasm, the gloom that started shrouding our group had mostly dispersed.


    I grabbed the canteen from their fallen leader, his hateful gaze not souring my mood in the slightest.


    ¡°Trax.¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s time you chose your new wardrobe.¡±


    We left for the dungeon about an hour afterwards. My canteen was filled with water mixed with the glowing lichen that grew on the walls. So long as I vigorously shook the canteen beforehand, the liquid I sprayed worked like the glowing dye I saw the goblins paint their bodies with during the ceremony. My plan was to use it to mark our path. I didn¡¯t know how long it would emit its light, now that the lichen was ripped from the walls, but it was worth investigating. At the very least it struck me as a much better solution than the ivy leaves.


    Which didn¡¯t mean I gave up on the ivy. When we reached the dungeon, I ignored the shocked expressions of my group and started smearing the juice from its crushed leaves all over my body.


    My skin quickly became inflamed as a burning sensation started radiating from the affected areas. At first, the pain was noticeably lower than before, likely due to increased Resistance, but that quickly changed as I continued smearing the juices over my arms, chest, and legs.


    ¡°R-Rhys, what are you doing?¡± Bob asked, visibly unnerved by my spectacle.


    ¡°Raising my resistance.¡± I answered through gritted teeth, tears welling in my eyes. I looked at them. ¡°You¡¯re next.¡±


    The party took a collective step back.


    ¡°Listen, we¡¯ve noticed that you became stronger, but this is insane, the elder instructed us not to touch these-¡± I didn¡¯t wait for her to finish and jumped her. She screamed pitifully and tried to disentangle herself from me, but as my skin was already covered in poison, any contact she made with me also spread it to her.


    A burden shared is a burden lessened claims a proverb and in this case I couldn¡¯t agree more. Especially since some of the burning juice literally moved from me to her. I didn¡¯t torment Bob for too long however, just an hour ago she nearly plucked an eyeball from that red goblin and I wasn¡¯t sure what she¡¯d do now that she was really pissed off.


    I quickly moved towards Rudi, but Bob actually followed after me. Her claws kept cutting into my already inflamed skin, as I was trying to spread the poison over Rudi, who also started screaming. We turned into a tangled, bloody mess, all of us shrieking in pain and trying to wrestle free from one another.


    Thankfully, Bob noticed that while attacking me only increased the amount of the poison that would get on her skin, the opposite would happen if she focused on Rudi. This gave me a chance to grab a bit more of the ivy and pull the terrified Trax into the fray.


    In the end, the only one who got spared was Alpha, who possibly for the very first time seemed to be glad to not be involved in an activity involving Bob. He merely watched from a safe distance, rapid clicking of his teeth somehow reminding me of a drum solo during a jazz concert.


    Eventually everyone grew too tired to continue fighting. Bob just laid on the ground quietly weeping. I knew that the poison didn¡¯t really damage ones vitality, but from the looks of it, our group seemed to be in a worse state than after our fight with the monster.


    I stood by my decision. I didn¡¯t know to what extent that ivy contributed to levelling up the Resistance stat, but it almost certainly helped. Also, if I said something like ¡°I guess I might have overdone it a bit, let¡¯s just forget about it.¡± the rest of the group would probably tear me apart.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I said. They all cast me hateful glances. ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt as bad when you take your mind off it.¡±


    My words didn¡¯t seem to convince them one iota, but there really wasn¡¯t anything else to do, so they followed.


    I kept using the glowing dye to mark our way every time we came across a diverging path. The best thing would be to carve notches in the bricks themselves, but I didn¡¯t have anything sharp and hard enough to do that.


    Our excursion proved to be far less eventful than yesterday''s one, if one were to discount the scuffle at the beginning. We haven¡¯t met with any new monsters at any rate.


    Along the way I kept picking up different species of mushrooms and plants that we came across. Testing them on oneself would normally prove suicidal, but with the help of the red stone, I figured I could afford to risk it.


    Memories of poisons that could kill a grown man with a single drop flashed through my mind, but I was determined to gather strength at any cost. My XP bar still hasn¡¯t gained even a single point after all.


    I could theoretically test it on other goblins, but I felt a deep aversion towards the notion. I was also fairly sure that if I happened to accidentally kill one of them in my experiments, the tribe wouldn¡¯t take it very well.


    Before we returned to the tribe, I got my stone back from Alpha. His condition has recovered spectacularly during our hours long excursion. In the beginning, we had to slow down to match our speed with his, but on the way back, his brisk pace almost left us behind. Though that had something to do with Bob still being unreconciled with the poison smeared on her body.


    Every now and again I would hear a litany of somewhat confused yelps coming from the red brute. Since he was the only one to be spared my resistance training, Bob would completely wrap herself around his poison free body and rub vigorously against his skin. I silently prayed for the poor bastard. One would have to be blind not to notice his obvious attraction to the girl, even if he was probably too young to realise it himself, but you could only shake your head at the target he had chosen for his advances.


    Somehow, Bob had a talent for making their interactions a hotbed for new traumas. First she smashed his teeth and now even something as innocuous as cuddling would form a connection in his mind with the sensation of having your skin lit on fire. If there were therapists in this world, Alpha was steadily growing into one of those subjects ready made for a juicy paper that could secure you a tenure.


    At least the glowing dye turned out to be a success. Our way back was lit with drops of brightly glowing liquid. While I grew even more convinced that there was little chance of getting lost in the maze like corridors of the dungeon, possibly a boon from my dungeon species trait, I had other plans for it. If it continued to emit the light, I could use it to mark out the layout of this place in its entirety.


    Being able to sense which path to follow wasn¡¯t exactly the same as actually knowing what was where. I was no longer afraid of getting lost, but if someone asked me to draw up a map, I would be left completely clueless. This way we could at least be confident in exploring a new section of the dungeon every time we set out to scavenge for food. If that strange monster really came from the outside, we were bound to eventually find the entrance it used to get in here.


    With my arms full of possibly poisonous mushrooms, and my ears tuning out the disturbing noises coming from behind, I ventured forth, still energized by the small progress I was making.


    STATUS


    Name: Rhys


    Species: Azure Goblin (youth)


    Health: 171/171 (175)


    Mana: 0/0


    Level: 1 (0/1000)


    -Attributes-


    Strength: 7 [+1!]


    Dexterity: 7


    Agility: 5


    Constitution: 6


    Intelligence: 13 [+1!]


    -Secondary Attributes-


    Perception: 9


    Focus: 10


    Willpower: 10


    Resistance: 10 [+1!]


    -Skills-


    Hand to hand combat (Basic): 3/5 [+2!]


    Sneaking (Basic): 1/5


    General melee weapon proficiency (Basic): 1/5


    Goblin tongue: 3/3


    [2 unspent skill points remaining]


    -Traits-


    Awakened monster


    Lowlight vision


    Variant species (goblin)


    Dungeon species

 Chapter 12: Fighting on Empty Stomach

    As we were walking back to the tribe I did my best to calm the surging anxiety in my heart. I knew what was coming and what I had to do, but just knowing the right way didn¡¯t mean I was looking forward to it.


    I grumbled inwardly. Whoever thought up the phrase ¡°If you desire the ends, you must also desire the means¡± must have had only a passing acquaintance with the collective known as the human race. Wanting results without work is like the staple of every normal person! Hating the means to the extent of abandoning the ends seems much more appropriate.


    Only, hate it or not, I knew I had to go through with it.


    I once again ran by the fruits of my nightlong brainstorming session in my head.


    To escape from here I need to level up. To level up I need experience. Given the characteristics of the system and the existence of dungeons, it stands to reason that I need to kill monsters to gain experience.


    The sole monster I¡¯ve come across so far has apparently come from the outside. It¡¯s unlikely that I¡¯ll be able to find many more in short time.


    Wrong.


    I live in a tribe of monsters. There are juicy bundles of experience walking all around me.


    I sighed.


    The thing was, I couldn¡¯t quite stomach the notion of killing other goblins. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was that I developed some sense of belonging after being brought up here, that the variants didn¡¯t strike me as sufficiently different from human beings, or if I was being subtly influenced by my Dungeon Species trait. Whatever the reason, the end result was that while fighting even to the point of crippling my opponent was a-ok, as soon as my thoughts entered the territory of deliberately killing someone, I¡¯d feel a deep revulsion.


    I could fight it down, but even if I did that, how exactly would I go about actually killing anyone? Roping in the rest of my entourage seemed unlikely. I¡¯d have to slip out during the night, sneak into the chambers of some other goblin group and hope to assassinate everyone before anyone raised an alarm. Difficult. And I¡¯d still run the danger of being marked by the system as an outsider. Unlikely, but given how goblins had the ability to differentiate between an aberrant horror that belonged in the dungeon from one that didn¡¯t, the idea wasn¡¯t completely far-fetched.


    So.


    I had to raise my stats and possibly my level without gaining any experience.


    I rolled the stone in my mouth absentmindedly.


    That was something I could do. Unfortunately smearing myself with ivy was only the first and comparatively least painful step.


    As nice as it was to raise my resistance by a point or two, it didn¡¯t really make much difference in the grand scheme of things. What I really needed was a quick and sharp increase in my fighting capabilities.


    That Derak goblin had already hinted that fighting would eventually increase my skills and stats. Even to the point of learning new moves without any instruction. Only who knows how long I¡¯d have to wait for it to take effect. If I got beaten again and again, wouldn¡¯t that also work and be significantly quicker? At the very least my Constitution stat should skyrocket.


    So the brilliant plan I came up during the night was¡­ get beaten up by Khar. Hard.


    That wouldn¡¯t be a problem. He didn¡¯t exactly use a light touch when you were submitting to him and my plan was to push him even further.


    Only¡­


    I didn¡¯t want to get beaten up. It hurt. A lot. It was one thing to suffer some injuries in a battle with an evenly matched opponent and another thing completely to get laid on the ground, passively enduring blows, hoping for it to finally end. And another thing. The bastard usually relented when he noticed that there was no defiance left in you, but what if I didn¡¯t yield? Would he just never stop?


    Then again, if I let myself cower before him again, I didn¡¯t know when or even if I could manage to muster enough courage to go through with it again.


    Unresolved as I was, I still ended up following the rest of my group to the training grounds where we all gathered for the daily spar.


    Alpha¡¯s miraculous rate of recovery raised a few brows and I suddenly lamented not instructing him to conceal the stone¡¯s existence from other goblins. Luckily, he turned out to be more cunning than I expected or at least more boastful. When Derak marvelled at his constitution he kept his mouth shut, perfectly satisfied with maintaining the misunderstanding that it was Mother¡¯s grace that healed him. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    We started with one on one battles. Trax and Rudi gave quite a spectacle. Clearly inspired by Bob¡¯s antics, they were ecstatic at the chance to confront an enemy they could use to clean the poison off their bodies with. Personally, I wasn¡¯t even sure if there was any point to this, my skin still ached, but after several hours, the pain subsided significantly and was nowhere near the level from before. Still, they fought fiercely in their respective battles, immediately lunging themselves on their opponents. I would¡¯ve been even more impressed if only they had invested more energy into striking their foes rather than rubbing themselves against their bodies.


    Finally, came the time to confront Khar.


    The red half-orc must have noticed something different about me, cause he looked at me with quiet amusement. I didn¡¯t care. I matched his gaze. My Strength had been raised to seven. There were two extra points in my hand to hand combat skill. Hell, there was still some of the ivy juice on my skin. Come what may, I was determined to at least land a single good hit on the bastard.


    The fight began.


    It was still a 5v1 battle, so like before, Khar planned to begin by disposing of the weaker goblins and steadily make his way up.


    Confident that there was little they could do to him, he charged at Trax and Rubi, ready to knock them out with a simple punch.


    Despite the fact that we didn¡¯t spend any time going through our previous battles or forming any cohesive strategy, the few fights we¡¯ve been in before had started to shape our coordination as a team.


    Without exchanging any words, Alpha launched himself at Khar, trying to bind his movements, whereas Bob and I started circling around him, slashing his skin with our claws.


    Well, that was what we attempted to do, anyways.


    Though valiant, Alpha simply didn¡¯t have the strength required to restrain the half orc that was almost a third taller than him and probably weighed twice his body mass. Khar momentarily ignored Trax and Rudi and punched the red goblin coming at him in the stomach, stopping Alpha in his tracks.


    He followed it up with a quick kick, simultaneously dodging a swipe coming from Bob¡¯s side.


    I took the opportunity to attack him from another angle, only to be dismayed when I saw that even with my increased stats, I could barely pierce through his skin, leaving just a trickle of blood behind.


    It didn¡¯t even elicit any reaction, despite the fact that it was probably the first time someone had managed to hurt that monster in combat.


    He continued to deliver blows onto Alpha¡¯s body, leisurely evading most of Bob¡¯s and mine attacks.


    With my increased combat skills I finally came close to anticipating his movements, enjoying more success than Bob at least, but I was woefully understatted if I desired to dish out any lasting damage. It would have been a different story if I had a sword or a knife at least, just something a bit harder and sharper than my nails to finally cut through his body.


    When Khar finished incapacitating Alpha, the rest of the fight followed the familiar pattern of our previous spar.


    Trax and Rudi were laid on the ground in short order and it didn¡¯t take him long to deal with Bob either. Having her beaten in agility, his hand abruptly launched in her direction and before she could dodge, tightly gripped one of her arms. He forcefully pulled her towards himself, knocking her off her feet, and then started throwing her around the ring like a doll.


    This left me.


    When the beating began, I fought against the compulsion to go into limp passivity and instead kept my eyes open, drilling my eyes into his hateful face. Khar seemed unperturbed and carried on with his job, working me like a dusty carpet.


    Most of his kicks centered around my torso, his feet landing on my kidneys with pinpoint accuracy. The pain was horrendous and even worse was the knowledge that it could be avoided, should I simply relent and yield.


    Somehow, I persevered. Blow after blow shook my body. When it came to the point that I wondered if I was ever to urinate without pissing blood in the future, the beating suddenly stopped.


    I involuntarily tensed up, my body anticipating the next blow. But it never came.


    Dirt mixed with sweat caked my face. My ribcage barely rose as my internal organs were hanging by a thread already and anything but the shallowest of breaths would move too much stuff around my stomach.


    Someone helped me get up. I slowly rose, my head kept low as I didn¡¯t dare straighten my back, lest the motion made my kidneys fall out. Still, despite my wretched state, I felt a burning that didn¡¯t result from my injuries.


    I won.


    It hurt like hell. I was afraid to even check my condition on the status screen.


    But I won.


    No matter how much it hurt, I kept to my plan and never cowered. At no point did I let go or accept what was happening to me. The bastard wailed on me with abandon, but he didn¡¯t break my spirit.


    I finally mustered enough strength to raise my head and look at Khar. He gazed back at me with an impassive face.


    ***


    Bob and Alpha had to help me walk to Khar¡¯s room where we prepared food. I should have been in no state to consume anything, but the gruel¡¯s bewitching aroma did its magic yet again and as it started suffusing the room I felt my stomach rumbling with anticipation.


    I patiently observed Khar as he exercised his right of first meal to the fullest, emptying half of the communal pot on his own.


    When he was finally finished, his eyes met my steady gaze.


    Knowing that our party had brought the most food, I rose to my feet with difficulty. Only to see Khar passing the bowl to the red goblin leading the opposing group.

 Chapter 13: Erupting

    The red goblin who received the bowl was no less surprised than the rest of us, but that didn¡¯t mean he was about to argue on our behalf. On the contrary, he sneakily cast me a smug look and quickly got to his feet, loath to waste any more time should Khar change his mind again.


    I was furious, but there wasn¡¯t anything I could do. Khar did just pummel our whole group into the ground, leaving no doubts as to who called the shots around here.


    I sat down, watching the other group greedily devour the gruel. My heart ached as I saw the already small amount of food left in the pot gradually diminish. I wasn¡¯t alone. I could sense the growing indignation coming from the other members of my group, their faces contorting after everygulp that disappeared in the throats of other goblins.


    The room was quiet if not for the sounds of vigorous slurping. The damned goblins seemed to deriveeven greater pleasure basking in our ire than from the food itself. The last one went so far as to meticulously lick the bowl clean, leaving me equal parts disgusted and infuriated. He was about to pass the bowl back to us when Khar grunted, looking this time at the members of his own group.


    His entourage served to illustrate in full detail just what you could expect from living under Khar¡¯s reign. Aside from the fact that they didn¡¯t have a single colored variant of their own, even the unevolved gobs looked frail and malnourished. They were also completely subdued, looking like a pack of beaten down curs from the streets.


    Still, their experiences made them more attuned to their master¡¯s mood. I almost screamed when I saw them confidently taking two full bowls of gruel each, nasty smiles blossoming on their faces.


    When our turn finally came around, there wasn¡¯t much gruel to speak of. Fuming, I bent down and scraped the bowl against the pot, gathering the meager remains that were stuck to the sides. In total, it didn¡¯t even amount to a single serving. I was enraged to the point of not even feeling hunger anymore and simply passed the bowl to Bob, leaving the room without a word.


    Blood was pounding in my ears. The thrill of having persevered through the beating, the pain from my wounds, the hunger and indignity, they all coalesced in a boiling torrent raging inside my head.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± I roared, striking the wall of our room with my fist.


    The rest of the group made it back not long after me. Their moods weren¡¯t much better than mine, only the target of their ire was different.


    ¡°Rhys,¡± Bob said. ¡°What the fuck do you think you¡¯re doing?¡±


    I looked at her, momentarily speechless. I wasn¡¯t exactly expecting a support session, but I never thought they¡¯d turn on me instead.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a problem?¡± I questioned her, feeling maddened and betrayed.


    ¡°You challenge Khar, despite having no strength to do so, and when he lays you on the ground, you still don¡¯t yield.¡± Bob replied, looking me straight to the face.


    ¡°You¡¯re breaking the rules.¡± She continued hissing in that repulsive goblin tongue of theirs. ¡°And we all suffer for it.¡±


    ¡°So you want to be like the goblins from his party, living by whatever scraps he deigns to leave for you?¡± I shot back at her, barely suppressing the anger raging inside of me.


    ¡°And your plan is not to eat at all?¡±


    I didn¡¯t answer. Just stared at her hatefully, examining her as if it was the first time I saw her.


    Bob continued speaking, slowly. ¡°You are our leader. And we are to follow. But you¡¯re not fulfilling your responsibilities.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m the leader. And what are you doing?¡± I growled at her, my despise for goblins, for this rotten life bubbling inside of me. ¡°Are you not challenging my authority right now?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± She answered. And to my shock, struck at me with her claws.


    I stumbled back, completely taken aback, marvelling at the new wound on my chest.


    This hesitation lasted only a moment. I roared furiously, my indignation finally reaching its peak. My hatred for this world, these dark caves, the constant pain and fear erupted all at once. The resentment I accumulated against Khar who I could not lay a finger on, finally finding a suitable outlet.


    Our room was small, leaving Bob with little space to take advantage of her agile movements. But she still made best use of what she had. Without any hesitation, she switched from using claws to fists and proceeded to target my kidneys, following Khar¡¯s example.


    Every time one of her punches connected, it would send fresh waves of pain. I relished the sensation. The desperation I had to bottle up inside of me when I laid on the ground now burst forth with a vengeance, imbuing my fists with power.


    My body moved as if I was possessed. I ducked under her attack, and quickly kicked her in the shins. Bob stumbled and before she regained her balance, I grabbed her shoulder and slammed her body against the wall with a loud thud. She still didn¡¯t stop resisting and I was all the happier for it.


    Ignoring the fists that continued to target my kidneys, I wailed on her. There wasn¡¯t a shred of mercy or restraint in my attack. I just blindly punched all over her body, each blow containing my accumulated hatred of the goblin race. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Loud thuds reverberated in the cramped confines of our room. My savage assault eventually extinguished all the strength animating Bob¡¯s body and she fell limp to the ground. But I still wasn¡¯t satisfied.


    Gasping for air I looked at Alpha, ¡°Come here, you bastard.¡±


    Without waiting for him to move, I pounced on him. He tried to retaliate, but somehow his attacks lacked their usual reckless abandon. His passivity only made me madder. I didn¡¯t stop hitting him even after he fell to the ground. My punches and kicks assaulted his curled up body, and didn¡¯t stop until I felt the last drop of my accumulated anger leaving my body.


    I stood in the center of our room breathing heavily. My gaze slowly moved from the unconscious bodies of Bob and Alpha to Trax and Rudi, the two of them huddling together in a corner, too afraid to raise their eyes at me.


    I felt empty.


    The fury, the maddened euphoria of the subsequent release, it all left me emotionally drained and exhausted. There was a vague feeling of having lost something, but I was no longer in a state to think about it. I collapsed on the ground like a dead body.


    The hazy blue glow of the lichen growing on the walls of our room continued its languid pulse. The specks of splattered blood staining the floor reflected the light, shiningin the darkness like shards of broken glass.


    ***


    We gathered for the morning announcements. I was initially met with a reprise of the smug looks I remembered from yesterday¡¯s dinner, but those expressions quickly changed as they noticed the state of my group slinking behind me. I was in a comparatively decent condition thanks to the stone, but Bob and Alpha didn¡¯t have much time to recover from the previous evening.


    There was nary a space on their faces that wasn¡¯t covered in bruises. The stiffness of their movements clearly showed that if anything, the injuries hidden under their clothes were even more substantial. They both walked with a limp, though Alpha¡¯s was more pronounced. All in all, they were in a state similar to mine after getting thrashed by Khar.


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t disdain or repulsion that replaced their smug expressions but rather respect. I found it beyond me to care any more.


    Khar was the only one who appeared to be unimpressed. His only words for us were ¡°Bring me food.¡± and he even repeated the second part about rewarding the most successful group with the right of eating after him.


    We stopped near the entrance of the dungeon so that I could smear the ivy on my skin. I haven¡¯t received any notifications from the system when I woke up this morning, leaving me quite distressed, but it was too early to give up just yet. To my surprise, the other goblins copied my actions and started gathering the leaves of their own accord.


    I wasn¡¯t planning on forcing them to go through with it this time. By this point I simply didn¡¯t care. If they weren¡¯t interested, I felt no obligation to expend energy trying to convince them otherwise.


    Yet the goblins followed suit and started applying the ivy juice to their skin without a word of complaint. Even Bob displayed none of her usual opposition, and vigorously smeared herself with the ivy, no shred of apprehension or defiance to be seen.


    I marvelled once again at the difference in our perspective. To me, yesterday¡¯s fight was like crossing the Rubicon, final rupturing of whatever camaraderie we might have shared. To them, however, it was business as usual. One goblin challenged another and got his ass whooped in result. And since she lost, she simply accepted her lot and carried on without holding a grudge. In stark contrast to what I have been doing...


    Was I wrong?


    No. I grumbled inwardly. If a bastard steals your food and tortures you, it¡¯s only right to oppose him. I definitely shouldn¡¯t have been attacked by my own party right afterwards.


    Only, I was looking at it from a human perspective. Even worse, it was a Rhys perspective. Am I doing them a disservice by treating them like I would another person? Maybe I should treat them like what they are, goblins, simple monsters controlled by whatever directives they received from the system.


    But that also felt wrong.


    Memories of yesterday¡¯s fight flashed through my eyes. Guilt and shame started welling inside of me. Eventually I got completely confused. The great rift that was supposed to divide us turned out to be nonexistent. My belated feelings of guilt also had no reservoir since in goblin¡¯s mind nothing worth apologizing over took place.


    In the end I spit out the stone and gave it to Bob. ¡°When you feel better, pass it to Gharak.¡± I said.


    She simply nodded her head. There didn¡¯t seem to be hostility in her eyes, but I sensed that I wasn¡¯t completely correct in my supposition that yesterday¡¯s fight left no hard feelings.


    Well¡­


    In the end, I decided to temporarily postpone further deliberations on the conundrums of interspecies friendship and focus on more pertinent tasks. Like growing in strength. Lacking food shrank my timetable quite a bit. There was also the issue of me not receiving a single point to my attributes, despite enduring many times greater hardships than before.


    Still, I had one last ace up my sleeve.


    The drops of shining liquid continued to glow from the spot I had marked previously. I smiled and shook the canteen filled with glowing dye, pouring some on my fingers and making a new marking, as we entered a corridor leading the opposite way.


    We continued walking in silence. Our surroundings didn¡¯t appear to differ greatly from those we saw in our previous outings. Just a maze of dimly lit tunnels filled with strange plants and even stranger mushrooms.


    Yes, it looked exactly the same, but there was a slight difference.


    ¡°We¡¯re going the wrong way.¡± Alpha grumbled.


    I grinned. For the past hour I could feel a slight tension pressing on me. Its intensity continuously increasing as we ventured deeper.


    The feeling was unpleasant in itself, but I couldn¡¯t shake the excitement. It was strange in itself that we had never come across any other goblins on our excursions. When you coupled that with the uncanny ability to find your way in this impossible labyrinth of crisscrossing corridors, there was one conclusion that came to my mind.


    The system didn¡¯t actually help us to navigate the dungeon, but rather sent us on patrols along a set route.


    It was worrying to discover that my mind had been altered to some extent after all. Still, I felt even greater relief to learn that it was possible to resist system¡¯s influence so long as you correctly identified its source.


    We suddenly heard shrieks of fighting goblins coming not far away from us. I rushed in their direction. Sounds of intense struggle echoed along the corridors as we made our way there, but were soon replaced with silence. I tried slowing down my steps, wary of confronting another beast, but instead sped up in spite of myself.


    I saw three humans. And five corpses of slaughtered goblins lying on the ground.


    Only one of the men had his sword drawn. He was in the process of wiping the blood off it when he noticed our group. His eyes shone with greed when he looked at me.