《The Greedy Rogue》


 Prologue - Lionel

    It was a quiet and sunny day like any other in the world of Aezetia. The nameless ancient forest near Lindow village was tranquil and full of life as always. Once in a while, you could see a small animal like a rabbit or a fox run from one bush to another, or hear the chirping of birds in the trees. The trees in question were tall and lush, almost completely covering the sky while giving the forest an old, almost slumber like presence.


    In a certain clearing of this forest, a bit further from the outskirts, an obvious trap could be seen on the ground. It was a rope tied in a noose, covered by a few leaves with a carrot in the middle of it. The craftsmanship of the trap was a bit shoddy but well practiced, and although it would not be called reliable by most, this noose was more than enough for trapping a small animal.


    The rope leads to a bush situated at the side of the clearing. With a closer look, one could see that there was a person lurking inside of it. The person appeared to be calm and patient, waiting for something to stumble into his trap, not moving a muscle even when he noticed sounds of animals running around in the forest.


    Soon enough the expected prey appeared. A rabbit rushed out of the forest and easily noticed the food which was left out in the open. But, before going to it, the rabbit made a quick survey of the surroundings. It inched closer only after making sure there was nothing around which could endanger it.


    In the meanwhile, the hunter stayed put even when his target appeared right in front of him. He knew that until the prey fully enters his trap, the rabbit could still easily escape. That is why he continued to watch as the rabbit stalked closer and examined the carrot.


    Thankfully, the rabbit did not realize the danger it was in until the very end. As it was ready to grab the carrot and run, the hunter sprang his trap. The rabbit tried to escape out of instinct, but it was too late, the noose managed to catch its hind leg and tighten around it.


    As the rabbit was panicking while being dragged, the hunter did not dally. He sprinted out of his hiding spot towards the rabbit while drawing a dagger with his empty hand. It took mere seconds to reach the rabbit and with no hesitation to his dagger into the rabbit''s throat.


    The rabbit thrashed about, only when the animal lost all its strength and stopped resisting did the person pull out his weapon. He then stood up with a sigh while taking out a used piece of cloth. He then began to clean his tool covered in blood.


    Under the sun it was now possible to make out the features of the hunter. He was actually a young, slim man, about 1.8 meters in height. He had short, dirty blond hair. The young hunter''s face had a sharp look to it and could be considered above average by most people, while his green eyes which seemed to peer through your thoughts, at the same time held a spark of liveliness.


    His clothes, unfortunately, were quite poor. All he had on was a rough linen shirt, a pair of trousers and a pair of sturdy leather boots. On his waist, there were some pouches that smelled heavily of herbs. On his back was a sack filled with some mushrooms, nuts and other things foraged in the forest.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    This young man''s name was Lionel. He was an orphan. His parents were killed by some goblins when he was still very young. Due to that, his life was quite difficult. The people of his village took care of him due to the rules of the village, not because they wanted to. Even the traps he was using were learned by listening from the side, not by being taught.


    It was very difficult for Lionel to survive. He had to regularly do odd jobs for anyone who had them. In his free time, he would go forage in the forest. He managed to learn to hunt not too long ago, but even though he was quite smart, no one wanted to teach him. Due to that, his hunting was quite primitive.


    Lionel looked at the dead rabbit it mixed emotions. This was his several hours'' work which made him both proud and frustrated. He acquired food for the upcoming days, but he had always dreamed of becoming an adventurer and earning a fortune instead of barely making ends meet with hunting.


    Unfortunately, becoming an adventurer is not so easy. He could remember how happy he was when he found his rusty dagger, which could barely be called one anymore. He thought that it was enough to start his journey. However, his joy was crushed not long after.


    Soon he realized that even getting to the town of Stresia would take several days of travel. The food, lodging, entry tax, equipment, together it was too expensive for an average person, not to mention an orphan like him. Soon this dream of his became more and more unrealistic.


    "This rabbit''s fur should get a couple of silvers at least."


    While grumbling Lionel tied the rope around the rabbit more properly and hung it on a branch. He did not have anything to put the rabbit in, so he needed to drain most of the blood to not get his clothes dirty on the way back.


    Him taking care of the scene and draining the blood did not take long. Everything was done in a couple of minutes. Lionel then fixed the rabbit carcass on his back and began his journey home while leaving his thoughts to wander.


    He has never let go of his dream to become an adventurer. Working day by day he has tried save up some coin. However, even a proper dagger was worth 6 silver coins and an average leather armor set a staggering 5 gold coins. On top of all the other supplies...


    Besides that, this is just all the things he had learned from elder Faf. he would certainly encounter various other problems after reaching Stresia.


    "I still have a long way to go."


    To clear his head a bit, Lionel shook his head and tried to relax while listening to the birds'' songs. Thanks to that time quickly passed while he traveled down the road.


    But when Lionel reached the outskirts of the forest, the sounds changed. At first, he thought that the screams were his imagination, but after they kept repeating, he grew worried.


    Lionel began to sprint towards the village. Soon sounds of flames burning joined up with the screaming and after reaching the end of the forest he saw the fire, a lot of fire.

 Chapter 1 - The raid

    In front of Lionel was a burning village - his village. He could see the inhabitants running around screaming as armed men chased and cut them down. Plenty of corpses were already littering the roads. Even the ones who tried to make a break for the hills got slaughtered by the raiders on horseback.


    Lionel stood by the entrance to the forest in complete petrification. Thankfully, because he was quick-witted from young, he managed to pull himself together in a couple of moments. When he finally snapped to, his thoughts were already spinning around what to do next.


    Although he did not have many fond memories of the village, it did not mean that he was absolutely hateful of it. Among all the bad ones there were some people who genuinely cared about him and provided warmth, like elder Faf as well as uncle Glin and aunt Hermi.


    At the same time, Lionel understood that there was nothing he could do, and running into that mess would only spell his pointless death. Taking several seconds to deliberate he decided to save what he was able to.


    He turned around and was about to rush back to the forest when suddenly the punishment for wasting time arrived. With heavy footsteps, a man appeared next to Lionel before he could react.


    The smell of a sweaty body, unwashed for who knows how many days reached his nose. Lionel stared at the owner of the odor. Surprisingly the man was shorter than him with an average face and brown hair, a body covered in leather armor. However, be it in years or the muscles, he had Lionel outmatched.


    While Lionel was still observing, the man let a grin spread over his face as he spoke and gestured with his ax. To him, a kid like Lionel did not equate an actual opponent, and this was clear to see from his carelessness


    "It seems like we had missed a little rat. Thankfully, I decided to be a bit more dutiful today."


    As the bandit spoke, Lionel''s body was shaking from being stared at by him. It was the same feeling as the time he met a wolf in the forest. That presence of danger which paralyzed him back then seemed to have returned.


    Yet, now he was older and more experienced, so he knew that he had to act and not stand still if he wanted to live. That is why he followed his instinct and lunged at the bandit while drawing his dagger.


    At first, the raider seemed taken aback, but after seeing how amateurishly Lionel was swinging at him, he grinned at took a step back. The dagger missed by a large margin without even inconveniencing the raider.


    Failing his attack, Lionel lost his balance and had to take a moment to readjust his footing. This was more than enough time for the raider to counter-attack.


    "Fighting is not game you brat."


    The bandit swung his ax nonchalantly while throwing insults towards him, however, the might in his swing was no joke. Staring at the incoming attack Lionel clumsily tried to parry. Unfortunately, he was not skilled enough, nor strong enough. All he managed was to not get hurt while getting knocked to the ground.


    After experiencing the difference of battle strength between him and his opponent Lionel stopped trying to fight back and made a dash back into the forest as soon as he got up.


    This seemed to anger the raider because Lionel could hear his furious shouts from behind him as he began to chase him.


    "You little rat, where do you think you are going? Today none of you will escape from here alive."


    Following Lionel, the ruffian broke into a sprint himself. He appeared to be keen on finishing him off even if he had to put some effort into it. Unknown to Lionel, these bandits always operated on the basis of never leaving anyone alive, to escape the notice of the empire as much as possible.


    Lionel, on the other hand,  was running with all his strength. His mind was in a complete disarray. All he was doing with any thinking power he still had las was trying to figure out how he could escape this situation.


    By the time he entered the slightly deeper part of the woods, Lionel had already gotten a better grasp on his situation. The time he won by running and the adrenaline setting in allowed him to see a clearer picture.


    Outrunning an athletic person like that bandit was impossible for someone as scrawny as him. Which meant that there were only two other ways for him to survive. Either to outmaneuver him using the natural terrain or to get rid of his pursuer.


    The first option was unfortunately impossible. The bandit would have long since caught up with him by the time he reached deep enough in the forest, where the terrain became tricky enough.


    The second option on the other hand, although not impossible, it was difficult in its own regard. Lionel could try to fight the bandit again, but he knew that the chances of winning were very low.


    Luckily, Lionel knew that in this forest existed traps laid by his village''s hunter. And to not have accidents happen, the hunter had informed the entire village of their whereabouts. Most of them were simple and not useful against someone as big as the bandit, but there was one close enough that might do the job.


    Lionel began to sprint with renewed vigor. The forest''s foliage crunched under his feet.  Twigs snapped and the wildlife got spooked by the chase. However, even when his lungs were burning as if on fire he persevered and continued to dash.


    By the time Lionel reached the spot with the pitfall, even the bandit behind him was somewhat out of breath. He had long since stooped spouting threats and conserved his energy to run. This made Lionel feel more confident about his plan. Since this meant that the bandit might become a bit careless due to his exhaustion.


    When he finally saw and arrived at the big fallen tree log which marked where the trap laid, Lionel used most of his remaining strength to leap from atop of the log, over the spot where the trap should be.


    Thankfully no animal has triggered it from the last time it was reset. Seeing that the trap could still be used, the last worry in his mind disappeared. When he reached the opposite side of the trap with his lunge he collapsed, acting as if he had no more strength to run.


    In mere seconds after Lionel, the bandit also reached the log. Seeing his pray''s situation he let out a weary laugh as he climbed over the log. With clear anger and frustration on both his face and in his voice, he spoke.


    "It seems like you are finally done. You wasted more than enough of my time. I will skin you like an animal for what you made me go through. When I''m done with you... "


    While still mid-sentence, the ground gave in beneath where the bandit stepped on and with a scream he fell down, letting out a thump as he hit the ground. Immediately some groans began to ring out from inside of the pitfall.


    Seeing his success, Lionel stood up as he took several deep breaths. While he did so, a smile crept on to his face. He could barely hold in his excitement due to his victory. When he gained back a bit of strength he even decided to go have a look at the trapped bandit.


    Unfortunately, this was his mistake. Due to his lack of caution, it was too late when he noticed the bandit jump and reach for his leg. He seemed to have been waiting for Lionel to get closer to pull him down.


    As the bandit''s hand grasped around his shin, Lionel felt a tug. The bandit began to drag Lionel towards the hole after the later lost his foothold. Out of instinct, Lionel tried to stop himself from getting dragged down. His elbows and back got bruised as he but his weight backward.


    Yet the bandit''s strength was too strong and he was beginning to lose grasp. Seeing this Lionel did the only thing he could think of, he raised the dagger which he was still holding in his hand and stabbed towards him.


    His hunting experience seemed to have helped him this time because his dagger easily found itself into the bandit''s neck, hitting a vital artery. Lionel felt warm blood stain his hand, the arm previously holding him lose its strength and soon after he saw the bandit''s body slump.


    Not only that, but he also felt something warm transfer from the bandit to himself. In shock, Lionel released the dagger and kicked the bandit''s corpse away from himself. As the bandit fell to the ground Lionel pulled himself up and with no hesitation once again broke out into a run.


    His destination this time was another pitfall further in the forest. He thought that he could use that pit to hide and gather his frantic thoughts as he rested. The only question was, what if the trap had already been sprung?


    If the top of the trap was not usable anymore, the only choice he would be left with was going deeper into the forest. He did not want to take the risk of wandering on the outskirts in case the bandits came to search for their comrade, but he also did not fancy facing off against wild animals.


    Luckily for Lionel, after reaching the area, he saw that the trap had still not caught anything. He then dexterously crawled beneath the cover of the pitfall and lowered himself down to the bottom.


    Finally, in somewhat of a safe space Lionel could relax and organize his thoughts. The attack on the village, his first time killing a person, all of these things had given him a shock.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    He managed to pull himself together and think only due to the warmth still lingering inside his body. He then tried to recall what it could be, but even after several minutes of wondering the only conclusion Lionel could come to was what elder Faf had once told him.


    He said that every person and living being in the world had something called levels, which dictated how strong they were. And after killing something the killer would gain some energy that helped raise his own level. The amount depended on how strong of a being you killed.


    Lionel had hunted small animals on various occasions, but they were much too weak to give the feeling of warmth he was experiencing right now. Not to mention that becoming an adventuring or some kind of city guard for whom this would be important to, was too far for him. Especially since according to elder Faf you needed something called a status card to see your level.


    These circumstances made it so levels were not on Lionel''s main agenda. However, this current experience with the laws of the world opened up a completely new door to Lionel right now.


    He could swear that he felt himself become slightly fitter even as he rested. For a moment he had even forgotten the problematic situation he was in due to his small ecstasy, but the dull pain from his bruises soon returned him to reality.


    After casting a look at his injuries, Lionel scrambled for the pouches on his waist and with two of his fingers scooped up a bit of the herbal medicine inside them. The smell was overwhelming, and when the medicine touched his bruises it stung, however, he knew how effective they were, and that he had to do this to stop the wound from becoming infected.


    When he was done treating his injuries, he sank back into contemplation. There were too many things that happened today and he had to decide what he will do if he survives this tragedy.


    He would most likely not be able to live like he used to. But was he prepared to become an adventurer? The fight with the bandit made him second-guess himself. Having faced the threat of death, he now understood how heavily he would his life by becoming an adventurer.


    With a sigh, Lionel decided to try and sleep so he could relieve his exhaustion. After he wakes up he will go and try to take look at the village, after which he will make his decision.


    The night''s rest was not disruptive, but quite shallow. He could not stop the anxiety from making his sleep unrestful. He would at moments be woken up by either animal sounds or distant shouts all night long.


    Lionel went to sleep way earlier than normal, so when he was done with his sleep it was still dark. He climbed out of the hole and stretched himself. His treated wounds were not hurting anymore thanks to the medicine. Furthermore, his mind was also feeling much better than yesterday.


    After taking a look around and seeing that there were no problems with the surroundings he began to move. However, his first destination was not the village, but the trap he killed the bandit at.


    Lionel wanted to see if the raiders found the corpse, and if they had not, he would take back the dagger he left behind and loot whatever the man had on him.


    After a jog lasting several minutes, he reached the spot which seemed undisturbed from yesterday. Looking down the hole he saw the grizzly scene he had left there. Overnight the bandit''s blood pooled at the bottom of the hole and submerged half of the corpse.


    Staring at this, Lionel felt a bit unwell but pulling himself together he put his effort into trying to fish out the body from the hole. Unfortunately, although he managed to get the body out, his efforts of trying to not get dirty were not accomplished. His boots and parts of his clothes were now stained in red.


    While feeling a bit frustrated due to the smell of the blood Lionel began patting down the bandit''s body. Besides his own rusty dagger, he found the ax which the bandit had wielded, a better quality dagger, 7 silver coins and some worthless knick-knacks.


    Lionel gleefully took the silver and the dagger, however, the ax made him frown a bit. It was too unwieldy for someone as weak as him, but after some thought, he still took it to sell at a later date.


    The bandit''s armor had also been stripped by Lionel after he discerned it to still be in a usable condition. In the end, all which was left after his search was a naked body and some junk.


    After getting everything he needed Lionel did not dally and headed straight to the village after leaving the body to decompose. But even though the raiders have most likely left, he still took some precautions and crept up on the forest''s outskirts stealthily.


    Thankfully the bandits did indeed leave, however, the carnage they left was not a pretty sight. The village had been left in smoldering ruin. Only some building had still retained a semblance to what they looked like before while others were already no more than charcoal and ashes.


    With heavy steps, Lionel headed towards the village entrance. It did not take him long to sight plenty of bodies laying on the ground. Most of them were out in the open with guts spilled all over the floor while the rest had burned to a crisp inside the buildings.


    He gagged a bit at the sight. if he had not been used to seeing animal offal he would have probably thrown up. But even then, the corpses of familiar people made his blood go cold.


    Lionel took the whole morning to look around the village. While doing so he saw that some of the people like the village blacksmith and hunter tried to fight back. There were several unfamiliar corpses on the roads, but most of them were already stripped of all the valuables.


    He also saw elder Faf who died with a stoic look on his face in the village hall. He must have been the same brave old man like always, even when confronted by bandits.


    Jenna the pretty girl he had a small crush on and thought he would marry if his dream wasn''t fulfilled, was also laying next to one of the buildings. He did not even want to imagine what they have done to her before she died. For the young women of the village, the fact that the raiders were not taking prisoners might have been a blessing.


    At the center of the village, in the house which belonged to uncle Glin and aunt Hermi, Lionel saw two burning corpses in an embrace. This scene even further soured Lionel''s mood due to him knowing who they were.


    When he was done inspecting the village it was already late morning. Lionel sat on a rock and started at what was left of the village with slight melancholy in his green eyes. Only when the sun reached high noon did he begin moving again.


    After making a round around the village he knew that he did not have any other choices than to leave the village. To prepare for this journey he went around scavaging for supplies.


    Thankfully, although bandits had taken a lot of stuff, they were in a hurry and could not carry everything. There were things that survived the fire like some food, various clothes, sacks and such.


    Also, Lionel not only had his own hidden savings but also knew the staches of several other people which were too difficult to find for bandits. With all of it, he managed to pool 12 gold coins, 32 silver coins, and 141 copper coins. If he could sell the furs he had scavenged from the village he could also earn a little bit more.


    Finished with his searching, Lionel began another task he wanted to complete before leaving. He started to gather all the corpses of the town and any lumber which could be used for a pyre.


    Leaving all the corpses to rot did not sit well with Lionel. Burning the bodies felt much more appropriate. He could have buried them but it would have taken way too much time, so he had to make do with cremation.


    It took a good part of the day to make all the necessary preparations. When he was finished it was already too late to start his journey, so while standing in front of the bodies,  which were laying slightly outside the village, he lit the wood and watched as the fire spread over the dead.


    Flame consumed everything in its path, dying quite a large chunk of ground in red. Lionel stood at the side solemnly watching all of this happen. This night was going to be a long one for Lionel.


    He spent a good while watching all the people he had known in his life turn to ash while contemplating his future. When the sun finally rose there was barely anything left besides bones and ash, Lionel unfortunately barely got a wink of sleep.


    Right before leaving he took his last look at the site where the ravaging fire had burned and looked down at his old, rusty dagger. Then, after a moment of apprehension, he stabbed his dagger into the ash.


    It was the last thing on him that had a significant connection to this place and should be left here, at least that was what he thought. Only by doing this would he have peace of mind on his journey.


    "I will be going now. Rest in peace."


    After mumbling some words Lionel turned towards the north and began his journey. A journey that would lead him to places and adventures he had never dared to imagine.

 Chapter 2 - The first journey

    Several hours after Lionel left he finally understood why all the people who had been outside of the village said traveling was difficult. His feet were already beginning to tire and hurt when there was still a lot of time left until his planned break.


    His village had been situated so that both in the west and in the north grew vast forests while in the east was a river which the villagers used as a source of fresh water and they never crossed it. South were farmlands belonging to the village as well as plains and some other settlements further down.


    As a result, now he was trecking through the northern forest which was enormous and full of life. Thankfully all the surrounding forests were cleared of monsters some time back, due to them flooding out into the vicinity of Stresia and posing a danger. They still have not recovered since then and you could meat powerful monsters in the depths of these forests.


    Of course, traveling the wilderness on poorly made dirt roads still posed a challenge. Due to this his first day of traveling was both new and exciting, and at the same time full of suffering and exhaustion. Thankfully, he had not been assaulted by anything dangerous during the day and before night time he managed to find a good place to rest.


    Now it was time for Lionel''s first time camping experience and he was furiously thinking how should he prepare his campsite. He knew such basics as gathering firewood to make a campfire, but at the same time, he did not have such essentials as a tent or even a bedroll.


    Understanding that his nights until Stresia will be uncomfortable, he searched for some softer leaves to create a makeshift bed at the same time as he was looking for firewood.


    It was much easier to sleep even in his raided village where there was a bunch of cloth and other things to help create a better shelter. However, now he did not have such luxury and could only sigh while lighting a campfire.


    Immediately after the fire got going Lionel decided to start cooking his dinner. He still had the rabbit he caught a couple of days ago, at the village he made sure to preserve it so it could last for a time. Besides the rabbit, he also packed a bunch of food which was still left in the village after the fire like vegetables and bread.


    During the day while on the road he only ate some smoked meat and a few vegetables, so currently he was starving for something more substantial and was preparing to cook a broth. Of course, he was not planning to use up the whole rabbit during the first night, but since it was going to go bad quickly he did not use it sparingly.


    Lionel dexterously cut up the rabbit meat and some vegetables with his new dagger. Then he gathered some water from a nearby stream and boiled it. When that was done he started to put in the ingredients in one by one. As soon as everything was in he put a few specks of salt on top and then covered the pot with a shoddy lid.


    He was not someone who cooked frequently, nor someone who put a lot of effort into learning to cook, however, he believed that his cooking abilities were decent enough for what they were. Furthermore, a poor place like his village did not have many spices besides salt, so most of the food that the villagers would prepare was quite basic in the first place. Making them content even with the most simple of dishes.


    While the food was cooking Lionel went to prepare his bedding. He used the gathered leaves to make a mound and then covered it with a larger piece of cloth, creating a somewhat soft and usable bed.


    As he was doing so, he thanked the gods that the sky was clear and it did not look like there will be a storm any time soon. Otherwise, his journey would have become a disaster, since he did not have a tent nor the knowledge of how to camp in the rain. Catching a simple cold was already extremely problematic back in his village, now that elder Faf was not around and he was traveling on is own, even more so.


    When he was done with the bed Lionel began to think what he could do more. Unfortunately, he did not know much else about camping in the wild. He knew that a lit fire usually was enough to scare away any normal animals and even some weak monsters, but it was also capable of attracting the unwanted attention of more powerful monsters and bandits.


    Sadly he did not have any companions that could take the watch or some special magic which could alert him of trespassers. The only solace for him is that according to the tracks, those bandits which raided his village headed south.


    It still did not mean there were no other bandits around, but there was always some danger in traveling and camping like this. And with his small amount of knowledge that he had, he could not do anything to minimize the risk any further.


    When the broth was done Lionel ate his only satisfying meal of the day with relish, without leaving even a single drop. After he was done with the food, he quickly washed the dishes at the small creek and left them out to dry before going to sleep.


    His first night out in the wilderness was unnerving but much better than his previous two nights. With a bit of trouble, he managed to fall into a light sleep.


    Most of the night was quiet and seemed even tranquil, only the buzzing of insects could sometimes be heard, slightly stirring Lionel in his slumber. This lasted all until daybreak when Lionel got awoken by the sound of a snapping branch.


    He immediately became alert and the drowsiness from sleep lasted only a moment or two before he became clearheaded. Thankfully since he slept in his clothes just in case there was no need to get dressed. The only thing he grabbed after waking up was the dagger which he had laid next to him before going to sleep.


    With slow movements, Lionel stood up and looked around. It was still quite dark and the fire had already gone out, with a mere glance nothing could be seen in the surroundings of the camp or in the row of trees.


    Lionel, however, was extremely careful and diligent in his search, which let him notice a pair of shining eyes staring at him from the bush. Those piercing green eyes that were so similar to his held a savageness in them.


    The owner of those eyes soon stepped out of the foliage and revealed itself to be a big grey wolf. Memories from a long time ago leaped to the surface of Lionel''s mind. This was just like the first time he met a wolf in the forest, this encounter seemed almost as if a reflection of that memory.


    But this wolf seemed to be a bit different from the one in his memories. Scars riddled the body of this one and there was something different about its presence. It seemed both more defiant and at the same time more lonely than the one he met in his childhood.


    Lionel had once heard the description of such a wolf from the village hunter when he was still small. Back then he said that this is how a lone wolf looks, which either got kicked out of his pack or left it on his own due to personal reasons.


    While past memories were circling in his head, the standoff between him and the gray wolf continued. He had raised his dagger and taken a combat position, but he still had not moved to attack. It was not because he was waiting for the wolf to charge at him, he knew that for someone like himself taking the initiative was necessary to compliment his fighting style.


    However, even when understanding this principle he stayed still, paralyzed. But not out of fear. It was because from the moment he and the wolf locked eyes he felt like the both of them were so damn similar. Both alone and without a home, they were cursed to suffer the pains of this world on their own. That surreal feeling stopped him from acting against the wolf.


    Several moments passed as they stared at each other. Then with a turn, the wolf left. Lionel did not chase it, he only sat down on his leaf bed and stared at the first rays of light with a sense of melancholy. Loneliness he tried to keep away from the start of the journey seemed to return and gnaw at him.


    Only when the sun had already fully risen did he stand up with a sigh and shake himself out of his gloom. He then hurried to make some quick breakfast and gather everything up to make up for lost time.


    Due to the morning''s encounter, the second day of travel had less enthusiasm than the first one. On the other hand, because he got more used to traveling he had made much more progress than the first day. Also, fortunately, today''s travel was much more eventful than yesterday''s and gave an opportunity for Lionel to clear his head of previous events.


    When he was taking his midday break and wandering around the vicinity of where he had stopped he suddenly noticed a sound. He immediately stopped moving and tried to listen more carefully to verify.


    It did not take long for him to hear the sound again and this time he recognized it as some kind of strange language. Curiosity quickly overcame him, with slow and methodical steps he prowled closer to where the words were coming from. As he did so the sound became louder and more understandable.


    After mere seconds of sneaking, he saw where the people, or creatures, should be conversing. But he circled around the spot and only when he saw a large rock did he close in from behind it. He did not want to go in without understanding the situation a bit better. For that, he needed some proper cover, some thin trees would not do the job.


    Reaching the rock was very simple. When he did so he was already more than close enough to see where the targets were. Slowly, with no small amount of alertness, Lionel peaked out from the side and threw a look towards where the voices were coming from.


    There he saw two small and ugly humanoids with green skin. Lionel was not an expert on monsters, but even he knew that they were goblins. These little buggers were the most common monsters and would periodically cause problems for every village. Most of the time they would only steal some food or cattle, however, sometimes their tribes could grow big enough to attack and raid entire settlements.


    Elder Faf said that although they were considered to be in the weakest strata of monsters when in large enough numbers they could be considered to have calamity level danger.


    Luckily there were only two of them here. A normal goblin on his own could be killed even by a child, only in larger numbers, they would become dangerous enough to threaten adults. Still, another thing that makes goblins dangerous is that they always use poison.


    Their poison is quite weak and can only slightly weaken even a mere farmer, but with a large enough dose of it in your bloodstream you can become completely paralyzed. Due to that, you can never underestimate goblins and have to always be careful in dealing with them. At least until you become high enough level that their poison did does not affect you anymore.


    Recalling all the information he had learned from elder Faf Lionel considered what to do. He could just leave and avoid this altogether. But it was clear to him that if he could not even defeat these two goblins he was not cut out to be an adventurer.


    During travel, his mind has been constantly thinking about what to do when he gets to the town of Stresia. However, no matter how much he brainstormed there was no profession for which he had the skill needed to survive in a proper town.


    His only option left was the same as his lifelong dream, to become an adventurer. That is why he did not want to abandon this battle. Goblins were one of the weakest monsters an adventure would face in his lifetime.


    So to Lionel killing these two goblins will not only make him some money but will also give him some valuable combat experience. This was more than enough of an incentive for Lionel to take up arms.


    With determination burning in his eyes he quickly began to plan after quietly making his decision. Killing goblins nonchalantly like some legendary hero was still very far for him. Even these two could be deadly for him if he was not careful, so he had to be prudent.


    He stared at the goblins from behind the rock and started to analyze his situation. The creatures seem to be in search of something and were each carrying a stick with sharpened ends on which some kind of purplish fluid could be seen.


    Honestly, this was poor equipment even for goblins. They did not even have any clothes besides the linen cloths on their lower bodies. It was clear to Lionel that the only troublesome thing about them was the poison.


    Still, he did not want to fight both of them at the same time. Formulating a simple plan he backed away from the rock a bit and started searching for a sizable rock. From what he saw, the goblins were most likely looking for food and were quite unsuccessful.


    If it was so, then it should be possible to attract one of them if they believed there was food in a certain direction. Carrying a rock that he found on the ground, Lionel slowly circled the goblin search zone and inched closer to one of them. After discerning that the goblins were far enough from one another he skidded the rock into a nearby bush.


    The sound instantly alerted the two goblins. Then the closer one looked towards the other goblin and growled with ferocity before saying something in goblin. The other goblin appeared to be discontent but after a moment of pause, it consented.


    Seeing this, the first goblin gleefully ran towards the sound which the goblin assumed to be some kind of animal. Unfortunately for it, Lionel was already there waiting for it, and the sound was nothing more than a trap.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    When the goblin reached his vicinity Lionel saw it scanning the surroundings, in search of its prey. Soon it began heading towards the tree behind which he was hiding. This was the perfect chance.


    As soon as the goblin walked close enough he drew his weapon and jumped out from behind the tree with vigor, surprising the creature. Following up he struck out with his dagger towards the goblin''s throat.


    Unfortunately, his actions were neither fluid enough nor quick enough. In the time he spent jumping out and attacking the goblin was able to slightly shift its position, resulting in him hitting its collarbone instead of its throat.


    A scream rang out from the goblin''s throat and it dropped its spear, but Lionel knew that his attack was far from fatal. The goblins anguish quickly attracted the other goblin''s attention and sounds of footfall could immediately be heard.


    Knowing that he could not afford to stand in dismay any longer Lionel forced his body to move once again. This time the goblin was on the ground wriggling from pain which let him hit its throat accurately this time.


    The warmth flooding into his body marked the end of this goblins life and gave him profound joy. Yet he did not have the time to revel in it. Footstep sounds of the other goblin had already reached him.


    Seeing its comrade laying on the ground dead, the second goblin let out a furious roar. With bloodshot eyes, it saw Lionel standing over the corpse. Finding a target to let out its rage on, the goblin charged with its spear in hand.


    Since Lionel did not have any plans on getting pierced by a spear nor to become food for goblins, he dodged backward as soon as it got close enough. However, the goblin was relentless and after the first one it followed up by a second and third strike.


    Having longer legs and better agility Lionel found it easy to avoid the goblin''s attacks, at least at first.  This however changed after the fight continued for a while. It seemed that the goblin had something going for it which Lionel did not, and that was an absurd level of stamina.


    As he began to lose his breath, the goblin was still going strong. Furthermore, although he managed to keep a distance, he soon realized that doing so was much more advantageous for the goblin than him.


    The goblin''s spear was much longer than his dagger. This meant that by keeping a distance he had no way to counter-attack. While the goblin, on the other hand, was keeping his initiative by constantly being on the offensive.


    When he realized this, he knew that he had to be more aggressive and to not just keep evading. Gritting his teeth Lionel waited and charged after another of the goblin''s thrusts missed. Him taking such a course of action seemed to shock the goblin and break his rhythm.


    Feeling relieved at the goblin''s confusion he slashed at it with his dagger. He was not very composed at the moment and did not feel like he could aim for the opponent''s throat and hit it in an upfront battle like this, even if he became better. That is why he chose a larger target.


    Unfortunately, this resulted in him raking across the goblin''s chest, and only after doing so, he realized how much of a problem the ribs were. His attack left only a mere flesh wound. Realizing that he screwed up again Lionel released two more attacks in his opponent''s direction, this time stabs towards the belly.


    His first attack was dodged by the panicking and bleeding goblin, while the second one hit home and lodged itself in its guts. Shrieks echoed out from the goblin as it struggled to push itself off the dagger. It succeeded in doing so, but it was already too late. No strength was left in the goblin''s body and its intestines had already been spilled on the floor.


    With a few agonizing wails, it collapsed on the ground. The rewarding warmth soon was felt inside Lionel''s body once again and he realized that the battle was over.


    Sighing in relief his nerves finally relaxed a bit. Although he had not been injured this fight, the mental exhaustion and the constant danger he had felt still made him tired and scared.


    However, he could not rest in a place full of blood like this. He decided to make haste and to quickly loot the bodies. Unfortunately, besides the left ears which could be traded in for a reward, the goblins did not have anything valuable on them.


    "How come I had to encounter such poor blokes. Damn it."


    Lionel felt so frustrated at the lack of spoils that he could not help but curse out loud. Goblins were among monsters that were renowned for pillaging and actually gathering stuff, so he felt that they should have at least something besides the roots and grasses he found. Of course, if they had been richer they might not have been using such poor gear.


    Luckily, while he was musing about loot he recalled that elder Faf once said how creatures like goblin had nests or caves where they stored most of what they had acquired in their lives. This lit a flame of hope in Lionel''s green eyes, but it was quickly snuffed out when he realized that there might be more goblins in their home.


    He figured that there was at most only a small number of spoils in there at most considering the situation of the two he killed, but appropriately there should not be many goblins left as well.


    A decision like this made him rack his brains. To risk going or not. Surprisingly this dilemma did not last. The risk was not big and success would make him slightly richer. In case there are too many goblins he would scout at first and if it was really too difficult he would leave.


    Done with making his decision he did not immediately begin tracking down the goblin lair. He still needed to regain his strength also he had something he wanted to do before leaving.


    He walked over to one of the small goblin corpses and began to stab it. Any other normal person who saw this would say he is letting out his frustration or mutilating the body out of anger. In reality, however, he was practicing.


    With every stab, he was trying to hit in between the ribs. During the previous fight, he screwed up because he did not know any good places to deal proper damage besides the throat, so now he is trying to fix that problem.


    After doing this for half an hour from various positions Lionel finally stood up with both joy and frustration on his face. He believed that now he would be able to get past the ribs and deal lethal wounds with one out of three attacks if the enemy was standing still.


    He was proud of his accomplishment, yet at the same time annoyed that he will not be able to do this if he does not catch his opponent by surprise. At least for the next battle, he could not yet aim for the chest.


    When he was done with his practice Lionel moved away from the place where he left the mutilated corpse and began to track the goblin hideout. Thankfully these goblins were not keen on hiding their tracks and like most small goblin groups, operated in close vicinity to their base.


    It was not very troublesome to reach the cave they resided in. Only after doing so did a problem arise. He was successful in finding the cave and immediately saw that there were no guards, this was a good sign for him.


    He stealthily closed in towards the entrance, and that was when he had to stop. Even during mid-day, the cave was pitch black, to go further in he would have to use a torch, and he indeed had one. Unfortunately, that would quickly alert any goblins that are still inside. On the other hand, going inside without a light source would only inconvenience him, since goblins have dark vision.


    In the end, he decided to try and tackle the problem in the same way he did with the two goblins. Only this time he walked much further away from the cave entrance and looked for rocks on a larger scope, he wanted something bigger this time.


    After about ten minutes he finally found a rock that suited his needs. It was big enough that you could not fully wrap around it even with two hands. With a brisk pace, Lionel returned to the cave with the rock in hand.


    Making sure there had been no change in the surroundings while he was gone, he closed in near the entrance and threw the rock into the depths of the cave. Soon a sound of two rocky surfaces colliding sounded out in the darkness.


    Lionel immediately froze and started to keenly listen. And he did not have to wait long, after a moment of deafening silence he heard a now familiar goblin language ring out from inside the cave.


    Unfortunately, after not getting a reply the goblin stopped speaking. The area descended into silence and Lionel was left standing not knowing what to do. His plan did not show any obvious results and he did not know what should come next.


    Although it did give a small probability that there was only a single goblin inside he did not want to take the risk of storming the cave. Even one goblin could be life-threatening in such an environment. Due to this, he decided to take the approach which is the most familiar to him, waiting.


    When enough time passed the ones inside should become worried about the hunters not returning. The lack of food and clean water should give a sense of danger and force them to exit. That was the moment when he would strike.


    He made himself comfortable at the entrance and prepared himself to wait for a long time just as if he was hunting animals back in his home forest. He had already gotten used to sitting in one place for long stretches of time so this was not much of a challenge for him.


    Unexpectedly, either due to its curiosity, or maybe stupidity, he did not have to wait for long. After about an hour or so he started to hear footsteps coming from inside the cave. This caused him to tense his muscles as he stood up and drew his dagger.


    Soon enough a goblin exited the cave with nervous movements. It was not even able to react before Lionel rapidly rushed to him and this time learning from his mistakes, plunged his weapon into its stomach.


    Some gurgling sounds escaped the goblin''s mouth before it collapsed, dead. Lionel then pulled his dagger out of the body and looked down at the laying corpse. The ugly goblin''s face still made it hard for him to understand its gender, supposedly they also had females and males, but on the other hand, he felt like he was getting more used to killing them now.


    After having already taken the lives of four humanoids his hands no longer trembled after he killed and he has become able to do it more methodically. Feeling a bit afraid of his newly gained apathy he searched the goblin and after finding nothing valuable or useful he headed inside the dark cave.


    Before he entered he lit a torch to have some lighting. When he saw how only a single goblin went out to search he knew that there was either no one else inside, or they were non-combatants.


    If they had more able bodies they would have sent more than one goblin to see what was going on, in case there was an ambush and one died there would be another who might be able to alert the others. Goblins were not exactly smart but their cleverness and carefulness were well known, only sometimes their curiosity and naivety blinded some of the young ones.


    Just like he had guessed, after entering deeper into the cave he did not find any other living beings inside. All there was in what he assumed to be their living space were some old clothes and random food like grasses, herbs, fruits and such.


    What he was truly anticipating was the place in the back which seemed to have a tapestry covering its entrance. With a spring in his steps, he rushed over to the "treasury" and as soon as he pushed aside the tapestry the view of another cave space appeared in his eyes, only this one had a small pile of random stuff in the middle of it.


    Lionel felt a bit disappointed, but he had already guessed there would not be any mountains of gold here yet it did not stop him from feeling vexation. Still, there could be some unexpected surprises in this stack, so with excitement rapidly returning to his eyes he ran over to the "treasure" pile and began to look it through.


    It was not very big so sifting through it did not take that long. Most of the things he found were various general goods for which he neither had space nor time. However, some things made his eyes sparkle. Besides 5 gold, 6 silver, and 24 copper coins he found a bottle of good wine, a silver canteen and most importantly a small topaz.


    Maybe for a rich person, this would be a poultry sum, but for Lionel, this was a huge surprise. He greedily packed everything valuable into his pack, after which he sneakily looked around and immediately left that cave a bit richer and much happier than he when he had entered.


    Having taken care of the goblin situation he did not stand around and vacated the premise to continue his journey as soon as possible. He had already been waylaid for too long and needed to catch up for lost time. However, now comparing to the morning he was obviously traveling with a much brighter look on his face, his sadness almost forgotten.


    During the rest of the day and the night he did not encounter any other problems and during the second half of the third day he finally left the overgrown forest and for the first time cast his look on the town of Strasia.