Inside the forest of shadows where no light shines when the moon rises up above, a party of three goblins, an unconscious little girl camped just beside a huge tree whose old bark seemed to tell tales of its age.
"Alright, this is where we will stay for the night." A tired sigh left my mouth and my eyelids drooped down slightly. The feeling of drowsiness slowly enveloped me.
My stomach growled, startling the three little goblins who laid down tiredly on the ground.
'I can't fall asleep yet!' Shaking myself away and clearing my thoughts once more, I saw the goblins scramble unto their feet and curiously crawl towards the unconscious girl.
They poked her with a stick and started heavily discussing something.
It was such a strange sight that I didn't bother ruining their fun. Of course, if the three little gobs try anything funny I'll just smack them and discipline them.
Shield gob stood up and ran off, sniffing something out. Staff gob and shortsword gob started collecting sticks, branches, and stones before setting up a campfire.
Shield gob came back with a long, sturdy vine with a long bamboo pole.
'Wait don't tell me.' I could already picture what the three little gobs want to do. They want to cook Beatry and feed her to me.
I forgot that monsters eating humans is the norm for them.
"Stop that. We won't be eating Beatry..." Waving off their attempts at a possible human barbeque, their faces drooped down low as the faces of theirs showed a saddened spirit.
Everyone here was hungry. I myself included.
Stamina: 1233/5000
Stamina: 2432/5000 (Hungry)
My stamina bars are shown on the status window. Looks like I really need to eat now.
But I do not know how to cook. In fact, I excel in eating instead.
Devouring food that was enough to serve five people.
"Watch the girl and don't try anything funny and oh..."
"Tie her up..."
The gobs nodded, following my commands. Beatry needs to be restrained. Because like any sane person upon seeing three goblins watching over them, they would lash out and try to kill the goblins.
I can't have her potentially killing off my new minions and her running away wasn't desirable either.
Having finished telling the goblins what to do in case of any monster attacks them, my hungry stomach urged me to search for food and so I did.
I'm thinking about a cooked leopard and a few fruits for dinner. Yeah, that should do it.
As for who would cook? Hado's daughter carried with her cooking utensils so she obviously knows how to prepare a meal.
-----
Roar!
Grant grunted before silencing the wrathful howls of a shadow leopard that he had tackled to the ground.
His hand dug into the creature's skull, killing it and it's howls of apparent pain stopped.
He stepped back a bit before waving his hand, the blood and brain matter staining it was thrown away. Grant inspected his work and nodded.
'These things are harder to kill than I expected.' Grant grumbled before lifting the now cooling corpse. He mounted it atop his head and sniffed the air again.
Shadow Leopards were fast but Grant was faster. The problem lay in tracking them.
Blessed with dark purple fur that complemented the dark lightless forest, they blended well with the environment. Shadow leopards knew of their white circle patterns that stained their coat.
Therefore these feline monsters were only able to survive and thrive due to their extremely cautious and patient temperament.
They were known to stalk prey or lie in wait for hours without end. Unless their prey proves to be more dangerous than they thought, shadow leopards would not stop following them.
Their ability to sense danger and immediately run away was also a huge factor in their survival. Just like what had happened before with the three goblins where the leopard ran away after being hurt badly.
Grant could track their scent with much difficulty. But such a process takes either too long or was too unreliable.
Roar!
Lost in his thoughts, Grant was stunned hearing another roar sound out behind him. That roar sounded much more powerful and contained more aggression compared to the monsters he had encountered before.
Grant threw the corpse lying atop his head away and readied himself. A black-furred bear's meaty paw slammed down unto Grant who had to block instead of dodging.
The ground between the two sank. Spiderweb like cracks spanning for a few feet riddled the floor with Grant in the epicenter of it.
Huk! The force behind the paw possessing sharp savage-looking claws shook Grant. He was surprised that a monster was able to make his feet sink into the ground and shake him.
He could feel his brain and his insides shake a little, making him be dizzy for a moment.
Roar! The black bear roared once more and put even more pressure on the arm that was pressing down on Grant.
Another paw made its way to Grant's side, wanting to tear him to shreds.
Boom! Freeing his right hand, Grant clenched it before slamming his tightened fist onto the bear's sternum, making the bear cough up blood and step back a few feet.
The two brutes separated and distanced themselves from one another. Grant was confident in being able to kill the bear given enough time but he wasn't willing to engage.
He was hungry and a little bit tired. His body screamed for food and rest but he needs to hunt more to sate his companions' and his own hunger.
Gruu... Growling, the bear wiped its mouth and looked at its hand. It saw blood and shot Grant narrowed eyes before retreating.
A bee's nest was thrown at him. Fresh honey oozed from the hole and gave off an appetizing smell. A bribe to make him lay off the bear's territory.
The large hulking frame of the bear sank into the overgrowth, leaving it's faintly glimmering eyes amidst the darkness. Warily staring at Grant but letting him leave.
Grant nodded at approval towards the bear before picking up the nest along with the shadow panther.
With a shadow leopard's corpse mounted atop his head and his left hand holding a bee's nest that was devoid of any bee yet filled with honey, Grant strolled carefully through the jungle.
Looking for edible looking fruits.
Grant then took off his shirt, revealing a tall, lean yet well-defined body. He had white skin that would make most females envy and his hair was smooth and silky.
Tying the bottom part of the shirt, Grant made a makeshift cloth bag and placed the fruits inside.
It didn't take long for Grant to find some but since he didn't know if they were safe to eat, Grant just settled for taking a wide variety of fruits before heading back to the camp.
MHPMPHH!!! MHPPP!!
He snickered in amusement seeing the now conscious daughter of Hado squirming on the ground like a worm.
Tears threatened to fall from her eyes and a cloth taken directly from her own bag was used to gag her. But despite the cloth gag, she made enough noise to be noisy enough that she irritated the three gobs.
KHUKKKK!!!!
The three little goblins were blocking their long ears with their small hands.
Faces full of irritation, the goblins sat a decent distance away from the squirming girl.
'Poor little gobs. Their ears are sensitive after all.' Instead of pitying the tied up Beatry, Grant pitied the gobs instead.
He couldn't care less about the condition of the little girl as long as she was safe. He has yet to assess Beatry's value whether or not she was actually useful.
He only cared about the goblin's well being because they were his followers. To Grant, anyone who follows him was considered his responsibility.
Thud~ Grant tilted his head to the side slightly and the corpse of the shadow leopard mounting his head rolled off and fell to the ground. Making a muffled sound that alerted the goblins.
KHUEK! KHUUHUK!
The goblins immediately ran up to him and helped Grant with the nest and shirt sack of fruits. They ran to the side and arranged everything neatly before giving grant his shirt.
Grant was quite pleased with the goblins. They were smart, capable and easy to whip into shape.
Once he guides and trains them properly on how to fight with more efficiency, Grant was sure the goblins would become a terror to the lower level monsters of the forest of shadows.
They would be strong enough to survive even if he left the three alone for a few months.
Grant's eyes wandered to the red-headed girl who was staring at him in disbelief. The cloth gagging her little mouth fell off and she gulped.
She was dazed and couldn't help but mutter out something that made Grant frown.
"Oh no... He's hot..." Beatry blankly mumbled while her sharp hazel eyes feasted upon Grant's well-defined frame.
The four blankly stared at her with the sudden intention of gagging her once more popping up in their heads.