Xing Lei stood before the armed and armored goblin looking the brute over warily, while his counter part did the same. Sneering the goblin flexed and swept the war axe around in his hands, showing off a decent proficiency with the weapon, not once striking the passage around him. Xing Lei nodded lightly recognizing his opponents flashy skills... before hefting his spear and throwing it forward. The goblin gaped stunned that the kobold didnt rush in to fight it hand to hand, that amazed look froze on its face as the spear slid easily through it's right eye, deep into its brain and then pinned the warrior goblin to the wood door, the shaft of the spear quivering softly.
Walking up to the goblin shaking his head he tried to pull out his weapon but found it firmly planted in door and skull. Frowning, Xing Lei reached down to pick up the dropped axe, the rusty metal still had a good edge, but he had little experience with axes, they tended to be favored by more brutish fighters, in fact he couldn't even recall a single practice or technique that favored this form. Sighing helplessly, he slowly pushed open the door, the extra weight of the guard made the thing difficult to move.
Slipping inside the room Xing Lei had to admit, other than the stench, it reminded him of his meeting with Gruck. The fat goblin he could only assume was the chief was busy on the throne, a gaggle of female goblins were waiting on him hand and foot. Actually this was the first time he could recall seeing a female goblin, unlike the tribe that shared jobs between sexes, goblin females seemed entirely subservient to their leader, none looked like warriors or shamans, though most did remind him of starving rats, red eyed and ready to take a pound of your flesh given the opportunity.
Growling at being interrupted, the grotesque meat ball of a chief pushed the current female it was rutting against away and reached for a rather impressive sword sheathed behind the throne upon which it rested. The throne itself was mostly a pile of bones, rotting meat and tooth marks abound upon the grisly seat, finally the sword slid free and the fat blob lurched forward, swinging that blade in great arcs before it. Xing Lei just watched in amazement. THIS was the goblin leader?
Ducking under the large sword, Xing Lei casually walked past the goblin with an ease that firmly looked down on such an unworthy opponent. The axe in his hand was swung casually yet a thick flabby arm of the goblin chief spiraled into the air. The goblins shrill screams of pain were only drowned by the dull thunk as the heavy blade fell to the floor, the chiefs remaining meaty hand grabbed at its shorn shoulder trying to stem the foul rain of dark blood. Crossing behind the thick goblin the axe swung again and the chief was fully disarmed. Shaking his head, the axe spun horizontal to the creatures shoulders sending the greasy fat head bouncing off the ceiling and floor.
The goblin females wailed and stared at their fallen chief, they made no move to do anything to the kobold but sat around the throne lifeless and screaming at the top of their lungs, likely expecting the next strongest to come kill this fiend. Yet soon no one came, well no goblin at any rate. As Xing Lei collected the chiefs head, the door sundered inwards, the broken body of the warrior goblin laid amongst the shattered wood. Stomping on the body came Grull, his beady eyes staring murder at Xing Lei, a brutal laugh escaped his mouth, "Ah good Dull Scale, collect my kill trophy. Hand it over."
Glancing at Grull then at the goblin chiefs head, then back to Grull, "Your kill? Grull is mistaken. I killed the goblin chief, the rewards are mine."
Grull gave a wicked snarl, smiling evilly, "This work good too, goblin chief kill you, I kill chief, no question asked by Mistress. Long time due you die Dull Scale." Swinging that thick club Grull charged forward ready to smash Lei to a pulp. True shock appeared in his eyes as Xing Lei reached out and caught the club in one hand, the momentum only pushing him back slightly in the upper body, though his feet remained steady as a tree.
"No I think it long over due that you and your father were dumped in a hole Grull." Smirking as his fingers tightened on the club, jerking it sideways single handed, to slam Grull against a wall. The brutish kobold grunted releasing his grip on his weapon before rolling to the side and charging in fists swinging.
Xing Lei was rather surprised by how sturdy Grull was to shake off the slam, dropping the heavy club and meeting Grull fist for fist, trading blows back and forth. For Grull, each of Lei's punches were like taking a swing from his own club. Those slender looking fists carried unfathomable power and firmness. While Lei did his best to reduce the damage of Grulls punches, he had to admit Grull hit hard, but he lacked technique, he was pure strength. Mindless brutality. Simply no match for a body tempered cultivator.
Finally Grull looked in a sorry state, one of his was swollen shut, his nostrils were bleeding and his jaw looked to be one good slap from being dislocated. Waving his hands in surrender he mumbled through his busted jaw, "That enough! That enough! Kill yours. Trophy yours! Let Grull live?!"
Xing Lei narrowed his eyes, not believing Grulls surrender for a moment. As pitiful as the burly kobold tried to sound those swollen eyes still radiated with killing intent, and as discreet as he tried to be Lei still saw him reaching behind his back, as Grulls arm came whipping back around, Lei kicked upwards, smashing into Grulls elbow with a satisfyingly loud snap, watching the hidden serrated blade he was going to flick at Xing Lei buried itself in the earthen ceiling.
Spinning like a top on one leg, Lei spun around the heel of his foot smashing into Grulls cheek and laying him to the ground with a grunt of pain. Rolling over the kobold warrior looked as if he was going to continue when Lei struck upwards, smacking the ceiling firmly. Grull shifted his gaze up in horror as his own blade swung loose of the dirt and fell down, the serrated blade sinking hilt deep into the kobolds throat. Grasping at the blade, Grull stupidly pulled it back, the serrated edge tearing the hole in his neck even wider and sending a geyser of blood into the air, gurgling Grull collapsed and moved no more.
Catching his breath Xing Lei glanced towards the female goblins before walking over to pull a fur off the bone throne, moving about he collected what he needed before retrieving his spear and walking back down the corridor. The sounds of combat had slowly drawn silent, though draconic victory cries could be heard, these he paid little mind to as he went back to the cell and knocked on the door, "It's me, time to go."
The door pushed open slowly and the woman looking very pale stepped out, she met the kobolds gaze before her and tears welled up in those emerald orbs. He didnt ask why she was alone, he didnt ask what she did. She knew he knew and didnt seem to judge her, "Just one last thing before i can leave."
Xing Lei nodded and turned walking away. He fully expected that after giving her fellow captives peace she'd kill herself, instead he was shocked to hear strange words slip from her lips, glancing back he caught a wisp of flame flowing out from her extended finger tip before the room back there exploded in flame. Turning around she rushed back to him and blushed softly, "I can't bury them, cremating what remains is the best I could do."
Xing Lei looked curiously at her before nodding and leading her back through the keep to the open air, as they emerged from the crumbling passage he and his charge were surrounded by kobolds. Leaf Dancer looked warily at the woman who stood taller than any of them but then focused on Lei, "Where Grull?"
"Grull is dead, we're heading home." Xing Lei answered honestly to the gazes that surrounded him, Leaf Dancer looked at him dubiously then to the hide bundle he carried, even now the bottom was thick with blood.
"You...?"
Xing Lei nodded, shifting the bundle on his shoulder. "I've reclaimed my honor, soon I'll help the tribe regain it's own."
"Traitor! Heresy! Speak true Dull Scale, you killed Grull!" Whisperer howled from the side drawing attention to the shaman.
Xing Lei stared at Whisperer and nodded, "I killed Grull. I killed the goblin chief and his finest warrior, like the lord of the forest Grull sought to claim my kill, he paid with his life."
Whisperer grimaced as the kobolds looked between the two, for the longest time strength was right. If Grull was killed by Dull Scale then Dull Scale was stronger and deserved their respect. "Grull chiefs son! In place of Gruck, I curse you Dull Scale to die for killing great Grull!"
Suddenly Xing Leis free hand snapped up, between his fingers was a trio of hair thin needles. Looking at the slender bone needles before looking at Whisperer, "Your friend lost something." Flicking his wrist the needles left his hand, but instead of Whisperer a lesser shaman to the side screamed and fell over. His clawed hands tore at his face and the trio of needles that had easily penetrated his scales. The shamans body twitched and convulsed, dark curse like lines coursing down his face to under his robe, suddenly he went still and a greenish foam leaked from his mouth. Beside him, a pouch of extra needles and a small clay jar sat, blackish green goop slithered out of the open jar and sizzles against the grass.
"Theres our much feared 'cursemaster'. A con man with a lackey." Xing Lei stated loudly, "This great shaman want to be only knows how to talk strong. Without his poisons..." Deftly reaching under his armor Grulls serrated blade made another appearance before sinking into Whisperers chest. "... he is not to be feared."
The shaman whimpered as bloody froth escaped his mouth, slumping to his knees before falling over to breath no more. Xing Lei looked to the worn and battle tested kobolds and nodded once, "Let's go home."
The return to the tribe was far less stressful, while the hunters were still on point to avoid major animal encounters, the main host was no longer lead by the surly Grull or the sleazy Whisperer. Xing Lei used this time to better get in with the warrior faction as well as the remaining shamans. The warrior faction reminded Lei alot of a sect, there was a clear hierarchy between newbie warriors, veterans and generals. The lowest rung was often tasked with looking after their seniors conditions while racking up merits to advance.
Shamans on the other hand were like loose cultivators. They listened to the most powerful but rather than having clear ranks it was more their skills that determined who lead or who followed, sadly for most it was a group of followers. Other than Whisperer there was only one other who could claim to have true otherworldly power and even that was only useful for curing minor wounds.
The real treasure was the woman, whom Xing Lei discovered was not human. Rather she was an elf, a highborn who claimed her name was Alustriea. She was on her coming of age journey with some friends and mercenaries when they were over whelmed by their quarry. Unlike the shamans who seemed pretty useless, Alustriea was an actual mage, or Pyromancer as she proudly claimed. It was a unique gift since most elves focused on wind, water or general nature magic. To hurl flame? That meant she was one in a thousand amongst her people, amongst humans however she was actually lower talent.
She was rather easy on the eyes to match, sure his old life had elves but they were more akin to forest spirits, small and childlike. Alustriea was anything but a child, despite claiming she was only coming of age. She stood at about 5'2", short compared to a human but against the surrounding kobolds who at best crested three feet, she stood like a giant. From what he had seen, she had a slender body, hairless beneath her neck and very thin, considering she threw fire back at the goblin camp Xing Lei suspected she served the same purpose as a kobold shaman. Her hair was a dirty wheat color and hung in a tangle down her back, but it did make the worried emerald eyes stand out all the more.
Still Xing Lei found conversing with her rather enlightening, she knew a great deal about the forest and where the nearest towns were. She wasn't too thrilled to not be released but he explained that he would need her help and she did owe him. Reminded of her debt she took his request seriously, apparently her people were big believers in karma especially when it involved life debts. He was just happy to have someone who could hurl fire be there to counter whatever the Great Shaman might do, unlike Whisperer she was likely like the other shaman, it would not surprise him if she had actual magic to work with.
That was the other useful by product of befriending Alustriea, he managed to convince her to teach him some magic, by no means was he talented in it but learning a few basic cantrips proved easily reachable. Sure being able to light a candle at a distance wasn't on the save level of incinerating a room but he was never one to forsake a trump card. With the mountain home looming, all his fellow kobolds were itching to be back, for Leaf Dancer and the other hunters he suggested they russell up some fresh kills for a feast, with what was going to happen, better they were out of tribe for it. Looking into the distance he could see the home guard waiting to receive the war band. Even Gruck had left his perch... likely in Hope's of an early tasting of the trophies his son was to collect. Steadying himself, Xing Lei strode through the war band, it was time to confront Gruck...