Day-5 another quiet day of hunting and training, I was on the hunt for more horned rabbit variants, I spoke to rou about them but he hadn't seen any of them and was curious about the differences between them and the regular rabbits. I told him about how when they charged one spun horizontally and the other vertically so they could impale better. He had a hungry look in his eyes as he dragged gobukichi out the door.
I spoke to ji about them and he replied "hmm variants are rare indeed however among weaker creatures variants tend to appear more frequently. Your an example with that mark on your back. One goblin thought that it was different food or living spots that made variants so if your hunting them go to a new area".
He then told me to be careful, regular goblins die to the rabbits frequently as they couldn't judge distance and speed properly before they're impaled. I decided to speak to mi as the females are responsible for clothing. "Hey Mi I got a question for ya" "hey jin what's up?" "Well me and a few others are hunting horned rabbits and I was wondering if you can make some clothes out of them like my vest" she then walked towards me and began feeling it and noticed the stitching. "Yeah sure but horned rabbits? Those are really dangerous how are you hunting them"
"Well I got a decent weapon and I'm pretty good with it but I think you should speak to rou, he hunts a lot more than I do." "Rou? That cool looking guy?" "Yeah him" she then blushed a deeper shade of green before scurrying off.
At least I have a clothes manufacturer now.
Day 6- I decided to sleep in this day as my training was causing some muscle pain. Rest is a necessity after all. When I got up from my mat I left to go catch dinner. The sun was slowly going down putting it at around evening time. I don't know how hours work on this world so I just measure it by day and night cycles.
As I was walking with my staff I kept my senses on high incase a predator spotted me, goblins are bottom of the food chain which makes them a target even if I'm stronger than a regular goblin. I heard rustling so used my impressive leg strength to hop and scale a tree. After that I waited and a night viper came slithering out of the bush with a bulge on it throat. It must have swallowed something.
I was about to attack but it descended through a hole in the ground rather quickly. I then heard missing and turned to see a black house at with red markings and bigger claws. This was a monster named a "night cat" by ji. Rou didn't hunt at night in his early days so he didn't speak about these monsters in the manga or book.
It saw me and quickly scaled the tree with its claws while hissing at me. Rather than wait for it I throw my staff with the cork screw end and managed to nail it to the three making it howl. As I went to inspect it I forgot the basic rule of survival, never lower your guard against a downed enemy.
The night cat pounced at me after I removed the spear causing blood to leak like a fountain. I used the escape trait to back away quickly but it still left a four pronged scratch mark on my chest that drew a little blood.
I was pissed that I let my guard down so decided to take it out on my dinner. Yes cat is poisonous to humans but to goblins it may as well just be a small and skinny pig with more muscles. I collected it's claws after fully removing them. They're retractable and as I've now discovered have a full length of two inches.
I deposited them in a little leather pouch I pinched from the humans supplies. After that I ate the cat meat and gained new traits { stealth trait acquired, night vision trait acquired, predator trait acquired}.
Immediately after I felt that I could move faster and see better in the dark. I could also erase the sound of my footsteps as well as finding it easier to hide in the forest. This night cat was powerful and I was lucky to kill it so quickly.
My wounds began to clot so I went back to the cave after eating. I asked ji for some medical paste to rub on my wounds that he makes. My cuts began to feel like they were burning for abit but I just assumed that was the healing process. I took the night cats hide to mi and asked what she could do with it, she attached it to my vest and made it into a black hood.
I feel like an assassin now.
Day 7- it was raining so I remained in the cave while doing more training than usual. I'd still have some meat leftover from last night so I had that for my lunch. My workout was my kata of several martial arts like karate and taekwondo followed by more stretching to improve flexibility.
Then I made use of my new traits to train my footwork by copying gaoh ryu's chalk circle training which Rou also attempted and praised me for my ingenuity. It quickly became a game among the young goblins to see who could last the longest.
After that it was repeated swings and strikes with my staff then attaching the two inch claws towards the jagged knife tip so that it cuts more when it impales. Rou had made actual kitchen knives and armour in exchange for my experiences against the night cat.
I have now managed to stitch some pockets using some of his rabbit hides inside my vest so I kept the knife in there secured with a string.
Last I ventured into the human area and scavenged for books. I found one entitled basic mana arts, yes I can read the language. A gift from goddess I thought as the mark on my back warmed for a few seconds.
The book walked through how to unlock mana, meditation that wasn't as detailed as those back on earth, beginner spells, empowering yourself with mana and determining your elemental preferences.
I followed the steps which were meditation but did my own version based on my past lives training and quickly felt something leak from me. The rain downpour helped me concentrate as I felt some tiny gas like energy leak from my body. I quickly used the hxh four principles to control it. My stealth and predator traits kicked in quickly allowing me to use zetsu.
{ mana unlocked, mana arts acquired} noice. The rest of the day I tried using it to cast spells like in the book but I couldn't cast any of them. Wait I'm part fanalis which means I'm trash at magic. Well I have mana maybe I can use it just as body strengthening. For the rest of the day I trained my mana but quickly got tired and went to sleep.
Day-8 I went out hunting again after my mourning routine. Today I'm going to try using my mana on my weapon to amp up its durability and cutting power. I tried last night but I need to test it on an enemy. Speak of the devil and they should appear I thought as a variant horned rabbit appeared.
This one had a blade horn that had a needle point much sharper looking than the base form of the species. It rushed me so I used my superior speed and an upwards swipe with mana infused to easily lob off its head. {mana strengthening acquired, weapon imbuing acquired}. Nice more traits and skills I thought as I dismantled the rabbit and stored its horn for later.
A few hours later I found another variant but this one had a trailing point blade as it's horn. It was the same as the last rabbit with an easy kill, as I dismantled and stored it while snacking on the meat {dismantling skill acquired} and with it my hands moved easier and faster when I was dismantling rabbits.
I later fought an armoured tanuki which I ate and gained {stronger skin} and {winter warming} as traits. The first one basically made my skin tougher to pierce or break while the second made my body more resistant to the cold as the breeze of the forest didn't affect me as much.
On my way back I found Rou, kichi and Mi snacking on the snake so I offered a trade of one of the horn pieces of the variant for some of the meat. Rou traded and ate the blade hoping to gain a skill. He jolted for a second signifying he did but I said nothing as I tasted his night viper meat skewer. {swallow trait acquired, toxin resistance acquired, Jacobson's organ trait acquired}.
Now I can fit more in my mouth and swallow it easier along with an improvement in my sense of smell. The Jacobson organ is one a few reptiles have that they used to compensate for poor eyesight by flicking their tongue. I guess I can do it too but when I flicked my tongue out Kichi stared at me and asked if I had meat juice on my face which made me embarrassed.
Day 9- this day was another rain session that I spent with Rou and his group improving my gear. He helped improve my staffs pointed bits by making it easier to swap between. He told me he found some of the variants as well but didn't state that they gave him skills. I could tell based on the prideful look in his eyes.
After that I went to my corner to meditate to build up more mana and improve its flow. After that I did some more nen principle training while mixing in the advanced stuff which made it easier to use. Goblins mature fast so they learn fast was the conclusion I came too. I felt my martial arts progressing much faster than they did as a human while my physique was developing more muscles. Though that could be due to the fanalis parts of me.
Day 10- I hunted with Rou and his group today and managed to eat a seven coloured bat wing which improved my hearing as I gained the trait. I also gained {screech trait} instantly which I assumed was again because of the fanalis. Morgianna could let out massive howls to disorient enemies or kill them by rupturing their ear drums.
We then discussed evolution and how we might look as hobgoblins if we even can evolve. Rou said that me and him were close but didn't mention how he could tell. I asked him if Ji could evolve which made him ponder on that. Maybe I could save Ji in this timeline by making him evolve.