Noises of hunters getting ready to hunt woke me up. I was completely sore. Sleeping outside in the sitting position was not too smart. Getting up took a few minutes of pain, but in the end, I got on my feet.
Yawning I got in line to the device. I needed a good breakfast to have enough energy for hunting. Others were doing just the same. On top of that, a few people were fixing some of their equipment, while other members of their group took care of preparing the food. It was a very busy morning.
I was ready to go pretty quickly, since I didn't go for meat, and just ate some corn, carrots, and apples. Finished it with a bowl of water. It took 11 points off my account. My equipment was also ready. The only thing I had to do, was leaving my bowl with somebody. I gave it to people watching over the bonfire. They agreed to keep it for me if they could use it during the day.
I departed alone, before everyone else. Few people were watching as I was going straight to the gate. Will among them. I saw him cooking meat over the flame, and he saw me. I still was not sure if I should trust that guy. He was friendly, helpful, and all that, but I kept hesitating.
Walk to the woods helped me to get rid of all the rust I acquired over the night. I even jogged for a while. In the forest, I had to be more careful. Since my sight wasn't the best I had to lean on my hearing. I could see things from afar, they just weren't sharp, but instead more blurry, however since I wasn't rushing, and taking my time, it was not that big of a problem. Whenever I heard something, I would crouch down and observe for some kind of movement, and after confirming there weren't any goblins in front of me, I would continue deeper.
A few hours later I found my first group. Five green, ugly dudes. Too many for me, so I didn't engage and changed my path. I have to admit, that I was lucky in some ways that day. I found the next group very quickly. Three goblins armed with two clubs, and a blade which I found about later, after engaging in a fight. At the start, I was actually hesitant to do so, because the previous group was actually close enough to get lured by the sounds of our battle, but the perspective of getting three crystals was too much for me to ignore.
Since they weren't together, the first one got close before the others. I took him out with one clean swing, straight to the head. The rest attacked almost simultaneously. I blocked one attack with the shield, and the other one with my weapon then kicked goblin to the chest, knocking it down. Another block and swing were enough to get rid of the second goblin. The third one couldn't even get back on his feet. I wouldn't let him. Knocked him for the second time with a kick aimed at his stomach, and finished with a blow to the head.
It was a clean and easy fight. Maybe because I was more experienced at that point, or maybe because fear wasn't dulling my movement. I can't tell.
I picked up the stones and was on my way. This time I didn't want to stay in the forest the whole day. There was no way I would make the same mistake twice. Especially now, when some assholes were watching my movements.
I roamed for a few more hours encountering several goblin groups. Most of them were too big for me to take out alone, so I just avoided them, and only fought small groups. As I mentioned before, I was lucky that day and managed to cross paths with two more groups of two. It was easy to kill them.
Hungry, and exhausted I made my way back. It was around midday, maybe an hour, or two past. I was nowhere near as tired as the last time and actually felt good mentally.
I was about to pass the first line of trees when I heard something. A conversation. I probably wouldn't pay too much attention to it, if it would be in English, but since I heard Spanish, I took my time to listen. The voices were unknown to me. There were a few groups that preferred Spanish over English, and among them was that one, with which I had an argument yesterday.
I crouched down for a moment to think while staying hidden. Should I take some measures before going into the city? I figured I should. I marked the tree next to me and dug a small hole with help of an oak mace. I put the four crystals in there and kept the remaining two in my pocket. Then I went through the gate.
- Hey! It's our friend! - said Nacho the very moment he saw me.
Then he approached me, and his friends followed. I stopped and stayed where I was. Not moving even by an inch.
- We believe you owe us for your rudeness yesterday. So how about you share with us some of your crystals? It's only fair.
- How much you want?
He didn't expect a question like that.
- Half.
- Ok.
It went too smoothly, so he was confused. On my side, I just didn't want more problems, and with only two in my pockets It was a loss I could afford. I took out one crystal and threw it to him. He caught it but was not amused.
- What? - I asked while looking him straight in the eyes. - You wanted half.
They were not happy with my behavior and quickly showed it by beating the shit out of me. I got knocked down and received a few kicks. To be honest it wasn't that bad. They didn't want to actually hurt me, but just show me my place. Then they left, but before checked my pockets, just for good measure.
I picked myself up after waiting a bit, while still laying on the ground. Then I went to the city center and approached the device. Nacho stopped me and went through my pockets yet again, but he only found one crystal. People watched us both when he was doing it. After, he left, and I turned crystal into points.
I bought some food. Got my bowl back, and ate dinner worth 11 points. Then went to the hideout taking the longest way around ever. I was beaten down, both literally and figuratively.
Day ended with 609 points on my account.