"I am lost."
[ Affirmative.]
"Say, instead of confirming something apparent, how about you help me? You don't even have a mapping function installed. Just how useless can you get."
Repeating the same talk I had with the system half an hour ago, I sit down next to a giant tree that has a trunk bigger than my room in previous life.
If not tens of thousands of years old, it was older than a thousand years for sure.
It's top was reaching more than 100 meters high I assumed. And it's canopy covered all the nearby area making it appear like night time.
All this time I didn't see any other monster.
The System told me the village was 2 km ahead, but didn't tell me in which direction.
How am I supposed to know where I have to go? So I started moving straight in the direction I was facing. And the result? I got lost.
I can't even go back to where I started now as there is no moving straight in a forest. You have to keep changing direction many times.
" But this is too weird. I thought I would meet some mystic beast if I kept wandering like this but no such thing happened."
I can't even tell what time is it, or if the cycle of day and night is even similar to that of Earth in the first place. I thought it would be night soon when I was roasting the wolf meat and hours have passed but I can't see the night approaching yet.
"So, the daytime is longer here perhaps or maybe there is no night-time at all?. I don't know, I can only wait and see."
Sob..
"... I didn't hear anything."
Sob.. Sob
" No way I am following that sound. In such an eerie forest where even monsters are a rare sight there can't be a normal child present here !!..
I have seen many horror movies. The first person from a group hears some sobbing sound and separates himself to look for the source and never comes back. He is the first one to die!!
But I am not so naive!! "
Sob..Sob.. Sob
[ QUEST : Some unknown sounds are heard in the forest.
Objective - To find the source of the sound and deal with the situation.
_____
Rewards :
Location of the nearby village.
______
Failure :
Permanent loss of 1 HP and the Host gets lost in the Forest for unknown time... ]
" You're doing it purpose right? I know you had the location all this time, you were just waiting for this!! "
I felt betrayed at this time. It's like you're trying to avoid something because you know it would be bad but someone is forcing you to do it anyway if you want to come out of your current predicament.
" So this is how it feels when you don't have the control of your actions? I feel so powerless now. "
' Now that I don't have any choice, I can only do what it says. '
Resigning myself to fate, I stood up and just followed the sound which was becoming clear as I got closer.
After just a short distance I saw two Goblins, one who looked like 6-7 years old and was crying while the other was similar to the ones I killed before.
And there was a Human who was playing with the older one.
And by playing I mean he was kicking and laughing at him.
As I got closer I could hear some words which I could understand clearly.
" See how weak you are!!.. That was just the 6th blow and you're already dead. Where is all that spirit you had before when you said you can take 10 of my blows? "
' Huh? He can talk to the goblin?.. Is that goblin an intelligent one capable of speaking human language or does that human have some sort of language skill or any translation tool? '
I took a look at the the human and didn't bother with the Goblins as they all look similar to me.
He was tall, taller than my Human self with a good built. He was wearing a simple chainmail and his face was full of mockery directed at the goblin.
There was a sword hanging by his waist but he was not using it.
Looking at the goblin and then at the human, I can tell that both were stronger than me. And it even looked like the goblin was a little stronger than the human.
' Even if he can't defeat him, he should be able to fight back. So why is he doing nothing and just receiving his blows? '...the answer was obvious but I didn't want to believe it.
I still wanted to think that there was a line which shouldn't be crossed..
Sob.. Sob..
" Leave him alone, you're not fighting fairly..you're a bad guy! ".. the child pleaded with tears in his eyes.
But my belief was shattered instantly. It's not like I hate humans. I was a human myself before and still am according to the system. So I understand them very well.
They enjoy trampling on others. They never cared about fairness as long as they win. Going as far as holding a child hostage to suppress the enemy.
Goblins are weak..Who said that? Isn't it just what was depicted to us?
Humans are righteous and monsters should be slayed? What a joke. Have you ever lived as a monster yourself? No, you have not.
Do I feel compassion for monsters? I don't.
I have killed Goblins myself not before long, even if that was for Survival, I am not going to be a hypocrite and start killing humans and relieve the Goblins of their pain.
I would have hesitated before when I was a human if I had to choose one side.
Now that I have become a monster from 'outside' too, the choice is obvious.
I will take the monster's side.
" What are you blabbering about!!.. Keep your mouth shut and stay away from me you ugly creature!!"
... and the child was kicked away just like that.
" Leave him alone!!.. You said you won't touch him!!".. the older goblin shouted.
"...but seriously, who is the monster here? "
I shook my head and dashed forward, building up as much force as I could and deliver a severe blow before he gets a chance to pull out his sword.
[ SPRINT ACTIVATED ]
[ STEALTH ACTIVAED ]
But i can't stab him in the chest with a stone spear when he's wearing a chainmail. And his head is out of option too due to our height difference, even though the spear can deal a blow it won't be much powerful.
I took out the stone from inside my pouch, put all the strength in my arm and threw it at his head powered by my ' THROW ' skill..
And just as I expected, other than making him lose his control it didn't cause much damage to him. But that was enough. Enough for him to get distracted and look in my direction.
The goblin didn't miss this chance and picked the dagger which was lying near him and rushed at the human.
Even though he was badly injured, he was still in condition to kill his enemy if he was distracted.
" How dare you..!! You lowly goblin!! "
The human reacted quickly and reached for his sword. But how could I let him pull out his sword, though the blunt spear couldn't pierce him and cause damage, the head was still stone in the end.
So I made full use of it and used it as a hammer, making use of the torque generated and due to it's shaft being so flexible the force behind the strike amplified and connected to his wrist.
His face distorted in pain and he lost his hold on the sword. Before he could recover, a dagger with a sharp edge pierced his side where the chainmail had a v-cut just above his waist.
He suffered greatly from the pincer attack and used his free hand to cover his wound on his side.
As a killer move, I swung the spear again and landed a striked between his legs, crushing his balls. And that proved more effective than the previous two strikes.
' So the balls are as important as heart and brain huh '.. I confirmed the doubt I had about certain thing.
" Yo-.. I won't forg-... Just yo wai-.. You'll regr-."..and he was brought to his knees while cursing us in pain.
I took the dagger from my fellow kin as I didn't want him to kill the human yet and steal my exp and also I didn't want the human to die before answering some of my questions.
I cut the tendons of his elbow and knee joint and ankle and made him cripple...a strike to his head made him unconscious.
After all of this was over, I finally turned to look at the Goblin who was feeling somewhat relieved and a little anxious and mostly wary of me.