Alice and I had a new quest to fulfil. We wanted to prove our loyalty and kindness to the village that shunned the door away from us. Clint, Lorraine, Rowana, and the others needed our help against these monsters lurking in the cave. Although the Detroits still held a grudge against people who could yield magic, they were not horrible people. Those villagers were just afraid of Alice's powers. I was also a puppet, and not a human being.
If I were living in their world, I would also feel terrified to think about these entities. With a flick of a mage's finger, every life form known to humankind would disintegrate into pieces. That event scared the people the most.
Fear drove them off to this place, so the Detroits engaged the magical kingdoms into war.
Every creature that the people did not consider humans called them a monster. The people deemed them as feral beasts that had no intelligence or abilities comparable to those human beings. The system told me that this world did not see other creatures as strong as human beings. So the dwarves, elves, and other mythical creatures living on this planet did not receive their rights as an organism.
It was like racism back in my world. We also had this issue back from my previous life. And it had been so long since the people peered into their eyes at this problem.
"No matter what world we live in, people's greatest enemy is ourselves," I mumble. But I refused to accept that matter in my hands.
Alice was with me right now. She was the princess of Wonderland and had the power to change this. I may not change what we had back on Earth, but I will change this world.
Earth in my life was a different world compared to this planet. It was a time for a change, and that change would happen right now. This task was the first step we needed to climb before stepping foot on the kingdom. We needed to walk forward one step at a time, like the people did when they touched the moon.
And with this mission, Alice and I will destroy that stigma once and for all!
After reading the map, we trod the uncharted roads, looking for the cavern. Alice and I brushed the towering bushes and cut off some branches obstructing our path. Countless boughs swayed in front of us, so we had to trim them down. After walking for a few minutes, ominous energy greeted our skins. I felt nothing at all, but I knew there was dark energy spiralling near us.
It was as if something pushed us away from the site, warning us trespassers. I was the only one who perceived that sensation, since Alice continued nonchalantly walking to the portentous pavement.
I hauled her closer and hid behind the tree. Alice tried breaking free from my latch, surprised that I snatched her away from the ground. But as soon as she noticed my reason, her eyes widened in despair.
"No way…" Alice mumbled to herself after witnessing the scene in front of her.
There was a cave nestling at the farther side of the jungle. But that was not everything we saw at our fore.
There were countless goblins, and rabid wolves congested in the centre. Some goblins even rode behind the backs of the hounds, while others remained on the ground. Those green creatures armed themselves with makeshift blades and bows and arrows made of pointed twigs.
But what sent shivers down to my spine the most was the hobgoblin.
That monster emerged outside from the cave and searched the entire forest for something the heavens only knew. The hobgoblin had a spear with a tusk of a boar attached at the end. The beast wore leathered clothing on both arms to protect its skin. Its fabric came from the skin made by the dwarves. It had magic resistance against fire and water spells, which made the hobgoblin a threatening opponent for us to face.
All this information emerged from my screen, with the hobgoblin's identity appearing in front of me. It showed me everything that I needed to know to prepare us for the fight. But the details that my system could only show limited me from knowing everything.
Alice could conjure wind and fire spells in her arsenal. However, now that we knew about the resilient clothing, Alice had no other choice but to use her wind abilities against the hobgoblin. Upon telling her that fact, Alice pondered to herself and clicked her tongue.
"I'm good at using my fire abilities. What am I going to use now?"
"Aren't you efficient at using those wind skills too?" I asked.
Since Alice made us fly using her wind abilities, that only meant one thing. Alice could also use her wind element to her advantage, instead of using her fire prowess.
"I am proficient in using my wind, but I love fire the most!" Alice exclaimed, and pounded her almost flat chest. "It's because fire can burn anything! With one snap of my fingers, you can crisp everything like barbecues!"
Among the metaphors that the gothic girl could use, Alice chose food, which was also available in my world. It was too bad I could taste nothing or needed to eat anything, considering that my body did not require nourishment.
All I had to do was to protect Alice wherever she went. I also had to put a stop to her idiotic decisions. We needed to change the world as well, but her problematic decision making causes many troubles for the two of us.
But there were more prominent things that we should worry about, and that included that hobgoblin.
The monster trundled towards the hut and sat on the ground. All the rest of the goblins circled near their leader, attempting to do something that Alice and I did not know. We could only guess that the beasts were doing a ritual of some sort to prepare themselves for a meal. The hobgoblin looked at the ground and discerned a group of animals and humans mixed with the pile of dirt.
"Aren't those…"
"... Yeah," I answered. "Those are human bodies."
We could not guess any better as the hobgoblins chewed on the fresh meat collected by the hobgoblins. To them, it felt like a feast. But for our eyes, we experienced the dreadful nightmare of our lives.
"What if we're the ones who got caught by the goblins? What if those goblins captured Rowana?!" Alice cried, and forgot to tone down her voice.
My hands jerked forward and covered her mouth to stop Alice from talking. Alice also knew that she let out a cry, clamorous enough to reach the herd of monsters in front of us. With that said, those monsters heard us and were on their way in our direction.
Alice's eyes widened and almost reached her ears as she shook her head, panicking about what to do in this situation.
"WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!" she proclaimed, and curled her body like a baby.
"Do you want to die?"
"NO!" Alice shouted.
"Then you better be casting those spells, or else we are BOTH GOING TO DIE!"
After our exchange, I carried Alice on my back like a bazooka and booked it. My legs were faster than Usain Bolt could ever run into the forest. If people back from my world saw me right now, they would mistake my figure for a cheetah rather than a puppet.
I needed to maximise my speed, considering the mob of goblins was chasing right after us.
Those monsters had mounts that sprinted for them! These goblins rode on top of their wolves and raced behind us. All of us rammed against the trees, uprooting them while darting in the forest.
However, those goblins had enough with our game of cat and mouse. They used their bows and arrows and fired them in our direction, hoping for the kill. Besides running away as fast as my mechanical legs could, I also needed to dodge the bolts crashing from above without looking behind. If I looked at my rear, that would only slow down my pace, making room for the goblins to catch me.
"Move to the right!" Alice instructed.
I slid my body onto the East and listened to her words. Just as I glided to the right, an arrow came flying on the ground. It hit the place where I moved from before. If I did not heed Alice's words, that arrow could have hit us right now.
"Move to the right!" Alice commanded once again, and so I followed her words.
But before I moved to my right, Alice immediately shouted once again. She corrected herself and pulled my shoulders towards my left.
"YOUR OTHER RIGHT!" she yelled.
My feet rubbed themselves on the ground as I manoeuvred my entire body on the distinct path. Thanks to my non-human legs, I could not feel any pain. That numbing sensation saved us from crashing against the arrow. If I felt pain, I would have curved and stopped moving at all!
Alice could've said left, dammit!