After scarcely escaping the troll, I started running through the woods towards the town hoping that an adventurer would be willing to take a payless extermination mission as all of my possessions were probably burned in the fire.
Wait, why would I even expect to be able to make it to town after going through the woods? It's night time, when the dangerous things come out, why did I think going through the woods would be a great idea? Well actually I didn't, I didn't even think. I just did anything I could to get away from the troll.
I noticed something one second too late and tripped on an oversized root. I hit my head on a rock. Extremely hard. I start to lose consciousness, almost as if I'm falling asleep after a hard day's work.
I wake up, it's dark. I feel cold stone under my prone body, I'm slightly bound by rope, and I hear nothing. Only the sound of distant water rushing and the occasional mouse. The pain from my arm as I remember what happened before I fell unconscious. The room is incredibly dim, a dripping noise continuously making itself known, and a rancid smell from all around.
The rope only loosely binds me, to the point I can probably untie myself, so I do just that. I am in a small cell, it can probably hold around 5 people, if they were packed tightly. There are a few random bones around the cell, no chains are attached to the walls along with no door.
I grab a large bone and grip it like a club. I have no clue what could be ahead so it is best to be careful and bring a weapon. My wooden sword, now broken, is nowhere to be seen. I assume it was lost after I passed out in the woods.
Now that I feel my arm It isn't as damaged as I thought it is actually quite untouched, all it has on it is a small cut. That's weird I could have swore it had a chunk ripped out of it. The mark I got branded on me when I was a toddler is also gone, the chunk that was ripped off, How did it heal so fast?
Either way I should probably continue and try to find an exit, that is if I don't plan on staying here until I starve. I assume I probably slept for a day. So I should try to find clean water and food.
"Hasoclumnoba!" A strange noise is heard from the distance, I assume it may as well be a goblin. The one thing known to capture living beings around these parts, other than a human that is.
I start to walk in the direction of the noise, It might be an exit to the place I have found myself in. I walk out of the small room into a larger one, many small rooms in all directions except for one. Along with all of the small rooms there is also a large corridor, it's long but I see light at the end of it. It might be an exit, hopefully it is, I want to find people to help me take revenge over my family.
The corridor goes on for quite a while, how did someone carry me down this path for so long? Well then again it could have been multiple goblins, they would be more than capable to carry me all this way.
Oh yeah, I can use magic. I forgot about that part of the encounter earlier, maybe I should try to use it a little? No, not right now. I should conserve energy in this type of environment.
After walking for a little while the corridor finally opens up to an enormous bridge. It could probably have two carriages on it going in opposite directions at the same time. Along with it probably taking a while to cross, the dark, the probability of holes, and the putrid smell coming from below. This is probably the most dangerous situation I have been in, other than the troll attack.
The smell seems to be coming from a liquid below, I don't exactly know what the liquid is but I hear quite a lot of swishing, giving me the impression that it's moving quickly. The bridge is a smooth dark stone that I don't believe I have ever seen before.
As I make it halfway across the bridge I notice a large amount of noise coming from the other side, almost as if there was a party happening, the sounds of cheering echo even this far so it must be a large amount of people, I wouldn't think goblins would group up this much if it isn't people, maybe it could be demons, even if they aren't known to be around here.
It smells worse the closer I get, it might actually be goblins if my nose is to be trusted, or undead the smell is so rancid it makes me think even the town garbage collector would throw up their contents at the smell.
After walking across the bridge for what seems to be a day, I finally reach a smooth dark stone building. It seems like I'll be seeing this material a lot. It definitely isn't human architecture, at least not the ones from around here. The way that the building is built makes it look rather primitive, so perhaps my idea of goblins is correct. If so, this is the largest gathering of goblins I have ever heard about.
Goblins are the type of creature to kidnap humans to use them as food. They are intelligent to the point they understand not to kill everything they see, they know when to be scared and understand the basics of magic to the point that some can use it. I don't even know how to use magic as it was never on my mind.
I do not know much about their society nor this place's level of advancement, considering the fact that the only weapon I am currently wielding is a large bone, if they have anything made of iron it will be a hard fight. Another important thing I must be cautious about is their numbers, I don't know the numbers they have or the areas size which can be a fatal mistake, thankfully I conserved as much energy as I could to make it easier on myself when I do meet opponents so I shouldn't have a world of problems, especially if it's just goblins.
I prepare myself and my weapon to fight as I walk towards the door slowly to sneak a peek in to see my adversaries. I crack open the door to a room, messy as it is, that looks like a tavern. It's filled with goblins. A few large goblins are also around, I have never seen something of this sort. It's just like the normal goblins but bigger, I should be careful when approaching them.
I think it will be difficult but somewhat manageable. I might take some damage but in the long run I can rest. I can probably use the weapons they have anyway, so it doesn't matter if the bone breaks. Lets just rush in and hope that it is a success.
I kick open the dark wooden door to the large group of goblins and then wait at the door for them to come at me. The idea behind this is to make it so they cannot overwhelm me, If I just charged in there I could have died easily. In comparison, waiting for them to come through a narrow passage one by one is a plentiful amount safer.
The room is filled with tables and chairs. It gives me the vibe of a tavern as there is someone working the counter and what seems to be a chef. I wouldn't believe it if you told me goblins were this social. But it's me that's seeing it, and I think I can trust myself.
The tables are made of the same material as the building, while the chairs are completely wooden. It seems that goblins can even make furniture that looks comfortable, well at least to an orphan. It should be rather nice after cleaning the monsters out of here. If I get injured I might even take a rest here as a base.
Goblins being the dumb things they are do as I expected, one by one, or two by two they charge through the narrow doorway. As they do I smack them with the bone club, hard enough to kill them, my club and the floor is stained purple.
I thought maybe they would be stronger than the ones I fought outside in the forest, they are but not by a lot. Slowly but surely I trim through the crowd. Not many goblins remain, yet there are still the large ones. They haven't even moved yet, Which is odd compared to the goblins that I already faced, they would just rush in without a second thought.
I assumed they would all be like that, but I suppose it is unlikely. Not everything is as easy as it might seem, I better be extremely careful in these next few upcoming battles. I wouldn't want to underestimate the enemy, that could be a fatal flaw in any situation.
Even though it might be dangerous, I step into the doorway. I grabbed a stone sword one of the goblins was using so now, even if the bone breaks, I have another weapon. Strangely I wasn't ambushed as I entered the room, Instead one of the five large goblins got up and prepared for battle.
The larger ones are bigger than the average human adult. They possess iron tools, so they have more than me when it comes to weapon durability. They might be stronger when it comes to physical durability too.
I would have thought they would all attack me at once but they seem to be lazy, their movements are extremely sluggish. I'll try to be extremely careful during this fight, they are big so it is likely that they are strong, at least stronger than goblins which is all that I have been facing so far.
As soon as it reaches me it swings down with its iron axe, I narrowly dodge out of the way, almost getting nicked by the attack in the process. The axe hits the stone floor and digs in enough to get somewhat stuck. The large goblin then tries to pull it out, focusing all of its energy on that.
With the giant distracted I charge in and slice at its face with the stone knife I picked up, and bash it with the large bone in the back of the head. I sure hope that is enough to finish it off, well I had hoped, I was wrong.
I then bash its head again with the bone hoping to kill it quickly. It doesn't work. The large goblin yanks its axe out of the stone after trying for a minute straight. I only did enough damage to make it bleed a little, If only the stone knife was a little sharper then it is, then maybe I would have done more damage.
The large goblins face is bruised and its nose and lip are both bleeding. The thing doesn't seem that beat up despite me hitting it in the face three times, unlike the goblins.
I slam the large goblin in its face one last time before the large bone I am using shatters, along with the large goblins skull. The face of the large goblin looks as if it was just ripped apart by rabid animals, the purple liquid flying everywhere along with chunks of flesh and bone. One of the eyes ends up on the floor completely disconnected from the rest of the skull it used to be attached to.
I pick up the large axe that used to be wielded by the large goblin, as I am now in need of a new weapon to fight the others that are here. The axe is about the same size as me. It is rather heavy and might be hard to wield, but it is the only weapon I have right now so I should get used to it.
As another one of the large goblins stands up and grabs its own axe, I start to prepare myself for another attack, making myself a little bit more open to be able to swing first.
It reaches me and I swing at its stomach, which is rather large. The axe is a little heavier than I thought it would be so my swing isn't the fastest, but it still reaches before the large goblin can swing. Cutting it clean in half, the floor is coated in a dark purple ooze along with two halves of a large creature, and that creature's organs that ended up spilling out after said attack.
One by one, these battles go by slowly, the creatures approach then get cut in half. The stone floor is puddled with blood, to the point that I'm surprised I didn't slip every time I swung the large axe. I haven't eaten since yesterday morning, so I should probably eat something. But I can't take the food that the goblins eat, as they do eat people. Maybe I should just eat the goblins? Sure.
I cut a chunk of meat I think would be edible from the arm of one of the larger goblins and place it on a table. I then move to another table and attempt to start a fire, as the ground is soaked with blood. I burn the wooden appliances and the cloth that the goblins had to make a small fire, then I put the meat right next to the fire, using the small stone knife I got from a goblin to turn it.
As the meat finishes cooking I eat it. It is extremely charred so any of the possibly putrid flavours aren't tasteable, thankfully it just tastes like charred meat. Either way, it is good to eat something after all of this time.
I start drinking the cleanest looking water I can find in the kitchen after boiling it, then I start to head down another path. The next room is filled with beds, it must have been where all of these goblins slept. I see a few that are still sleeping that I should take out quietly.
I take out the stone knife and walk up to each of the sleeping goblins, one by one, shoving it into their nape killing them. After I finished them off, I clean the stone knife with some of the cloth I found in this room.
I then start to block off the two passageways with the beds before double checking the entire room, making sure there are no goblins left, before heading to sleep as I have been moving for a while.
I woke up. I don't think I should progress before I am used to this heavy of a weapon. I practice with the axe like I did with the wooden sword before. It is rather tough as compared to the wooden sword. This is larger making it harder to wield than what I am used to, it might take a little while to train myself in this type of weapon.
Time flies rather quickly while I'm training. It has probably been a few days since I woke up in this cave-like area. I feel confident in my ability with my new tool now, I should be able to run with it, and quickly dispose of what I struggled against all that time ago.
For some reason I am also much taller then I remember, that or the doors have shrunk. I also feel a lot stronger than before, like my muscles have doubled. I have ran out of food and water from the first room that I entered, only the large goblins had enough meat to really eat. So, I will be progressing soon no matter what as food and water are both needed for survival.
I have grown a noticeable amount taller in the last few days. My muscles have also grown. Strangely my hair is long enough that it feels as if it hasn't been cut in months. Wait. How long have I been here? I can't tell time without the sun, so how long has it really been?
I have run out of clean water and edible food. The rancid smell of the rotting flesh from the many dead goblins makes me feel light headed at times. I should probably start moving again.
If it is time to move there is only one way to go, down the path I blocked off so I could train and rest. I grab my axe and swing at the barricade that I made, knocking a hole big enough for me to crawl through. I then crawl through the hole with my axe and start walking through the tunnel.
There has been some recent activity in the tunnels, it seems as if the goblins sent out some scouts after having no communication for quite some time. It must have really been a while.
Well I prefer it if they have less knowledge about my capabilities. It is best to fight blind when the opponent is blind too, at least that's my opinion.
I continue walking down the tunnel carefully. The ground under my feet is extremely damp, the tunnel is completely lit up, with all of the torches hanging on the walls. I thought it would be more violent than this, maybe I didn't need to do all of that training?