"Damn. His bones must have been made hard, Griguek!" the goblin guard complained.
"I ain't lying. I didn't kill anyone."
After living amongst humans for so long, Bane had become quite a good liar. But his human training wasn't really looking good along with his goblin facial features.
But the goblin guard didn't seem to be caring about any of that. It didn't even consider Bane to be an innocent, despite the absurd situation of a goblin murdering women instead of raping them.
Had it been a human settlement Bane might have been given a lot of leeway for his innocence thanks to the so called 'rules' but here? The beasts of nature knew no rules.
"Ugh"
The pain was there.
Bane was bearing onto it, but little by little his patience was giving out. How long must he be bearing this?
The goblin seems to be enjoying beating him up as well.
At first it was just anger, but now he was smiling as if having some fun.
"Hey, you there," Bane called out to the other goblin who was watching it from the sidelines.
But his call wasn't some plea for help rather...
"Yes?"
"If I fight to defend myself and end up killing your brother. What would happen to me? Will the village be angry at me?" Bane asked in a cold tone.
How hard would it be killing a goblin? Honestly I have slayed plenty already.
"Don't get cocky you bastard!"
Bane didn't knew how the mechanics of the village worked.
If it was a human settlement and he killed someone then he would be charged of murder unless he covers it up or had some good enough backing. But...
How were things taken care of here?
'Depending on the situation I might have to take my course of actions.'
But the goblin tilted his head to the side in confusion.
"I don't understand what you are saying Griguek. Why would you kill someone from your own tribe?" the goblin said in a matter of fact tone holding its spear lose.
"...."
Bane was at a loss for words.
A weird conclusion. He couldn't help but be stupefied. Or perhaps he was the weird one here? At least so was what it seemed from the goblin's expression.
Even if he was getting beaten not a single cry left Bane lips.
"Keuk Keuk Keuk, that's right. Keuk Keuk, what was I even thinking! Keuk. These goblins are more humane than humans."
It was now that Bane was beginning to understand how the goblins worked.
They were a tribe.
For them killing someone from their own tribe wasn't even a thought that came to their minds.
Because it was absurd for them to kill someone of their own gene. For them, it would be much more useful to kill other races than to kill each other.
Bane finally began to notice the absurd situation that was around him.
The goblin guard who was beating the hell out of him for a while now. Even though he had a spear in his hand he refused to use it... Not a single drop of blood was shed.
"Keuk Keuk"
Bane began to laugh out mad, so much so that the goblins began to think if Bane had finally gone insane.
"This is perfect. Just perfect!"
Bane hated the humans for their selfishness.
So much so that he was moved by the goblin's unity.
They might be heinous monster who rape every women they see.
They plunder villages, steal lifestock too...
But even then they did all of those things together!
They fucked together and they died together.
They bore all of their sins together.
How convenient was that?
It made Bane's body shiver in delight.
"I was right all along. It was the humans that are messed up the most."
And even the fact that Bane killed all the humans and then tried to cover it up also meant that Bane was messed up too.
'But without this much, a goblin can never hope to win against the humans. They are sly and the only fate for the average goblin is to die in their hands. I cannot have the same fate as them.'
Bane smiled.
He was convinced.
Bane could never be a true goblin, no matter how much he tried. He admired them, but he couldn't learn from them.
He would always remain a half for his path was riddled with thorns' and he couldn't afford death.
But at the same time he admired the goblins for their unity.
'Commendable. I hope Silvia was here to see this. She would have been delighted as well.'
Bane rubbed his ring.
"Griguek, have you gone mad?"
"Not really. 'Enlightened' might be a better word."
"Griguek. Looks like you still need me to drill some sense into you. It's not to late yet if you accept..."
"No, rather let's end this."
"End? What do you mean?"
Bane shook his head.
"If you came at me, without any intent to kill. So probably, I should at least try return so too. Otherwise there would be no end to this."
Bane finally understood the mechanics of the tribe.
It's just a huge family closely tied by values of the wild.
And unlike the humans the positions is the family aren't decided by age or bloodline.
'They are decided by strength instead.'
Bane got up as he took his stance to defend his beat up body.
'He must have spear mastery skill'
There were a lot of skills available for a goblin in the skill store. The spear mastery was one of them.
But on the other hand Bane had no skills other than his Limit Break.
Bane had believed that there was no point in buying a skill unless he figures out his situation. While on the other hand, he was saving up his skill points for absolute emergency.
"But there is no way, I am getting beaten up politely by a goblin when I am out for human blood."
Bane clenched his fist as he held them up in the air to defend himself.
But he had to adjust his stance a bit compared to when he was a human owing to his short height and long nose.
"Griguek, what? What are you doing?"
The resolute expression on Bane's face was what caused the goblin guard to take a step back.
"I am playing by the rules of the goblins."
Bane smiled.
"You think, you are my superior don't you? Since I am just a new born lad?"
Bane was now even more convinced that both of them shared a position such as that.
The goblin guard considered Bane as his underling as well as his family at the same time, for that was how goblins worked. They were but one big family.
Thus the act of him beating up Bane, was just like him displining his son for a mistake.
'Honestly, how was I able to figure all of this out?'
Bane wasn't really the brightest when it came to monster ecology. It was a mystery how he was even able to come to a conclusion.
It was just a feeling. Yes, a feeling.
As a human Bane was subjected to both hate and disgust from multiple sources. Sometimes they were just random strangers hating him for his progress. He had gone sooo used to it.
But when the goblin guard beat him up. There was neither hate nor disgust. It was a weird feeling.
'It was like he considered me someone of his own.'
No sane person would arrive to such a conclusion after being kicked around. But Bane was particularly sensitive to these sorts of things due to his numerous experiences. Not to mention that calling him sane would be an overestimation.
"Why of course! Griguek. You might not know since I am quite young myself. But I am much more experienced than I look like." the goblin accepted it raising his nose.
Bane smiled.
'Bingo. Moving with what he said my second assumption must be true too. Then...'
Bane swept his feet across the floor as his body twisted.
Then unfurling those legs, he swung them high towards the goblin.
The dead leaves on the floor churned in the air as they moved in sink with his feet. As his kick soared against the air it made a swishing noise.
"Griguek!"
The goblin who was on his guard naturally reacted to such a change. But it was too late. As a last minute measure, it placed its spear in between the kick and its face barring his feet from connecting to his face.
"Griguek!"
It was probably because of his spear mastery but the goblin guard defended better than Bane had expected.
But the grip on his spear was rather lose causing the spear pole to flung and hit its head instead.
"Ugh, Griguek."
The goblin began rubbing its face as it grunted.