Author's Note: Hi guys! This will be the last chapter for today and will be focusing on what Alex is doing after a time skip of a few months. About the important announcement which was mentioned in the last chapter, it is about the release dates. I think I said this before but, this will be my last week in school for this year, meaning end of year exams. These things are hard and I want to study so, there will be no chapters on Wednesday and I will only come back on Friday.
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A few months passed and Ruina finally ended and Inscone began. I think it has to be at least more than 3 months as every season lasts for 3 months and I was in the middle of Alsius when the attack on the Proving happened. So, it has to be around 4 months already.
I know as my hair is starting to get much longer and I am probably growing a tiny bit as well. My hair is already up to my shoulders and, I don't think it is supposed to be that long.
I remember in a book Sigma gave me that hair grows around half an inch a month so, my hair growing around 4 inches or so in 4 months is a bit weird, considering how I was surviving in the season where growth is supposed to be limited due to the sheer cold, the low amount of resources, and the slowing down of metabolism.
Do I have some sort of factor which makes me grow a bit faster?
...
Don't tell me it is either my huge soul or my God energy. But, aside from analyzing my hair, I'm pretty happy to have it as it is giving me extra warmth. I also like it a bit more than my super short hair from before so, maybe I'll keep my hair in the same style as before but with the extra length.
Moving on from my super fast metabolism, I was able to find a pretty big river. It may sound a bit stupid to be bragging about finding a river but, nearly every civilization has started near rivers, according to Luke. It makes sense as rivers can be a source of water, food, and a good place to grow crops.
So, because of my expert all-around knowledge and my feeling in my gut which says that I should follow it, I tracked it. Since this river is wide, it must be long as rivers tend to get wider the farther they travel due to gravitational force. If this one is as long as I hypothesize, then we should be nearing some sort of civilization soon.
I say all of those thoughts to Calido as we follow the river. He might not know about gravity and stuff but, at least he is learning from me. Come to think of it, why is the knowledge and technology of this age much less advanced compared to when I was still Zeta?
I always knew it was like that but, I didn't question it as I had other things to think about but now, when I don't have anything else to think about, it goes into my mind. The only answer I can formulate is that after the end of that age, only people who were in primitive villages at the time and people who had no idea of the advanced technology my base had were left.
The last people who knew of advanced technology might have died or their stories were eventually passed down as legends or myths. It's actually quite sad to see the world you lived in become replaced but, such is life. A world without change is worth nothing as everything will always be the same.
...
Maybe I should stop trying to sound important by saying all of those stuff. I mean, I am literally only talking to myself with these thoughts and it is not like there is someone else here just listening to everything I am talking about.
After a long jog, I decided to stop and rest by the river. I remove my all of my upper clothes and wet myself with some water from the river to cool down. After dowsing myself and my clothes a couple times, I let Calido dry me and my clothes with some hot air from his mouth. I feel really bad using him like this as he is starting to become more human-like and is a Divine Beast but, he has no objections so, why not?
(I will scout ahead.)
(Sure, go right away.)
I let Calido check what's coming up while I sit down. Suddenly, my tendrils feel something hiding behind me in the bushes. I silently get Aether through my shadow and place it into my hands. If it doesn't attack, I'll leave it. If it does, then it dies. Right when I said that, a shriek came from behind me and I heard footsteps.
Using my tendrils, I instantly harden them for an instance whilst grabbing it to stop it from moving and run towards it. After getting close, I use Shooting Star to damage it. It looks like it was enough to kill it as I felt it's body fall down with a thud when I removed my tendrils. When I got closer, the body shrieked again and I stumbled down, shocked.
I quickly shifted into my shadow before the thing hit me and used Sonic Punisher to kill it from behind in it's own shadow. I checked it with my tendrils to check if it was dead for real and, it was. When I checked it's facial features and it's body size, I realized it was a goblin.
Goblins are common, especially in Inscone as many babies are born and grow up quickly. Still, it is quite odd as goblins aren't known for their intelligence yet this one was able to play dead and surprise attack me once I got close. They would usually just get back up and attack again if their first attack didn't work. Also, they shouldn't be durable enough to survive a Shooting Star, which is an armor-breaking technique. Trust me, as I fought a couple goblins in the past.
(Ah, a goblin.)
That was when I heard Calido's voice again.
(Yeah, it attacked me from the bushes. So, what did you find?)
(It was a huge cave. There were so many goblins inside and outside the cave. It was actually quite extraordinary as there were crude structures like fences and scout towers around the cave. There were even animals in roughly-cut wooden pens. It is almost like these goblins are reaching human-level intelligence.)
Wow.
If I reported this to an Adventurer's Guild, they would say that this would be the discovery of the century or something. I never thought that goblins of all things will be learning this much. Then again, this kind of behavior only stuck with humans after a long time of living in an area so, this must be a nest which hasn't been eradicated in hundreds of years if they are already this sophisticated.
(Calido, I think I know what we are going to be doing soon. How far away is this goblin nest you found?)
(It is just a couple of minutes ahead of us. I know what you are thinking and I, quite frankly, agree wholeheartedly. So, will we take them on head-to-head, or will we lure them out by burning their structures and surprise attack them?)
(No. If they are this intelligent, then it must make sense that they have a Goblin King with them with some other goblin evolutions as well like Hobgoblins or Goblin Shamans. We must take a much more careful approach to this.)
(Fine. But, let me in on the action as well, please?)
(Yeah, sure. Just don't suffocate me with all of the smoke, alright?)
(Alright!)
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"Hey, the quest said that there should be a goblin nest near here, right?"
"Yeah, it did. I wonder why this quest wasn't taken earlier if it was just some goblins."
"Well, there were suspicions that there is a Goblin King leading them so, it is probably a Rank-C quest. We should be able to finish it and climb up to C-Rank, right guys!"
"Yup. I'm pretty happy that we were able to snatch this quest early. If we didn't then, that guy might have taken it instead."
"Who?"
"You know, the weirdo who only takes goblin slaying missions.* Thankfully, he is somewhere else and we will be able to rank up because of his absence. So, let's make sure we do our very best!"
"""Yeah!"""
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*This should be a reference that you should understand. But, if you don't then, I suggest you remember this name and search it up: Goblin Slayer.