Roy's finger traced a line across the dirt. After looking at the scorched crumbs of sediment on his fingertip for a few seconds, he wiped off his hands and turned to the mage beside him.
"Any idea what caused this?" Roy asked.
Roy had deployed his 31st Guard Regiment throughout Greenleaf Forest in order to aid in the investigation. One of his soldiers had stumbled across the clearing and subsequently the crater, reporting it to him.
"From the looks of it, it seems to be the result of the [Fireball] spell," The robed mage responded.
"How can you tell?" Roy asked, unconvinced.
The mage could only scoff at the ignorant guard captain. However, he didn't dare say anything too disrespectful to the leader appointed by the commander; He didn't want to incur the commander's ire after all.
The mage spoke, "The size of the crater matches the blast radius of a [Fireball]. Also, the grass around the edges as well as the dirt at the bottom of the crater have been singed black."
"I see. Let's continue investigating this area to see if we can't find anything else," Roy said, looking at the group of mages behind him.
The mage beside him quickly moved to speak, "With all due respect, sir, but shouldn't we be looking for signs of chef rats and slackjaw spiders? I don't understand how fire magic is involved with what happened at Bone Marrow Cave."
'It's no wonder the commander wanted me to be the leader of this investigation. Mages who think too much of themselves simply can't stop to see the bigger picture,' Roy thought.
Roy didn't immediately respond but instead turned his gaze over the empty clearing.
After a few seconds of watching the tall grass swaying in the wind, Roy spoke, "Isn't is strange?"
"Is what strange, sir?" The mage asked, confused.
"The lack of anything. There's just a random crater in an open clearing. Why do you think that is?"
"Um, somebody was practicing, maybe?" The mage asked, unsure of where the conversation was heading.
"Now tell me. Who was practicing?" Roy asked.
The mage seemed to realized something.
"I see. Who would be practicing in this open clearing? Wait, couldn't it just be the goblins who live in the forest?" The mage asked.
Roy shook his head and responded, "Since when have goblins been known to practice magic on something that's not a live target?"
"So what are you implying, sir?"
"What I'm implying is that it's not a goblin. Moreover, what goblin would have the sense to find an open clearing to practice in? I doubt they have the intelligence or care to worry about the forest catching fire from their haphazard spells," Roy said.
The mage seemed to finally understand, "I see!"
After that realization, the mage seemed to gain a little respect for the guard captain. It seemed he wasn't as useless as he'd first assumed. The commander had indeed made the correct choice.
"So, what's your theory, leader?" The mage asked with a more respectful tone.
Roy didn't miss the change but he ignored it and responded, "I believe the wise beast is responsible for this, taking everything into account. First off, no people other than those in my regiment enter this forest, and none of them can use magic to begin with. Secondly, the careful selection of this location implies the one responsible has enough intellect to avoid dense areas of trees when playing with fire, eliminating the possibility of it being goblins. Third, this hole appeared only a couple days after the death of the guard at Bone Marrow Cave; That can't just be a coincidence. This wise beast is growing and at a scary rate. If it can already cast spells, how long until it can raze homes, cities, and even countries?"
The mage nodded his head vigorously at Roy's words.
"Now do you want to investigate the surrounding area?" Roy asked with a smile.
The mage was reminded of Roy's previous order, "Yes, sir, at once!"
The mage returned to his group who were listening to Roy from a few meters away. They were equally shocked at Roy's deductive capabilities.
The mages all wore identical long silky red robes with hoods, concealing their appearances.
The mages soon dispersed throughout the area, searching for more signs of strange activity.
Roy merely knelt and observed the crater with interest. He was unknowingly becoming more attached to the idea of catching this rare specimen.
--------------------------------
Zulu ran through the tall green grass that gently swayed along the breeze. His drive for evolution had pushed him to find as much Essence as he possibly could, eventually leading him deeper into the forest where he now watched a group of goblins with avidity.
The short grotesque monsters seemed to be returning to their home, and that's just what Zulu was hoping for.
'Yes! Yes! Lead me to your home.'
Zulu had been, up until that point, practicing his new skill, [Dash]. He found that the spell itself was relatively simple; It allowed him to rapidly move in a specific direction within three meters, but at the cost of stamina. However, despite its simplicity, when coupled with his Rank 2 [Quick Feet] and natural fox agility, he was like a blur when he moved.
After another hour of using his [Creep] skill, Zulu had successfully followed the goblins to their base.
A large gate made of felled oak trees swung open to let the goblins inside. They quickly vanished behind the wall, the gate closing behind them.
The goblin encampment was placed up against the side of a rocky cliff-face. It had a three meter high palisade surrounding the perimeter, sealing it off entirely. The encampment itself was the size of a single football field with poorly made mud huts and the occasional pile of bones filling the inside. Burrowed in the side of the cliff — near the middle of the encampment — was a two meter wide hole that seemingly led somewhere.
Groups of goblins could be seen wandering around the encampment, preforming their assigned tasks or preparing hunting parties. Every now and then, a single goblin would exit the hole in the cliff with a perverted, yet satisfied smile.
Zulu crept out of the tall grass and discretely climbed up a tree using his [Sharp Claws]. Perching himself on a wide branch, he lowered his body and began observing the goblins. Now he merely needed to wait for nightfall.
Hours passed and eventually the sun began to disappear behind the horizon, turning the sky an alluring red. It would be time soon.
Of course, Zulu had no intention of attacking the goblin encampment head-on; That would be suicide. Instead, he would use every dirty trick he had at his disposable; He was a sly fox after all.
A grin formed on Zulu's face when sunlight faded from the world entirely. In the dark of night, he began to descend the tree.
Zulu approached the encampment with caution; However, he never left the cover of the grass, maintaining a distance of a dozen meters from the oak wall. Like that, he crawled around the perimeter of the encampment until eventually running into the side of the cliff. He was now at the location where the palisade met the cliff wall.
Zulu began to quietly dig a small hole into the cliff and around the oak wall, bypassing its borders. His infiltration of the goblin camp had officially begun.
Zulu could only see twenty meters in front of him in the pitch-black with [Night Vision]; However, when combined with the light reflected off of the moon, he could see as though it were day. However, he had no reason to believe he was special in this aspect.
'As magical creatures, the goblins should have some kind of night vision as well. If I can see them, then they can sure as shit see me. I'll have to rely on [Creep] and [Olfactory Confusion] to remain unnoticed.'
Thinking that, Zulu masked his scent with one of dirt using [Olfactory Confusion] while silently moving further inside the encampment along the cliff.
Zulu couldn't rely on his size for stealth either. He'd long surpassed the size of a newborn spirit fox or standard Earth fox. He was now comparable to the size of a black bear on all fours; Though he had much less fur and was way thinner than those husky animals.
Zulu suddenly halted his steps; A commotion had caught his attention.
A pair of goblins rushed into the camp with fervent gazes. They seemed to be communicating something to other goblins in the encampment in a frenzy. The other goblins quickly joined them in their excitement and began to jump in place with enthusiasm.
'Just what are they getting all excited about?' Zulu thought, watching them with a curious gaze
What Zulu saw next made his eyes widen in surprise.
After the first pair of goblins entered, another pair with rope in their hands followed, dragging something behind them.
That something was a beautiful woman in a red guard outfit, gagged and bound. She had long red hair and purple eyes. She was well-toned and tan due to her physical work as a guard. Despite her predicament, she retained a ferocious glare towards the goblins around her.
'They captured one of those soldiers? But why?'
Zulu's thought was quickly answered when a massive six foot tall goblin exited the cave with a lecherous grin filled with hideous jagged teeth. The goblin was bulging with muscle and seemed to possess a slight trace of intelligence within its gaze. It wore only a piece of cloth around its waist while a necklace of teeth hung from its neck.
'Ohhh…. Right. Goblins.'
The giant goblin steadily walked towards the red-haired woman as the weaker goblins lowered their eyes in fear.
The woman tried desperately to escape her binds, but the ropes that restrained her were only further tightened by the goblins beside her. They seemed to revel in her anguish, revealing wide smiles as they watched her struggle.
The giant goblin reached for the woman, who tried to pull away from the green out-stretched hand. The giant goblin was infuriated by her defiance, punching her in the jaw with a wide swing, causing a few of her teeth to fall out. The giant goblin then grabbed the now unconscious women and threw her over its shoulder before leisurely returning to the cave.
'Should I help her? Not for free of course. But what could she give me? Information? But I can't communicate with her… Screw it, I'll just wing it and see what happens.'
Zulu crept forward alongside the cliff wall once again, hanging on the fringe of the encampment. The cover of night as well as his [Creep] and [Olfactory Confusion] made him basically impossible to detect.
Zulu reached the hole in the wall and peeked around the corner, his ears attentively perking out.
Looking inside with his [Night Vision], Zulu could see the giant goblin chaining the unconscious female guard to the far end of the room. On the same wall were two other women who were stark naked and horribly emaciated. It was obvious what this area was used for.
The hollowed out room of dirt was fairly confined at only thirty square meters in size with a two meter high ceiling. On the far wall were three sets of chains and shackles. Two were occupied and the other was soon to be. The chains were heavily worn from constant abrasion. On the left wall hung a single torch meant to illuminate the room.
'I don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, I couldn't care less what happens to humans, but this just feels wrong, regardless of the race on the receiving end. Well, I'm not so heroic as to save them in a blaze of glory and justice. It will be more useful for me to use them in another way; As Essence! Of course, I would also be putting them out of their misery that way. I'm simply a nice guy like that.'
After reaching that inward conclusion, Zulu eyed multiple wooden beams protruding from the ground and up into the dirt ceiling. They appeared to be crudely built support struts that were unevenly spaced along the walls. Truly, goblins had no skill for architecture. Then he noticed the torch.
Zulu displayed a wide grin. He immediately knew the first trick he would play.