It took Zulu four hours to eat the dozen goblin corpses. This was actually quite surprising to him. He thought he wouldn't finish until sunrise, but his Rank 2 [Razor Teeth] made devouring the meat off the goblins as easy as chewing cotton candy. For awhile, he was worried that the red-haired woman would awake, but it seemed like she was genuinely sleeping, more so than just being knocked out.
'Very gamy. Goblins can't even by compared to the taste of humans,' Zulu thought.
However, Zulu had not yet completed his dinner. He still had another course!
Zulu returned to his tunnel through which he escaped the burning room.
'Just as I expected.'
The tunnel was completely unharmed in the collapse. It was just small enough that it was not in need of supports.
'Now comes the annoying part,' Zulu thought, arriving at the end of the tunnel which was now sealed off by a wall of dirt. he began to rip into the wall with his [Sharp Claws] to excavate the area and see if he can recover the corpse of the large goblin. Surely, it was at least a Rank 2 monster. He wouldn't let it go so easily.
To Zulu's astonishment, after only a foot of digging, a muscular green forearm appeared, sticking out of the wall of dirt.
'What the? Did he try to escape through my tunnel? Ah, man… I'm actually kinda sad I didn't get to see that.'
Zulu could imagine the hilarious scene of the massive frame of the goblin squeezing itself into the small hole. He could only chuckle at that thought; Though he emitted a strange fox cackle rather than a chuckle, but that was to be expected.
In only a few minutes, the large goblin's mangled remains had been completely revealed. Nearly all of its bones were broken and its skin had turned purple. It was a truly grisly sight.
Zulu constantly had to transport dirt out of the hole with his jaws in order to free up space, and he also had to enlarge the width of the tunnel to fit the goblin, but it was worth it if it meant gaining more Essence.
Eventually, the large goblin's corpse had been recovered.
'I only have a few hours until sunrise to find the women. Let's kick this into high gear, shall we?'
Like that, two hours passed.
Zulu laid in front of three skeletons: two of which belonged to humans, the other, a goblin.
'Human meat… I can never forget this wonderful taste,' Zulu thought, observing the human bones with enthusiasm. Then he remembered the time.
'Hmm, I don't have a lot of time before morning. I'll get some much-needed shuteye and assess my gains. Also, I should probably find a place to hide first just in case she wakes up.'
At that thought, Zulu hid in his tunnel, sealed it off with a mound of dirt, and curled into a large orange ball, quickly slipping unconscious.
--------------------------------
[Rank 1 - Goblin (Soldier) x11 consumed]
[38 Essence gained]
[Rank 2 - Goblin (Shaman) consumed]
[16 Essence gained]
[Rank 3 - Goblin (Champion) consumed]
[66 Essence gained]
[Tier 0 - Human x2 consumed]
[53 Essence gained]
A string of messages jolted Zulu awake inside the white space.
'Okay. No time to waste this go around. Who knows when that woman will wake up? I want to be there when she does so she feels indebted to me for saving her.'
"Guide, status!"
>—————————<
Name: Zulu [Rank 2]
Species: Spirit Fox (Adolescent)
Species Specialization: Illusion Magic
Innate Ability: [Rank 1 - Corporeal Illusion]
Major Elemental Affinity: Fire
Essence Value: 175
Upgrades: [Rank 1 - Mana Absorption, Night Vision, Sharp Claws], [Rank 2 - Quick Feet, Razor Teeth]
Skills: [Rank 1 - Dash], [Rank 2 - Bite, Creep]
Spells: [Rank 1 - Auditory Confusion, Fireball, Olfactory Confusion]
>—————————<
'I'm rich! Wait…'
"Guide, do I have enough to evolve?"
[Negative.]
"Damn, worth a shot."
'That's fine. I didn't really expect to be able to evolve yet anyway. However…'
"Guide, how much to evolve to the next rank?"
[You need an Essence Value of 250 to meet the minimum requirements to evolve to Rank 3.]
'I'm not too far off. Should I just save my Essence?'
After thinking for a few seconds, Zulu quickly thought of an answer.
'No. Getting information from that woman is my number one priority, which means upgrading [Corporeal Illusion]. With her help, I should be able to find a light mage. Though I'm not too sure how I'll communicate with her yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.'
Thinking that, Zulu dismissed his status panel and pulled up the upgrades panel instead.
>—————————<
>>Available Upgrades<<
-Rank 3: [Quick Feet (30 E), Razor Teeth (30 E)]
-Rank 2: [Mana Absorption (40 E), Night Vision (10 E), Sharp Claws (15 E)]
-Rank 1: [Linguist (15 E)]
>>Available Skills<<
-Rank 3: [Bite (30 E), Creep (30 E)]
-Rank 2: [Dash (15 E)]
-Rank 1: [Slash (5 E)]
>>Available Spells<<
-Rank 2: [Auditory Confusion (30 E), Corporeal Illusion (40 E), Fireball (40 E), Olfactory Confusion (30 E)]
-Rank 1: [Fire Snake (15 E)]
>—————————<
'Hmm? [Linguist]? No way…'
"Guide, what is [Linguist]?"
[The upgrade [Linguist] allows you to understand the tongue of monsters. The second rank of the upgrade would allow you to even understand humans. Naturally, any language you hear, you will be able to speak as well. The upgrade only works in your human form, though, as your fox form still lacks the necessary upgrades to produce cohesive speech.]
"I see! Phenomenal! Absolutely phenomenal! How much to buy the upgrade through Rank 2?"
[55 Essence in total.]
"Buy it!"
'I don't even need to think twice. This is just what the doctor ordered. I'm sure it was the goblin champion that gave me this upgrade; It was the only magical creature that I've encountered that could speak after all. Eating Rank 3 creatures really brings about great benefit.'
[Confirmed. Applying upgrade.]
'Awesome! Now what else should I get? If anything at all? [Corporeal Illusion - Rank 2] is a must. Other than that, there's nothing else I'm in dire need of. As cool as upgrading my [Fireball] would be, I don't know if my Rank 2 body would be able to cast very many, if any at all. My current mana supply simply limits me too much. Though I definitely want more options with my magic, so [Fire Snake] is a done deal. Other than that, I'll save the rest of my Essence for now.'
After coming to that conclusion, Zulu spoke again.
"I want to buy [Corporeal Illusion - Rank 2] and [Fire Snake]. Oh, and you can send me back after."
[Confirmed. Learning spells.]
And everything went dark.
--------------------------------
The sun began to peek over the horizon, bathing the world in its light once again as the forest life awoke in accordance with it. Now rather than crickets, birds could be heard humming in the distance. The sky was illuminated bright orange as an orange furred creature stirred awake.
Zulu's eyelids steadily broke apart.
'Hmm? Oh shit!'
Zulu instantly remembered the woman. He popped up and burst through the dirt mound hiding the tunnel. To his relief, he could see the still soundly asleep woman in the middle of the encampment, surrounded by goblin bones.
Zulu departed from his tunnel and transformed into his human form with [Corporeal Illusion] before beginning to search the goblin camp for something.
After ten minutes of searching, Zulu's eyes widened.
'Aha! I found it!'
Zulu held a pile of clothing in his slim pale hands. He'd been tirelessly raiding the mud huts to find a pair, and he finally succeeded. In front of him was a thatch chest filled with female clothing.
'This must be the goblin champion's home. Thank God, I won't have to be naked in my human form. That would have really been awkward.'
Needless to say, the clothes belonged to the women who'd been captured throughout the past. There was a wide assortment of undergarments, shirts, pants, coats, boots and other miscellaneous accessories.
'Do I need women's underwear? I don't know how to feel about that, considering my mentality as a man. Nah, I just can't bring myself to wear it. Who's gonna notice anyway?'
After a few minutes of sifting through the chest, Zulu eventually settled on an outfit. He wore simple gray trousers, a black long-sleeve shirt, and a black hood — which cut off at the stomach and elbows — to hide his appearance if the need arose. He also found a pair of brown boots with several straps around the ankles and shins, which he promptly slid on and fastened.
'These clothes actually fit me quite nicely. Ha, I really need to find a mirror or something. I don't know how much longer I can take not knowing what I look like.'
--------------------------------
Raya's consciousness slowly returned to her. Her head felt heavy and her lower jaw was beyond sore. She felt even a few of her teeth missing. Luckily, they seemed to be from the side of her mouth; She didn't have to stress about flashing an ugly smile.
Raya vaguely remembered what happened to her before she fell unconscious, but strangely enough, she felt as though she were no longer in any danger. The world around her seemed oddly tranquil as a calm breeze brushed up against her skin.
When Raya's eyes finally broke open, the light of the morning sun blinded her as she adjusted to it. After a few seconds, she got her bearings and lifted her head to look around.
Immediately, what caught Raya's gaze was a young looking girl — no older than nineteen — eating meat off a stick next to a fire. The girl wore simple dark clothing and had amber eyes with vertically-slit pupils. Her skin was pale and her hair was long and orange, drifting in the wind. She looked incredibly mysterious. Raya had never seen a person with eyes as peculiar as those.
Above the fire was a spit made of sticks with a small brown rabbit roasting above it. One of its legs was detached and missing.
"What is going on?" Raya asked the girl.
"Oh, you're finally awake. You've been out for awhile. How do you feel?" The girl asked.
Raya suddenly remembered her situation at those words and hurriedly spoke, "I am fine, thank you. But who are you? And what are you doing out here?"
"Saving you. You nearly died to goblins, remember?" The girl said.
"What! So you killed all of the goblins?" Raya asked incredulously, unable to believe the words she heard.
"Well, duh. You think they all killed themselves?" The girl said, rolling her eyes.
"There's no way! I couldn't even beat four of them, but you exterminated an entire camp led by a Rank 3?"
The girl merely gestured to the surrounding area while speaking, "See for yourself."
Looking around, Raya was stunned. The encampment she remembered to be swarming with goblins was now a graveyard of bones. It was as though a reaper had crossed through, decimating everything in its way with a scythe of decay.
"How? How is this possible?" Raya asked in a soft voice filled with shock, "Just who are you?" She asked, looking at the orange-haired girl.
"My name's Zulu. It's nice to meet you. And you are?" Zulu asked.
"Zulu? What a pretty name. I'm Raya, and it's nice to meet you as well."
Zulu couldn't help but inwardly cringe at Raya's compliment. He knew that she meant well; She just had no way of knowing the truth behind his illusion.
"Well, Raya, are you hungry? I've got some food here if you are," Zulu asked with a smile, pointing at the cooked rabbit.
In truth, Zulu wanted deepen her gratitude towards him. If saving her wasn't enough, then he would feed her as well.
"Thank you," Raya said before taking a leg from the rabbit, "And thank you for saving me from those hideous creatures. Truly, I am grateful. If you need anything, just ask. It's the least I can do to repay your kindness."
Zulu's smile widened at her words. He'd achieved exactly what he hoped he would.
Zulu didn't miss the chance and spoke, "Well, in truth, I'm not actually from around here. I got lost in the forest awhile ago and have been living off the land ever since, trying to find another person. That's when I saw you being taken away by goblins. I followed and now here we are. So what I want to ask is, where exactly are we right now?"
Raya nodded at Zulu's words, not suspecting her of lying for even a second before speaking, "We're in Greenleaf Forest, a few miles north of Valewaren."
"Valewaren? Is that like a city?" Zulu asked.
"Yes. It's a city inside the country of Vitelia. Haven't you heard of it? It's a fairly important trading hub around this part of the country."
"No, no. I come from a remote village. We never learned too much about the outside world and rarely made contact with it. It's almost as if I've fallen into a whole new world, you know?" Zulu asked.
"Yeah, I get what you mean," Raya said.
'No, you really don't,' Zulu thought.
"So what's your story, Raya? How'd you end up here?" Zulu asked.
"I was a city guard in Valewaren. My regiment was tasked to patrol Greenleaf Forest to look for "anything suspicious," whatever the hell that means. I was on my own for awhile just trying to complete the assignment by aimlessly walking around. Then out of the blue, those damn goblins popped out from behind some trees and jumped me. I'm only a Tier 1 guard, how am I supposed to fight off a group of monsters?" Raya asked rhetorically, but then her attention focused on Zulu, "Yet, you did. How did you do it anyway?"
Zulu only smiled, a small ball of fire forming above his hand, and said, "I'm a mage."