The top of the hill gave Tolir a complete view of the surroundings for kilometers around. Above all, on one side of the hill, there was a dizzying abyss filled with a thick mist. It stretched for kilometers as if it surrounded the place where Tolir was. The sight blew him away, depriving him of his breath.
Then he turned to the goblin who had stopped, his order completed:
"What is this precipice?"
"This be end of world. Not able to go further."
So, he deduced, it is indeed the boundary of this world ... Suddenly, the words of Zali returned to his mind: she had sent him in a primitive world. Thus, it is of that which she spoke. A contemplative smile adorned Tolir's face and he murmured:
"It is incredible..."
He admired the landscape with this new knowledge for many minutes. So, other places like this one must exist... An exalted excitement filled him. He understood now the intent of the deity Zali towards him while a boundless gratitude arose towards her for entrusting him with such an immense task.
Replenished with a renewed fervor, eager not to disappoint her, he concentrated again on the creature:
"So, you come from here?"
"Yes, me appear next to this."
He showed him, a luminous orb which floated in the air. Tolir, curious, approached it to observe it more closely. It was a perfect sphere composed of a milky substance. He hesitated before stretching out his hand in the direction of the orb. He swallowed before motivating himself to touch the sphere. In an instant, all of its contents were sucked out of Tolir's hand. Zali's voice rang out:
"You have acquired 8 aethers."
The whole puzzle was coming together in Tolir's mind. These luminous balls causing the appearance of the goblins provided him with the necessary aether for the invocation. He rubbed his hands together, satisfied to assimilate little by little the functioning of the system. Tolir opened the aether menu:
>>>>> Mastery of Aether <<<<<
Aether: 8
Aetheric knowledge: [Goblin Recruit]
Invocation: [Aethereal Core I] (5 aether)
As expected, the amount of aether in his possession had increased. Suppressing his growing excitement, he focused on the next step. As with the opening of the menus, he thought about summoning the Aether Core.
Five purple streaks of light shot out of his hand, fluttering through the air before joining together at one point in a great burst of light, forcing Tolir to look away. When he turned around again, he discovered a sphere identical to the one he had absorbed a few minutes earlier but this time with a violet color.
With a smile, he touched the core. A new window appeared:
>>>>> Aethereal Core I <<<<<
Aether: 0/50
Knowledge Points: 0/1
Aetheric Bond: 0/10
Summoning: -
The absence of the goblin recruit in the aetheric bonds surprised him... Why didn't he appear? Putting this question in the back of his mind, he considered the lack of a potential summon. He had expected to be able to summon at least one new goblin recruit... He deduced that the reason lay in the location of the knowledge line. An idea came to his mind.
While keeping his hand on the core, he imagined adding the Goblin Recruit knowledge line. Immediately, the profile changed:
>>>>> Aethereal Core I <<<<<
Aether: 0/50
Knowledge Points: 1/1
Aetheric Bond: 0/10
Summoning: [Goblin Recruit] (1 aether)
Now, with the remaining 3 points of aether, he could summon an equal number of Goblin Recruits. As usual, he thought about summoning the goblins, but nothing happened. Frustrated by this new setback, he pondered, the menu before his eyes. The absence of aether caught his attention. If it behaved as per the knowledge, he would have to transfer aether into the core first before summoning. He immediately applied his theory. The next moment, the core showed 3/50 Aether, while his Aether Mastery menu told him that he had no more.
This time, he tried the Goblin Recruit invocation again and was successful. A greenish streak came out of the core and went to a point where it swelled into the shape of a goblin identical to the first one and also carrying a club. Now the core indicated that it had 2/50 aether.
Tolir smiled at the success of this maneuver. He repeated it, summoning two more goblins. Contemplating his small army, a feeling of satisfaction came over him. Suddenly, a terrible fatigue seized him, surely a backlash from his arrival in this world, he thought. Under the vigilance of the goblins, he lay down comfortably on the ground using a stone covered with foam as a pillow. He fell asleep the next moment.
When he awoke two hours later, he was startled by the sight of a goblin before remembering that he was obeying it. When he got up, he felt a pleasant sense of rest, even though a rumbling in his stomach called him to order. He hadn't eaten a thing since he arrived either.
He ordered his creatures to follow him to help him find food in the forest. After a few minutes of exploration, a goblin called out to him:
"Master, me find berries!"
Tolir ran over and saw a bush full of small red berries that looked like currants. He grabbed one and crunched it with the tip of his teeth. A taste at the same time acidulous and sweetened invaded his mouth. He waited a few minutes and then, without any noticeable reaction from his body, decided that the berries were edible. He picked them up by whole handfuls and stuffed them in his mouth. For an hour, he feasted until he was full.
Then, remembering that the goblins had not moved during his meal, he turned to them and handed them a handful of berries:
"Do you want some?"
"We not eat, we not need."
This answer surprised Tolir, but after all, didn't they know better than him what they needed? He returned with his escort to the core. Now in full possession of his faculties, he thought about his next objective while observing the surroundings. Thanks to the hill overhanging the surroundings, he noted the points of interest of which the most notable was the constructions in the distance which emitted a smoke. He estimated the distance to be three or four kilometers.
In order to determine the nature of its inhabitants, he set off in its direction. Not wishing to frighten any of the inhabitants, and in order not to compromise his identity, he ordered his goblins to stay close to the core.
For an hour he walked through the forest that covered a large part of this world. Sometimes animal tracks would appear, allowing him to move at greater speed. As he approached the edge of the forest before coming upon a plain leading to the village, he came upon a group of three goblins. They appeared to be ambushing the village.
Catching them off guard, Tolir approached them to bind with them. However, instead of kneeling down like their companion, they jumped up and grabbed their weapons before charging him. He panicked. Weren't they supposed to surrender nicely? Unarmed and surprised by the sudden attack of the goblins, Tolir fled in the direction he thought best: the plain that led to the village.
He drew an arc around the goblins, which, fortunately for him, was rather slow and clumsy, to run along the forest. The three creatures chased him. Much faster than them, he got a significant lead, but soon ran out of stamina, forcing him to slow down. The goblins took the opportunity to catch up, gradually closing in on Tolir.
Concentrating on his race for survival, he was unable to come up with any plan to get out of the situation. He only knew that the more time passed, the closer his end came. He chuckled nervously as he imagined his deity watching him in his pitiful show, he who would die as soon as he arrived in this world.
The goblins were only ten meters behind him. The only hope he had left was to fight. Too bad if he was unarmed, at least he wouldn't die without acting. He made his decision and turned around, which stopped the creatures, suspicious of his change of attitude. Out of breath, he adopted a defensive posture vaguely inspired by a martial art. His pursuers also seemed to be exhausted with their heavy breathing.
The two sides watched each other for a short time before the goblins leapt at him. Keeping his posture, he closed his eyes waiting for the fatal blow. It did not come. Surprised, he opened his eyes again to see a goblin at his feet, an arrow in his throat. His two comrades stopped in their tracks and looked around for the perpetrator.
A new arrow hit one of them who collapsed. The last one ran into the woods where he had seen the shooter but too late, before he even approached the woods, a third arrow killed him instantly. Tolir was impressed by the speed of the scene and turned toward his savior who emerged from the forest.