Two weeks later
Ben's body has finally gained mass. His body from the illusion now matches his body in reality. Nothing reminds him of the haggard boy from a month ago who appeared in the clearing. Ben's progress in general knowledge has increased significantly. He also now has a chance against Malwin's daughter but more through his creativeness than through his physical fitness.
He has learned that the wolves find him by his scent. Therefore, he either uses a mixture of different herbs to mask his own scent or a trap with herbs that give off a foul smell. This way he confuses the senses of his opponent. This gives him enough time to hide.
Only with meditation does he have problems. Only once has he managed to briefly fall into a state of trance. He had just received glimpses of the ability when it immediately brought him out again. But today something special is on the agenda.
Malwin wants to take Ben with him on a hunt. They want to hunt goblins. The population of these has been increasing for some time and Anabella fears that one of them might evolve. An evolved goblin becomes a hobogoblin. One alone is not dangerous, but if it becomes a rare one, it can unite the different tribes and that could mean problems for the forest.
That is why Anabella has asked Malwin to reduce the population a bit and that is why the three of them are now on their way to one of the goblin camps. Malwin has chosen a camp that does not have many goblins. They are also quite weak. Malwin says they are outcasts and their disappearance should not disturb the others.
Ben looks around nervously. He has put on Maxwell's leather armour. The short sword also hangs on his hip. Malwin told him not to use cards, but to fight with his sword instead. His Chain Lightning card would be overkill for the goblins. Ben is not enthusiastic about the idea, but Malwin is the leader and so he accepts his rules.
Malwin's daughter is joining them for the hunt. It could be a milestone for her. The first hunt. A special event for moon wolves. If she reaches level 10 and successfully completes the hunt, she would be given a name. From level 10, moon wolves learn the ability to communicate and so the little bundle of energy can't wait.
Malwin stops and sniffs the air. "About 200 metres ahead of you is the camp. Both of you concentrate on the fight. I'll try to keep you alive but only if it gets dangerous." So Ben and the young female wolf lead the way. Ben crouches down to be harder to spot. He also used herbs to mask his scent. He doesn't know how good the goblins are at detecting scent, but he could have spared himself that.
When he gets close to the nest, he doesn't see the goblins yet, but he smells them. The pungent smell of urine and faeces is in the air. Ben has to hold his hand in front of his nose to keep himself from gagging, the smell is too disgusting. Slowly the two creep closer.
There he sees the goblins between the trees. They are green and have long ears. Their eyes are round but the unusual thing is that the pupils are slits. At about 1.20 metres tall, they are not particularly large, but Malwin has warned them that the goblins are dangerous by their sheer numbers. Their preferred fighting technique is to overrun the enemy with mass. They make up for their losses by breeding quickly. Ben counts the goblins and his analysis skill works at full speed. He looks at the wolf pup and shows the number 7 with his hand, which is the number of goblins.
The wolf nods and Ben shows numbers again, 5 to 13. Those are the levels of the enemies. Ben got the idea on the way here to show numbers for the amount and level of the enemys. The two have also decided that they will attack together, from one direction to avoid an ambush. Ben draws his sword. With his free hand he begins to count down.
At 0 he sprints out of the bush from his hiding place. The little wolf follows suit. Ben runs to the first goblin and strikes overhead. His sword barely feels resistance as he hits the goblin between the head and the left shoulder. The goblin cries out but goes down. Jimmy informs Ben that the goblin is dead but the noise has alerted the other goblins.
They start screaming and run towards Ben. The first goblin to reach Ben tries to jump on him, but Ben rams his sword through his stomach. The sword penetrates the goblin completely. Blood splatters Ben's face but he ignores it, too much adrenaline is in his body.
The goblin had no chance to dodge the attack. But the goblin's attack had still achieved its goal. Its dead body is now stuck on Ben's sword and drags it to the ground. He needs several seconds to free the blade. Valuable seconds, which the other goblins used.
One of the other goblins clings to Ben's leg and bites him in the calf. Ben cries out in pain. Another second wasted and another goblin clings to Ben, but this time it leaps onto Ben's back. With its sharp claws it tries to tear Ben's back but can't get through the armour. Ben, who is back in the moment, starts to act before the last goblin jumps on him. With his free hand he grabs the goblin by his foot. He pulls its head away and cuts its throat with his blade.
The goblin snaps its eyes open. Horror written all over its face. It releases Ben and tries desperately to breathe. The blood oozes from the goblin's artery. A gasp comes out and with all his might the goblin tries to hold his windpipe shut to get some air. As this drama unfolds, Ben is busy with the last goblin rushing towards him.
With all his might, he lunges and slashes at the goblin's head with his sword. The blade cleaves the goblin's skull almost in two. Ben, who still has the goblin on his back, tries to free the blade but it doesn't work. It is stuck in the goblin's head. He drops the blade and tries to pull the goblin off his back, but it fails. His hands can't reach it.
So he unceremoniously decides to drop to the ground. His entire weight lands on the goblin. The goblin lets go in surprise and Ben takes the opportunity to turn around. With one arm he holds the goblin in a headlock. He tries to choke the goblin, but it fights back vehemently. Clawing and kicking, it tries to fight Ben. But all these desperate actions do nothing and eventually the goblin dies in Ben's arms.
Ben lets go of the corpse. Puffing heavily, he steps back and looks around. He sees Malwin and his daughter. The latter was apparently much faster than him. Above all, she didn't make such a mess. Her goblins mainly had heavy bite wounds on their throats, while Ben literally slaughtered the goblins. He nearly cut the first one in two. He impaled the second and split the head of the third. The last one lying in front of him he strangled with his own hands. As he slowly catches his breath and the adrenaline subsides, he vomits.
No one warned him of the stench or the gruesome sight. What was honourable about it, Ben thinks to himself as he throws up. He slaughtered the goblins, nothing more. Not a glorious fight at all. Just a fight for survival for the goblins. As the last bit of breakfast comes out of his stomach, Ben turns back to the battlefield.
He wants to memorise this image. Not because he enjoys it, but because he wants to remember this act the next time he fights. A motivation that next time it can be him whose body lies there. A grim reminder if you want to call it that. Guts and brain matter, that's what bothers him the most.
These goblins were alive a few moments ago. From behind Malwin steps to him "The first time is always the hardest for the awakened races. The intelligence they have been blessed with can also be a curse but for your first time the fight was fine. You made many mistakes but put up a good show and you my little one have earned your name." Malwin turns to his daughter.
"From this day forward, your name shall be Marie." Marie nods her head. Slowly she opens her mouth and her first words come out. "Tha...nks Fa...ther" comes out a slightly raspy female voice. Marie still seems to have some problems with her new skill. "Congratulations Marie on level 10 and especially on your name. I like it very much." Replies Ben with a smile.
Malwin walks to a hole in the ground and Ben follows him. There he sees 4 goblins these are still alive and are not the ones he fought but the offspring. Ben asks in a timid voice "What do we do with the younglings?" he already has an idea what the answer will be but he doesn't like it at all. Everything in him refuses to even think about it.
He finds the idea of killing the younglings too cruel. But Ben's hunch was right when Malwin replies, "We'll kill them. That seems cruel to you, but it is much crueler to let them live. They would starve miserably without their parents. Death is a mercy for them." Ben has to gag at the thought of killing a defenceless creature. That's how much he loathes the thought.
The adult goblins could at least fight back but the younglings are defenseless. "If you don't want to do it or see it, then go. I'll handle it." Ben hesitates briefly but decides to leave. He has killed enough for today. Ben walks back to Marie and drops to the ground beside her.