Liam followed the goblins' footprints, listening closely to the forest's whispers. The tree branches danced in the wind, the rustle of bushes and the trees creaking, yet there was an extra sound mixed in a vice, gargled grunts. Goblins to the east, as monsters, they were a bit smarter than others, but still dumb, unable to shut up.
I can see them, behind the crooked tree; they used bushes to hide a small hole in the hills and used it as a nest. Weaponless and with such pathetic stats, with one hit I'll probably freeze up, this body isn't used to fighting.
Liam smiled, stood up, and started approaching the goblins' nest with his hands in his pockets. "Little demons, come, one hit and you'll kill me." He called them.
The three goblins hiding beneath the entrance bush started at him, sensing that something was off. Humans never approach them like this. They looked at each other and decided to send a signal back to the nest. Send someone from the back entrance to sneak this human from behind.
From the back hole of the cave, a goblin crawled out carrying a sharpened stick and made his way around the trees and to Liam's behind, approaching slowly for a sneak attack.
Liam stepped aside and dodged the stab, grabbed the goblin by the wrist, and snatched the stick. "I might be weak, but I'm still heavier than you." He kicked the goblin back to the nest.
A nice stick, I bet it was his prized find. "Little one. Thank you for the gift." Liam started walking toward the entrance. The three goblins in the entrance bush rushed out with the fourth one and tried to overwhelm Liam. Two started throwing stones while the other two charged for an attack.
"Your claws are dirty, one scratch and I'll get sick with a disease that I can't afford to heal and die in a few days. I'm quite happy…" He took a step to the side and one of the goblins jumped toward his face, but he got hit with the rock that his friend threw. "…to find something that stinks more than myself."
The goblin that got hit with the stone fell on his face, growling and scratching the ground, as he tried to find the light. "HaaAA, look what you've done." Liam turned toward the goblin that threw the rock.
"Don't you know that your kind's skulls are as thin as those of human children? A hit to the back of the head, he's blind for life." He stared at him with a smile.
The goblin got enraged, pulling another stone, a bigger one.
While still dodging the second goblin's obvious slashes, Liam taunted the other two to throw stones at him. "Come on, I've never seen a goblin that consistently bad at throwing stones."
The mad goblin threw the huge stone as hard as he could, and Liam had a big smile on his face, deflecting the stone straight at the second goblin, blinding him like the first.
"HaaAA… again? Are you doing it on purpose?" Liam eyes stopped at the goblins, and they started to get irritated at his giggles.
The two rushed forward to fight, but Liam took a step aside, tripping one of them to fall and pushing the other one. The two goblins fell on the two blind ones, causing something to start. The blinded goblins were desperately trying to find Liam to kill him, and the moment they touched something soft, they started clawing and biting in a mad frenzy.
Liam started walking toward the entrance, letting the goblins tear each other apart. Eventually, the blinded goblins ended the first two and eventually lost their life later due to concussion.
Liam stopped a few feet before reaching the bush, "A lame plan, come out."
No response, and a moment of silence, only ruined by the goblins crying behind him as they tore each other to pieces. Liam stood still for half an hour in front of the goblin's nest entrance.
Soon, several goblins rushed out as they couldn't wait inside any longer to ambush him. This man was clearly no ordinary human as if he knew them too well, unbothered and unfaltering.
They stopped immediately, he was standing there with his eyes closed and a smile on his face, something was off.
From their footsteps, a good number came out, the fools. He rushed forward with his eyes closed, jumping above the goblins and sliding beneath the bush only using the image of the area he memorized.
The moment he was inside, he opened his eyes, and they were already used to the darkness. He jumped over two goblins and kept running deeper and deeper into the cave, making sure to always head down the nastiest path, that where goblins spend most of their time, and where their leader resides.
Several seconds later, he could see it forward, a wooden cage with three men and four women locked inside, goblins' preserved food, probably travelers or farmers that they caught.
That's my money over there, time to clear this place and get them to the city.
"GAGAGABOBO!" A female goblin growled at him, pointing a large staff forward. "Hoo, a shaman. So I was right." He replied to her, looking back and saw over twenty goblins chasing him.
The shaman started mumbling and a fist-sized fireball flew from the tip of her staff. Liam dodged and the fireball hit a goblin, taking him down.
She growled, swinging the staff in rage, and unleashed several spells, all of which Liam purposefully dodged in a way so they hit the goblins chasing him. As he got closer to her, he taunted another firebolt with a smile. As the shaman unleashed the firebolt he awaited, Liam slid beneath the spell toward her and caught her by the ankle, "Got you." He lifted her with a grin on his face.
As the other goblins charged, he started poking her with the stick so she fires spells, and hit the other goblins. After making her kill everyone else in the nest, Liam threw her down so she could bleed to death as he released the prisoners.
"Who are you?" One of the men growled.
"Liam. An adventurer." With a smile, Liam handed them his guild card.
They looked at the card, barely able to read it inside the cave, but they could tell one thing, the glowing name and G-rank, the lowest of the low. Liam coming here, that wasn't normal.
"Why risk your life?" One asked.
Liam replied, "I can't let you suffer here." Honestly, if you're a farmer then I could use your farm as a safe house in the future. I'll keep this debt written, just wait.
Liam then stood, turned around, and looked at the corpses. "I'll gather everything of value before we can leave. You can wait outside, or help me so we can get home faster."
The prisoners looked at each other for a second and then started helping Liam gather the goblin's ears and whatever the goblin took from previous victims.