As fast as his legs could carry him, Arun ran through the dense forest. He could hear the heavy steel tusk projectile behind him. None of them had touched him till now. But he could hear them being lodged in trees and some wheezing past him. And from the squealing noise, he knew that the pigs were closing up on him.
The thing that he couldnt understand was how many tusks could those little things throw at him. Because from what he had counted and seen, there were two pigs following him. And collectively he had sensed around 8 tusks sent towards him. He feared that the pigs had the ability to send infinite tusks his way. And that is a big red flag for him.
But while navigating through the dense jungle, then came a time when the voice of the pigs got hushed. He could still hear them, but they were way back. Realizing that nothing was after him now, he stopped. Just as a precaution, he tried knocking an arrow on his bow, only to realize that there weren't any arrows in his quiver. He realized that maybe all his arrows would have fallen when he fell from the branch.
But he wasn't scared, this quiver had the ability to make more arrows. As the Dungeon shopkeeper had instructed, he grabbed the strap of the quiver.
Hmm.. That is interesting.
Arun started feeling something, some sort of energy traveling from his hand to the strap of the quiver. As he had seen what happens when one uses all of his mana, he stopped after a few seconds. He took off his quiver and saw that three arrows had manifested themselves from the energy that he had provided so far. He could tell, somehow, that there was still some energy left in him. But he didnt dare to use more mana right now.
He put the quiver back on and started trekking the way back to find the arrows that he lost, also while he was at it, he wanted to see why the pigs had stopped following him. And why were they squealing so much?
Halfway through, he realized that the squealing noises that he had heard so far had stopped. Taking extra caution, he started making his way very slowly.
Upon some travel, he started hearing some squealing noises once again. But they were suppressed noises. It was like someone had put a gag into the pig's mouth, making it hard for it to squeal.
Crouching down, he started moving towards the noise. And soon found himself in front of a very unusual scene. He was hidden behind the thick roots of a tree. And just 12 feet away from the tree was the pig, tied and gagged, hanging in the air. And around him were three humanoid grey creatures which he was familiar with.
Goblins? That is interesting.
Those little squirts had old wooden clubs in their hands. And it didnt look like they had any other weapon in their hands. Seeing this Arun smiled. He could kill them, he believed it. He quickly knocked an arrow, pulled the string, and took aim. He only stopped when he saw that the goblins were doing something to the pig. Something that he never heard or seen before.
One of them went and threw a red color powder on the pig, and slowly smeared the pig's whole body with it.
What is that? Tikka Masala?
The pig kept squirming around, and it was only after the whole body of the pig was covered, the other two goblins moved and started bashing the head of the pig.
What the hell are they doing? Are they trying to finish it off.. Fuck, I think they are? Why are these dumb fucks using clubs? Wouldn't it be more effective to use a sharp weapon or a rock?
The pig squealed with every blow, making Arun feel bad about it. Taking this as a chance, Arun pulled the string of his bow, took aim, and shot the arrow.
The arrow wheezed through the air and lodged itself on the back of the head, of one of the goblins. The other two were startled and started looking around to see where the arrow came from. He knew that from the trajectory of the arrow, they would be able to find out eventually where the arrow came from. Instead of hiding, he got up knocked another arrow, and started walking towards them.
The other two goblins screeched as they saw him. Raising their club, they started running towards him. Taking aim, Arun let go of another arrow. It struck the goblin on the right straight in its eyes, which disintegrated it immediately. The other goblin, unbothered but its comrade's death, still came to him.
Arun simply put his bow away and took his sword from the inventory. And then without batting an eye, he swung his sword at the goblin, cleaving its head from its body…
This is fascinating. Fascinating indeed, Arun thought as he looked at the corpse of the pig hanging in the air by its hind legs.
After he had finished off the goblins, he came to the pig. That poor thing was bleeding from various sides and looked quite awful. Its squeals had lost their volume and now sounded more like a cry for help. Showing mercy, he then thrusted his sword in the pig's brain, giving it a clean death.
But then a miracle happened.
It is a known fact that whenever a monster or a beast dies, their body disintegrates into nothingness. That is why most of the natives of the floor rely on the dungeons for meat. But now, before him was the proof that this theory was not right. According to the logic of the world, the pig should have vanished after he had killed the damn thing. But there it was, still hanging before him.
Is this the work of the Scavenger tattoo? Or is this the work of the red powder that the goblins smeared all over the pig?
He didnt know what it was. As far as the red powder is concerned, it vanished with the goblins. So there was no way he could examine it. Still, he took down the pig's corpse and started wondering what to do with it.
Should I take it? It was really a very difficult question. He had about a significant portion of his inventory filled with Kong's meat. So the question was, should he take the pig's meat as well?
The sound of another pig squealing got his attention. Thinking this of an opportunity to get more kills, he sent his sword back into the inventory and took his bow. The arrows that he killed the goblins with had vanished with their bodies. Which is why, heading towards the squealing sound, he recharged three more arrows in the quiver…
It was just a mere coincidence, that his eyes fell on a trap. It was not a big one, from what he could see it was a poorly constructed one, large enough for animals such as the knife-throwing pigs. Seeing more traps, along with the squealing sounds of the pig, he understood that maybe there was a settlement of the goblins around here..
He was not sure because he didnt see any creepy heads hanging from the trees, nor did he see any marks on the barks. But he figured that if these many traps were lying around here, his theory might have some merit to it. Thus, after avoiding the trap he started making his way towards the squealing pig.
He soon found himself in a small clearing, and there was a rather large and fat pig stuck in the trap, hanging in the air. And just beside the corpse of the pig were three more goblins. And just like the ones from before, they were carrying old beaten clubs as weapons.
This pig's body was also covered in red powder. There is clearly a connection between the red powder and the corpses of beasts. I should probably look into this stuff, while I am at it.
Unlike the last time, he didn't on and attacked those midgets. He waited, patiently.
Those goblins soon got the pig down. With the help of a big wooden stick, they hoisted the pig upon the shoulders of two of the goblins. And then they started heading south. Maintaining vigilance, Arun also started following them, while maintaining a creepy smile on his face. He was excited that he was going to kill soon.