There is something really wrong with me, Arun thought, as he could not control his excitement.
He was stalking the goblins that he came across earlier, and the prospect of them leading him to their settlement was making his heart beat faster and louder than a drum. Feeling the excitement, a part of him also questioned what he used to do on Earth. Because as far as his thirst for blood is concerned, it was not something a normal human should possess.
His stealth stalking eventually led him deeper into the jungle. And Arun soon found himself, on a tree, looking at a particular clearing. The interesting part was the boulder in the middle.
The boulder was around 8 feet high, with a 4 feet tall hole in the bottom, that looked somewhat like a cave's entrance. A constant traffic of goblins was coming in and out of the hole. As every goblin looked the same to him, it was hard for him to tell how many goblins he was dealing with there.
But the most interesting part of the place was the boulder itself. From what he could see, the boulder was not big enough to accommodate that many goblins. It was just too small. It was like, the hole was bigger from what appears from outside.
As he observed further, the more he got to know about the social structure of the nest. There were basically two types of goblins here, from what he had observed. The first type were the ones, who would go out to hunt and would bring the game back to the camp.
The second type was gatherers. Their jobs were to bring fruits, leaves, and roots for the nest. There was a bunch of goblins who were bringing many leaves and flowers in make-shift baskets, and gathering them inside the hole. Based on the materials they were bringing in, further told him that the hole was bigger than what appears to be.
Another interesting about the herbs that goblins were bringing was that he recognized those herbs.
There is no denying it.. Those herbs were the ingredients for a Health Potion. Arun was sure of it.
When he bought the Cookbook, he thought that he would get a small booklet that would have instructions on how to make the potion. But he was wrong. The shopkeeper instead handed him over a scroll. When he opened it, the scroll vanished in a flash, and knowledge about the ingredients and instructions about the potion got embedded in his brain. It was like someone had just copy pasted all the things one needs to know on how to make a potion. And that is why he was able to recognize those herbs…
Arun still didnt attack them and decided to wait and watch. He needed to know what exactly he was dealing with there before he could make any rash decisions. The more he watched, the more mysterious the boulder became. The good thing was, upon observing the group for a long time he started to recognize the members of the nest with some distinctive features. And from what he could tell, a total of nine goblins were living there.
There were two goblins teams of three, who were responsible for checking the traps, as they were constantly going back and forth with the hunted game. While the others were responsible for gathering herbs.
It would be foolish to attack the three goblins at once, especially directly. Which is why Arun started his assault with the gatherer goblins.
He followed one of them deep into the forest. This one was smelling the air from time to time like a dog in order to smell out the herb that it was looking for.
I better maintain my distance, this one could smell me out, Arun thought and waited for an opportunity to present itself.
Soon the chance came. The goblin put its basket aside and knelt down before a bush of green flowers. Using this opportunity, Arun stood up, knocked an arrow, and took aim. An updraft from behind him sent his smell to the goblin, which is why it abruptly stood and turned around. Arun let go of the string and the arrow struck the thing in its neck. He was aiming for its eyes, still, it worked out for good.
The goblin fell to the ground, and Arun came closer. Before it could make some sort of noise, he closed in with his survival knife and quickly shoved it in its eyes. He also took out the arrow, fearing that would vanish just like the goblin. As the body of the goblin started disintegrating, something was left behind.
Are those.. Bracers?
He checked them, and indeed they were Bracers. He was confused as to where these things came from, considering the goblin that he killed was not wearing them. Also, these bracers were way too big for the hands of the goblin. And they might fit him.
That is sick. This means any clothing article that I might get in the future will be of my size. Thats cool.
These bracers were made of black leather, with long yellowish-white bones embedded all around it. And as soon as Arun put them on, he got some messages.
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+1 Strenght.
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+2 Durability.
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Wait, what? I can increase my stats with clothing. That is new.
To test whether this was true, he took out his sword and swung it around. And he could feel the difference, it was like the swords had suddenly become light.
Arun then pushed his thoughts aside. He has a lot of work to do…
He found himself running in the direction where the other gatherer goblins had gone. He didnt want them to return back to the boulder, just yet. Which is why he was hurrying all the way. Soon, he spotted one of them.
This was heading somewhere with its basket on its back. Quickly Arun knocked an arrow. The running noise must have made the goblin turn back, but before it could understand where the sound came from, Arun sent the arrow to its head, killing it on the spot
Arun then heard a screeching sound from his right. It was then he saw that the last gatherer was also there, and it had spotted him killing its friends.
"FUCK!" he cursed and started running after the goblin.
The goblin bolted as soon as it saw that Arun was after him. As it was running, the goblin was screeching with a very high-pitched voice, it was calling its friends. But he could not let that happen. He knocked another arrow and shot at the goblin.
He missed.
Feeling the arrows being shot at it, the goblin started running in a zig-zag pattern, ruining more of Arun's arrows. But soon he got to a point, where he was able to predict the midget's movement. And it only took the last of his arrow to kill the guy.
As the body of the goblin disintegrated, Arun saw that it was too late. He saw the arrival of more goblins, and they all had their clubs in the air and were charging at him. Immediately he sent the bow inside and took his shield and sword.
One of the goblins jumped on him, he intercepted the attack with the shield. That goblin packed a serious punch of power. But he was not weak as well, he immediately swiped his sword, cleaving the goblin from the waist down. He didnt have the time to recover when another goblin came from the side, startling him. But through instinct alone, he jumped back.
Did a barrel roll, and stood up. Another goblin came and jumped at him, this time instead of using the shield, he stepped to his right and made the goblin miss him. Before that goblin could land, he swiped his sword cutting the head of the goblin, making its guts spread all around him.
Covered in blood and grime, when Arun turned towards the last goblin, it got scared. The goblin started running, and with a big smile on his face, he started running after it. After all, what kind of hunt it would be if the prey wouldn't even try to survive?