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Aldritch consoled himself while caressing Lina's hair as she was currently laying her head on his lap, which he ordered her to do. Even with the toned body, she still looked very human, and she was actually quite pretty. Nevertheless, Aldritch just wanted to touch a woman right now, she was the only one that met the standard.
'But alas, I'm too hungry to do anything!...' He had been saving the blood in his blood bank, using only a litte from time to time because he didn't want to drink the blood of any goblin now. Not only did it taste bad, but they needed the strength, the journey was long.
'I'm so happy that she has such good hair that is soothing to touch, if not I would only have to think of my hunger.'
It had been two days since Aldritch set out with the goblins towards the north where the forest was located. The goblins made him a kind of throne and placed it on a wooden construct with covers to provide thick shade, and was suspended on the shoulders of six hobgoblins. The throne was more of a wide couch made also from the materials used on the makeshift bed from the previous chamber in the cave, just like Aldritch ordered it to be. This was so he could also lie down when he felt like to. He needed it, the heat outside was nothing to scoff at.
When night would come, Aldritch would remain on top. The goblins were the ones to guard the place, taking shifts while the hobgoblins rested to recuperate. He very much enjoyed having Lina sleep together with him, so she was off guard duty.
After a week and two days, they finally saw the outline of green vegetation. It was a really strange sight, as it looked like where the forest ended was where the desert started.
(A/N: Not completely sand, more solid ground and weak grasses with generally weak vegetation)
Before the sun the down, they got close and almost entered the forest before Aldritch called for them to stop and camp outside the forest for the night.
'If we enter now, we'll definitely be hunted overnight. Not to even mention the fact that we don't know the strength of our potential enemies...' Aldritch looked around. The goblins had not eaten for a couple days. Nothing roamed the desolate lands, so there was no opportunity to even hunt prey. If they were to enter into battle now, they would lose for sure.
'Not to mention myself...'
"Master, you don't look too good." Lina was the most worried, after all, Aldritch really looked like he would fall over any second. As a vampire, he was already akin to a walking corpse, with the way his skin was so pale now, he just fit the fray of undead even more.
"It's ok. Go help them set up camp, I'll be back soon."
Aldritch explained further to Lina his plan, and even though she was a bit hesitant, she couldn't stop him from enacting it.
While the goblins gathered together for the night, Aldritch looked at the remaining blood in his blood bank. Right now he had just one litre remaining, so he drank everything to get some energy before he entered the forest. His courage, being the fact that goblins were easily affected by his hypnosis skill so he could get out of some trouble if any finds him. Not to mention, it barely drains his mana, so he was safe.
Aldritch stepped into the forest with some anticipation, resisting the urge to lie on the grass and rub it against his body. Not only was it a bit childish, it would only cause itching.
'I need to find something to kill, fast.' He had also taken a scrap dagger from Lina which she brought from the small weapons they had with them stored. Aldritch took the opportunity to ask for two, just in case he needed it.
The plan was simple, even if it was just a squirrel or another small rodent, Aldritch wouldn't mind, he just wanted something that would give his hobgoblins energy.
Aldritch transverse the forest floors as quietly as his feet would allow him. Not only were there monsters in these forests, there were also wild beasts and even some beasts capable of utilizing some form of SP.
After a whole thirty minutes of searching to no avail, he decided to change his manner of approach and began looking for any foot print on the forest floor. The ground wasn't so strong in some parts, so a heavy beast would live some foot print behind. Though this was a bit risky since meeting a dangerous beast was almost certain, it was also a good option nonetheless.
"Finally..." After about an hour had passed since when he entered the forest, Aldritch had finally found some left behind footprints. He has never being a ranger, and Lance was a farmer and not a hunter, so he had no idea of telling what kind of animal had left the footprint behind, neither could he tell how long had passed. The only thing that was evident was the direction it was headed in.
Aldritch followed for a while, and from time to time the tracks would either become faint or disappear completely and he would have to find and figure out where it continued.
'I'm starting to wander deeper into the forest.' Aldritch regretted not marking the trees so that he would know which direction he came from. 'It's not too late to do so.' He took out the straighter dagger from the two curved daggers he carried, which he stashed away in wrapped clothing on his waist.
After unwrapping the cloth and taking one of the daggers out, Aldritch put the other one back after wrapping it. He used that one to carve the tree backs, making a small arrow that pointed towards the forest exit.
'It's a bit small, I hope I can see it later.' He didn't think that would be a problem either, since his vision at night was better than he remembered. It was having nocturnal vision since the moon above his head provided more than ample light for him.
He walked for twenty more minutes before coming upon what looked to be where the tracks would stop.
'The stench of blood is a bit strong here, even though I am unexperienced I can tell.' Aldritch was yet to see where the tracks stopped as there were more shrubs in this area, so he moved carefully. He wasn't scared it would be a snake, after all, they didn't kill by spilling blood. At least he wouldn't have to encounter sneaky enemies, he thought.
Reaching the edge of where the little shrubs stopped, Aldritch could see the carcass of some kind of cattle like animal lying on the ground almost completely eaten up. What was left was the head and some parts of the legs towards the knees.
'This is good enough.' His plan had never been to face off any wild animal without need, nope, he could also be a scavenger this night.
'I will wait here for a bit to see if the beast is still around.' It was quite possible that this was the beast's den, but then again, there was no cave. Instead, a small rock was in front of him, putting the carcass in between them, and it was raised to at least 10ft and a bit wide, dropping towards the edges. Apart from that, there was nothing else.
'I don't think any beast would use this place as their den, so it shouldn't be problem...'
Before Aldritch could complete the sentence in his head, he felt warm air over his exposed lower leg, tingling the little hairs of his leg.
'No shit...'