Chapter: The Goblins

In the deep parts of Wildemount Forest, thousands of miles away from the Athens City, there was a group of nimble and elusive creatures that crept upon a herd of elk. Wildemount Forest expands about hundreds of hectares wide, surrounded by towering mountains and dominated by trees. Beyond Wildemount Forest is the Bluesilver Ocean that extends far and wide, where it ends is almost unmeasurable. Wildemount Forest is a place full of dangers and filled by countless races of animals, beasts, and humanoid creatures; ranging from Low Level to High Level types of Demonic Beasts and Spiritual Beasts. No mortal ever wanders through the depths of the forest and usually only Sects are capable to scout and exploit the resources deep within the Wildemount Forest. Sects let their disciples enter the foreground up to the middle part of the forest to let them gain experience, to train and adventure. And sometimes there are brave rouge cultivators who trudge the depths of the forest in hope of obtaining lucky chances. However, the Death Rate of Wildemount Forest is about 75%.

The said nimble and elusive beings are around three feet and eight inches tall and thin with flat faces, broad nose, pointed ears and small, sharp fangs. These human-like creatures has their foreheads sloped back and their eyes varied in color, some has red while others have orange, yellow or green. One prominent characteristic they has is their skin color; it is deep green with only a beast hide covering their private parts. These humanoids are called Goblins. Goblins are mischievous and usually very unpleasant, vengeful and greedy creatures, whose primary purpose is to cause trouble.

Goblins are a race of humanoids with a bizarre History; they say that Goblins were once a mighty Ancient Race that tried to defy the heavens. Once lead by their Goddess Nuka, Goblins were hailed as one of the strongest Humanoid Races of The Mundane Realm. They were so strong that they caused chaos in the natural order. In return, the heavens punished them. Their Goddess killed, their bloodlines was sealed and they were cursed, turned into one of the weakest existing race with low intelligence and even ordinary mortals can kill them now.

As for these hunting Goblins, they are different from the others because their eyes glint with intelligence. Although it is not as high as human's it is still surprising. They look somehow civilized and much more disciplined than the other Goblins. Just the way they hunt shows that they possesses common sense, on their hands is a makeshift weapon, that could harm animals but not magical beasts, as they wait for their prey to be unprepared like a mantis stalking a cicada. But it is indeed, *the Mantis stalks the Cicada, unaware of the Oriole behind.

After a breath of time when the Goblins were about to attack the elks, trees swayed, the ground shook and the mountains groaned. Followed by a strong gust of wind, reverberating clashes of lightning and with a booming explosion a body was struck down the ground where the herd of elks used to be.

"Guga, gugaga!" the Goblins exclaimed, terrified. They were about to run when they noticed that what fell is a humanoid creature. Seeing that it resembles a human, the Goblins were about to leave it behind when they smelled its scent. Goblin's broad nose are not just there to become a decoration, Goblins has a very powerful sense of smell. And the scent they smelled from the 'human' is not of a mortal but from a Humanoid Creature just like them! Its scent is mixed with blood and an ethereal scent.

"Gagururu!" the tallest Goblin from the group, slowly walk upon the person lying on the caved earth. The way the others look at this certain Goblin appears that he is the lead of their team. It has the height of five feet with a muscular built and holding a sharpened wooden staff. Amongst the Goblin in their Clan, he is the smartest and strongest that is why he was perceived as the Chieftain and all the other Goblins follow his commands. As of now, he is a Goblin Rare, just a bit away and he will evolve into a higher level of Goblin, a Hobgoblin. It is actually surprising for it to come this far, the evolution of Goblins are extremely hard and only happens to few. Goblins just like the other spiritual creatures has stages, from low to a high level. Low levels are commonly referred to as just Goblins, while a higher level is called Goblin Rare and the highest as Hobgoblins.

With the quasi-hobgoblin's passable intelligence, it is aware that the person who fell from the heavens is hovering between life and death. In addition, when he saw it closer he was greatly surprised; the fallen human is actually just a youth around 15-16 years old. Even in its bloodied state, its otherworldly appearance still prevails. They saw the youth staring up the heavens with a crazed look followed by a laugh that triggered it to lose consciousness.

An emotion of pity flashed through the eyes of the Goblin Rare and as the other Goblins watch by, too scared to come closer, they saw their Chieftain crouched next to the passed out youth. Then he reached out a wooden knife from a sheath strapped in his back, and slashed a wound on his hand. The bluish blood of the Goblin rushed out from wound and pooled on his cupped hand, he quickly shoved it inside the dying youth's mouth forcing it to swallow.

One great attribute a Goblin has, that caused cultivators or even mortals to hunt them is that Goblin's blood are a natural healing concoction and their marrows are a great medical ingredient.

If the person who fell from the skies is a human, then they will left it for good. It could be even said that even if it was a nonhuman creature, they'll be reluctant to help it or just ignore it. They helped this youth because its appearance triggered a feeling, deep inside their bloodline, a feeling only the likes of the goblin and the youth could experience. The feeling of being unaccepted by the Heavens! They say, the birds that have the same feather flock together and that is what the Goblins are feeling right now! That this youth is just like them, hated by the Dharma!

The youth that the Goblins helped is actually Aragon! And as the gobbled up blood of the Goblin Rare run through Aragon's body, his wounds are starting to heal! From the once deathly shade, lusters can now be seen. The Goblin Rare issued a satisfied growl, seeing the blood take effect.

"You" the Quasi-Hobgoblin pointed to the one of the biggest Goblin present.

"Carry… Cave" hearing the Chieftain's order, the bulky Goblin walked swiftly next to Aragon and carried him carefully. With one last nod to the Goblin Rare the Goblin started his path towards their dwelling cave.

The Chieftain's voice is gruff and although its mortal language is lacking, it is not hard to understand. As for the remaining Goblins, the Chieftain ordered;

"We go. Hunt" with that the group of Goblins, traveled to another part of the forest seeking their next prey.

Meanwhile, Aragon felt a warm feeling spreading throughout his body, making him comfortable. He could hear the snapping of branches crashing to the forest's floor as one trudges, soft ruffles of the leaves as wind pass through them, and the orchestra of birdsong ruined by some grunting sounds, as if the owner was completely annoyed.

Aragon fought to open his eyes and when he was barely able to, he was greeted with his world upside down. He was actually being carried by the Goblin over its shoulder and seemingly grumpy because it was given the errand as a porter. The Goblins were never tall to begin with and caused Aragon's arms to drag on the ground, good thing is that the Goblin is not walking fast or else it'll cause scratches.

Even groggily, Aragon knows that someone is carrying him and when he was about to move a protruding stone on the ground smacked against Aragon's head, blacking him out without the Goblin knowing!

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• The Mantis stalks the Cicada, unaware of the Oriole behind - to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger