Day Three #4

Within the cave which had been burrowed down deeper into the earth, there was a large amount of goblins which had gathered together.

The environment was filled with a strong unpleasant odour and many of the goblins inside were incredibly dirty.

It was rare for them to be clothed unless they put on an animal pelt which came from their kills outside.

Those that had more on their bodies seemed to be of a higher rank than the others.

One among them held two weapons in its hands which were sharp and shaped like a pair of animal tusks.

One of the smaller groups had been sent out to monitor the area and report back but suddenly one had ran in and stumbled over.

It crawled over to the leader of the group and started screaming. "Kikik kikikikik!"

It stopped to take a breather after it had reported the situation which showed that it had ran as fast as possible to get back and make the report.

Further into the cave were the cries and groans of more goblins but among them were very human like cries.

If someone were to investigate the scene then they would not be able to continue looking at it without being repulsed.

There were a couple of goblins and human shaped beings lying against the wall which had the figures of females and had a larger belly.

Those that did not have a large belly were struggling underneath a group of goblins that held them down and put them through extreme suffering and shame which made them wish to die.

The forest area was not a place that had no human visitors or groups nearby so there would always be those that entered the forest on their own accord.

There was also the possibility of a large group of monsters or beasts attacking smaller settlements nearby which would lead to much death and to some of them being captured so it was not strange that there were human shaped beings among them.

The main difference was that the humans were tied up and restrained while the goblins were able to get up and move around.

The female goblins were treated well and were given trinkets or rations to keep their mood up along with their health while the humans were force fed and held captive.

It would not be strange if one goblin lost its temper with one of the humans and harmed them further.

Although they needed the human women alive, the goblins were not the smartest creatures and would make mistakes leading to the death of some of them.

Not too far away from the tied up women were a pile of bones of different shapes which came from all kinds of humans and other creatures which showed that they had killed and captured many before.

The grunts and cries came from that same place as a woman cried out and was giving birth, a small green figure was pushed out but the woman's stomach did not deflate too much and instead she started crying out again.

The main reason for their fast growth in population was their strong ability to reproduce which often had more than two babies born per each birthing process.

Human women were bigger than goblin women and had a larger womb so there were less dangers from dying during childbirth to the smaller goblins even if there were many of them born one after another.

The woman grit her teeth and tried to push out the monstrosity inside of her that she hated and wanted to kill but then the blood loss and lack of nutrition had caused her to pass out.

The goblin nearby saw the situation then took out a bone knife and then stabbed it into her large belly slowly and began cutting around it which opened it and allowed him to pull out the remaining goblin babies.

The woman had passed out or had died earlier but she had definitely died once she had been cut open so crudely without any additional painkillers or drugs.

She was already in a poor condition so she could not handle the continued birthing process so she died after serving her purpose.

The babies were placed nearby and some adults came towards the body and the body was being chewed upon while the other women watched in fear.

Just as that was happening and the goblins inside were getting louder as if they were preparing for battle, a strange scent filled the air within the darkness.

They could not pick up on the smoke or any kinds of changes because the cave was much too dark without any lighting.

The scent was the first thing they picked up on which made them sneeze.

"Atch."

"Kikitch."

"Kichu!"

Their breathing had begun to change suddenly and they all began to gasp for breathe and coughed.

Once they realised their situation, a group had ran towards the exit as they climbed upward.

There was a little light ahead which made them hopeful so they continued forward even though they could feel their bodies weakening.

As they kept running, some let out screams as something had stabbed into their bodies or scratched them.

They did not yet realise that several bone spears were sticking out near the walls which caused many to walk into them.

Those that were stabbed or scratched had been inflicted with the herbs that had been rubbed onto the spear tips so they started to lose their strength much quicker than before.

"Ki?"

"Gekeke!"

"Guji?!"

The goblin holding the tusks pushed one goblin out of the way and ran ahead. "Kikiki."

What met their eyes was a large amount of wood which had been piled up in the middle of the passage leading to the exit.

There was a strong scent of what had only become stronger as they were closer to it while there was a clear line of fire which had obstructed their path.

Many had stopped and showed hesitation towards stepping through the fire so they started to back up into those than were trying to escape.

The leader pushed a goblin into the fire ruthlessly and quickly ran over the body. "Kikiki!"

He arrived on the other side and had a triumphant look on his face but his celebration was quickly cut short.

A spear was thrown inside the cave and pierced his chest. "Ki?"

He looked up to see the shadowed figure which stood in front off the exit and blocked a small part of the light coming in.

It was Inis who had thrown the bone spear which had pierced him and left him surprised. "Kiki?"

He looked back down towards the bone spear in his body then fell back near the fire.

More figures appeared by the exit and blocked off the path with cruel looks on their faces while there was a stalk of a herb sticking out of their mouth.

The goblins were panicking and many had dropped down but eventually some had overcome their leaders death which allowed them to cross the fire and charge towards the exit.

More bone spears pierced the bodies of the goblins until a small number had reached near the exit.

Inis pointed forward. "Go."

As she unsheathed her curved bone blades from the leather sheath on her waist, the others had readied themselves for the goblins approach.

Kreg stood in front and took the first attack swung at him but it was very weak due to the state or the goblins so he used his shield to bash the goblin back.

Vio was the quickest among them who had jumped into action right away and stabbed the goblin which had been knocked over then she retreated.

A goblin tried to get to the retreating Vio but Vik had waved his axe towards it which cut into the body easily and killed it.

Kreg kept pushing back and taking any strikes for the others while Remli continued to practice throwing the spears. "Gigigi."

One goblin had tried to climb over the shield upon grabbing onto it but a spear was thrust into its neck which caused it to fall down and let Kreg regain his position.

Vio got more used to finishing off the weaker opponents or those that had been knocked down and injured while the strong axe swings were disrupting the goblins formation and group attempts to pass through.

The smell of burning flesh was mixed among the strong stench coming from the bodies of the goblins, the burned herbs and smoke which showed how many had fallen victim to the fire blocking the way.

Inis stood back and watched how the four of her allies were beginning to struggle. 'This is good progress for them but how many were inside exactly? Twenty? No.. the amount attacking right now would only be the strongest that could still hold out enough to escape. Thirty? Forty? Fifty? Perhaps there are more..'

She examined the goblins which were fighting the four Gremlins and sensed the energy levels they emitted from their bodies. 'They are all ranging from level one to level seven. The only real problem was the level eight goblin but it died quickly due to it being weakened and caught off guard. If it had a little longer to grow in strength then perhaps this strategy may not have worked too well.'

There was a clear difference in strength between a level one and a level ten or eleven which was a part of the next grade or realm in strength.

Each realm was vastly different and physical changes or stats gained would become more obvious so while Inis did not fear those in her current realm, she would not underestimate one near the peak or one that had broken into the next realm.

Inis was still unsure if she could kill something in the second realm in her current state but if she used enough strategies and put her all into the battle then she believed that she could bring an opponent of that realm of strength down.

The number of goblins had lessened and their strength had been reduced more by the smoke which came from the fire and the burned herbs.

Inis watched on as there was still a little of a struggle from the remaining goblins and then walked forward with her curved bone blades.

The moment that she had stepped into the battle, there were flashes of her bone blades which slashed towards the muscles and tendons on the legs and arms of the goblins one after another.

Many goblins started to drop their clubs and other weapons while others had been unable to stand on their feet.

A goblin crawled forward but a shadow covered its body which caused it to look up. "Ki?"

An axe slammed down onto it which ended its life while in a similar situation, a bone dagger stabbed into the eye of another goblin.

Overlooking the scene of the battle, Inis walked over towards the dead leader who was among the dead bodies inside the cave passage and dragged it out.

The others looked towards her with greedy looks in their eyes but she pointed towards the cave. "You eat."

They understood and ran towards the dead bodies and started to eat the meat that had attracted them.

Meanwhile, Inis held the body of the leader goblin with one hand while pinching her nose with the other. "Ugh.."

The smell was unpleasant and the taste would be just as unpleasant but the energy in the body was very temping for her so she bit down onto it.

Taking out a large chunk of flesh and bone, she chewed it a little before swallowing it and taking another bite. 'Indeed.. this is much better than the previous kill.'