CHPT 90: Assassin.....or Maid?

Claude and Frosty only had one sensible way into the Goblin infested village.

The cliff edge they stood on curved and went downhill leading straight to the front entrance where the Goblin guards stood absentmindedly. They probably haven't seen people around since they overtook the village based on their relaxed demeanor.

The duo ran down the steep hill through trees and bushes with the ease of two nocturnal predators in pursuit of prey. He kept having to slow himself down because of his own urgency to save whoever was inside the hut. But he understood, patience was a virtue in this scenario.

Once the two came closer to ground level, they slowed down and eased into a stealthy jog to make sure they weren't heard by the guards.

By the time they reached the edge of the thin forest, Claude and Frosty were crouched low as they snuck closer to the positions where they'd wait patiently.

The entrance of the village may have been somewhat appealing and functional back when humans lived in the area. But now, the gate was bent, rusted and covered in vines and other plant life. Regardless, the two Goblins stood like statues at each side of it with their oddly fitted helmets and loose fit armor.

After inspecting them for a while longer, he noticed the clothing they wore beneath their armor. It was oversized human clothing. Human clothing they stole off the backs of the village people they murdered.

Claude's eyes flashed bright green as he stifled a growl rising up from his throat.

"I've waited long enough." He said before placing his palm into the cool damp grass.

The feeling of the earth and life blooming all over it spoke to him. Oddly enough, he could feel that something was wrong— not in his very spot, but off in the distance. Nature was disturbed— tainted, by something.

Claude placed the realization at the back of his mind and prioritized dealing with the guards. He used his Nature Element to create a burst of plant growth in the forest on the opposite side of him and the gate.

It took a bit of effort and it felt odd due to the long distance, but it worked perfectly.

FWOOSH!!

The burst of life pushed its way past plants and rubbed against the hard lined bark of nearby trees, making it sound like something very large was running through the forest on the opposite side of Claude and Frosty's position.

The Goblins jumped at the sudden sound and looked in the direct of the forest before looking between each other, deciding who should go check it out.

The Goblin closest to Claude and Frosty seemed to have the dominant role between the two. It grunted and spoke in a nasty and aggressive sounding language, sending yellow spittle and other fluids as it commanded the other Goblin to go check the sound. It didn't take long for it to submit and jog off toward the forest with its sword raised.

Claude didn't waste a second and flicked his head towards Frosty. The hazy outline of the PitWolf was practically vibrating with anger, so once Claude said go, he was gone.

He cleared the gap between the forests in seconds and hopped into the forest on the other side with barely a sound.

CRUNCH!

[+2 EXP]

Claude heard the meaty crunch of flesh and bone clearly followed by a notification of shared EXP from his companions kill. Apparently the guard heard the sound as well. It jumped, causing its loose armor to shift unevenly on its frail green skinned body.

"RAGSH.....RAHRAH!"

The Goblin began yelling out to the other— now dead, guard.

After receiving no response, the guard began cautiously walking towards the forest. Claude's bright green eyes stayed on the guards back with deadly focus.

As soon as he hit the thicker grass of the forest, Claude burst from his position, running low to the ground with his sword held tightly in front of him.

SHLCK!

Claude launched his sword through the Goblins neck, killing it instantly. With his sword still lodged in his neck, he dragged it into the forest. He did it all in one fluid motion so he never stopped running once he struck the Goblin.

[+4 EXP]

The whole encounter lasted seconds.

Claude held the Goblins head tightly against his lower chest with his hand over its mouth. He strained his vision while looking around to try and locate his partner.

You'd think looking for a relatively invisible PitWolf at night would be hard, and you'd be right— usually. But not this time.

A dead Goblin emerged from deeper in the forest, suspended in the air with deep bite marks in its side where Frosty was holding it in his large jaws. Shiny spit dripped from his mouth and slid down the Goblins side.

"Great work." Claude said while dropping the Goblins lifeless body.

"Alright, by killing these guards, we've essentially started a timer for ourselves and the survivor.." he thought.

"[Correct, the second a Goblin realizes the guards aren't at their post, for lack of a better term, all hell will break loose.]" Arne replied.

"I won't be able to kill the Goblins and reach them in time like this...." he thought while cursing himself.

"[You could do something else...]" Arne suggested.

"Like what?" He thought.

"[Well, you have the ability to root people in place, don't you?]"

Claude immediately caught on to what Arne was suggesting.

"Great idea." He said before picking up the guards body and sneaking him back to his post.

He told Frosty to wait in the forest with the other guard while he worked with his.

"Ok...focus.....focus." He said while he pushed the guards body up against the brick support beam on the side of the gate.

He closed his eyes as he focused on growing the plants beneath the Goblin in front of him. A few seconds later, he could hear the plants growing and forming around the Goblins feet and legs to continue their path towards the sky.

Thick vines continued to climb its legs and body while also wrapping around the beam behind it. It blended perfectly with the plants already covering the entire structure.

He tested the strength of the vines by letting his hand slowly fall from its position on the guards chest, to his satisfaction the Goblin stayed in place standing idly. Luckily, death caused it to have an iron tight grip on its sword which completely sold the look.

"[Impressive.]"

"Tha—"

Claude silenced himself in response to movement at the front of the village. He dropped and hid behind the brittle bricks that lined the outside of the village.

He could heard the Goblin leaving its hut and heading down the dirt road without a clue of the small massacre that took place outside its gates.

"That was too close." He said before getting up and beckoning for Frosty to bring over the other Goblin.

***

After rooting up the next guard he waited by the gates in the forest, collecting himself and preparing for the violence and vengeance he promised the people who died where he stood— and most importantly, the saving of the final survivor.

While he prepared to enter, he couldn't help but think about the....wrongness he felt within the nearby nature. It bothered him, but he couldn't pursue the mystery right now since he only bought himself a bit more time with the "reanimated" guards.

"Alright Frosty, let's take some lives to save another." He said before they both entered the gates of the village.

The two quietly jogged over to the hut on the left side of the dirt road dividing the two rows of huts.

Once he was hidden behind the hut, he could hear the relaxed rustling of a Goblin tossing and turning in bed on the other side of the wall he faced. He knew it was a Goblin by the overpowering scent of must and greed they let off at all times, it radiated through the whole village like sickly yellow smoke.

He peeked his head from behind the hut and listened for any other Goblins inside the hut across the dirt road.

A throaty rhythmic snore resonated through the doorless entry of the hut confirming his suspicions that a Goblin was asleep inside.

"Go." Claude said to Frosty while pointing at the hut on the other side of the road. The PitWolf silently took off.

He didn't wait to hear Frosty kill the Goblin as he entered the hut he waited behind. Once he entered, he studied the small area with his enhanced vision.

The Goblin was laying in a sheetless bed under dirty worn blankets that reeked of old blood and sweat. There was a medium sized chest near the foot of the bed that was probably used to hold clothing and other personal belongings. Now it was opened and everything inside was splayed out across the floor of the hut. The place was trashed and the Goblin had no problem with it.

Claude could feel his teeth sharpening with the more time he spent looking at the physical embodiment of heartless greed that was the Goblin.

Shlck!

He dashed forward, swiping at its throat with his sword. Blood flew from his sword and splattered the walls next to the bed, he placed his hand over its mouth to stop it from making any noise as it died quickly.

[+4 EXP]

[+2 EXP]

Once he got the system notification for the kill, he brought the blanket up over the Goblins— now opened throat, and prepared to move on to the next target.

Right when he was about to leave, he stopped. Looking at the trashed hut and dead Goblin did nothing to relieve him of what he felt— not in the slightest.

"A family lived here. A family that was murdered, had their home trashed by these green bastards...it's not right, I have to fix it— I have to do more." He thought.

Claude quickly began tidying up the insides of the hut as soundlessly as possible under the sounds of snoring Goblins and the louder ones in the large hut at the end of the village.

By the time he was finished, Frosty sneakily padded inside, wondering what was happening.

"Ok. On to the next one." He said after he was satisfied with the hut and feeling a bit better.

Frosty huffed in response before they both snuck out to kill more Goblins.

***

Shlck!

CRUNCH!

[+4 EXP]

[+2 EXP]

Claude and Frosty's stealth and killing efficiency increased with every hut, before they knew it they were finishing the final hit on the first half of the village and Claude gained 60 EXP.

Now, they had to go through the Old World structure in the middle of the village before reaching the other side.

Frosty stepped into his hut breathing loudly with blood highlighting his fangs in a deep red color.

Claude acknowledged his presence briefly before continuing to urgently clean the hut.

Sometime later, he finished and went to pick up his short sword leaning against the wall. It was in pretty bad shape, to the point where he had to use more strength with every strike due to its dullness.

"I shouldn't waste my weapons on unsuspecting enemies." He thought while sheathing his sword and picking up the dead Goblins low quality short sword. The blade was similar to his own, except it was a bit smaller, so it fit in his hands like a large dagger.

"I can make this work." He thought with a flip of the sword.

He snuck out of the final hut with Frosty at his back. He waited behind the hut to plan how he was going to approach the giant odd structure.

The sound of Goblins working away inside with their pickaxes echoed down the dirt road and combined with the muffled cheers of the Goblins on the other side.

"[You need to move faster, Claude. Your less than halfway to the survivor.]" Arne said.

"Fuck! I know." Claude responded angrily.

"AHHHHHRG!!!"

Another scream rang out, this time it sounded more pained— more agitated. The sound reminded Claude of how little time he truly had.

"I have to skip the houses on the other side after I kill the miners. I'll need something to draw their attention out of the largest hut or I'm screwed and so is that survivor...I'll need a diversion." He thought.

"[Ok, figure out the diversion after the miners. Now go!]" Arne said.

Claude sprang into action and quietly jogged to the building from the Old World.

Once he reached the cracked concrete steps, the smell of greed was so strong that he was getting a headache. The smell did nothing but piss him off which was very unfortunate for the Goblins ahead.

The steps made no sounds as he scaled them— two at a time. Once he reached the doorless entryway, he could see the Goblins inside hacking away at a thick metal beam that must've fallen from somewhere higher up inside. The miners worked at a fast pace with their heads down and backs facing Claude and Frosty.

The only thing standing between them and miners was a thick broken concrete wall that stood about 4ft high. He wasn't sure what it was meant for when the building was originally built, but he used it as cover now.

The Goblins continued to cluelessly hack chunks of metal off the beam while Claude ordered Frosty to attack.

CRSH!

Slck!

[+2 EXP]

[+4 EXP]

The Goblins died without knowing what hit them.

Claude didn't hesitate to look over their bodies as he quickly left the way he came, thinking about how to cause a diversion.

"All we have is....huts.....trees.....metal....oh! Fire." He said before running over to a standing torch the Goblins must've stuck into the ground near each hut.

Claude quickly began dragging out the dead Goblin bodies he initially planned to keep hidden. Soon enough, Frosty caught on and went to retrieve the Goblins he killed as well.

A pile of 20 Goblin corpses laid next to the last hut before the Old World building on the left side of the dirt road.

"[Ahhhh I see. So your planning to draw their attention with the fire and then your going to take the survivor.....to the gate by way of running behind the huts on the right?]" Arne asked.

"Yes, then I'll come back for the remaining Goblins." Claude replied coldly before putting the torch to the pile of bodies.

As soon as the fire flourished and the smell of burning flesh was strong in his nose, he committed the final act of his diversion.

"IM COMING FOR YOU MUSTY GREEN ASSHOLES!!!!! YOU HEAR ME? YOUR ALL DEAD!"

"WOOF!" Frosty barked along with Claude's loud taunts.

The cheering he heard from the large hut in the distance died down until it was completely silent. He could hear them moving within the hut— probably grabbing weapons and armoring up.

By the time the door to the hut swung open, him and Frosty were already moving behind the cover of the huts.

Once he reached the largest hut at the end of the village, a large group of Goblins were storming down the street to the trail of smoke rising into the starry night sky. He noticed the disruption with nature felt stronger as he passed the mob of Goblins, causing him to wonder about the leading Goblin wearing a robe with tiny ornaments and designs all over it.

He couldn't spend too much time on it since he began to hear someone struggling inside the hut.

"The survivor." He thought.

He quickly sniffed the area for any strong smells of greed and found that there was none. All the Goblins had left.

He moved without thinking, shoving the doors open to get the survivor inside and lead them to the gate.

When he opened the door, he was hit with a horrible odor of death and odd spices all mixed together to create a disgusting smell of spicy metallic decay. He soon found the source of the smell.

It was a deer, suspended in the air by thick ropes with its stomach cut open. It's guts we're splayed out on the floor below ritualistically with a weird circle design made of....blood.

Before he could consider what it meant, he found the survivor. There was only one problem. It wasn't just one.

A cage made of stick and rope housed at least ten more and some looked to be dying, while others actually were.

Right when Claude thought it couldn't get any worse, Arne spoke.

"[Claude, I think I know what these signs mean....]" he said, referring to the dead deer and odd symbols made in blood.

"What is it?" He asked.

"[I think these Goblins are being led by a Goblin Shaman....]"