4 Life as a Goblin Child

When people picture goblins most imagine small green bandits, some imagine inventive little jerks, while many others imagine small green idiots but like the majority of races they start small. It'd surprise most other races to learn that goblin babies aren't that different from those of most other humanoid races aside from racial characteristics. They're born small, nearly immobile, and require nurturing by an adult. The similarities mostly end from there however as goblin families don't exist, everyone is born into the gang and everyone is raised by the gang. Goblins are also expected to become self sufficient at an early age, basically as soon as they can walk they can hunt and rob. Thus while goblin babies themselves look and act much like other humanoids, goblin children are different from most races being expected to grow up or die trying. It has been theorized that if goblins raised their children similar to other humanoid races they could've controlled larger parts of Ludum with their strength in numbers. Now 7 was about to experience the joys of goblin babyhood.

After a long nap 7 regained consciousness to the sight of the dark room which for all intents and purposes served as a nursery. Being a tiny little being he couldn't do much, his days essentially revolved around eating food, growing, looking at small green babies, and listening to the occasional older goblin. Despite growing faster than human children goblins don't mature instantly as such 7 had to patiently wait to age. This however wasn't too much of an issue as he completely familiarized himself with his status and attempted to control his new body. His attempts were met with little success however as his body lacked the necessary strength for most complex actions, he did however learn how to both roll and wave as well as turn his head with something passing for grace. His days progressed like this until a month later the goblin growth rate was catching up with him and past actions became easier. It was still an immense task to be able to walk but crawling was now possible if slow. After first crawling around the room he realized that several hundred goblin children were in the room at various stages of development. They ranged from forest green to dark yellow in color but all were within a month of age as they seemed to have been born in a large batch. Despite his newly gained ability not much changed outwardly, he was still small and still in a cave. He did however notice that following his initial crawl several other goblins began to mimic the feat which was met by slight surprise from the elder goblins. Over the following days 7 noticed a greater deal of attention placed on him but this attention quickly faded after a week. By two months 7 managed his first steps and it was around this time the goblins vocal cords developed allowing him to speak his first words. It was shortly after 7 first began walking that the elder who named him made an appearance. The elderly figure approached 7 seemingly interested but not overly impressed.

"Hey, you there. 7 right?"

"Yes and you're the jackoff that named me right?"

"Oh, just learned to talk and you're disrespectful already. Usually the welps are more respectful."

"Eh, respect needs to be earned."

"You're an interesting child aren't you? I've seen those bigger, stronger, and faster than you before but I've never seen one who developed quite as fast."

"I'm a quick learner."

"Too quick"

"Problem?"

"Nah, you're one of us now respect me or not but I'm interested to see how far you'll make it."

"Make it?"

"You'll find out in a month, grow fast 7."

The following days proceeded similarly to the past two months with the exception that the goblins were more developed. It was also around this time the elders spoke to a couple goblins, most of them were bigger or faster than the rest but others seemed average on the outside. Of these individuals the bigger and faster ones began assembling their own factions while many of the others fell in line.

'Huh, the elders don't seem to care about the factions so it must not be too significant. I'm also guessing the faction starters got a similar tip off so strength in numbers might be important for whatever trial this is. I probably should've been more respectful to that elder, the whole irascibility thing seems to be getting to me. Eh I had my share of flaws in my past life, it'll be fine.'

As 7 surveyed the situation a rather large goblin approached him.

"Yo, 7 right?"

"Aye, you?"

"23"

"And what is it you want 23?"

"I'm here to extend lord 2's invite, surely you can see the benefits of strength in numbers?"

"Aye but what makes lord 2 a better choice than the others?"

"Well he's the only one who'll invite you."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"I'm not too clear on the matter but it's my understanding the other leaders are trying to avoid conflict with the elder by excluding you."

"I see, and did that elder have any part in this?"

"Not that I know of but I'm not entirely appraised of the situation, from what I know they just saw you had an altercation with the elder."

"Then why after that would 2 so graciously try to recruit me?"

"I'm afraid I don't know his reasons either."

"Then what do you know?"

"More than some less than most I reckon."

"Heh, fair enough. Might I meet this 2 fellow?"

"Certainly, if you'd follow me."

23 then proceeded to lead 7 towards a small group of goblins, specifically towards the smallest goblin in the group. He was a small fellow with sharp features even for a goblin, and his characteristic orange eyes seemed to be a shade darker than the rest. It wasn't long before 7 recognized him as one of the leaders that excelled in neither strength nor speed.

"Lord 2 I've brought 7 to meet you."

"I see you've taken up my offer."

"I'm surveying my options for now."

"As well you should but I assure you that no better offers are available."

"I've heard, perhaps you could shed more light on the matter?"

"It's not too complicated, half the cave saw your altercation with an elder and as such they wanted to avoid provoking the elder by association with you."

"Well that begs the question why you're not worried about provoking him?"

"To be honest I am but I understand goblin culture better than most, goblins respect 3 things strength, chaos, and impressive stupidity. It's in our nature the difference between them and I is that I respect your stupidity over the elders strength while most of the leaders think differently."

"So you think I'm dumb is it?"

7 quickly began to clench his teeth and ball his fist while glaring menacingly at 2.

"Easy 7 easy, it's a compliment. Goblins usually equate bravery with stupidity, in all honesty I do the same and as will you and the rest."

7 quickly began to control his breathing in an attempt to cool down.

"I apologize, I was born an angry little fellow."

"Ha Ha, I think we'll get along gloriously. In our culture it never hurts to have a mean green guy in your corner."

"Never said I accepted."

"Well do you?"

"Sure, I reckon I could serve worse."

"That you could, now from what I was able to gather it seems we'll be subjected to a test before entering the gang. The elders have been very careful however about not divulging any information. As such we're not too sure how valuable our groups will be but I figure it couldn't hurt, at least the elders don't seem to mind so I think it'll be fine."

"That's more or less my understanding of the situation."

"Good then we're all on the same page, over the following days I'll begin evaluating our members to see what everyone's suited for."

"Alright"

It was thus 7 joined the smallest faction in his cave consisting of 12 members including himself and led by possibly the wisest goblin in that batch. It should warrant a mention that the higher wisdom someone has the better their initial understanding of their situation such as 2's knowledge of Goblin culture. On that note 7 was reincarnated unusually and as such lacks some of the natural instincts and intuition of a goblin leading to a lack of knowledge in several areas. This isn't entirely unusual as many reincarnated individuals end up in Ludum and the traits are similar to someone lacking in wisdom.

Returning to the matter at hand true to his word 2 quickly began testing the members of his gang. The tests were simple in nature and included lifting weights, running races, and sparring of the 3 tests 7 was ranked 5, 7, and 1 respectively. Despite average physical attributes 7 had a wealth of techniques and past experience which allowed him to excel in combat and much to his own surprise he gained a new skill. Skills in Ludum are acquired in many ways but the most common is simply achieving sufficient understanding of a relevant action, in this case 7 already possessed an extensive understanding of the fighting method allowing him to easily gain levels. Skills are acquired seamlessly and those who attain them are instantly made aware without any noticeable signs or interruptions. Nonetheless 7 quickly rushed to check his new skill.

Name: 7

Race: Goblin

Level: 0

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 13

Constitution: 11

Wisdom: 10

Intelligence: 10

Charisma: 10

Skills: Darkvision Lv 1, Iron Stomach Lv 1, Ludum Language Lv Max, Hand-to-hand combat Lv 3

Origin: Green Mountain Goblins

Character Traits: Fearless, Irascible

Legacies: Criminal Emperor, Protector of Children

'Lv 3? Interesting I think this is probably that improved learning rate glad to know my skills from my last life count. I do wonder how my current level relates towards my past strength though.'

'Hand-to-hand combat'

Hand-to-hand combat: Measure of experience in non-weapon melee fighting, the level of which effects muscle control and knowledge of techniques related to personal combat. Is applied whenever the physical body is used in a fight either for attack or defense purposes.

'I see, no real indication of how impressive level 3 is though.'

"2? Any idea what the difference between levels is?"

"Roughly, why the sudden fascination?"

"Eh was wondering how different level 2 Darkvision is from level 1?"

"I see well let's use an example, see that large rock over there the one with a large chip out of it?"

"Vaguely"

"Alright so with level one Darkvision you can vaguely see it but someone with level 2 could see it clearer and someone with no levels wouldn't be able to see it."

"I see so a higher level always beats a lower level?"

"Not necessarily, going by that same example it only works in perfectly even circumstances. Let's say you're closer to the rock or in a more well lit area and thus can see the rock better than someone with a higher level who's farther away and in more darkness. Generally a higher level will beat out any lower levels but the world is never perfectly even so lower levels always have a chance."

"Alright then how hard is it to go up in level?"

"Eh it depends on the skills level, rarity, complexity, and your familiarity/understanding of the skill. Darkvision for example requires a large amount of time spent in dark places coupled with a certain understanding of the darkness but most creatures don't progress In Darkvision as it's primary's racial skill."

"How do you know so much?"

"Wisdom. I was born with high wisdom and as such know these things."

"If you're so wise why is your gang so small?"

"I can see what the Elder was saying about disrespect but no matter. The reason my gang is smaller is because I can't become chief, alright let me clarify I told you Goblins respect power, stupidity, and chaos while I represent wisdom thus relegating me to a position of elder. So you're essentially joining the faction of someone destined to end up like the old guy who named us. As such most would rather hedge their bets with chieftain candidates."

"If you can't become chief why not simply join a faction?"

"Those blowhards might not accept me if I did, like I said they respect power as such I need a sufficient force backing me if I want the elder position. Don't worry there are benefits to supporting an elder for one less competition, two you're less likely to die, and three I provide some pretty good advice."

"Eh you're the only one who'd take me so I'll stick around."

"I appreciate it you're the only one of this lot who can fight reasonably, almost makes me wonder if you have a combat skill hidden."

"Nah, aren't those hard to learn or something?"

"Not entirely, it simply requires enough practice and anyone can learn them the major difference is who learns the fastest but I'd be surprised if even 10 have learned a level 1 combat skill yet."

"What about higher levels?"

"Ha, you might not know how Skills really work. Despite someone of any level having a shot in a chaotic fight individuals of higher levels will always win in a fair fight. By always I mean every single time as such the difference between levels is fairly significant not only does it require a greater understanding of the technique but also large levels of experience. It'd be sufficiently surprising if any of us manage to get a level 10 combat skill by the end of our lives much less 2 levels in the span of months."

"I see, you really are a font of wisdom."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway we need to train for the trials ahead."

"Alright"

In the following days the goblin youths began training en masse up until the final day when they were greeted by the Elder.