Terrifying Appearance

"Sight, I have to calm down. I've been constantly losing control of my emotions since I woke up. I need to regain control."

With that thought, the atmosphere regained its normal tranquility, but the goblin was still extremely shaken, thinking that it had angered the beast with its ignorance. Its head was deeply buried in the ground, trembling even more than before, thinking that its measly life would end here.

"Clearly, the goblins in this world are very primitive creatures, almost savages. I would have thought that for sure if not for the clothes and rough-looking leather armor the goblin wore. Now that my hope of getting books from this goblin or the one called Chief was lost, my only other option was the place where the humans lived. But that wasn't somewhere I could go right now or in the near future."

Understanding that getting back together with my precious books would take quite some time, I decided to focus on gaining as much knowledge about this world as possible. For now, let me ask this goblin if the way I am speaking with it is normal in this world.

"No matter, Goblin, if you don't know, let it be. Now answer my next question: Do magical beasts speak in the same way that I do?"

Hearing the booming voice in his mind, the almost fainting goblin ignored the pain and immediately answered in a hurry, his words full of flattery and reverence, thinking that wasting even a single second would spell his doom.

"The L-Lord Beast's way of s-speaking is u-unmatched in the world! R-Red Arrow has n-never seen or heard of a magical beast that c-could speak in s-such a m-mighty way as the L-Lord Beast does!"

"It seems that speaking directly through one's soul is not a common thing in this world and is most likely an innate ability of this body. I can vaguely recall that in the book of rituals, the tiger mythical creature had something to do with souls, though I sadly can't recall more since, other than the last words of the chant, everything else is blurry. But it could also be something found in this world, and the ignorant goblin just didn't know."

Now that I got my answer, the next thing to do was to get this dried blood off me and leave this mountain. I don't know when that magical beast called Death Snake might return and kill me. I have no confidence in fighting since I was never a fighter, and more than that, I can barely walk, cracking the ground with every step because I can't control the strength in my body properly. Trying to fight like this, even if I wanted to, would be a death wish.

Deciding to get out of here and wash the dried blood off me, I asked the goblin, deciding to finally use its ridiculous name to try and get it to relax a bit since it might just faint on the way.

"You said your name was Red Arrow, right? Now, Red Arrow, do you know the location of any lakes nearby?"

"The Lord Beast called Red Arrow by name! Does it mean the Lord Beast decided not to kill me?" The goblin breathed out a sigh of relief, thinking that all that time spent flattering his Chief had finally put to good use, saving his life. Clearly not having a clue that his flattery didn't even register in the Beast's mind, he hurriedly lifted his head from the hole, not daring to make eye contact with the monstrous beast again. He hurriedly answered with his eyes looking at the ground.

"Lord Beast, Red Arrow knows of a lake nearby that is used by the nest to get water. It's not far from the Death Mountain, and if the Lord Beast wishes, I could guide you to the lake." The last part was clearly said with hidden reluctance, as the only thought in the goblin's mind right now was to get as far away as possible from this magical beast that could kill him at any moment. But he didn't dare say anything, instead trying to please it as much as he could.

"Good, lead the way," said the Beast with some annoyance. Clearly, it had picked up on the hidden reluctance in the goblin's words, but it decided not to point it out.

The clueless goblin, thinking he had hidden his true thoughts well, finally got up from his prostrating position. His legs were a bit shaky, but he still pressed on, slowly making his way down the path he had come from, his eyes lingering on the massive deep footprints on the ground, which made him even more scared. The tremors behind him that came from the monstrous beast following him didn't help either.

"Gahh, curse you, Chief! Red Arrow will have his revenge if I make it back alive! Your daughter will be Red Arrow's woman!!"

As the strange duo—one big and one small—made their way toward a deeper part of the forest, leaving Death Mountain behind, signs of life finally started to appear, mostly small animals and insects that immediately hid away as the tremors grew near.

"So there are other animals in this forest. I guess just the places very close to the Death Mountain didn't have any. I wonder why that is. Could it be because it's the territory of the Death Snake?" Thinking that I had guessed right, I didn't dwell on it, not even considering that it might have something to do with my arrival in this world. Instead, my mind was captivated by all the strange things I was seeing on the way. Even though I now knew this world wasn't my own but rather a fantasy one, I still couldn't help being fascinated by the novel sights around me. Strange animals, insects the size of dogs, and all kinds of flowers screamed "unknown."

After walking for quite some time—mostly due to the goblin's wobbling feet—we finally arrived at a large, crystal-clear lake. It spanned hundreds of meters in a somewhat circular shape, creating a natural basin of serene water.

Surrounding the lake were vibrant flowers in full bloom, adding bursts of color to the landscape. The fauna here was even more lively than what I had encountered on the way. Green grass and countless colorful flowers painted a beautiful scene, standing in contrast to the lifeless areas around Death Mountain.

The midday sun reflected off the lake's surface, casting shimmering patterns of light across the water. The only thing that marred this tranquil setting was the wildlife scattering in all directions as soon as I approached. Every animal fled as I drew near, leaving the surrounding dozen meters completely void of life. Not that I blamed them.

I turned my gaze downward, catching sight of my reflection in the lake's still surface. And there, staring back at me, was the reason for their fear.

A huge white head with black stripes, streaked with dried blood, glared up at me from the water. Adorning this fearsome visage were a pair of massive red eyes, sharp fangs glinting coldly, and curved horns that jutted upward—together forming a creature that would strike terror into any being that laid eyes upon it.

I felt a strange mixture of terror and satisfaction at the sight of my new appearance. Terrified because of the monstrous form that was now mine. Satisfied, perhaps, because this terrifying power belonged to me.

With some hesitation, I slowly entered the lake, fully submerging my massive body in the cool water. Instantly, the water around me turned red as the dried blood began to wash off. I moved around, doing my best to clean myself thoroughly.

After several minutes, I emerged from the water, feeling lighter. My appearance was still intimidating, but the fresh, clean fur made me seem somewhat less terrifying.

The cold lake water had done more than cleanse my body—it had calmed my thoughts. And as the warm sunlight dried my fur, I felt an unexpected sense of comfort.

"Red Arrow, come here," I spoke through the connection in my mind to the red ball in the goblin's head.

The goblin archer, who didn't dare gaze upon the submerged magical beast, was facing a tree, his eyes constantly darting in some direction, showing deep longing and hesitation. Hearing the deep voice in his head that gave him a headache, he panicked for a moment and immediately turned around, bowing his head and answering.

"Yes! Lord Beast, what can Red Arrow do for you?"

The Beast said with a deep voice, "Take me to your nest!"

The goblin that heard those terrifying words almost fainted, feeling like he was stuck in a nightmare he couldn't wake up from.