(26) Lay of the Land

The group looked a bit surprised, he just shook his head. 'How could they not realize this, also Albus, why didn't most of these Goblins drop Skill Cards for them?'

:Goblins are stupid creatures, they don't get a Grimoire until Level 10, even then, its intelligence is typically flawed:

Geth chuckled a bit but didn't say anything. One of the women walked up to him. "Is there any way you can take us with you?" She asked, looking at one of the children. Her husband was the man he'd been talking to.

Geth shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I have my own family to think of." The woman and her female companions listening all looked disheartened. The men, on the other hand, all had solemn gazes, they understood his decision.

He looked a bit perturbed by this, these women were all acting like they wanted to be taken care of. 'If they don't step up and get strong themselves they'll just end up dead.' He thought, thinking of how much a burden they would be for their husbands. They would need to change their mindsets to survive in this place.

The first man just shook his head and looked at everyone. "I think Geth here has given us more than enough help, no one died today thanks to him." He stuck out his hand, "Call me Hulk."

He laughed as he said his own name. Geth chuckled a bit as well and shook his hand. Hulk told him, "I plan to keep my family in the area, likely in the woods to the west. If you ever need help, come and find me."

Geth nodded and prepared to leave. Before he left, he took the time to cast Restoration on everyone who was injured. They called out their goodbyes as he started walking southwest. He simply waved his hand over his shoulder without looking back.

***

As he continued on his journey, he would occasionally run into small groups of Goblins again. Each group was led by a Level 10, and the groups always had 8 Goblins.

He could typically deal with each group in about three minutes. Their attacks were monotonous and he learned their patterns pretty quickly. 'It seems that there are multiple Dungeons, there's no way that these creatures came this far from the eastern woods.

A pensive expression crossed his face, he tried to think about what the layout of the land would be without humans. There should be a large river about 15 miles to the north of his starting point, it would head off to the west and curl around.

It would cut off the path directly west as well, after about 35 miles or so. The eastern side would be a vast area of fields and forests. Directly south, likely 5 to 10 miles past the cave would be a swamp.

Thinking of the southwestern direction, he could only picture wooded areas and fields if the roads were taken away. There may be a couple of wet areas, but nothing as big as the swamps.

Further south, after around 150 to 200 miles in this world, another river would be cutting him off. He was glad that he didn't need to go that far. 'Even to the east, there would be a massive body of water after... 800 miles in this world. Well, it's a large area, but it should be possible to clear it over time.

This world really is massive, 10x doesn't sound like much, but without any means of transportation its vastness can't be underestimated.'

Maybe it wouldn't be too bad with the increased Agility. Even though he only had the bonus 5 from his pants, he could tell that he was faster. Normally, he would have to go all out to run 12 mph, but he was jogging at 6 mph right this second. He felt that going all out he might break 13. At most a 10% increase from the 5 points.

'Albus, do you happen to know if there are horses here?'

:All of the fauna and plant life from your Earth also exists here, though there are many other species that you will be unfamiliar with as well:

The journey continued in this fashion, killing the occasional patrol and asking Albus questions. He continued walking towards the southwest, using Albus for guidance.

He was walking through the woods at this point. Once he stepped out from the other side, he would have cleared around 20 miles by his estimation. 10 miles beyond that, he would be in the general vicinity of his mother's home.

'There should still be another 5 miles or so of these woods, and the number of Goblin patrols I've run into have increased.' He wasn't complaining, it was easy experience and he'd already Leveled up once. It did make him worried for his mom and sisters though, but her husband was quite capable so he shouldn't worry.

Another Goblin patrol was approaching, he tucked himself behind a bush and waited for them to pass by. Just as he was about to warp the ground under them, a figure dashed out from the other side of the path.

The figure was wearing a ragged cloak and holding two rusty short swords. Geth could make out that it was a male, but not distinguish any facial features. The cloaked man ran straight for the Level 10 Goblin, ignoring the others that had just noticed him.

Caught off guard, the Goblin barely had time to raise its sword. As it tried to block Geth tripped it up by altering the terrain slightly. Between its surprise and the sudden loss of footing, it stood no chance.

The cloaked man quickly decapitated it and moved on. Geth assisted from the sidelines, tripping up the Goblins as the man would approach them. 'The guy must have a speed-based build.' He thought.

He stayed hidden even as the last Goblin fell. The man wiped his rusty swords on a nearby leaf and started looking around. "You can come on out now, between the missing experience and the ease of the battle I know someone was helping."

'Huh, this guy is pretty observant, and his voice is familiar too.' It sounded like the man was forcing his voice to be deeper so it was a bit hard to tell. Curiosity got the best of him, so he stepped out from behind the bush.

The man turned to greet him but stopped short. There was a moment of silence before he said quietly, "Taylor..?" This time, Geth recognized the voice, he knew it well. The man reached up and pulled back his hood.