18

Once we finished, I thanked both Althidon and the young soldier, then left the training area. My spirits were high after performing so well and having the sword-master praise me. 

Of course, finding my way back still wasn't easy. I did my best to look for more landmarks to memorize. Eventually, I found myself back in Elasha's tailor shop. She had a bundle of cloth on a table and was seated behind her, her needle making swift motions.

"Well, look who it is," she said, barely looking up from what she was doing. "I'm not done yet. Quality clothes take time to make." From her tone, she didn't want to be bothered until she was done. I was just tired of everyone staring at my Slayer t-shirt.

"Can I grab at least one shirt so I don't look so out of place?" I asked.

Her needle paused and she looked up at me. With a pointed huff, she set her needle down and pushed her chair back. She crossed the room and went to a wall covered with shelves and began digging through neatly stacked piles of cloth on one. She pulled an off-white shirt from the shelf and tossed it to me.

"There. The rest will be done in a few days. Probably quicker if you stop interrupting me," she said as she went back to her table.

"Thank you, Elasha," I said, bowing with my right hand over my heart, same way I did to Althidon. I didn't know elven etiquette but it seemed like a very polite thing to do. 

She raised an eyebrow slightly when I bowed, but otherwise stayed silent. I thought I detected the tiniest bit of a smile on her lips as she went back to sewing. Well, everyone could appreciate good manners. Even the elves.

I decided I didn't care about propriety and pulled my t-shirt off right there. Fortunately Elasha was too busy sewing to really notice. She probably would have given me hell. 

The shirt she had made for me fit nicely and was made of soft material, though I wasn't quite sure what. It was off-white in color, with long sleeves that tied at the wrists. The top half of the front laced up, so I spent a few seconds tightening those. I didn't want to look like one of those sixty-year-old dudes that walked around with all their shirts halfway unbuttoned, showing off their chest hair.

Not knowing what else to do with it, I kept my t-shirt in my hand and left her store. I stood there for a moment, racking my brain and trying to remember exactly where I was and which direction I should go. It only took me a few seconds, and then I was off.

Wearing this shirt over jeans and running shoes made me feel like one of those guys that went to the Renaissance Fair for the first time and bought something medieval as a souvenir. I probably looked like an idiot but I had to admit, the shirt was very comfortable. 

At least by this time I was beginning to recognize more and more around me. I still didn't have much of a clue as to where I was, but I wasn't completely lost. In fact, I even found myself recognizing several landmarks enough that I knew to turn there, or go straight. It was a bit of a walk, but I finally found myself standing at the top of the stairs. The same stairs I had come up on. I turned and looked around me, trying to memorize the area before I left.

Fortunately, going down the stairs was much easier than climbing them, although there were still enough that it was tiring. I had to orient myself again when I reached the base of the tree, but at least I was beginning to get used to things now. I moved so that the goblin mountain was on my right and started walking back towards the tunnel.

I tried to think of how I was going to explain things to Silvy. She had told me that the only way to learn blood magic was to do it, so she had intended for me to go hunting today. Instead, I killed a goblin guard. There were bound to be consequences for that, but I had no clue what they would be.

The sun was still high overhead, so I moved carefully and quietly through the forest, staying close to trees. I was in no rush, and if by chance I came across a deer or something similar, I wanted to try to use blood magic to turn it into venison stew tonight.

I made sure to stay aware of my surroundings as I walked back to the goblin city, and for that I was grateful. A bit of movement caught my eye, and I immediately dug the shadow stone from my pocket and slipped it into my mouth. Hiding behind a nearby tree, I stood there and watched for a moment.

A small party of goblins walked through the forest, fortunately not in my direction. Three women, each as beautiful as could be, escorted by a goblin man that used a spear as a walking stick. They chatted amongst themselves while he kept a wary eye on his surroundings as if he expected an attack. He wasn't wearing the armor of the guards I had dealt with in the tunnel but he had that same bony face and hard glare.

Well, both Zia and Silvy had told me that more than just elves lived in these woods. The orcs were further away, but apparently they could be nasty at times. Gnolls, whatever they were, would attack goblin women on sight, and I had heard mentions of trolls once. I had no idea what trolls looked like in this world, but there was no way they were pleasant.

I stayed behind the tree as the goblins walked by. Each of the women carried bags, so I assumed they were going out to forage for food. That meant there would be plenty more around, so I had to be careful and keep my eyes open. Especially if more goblin men were around; the women didn't concern me, but the dudes all seemed to be assholes.

After they were safely out of earshot, I began slowly making my way towards the entrance again. On several other occasions I saw groups of goblins, some leaving the city and some returning. I had to move at a snail's pace to avoid being seen, although it also dawned on me that I wouldn't be able to make my way down the tunnel if a bunch of other people were using it. Someone would find me at some point. The shadow stone wasn't perfect, after all.

I wound up crouching behind a tree for the better part of an hour, watching goblins come and go. In that time I learned a few things; the women were indeed all beautiful. Being selectively bred for so many centuries had truly made them all breathtaking. And while most of the men looked like psycho killers, I saw several of them laughing with the women, so perhaps they weren't all jerks.

Right as I began to straighten up, a group of a half dozen goblin soldiers exited the mouth of the tunnel. My heart sank as I saw two of them carrying shovels. A man in the front seemed to be leading them towards something, and I knew exactly what. 

I moved as silently as possible through the woods, keeping my distance but following them. As they walked towards where I had buried the guard, I cursed myself for not having buried him further out, or for that matter, deeper. But, without a shovel I hadn't really had a choice.

Sure enough, when they came to the burial site the two men with shovels immediately began digging. It only took them a moment to uncover the body, then they were all working to pull him out. Loud curses filled the area, and they immediately began shouting and growling their own conspiracies and suppositions on how it had happened. An intruder was a likely culprit—one of them reminded the others that the dead man had run into someone in the tunnel only a few days earlier and beaten him to a pulp. I winced at the memory.

One of the soldiers bent down to brush away dirt and pointed out the massive wound on the side of the dead goblin's head. The others nodded gravely and noted that his weapons had been taken as well. Without thinking, I reached down and touched the club, hanging from my belt. The dagger was on the other side.

Well, in trying to defend myself it looked like I had inadvertently started a shitstorm. I was going to have to warn Silvy about this. Zia as well, since she spent most of her days at Silvy's place, now.

I crept away from the cursing soldiers and decided now would be my best time to head back to the tunnel. When I approached the tunnel, though, I saw something unexpected.

Zia.

Grumbling to herself, she walked with a determined stride as she left the tunnel, canvas bag in hand. I smiled and followed her for a moment. She was muttering under her breath about how she would rather be learning magic instead of foraging for food. After all, if people learned more magic, they could just grow their own food underground, in the cities. Her ramblings made sense, to be honest.

I waited until she was far enough away from others that no one would hear us, and then stepped up next to her.

"Hey, Zia," I said, giving her my best smile.

She looked over my way, then turned in a circle, trying to find me. I cursed myself for a fool and spat the shadow stone out, then stuffed it into my pocket.

"Sorry about that. Hey, Zia," I said again as she turned back to me.

"Aaron!" she said, and moved forwards to embrace me. I felt like a giant, hugging the four-foot-tall beauty, but the feeling of her large breasts pressing right around my crotch area drove me wild. 

"I wasn't expecting to run into you out here," I said, squeezing her tightly and then releasing her.

She stretched up onto her toes and I bent down so she could kiss me. Sometimes those first kisses are the best, when you're still learning how the other person likes to do it. Do they use a lot of tongue, like Silvy, or are they more gentle, like Zia?

"Silvy sent me out to fetch some food," she replied and turned back to the way she had been walking. I fell in step next to her. "I still gather food for my parents, after all. She doesn't want me to neglect them."

"That makes sense," I said. "How's the magic going?"

"Great!" she replied with a bright smile. "Silvy says I'm a fast learner. Another couple days and I should be able to finally start using magic to do some basic things."

I avoided telling her that I seemed to be pretty strong already, my first day of using magic. But then again, I was a special case. Apparently the gods of this world had zapped me here, so that probably had something to do with it.

"Did you see what was going on back there?" Zia asked, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. "Those guards were cursing up a storm, like something was seriously wrong."

I took a deep breath. If I was going to marry her one day, I couldn't keep things from her. Trust was something that took time to build, so I decided to go ahead and lay the first bricks.

"I killed one of the guards, Zia," I replied.

She stopped in her tracks and looked at me, eyes wide. "What? Aaron, you're going to have to tell me more than that."

"Well, of course," I said, turning to her. "I had the shadow stone in my mouth, but he chased me down the tunnel and tried to attack me. Out here, the shadow stone doesn't work that well, so I knew it would only be a matter of time until he found me." I cleared my throat and went on. "Plus, he was the guy I ran into on my first day here."

"Oh, the one that kicked your ass?" Zia asked. "Silvy told me the story."

"Did she mention that he struck her in the face?" I asked.

Zia frowned. "No, she didn't."

"I protect what's important to me," I said, pulling Zia into another hug. "As long as I'm alive, I won't let anyone hurt you. Or Silvy, either. That guard had to pay for what he did."

She held me for a while before pulling back. "I admire you for that, but I think you just created more trouble."

"You're right," I said. "No matter what happens, we'll figure it out. Somehow."