Chapter Seven: Survival of The Fittest

My laugh echoes throughout the woods and I realize I am still pulling on the arm.

That’s a little embarrassing.

My embarrassment grows as it takes me multiple minutes to just unwind myself from the bloody mess that is the goblin’s hand. When I am finally free, I take a step back and circle the tree to inspect my handiwork.

Maybe I went a little too far.

I will spare the details, but let’s just say it looks like the goblin’s arm somehow gained an extra foot in length. How the skin did not tear is completely beyond me. The rest of the goblin is not doing much better. Even though I let go of the arm, the body is still wedged in between the two trees with a part of its chest caved in due my excessive pull.

Hearing a small squelch next to me, I look down with horror to find Pawl chewing on some of the hanging meat already.

I don’t even have the heart to stop him.

Taking one look back at the body, I leave the feline to his duties and go to find the knife from earlier.

“Put three points in BDY.”

I feel the dull pressure of the stat points running through my body. I dedicate full attention to trying to analyze how the process affects me, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t sense anything amiss. I know now that every level up, all of my stats increase by one, with three points being given to me to allocate as I see fit. This makes more sense to me, as this would mean that my initial stat debuff: Tarnished Body, had been a -10 rather than the -7 that I had first saw. The three levels I gained first must have knocked a few off from the passive levels I gained while unconscious.

It doesn’t take long for the pressure to settle, and I can already notice the change in how I move. Like night and day, I watch as my stride is more measured and takes less effort on my part. It would be impossible to believe if I hadn’t been paying such close attention, but I can see that my body has also filled out slightly.

My veins are less visible, and my joints have turned from random bulges in my limbs to acceptably sized protrusions against my somewhat larger limbs.

No improvement comes without a cost though as I feel the pit in my stomach grow in size and the mild pain in my throat becomes a sandpaper slip-and-slide that causes me to cough and lick my dry lips.

Bending over to pick up the fallen knife from earlier, I cast a glance back at the goblin’s corpse.

I look down at the knife in my hand and recognize the familiar metal the edge is made from. I strike the shackle against the knife, and a small spark results from the impact.

My stomach has the rumblies.

I begin to make my way back toward the body I left behind for Pawl.

And only goblin meat can satisfy.

*****

It doesn’t take me too long to pry the corpse from its position between the trees. Before Pawl starts complaining, I use the knife to hack off the mangled arm and set it down next to him as an offering. He graciously accepts and I leave him to his business so that I can go begin my preparations.

I might be crazy enough to eat some alien creature meat, but I’m not too far gone to do so without cooking it first.

Making sure to clear the area and check if there are any other goblins within the vicinity, I start grabbing some dead twigs and crushed leaves. I never really paid attention to it earlier, but the woods are fairly quiet, and I rarely see any other animals running around.

I have spotted a few birds and even saw a small boar earlier, but other than that, the forest is kind of ominous in its lack of life.

I am almost back to the site of the kill when I spot a glint ahead of me. Taking cover in case it is another goblin, I duck down before noticing that the glint is reflecting off of a tree rather than another monster.

I carefully make my way over to the tree that seems to have a small patch of grayish blue crystals. It is very strange, and I find the random change in environment odd, especially since this is the first tree I have seen that looks any different than the others.

Bending down to inspect them, I suddenly feel a distinct change in the air surrounding them. I reach forward and press my finger gingerly on the crystal. Immediately, my finger becomes annoyingly cold.

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It’s more frost.

My finger traces along the surface of the glass-like crystals as I think.

What is the ice all about? Why was it in the cave too? Is it part of the quest or something? What does ‘Finish what was started’ even mean?

My spiral is interrupted as I feel water trickle into my palm. I look down with surprise as the ice melts underneath my touch at a visible speed. I quickly regain my wits and cup my hand to catch as much as possible before raising it to my mouth and sloppily gulping down the teaspoon’s worth of liquid.

Forgetting about my previous questions, I raise one hand underneath the frost and set my other on top of the patch. After only a few seconds, water runs freely and I catch it all. Before long, the entire patch is gone and my throat is slightly less parched.

I longingly run my fingers against the now dry patch of wood. I look around for any other signs to explain the random occurrence of ice. To my continued shock, I see two more patches. One to my Two o’clock and another to my Seven.

I am about to dart off toward the nearest patch, but force myself to stop. The small amount of water I was able to consume finally allows logic to take back over. Fully taking account of my surroundings, I calculate my position in relation to where I left the goblin corpse. Going even further, I estimate where I am in regard to the cave and come across a most interesting discovery.