In a cave well hidden in Eretria, a certain goblin was looking at a ceiling in indignation.
"You bad gods!" Arthur screamed in a high pitch voice.
'They turn me, goblin!? I hate them!' Arthur thought.
His intelligence had become infantilised to that of a toddler. He was already standing on his hind legs as if crawling was getting out of style.
[Gods be good to you. Now have fun when moving.]
The previous message wishing safe travels had degraded into a mess. It seemed as if the messages were slowly getting dumber as well.
With that, Arthur received a new message pop into his sight.
[Say 'Status']
The system commanded in the goblin language and Earth's language.
Suspiciously, Arthur stared at the message for a couple of minutes. Trying to see if the new message would do something else if he waited.
…
Nothing really happened.
"Status!" Arthur slurped as he said excitedly. His hands and legs twitchy with anticipation.
Even though his intelligence was reduced to that of a goblin, he still remembered everything from before his reincarnation. Though his comprehension was evidently lacking.
'Me be strong!' Arthur thought with exhilaration in his veins.
[Host has stated 'status']
[Will reveal host's information]
[Arthur Branch (Boomboom)'s Status: ]
[Name: Arthur Branch]
[Level: 1 (0%)]
[Race: Cave Goblin (Toddler)]
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Stats:
Health: 10
Mana: Insignificant
Strength: 1
Endurance: 1
Dexterity: 1
Agility: 1
Intelligence: 1
Charisma: 1
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Skills:
[Unwilling!]: On the face of death, your will can affect the impossible.]
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Status Effects:
[Newborn Goblin: You are undeveloped and weak. Eat well and grow strong to get rid of this effect.]
[Reincarnator: You have died once, and have been reborn. You will keep your previous life's memories and skills.]
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Bonus Effects:
Reincarnator's First Time: You will develop skills at a faster rate than most in this world.
Newborn: You can learn skills and knowledge at a fast pace. (Warning! This effect will disappear once you have fully matured.)
Weakness: You are currently in a state of weakness. Develop your body to get rid of this effect or drink some elixir to impart strength!
//::::::::://
After Arthur read the status, he had an epiphany of something incredibly important.
...
That he didn't understand jack shit!
"Funny words confuse me. You are bad!" Arthur stated as he pointed at the air.
"Boomboom, back to work!" Grugg grunted displeased.
Hearing the name 'Boomboom', Arthur's rage incensed into a raging inferno to rip this cave apart!
"Fucking Goblins," Arthur murmured, as his muscle memory of his previous life kicked in.
He swore like a sailor before reincarnating, and he was swearing the same even now. Even if the goblins didn't understand what he was saying.
Grugg was currently skinning a wolf they had killed near the cave. It was covered in snow that was quickly melting, and there was a gaping hole where it's eye used to be.
As he walked towards his station near the skinned beast's ballsacks, he suddenly felt his steps heat up.
The cave was a normally cold damp place. Feeling heat shouldn't be normal in the slightest.
With slight fear in his voice, Arthur pointed to the floor, "Grugg, floor hot."
Grugg snorted. Ignoring Arthur's complaint and continued skinning the beast.
"If you no want work, I feed to Krak," the older goblin said as he pointed at Arthur.
With a frown on his big head, Arthur decided to forget about the heat under his feet, and grabbed a knife to get to work.
He looked with disgust as he carved the area around the groin. His small hands trembling as he poked through the thin skin and cutting flesh.
He was assigned the weakest parts of the beast to harvest. The other goblins had seen him work and realised he was weaker than any of the creatures they had seen before.
Not only was he lazy (supposedly), but he was weak as well!
Soon, Arthur cut the balls out from the beast and placed them on a bucket next to him.
'Disgusting,' Arthur thought before he received a notification.
[You have handled a blade with clumsy movements. You have earned a new skill!]
[You have earned the skill: Inferior Dagger Mastery]
Arthur's hands suddenly felt light as his trembling noticeably decreased as he cut the flesh. His eyes widened as he barely understood what just happened, and barely understood he had even received a skill.
'Woah! I cut easy now!' He thought happily. It seemed like he wouldn't be weak for long!
Seeing his dexterity improved somewhat, Arthur decide to steadily work on his skills until he received a new notification.
[You have attempted to handle the skin of a beast competently. You have received a new skill!]
[You have earned the skill: Inferior Butchering]
Once again Arthur was bombarded with a new notification about a skill. He didn't understand what the skill was, but his hands moved in a smooth pattern against the underside of the belly of the beast. He felt like he understood a little bit more about how butchering worked.
Speaking of butchering, he remembered there was a time he skinned a deer a long ago. He didn't know when this was, but he decided to use that experience to try and see if he can do a better job with his situation.
[You have shown some experience with skinning a beast. You have upgraded a skill!]
[You have upgraded: Inferior Butchering —> Basic Butchering]
[You have remembered and applied information from a past long gone. You have received +1 to Intelligence!]
[Intelligence: 2]
Suddenly, Arthur felt a slight pain in his head as he recovered a semblance of understanding. He felt as if he understood some things a little better than before.
For example: More skills = good!
'Me need more!' He boldly declared. His comprehension was stil a little bit off, but he started to see the right path to take.
And like this, a couple of weeks passed.
———————————
A lone man in a black robe was running. His face pale and his hair bloodied.
'I… need… mana,' the man thought in a daze.
His skull was cracked as he ran ahead. His head dizzy from the loss of blood and concussion.
He didn't have long to live…
'Shelter… please… gods!' He yearned as his run became a limp.
His name was Drane. A necromancer of a no-name order. His specialty was skeletal undead with no will or consciousness.
The man had fought a knight from one of the Holy Orders. The particular one he faced, a Paladin of Ella. The Goddess of Death.
In these circumstances, one would think the necromancers and priests got along well? Especially with both handling the dead in some nature. But this was far from the truth.
In fact, these groups hated each other with a vehement passion!
The priests of Ella believed that the dead should stay dead. They are the people that bless those who have passed and give them safe passage in the afterlife. The ones who absolve the dead of their sins, and take care of them after their demise.
The priests of death are considered the grave keepers of this world. They are usually around cemeteries and places where suffering was most common, such as wars, and blighted towns.
But this also meant they would tolerate no disrespect towards the dead.
And necromancy was considered the worst insult the dead could receive.
At least according to the death priests.
Now with this, Drane had one of two options.
Either go back and kill the Paladin, subsequently leveling up and possibly saving his life.
Or… he could just kill a ton of low-level enemies and do the same.
One easy, another significantly harder. He knew which choice he was going to make.
With one final step in the icy winter, the necromancer stood above an entrance to a cave.
An entrance to a goblin's den…