CHAPTER 8: REBELION IN THE CAMP
Finn leaped up to the sky landing at the front of the barricade. He lifted the blood goblin's head high for all to see, sticking fear into the regular goblins.
Seeing the decapitated head of one of their leaders, a single thought came to them: if a blood goblin could be easily decapitated, what about them?
Most goblins ran away in fear, and a few stayed behind to fight.
The goblin slayer looked battered, so they might have a chance.
The fearless goblins charged at Finn, only to be slain by the other hunting group.
"These goblins aren't worth dealing with, they only provide one tower coin after every 16 kills. Tch" Jerry grumbled. "Those little guys used to be so fun decapitating, now their … meh!"
Jerry was a bald guy in his twenties with tattoos all over his head where his hair should have been.
His fist smashed the heads of every goblin that got close as he reveled in the blood that stained his hands.
"Just shut up and kill these things!" Carmel shouted as fireballs shot from her hands.
It took a whole hour before all the other goblins ran away.
Inside Finn's tent, he sat on the ground, cross-legged, as he stared at the white-eyed head of the blood goblin.
He took in deep breaths sucking in the mana through his lungs and turning the leftover energy into Qi.
"Two whole hours just to restore my energy, even though I use the thunder dragon breathing technique.
The process is indeed slow."
He focused his attention back on the head as Finn shoved his finger straight into its forehead, pulling out a murky blue marble.
The marble radiated mana far more than its button-sized height.
The impurities were a lot but not something Finn couldn't absorb. He squeezed it. A mist of mana escaped the shattered marble as Finn continued his breathing technique, absorbing the energy into his body.
"This might take a few days" he thought.
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***
My head felt heavy as I woke up to see Carter standing right in front of me.
"Thank goodness you're alive," he cried. "I first thought you died, so I searched for your corpse to give you a proper burial. You have no idea how relieved I am".
I didn't know we were that close but what he said reminded me of the lady who tried to help me during night duty.
All the people who could've been saved if I were strong enough and the lives I took.
Maybe it all could've been avoided but would that have changed anything?
Carter kept saying something but I tuned him out.
The situation in the camp was gloomy, the ones who were seriously injured, the ones who were mourning, and the ones who were breaking down mentally.
The roasted crocodile from last time was served again. The rubber meat was difficult to chew through but I didn't mind at all.
"Pss! … Pss!" Someone called out to me. I turned my head to see who it was.
"Come to the river at midnight if you want to stay alive," the male voice said before leaving.
Chewing my jerky, I went to the graveyard they made for the dead as I tried to find the woman, but how could I find her if there are no names for the graves and I don't even know her name to start the search.
The burning stench of goblin flesh tickled my nose.
They just burnt the goblins' corpses in a pit, although it was desecrating a corpse, maybe they deserved it.
My body still felt like shit, as it wobbled with every step I took.
Night fell, and I immediately went to the tent to sleep, even though Carter wanted me to eat some more. It was weird that he didn't have any injury or look fatigued.
Maybe he has awakened his myth.
I didn't sleep long before I woke up. Stealthily I sneaked out and dashed to the river when I was far from the camp.
I heard other people's voices the closer I got and was surprised to see the number of people who joined this meeting.
Almost half of the remaining survivors.
The leader of the meeting, seeing the people gathered, had a pleased look on his face.
"Thank you all for showing up. It is not a lie to say everyone out here has lost someone close to them or was in a near-death experience during this attack."
"What if I told you all these deaths could have been avoided if Finn hadn't provoked the goblins".
Gasps and murmurs could be heard among the people present, the speaker of this meeting had an enraged look on his face.
"He could have built the camp away from the goblins' match, he knew about the war on the second day, and still decided to build camp in between the only path to the lizard men!
He treated our lives as a meat shield to pursue his goals, and he has the balls to sit with us and act like he is one of us!"
The man's passionate anger resonated with the people gathered while I felt left out.
Even if we weren't in the way, wouldn't the goblins still kill us because of their nature?
And if Finn hadn't saved us all of us would've died.
"If you are worried about your safety, I made a deal with Jerry Stockman. He promised to protect us all during the tutorial and all we have to do is work under him".
"Life would be better if we left here, just think about it. If the goblins come back, how many of us would have to die before Finn steps in?".
He talked for a while before we all left back into the tent. I don't know why, but I do want to know how Carter would have acted if he had heard what they were saying.
View records, I thought.
[Tower Record]
Name: Isaac Rook
Mythos: The Plagiarizing Everyman
Mythos Rank: C-II
Mythos Type: Chronicle (Dormant)
Origin Zone: Earth
[Stats (Tutorial Standards)]
Might: Below Average
Constitution: Average
Intellect: Above Average
Essence: None
Resonance: 18%
[Skills]
None