The third morning came with a strange energy in the cave. Word of yesterday's hunt had spread through the tribe, and as Zork and Grak prepared to leave, other goblins watched with anticipation and respect in their eyes.
"Super hunters!"
"They kill big rabbit!"
"Zork and Grak strongest!"
"We eat more meat tonight!"
The cheers followed them as they gathered their weapons. Grak enjoyed the praise and attention, puffing out his chest and showing off his dented shield. Zork simply checked his poison dagger, making sure the purple poison on the blade was still there.
Near the cave entrance, the Chief sat chewing on a bone from last night's feast, sucking the marrow with wet, slurping sounds. As they passed, he looked up and gave them a single acknowledging nod, juice dripping down his scarred chin.
That nod meant more than any words.
"Today we hunt even bigger!" Grak declared as they entered the forest. "Grak feel strong! Shield still good!"
Zork said nothing, but his mind was already calculating. One more day. Tonight, the magic girl would be at the ruins. Tonight, he would either survive or regress again.
But first, he needed to get stronger.
"We go deep," Zork said. "Straight to rabbit territory. No waste time."
They pushed into the forest, moving past the safe hunting grounds directly into the deeper woods where the double horned rabbit had been. The morning mist clung to the trees, and Zork's improved senses let him spot tracks easily, rabbit droppings, broken twigs, signs of recent feeding.
The first horned rabbit died before it even knew they were there. Zork's dagger found its throat, poison doing the rest.
The second and third fell to coordinated attacks, Grak's shield and club working in harmony with Zork's blade.
By midday, they had five horned rabbits piled in their sacks.
"We find double horn rabbit?" Grak asked hopefully, scanning the clearing where they'd fought yesterday's beast.
They searched for another hour, following trails deeper into the territory, but found nothing. The double horned rabbit had been alone, and no others seemed to claim this area.
"late," Zork finally said, eyeing the sun's position through the canopy. "We go back. Five rabbits still good."
Grak agreed, though disappointment showed on his warty face. They turned toward home, heavy sacks over their shoulders.
That's when Zork saw it.
A blob of translucent green jelly quivered between two trees, roughly the size of a goblin's head. It pulsed gently, catching the fading sunlight like coloured glass. Inside its transparent body, a small dark core floated.
[Forest slime – level 2]
"Slime!" Grak hissed, raising his shield. "Dangerous! Slime eat goblins!"
Zork wasn't so sure. The creature hadn't moved toward them, hadn't shown any aggression. It just... sat there, pulsing.
But it was alive. And alive things could be killed.
"We attack," Zork decided. "You bash. Zork stab."
They rushed the slime together. Grak's club smashed into the gelatinous body, causing it to ripple and splash. Zork's dagger punched through the membrane and shattered the dark core with a crack.
The slime shuddered once, then simply... dissolved. Its jelly body melted into the forest floor like water soaking into soil, leaving nothing behind.
Zork and Grak stared at the empty spot.
"Where... where meat?" Grak prodded the ground with his club.
Zork poked at the damp soil with his dagger. Nothing. No body, just wetness.
They looked at each other, shrugged, and continued toward the cave.
The sun was setting now, casting long shadows through the trees. Zork's thoughts drifted to tomorrow, to the magic girl, to the plan he still needed to form....then...
Voices.
Human voices, but only one speaking. The other made wet, gurgling sounds.
Zork grabbed Grak's arm, pulling him behind a thick tree. Through the trees ahead, maybe thirty paces away, two figures stood in a small clearing.
One lay on the ground, blood pooling beneath him, hands clutching at his torn throat. The other stood over the corpse, wiping a blade clean on the dead man's cloak. The standing figure wore black from head to toe, face covered by a dark mask, leather armour designed for silence and shadow.
An assassin.
'Humans killing humans,' Zork thought, his improved intelligence processing the scene. 'Why?'
The assassin sheathed his blade and began rifling through the dead man's belongings, searching for something.
"We go" Zork whispered to Grak. "Quiet. Not our fight."
They began to back away, step by careful step. Zork's [AGI: 7] made him silent, But Grak's shield scraped against a tree trunk and the sound echoed through the clearing like a scream.
The assassin's head snapped toward them, his bloodshot eyes visible through the mask, cold and calculating. For one frozen moment, nobody moved.
Then the assassin lunged.
Black-clad and fast, impossibly fast, the human crossed the distance in heartbeats. His blade, still wet with fresh blood, swept toward Grak's exposed neck.
"GRAK! MOVE!" Zork slammed into Grak, sending them both sprawling sideways. The assassin's blade whistled through empty air where Grak's head had been.
They rolled apart, scrambling to their feet. The assassin was already adjusting and pivoting toward Zork.
Zork barely got his dagger up in time. Metal screeched against metal as the assassin's blade met his. The force of it sent shocks up Zork's arm, nearly knocking the weapon from his grip.
'Too strong. Too fast. Human trained to kill.'
Grak roared and charged, shield raised. The assassin kicked him in the chest without even looking, sending the goblin crashing backward. The shield cracked down the middle from the impact.
The assassin pressed his advantage, blade weaving patterns in the air. Zork dodged left, then right, his improved agility the only thing keeping him alive. A cut opened on his shoulder. Another across his forearm.
"Grak! Hit legs!" Zork shouted.
Grak, dazed but furious, swung his club low. The assassin jumped, but the momentary distraction gave Zork an opening. He lunged with his poison dagger aimed at the human's side.
The blade stabbed deep.
The assassin grunted, twisting away, but the purple poison already stained his torn clothing. His eyes widened behind the mask, realisation dawning.
"Poison..." The word came out as a hiss.
The human's hand went to his belt, fingers searching for an antidote vial. But Grak was already moving with his club raised high.
The assassin tried to dodge, but the poison was already working, slowing his reflexes. Grak's club caught him across the temple with a sickening crunch.
Krak!
The human staggered, his blade dropping from his nerveless fingers. Grak hit him again. And again. Until the assassin collapsed, blood pooling from his shattered skull, mixing with the poison spreading through his dying body.
[Human assassin defeated!]
[level up!]
[level 3 → level 4]
[all stats +1]
[level up!]
[level 4 → level 5]
[all stats +1]
[SP: +10]
[First human kill bonus: +15 RP]
The power flooded through Zork like a tidal wave. Not the gentle warmth of before, but a surge of raw strength that made his muscles burn and his senses explode with clarity. His mind expanded, thoughts coming faster and sharper than ever before.
But the victory came with a cost.
"Grak... Grak eye..." The other goblin was clutching his face, blood seeping through his fingers. The assassin's blade had caught him during the fight, a slash that had destroyed his left eye completely.
Zork stumbled over, his own wounds throbbing but already feeling better from the level ups. He pulled Grak's hand away and winced. The eye was gone, just a bleeding socket.
"Eye gone," Zork said quietly. "But Grak alive. We alive."
"Grak... Grak only have one eye now..." The other goblin's voice shook.
"One eye enough to see enemy. One eye enough to fight." Zork gripped his friend's shoulder. "Grak still strong. Still super hunter."
They stood there in the dark forest, surrounded by bodies. Zork looked at the assassin's corpse and felt something cold settle in his chest.
His first human kill. And hopefully, tomorrow the magic girl will be his second.
"We take stuff," Zork decided, kneeling by the corpse. "Human have good things. We need good things."
They looted the body, taking the assassin's blade, his coin purse, even his mask. Then they gathered their rabbit kills and began the long walk back to the cave.
By the time they arrived, night had fully fallen.
The tribe's celebration was muted when they saw Grak's ruined face and their bloodied condition. But the sight of five horned rabbits and human steel weapons brought excited murmurs.
Zork barely noticed. He was staring at his status screen, watching the numbers that had risen.
---
[LEVEL]: 5/10
[STR]: 7 [AGI]: 9 [VIT]: 8
[INT]: 6 [WIS]: 5 [LUK]: 5
---
[SP]: 20
[REGRESSION POINTS]: 30
---
Level 5. And stats that proved his growth.
Tomorrow he would face the magic girl.
Not as the weak goblin who had died screaming.
But as something more terrifying. A learned Goblin.