The beginning and the cave

When they were by themselves, Hamon started the conversation. "What happened to the others? Who are they?"

"Chill, and don't be so loud." He sat down. "It was just a lie."

Hamon got dumbfounded but controlled his voice. "What? Why?"

"It's not a full lie. They would do those things but to us instead of others. Haven't you seen the bloodstains?" He sighed. "We have to go on the offensive. If we wait, we lose the element of surprise."

Hamon got pensive, and Theo continued. "Better to fight with a full belly than to suffer in hunger and die."

Theo spent the next thirty minutes explaining Hamon what to expect, how to handle a spear, and tips against the goblins.

"Remember, your safety first. If things get bad, scream really loud. It will scare them for at least one or two seconds." He saw Andre coming his way. "But don't worry, I will be by your side. It will be fine."

"Everything is prepared, we have a group of fifty people ready to go," Andre said.

"Nice, let's go?" Theo said.

The duo walked forward. Hamon was scared. More scared than when he had to fight the bullies in his school by himself. He had to do that and be strong. He wasn't a kid anymore, and Theo was counting on him. His mother was still alive. He had to get stronger to meet her. Resolving himself, he stepped forward.

"Are you our demolishing guy?" Theo asked a muscular man close to the door.

"Aye, Hamish here." The guy responded. He had a blessing called bull's strength. The door handled two of his charges before giving up.

As they got out, there were two goblins pissing themselves in the corner. Theo gave two swift kicks to their jaws, dislocating their heads. "Remember Hamon: swift and merciless as possible. Don't take it easy on monsters, they won't do the same for you."

Hamon nodded half scared and half impressed. The boy wouldn't be the same anymore, but life in the abyss would never tolerate the weak-hearted. Hamon would have to adapt fast. The abyss was especially cruel to the young.

Theo guided them through the tunnels cleaning the occasional goblin that wandered that far on the caves. They soon collected two pickaxes and a knife. Now armed, those willing in the group began to try out fighting.

Soon they learned there was not much to fear against lone goblins. They were half their height and a cowardly bunch. The humans had to take care only to not get bitten or scratched. Infections could be a real threat.

Theo led them through the tunnels to a storage area in which they found many pickaxes and piles of gruel on a corner. They didn't come even close to this place when captured, but he spent some time searching his memories for useful information when the others were preparing.

Now armed, they began making short work of the goblins that began increasing in number. They eventually found patrols holding small spears. Theo disabled one of the goblins and gave the spear to Hamon. "Two hands, a firm base, and thrust."

He proceeded to disarm another goblin and threw it at Hamon to fight. Both of them were scared, but there was resolve in Hamon's eyes. He screamed out loud and thrust. The trembling goblin was so scared it didn't even dodge and got impaled right on the chest.

"Great, after some more, I will let you fight an armed one," Theo said, and Hamon nodded, taking the spear out of the goblin's chest and looking elsewhere.

During the whole trip, when he wasn't fighting, Hamon focused on trying to suck the life force out of dead goblins. A lot of people seemed to be forgetting to do that, even though it was reminded before leaving. There was a fifty percent chance some random dead goblin still had its lifeforce. Hamon delightfully looked at his stats during a break.

Human Lv. 0

Blessings

Strong will

Manifold life

Attributes

Physique: 7.5

Control: 11

Senses: 11

Mind: 9

Spirit: 11

It was a nice increase from his level six physique. Theo saw him doing that and gave him a light smack in the head, “I told you to not do that in public,” and smiled, “but nice job. Let’s go.”

They kept walking through the tunnels and getting armed with new pickaxes found in different rooms.

Theo was by Hamon’s side on his first fight against a goblin with a spear. He tried once again his screaming technique. It worked wonders and made the goblin dip its spear in fear. Impaling the goblin was easy afterward.

“Well done. Never go on the offensive if it looks like he is going to impale you back. His life is not worth yours.” Theo said.

Two others went back to fetch those who stayed behind. This side of the tunnels was mostly clear already, and since there were no casualties up to now, they would try a break for the exit.

Meanwhile, Theo demonstrated what Hamon should do if his scream did not work. They practiced swatting the spear, dodging, running, and screaming to Theo for help.

When the others arrived, the group went towards the main cave dome, where the mass of goblins resided. Seeing the sheer amount of goblins, the group hesitated. The goblins, however, decided for them as some of the closest ones started screaming and grumbling. The encampment descended into chaos as goblins threw stones at them and started running around. The group fell back into the cave to protect themselves against the stones and waited. The goblins didn’t give them much rest as those with spears started swarming towards the entrance.

Theo and Andre started the fight at the front together with three others. The goblins didn’t care for their kin as they kept throwing rocks at the entrance. Injuries started piling up on the others as they didn’t have the leisure to pay attention to the rocks and fight at the same time. Theo kept fighting for a while longer and kept slipping one goblin or another for Hamon to practice. After some minutes, he too had to take turns with the others to rest.

Screams were heard at the back of the group, and people on stand by were sent there to help. Those on the back couldn’t or wouldn’t fight, but when the situation worsened, they managed to hold on their own until back up came.

Goblins swarmed them in groups of tens at once since the tunnels were wide enough for Orcs to go through. They kept being pushed back, but despite their numbers, the goblins were short, weak, and cowardly. Only their mob mentality enabled them to keep rushing the humans, but when they got there, most of them hesitated and were impaled.

Only two people had died at this point. Both deaths because someone got scared and tried to run away. That incited the goblins and made them rush fearless, getting a kill on both occasions.

“Know the enemy, Hamon. If they are cowards, act without fear; stomp them. If they are full of themselves, act scared; trap them.” Theo said to Hamon, who nodded.

The boy’s head was elsewhere since he saw just how many people did not remember or care enough to get the experience from the goblins. They started going forward to the village again since the goblins stopped coming after them. Hamon gave himself a rule and waited some minutes before going to his haul. “I have to pee Theo. Sorry, can’t hold in. I will stay safe.”

He ran to the back of the group and began checking if the experience had been taken or not. More than half were empty this time around, but the sheer number of dead goblins more than made up for it. The corpses were still disgusting, but the temptation of stats more than made up for it to Hamon. He flexed his hands and threw some punches in the air. Muscles he didn’t have before toned his body, and the boy kept flexing and admiring his new strength all the way back. He made a mental note to confess to Theo he had been stealing at some point and ask him about stats. Hamon was afraid of maybe turning into a mini hulk or worse. But that would come only after he farmed the experience from the whole cave.