I followed the path I came from after leveling up and returned, the feast was still continuing, some were sleeping, some were still gnawing on boar meat, the most of them were drunk, even the chief was not an exception

I asked around to random level 2 goblin how to receive my own hut, but his statement shocked me

- The most are taken, you should fight the owner, if you win the hut will be yours, if you manage to do that, then you will have to pay 1 mana stone as a tax every month

The taxes? No way in hell, I refuse

I can just live on a tree or whatever, I do not care, I am not paying taxes!

The next destination was storage, I bought some decent leather sandals with my one and only mana stone, but since its quality was higher than the lowest ones, I was given an opportunity to take a spade, to be blunt I bargained a lot and after fucking the brain of the goblin who was assigned for storage item distributing job, I gladly came out with spade in my hands and sandals under my foot

Why spade you say? Why not some good weapon? You are mistaken, this spade is for digging a hole in the ground, that's going to be my house, it'll be cozy, decorated by stones, I do not want to pay taxes, I refuse to stay outside and I will go with that

I started digging near some goblin's huts, they asked what I was doing and I answered that I was building my own house, they laughed at me but I shrugged them off

By the end of the morning I had my little ''house'' ready, it was roughly a 1,5 cubic meters hole in the ground with flattened ground, I was tired and thirsty, I grabbed some drink from nearby goblins and sat in my house dead tired, my hands were numbed

After resting up and dusting off my loincloth I crawled out of my hole and starting walking around, I still did not know this place well. I was satisfied with my work, sun would not bother me in my house and rain would ... rain... ah, fuck! FUCK!

I am such an idiot, the rain will fill up my house, it's not dependable, I worked for nothing, ah

And then I was depressed, I felt like an idiot and I really was, I wondered why sovereign did not appear and throw his annoying antics at me, I am sure he will mention it the next time he appears, ah, so embarrassing, I want to find a hole and hide myself, oh wait, I already dug a hole but hiding in it will be even more embarrassing, shit

Just as I cursed in my mind I heard some commotion

I asked around and tried to split the crowd

- This guy is so shameless, someone should teach him a lesson

- What is happening?

I asked curiously as I looked at two level 2 goblins fighting

- You see that guy with dagger in hands? He shamelessly declared he will pay a single mana stone for exchanging some sparring pointers between him and other level 2 goblins, but he seems to ''accidentally'' deal a killing blow all the time and gets their mana stones instead

- Won't he get attacked by level 3 or higher goblins out of greed then? Is he stupid?

That goblin shook his said and screeched in his annoying voice

- He should have a backing of higher level goblin, he would not dare do that otherwise, goblins keep ''sparring'' with him because he accumulated quite some mana stones already and they want to do the same as him, '' accidentally '' kill him and take his wealth, tch, they sure are clever, it's hard getting a mana stone, we get paid two every month if we work hard, that's so unfair

I see, so that's how it was, so not only is that guy intelligent, he is also a swindler and quite confident in his skills to fight against same level goblins, hmm, there's some easy money, should I go issue a challenge too? Yeah, let's do that, but... if he has level 4 goblin backing him I am not confident in beating him at all, let's hope that's not the case, I do not have a weapon, that's rather troublesome, but I think I can deal with him, he can beat amateurs but not me

After slashing vocal artery of another level 2 goblin, he took his mana stone and waited for another one, he did not seem tired at all, I realized he was conserving his stamina and if he got tired he would just stop this, then probably run off to his higher up and split the mana stones, that's really clever, that high level goblin should not be underestimated in intelligence either, to recruit someone so talented and make him work like that, that's a shortcut to get stronger

There were many who had their eyes blinded with greed and some who were afraid of death too, I yelled out to get his attention

- I want to spar with you

I walked out empty-handed, others were dumbfounded

- Is he an idiot?

- He wants to fight him with no weapons? That's suicide

- Let him be, once he dies his mana stone will add up to his wealth and then we can kill that arrogant bastard too, claiming his mana stones

I was really angry to begin with and I made the first move

I dashed towards him in zigzagging pattern, he stayed on spot vigilantly and once I got closer I was met with downwards slash, I rolled to the side and grabbed some sand, once I got up he was about to pierce my neck with his dagger, I threw dirt to his eyes and averted his attack, moving to the right angle, he screamed, easy-peasy, then I punched his jaw, dislocating it by hitting at right spot and once he fell I crushed his skull, taking his dagger and piercing his skull

And then I realized it was strangely quiet, everyone had shut up

I searched his loincloth and found 4 more mana stones, I thought he would have more, what a pity, now I have five in total and I got a dagger for free, sweet, not to mention they are all level 2 mana stones, they can be upgraded to 4 if I pay that hunchback

- How dare you disrespect breathren and kill a fellow goblin?

I heard the high pitched voice and I thought

Shit, the real trouble is coming

The crowd was split and a goblin appeared, he was a little bit taller than everyone, he wore simple leather jacket and similarly had dagger in his right hand, it should be the one to hire that goblin, but there was no real feeling of loss in his eyes, it was just a cover, he just wanted to grab my wealth, what a bitch

I grinned inwardly, level 3 huh? I should be able to handle it, I hope he's not too disappointing

- Bullshit, he killed these goblins and shamelessly swindled them, he deserved to die, our tribe does not need the likes of you

Everyone was still quiet and then he yelled

- Traitor, I will dismember you!

As he said that other goblins also started cheering for him and cursed at me, what a shameless bunch, just because he's a level higher does not mean he can land a hit on me and just because my attacks deal half the damage, it does not mean I can't get his vitals,he's stronger, they think and they do not reserve themselves and start fully dedicated boot licking

The goblin rushed towards me with low posture and gave a straight thrust, he was fast, I barely dodged it but the second attack was already coming to my sides, I tried hard to keep up with his attack, his slashes were dexterous and we exchanged couple of attacks, his attacks overpowered me greatly and I tried to not lose my footing, his every slash was met with my own clash with his dagger, the sparks flew from collision and his domineering attacks did not stop, then I was kicked in belly, my stomach churned and I almost puked the contents of what I ate in the morning

Since I lacked the experience in fight I was really tense and I tried to determine the trajectory of his attacks but since he was not that skillful either I barely managed to deflect his attacks while my hands were numbed all over, I did not expect him to kick me so suddenly though, I rolled on the ground

Shit, he is tougher than I expected, he did not give me chance to get up and stomped his feet at my face, I rolled away, I was slashed while vulnerably rolling on the ground, I awkwardly blocked with my own dagger but his overpowering attack outpowered me and my dagger flew a meter away while my hand was numbed to dullness, I could not bring out my full strength in this position and so it has come to this

I did not have time to feel fear, I was struggling to live

His thrust came to my face, I blocked it with my two hands but his dagger was getting closer and closer to my eyeball, he was grinning evilly, and then... I kicked his balls with my knee, he screeched in pain, no matter how much damage reduction he had due to his level superiority I smashed his balls with a knee, that got him, I used the opportunity and crawled all the way to my dagger, then I stood up and while panting heavily made a leap in the air

My dagger pierced his eyeball and he was thrown on the ground, wailing in high pitched voice, I ignored it, due to his vulnerability after getting his balls smashed, he was too dull to react to my attacks

I held down his hands, they were still vigorous but he could not bring out his full strength in this position while being held down by me

I pierced him through under the chin, attack deeply pierced his skin and then I slashed his neck, it felt more durable, but I had no problem cutting it after slashing it couple of times, with gurgling sounds he drowned in his own blood

Dead

He died under my hands, everyone was silent while I was heavily panting

That was really close, I almost died there, wooh

Shit! I'll get popular, I do not want this, I wanted to keep a low profile, shit, there's nothing I can do about it but I hope things are not going to get too troublesome

I grabbed my 6th mana stone today and his leather armor and ran off, as to where, of course to hunchback, I wanted him to refine these stones as fast as possible, not to mention 5 were level 2 mana stones while 1 was level 3, if I payed him two, I could get 3 level 4 mana stones and 1 level 5 mana stone, which is more than good for a rookie I guess

While running my hands were shaking and I felt like falling couple of times, I acted cool outside but I was mentally exhausted

I ran with utmost speed, I did not really stand out since there were some bloodied goblins returning in their camp with some hunted animals and loot

The hunchback was surprised when he saw my mana stones

- It's been just two days and you already brought this many mana stones, what did you do boy? You are not killing our own and getting away with it are you?

Damn this bastard is too sharp, it's true, if we do not count 4 kobolds, other mana stones were all from goblins

- Just do your job old man

I growled in displeasure

- Ohoho, I see a good potential in you boy, I will give you a discount, give me that level 3 mana stone and I will refine other 5 without charging another mana stone, how about it?

- Eh? No way, is it not precious?

- It does not really make much difference but oh well, fine, you can just pay level 2 mana stone and I'll refine others for you, just don't forget this old man when you strike it big

This old fox was planning this from the start, well, does not matter, it's good deal to me

- Alright

I agreed and he did his job and then I ran off to the forest, I did not have time to properly equip myself with looted leather armor and once I climbed the thick branch I dressed myself in brown leather jacket, it was a bit big but it was not disturbing, with my new sandals and dagger along with the sheath I truly looked like a decent goblin warrior, I did not forget to refine all the mana stones, leaving none for the future, so my progress was 50% to level 3, I nodded satisfied at myself after appraising myself, now it showed my progress too

Goblin Level 2 Progress: 5/10 mana stones

It describes me as a goblin, others are the same too, I wondered why we have no names, I asked one of the goblins while having a feast and he gave some unimpressive answer

- Only strong can have a name or title

Anyway I wonder what should I do to get more mana stones, work for a high level goblin? Nope, there's no way in hell, I'll wait for one month measly salary of 2 mana stones, not to mention owning a hut would take one from me, how about I hire some goblins?

Still no, I do not want to pay others when I have no assurance I can actually earn anything, how about I raid a village and slaughter humans... You seriously think I would do that?

Kobolds? If I am lucky I should catch some stray kobolds, but I'm sure they mostly move in groups, not to mention their agility is higher than goblins

Apparently humans do not have mana stones, that's what I was told, yesterday's feast was very informative, only someone who has elemental or magical affinity would have it and they are rare, they said, so even if I raid a village the loot would not be impressive, not to mention I would not do that

I am not sure what they meant, my magical knowledge is limited, to be blunt it's nonexistent, if I do not make my guesses from knowledge of my previous world, but sovereign said to not throw my conclusions based on my past life's mythical stories

Sigh, why is it so hard do survive? What do I do when requirements for mana stones raise, how long will it take to collect up 100 or so mana stones, seems I have to rack my brain and work hard in order to get stronger