“They love acorns. Those damned acorns are tastier than my brethren's flesh.”

Gob cackled. Two bronze ranked adventurers walking right behind him shivered at his words. He continued his story.

“They have giant tusks to stab my kind. They drink our blood and grow bigger. Blood and those damned acorns.”

Gob cackled once more, but the adventurer keeping him in check pulled the leash he was holding him with. He lost his breath for a moment. Those damned fools.

“Fine… me quiet...”

The man who pulled the leash was young and impatient. Gob didn’t blame him too much. He spouted bullshit since the start. He was so annoying that even the female adventurer who tried to stop her partner from treating Gob too harsh didn’t respond this time.

Well. It was all Fritz’s fault, anyway. He messed up his plans and took two groups at the time. He should be here with Gob, but some god-damned merchant looking for those ancient coins came and occupied him in the camp making Gob the only one to trick those two into paying everything they had for his guidance.

It all started when Curan set up Gob as a forest specialist. Are you an adventurer looking for some herbs? You want to scout the area? Maybe you want some advice about local wildlife? Please come here we have a goblin slave that knows the forest so well we barely caught him in the first place!

Gob task was simple. He gazed back at the two adventurers that followed him to the acorn trees where Peter spotted a herd of Silverback’s. Gob wasn’t a good actor. His own lines made him cringe, but it seemed effective enough to make the adventurers scared.

They were both young. Probably a couple. Fritz managed to tell Gob everything he needed to know before he let them take him.

“He's small, but cunning. We barely caught him with the help of a gold rank. Keep him in check or I will make sure that you will never manage to buy a slice of bread in your life you bronze nobodies! The contract will be kept even if you run away!”

And so the plan was simple. Lead the newly formed party to the acorn’s and teach them how to find the boars. Escape and either Peter or Curan will make them pay more than they already did for the goblin slave they lost. It was a simple task for Gob, but he couldn’t find any fun in it.

The way Fritz ripped off merchants and travelers alike was quite something, but now when Gob was alone it was no fun at all. Even Evie stayed back at the camp. Since Curan attracted shifty people to their camp in order to sell all the junk he could, she usually just stuck around and “haunted” the quests.

Only Gob and Peter could see her invisible mischief, but she never realized that the quests aren’t interested in her antics. Her short attention span was a curse and a blessing. Over the past week Gob enjoyed his new routine of training with Peter in the morning before venturing with Fritz on whatever new errand Curan would come up with making him spent less time with the fairy. It was a bit disappointing to him.

It was like he was in a new tribe. Fritz was truly special for him. He was like a brand new Spinecrack. He would make Gob follow just like hobgoblin did and just like him he would never put Gob in harms way. Even now Gob felt that he was allowed to go alone just because Fritz trusted that he could finish this task. And because the couple was inexperienced to the point that making his escape was a child's play.

“Acorns are there.”

Gob finally found the tree he was looking for. Most of the leaves had already fallen off the trees, yet the acorns that Silverback boars loved so much were still present on the trees.

“What now goblin?”

The male spoke up, but his voice was shaking. He was frantically looking around. Silverbacks were no joke. If they were to stumble on the entire herd, they would be trampled and eaten alive. Gob came closer to the tree and violently kicked it. The acorns fell to the ground hitting the male in the head. Gob cackled.

“Need blood.”

“Excuse me?”

The female adventurer in a simple robe stopped her partner before he could punch Gob. She was a young girl with blonde curly hair. Gob already knew that she was a priest from Fritz’s conversation, but he couldn’t tell if she was stronger than the man that accompanied her. Despite being a magic user she was also a bronze ranked adventurer, which was the second to lowest rank, topping only the stone rank.

“Blood needed to roast the acorns. Silverback smell and come. Not much needed.”

Gob pulled his own hand towards the warrior taunting him. He pulled out a dagger, but after seeing the look on the priestess face he cut his own hand. The goblin was to be left untouched. This Fritz man didn’t feel dangerous, but the rest of the camp bandits did. The silent one was unsettling. Meanwhile the man in black with a hidden face was straight up terrifying.

The adventurers following Gobs advice gathered a few dozen acorns in one place then sprayed it with a few drops of blood until the goblin nodded to stop.

“Roast it and they would come. Wait in trees.”

Gob wanted to come back already. His terrible acting was getting on his nerves and neither Peter nor Curan would give him any opportunity to run away. He wanted to go back already.

“Oh mother of healing hear my call and close those wounds. Lesser help.”

Gob looked at the priestess. She was casting a spell with words? What was that? Warriors hand was suddenly clean of the wound. He didn’t bleed. Heh. Yet another thing to ask Fritz and Curan about. Gob suddenly looked back alerted. He could feel a scent of the boars. It was recent. Did Peter miscalculate the herd’s position? He was lost in his mind, so it took him a moment to realize what the priestess said.

“Oh father of blaze hear my voice and rejoice in the flames. Lesser heat.”

Gob rushed towards the priestess and tackled her on the ground, but the damage was already done. It didn’t rain for quite some time. The acorns popped in the flames. Their shells exploded with smoke carrying the scent of the blood through the air.

“What?!”

The human warrior caught Gob from the back and threw him away from the girl. Gob hit his back on the tree. Few acorns fell down on his head. The man blinded by rage didn’t even feel the scent of the boar that came together with the changing wind. He stuck his knife to Gob’s neck just in time for the adult Silverback boar to rush at their direction. Gob didn’t waste any time.

He punched humans arm with an open palm. Using the moves Peter trained him over the week he pushed the arm back while taking a hold of the dagger. Just before the warrior regained his posture Gob kicked him and barely grasped the hilt of the adventurers shortsword with his left hand.

He cut the leash just in time to face the boar. He was the closest person to the acorns an obvious target for the beast. It rushed him with no hesitation. Having no time to better his grip he dropped the dagger near the tree and desperately held the shortsword with both hands.

Silverbacks tended to tackle their opponents with their durable foreheads. As the beast came close to Gob he pushed the sword forward, but it wasn’t enough to pierce the boars skull. The power of the creature lifted Gob together with the sword stuck in its head. Only after the boar run a few more meters with both Gob and the sword weighing it down when it flung the green skin up in the air.

Gob anticipated that, but the shock from both the impact and a sudden connection to the ground made him move sloppily. Despite Peter teaching him how to properly land after taking a hit he was rather saved by luck than his skill as the autumn leaves cushioned his fall.

Gob rolled and stood up trembling. Not looking back at the beast he ran towards the dagger he dropped. The priestess was shouting at her companion who helped her climb a tree. He couldn’t fight as Gob rendered him useless by taking both his weapons.

As Gob reached the dagger he looked back at the beast. The Silverback was the size of Gob in height. It was a massive creature for both goblins and humans. He violently shook his head until the sword gave out and landed in the leaves.

Gob had enough time to climb the tree, but chose not to. There was only this one boar, and it was a clear veteran. Goblins hunted those animals in winter when food was scarce. This one had a few scars on his body. He must have survived a few struggles with his kind. Beautiful white fur on boar’s back stuck out in the autumn scenery.

“Keruek! Kerueek!”

Gob shouted at the boar provoking it to move once more. He was forced to hunt them before. Looking at the beast stampede he counted the distance. With each step the beast got closer and closer. Now!

Gob unceremoniously stepped to the side dodging the boar completely. The beast tried to change the direction and graze him with its tusks, but he had also foreseen this and dodged it with ease. The moment the boar hit the tree with his head Gob stepped in and pierced the boar’s brain through its exposed eye socket.

It was a quick death. He was getting better at those precise attacks. Peter’s training made him improve dramatically. He couldn’t even hit the old fart, but it was beyond the point. Gob focused back on his acting.

“Hehehe You won’t eat bread anymore...”

This was stupidly corny, but it somehow made the scared humans realize that they wouldn’t be able to stop him from getting away. Maybe it was because Gob was a goblin that despite the poor delivery they believed him. Gob took a few steps away before the tree expecting either Curan’s shout or Peter’s bolt to stop him from escaping forcing the couple to pay for misusing the slave.

Neither happened. Instead the leash that Gob cut in two attacked him like a snake. Gob wasn’t sure what happened. He dropped his knife and allowed the rope to bind him to the tree. Piper couldn’t interact with humans as Fritz referred to him as “highly recognizable”, which left only one other person who could stop Gob’s terrible performance.

Viper came out from the bushes. She was controlling the rope with her magic. Gob acted accordingly to how he would if a silent Peter was the one to pull the con.

“Don’t do it I didn’t...”

Viper lifted his dagger with magic and put him near his throat elevating his acting.

“DON’T HARM ME THEY CAN PAY!!!”

It was convincing enough to make the priestess talk.

“Yes we can pay! Leave him alone!”

Viper instantly let the dagger down. The warrior tried to argue her decision, but she held him down in place with just her gaze. She was the one calling the shots.

“Let us take this fur! We can pay you seven silver right now!”

The warrior shut up. Viper made the silence last a bit before she nodded at the two. The priestess threw a pouch at her from the tree. It was a little limp of a throw yet Viper caught it mid air with her magic. She opened it and checked its insides. It was obvious from the warrior’s face that it was all they had.

Viper took two silver coins of the pouch and put them down on the dead Silverback. Then she hid the pouch in her pocket and without further ado she left the scene. Gob followed her the moment the leash holding him tightly fell down. Floating dagger behind his back made his leave a little more convincing as Viper poked him to speed up.

As the goblin and a mage in black left the priestess nearly fainted. What were those people? To have a talking goblin and a powerful mage in a same place! She jumped down to the ground and checked the coins left on the corpse. Two silver and a few coppers. The mage only took five. Was it mercy?

Her companion came to her with a broken sword. It was beyond repair. As they looked at the corpse, they realized that the only dagger they possessed was also gone with the goblin. The warrior gasped and gave the priestess a small knife they used to peel vegetables. Meanwhile he took the sharpest part of his shortsword and slowly began to remove the boar’s skin.

Gob followed Viper. The moment they ventured far enough to hide from the adventurer’s view Viper stopped to catch her breath. This magic was far exceeding her norm. As they paused for a while Gob asked.

“So Do all human females use magic?”

Viper looked at him shocked.

“What gave me away?”

“Scent. You smell nicer.”