Chapter 9

"Me Divine. You follow!" Divine's tone was louder and harsher this time.

Stunned Gobly just started following him.

This whole thing smelled like a trap. But what could be gained from luring her?

Gobly didn't know what else to do other than following behind that strange goblin.

He was very clean, only some blood and dirt on him. And the strange way he walked.

Not slightly hunched forward and sneaking, only walking on the tips of the toes like almost every other goblin.

Weird as it sounded that handsome goblin walked with sure feet and a straight back.

Her long fingers tingled when she saw the nice sword on his back and the strange thing he had tucked under his belt.

She couldn't tell what it was at all. It was curious.

If an opportunity presented itself she would definitely try to find out.

When they came across two other goblins in the tunnel she nervously grabbed the stone she held behind her back.

"Me Divine. Go hunt. You follow." That Divine wanted to hunt? She didn't want to. She wasn't a good hunter. She was a better gatherer and a passable thief.

She had talent for finding winter stashes of different rodents.

One had to only think like them to know their hiding places. That's what helped finding the stashes of other goblins too.

'Bad Gobly.'

Because she was thinking she hadn't noticed how both goblins landed with their asses on the ground.

They went on their way, both goblins following Gobly and Divine now.

The next goblin they met was alone and didn't dare to refuse Divine's order.

That way the group grew on their way to the main cavern.

One time Divine defeated the leader of three others with one punch.

Others just followed after they saw how many Divine had already gathered.

Another stange thing about Divine was when he saw an unconscious goblin he stepped up to check on them.

The second goblin he checked on was defenitely already dead.

When they reached the main cavern their numbers had grown above ten, above two hands.

Gobly couldn't stop for a moment to continue counting using her toes, so she didn't know how man it were exactly.

But there shouldn't be more goblins following than she had fingers and toes counted together.

The main cavern was as scary as always. So many goblins. So many fires.

It was loud, rowdy and chaotic.

Gobly followed closer behind Divine's strong back.

Divine parted a way for himself through the crowd and expected the others to follow him without looking back and herding his followers.

It was still light out when the group stepped out of the mountain.

The snow still painted the mountain range and the forest white.

It was cold and the sun together with the snow were so bright. It hurt Gobly's eyes.

Divine's group had lost a few goblins on the way through the crowd in the main cavern.

Gobly was sure it was more because they just used this opportunity to run off and only one or two should have really gotten lost in the crowd.

Now nine goblins followed Divine into the forest including herself.

The trees dimmed the sunlight. That relaxed the goblins' eyes somewhat.

Gobly noticed that Divine kept his eyes and ears open, but he wasn't sneaking and darting from tree to tree, from foliage to foliage.

Divine lead them with a confident stride.

Not even raiders dared to walk so openly through the forest. It was dangerous.

Divine was like a goblin warrior of old. Almost like a mighty orc.

Gobly got a little dreamy. But the thought that he was leading them all to their deaths brought her back to reality.

That had always been one of her weaknesses. She lost awareness when she was intrigued and fascinated.

The other goblins were even more frightened and skittish. Gobly thought about running off.

The snow and the foliage muffled the sounds in the forest, but suddenly there was a loud crack. Sounded like something heavy breaking wood.

A wild hog ran out of the bushes.

It was a mighty animal. Its height reached her chest.

It came at the group from the side. The wild hog just rammed into the goblins.

Two went flying and didn't stand up again.

The other goblins dispersed and ran in all directions.

Gobly hid behind a tree near Divine.

Since the other goblins all hid, the only target left in the vicinity was Divine.

Grunting the wild hog ran at Divine.

Divine stayed calm and drew out his sword.

Gobly wanted to cry out a warning, but swallowed her words when she saw the sword's blade. She had never seen such a good weapon in the hands of a goblin.

The sword was beautiful.

The wild hog came with an unstoppable momentum at Divine.

The hog reached Divine's position running right into him.

For a moment Gobly thought he was dead.

But the the wild hog crashed to the ground after a few steps and showed Divine kneeling to the side, bloody sword in hand.

Now Gobly realized that Divine jumped out of the hog's path and cut its leg.

The wild hog was working on standing up again, but Divine was already on it and drove his sword into the hog's neck.

Divine looked around and met Gobly's eyes only for a moment. But that was enough. She froze and lost her breath.

Gobly knew what she had to do now.

Slowly she stepped out of hiding.

She was the first.

The other goblins came after her.

Divine meanwhile went to one of the two goblins that looked like he got the worst of the wild hog.

Did Divine care about his fellow goblins?

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[+1 Blood Qi Essence]

Divine looked at the other goblin that the wild hog managed to get with its attack.

That goblin was only heavily injured and not dead. A purple bruise on its right side and a broken arm.

The goblin couldn't get back up.

The other goblins either just ignored it or watched from a distance.

Like humans if someone had an emergency on the streets.

Seven goblin followers that can walk left.

Divine counted again. Six goblin followers left. It seemed one more jumped ship.

"Carry prey. Follow." Divine instructed the goblins with a loud tone.

Immediately all six ran over to the wild hog, eager to please him after the fight they just saw.

But no matter how hard the goblins tried they couldn't move the heavy hog at all.

They couldn't even push it from its place. And not because of a lack of trying. The goblins really put their whole bodies into it.

Amused, Divine watched their failure.

Scarface at the front tried with all its puny might to pull the hog at its tusks.

"Go. Move. Push! Pull! Lift!" Scarface motivated the others with increasingly desperate cries.

"Stop!" This wouldn't work and Divine had enough of the show.

Divine took his Dancing Feather Sword and butchered the hog with it.

Head, legs and tail were cut off.

Sine he didn't let the hog bleed out it was a messy affair.

On his order the goblins took out the intestines and organs.

One goblin could carry a leg. At least the distance to the small river should be managable.

Roughly, Divine skinned the legs and the torso.

Then he began cutting the fat and meat piling it on the skin.

When Divine was done he checked on the injured goblin again.

It was unconscious now.

Divine hesitated only a second before he ended the goblin with his sword.

[+1 Blood Qi Essence]

Some goblins shot him fearful looks and the others completely ignored it.

Divine left the two goblin bodies and the wild hog's remains there.

Burying or burning them was too much work and that way he gave something back to the forest and its inhabitants.

Divine didn't have a problem with some animal eating a goblin.

The sun was still up in the sky when the group reached the small river.

The water was ice cold, but not frozen.

Divine drank directly from the river. He thought about boiling the water beforehand, but the water was clear and tasted good.

It was doubtful that he could even get an ordinary sickness anymore with his budding cultivation.

For the first time Divine took the opportunity and studied his goblin face.

He looked like every other goblin. Only his eyes and skin were clearer.

Short black hair grew on his head, but many goblins had hair. Some long some short.

The rest of his face was pretty pointy. His ears, teeth and nose.

Still ugly and foreign to his human sensibilities.

But his looks weren't a priority.

Divine sent the goblins to gather wood and make fire.

He wanted to see if they could accomplish this task.

What were these new lackeys capable of? Or the goblins in general?

He had to use the goblins effectively in the future.

The Lost Tooth Tribe knew how to make fire so they should be alright.

Divine shifted his focus to another main goal of this outing. Throughly washing himself and then donning the Spider Silk Robe.