It did not take long for Roy to find the treant, or rather, it did not take long for the treant to find him. Just as he was taking a look around, he spotted what appeared to be driftwood slowly floating down the river, sporting a large wooden eye that seemed to be glancing left and right.

He could not tell if it could not get out of the water on its own or was simply enjoying itself as it wiggled its branches. Roy heaved a sigh as he watched it float by and began wading back into the water to grab it by the roots and drag it onto dry land. He was curious how it got past the goblin but ultimately did not think much of it.

After he deposited the treant out of the water, he began contemplating his next move as he looked from his brand new dagger to the treant. "Why is everything indicating you are dangerous when you look so helpless. Tier six, a dangerous bonus goal yet, you get stuck in water."As he spoke, the treant righted itself and immediately began heading for the water again but stopped right on the edge. It peered down with its eye and incredulously began waving all of its branches. Watching it check out its reflection made the choice even more difficult, as now was probably the weakest and most vulnerable it was ever going to be, but the same was true for him. The question that remained was who was going to grow faster.

It was tempting to just go for it. It was very early in his current life, and the potential reward he might get from its core was juicy. Add onto that the experience he could gain from killing something of a tier so much higher than his own and, there was barely anything left to hold him back.

But there were things. His guide, for one. The interface presenting him with all sorts of information that might give him a clue to get out of his predicament. He had also retained abilities from a previous life, which too was unprecedented. They had the potential to be worth much more to him than anything he might get in his impulsive decision to try and kill the treant.

As such, he relented and ultimately decided to delay his decision until he knew more about the treant. He ran his hand through his slick, wet hair, which was already beginning to dry, and went back to where the goblin had left its two buckets. They were entirely wooden and crude, more like oversized mugs in size, and most likely made by hand than core, unless the maker purposefully imagined them looking like this. He was not sure if that was something he could put past a goblin, with his experience with their kind in other worlds, but he learned a long time ago that even when they appear similar, they are anything but from world to world. Almost like different depictions by varying authors and what they think goblins are like. But one thing that has always been true about them, which the buckets supported, was that they always lived in tribes.

Picking up the two buckets and filling them with water, Roy walked back over to the treant and plopped them on top of its branches as they lacked handles.

"Well, buddy, let's see if you can carry those without spilling. Get some use out of you before I make dinner over you." Just then, Roy had a brilliant idea on how to potentially kill two birds with one stone. "What do you say to a little goblin hunting? Be my little canary when we find them, eh? Sound good?"

The treant's response amounted to it spilling a bunch of water over itself as it wrapped its branches around the buckets, at which point Roy gave it a pitying smile.

"We'll work on that. Let's go fetch the sticks. At least you can carry those."They slowly made their way back to where Roy had descended and, the treant plummeted, as he once again had to drag it to get it to move, spilling the last of the water in the process.

Once they arrived, however, no matter where he looked they were nowhere to be found on the rocky expanse. "You have got to be shitting me. Where the hell did they go?" he demanded as he paced around in frustration, his effort of carrying them down the cliff gone to waste.

His best guess was that a goblin took them, giving him all the more motivation to find their lair, which should hopefully not be too far. Roy decided to begin his search further upstream, making sure to examine the cliff face beyond the expansive bank for any hidden cave openings amongst the red rocks, hedging his bets that it was on the same side of the river the goblin had been on.

His guess proved correct as he very soon came across a wide, yawning opening with a rocky overhand heading down into the earth. There was no indication of anything living within from the outside, but there was nothing to show otherwise either.

Roy silently approached the entrance, leaving the treant behind and holding the dagger at the ready. It was pitch black on the inside, save for a slight, greenish glow at the very bottom that seemed to come from further in. It rippled like light cast from water. He surmised the climb down could be treacherous and getting up even more so, especially if he got chased.

After seeing what he could and hearing nothing for a good while, he retreated back to where he left the treant, only to find it had been spending that time aimlessly spinning itself in circles.

It was not a fast spin, as it seemed to only be able to turn so fast with its roots, but its eye also followed the motion, making it look ridiculous.

"What are you... Nevermind. Enough playing around, it's time for you to go spelunking."Roy grabbed one of its branches, halting it as the eye continued to orbit its trunk and began to drag the wobbly tree to the cave entrance, where he once again promptly tossed it. It clattered down the rocks all the way to the bottom, echoing loudly, and did not stop until it was out of sight, at which point a splash resounded throughout the cave. Roy did not stick around the entrance for long after as the high-pitched yapping of goblins followed soon after.