Andrew pulled a pair of shorts on, leaving both his naughty girlfriends to nap off their thorough punishment. "Had to be done." He muttered with a grin, before finding a quiet place to sit down and try to exchange cores with goblin Andrew.

*I'm thankful I haven't hit puberty yet, or I think I'd hate you, and I've already spent too much time hating myself.* Goblin Andrew sent as he got ready too, the words coming a bit fast due to the time difference.

*When do goblins hit puberty?* Beast Andrew asked.

Goblin Andrew paused. *I honestly have no idea. I'll ask the Shaman later. After our experiment, of course.*

*Of course.* Beast Andrew chuckled, both of them turning their focus inwards.

Goblin Andrew stretched his aura through their connection, reaching for the new ant core, grabbing it, and attempting to pull it over to himself. However, as he tried to pull it through the connection, it got… stuck. Goblin Andrew frowned. He felt that it wasn't that he couldn't pull it through, it was that something else was pulling it back.

Beast Andrew frowned as well as he watched. *Hold on, let me try something.* He sent, before focusing on the core. When he'd lost the core that had become goblin Andrew, he'd taken all the aura out of it. Maybe if he did the same thing, it'd let the core travel through their connection? Either that or the core would simply disappear and he'd be born somewhere new, but… well, he didn't have any other ideas, so why not give it a shot?

As Beast Andrew began to pull his aura out of the core, goblin Andrew noticed that the aura he had around it began to be sucked in. He quickly began to feed more aura over to it, until his aura completely replaced Beast Andrew's aura and the core popped out of Beast Andrew and reappeared inside him. *It worked!* He exclaimed with a cackle. He wasn't going to lie, he'd been missing his wings and carapace. The girls could say what they wished, but the carapace was eminently functional. Plus, who wouldn't want to fly?

*So, we can transfer cores back and forth.* Beast Andrew muttered, considering the possibilities. If abilities stuck with the core, which they seemed to, then if goblin Andrew sent him a core with the system… They'd already shown that skills could be used by either of them, since once one of them knew how to do something, the other did too, and the system seemed to be designed to help people get better and better at using their skills. If they both had it, then they'd have twice the guidance! Well, not twice. With the time difference, goblin Andrew could practice twice as much as Beast Andrew. Plus, Beast Andrew had obligations, such as school… though if he took skills he could use in school, like meditation… eh, whatever. The point was that both of them having access to the system could only benefit them. Goblin Andrew just needed to find something else with the system and steal its core… that might actually be a problem.

"Do animals have access to the system?" Andrew asked the Shaman. If he could just steal a core from a pig or something, that'd be the best option.

The Shaman shook his head. Ah, shit. "Not in the same way you or I do. While animals are capable of leveling up, some even becoming truly fearsome, they have no access to classes or skills, since they haven't achieved sapience. However, the system is nothing if not fair, therefore, to make up for the lack of skills and classes, animals gain extra stats determined by the nature of what they kill. The stronger the creature they kill, the more stats they gain. They are also more easily affected by their environment. If they spend a long enough time around a certain attribute, their energy will naturally shift to match it, meaning animals around volcanoes tend to have fire affinities, while animals around glaciers tend to have ice affinities. So they still have their path to power, just like the rest of us, they simply can't control it to the degree we can."

Andrew blinked. That… wasn't exactly what he'd been hoping for, but it was definitely something he could work with. If animal systems got bonuses based on what they killed… What kind of bonuses could he get for killing Beasts? Plus, if goblin Andrew had an animal system as well as his goblin system, then he could use the animal system to progress quickly, while his goblin system focused on skills! Skills became harder and harder to grasp as he advanced, so if he wanted to be as powerful as he could be, he needed to take things slow. However, an animal system only needed to kill! He'd actually need to get an animal core before he could work out the specifics, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. Advancing as both a goblin and an animal, combining the best of both to be as powerful as he could be… yeah, that had potential.

Still, that didn't solve the issue of how to get Beast Andrew a system core which could use skills. If sapience was required, then it meant he'd actually need to kill a person to get the core, which… Well, that wasn't really an option. He couldn't kill someone just for their core. Maybe if he had to kill them anyway, he could take their core, but people like that didn't exactly fall into your lap, now did they? And if he started seeking them out… he wasn't sure he could condone that. Even if he found someone who did deserve to die, the fact that he sought them out in order to kill them for his own gain felt… icky. There was something innately wrong there, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it exactly. Which meant that, for now, his other self would have to go without a system for skills.

Andrew was studying a bestiary, which he'd borrowed from the Shaman under the excuse of learning what he might face as he explored the wilderness, looking for the best animals to steal cores from. The only animals around the goblin village were farm animals, which Andrew had no interest in turning into, so he needed to find some other options. His ant form had defense and flight covered, so he was focusing on animals that would give him a better form of attack, something like the talons from his Lizard form, except for his feet. He was focusing on leg skills after all. Something like… Andrew stared at the picture of something that looked vaguely like a kangaroo with the torso of an ape and the head and claws of a bear. Andrew imagined adding his carapace and wings on top of all that… utterly terrifying. The problem was, the animal in question was rare, and unless he was lucky enough to find a young one, way too strong for him to mess with at the moment. No, he needed something a bit more practical.

Andrew continued to peruse through the bestiary, considering his options. There were a few predatory birds to consider, their legs displaying some truly vicious talons, designed to grip and tear into their prey. However, they weren't particularly good for moving, which was the entire purpose of legs in the first place. He didn't want to gain an attack just to lose the ability to dodge. Plus, he already had wings. He was hoping for something like an ostrich, or maybe a cassowary, but he couldn't find anything like that in the bestiary, which meant they probably weren't native to the area. Andrew was about to give up and just go for one of the basic predators in the area, like a bobcat or something, when he saw it. The goblinoid section.

The goblinoid section was an entire section devoted to animals with goblin-like, or human-like, traits, and it comprised a large section of the book. There were goblinoid deer, goblinoid pigs, goblinoid wolves, goblinoid bears… goblinoid everything really. They all looked like bipedal versions of whatever animal they were related to. In particular, Andrew's attention was caught by the goblinoid rabbits. A bit smaller than a goblin, they were fast with powerful legs that allowed them to easily maneuver through the forest. A form like that would compliment his skills wonderfully. He just wondered if they were really animals… they were in the book, so probably? But no matter how he cut it, they didn't look like animals. They looked like rabbit people. So Andrew resolved to do some research first.

"You wish to begin exploring?" The Shaman asked a bit incredulously.

Andrew nodded. "My skills are all at the point where training more wouldn't do much. My Walk skill is already over forty, and I don't even have access to the Concentrated Examination skill at the moment. The only skill I can use to gain experience at the moment is my Swift Kick Counter, and playing ball with the others can only do so much. I need to challenge myself, and the best place to do that is outside the safety of the village."

The Shaman nodded slowly. "I suppose this was inevitable, though for it to happen so soon… I must urge you, the wilderness is not a safe place. There are creatures out there that can and will kill you if given the opportunity. I won't let you venture out alone. You will go with a contingent of scouts and you will only face the creatures they allow you to face, understood? This is for your own safety, and I implore you not to ignore their guidance."

Andrew frowned slightly, before nodding. It wasn't ideal, but this was probably the best he was going to get. He'd tried to sneak off in ant form, but he was a lot weaker in this world, so it'd taken him almost an hour just to reach the walls. Getting to the forest where the goblinoid rabbits lived and back would have taken him days, not counting however much time it'd take him to actually find one, since his aura sense still wasn't that great here either. Still, once he was out there, he could sneak off using his ant form then, searching through the night.

It only took the Shaman a day to get a group of scouts together, making sure Andrew had all the supplies he needed before they headed off towards the forest. It was also the first time Andrew had gotten a look outside the walls of the town and it was… about what he'd expected. Farms full of livestock all around, goblins working hard to keep them all fed and cared for. It'd take them most of the day to reach the edge of the goblins territory, where they'd camp for the night before heading into the forest. Andrew spent most of the trip talking with the scouts, asking about what to expect when they reached the forest, which the scouts were glad to talk about. The forest was their life, so they had a lot to say about it.

The point the scouts repeated over and over to emphasize its importance, was the need to stay hidden as much as possible. Don't leave tracks, don't walk out in the open, don't leave any sign of your presence at all if you can help it, because anything you leave could be used against you in some way. Which, Andrew decided, meant the next skill he was picking up after his Class Advancement was Hide. If these guys felt the need to emphasize it while traveling as a group, then if he planned on traveling solo, he definitely needed it. He probably didn't need to worry about actually dying, particularly considering this was his second body, but given his experience when he died to the sniper, he was pretty sure he'd be back at level one, which would be a pain in the ass.

Finally, they reached the edge of the goblin territory, setting up camp a small distance from the forest. The scouts left Andrew to sleep while they took turns keeping watch, which worked out perfectly for him, as moments after he bedded down for the night, he shifted into his ant form and bolted into the forest. It was time to search for some rabbit folk.

Andrew was checking out a pair of weak auras, when he suddenly froze as four powerful auras came into range, almost on par with the Shaman, though still a bit weaker than the Chief. Andrew carefully crept closer, landing on a tree branch above them, before carefully shifting into his goblin form. His ant form wasn't the best for actually seeing things. He carefully peeked through the leaves to see a group of four… humans? They were at least close, though their hoods did a lot to obscure their features. He heard bits and pieces of conversation as the four talked quietly in a language he didn't know around a small fire.

Andrew studied them for a few more moments, wondering what a group of humans would be doing around here, before shifting back into his ant form and flying off to continue searching. He didn't know why humans would be anywhere near goblin territory, but he knew there wasn't anything he could do about it. It didn't take him much longer to find a small group of the rabbit folk. They weren't exactly uncommon, since, well, they were rabbits. It also didn't take him long to realize that yes, they were animals, despite how they looked. Their eyes simply didn't contain the spark of intelligence. Andrew quickly approached the two with the weakest auras, snagged their cores, and flew away with a smile, already happy with how successful his expedition had been.

Now all he needed to do was kill enough to level up three times, and he'd be good to go! While it hadn't been his main objective, he hadn't lied when he told the Shaman he needed to challenge himself. Walk was as good as he was going to get it any time soon, and it was the same with Concentrated Examination. He didn't want to waste any more time before his Class Advancement, if for no other reason than he was bored. The goblins were nice enough, but they didn't really have much in the way of entertainment. Andrew needed something to do, and exploring the wilderness seemed like the best option. The sooner he could get started, the better.

His animal forms acquired, Andrew made his way back to the camp, slipping into his bedroll and clothing, before carefully shifting back so that he grew into his clothes. After making sure everything was settled, he let out a yawn and went to sleep. He'd hand over the other rabbit folk core to his other self in the morning.

Andrew was shaken awake by one of the scouts early the next morning for breakfast. He got up and stumbled over to join them by the fire, munching on the small bowl of meat absently as Beast Andrew sent some aura over, snagging the extra rabbit folk core. "So, what's the plan for today?" He asked one of the scouts, a goblin named Tiltek.

"We know of a few small packs of weaker animals." Tiltek explained. "We'll find them, make sure everything is safe, then let you fight a few. Repeat until you reach your Class Advancement."

Andrew nodded. "A good plan."

Tiltek chuckled. "You aren't the first goblin to need an escort through the early levels, and I doubt you'll be the last. Focusing on your inner sight will pay off in the long run, but it does leave you weak until you can really start to take advantage of it."

Andrew nodded again, sighing as he took a look at his status page.

[Observant Goblin: 7

Strength: 8 > 19

Agility: 16 > 37

Will: 15 > 30

Intellect: 19 > 51

Energy: 14 > 49

Sensitivity: 446 > 465

Class Skill - Insightful Self Examination: 22

Class Skill - Swift Kick Counter: 21

General - (yeah, I'm not listing those. He has lots.)

Skill Points: 0]

His Strength was pathetic. If he hadn't focused on his inner sight and taken Kick at level one instead, his strength would be… Thirty-five. Almost twice what it was, and that was if he hadn't taken any other strength focused skills in that time. Of course, his mental stats would have suffered in exchange, so it was probably worth it, in the long run, but at the moment he was undoubtedly weak. Particularly since he didn't have any way to actually use his mental stats yet. But then, that's where the rabbit folk core was supposed to come in, right?

Andrew turned his attention to the new core, focusing on it with his inner sight. One of the things Andrew had discovered, much to his frustration, was that the animal system didn't actually have a status page. It made sense, he supposed. Why would an animal need a status page? It would only confuse it. Of course, that didn't mean the animal didn't have stats, they just couldn't see them. As Andrew focused on the core, its stats became apparent.

[Level: 0

Strength: 0

Agility: 0

Will: 0

Intellect: 0

Energy: 0

Sensitivity: 0]

A whole lot of useless at the moment, but once he started leveling, that would change. He hoped. He didn't really know how the system would determine experience between two cores, particularly when they were in the same individual. Would both his cores count as a group and split the experience, or would one take priority? He wasn't sure, but the only way to find out was to kill, wasn't it?

After breakfast, the scouts led Andrew into the forest, thankfully in a direction away from the group of people he'd seen the other night. He didn't know what the goblins' relations with other species were like in the world, but he knew that generally in fantasy, they weren't good. That, plus the fact that they were a monster species, meant that if the two groups meant, the odds were there would be… friction, and he didn't know which side he'd be on.

Obviously, at the moment, he was a goblin, and the goblins had been good to him. Better than most humans he'd interacted with, even. He wasn't about to turn around and betray them just because there was a human on the other side. However… as much as he was currently a goblin, he still identified with humanity. His family and his girlfriends were human. He wasn't sure he'd feel comfortable attacking them if it came to that. So he really just didn't want to make that choice. Also, given the auras of those four, if they met this scout group and attacked, the scouts were screwed. They had no way to resist them. So it was better for everyone if they just never met.

As they continued walking, Andrew realized the area they were heading towards was vaguely… familiar. "Okay, there's a small group of Rabbitoids-" Oh, that's why it felt familiar. Also, yes, that's what the goblins called the rabbit folk, but since Andrew considered the name ridiculous, he refused to use it. You couldn't just add '-oid' to everything and call it done! Not that rabbit folk was much better… "-that make their den nearby. Wait here while we scout it out and see if we can separate a young one for you to fight." Tiltek explained, before the scouts melded into the forest and disappeared.

Andrew waited patiently for five minutes. Then ten minutes. Then twenty… "How long does it take to check out some rabbits?" Andrew wondered with a frown.

Suddenly, Tiltek reappeared along with the rest. "We're leaving." He stated in a serious tone.

"Why? What's wrong?" Andrew asked, frowning.

"The Rabbitoids are gone, and there are two dead with no signs of injury or infection." Tiltek explained, frowning seriously. "They appeared to be young and weak, so whatever caused their deaths shouldn't be too powerful, but at your level, it is a risk I am unwilling to take. We will suspend all training activities in this area."

The scouts immediately led Andrew out of the forest, before spending another day trekking across the fields to a different section of the forest. Because obviously if something was killing things without any trace of how, you wouldn't leave your young, vulnerable genius in the area. Of course, the irony that the young genius was the one who caused this situation was not lost on him. *I'm an idiot.* Andrew grumbled to himself as he trudged along for yet another day of walking, which was at least good practice if nothing else. He should have figured the scouts would have him fight the rabbit folk. They were weak and prevalent, perfect fodder for a young goblin. He could have taken the cores after he fought them, with none the wiser. His only method of combat was essentially kicking them to death, so it wasn't like they'd die quick. He'd have plenty of time to take the core. Well, unless he used his knife… actually, he should definitely use his knife. Kicking something to death just seemed unnecessarily cruel. Still, he could have taken the core, then stabbed. But no, he just had to find them immediately and leave suspiciously dead bodies just lying there. Stupid.

And so, after another day of walking, they set up camp for another night, planning on trying again in the morning. They woke up early, ate, and headed into the forest, searching for something to fight. It almost reminded Andrew of the First Hunt, just with a lot more oversight. The scouts found the prey, set up the ideal situation, and only then did they let him fight. Though, to be fair, the Bonded had a built-in safety net, so they didn't need to worry about their safety as much. A bad hunt for the Bonded would just mean their Beats half would get pulled back through the Bond. A bad hunt for the goblins would mean serious injury or even death. Being a little more careful made sense in that situation.

"We've isolated a young deer and run off the rest of the herd." Tiltek explained, gesturing in the direction of the animal. "You are free to fight it as you wish. If you need help, pat your leg like so, and we shall intervene."

Andrew nodded, before slipping into the underbrush, stalking towards the deer. Comparing its aura to his own, he guessed it was around level three or four, which seemed a little low, but he wasn't exactly strong for his level, so he supposed it made sense. He carefully approached, swinging around towards its blindspot, careful not to make a sound before… in a split second dash, he rushed forward, delivering a powerful kick to the deer's back leg! The deer cried out in pain as its leg made a sickening crack, twisting unnaturally as it instinctively tried to run, only to twist the limb even further, causing the deer to stumble and fall as Andrew delivered another kick to its side. Then Andrew was on the animal, his knife flashing as he pierced into its neck and up, hitting the brain, before slashing down into an artery for good measure, the deer's struggles fading immediately as it bled out, or its brain died. Either way, it was dead, quick and clean.

Tiltek let out a low whistle as he approached. "That was impressive." He commented, nodding in approval. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you've done this before. Quick, clean, and efficient, like a true hunter."

Andrew froze. Had he fucked up again? He was used to hunting as a Beast, so he'd simply approached the fight as he would a hunt. But was that how a goblin who'd never left the town would approach a fight? Andrew's expression twisted. Definitely not. He should have been clumsier, more nervous, less… practiced. Not that he could change anything now. He let out a sigh. He was just fucking up all over the place this trip.

Tiltek frowned at him. Why did he look unhappy? Shouldn't he be proud of such a clean kill? Did he think it wasn't clean enough? The deer had cried out, so he couldn't say the kill was perfect, but why would Artek hold himself to such high standards? Tiltek sighed, reaching out to pat Andrew on the shoulder. "It's good to want to be better, but don't beat yourself up too much, alright? It's hard to kill anything without making any noise. Limiting it to a single cry is still impressive, particularly for your first kill. Be proud!"

Andrew blinked. "That- uh, thank you." He mumbled awkwardly. *Just take the win.* He thought to himself.

Tiltek smiled, before signaling the scouts to move out. Two stayed behind to handle the deer, while the rest moved on to the next location. As they traveled, Andrew turned his attention to his rabbit folk core, focusing on it.

[Level: 2

Strength: 6

Agility: 14

Will: 12

Intellect: 0

Energy: 10

Sensitivity: 10]

He grinned. And so it begins.