Prince of The Abyss

”Are you sure this is a good idea?” Kade asked, picking up his pace to keep up with Aether. He was slower than his teacher, which was a bit crazy since he was injured at the moment.

The decision Aether had made was simple: they bought food with all the money they had, and were going to kill monsters for items to sell in the next city, even if it wasn’t in their path to the next shard. Since, by what it seemed, and heard, there wouldn’t be one for a while, in the direction the compass was pointing.

But... how were they going to fight?

’By hitting two birds with one stone.’ They were going to train Kade’s Will, so not only would it help the boy use it, but also get them money.

It was a bit risky, since if something happened, he would have to fight the beasts, and he could hardly hold a blade; his arm shook whenever he did.

Was this what Kael felt like?

He would endure a little pain if that meant that they lived.

Though first, they had to find the monsters to even start the process, but until now, they haven’t found anything. Which made him wonder just how Stormfell worked. It was a place filled with monsters, that was what everyone said, and it was true, just look at the mountains.

But just walking hadn’t gotten them any monsters...

Stormfell felt like a place with many different zones, completely different from each other, so it made him wonder if there were monsters that only lived in those zones, which was why he didn’t find any when he wasn’t in a zone.

’Then maybe we need to find something... maybe a desert? I don’t doubt that one exists here.’

What kind of monsters could they even find in a desert, maybe giant scorpions? With the book being a titan rank, who knew, there could even be beings close to being gods, hopefully not, but there could.

...

Though while they didn’t find a desert, a forest had revealed itself... what kind of monsters would there be inside, though? Wolfs? Would they even be worth something, after all, they are also animals that normally exist.

Well, they would just have to go and see.

...

...

The forest was dense with trees; you could hardly even see anything because of how many there were. He didn’t doubt that someone could have gotten lost in this place, since it was a bit confusing when everything around you was the same. Tree after tree.

If he didn’t count the mushroom forest, this was his second, in this book, of course. It was... different from the one in Veyr, the one where he had found Kael and his dojo... he didn’t know what was different, but it gave him a feeling of danger.

There didn’t seem to be any monsters around, so unless he was getting tricked by his awful awareness again... there wasn’t anything here.

...

But there was, in between many trees, he saw it, a wooden fence...

’Huh?’

It was strange... if it was there, then there would also have to be a village there, but why would there be one here? After all, even if so far he hadn’t seen anything, they were still in the Wilderness. Danger was still there.

Yet as they slowly got closer... Aether saw that inside the small village, it wasn’t people... but goblins.

The fence was the first thing that stood out in their small village; it was also the first thing he saw.

Not because it was impressive, but because it wasn’t.

It’s ironic, isn’t it, how sometimes the worst stands out; it was also the case for humans, as much good as you do, the evil things stand out.

It looked like something thrown together in a hurry. Thin logs pushed into the ground, some straight, most not, tied together with a rope that looked like it would snap if you pulled on it too hard.

But you couldn’t expect some goblins to be as good as humans at building villages, though, if he had to say, a few humans could actually build something better than this. It was... horrible.

There were gaps too, not big ones, but enough that if something really wanted to get in, it wouldn’t have much trouble, so then what even was the point having one if it didn’t do anything to protect... which meant...

It wasn’t for protection.

But rather more like a sign.

This is ours.

Like anyone would want to claim this shithole, goblins were really as stupid as he had read about. And also very egoistical, by what it seemed, to even have the pride to claim something like this as yours...

…

Inside, it was worse.

The ground had been trampled so much that it wasn’t even dirt anymore, just something flat and dark, stained in places where things had been spilled and never cleaned.

He knew that goblins didn’t eat vegetables, only meat, but now, even if they wanted to grow some vegetation, they could never do so. Since their dirt was beyond repair. Bones were scattered around, some small, some not so small, pushed to the sides like they were nothing.

The huts…

If you could even call them that.

They leaned into each other, as if one fell, it would take the rest with it. It made him wonder what would happen if he tried pushing one with his finger, would it fall... would it destroy the whole village?

Branches, mud, scraps, anything they could find. Some had leaves thrown over the top, others pieces of cloth that looked more like they were stolen than made. Terrific...

It was like they had sent some goblins to get materials, and they came back with anything they saw on their small walk.

Nothing matched.

Nothing was built to last.

And yet they lived in it.

Like they were mansions, and their village was one of the richest and best built in all of Stormfell.

Maybe that was the difference between humans and goblins... humans always want to improve, never happy with what they have now.

…

They were everywhere.

Moving constantly, never really stopping. Small, hunched figures rushing from one place to another, carrying things, dropping things, arguing over things.

They really had energy... if they actually knew how to build stuff, they could have been some good workers.

Some dragged sacks across the ground, struggling with them, yet refusing to let go.

’A strong Will, maybe we should test to see if they could awaken a WIll’ Aether chuckled, which confused Kade, because in his eyes, his masters had randomly laughed.

Others crouched around a fire, throwing chunks of meat into it without thinking. One pulled something out too early and just started eating it anyway.

Didn’t even wait.

’It would have been the same thing if he had just eaten it before throwing it on the fire.’

A few started fighting over something shiny.

One had it, holding it tight, while the other tried to rip it away. Pushing, clawing, yelling. Neither of them was willing to give up, even if it wasn’t worth anything.

Further in, a couple was messing with weapons.

If you could call them that.

One kept scraping a blade against a rock, over and over, like that alone would fix it.

Maybe it had seen a human doing so, and though he could also do it.

The other was tying something to a stick, pulling the bindings tight as it would somehow make it stronger.

It wouldn’t.

But they acted as if it did.

...

In the books he read, goblins were smarter... and most importantly, they were creative with their weapons... This didn’t really match his knowledge.

…

One climbed over the fence, dropping down with something in its hands.

It looked around quickly, then ran, keeping low, like it didn’t want the others to see what it had.

So even here…

They stole from each other.

Where would he even go, after all, it wasn’t like there was another tribe nearby, by what he had seen, or not seen.

And he was right, since the goblin returned right away, as if he had completed his escape plan, and no one would know he had done it, or rather, they wouldn’t ask him about it because his plan succeeded, almost like children playing a game.

…

Aether just watched for a second.

...

Could they hunt them? They were monsters after all, and by what it seemed, they were weak, so if something happened, he could try and defend themselves, with either his injured hand or his left hand. None was a good idea, but they were probably enough.

It... was a possibility, actually, it was one that fit all of their criteria, just the one with the money, unless they had stolen something valuable, he didn’t think they were going to get a lot from them.

But at the same time, he didn’t want to waste more time searching.

”I guess were going to be Goblin Slayers today.”