Chapter 3: Goblins and Slimes

"Well I'll be damned. I actually gained a level…"

Charlie, sitting on the wooden railing of his temporary tree house, was inspecting his statistical leather scroll. The scroll hadn't changed in appearance, but the content written inside was miraculously different from what he had seen yesterday. Charlie grinned, his shoulders twitched in excitement.

I can actually get stronger! YESSSS!

He practically screamed in his mind, but still let out a quiet hiss of excitation. 

Although his core stats - strength, dexterity and the like, haven't seen any adjustment, his Hit Points, or rather life force - has increased to 18. He didn't know how high 18 was in terms of HP, but yesterday, his meager 11 HP could only withstand two arrows from the goblin archer before he fainted. 

The scroll had other major changes. A brand new section was sketched out, titled "Spells" - this had made Charlie go into overdrive. The excitement of a mere human like him being able to use magic is unthinkable. But currently, the spells sector was completely empty except for a "0/2" inside brackets. 

This might be… my maximum spells count. two , huh… So I have to learn magic before being able to use it. Neat.  So I might have to find someone that can teach me magic… I think I should ask Liam.

Next, he skimmed through the Adventurer's Handbook, picking up some useful tips on how to traverse the land, how to scavenge and gather for foods in the wild and what should an adventurer equip when going out. He also learned that adventurers who cast spells also get tired through the concentration to manifest magical changes to the physical world, so all spellcasters can only cast a few spells per day before requiring to rest. Moreover, casting spells might require some special materials, although most adventurers can go through a focus ritual to use a single item medium for spellcasting. 

When the sun has finally pierced the thick foliage and warmed the air, he decided to buy some equipment with his current gold with 2 goals in mind: First is to gauge the price level of items in this world and how much would 10 gold purchase, second is he wanted to buy some sort of protection and a secondary weapon besides his longbow. Wandering the busy town, he couldn't resist the alluring smell of a wholesome dish of fried sausages and mashed potato for breakfast, with just a meager 1 silver in price. When he paid with 1 gold, the change he received was 9 silver, so Charlie successfully figured out the denomination of the coins, and the price of a hearty meal. Maybe his meal was quite unnatural too because most villagers he saw only ate white bread with some soup, and with a keen observation, he saw what was paid for such a meal is 2 copper, which is 1/5 the price of his meaty and fulfilling dish.

The general store had just what he wanted: a wide variety of mass-produced equipment ranging from metal plates, chain shirts to short swords and spears. However, he was soon discouraged by the price tag of each item: they were far beyond what he could pay for at the moment. A chain shirt would set him back 50 gold pieces, while a shield would cost him 10 gold. Seeing his saddened state, the store's proprietress - a middle-aged human lady with hazel hair, giggled and asked "What are you buying, young man?"

"I wanted a shield, or maybe a small blade of sorts, but it would seem that a shield is far beyond what I can scoop up currently…" Charlie awkwardly smiled. 

"Mmmm… How much can you spare?"

"9 gold, at most." He said, wanting to save the 9 silver to buy food and other emergency items "It's okay miss, I'll come back sometimes later. For now, I'll buy this."

Charlie setted a long dagger, scabbard and all, on the counter before the shopkeeper. He needed a bladed weapon, for close quarter combat if the situation arises. The proprietress slightly cocked her head to the side with a slight smile, using a metal shear to snip off the price on the sheath and let out a long "Mmmmmm"

"Now now, young adventurer" She said while pulling out a round, metallic object from the display above the counter. Her hair gently brushed Charlie's cheek when she reached upward, which prompted him to take a step back and slightly blushed. "I can not allow you to go out there under-equipped, can I?"

She snipped the tag off of the object, which now Charlie can see that was a round shield. The shield was made of metal on the outside and fitted with leather on the inside. There was also a strap and a handle, which he recognized as two ways of wielding the shield: by holding the handle or by strapping it onto his shield arm. 

But…

"I.. I can't possibly pay for that, miss…" he fumbled, holding his hands out.

"Don't worry." She smiled, "I'll let you have both of these for 9 gold."

"But.."

"No but! I never let anyone run off with my goods before, young man. The rest, you can pay whenever you have enough, okay?" 

She putted her hands on her hip and smiled

"This is the frontier town! You must be fully prepared, or you will die in a ditch. Now go on, I don't have all day for you."

As if she knew the longer Charlie stood there, the harder he would try to return the shield. She shooed him and immediately helped out a dwarf, who was patiently waiting for his turn. The dwarf grinned, his long, bushy beard moved "Don't argue with lady Emi, human kid. Even us dwarves aren't as hard headed as her! Gyahahaha…" 

"Alright I'm raising the price, Thravruck."

"Oi…"

Charlie busted out laughing at the dwarf's immediate tone of voice change, as if the frail human shopkeeper could trump a muscular dwarf. He was immensely thankful for the generous proprietress, strapped on his shield and pulled out his leather scroll to see the change. In the small square next to his name, the AC - his armor class - slowly melted away to reveal an increased number: 14. An increase of 2 AC, just by equipping the shield. Now, he can block any attacks and even projectiles to save his body from harm.

He tucked his dagger to his side, and started walking towards the Guild hall. He was equipped enough, his level counted 2, and he can now utilize his longbow with a respectable accuracy.

He was ready for his first quest. 

The Guild building was busy, as usual.

"Ah.. Mister Charleston!"

Charlie was startled. He wouldn't have thought anyone would call out his name right after he set his foot into the hall. It was the receptionist who he registered with yesterday - she was probably in charge of him, as his current supervisor, he thought.

"...Yes? How can I help?" he walked towards the counter

"Ah… Master Liam asked you to kindly join the goblin exterminating party." The receptionist smiled professionally and pointed to the corner of the restaurant. Charlie followed her hand and saw a group of 3 adventurers, who were also observing him. "He recommended you to that party"

Charlie nodded and thanked the receptionist before making it to the table. He was thankful that Liam had cared for him and found him some jobs, but he was skeptical if he could take on goblins yet. Moreover, the anxious feeling of meeting new "coworkers" as a newbie was also weighing on Charlie's shoulders.

The party of three consisted of 2 iron adventures and 1 copper. After a brief introduction, Charlie committed their names and skillset to his mind.

Elluin Xilwynn, the female iron-ranked elven archer, dressed in similarly styled outfit as Charlie and equipped with a longbow.

Harrison Gondorbrand, the male iron-ranked human warrior, covered with chain shirt and a layer of cured leather armor. He was equipped with a battle-worn greataxe.

Roselie of the Tressel family, the female copper-ranked human cleric, serving the God of Birth and Renewal, Lathander. She wore a thin priest vestment and wielded a metal staff, whose head was an artistically carved symbol of Lathander: A road traveling into a sunrise.

And it was his turn to introduce next.

He introduced himself as Charleston, a Ranger. But that was all, he didn't know much about his skill and ability yet, but the party was friendly and didn't try to pry, saying that anyone with Liam's approval was trustworthy.

And soon, they were all ready to set off. Charlie bought a day's worth of ration for 5 silver pieces from the receptionist to replace which he ate last night. The receptionists of the Guild sell all kinds of items for merchants and artisans and take a portion as commissions. One could procure all kinds of adventuring tools, potions and trinkets from the Guild, for a price, of course.

Charlie followed the exterminating party to the western gate of the village: the gate leading to the Smyrcymenai river and the forest where he encountered the goblins.

"So, have you guys taken on these slaying quests before?" Charlie asked while the party walked past the gate

"We have taken on many slaying quests before" The elf archer answered "Giant rats, flying snakes, bandits"

"Sometimes zombies and skeletons, too" The Cleric girl giggled "When careless adventurers don't report to the church about slain humanoids, the bodies get turned and undeads would wander and cause trouble to farmers and travelers."

"And you, Charleston?" The knight asked "The Guildmaster recommended you to us, so you would be a big shot, huh?"

"No, no no no… you couldn't have been more wrong!" Charlie immediately disputed the false information and told the party his story, about how he naively called out to the goblins, about how the goblin archer almost killed him, about how he became the savior of an elf child. "Moreover, I'm just a copper ranked like you, Roselia." He held his adventurer tag up.

"Oh wow, so you actually bought enough time to save the kid huh."  Elf archer said "I'm a friend of master Eltoar. You saved his child, you are my friend too."

"Yea dude, don't worry about it. We all have our unlucky days." Harrison laughed out loud, but he didn't mean any harm. "Now we are going to take our revenge on these smelly bastards."

The party traveled for half an hour, bantering and swapping information before Charlie suddenly stopped at an opening in the treeline. He could see small footprints with 4 toes, tracking mud all over the road. He was surprised at his keen observation because he never would have noticed such tracks back in his old world.

Probably because of my Ranger innate skills that I can track these.

"What's wrong?" The knight asked, half pulling his sword out while lowering his stance

"Tracks. Goblins." Elf Archer said "Good eyes"

Now, the whole party ready up weapons, bracing for the upcoming battle. Charlie held an arrow in his right hand, slowly tracking the prints and leading the party deep into the forest.

"Hey Elluin, cover me while I focus on the tracks" He quietly said before he was surprised of himself for being able to naturally call out to his ally.

"Leave it to me!" the elf answered enthusiastically.

The party slowly went inside the forest, the air was moist and cold and smelled of moss, of morning dew and of decaying leaves. The foliage was thick enough that the sun couldn't fully illuminate the ground even though it's morning. After some time, Harrison the human knight called out "Hey, we're right on track. This is a mound of trash from a goblin cave, for sure."  He pointed at a rotting pile, bones and leather and all kinds of refuse were stacked up, covering the side of a boulder. "We're close…"

It was then a loud, rattling noise on the trees ahead caught the whole party by surprise. Charlie quickly gazed up and saw a goblin standing on a branch. Its face was smirking, its eyes dull yellow. It was pulling on a rope, causing metal helmets, buckets and some kind of sticks to make a loud commotion.

"Alarm!" Elluin called out "We're spotted! Everyone stay close!"

"Charleston, Elluin! Ready your bow and pick them out afar. I'll tank and hold them at bay. Roselie, protect and heal the party when need be." Harrison took the lead and stepped forward, raising his greatsword. He took a vial of light yellow potion and down it in one gulp.

"Understood" "Yea" The elf archer and Charlie answered, already pulling on the bowstrings.

Roselie's staff was thrusted upward and then plunged into the dirt. She held aloft a silver hand mirror and chanted quietly but audible to her party: 

"O Great Lathander, the mother of the never ending cycle, grant your children your protection. Sanctuary!"

The silver mirror shone a ray of warm light onto Harrison, it was a divination spell protecting a target from attacks, prompting a "Thank you" from him. Then the loud battle cry of the goblins caught the party's attention. Loud yelling, cursing and weapon clinking.

"At least 10 are coming ahead!" Elf archer said, her ear moving up and down. She released an arrow, immediately piercing the head of the guard goblin on the tree branch. It fell down and made a sickly splash on the ground.

The goblins were now visible, running towards the party with murderous intent. They growled and yelled, holding their weapons aloft, pushing bushes apart to try and catch the party. Most of them were holding crude weaponries, stone hatchets, rusty shortswords, or simply shortbows. Charlie let loose two arrows into the crowd, instantly skewering two goblins on the head and throat. Their blood spilt out, but the horde kept on approaching. Goblins were simple creatures. Adventurers to them are nothing more than invaders who must be killed and caught and tortured. If their allies were slain, they would take revenge on them.

Harrison grunted and swung his sword, crushing the torso of one. Arrows and stones hit him, but couldn't get through the protection spell from Roselia. 

The party clearly had advantage, steadily picking out goblins left and right. The pungent smell of blood permeated the air. 

"What is that?" Elluin cried out, shooting down a goblin holding some sort of cauldron. The black container fell towards the party and spilled out a green liquid. "Acid attack?"

The liquid was strangely viscous as it held its shape when the cauldron rolled on the forest floor and released its content. Almost as if it was not a liquid in nature…

"No! It's a slime!" Roselie yelled "Don't let it touch you, Harrison! 

The Slime crawled towards the party, whipping its almost invisible tendrils in the air and made whooshing sounds, threatening the party. The dried leaves on the ground were instantly melted in contact with the green ooze, as well as the unfortunate goblin corpse on the ground.

An arrow pierced the gelatinous blob without much effect and immediately broke down, releasing smoke and sizzling noises. "It's not hurt by my arrow!" Elluin called out, shooting her shot over the oncoming goblins.

Suddenly, Charlie felt a burning sensation on his cheek. The slime's tendril caught him by surprise and burned a patch of his skin.

"Guh!"

He was frightened and missed his arrow shot before frantically taking a step back. 

Arrows didn't work, so it might be safe to assume that slimes are immune to piercing damage.

He picked up a fist-sized stone and threw it as hard as he could, easily hitting the creature. A sick suction sound, part of the slime exploded and splattered onto a nearby bush, immediately burning some of the leaves. The rest of the slime kept on approaching the party as if not bothered by the attacks.

"Anyone know fire or ice magic?" Roselie asked, slamming her staff on a goblin's head to stop it from flanking Harrison. The goblin was quickly finished off by Elluin arrows, one well placed arrow in between the ribs.

"I don't think so, let's all move together and fight the goblins for now. The slime is slow so we will deal with it later!" Harrison ordered, and the party immediately advanced to the left, leaving the slime to its own device.

  Another wave of goblins rushed to greet them. Charlie blocked an arrow with the shield fastened on his left arm and counter attacked with a shot. The arrow pinned the goblins into a tree in its torso. It twitched and let out a pained death cry.

He crouched down, held his longbow sideways and released two more arrows, picking off two goblins that tried to flank Harrison the human knight. "Whoa there, careful not to tag me, whoever just shot!" He yelled when the goblin he was kicking got skewered right after his foot left the creature's face.

Elluin quickly jumped on a tree trunk and bounced off of it. While still in the air, the elf archer shot off three arrows, quicker than the eyes could see and claimed another three goblins. A most impressive feat, but to the Elven race, master of archery and caretaker of the forest, that was merely a small trick.

It was quick and violent. The goblins were not prepared for the onslaught the party brought upon them. Some of the goblins did manage to get close, but their hatchets and pickaxes couldn't reach Harrison thanks to Roselie's divination spell. The knight forcefully pushed them back with his greatsword when they were close, and punched and sliced and kicked them. Charlie's shots were more or less accurate, instantly killing off his targets or severely disabling them, rendering them useless. Elluin gracefully picked off the goblins one by one, none could even hide from her. She shot through bushes, curving shots around trees and some arrows were even ricocheted from trees into the back of goblins head. If one didn't know an elf shot those arrows, one would assume it was magic. Roselie kept a lookout on the party's back, swinging her staff to keep back any flanking goblins and calling out to Charlie or Elluin to finish them off. 

Less than 10 minutes later, Charlie's quiver was empty: he had used up 20 arrows already. He picked up a stone hatchet on his right hand and pulled out his dagger on the left hand. The goblin horde slowed down and he could count at least 20 bodies scattered in the forest. 

A sword came down on his shield, sending a numbing sensation on his left arm. But he leaned forward, pushing out his shield to the left and forcing the goblin to open up his defense. Charlie brought the hatchet down onto the creature's head, crushing its skull. The sensation was … vile, to say the least. Bone cracking, flesh rending, it was a churning sight. He swung once, twice, the goblin fell on the ground. But he had to make sure. Another swing, his right hand and torso dyed with blood and brain matter. He left the hatchet still plunged inside the creature's head and picked its short sword up, slowly retreating back to the party. 

33.

That was the number of goblins slain by the party. But they were not done. They must find the goblin's nest to completely exterminate the pest. Goblins breed quickly and grow quickly. A female goblin can give birth to 3 baby goblins, which will reach maturity in less than 2 weeks. Left alone, a goblin colony can raid the town with their overwhelming number sooner or later when their food runs dry.

"Whew…" Harrison flicked off the blood and fleshy matter on his blade before using a piece of cloth to clean the fat on the edges. Charlie remembered the Adventurer's Handbook tip: Fat and blood can stick to your blade, rendering it dull and ineffective. Always remember to clean your blade thoroughly to maintain the sharpness and efficiency. 

"Let's clean up here, regroup and look for the nest."

"Oh, I have to collect some of my arrows back" Charlie nodded "I ran out"

"Then I'll restring my bow. I accidentally broke a fiber or two. You'll pray right, Roselie?"

The cleric girl nodded, kneeled down without worrying about her dirtied white vestment and started to pray for the goblins' souls to rest peacefully and return to the Life and Death cycle to rejoin the world. Charlie wanted to voice his question: "Why should we pray for the monsters?" as he plucked an arrow out of a goblin who was slashed in half horizontally. But he did not, for he felt it was somewhat rude and also, he still felt a distance from his party.

And as if she sensed Charlie's eyes peeking at her time to time, Roselie smiled and flicked a handful of salt onto the ground and explained tenderly:

"As I said before, corpses would turn into zombies if left unchecked. Most parties would solve this by buying service from the church or collecting the bodies and burning them. But I feel like… paying respect to the dead is not a bad thing too, don't you think, sir Charleston?"

"... Yeah…" He replied, his eyes widened in respect of the elegant cleric girl.

But the party forgot something important amidst the battle: The slime. 

It didn't show up earlier because it was busy eating. Its meal - the corpse of the goblins littered on the ground. Slimes are unintelligent creatures, they follow the heat to find their next meal, and will prioritize available food nearby before looking further. Some slimes would throw themselves off cliffs into lava lakes, mistaking the heat below as living creatures.

And today was a great day for this particular slime. It's been multiple days since it was captured by the goblins inside a strange cauldron that would not melt. They kept it as a pet of sort, feeding it scraps of rotten meat, bones and on some lucky days, the goblins would stick a living adventurer's limb in it to torture. It didn't have any complaints, except for the tight cauldron limiting its size. But now, it was free, and there was food everywhere.

The slime, melting off the nutritious flesh of the unlucky goblins and spitting out the hard equipment and bones, grew double in size. It was now as tall as a human adventurer, and it wanted more food, to fulfill its basic goal of reproducing more slimes.

It slowly crawled towards the moving heat ahead, completely melting the bushes nearby. It absorbed another goblin before Elluin finally noticed the strange sizzling. 

"Roselie!" She frantically yelled, she was surprised, but still able to shoot off two tentacles "Run! The slime's behind you!"

Perhaps it was a miracle, perhaps it was just the luck of the dice roll, for the cleric girl to miss the whipping tendrils by hair length. She practically rolled and crawled to take cover behind Harrison the knight while whimpering in surprise. "Wahhh how is it so big now?"

"Curses!" Elluin rushes over to join the party "It must have grown consuming the goblins. I heard a wizard saying that slimes and oozes can grow bigger when they eat."

"What happens when they grow bigger?" Harrison raised his greatsword "Would they grow endlessly?"

"No. They would multiply." the elf grunted as she nocked an arrow into her longbow.

"Then we will have to kill it now." Charlie gritted his teeth "But arrows do nothing to it"

"I know!" Roselie said "We can kill it with fire or ice magic!"

"None of us can do that yet! We don't even have any magic items." Harrison carefully dodged a tendril and immediately cut it. The separated piece fell on the ground and melted into a puddle of inert material, but not before disintegrating the leaves under.

"We can also kill it with harsh sunlight or the divination magic Light. But the holy Lathander didn't bestow me with Light." Roselie murmured. It was not that she felt ungrateful toward her revered goddess, it was because she regretted not asking for the spell when she commenced her growth ritual.

"The branches are too thick for the sun to shine down" Charlie said, looking down from the foliage "I have an idea.

"Any of you got alcohol?" 

Harrison gave Charlie a bottle of distilled spirit used in treating wounds, to which he popped the cork off and stuffed a piece of cloth that the knight used to wipe his sword earlier. He was making a makeshift fire bomb. He was lucky that the spirit was the strong type and not grape wine.

"Stand back, guys. This thing will explode" 

Charlie used the flint and steel included with the torch to light the cloth on fire, and after confirming that his party members were standing at a safe distance, he threw the bottle. It slammed onto a tree before the slime, just barely higher than its height, and gravity did the rest of the job. The alcohol spread out and covered the whole slime, immediately caught on fire, setting the entire creature ablaze. The slime thrashed and whipped its tendrils around, but the tendrils quickly lost strength and melted into the ground, alongside with the rest of the monster.

"What in the fiery nine hells was that?" Harrison's mouth was agape "That looked like a fireball spell from the wizards and sorcerers!"

"Most impressive, Charleston, sir!" Roselie clasped her hands together "I didn't even know that wine can be used like that."

"Mmm as expected" Elluin nodded approvingly "Master Eltoar and the Guildemaster chose him, after all."

The party waited several minutes for the fire to die down, making sure no embers were left to protect the forest, and then moved on.

Quickly, Charlie tracked and found the goblin cave. It was a natural crater, multiple trees were uprooted and created a natural roof for the large dent in the ground. A fantastic nest for the green ground delving creatures. There were 2 goblin warriors left in the cave, which were quickly dispatched by the party's archers.

Hidden deep inside the crater was a dug out room, and in the room were multiple goblin children. All four of the adventurers knew they must be dealt with, leaving any goblins left will only spell trouble for the future.

Goblins are simple creatures, but they do possess intelligence, however dumb they are. They will remember those who destroyed their nest, they will live on, carrying out their revenges on innocent villagers. And some of them might live long enough to become a shaman or a champion and lead a new nest to raid an unfortunate village.

The goblin exterminating party returned to the frontier village of Serepike, having slain 43 goblins including children and 1 green slime. Victorious and successful, or so they deemed themselves. Charlie thought it was quite impressive, but considering what the other adventurers have brought back before, he did not celebrate too much.

There wasn't too much valuable loot inside the cave except for the ruined equipment and remains of some unfortunate adventurers. Roselie prayed for them after the party had taken what they could. Harrison the human knight took a golden ring from the bauble pile of the goblins, Elluin the elf archer pocketed 2 palm-sized gemstones and Roselia the human cleric retrieved 3 beat-up tomes, citing they might have been valuable books stolen from traveling merchants. For Charlie, he took the most interesting piece of equipment he had seen in this world: a hand gun. It was made from a metal chassis and covered with well-made wooden casing, but there were bite marks and scratches all over the gun, revealing the crude treatments from the goblins. There were no gunpowder kegs or any type of ammo around, but the gun alone would be a great haul for Charlie. The four cleaned their armor and clothing up at a communal well next to the church and retrieved their reward from the Guild. 100 gold pieces, 25 each. The guide receptionist shared with the party that one of the merchant guild members has put up the reward themselves, to avenge for their own.

"He would be satisfied to hear the result." The receptionist said with a smile. "He would love to retrieve the unfortunates himself."

And then the party crashed the Guild's restaurant, eating grilled meats and hearty stews and refreshing fried fish, drinking mead and ale and grape wine before retreating back to their stay. A well deserved meal for a well done quest.