God Class, page 18
H’Alik eyed him up and down three times before settling her gaze on his own.
“How? How did this happen?” She said, spitting toxins in her words.
“Well… I, sort of, landed under her when she fell. When I pulled my way out, my clothes must have caught below her and-”
“No, fool,” she answered quickly and rolled her eyes. It was a human feature, one that made Silas briefly calmer despite knowing the absolute beating she has given him and most likely would give him again. “Your victory. When my scouts reported that our… trainer had taken you under his wing, I knew my scouts may be surprised by your actions. Yet Imgul was the one who would be crowned victor still. Not you.”
“In contests of stench or sleep, I have no doubts in her skill,” Rae chimed in and waved to the unconscious figure, much to the displeasure of the leader.
She chose to ignore him and continued her conversation with Silas.
“Is this more of your hidden talents, human? Something you have kept from our eyes and minds?”
Silas shook his head in defense. “No, leader. It was luck, and the training of Tulk. The match could have easily ended in my defeat, or even my death.”
“Does he speak truth, Gul’Taka nar?” H’Alik said with a piercing stare at the trainer.
Tulk simply nodded in response, meeting her eyes with his own. The tension between them was so electrifying that Silas could almost feel it.
“Human, I honor the terms of my punishments. You have fought my flock, and I dare say there are few who would openly challenge you in single combat at this time. You may return to your quarters with the filthy one-”
“Hey!” Rae furrowed his brow.
“-but you will return to my quarters at the break of dawn to prove your worth and provide the agreed upon gift,” H’Alik said, ignoring Rae.
She sauntered forward, the scowl crawling into a wolfish smirk that tugged her lips upward and softened her eyes. H’Alik stood before him, eye to eye and close enough that he felt the warm air gust from her flared nostrils. Silas swallowed and tried to remain as poised as he could, despite his less-than-ideal clothing situation and the almost unbearable fatigue after so many hard-fought matches.
“The Gul’Taka nar may accompany you as well,” she whispered just loud enough for the others to hear. “No member of my clan associates with pathetic human dogs and goes unpunished.”
She shoved the canvas sack towards him hard enough to force a step backward, and he raised one hand upward to catch it, then used the bag and its contents as a shield for his exposed lower portion. He gave a nod in acknowledgment, and she turned away with the company of her guards and made way for a particularly hefty cooking pot in the distance of the cavern.
Silas decided not to look at what was being hacked up and thrown into the large pot.
Suddenly, it was silent. The backdrop of burbling stew and crackling campfires were all that played around them. Silas was slowly noticing how cold this place had become, despite the immense heat he had felt from the open flames and the tight pack of bodies. The darkness held the cool air, the cavern walls closed it in, and now without any others near them it blanketed him entirely. Without visually seeing the outside world, he was having trouble recollecting times for himself too, meaning it could be the middle of the night or first thing in the morning; without the smoke hole in their human quarters, he had no clue. Judging solely off of the somber atmosphere and the overflowing stews, he had to assume it was late enough for a dinner of some kind and decided he would signal for the three of them to move.
This time, as Rae and Silas scurried along with Tulk trailing just a few feet behind them, no one escorted them there. It may have been a respect play due to his performance in the fights, or even just an understanding that he had now taken down two commanders, but instead of bringing them to their chambers the majority of the Goblins all sat around the dozen or so stew pots and took their time savoring ladle-fulls of the thick mixtures.
Silas tried not to think about the contents of their meals as they walked by. Instead, he focused on his feet. He only now realized that his soles had been bloodied and scraped, which is funny considering that his couldn’t even stand on them at all a couple days ago. Still, infection was his primary concern, but in the back of his mind he also was concerned about a quick getaway. He had to be quick in the fights, and he would need to be even faster during the escape. Any set back, even cut feet, could be life or death.
More clothing was definitely becoming a higher priority than most people trapped in a fantasy world may think. It was always about finding swords and spells or acquiring some rare weapon in all of the books and games, but Silas really would have wrestled an ogre for a decent pair of socks and maybe some pants. Hell, Silas almost laughed out loud admitting to himself that he would strangle a dragon for a nice set of boxer briefs. Preferably Hanes, but he wasn’t above Fruit of the Loom.
The three walked in silence through the main cavern before Rae took the lead down a corridor that was only vaguely familiar to Silas. Each tunnel was more of the brown and gray stone, more of the flickering torches that always seemed on the verge of going out entirely, and more of the trampled dirt pathways. They passed few scouts who had evening duties, such as patrolling the passageways or replacing the torches, but most just gave scornful glares at Silas as he passed. He chose to take it as a badge of honor rather than an insult.
Somewhere along the way in his brief life, he had begun to perceive insults differently. The pitying gaze of hospital passerby, the awkward laughter of friends or the long silences between casual conversations. Promises of hospital visits, or the look in a loved one’s eyes when they would tell lies about how much better he seemed to be doing. Compared to the passive aggression and false kindness, a few small green creatures wanting to take a shot him seemed trivial, if not just a bit exciting. Instead of swaddling him like a newborn, they saw him as an adversary, someone to be concerned about for his strength rather than his weakness. They didn’t see him as less, as his own friends and family used to; the Goblins saw him as a hated equal.
He grinned at them when they would pass by, which only etched their scowls even further across their faces.
When they arrived at the last portion of the tunnel that ended with the prisoner cavern, Silas noticed that they were not as silent as he had thought. It may have been the crackling of torches or the echoed cackling of Goblins, but Rae had been speaking under his breath and no one had heard him.
It was a rambling, almost incoherent, speech that he seemed to be giving to himself. Silas could only make out brief some words such as “offering” and “captain”, but the rest was mostly gibberish. He almost smiled at the thought of gibberish in this world since Rae could have just as easily been speaking a native language of this world. Though, if this was a game, he very much doubted there would be a ton of human based languages who couldn’t understand; that would just be unfair to the customer.
“Ah, home!” Rae exclaimed as they turned into the smaller cavern.
The straw piles of bedding were just as they had left them, though their meager campfire had smoldered to ash. Overhead, the sun had just began to tuck away leaving a sprawling image of yellows melding into rich, midnight blue. The stars had started to poke out of the blanketed horizon, and a cool breeze snaked its way down from the smoke portal. Cold, gentle air rode over Silas’s skin, and he closed his eyes to welcome it all as it washed over him. The cool gust felt nice over fresh bruises, unlike the damp frigid air of the larger caverns.
Tulk sulked his way inside, avoiding eye contact with the humans, and sat down beside the dead fire pit. He let out sigh and then stared up at the darkening sky as if with a distant longing.
With a chorus of clinking cans and banging pots, Rae began to clear out the fire pit of the solid debris remnants and place in his collection of open cans and cooking pots. The charred remains of logs, twigs, and several stones now surrounded the once mostly clear area around the firepit, and Silas almost pantomimed scratching his head at the strange activity of his new cohort.
Rae was odd, really odd. Silas had thought that since the beginning. But he had made it a point not to intervene or question him too hard. The man was a bumbling mess, or a nutcase, but he scrambled about as if this was previously rehearsed. Still, everything had its limit, and when Rae started shoveling some of their straw bedding into the fire Silas had to stop and question it.
“What are you doing?” Silas blurted, reaching out to stop him. “Hey! Hey, that’s my bed! Stop that!”
Rae had been peering at the hole over their heads and lining it up just right with the containers.
“Rain,” he answered, as if it was a dumb question, all while still stealing pieces of Silas’s bed.
“Rain? It looked like it had been sunny out today, and not a cloud in the sky,” Silas retorted. “And stop taking my bed!”
“Hm,” Rae tilted his head from side to side. “You could infer that, I suppose. But I think it is going to rain because it is going to rain. It is, is it not? Yes, certainly it is. Right? Hmm… What is rain…”
Tulk nodded his head in agreement, cutting off Rae’s rambling. “Rat is probably right.”
“Whatever,” Silas answered, throwing up his hands in defeat and making his way to the straw bedding, restructuring it to compensate for the handfuls that were now missing. He slumped down, telling himself this was just a memory foam mattress that had not been broken in just yet, and tried to find some comfort. “I give in. Not like we can use the fire anyway.”
The straw really chaffed at Silas’s bare backside and the backs of his legs, but he kept the sack he received from H’Alik on his lap along with the [Oiled Leather Satchel]. He’d really appreciate the pants his quest had said he would receive. Absently, he began to unstring the canvas sack while starting conversation with the Goblin trainer. Silas still highly doubted he could trust the old creature fully, but he couldn’t deny how differently the final fight would have went without his assistance.
“Gul’Taka nar…” Silas said, butchering the pronunciation of the phrase and saying it slow enough to allow each syllable enough time on his lips. “That’s what H’Alik called you, right? Is that your full name?”
Tulk shook his head. He retrieved a small, crude dagger from his hip, then a fine stone from a pouch that hung from his belt. The trainer gazed up at the slowly growing sea of stars while running the stone along the length of the blade again and again in a slow pattern.
“Do not say those words, human,” Tulk answered after a long beat. “It is not for you; it should not be for anyone.”
“Oh,” Silas answered, still fumbling with his sack but understanding the weight in Tulk’s words. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to know what it means. Don’t want to offend or anything, but how can I know what not to say if I don’t know… what not to say?”
Tulk sighed, then gave a reluctant nod. “It is… Let us just say it is a term used by our kind to describe those of us that stood on the side of humans, many moons ago. A name used only by those in power and used against my kind as a reminder to the newer generations of the choices we made. Our imprint on history. Tulk is not ashamed, human. Tulk only regrets such a slur exists after all that was sacrificed.”
Silas remained silent for a few moments, contemplating what this meant. He wanted to pry more, wanted to find out what this history Tulk spoke of really was. Silas had seen firsthand how the Goblin trainer was more willing to help him, more willing to associate with Rae too. If there was some type of jaded history between Goblins and Humans then Silas wanted to know as much about it as possible, since it may benefit him in some way given his current predicament. He also wanted to know why Tulk had been willing to help in the first place, but it all seemed like just more salt rubbing into his wounds at this point. He might need Tulk to help him again and pissing off an already pissed off Goblin wasn’t going to earn him any brownie points.
Brownies…
[Invalid Question]
“It doesn’t sound like you’ve always been with this group of Goblins. The Charred Bone clan, right?” Silas hinted toward a line of questioning that he thought Tulk would follow a little easier, while also ignoring his Helper. Silas struggled with the bag, growing a bit frustrated but keeping his cool. “If that is the case, then why are you with this one? Especially if they refer to you with a slang term like that.”
“What is wrong with you, human?” Tulk turned to him with a curious, if just slightly annoyed, flare. “Do you truly know so little?”
“Not from here,” Rae answered for him, adding the final touches to his pit of open containers. “Says where he is from there is not a single Goblin.”
“No Goblins… Is that right?” Tulk raised one matted eyebrow at that. “Valt’s Peaks then? You don’t look like a Tundra-bred of your kind. From memory, I would say you are far too small for that. They build your people much… meatier in the Peaks. Even still, my people have made small settlements on the inland there, so I cannot think of a single place in all of Galleon that do not have some small faction of the Hiisi.”
Hiisi. Silas let the word roll around his thoughts for a moment, realizing it is what their kind must call themselves. He also recalled that he had awoken in a place called the Forest of Hiisi, which now made a lot more sense. His Helper had described it well, even if he had brushed it off.
“It’s not exactly on Galleon,” Silas answered, finally getting the pack open. “I’m from… well, another world?”
Silas allowed the wave of Tulk’s laughter to blow over him as he finally retrieved the items out of the pack. The Goblin could laugh all he wanted to; Silas knew the truth. Soon enough he would either gain new abilities or [Morning Star] would come off of cooldown. If that didn’t prove it, then oh well. At least then he could escape and leave them wondering if he was telling the truth. Silas still didn’t believe he was the only one capable of some kind of magic or power, but if that is what they said then he would go along with them and leave them speechless with his awesome power.
Well, his awesome once-a-month power, anyway.
When Silas reached into the pack, his hands clutched something fabric and he grinned from ear to ear.
Sure enough, he received the prompt that these were the [Linen Trousers] he had been promised. He pulled them out to examine them closer, and with a squint he noted that they showed the stats just as his quest had said, down to the durability and level requirement in thin, golden text. The pants themselves were not much to look at, the material was a bit starchy and was an off-white, cream color woven of thick thread. They were a bit large, with the waist and ankles tapering to a smaller size while the legs themselves slowly plumed out before being cut off with the tightly threaded ankle. To his surprise, there had also been a red sash belt inside of the bag, although it did not have any extra properties; not that anything had stats or enchantments that were anything cool yet. However, just below that there were a pair of what he assumed were boots of some kind, and these did have some stats.
[Canvas Boots. Type: Cloth. Level: One. Quality: Poor. Durability: 22/26. Piece: Feet. Attributes: +1% Physical resistance]
Silas practically raised his fist like in those old 80s sports movies.
This was a new turn of events. Silas was unsure why he would receive something extra when it was not listed as a quest item. Or, why H’Alik would have added something extra for him in general. It didn’t seem like the Goblin leader was that giving of a creature, least of all towards Humans. Not only was it something extra, but it was almost thoughtful in nature. His hospital socks had not made the journey here with him, leaving the soles of his feet open to the bare stone and dirt of the cavern floor. Even most of the Goblins wore thick boots while traversing it, and Silas had to make do with exposed heels that would be routinely cut and scraped while moving around.
While Tulk calmed himself down, Silas decided to throw on his clothes during their distraction. The pants did little for comfort on his bare skin, the fabric was rough and scraped his body when he brushed against it; the idea of them being so large and roomy was beginning to make sense. The belt was almost a necessity as the pants nearly dropped the moment he stood up, and he pulled the red sash through the two hoops on either side of the pants waist then tied it in a large double knot at the front. Silas decided to keep the shoes off for now, instead hoping to use some of the rain that the other two seemed so sure of to clean his bloodied and dirtied feet.
Despite the discomfort, he had to admit he felt much better be clothed. The attribute perks weren’t too bad either, and might even offer him some amount of protection should he need to fight again.
“Looks like we got ourselves a new emperor then,” Tulk said when he simmered down. “Heard the scouts mention you even did something strange to Prakz too. The stars, they are aligning.”
“The stars, they are aligning!” Rae echoed, and the two shared a sarcastic smirk. “If I do not hear that for the rest of my short, miserable life it will still have been too recent. When was the last time he stepped into this forest?”
“He does not approach our territory. Not yet,” Tulk answered, his tone altering to something a tad more serious. “If he forgets our kind altogether it will be a blessing.”
“He does not forget,” Rae barked in response. “You know that as well as I do. And, once he gets around to it, I am almost positive he will schedule a nice visit. I should only wish that even a single tree is left standing… the bastard…”
Silas felt a bit left out of the conversation, not really understanding who they were speaking of. He understood well enough that it was the emperor, but emperor of what? This continent? The forest?
“So, this emperor…” Silas trailed off, choosing his question carefully. He needed to know about this world, and so far, all he knew was that Goblins suck and tree monsters are a thing. “What can you tell me about him?”
