Chapter 56: Goblin Cave, Part 3

Chapter 56: Goblin Cave, Part 3

A battlefield. Bodies, blood, and gore everywhere. Losses were immense, but only for one side. A single warrior, weaker in numbers and strength, emerged victoriously.

Gerald slowly walked toward his opponent. On the way, he collected his fallen Earth Crystals and Fire Sword. He came before the Hobgoblin. All of its aggressiveness was now gone. It lay there, quiet, in a pool of its own blood, pinned to the ground by multiple Stone Bolts.

Suddenly, the Hobgoblin opened his eyes. frightening Gerald so he jumped back on instinct.

"Damnthis thing is still not dead." He pulled out his sword and slowly stepped closer.

The Hobgoblin coughed a mouthful of blood and then spoke in a raspy voice, "Well done, human. You beat me. But don't think this is over, haha" he laughed, but then coughed blood again.

"You might have killed my kin here, but we will be back. You can't escape your destiny. Just because you humans rule the world now you think you are special. You think you are strong. Let me tell you something. You are nothing. You are worth less than a speck of dust."

"Your magic might have bested me, but there are those that all of your kin combined can't even scratch, much less kill. Haha" The Hobgoblin laughed again and coughed blood, again.

Gerald looked at him in disgust and asked, "Are you done?"

The Hobgoblin grinned and said, "You are the first and the last human I have ever spoken to but that won't change anything. You will die like the rest of your pathetic race, just you wait And yes, I'm done. Finish me now, would you?"

Gerald lifted his swordand then slowly lowered it back down. He was just looking at the Hobgoblin.

"What are you waiting for? Finish me!" The Hobgoblin was now getting irritated. He was not afraid of death, but the emotionless face of this human was slowly growing a smile. It was creeping him out. New novel chapters are published on

Gerald stabbed the sword into the ground and took out a few Healing Potions. He opened them up and then emptied the contents on the motionless Hobgoblin.

"Pah! What are you doing? You crazy bastard, finish me already!" the Hobgoblin nervously roared. He was getting freaked out by this unusual turn of events.

Gerald completely ignored him and instead extended his hand above him, "Heal."

"???" The Hobgoblin was now totally freaking out. He was not stupid and he understood that he was not getting healed because the human wanted to help him. More likely, the human wanted to torture him, keeping him at the edge of death.

Indeed, as he predicted, Gerald once again took the sword and then stepped on a Hobgoblin's hand. He lifted the sword high, and with a swift move, he cut off the Hobgoblin's hand.

"Aarrgh! You bastard! Cowardly human! Curse you and your whole family!"

Gerald completely ignored his screams and he once again wore an expressionless face. "Fire," he said.

When he finally came closer and saw what was there, he almost puked. There were seven Goblins, the size of a cat, slowly eating with gusto. Even without the revolting stench, the sight was just too horrible to see.

What the Goblins were eating was a young girl, probably not even in her twenties. Such a young life, taken, just to suffer and then give birth to these monsters. Gerald was revolted by the sight, but he just couldn't turn his eyes away from her.

She was completely naked and most of her torso was already gone. Only the bones, sticking to each other, were left. The small Goblins were currently gnawing on her legs, completely uncaring about his presence.

The top part of the girl's body was still intact. Her face saved her last moments of pain and agony.

Her skin was contorted in a horrific way and her eyes were wide open in fear.

Upon closer observation and based on the eating speed of the Goblins, Gerald figured that she was dead for one or two days at most. Even if he came a few days sooner, she was already destined to die a long, long time ago. There was nothing that could be done to save her. He leaned closer and slowly closed her eyes.

He sighed and went to gather a few bones lying around the cave. He gathered them in front of the girl and lit them on fire. Then he slowly backed away, keeping the fire in his sights. The cave curved, so he went as far as he could, while still watching the flames.

He then took a big breath and took a combat stance, his hands in front, like he was holding a basketball. A flame ignited, expanded, and then got compressed, this happened three times.

"Greater Fireball!" Gerald opened his fingers and the ball of flame left his palms as if it shot out of a cannon. He took a few steps back to stabilize himself and then he heard the distinct Boom.

Hot air and light rushed past his face but he didn't even blink. The anger in his heart was so great that he couldn't even express it. "Rest in peace," were the words he whispered before he turned around and left.

This was the reality of this world. If you were weak, you would be a meal for someone stronger. apart from a few safe havens inside city walls, the wilderness was dangerous, with monsters lurking around every corner.

He left the burning cave and gathered his stuff. He went to the edge of the forest and picked up his herb sack. Then he looked at the position of the sun that was already starting to go down and went on his way.

He washed his body in the river, before returning to the city. The evening festivities and songs didn't budge him, as he was in his own world. Many people gave him weird looks, he was full of cuts and bruises, with torn clothes full of blood.

He ignored them all and went straight to the Guild's reception desk. Luna was there as usual and she tried to talk to him in her usual cheerful way. He did not respond. His eyes were empty, sad, and lonely.

He took the trophy pouch and placed it on the counter. People around were, of course, curious and many came closer to see. The shock that everyone received when they saw the contents was immense. Especially when the Hobgoblin's tail came to light.

Luna tried to talk to Gerald and ask him questions, and so did everybody else, but he ignored them. He just said, "I'm tired."

Luna understood that he didn't want to talk about what happened, and based on his sorry figure, it was probably not pretty. She gave him the deserved reward, ten silver for each Goblin and one gold coin for the Hobgoblin.

Gerald grabbed the money and stuffed it into his pocket and then walked to his room like a zombie. It was a hard day for him, both mentally and physically. He was completely spent, with not even a drop of energy left.