Chapter 31: Warmth

Dawn opened his heavy eyelids. Due to the heavy build-up of the tension and the excitement on his body, he passed out and needed Karkas to carry him back to the village.

It seems there was quite a racket after learning that the king has fallen even after Karkas explained what happened.

The ceiling of his house was the same no matter where he stayed. The wood that made up most of the materials used for the house and the leaves that the goblins gathered to create a makeshift door, it was a quite a normal sight.

Lifting his upper body, he noticed that no one was around him. It was quite a new experience to Dawn as every time he woke up, Karkas or Didi or even the Elder was there.

After taking in that no one was around, he smelled something. The aroma of the food that was delivered while he was sleeping was teasing his nose. Looking at it, there he saw meat with a bit of a blood stuck on it. Messy as it was, the goblins probably did their all to make this clean.

There, Dawn gave a rare smile. It was a smile but his blackish eyes that seem to have no whites made him look creepy. Even if one wanted to tell what was going on, his face was just unreadable.

Even Dawn doesn't know that he smiled. Whether he's happy because of what happened yesterday or because of the food given to him by his subordinates, the smile was still plastered on his face.

Then his mouth soon formed an O shape and made a sound.

"Oh! Isn't this a new type of meat?"

Goblins are goblins. He knew what kind of meat it was judging from the smell and the looks of it. After inspecting it with his eyes, he picked it up. His jaws opened up and from there, fangs and the like could be seen. Bringing the meat to his mouth, Dawn ate.

Munch. Munch.

The meat didn't have a single bit of resistance as it was easily torn apart by the sharp teeth of Dawn. The greasy oil and blood gave flavors to the meat, making it different from the norm. Dawn didn't hate the new food however he found it strange. He couldn't quite put it to words that strangeness he was feeling so he just pushed it to the corner of his mind.

Finishing up his food, he walked towards the leaves that serve as the front door of his lodging. The cold land could be felt with his feet as he walks.

There, Dawn stopped his feet mid-air as he tilted his head. He thought.

---Come to think of it, when I try to sleep, the cold doesn't get to me. But here I am, feeling it...Strange.

Due to him being a high ranking goblin, he had a resistance to the elements but it wasn't strong enough to block it off at all times. But he remembered how every time he wakes up and walks, the land feels cold no matter what time. Even though the night should be colder, it doesn't seem that way when he first meets a new day.

---I guess I'll ask the other goblins about this.

Deciding to ask about it later, he continued his walk and as soon as he got out of his house, the Elder ran up to him in a good time. However the expression of the Elder was serious, grim even.

After catching up with the king, he got his breathing in order and spoke.

"King! Ah, no, Dawn. There's a problem. We've found traces of a battle occurring near here."

Dawn immediately put his questions aside as he ordered the Elder with a serious expression. Traces of battle means there's something going on. There's no way his goblins would miss something like that when they first subjugated the area.

"Where is it? Take me there."

"Yes!"

They marched on the location with a few goblins stationed as guards. It seems they received quite a trauma when Dawn passed out…

****

Dawn followed the Elder to the location where they discovered traces of battle. It wasn't far; it only took 10 minutes of running to get there.

"So this is the place?"

Without the Elder saying things like affirming his words, Dawn was sure of it. Looking at the part of the forest that seemed to be out of this place, he was sure of it.

"I see now. It's impossible to not notice this."

In front of Dawn was a place that used to be a forest…no, it is still a part of the forest but it just doesn't look like it. The trees and grass were shaved off, a depression formed in the land. It wasn't wide or anything but it was apparent that it wasn't even a battle that happened here. It was a one-sided massacre that took place.

The Elder walked beside him and offered a word to Dawn.

"This wasn't here before. We didn't even notice when a battle of this scale was happening. If a monster that was capable of doing this was living here, we would have known the first time."

Dawn nodded his head at the words of the Elder. It was certainly strange that the goblins didn't hear or feel anything when a destruction of this scale happened in their home.

"Elder, I'm leaving it to you."

The Elder despite the rough and vague order given to him by Dawn bowed his head and spoke with certainty.

"We shall find who did this at once."

After saying those words, he immediately turned around and took some of the goblins who were stationed as guards to investigate. He knew what Dawn meant by saying that he would leave it to him.

The pressing concern was that this happened right in their backyard and that they didn't know who did it. There's only one thing that should be done at this point. Sniff out the perpetrator, the strong beast or monster, and take it down.

Seeing off the Elder with a determined look, Dawn walked off to the center of the depression and then suddenly, he was hit with nostalgia. It was the same feeling when he faced off against Raen. Even when he dreamt about the red goblins, he also felt this weirdness.

---Again…I'm feeling this familiarity.

Indeed. This feeling that seems to find its way to Dawn no matter where he went, no matter what time. To Dawn who had to feel this way even though he should have no knowledge or connection to something or someplace was just irritating. But of course, it's not like he could do something about it so in the end, he just brushes it off.

Dawn looked down and when he did, he saw something…He couldn't put the something to words, it was abstract. Dawn crouched down to touch that something and then it happened. He heard the voice of the blessings of the battlefield.

[A portion of ???, ???, has recognized you as its owner]

[The power of ??? will be absorbed, making the ??? your own]

[You have not met the required assessment to use ???]

[Restrictions will be placed to protect the blessed]

After hearing the end of the details, Dawn widened his eyes. Not from confusion or somewhat but because he felt warm. Warmth that he couldn't explain was beginning to envelop him. He was feeling something akin to kindness and caring from the warmth.

---What the…

To a goblin who lives by its instincts, this kind of warm was just plain confusing. He couldn't understand. Why would he feel like this just because he picked something up?

This fact shook Dawn even more than the contents of the message of the blessings of the battlefield.

He would feel nostalgia whenever he met a member of the five great clans; be it reality or dreams. Hell, he could even feel some sort of connection with a place that was destroyed by a monster. And now this warmth…

He could only guess at the meaning of these feelings and that fact of helplessness made him feel an itch that he couldn't scratch. It was different from the usual; he could feel that the itch was in a place different from the usual. Though in the end, they are all the same.

Dawn stood up after regaining his wits, trying his hardest to remember what the blessings of the battlefield told him.

---Still, I remember it but the blessings didn't tell me anything about it…

From what he could remember, the blessings of the battlefield only told him that it's not time for him to use that and that it would be restricted until he met the required assessment. This wasn't much of a problem but…

---Just what was the identity of that something…

In the end, Dawn couldn't take the mysterious object away from his mind.

****

"I…what…good was it for?"

A single goblin was talking to the wind in the midst of the starry night. The gentle breeze makes the grass and leaves dancing. Though it is dark, to the goblin who had an excellent vision in the dark, this place was as clear as day.

The goblin was big; black skinned and his form was just noble. The large arms on his person were just reliable and his eyes were big.

He had scars all over his body proving his valor in battle. The goblin, unlike the norm, had hair growing on his head but since it is colored black, it seems to be just a part of him.

The goblin spoke with a tone full of self-contempt.

"Our future that our ancestors longed for and the wish that we inherited…what was it all for?"

He cursed himself. He didn't know what to do. Tears welled up in his eyes; an action that you wouldn't expect from a goblin. There, the goblin…, Vorg spoke while sobbing.

"Kuh…Just what did we do to deserve this?"

And he continued his mumblings in the dark, unable to find the answer that he was looking for…