Chapter 9: Goblins
Two arrows made of magic materialized before Raizel. The goblins instinctively assumed a defensive stance when they witnessed the arrows emerging from thin air.
Their attempts to issue a warning were cut short as the arrows swiftly surged forward, finding their mark in the goblins' heads, bringing about instant death.
The arrows vanished, and their bodies limply fell to the ground. The thud of their fall was silenced by the crackling of burning wood from the fire.
'Damn,' Raizel pondered while observing the corpses of the goblins.
'So the goblins are even weaker than their Yggdrasil counterpart, that's good to know. However,'
Raizel shifted his gaze toward the wound on the goblins' heads. Because he was a vampire, he could clearly see the wound despite it being night. The details of the wound, including the visible brain matter and oozing blood, were vivid to him. Oddly, he found himself unaffected by the gruesome sight.
'I don't feel perturbed by the gruesome sight. I also don't feel anything after killing them; there is no remorse in me; on the contrary, it feels natural and thrilling for some reason.'
When the goblins fell to the ground, he didn't feel sympathy for them. On the contrary, the act felt like second nature, as if he had executed it countless times before. For him, it felt like killing them was routine.
'Maybe I have truly become an undead.' He pondered as he moved his gaze toward the moon. 'I also felt a little enjoyment as I killed them.'
He opened his eyes and continued his inner monologue, 'I can ponder on this later, first I should deal with these goblins.'
Gradually, he made his way towards the entrance of the camp. Just as he was about to enter, an unexpected sensation grabbed his attention—the faint stirrings of a connection with the two goblin corpses.
"What!" he slowly exclaimed, his gaze fixed dumbfoundedly on the goblins' corpses.
"This is new," he muttered to himself, proceeding cautiously toward the corpses. With each step, the bond seemed to intensify.
"It's akin to the link I have with my summoned creatures, yet somehow... more intimate."
Once he was close enough, he cautiously prodded the corpse with his foot, verifying that the goblin was indeed dead.
"This bond resembles the connection I share with my summons, so it should function similarly," he mused. After confirming the goblins' demise, he attempted to sense the other end of the connection.
He concentrated on the bond, reassured by the presence of his summons that he need not fear any sneak attacks. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes, his expression shifting to shock as he examined the wounds on the goblins' heads.
"The connection is not with their bodies, but with blood." He mused dumbfoundedly. This was new to him because he had no skills or spells that allowed him to form a connection with blood.
"Perhaps it's a new skill or spell I received after coming to this world." he assumed a thinking posture, folding his arms and scratching his chin while scrutinizing the goblin's corpse.
'Should I test what the connection can do?' After a brief pause, he extended his arm towards one of the corpses, concentrating on the connection.
'The more I do this, the easier it becomes. At first, doing something this simple would've required me to close my eyes and use all my focus to do this,' he reflected, noting the newfound ease with which he could focus on the bond.
'Alright, I can concentrate on the bond effortlessly, but now what? I can't interact with blood as I do with my summons, so the next best option would be to command it.'
Raizel honed in on the bond, attempting to exert control over the blood similar to his summons.
"=RISE!="
He directed the blood to ascend to his palm. To his astonishment, small droplets began levitating toward his outstretched hand, coalescing into a small sphere of blood. In a few seconds, its size increased to a small marble.
"This is amazing," he exclaimed in amazement as he observed more and more droplets being absorbed into the sphere of blood. Now that the blood was near him, he could feel the connection with it becoming stronger.
"=STOP=" he commanded the blood, noticing the sphere rapidly increasing in size as more droplets joined it.
Immediately, the droplets stopped floating toward the spheres and fell to the ground, but the sphere kept floating in the air. Raizel then brought it close to his face and started observing it.
"This sphere feels like an extension of my body," Raizel mused as he manipulated the sphere to orbit around himself. "And it seems I can control it as easily as my own limbs," he pondered, halting the sphere at a distance from him.
Now aware of his ability to manipulate blood, his thoughts turned to its potential applications.
"Perhaps I could use it as a form of attack. And it doesn't seem to drain my MP," he observed, studying the intricacies of the sphere until he was interrupted by noises emanating from the camp.
Shifting his attention toward the source of the disturbance, he contemplated, "I can experiment with this blood control later, but first, I must deal with these goblins."
Raizel then ceased his focus on the blood sphere, causing it to plummet to the ground. He then moved toward the entrance of the camp and entered it.
The inside of the camp looked very much similar to the outside. The standard of housing was notably low, with many structures comprising little more than thatch and wood.
'Good grief, this is awful,' Raizel mused while observing the houses.
'The architecture looks similar to the architecture of low-level goblins from Yggdrasil, and judging by the power of the guards, I'll be shocked if any goblin here had a level higher than 20.'
In Yggdrasil, small camps like these were scattered around in low-level areas. They were pretty lucrative for freshies—who just started playing the game.
Raizel kept walking toward the camp's center while inspecting the houses. Before long, he found himself near the central area.
Many goblins congregated around a towering campfire, its flames casting flickering shadows across their crude features. A carcass sizzled over the flames, its scent wafting through the air.
Due to the wind blowing opposite to Raizel's approach, the aroma of cooking meat had not reached him until now.
Among the goblins, one stood out, larger and more imposing than the rest. Perched upon an elevated seat crafted from sticks and logs, it presided over the gathering with an air of authority.
Because <Perfect Unknowable> was still active, none of the goblins were able to detect Raizel as he moved near the big goblin.
'It appears that all the goblins here are rather weak,' Raizel mused as he surveyed the creatures. His initial objective had been to assess the goblins' levels, and to some extent, he had achieved that.
'While I'm fairly certain these goblins possess levels comparable to the guards, I am curious about the strength of the big one,' he monologued as he inspected the big goblin.
In Yggdrasil, various types of goblins existed, such as Hob-Goblins, Redcaps, and Bugbears. Based on Raizel's assessment, it seemed highly probable that the larger goblin was a Hob-Goblin, considering the subservience of the other goblins towards it.
As Raizel pondered his next move, a goblin seated near the Hob-Goblin rose and approached him. He wore a bit more luxurious clothing than the other goblins.
'Man, these goblins are hideous.' Raizel thought to himself, noting the grotesque expression on the goblin's face as it neared the Hob-Goblin.
"Lord Varg." He bowed and spoke respectfully.
"What's yer problem, Aru?" The Hob-Goblin, Varg, spoke while shifting his focus from the cooking meat toward Aru.
While they conversed, Raizel had a shocked expression as he understood what they were talking about.
'I can understand their language! This is huge. What I need right now is information, and given that I can comprehend them, extracting the necessary information shouldn't be too challenging,' he thought as he focused on their conversation.
"Lord, the Rukku village was destroyed by adventurers a few days ago, and our scouts reported seeing some adventurers in the vicinity today."
'Adventurers? I don't think a class or profession was attainable like that in Yggdrasil. Sure, NPCs regarded Players as that while offering quests; maybe this is similar,' Raizel monologued as he continued to listen in on their conversation.
"We ain't got nothin'! Them other villages won't join hands with us, and that Giant of the East ain't givin' us no favor neither. All we's left with is hopin' to off them adventurers." Varg spoke with a sad undertone.
'What manner of speech is that.' Raizel was amused hearing the speech of Varg. On the other hand, after listening to Varg's response, Aru moved back to his original position and took a seat.
Seeing that the conversation had ended, Raizel decided to make a move. Now that he knew he could understand their language, his next objective was to gauge Varg's level and extract information from him.
Raizel pointed his finger toward the sky and decided to use an AOE spell to get rid of the goblins other than Aru and Varg.
<Widen Magic: Icicle Rain>
It was a 5th-tier spell that made sharp icicles rain down from the sky. It was an effective way to eliminate a large number of low-level enemies.
'Although, for these weak goblins, this seems overkill.' From his earlier encounter with goblins, he knew he could eliminate them all with just 1st-tier spells. However, that approach would have been considerably more time-consuming than wiping them out in a single onslaught.
'Also, this would hopefully instill some fear into that Hob-Goblin,' he muttered to himself as he deactivated <Perfect Unknowable>. As he did, a large magic circle manifested above the village; however, none of the goblins noticed it.
They did notice Raizel standing close to Varg, but before they could do anything, an onslaught of icicles fell from the sky, impaling them and killing them immediately.
"AHH!"
"GURG!"
Similar-sounding shouts reverberated in the surroundings, and over 35 goblins were killed before long. They had gaping holes in different parts of their bodies, and the air now had a distinct sanguine smell.
Raizel kept observing the scene impassively, his face devoid of any emotions, like a cold-hearted killer.
'No response,' he mused as he took in the carnage unfolding before him. Goblin corpses were strewn around, with gaping wounds on various parts of their bodies, and blood was flowing on the ground. Raizel felt a connection to it all.
Despite anticipating a reaction of disgust upon witnessing the massacre of numerous goblins, he found himself devoid of any such sentiment, or at least not entirely.
There was indeed a sensation stirring within him, yet it wasn't disgust; instead, it was something quite the opposite - pleasure.
'Just what the hell is happening to me? Firstly, I didn't feel disgust or remorse after killing these many goblins, knowing that they were sentient and capable of rational thinking, and now, I am finding pleasure in this massacre.'
Just before he had used the spell to kill the goblins, a hesitant part of him wrestled with reluctance, yet simultaneously, another aspect of his being compelled him forward, driving him to showcase his power.
"Who iz you?!"
Varg's inquiry snapped Raizel out of his contemplation, redirecting his focus towards him.
'I can figure out what happening to me later, as it doesn't seem detrimental. But first I need information.'
As Raizel studied the Varg's grotesque features, he detected an aura of fear emanating from them. Despite the stark differences from a human face, Raizel could still discern the unmistakable presence of fear.
'Guess the massacre did its wonders,' Raizel mused as he moved near Varg. As he approached Varg, the latter tried to crawl back in fear.
"No need to fear, gentlemen. I am just a random vampire," Raizel spoke softly while activating one of his skills—that he was interested in testing.
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