Chương 27: The True Goal & Objective

Ch. 27 - The True Goal & Objective Goblins. Goblins get everywhere — they are renowned for it. The hatred and aversion that people have for them seems strange to an outsider like I. The threat they pose certainly doesn't seem to warrant the 'kill on sight' mentality that almost all possess. Goblins are by and large small creatures, rarely taller than four feet, with green skin, and a skinny frame.

When a Goblin reaches a high level, it is possible for them to evolve into an Orc — although relatively few Goblins live long enough to achieve that.

They live on the fringes of the world, eking out a harsh existence however they can. Little is known about their culture — or perhaps I should say that there is little interest in whatever culture they may have. My observations suggest that the hatred directed at Goblins is less about what they are, and more about who they represent. About who stands behind them. The Winter King.

- from the writings of Steadholder Eckhart It was raining when Wyatt woke up, a soft drizzle that seemed to coat the hills and creek outside of the tent in a fine grey mist. The air was still, without a breath of wind to disturb the descent of the rain, which was fortunate as it meant that very little water had made its way into the still-open tent. Wyatt sat up slowly, rubbing his hands together.

He wasn't chilly, the blankets of his bedroll had kept his body quite toasty, but his breath was visible as a puff of fog as he exhaled. Wyatt drew his knees up, careful not to disturb the still slumbering Kit, and hugged them to his chest, just staring out at the serene vista. He hadn't seen rain in the dungeon before, and the drop in temperature was new as well. Wyatt leant forward slightly, craning his head so that he could get a better look of the sky above the tent.

The cloud cover was absolute where they were, but he thought he could see a sliver of blue out on the horizon. Kit woke up, rolling over onto her back and lazily stretching. She yawned widely, displaying her sharp, white teeth. Seeing that Wyatt was awake, she flicked her tail in the direction of the open tent flap.

'I tried to wake you up when it started raining, but you were sleeping like the dead.'

"You did? Sorry, Kit, I don't even remember you trying." The silver fox sighed, fluffing up her fur before smoothing it again. She padded closer to Wyatt, turning around a few times on his blankets to get comfortable, and then sat down against his thigh, facing out towards the opening of the tent.' It wasn't important I suppose. Although I would have been annoyed if it had rained harder and we got wet.' Wyatt rested his hand on Kit's back, absently digging his fingers into her soft fur.

They watched the drizzling rain together for a while.

"… think this will last long?" Kit's eyes were closing as he stroked her fur. She flicked one ear.

'Perhaps, but I don't think it's heavy enough to go much longer. I'm willing to wait. Walking in the rain doesn't appeal to me.'

"Yeah, we can have a lazy morning. It does mean no fire though.' Kit sighed again, resting her head on Wyatt's leg.

'It's warm enough. I don't mind.' Wyatt let his gaze wander as he relaxed. He'd always liked the rain, and there was something inherently soothing about listening to it pattering on the canvas of the tent. Wyatt's eyes drifted down to the entrance of the tent, widening as he spotted the green shoot that he'd helped sprout the night before. It was noticeably taller now, perhaps two inches.

"Hey, Kit — see that?" The fox blinked sleepily.

'Hmm?'

"Last night I was doing that mana exercise that Marie showed me. That was a seed I planted — look how much it grew!" Kit got to her feet and shook herself. She padded a little closer to the green shoot, being careful to avoid any of the water coming down. She sniffed it, then turned to give Wyatt a long look.

'Is that why I couldn't wake you up? You exhausted yourself by pouring all your mana into one little seed?' Kit sounded mildly outraged as she glared at Wyatt.

"Yes? I thought that's what magic was. The book was talking about visualising. And why do you sound upset?" Kit snorted, shaking her head.

'That's hardly magic. There was no finesse in what you were doing — you just made a connection and pumped it full of as much mana as you could. And as to why I'm annoyed, you went to sleep and I had to drag more wood onto the fire myself! I nearly burnt my fur.'

"You did? That's actually kind of impressive that you could move the log." Kit growled at Wyatt, and he held up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, sorry. But what I did worked though. The seed sprouted, and I got a new class, [Grower], and a skill! [Swift Germination]." Kit gave him a searching look, then huffed out a breath.' I suppose that bypasses the need to learn nature magic. It wasn't like you wanted to learn any offensive spells anyway.' Wyatt ruefully rubbed at the back of his head, smiling.

"Yeah, reading that spell tome last night — I definitely don't have the patience to study that much. Maybe if I had a lot of free time … but no. Not for me." Kit settled herself back down at the foot of the bedroll. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

'It's not your goal either. To be a mage I mean. Getting [Grower] and what you said yesterday … are you aiming for the [Farmer] class?' Wyatt grinned at Kit.

"I think I'd probably need a farm to get that class. That's why I only got [Grower]. But, hey — at least I've got the hat for it!" Wyatt dug into his bag of holding, pulling out the straw hat he'd purchased on a whim. He put it on, his grin widening. Kit snorted in amusement.

'Wyatt, that really doesn't look good on you.' Wyatt gave Kit a hurt look.

"You're not knocking my dreams, are you, Kit? It's appropriate! Look what I grew!" Wyatt pointed at the small green shoot indignantly.' … yes. Truly you will feed multitudes.' Wyatt shrugged, unbothered. Besides, he didn't actually get the sense that Kit was being serious.

"You have to start somewhere." Wyatt opened up the bag of holding again and pulled out some of the dried jerky. It wasn't the most appetising meal so early in the morning, but he didn't feel like trying to build a fire in the rain. It was possible, but difficult. Wyatt offered some to Kit, and she took it unenthusiastically. After she'd finished gnawing at her snack, she turned to Wyatt, sounding curious.' I know you were skirting around it, but are you thinking of buying a farm?'

Wyatt gave the silver fox a wry look.

"Buying? Where? And with what? I spent most of the gold already, and that was just on miscellaneous gear. How much would a farm cost? I know I haven't looked, but what are the chances of there being good land close by that's not already being farmed?" Kit sat up, wrapping her tail around herself.

'There's nothing holding you to this place, Wyatt. You've already travelled so far — you could keep going if you wish.'

"I know there isn't, Kit. But it's because I've come so far that I don't want to wander aimlessly anymore. Besides, I kind of like it here — don't you?" Kit sounded amused, but not surprised.

'You want to live here? In the dungeon?" Wyatt shrugged.

"Has anyone tried?" Kit made a small noise as she thought.' I don't know. But I would think that it would be discouraged. Remember, Lera said that it was strictly controlled, with only Adventurers being let in.'

"Good thing I'm technically an Adventurer then." Kit sounded patient as she gently poked holes in Wyatt's idea.

'Yes, but as an Adventurer you have to bring back loot or monster parts. Remember the guild takes a tithe. How will that work if you are bringing crops or similar back?'" Maybe I don't tell them?"

'That's asking for trouble, and you know it. What if they don't let you back in?' Wyatt leant forward, his eyes sharpening in excitement. This was something else he'd been thinking of for the past few days.

"Actually, Kit, I have a solution to that! Well, maybe." Kit looked somewhat skeptical.' Oh?'

"Yep. Think about it, we got into the dungeon without going through the main entrance, didn't we?"

'… yes, but I hope you're not suggesting we try and get that to work again?' Wyatt shook his head.

"No, don't worry, I know we can't go back that way. But still — think of what that means! There's more than one way into the dungeon. Actually, there are more than two." Wyatt smiled at Kit, waiting for her to catch on. When she did, her eyes widened and she got to her feet.

'The Goblins!'

"Exactly, the Goblins. The Adventurer Guild is tracking all the sightings, and are worried about so many 'getting in' … but from where? How are they getting into the dungeon? And it's not just the first floor, the [Receptionist] was surprised that they were here. She was expecting that we had run into them on the higher floors." Kit's excitement tempered quickly at what Wyatt was implying.' You don't think that the Adventurer Guild would have tried to find out how they are getting in?

I don't see how this would help us, Wyatt.' Wyatt shrugged.

"I'm sure they've tried. Tried tracking them, tried searching for where they've come from. But I bet there's one thing none of them have tried. Or even thought to try."

'And what is that exactly?' Wyatt grinned.

"I bet they've never tried asking a Goblin." The rest of the day passed much like the one before had. The rain cleared up by midmorning, and Wyatt and Kit roamed the countryside of the dungeon, exploring and seeing what they could find. Kit hadn't exactly tried to dissuade Wyatt from his idea of trying to talk to Goblins, but she did point out that they would just as likely attack him on sight — thinking it was them or him.

He admitted that it was a small flaw in his plan, and agreed not to try anything without running it by her first. As they travelled, they came across some interesting landmarks, with Wyatt being careful to note them on his own version of the dungeon map. He was using the map he'd purchased as a guide, but filling in his own estimates of distance and anything else he deemed noteworthy. One of the larger woods that they found seemed to have an entire flock of birds nesting in the branches.

They were colourful creatures, their feathers a riot of different colours spread across their bodies. They were the first birds that Wyatt had seen in the dungeon, and Kit informed him they were a monster variant, albeit a weak and relatively harmless one. The woods therefore technically counted as a monster lair, even though Wyatt couldn't see anything worth checking out. There might have been, but he hadn't wanted to get any closer — with Kit emphatically agreeing.

The birds screeched incessantly at one another, a loud and raucous cry that merged together to form an unbearable din. It hurt their ears even at a distance, and neither of them had any desire to get closer. Kit hadn't known what the birds were called, so Wyatt just noted them down as Rainbow Screechers, and hoped that they didn't venture too far afield from their roosts. The first ruin that they came across was some kind of stone tower, the top half knocked off of it like a child's plaything.

It was situated at the bottom of three hills, with a small forest of rotting, dead trees surrounding it. An eerie mist wove its way between the trees and the broken stone, in defiance of the sun overhead. Wyatt thought he could see movement inside of the cracked shell of the structure, shuffling, skinny figures that he was on the verge of investigating … until Kit informed him they were undead.

That the dead could come back to life disturbed Wyatt more than almost anything else he had discovered in this world, even if Kit assured him that they were rarely dangerous outside of a horde. They watched the ruin for a while, waiting to see if any of the undead would show themselves, but they all stayed in the dark confines of the ruin.

Clearly the given thing for an Adventurer to do was to head down into the mist-covered valley, do battle with the undead denizens of the tower, and hope that there was some kind of loot there to make it all worthwhile. Wyatt let it be, and they continued on their way. Their campsite on the second night was an unassuming wood on top of a small hill. There wasn't much about to forage, so their meal consisted mainly of the supplies that Wyatt had purchased in Skalholm.

Kit grumbled a bit at the simple fare, although Wyatt privately thought she just missed the mana-rich food that they could find in the dungeon. He made it up to her by giving her a couple of the fruit. Before he went to bed, Wyatt took the shovel he'd purchased out of the bag of holding. It wasn't the best tool for the job, but he carefully prepared a patch of earth, digging and turning it over, trying to get it as close to being tilled as he could.

He then used the blade of the shovel to create furrows in the bare earth, about an inch deep. Wyatt next took out the handful of wild wheat seeds. He'd been absently collecting them throughout the day with [Not Just the Root, But the Seed], enjoying the sheer novelty of the seeds appearing as he plucked at the heads of the mature plants he passed. Wyatt placed the seeds in the furrow he'd made, carefully planting them in the prepared ground. He covered them over with soil, nodding in satisfaction at his work.

Wyatt knew they would be leaving the camp the next day, knew that there was no real point in planting the seeds. All the same it made him happy to do so, and he was already looking forward to seeing what his skill [Swift Germination] would do by morning. Would the outcome be similar to what had happened when he'd pushed his mana into the seed? Or had that just been the catalyst for gaining the skill? Wyatt couldn't wait to find out. When Wyatt woke up the next morning, two things had happened.

The first was that the small plot of earth that he'd prepared and planted the night before had sprung up with neat rows of green. They were all larger than what had appeared when he'd used his mana to grow the seed. That had been little more than a shoot of new growth, the bare beginnings of the plant. These were different, being all full seedlings, with distinct leaves branching off the stem. It was only an estimation, but Wyatt thought that he had achieved close to ten days of growth in a single night.

The second thing was Wyatt had levelled while he slept. The act of planting even a small patch of earth had been enough to advance him in his new class. [Grower Level 2!] [Skill - Till the Earth]