Finn woke up lying a few feet away from the horse-woman's body. His body was all sore from the fall, but he was grateful to be alive. With a little effort, he got to his feet and limped over to Darwin, who was lying on the other side of the horse-woman.
"Darwin, are you dead?" Finn asked, moving Darwin's body.
"Huh? Am I still alive?" Darwin asked, waking up.
"Unfortunately," Finn replied, seeing the height of the cliff. 'How the hell did I survive?'
"Ugh, my body hurts..." Darwin complained, seeing the body of the horse-woman lying on the ground.
Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, indicating the beast's labored breathing. Her squinted eyes showed pain, and the occasional movements of her head indicated that she was trying to move but couldn't.
Finn looked at the horse-woman closely. Now that she couldn't chase them, there was no danger. The horse-woman was over 8 feet tall, with a well-defined, muscular body, as well as enormous breasts and a large butt.
"What the hell is wrong with that thing? Even with a broken back, it keeps trying to rape us?" Finn asked.
"That's its nature. It was born, raised, lives, and will probably die, with the sole thought of mating with humans. It's all it knows and all it wants to know," Darwin said.
"Why? Don't they have males or other species to mate with?" Finn asked, confused.
"They did, but they still didn't mate with each other. They usually went to villages to look for people to kidnap, preferably children, since they lasted longer. As for other races, they tended to avoid them, especially centaurs and half-horses."
"And what happened next? You talk as if this doesn't happen anymore," Finn said, sitting against a stone wall to rest. Darwin followed her example and sat down next to her.
"It's not supposed to happen. Almost 100 years ago, the centaurs and half-horses grew tired of the bad reputation this species gave them, so they went on a massive hunt, exterminating all the males and killing more than 90% of the females. They then captured the rest in the animal kingdom, but obviously they can't keep them forever, and occasionally some escape, like this one."
"And why do they keep them alive? They've already exterminated almost all of their race. Why not finish the job?"
"For reproductive reasons, ironically. The half-human races, especially centaurs and half-horses, are very small, to the point that incest between them is almost impossible. That's why many seek to procreate with humans, of which there are massive numbers, and above all, they don't contaminate the blood of their own species with the blood of another half-species," Darwin revealed.
"I see, and I suppose creatures like this give them a bad reputation and make it difficult for them to find mates with humans," Finn said, and Darwin nodded. "But what good does it do to procreate with them? Wouldn't they be creating a new species from the union between them?"
"That's the funny thing. Apparently, these beasts are the only ones that can give birth to completely pure specimens. If a human impregnates this thing, it'll be a pure centaur, and if a human impregnates a centaur, it'll be a pure half-horse. Although, if many centaurs or half-horses impregnate several of these things, then they'd end up the same; they'd all eventually mate with each other," Darwin clarified.
"Shit, are there so few individuals in those species? How many are there, roughly, between 1,000 and 1,500?" Finn asked, but Darwin shook his head.
"Well, if only... I think there's a total of 30 centaurs and about 50 half-horses, at most."
"Shit, I didn't expect it to be that bad..."
"Yeah... although not everyone sees it that way, many have fun with these types of monsters, the strongest ones of course," Darwin revealed. "I understand that in our guild there's a girl who subdued one of these."
'A girl who subdued a horse-woman, huh?... I remember Cristel also did something similar during her first five years as an adventurer, along with some young half-wolfs. According to the novel, Crystal tamed the creature for the entire night until it became docile,' Finn thought, but then he remembered something else, 'and if I remember correctly, two years later she meets another one, during the winter I think, but this time she not only tames it on her own, but she captures it and turns it into her pet... curious, since Crystal suffers the same fate 3 years after the war, in her fight against the Night King she loses and is captured for almost half a year by the king, where she is used as a sex slave until she finally escaped thanks to an attack on the Night King's castle... I really don't know what to think about the fact that here they can enslave any humanoid being as long as they do not possess an intelligence similar to that of humans. In the end, it is a rotten world as indicated in the novel. '
The two remained silent, occasionally listening to the moans of the horse-woman, or the passing air current. After a few minutes, a gallop was heard in the distance, and after a few seconds, a group of centaurs arrived in front of them.
The centaurs made sure to quickly tie her up with steel chains and then turned to look at Finn and Darwin, who were simply watching her being captured. The centaur leader took a few steps forward until he was standing in front of them.
"We regret this misfortune. She escaped when we were careless when we were moving her to another area. We hope this doesn't bring any remorse to us, young adventurers," the centaur quickly apologized, not wanting to get into trouble with a guild.
"No problem, accidents happen... just tie her up properly this time," Finn said, standing up with some effort.
"Although we'd like to ask you a few questions," Darwin said, standing up.
"Questions?" The centaur asked cautiously.
"You see, we're on a mission due to various reports of goblins attacking in groups and several missing merchandise. You haven't seen anything strange around here, have you?" Darwin asked.
"Goblins? Now that you mention it, the goblins have been acting very strange lately," another centaur said, joining the conversation.
"Strange, huh?" Darwin said, writing in a small notebook as he indicated that they should continue talking.
While Darwin asked about the goblins, Finn watched as the other centaurs took the horse-woman and placed her on a centaur. One of the woman centaurs noticed Finn's curious look and decided she should take advantage of the opportunity. Slapping the horse-woman, the centaur winked at Finn.
"What do you think? Don't you want to support the cause? It's already secured and everything," the centaur offered.
"No… thanks, I'm just looking. Maybe next time…" Finn replied, not knowing what to say.
Finn quickly returned to Darwin, who had already written down all the information the centaurs had.
"Well, thank you very much for the information," Darwin said, shaking the chief centaur's hand.
"You're welcome. It's the least we can do after capturing the horse-woman… Oh, of course. You should be careful, since one of my scouts claims to have seen an ogre around here," the centaur warned before leaving for the beast kingdom.
After the centaurs left, Darwin let out a long sigh followed by a big, goofy grin.
"Did you see them?" Darwin asked excitedly.
"Who?" Finn asked back.
"Centaur women, of course!" Darwin said excitedly. "They were gorgeous and had asses that big!" Darwin exclaimed, spreading his hands.
'Wait a minute… don't tell me Darwin is…' Finn thought fearfully. "Darwin… are you… a furry?"
"You're wrong! I'm just a lover of good women!" Darwin exclaimed.
"There are good human women too…"
"Shut your filthy mouth. There's no better woman than a demi-human, do you understand? There's no way a filthy human can compare to them!"
Finn wanted to keep talking, but he knew this conversation would never end, so he had no choice but to watch the friend he had just made sink into a pit of lust and fetishes.
'Well, at least we'll never fight over a girl, I think...' Finn thought, trying to console himself.
Finn and Darwin walked for about six hours through the gap until they finally came out into what appeared to be another forest. However, this forest seemed much larger than the one they'd been through before. Its color seemed duller and sadder at the same time, sending shivers down Finn and Darwin's spine.
"You've been here before, right?" Finn asked.
"What, do I look like an idiot to you? Just look at the forest. Why the hell would I come here?" Darwin replied.
"Shit... so how do we get back up?" Finn asked, seeing the height of the cliff. "We're not going to climb that high, are we?"
"No way, that's about 400 meters high. I can barely see the end of the cliff."
"Then we just have to go around it..." Finn said, walking towards the forest.
"I hope there's no monster."
"Shut your fucking mouth, don't you see you're going to bring bad luck to us?" Finn said, upset.
"Calm down, those are just superstitions..."
Crack!
The sound of a branch breaking alerted Darwin, who turned to see where the sound was coming from and then looked at where Finn was, only to realize he was already running away.
"Wait!! Don't leave me!!" Darwin shouted, running towards Finn.
The two ran again, not caring if they were still injured or not. One thing was clear: this forest wasn't for D-class adventurers. Finn and Darwin ran through the bushes, leaving behind whatever was following them. Their direction was simply to follow the edge of the mountain until they found a rise.
After running for a few minutes, the two stopped to rest and find a place to sleep, as it was getting dark. The two cut through the bushes, creating a small place to sleep, hidden from the sight of the monsters.
—
"Ugh, my body still hurts from the fall," Finn complained, sitting on the edge of a stream.
"Be glad you feel something. We were so close to ending up like that horse-woman or worse," Darwin said, washing his face.
A day had passed since they entered this forest, and they were still looking for a way out.
"Sigh, I don't know why, but something tells me this won't be a six-day mission like it's supposed to be," Fynn said, putting on his shirt.
"Calm down. I'm sure we'll find a way back up soon," Darwin said.
Crack! Crack!
Several footsteps a little far away alerted them, causing them to quickly grab their swords. Little by little, the two of them crouched down, approaching the bushes where they heard murmurs and laughter.
"Hehehehe, stupid humans don't know what's attacking them."
"Hihihi, it's easier to attack those fatties than armed humans."
Finn and Darwin peeked out from between the bushes, seeing a group of 15 goblins along with a large amount of merchandise and what appeared to be meat. The goblins danced around the loot and celebrated another of their victories.
"I hope that meat is from an animal, although I doubt it," Finn whispered.
"We have to attack them now while they're distracted," Darwin whispered, but was stopped by Finn's hand.
"Wait, look," Finn pointed at some approaching silhouettes.
They were another group of goblins, about 20 of them. Among them were four harpies chained up and with broken wings. Apparently, the goblins had captured them but decided not to kill them as they usually did.
"Great, great, we have four more. Once we get them to the lair, the great wizard will be very happy; he'll surely reward us."
"Yeah, those stupid ogres won't get all the rewards anymore!"
The group of goblins quickly grabbed all the loot and the harpies and marched toward their lair. Finn and Andrew didn't hesitate to follow them stealthily to find out what was going on.
"This is worse than I thought," Darwin whispered. "At first, it was said in the guild that the goblins had developed enough intelligence to form a team and develop strategies, but a base where they live with ogres and a warlock, this is on another level."
"Don't forget that now they know how to distinguish between a civilian and an adventurer; they've learned to better select their prey," Finn stated. "This is new. This didn't happen, or at least it wasn't mentioned in the novels."
Finn and Darwin followed the group for what seemed like an hour until they reached the entrance to a cave in a mountain located right next to the cliff where they fell.
The goblins entered without any concern, unaware that they were being followed.
"What the hell?!" Darwin exclaimed, still whispering, while Finn looked on, impressed.
In front of them were several wooden buildings and paths, hanging from ropes and chains, that ran throughout the interior of the mountain. They ranged from rooms, construction areas, to iron cells for holding captives. Goblins, hobgoblins, and ogres lived in this great cave or hidden city.
"An entire civilization... dozens, no, thousands of monsters living together," Finn said, amazed.
"And that's not the worst of it," Darwin pointed, pointing to the designated cell block.
Where humans or elves would usually be seen, this time there were a large number of bound female monsters, from harpies and lamias to a horse-woman being held by three ogres.
"They're starting to mate with creatures of other races. I don't know if this is good or bad. On the one hand, they're no longer constantly attacking humans, and on the other, they reproduce more easily and quickly," Finn said. "With just this, they'd have an entire army of thousands of goblins ready to fight in a matter of months."
"We have to go back and inform the guild… But we can't leave without knowing who the witch doctor is who's helping them. I don't know how anyone could ally themselves with these pests," Darwin said, nodding, watching the goblins they'd been following closely.
The goblins reached a wooden platform suspended right in the center of the mountain, tied with several ropes and steel chains, and sat down to wait patiently. A few seconds passed when a goblin dressed in long black robes and carrying a staff made of human bones emerged from a small tent. The goblin was escorted by two ogres on each side and a group of hobgoblins, who were waiting outside his tent.
"I see you brought more slaves and great treasures… good, very good," said the strange goblin, speaking in a much more civilized manner.
"Hmm, we've brought everything you asked for, great wizard. Now we can be even more rewarded?" asked an anxious goblin.
"Rewarded, huh? Yes, this would merit a great reward, but I see this isn't all you've brought me… You bunch of useless idiots lured two adventurers to our base, idiots!" exclaimed the goblin wizard, raising his staff and alerting Finn and Darwin.
The tip of the staff, which was a human skull, glowed brightly before the goblin wizard swung it at the entrance, causing it to collapse immediately.
"Shit, they've discovered us!" Darwin said, looking at the collapsed entrance.
"Kill the humans, don't let them get out of here alive!" ordered the wizard.
Finn and Darwin stood, watching the goblins and hobgoblins approaching rapidly.
"This is bad!" Darwin exclaimed. "We have to find a way out, and fast."
"But how? There are a lot of goblins and hobgoblins, and there are also ogres," Finn said.
"...we have to split up. Run around and take on as many goblins and hobgoblins as you can. They're very weak and slow. You shouldn't have any problems with them. Just avoid the ogres. They're class C monsters, sometimes class B." Darwin said, looking down, managing to spot a platform not far away. "Understood?"
"Run, wreak havoc, and stay away from the fatties. Easy peasy, like a roguelike game." Finn nodded and ran toward one of the sides of the path he was on and jumped onto another platform.
'What's a roguelike?' Darwin thought, but he soon did the same as Finn.
Finn ran across the platform, swinging his sword back and forth, killing and dodging goblins. They may have become smarter and more coordinated, becoming major threats to civilians, but they were still too slow for a D-class adventurer.
'Goblins are like simple children lining up to receive their punishment... although maybe that's because I'm a D-class adventurer,' Finn thought, kicking a goblin off the platform. 'An E-class adventurer is a normal human pushed to the limit, while a D-class adventurer is beyond human, like a superhuman; greater strength, speed, and reaction time. Goblins aren't a problem for me... though.'
Finn took a blow from a hobgoblin, staggering him slightly. 'Hobgoblins are on another level. They're at least three times stronger and faster than the strongest goblin, but above all, they're smarter and more strategic.'
Finn grabbed the hobgoblin's next fist, pulling it up and using it as a sack to throw it at the goblins. Running to one corner, he cut the ropes holding the platform up and then ran to the other corner, also cutting the rope and using it to swing to another platform, while the goblins on the other platform fell into the depths of the mountain.
'Sigh, this was supposed to be just a D-class mission,' Finn thought, looking at the hobgoblins in front of him.
'Nihihihi, stupid human, entering our base was your biggest mistake. This will be your grave!' said a hobgoblin, lunging at Finn.
Finn dodged him, grabbed his leg, and slammed him against the wood, creating a large hole in it.
"Actually, what you're saying is very likely true, but…" Finn ran to one side of the platform and leaped high, finally breaking it in half. He grabbed one half and the hobgoblins fell into the void. "…I'm going to kill as many of you as I can."