Hnoll has been defeated. Shift has been updated.
Hnoll has been defeated. Shift has been updated.
…
Greyskin Borillar has been defeated. Shift has been updated.
Six messages in total, each rewarding me with a little Essence, yet it was the last one that surprised me the most. Why would the Hnolls carry a half-dead beast through the forest when they could have simply killed it?
The Greyskin Borillar resembled a large boar with elongated front legs. As for what they intended to do with it, I had no idea.
"Livestock, maybe?" I muttered to myself in between a few heavy breaths. My abdomen felt like a churning mass, almost as if my Core was on fire. It was unexpected, and certainly not something I welcomed.
Was that too much?
Maybe it hadn't been the best call to use Shift that often. But honestly, I had held back earlier. That clearly hadn't been enough.
Be that as it may, the Hnolls were dead, and I had survived unscathed once more. Pride swelled in my chest as I realized just how well I had performed. Winning a fight against five Hnolls, each with a Core more developed than mine, was no easy feat. It was something I could be proud of.
Father would be proud of me, right? Ian certainly would.
Thinking about Father like that felt… odd. My mind went blank as I tried to imagine what he might be thinking about me, how he was doing, how they were all doing. Ian, my brother, was hopefully recovering after the earl's soldiers had beaten him. I hoped he had made it back to our family. He had to take care of our sister now that I couldn't be there for them.
Ian had to step up, to support our sister and mother.
Mother… My throat tightened.
Survival was important. More important than wasting precious time worrying about my family, wondering if they hated me for the Power I had awakened. And yet, how was I supposed to ignore what I felt? I tried to suppress the rising emotions and focus on survival, but the last week had been a disaster. I could only assume the future would be even more chaotic.
Looking around at the massacre I had caused, I grimaced. Killing the Hnolls hadn't bothered me nearly as much as it should have. The Arok Serpent had been different. It had attacked me, swallowed me, forced me to retaliate. Killing it had been a necessity. Attacking the Hnolls hadn't been.
I had waited in hiding and struck when they least expected it. Twice. And yet, I hadn't felt much beyond the thrill of combat. The exhilaration of defeating opponents stronger than myself.
It all stemmed from the desire to grow strong enough to survive in this strange forest, but… there should have been remorse. I should feel bad for killing the Hnolls, shouldn't I?
"Am I really human at this point?" I whispered into the flourishing nature around me.
If Hnolls were anything like Gnolls, then they were pests. Creatures that devastated ecosystems as they expanded, growing strong enough to threaten the empire. They would begin with small settlements, places too weak to defend themselves against Hnoll armies.
A heavy sigh echoed through the small clearing. I inspected the updated Shifts and noticed that the new Hnoll forms weren't all that different from one another. The Greyskin Borillar wasn't particularly unique either. It was the weakest of my Shifts after the Blue Slime, and I doubted it would be useful in combat.
Still, the Borillar and the other monster carcasses were valuable. Their meat would keep me alive for a while. Not the Hnolls', though. I deliberately avoided the lanky humanoids and focused on dissecting the other monsters. My lack of skill and knowledge turned the task into a bloody mess. Intestines spilled out and splattered onto my shoes, souring my already dampened mood.
Time passed slowly, my thoughts drifting between the desperate need to survive and my family back home.
It was a relief when the fresh meat was neatly stacked inside the clean cloth my stalker had given me the day before. It wasn't large, and it would have been even better if the Hnolls had carried a rucksack or something similar, but I had to make do with the small leather pouches I found. One was packed with the cloth-wrapped meat, while the others were lined with large leaves before I filled them as well.
Three pouches full of meat should last a while. All I needed was to preserve them to last more than two days in this forest's climate.
It wasn't scorching hot, and the suns didn't bother me for most of the day, but I was drenched in sweat regardless. Even light exertion left my body slick and uncomfortable. Disgusting. I desperately wanted to bathe. Maybe even change my clothes.
"A water stream," I murmured. The words echoed in my mind like a dream.
I needed a river–or better yet, a small stream of cold water–to store the pouches. The lower temperature would preserve the meat far better than I could. Assuming it didn't wash away, of course. Hence, a small stream. Once the food was secured, I could relax a little. Bathe. Find shelter nearby.
Unfortunately, all of that required water, and I still hadn't found any.
My thoughts drifted back to the Hnolls. I had encountered two groups in just two days. That meant there were likely more somewhere nearby. And if there was a settlement, then there had to be a water source close to it.
Turning toward the direction the Hnolls had come from, I smiled.
With a destination in mind, I set off–after finishing looting the Hnolls, of course.