Survival Life as a Goblin Chapter 9

Hey friends and fans! I got another Tier Reward asking for more Goblins! My Original Writing has fans and it makes me happy to know that! Might have to build up a good number of chapters and then see about making this a Web Novel. Wouldn’t it be nice if it got popular enough to publish officially?

Now it’s time for the Rull Tribe to battle the Emperor Tiger!

Also, Gobkoh explores his new Skills a bit!

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-Day 87-

The Rull Tribe was restless. They knew the Tiger was coming. All the prey had fled yesterday. The forest was silent except for the wind through the trees. It was only a matter of time now.

Then they heard it.

The footsteps of the massive beast.

Emerging from the forest was the absolutely MASSIVE form of the Emperor Tiger. It had bright ethereal blue eyes, silvery white fur with black stripes, three swinging tails behind it, and standing as tall as Rull at the shoulder. The wind seemed to flow around the Apex Predator rather than against it. Large fangs bared and a rumbling growl aimed at the Tribe. This was the Emperor Tiger!

“So it begins.” Rull, decked out in his Scale Armor and holding his large Stone Axe, rumbled out.

“RAAAAARRRWWWGGHHH!” The Tiger roared loudly shaking the air and making the trees sway away from it.

“Attack!” Rull ordered and sharpened spear of wood were thrown at the Tiger from all members of the Rull Tribe. The wooden spears mostly bounced off the Tiger’s armor-like pelt. The Tiger growled at them for their attempt and prepared to pounce.

Rull leapt first and swung his Stone Axe with all his strength, as well as the increased power he got from his Skills and Class. The large axe slammed into the large cat’s shoulder and drew first blood. Though the axe head was damaged from the strike.

“RRRAAAAWWWOOORRR!” The Tiger roared out in pain as it swatted at the one that had injured it. Rull leapt backwards to avoid the claws, drawing the Tiger’s attention to one side. The elder Goblins rushed into the Tiger’s exposed side with Stone-Tipped Spears and jabbed them into the beast. The tips broke and snapped off, unable to pierce the great beast’s fur. With a glare at the smaller creatures the Tiger swiped its left paw and tore them apart. The blood and bodies painted the ground and nearby foliage red.

“Damn you!” Rull roared as he came at the Tiger from its blind spot. His Stone Axe a blur in motion as it slammed into the Tiger’s flank. Another spurt of blood flew into the air as the Tiger roared in pain and leapt away. The massive cat’s leap took it easily to the other side of the clearing. Snarling and growling the Tiger was suddenly pelted with more spears. The Tiger shook its large head and knocked the spears away like twigs.

“Ready!” Called En from the tree line, along with the Hobgoblin females.

“Drop them!” Rull ordered as he stared the Tiger down.

With a sharp crack three trees, that had been chopped at the base ahead of time, were knocked over and collapsed towards the Tiger. With a roar of rage the Tiger was trapped under the fallen trees.

“Now!” En called and torches were thrown onto the felled trees. The trees had been soaked in the flammable sap of the Needle Trees and went up in a massive fire. Rull activated every empowerment Skill he had. He focused all of his considerable strength into his axe. With a bellow he charged the trapped and burning Tiger. His target was the great beast’s head, the only part not trapped under the burning foliage. Planting his feet, Rull swung down with all his might. The Stone Axe slammed into the Tiger’s head with a sharp thud.

Rull stared into the large blue eyes of the Emperor Tiger. Red blood stained the fur of the Tiger’s face as they looked at each other. With a grimace Rull pulled back his Stone Axe. The axe head was in pieces, he held only the haft of the axe now. The Tiger’s eyes glowed and Rull didn’t even have time to call out a warning.

“RRRRAAAAWWWWRRRRGGHHH!!!” The Emperor Tiger roared so loudly that everything for miles fled from the sound. The ethereal blue eyes glowed with Magical Power as the beast roared. With a blast of wind the burning trees were shredded and launched away. The blast of wind and force ripped through the clearing and destroyed everything. The trees for hundreds of feet were all uprooted and shredded. En and the Hobgoblin Females were caught in the blast and disappeared into blood mist. Rull was blasted backwards to the edge of the clearing, his Scale Armor taking the brunt of the damage and breaking apart. When the wind stopped howling and Rull could stand again he looked upon the devastation the Tiger had wrought.

“A true…Beast…King…” Rull panted out. He couldn’t hear himself speak over the ringing in his ears. He also couldn’t feel his left arm anymore. Looking down he saw why, his left arm was a stump from just a bit below the shoulder. He could feel his own blood running down his body. No doubt he was riddled with cuts and shrapnel. The large Ogre panted as his breaths became harder to take. To think the Crown Tiger he’d run out of this area forty years ago would become such a beast. The only thing left of the Rull Tribe’s home was the damaged cave, everything else was gone. Looking back at the Emperor Tiger, Rull couldn’t help but let out a raspy chuckle even as he hacked out blood.

The giant silver tiger was covered in what appeared to be white flames. Its blue eyes were still glowing with intense Magic. Only when crackling lightning jumped from the great beast’s body did Rull understand that it wasn’t covered in white flames. The Emperor Tiger was covered in condensed and compressed lightning and what appeared to be black storm clouds. Rull huffed and struggled to draw in breath. Maybe it was just a dying being’s curiosity but the Ogre activated his ‘Analyze’ skill one last time.

[Emperor Tiger has activated Skill: Raiju]

“So that’s…what it was…” Rull spat out a large amount of blood. “We really didn’t…stand any kind of chance…did we?”

[Emperor Tiger has activated Skill: Roar of the Beast King]

‘Be well…children of the Rull Tribe…live on…and thrive.’ Rull thought as his vision began to blur.

The Emperor Tiger opened its massive jaws to reveal bright lightning. With a roar that shook the land a massive beam of lightning was fired from the great beast’s jaws. Rull was incinerated almost instantly. The cave the Rull Tribe had called home for forty years was blown apart into dust. The ground was torn asunder and left behind a smoking trench. In a single powerful blast, all traces of the Rull Tribe were wiped from the Great Silua Forest. Only their descendants in the Koh Tribe now remained.

“Rather a pyrrhic victory if you were hoping to reclaim your old home, Emperor Tiger.” A man with fair skin, bright green eyes, long blonde hair, and pointed ears commented from the top of a tree far from the desolated battlefield. He was dressed in cotton and leather, with a metal breastplate over his chest. A green cloak covered him from his neck down to his waist. Over his shoulder was a finely carved bow and an excellently crafted quiver, almost twenty arrows occupying it.

With his Magically Enhanced eyesight the man, or Elf to be accurate, watched as the Emperor Tiger deactivated its Skill. The great beast sniffed around the scorched battlefield for a short time before turning and walking back into the forest. The Elf watched on for a while longer before deactivating his own Skill. With a sigh the Elf bowed his head and offered a short prayer for the Rull Tribe. They may not have had any contact with the Tribe, but they were still Forest Dwellers like them. They deserved this much at least.

“King Eledric will at least be happy to know the Tiger isn’t heading our way.” The Elf mused aloud. “If it keeps travelling in that direction it’ll eventually return to its native range of the forest. Is it going to challenge the current Emperor Tiger?” With a quick shake of his head the Elf leapt from the tree and landed in a shorter one. A few more leaps and the Elf landed on the forest floor. With a check of his surroundings the Elf dashed off towards the Taralda, the King Tree. It was the seat of power for the Forest Elves of the Great Silua Forest. He had a report to make.

-Koh Tribe-

“Hmm?” Gobkoh looked up from where he was trying to communicate with some of the glowing little spirits. He felt something shift a moment ago, but he didn’t hear or see anything. He felt a pang in his chest for a moment before it went away. Not knowing what had caused these feelings, Gobkoh returned to what he was doing.

“Spirit Communication is…different.” Gobkoh sighed. He knew what each of the colors of the Spirits meant now at least. Each color corresponded to the spirit’s Elemental Alignment. Orange and Red were Fire Spirits. The Blue were Water Spirits. The Green ones were Wood or Plant Spirits. The Grey ones were Wind Spirits. The White ones were Light Spirits. The Brown ones were Earth Spirits. While the Black ones were Dark Spirits. It was easy enough to remember now that he had been able to figure it out.

“They don’t talk?” Rialin asked from beside him.

“No, it’s more of a feeling with these little ones.” Gobkoh explained. “I can tell what their Alignment is by the feelings they give me. It appears that all manner of Nature is filled with Spirits that represent the specific Elements.”

“Huh, maybe bigger spirits can talk?” Rialin shrugged as she watched her male try and make sense of his new Skills and Class.

“Maybe, though I don’t know if that would be good or bad.” Gobkoh chuckled as he looked at the floating balls of multicolored light.

“Hey! Chief! Look what I caught!” Gobtay called out as he approached Gobkoh and Rialin. The Goblin had his fishing pole over his right shoulder and a large fish on a stringer in his left hand. Gobkoh smiled at his tribesman even as he used ‘Analyze’ on the dead fish.

[Dull Bass – Dead]

“That’s a nice Bass you’ve got, Gobtay.” Gobkoh congratulated the other Goblin.

“Is it tasty?” Rialin looked at the large fish with curious eyes.

“I’m about to find out!” Gobtay smiled as he motioned to one of the fires being attended by some females.

“Try some Yubom Berry juice on it along with some Parsley, and Basil.” Gobkoh suggested. “The slight sourness of the Yubom Berry should pair well with fish. Parsley and Basil are also good on fish too.”

“That sounds good.” Gobtay drooled slightly as he looked at his catch. “Thanks Chief!” With that the Goblin rushed over to the fire and started talking with the female sitting at it. After a few moments the two Goblins nodded to each other and the female offered up some small bags of herbs. Apparently Gobtay had agreed to share some fish with the female if she provided herbs.

“Hmm, maybe we should go fishing too?” Rialin suggested, looking at her male hopefully.

“Sure thing, I could go for some fish today.” Gobkoh smiled, the couple stood and headed into the cave to gather their own fishing poles. A few short minutes later and they were sitting by the edge of the large pond with their lines in the water. Gobkoh watched as the pond water slowly flowed towards the far edge. There was a small stream that drained into a larger stream on that side. Fish from the larger stream could easily swim against the gentle current of the small stream and make it into the large pond. So the pond naturally ‘restocked’ itself over time. Truly the Koh Tribe was lucky to have found this place to live. It would be easier to live here than it would have been if they’d been forced into a smaller cave somewhere in the middle of the forest.

While waiting for something to take their bait, Gobkoh activated his Spirt Sight Skill and decided to test out his Spirit Guide Skill. Reaching out with his mana he guided a few of the water spirits towards him. The little blue balls of light gathered together and floated around. Gobkoh guided a few more together and saw the effect the spirits had. Small, very small, droplets of water had begun to form amidst the floating Water Spirits.

“Huh, that’s interesting.” Gobkoh muttered before reaching out with more mana. The Goblin Shaman gathered a large number of the tiny Water Spirits together. Confining them to a small space with his mana, Gobkoh was delighted to see small balls of clear water forming in the air. “This could be useful.” Gobkoh released the Water Spirits and the small balls of water splashed onto the ground. The small blue lights simply returned to the pond or the air directly above it.

“Are you playing with your Skills again?” Rialin smiled at him from her fishing spot.

“Yeah, I need to know what I can do with them after all.” Gobkoh grinned back at his female. Rialin agreed and turned her head back to her line. Checking his own line and not seeing any sign of a fish taking his bait, Gobkoh returned to his experiments.

Trying Spirit Unification Gobkoh reached out with his mana to the brown Earth Spirits moving slowly along the ground. The Earth Spirits stilled for a moment before several of the tiny lights floated towards him and surrounded his left hand. Gobkoh looked at the Earth Spirits for a bit as he felt a shift in his mana. Assuming this was what it felt like to unify his mana with the Spirits, Gobkoh tried to use his mana like he did with ‘Goblin Flame’.

“Oh…this is cool.” Gobkoh smiled as small pebbles and rocks lifted off the ground and floated in front of him. With a push of his mana the pebbles flew off and scattered across the ground a good distance from the Shaman. ‘So that’s what the Skill means when it says ‘Use Magic of the Spirit’s Alignment’! That’s really helpful!’ Looking at the entrance to the cave they called their home, and seeing the Earth Spirits all over the stone, gave Gobkoh a thought. ‘If I can get better at this Skill, maybe I can do some more powerful Earth Magic. If that’s the case I might be able to reshape the stone of the cave! I could fortify the walls and ceiling and make it more secure.’

“Did you just throw those rocks with Magic?” Rialin asked with sparkling eyes. Gobkoh chuckled at her amazed look before confirming her thoughts. “What happens if you use Fire Spirits with ‘Goblin Flame’?” The curious question from his female made Gobkoh pause. What would happen if he used Fire Spirits? He could already conjure fire. Would that have some kind of affect? Pulling his mana away from the Earth Spirits, the brown lights dropped back down to the ground and continued their slow movement. Gobkoh summoned his ‘Goblin Flame’ and looked for something to set alight.

“Everything around the pond is wet though.” Gobkoh realized. He turned back to look at the flames in his hand only to blink when he saw the red and orange Fire Spirits surrounding the flame. “Where did you come from?” Gobkoh questioned while activating his ‘Spirit Communication’ Skill. The feeling he got from the Fire Spirits was warm, like always, but also different. It was almost like they were trying to tell him something. Gobkoh really wished the little Spirits could talk; it would make it so much easier to understand them. The Shaman was quick to realize what the little Spirits were trying to tell him though, when he saw a Light Spirit turn into a Fire Spirit when it stayed close to his flame. He watched as a Wind Spirit did the same and then another.

‘So they change based on what Element is near them. Fire must be a catalyst for the little Spirits. Light and Wind become Fire Spirits just by being close to flames for a bit.’ Gobkoh speculated for a bit as he watched. This would need to be explored more. The Spirits’ relationship to the Elements and Nature could lead to more powerful Magics. The Shaman took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. Using ‘Spirit Unification’ Gobkoh linked his mana with the multiple Fire Spirits that surrounded his flame. With barely any mana on his part the Goblin Flame suddenly doubled in size.

“Whoa! That’s big one!” Rialin exclaimed from her fishing spot. Most of her male’s fireballs were big enough to fill his hand. This fireball was twice that size and sat on his palm like a large fruit.

“It’s part of my ‘Spirit Unification’ Skill.” Gobkoh chuckled. “I can use the Spirits’ mana to increase the power of my ‘Goblin Flame’.”

“How big can you make it?” Rialin looked on wide eyed and her curiosity was almost tangible.

“Not sure, let me see.” Gobkoh used ‘Spirit Guide’ to gather more Light and Wind Spirits and watched as they all became Fire Spirits. Once they were all Orange and Red he unified their mana and then directed it. For about the same amount of mana as two ‘Goblin Flame’ conjuring, Gobkoh now held a fireball almost five times the size of normal.

“Wow! That’s huge!” Rialin cheered only to lose her excitement when she saw the look of pain on her male’s face.

“HOT!” Gobkoh yelled as he tossed the large fireball into the pond. The water quickly snuffed out the large ball with a small cloud of steam. Rialin was by Gobkoh’s side instantly looking over his left hand. The greenish skin was off-color and he was hissing through his teeth.

“You were burned?” Rialin questioned. Gobkoh had always told her that his ‘Goblin Flame’ only felt warm in his hands. How could it have burned him?

“It’s not bad.” Gobkoh assured her as he scooped some water from the pond onto the light burn. The cool water was helping immensely to soothe the heated skin.

“I thought you couldn’t be burned by your own flames?” Rialin looked perplexed and Gobkoh thought about what had happened.

“Maybe it’s because those weren’t just my flames anymore?” Gobkoh considered.

“What does that mean?” Rialin asked as she helped scoop water onto his left hand.

“When I use ‘Spirit Unification’ I link my mana with the Spirits’ mana.” Gobkoh explained. “So it’s not just my flame anymore, it’s the Spirits’ too. That’s probably why when I made it so big it burned me. It had more Spirit mana in it than my own.”

“You need to be careful then.” Rialin sighed. “You have to keep your mana at least even probably. Otherwise it might burn you again.”

“That’s what I think too.” Gobkoh nodded as he looked at his left hand. “There’s still a lot that I don’t know about my own Skills. The Shaman class has a lot of potential, but I’ll have to be careful about exploring it.”

“Yes you will.” Rialin stared at him with finality. She was worried about him.

“Then I’ll be careful.” Gobkoh promised before leaning forward to peck her lips.

“Hey!” Rialin giggled before hugging him with a smile.

“Rialin?” Gobkoh spoke a few moments later.

“Hmm?” Rialin asked without letting go or changing her position.

“Could you grab my fishing pole for me? Something appears to have taken my bait.” Gobkoh chuckled lightly.

“Fish?!” Rialin turned and quickly grabbed the pole. The female Goblin instantly jerked upwards to snag the fish. A bit of fighting later and Rialin hauled in a good sized fish. It wasn’t as big as Gobtay’s Dull Bass, but it was bigger than the Blue Gill they’d caught back at the old river. A quick ‘Analyze’ gave Gobkoh the information.

[Striped Burl, Level 10]

[Non-Toxic, Aquatic]

Rialin was quick to grab a nearby rock and smash the fish over the head with it. The flopping stopped instantly and Rialin smiled brightly at the catch. With a smile she showed off the fish to Gobkoh.

“You think this one tastes good too?” Rialin questioned with a bright smile.

“I’m sure we can make it taste good.” Gobkoh smiled back as the two collected their fishing poles and headed back to the fires. On the walk back Gobkoh thought about his accident with the fireball.

‘Maybe if I had a Medium between me and the Spirits’ mana I’d be able to use it without having to worry as much?’ The Shaman pondered as he thought back to his memories from ‘before’. ‘Mediums were made from wood, bone, feathers, and special rocks or gems. With the ‘Medium Crafting’ Skill I should be able to make something at least. I might have to level it up to make something really good though.’

“So how should we cook the fish?” Rialin asked as they sat down next to a fire.

“How about we try the same stuff I told Gobtay about.” Gobkoh replied as he motioned over to Gobtay and the female he’d shared the fish with. Both were patting full bellies and sipping water from wooden bowls. They both looked very happy with their meal.

“I’ll go grab the berries!” Rialin cheered as she ran off toward the Yubom Bushes at the edge of the flat ground. Gobkoh chuckled at his female’s excitement as he used his Stone Knife to fillet the fish. The Yubom Berries’ unique sour flavor would make a decent substitute for lemon juice. With some Parsley and Basil the fish would probably taste pretty good once it finished cooking.

Rialin returned shortly after he finished and Gobkoh placed the fish on a makeshift rack to cook. It was made of thick sticks to keep them from burning, but it made Gobkoh consider making some proper cookware and dishware. He did have knowledge from ‘before’ on how to shape and form clay. That might be a good project to get the Tribe involved in. They could really diversify their meals if they had better ways to cook them. Sharing his idea with Rialin had seen drool coming from the corner of his female’s mouth. The hug she pulled him into was as good a reason as any to bring up the plan with the Tribe tomorrow.

The Striped Burl was indeed delicious. Better cookware and dishware became a must!

But he’d definitely be scouring the forest and mountain for materials to try his hand at Medium creation while he was at it. If he was to be a proper Chieftain, then he needed to be strong enough to defend his Tribe. A Medium to help make the most out of his Skills could only help.

-End Chapter-

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*Takes off hat and bows head*

And so we say goodbye to the Rull Tribe. May they rest in peace.

The Koh Tribe will live on for them. Gobkoh has discovered more about his new Skills and seen a bit of the power they can give him. But all things require balance. He can’t be foolhardy or he can and will be injured. What kind of Medium will our young Goblin Shaman craft? Will it really be able to be the buffer between the Spirits’ mana and himself that he thinks it will? Who is the next Goblin to get a Class? Will there be any other Magic-inclined Goblins?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I can update this again, later!