FMH ~ 12!

Two weeks had passed, and Luke had given up on hope of rescue. With all the other initiates, and a new apprentice, it was unlikely that the Archmage was going to devote too much time to rescuing him, so he needed to find his own way out. He took a deep breath and held up the patchwork goat hide pants that he had made. “Good enough.” 

He pulled on the stiff pants and stood up, looking around at his growing campsite. The grass had been working really well in lieu of firewood, and a handful of it burned as hot and long as a log of oak. He cracked his neck and looked in the direction of the goats. Luke had been forced to attack them a few times, basically whenever he was running low on meat. After half a month of getting battered and broken, he was finally getting the hang of fighting them. 

The trick was to hold still until they jumped, then sidestep and punch down. Whenever at least a dozen died, the rest would run away. He had still been overwhelmed a few times, but he was getting better. The water did seem to have healing properties, and when he was damaged, Luke was always back on his feet in record time. “Time to make a spare shirt, and then get started on making hardened leather leg guards. I need to be able to take a few hits from these things.”

Luke was doing his best to distract himself, and throwing himself into work was the most logical thing to do. Had he been whisked away from everything he knew, and abandoned in an instant? Sure! But he had his tools, and his dad had told him to practice. This counted, right? Plus, there had to have been a ‘first’ human that had gone to another world. There had to be a way to learn how to escape, but it was likely not going to be near the entrance. No… Luke had to travel to find a way home: and the only direction was down.

He started whistling as he walked toward the goats. He was going to gorge himself on goat meat tonight to celebrate his first fortnight in… “Never named this place, did I? Let’s see… how about ‘Murder World’, since apparently everything here wants to kill everything else?”

*Chime*.

Ignoring that sound, which was very faintly coming from his forehead and had happened a few times with no explanation, Luke focused. He was getting close to the goats, so he quieted down and started creeping through the grass. Just as every time before, the goats were locked in combat with each other. Luke had watched them long enough to realize that it wasn't just a mating competition. Every time one of the goats was knocked out, the winner would slowly eat them. Yup. The goats were omnivores at the minimum. 

Now, from his study, Luke had realized that the different markings on the goats seemed to indicate herd affiliation. They didn't attack their own herd, only those with different markings. For some reason, whenever he was seen all of that went out the window and they attacked him together. Over the weeks, Luke had started trying something.

When he killed off the goats now, he tried to target one herd exclusively. All of them ran whenever twelve died, but the practice was starting to impact the population. Each day, the left herd - as he called them - gained a half-inch or so of territory. The right herd was getting beaten down more often, since they were outnumbered. With the sheer number of goats, it was hard to tell if you weren't looking for it, but still… Luke needed a hobby, so he made this his goal.

*Crack*.

Luke joined one of the fights, killing the goat and grabbing it in one fell swoop before legging it. As always, the goats screeched and started to follow him. A tide of tiny goats galloped through the long grass, making it appear that a wind was blowing through the area. He knew better; in the entire two weeks Luke had been here, there had been no wind, or rain, or any sign of weather patterns at all. Simply light… or dark. There also didn't seem to be a sun, so the light was strange and flat.

He finally got to the rock that he used as a fighting point and got into position. Luke tossed his first goat to the side and starting punching small creatures gleefully. He tried to focus on the right herd, but one or two of the left herd was always in the way. They were really fragile if hit correctly. Just a few minutes later, a squeal rang out and the remainder of the herds galloped off.

Luke sighed and stepped off his rock. “That’ll feed me for a day or two. Good… on to the next part!”

After cleaning the goats, he added the horns and pearls to his growing collection. The pouch he was storing the pearls in was starting to get pretty full, so… Luke frowned as he realized that it wasn't as full as it should have been. He opened the pouch and looked inside, finding that a full fifty pearls were missing. With today’s haul, he should have had an even eighty-four, but instead he now had… thirty-five? So he wasn't missing fifty exactly… wait.

One of the pearls was… different. It wasn't much, but the pearl was slightly brighter, more… pearlescent. Luke winced as he had that thought. “Alright, little guy… where did you come from? I have thirty-four regular pearls, then you. I know you weren't here before…”

It took two more days, but Luke finally had his answer after his next hunt. Since he had lost forty-nine pearls and one had seemed to become brighter, Luke assumed they had done something magical. Instead of taking his normal twelve goats and retreating, he attacked again. This had apparently infuriated the goats, and he had to kill off another twenty-four before the shrill cry came again and made them retreat. 

Luke had honestly thought that they were going to keep going until either he or all of them had died, so he nearly kissed his fighting rock when he stepped off of it. “I know, Rocky! That was dumb. But at least I know that I’ll need to kill a full thirty-six if I attack twice in one day.”

Then Luke went to the campsite and poured all of his pearls into his pouch. Having nothing to do beyond watch it and clean goats, he got to see when the reaction began. The cluster of pearls started to shine, and what he assumed to be forty-nine of them melted and seemed to flow into the fiftieth. That one became brighter and fractionally larger than it had been.

“So now we know for sure that these aren't just pearls.” Luke muttered to himself as he inspected the new version with slightly still-bloody hands. “But what are they? Should I… what should I do with them?”

Not having an answer, and not too desperate to figure out the mystery, he simply decided to hoard them as originally planned. Now that he had a goal, it only took another week of his routine for him to consolidate his pearls into four of the better versions. That night was also the first where he had trouble during darkness since arriving.

He awoke to a soft bleating, and was careful not to move as he opened his eyes. There was a small herd of goats in his camp, and he realized that his fire had gone out. Luke cursed himself for his complacency, and jumped to his feet as he heard something tear. A goat had chewed through the side of his pack and currently had it’s head inside. Luke shouted and started goat punting, and the creature in his pack scrambled back. 

One of Luke’s pearls was in its mouth, and it seemed to panic as Luke killed more of the goats. He started toward it, and it bleated a challenge at him. Then it stumbled and fell over. “I’m going to skin and eat you-”

*Pow*!

The goat exploded into meaty chunks, and Luke fell flat on his back as gore rained down on him. What was left of the goat was a smoking ruin, and when Luke went to check… there was no sign of the pearl. “There’s one question answered… don't eat the pearls. Go full hoarder mode. Keep in a storage device away from mouth.”

Luke was getting sick of goat meat by his third month in the world, but he couldn’t get through goat territory. He had tried a few times, but when he was inevitably seen, the goats didn’t stop swarming until he was out of their area. Since all he could see for a huge distance was swaying grass… he had to turn back time after time. He was getting better at killing them though, and he knew that progressing  was only a matter of persistence.

He had stopped hunting for meat alone, and was now starting to attack the goats just to either train his reactions or kill time and goats. Luke remembered how that had been taboo back home, as slaying creatures for no real purpose was a way to send creatures into extinction, and also removed a food source. Here though, on Murder World, there was no other way forward. There was also a seemingly endless amount of goats, and if he made them go extinct… good.

Three months and twenty-five hundred goats. That was lowballing the actual amount he had slain, as he had gone on a rampage a few times deep in their territory trying to break through. Luke’s legs had layers and layers of goat skin hardened and stitched together, to the point that he took off the top layers and used them for pillows at night. Now, he knew that he had killed at least that many goats for a very simple reason: after the last fifty pearls had melted together, the upgraded pearls had all melted together and created an even larger, shinier, more beautiful version.

It was useful in a few ways. It now gave off enough light that he was able to use it instead of a torch of grass, and he had found that the goats really, really wanted to eat it and blow themselves up for some reason. Luke had been forced to relocate his camp all the way back to the sky-waterfall pool area. The goats were now seeking him out whenever he was near, and no amount of stealth allowed him to sneak up on them. They could feel the third-tier pearl, as he had started calling it.

In fact, Luke could feel it too. It was a presence similar to having his back to an open flame. It felt hot, and he could always point at it perfectly no matter where it was. Not that he often let it out of his range: the goats might get it. Then he would have to kill enough of them to replace his pearl! The goats couldn't have his pearl!

Luke’s hand was shaking so much from rage at that thought, that the pearl slipped out of his hand. Normally, this wouldn't have been much of an issue, but he was at the edge of the pool. The pearl fell into the edge of the water and vanished. Both from sight and feel. “No! No!” 

He dived after it, coming to his senses as his face hit the water. What was he doing? He could still see it, the light it was giving off let him know that it still existed. Why had he thought it vanished? It took him a moment, but he realized that it was because the constant warmth and direction that it had always given had vanished. He pulled it out of the water, and the feeling returned. He dunked it back in, and the feeling vanished, except where his hand was clenched around it.

“Well that solves the stealth issue.” Luke muttered, already planning on making a new waterskin out of goat hide. “Ha! It will be my goat hide! I’ll hide the pearls in it! Ha, ha!”

He broke down into laughter, and after a while felt that his cheeks were wet. Luke touched his face, still laughing. That was odd… water here didn't stay wet… wasn't it just supposed to vanish after a few moments?