Chapter 17: Goblins Settlement
Athena walked quickly and with complete confidence. Whether she actually knew where she was going was another question. Arthur observed this for several minutes before asking the obvious question.
"How far?"
"Not far."
Five minutes passed. The forest looked exactly as it had at the start of those five minutes.
Arthur looked around. Then at Athena. Then at the forest again. "How far?"
"Not far."
Vedas had been watching Athena for a while. Then he spoke. "She doesn’t know."
"I know exactly where I’m going," Athena said immediately, without turning around.
Athy, the Archive Owl perched on top of her head, nodded with complete conviction.
Nobody believed either of them.
But they continued following her.
And then six direwolfs rushed out of the bushes before charging at them. Vedas dealt with them in seconds.
[Level Up]
[Goblin Warrior]
[Level 10→ Level 11]
"Beasts, huh..."
"Of course there are beasts everywhere–"
Arthur looked at Athena. "It’s fine if you’re lost."
Athena froze. "I’m not lost! Just because monsters appeared doesn’t mean I’m!"
"That’s good." Arthur looked relieved. "So you just don’t know where it is."
"I KNOW WHERE IT IS!"
She pointed forward.
"I landed in this area when we were teleported. I mapped it before heading toward the Evolution Marks." She folded her arms. "I know exactly where I’m going."
"That makes sense."
Athena began to relax.
"I was worried," Arthur added, "because if you didn’t know, that would have been embarrassing."
Athena’s eye twitched.
Athy covered her face with one wing.
Mithra had long since surrendered to laughter. Melo was riding on Vedas’s shoulder with all three tails swaying in the rhythm of someone enjoying a situation they had no stake in. Vedas watched Arthur with the expression of someone who had reached peace with a thing that was not going to change.
Athena marched ahead, muttering to herself while Arthur listened for a moment. He wasn’t entirely sure why she was upset, and so he moved up beside her.
"What do you know about goblins?"
The shift was immediate.
Athena immediately switched back into researcher mode. "Uncommon near human settlements," she said, adjusting her glasses. "They live far from human settlements. Most people think they’re rare because nobody looks for them."
"And they’re considered weak," Arthur said.
"One of the weakest contracted species on record." She kept walking, her notebook already out of her coat pocket. "Most Goblins never evolve. Some Beast Tamers spent decades trying."
Behind them, Vedas’s expression moved through several stages.
"Not one?" Arthur said.
"Not one."
Arthur nodded slowly. "That’s encouraging."
Athena looked over. "...how is that encouraging?"
"It means Vedas already achieved something those Beast Tamers spent decades trying to achieve," Arthur said. "And he did it this morning."
Vedas stood a little taller.
Athena opened her mouth before closing it and then opening it again. "That’s not exactly how I would frame it."
"How would you frame it?"
She thought about this for longer than the question probably required. "I wouldn’t know where to begin..."
Mithra was smiling.
Athy tilted her head at Athena in the way the owl tilted its head when Athena had technically lost an exchange and was choosing not to acknowledge it.
"I’ve never seen any record," Athena continued, moving firmly forward, "of a goblin evolving into a Goblin Warrior."
Vedas straightened immediately.
His chest puffed out.
Athena noticed and took her notebook and wrote something without comment. Vedas stopped before he peeked at her notebook and then puffed out his chest again.
Arthur gave him a sympathetic look and turned back to Athena. "Have you heard of a Goblin Commander?"
Athena stopped mid-step.
The whole group noticed. Even Athy tilted her head to a different angle.
"Goblin Commander," Athena repeated, as though testing the weight of it.
Arthur nodded. "Yeah."
Athena frowned. "No... Maybe the academy might, but I have never heard that name before."
Mithra tilted her head. "Me either."
Athena immediately pulled out her notebook, and her pen flew across the page.
Vedas leaned toward Arthur. "...she’s doing it again."
Arthur nodded. "It’s fine. I’m curious what she says when she’s finished."
Athy glared at him.
Athena eventually regained control. "I haven’t heard of any documented case. But Commander is a title. It implies leadership over a unit." She paused. "Ancient texts occasionally mention Goblin Kings."
Arthur turned. "Goblin King."
"They were leaders of a tribe of Goblins. It’s said only the greatest Goblin Commanders become Kings. And when they do, every goblin follows them."
Vedas eyes widened in shock before touching his chest. Arthur blinked as he felt pride, excitement, and ambition from Vedas.
"Then I can’t wait for Vedas to become a Goblin Commander one day!"
Vedas blinked.
As though Arthur had already decided it was inevitable.
Athena’s expression shifted. "Good luck. A Goblin Warrior is already extraordinary. But a Goblin Commander?" She shook her head. "No Beast Tamer has ever done it."
Vedas looked down.
Arthur tilted his head and considered this information.
"So Goblin Commander is rarer than a Golden Dragon," he said.
Athena opened her mouth.
"Since no Beast Tamer has ever had one," Arthur continued, looking genuinely thoughtful, "and there are Golden Dragon Tamers, which we saw today."
Athena’s mouth stayed open.
"That would make Goblin Commander the rarer achievement."
"He might," Athena muttered in disbelief. "Technically be correct."
Athy covered her face again.
Mithra covered her mouth.
Vedas had stopped looking at the ground and stood a little taller.
Arthur couldn’t help smiling. "What about a King?"
Athena shook her head. "If you mean the leader of a tribe? They haven’t been seen in the wild for decades. Possibly longer."
Arthur smiled.
Mithra immediately recognized that smile.
It was the same smile Arthur wore before doing something ridiculous. She immediately decided not to encourage whatever thoughts were happening inside his head.
For the safety of the surrounding world.
...
More monsters appeared.
Vedas defeated them quickly.
[Level Up]
[Goblin Warrior]
[Level 11→ Level 12]
Only to be quickly taken care of by Vedas. It got to the point Athena no longer lifted her head up, trusting Vedas to react quickly and strike.
After a bit, Vedas spoke. "Commanders lead people... Do you think they’ll listen to me? If I became one."
Arthur looked at him and smiled, already knowing what Vedas was really asking.
"Of course they will," Arthur said.
Vedas looked at him. "Why?"
Arthur blinked, as if the answer was self-evident and he was only slightly confused by the question. "You followed me."
Vedas went still.
"And you got an entire crater of people cheering for you today," Arthur added, with a small upward movement of his shoulder. "People who started the morning thinking a goblin was something to throw away."
"I’m sure you’ll inspire plenty of them to follow you."
Mithra stepped closer. "And today," she said, "you stood up for Arthur, and you stayed behind to stop Cassian. Even though you were scared."
Vedas’s eyes moved to her.
"That’s what leaders do," she said. It was warm and entirely certain. "The ones people can rely on to step forward to either show them the way or help them out."
Athena had not looked up from her notebook. She had been writing quietly for the last thirty seconds. But then she stopped and looked at Vedas. "People don’t follow the strongest. They follow the ones who make them feel safe."
Athy turned to face Vedas and nodded once, with great conviction.
Vedas looked at the owl.
The owl looked back.
Melo climbed onto Vedas’s head. Then she wrapped her three tails around his ears and closed all three eyes.
Vedas stood very still.
He looked at Arthur. Then at Mithra. Then at Athena, who had reopened her notebook and was pretending to write, though the pen had not actually moved. Then down at Melo, who was sitting on his head with her tails around his ears as she had installed herself and considered the question resolved.
"...they moved back," Vedas said, after a while.
"The Taurus?" Arthur asked.
"The students. When we won today." A pause. "They cheered."
"They did," Arthur said. "And they were also cheering for you when you were fighting Mephistopheles."
"For a goblin."
"For you," Arthur said. "There’s a difference."
Vedas absorbed this before looking down. "...okay," he said finally.
Arthur smiled when he saw the faint smile on Vedas’s face. "I told you. People just needed to meet you."
...
The forest continued changing as the trees became older and larger. The sunlight grew weaker beneath the canopy.
Soon ruins began appearing.
Old walls.
Broken pillars.
Roads buried beneath roots.
Athena slowed, and Mithra stopped smiling because something felt wrong.
Arthur noticed. "Did you notice something?"
Athena furrowed her brows as her fingers moved across a section of carved stone. She was looking at symbols cut into the surface, their edges softened by time but still legible if you knew what you were reading.
"Maybe." Arthur waited as Athena stared at the carvings. Then quietly said, "These shouldn’t be here."
Arthur blinked. "Helpful."
Athena ignored him.
Then she continued walking, and the others followed behind her. Athy had gone from alert to something past alert, the stillness of an owl that had identified something and was waiting to understand it.
The ruins became more frequent. Collapsed roads where the original surface was still visible beneath centuries of growth. Stone foundations wrapped in roots so thoroughly that the roots had become the structure.
Arthur looked at it as they passed through it and said nothing. Some things were better observed before they were discussed.
Then Athena stopped.
Everyone followed her gaze.
A valley stretched below them that was hidden between ruins. Smoke drifted into the sky. Wooden structures stood between stone remnants with crude walls and watchtowers. Arthur saw the shelters and realized this wasn’t a village but more of a settlement.
Athena slowly smiled as her eyes shone with excitement. "We’re here," Athena said.
Arthur leaned forward. "...A goblin village?"
Athena nodded.
Movement appeared below.
Small green figures emerged from behind the walls, and they came with weapons raised. They looked ready to fight, but Arthur saw their eyes.
They were terrified.
The goblins at the bottom of the valley saw the group on the ridge, and their formation held for one breath, and then two, and then the nearest one’s eyes moved past Arthur, past Mithra, past Athena and Athy and Melo, and found Vedas.
A spear dropped.
Then another.
A club lowered on the left side of the line.
The old Goblin stepped forward. His spear slipped from his hands as tears gathered in his eyes. "...Chief?"
Vedas froze. "Me?"
The old Goblin slowly dropped to one knee.
Then another.
One goblin followed.
Then another.
Within seconds, every goblin in the area knelt.
Arthur’s eyes slowly widened. "Whoa."
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