The flaps of the tent flipped open as a goblin runt stumbled out of it. Its already crooked nose looked even worse and blood tricked from the nostrils and past a busted lip. The runt landed on his ass and scrambled back from the other figure that was exiting the tent. The two guards that were stationed at the entrance took a step back to avoid the wrath about to be unleashed.

Gharnix stomped out of the tent as he glared at the scrambling goblin. While the other goblins in the camp had almost no armor or even decent clothing to cover up, he was dressed in a pair of rough leather pants and a crude hardened leather chest piece. A wolf's pelt served as a sort of cloak that was tied with leather straps to two loops on the chest piece with the head of the wolf serving as a crude hood.

A few drops of blood trickled of his fist.

"WHAT YOU MEAN PATROL VANISH!"

"They goes yesterday and no come back." The little runt spoke in a silent voice having already suffered the wrath of the night goblin.

"USELESS GOBBOS! WEAK, STUPID, COWARDS!"

"Seek and find patrol. or. I. find. YOU!"

The little runt scampered off quickly grateful to avoid another beating for now. It quickly called over a few other runts to form a party to go out and look for the missing patrol. He knew his life was on the line, he'd find the patrol dead or alive, he hoped alive so they would get the next beating instead.

Gharnix turned around to reenter his tent, both of the supposed guards got an angry stare "All gobbos cowards" he sneered as he returned to his tent. He picked up the waterskin from the crude table in the middle of the room and took a long drink of the fermented berry juice to temper his anger. He looked over the crudely drawn map of the surrounding area that was on the same table.

They had a great camp to the west and he was sent out to secure a safe route of travel from that camp to this frontier camp. They needed new resources as the area west was already picked clean by the great green horde. The teams send south hadn't reported back yet when he was sent out here. While the west expansion fought the undead in the marshlands, the north was an ever-growing frontline in the war with the lizardmen.

Their chief was an orc warrior but old age was setting in and soon one of his hobgoblins sons would take over or arrange a takeover. The ensuing fight for the title would be brutal and bloody. With female goblins almost never evolving into night goblins and with his "father" being one of those hobgoblins he was born as a night goblin, the first evolution of the goblin species His birthright as the stronger one meant he received some combat training in the camp and also why he was given command of forty goblins to set up this camp in the frontier.

The road here was dangerous and he lost eight of them just on the way here due to monsters in the night or plain goblin stupidity. And now one of his patrols was missing. He hoped the runt would find a trace of their mangled bodies or the beast that killed them. He took another swig of the waterskin. He hoped it wasn't lizardmen, he wasn't looking forward to another frontline even if it was a good way to gain experience. One of the hobgoblins would surely take over his command for its personal glory.

Four little runts made their way through the forested area further east of the frontier camp. Gorp took the lead of the other three since he managed to get to level 2 while the other three were still at level 1. He reported the missing patrol in the hope of gaining favor with the night goblin commander but he got a beating instead, as well as the task to find the missing patrol. He knew they were sent out to scout the eastern area and follow the mountain for a good hiding spot or any dangerous monster hiding nearby that needed killing.

He had kicked around the runts with the threat of death he got from the night goblin and they immediately grabbed their weapons and set out on the search. They traveled along the mountain's edge till the came to an area where a landslide forced them to take a detour through the lower forest since they couldn't press on through the missing terrain.

Gorp didn't like the forest. Too many critters and dangerous monsters lived among the trees. He kept an eye on his surroundings but the other three just stumbled after him, one of them was even paying more attention to the snot it picked out of its nose then the dark and scary forest around them. A smack and a yelp later he had them paying attention again. They walked for a little while further before they froze in place, something was moving in the bushes ahead and heading straight for them.

Gorp pulled back and grabbed his stone dagger even tighter in his hands. The two goblins with spears were casually pushed forward towards the bush with weapons raised. Nose picker was hiding behind a nearby tree that had fallen over like the obvious coward he was, holding his head and making himself even smaller than the runt already was.

The creature burst forth from the bush and the spear goblins charged forward only to be stupified when the emerging monster was just a little horned rabbit instead of a massive beast. The goblins let out a chuckle as this non-danger in front of them and one of them raised the spear to impale their soon to be dinner. The brush rustled again and just like that a huge snake burst forth and sank its fangs into the rabbit. The snake hissed at the goblin in anger and they yelled back in terror.

"RUN!"

He yelled at the spear goblins as Gorp grabbed the nose picker by the back of the neck and dragged him away. Bolting through the forested area they didn't dare look back running for their lives. It took them a good five minutes of running before they found the mountain again grateful to be out of the forest but not yet out of danger. They would still need to go through the forest on their way back.

Gorp found a spot between some rocks to give the squad some rest after their mad dash from the huge snake. The nose picker looked even more scared than he already was. Gorp wanted to leave him behind as a distraction but the fear of beating beaten for losing another goblin made him drag it along instead.

Gorp decided to scout out the area around their temporary camp while the others still rested. He didn't want to be surprised again by another deadly monster. Following along the mountain for a short while a scent filled his crooked nose. He inhaled deeply to get a better sense of where the smell was coming from. He could faintly determine the direction of the smell and returned to their spot and get the other goblins.

They walked for around ten minutes along with the mountainside climbing over and around the various boulders. that were scattered around the landscape. Gorp kept a wary eye on the forest's edge running along the mountainside. Some gravel fell from a ridge above them and that was the only warning they received as a mountain cat jumped down from the ridge, claws swiping at the nose-picking runt. Due to sheer luck and stupidity, the attacks missed the runt as the coward tried to backpedal and promptly tripped over a few loose rocks, the claws swiping the air his head used to be.

Gorp quickly tried to get the others in a semblance of a formation. The mountain cat got prodded by a spear and swiped its claw as the weapon. The spear attacks were altered between the two goblins pulling the mountain cats gaze onto them. The other globin was once again trying to hide while Gorp circled behind the cat looking for an opening to sink his knives into it.

The constant spear attacks accumulated slow damage, numerous cuts visible on the cat's flank, shoulds, and front legs.

One of the spears got lodged into the cat's shoulder and Gorp rushed forward making full use of the created opening. He raised his daggers high like a serpent's mouth and lunged himself at the unguarded flank. Both daggers pierced deep into the cat's flesh and it let out a combination of a roar and a yelp. He quickly pulled out the left dagger and plunged it back down. The free goblin stabbed his spear into the cat's other leg pinning it further down as Gorp's attacks quickly reduced the monster's health points to zero.

Mountain Cat level 2 has been killed by . Experience gained: 15

Current experience 43 / 60.

Zero risks for his own health and a good reward to boot, Gorp was happy with the result.

This did, however, pose a problem. He still needed to find the missing patrol, he wanted to find the source of the smell, and he now had the corpse of a mountain cat. The flesh could be used as food, the claws and fangs could be used in weapons and the pelt was valuable as armor or used to make tent skins.

Bringing back the cat would be a boon but the night goblin made it very clear the patrol took priority. It would also be dangerous to drag the corpse with them through the forest, The smell of blood would certainly attract other predators or scavengers. He let out a big sigh at that this missed opportunity.

"Eat flesh now, me get claw."

Gorp cut open the flank of the monster and the other goblins greedily started eating the flesh. He cut off the monster´s paws which held the sharp claws as well as digging out the two fangs from its mouth. The items he stored in a leather bag hanging from his waist. After harvesting the monster parts he sat down with the other to eat the meat and recover some strength and fatigue with the meal· The tried to somewhat hide the corpse in case they had the option to recover it later but he was sure scavagers would find it long before that time.

The continued on their journey to find the source of the mysterious and pleasant smell. The other two could now also smell it and the runt was still as useless as ever. It took them around fifteen minutes to find the source and what lay before them was a dark and scary looking cave.

"You think is trap?" One of the spear goblins asked.

"Den of mighty beast?" The other chimed in.

It could be either or plenty of other options in Gorp's mind. Something about the cave seemed dangerous but the smell was too alluring and he stepped towards the cave.

"You lead." He ordered the spear goblins. The runt was hovering near his legs trying to make it look invisible but failing miserably. Semi reluctant they followed his order and the group entered the cave.

They followed along the tunnel for a bit before it branched into a dimly lit tunnel with a dark tunnel up ahead. The light might mean something lived here that was capable of making fire. He pointed to the dark tunnel and waved them forward. It didn´t take the long before the tunnel ended in a single door. He tried to open the door but it didn´t have a handle. Pushing against it didn´t have a result even when the three of them pushed with all their might.

Something clearly made this cave their home, random caves didn't come with doors and he had seen a few caves. Reluctantly they turned around and strode back to the side tunnel with the light. The four of them carefully entered the tunnel and headed towards the light. Halfway through the tunnel floor changed from dirt into a floor covered in a shallow layer of water. The end of the tunnel extended into a large room filled with water. The first spear goblin took the first step into the room. He expected to find the floor only a few inches below the water line but his foot didn´t find a floor and he plunged forward into the water.

The sudden burst of noise as the goblin yelled out at the sudden drop, the loud splash of water, and the ripples it caused in the still pool set of a cascade of motion. Two pudlings directly charged towards them and a third one was coming up behind them, all of them armed with weapons. The second spear goblin jumped in to help up the first, they had no real way to win this fight. The two spear goblins tried to retreat into the tunnel but the way out was blocked by an invisible wall. They banged on the wall with their fists and the but of their spears but the wall didn´t budge. The pudlings still charging at them.

Gorp knew when to fight and when to flee and this was definitely a time to flee. He´d run and inform the night goblin of this place and come back with reinforcements to kill the pudlings in the cave. He gave the two goblins behind the wall a final look and turned around with the runt in tow.

Just as he took the last step out of the water that filled the tunnel something moved in front of him. A skeletal snake bared its fangs and took an imposing stance. Gorp cursed his luck with all the danger he was facing today. He raised a dagger at the snake preparing to fight. Undead were nasty monsters. He´d heard as much in their main camp right before he was sent off to the frontier. The had no flesh to cut and didn´t feel pain. Not feeling particularly brave he thought of another way to quickly end this trip into the cave.

He grabbed the runt by the neck and tossed it towards the snake. The frail little goblin tumbled across the tunnel floor and landed flat on his face right in front of the snake. The snake didn´t hesitate for a moment and lunged at the helpless prey in front of it and sank its fangs into the goblin´s flesh. Gorp didn´t miss a beat and bolted through the tunnel and jumped over both the goblin and the skeletal snake. He didn´t slow his pace until he was a good mile away from the deadly cave.

Gorp could only hope Gharnix would show some kind of mercy when he returned to the camp. He didn´t find the patrol, his own party got killed and all he had to show for it were a couple of mountain cat parts and the location of a deadly pudling camp in a cave. He holed himself up in a nearby shallow crevice and he hoped to have more luck tomorrow on his journey back to the frontier camp.