The Error and Goblin Terry

After flipping the bird, I half-expected the System to go into a rage. Perhaps it would cause the ground to shake beneath me or make snakes fall from the sky.

To be fair, I didn’t care.

I had been done over enough already. What else could it possibly do to me? But rather than any immediate retaliation, the System responded with a cold smugness.

The error will be gone soon. The System is pleased.

The message faded, and the crystal dimmed. What had previously been a glowing blue stone faded into the more common luminescent purple variant. Several minutes passed in awkward silence before I was convinced the System had truly left.

I let out a sigh of relief.

A few moments later, Pippa popped her head out of my blazer. She was no longer trembling, but she was still acting cautious. She glanced to her left, then to her right, and once she was satisfied, she fully emerged.

“Are you not a fan of the System?”

Pippa shook her head. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes did more than enough to convey her feelings.

“Don’t worry,” I replied as I rested my hand on her head. “As you saw, I am not a fan of it either.”

She squeaked with joy and flapped her wings, then performed a mid-air somersault.

“Let’s get out of here. We must be nearing the exit.”

“Pwii,” she nodded.

We wandered behind the large crystal and found another track at the back of the cavern. Each chamber we entered was getting bigger, so I took it as a sign that we were getting closer to reaching the exit.

Once again, I walked down a winding stone corridor. Pippa decided to perch herself on top of my head. She wasn’t particularly heavy, so I didn’t mind. It was like having a fluffy pillow strapped to your head.

A short walk later, we entered another chamber. Sure enough, this one was the largest yet. However, despite being much larger than the previous few chambers, it also felt the most claustrophobic, with natural rock columns connecting the ground to the ceiling. Purple crystals, like in the last room, were scattered here, but far fewer, leaving this part of the cave notably dimmer.

“I’m sure it is not much further.” I tried to reassure Pippa.

“Pw…”

Crack!

A crunching noise from deeper in the cavern cut her off. Something else was down here.

I instinctively hid behind a rock column. Pippa wore a worried look as she rested on a nearby rock. I rested my hand on her head to reassure her before peering out to see if I could identify the noise maker. The noise got louder and louder, echoing around the cavern until a green humanoid creature stepped into the opening.

If I had a guess, I would expect it to be some form of goblin. It was carrying a rock about the size of a smartphone. It looked around, not yet noticing my presence.

I could have probably launched a surprise attack, but it seemed wrong. Who knows if goblins attacked humans, perhaps they were like other humanoid beings. They may even know how to communicate. I did a visual pat-down of the creature. It didn’t appear to have any weapons. Just the large rock it was carrying.

“Okay, Pippa, I need you to listen,” I whispered to her, not taking my eyes off the goblin who was cautiously looking around the cave, still quite some distance away.

“Pwii?” she called back quietly.

“I’m going to confront the goblin. I hope I won’t have to fight it, please remain hidden. If it looks like I’m going to be killed, please run away and protect yourself.”

“Pwii,” she replied solemnly but seemed to be agreeing to these conditions.

I slipped the knife into my pocket so I would not seem as threatening and stepped out into the open. The moment I did, the goblin jumped in surprise and lifted its rock. It appeared that it hadn’t noticed I was there. It eyed me, sizing me up.

“I am alright with not fighting if that’s alright with you.”

It replied by hissing and showing off its teeth.

“I really would like to avoid fighting.”

It took a more aggressive stance. I reached into my pocket and retrieved my knife. It looked like a peaceful outcome was off the table.

It locked eye contact with me. It gave me a knowing look as it readied itself with the rock. It had a slight smirk. Not a smug one, but one of almost mutual acknowledgement. Was this goblin giving me respect? That had to be the first time in this entire world anyone did that.

It cautiously nodded its head, never once breaking eye contact. It also never moved its rock arm; if it had wanted to attack me, it could have. It was almost as if it was waiting until I properly armed myself. Perhaps, like me, it recognised that we were destined to fight but wanted it to be as honourable as possible.

I didn’t hate this goblin. Honestly, I even held respect for it. If I could somehow overpower it, maybe, just maybe, I could leave it alive.

“My name is Kaito,” I offered the creature. “Have you got a name, buddy?”

It snarled back, though it wasn’t aggressive.

“Very well, then out of respect I shall know you as Goblin Terry.”

The goblin had earnt my respect, so at the very least he deserved a name. Terry may not be the most frightening of names, but it was the name of a gentleman. Fitting for a proud Goblin like him.

As always, I had an excellent naming sense.

I readied the tetanus blade. This was it, my first battle. Just based on our physiques, it looked like we were pretty evenly matched. I had a knife, which perhaps gave me a slight advantage, but without any of the System’s skills and status boosts, I was also at a disadvantage. I had a shot, but I couldn’t get careless.

Before either of us could even move, something shot around the stomach of the goblin. Surprise and fear flashed across the creature's face, and he let out a scream as it was yanked into the air. My eyes followed my lifted foe to the ceiling, where I could see that there was another menace lurking. A scaled beast, barely noticeable in the darkness, with its mouth agape. Its long tongue was wrapped tightly around the stomach of Terry, who was frantically trying to break free.

The creature appeared to be a reptile. It looked sort of just like a lizard for the most part, except for its tail, which was more like a club and adorned with sharp spikes. Also, unlike any other lizard I had seen, it was huge; it had to be at least as big as a horse.

After a moment of struggle, Terry managed to free one of his hands. Thankfully, it was the arm with the rock. He threw the rock as hard as he could towards the creature's face. I was certain the creature would be hit square in the face. Instead, it loosened its tongue, causing Terry to fall. The reptile effortlessly dodged out of the way of the hurtling rock and gracefully landed on another stone pillar.

Unlike the grace of the reptile, Terry hit the ground hard. He landed on his back, letting out a small gasp, and I winced in pain for the poor creature. Before he could even catch his breath, the reptilian beast leapt from the pillar and landed on his stomach. He let out a horrendous squeal of pain as the sound of cracking filled the cavern.

Terry’s eyes were listless as he tilted his head to look at me. As if it were begging me to help.

I wanted to help, but what could I do?

Before either of us could do anything else, the beast lowered its head.

Crunch!

One giant chomp was all it took to consume the entire upper half of Terry. His faint, barely noticeable movements immediately ceased as the remainder of his body fell limp.

‘Goblin Terry!’ my heart screamed, having lost a foe I had only just met. However, the words couldn’t emerge from my mouth.

Why?

Fear.

As the reptile chewed on the remains, its spiked club tail was flicking around. Almost as if it were enjoying the brutality of its kill.

I instinctively took a step back. I had to escape. I had to run. There was no way I could deal with a creature like that.

The moment I did, the beast stopped devouring the remains of Terry.

It looked up, blood still dripping from its mouth.

Its orange eyes were fixated on me.

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 4