Chapter 43:

Chapter 43. Interrupted Peace

Want to live? Level up

POV: Gri

A small goblin named Gri moved carefully through the forest, trying not to make any noise. He had only recently become an adult. He had been allowed to leave the village. Now he wanted to prove that he was a real man.

He was looking for food. Fruits. Roots. If he was lucky—a small animal or a bird. Then he would be doing well.

Grrrr–hrrr–uaaa!

He heard a loud roar.

At that sound, Gri’s entire body froze. Fear struck instantly. His legs refused to move. His heart beat fast—too fast.

It was the roar of a huge monster.

Gri knew very well who it was.

It was the monster his tribe called Fang-Eater.

It was the absolute ruler of this forest.

The strongest creature in the world.

Gri quickly found cover between the thick roots of a tree.

He wanted to run toward his village, but he knew—he must not do that. That would be the worst possible decision.

Since childhood, Gri and the other children had been taught:

If you hear its roar—run and hide.

If you don’t manage to hide—you will die.

When Gri became an adult, they taught him differently:

If Fang-Eater is chasing you—run in any direction and hide.

But never run toward the village.

Last year, one goblin broke that rule.

While fleeing from Fang-Eater, he ran toward the village.

Hundreds of goblins died that day.

Fang-Eater was very bad.

It had eaten many of Gri’s brothers.

The previous chief also died trying to stop it.

And the chief had been the strongest goblin of that time.

After that, they were forced to abandon the village.

They fled deeper into the forest and built a new one.

That was a very bad time.

Back then, Gri starved.

And he was very afraid.

Everyone was afraid.

And everyone was starving.

The ground trembled, branches snapped. Fang-Eater was coming this way. The ground shook violently. Fang-Eater was very close. Gri was terrified. He was about to be found and eaten.

GRROOOO–HRRRR–FFF!

Fang-Eater roared right nearby. The ground shook as if a huge stone had fallen.

Then it became quiet.

But Gri could still hear movement nearby. He did not leave his hiding place.

He waited and waited.

Sometimes the faint sounds disappeared for dozens of seconds, but then they returned again.

And suddenly, he smelled something.

A very pleasant smell—meat cooking over fire.

His stomach growled. He hadn’t eaten meat for several days—only fruits and plants.

And suddenly, he felt happy.

Only goblins cooked meat over fire. Everyone else in the forest was stupid. They didn’t know that meat cooked over fire was tastier than raw meat.

He thought Fang-Eater had left, and somewhere nearby some goblins were cooking meat.

Maybe they would share with him?

He slowly crawled out of his hiding place, moved toward the source of the smell, and carefully peeked out from behind the bushes.

And what he saw shocked him.

Nearby, on the ground, lay a head.

The head of Fang-Eater.

He had only seen it once, but he remembered it forever. He could never forget that appearance.

It was definitely Fang-Eater’s head.

Huge. Black. With two gigantic fangs protruding from its jaws. Each fang was almost as big as Gri himself.

Not far away, a campfire was burning. Above the fire hung an enormous piece of meat. Nearby on the ground lay butchered meat—large, heavy, and there was a lot of it.

And suddenly, a strange creature appeared near the meat.

It looked like a goblin—but not quite.

It was taller.

It wore better clothes.

And the strangest thing—its skin was not green. It was different.

Its ears and nose were smaller than a goblin’s. Its head seemed small compared to its body.

The creature looked wrong.

It took a large knife and began cutting pieces from the cooked meat.

And immediately ate them.

Fast.

A lot.

The rest—the raw meat—it put back over the fire to continue cooking.

In just a few minutes, the creature ate an enormous amount of meat.

And then, suddenly, it disappeared.

Where did it go?

Gri didn’t manage to notice.

One moment the strange creature was there—and the next, it was gone.

Just disappeared.

Gri didn’t understand where it went.

He looked around.

No one.

Maybe it left?

If it left… then all that meat was his now.

So much meat.

So much.

If he brought that much meat back to the village, he would become a hero.

They would praise him.

Mother would be proud.

Brothers and sisters would rejoice.

And maybe… he would have several wives.

Because the one who brings back so much meat is strong.

And the strong are respected.

He did not dare leave his hiding place.

What if the creature was still nearby?

It had killed Fang-Eater—so it was very strong.

Better to wait.

And he was right.

The creature appeared again from the same place it had vanished earlier.

It took more meat, ate it quickly, and put the raw meat back over the fire.

After that, it disappeared again.

For some time, Gri continued watching.

The creature appeared again and again—eating meat and disappearing—then returning and eating again.

Over all that time, it ate so much meat that it would have been enough to feed Gri’s entire village for several days.

And suddenly, the creature appeared again—but this time, it didn’t touch the meat.

It moved a bit farther away and began picking something up from the ground.

Gri focused his eyes—and froze.

They were mushrooms.

Red death mushrooms.

Simply—red death.

As a child, he had been taught:

You must not even touch these mushrooms.

Even a tiny piece would kill a goblin.

And if you simply touched the mushroom, then ate something else—it would be very bad.

You could die.

And this creature…

It began eating red death.

Not one mushroom.

Not two.

But dozens.

Stupid creature.

No one could be as smart as a goblin.

The elders said that even one such mushroom could kill Fang-Eater.

And this stupid creature was eating them by the dozens.

And it kept eating.

Then the creature disappeared again.

And when it appeared—it started eating meat again.

This time, it ate the meat mixed with red death.

But why wasn’t it dying?

No… he had to wait.

Red death doesn’t kill instantly.

It takes time.

Gri waited.

He waited and watched.

But the creature didn’t die.

Not only did it not die—it kept eating.

More.

And more.

That meat was supposed to be his.

But the stupid creature wasn’t dying, and the meat was getting less and less.

After some more time passed, fear began to creep into Gri’s heart.

This creature…

It was more dangerous than Fang-Eater.

Red death didn’t kill it.

Even red death.

It ate for hours.

Without stopping.

And suddenly, Gri understood.

This was terrifying.

Truly terrifying.

What if this creature started eating everything in the forest?

Everyone.

And what if it learned where the goblin village was?

If it came there…

It would eat everyone.

No.

That could not be allowed.

There was very little Fang-Eater meat left.

And when it ran out, the creature would move on to something else.

And Fang-Eater had been the largest creature in the forest.

If even it wasn’t enough…

Then nothing would be enough.

The village had to be warned immediately.

He had to run.

Otherwise, this creature would eat all the goblins.

Gri, afraid even to breathe, slowly began backing away, trying not to make a sound.

One step.

Another step.

When he decided he was far enough away, he sped up.

And then he ran.

He ran in panic, toward his village, to warn the chief and the others.

A terrifying creature had appeared in the forest.

It devours everything.

And if the goblins don’t leave this place as far as possible—

There will be no goblins left.

{61 days of real time have passed.}

{In Alisar’s training room, 13 years, 2 months, and 4 days have passed.}

[Quest No. 5 completed.]
[Reward: +50,000,000 experience]

~~
~~

[Quest No. 30 completed.]
[Reward: +10,000,000,000 experience]

[Special Skill [Training Hall], Rank 3, completed.]
Skill evolved into: [Training Room], Rank 4

~~
~~

[Quest No. 4 completed.]
[Reward: +40,000,000,000 experience]

[Status]

Name: Alisar
Level: 160
Experience: 4,674,553,339 / 7,000,000,000
Rank: 5

HP: 245,090 / 245,090 (+56,640)
MP: 80,840 / 80,840 (+56,640)
Strength: 5,725 (+1,888)
Defense: 3,769 (+1,888)
Speed: 15,015 (+1,888)
Intelligence: 2,550 (+1,888)
Magic Power: 2,545 (+1,888)
Magic Defense: 2,989 (+1,888)
Free Attribute Points: 1,505,610 (+1,503,232)

Skills:
Swordsman (Rank 3)
Berserk (Rank 2)
Poison Resistance (Rank 5)
Reinforced Stomach (Rank 2)

Special Skills:
• Training Room (Rank 4)
• Alchemy (Rank 3)

I found a good place in the forest—a clearing under the open sky, with a clear view of the stars. It’s night now, and I’m just lying here, looking up.

I don’t know how much time has passed since Emilia’s death. For me—probably a couple of years. For the rest of the world, maybe only a month. I didn’t count. At all.

The pain is no longer as sharp as before, but it still feels like something inside is missing. The emptiness hasn’t gone anywhere.

Most of the time, I simply trained in the training room.

Healing potions helped a lot with that. It was simple: train until exhaustion, drink a potion—and continue. Again and again. After the eighth or ninth potion, I usually passed out. When I woke up—I continued training.

Sometimes, of course, I had to go out to eat. I ate whatever I found in the forest. It seems some of those things were poisonous. Because of that, my poison resistance skill increased in rank. Well, that’s at least a plus.

There’s another plus.

Now I no longer pass out after the eighth potion in a day.

Currently, I can drink eleven healing potions per day.

I only lose consciousness after the eleventh.

…Oh. A falling star.

That happens here quite often.

But this one… it’s too big.

Looks like a comet. Or a meteorite.

It seems to have fallen somewhere deeper in the forest.

I’ve never seen something like that before.

Maybe I should go take a look?

…No.