The World of Tactics

Chapter Four: Waking Up By The Fire

"Goblins, those horrid green curs. Growing as green as weeds. Even when you cut down one, another two will crop up to sap away the nutrients for the crops. A parasite that can not even be removed. What's worse is that they don't have long to live, yet produce like rabbits. See one, remove one. See two, remove two. See hundred, run." An old adventurer curses as the old adventurer gulps down some diluted ale.

---

The world was all so imaginary and foggy. John was just sitting right inside the cart that his father had just prepared for him. At the side, he could hear the four escorts of his father walking side by side on the cart. The four soldiers barely made any sort of 'pants' nor were there any complaints. The bumpy ride was too confusing, as, at every bump, he would feel the world distorting. Then he suddenly hears the giggling laughter of... Goblins.

Then the nightmare came. The three sides of the cart opened up and he saw three goblins laughing, waving their blunt clubs around with malice. One hit him in the stomach, the second hit his head, and the third one broke his left hand. He screamed and screamed, but there were no soldiers. He tried to grab his lance, but his right hand was not able to grasp anything at all. There was no help either. His mind freaked out and he screamed for help. No one answered his call for help and what he could only hear was his broken voice and the evil giggles of the goblins. He saw one of the goblins l*****g the b****y club. He knew that it was his blood and he opened up his eyes.

The first person that came into his view was half the face of the leading soldier. Then memories finally came back to him. Then he remembers that he moved out of the cart. Then he remembered that he was on the ground and ended his turn. Then he got attacked and killed the first goblin. Then got attacked again and again. And then he faints? With a quick look around, he noticed the fire burning brightly. He was still alive, he could not believe that he was still not dead. He only came back to himself when the leading soldier spoke.

"Having a nightmare, I see." Then he could visually see that the leading soldier muttered afterward, "Damn abdominal goblins." After the words were uttered, he could see that the leading soldier gnashed and clenched his fist.

He could tell that this leading soldier was not so well fit with goblins.

His head was still messy and had a throbbing headache, so he asked, "Where are we? I thought am-"

"Goner?" The leading soldier interrupted. Then continues, "Sorry for the late greeting, but the name is Lawrence [1]. You can just call me Larry." Pointing to the opposite soldier, Lawrence continues his introduction, "That shorty over there is Dewberry [2]. However, just call him Berry." Dewberry snorted and turned away a bit while keeping maintenance on his bronze lance with some sort of rags.

With that, Lawrence continued, "This one." Lawrence pointed at the one that was on the opposite side of the fire from his. "Is Tube [3], we call him Tubby and he is the fattest one in our group." Tube was not fat. In his opinion, Tube was just on the chubby side.

Moving onward, Lawrence said, "Over there, the one that keeps practicing his lance." While he was turning his way in the direction that Lawrence pointed, Lawrence continued. "That is Zack [4]. Just call him Zack."

Finally, after the introduction, Lawrence began to become serious, "Just for you to know. We were ordered not to talk to you, young master." He observed Lawrence as Lawrence leaned back and looked at the starry sky. Lawrence continues, "However, this is an emergency and you must listen carefully." Lawrence's tone becomes much deeper and much more serious than ever, "Even if we were to die along the way. You must reach the barracks within the capital. No question asked, understand?"

With all of the introduction, he felt that the group that his father had assigned to him as escorts were a strange bunch. With the last few lasting questions and doubts about the upcoming journey. He could only leave those questions and doubts behind once he saw how serious Lawrence had become. He answered, "Understand."

Lawrence gives out a sigh of relief before he finishes, "Well, you have got a pretty solid kill before you have fainted." As if forgetting something, he hands over a vial of liquid, "Here, take this Vulnerary. It is only enough for one use left."

[Obtained a Vulnerary (1/3)!]

He could tell straight away why it only had one use left. His grievous wounds had disappeared except for the pain. He felt no b*****e on his body and the disappearance of his wounds meant that the Vulnerary had been used on him when he was unconscious. After taking the vulnerary, he observed the four and they sat in silence while doing their things. It was the orders of his father and this had made him think again. What was going on and what made his father take such action? For now, he will have to wait until he becomes as strong as his father before he can uncover what has happened.

Now then, with nobody bothering him. He decided to check on his status.

[Status]

[Name: John Smith][Class: Blank][Level: 11/20][Rank: 1][HP: 13/13]

[STR: 4(10) / [1][2][3][4][][][][][][] ]

[MAG: 2(10) / [1][2][][][][][][][][] ]

[SKL: 2(10) / [1][2][][][][][][][][] ]

[SPD: 3(10) / [1][2][3][][][][][][][] ]

[LCK: 1(10) / [1][][][][][][][][][] ]

[DEF: 3(10) / [1][2][3][][][][][][][] ]

[RES: 2(10) / [1][2][][][][][][][][] ]

[Unallocated Points: 2]

[Class Change Available!]

[Hidden: [CON: 5][MOV: 4][SKILL: N/A][EXP: 18/100][WEA: Lance: D]]

There were some obvious changes to his screen status. His level went up by one, his health points went up by one, and he can change his class now, but most importantly, he is now able to have two unallocated points to use every single time he levels up. This was unprecedented and this is by no means something simple. Two points to add to any of his base stats mean a lot of things. He could add the two unallocated points to strength and his strength would be over the average person's strength by one point. This also means that he could deal two more additional damage to the goblins that he had faced.

He is tempted to add one or two points to magic, but he still does not know how magic works, leaving it the value of two. The average person only has one or two points in magic anyway. There were even some that did not have any points in magic. As for skill, he does not know if he should put any points into it. He found no obvious clues. The same applies to the speed stat as well. For luck, he also got no clue, since it is hard to judge when there is only one point in the luck stat. The defense was quite obvious and he had even personally experienced how beneficial defense was. He had almost died. Lastly, resistance was pretty obvious and linked to the magic stat.

He truly would have liked to attempt to study more on how the stats would work, but the previous situation calls for the need to change his way of thinking. He found that strength and defense provide the most benefits in regards to his current situation, better than any of the other stats. Finally, he decided that strength and defense were a must. A point was put into each stat. With that done, he felt much happier to be alive.

Turning to the four soldiers; Lawrence, Dewberry, Tube, and Zack. He finally realized that the soldiers were, too, exhausted. Zack was still practicing while the three had already taken the chance when he was fiddling with the status screen and went to sleep. The three soldiers just slept near the fireplace and he was also one of the occupants of the fireplace too. For now, even though he did not feel the need to sleep. He had to sleep because he knew that without the horse and cart. The upcoming journey on foot will be rough.

Just like the rest of the soldiers sleeping, even with an adult mindset, his current body is equivalent to a child right at this moment. The moment he closes his eyes, he directly begins to fall into dreamland. This time, however, the dream that came was not the monstrous goblins that kept hitting him. It was now his turn with his new profound strength and defense. The situation was the other way around.

Even with a good dream, he woke up in the cold dew. He shivered with the chill of the morning. The fireplace was completely dead and the others were already awake gathering up their belongings. Lawrence hands him a bag full of meat. His stomach hungered and he took a piece out and bit it. The meat was as tough as rocks and he took a couple of rough bites to truly taste it. The meat was dark red and was hard when held. Not only that, it tasted a bit gamey and a bit like dried beef.

An afterthought and he realized why everyone was carrying such a big pouch of meat as well. This was the meat from the dead horse from yesterday. He felt grateful for the meat that the dead horse gave him. While fiddling around the pouch of meat, he noticed a small red sphere like a gem. The small red sphere-like gem was as big as an average human's thumb. On closer inspection, he saw a faint shadow of a goblin inside. Then it finally clicked, it must have been the goblin that he had accidentally killed yesterday. Before he could do anything else, he got an information screen for the gem. It reads:

[Goblin's Soul Core - Absorb to gain experience or be summoned during the battle preparation phase. The stronger the summons' levels and the absorber's current level, the more varied the experiences the absorber can get. Summoned goblins can not evolve, currently. Soul core will dissipate when it dies during battle.]

[Name: N/A][Race: Goblin][Level: 6/20][Rank: 0][HP: 14/14]

[STR: 3(8) / [1][2][3][][][][][] ]

[MAG: 0(5) / [][][][][] ]

[SKL: 1(6) / [1][][][][][] ]

[SPD: 2(8) / [1][2][][][][][][] ]

[LCK: 0(10) / [][][][][][][][][][] ]

[DEF: 3(8) / [1][2][3][][][][][] ]

[RES: 0(5) / [][][][][] ]

[Hidden: [CON: 4][MOV: 4][SKILL: N/A][EXP: 55/100][WEA: Axe: E]]

[Equip: N/A]

[Absorption: 4 EXP]

To the right side, he could see what the goblins looked like. The goblin was a bit like a phantom and the goblin's leg was completely translucent. After glossing over the appearance of the goblin, he moves on to the stats showing on the left side. It finally dawned on him as to what he could do with this goblin's soul core. He could absorb this goblin's soul core to fill up his EXP bar. Doing so would most likely destroy this soul core. The same goes for the goblin when it dies in battle.

The other thing that he noticed was that stats limitation was limited by their race. However, humans seem to work quite differently from monsters. He needs more concrete evidence to ensure that his hypothesis is correct. For now, an additional unit that he could potentially control during his phase sounds great. That also means that their group has become slightly stronger with the additional goblins.

Following from behind the four, he felt his feet itching. Then soreness sets in and finally his feet begin to hurt. They have been following the road for so long and hours have passed by slowly. The only comforting thing about this morning's journey was that he received motivation every hour or so. He would receive EXP every time he felt that his feet were giving out. The notification message reads:

[Ding! Due to constantly experiencing extensive amounts of time walking. EXP + 1.]

In his early teen years of life, he had never received such a message before. Comparing the amount of time walking to his early years of training, he would have gotten at least three levels. This feature might have been unknowingly unlocked when he formed his blank crest. Other than this reason, he had no other reason to justify why he would gain experience compared to the training that he had.

Throughout the journey until their very first break, it was a bit more than six whole hours. In total, he had also gained six experience. The moment the camp was briefly set up, he munched on the dried horse meat while sitting beside the mossy boulder. He saw a leather pouch handed over to him and he quickly gulped a couple of mouthfuls of water. He was about to say his thanks, but he looked over to the one that handed him a leather pouch. He gave it back quietly to Zack.

The camp did help him recover some stamina, but he felt that an hour's break was not enough. Maybe it was due to time constraints or something, but he noticed how grim the mood of the four was. The four never said anything, but he knows that something bad will happen if they do not hurry onward. No complaints left his mouth and he continued following the four. It was not until the sun began to set that they had to stop and make camp for the night.

He helped gather up some dried twigs and some branches he found nearby. He wanted to be useful even though his attempt at being useful was a bit awkward. After gathering them into a bunch, he was able to watch how the soldiers started a fire. In all of his life, this primitive way of life is very intriguing. The soldier's strength was a notch stronger than the average person and he was able to make some kind of charcoal after rubbing parts along with pieces of dry wood. It was quite interesting when he finally saw the amazing magic. The four of them easily started a fire with a few quick spins, and a few puffs and the fire started to burn like magic.

The night started to set in. The night before, he slept on the uncomfortable floor and that coldness gave him a heavy morning. He somehow was able to find a few bushes that had a long string of leaves. After gathering a bunch, he was able to make a makeshift bed. A bed was much more comfortable, but he had to make do in comparison to yesterday's solid ground.

The moment he closed his eyes, what he saw was just empty darkness. In the darkness, he felt his feet become numb. When his feet became numb, he felt deeper pain from under his feet. From the pain, he had the urge to scratch and scrape the itchiness of his feet. After the itchiness, his mind collapsed and he fell asleep. He had no idea as to when and how he had fallen asleep, but what he did know was that today was exhausting and tomorrow was no better.

Time passes by so quickly when someone is sleeping. A quick wink of sleep and tomorrow came with another blink. Today was early morning. He had woken up, startled by Zack's practice. The buzzing sound of the swinging lance and the cold morning dew. His lips had cracked and dried. His mouth felt completely dried up. He tries to lick his mouth and manages to somehow produce a bit of saliva. After a bit, his mouth felt much better, but still, a bit dried up. This time, Dewberry came up to him and handed over a leather pouch that stored some water. After a few mouthfuls, Dewberry took back the leather pouch and went back to sit around.

When he has his thirst filled with water, he begins to munch on his stock of meat strips. It was still dark outside and the other two were still asleep. After an hour and a half, the sun finally reached the horizon and the two sleeping people were finally awake. He did nothing other than try to munch on the dried meat strips during the past hour and a half. He had also massaged his feet because he knew that today's journey would be arduous. When the camp was cleaned up, he knew that today's journey had begun.

[1: Lawrence - Lawrence was a goblin-made orphan. His village was destroyed by goblins that were led by a strong hobgoblin. Sir Roylis Smith came and was able to kill the leading hobgoblin. By then, however, the village was already destroyed and the help came too late. His ordinary family of four was already massacred and he was the only survivor of his family. He had a strong hatred for goblins and hobgoblins.]

[2: Dewberry - Dewberry was also another goblin-made orphan. He grew up alongside Lawrence even though the two had their differences. Dewberry took Lawrence as his idol and followed him all the way. Even now, his short stature and his temper might have been his disadvantages over the years. Dewberry has never given up the same thoughts as Lawrence. He had a strong hatred for goblins and hobgoblins.]

[3: Tube - Tube came from a well-off merchant family. However, when Tube was traveling with his father on a merchant delivery, the merchant band was ambushed by goblins. The mercenaries that they hired were not able to fend off the last wave of three hobgoblins. Luckily, he had escaped with his father into the land of Sir Roylis Smith. Due to his father's injuries and the loss, his father accumulated wealth. He served under Sir Roylis Smith and was trained alongside Lawrence, Dewberry, and Zack. He dislikes goblins and hobgoblins, but not to the point of creating a bloodbath. He pledged under Sir Roylis Smith and worked hard to gain a few coins to support his family.]

[4: Zack - Zack was a true orphan. He was abandoned at birth and he has been under Sir Roylis Smith since. He grew up under the cover of the public and over time he came to know Lawrence, Dewberry, and Tube. Even then, he knew that he had average potential, which is why he worked hard to master his lance. He took training seriously and any tips to become stronger were his aim. He had hope that one day he could repay the gratitude he owes to the Smith family. He had the most loyalty to the Smith family compared to the three others.]

[Goblins - A devilish green humanoid monster. They were known to reproduce quickly and come with the advantage of numbers. Goblins are stronger than humans during the early stage of development. Over time, on the long scale of twenty years. A goblin would have reached the end of its lifespan. In comparison, a human's potential would then overpower the average goblin in their prime. Their evolutionary route is Hobgoblin (Evolution happens automatically at level 16). Just a side note, the goblins that they fought were at the age of three or four. Essentially, the goblins that they fought against were just 'strong little kids' in human terms.]