"Wake up," Voice said in an anxious tone. This sudden change from its usual robotic one couldn't mean anything good. "I sense the presence of several hostile entities nearby." Just as I said, this couldn't mean anything good.
"And this late of the night." I sighed. "Do you have any more knowledge about them, or have you just sensed them?" I said while grabbing a spear from the weapon pile next to me.
"Only presence."
"Good, I wasn't excepting anything more than you, and you didn't break my expectations, keep like this." I spun the spear I grabbed in my hand several times until I got used to it, then began approaching the only entrance to my shelter. I am putting myself on a gamble, but the upside is too good to be ignored. If whatever the hell is approaching me is not powerful enough to defeat me waiting at the narrow entrance, I will win, but if somehow I find myself pushed back into the cave, that means dead, at least for me.
"Whatever is waiting for me outside, I hope you are not coming towards here." I think all this situation is my mistake. I should have done the whole cooking process away from my shelter or should have changed my position the moment I saw those creatures scouting my area. No, this is no time to whine.
I peeked outside. Pitch dark, the cloudy sky is blocking what little light the moon is trying to give to land, and constant snowing is blocking most of the sounds coming outside. A perfect night to ambush someone. I smiled. "If only my enemies weren't carrying torches."
Not too far from the cave, maybe a hundred meters or so, five creatures, with four carrying torches or a similar light source, are approaching. It is a little hard to say what they are, but if I must assume from their silhouettes, I say the green creatures I saw around my shelter would fit.
I think they are searching for somewhere to escape from the snow. How bad I already occupy here, but I'll be too much of a Polyana to assume they will go away when they learn I live in this place. Like always my father said, it is not the words of peace that stop a war from waging. It is guns and the risk of losing. Too bad he was wrong, my country had enough weapons, but the war started anyways. Still, I couldn't say his words don't hold some truth.
"I need more weapons." I moved back into the cave to the weapon pile. I have too many old weapons inside, but that means enough expandable equipment in another language, which is good. I grabbed my fur coat from the ground, which I use as a blanket, placed the long sword on its handle, then picked one spear and put the short sword on my belt.
I got my spear to throw and eliminate the first enemy coming, my long sword for when I actually fight, and my short sword for, well, you never know when you might need an extra weapon. Now I must go back to the entrance before my friends enter and crush all my plans, but I am ready, and they are close enough. I will use this chance to inspect my visitors.
They look like a hybrid of a monkey and a human, but they are bald and have very sharp and long ears and noses with no clear indicator of their gender. Except for one anomaly, a larger one carrying an almost human-sized basket on his back, it moves in the middle of the group with a large male reproductive organ open for all eyes. And while other monsters have spears (shorter than mine, but still a spear) and torches, this big boy has a two-handed club.
Back to the small ones, they are around a meter tall. Compared to the big one, which I assume is a little longer than two meters, their size is nothing. Yet, while the height difference is there, each has one common attribute, the fur covering some parts of their body. I wonder if it's just for protection against cold or has more abilities.
Well, I think I will find it soon enough. Monsters are slowly closing the distance, and they might sense my presence if I wait anymore. I think one of them is already in range for me to kill with a spear throw, and wasting such an opportunity for a sudden attack would be stupid.
I peeked outside to confirm the distance between me and the monsters. "What are these things even called?" I said in the hope of Voice giving me an answer.
"Snow Goblins." Voice surprisingly answered. "One of the common monsters plaguing the world."
"A plague, you say? Good, let's cure it then." I waited for some more time till the monsters decided to send one of them as a scout to inspect the cave for any threats, or that's what I assume. Then the second chosen goblin got close enough. I dashed outside and charged toward the creature with my spear directed towards its chest.
In three short steps, I closed the distance between my enemy and me. Using the length advantage of my weapon, I strike the spear into the goblin's chest from a safe distance, and with all my power, the sharp tip ripped through the fur and flesh like they were nothing. The monster gave one last cream before dying.
While this little shit passed fast enough for me to have enough time to reposition myself before other goblins got over the shock of my sudden attack, it also got stuck on my spear. And before I lose my advantage, it would be nice to get my weapon back.
I guess brute force is one of the best tools humanity has. I pushed the corpse to the ground, pressed it over with my boot, then pulled the spear away. Some pieces of its inner organs and a little blood flew out of it and messed my pants and boots, but I am not in a situation to care about my look.
Other goblins are not too far away, and as a plus, the torches they are carrying give their position in the dark. What else could I want? I aimed toward my target, stretched my upper body, and threw the spear with all the force I had.
The spear pierced through the air with a whistle and landed on the goblin's head. The monster flew back a little with the impact. "Perks of joining Olympics club in university, you got to use some tools you don't think you will use in such ways." I am not sure how deep it went, but considering how it is peacefully lying over snow and mud, I say it moved deep enough to kill it on the spot.
Two dead, but there are still four more. Time pull out big guns. I grabbed the long sword with both hands and pulled it from my back. When I hold this thing, I feel couraged, but I think anyone holding a sword with a blade longer than one meter would feel the same.
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"Let's see, which one wants to be the first to die, or do you all like to come as one." I looked at goblins. Two smaller ones are slowly approaching with their spears looking at me, and the big one is trying to drop the thing on his back, but doing slowly, perhaps to not damage whatever it's inside. "Or perhaps I should come to you."
I grabbed the corpse of the goblin I killed first from the ground, and yes, light enough. Perfect to use as a distraction. I threw the corpse towards the goblin on the left. My bloody tool for distraction hit the monster and caused it to fall, and I immediately began running forward. I was already in the range of the goblin on the right when I gathered enough momentum, which prepared its spear to counter my attack and would be suicide for me to charge head-on to it, but I am not stupid. I turned to the left and leaped towards the other goblin. It was still trying to get up from the ground. How bad. In a single strike, my sword went through its skull and smashed it like a watermelon.
Then to get my sword back, I cleaved it sideways. The upper part of the goblins head, many flesh and brain pieces, and some blood scattered around. Some even messed up my clothes.
But, it is no time to think about laundry. I charged toward the last small goblin.
It made something like an X in the air using its spear and torch to black my attack, but I think whatever wood they used in their equipment wasn't too durable because I raised my sword to the air, then landed a heavy blow towards the monster. Sword slashed both the goblin and its tools into two.
"And time for the main event." I pulled my sword out of the last short goblins corpse and pointed it towards the big one. "You, the big one. Do me a favor and give me a challenge, will you? I want to feel some adrenaline."
The large goblin roared and hit the ground with its club.
"I take that as a yes."
"Be careful," Voice said. "Goblins, especially hobgoblins, have higher muscle density than humans, and while smaller ones are still weaker than the average human, a hobgoblin larger than a human will hold a significant power on its body."
"Better." I charged forward and slashed my sword the second hobgoblin got into my range. The monster was quicker than I expected, and our weapons collided in the air.
I got pushed back a little, and I wasn't expecting this. Hobgoblin is much stronger than average humans, but I am just a human. I dropped the long sword. "Now, I dealt with ones like you quite a lot, and I think I have the tool I need right here." I pulled out the short sword and dashed towards the hobgoblin.
As I expected, it raised its club and swung towards me. The attack is fast for the size of the weapon it uses, but not enough. I got under its arms and stopped the attack by pushing it.
Hobgoblin stumbled with my move, but I am not over. I charged forward, pushed the goblin away, causing it to lose even more balance, and leaped to finish the fight for good. I thrust my sword right into its throat, then separated its head from its body with one wrist move and one sideways slash.
And before I even felt a little bit of frustration, the fight ended. Maybe it is better for me to end potential encounters with my enemies this fast, but I want to feel the adrenaline of battle. In modern combat, especially in urban warfare, you must stay vigilant. Unlike swords, a bullet is not something you can block, and it doesn't matter who fires it long as it lands.
"Enough life force sensed." Voice suddenly said. "Must feed."
Before I even reacted to this stupid line, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. Almost like a blade pierced through my flesh and activated every single nerve, then all of them began warning my brain.
I grabbed my stomach with both hands, but it didn't help to ease the pain, and before I noticed, I lost my balance, stumbled several steps, and fell to the ground, right next to the hobgoblin's body.
"Eat." A sinister sound echoed inside my head. "Devour the flesh of slain enemies and get stronger. It is what you must do. Every living being is only food for you. Consume every last one of them."
Saliva began dropping from my mouth, and without my control, I opened my mouth and got it closer to the corpse of the hobgoblin. I can almost taste it. Just an inch later, my teeth will pierce through its skin, and I will devour its flesh. Just one more inch...
"No." I pushed the corpse away and jumped away from any dead goblin. I don't know what is causing that, but it isn't me. Something is playing with my head! "Voice!" I screamed. "Tell me what is happening."
"Temptation isn't coming from the flesh, but the power lies in it. For things out of my knowledge, your body craves for the power of living to get stronger," It stopped for a second. "But you don't need to consume the flesh, just try touching it and keep the contact for some time."
I slapped myself to get back to my senses, and I think I got a second or two before I lost control of my body to this unholy hunger again. Better do what Voice says. I moved forward and touched the hobgoblin's chest. A greenish light came out of the monster's body and flowed into mine. I still feel wrong, yet hunger is getting weaker, and I slowly lose the desire to consume flesh.
But seconds later, my muscles and bones started itching, then sometimes more, they began hurting like they never did, and I found myself rolling on the ground in pain. My body, I feel like it is getting deformed. I can feel my muscles getting stretched and pulled. And the pain of it is almost like getting surgery without anesthetics.
"User's physical attributes increased using the targets life force. Warning, the next one will require more." I heard Voice's talking right before I fainted. Perhaps this amount of pain was too high, even for me.