Ethan staggered back, panting as adrenaline surged through his veins. His hands trembled as he dropped the remains of the stick, staring down at the goblin's lifeless body.
"Shadow, you okay?" he asked, turning to the cat. She was licking her paws, seemingly unfazed by the fight. Ethan let out a shaky laugh. "Of course you are. You're a badass."
He crouched beside the goblin, inspecting its body. Its crude club and a small pouch of shiny stones seed to be the only things of value. He grabbed the club—it wasn't much, but it was better than a broken stick—and pocketed the stones for good asure.
As he stood, another notification flashed in front of him.
[Ding! The entity Goblin has been added to your summoning list.]
Ethan grinned, despite himself. "A goblin, huh? Guess I've got my first humanoid summon."
He glanced down at Shadow, who was now rubbing against his leg, her tail curling affectionately. "And I've got you, too. Not bad for a beginner team."
The forest felt eerily quiet now, the rustling leaves and distant bird calls barely registering over the pounding in his ears. He stared down at the goblin's crude, lifeless body, debating his next move.
"Summon goblin," Ethan said hesitantly, testing his newfound ability.
The air shimred faintly in front of him, and then, with a faint pop, the goblin materialized. It stood there, eerily still, its beady eyes fixed on him. The wounds from the battle were gone, leaving it in the pri of its grimy, green-skinned health.
"Okay, this is weird," Ethan admitted, eyeing the creature warily. It didn't seem hostile, but its blank stare was unnerving. "Uh… kneel?" he tried.
The goblin imdiately dropped to one knee, bowing its head in submission. Ethan blinked in surprise. "Well, that's… good to know," he muttered, still feeling a bit uneasy.
He quickly opened his system screen to check the goblin's stats.
[Green Goblin]
Green Goblin Lvl 0
Health: 50
Strength: 8
Agility: 5
"Huh? No skills?" Ethan scratched his head. Logically it was more likely for a goblin to have a skill than a cat but maybe he did not understand this world well enough yet. Maybe the goblin just had raw strength and madness as its only weapons? or maybe it needed to level up more to acquire more skills?
Well, it did not matter. He would slowly figure it all out. He could also try talking to the thing. "Can you understand ?" He asked the strange creature still staring at him.
The goblin imdiately started grunting and nodding, its jagged teeth bared in what Ethan hoped wasn't an attempt at a smile. The sounds it made were guttural and incomprehensible, but there was a clear effort to communicate.
"Okay, so I can't understand you but you can understand ?" Ethan muttered, leaning in slightly to study its reaction. The goblin tilted its head, clearly understanding sothing but lacking the ability to express it. "Great. Looks like we'll need to work on your conversational skills."
Shadow, anwhile, had perched herself on a nearby log, watching the interaction with mild interest. Her tail flicked lazily as if she was unimpressed with the goblin's attempt at communication.
Ethan decided to push his luck. "All right, Grug—" he paused, pointing to the goblin, "—yes, that's your na. Grug. Do this." He waved his hand in a circular motion, hoping for so semblance of obedience.
The goblin squinted at him, then mimicked the motion with its stubby arm, looking both confused and proud of itself.
"Ha!" Ethan barked out a laugh, more from relief than amusent. "This might actually work."
He gestured toward the club Grug had previously wielded and then pointed toward the dense forest ahead. "Go and fetch sothing half-dead. Go!"
Grug let out a loud grunt and scurried off, his movents surprisingly swift for his stubby fra. Ethan watched as the goblin disappeared into the trees, half-expecting it to get lost or never co back.
"Our team is coming together," Ethan said to Shadow, who yawned in response. "Now, let's see if Grug can actually deliver."
Shadow seed to be tired and he too was tired from the fight so the two of them sat on a nearby rock to wait. Minutes passed and Ethan wondered if he should just go back to the carriage. Break ti was probably over and he did not want to be seen with a suspicious goblin.
He doubted that the people here lived in a friendly relationship with these goblins. Chances were that they might label him a traitor or sothing and kill him on the spot.
"Wait, can I dismiss these two and summon them back?" Ethan pondered when a distant crashing sound reached his ears. He imdiately stood up alert, tightening his grip on the club as his heart raced. Shadow crouched low, her ears pinned back and eyes focused on the source of the noise.
The next second, Grug erged from the undergrowth, dragging sothing heavy behind him. As he drew closer, Ethan's jaw dropped.
The goblin had sohow managed to find and subdue another goblin!
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