A Plant’s Life - Chapter 22 Dinner Party!

The green light of greed flashed in the eyes of guards, if the wanderer’s voice had been any lower, they would attack, killing him and stealing the meat. But this intruder had shouted very loud, alarming the entire community. Soon their chief arrived, noticing the meat he became glad, yet refrained himself from showing his happiness. The chief commanded: “The offer is acceptable; you can stay for one night. Your skills will be tested to determine your permanent situation later”. While scorning the unlucky fellow inside, he was planning to rub him and kill him later, eating the hunter with his pray!

The community walked in, with an apathetic look, the wandering goblin followed behind.

The guest was led to the middle of a crowd, stripped of his weapons and meat. The roving goblin obliged their commands with no objection, inflating their egos. Chief thought inside: “He seems like a coward, maybe I should keep him? He would make a nice toy. He can also be manipulated to fight my opposition, that sounds great, he looks strong enough. I am very smart for thinking of this possibility, I am a genius! He already wants to stay, so using him will not be difficult, we could have a death match between him and Goli, that bastard has been eyeing my spot for the longest. If wanderer loses, we eat his body, no loss would happen. I gotta tell them while eating, putting them in a bind. Damn, I am smart, it feels lonely being the smartest goblin!”

Some time later, a lousy stew was prepared by the community; even with their ancestors teaching them, the culinary art had not been developed between goblins.

Complements were thrown into the air like candy flown from a pinata, by goblin villagers. Encouraging their chef, Malin, for her cooking skills, her status in the village was astonishingly as high as clerics.

“That smells fantastic”

“It is the bloody best food there is, meat”

“Our cooker is the best around”

“Malin is awesome like meat, I like meat”

The chief came close to their guest, explaining: “Malin is the best one there is, ever was and ever will be. She knows how to make the meat taste better and be more! Can you believe it, MORE! Damn, I love her, everyone does. I am so smart for choosing her to be our cook, I am the best. You WILL love her food then you fight. You fight with Goli, if you beat him, you can stay, or we will eat you too. Let Marin do her magic. I love her cooking; I am wise for choosing her! Bloody good!” The chief continued to mumble under his breath, with John’s sharpened senses, it sounded as more complements towards himself. John took his attention from the rambling goblin, thinking of the information given to him: “The goblins do not seem to be on friendly terms with other villages, each circle has their own independent setting. There is always rivalry between members, I must do more research. There is no notable strong goblin present, they all seem within the same range of strength as previous villages. There is no standard for culinary skills either, this female monster seems to simply boil all the meat together, yet it has all the members in high spirit. Clerics also provide old stories, prohibiting goblins from choosing left, seems unpleasant past experiences have shaped their beliefs. More time processing their community will provide no further benefits” John determined.

Food came in the form of watery soup with floating small meat pieces inside, deriving the goblins wild! They all devoured their portions, one even took John’s portion, eating it in one quick move, avoiding any objection that may arise. Then a loud yell came from chief: “Now is the moment to test this wanderer, I nominate Goli to test him, it will be a match to death!”

Goli stood up begrudgingly, he decided to use this opportunity to challenge chief after his victory, the game could be played by both sides! The wanderer stood without objection, walking to the middle of the waiting crowd, awaiting Goli. John used this chance to recheck Goli’s power.

[Name: Goli

Race: Goblin

Class: Warrior

Level: 2

HP (Health Point): 20/20 (CON*8+4)

MP (Mana Point): 16/16 (INT*12+4)

SP (Stamina Point): 21/21 (CON*10+DEX/2)

Attributes:

Strength – 4

Dexterity – 2

Constitution – 2

Intelligence – 1

Wisdom –2

Charisma – 1

Luck – 2

Skills: N/A

Condition: Digesting food

XP (Experience Point): 23/30]

He was much weaker than John, this would prove to be a breeze for him. Goli had the appearance of any goblin with an inch on their height. Due to many upgrades done to his body, John had been visibly taller than his peers, this odd feature had led this greedy chief to believe in his victory. Goli opened his mouth and shouted: “I am Goli the breaker, I got the nickname after breaking many goblins. I will break your legs and scrawny arms, then blind both eyes and shove my fist all the way up your ass pulling your tongue out. Then…” before having the chance to continue his ranting, Goli fell to the ground. This would have shocked all members if they had time to look at such a scene, their fighter had fallen before the fight began. However, they were struggling themselves, to no avail, they fell one after another. Then loud snores filled the entire village, it sounded like a strange song.

With vast expertise in plants, he was incredibly familiar with poisons, their effects, and working. Thus, before going to their village he had calculated the amount of dosage needed for this village. Prepared it by changing the DNA of found plants, using them on the meat. The sleeping effect started to show itself after they had finished their meal, but it would not affect John in any manner as he could simply digest it. Yet, a foolish greedy monster had stolen his share of food, unsurprisingly the thief had fallen first.

John used his time to kill each goblin by stealing their life force, as they were weakened by drowsiness and poison ingested. Stronger members such as the clerics, hunters, and the chief received more special treatment, being completely consumed alive; to avoiding the energy disappearance. Some woke up while being eaten alive, since their nerves were intact, all of the pain and agony was fully experienced by them.

Once this cruel dinner party had been concluded, many dead bodies were the only signs of such night. After a simple meal an entire village was decimated, no member was speared. Later when the deployed hunters returned to their community, finding it ravaged, they had no choice but to move to other villages. Some of them would die from the dangerous journey and others would simply be killed by goblins, their loots stolen. Being a small group of goblins was truly the same as a death sentence. However, their fate would not concern John, the culprit, who was hiding in a dark corner, ready for his next round of transformation.

He disconnected himself from the pain receptors of the brain, then relayed to the system: “System, show me my stats and evolution path”

[Name: Kala

Race: Goblin

Class: Chief

Level: 5

HP (Health Point): 44/44 (CON*8+4)

MP (Mana Point): 40/40 (INT*12+4)

SP (Stamina Point): 53/53(CON*10+DEX/2)

Attributes:

Strength – 6

Dexterity – 6

Constitution – 5

Intelligence – 3

Wisdom –4

Charisma – 5

Luck – 2

Skills: Lead (Basic): higher chance of success in rallying troops

Condition: Healthy

XP (Experience Point): 100/100]

[evolution path:

1. Elder goblin, more charisma, and luck

2. Warrior Hobgoblin, higher strength, and constitution

3. Archer Hobgoblin, higher dexterity, constitution, and luck

4. Mage Hobgoblin, higher intelligence, and wisdom]

John analyzed: “The system seems to show more information as the monster gains a better footing amongst dungeon hierarchy. I would have been able to push the vessel myself, but that would have raised alarms. The choice seems quite elementary”