[Processing...]

[Requirements for Skill: Night Vision fulfilled]

[Skill: Night Vision obtained!]

[Special Skill: Call Mimicry obtained!]

[Skill: Goblin Call absorbed by Special Skill: Call Mimicry]

....

Blerugh.

I felt sick.

And in a familiar position. Hanging upside down off of a stick while the scenery around me waved back and forth.

It brought back memories of what Greenie had done to me the first time we met.

Why was it that each time I woke up from an evolution something unsavory was happening!? First the meat being smashed in, then the poop, and now this.

This time, I was lashed to a wooden spear, very similar to the original one the Greenie used to have before my evolution ate it up in the black blobs. Down to the feathers on the end. I would have thought it was Greenie's if I hadn't seen it disappear with my own eyes.

And no, this wasn't Greenie's spear.

Neither was the goblin butt flashing out at me with each step as I hung upside down was decidedly not Greenie's. It was much too dirty to be his. I would know, after having done my best to clean it before the rats had descended upon us.

I wonder how Greenie was doing. I hope he's okay.

This goblin hadn't tied my wings down, only my claws to the pole. ANd from the way it dug into his green skin, I was a lot heavier now compared to before.

His back looked very similar to Greenie when we first met.

Hmm.

Appraisal!

[Common Forest Goblin]

Yep, same species alright. But the feeling this one gave off was different.. More confident, somehow. It was the way he walked, head face straight forward and long strides forwards. And his loincloth was a leather material, dirty, but still better than what Greenie had been wearing.

This was very interesting. Where was he taking me? Were there other goblins? And why did Greenie live alone by himself if there were?

Some of these answers may be answered if I followed along. And this was the perfect chance, when the new goblin thought I was incapicatated.

My body felt a lot better compared to the searing, bone-crushing agony I'd gone through with my evolution. It was better than better. It felt great!

Clasping my talons around the spear, I beat my wings a few times so that I'm perched upright atop the spear. The force of my wings beating the air was enough to make the goblin carrying me glances back…

It's not Greenie.

Showing me a deeply scarred, ugly face, with 1 straight light green line carved beneath each of his pupils and down his neck to his collarbone.

Even with the same disproportionate goblin's bodies, this guy was on another level compared to Greenie. The scars and long, sharpened canines curving out of his mouth made Greenie look as tame as a preppie in comparison.

He stops, watching me atop his spear with a wary gaze. I don't do anything, just cock my head and return the look. I win the stare-off. When he sees that I'm not trying to escape, he starts walking again, most likely assured that I couldn't escape.

Well, I had been unconscious and vulnerable when he found me. And the crusty blood that I could feel on my wings that remained even after the evolution probably reinforced the notion that I was still injured.

Peck could break this spear in half and I could easily escape if I wanted to. But I didn't. Because I had so many questions about goblins, about Greenie. Something in my gut was telling me the answers would be wherever the goblin was taking me. It didn't feel terrible being bound like this, this time, because I knew I could easily escape whenever I wanted.

Patting myself on the back, I smile to myself. With my larger wings and new skills, I was free to fly away at any given moment.

Picking at the dried blood on my wings and fluffing them out, I sit. And I wait.

This goblin was so kindly offering to be my taxi, so I would accept the offer. I decide to leisurely take the time to go through the notification windows still hovering around me.

Looking at the first window, I do a double take.

[Ildrig chooses to reveal his name to you.]

[Ildrig, God of Mischief, is pleased by your actions.]

[Ildrig offers you a gift.]

[You may choose one skill from the Subterranean Rat's skill set.]

[Scent Detection,Thought Transmission, Bone Crushing Teeth, Tunneling, Poison Saliva]
A sick feeling spread in my stomach. Someone had been watching me.

Whoever this Ildrig was, they were a voyeur, watching me struggle to survive. While I was fighting off the hordes of rats tearing into my flesh, someone out there was enjoying the show.

This felt wrong on so many levels. I felt violated, like something precious had been ripped away from me.

Craaack.

I look down to see the spear crack a little under my grip, little flakes sloughing off onto the ground with the bobbing movement of each step the goblin takes.

Though I didn't know who this Ildrig person was, they made me mad. Who said you could just walt into my life and throw me a treat when I did something you liked!?

I was a person!! A living being!!!

Hahhhh.....

My little tantrum ends as quickly as it had heated up. The anger was still there, but I pushed it deep down to simmer before the surface. There was literally nothing I could do about this anger even if I wanted to anyways.

This god or whatever being might have even been the one that sent the rats into our cave. It did say he was the God of Mischief.

I would focus on the thing I could do. Which was surviving.

Each fight had been a close call. I needed to create as much distance in skill and strength between me and the next monster/monsters that attacked me.

To do that, I needed to get stronger. I look back at the skills this God of Mischief was offering me.

Having another skill would be so useful too... All the skills were attractive..
Even the scent detection. If I could smell things better, I might be able to notice any creature trying to sneak up on me..

But....the scent detection hadn't helped the rats notice the water before it was too late.

Thought Transmission looked nice too. Very, very nice.

The other skills except tunneling were more battle oriented.

Ahhhhh. It felt like I was window shopping, imagining the clothes on my body and what kind of occasions I could go to dressed in them.

No. No. No. No.

I wanted nothing to do with this person, god, whatever. Shaking my head in annoyance, I bemoan my predicament.

Nothing in life was ever free. What would this Ildrig want in return if I accepted this gift? Grrrrh.

But then again, Ildrig was giving me a gift because he was 'pleased by my actions'. So that counted as a fair exchange, right?

Finally I give in to my pathetic excuse. It seemed like a free gift. Who was I to reject it? I needed to survive. Once I got strong enough, I would use the gift Ildrig gave me to give him a good lesson.

Twitching my wings and readjusting my talon's grip on the spear, I eyeball the skills in the notification window again. Thought transmission might seem like the obvious choice, but I was going to think through each possibility first. No repeats of the Carrion Raven fiasco for me. 

With tunneling I would probably be able to dig. Having my own underground empire did sound quite nice. But then again, the rats had the same skill. If I tried to dig a home for myself underground, it may very well turn into a turf war between me and the rats.

And I couldn't forget about Greenie. He was a Savage Goblin Rare. If he became a grumpy-pants like the description said I didn't want to be in close quarters, underground with him. I was a bird for pete's sake. I should live like one.

As the goblin continues to make his way through the forest, I mutter to myself in a low voice as I ponder.

My choices were narrowed down to the final two. Thought Transmission and Poison Saliva.

If I think about my status, which one would better suit me? Since I was a Carrion Raven, I-

Ohhhhh. Silly me.

I wasn't a Carrion Raven anymore! Better check my stats first.

Status!

Ding~!

Yeah, I still didn't know which one to choose. Hrmmmm. I groan as I try to decide.

I should probably check how much I could spit right now.

Relaxing my lower beak, I focus on generating as much saliva as I could in my mouth.

Haawok!

Then I spit it out with as much force as I could muster. I could use the amount I'd spit out as a reference for how useful Poison Saliva could be in a battle.

Not even enough spit to fill a shot glass piddles onto the grass below. The amount was pitiful. I might dry out if I tried to spit on anything in an attack. And I didn't have teeth like the rats did, to put poison in the incisions they made.

My beak was usually closed when I pecked. If I didn't it felt weird and uncomfortable, like fingernails getting bent the wrong way.

Pei! I try spitting again for good measure. Even less came out compared to the first time.

"Kiek!"

The goblin shakes his spear, jostling me on top of it, as if warning, 'No funny business!'.
Okay, okay. No more spitting.

Thinking about it now, I still had the spice berries as a weapon to use if I made the bombs again.

I needed to find Greenie, more than anything, and this Thought Transmission skill might help.

Thought Transmission it is!

[Skill: Thought Transmission has been selected.]

[Processing...]

[The acquisition of Skill: Thought Transmission upgrades Pet Detection to LV2]

[Your bond with Pet (Greenie) has been strengthened as a result.]

Yes!!!!

Maybe I could contact Greenie somehow. I remember that thin string I'd felt when I thought about Greenie. I think about him again now, furrowing my non-existent bird brows.

Found it!

I tug. Something responds back from the other end. The invisible string felt thicker now, more elastic. Tugging a few more times, the other end responds with a few tugs of their own.

It took concentration to tug on the string.

"Kieeeeeeek!!" A long goblin call disturbs my concentration, making me flutter my wings.

When I open my closed eyes, my eyes widen in surprise. Giant trees stood all around us, long strands thicker than a man's waist reaching to the ground while it's trunk, as large as a house, had hollows in the base of it.

[Lament Willow]

Was what these trees were, from what Appraisal told me. But the trees were so much larger than any tree I had ever seen before. Craning my neck, I look around the somewhat foggy area here, which hampered my vision to see where the goblin had brought me.

Movement from the corner of my eye catches my attention, and I swivel my head.

There were people here.

No, not people, since they were all green and misshapen compared to the human form.

They were goblins!

tofu_moon

Please feel free to comment and lmk if I missed anything in Raven's status. I wrote this late at night so I'm not confident I got everything. Anyways, enjoy!