Chapter 20 - Class trial part 2
Observing from afar, Cantorn found the looks of the village to be quite peculiar. It gave off the air of a normal village at first, surrounded by a wooden palisade, with a large gate and two watchtowers to its side. A small but steady stream of goblins entered or left the village at all times. He guessed it to have a population of around 300, or maybe 500 inhabitants. There were smithies with large chimneys, that constantly poured out thick black smoke and a small market square where a myriad of products was being sold. Some of the goblins walking around seemed to be distinctively taller, packing on a lot more muscle than their smaller fellows.
If one began to look closer, however, it was easy to spot the differences in nature between goblins and other, more educated humanoid species. Feces littered the ground, which could be smelled even miles away. At every corner, goblins were mating out in the open, not caring if anyone saw them. Some even joined together to hold small orgies, repelling Cantorn even more. Brawls ensued quite often, sometimes with one of the parties ending up not so alive anymore. The goods that were produced in the smithies also looked to be of very substandard quality, pieces of metal cobbled together into crooked swords and daggers, with nicks and scratches riddling the blades.
Yet, despite all of this chaos, the dark elf felt his eyes be drawn towards two striking buildings. One was a hut, larger than anything else this village had to offer. A pair of oversized torches burned in front of it, their flames rivaling those of a small campfire. Red cloth adorned the roof, a very uncharacteristic view of this village. Most other places had little to no cloth that could be seen, their roofs decked with either straw or wood. If there was any fabric, however, it was usually colored in light shades of brown or beige. Color was definitely not a common occurrence in this village, except the green skin of the goblins. The only guess Cantorn had, was that this over-dimensional hut was the home of the village's chief.
As for the other building that caught his attention, Cantorn had no clue as to what it could be. It was almost as large as the village chief's hut and yet it was quite different. Instead of wood or cloth, it was build from a type of black stone, something he couldn't further identify. Goblins that entered or left the building usually wore long robes, reminding him of priests of some sort. Not much could be heard from the inside, except the occasional loud bang. Whatever was going on in there was weird, and he would do his best to find out what it was.
With a good overview of the village, it was now time to enter it. Sadly he couldn't just walk in, as it was with most cities. No other races were living here, and goblins also didn't seem like the most hospitable of all people. This only left him with one choice: infiltrating the village. Somehow he would have to make his way towards the chieftain's hut and hopefully take a little detour towards the weird building while doing so.
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Taking large leaps every time he touched the ground, Cantorn made his way across the various goblin huts of the village. From the living quarters to the smithies, over the market square, into a small alleyway that reeked of feces so bad that he almost had to throw up. During all of this, a small layer of shimmering mana covered the young elf. It looked like he was phasing in and out of the shadows constantly, his small build appearing like a mirage at times. If one wasn't careful it was easy to overlook him completely.
This did not happen by chance but was much rather a tedious exercise regimen that Cantorn put himself under. He was training to earn a stealth skill, something that did not come easily for most people. However, right now this was of utmost importance for him. If he truly wanted to succeed in this trial with a good score and earn even more attention from the system, he would have to do this right. Staying undetected for as long as possible was his main goal since this was a trial for a rogue class, one of the few that focused on ambushing their opponents and, if possible, start a fight with the advantage already on their side.
While he felt like he had come pretty far already, by manipulating mana around his body to push away the light and draw the shadows towards him, he still was far from there. It would probably take him another half a day till a day of training, experimenting, and adjusting to truly get the hang of it.
It was then that Cantorn had finally reached the building of black stone. Now that he was able to see it up close, it was truly fascinating. The surface of the roof was completely flat and smooth. Right there, pitch-black as it was, the stone that made up the whole building had little to no impurities or other damages that could blemish its appearance. It seemed almost otherworldly to him, that such a material could even exist. Yet, this was not even the most surprising thing about it. As soon as Cantorn stepped on it, he could feel the mana that covered his feet slowly be absorbed into the stone. Instead of being a forceful process, it much rather seemed like the stone simply slightly tugged at the mana in its surroundings, similar to a small child tugging at the clothes of its parents, nudging it to come with it.
Identify!
| Manite (uncommon) | |
| Description: |
A mineral that can only be found in certain regions. Due to its sturdiness and mana-absorbant qualities, it is sought after, and its resource deposits are often the cause for minor scuffles or larger fights. |
This explained why Cantorn could feel the mana being drawn into the weird mineral. The description this time was pretty straightforward, contrary to some other 'Identify' results he has gotten so far, and he could only agree with it. It was easy to see why fights would break out because of such a resource, as it surely held a lot of value, especially for military use. If, however, it was such a precious resource, it only made him even more curious why he was just standing atop a whole building made out of Manite. Time to enter the building then, right?
As he already knew where the entrance was located, he decided to check it out first. Dropping down into the streets with a light thump, it was time for him to get serious. If he wanted to invade whatever this was, he would have to sneak in somehow. This was not an easy task, as his stealth, no matter how incomplete it was, would only get weakened further as he entered.
Keeping to the shadows, Cantorn was now able to see the entrance. It didn't seem to be guarded tightly, as there were only two goblins leisurely standing watch in front of the entry, a large archway covered by fabric webs of a very dark violet color. Though security was tight, he knew that just entering through the front as is would be an impossible task if he wanted to stay undetected. The fabric webs would give away his presence if he tried to enter stealthily, yet he was also not advanced enough to sneak in while someone else entered to cover up for the moving cloth. Finding another entrance would probably be easier, so he guessed he would do that.
He scoured the surroundings for an entrance for more than an hour. His stealth was becoming increasingly more stable, and he guessed that he was not far from getting the skill by now. That, however, was the only positive thing about his search. Because apparently, there was no other exit to the building. While there were window-like openings in the walls here and there, none of those were big enough for him to crawl through. Other than that, he had not seen a single other entrance, no courtyard that he could enter, nothing. That truly only left one option, and he'd have to figure out just how in the world this was supposed to work.
Back at the large archway, his only way in, the dark elf began to observe. As he focused, his senses heightened while his body was still concealed in the shadows, stealth working almost perfectly by now. Time passed, and many of the smaller goblins covered in robes entered and left, some carrying items that remotely looked like books, yet they were little more than bundles of leather written in ink. Cantorn guessed that this was a place where the more sophisticated goblins gathered if there even was such a thing. The purpose of their gathering was still unknown to him, but he highly doubted that they were scholars of a kind, that wished to expand their knowledge. It just wasn't goblin-like to do so.
Slowly the sun began to set, truly a weird thing if one thought about it, as this was not part of the real world, or at least Cantorn strongly believed so. It was then that something changed. Goblins began to leave in larger numbers, almost as if the place was closing down for the day. What was truly interesting, was that now even taller goblins began to leave the building. Up close, he was able to see that they were around his height, maybe even a few centimeters taller. Their stature was also similar to his, with toned muscles showing here and there whenever the robes slipped.
A smile formed as Cantorn saw one of those tall goblins splitting off from its group, entering an alleyway all by himself. By now a plan had formed in his head, that would allow him to enter this damned building. And this lone goblin was going to be the first step of it.
First. Thanks for the chapter.
cool