"Uh, do you know that is going on , because I really don't know." said Jason as managed to only retrieve five arrows from the dead gnomes lying in the ground. The rest had broken and couldn't he used anymore.

( No.... but I will find out.) said the fox in a serious tone (Looking at the situation as it is , it seems that something big is happening. Gnomes shouldn't be driven out of their tunnels in this kind of manner, and if they are, it means that a clash is going to happen.)

"Clash....what does that mean?" rightfully asked Jason who was confused. He knew the meaning of the word , but he didn't know what it ment in this situation.

(It means that another species that rules over the forest is openly declaring war on the gnomes. )

' Another species....like goblins perhaps? ' thought Jason to himself as this made him somewhat worried. He looked at the dead gnomes and couldn't help but somewhat agree, but he didn't completely trust the foxes words.

"A  clash between two different rulers of the forest? But what if it is an internal war? Couldn't they be fighting amongst themselves?"

The fox shook it's head.

(I highly doubt it as the gnomes don't fight so blatantly amongst themselves. It's most likely the gobl....) the fox stopped for a moment and Jason could notice the confusion that sprung up on it's face.

(It's, it's not possible! Could it be that, could it really be?! No....the goblins?

.....)

Jason frowned as his mind was flooded with incoherent bable followed by periodic silence. It was like the fox was transmitting only half the information, and it was really irritating.

"Hey, could you stop that?! I have enough headaches as it is."

The fox stopped transmitting any more information, but it was only Jason who felt relieved. The fox was in fact panicking at what it had deducted, and it could hardly contain it's worry.

"So, you seem to have thought about something? Care to share it with me?" calmly asked Jason, but in fact the it was a probing question. The fox also seemed reluctant to tell Jason at first, but something changed it's mind.

(Haaaa.....) The fox released a long breath as it's bushy tail dropped down( It seems that the situation may be more complicated than I thought. Do you remember when we found the tracks of the orc today?)

"Yeah....

(Well,  those tracks didn't only smell of orc, but it also a mix of something else. I couldn't understand what kind of smell it was at the time, but now I remember..... it's the smell of a goblin.)

Jason furrowed his brows "A goblin? What does a goblin have to do with an orc?" 

(Usually nothing, but it seems that things have changed.) said the fox as it raised it's left paw( From the tracks I couldn't detect any smell of blood so it's most likely that they didn't fight each other, so they have to have been  close for a certain time for this to happen. If you know how bad is the situation between the two species it's very unlikely that they have reconciled and are living in peace and harmony.)

"I.... somewhat understand. In simple words , the orc's and goblins are working together and it has something to do with the......" Jason left the sentence unfinished as he hopped that the fox would have the answer, but even it didn't know what was really happening.

(I don't know.....

"........

(........

The both of them looked upwards and gave a long sigh. The situation had become complicated in less than half an hour, but Jason found something relaxing in this uncertainty.

"Then....shall we go? To explore the other places the smoke is coming from?" said Jason feeling refreshed as if he had just taken a cold shower in a hot summer day.

(Certainly.....)

The two agreed with a nod and once again continued on their way. They toured the forest looking for the places smoke was coming from and they were left surprised by the number of the hidden entrances. Each one of them was an entrance and exit for the gnomes who lived underground for most of their life, but that is as not the surprising thing. In some of the entrances they found footprints leading out of it and even though they found only four entrances out of ten that had footprints, the bigger picture was not good. Going by the almost 100 smoke pillars that could be seen by the two of them, the number of gnomes that had escaped could create a small army and that was not normal. A usual gnome settlement had between 30-50 gnomes that were led by a mage that had at least completed his first class advancement.

"The gnomes  should be really pissed right now. Damn!" exclaimed Jason as he looked at the just discovered hole. He then glanced at the fox with the side of his eyes and saw that it was clearly worried as it breathed rapidly and it's ears twitched.

' It seems that this is making the fox worried..... but why should I care? Gnomes getting killed is not something that really worries me and I could even gain something from this.... but should I?  The situation could be very rewarding and I could even level up without much effort , but I could just as well die if I get caught up in it.' thought Jason, but with him having already died once and also almost dying a couple of more times after that, death didn't seem so far away as it had.

Jason didn't turn his head as he spoke out loud."Hey, forest spirit , it seems that the gnomes are getting smoked out left and right. Clearly they should be regrouping right now.... you get what I'm saying?!"

(.......

The fox looked at the footprints of the gnomes that led out of the hole and into the forest and understood. Smoking your prey out of its nest was not something unheard of, and the time the two of them spent hunting the goblins in the dungeon had clearly developed  in the fox a way of thought. A lot of times it's mind would go into a deep state where he would think on how to ambush and kill the goblins easier and faster, and gnomes were similar to goblins.

(Tch....I don't like this at all. The balance of the forest is going to tilt in this way. If a big confrontation happens there is a chance one of the groups is going to either go extinct or be driven deeper into the forest. 

Either way, this is bad...)

"Maybe, but this could be an opportunity for you. Didn't you say that you could level up by keeping the balance of the forest? " 

(That...is true, but I doubt I could achieve something in this situation. The problem is to big for someone of my power.....

"Well, you're not wrong." said Jason as he scratched his chin " But we could at least gain some information on what is going on. We could captured a goblin or orc and we could interrogate..... wait, can goblins understand the human language?"

(They can learn it, but it's very unlikely that they know it. Still, I can understand any spoken language and speak directly to their mind, so speaking to a goblin wouldn't be hard.)

"Great, now we only need to capture one and....

(Or you could have left one of the gnomes alive.)

"......

Jason squinted his eyes as he heard the foxes words and he couldn't accept it.  He was ready to give it a reminder on who was the boss here, but decided to just let it go.

(What?! Why are you looking at me like that?)

"Nothing.....