*The POV in this section will be of a goblin’s. The next section will return to Morgan’s.

 

The Black Forest, a thick forest that was a home for monsters and magical creatures. Surprisingly, although it was winter, the trees in the forest were completely untouched by the cold winter snow, and still stood firm with their thick leaves as if nothing happened. The temperature inside that forest was much higher compared to its surroundings, making that forest a perfect place for monsters to dwell without any risks of being frozen by the cold.

There, the very same group of goblins that Morgan had failed to hunt before roamed around. For them, the event before was also strange. The prey they had cornered just disappeared suddenly, leaving only footsteps that led to the port city. They were somewhat aware if they were to chase their prey, they wouldn’t be coming back home unscathed. In the end, they decided to return to the outermost part of the forest and roamed for another prey they could hunt.

One of the goblins, which had the smallest stature among them, was swaying its legs left and right weakly. It was left alone outside the forest and couldn’t catch up to the others. It was hungry since the other goblins always ate almost everything, leaving only a small portion of food for it the day before. Its stomach even growled loudly, while its sight started to blur a little. Then, it heard a rustling sound coming from behind. In hope that it was a prey, that goblin turned its head and what it found was the girl that had escaped before standing still like a statue.

The girl had long black hair with a slightly tanned skin. Her thin and slender figure looked so delicate that it would even crumble with a touch. The goblin knew if it called for help, it wouldn’t get much left for it to eat. Greed got the better of it, as it leaped thoughtlessly to the girl. It expected a scared look on the girl’s face, and while drooling, the goblin swung its small club, aiming for the girl’s head. But suddenly, its expectations were blown away.

The girl who was supposed to be afraid of it raised her head, showing a disturbing and eerie grin on her face. She then uttered in a language only known to humans.

“I finally found you.”

In the blink of an eye, countless black tentacles protruded from the girl’s shadow, aiming at it at a speed that was hard to follow with naked eyes. Realizing that it had made a grave mistake, that goblin turned its body and tried to run, but to no avail. The tentacles already grasped its limbs and lifted its body like nothing.

“Kiiiiieeeek!”

The small goblin wailed as it struggled frantically, but the strength of the black tentacles’ grip wasn’t to be underestimated. It knew that the girl had no intention of letting it go.

“Where’re your friends? Are they not with you?”

The girl, again, spoke in human language. Although it wasn’t able to understand her words, it clearly knew that she was asking for its group’s whereabouts. With no way to tell her, it only turned its head to a different direction.

“I see… Thank you for your valuable information.”

The girl smiled, revealing a slight kindness in her charming face. Slowly, the tentacles let go of the goblin, rendering the goblin shaking in fear. The black tentacles then slowly seeped into the girl’s shadow with no trace. Not long after, the girl walked past it, showing only her unarmed back. Driven by anger, shame, and survival instincts, the goblin saw the chance and silently leaped again.

At the first millisecond, the goblin thought it was its chance to strike back and have a hearty meal just for it. The next few milliseconds, it knew that it had made another grave mistake. The tentacles that were supposed to be no longer there appeared again, but this time, they weren’t grasping it. Instead, one of the tentacles formed a razor-sharp beak on the tip, and with a single swing, the beak swiftly cut the goblin’s neck, separating its head from its body.

“You see, I’ve been accustomed to attempted assassinations, even before I came here.”

The girl spoke in a sad tone while smiling a little bit.

“Don’t think so badly of me. Oh, you’re already dead, aren’t you? What a shame.”

She then took the body part remains and threw it into her shadow and the tentacles happily dragged it in. The girl also grabbed the head part and took a bite on it ferociously.

♦ ♦ ♦

“Blergh! It’s nasty!”

Morgan spat out the flesh while tearing up a bit after taking a bite on the goblin’s head she had killed before.

The fat beneath the skin is immensely slimy and putrid, while the texture itself is quite tough and hard to chew… Ugh, the blood also tastes like rotten shrimp paste! Human meat is a hundred times better than this!

She then threw away the head and kept on walking, while from time to time turning her head around. The scenery that was reflected in her golden eyes was quite a sight, as the trees around her were barely touched by the snow. The ground was covered in white, though.

“It’s really weird… I know this is a fantasy world but to see that not even a single tree is frozen really makes me wonder…”

[Even I don’t know what’s happening here.]

“... You’ve been extremely quiet for a while and said that now? Where have you been?”

Morgan squinted her eyes and turned her gaze to her right, as she was trying to perceive where Cthylla actually was. The next moment, Morgan sensed something changing in her body, but she was clueless of that.

[Hehehe. I’m staying in your consciousness. Basically, I’m beyond the boundary between existing and non-existing… Hey, stop making that kind of face and listen when someone is talking to you!]

Morgan was making a disinterested face and it clearly made Cthylla upset.

[Anyway, you’d better look at your status and rejoice!]

Cthylla was having a mood swing and then spoke in a high-tensioned tone. Morgan couldn’t help but feel strange.

“If you do something strange again, don’t expect me to keep my promise.”

[I didn’t even do anything! Gosh, why are you always ruining your own fun!?]

Cthylla raised her voice, to the point Morgan’s head began to ring painfully.

[A.n.y.w.a.y! Just look at your status and you’ll see why I’m this happy! That’s all!]

Cthylla’s voice disappeared right after.

“... Is she… sulking?”

[I’m not! Hmph!]

Morgan only made a troubled face and in the end, heaved a deep sigh and decided to look at her status.

“Status.”

 

Name: Morgan

Race: Unholy Humanoid

Sex: Female

Age: 14

Title: Masterless Slave

 

Affiliations: ???

Mental Stability: 28 (Motivated)

 

Physical Prowess: C

Magical Aptitude: D

Vitality: B

Recovery: D

 

Skills:

Philargyria (EX), Stealth (F), Low-tier Fire Magic (E), Mid-tier Water Magic (F), Mana Control (D)

 

Racial Unique Skills:

Despairing Touch (A), Weak to Holy (S), (New!) Insatiable Hunger (F)

 

(New!) Racial Stolen Skills:

Goblin’s Tenacity (F)

 

Traits:

Cruelty (S), Chaotic (B), Gross-feeder (F)

 

Blessings: -

Curses: -

Misc.: Slavery Seal (B)

Morgan rubbed her eyes frantically. She then looked at the panel once again and still saw the same thing.

Racial Stolen Skills? Did it get that from the goblin before? But how? I thought I could only steal other humans’ skills…

Gradually, Morgan stopped her legs from moving and pondered. That was one of her bad habits. When she began to think deeply into something, she would always let her guard down and sometimes it ended in a way she never wanted it to. Just when Morgan began to think even more deeply, Cthylla who had been sulking raised a question.

[Wait, didn’t they fill in the details on you?]

Morgan only shook her head.

[... Seriously? So they didn’t give any damn explanation? Those damned parents of mine…]

“Sometimes I’m wondering why you refer to that voice with ‘their’ since there was only one voice before you popped up in my head.”

[Huh? Wait, tell me what kind of voice that was.]

“A robotic and androgyneous one.”

Cthylla went silent for a moment before raising her voice again.

[... Fuck. That’s my mother’s. Why didn’t you tell me earlier!?]

“You didn’t ask.”

Morgan briefly replied, and it was clear to know that Cthylla began to feel irritated.

[So they also didn’t tell you what Philargyria is and why you own that skill?]

“Not at all. That voice kept telling me that I wasn’t qualified or whatnot.”

[So in the end, they’re still as ignorant as ever…]

A slight sadness could be felt from Cthylla’s words and it put Morgan in an awkward position.

[Haaaah… Just forget about that. I’ll explain it to you later. For now, look for the rest of the goblins and hunt them. Don’t forget to use Philargyria on them, okay? You’ve seen you got a skill from that single goblin.]

“Before that, let me ask you something first.”

[What is it?]

Morgan had actually been wondering about the question she was about to ask, but she didn’t have the chance to ask it.

“Will the stolen skills appear in my Guild ID card? If so, I’m in trouble.”

[They won’t. I swear in my name. If the Guild was somehow able to know that kind of information, why did they not arrest you for being an Unholy Humanoid?]

Morgan pondered for a moment and nodded her head in agreement.

[Your Guild ID card will only show your Name, Gender, Age, Adventurer Rank, and some of your already owned skills in the Skills tab. For Racial Unique and Stolen Skills, along with your Race, Traits, Blessing, and Curses, they’ll know nothing of them.]

“So you’re saying I can hunt and gobble anything I want?”

[As long as you’re getting stronger, I don’t see any particular issues with that.]

“Nice.”

Morgan grinned and licked her pink lips that started to chap due to the cold.

“Don’t blame me if I eat everything in my way, then.”

After saying that ridiculous statement with a straight and smiley face, Morgan dashed as quickly as she could towards her destination, the goblin group from before.

[Just do whatever you want. I want to rest. Don’t bother me.]

“... Are you still sulking?”

[I SAID I AM NOT! HMPH!]

With a wry smile on her face, Morgan only sighed and kept running at high speed.