We walk around until we see human bones near the remains of what appears to be a campfire that was used some time ago.
We walk on and arrive at the outskirts of a village. The goblins seem to be communicating with each other.
In the goblin village, there are dozens and dozens of huts that are somewhat small but appropriate for the goblins' stature.
I wield two swords.
"Watson, don't let your guard down!" I exclaim as I run towards the village.
I don't wait, because I saw that the killer dogs in the surrounding area were sniffing the air, which tells me that they were already picking up our scent.
"Whoever attacks first wins. Bastards!" I shout as I swing my sword twice.
Cut!
Blood!
Cut!
Blood!
The heads of two killer dogs rolled across the ground.
[You have killed a monster with 1 skull: 0.026]
[You have killed a monster with 1 skull: 0.029]
The commotion among the goblins is immediate.
I hear their agitated footsteps moving in different directions.
I break through a fence made of logs, using my fear to my advantage.
The logs fall to the ground, and I leap toward the goblins.
I begin to swing my swords relentlessly, blood spatters, and the smell spreads.
[You have killed a monster with 1 skull: 0.024]
[You have killed a monster with 1 skull: 0.028]
[You have killed a monster with 1 skull: 0.026]
[You have killed a monster with 1 skull: 0.029]
[You killed a 1-skull monster: 0.027]...
As I continue killing goblins, their bodies pile up throughout the goblin village.
[You won: 0.011]
[You won: 0.012]
[You won: 0.011]
...
"Damn goblins, they can feel fear too," I think, as I see a female goblin with a bulging belly. She tries to run towards one of the huts, but her head is separated from her neck by the edge of my sword.
I swing my swords and cut the swollen belly from the female goblin's body.
[You have killed a monster: 0.009]
[You have killed a monster: 0.008]
[You have killed a monster: 0.009]
...
"It looks like this bitch was going to have several goblins," I think to myself as I dodge the arrows without backing down.
I'm not the same person I was on the train; now a few zombies won't give me any trouble.
A killer dog bites one of my swords and breaks it, but with my other sword I stab the killer dog in the forehead.
[You have killed a 2-skull monster: 0.14]
Several minutes pass, and there are still some goblins crawling around after their limbs were cut off.
I knock down the huts and see that each hut has a tunnel.
"It seems some escaped," I think as I see the small bloodstains leading to some tunnels.
Watson, on the other hand, is extracting the goblins' cores while finishing off the rest of the wounded goblins.
As he extracts the cores, I sense a few presences emerging from the riverbanks.
The fear emitted by the presences that emerge from the river is relatively high.
"Watson. Let's go," I order.
Watson finishes putting the cores in his backpack.
In the end, we obtained almost 60 goblin cores and about 15 killer dog cores.
"System, how many fear points do I have?" I ask in my mind.
[Fear points available: 3.76]
"I knew it, I get very few points from 1-skull monsters. Luckily, the cores are worth money and make up for the effort," I think as we take refuge behind some trees from which we can observe the remains of the destroyed goblin village.
••••
A few minutes passed, and suddenly a breeze began to blow through the trees.
The sudden breeze came from the direction of the river.
"Mud Men," Watson murmured as the smell of damp earth, rotten leaves, humidity, and some indescribable odors spread through the air.
I sigh. Mud Men are monsters with 2 to 4 skulls. They are somewhat slow, but the mud covering their bodies is poisonous and paralyzing, allowing them to devour the flesh of their prey without resistance.
Although Mud Men are considered mostly scavengers, they are capable of hunting by remaining hidden in the mud or on the banks of rivers, and once they grab potential prey with their hands, they never let go. In conclusion, the danger of Mud Men lies in their strength and poison. Of course, if your rank is higher, a Mud Man would be like an ant.
"They must have been attracted by the smell of blood," I think as I see the bipedal beings covered in blackish, grayish, or mud-green mud, measuring between 1.70 and 2 meters tall.
About 15 Mud Men begin to tear the flesh from the goblins, ripping limbs from their bodies and devouring every piece of meat. They seem to be focused on the feast before them.
I sharpen my senses. I don't sense any presences in the vicinity. After being close to the Smiling One, I am sure that there is not a single 4-skull Mud Man among the Mud Men.
To be more precise, there are only 6 three-skull Mud Men, which means a minimum of 600 black tokens.
"Watson, get ready to extract the cores from the Mud Men!" I order as I place my hand on Scarlet Rose.
Mud Men only die when they lose their cores, and although their regeneration is slow, as long as the core remains in their bodies, Mud Men can regenerate.
I run back to the village, draw Scarlet Rose, instill my fear in my body, and prepare to attack.
Bang!
The head of one of the Mud Men explodes, and bits of mud and a greasy, grayish substance scatter in the direction the bullet traveled.
I don't stop; I nimbly approach another Mud Man.
Bang!
I don't know how conscious these bipedal creatures are, but they must be confused.
Bang!