Syl

Chapter 30: Overcrowded Cave

While following the bear's scent trail, I realized how much potential the [Tracking] skill had. I had always just traveled blindly in a direction hoping to bump into something and then later tried heading towards any strong smell. Being able to follow trails that were fresh enough would help lead me to either the prey directly or to their lair and significantly improve my hunting capabilities.

The trail eventually led me to a small cave opening, and the dense odor inside made me feel quite uncomfortable. I shifted back to my natural slime form and grappled up to the ceiling, making full use of [Adhesive Slime], and then stealthily crawled along. The cave looked empty and made me think of setting up an ambush for when the other occupants returned.

Crawling along the cave roof and changing my color to match the shade likely made me almost undetectable, but I had to keep some transparent gaps for my sight. Much to my disappointment [Dark Vision] did not let me see through my opacity-induced blindness, but it did allow me to see clearly within this cave. There were plenty of bones and scraps, and far at the back of the cave was a den occupied by two cubs and guarded by a bear smaller than the one I fought.

Deciding whether I should drop down on the bears when I heard a commotion echoing into the cave.

"Matriarch is hunting. We go in and take babies to train." The rather squeaky voice said.

"Yes. Best chance. Then we get strong and get revenge on humans." Another voice responded.

I was curious to see the source of the voices and footsteps approaching. The bear was letting out a light rumbling growl as it prepared to take on the intruders. Five small green figures reached the depths of the cave, three armed with spears and two with bows. Their heads were comically large for their body size, not to mention their ears - goblins.

"Two to train. Only one to kill. Our lucky day." One of the goblins spoke, causing the others to nod and enter a combat-ready stance.

The bear's growl advanced to a roar, trying to intimidate the goblins, but the archer answered by loosing an arrow. The goblins had decent coordination; the spears endeavored to keep the bear at a safe distance while the archers released arrow after arrow.

The bear landed a solid blow that splintered one of the goblin's spears and sent him flying into the cave wall.

"Zizz!" one of the archers shouted and rushed to his side.

I slinked over to the remaining archer and started lowering tendrils. She was far too distracted with the fight to notice the encroaching doom as four tendrils grabbed her, one gagging her mouth, and the others pulled her to the ceiling and into the slime blob.

The goblins didn't notice my assassination and only reacted when they noticed no more arrows were coming.

"Tarz! Why aren't you shooting!?" One of the spear goblins shrieked as an unlucky companion had his head bitten off by the bear.

The bear was heavily wounded at this point but fighting through the pain. I was maneuvering over the bear to claim it for myself, and hopefully, the goblin corpse would complete my profile.

"Tarz, you bitch! You abandon us!?" The spear goblin continued to shout.

"Forget Tarz! Bear is almost dead. We kill it." The remaining archer shouted, drawing his bow.

That was when I appeared, four tendrils bursting out with mana-infused rapiers all piercing through the bear's head.

The remaining two goblins shrieked in surprise while I dropped down on both corpses, withdrawing plenty of slime mass to engulf both and put significant distance between my core and the goblins. I was glad that [Dissection] did not tell me any part of the goblin was valuable, but I mentally excluded his equipment. I could claim a much more intact bear pelt this time, minus the spear and arrow wounds.

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"What is that creature? It is eating bear and Korgz!" The archer screamed.

"We kill it! While it feeds it's vulnerable!" The other goblin replied while gripping his spear tightly.

Arrows were fired at me while the other goblin made a thrusting charge. Maybe it was overconfidence, but I ensured my acid would not eat into their equipment. A few arrows barely managed to sink into the membrane of my slime and then floated harmlessly. When the spear penetrated my slime, I gripped it tightly, causing the goblin to fall on his backside when he tried and failed to pull the spear back.

'I could show mercy to you, but you were the one who wanted to kill me. So thanks for the free meal and experience.' I quipped mentally, fired out tendrils, and dragged the goblin kicking and screaming into my slime mass.

"Gods no. What is this monstrosity?" The archer said in horror, dropping his bow and then trying to grab and drag his friend.

I mostly ignored the archer until I finished my meals, and he was no longer shooting at me, simply trying to escape with the injured goblin. After eating and harvesting, I promptly deposited everything and triggered my [Shapeshifting Mimicry] to try out my new goblin form. The archer shrieked again, his eyes trying to escape from his skull.

"Tarz? Is that you?" The goblin asked, his voice quivering in fear.

I looked over my new form and repeatedly clenched my newfound hands. The hands were larger than I expected for such short limbs, and I thought maybe I had screwed up the proportions again, but [Shapeshifting Mimicry] told me it was correct. I wiggled my toes and flexed my limbs a little, exploring this strange and small body - this was my first complete humanoid form.

"Tarz, why don't you speak? Please speak." The archer whimpered.

I assumed Tarz was the name of the other archer I had quietly eaten. I opened my mouth to respond and out came a gurgling noise. I closed it with a frown and tried again. Each attempt felt like it was getting closer to speech.

"I'm..." I finally got out, "My..." I kept trying.

"Yes?" The archer responded with a trembling voice and looked paralyzed with anxiety.

I gargled my throat and coughed out a large chunk of slime into my hands, which then dissolved into my skin. I focused some mana on the throat, hoping to reinforce it, then tried to speak again.

"I'm not Tarz," I finally replied, feeling some pride in my first spoken sentence.

"Who are you? Why do you look like her?" The goblin questioned as if not believing his eyes.

"Syl was the name given to me. I look like Tarz because she was the first goblin I... ate."

The goblin shrieked. I tried gesturing for him to calm down, but he started sobbing.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I was in this cave first and unsure if you were friend or foe. You are the first creature I could talk to." I tried to sound reassuring, and the goblins sniveling softened a little.

"Will you eat me and Zizz now?"

It was a valid question. I could effortlessly kill him for experience and slime mass, but I was finally talking to someone, and I still had so many questions.

"No. If you don't attack me, then I'll let you live. The other goblin charged at me with a spear." I responded.

"No, no, no. I won't attack." His head shook so much that I thought it might pop off his neck.

"Good. You can even take those bear cubs. An apology for Tarz..." I said with a smile and pointed to the two cubs at the back of the cave.

"Really, Merciful Great One? My tribe thanks you." He said and stood up and gave a bow, "We hope to use against the humans."

"I can understand... I'm not exactly a fan of humans myself." I shuddered, thinking of the mage who killed the green slime and the boy with his bucket, meanwhile he seemed almost relieved about my opinion on humans, "Also, please don't call me that. I'm not some great one, I have a name."

"Sorry if I offend." He frantically apologized while bowing his head. He seemed to notice something when observing me, then coughed and looked around awkwardly, "Merc... Gr... Tarz, do you have clothes?" he asked, averting his gaze.

I was upset he forgot my name again, but confused by his reaction until I looked at myself again - I was a naked female goblin. I reached inside myself and pulled out the three sets of equipment I had taken from the goblins. I searched through the pile for the ones Tarz had worn and slowly started to don them. Once I was clothed, he looked more at ease.

"Sorry, I've never had to wear clothes before. Also, my name is Syl, not Tarz, and I still need your name."

"Ah! Yes. Syl. Sorry." He was fearfully apologetic again, "My name Garz."

"Well, Garz, I think we should grab those cubs and get out of here before the matriarch returns."

Garz frantically nodded his head and then looked towards his companion.

"Mer... Ta.. Syl, I must carry Zizz. Can you carry cubs?"

I gave a nod and produced two tendrils from my back, causing Garz to flinch, and then each tendril engulfed a cub while leaving only the head exposed. The cubs were growling and mewling, but they couldn't resist.

I would need to use [Mana Reinforcement] on my goblin legs to walk like this. I quickly browsed through my goblin profile for any quick solutions to mimic and spotted an old friend: [Enhanced Strength]. I had a stupid grin plastered on my goblin face when I activated it through [Shapeshifting Mimicry], which caused Garz to give me a blended look of worry and confusion.

"Lead the way, Garz."

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