Chapter 3: Meeting a group of goblin
Chapter 3
Author's note: In answer to the question, MC is an angel, right?
Yes, MC is an angel; it's just that he is in his lower-level phase, if you will. Soon, when he evolves, he will gain a physical form. And it won't be a handsome DXD human angel form; it will be a biblically accurate angel form. Also, he won't be all-powerful either, Seraphim or Cherubim, at least not until the later part of the story.
Suggestions and tips are welcome. Also do point out my mistake.
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Kuta was a natural-born leader among goblins. Commanding and leading were part of her very being. Whether it was hunting or making decisions on behalf of her father, the village chief. She was part of all of them. More often than not, her decisions and suggestions led to a favorable outcome. If someone were to ask, What was the suggestion that most proves your capability?" She would confidently puff out her chest and say that would be my suggestion from a few weeks ago. I suggested leaving the Canyon of Kultar, the place where generation upon generation of their tribe lived, hunted, and more since food became scarcer and scarcer every year.
That led to their tribe finding a place where the food was so abundant that most of the tribe members, who once looked sickly and weak, became fat and meaty, just like her father, the village chief.
Kuta slowly turned her head right, towards the running river, where occasionally some fish would jump out of the water playfully then dive back into the water the next second. But this was not what she was looking at; instead, she was looking at her reflection on the water. There she saw a cute, beautiful woman with full, fluffy white hair that fell on her shoulder. Big, pearl-like eyes that could be used as a mirror and a small nose that only made her even cuter. "If only I were a male," she unconsciously muttered.
The problem that she is currently facing is coming forth in her head when she least expects it. Lowering her high spirit until it was but a sliver of itself. The problem that she is currently facing is the tradition of the tribe, where women can never be tribe chief; they could, at best, be a shaman. Which is just a step below the head of the tribe. But it still made her frustrated and sad over the fact that she couldn't become the head of the tribe, just over the fact that she was born a girl.
If the tribe's shaman had been male instead of female, she wouldn't have been allowed to hunt or lead—at least, that's what she had learned from her mother, the tribe's shaman, who told her stories from two generations ago.
While she was monologuing, she woke up from it when a green blur passed in front of her face. "Katu, stop running around; it is getting annoying," she instantly shouted, already knowing who it was, just from the brief blur.
"OK, OK, Kuta, calm down, I'll stop," the blur said as she came to a halt. Dragging her feet along the ground, she finally came into focus, and Kuta saw her clearly. She was another cute huntress from the tribe, with big green eyes, a small nose, and a tiny fang poking out from the left side of her mouth. Her face was lit with an ever-present smile.
"You should stop running around; you are a ranger of the group; you shouldn't go around like a fo..." She started reprimanding her as soon as she stopped. Only for Katu to just point her tongue towards her and respond to her. "And you should stop being so dramatic all the time, you always"
While they were bickering, the rest of the hunters just looked at them with nonchalance since it was an everyday occurrence. Heck, just an hour ago, when they were hunting, they had this exact bickering.
While they were bickering, Kuta, from the corner of her vision, saw an orb of light. The orb was moving towards them slowly, calmly. "Look behind you," she instantly said, almost bordering on scream, drawing the attention of the group towards the orb. Upon seeing the orb of light, which was slowly approaching them, slowly and steadily, Katu quietly whispered to Kuta. "What is that?".
"I am not quite sure, but I think it is an elemental, or a spirit of the earth or light," she replied, the stone spear in her hand pointing towards the orb. Who was still approaching them slowly and steadily, When it was about ten steps or so away, an extremely deep, magnetic voice that vibrated through her body sounded from the orb of light. It had a tone of silent confidence that bordered on arrogance, with a hint of compassion and kindness.
The tone of voice that would normally make one annoyed or angry, but instead of annoyed, she was somehow unconsciously intimidated and panicked.
"Hello," the orb muttered.
The instant it did, Katu injected from beside her right after the orb of light sounded, not giving her time to fully process that it talked and could communicate and probably quite intelligent. "Do you know what Guaa means?"
"You did not hear it?" Kuta responded back to her a second later, sounding confused since she was pretty sure anyone who heard its voice would instantly know its meaning. Since they sounded so deep and clear that it vibrated through her body.
And the reply she heard answered her question the next second. "What? You understood what it was saying?"
"Yes, I heard it; it said hello," she said, slightly louder, so the rest of the group could hear them clearly.
Bunga, a male hunter from their tribe, asked in a whisper. "Is it because you are the daughter of the Shaman that you could understand it?" Which was interrupted as another tribesman kicked his leg.
"Now is not the time, Bud. What should we do, leader?" he asked.
"For now, just follow my lead; don't do anything unnecessary." She said as she turned towards the light elemental.
She stepped forward towards the orb and asked. "Oh, spirit, what is it that you need?" Her voice was slow and low, taking the role of a lesser party while spreading her palm towards Moon. Taking on a submissive pose.
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Moon was confused, since from his point of view, he had just said hello in greeting upon noticing that one of the girls noticed him. The instant he did, they jumped like they saw a big bad monster, pointing their weapon towards him, which was resolved the next second as one of the cute goblin girls gestured towards them to lower their weapon. Then the cute goblin girl walked over to him and spread her palm. Then said something, like Kia kuahiii, tuki.
Which, for obvious reasons, he did not understand.
"Um... It seems I can't understand you, little girl... How should we communicate?" Moon wondered, since body language, normal language for obvious reasons isn't possible for him.
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The spread arm gesture that showed that they didn't want any trouble seemed to work as the flickering orb became stable. Upon noticing it, she sighed in relief since, from the record that her mother, the shaman of the village, revealed, even the weakest of elementals that could independently move was equal to a gob champion, a warrior that broke free from their natural limit and became something more.
Only for her breath to hitch at the next second at what the light elemental said.
"Umm..." the orb said, slow and steady, its voice echoing like the owner of that voice was thinking of something. Deciding something, which was not a good sign, since there was quite a bit of possibility that what it said the next second could decide their life and death.
Then it came. "It seems I can't understand you, little girl... how should we communicate?" the elemental said, making her head spin. Since that means that they can't communicate or anything. Only for a light bulb to light up in her head, as an idea appeared in her mind.
She looked towards the orb and gestured towards her mouth, then to Moon, a few times.
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Moon was unsure of what she was gesturing; why would she suddenly gesture to her mouth and then to him, only to understand a second later, "You can understand me?" He asked in confirmation.
The cute goblin girl nodded her head rapidly in response to him, indicating that she understood what he was saying. It instantly made him excited since if she could understand him, there would be at least clear, one-way communication. Although this way of communication is a bit rough, it still gets the job done. "Tell me, do all of you understand me?" Moon started to question the goblin girl.
(55 minutes later)
After a bit of back and forth, Moon learned that only one goblin girl understood him, while the rest did not. The reason? No idea since Moon can't understand it. Nevertheless, he learned that there was someone in the tribe or village, or wherever they lived, who could communicate fully with him, not one-way communication.
Which excited him, so now he decided to tag along with them towards their home, together with ten goblins. The journey back was surprisingly short and simple, although they were attacked two times by wolves and a kobold. But as a gesture of goodwill, Moon used his new improved [Compact Holy Slash] to kill all of them.
This caused the male goblin to shake and shiver, and the other female goblin to stare at him with a star in her eyes. The gaze of admiration, however, somehow made Moon more uncomfortable, compared to the fear and whimper that the male goblin occasionally sent him.
"Your home is behind this hill, right?" Moon asked as he looked at the female goblin leading him.
And he received acknowledgment in response, then he continued to float behind her, trailing her. When they passed the hill and entered the tribe, the sight that greeted Moon was a nasty one. There was a bunch of burnt corpses and half-eaten limbs everywhere, some stacked in a big pile, while some were thrown without care. The smell that greeted Moon was a brutal one; it reminded him of the maggot-infested burrito that stayed under his bed for two weeks, thick and heavy. The burnt smell was the cherry on top, making Moon want to puke, but he endured it. Although even if he wanted to, he probably can't puke.
Soon, when he was close to the main fence, which is probably the gate, he saw where they lived. They lived in a bunch of small caves, a bit similar to the one he was living in, but much deeper. The cave was filled with goblins that somehow made even the goblin that was walking together with him, specifically the eight ugly dwarf-like goblins, look cute. There was an old, toothless goblin sucking raw leg meat with vigor, while in another corner he saw a few goblins throwing what looks to be shit at each other while cackling loudly at each other. Heck, there was one goblin with maggot-infested legs, the worms falling every time it walked. Another thing he noticed is that they were all dressed in rags that reminded Moon of cavemen, with the clothes they were wearing only covering the essentials.
Upon seeing this, Moon silently thanked that he was an orb now and that he didn't have a body to manage, or else, he would probably have grimaced while pinching his nose or even gagged at least once.
"What a...nice home you have. Where is the person that you said he/she could talk to me?" Moon asked, silently urging her to find him that person immediately. He initially planned to stay with them for a few days and enjoy their culture, but the things he saw changed his mind.
The female goblin turned towards him and nodded, the nervousness and panic that were there reduced to a much lower degree as she motioned for him to follow her. Which he was obligated with delight. While they were going, he saw a thing that made him even sicker. There was a freaking human skeleton among the bones. Probably been quite a few months since there was no maggot or flesh left, but the bone structure led him to this conclusion.
The bone of a human being that he saw made his mind waver on what to do with this tribe of goblins. He initially planned to stay with them for a few days, help them here and there, then continue his journey, but now he did not know what he should do. On the one hand, they ate a human, an alive and living human, probably eaten or roasted alive if the sight that he had a few minutes ago was correct, but on the other hand, they did not do anything too bad to him; heck, if he counts the help that he would receive soon, they are helping him. So whenever they were evil or not, they were his benefactors.
The internal debate where his morals and logic fought tooth and nail continued until he reached his destination, approximately about three minutes. But in the end, the logic won, as he expected. With a renewed vigor, that made the holy magic that made him up light up even more intensely, he thought. "I won't kill them, as long as they don't attack me."