POV Rick

  ‘I really hate that he can just pop up out of the blue like that and I can’t sense anything at all about it.’

  [All the more reason to be wary.]

  ‘I know.’

  “I apologize; I’ll do my best to visit more in the future.”

  “Good. Now I don’t think you came this time for the sake of talking. What do you want?”

  ‘Alright, the moment of truth.’

  “I would like to know if you know the location of any Tier 5 Beasts.”

  “Sure, I do. Why do you want to know them?”

  “It will help with my training.”

  “Heh. Based on what I can sense, you’re still just a Tier 4 Goblin aren’t you? Yet you want to fight something a full Tier higher. Why?”

  ‘He really loves asking additional questions, doesn’t he?’

  [He did say he wants to talk. He is probably enjoying this.]

  ‘I’m not.’

  [You chose this, stop hesitating and answer the fox.]

  “The Orcs. We think there is a chance that they will be attacking in full force some time in the future, and if I’m still Tier 4 at that time I won’t be able to help very much. So, I need to take certain risks to make sure I can be strong enough to fight against the Orcs.”

  “Ohh I see, but little Goblin…if that Orc truly does attack in full force with his goal being to kill you, then Tier 5 won’t be enough to save you. What will you do then”

  “Then I will aim for Tier 6, and I will keep fighting to get as strong as possible as quickly as possible before the Orc gets here.”

  “I see. Well, it’s your life. The are plenty of Tier 5 beasts in the forest, but they tend to leave far in the East. As the North is my domain, the south is not that big, and the West is considered too close to the plains. And of course, none of them dare to get too close to the Lake. Well, none of the older ones at least. Only you Goblins and weaker creatures who don’t any better still wander near that Lake. Very interesting.

  “Anyway, that’s your answer. Travel for a couple days East of the Lake and you will find your Tier 5s. It would be a shame if you died so be careful little Goblin.”

  After saying that last line, the fox vanished without waiting for a reply or a thank you of any kind.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  ‘A couple days east huh. I guess I have no choice. Which means I’ll probably have to spend some time away from the Village while I do this. It wouldn’t make sense to travel back and forth after each kill since that’s days of travel I’d have to factor in. So, let’s see if we can spend a week or two there and see how it goes?’

  [If you’re dead set on doing this, then that seems like a viable solution. I would recommend letting Rogu and Jaba know your updated plans though. You don’t necessarily need to tell them that you are fighting Tier 5s, but the whole Village will likely come running if your gone for more than a day.]

  ‘Alright that makes sense, I’ll let them know I’ll be deep in the Eastern side of the forest and won’t be returning for a week or two. And I won’t go further than a couple days’ worth of travel since someone will need to come get me if the Orcs are spotted. It’s good thing we have Maglins that are apart from the scout groups now so that they can shoot signals from a distance. We won’t need to wait weeks for someone to come all the way back to let us know that Orcs have been spotted.’

  [Yes, that’s a good point. I think your bases will be covered after giving the update to Rogu and Jaba, and with you not being more than a couple days away, you should be fine. All that’s left is to not only find a Tier 5 beast, but to actually survive the fight, let alone killing it.]

  ‘We’ll be fine.’

  [I hope so.]

  Rick then departed from the Northen section of the forest with Loruk trailing behind him and made his way back to the Village. Both Jaba and Rogu had already left, but that didn’t mean the Village was empty. The builders who always busy were present which meant Wala, Dran and Ulgri were all in the Village.

  Rick made sure to leave his message with them, before leaving with Loruk and heading to the Eastern section of the forest.

  Rick didn’t bother stopping to fight any Tier 4s as he thought that was a waste of very important energy at the moment. So, both him and Loruk just continued moving East the entire time, stopping only to eat or for a very short break, or to avoid a potential needless fight.

  And eventually they continued like this for over two and a half days when Rick and Loruk finally had to truly pause their steps.

  ‘Velora.’

  [Coming up.]

  {Name - ??}

  {Age - ??}

  {Race – Barclaw}

  {Tier – 5}

  ‘Hm, I can see it’s status…’

  [Indeed, but this isn’t a race we’ve seen before. It looks quite formidable.]

  ‘You’re right, we definitely haven’t seen a massive bear/wolf hybrid-looking beast that looks as if it is covered in tree bark from head to eat with massive claws that likely extended about a foot on all four paws.’

  [Would it be best to skip it and see if we could find something else that might be more recognizable?]

  ‘No, I can’t waste time hoping to find the perfect target. I will deal with whatever I find. So, let’s think about it. It’s large and it’s probably safe to assume that a single swipe with one of its paws could potentially be fatal. So, I can’t treat it like I did the stag for one. Which will be a bit challenging since I don’t have a weapon, and I do the most damage up close and personal.

  ‘Then there is its fur? Or maybe it’s hide? I don’t know what to call that, but it really just looks like tree bark. Which means it probably doubles as armor.

  ‘Hm…tree bark…

  ‘Do you…think it burns like tree bark…?’

  [That possibility exists. Regardless, your flames will be a massive factor in whether you survive this battle. That and making sure you don’t get hit by its claws.]

  ‘Alright, no use waiting any longer then. Let’s go show it the wrath of a Royal.’