Survival Life as a Goblin Chapter 2 (Patreon)

As you can see I've chosen a title for my Original Writing Isekai story! Hopefully you all enjoy chapter two. I'll be writing quite a bit while I'm laid off so look forward to updates!

Well, I’ve got time so I guess I can write my own stuff some more? I’m happy that so many seemed to enjoy it! Let’s see what our buddy Gobkoh does after a successful first day of survival hunting!

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-Day 31-

Waking up the next morning Gobkoh yawned and stretched. Cleaning the sleep from his eyes the young Goblin first checked that his ‘Antler Spear’ was still beside his bed. Seeing his weapon right where he left it was a relief and he quickly pulled his ‘Antler Shiv’ from beneath his pelt pillow. Looking around at all of the other sleeping youngsters Gobkoh quickly counted them.

“Huh? There’s only thirty nine, there were forty of us born in this last birthing though. Where’d the missing one go?” Gobkoh pondered as he got up from his bed. Seeing other youngsters starting to wake up and move around made Gobkoh hurry from the sleeping area. “Let’s start stretching and then I’ll work out a bit. Got to see if I can use this spear of mine as well as I used to use the staff.” He mumbled to himself as he headed outside of the cave to have more room. Going through his stretches and getting his body limber was something he remembered from ‘before’. It definitely helped as he didn’t feel overly sore after working out. Jogging laps around the clearing for a while was his first exercise of the morning. This was followed by a varied list of other exercises he remembered; sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, squats, jumping jacks, and the like. Gobkoh took about an hour on his exercises before taking a cooldown walk to the river to get some water. After quenching his thirst and cooling off a bit, the young Goblin took up his ‘Antler Spear’ and set to practicing with it.

“Thrust, return, right swipe, left swipe.” Gobkoh repeated to himself quietly as he went through the strikes he’d learned to do with a staff in his last life. So far the only difference between his ‘Antler Spear’ and the staff was the lethality of the spear; and the slight weight differences between the two ends because of the antler. He spent another hour just getting comfortable wielding the spear before taking more water from the river to cool off and quench his thirst again. Looking out over the river Gobkoh couldn’t help but wonder about the possibility of fishing.

“I could definitely go for some fish.” Gobkoh mused as he looked over the river. ‘I wonder, how far does this river flow? A few miles? Dozens of miles? Is it hundreds of miles? How large is this forest come to think of it? Hmm, it’d probably be good to do a bit of scouting while hunting. Climb a tree as high as possible and see what I can of the surroundings.’ With a plan in mind the Goblin took his spear and started making his way into the forest. Spotting one of the fruit-bearing trees and hearing a rumble from his stomach, he set his spear at the base and climbed the tree. Picking two of the fruits Gobkoh shimmied back down the tree and sat next to his spear as he ate. The fruits were round but not perfectly so, more like an apple or pear. Biting into them was a bit different, they had the consistency of an apple but tasted slightly off in a way that was hard to describe. ‘Definitely not an apple that I’m familiar with, though the dark yellow skin kinda gives that away.’ He thought as he tossed away the cores and picked up his spear. It was time to hunt for some meat!

Wandering through the forest, Gobkoh kept his eyes and ears open for the sight or sounds of any prey. So far he’d seen no tracks and hadn’t heard much aside from birds and the rustling of the wind through the leaves. Continuing onward for several minutes brought the Goblin to a thinner part of the forest. The trees were spread farther apart here and grasses had grown somewhat high from the extra sunlight hitting the forest floor. A shifting in the grass alerted Gobkoh to the presence of something in the grass. Bringing his spear up he prepared for whatever might emerge.

“What the hell is that thing?” Gobkoh questioned the air as the creature that emerged was something he’d never seen before. It walked on all fours and looked vaguely like someone had crossed an armadillo with a raccoon. The creature seemed to pay no attention to the Goblin as it picked up a fallen tree nut and started nibbling on it. “Seriously what do I even call this thing? Raccoondillo? Armacoon? Masked Armadillo? Armored Raccoon?”

~ “Gobkoh acquired Skill: ‘Analyze’.” ~

“What the hell was that?” Gobkoh panicked at suddenly hearing a voice in his head. Not receiving any answer to his question Gobkoh looked all around the area carefully. Seeing no one around the young Goblin sighed before watching the weird raccoon/armadillo hybrid move on to the next tree nut on the ground. “I feel like I’ve heard that voice before, but when?” He mused before turning his gaze to the animal moving from tree nut to tree nut. “It said it was a ‘Skill’, does that mean I can use it freely?” Gobkoh wondered before focusing on the animal intensely.

[Shellcoon – Level 4]

“Holy crap that actually worked?” Gobkoh exclaimed making the Shellcoon tuck itself into an armored ball at the sudden noise. “Oh, I guess you can do that, huh?” He questioned the defending animal. ‘It said it was level 4. What does that mean? What’s my level?’ He wondered only for information to suddenly come to the forefront of his mind.

‘Gobkoh, Level 2’

“Oh, I guess that’s my level.” Gobkoh blinked at actually getting an answer. ‘I guess I was level 1 before, did I gain a level from killing and eating the Jackalope yesterday? That seems reasonable enough.’ Looking over the still balled up Shellcoon, Gobkoh pondered on its uses. “I bet I could use that shell to make some pretty decent armor. It’d be primitive as hell but a lot better than the…well…‘nothing’ that I’m wearing now. I wonder if I can get it out of there.” With his musing done Gobkoh took his spear and jabbed it at the balled up Shellcoon. The shell rolled a bit but didn’t open. ‘Maybe an actual thrust?’ He wondered as he lunged forward with his full weight behind the spear. The Shellcoon was knocked backwards into the tall grass but still didn’t unroll itself.

“That was the strongest thrust I could do and it didn’t even leave a mark on the shell?!” Gobkoh cried out in shock. “I want it even more now!” He grinned as he used his spear to knock the Shellcoon back into the shorter grass. ‘You have to come out some time. When you do I’ll be right here waiting to stab you.’ He glared at the armored ball as he held his spear at the ready and became as silent and still as possible. For the next few minutes he stood there silently and with barely any movement aside from his breathing. The Shellcoon unrolled partially, as if to look out and make sure the coast was clear. Since Gobkoh was behind the Shellcoon it couldn’t see him and slowly unrolled all the way. ‘Gotcha!’ He cried as he knocked the Shellcoon on its side and jabbed the spear into the middle of the animal before it could roll itself up. The Shellcoon shrieked as it was stabbed and thrashed around for a moment unable to roll itself up with the ‘Antler Spear’ stuck in its midsection. Taking a step closer Gobkoh raised his foot and stomped down on the Shellcoon’s head as hard as he could. The ‘crunch’ sound was followed by the Shellcoon going completely still.

“Sorry for the pain little one, but you won’t go to waste.” Gobkoh promised his newest kill as he picked it up and carried it under his left arm. He kept his spear in his right hand as he made his way back to the cave. Several minutes of walking later and Gobkoh emerged in the clearing in front of the cave. Quickly gathering up sticks for a fire, the Goblin got to work making another ember through friction. A few other youngsters watched him work and were surprised when he succeeded in starting another fire so quickly. One, a female, tilted her head as if in thought after watching the whole process. She continued watching as Gobkoh worked on gutting the Shellcoon and separating the shell from the animal.

“Definitely going to have to wash this out.” Gobkoh nodded to himself as he looked at the separated shell. The inside still had bits of flesh attached and would need a thorough cleaning in the river. The good news was that the rest of the animal was now cooking over the fire and smelled pretty good. Once the Shellcoon meat was cooked Gobkoh pulled it off the fire and let it cool on a scattered set of green leaves. No dirt would get on his meat this way and he could enjoy it as soon as it cooled a bit. While waiting for the meat to cool Gobkoh climbed a nearby tree and snatched a different type of fruit from it. “Let’s see if this works.” Focusing intently on the fruit he was delighted when information popped up in his mind about it from his new ‘Analyze’ skill.

[Mavu Fruit – Non-Toxic]

“That’s handy.” Gobkoh grinned as he bit into the light green-skinned fruit. “Hmm sweet, but not overly, juicy too, reminds me of peaches a little bit.” After finishing off the Mavu fruit the meat was ready to be eaten. “Thanks for the food, Shellcoon.” The first piece he pulled off and ate was pretty good. It was a strong flavor, with some gamey tones, but definitely good. After stuffing himself with the meat, only leaving bones behind once again, Gobkoh picked up his ‘Antler Spear’ and set out towards the river to clean out the shell. While sitting on the riverbank scrubbing out the shell he mused on his current situation.

“Still no idea where the missing youngster went.” Gobkoh muttered to himself. ‘I guess it’s possible he died yesterday. Though if that’s the case I wonder what killed him. I haven’t seen much in the way of predators around here yet. Maybe he was just unlucky?’ The young Goblin mused as he scrubbed out the shell. He’d counted his generation and out of forty youngsters only fourteen were female. There were still fourteen females when he counted this morning so one of the males hadn’t made it back. ‘We aren’t exactly high on the power scale though. Maybe he didn’t take anything to defend himself with?’ This thought still puzzled him, almost every youngster yesterday had left the clearing without so much as picking up a stick to try and defend themselves. Without some kind of protection even a Jackalope’s antlers could fatally impale a creature as small as a Goblin.

“Hmm, looks like that’s the last of it.” Gobkoh smiled as he looked at the cleaned out shell. “Now how should I use this for armor?” The youngster pondered on this as he carried his spear and the shell back towards the cave clearing. Passing through the forest Gobkoh noticed the leafy vines growing all over the ground. “Let’s see…” He mumbled as he focused.

[Ranji Plant – Non-Toxic]

“Score!” Gobkoh grinned as he set about collecting a good amount of the vines. ‘These are kinda thin but if I weave them together they’ll make good cordage.’ He thought happily as he collected as much as he could carry along with the shell and his spear. Making his way back to his smoldering campfire Gobkoh placed the shell down and deposited the heap of leafy vines next to it. Placing his spear beside him he started stripping the leaves off the vines. It took at least half an hour before the vines were de-leafed and he had the ability to weave them together. ‘Around one, over the other, around the other over the one…’ He thought as he braided the thin vines into a thicker and tougher cord. Once he had his vines turned into useable cordage Gobkoh took a bone from the remains of the Shellcoon and worked it between the shells multitude of small plates. He needed four holes to attach the cordage through so that he could wear the shell as a makeshift breastplate. That would at least protect the majority of his vitals from frontal attacks. Once he’d made the four holes he forced the cordage through and tied them to flat pieces of bone he’d broken from the Shellcoon’s ribs. Putting his new ‘Shell Armor Breastplate’ on for the first time was only slightly difficult as he had to adjust the cordage to make it a secure fit. But once he’d tied the cordage on each side it was a proud moment. Gobkoh now had a ‘Shell Armor Breastplate’ along with an ‘Antler Spear’ and an ‘Antler Shiv’. He was now the most well equipped Goblin of his generation.

“But I could be more equipped.” Gobkoh mused as he looked over all of the extra cordage he still had. He’d collected way more vines than he’d originally assumed. “Let’s do a little wood working.” He grinned as he took his ‘Antler Shiv’ and started working holes into any decent sized sticks he could find. A few hours later and Gobkoh had crafted himself a piece of ‘armor’ for his back. Almost twenty sticks, each as thick as the shaft of his spear, had been perforated on each of the broken off ends. Through these holes cordage had been woven through until he had all of them stacked, one on top of the other, and a ‘plate’ of wood now covered his back. Only required a few ties to attach it securely to his ‘Shell Armor Breastplate’ and now his torso, both front and back, were at least moderately protected.

“This’ll do for now and it’s a lot better than meeting whatever predators do live around here without it.” Gobkoh mused as he looked at the slowly setting sun. ‘Time for bed soon I guess, I wonder if we’ll lose anyone else today?’ It was the way of life for Goblins, but it still seemed harsh. Natural Selection favored those ‘fittest’ to survive. Whether that was strength, intelligence, or adaptability, those that didn’t have what Nature demanded didn’t last long. ‘Hopefully I don’t become one of those that don’t have what is required.’ He sighed to himself before heading into the cave. Bedding down that night Gobkoh kept his gear next to his bed and his ‘Antler Shiv’ under his pelt pillow again. It paid to be prepared; his generation had already shown a propensity for fighting among themselves so Gobkoh wasn’t taking any chances.

-Day 32-

Gobkoh awoke and looked towards his gear again. Seeing it hadn’t been taken brought a grin to his face, maybe the others were wary of angering him because of his successful hunting? Or maybe it was because he had weapons with which to harm them? Either way if it kept his possessions safe he wasn’t going to question it. Starting his morning workout helped him wake up fully and after he finished his two hour routine he grabbed some fruits from the trees and headed to the river to cool off and drink while having his breakfast. Coming back to the cave clearing and preparing to head out hunting Gobkoh saw something that made him grin. The female goblin he’d noticed watching him yesterday had a long stick in her hands. A long stick that had been broken off on one end and honed to a sharp point at that. She’d made herself a simple spear just by looking at his and copying as best she could. What he wasn’t expecting was to see four other females join her with wooden spears of their own.

“Seems we’ve found the leader of our generations’ females.” Gobkoh hummed to himself as he set out into the forest. Traipsing through the forest in his new armor was easy enough. It didn’t weigh a lot yet so he still had his mobility. He’d been searching for about an hour when he found suitable prey. A Jackalope was grazing near some bushes not too far from him. ‘If I’m quiet I might be able to make my way behind those bushes and take it by surprise.’ Gobkoh thought as he slowly made his way around the area. Carefully watching his steps so that he didn’t alert the Jackalope by stepping on a twig or something; the young Goblin made his way towards the bushes. ‘Just a little further, don’t move you tasty rabbit!’ He mentally pleaded as he finally made it to the perfect spot. ‘Now!’ Gobkoh roared mentally as he thrust his ‘Antler Spear’ through the bushes and stabbed the Jackalope through the torso. The rabbit-like animal didn’t make a sound as it flopped to the ground lifeless. 

“Did I hit its heart?” Gobkoh questioned himself as he removed his spear and picked up the Jackalope’s body. “Well, I know where to target now.” He stated as he placed his catch over his left shoulder and made his way back towards the cave clearing. “Is that smoke?” Gobkoh wondered as he approached the clearing, he smelled wood burning and slightly quickened his pace. Emerging from the trees the Goblin was surprised to see all fourteen of the female Goblins of his generation sitting around three different campfires. Each of the fires had a creature he hadn’t seen before skinned and roasting on a spit. ‘Apparently spears aren’t the only thing she figured out how to copy by watching me.’ He chuckled to himself. Seems the female leader had taken all the other girls under her care.

“Well might as well get my own food started.” Gobkoh shrugged as he set about making his own campfire before skinning, gutting, and removing the sharp antlers of his Jackalope. Once his food was cooking he took notice of the female leader returning with another one of the creatures the girls were roasting. It looked like a large rat, but far bigger than any he’d ever seen even in his previous memories. Focusing on the dead creature led to the discovery that ‘Analyze’ still worked on dead animals.

[Brush Rat – Dead]

‘So that’s what they are. Well as long as they’re filling.’ Gobkoh shrugged as he turned his Jackalope to cook the other side. After he ate he’d check on the pelt he’d left drying in the shade, hanging from the high branch of the nearest tree.

-Day 33-

Another morning workout session behind him and Gobkoh was planning to start hunting. All fourteen females now had wooden spears and half of them were already setting up campfires. What was unusual were the two male Goblins approaching him this morning. They stopped a few feet away and looked nervous. Figuring it couldn’t be bad to speak to them Gobkoh started the talking.

“Morning, did you want something?” Gobkoh asked the two and both looked startled for a moment before the first one spoke up.

“I’m Gobyog.” The Goblin on the left spoke up.

“I’m Gobtay.” The other Goblin introduced himself.

“Gobkoh, what’s up?” Gobkoh replied now confused about what they could want.

“Can you make us weapons?” Gobyog asked while Gobtay nodded hopefully.

‘Wasn’t expecting that, though maybe I should have been?’ Gobkoh thought before replying. “Why? What do I get out of it?”

“Your weapons are better than what Rialin makes! She’s just copying you! If we had weapons as good as yours hunting would be easier!” Gobtay exclaimed as he motioned towards the ‘Antler Spear’.

“I hunted the materials down myself and put them together. Why should I spend my time doing that for you?” Gobkoh questioned them with a grimace.

“What if we gave you the materials?” Gobyog asked desperately.

“Then I might do it as long as you hunt for yourselves. But I want part of the meat as well. It’ll be my payment for making you weapons.” Gobkoh offered and both Gobyog and Gobtay nodded before running off and picking up large sticks. The two males quickly rushed into the forest to hunt. “Hopefully they don’t get themselves killed.”

With that out of the way Gobkoh made his way into the forest to hunt. This particular hunt didn’t take long though. Within fifteen minutes of entering the forest he spotted a large Brush Rat. Hefting his spear he quietly approached the rodent, just as the Brush Rat noticed him Gobkoh lunged with his spear striking the rat and killing it in one thrust.

“Guess I get to taste one of these for myself!” Gobkoh chuckled as he picked up his new kill and headed back to the cave clearing. Cleaning the Brush Rat and skinning it didn’t take as long as the Shellcoon, but was harder than the Jackalope because the skin was rather thin. ‘The pelts a bit small but I can probably find a use for it.’ He mused as he stuck the cleaned rat over the fire. While he was waiting for his rat to cook after stretching out its pelt and leaving it in his usual drying place; Gobtay and Gobyog returned with their own catch.

“Gobkoh, we got one!” Gobyog celebrated as he and Gobtay held up a decent-sized Jackalope.

“Huh, not bad.” Gobkoh nodded as he was handed the Jackalope.

“We surrounded it and beat it with these sticks!” Gobtay explained with a grin, obviously proud of their accomplishment.

“Well a deal is a deal. I’ll make you a weapon from the antlers for half of this meat.” Gobkoh replied as he snapped off the two sharp antlers. “What did you want me to make?”

“Spear!” Gobyog and Gobtay both shouted in unison. Gobkoh blinked for a second before nodding.

“Sure thing, find two mostly straight sticks that’re about as tall as you; I’ll take care of it from there.” Gobkoh instructed but neither Goblin moved looking over his roasting Brush Rat.

“Um…if we gave you the pelt too, would you cook up our share of the meat with yours?” Gobyog asked and Gobtay’s eyes practically begged him to say yes.

“Yeah, sure, the pelt for cooking the Jackalope; it’s a deal.” Gobkoh agreed as he proceeded to gut and skin the Jackalope while Gobyog and Gobtay went to look for sticks that met the right criteria to be spear shafts. A few minutes later Gobkoh pulled his cooked Brush Rat off the fire and placed the raw Jackalope on the spit for cooking. As he let his meat cool he stretched the new Jackalope pelt with a new hoop made from a fresh cut branch. Gobtay and Gobyog returned just as he was finishing up with the pelt.

“We found sticks like you said.” Gobyog stated as the other young Goblins showed him the sticks they’d found. Seeing they were the length he’d suggested and they were both about the same thickness of his own spear, Gobkoh nodded to the two and had them sit down.

“I’ll be back momentarily, don’t touch my rat or I’ll beat the hell out of both of you!” Gobkoh threatened making Gobyog and Gobtay nod rapidly in fear. After hanging the Jackalope pelt next to the Brush Rat pelt, Gobkoh returned to his fire and started to eat. ‘Hmm, it’s not horrible, definitely needs some seasoning though.’ He thought with a sigh, he missed seasonings.

“Alright, this is your portion.” Gobkoh said as he placed a quarter of the cooked Jackalope in front of each of the other young Goblins. Taking a chunk of meat from his own share he popped it into his mouth. He looked over the antlers and the sticks Gobtay and Gobyog had brought him and nodded to himself, he could make this work easily enough.

“Gobkoh this is good!” Gobyog exclaimed as he took bites from his quarter of the Jackalope.

“Sure is!” Gobtay cheered while stuffing his face.

“Better, than eating it raw.” Gobkoh shrugged as he ate some more. As soon as he finished of the Jackalope meat Gobkoh took the new antlers and sticks to the Needle Trees and collected some sap. Bringing the sticky end close to the fire he watched the sap slowly thin out and become runny. Pushing the ends of the sharp antlers to the ends of the sticks, he then passed them to their owners. “Hold those on tight. Once the sap hardens again you’re spears will be complete.” Gobtay and Gobyog nodded as they pressed the antlers and sticks together. Ten minutes later Gobkoh nodded to the two other Goblins and they removed their hands from the antlers. Seeing the antlers stay in place both young Goblins cheered and started testing them out by copying moves they’d watched from Gobkoh’s morning practices.

“Tell the others that if they bring me materials from their hunts I’ll make them gear for a price.” Gobkoh told the two young Goblins and both Gobtay and Gobyog nodded happily. “Try not to get killed; those spears don’t make you invincible.”

“Right.” Gobyog smiled looking over his new ‘Antler Spear’.

“Got it.” Gobtay nodded also admiring his new spear.

With that the two young Goblins went to spread the word about Gobkoh’s offer. Said young Goblin smiled at all the extra food he’d be able to get just from doing a little extra crafting. ‘I’ll be filling my belly for a lot less direct effort. That’s a win for the survival game.’ Gobkoh mused as he looked up into the tree he used for hanging his drying pelts. ‘They’ll still need a few hours of drying. But with two Jackalope pelts I’ll have enough to lay on tonight. My bedding will get softer the more pelts I have. Once I get enough I can stitch a few together and stuff them with grass to create a makeshift mattress!’ He thought with his fist raised to his chest and a look of desire on his face at the thought of an actual ‘bed’ instead of the blanket and rocky cave floor he slept on currently.

“I should get more cordage made for when the time comes!” Gobkoh grinned as he stood up and grabbed his spear. “You can never have too much cordage after all.” He stated since he’d vaguely remembered someone saying that to him from ‘before’. With that thought the young Goblin headed off to collect a lot of Ranji Plant vines.

-End Chapter-

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Well now, our little Gob has started displaying his competence to the other youngsters and someone else has taken notice far more than the rest. Who is Rialin and will she be competition in the future? How many young Goblins will be lost to unforgiving Nature? What’s Gobkoh’s level now after hunting multiple times? It’ll be in the next chapter that these questions are answered. Plus new creatures will be found and, if possible, hunted!