Carbon Copy 4 - Fixing small problems in big ways (Patreon)

The sound of shouting Goblin babies woke Dan, and he stretched. The familiar ache of well-trained muscles brought a smile to his face. It had been almost ten years since he last felt it this well. The cave was dark, and besides the howling and crawling Goblins, there was nobody. Getting up, he staggered as all his muscles protested. Stretching himself, as stiff as a board, he decided to warm up a bit.

Waving his arms around and running on the spot, everything began to limber up much faster than he could have hoped. Knots seemed to be pulled from his muscles, and it took only a few minutes before he felt the muscle ache fade to the background.

This body is amazing! Standing still and flexing his green arm, he decided that no matter what else he gained, he was going to train again. Become as strong and fast as he could.

Nearby, the Goblins had heard him move and started howling even louder, and with a big grin, he picked up the large basket of dead insects. As he looked at the bird atop, his stomach clenched, growling loudly. Had he even eaten anything over the last day? He couldn't recall, but the fact that the sight of the bird actually looked appetizing said enough. Taking it out, he examined it, wondering if he should take a bite.

Can Goblins get ill from eating uncooked meat? Unsure, he decided not to risk it. Yet.

Placing the bird on the ground, he grabbed a few insects and began peeling them like nuts. It took him a good fifteen minutes, even with leaving half for the next day, but in the end, he stepped into the encampment with the bowl.

"Damn!" he exclaimed as he looked at the Goblin toddlers staring back at him. How had they grown this fast? They had grown the equivalent of a human year in one evening! They stopped howling as soon as they saw him, staring at him with hungry eyes. Dan cleared his throat, realizing the food he had might not be enough, even if he peeled the rest. Was this why the other Goblins created the mush? Adding water would make it seem more. He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head at the memory of the disgusting muck.

"The first to raise his hand gets food."

Looking around, he saw the Goblins stare at him, unblinking. Perhaps he was taking it too fast? Pointing at a Goblin slightly bigger than the others, he beckoned it while holding out a handful of food. Right away the entire group rushed forward, and he growled, surprising himself with its ferocity. They froze in their tracks, a scared look on many faces. Pointing to the same Goblin again, Dan beckoned him. "You, come here," he added.

The Goblin, around as large as a three-year-old, looked around in an almost comedic manner before hobbling forward. The others began inching forward until Dan glared at them. Handing a few bugs to the Goblin, he pointed to the ground next to it and waited for it to sit, devouring the bugs. Nodding to himself, Dan pointed at another Goblin. Having seen what he wanted, the Goblin toddlers were quick on the uptake, remaining seated, surprising Dan somewhat.

Within ten minutes, all of them were sitting on the ground, eating the few bugs they got while he was peeling and dividing the rest of the insects as evenly as he could. He knew none of them would get as much as they probably needed, but there was no changing that right now. Another ten minutes later, he was done and standing with an empty basket in the middle of a group of toddlers staring back at him with hungry eyes.

"If you want to become big and strong, do as I say," Dan said. There was no visible indicator they understood, but it would have to do. He knelt and rubbed a few across their small black-haired heads. The Goblins seemed to enjoy it, and he continued for a while until he felt it was time to leave.

"Go to sleep, and I will come back with more food tonight."

They just stared at him, and he knew they didn't understand. But that was alright. He had time, for now, at least. Turning around, he grabbed the bird and hid it as well as he could between his arm and chest. It would probably not work, but who knew? Bur had been able to hide it like that.

Walking through the dank tunnel, he stepped into the sunlit area outside. The sky was blue, showing he had either slept longer than he'd thought or the feeding had taken long. As the clean air flowed around him, he took a deep breath.

A few Goblins were busy with the spears again, and from what he could see, they weren't doing any better than the day before.

Bur, Tsir, and the other hunters were nowhere in sight, and luckily he didn't hear any sounds from the other caves.

Ignoring the other Goblins, Dan moved forward, examining the forest's edge. Where should he go today?

A startled shout came from the side, and the first thing he thought was that they had seen the bird. He spun around to see one of the sitting spear-crafting Goblins staring up at him, eyes round like saucers, wide open mouths.

"What?" Dan asked, looking at the other and raising an eyebrow while subconsciously pressing the bird closer.

"Why you so big? You eat smallsies?"

Barking a relieved laugh, Dan shook his head. "No, I just ate a lot of bugs in the forest yesterday."

Seeing their confused looks, he pointed at the forest before he pointed at himself. "Catch bugs. Eat bugs. Grow big."

The Goblins didn't seem convinced, and he wondered how much he had changed compared to them to get such a reaction. He shrugged and hastened to the forest, making sure none of the Goblins followed him.

Don't these Goblins evolve? Perhaps I'm the only one, he wondered as he disappeared into the forest, deciding to find a way to examine himself.

--

Standing close to the river, Dan looked at his reflection in the water, but all he saw was a blurry green shape. Raising his arms, he did find that his arms and leg muscles were bigger and more well-defined than the day before.

Bigger even than back in high school, he thought, remembering his days of tossing weights around. Like an ugly mini Hulk! He grinned as he pictured himself jumping on top of a mountain with a single leap and destroying it with a single punch.

A dull growl came from his stomach, and he looked at the almost forgotten bird in his hands. It was starting to smell putrid, which seemed too fast to him. Not that he had much experience with raw meat. Wondering if Bur had really captured it or just found it dead on the ground, he moved a few steps from the river, looking around the dry wood lying everywhere. If he was going to eat it, he needed fire, but he had never made any. He knew from TV shows and movies that you could make it by rubbing wood against each other really fast while putting dry kindling close to the point of contact.

Finding a stick, a piece of dried bark, and a few handfuls of dried grass, all in abundance, he cleared a small spot of vegetation. His black Goblin nails made short work of the mud and leaves, neither breaking or chipping.

An hour of frustration and cursing later, he was sitting on his knees, softly blowing at the kindling from which a trickle of smoke rose. Suddenly, a rush of flames consumed the kindling, and he scrambled to put more next to it. They burst aflame with a joyful crackle. He quickly picked up his makeshift torch, no more than a stick with a bunch of dry grass attached, and placed it in the small fire. It ignited instantly, and he almost roared for joy.

Finally! How can this be so hard? he thought, glaring at the torch. Still, he had done it! With a content sigh, he sat down next to the small campfire he had prepared and lit it.

It took a while for the larger pieces of wood to burst into flame, but then he was warming his hands at the fire, and for the first time, he noticed he had actually been cold. Keeping his hands close to the fire, he grabbed the already plucked bird and impaled it on a stake. He held it close to the fire, wondering how long this should take.

Ten minutes later, the scent of roasting meat was almost driving him insane with hunger. As another drop of fat leaked from the charred bird, he yanked it out. He was too hungry to care that he burned his mouth, but the hot oily flesh in his mouth almost made him cry. Sooo good. He sighed, eating slower when he realized he only had one bird.

He still finished it far too fast for his liking, and he promised himself he would hunt more when he had the chance. He let out a content sigh and looked around before piling sand over the fire and the torch. No matter how much he wanted to keep the fire and bring a torch to the camp, he had no idea how the Goblins would react. When no more flicker remained, he began covering the spot with more sand and spreading out moss, branches, dried leaves, and grass. Stepping back, he hoped nobody would look too close.

Sneaking through the forest until the afternoon, he collected all the insects he could find. He would need far more than last time to feed the insanely fast-growing Goblins. As he ran through the forest carrying his new, makeshift leave-basket, a high-pitched whine almost behind his head made him drop it and jump forward.

Something rushed through the air above his head. Heart racing, he looked around but only saw a green-black blur disappear into the tree behind him. Gulping, he backed up, taking care not to trip. A sudden movement at the bottom of the tree preluded a large insect head, popping out and looking around.

Shit! He barely held back a scream as he looked at the largest wasp he had ever seen. He really, really, didn't like wasps.

The insect spotted him, and without any signal, it attacked. As it buzzed towards him, its wings made a high-pitched noise as they moved so fast he couldn't see them beyond a fuzzy white blur.

Shit… why did it have to be wasps? Cursing under his breath, he turned around and jumped into the dense undergrowth, scrambling for a branch, stick, or anything. A short thick branch that reminded him of a bat lay to the side. He dashed for it, grabbed it, and jumped to the side. He was only just in time as the wasp shot past his head, slowed, and began circling back. Taking a striker stance, like the baseballers he had seen on television what seemed like ages ago, he was glad he wasn't in his human shape with its crappy old reflexes.

He waited until the last moment before swinging at the incoming wasp. The blur swerved around the branch and headed straight for his face, causing him to throw himself back, barely avoiding it. The wasp made a vertical loop and rushed him as he lay on the ground.

"Fucking…" he scrambled back, but far too late. Knowing it was, he tossed his head to the side, feeling the stinger glide across his face before slamming into his shoulder. An intense pain flared up, followed by a burning sensation spreading from the spot.

He instantly knew he was poisoned and that he had perhaps a few seconds before he would either die, become paralyzed or fall unconscious. As the stinger pulled back, he grabbed the wasps wings with both hands and tore into the soft plastic-like things, pulling them back. The horrid wasp face, with slimy mandibles, snapped at his face but couldn't reach. Struggling with the snarling insect, Dan began seeing back spots across his vision. Would he die like this? With a surge of adrenaline, he ripped off half of one wing, followed by another. The wasp was still snapping at him, but without the wings, it couldn't move as well. Dan yanked it out, felt the stinger flop out, and finally threw the wasp to the ground.

The thing tried to fly up, but its mangled wings couldn't lift it. Dan stumbled, grabbed his branch, and began beating it to a pulp. With every strike, he felt himself grow weaker, his mind muddled, and he prayed he could kill it before he fainted. When he was practically blind, nauseous, and dizzy, he felt something flow inside him while the tattoo on his hand heated up.

I need to- need to get stronger, he thought, his mind a fuzzy blur. Raising the hand to his eyes, he barely managed to trace the pattern with his other, halfway falling to the ground. Looking at the blurry screen in front of his eyes, he saw a few lines that he couldn't read because they kept waving around.

Feeling his breathing slow and his throat beginning to clench, Dan managed to select one of the options and press accepted. Praying it was the right one, if there even was a right one, he felt his body flush and heat up. He knew he'd done all he could. Closing his eyes and relaxing, he expected to black out, but instead, the heat only increased. Soon he was sweating like crazy while the fog lifted from his mind, and his vision returned. He began seeing the outlines of the trees above him, slowly filling in with color and detail.

Whatever was going on lasted for a minute longer. Then he was lying in a puddle of sweat, his stomach a cramped knot of hunger but otherwise healthy and alive. Propping himself up, he almost had a heart attack when he stared straight into the wasp's gruesome face. Scrambling back, he calmed down when he saw the thing wasn't moving. Didn't I pulverize it? Staring at the only slightly bludgeoned, wingless wasp, he swallowed. In his mind he'd turned it into a pile of goo, but this had been far closer than he even realized it was.

As he quietly stared at the wasp, his stomach began growling and cramping. A stabbing pain caused him to double over. What the hell is wrong with me? he thought as fear rose. Was he still poisoned? The bout became less in a few seconds, and he stared at the wasp with ravenous hunger. Scrambling forward, he ripped into the soft furry belly, and as soon as he reached the stringy white meat, he ripped some out and stuffed his mouth. It tasted ghastly. Bitter, gooey, and sweet all at the same time, but he just chewed twice and swallowed.

The meat made its way through his throat like the most potent liquor he ever had before arriving in his stomach, burning like molten metal. Immediately the intense hunger began decreasing, and he started sweating again, though no more than from eating something very spicy. As nothing else happened, Dan finally calmed down. He took a few deep breaths and looked at his mana hologram.

Only three lines remained, and he cursed. As always, old messages vanished when a new batch appeared. That meant he had no idea what choices he had, and all he saw was the one he had picked. I wish I could find the message log, he thought as he focused on the three lines.

> Gained a new skill

> Mana-augmentation: increased metabolism

> 12xp gained

He understood the first two, but what did he get experience for? Recalling his actions, the only thing that happened after selecting the skill was that it cured whatever poison the wasp had inflicted upon him. Shaking his head, he felt confused. Did surviving being poisoned grant him experience? That didn't seem right. His eyes drifted to the body of the wasp, and he blinked. He also ate from the wasp, perhaps-

Jumping forward, Dan took another bite from the wasp flesh, almost vomiting from the horrid taste, before forcing it down his throat.

Staring at his hand, nothing happened, and he sighed. Whatever. He didn't have time for this anyway. At least he wasn't hungry anymore, and suddenly he froze. He'd had what, two bites? How could he be so satiated from just that? He stared down at the wasp, absently noting that it wasn't actually as big as it had seemed when it was trying to kill him.

"Super nutritious or something," he muttered.

Grabbing the wasp, he searched for his bowl, a stick bent in a circle with a few large leaves, and placed the cat-sized wasp on top of the insects. If the little piece he had was this filling, he could use it to feed the little Goblins for days!

Grinning, he decided to hunt some more and gain as much experience as possible before heading back.

When night fell, Dan was lugging around a leather bowl with a wobbling pile of dead insects that kept threatening to fall. He'd remade the bowl twice as it kept tearing to pieces. With a curse, he noticed the shadows creeping forward, only barely a hint of red left in the sky. His plan of returning before dark was a bust, but moving too fast would scatter his days' worth of insects. The idea of leaving them behind never crossed his mind, and when he finally reached the open area, the crescent moon was high in the sky.

What the...?

He stopped below the last tree, looking at the group of Goblins in front of the cave. They were actively looking around, something he had never seen them do before, and seemed to be afraid of something. Confused, Dan looked around, but he saw nothing out in the open or along the tree line. After hesitating for a moment, he headed to the cave.

As soon as he stepped into the clear, those few with spears raised them while the others looked agitated. Seeing it was him, they relaxed, and as he got closer, he saw Bur amongst them. He was cradling his left arm close to his body, and there was blood on it and his torso.

Did they get attacked? Dan moved to Bur, ignoring the hungry stares at his load.

"Bur hurt?" Dan made sure to keep up the appearance, as all of the Goblins seemed ready to attack anything out of the ordinary.

The small Goblin sniffled, a tear flowing down one of his eyes as he looked sad. "Big bad monster come and attack me. I stick spear in eye but lose spear and hurt arm."

Tsir was hovering behind the others, using one arm to keep her ugly, sagging breast propped up. She snorted. "Me no believe Bur hurt monster. Bur small and weak! Use spear on own hand before losing it!"

Scared laughter followed from the other Goblins. Then a cloud moved in front of the moon, blocking the little light, and they stopped abruptly, huddling closer together. Dan inspected the treeline again and shook his head. "Smallsies hungry, I go feed."

Tsir snorted and looked at him. Her eyes widened, and she was about to say something when one of the Goblins beside her began touching her, drawing her ire. Dan hurriedly moved into the tunnel. He was only marginally curious to find out what she was about to say, but he earnestly hoped she didn't want his help to make stronger babies. Just the idea was sickening.

Inside the dark nursery, he instantly saw that the young Goblins had grown again, now capable of standing and walking around. They were trying to climb out of their confines but were still too short to reach the edge.

"Move back so I don't step on you," Dan said, trying to speak in a calm and soothing voice. To his surprise, a few of the larger Goblins listened and scrambled out of the way. The others copied them, something he found curious, and as he hopped over the small wall, he wondered if they had a strong herd mentality.

"I have more food and also something special. Those who can understand me, raise your hand like this." He raised his hand, looking around expectantly. His hope wasn't unwarranted, as three small hands went up, hungry eyes staring at the basket in his arms.

"Good, you three come closer," he said, pointing at them.

He looked around, almost expecting it, as two others moved to. A quick growl was all it took for them to jump back, alerted. The others stayed back and waited. When the three who had raised their hand stood before him, he picked a few slivers of Wasp meat out of the basket and handed it to them. They looked at the finger-sized parcels, and he could almost see their disappointment.

"This is a lesson. Sometimes things are different from what your eyes tell you. Eat! This is really yummy food!!"

The Goblins' disbelief was readily apparent as they scowled at the meat.

Dan grinned. He found their behavior oddly familiar to his daughters, who had always been picky eaters. The sudden memory of his family caused him to jolt as a somehow suppressed part of him began yelling at him that something was wrong. It was distant and muted, though, and when the three toddler goblins stuffed the small sliver of meat in their mouths, he forgot about the feeling as he looked intently at what would happen.

One blinked and fell over, rubbing his belly while purring like a sick cat. The other two burped almost in tandem before walking to a corner, crawling down, and falling asleep.

Now let's see what happens tomorrow, Dan thought.

He continued handing out food until all the small goblins had fallen asleep. There was plenty of food left as he had mixed the special wasp meat in with the insects, creating an odd flesh salad. He had also left a large amount for himself, and after the Goblins slept, he looked around until he found a few small holes in the walls beyond the reach of normal Goblins. He hid the meat across multiple holes before crawling into a corner and falling asleep.