New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



Small flashbacks of live feeds from goblin eradication raids popped into David's mind. He had watched these with rapture, being too weak at the time to take part in them.

He had seen what happened when the Hob was killed first. Humans thought they were the hunters, but quickly realized they were the hunted.

Teams of ten men, wiped out by small camps, with no more than twenty goblins. Grown men, fleeing in the woods, like death itself was after them, crying and pissing themselves.

He snapped back to his little sketch. Erasing the bigger pin temporarily, he scattered the small pins to the wind.

"If the Hob is dead, the goblins will flee into the woods if they feel threatened. But don't be fooled. They aren't escaping in fear. They want to split up their assailants. Goblins will absolutely have the upper hand in their environment."

David added pins of a different colour to his sketch.

"These blue pins are us. If the goblins scatter, under no circumstance should we split up to find them. The moment we do, they will start hunting us down like dogs."

Jack looked at the sketch with a critical eye.

"And what happens if we cannot kill all of them?"

The way he saw it, once the goblins scattered, it would be almost impossible to catch all of them. He was curious about what these small creatures would do once they fled.

"We cannot let that happen, either. Goblins have strange bodies, and their metabolism can swap from reproducing as a pair to self-reproduction. And their gestation time is far from being as slow as ours. Letting even a single Goblin escape can mean having to deal with an even bigger camp down the line."

Jack nodded his head gravely. That would be less than ideal.

"Then how do we keep them from escaping?" he asked.

David pointed at himself.

"I can track them. I'm sure Kary and Alex can, too. As long as we focus enough, we will sense their mana signature at a long distance. But that requires intense focus. Which is why we can't be alone to hunt them."

Glancing at Alex for a second, David chuckled.

"Well. Maybe he and I could, since we always have allies with us. But Kary would need to be accompanied."

The woman nodded her head, definitely preferring to not be left alone with goblins. If these were anything like how they were depicted in any fantasy setting, she would be a primary target for them.

A shiver went down her spine, thinking about what would happen if she got caught.

David ignored her paling face, focusing on his little presentation. He was confident in letting no Goblin escape, as long as everyone followed his plan.

'Why would the Hob be dead already, anyway? It's not like someone would be stupid enough to attack a camp of creatures unknown to them, right?' he thought.

***

The morning was rising in the forest, and Godrick was still hiding in his hole. For the last few hours, he had seen many little green men walk past his hiding spot.

Luckily for him, his many hunting trips had taught him how to hide very well, in wait for prey. And his over-appreciation for old war movies had led him to memorize a lot of hiding techniques.

Godrick had covered his clothes in mud, masking his scent as much as possible, as well as hiding the colours on it and covering the smell of blood he was surely wafting.

He had found a small outcropping of stone under an overgrown pine tree, and he had hidden there, putting up some branches at the entrance, intertwined with the hanging roots.

This covered the entrance enough to hide him, for now. But every time a little green man passed over him, or in front of his hiding hole, his breath would stop, fear overcoming him.

Godrick was no coward. But after seeing his three friends, their throats slit, with panic in their eyes, courage had left him.

And even though he still had his gun at first, using it to shoot at his pursuers, the little buggers were moving so fast, he didn't even manage to wound one. And now, he was unarmed, tired, and fearing for his life.

The little green men seemed to be bad trackers and had yet to find him. But how long would that last, with the sun rising?

Godrick rolled into a ball. He suddenly wished he had been more reasonable, or that his friends had pounded some sense into him.

'I don't want to die here. Not like this. Please, God, save me. I swear I will go to church more often. I'll pray daily too, if you want me to. But, please, just save me.'

Hours would pass, with Godrick's nerves tense at every moment. Little green men would pass his little hole many more times, and they would shoot glances in its direction more than once.

A few times, Godrick thought they had found him. But every time, the little green men growled, turned around and left.

Godrick wanted nothing more than to leave this hole. His body was aching from sitting motionless for so long.

Bugs, snakes, and many other small animals were crawling all over him. It was hell.

'Why are you still looking for me? Just go away.'

***

Aboard the plane, Jack and David went over many plans and contingencies while they were flying to their destination. The intercom interrupted them.

"Sir. We will land in ten minutes. Please get ready."

Pressing a button on his seat's arm, Jack responded.

"Thank you, Grant. Once we are on the ground, have the plane refuelled and ready to leave as soon as possible. We don't know how long we will be here, but I don't want to stay once the business is over."

"Aye aye, sir."

Looking at Guo, Jack opened his mouth again.

"I trust you brought all my equipment?"

"Yes, sir. Everything is in your suitcase."

Jack nodded, locking his eyes on David once more.

"Once we find the goblins, we will make noise. So we better clean this up fast and get out of dodge. I don't want to explain to the American authorities why I'm shooting military-grade rifles in their forests."

David nodded.

"Then you better follow my plan, and hope nothing has happened to the Hob. Because if he's dead, this will be a lot more complicated."

Jack nodded, strapping into his seat for the descent.

'It's been a while since I have hunted. I guess this will be good for removing the rust on my skills.'

Jack's face turned into a small smile.