Carbon Copy 6 - New friends

Dan walked out of the treeline and into the swampy area, every muscle in his body aching. In front of the cave-riddled hill, he saw a few of the Goblins asleep on the ground. Of course, there wasn't a single sentry.

How are these guys still alive?

He groaned and moved his heavy load around before stomping forward. From behind, he heard the ragged breathing and curses of the others. They could barely keep up, even when he moved at a snail's pace, the weight of the beetles too much for them.

The sleeping Goblins only snored a bit when he arrived next to them, and Dan almost felt like kicking them. He was about to when he noticed two shiny eyes looking at him. Tsir was inspecting him, partially hidden in the entrance to her cave. Wondering what he should do, Bur saved him from trying.

"Tsir! Look. Me have meat! You eat and me touchies?"

Dan almost choked at the direct request, but Tsir didn't seem bothered in the least. She waggled towards them, her belly sticking out in front of her and a hungry look in her eyes as she leered at the bug he was carrying. Still, she stepped past him without saying anything and went straight for the one Bur and a second Goblin were dragging. She gave it a hungry look, then pointed at Bur. "Bring with. Eat first, then touchies!"

Dan tried to ignore the conversation as he moved into the nursery when Tsir's voice drifted after him, filled with malice. "No pokies?"

Not bothering to turn around, he laughed softly. "No. Pokies too many!" Tsir's nasty laugh followed him into the cave.

Dan sneered and almost yelled some obscenity before catching himself. Was he letting that stupid Goblin get under his skin? Arriving inside the dark cave, any annoyance at Tsir vanished instantly. Six small shapes were sitting on the fence surrounding the pit, their eyes shining while their legs dangled down. As soon as he entered, all eyes focused on him.

Dan slowly moved towards them, surprised to see they were now only a head shorter than the fully grown Goblins outside. Seeing their hungry eyes on the bug in his arms, drool spilling over their pointy green chins, he snorted.

Hungry little blighters. Where had he heard that sentence? Probably some movie, but he couldn't recall. There was a slight nagging in his mind, but he ignored it in favor of focusing on the young Goblins.

Why only these few? he thought as he stepped forward and looked into the enclosure.

Those inside were much smaller, barely reaching his waist. There were twelve small ones, so including those still eyeing him, that made eighteen. Weren't there more? he thought as he tried to recall how many there had been the day before. He couldn't recall and decided it wasn't important. There was another question that was. If there were this many young Goblins each time, where were the other adults?

"Want eat!"

A soft, child-like voice caused him to swirl around and look at one of the six pubescent Goblins in front of him. "Who said that?" he asked, forgetting to change his words to Goblin-stupid.

One of the Goblins raised his hand. "Want eat!" it said again.

Dan wondered if it knew any more words and how he even learned to speak in the first place. Did these things have some form of genetic memory? Seeing them still staring at him, he moved to the back of the cave, where he dumped the carcass.

"Wait," he hissed when they jumped forward. "It might be bad. Let me try it first."

He didn't think it was bad at all, but he wanted to be the first to taste it. Who knew what it did to him? Not that he expected anything outlandish. It was smaller and far less dangerous than the wasp had been.

Ripping open the two large shells on the back took more effort than he'd expected, but when the rigid material peeled away, he was rewarded with succulent white meat that smelled faintly sweet. A dull rumbling from his stomach surprised him and caused the small Goblins to back up, staring at him with wide-open eyes.

Dan ignored them and grabbed a handful of meat. He tried to rip a bit off only to find it resisted his efforts. Rubery and resilient, it felt like tearing apart a tire. Ten seconds later, he was growing angry, and before he could resist, he bent forward and bit into the flesh.

A soft, succulent taste that reminded him of fish made him salivate, and he began tearing at the flesh. Even then, his sharp teeth only barely managed to cut it. When he finally ripped a mouthful of white meat off and started chewing, he wondered if he would have to get something else for the small Goblins.

Chewing the rubbery stuff did almost nothing to it, and he finally got fed up and swallowed it as-is. As soon as it hit his stomach, he knew his assessment had been wrong. A rush of energy came from his stomach, spreading to his limbs and burning away the fatigue and muscle ache, unlike even the wasp meat had. His hand palm began burning, and suddenly a small light illuminated the darkness.

A surprised hiss came as the Goblins stared at his hand, and he quickly pressed it against his leg, covering the glow. It lasted for a few seconds before the burning faded, but he started worrying. Would Bur and Tsir, and the others get drastically stronger after eating the meat? That would throw a winch in his plans for sure.

He needed to do something and needed to do it now before Tsir and the others became too strong to handle. Staring at the small Goblins, he beckoned them over.

"Try and tear a small piece off. No more!" he said. Not bothered with the stupid Goblin language anymore, he was happy to see they understood either way.

The six Goblins rushed forward and began biting the exposed flesh. Ripping and mauling, he wondered if he needed to help them but decided to wait for a few minutes.

It took them a while, but eventually, they all got a little bit. In most cases, it was no more than a sliver, but as soon as they had some, they backed off and swallowed it. Ten seconds later, six unconscious Goblins sprawled next to the dead beetle.

Now let's hope they will be strong enough when they wake up. And listen to me… Dan picked up the Goblins, which didn't react at all, and placed them in a row at the back of the cave.

Then he started the strenuous task of ripping small morsels of the carcass, feeding them to the smaller Goblins. An hour later, all of the Goblins in the cave, except for him, were knocked out.

Now to wait and see, Dan thought as he raised his hand. He was curious to see what the glow had been about. He summoned the small hologram while chewing on a strip of meat.

> 16xp gained

> Level up!

> 16xp gained

> 16xp gained

> Level up!

Two levels!

A silly grin plastered on his face, he looked at the wheel icon when he noticed something. What's that small triangle?"

After a second of wondering if it might be a problem, he clicked it, then groaned.

> Green goblin body leveled up and became stronger

> Current level: 3

> First racial ability unlock: 5

> Requirement for evolution: 10

Seriously? I have to evolve myself AND the bodies I use? What happens if I change shape? I start again from scratch? Feeling a headache popup, he rubbed his temple before clicking the wheel icon.

A slew of options, most with the word 'mana' in it, began rolling down the small hologram far too fast for him to read. Confused, he waited until it stopped. After some experimenting, he found he could scroll through the list by moving it with his finger.

He slowly read through the options, quickly finding that most of them were locked. Only three weren't grayed out.

> Mana Well: Increase mana capacity

> Mana Spring: Increase ambient mana absorption rate

> Muscle Density level two

From the god-awful interface, he could barely make out that each seemed to unlock other options and likely more accursed decision trees. With a weary sigh, he began reading through the locked skills, and his mouth fell open when he saw the first options.

> Mana ignition: Concentrate mana in an area and cause it to combust in a fiery explosion.

> Mana leech: Pull the ambient mana from a creature, weakening them and strengthening you.

> Augment bones: Increase the density of the user's bones at the cost of a constant mana drain.

Reading through a few more, he shook his head. There was far too little information on each skill, and it wasn't his expertise. The best he could figure out was that the more offense-related abilities needed a higher mana capacity, while the defensively oriented ones required absorption.

From what he could see, Muscle Density was the only thing that didn't have a drain, but it also didn't unlock anything besides level three of the same thing.

There were a few requirements below each line, and most simply stated the level of mana capacity or absorption. The levels ranged from one to five.

Dammit, he thought with a sigh. I should have played more of those games Falka liked! A tiny voice inside his mind softly cried to get his attention, but the hologram drew his attention and the moment passed.

To unlock anything that sounded powerful, he would need to increase either his capacity or absorption of mana three times. The problem was, he didn't have the points for that, and with the uncertainty of the next day, he needed to get stronger now, not in potentially days or weeks.

In resignation, and knowing he might be choosing short-term goals over long ones, Dan selected the second level of Muscle Density. The first had helped him greatly, and he hoped that another level would make hunting easier. Perhaps that would result in him snowballing his way to more skill points.

The ambient mana around him was drawn towards him, and he sensed his bones changing, muscles twitching and bulging. It wasn't that painful, but it just burned and itched.

He did feel his hunger growing again... Odd.

I just ate, for god's sake. As his stomach began to cramp up, he swallowed the sliver of meat he was still chewing and moved closer to the carcass. Three or four bites later, he realized it was like pouring water in a bottomless jug. His stomach started to gnaw in on itself, the pain increasing.

O shit!

Dan jumped up and moved to where he had hidden the wasp meat. He grabbed it and stuffed it in his mouth.

Trying to ignore the sand and grit, he swallowed it while walking to the next part as his worry grew. The second part down, the hunger lessened considerably, but sweating, he got all of the hidden meat together just in case.

It was a good thing he did because a minute later, the hunger returned, and five minutes later, again.

All throughout the night, he kept having bouts of ravenous hunger as his worry grew. In the end, he was left with only three tiny slivers of wasp meat and a growing fear it would never stop. Finally, as he swallowed another piece, the burning stopped, and the hunger vanished. He lay sweaty and fearful on the ground, wondering what would have happened if he didn't have the wasp meat. He hoped it would have just meant less change, but-

I might have died?

Letting out a shuddering breath, he continued taking long deep breaths until his mind cleared and the fear vanished.

Looking around, he saw that the small Goblins weren't that small anymore. The six next to him were as large as fully-grown Goblins, and one even bigger. They were also muscular, far more so than those outside the cave, and he hoped that was a good sign.

Getting to his feet, he used too much force and lifted from the ground. With a dull thud, he banged his head against the ceiling.

What the…

He gingerly rubbed his head, then focused on his legs. He could feel the barely contained power in them, like tightly wound-up coils. Taking a small step forward, he nearly stumbled. Trying again, he used a little less force, and this time his legs agreed to move normally.

Need to relearn how to walk, he thought with an annoyed shake of his head. What if he had done this in a dangerous situation? So, note to self. Only learning new skills in safe situations, he thought.

He began walking through the cavern, stretching and limbering his arms, which were far more muscular than before. His long, stringy runner muscles had turned into some more befitting a gymnast. The change was also far more noticeable than the first one. Was there an increase in power at higher levels? Somehow, he'd expected it to be linear.

Walking towards the nursery pen, he saw that the small Goblins had all grown to pubescent size. A little more of the beetle carcass, and they would be able to leave tomorrow!

A soft yawn came from behind him, and he turned to find six goblins stirring. One was stretching on the ground like a cat.

Dan moved next to them and sat down, wondering how things would go. He hoped they would follow his lead because that would give him both leverage with the other Goblins and some extra muscle while hunting.

"Me hungry" The first Goblin to fully wake up stared at him and rubbed his belly, smiling at Dan.

Grinning back, Dan nodded as relief washed over him. At least one of them seemed to like him.

"Me too," he replied, realizing it was true.

Although he wasn't as ravenous as before, he still felt like eating. The other five began yawning and stretching before they got up and turned to him. Seeing them all seemed to look at him and what he had planned, and none seemed ready to rush out on their own.

Dan nodded to himself. So far everything was going according to plan. He was just about to tell them they were going out hunting together and for them to do as he said when a scream echoed through the tunnel from the outside.

"Dan! Help!"

Dan cursed as he recognized Bur's panicky voice. He beckoned the others.

"Follow me. We need to help Bur."

As he walked out of the cave, the Goblins followed. Outside, the sky had barely turned red, and a group of Goblins was shuffling their feet in front of Tsir's cave. They seemed reluctant to go in and find out what all the screaming and fighting meant. As Dan stepped outside, a few gaped at him.

Dan turned to the six Goblins behind him and, hoping they would listen, pointed over his shoulder. "Don't let those others inside!"

One of the Goblins, the largest one, cocked his head and then nodded. He stepped in front of the entrance, and the rest quickly followed him.

Let's hope they don't start fighting. Dan prayed as he ran inside Tsir's cave.

It was smaller than the nursery but had a small hole in the roof that let in some of the early morning light. A bed of sand and dried grass filled most of the back wall, and Tsir lay on it, her legs spread wide, breathing rapidly with her eyes closed.

Dan took a glimpse between her legs and shuddered as he realized how similar to a human she was. The top of a hairy green head was already visible. As big as her belly was, he wondered how many Goblins she was going to give birth to.

Bur sat next to her, one hand fidgeting with the remains of the beetle and biting the dirty black nails of his other. He had grown since the day before, and his shoulders were slightly wider, but he was like a child compared to Dan. As soon as he saw Dan at the entrance, he got up and rushed towards him.

"Tsir sick! Dying? Me only touchie a little, and she start groaning and crying and scream for me to leave!" Bur seemed to be close to panic as he looked up at Dan. He didn't even seem to notice the fact that Dan was now towering a full head over him.

Dan sighed, wondering about the ridiculous scene of a birthing female Goblin in a cave. Fine. He turned to Bur. Should he ask for the other to bring water? Usually, when babies were born, that was what those people asked. 'Bring me water and clean towels!' or something like that. But there weren't any towels anywhere. Then he recalled what the small Goblins in the nursery ate and had an idea.

"Tsir make more baby Goblins. It's very hard! Bur go out and find many small bugs to make soft white food."

Bur didn't even bother responding but turned around and rushed out of the cave as if all hells were after him. Dan heard his anxiously shouted orders for the others to find lots of bugs.

A soft moan followed by a muffled scream made him turn back to the makeshift bed. Tsir was clutching at the sand, her face warping in pain as she tried to spread her legs even wider. As Dan watched, a small green head became visible between her legs, and she pressed a Goblin infant out with a loud, almost relieved, moan.

Already? Dan thought.

The baby flopped on the bed of straw and immediately began crawling around, crying softly. Remembering how his daughters were born, Dan noticed a lot of differences. For one, it had gone really fast, and there didn't seem to be any umbilical cord or as much blood. Moments later, another baby popped out, and not knowing what else to do, Dan moved forward and scooped them both up. They were covered in a green slippery thick fluid, and Dan saw both were girls. As soon as he saw them, his eyes narrowed.

He placed them further down on the bed and sat next to them. Within ten minutes, twelve more Goblins were born, crying and crawling across Dan's legs.

Tsir lay on her side, spent, her belly resembling a deflated balloon as she hatefully stared at the tiny baby girl Goblins in Dan's arms. Surprisingly enough, besides the first two, no more girls were born. So they were rare! Dan held them closer. He was going to make sure they stayed alive this time. If he wanted to create a small army to keep him safe, perhaps even create some sort of Goblin-town, he didn't want to have to rely on Tsir.

"Give to me!" Tsir hissed as she scowled at him, reaching a weak arm towards him.

"Why? So you can eat them?" Dan shook his head holding the two female Goblins close. Although they only vaguely resembled humans, he found he kept thinking about his daughters. Was this due to his Goblin body?

Tsir growled and tried to get up, crawling towards him with murder in her eyes. Dan rose and stared down at her before looking at the small male Goblins mewling around. Stepping back, he moved to the entrance. His first six followers stood in front of the entrance and turned to him.

"Get in here," he said, beckoning with his head before quickly stepping back inside to see what Tsir was doing. She just stared at him, pure hate in her eyes.

This will be trouble, he thought. For a moment, he pondered simply killing her, then he shuddered and shoved the murderous thoughts away. He might look like a Goblin, but he wasn't planning on acting one. Not yet, at least, a tiny part of him whispered from the back of his mind.

Gritting his teeth, he looked at the six grown Goblins. They were curiously looking at the bed filled with small Goblins. "Pick them up carefully and bring them to the nursery," Dan ordered the biggest one. He needed to get them names, or it would get annoying.

A short while later, Dan stood beside the shadowy nursery staring at the new batch of crying Goblin babies. He didn't have enough wasp meat for them, but there was a lot of the beetle left, and with far more ease than the day before, he began tearing small slivers off, handing them to the six Goblins sitting next to him.

"Give the small ones a single little piece, but no more! They need to grow up first." As soon as he was sure they would do as he said, he focused on the two crying babies in his arms.

Now what to do with you two? You have to get big and strong fast, or your mother will kill you.

"You won't turn exactly like her, will you?" he whispered with a sudden frown. What if all female Goblins were like Tsir?

I'll have to keep an eye on them, he decided.

After some thinking, Dan took out the tiny slivers of wasp meat he had left and bit off two fingernail-sized chunks. Although these two looked identical to the male Goblins except for some bits, he suddenly hoped they didn't need milk. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he put the meat in front of the two wide-eyed green and wrinkly faces. They stopped crying instantly and opened wide, showcasing a small row of razor-sharp teeth.

Bloody piranhas! Dan put the meat inside.

They chewed a single time, then swallowed, and one yawned. The other gurgled something, then also yawned. Within moments their eyes closed, and they fell asleep.

Dan grinned. If only Reika were here to see this, she would cry outrage when she remembered how their little girls never ate anything. Or slept this easily, for that matter!

He couldn't wait to tell her and see his daughters.

Feeling his emotions begin surging, Dan swallowed and took a deep breath before looking at the six Goblins walking back to him. They sat down, eyes only on the remaining beetle but not moving to grab it.

Either they learn fast, or they remember, Dan thought. They seemed to be in far better control of themselves than the other Goblins.

"Do you have names?"

Although he had no idea how perhaps they got those while born? To his shock one nodded.

"Me Gras," it said.

The others introduced themselves in such quick succession that Dan felt a vein pop on his head as he tried to remember their names.

"Bras, Etin, Leer, Teer, Brach, and Gras," he slowly repeated, wishing he had just resorted to calling them one through six.

The Goblins nodded when he called their name and he noticed that although they seemed almost identical at first glance, he could already make out their differences. He was about to talk in Goblin stupid, as he had started calling it in his mind when he caught himself. Let's find the smarter ones.

"We are going to eat this beetle and then Bras and Etin will come with me to hunt. The rest of you will stay here and guard the smallsies," he said, focusing on them.

Bras and Gras nodded in understanding, but the others seemed confused. Especially Etin, the largest, blinked as if he'd been hit in the head.

Dan focused his gaze on Gras. "While I am gone, make sure you give the smallsies a little meat when they wake up. That female Goblin is called Tsir, and she will probably come inside to look for these two." He gestured with his sharp green chin at the two sleeping babies in his arms before handing them to Gras.

"Whatever happens, make sure she doesn't get to be alone with them, or she will eat them."

He didn't know why he somehow expected some outraged response from the Goblins, but when they just nodded as if that was the most natural thing in the world, he sighed.

"Good," he said as he stepped into the pen of sleeping Goblins and babies, examining them.

Tonight the remaining first batch would be fully grown, making his faction the biggest amongst the Goblins. Between that and the fact they were bigger and probably stronger, he should be in control by tomorrow. He turned back to Gras. "When the bigger ones wake up, give them some food and keep them inside until I am back. Tell them that if they don't listen, they won't get yummy food again! This world is dangerous, and not just because of the monsters." He added the last bit belatedly and almost absently.

Gras nodded, and he hoped the young Goblin understood all he had said. For a moment, he pondered sending out the Goblins on their own and staying to make sure everything worked as he wanted. Then he shook his head. We need more food, and if they all die during the hunt, I'll still have to by myself, and there will be no one to guard the small ones.

Hoping everything would work out, he walked to the exit, beckoning Bras and Etin.

Outside, Tsir had somehow managed to crawl out and was actually standing.

Tough as nails that one, he thought.

She was whispering to the five Goblins still there, the rest probably having run off with Bur. Moving towards them, Tsir fell silent, glaring at him. One of the Goblins hesitated, looked at Tsir, then her breasts, and seemed to man up as he stepped forward, blocking Dan's path.

"Tsir say, you give smallsies back, or..." he faltered as Dan walked closer and he had to look up more and more. The Goblin seemed to realize he might be in over his head. It swallowed and took a step back, looking at the other four Goblins behind him. All of them were backing up, away from Dan, and the Goblin swallowed again. It took a quick glance at Tsir, then stepped back while looking at the ground.

"Weaklings!" Tsir screamed. She snarled at Dan before slowly moving back to her cave. She cast one more withering look at the Goblins before disappearing inside. A moment later, they heard screams of rage coming from her cave.

Dan furrowed his brows. Perhaps he should stay? Then his stomach growled, and he shook his head. No. This changed nothing. He'd known Tsir might act up. He turned to the Goblins and tried growling deep in his throat. A low growl came, sounding far more dangerous than he had expected, and all of the Goblins snapped to attention. They took a collective step back when he glared at them.

"You no go inside cave! I come back and you were in cave? I feed you to the stabbies!" Trying to look as menacing as he could, Dan was relieved to see the Goblins nod fervently. "Good. We go hunt! Who knows where beetles live?" One of the Goblins stepped forward.

"Me! I know! Me tell, you no hurt me! Can hurt others, leave me alone!" it shouted, ignoring the angry hissing from the other Goblins that he had just thrown before the bus.

Dan nodded, and the Goblin stepped forward, drawing a line on the sand.

"This river," he said as he pointed towards where Dan knew the river to be before drawing a circle. "This cave!" he pointed at the cave, causing Dan to scowl. The Goblin continued quickly, drawing a simple cross at a spot that created an almost even-sided triangle. "Here, beetles!" the Goblin said as he backed up a bit, smiling foolishly.

Dan was actually surprised that the Goblin could draw a map. Perhaps he was more intelligent than the others?

"Okay, we go hunt now!" he said, deciding to keep an eye on this one.

He turned around, getting sick and tired of the horrid speech patterns. He motioned Bras and Etin forward. After a moment, he noticed they weren't moving. Instead, they gaped at the sky, the trees, and the cave with wide eyes. Shit, I forgot. They have never been out of the nursery cave!

"Bras, Etin. Follow!" he ordered, making sure not to sound angry, and the two nodded.

Slack-jawed, they followed him away from the swampy open spot and into the dense forest. Seeing them stop at almost everything, touch it and even put some things in their mouth, Dan groaned. This was going to take a lot longer than he had expected.