Chương 57: Chapter 53

'What does bad luck mean anyway?' This question plagued Sobelle's mind as she walked around the forest. The undergrowth offered her no answers and her own mind didn't help her in understanding the very existence of luck. Because what did it mean, really? Happenstance. Sobelle described luck in the best way possible if she used that singular word. But that did not narrow things down for Sobelle, as she was well aware that random events didn't exactly have any 'good' or 'bad' qualities to them.

Not to mention, luck can be swayed to go either way. Proof of this was the very curse inflicted upon her, which caused her luck to go the other way and be negative. Happenstance was not like this, it was closer to a storm if anything. Storms weren't always guaranteed, and they could be barren in a time when they were most at their most common while it was also possible for them to appear in seasons when they were meant to be rare or even nonexistent. Luck was... Was...

Sobelle wasn't sure how one even quantified such a complex thing. Or maybe the Gods do and they would be able to guide her into figuring it out someday, but she knew that wouldn't come right now and that it was best to focus on the present. Sobelle did not go out to hunt boars for the time being, she believed that it wouldn't be right to make Chael worry again so she went ahead and proceeded to the deeper parts of the forest and got back to hunting the remaining greenskins.

Which she still found no signs of, even after so long. She also couldn't figure out where they were.

'I just hope that they're found soon...' Sobelle thought in worry as the area around her turned dark.... In the distance, a pair of green eyes sniffed the air and took in the aroma of a woman who had freshly had sex. By its own estimate, the deed had finished not too long ago, and that... There were two women involved? It found no scent of a man but that was even better, because two women without protection in such a dark area were exactly the kind of victim it preferred.

"Women!" Chittering noises came from the mouth of the Goblin, it turned to the others and excitedly pointed at the direction its sharp nose picked up the scent from. It jumped up and down excitedly,"women!" The other greenskins shared the sentiment and chaotic energy filled the air as they all ran for the area where they believed their victims were located.

The muscles on their legs carried their tiny frames across the underbrush with unrivaled speed, their movements unnaturally adept even as their heads filled with lust.... Sobelle was worried that she would encounter something far above her skill level so she cautiously walked around the darkness. She wasn't sure what lurked in this part of the forest, but she knew that some of them weren't simple animals.

Spirits of the forest manifested in their deeper regions, where trees grew in abundance and plants covered everything in thick lushes. Not only that, there was a chance that malevolent spirits lived here as well, as such things liked dark places and often haunted them. If she were to ever encounter something that was borderline, then she wouldn't be able to do anything but run. She was helpless against them, most people were.

It was common knowledge that the only way to kill a spirit was through rituals, trinkets, or auras. None of which were currently possessed by Sobelle. And speaking of possession, it wouldn't be farfetched to see something being inhabited by a spirit around here as well. She had been lucky the first few times she came here and hadn't encountered anything like that but Sobelle knew that she no longer had that luxury and so she might very well meet one of these things later down the line.

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'At least I'd be able to deal with them better than pure spirits.' If the vessel that anchored a spirit into the world was brought down, then the spirit would slowly dissipate. They also wouldn't be able to do anything to their killer as they would be too weak to influence the world after possessing a corpse or an object. So far, none of these things came up to Sobelle. But she still expected them.

As she believed that her bad luck would manifest as something she couldn't physically overpower, so encountering a spirit wouldn't be that strange to her. Yet the darkness provided Sobelle with no true answer and she was forced to anxiously traverse the lightless undergrowth. She would flinch every time a plant grazed her skin, worried that it might be the stalk of an entling Sobelle only got more stressed and anxious with every flinch, and before long, she was like a cornered animal.

The tiniest movement disturbed her, and the slightest spark on her skin caused her to jump. Not even the dropping temperature changed this, and Sobelle's mind silently deemed the biting cold as unimportant and slotted it in the back of her head. It was when she heard the sound of rustling leaves that she went on high alert. Something grazing against the surrounding flora so quickly was a bad enough sign, but the chittering noises that followed them was what truly ticked off Sobelle's wariness.

She recognized the sounds as the same ones that greenskins made, which meant that somehow, they decided to track her down again. Sobelle was confident she'd be able to beat these things again... If it wasn't for the bad luck she had been cursed with. How would it change the way things go? Sobelle was genuinely worried about the uncertainty the curse brought to the fight, and she felt that she just might lose if she were to confront the goblins head on.

At the same time, she also felt that she'd trip and fall if she ran. And that she is far more vulnerable than fighting who knows how many greenskins in a dark forest. Left with no other choice, Sobelle readied her spear and closed her eyes. She focused on the sounds her ears picked up and slowly calmed down, her breathing came to a stand still and her panicking heart cooled.

She felt tiny tremors climb up her feet and heat to the side of her skin, one big quake came from her left and she knew that one of the Goblins had chosen to jump. She twisted her hips by instinct, her brain guided by the information her senses provided her. This was yet another ability [Flow State] gave her, she assumed that this happened because of the intense focus she had on her eyesight in the past but hadn't confirmed it until now. Something grazed past her ear, it was the Goblin.

She planted her foot on the ground and turned to the direction the greenskin jumped to, she thrust her spear without thinking and felt resistance for just a second before squelching noises erupted from the rendered flesh of her target. The goblin screamed in pain but Sobelle had no time to savor it. She ran away as her mind took its time and refocused on her senses. Once this happened, she put all her attention into her hearing and waited for more of the goblins to show up.

Synchronized footsteps coming from four different directions. It seemed that the goblins had chosen to attack together, Sobelle worried that she'd be killed by this pincer attack but did not let that get to her head. She picked one greenskin to target and ran to them as quickly as she could, she pulled her arm back and thrust her spear forward. The resistance this time around was so much harder and Sobelle believed she must have struck the skull, which was a kill as far as she was aware.

The spear was left behind as Sobelle switched to her dagger and her axe, she carried the latter on her right hand while the other one comfortably sat within her left. Her grip on the dagger's handle tightened when her nose picked up the scent of rot and she took a step back before swinging her axe forward. She struck true and then turned away, she ran for a few seconds and almost tripped. Luckily, she caught herself.

Unfortunately for her, that tiny mistake was enough to get her out of [Flow State] and now she was inside the darkness, helpless against the greenskins.... Or was she? Sobelle opened her eyes and exhaled.

"I don't need my skill, I can do this..." This was when she noticed light coming from the darkness. Green light. She hadn't seen it until now because her eyes were closed but there were strange lines in the dark. When the lines moved, Sobelle realized that they were the Goblins. But what were they? She didn't have time to worry about it because soon, one of them charged at her. She stepped aside and kneed the thing on the gut before violently slamming her foot on its face.

She felt the greenskin's skin cave in from the blow, the long nose it had shattered and bent under the force of her foot. One left. Sobelle and the remaining Goblin stared at each other, she couldn't quite make out of its shape thanks to the lack of light, but she knew it was healthy. Somehow. And the Goblins the village fought days ago did not have markings either.

'Is this what the chief meant when Noggs can evolve?' The Goblin moved and Sobelle wasn't worried, she tackled it to the ground and while it tried to overpower her, she plunged her dagger straight into its head. She breathed out and flinched when she felt something hard press against her back. She quickly got up but nothing attacked her. Then it hit her.

'Male? I thought they were wiped out?'