Redo! Last Chance for a Dying World!

Chapter 24: Tracking

Geth began his trek in a leisurely fashion. As he was walking, he would test out his abilities. With his Inspection Skill now Level 1 he was able to see a very faint trace of footsteps across his path.

It looked almost like a very dull blue outline of a footprint. If he hadn't been looking down manipulating mud as he'd walked, he never would have seen it. Stooping down, he ran his hand across the dull outline and found that the earth was completely solid, there were no signs of tracks.

"Albus?" He questioned his partner out loud, which had become a more common occurrence as the days went by.

:Since the Mana doesn't allow changes to the world, physical tracks fade very quickly. Even if that is the case, the Mana is a glutton. It won't allow a single trace of history to be forgotten. Right now, you are weak, and can only see tracks from recent events. As you become powerful, you'll be able to see the history stored within:

For a moment he stopped examining the footprint, 'I would be able to see this history that the Mana has recorded? That means that this isn't some new world, more likely ancient, and it is living.' Geth wasn't sure what to think about it for now, but it wasn't something that would easily slip his mind.

He looked more closely at the dull outline, even paying attention it wasn't the easiest to make out. It was about the size of a small child's, but it only had four toes. Based on the direction it was pointing, if he'd gone directly to the east instead of the south-east, he would have been fighting these creatures instead.

Standing up to examine the area, he noticed that there wasn't just one dull outline, but tens of them. They were all heading in the same direction he was now. There may have been some other type of creatures he could think of being that size were Goblins or Kobolds.

To the direct east was a large wooded area. 'There must be another Dungeon.' He thought. 'Well, I have other matters to tend to. I was lucky to run into the Slimes first. If the creatures were humanoid, I would have likely died quickly.'

Geth couldn't imagine facing creatures that could think while he was Level 1. 'Hell, they could have even had weapons.' He grimaced at the thought of him looking like a pincushion.

He picked up his pace, he was close to where he'd woken up, and it was obvious the creatures had headed that way. He needed to go southwest to find his family from where his old home was. This detour had taken him a couple of hours out of the way, but he wanted to make sure he was heading in the right direction before getting lost.

It had been worth the extra time, he'd likely found a second Dungeon location after all. As he crossed over a small hill, he began to be able to make out figures moving around in the distance. There were also some small, dingy-looking structures.

It was a bit hard to make out, being over half a mile away, but he could still tell that there was a fight going on. There were humans mixed in with something else.

Geth picked up the pace. He didn't care much about his neighbors, but if he didn't hurry he might lose out on some easy experience. He was coming from behind the creatures, and could easily catch them off guard.

He wasn't cruel towards his own kind, per se. He would help in passing, especially if it could benefit him. There were also children there, and he preferred that they would have both of their parents to look after them.

As he got closer, he could make out the scene clearly. Green humanoid creatures with pointy ears were attacking a group of around 15 adult humans. There were 6 kids behind them and two bodies laying on the ground.

'Goblins.' They were easy to recognize.

Geth could see that 21 Goblins were attacking the group and 4 were laying on the ground with sticks having impaled their stomachs or necks. The creatures had various weapons, mostly daggers made of sharpened stone or clubs, but there were a couple of rusty swords as well.

Geth focused on his feet and did his best to run as silently as possible, he pulled out one of his stone spikes with his left hand. Running with the staff in his right hand was a bit awkward.

A couple of the men had noticed him but quickly looked away, not wanting the Goblins to turn around.

It only took him a moment to reach the rearmost Goblin, stabbing the spike deep into the back of its neck. The Goblin's body dropped to the ground.

:Goblin (Lvl 8); HP 0/325:

He cast State Change and a large section of mud suddenly formed underneath about 8 of the Goblins. The ground suddenly disappearing from beneath them caused them to stumble and fall to the ground. Geth jumped over the closest one and started bashing it in the chest with the butt of his staff.

After so many hits, its chest crumpled and the staff pierced through the skin, breaking bones along its path. The other 7 Goblins had returned to their feet and had aggro'd onto him. They completely ignored their original targets.

Geth didn't mind, he preferred fighting groups. He rushed into the middle of the enemies and cast Corruption Aura. He watched as the enemies' HP bars dropped by 14 points.

Three of the closest creatures stabbed towards him with their daggers. He kicked away one while grabbing the other one's arm with his hand. He couldn't do anything about the one behind him.

The third dagger ran into his skin and simply bounced off, leaving a small cut behind. He smirked and slung the Goblin he was holding at the fucker who'd tried to stab him in the back.