'Tsk, to think that they would even do this. The books really tried to portray them as saints.' Rudra thought as the goblins started distributing the corpse of the goblin amongst each other. Seeing this happening, Rudra couldn't help but remember the time when he read about the goblins; he felt as if the book didn't do justice to just how brutal goblins can be. The goblin that bought the corpse over got the biggest share; however, no one took the head.
"KI KI," one of the goblins squeaked as it picked the head up and started walking, as others followed behind. They went straight to the tree Rudra had witnessed earlier and set the head down. Rudra was very confused as to what the goblins were trying to do.
'Is that something like an offering? Are the goblins praying?' Rudra asked himself as he witnessed the whole scene with puzzlement and shock. There was no mention of goblins displaying this sort of behavior. He couldn't help but wonder to whom or what the goblins are praying.
As they finished their ritual, they danced around the tree while making strange noises. Rudra was very annoyed by the noises, as they felt as if someone was trying to punch holes in his eardrums. Soon after the ceremony stopped, the goblins returned to the caves where they lived. There were 4 caves; however, only 3 goblins remained. Rudra kept stalking for quite a long time because all three of them went inside their caves.
'This is my chance.' Rudra thought, as after a long time of stalking, he could finally see some movement in the goblin caves. Two of the goblins came out of the cave, and they were carrying their bone whistle on their waist. This meant that both of them were leaving the camp to start patrolling the area. Seeing this, Rudra felt quite elated as he figured something these goblins, he was quite sure, when there were 4 goblins, 2 went out on patrolling while the other two stayed behind to protect the camp. So, the death of one of them was a huge win for Rudra, as there will only be one remaining goblin in the caves.
'I should wait for some time before I make my move,' Thought Rudra as he didn't want to make his move just after the goblins went out. He had to make sure there were no goblins in the vicinity to begin his plan. After some time had passed, Rudra went down the tree and started by scouting the area first. He made sure that the coast was clear, and then he began his plan.
'If this works, I wouldn't even have to get my hands dirty.' Rudra thought as a plan suddenly popped into his mind. He wasted no time as he started his preparation. As he had previously confirmed, three of the caves were empty, so he knew this was his chance to enter. He slowly made his way towards the caves as he prayed the caves weren't connected; if they were connected, he would have a huge problem on his hands.
Rudra made no sound as he entered one of the empty caves; luckily for him, the cave wasn't connected. However, the cave was quite spacious, the cave was full of trash, as it seemed the goblins never cleaned the caves.
'Who would have thought that a pack of goblins would have any concept of cleanliness? What a shocker. Wait, maybe I can hide here inside a trash pile while I wait for my perfect opportunity to launch a sneak attack.' Thought Rudra as he looked around the cave, that idea didn't last long in his head, though, as there were too many risks he had to consider. Leaving the useless thoughts behind, Rudra picked up the thing he came looking for.
'Hope this works.' Rudra thought as he looked at the piece of half-eaten goblin leg, he decided to use this for his plan. His plan was simple: he wanted to make the goblins fight amongst themselves. For that plan, he tore a few small chunks of meat from the piece of let. He started scattering the chunks of meat outside the cave of another goblin, which was still present inside the caves.
A few minutes passed as Rudra made sure his plans would go smoothly. Thankfully, the other goblin didn't get alerted at all as Rudra carried out his plan. After he was done with setting all of the traps, Rudra went to a tree that was close to the caves; however, he had ensured he had an ample amount of cover so that the goblins wouldn't be able to spot him. As he was done, it was just a game patient.
The patrolling goblins came back to their caves after a few hours had passed. Rudra waited in anticipation as he watched the goblins go inside their caves. As soon as they were inside, a loud shriek rang out throughout the forest. Following the loud noise, all of the goblins came out. Soon, the goblin that shrieked found the chunks of meat that were lying on the ground.
BANG
The goblin that stayed behind to guard the caves fell to the ground as the other goblin had attacked. The other goblin shrieked in pain as he lunged towards his attacker. Just like that, a fight between the goblins started. Rudra, who was watching, was very elated by the situation.
'With this, I hope those two kill each other; after that, I will have only one enemy to worry about.' Rudra thought as he witnessed the fight that was happening in front of his eyes.
'I need to get stronger if I want to survive here. Deception will not work against all of my enemies. I will just end up dead if I have no power when I face more powerful foes.' This thought suddenly ruined Rudra's mood as he was quickly brought back to the real world. He knew and had seen what true power looked like in this world. So, he knew that against those enemies, he would have no other choice but to die if he tried to play tricks with them.
The fight between the goblins continued as it didn't seem like it would just end any second. The other goblin, who was not part of the conflict, didn't even try to stop them, as it just stayed and watched the fight happen. The fight went on, and soon the goblin watching the fight got bored, so it started walking around. For some reason, the goblin decided to enter the cave of one of the goblins.
"KRIIIIIIIIII" A deafening sound came from the cave as even Rudra was startled, and even the fighting duo stopped their fight for a moment as they looked towards the cave of the goblin that stayed behind. The goblin suddenly came out of the cave holding something in his hand. You could tell just from his expression that he was furious. Looking at the thing in the arm of the goblin, both of the goblin's faces changed to one of horror. Suddenly, the fighting stopped both of them separated from one another as they seemed scared to death.
"KI KIK KIK," the goblin holding the head started shouthing. Rudra felt that the goblin was saying something to the others.