A Warlock's Ascent

He didn't know who this Hasan guy was, but when then walked through the busy and chaotic streets of Vecrus, everyone parted ways to give them space, probably they saw Hasan walking in front, everyone showed them respect, and because of this they were able to get out of the city in no time.

As they got out, he took the lead. He remembered the general direction from which he came, thus he started walking in the same direction, while Hasan followed him closely. As they were walking in silence, he thought that maybe they should make small talk while walking, so he turned his head.

"I am Gilbert by the way. What is your name?"

With an expressionless face, he answered. "I am Hasan Piker. I am an Earthian"

"Oh, you are an Earthian. That is good to know" he had long suspected that the man was Earthian. But he wondered why he told him that he was one. Was this some sort of custom that he didn't know about?

While he thought about the motives Hasan behind revealing his origin, once more their walk was shrouded with silence. After a while he got off his stupor, and initiated a conversation once more, he turned around again. "So what is it like on Earth? Where did you live?"

"There is some restriction on Earthian, that prevents us from divulging any information about our homeland to anyone Midgardian. Do you not know that?" his expressionless face now was bothering him, he felt like he was talking to a robot.

"I came from Cloudhold the other day. My village was so small that we didn't hear about Earthians till it was too late. So my knowledge about you guys is a little bleak."

"Is that so…" He didn't know whether Hasan didn't like to talk or didn't want to talk, because once again silence shrouded their walk.

This time, he didn't initiate the conversation again, and just concentrated on finding the place. It didn't take him long and he soon found the place where he fought the goblin, it was as he had left it, the bodies of the goblins that he left behind were still there, along with all the blood that was sprayed as he cut off the body parts of the other goblins.

Seeing no sign of deer, Hasan turned towards him. "You left the body here?"

"Yeah. I encountered 7 goblins here, I killed all of them. Submitted five bodies in the guild. The body of that... Skistag… was here when I left."

"It seems some other monster got its hands on the carcass."

"Yeah, it seems like it."

"Anyway, a deal is a deal. Here" Hasan then handed over the promised gold coins, which he quickly pocketed.

"By the way, I have to ask, what is the deal with Skistag anyway? Why is everyone so obsessed with it?"

Hasan then started inspecting the sight for clues, while simultaneously talking to him "Skistags are very special creatures. Their meat is not only very tasty but very nutritious as well. Also, the main thing that Skistag is famous for it skills. They produce this ball in the belly, which is essentially is a skill."

"A ball is a skill?"

"You have to eat that ball, and you will gain one random skill."

"What kind of skill are we talking about here?"

"Based on your stats, you would get a skill that best suits your style of fighting and your personality." It is then he suddenly turned towards the body of a goblin and started inspecting it.

"Did you find anything?" he asked as he was intently looking at a goblin.

"This goblin, it has a tattoo on its neck."

Curious he walked up to the carcass, and sure enough, there was a weird symbol on its body, he didn't know that this world also had a culture of making tattoos. "What does that mean?"

"It is a tribe symbol if I am not wrong." The word tribe reminded him of the Tribal Chief that he encountered, sending a chill down his spine.

"What does that mean?" But Hasan didn't answer, instead, he touched the body, and it vanished. He then got up vigilantly.

"Come on, we need to first get out of here."

Seeing him acting vigilant, he also took out his bow, which was dangling from his side. Both of them then started returning back to the city, while going, Hasan would go from tree to tree and mark it with a cross mark, while vigilantly looking around here and there.

As they made some distance from that place, Hasan dropped his guard and started walking normally. He didn't understand, what was that all about "Can you tell me now, what was that all about?"

"That tattoo symbolizes that this goblin was elite of its tribe." He then remembered that the tattoed goblin was the same one that shot him, maybe it truly was an elite.

"So what does that mean?"

"It means that somewhere around that area is a tribe of goblins. But Adventurer Guild has received no report of a goblin settlement nearby." Now he started to understand the gravity of the situation.

"How big of a settlement are we talking about here?"

"I dont know, anywhere between 40 to 100"

"FUCK! You sure?"

"I am sure. We will know more when we will return to the guild." He remembered the group of goblins that almost killed him, they were not that large in number. But this was a monstrous group that Hasan was talking about, they could cause a lot of damage if left unchecked.

"Also that is not the worst part," Hasan said. Hearing him, he turned towards him.

"About 100 goblins is not the worst part, then tell me what is it?"

"The Skistag, it was missing remember? If either of the goblins got a hold of that orb, then we might be dealing with a revolutionized monster here"…

After Hasan and he returned to the city, they straight away went to Adventurer Guild, where he greeted him goodbye, or at least he tried.

"Hasan, it was nice meeting you. But I will have to go now."

"You cannot go"

"Why? You need to meet Guild Master first, after he had taken your statement, only then leave." Hasan said.

"Do I have to do it?"

"Yeah, it is kind of important."

He sighed with frustration, but he could not do anything at that moment. He then waited by the side, while Hasan went to the reception to talk to some people. He told the staff about his findings and his wanting to meet Guild Master.

He then joined him at a table and waited for Guild Master to come around. He then tried to initiate a conversation, but Hasan didn't seem too interested in talking, so he just stopped and sat there in silence.

After a few minutes of waiting, a staff of the Guild came to their table. "Mr. Hasan, Guild Master Igor will see you now." Both of them got up and followed the staff member.

While he on the other hand started wrecking his brain, as he knew he had heard that name before…