Dawn- An age of Darkness
Chapter 352 - There Was A Reason- Probably

I looked over things inside the ring but couldn't replace anything.

I made the portal a bit bigger and went inside. It was dark in here so I had to make light with my magic.

My light- holy magic didn't burn me. 'Maybe I'm only a half-dead.' I couldn't be too sure. It was also possible that I was a vampire-undead hybrid but so far, I didn't really know what to believe.

And it didn't matter that much.

But anyway- I kept on looking. 

I looked around but so far, nothing.

"Kar ma slael!" I heard some random murmurs and looked to my right. Immediately my magic ran out.

Darkness!

'What the hell?'

I pulled out my knife and the broken mystic blade. Both glowed faintly. But their light wasn't enough for me to see much.

Rustle! 

Footsteps!

I looked around: turned abruptly and even saw tiny feet but- I couldn't keep track of it.

With my mana and vision in check, I couldn't really keep up with this agile creature. It wasn't attacking me but I had a feeling that was because it was just being cautious. I wouldn't be too surprised if it suddenly decided to throw knives at me.

However- I closed my eyes and focused on the sound and the smell. They were both a lot sharpened than when I was alive.

There.

No, there!

I moved my head accordingly and-

Grab!

I caught the little critter.

I'd grabbed both its arms and lifted it above ground. 

"Grr! Arr! Rrr!"

It struggled and bit me- almost ripping off a bit of flesh. But I didn't let go and slammed it on the ground.

Thud!

It groaned. 

I kept it pinned to the ground with my feet: moderate pressure. "Now listen here, I don't mean trouble but, how'd you seal my magic?"

It didn't speak but just growled. 

This thing was awfully humanoid and pink in color like a pig. And it resembled humans more than goblins. The size- half of a typical goblin- a little shorter than a human toddler. 

Goblins could understand human speech, so it was possible this thing could understand me. Then again, this thing was pretty young, so that probably wasn't a good idea.

"You killed my mother, my father, my people and now you say you don't mean trouble!"

To my surprise though, the little thing did speak my tongue- or more likely, I understood it. And it was rather fluent too.

It also had a nice voice- more like an edgy toddler than a baby.

"Well, that was in the past and I'd probably just return you to maybe another settlement, assuming I can replace a good one. I promised as much to the goblin protecting you." Then again, I couldn't really remember what I'd promised that goblin so I had to make shit up.

If what Ashirnae said was to be believed then it was totally possible these goblins were the residents of the previous world, so-

I couldn't undo the past and I didn't have any means to make up either- so the only thing I could do was try not to screw this up even more. 

"And you expect me to believe you?" Its voice was cold and it had bloodlust. 

Too bad.

"No, but I expect you to trust me, so that you may live. I'm very angry right now and also kind of hungry. So, let's just say, you wouldn't want to mess with me right now." I also growled and I could feel my eyes lighting up with a red tint. 

How?

I saw my reflection in the goblin's eyes. 

The feeling was weird though. 

The goblin gritted its teeth and gave up struggling. "The parchment. The parchment had the spell to be able to cancel spells and restrict mana."

It was intelligent- very intelligent. 

I had to be careful. 

And a parchment? I distinctly remembered a bunny from the ones who kidnapped us throwing something at me but I'd forgotten about it altogether. 

I let go of the goblin and pulled my foot away. "Hand it over." But I sure wasn't going to let my guard down.

"I already ate it."

I smiled and held the knife to its throat. "Hand it, over."

"After you return me to my people!"

For a goblin, this thing sure was something.

I pulled the knife away. "Fine. Now, cancel it."

It clicked its tongue and my mana came back. Looks like with this it was possible to both cancel and return mana in an instant. 

'This could be useful.'

I made a ball of light and another portal. 

I went out of the portal and the little thing also came out.

The moment it came out, it almost shrunk in fear. 

Inside the ring, it was quiet and calm and the little thing was safe, but out here, not so much. Snakes and crocodiles were everywhere and the sound- the smell- the scenery- very frightening to a goblin. It would have been frightening to me too in the past but now I didn't care. 

"Try to run and you're dead. Disobey me and you're dead. Talk back-"

"I know. Now shut up already. I'm pretty much defenseless, so I wouldn't bother running in the first place."

Talk back, and you're dead. I was about to say that but I guess that was impossible for this thing. 

This thing sure was sassy if nothing else. 

"Whatever kid."

Anyway, I kept on walking and I also my eyes on the goblin with my peripherals.

There was just one reason I was letting this thing still live- and that wasn't because of the parchment, rather, because my old self had a promise to keep. And I needed a good reason to go on. 

So, in the end, this was all for my sake. 

So, in the end, I was just a fucking hypocrite. 

But I was fine being one. 

***

I was hungry and there was food everywhere. 

The fish here were mostly small.

And the crocs were kind of running away from me, so I couldn't just go on hunting without leaving this brat.

I could always settle for the phytons which were basically just pretending to be dead when they saw me, but I didn't want to. 

Which meant- "Wait here, I'm going swimming." 

We'd finally found a big enough pond that could potentially have large fish. Though it could instead have plenty of crocks or snakes, who knew?

I didn't quite know how deep it was either, but I kind of didn't care. I just wanted something to eat, and I wanted it now. 

"Yo-you will be coming back up, right?" It stuttered. 

Was this thing worried about me?

No, it was worried about me dying and it dying as a consequence too.

"You want to get into the ring? You'd be safe there."

Its stomach growled. How typical. "No, I'm fine."

"Uh-huh." With that said, I coated my body in mana and jumped straight into the pond.

I didn't feel hot nor cold, so it didn't matter even if I was drenched all the time.

The water reached up to my neck. I dived in. 

I got back roughly a minute later with two large fish and about twelve water snakes biting me.

I dropped the fish on the ground, chopped their heads off and also cut the water snakes in pieces. With my mana coating they never actually even not near my skin- but- I was not in the best or rather lenient of moods. 

So chop, chop, it was. 

Anyway- I ate one fish head right away and was about to eat the rest of the fish too but paused. "You can have that head."

It gulped. "Wouldn't cooking be better?"

It was the last thing I expected of a goblin. "Why? Weren't your kind keen on eating raw flesh?"

Even now, after all this time, I still vividly remembered how that goblin tried to eat me the first night when I came to this world. 

"I'm not like the rest of us. My parents and the people said I was special."

So, a spoiled brat. 

"Sorry but all goblins are the same to me. Now stop bitching and just eat."

It picked up the other fish head, ate it, and promptly threw up.

Meanwhile, I ate the rest of the fish without actually batting an eye. I didn't care.

'Better start a fire, I guess.'