Chapter Nine

Him.

Hours passed as Will sat slumped down in the corner of the cave, he had been silently clutching his left arm. Will had unconsciously grabbed his severed arm and held it against the open wound, almost as if he was trying to re-attach it. Will stirred back to life as he felt a slight tingling from his left arm, he couldn't move anything, and the wound had clearly not healed, it could even just have been his imagination. However this was enough to motivate him into moving again.

In the hours Will had sat there, he had time to process all the intense emotions that surfaced during the morning massacre. After thinking for so long, Will's conclusion had led him to realize that everything that had happened was out of his control. The Goblin group was doomed even before Will was born into this world, and no amount of preparation he could make would have changed that. His only option was to get stronger so nothing like this would happen in the future, or if it did, that at least he would have a bit more control over the situation.

His analysis of the situation led him to one conclusion, he needed knowledge. He needed knowledge of his race, so he could know how to get stronger and what his limits were. He needed knowledge of other races so he could use their weaknesses. He needed knowledge of the world he was in, so he could use it to his advantage. But none of that could be found in this cave, in this small bubble he had created for himself. So he had decided to leave, and find a more civilized place. However he needed to prepare.

Will had decided to set off in a week, it would give him time to somewhat heal and prepare supplies for a long travel. Luckily he had plenty of time. The Orcs weren't going to come back, and it would take some time before the local wildlife would venture in and reclaim the caves. He also had plenty of food to hold him out until he was prepared.

Ever since he was old enough in this world he had started working on more human like clothes for himself. The other Goblins only wore loincloths and wrapped their upper bodies in animal pelts for minor protection. Will on the other hand had prepared other things. He had made some needles from animal bones, and had already cured some leathers before the battle. He had gathered plenty of salts from nearby caves, so the tanning process wasn't really an issue, it was hard work though, even harder with a small Goblin body.

He gathered the leather that he had prepared, and started cutting the shapes out with the tools he had. There were different kinds of hides that he had managed to gather. He used the soft hides from wolves, rabbits and deer to make two pair of pants, and one jacket. He also added some tough reptile hides to the surface of the jacket, mostly on the upper body close to his ċhėst and back. The end result was quite stylish, even using different kinds of hides, he segmented the pieces so the appearance was symmetrical. He knew it was impractical, but it was his Earth sensibilities that led him to do it. Will also prepared a backpack, it was mostly leather, but he added some wood pieces to let the backpack keep its structure without mashing everything inside, it also added some back support. The last thing Will made was a cloak with a hood. It was entirely made from grey fox fur, it was very warm and soft.

After finalizing his equipment, he packed his backpack with some minor tools, extra leather straps, dried meat and two water skins he had prepared. As he closed his backpack up, he stood there marveling at his own ingenuity. He didn't think that a lowly geology university student would be able to make all this just from remembering bits and pieces of information from his previous life. Will smiled in self-satisfaction, as if none of the previous events had even happened. It didn't matter anymore, it was in the past, it wouldn't change no matter how much he lingered on it. Will strapped the backpack on, picked up a walking stick he had fashioned for himself and set out into the wilderness.

As he saw the vast forest in front of him, he took note of where the Orcs had come from. He didn't think there was anything he could learn from there yet, so he headed in the opposite direction. His first plan was to find humans, he figured humans were easier to deal with and had a bigger focus on knowledge gathering than Orcs. He didn't think the Orcs were uncivilized, but he ȧssumed they were more tribal and focused their society on tradition and passing down knowledge through family and previous generations. As humans would centralize knowledge, like having libraries and schools. They were also probably less aggressive and attentive than the Orcs when it came to intruders. Will was confident he could secretly sneak into a human city and stay unseen and hidden.

And so started Will's journey, it wasn't too arduous, but it wasn't easy either. There were days where he would have to spend the entire day huddled in a tree trunk, hiding from the rain. There were days where he would go without any water from lack of a source. There were even days where he couldn't forage any food so he had to hunt, which was quite hard using only one arm. He had sewn his arm back to his severed socket, and it was slowly healing. But he could still not feel anything in his left arm, and had put it in a sling. He would occasionally cut the stitches and clean his wounds, just to re-stitch it. He had high hopes for his arm considering his Goblin constitution, but it didn't make hunting any easier.

Three weeks Will spent in the wild, with no sign of civilization. The solitude was taking its toll on his mind. He knew he wasn't walking in circles, because every day at noon he would correct his course compared to the suns position. So he thought even if he veered off course, his general direction would always be south. At least he ȧssumed it was south, he couldn't know for sure, but he knew at least that he was heading in one general direction.

On the fourth week he finally found signs of civilization: a well worn dirt road!