Path to the Apocalypse

"We're moving to New Zealand!?!" Kate exclaimed incredulously after their parents announced the news. "But- why couldn't we move somewhere else in America?!? I don't want to be the weird foreign girl!"

"You won't be weird, you'll be exotic!" Stephen countered. "Don't focus on the negatives. If you feel like an outcast, you'll be an outcast. Instead, think of all the new things you'll get to experience! It's a different country with a different culture! You'll be like an explorer!" Kate just glared at him before letting out a frustrated groan and stomping away, Stephen letting out a defeated sigh as he watched her go.

"Why didn't we move somewhere else in America?" Andrew asked. He didn't particularly mind living in New Zealand, he'd be an outcast anywhere, but it did seem like a radical move.

Stephen let out another sigh. "It's Clan policy not to place a displaced Bonded in the same country in which they were removed. It's a holdover from when countries used to be tiny, and the population much smaller, but the Clans are slow to change and policy is policy. The best we could do was a similar country, and New Zealand seems like a good choice. Not so well known that you kids would have ideas about it, but close enough to America that you wouldn't feel completely lost in their culture."

There wasn't much else to talk about, so they began to pack up again in preparation for the move. While his other self was busy, Goblin Andrew decided to take the day off and explore the town. He'd just hit level six and merged Kick and Dodge into Counter Kick, so he felt he deserved a little break. Also, his father's comment about viewing themselves as outcasts or explorers had stuck with him. If he wanted to be an explorer, why not start here? Why not explore the strange new culture right in front of him? To start, he headed towards the merchant district, specifically the food vendors. When exploring a new culture, the best place to start was the food, right? It had nothing to do with the fact that it was closing in on lunch time. Nothing at all.

As he arrived and began to look around, the first thing he noted was that there was a lot of meat. From his meals with the Shaman, he knew goblins could eat pretty much anything humans could, so they were probably omnivores, but it was clear they preferred meat. Meat was always the main course, with everything else there as a side. So the sheer amount of vendors selling meat didn't surprise him, but he did wonder for the first time what that said about goblin culture.

They'd obviously have a larger focus on ranching and hunting than they would on farming… They'd have to in order to supply the demand for more and more meat. Which meant skills for handling and caring for animals would be in high demand. Also, animal products would be common… Andrew looked around at all the leather clothes goblins were wearing. Yeah, that checked out. He then frowned as he noticed a distinct lack of milk based products. Thinking back, even when he'd first been born, they hadn't given him milk, but water. It couldn't be for lack of milk, which meant… were goblins lactose intolerant? Andrew grinned as his deduction skill leveled up.

Feeling proud of himself for already seeing something he hadn't before, Andrew headed towards a vendor selling some sort of sweet glazed chicken, before freezing with a frown as he noticed a sign. [5 coins per stick] Andrew let out a groan. He'd forgotten about money! He was always with the Shaman, so he never carried money of his own. He didn't even have money of his own… This would cut his rest day short.

"Want some?" A voice suddenly called out from beside him.

Andrew glanced over to see a goblin who seemed to be about his age smiling at him, offering him a stick of meat. Andrew hesitated, before shaking his head. "No, I'm good. I can eat at home. You paid for it, you should eat it."

"You can just buy me one next time." The goblin shrugged. "Come on, just take it!" He shook the stick at him. "I know you want it." Andrew was about to refuse again, when his stomach growled loudly and he flushed. Where had that come from?!? He wasn't even all that hungry… but upon hearing the sound, the other goblin grinned victoriously and shoved the meat stick into his hand. "My name's Vinek. What's yours?" He asked before taking a bite of his own meat stick.

Andrew frowned down at the stick of meat in his hand, before letting out a sigh. "I'm Artek." Andrew replied, taking a bite as well. It was good meat and if Vinek was going to be so insistent, he wasn't about to refuse.

"You're the Shaman's apprentice, right?" Vinek continued.

Andrew paused. "In a way…" He responded slowly, narrowing his eyes at Vinek. Was he trying to get something from him? He couldn't tell… it was so hard to read people without his emotion sense. "He's training me, but not to make me into another Shaman. I'm just… weird, and apparently in need of more specialized guidance."

"That's right! You're some kinda genius, right?" Vinek nodded excitedly. "I heard you activated your system practically as soon as you were born! What was your first skill?"

"It- it was Observe." Andrew replied somewhat awkwardly.

"Observe?" Vinek asked, cocking his head. "Does that mean you're going to be a Goblin Scout?"

Andrew frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Observant Goblins tend to be scouts, right?" Vinek replied. "Just like Running Goblins tend to be messengers, Violent Goblins tend to be warriors, Defensive Goblins tend to be guards, Chatty Goblins tend to be merchants, and so on. It's just… what you're built for."

Andrew blinked. "Huh. Well, I was thinking along those lines… I want to be an explorer who charts new trade paths or something like that." He explained. "I hadn't associated it with being a scout, but the two aren't terribly dissimilar."

"New trade paths, you say?" Vinek asked with a glint in his eye. "Trade paths with who?"

Andrew shrugged. "Whoever is out there, I suppose. It could even be offshoots of our own tribe. For example, say we find a location with some immovable resource, like a mine or something. We wouldn't have people constantly traveling between the mine and here, right? We'd set up a new town by the mine and then we'd trade resources between each other. And to do that, we'd need trade paths."

Vinek nodded. "I see, I see. So you want to be some kind of traveling merchant?"

Andrew shook his head. "No, I'm not really interested in the trading part. I just want to find things. I'll let other people deal with the trade and whatnot."

Vinek cocked his head. "So you just want to establish these trade routes? You'd leave the actual trading to other people?" Andrew nodded and Vinek grinned. "Would you happen to be looking for a partner?"

*

It turned out Vinek was a Chatty Goblin with dreams of being the best Goblin Merchant the world had ever seen, and he was very interested in Andrew's ideas. When Andrew brought up the idea of an entire trade network, he swore he saw the goblin start to drool. The idea of a partner got Andrew thinking, and he realized he'd almost made a mistake. First, he'd been too focused on trying to do everything on his own. He didn't need to be some combination of explorer, diplomat, and trader, he could just focus on being an explorer while he brought along someone else to be the diplomat, and another to be the trader. That's what led to his almost mistake. He'd been so focused on the distant future, he'd forgotten about the immediate future. He had his first Class Advancement in just four levels, and no exploration related Class Skills! If he focused on negotiation before his first Class Advancement, his class wouldn't be related to exploring like he wanted, it'd be related to negotiating! He'd be some sort of magic diplomat, which was the last thing he wanted. It'd probably send him down the path of being a shaman or something. Thankfully he hadn't taken any of the negotiation skills as Class Skills yet, so he hadn't actually screwed himself over.

The question was, what skills should he take? If he wanted to focus on exploration… he needed to be able to live and find his way through wild terrain. Places without roads or maps, where the nearest supply point could be days or weeks away. He'd also need a way to get other people through places like that, or it'd be pointless… It seemed like the skills he needed to focus on were navigation, surveying, and… nature? Survival? Hunting? Was there a skill for everything involved in keeping yourself alive in the wilderness? He'd need to ask the Shaman once he got back, but even if there was, it sounded like it'd be a pretty advanced skill…

Andrew flinched as Vinek poked him in the forehead. "What's got you all frowny?" He asked.

"I just realized I almost ruined my plans before they even began." Andrew sighed, shaking his head. "I was hoping for an explorer type class without any explorer type skills."

Vinek narrowed his eyes at him. "Aren't you supposed to be the genius here?"

Andrew flushed. "I wasn't thinking about the system! I was just thinking about the skills I needed. I can figure out how to get places on my own! What I'm not good at is negotiating, so that's what I wanted to focus on. I just forgot to account for the fact that my class is advancing in a few levels." He finished with a grumble.

Vinek snickered. "You're a funny dude. Come on, let me introduce you to the others!"

Andrew hesitated. He wanted to head back and talk to the Shaman about his skills, but… he had given himself the day off. Plus, he'd told himself he should be more willing to make friends, hadn't he? Admittedly, he'd been thinking he'd apply that in the other world, but the goblins were friendly enough, right? He nodded to Vinek. "Sure, why not?"

Vinek led Andrew towards the training area for the younger goblins, and Andrew reflected on the last time he'd visited the place. It'd been a few weeks, but he remembered watching as the others he'd been born with struggled with simple language exercises, their dull gazes barely even registering the caretaker's patient attempts to teach them. It hadn't even seemed like they were the same species at that point. He glanced at Vinek. He didn't seem dull at all… Maybe he hadn't been fair to the other goblins at that time? They were barely a week old… he probably shouldn't compare them to where he was at that time.

Andrew and Vinek arrived to find a group of other young goblins engaged in a game of… soccer? Andrew looked around. There didn't seem to be any goals… but there was a ball and certain goblins were certainly trying to keep the ball away from others. Suddenly one of the goblins kicked the ball straight at another, hitting him directly in the face! "Ha! Livek, you're out!" The goblin exclaimed, as the goblin who'd been hit let out a frustrated groan, before stalking over to the sidelines to sit with the other goblins who were 'out'. It didn't take long for Andrew to realize the goblins were playing a particularly vicious mix of soccer and dodgeball. Like soccer, you could only use your feet, and the only way to get someone out was to hit them in the head with the ball, which, since the players tended to keep their eye on the ball, meant they got hit in the face. A lot. It didn't seem like you were allowed to block with your hands, but you could headbutt the ball, and if you hit someone else in the head with the ball, you were safe and they were out, unless they did the same. Also, contrary to what he first thought, there weren't any teams, though that didn't stop them from forming temporary alliances.

Andrew watched until one of the larger goblins finally emerged victorious and raised his hands with a shout, the rest of the clapping and celebrating with him, even the one who'd just gotten nailed in the face. "Wooo! Nice job, Corek!" Vinek cheered and clapped along with the rest.

Corek glanced over towards them, before grinning widely. "Vinek! You're back! Did you bring the snacks?"

Vinek raised his bag full of meat sticks with a grin of his own. "Of course! First stick goes to the victor!" He laughed, taking a stick and tossing it towards him.

Corek reached out to catch it, but before he could, one of the others jumped and snatched it out of the air. "Haha, too slow!" He mocked, before dashing off with the snack.

"Hey!" Corek protested.

"Have another one!" Vinek yelled, before throwing another stick, as suddenly a new game erupted, everyone trying to grab the meat sticks out of the air as Vinek tossed them towards Corek. A few predictably fell in the dirt, but no one seemed to mind, as without fail, someone would immediately snatch it up, dust it off, and begin eating.

Corek stomped over and snatched the last stick from a grinning Vinek. "First stick my ass." He grumbled, before taking a large bite and glancing at Andrew. "Who'sh dish?" He asked with his mouth full, a few of the others pausing and glancing over with curious looks.

"This is Artek!" Vinek announced, clapping Andrew on the shoulder. "The genius student of the Shaman himself and future discoverer of trade routes, which will connect us with the rest of the world!"

Corek gave Vinek a weird look, before gulping down his food. "What's a trade route?"

"A route for trade, obviously." Vinek replied.

"So it's a merchant thing?" Corek asked.

"It's more of a travel thing." Andrew interjected. "It's just more important for trade."

"Does it involve fighting?" Corek asked, cocking his head.

Andrew frowned. "Not ideally, but if the trade route is threatened…"

Corek finally grinned. "Then I'll defend it! Perfect!" He glanced at Vinek. "Had me worried there for a second. What's the point of something you can't fight over?"

Vinek rolled his eyes. "You are such a muscle head."

"Yeah, yeah." Corek waved him off, before gulping down the last of his meat stick and letting out a loud burp. He then turned back to the rest. "Alright, who's ready for round four!"

All the goblins immediately whooped and quickly finished their food, before rushing back onto the field. "Come on!" Vinek exclaimed, grabbing Andrew and pulling him onto the field as well.

"Wait! I'm still not clear on the rules!" Andrew protested.

"Just don't use your hands and try not to get hit in the head!" Vinek replied. "Oh, and try to hit everyone else in the head! It's simple!"

"But-!" Andrew began to protest again, but before he could say more than a word, he was distracted by a spherical object flying towards his head. Andrew's eyes widened as he froze- or at least, as his mind froze. His body seemed to take on a mind of its own as his foot shot out, blocking the ball and sending it straight up into the air! Everyone paused as they watched the ball rise and fall. Then, as the ball came back down, Andrew flipped, kicking the ball with his heel and sending it right back at the goblin who'd kicked it at him, nailing him straight in the face!

The crowd stared at Andrew in a stunned silence for a moment, before Vinek let out a cheer and the rest quickly followed. "That was amazing!" Vinek exclaimed, patting Andrew on shoulder. "How'd you do that?!?" He asked as the game paused for a moment, all the goblins performing flips of their own, or at least attempting them. There were a lot of failed attempts, but that just seemed to make the goblins laugh and give Andrew even more impressed looks.

"Uh… it's a skill?" Andrew offered tentatively. "It's called Counter Kick… I got it by merging Kick and Dodge."

"Kick and Dodge?" Corek frowned. "Why those two?"

"Well, they're both leg skills… I figured they'd go well together." Andrew replied with a shrug.

Corek nodded. "I see… but isn't that pretty limiting? You can't wield weapons with your feet, so… that's pretty much the limit of those skills, right?"

Andrew frowned. "I guess? But I don't really need it to do more, you know? I don't really care about fighting. I just need to know enough to defend myself and get away."

Corek blinked at him like he'd just spoken in a foreign language. "You don't- how can you not care about fighting!?! It's what we're born to do! That's why we have claws!"

Andrew paused, before shrugging. "Meh? I mean, I'm not against fighting, but it isn't my goal."

"Not everything has to be about fighting, Corek." Vinek interjected, rolling his eyes. "Take the caretakers for example! Where would you be without their skills?"

"But that's different!" Corek protested. "They aren't going out into the wilderness! This guy is! If he can't fight, what's he going to do when he runs into a roving band of raiders?!? Just lay down and die!?!"

"No, I'll run away." Andrew countered. "Out in the wilderness, I don't have to defeat anything. I just need to be able to escape. Then I can tell the big strong goblins like you about them, and you can go and defeat them."

Corek froze, as if struggling between the idea of Andrew running away and the idea of being able to fight more. Vinek just snorted, grabbing the ball and tossing it at him. "Come on, let's play!"

Corek paused, before nodding, kicking the ball towards another goblin, the game quickly getting back underway. Andrew quickly learned that his skill gave him a bit of an unfair advantage. Several of the goblins were stronger and faster than him, but his skill let him handle the ball on an almost instinctual level, letting him practically run circles around them. The only one he had trouble with was Corek, who was both strong, fast, and skilled enough to back it up. It eventually came down to the two of them going back and forth with the ball, until Andrew managed to deflect one of Corek's kicks right back at him, eking out the win.

"Damn!" Corek cursed, rubbing his face, before letting out a laugh and clapping along with everyone else. "Good job! It's been a while since I've lost one of these! Though if I could use my hands…"

"You'd be cheating!" Vinek retorted. "There's a reason we stick to kicking games with you."

"Bah!" Corek waved dismissively, before picking up the ball and glancing at Andrew with a wink and a grin. "You up for another round?"

*

They all played a few more rounds, Corek and Andrew winning the majority of them, though in the last round, Vinek managed to get everyone else to gang up on both of them, taking them out in the first few minutes, before getting knocked out himself moments later as everyone immediately turned on him. "Bunch of damn snakes!" The goblin grumbled, rubbing his face.

"Serves you right!" Corek snorted. "Turning them all against us like that…"

"To be fair, we were winning the whole time." Andrew pointed out. "I'm honestly surprised they didn't all gang up on us sooner."

"Well, no one wants to get on the bad sides of the two goblins most likely to actually make something of themselves." Vinek commented. "Who would want to piss off the Genius and the Champion?"

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Champion?"

"This brute right here." Vinek replied, lightly smacking Corek. "The first Vicious Goblin since the Chief, born and bred for combat! Why do you think he's such a muscle head?"

"Vicious Goblin?" Andrew frowned. "How'd you get that?"

"By activating your system with a kill, instead of a skill." Corek replied with a grin. "They had us fight these boars, sort of a last ditch effort for those who haven't activated the system yet. Usually you'll get something like Dodge or Claw just fighting on instinct, but me, I woke up covered in blood, standing over a dead pig with its throat ripped out."

"Which really just means your attacks were so clumsy they weren't worth counting." Vinek added with a smirk.

Corek flushed. "Hey! I got better, didn't I?"

Andrew frowned. "What do you mean by 'woke up'?"

Vinek and Corek gave him weird looks. "When the system activated?" Corek offered tentatively. "You remember what it feels like, right?"

"Yeah, like your mind suddenly turns on and you can actually think." Vinek agreed.

Andrew blinked. "I… actually didn't notice much of a difference."

They both blinked at him, before sharing a look. "Genius?" Corek asked Vinek.

"Genius." Vinek nodded, as if it explained everything.

"Wait, so you guys couldn't even think until after the system activated?" Andrew asked incredulously.

"Well, we could." Vinek replied. "But it was… difficult. Like, I knew things were happening, that the caretakers wanted me to do something, but I couldn't figure out what."

Corek nodded in agreement. "It wasn't that we couldn't have thoughts, it was that the thoughts were slow and unimportant."

"Huh." Andrew grunted. That… explained a lot, actually.

"So what was your activation like then?" Vinek asked, giving him a curious look.

Andrew shrugged. "It just kinda happened, I guess? I was just in my crib, wondering where I was, so I got up and started looking around. Next thing I know, a notification tells me I unlocked the Observation General Skill, and a weird window pops up in front of me. Then the caretaker took me to see the Shaman and the rest is history."

Corek shook his head. "Man, I don't even remember being in a crib. My first memory was in the learning room, when a caretaker smacked me for trying to eat the chalk…"

Vinek shook his head. "It's no use comparing yourself to the Genius, Corek."

Andrew's expression twisted. "I wouldn't say I'm a genius. I was just… aware a lot earlier than you guys."

"And you think that means you aren't a genius?" Vinek asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Andrew shook his head. "No. I just think it gave me a head start. It definitely helps, but if you guys had the same advantages I did, you'd probably be in the same position as me, if not a better one."

"That's… obvious?" Corek replied, frowning at him. "If we were geniuses, we'd obviously be on the same level as a genius, because that's what we would be…"

"What I'm saying is that I'm not a genius!" Andrew protested. "I'm just… privileged."

"Because you're a genius." Vinek insisted.

"No, I'm- ugh, forget it!" Andrew groaned, throwing up his hands in frustration.

Corek glanced at Vinek. "He's a bit strange, isn't he?"

"He's eccentric." Vinek retorted with a grin. "That's what you get to call it when you're a genius."