In a strange world as a Doppelganger

Chapter 37 - Badger Badger

Before I have a chance to give my response, Vera stirs in her sleep and drowsily blinks her eyes at me.
"Hmm, what'd you say?" she whispers through a yawn.

"Nothing? I think it was just something in the woods", I stand up carefully, letting Vera get her bearings.

"Okay", she sits up and stretches her arms and back.

The figure by the trees is gone without trace but I still feel like its eyes are lingering on me. I give the forest a once over before I hold out a hand towards Vera.

"Where do you live?" if I had any eyebrows they would be raised.

Vera follows where my gaze had been, scouring the treeline around us.

"In the woods, in a small house I made", her tone seems distant, her mind elsewhere. "I think I'll head home for the night, I'll come find you in the morning maybe?"

"I was planning on hunting, anywhere I should avoid to not incur your wrath?" she smiles at me but also looks embarrassed.

"Maybe don't go that way", she points in a north-eastern direction. I give her a nod and just stand there looking around for the figure in case it's still lingering somewhere. Before too long, Vera is gone from view and I turn my feet towards the goblin village.

I find a lonely hammock in an area where a makeshift sleeping area has been made for those who lost their roofs. Staring at the sky I slowly rock myself to sleep and once again dream of the sad person.

Before the first rays of suns break through the cloudy sky, the village is in full movement, everyone working on rebuilding the brunt down structures and try to salvage what they can.

Thinking of more ways to help I decide to go hunting, it's really just an excuse to practice my magic and see if I can't get closer to level two. The members of this goblin village seem to all be level 1 with a rare case of level 2 here and there, though even if their level is two, they seem to be mostly focused on everyday tasks to keep the community going. Besides the one goblin I fought back in the clearing they don't have much in the way of frontline fighters of significant martial prowess.

Keeping what Vera said in mind I move in a western direction. Not really paying any mind to my surroundings at first just trying to make distance between me and the goblin village. It's been a few days since I had some nice and quiet to myself. I find a few edible berries here and there and once in a while I spot a critter scuffling around in the trees or the underbrush.

Sometime after midday I decide that I've gone far enough and start actively tracking game. There's a couple of different tracks here and there but I see something familiar, the tracks of a badger-like creature. Following the tracks carefully I find some fresh droppings and decide to climb a tree to get a better look.

From above I can see two badgers scuffling around the entrance to a burrow. They might have kids; I think to myself. I don't really want to take out a whole family of them unless I had to.

A few moments later and a third badger appears and a fight breaks out between the two from the burrow and the newcomer. I take the moment in stride and shoot a ray of frost at the assailant. The magic strikes it in the hindquarters and the badgers retreat into their burrow. The badger that I struck looks around for me and I fire again. The frost strikes it over the back and it spots me. Being unable to do much it turns to run but the frozen body parts slow it down and I keep throwing frost at it until it stops moving. I feel bad for being so cheap in my strategy and not being able to take it out faster. I suppose I could have used some of the more powerful magic but I also didn't want to waste it in case there's an emergency.

Picking up the badge and heading back I spot a fox in the underbrush and without hesitation I do what I didn't against the badger and I unleash a powerful stream of water from my palm. The fox is lifted off the ground by the sheer pressure and slammed into a tree fifteen feet away and falls limp to the ground.

Overkill? Maybe. But I didn't want to take any risks. I also, selfishly, want to get to a higher level soon. There is one place where I could hunt without a guilty conscience, the bug woods, but there is also a big risk of running into something too dangerous or venomous.

By nightfall I arrive back in the village and Thi finds me quickly.

"Where have you been?" They have to walk fast to keep up with my longer steps.

"I wanted some peace and quiet and also figured we'd need more food here since most will be busy working on repairs", I hand the prey over to Thi and summon some water in my palms and rinse any dirt and blood off my hands.

"Oh! Yes! Definitely! Smart thinking", Thi takes the badger and the fox and scurries off toward the butcher's small hut.

There are some few torches spread out around the broken buildings, even if the goblins can see in the dark, it's not quite with the same level of detail as in clear light. They seem to be working still and I give them some water to drink when I pass on my way toward the farmland.

I sit down in the grass and look up at the stars starting to blink into existence as the sunlight fades. The clearing of a throat catches my attention and I spot Vera coming across the garden.