In a strange world as a Doppelganger

Chapter 14 - How Do I Level Up?

The only sound I can here is my own breathing, besides that the land lies silent. I can still see the goblins all around among the trees and bushes. One of them makes for the dead champion and I shriek at it and raise my knife. Slowly, a chant builds up from all around, filling the air with raspy goblin voices. After stripping the goblin of its armor and kicking its sword into the hole, I toss the body at the one who had moved closer. I point at it and gesture in the direction of where they came from. It doesn't take long for the goblins all to understand what I mean. A few come out and help lift the champion up. They all give me this really strange nod of respect when they pass by. Some of them raise their fists and slam it to their chests when they see me looking in their direction. Does this mean that they no longer view me as prey? I sure hope so. It takes a fair amount of time for them all to filter away into the woods but eventually it seems safe to just sit down for a moment. Still at level zero, even after that. It's either hard to level up or I should be just at the cusp of it by now. Though to be fair, that champion was only one level above the others but in a completely different league. Does everyone start at level zero, I wonder. Almost on cue, the rat pokes its head up from the hole. It's shaking and looking around all skittish. Poor thing was probably hiding as far in as it could. Molerat, level one. Almost a rat then, I was half right. I squat down and give it a few strokes on its back and scratch it carefully under its neck. 

There is plenty of time left in that day still and I am filled with confidence. Time to do some work now that safety should be restored to my little clearing. The club seem pretty useless now that it has a gash through half of its bulk. I hide my good knife under the boulder and throw the club into the forest. My current goal is to fix up the rusted knife and the jagged blade I took from the champion. I left the goblin armor in the hole, will have to make space down there for stuff that can be useful. 

The usual spot by the river is still teeming with frogs. Boggard, level one. They also seem to be level one on average. I would think that a boggard is still more dangerous than a goblin when it comes to one on one combat. If I see a level two frog, I am running the other way. I follow the river down all the way to where there are no frogs and I start working on fixing up the knife. The knife should be quicker to fix and usable if I am ambushed while working on the bigger blade. The knife doesn't take ages to scrape the rust and grime off of. I am fairly sure that this isn't the proper way to sharpen a knife but then again, the plan isn't to get it into a tiptop shape and more of just a usable state. It does, however, take almost two hours before I am fully satisfied with my efforts. A calming sigh escapes me as I look at my work. That was very relaxing, creating rather than destroying. Just as I start working on the sword, a figure comes bounding down the river bank at great speed. Boggard, level one. It's eyes are locked on me and I can see the fury in them. The frog jumps in my direction on all fours and I can see a spear of some sort on its back. Dropping the sword into the water I rush to meet it, knife in hand. The frog stops to get its spear out. I had hoped that's what it would do. I plunge the knife into its chest, not once, not twice but three times. It never stood a chance once it stopped to arm itself. I quickly look it over for anything I could use or need. Aside from the spear, a stick with a sharp rock tied to the end, it has small leather pouch with a sour smelling and sticky substance. 

I watch the body flow away down the river. If the boggards too start attacking me where I live, I'll move far away. I go back to where I had been working and look around in the water for the sword. Half-buried in silt I manage to get it back up and start scraping it against the rock. While working I can't help but entertain the thought of attacking the frogs head on. If I just give myself a few days to rest up until I feel like resting doesn't make me feel better anymore and after that I go on a mission by the river to pick off frogs one by one. That could be one method to see how long it takes to level up. I'd probably level up faster by facing off against stronger opponents. But I am too much of a coward to do that, the goblin champion was scary enough. I gather some berries on the way back, the sun setting as I enter the clearing. 

Someone has left a dead creature by the hole. It resembles a squirrel, with a beak and bird-like feet. Looking around, there is a goblin looking eagerly as I pick up the animal. With my newly fixed up knife I skin the critter as best I can. The meat I scrape off its little bones and quickly flick into my mouth with my tongue. I look up at the goblin, a big happy grin on its face. Could this have been an offering? I won't say no to free meat after today. The rat pokes its head up and I offer it some of the meat, it takes a small nibble but shows more interest in my berry pouch.