Reincarnated As A Dragon With Cheats-Chapter 46: The Name Stealing Beast
Chapter 46: The Name Stealing Beast
It was evening.
Due to the gigantic trees surrounding the village, the darkness came earlier than the sunset.
Before the moon could replace the sun, there was pitch black where none could see.
Of course, goblins were creatures born in dark caves and thus had eyes that enabled them to see in the dark, much like many others, but it was a cheaper version when compared to stronger beasts.
Pebbles was still struggling because of his debuffs during prematurity, so he was annoyed at the darkness.
He couldn’t even enjoy the night sky. To him, the stars looked blurry... but it was brighter than the ground.
The shaman lit a fire.
Pebbles instantly turned to the right while still sitting on the large rock where he’d sat previously during Azeth’s and Azatoth’s duel.
The fire was somewhat like a bonfire, except it was made to cook the Frog-Men.
Pebbles could still remember how the shaman was still shocked when he ate the Frog-Men without boiling them. She then explained how the Frog-Men’s skin held a large amount of neurotoxins that could kill instantly. If lucky, you’d live but be paralyzed.
Pebbles continued to munch only to showcase that such pitiful toxins didn’t affect him thanks to his resistance.
The shaman made a mental note about it and proceeded to boil them to destroy the toxins because unlike him, others didn’t have such resistance.
Some of the goblins brought out butcher knives they had stolen from a small merchant van days ago under the leadership of the shaman, and others were doing their best to keep the fire alive.
Clay pots were kept in which the shaman used some spell to get water that soon started boiling.
The skin of the Frog-Men was peeled off and cast aside. As for the fat and flesh, they were cut into pieces, albeit not orderly and certainly not in a beautiful fashion, but they did the job.
Then they were put on the leaves gathered by a certain group. These leaves resembled banana leaves but were larger and could hold about three to four pieces of Frog-Men’s meat.
The shaman walked towards them and used another spell that caused a small cloud of rain to appear right above.
As if showing off her skills because she certainly knew that Pebbles was watching, she washed off the blood from the flesh.
Then with ease, the meat levitated in the air and fell into the pot, in the boiling water.
There were three pots in total, which were quite gigantic. If not for the shaman’s levitation magic, the goblins would have had a hard time even moving them.
They were almost half the size of the huts, so her presence was the key factor.
Only two of these pots harbored the meat while the third had the skin of the Frog-Men.
Pebbles’ stomach grumbled purely because he was glancing at the cooking process despite having had two of them earlier.
Also, he was a growing child, so being hungry was natural. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
Nightstone sat beside him as she drooled nonstop.
"Tasty... slurp... so tasty...."
Pebbles heard these words and turned towards her.
She was asleep and was dreaming of the food, probably because of the smell.
Pebbles chuckled. Nightstone hadn’t accompanied him today to the hunt. She had instead helped the goblins bury their family members.
He turned his gaze to look at Azeth, who sat sulking.
He had lost to a newcomer and this made him sad. He was just one body short.
While Azatoth was wearing a funny headband made from leaves as he danced left and right, flaunting his victory.
This made Azeth sadder and jealous.
Pebbles didn’t intervene. He simply sighed at this childish display. Well, they too were merely children at this point...
He just had a smile on his face. The shaman approached him. "The food will be ready in an hour, Your Highness."
Pebbles gave a small nod. He then looked at her and asked, "So, what is our next course of action?"
The shaman looked at Pebbles’ dangling feet and the cute Nightstone who was sleeping beside him.
She then gave a firm answer, "Your Highness, I’ll leave tomorrow to gather the goblins from other villages. I’ve thought of conquering the remnant villages with their help."
Pebbles nodded to that but added his opinion too, "Make sure you do not drift towards the river. It could be dangerous."
The shaman chuckled, but none could tell if not for the small laughter escaping the mask.
Pebbles then said, "I’ll remain here, in case those frogs decide to attack."
The shaman raised her hand. "About that, I’ve had goblins stationed near the trees. They will notify you as soon as something happens."
That was a smart move and Pebbles felt glad that she had thought of it. He was thinking of staying awake the whole time in case they launched a surprise attack, but the shaman’s words eased his worry.
"Good," Pebbles lifted both his arms and stretched back. Then, using them as support, he jumped off the stone. "Accompany me for a while."
He started walking ahead while the shaman closely followed him.
They were roaming around the village.
It was not a beautiful sight. The female goblins were as malnourished as the males, if not more. It was because they had recently given birth and required more food than most.
Furthermore, the babies seemed extremely tiny, while wrapped in leaves.
In the silence, Pebbles kept exploring the village while the shaman was trying to guess what he would ask her.
The time soon came.
"Do you have a name?"
The question came out of nowhere. The shaman paused in her tracks, but then noticed the distance between them had grown. She jogged to cover the distance.
"I did."
"Hm?"
"But a beast stole it from me."
Pebbles turned around in shock.
He had half guessed that she probably hated her name or didn’t want to use it when she mentioned "I did," but never in his wildest dreams did he think that she would say someone had stolen it from her.
"A beast stole it?"
She nodded as she added, "It was the same beast that commanded the wolf leader to kill a newborn dragon..."
Pebbles had totally forgotten about that.
A dragon baby had been killed and then dragged and tossed at the nearby village.
His eyes widened when he heard that, but he kept his calm.
"And who is that beast?"
The shaman didn’t answer.
She just said, "I can’t say its name..."
"Why?"
"If you say the beast’s name once, you will lose your name, and if you say it twice, you will lose your soul... or that is how the legends go."
Pebbles merely nodded to that and said, "Well, write it on the ground then."
The shaman’s eye widened. "Ah..."
She used the staff that she carried everywhere, the bottom end of it to carve out a name...
"Ryenar of the Void?" Pebbles blurted it out loud, almost too quickly.
The shaman screamed, "YOUR HIGHNESS!"
But it was too late. Pebbles had blurted out the name subconsciously... only to feel a gust of wind blow past him.
’Fuck...’
