Chapter 6: 06 - A noble couple in distress
It was late afternoon, and the forest south of Stormerga was in an uproar as the smell of blood permeated the air.
Surrounding a small makeshift camp, five guards wielding rusty axes and clad in leather armor fought fiercely against a group of dozens of creatures whose appearance could only be described as disgusting.
Their huge eyes were completely red and their faces seemed to be completely disfigured, with strange proportions and masses of tumor-like flesh surrounding their bald heads and mouths full of sharp teeth that spewed a green saliva.
They were no taller than a thirteen-year-old child, and their green-skinned bodies were extremely fat in some places and malnourished in others.
The still warm corpses of ten other guards lay slumped on the ground, their crimson blood flowing from their bodies and staining the forest floor a bright red.
"Captain Clyde, we can't hold out much longer! We must evacuate the Baron and Baroness!" One of the guards shouted to a tall, bald man.
"I fucking know! I only need two more minutes. Fight with your life-" Clyde's voice was cut off before he could finish his sentence. His tall, strong body shook and he coughed up large gulps of blood as he covered his throat, now pierced from one end to the other by an arrow.
"Captain!" The guard shouted before dropping his fight with one of the creatures and running towards Clyde, only to meet a similar fate as his captain, falling a few feet from his body.
Soon after, the other three guards fell one by one, leaving the camp completely unprotected.
The small creatures quickly organized themselves around the entrance to a rich and luxurious looking tent that stood in the center of the camp, some gazing excitedly at what was inside, while others rushed over the corpses of the guards, tearing them apart with their sharp teeth.
"Grrrhk," one of the green-skinned creatures grunted before taking the lead and advancing with swift steps toward the tent, brandishing his blunt, rusty sword with confidence.
"Die, vile creature!" A male voice emerged from the depths of the tent, and a man stepped through the entrance, swinging a silver sword that sliced through the chest of the small creature, which died with a horrified look on its hideous face.
"Who's next? You damned goblins, come on!" the man shouted, swinging his sword awkwardly from side to side. With a bald head, a large belly, and a short stature, he was not much better looking than the goblins.
Unfortunately, all the bravery and courage in his words died the moment he realized how many goblins still surrounded his tent, and the first of the goblins stepped forward, roaring, before advancing toward him with a voracious stare.
"Please... NO!" The man choked on his own words, his body stiffening and his sword slipping from his hands as he closed his eyes, his face distorted in a mixture of terror and despair.
With his eyes closed, he crouched and waited like a pathetic coward for his opponent's blade.
"Not even going to react? At least die with honor." Like a saving light, a voice penetrated the man's eardrums, and he opened his eyes in time to see a figure in a black cloak appear beside the goblin, wielding a long sword that cut him in half with a clean, swift slash.
That man was Ethan, who glanced lazily at the pathetic figure kneeling behind him before turning his eyes to the goblins.
System, do I gain anything by killing these creatures? Ethan asked mentally.
[System: You will in the future, but not yet].
"Hm... how mysterious." Ethan muttered before swinging his sword and letting out all of his crimson aura, aiming it straight at the group of goblins, who shuddered and slowly began to take several steps back.
"Come to me!" Ethan shouted, and his feet sank into the ground, propelling his body forward in a burst of speed.
"Ghkriii!" The goblins roared and began to run, not toward Ethan, but in the opposite direction, leaving nothing but frightened grunts and a trail of destruction in their path.
"What the hell?" Ethan stopped, his face twisting into a strange, confused expression as he watched the small creatures flee. He knew that goblins were opportunists and would hardly fight anyone who had the upper hand, but he could count more than 30 goblins against him alone, so running away just didn't make sense.
Ethan was tempted to ask the system about it, but soon realized he had more important things to do when an irritating, arrogant voice reached his ears.
"Hey, commoner! What are you doing there? Help me up right now!"
Ethan sighed, and a hint of regret appeared on his face as he stood up and turned to face the man.
"Tell me your name." Ethan demanded and didn't even move to help him.
"I am Baron Stuart Whitemane and what name do you bear that you have the audacity to speak to me like that?" The man shouted at Ethan, expecting him to cringe at his noble name, but unfortunately for him, his words had the opposite effect.
'Is this guy retarded? And what kind of baron is incompetent enough to get stuck in the early stages of the Awakening?' Ethan wondered, feeling even more regretful for having saved him.
Ah! An honorary noble! A term popped into Ethan's mind, prompting him to smile disdainfully in the man's direction. Honorary nobility was something common among many merchants, they didn't have fiefdoms or command armies, being restricted to small private guards and having insignificant advantages over the rest of the commoners.
" I am Eth-" Ethan decided to at least speak his first name to that arrogant idiot, but was interrupted by a soft, female voice from inside the cabin.
"Are you all right, dear? Are we safe?" Accompanying the voice, a woman emerged from the tent. She was in her thirties, her skin as white as snow, and her short, shoulder-length hair an emerald green that matched her eyes and framed her chubby but beautiful face.
But what caught Ethan's eye most was her body: she was a little shorter than he was and had the largest breasts he had ever seen in his life. Her waist had an accumulation of fat, but this was offset by her wide hips and chubby thighs and ass, which barely fit into her beautiful blue dress.
"Didn't I tell you to stay in the tent until I told you to leave? Get back inside you fat bitch!" Stuart shouted with anger and arrogance in his hoarse voice and the woman shuddered, her beautiful eyes watering and her steps shaking as she turned and hurried back into the tent.
'Poor woman, stuck with a man as ugly as a toad and stupider than a goblin.' Ethan shook his head sadly before speaking: "I'm Ethan, just a warrior passing through. If you have no further business with me, I'll leave now." After speaking, Ethan turned to leave, but was interrupted by Stuart.
"Wait. I want to hire your services!" Stuart shouted, startled to realize Ethan's intentions to just leave them there.
The road he had to follow was dangerous and he wasn't much of a warrior.
"Why don't you come in and we'll have a drink while we talk about it?" Stuart smiled amiably as he stopped in front of the cabin door and gestured for Ethan to come in.
Ethan paused for a few seconds, he really wanted to just get the hell out of there, but he still decided to wait and see where it went.
Without waiting too long, Ethan passed Stuart and entered the tent.
It was a simple looking but elegant room, the floor was covered with a soft carpet and there were two large couches in the middle and two separate beds on opposite sides.
The voluptuous woman sat on one of the sofas, still drying the remains of her tears with a white cloth, trying to hide her distressed expression from her husband.
"This is Victoria, my wife. Just sit down and ignore her existence, she's useless anyway," Stuart said as he pointed to Ethan sitting next to his wife and sat down on the opposite sofa.
Without question, Ethan sat down and gave Stuart an even stranger look. That man who used to act like an arrogant, brainless idiot had suddenly become full of cordiality? How was that possible?
"You're following the same road as us, so I assume you're going to pass through Stormerga, right? So why not accompany us there?" Stuart said as he took a bottle of wine from next to the sofa and handed it to Ethan.
Hearing this suggestion, Ethan thought for a few seconds before announcing his price. "10 gold pieces, 5 before the service and 5 after."
"10 GOLD COINS?" Stuart punched the sofa he was sitting on and stood up aggressively. "I could hire a whole guard of 20 soldiers for a month with that much gold! I'll pay you 1 gold coin when we get there."
"Your guard of 20 soldiers doesn't seem to be any more efficient in dealing with these goblins than I am." Ethan smiled slightly before taking a long swig from the bottle of wine.
"YOU... damn commoner! I'm a nobleman! You should be grateful that you are only allowed to serve me! The rest of your kind would line up and die for such an honor!" Stuart shouted, his voice turning into that of a pig as he bragged about his insignificant name, not even noticing that Ethan's smile had disappeared and that his hands were now tightly gripping the hilt of his sword.
Without even waiting for Ethan to answer, Stuart stormed out of the tent, huffing and puffing.
"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" Ethan muttered as he released the grip on his sword and relaxed his posture.
Sighing heavily, Ethan decided to take a look at the man's wife, his eyes slowly sweeping over her body, enjoying her curves and accentuated cleavage.
[Name: Victoria Whitemane
Lineage: None
Talent: D
Race: Human
Age: 32
Stage: Awakening (1/3)
Lust: 3%
Corruption: 0/100]
Under Ethan's burning gaze, Victoria shuddered and her face turned slightly red as his gaze fell on him as well, glancing down his beautiful face to his powerful body whose muscles could not be contained by his robes.
[Skill: Dragon Lust was automatically activated, affecting all females within a 10 meter radius].
[Victoria was afflicted with +7% Lust].
'Hm?' Ethan arched his eyebrows, a small feeling of discomfort rising in his chest.
'I can't control when this ability is active or not?' Ethan asked mentally.
[No, at least not yet.]
Hearing the system's answer, Ethan sighed before focusing on the woman again.
"I... us... hm..." Victoria opened her mouth, but choked on her own words and paused for a few seconds before speaking: "We have no way of paying you..."
"That's a shame." Ethan spoke and started to get up, but was stopped by Victoria's hands grabbing his cloak and making him sit down again.
"But I can give you something..." She spoke again, leaning her body against Ethan and pressing her huge breasts against him.
[Victoria was afflicted with a +10% boner.]
"Hm... like what?" Ethan smiled, a hint of depravity creeping into his voice as he moved his face closer to hers.
Shuddering, Victoria bit the corner of her plump lips. She didn't want to, but her husband was an ignorant bastard and she knew full well that if they tried to make the journey alone, they would probably be nothing more than sun-dried corpses in a few hours.
Walking over to Ethan, she knelt between his spread legs and grabbed her huge breasts, placing them on his lap and throwing a seductive glance in his direction.
[Victoria was afflicted with +5% lust.]
"Hm... I accept." The smile on Ethan's face grew wider as the sleeping dragon in his pants awoke.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Heavenlycapybara
Heavenlycapybara Are you enjoying the novel so far? Leave a review and some power stones, it helps the story get more visibility and gives me a lot of motivation to keep writing!
If you find any mistakes, please let me know and I'll fix it as soon as possible!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone