The Way of the Future: Age of Machines(Completed)

Camping

Artemis realized that it was getting dark. His knights needed to rest and, for the most part, needed to eat. 

And so, Artemis ordered them to make camp at a clearing they found. 

The knights were quick to gather dead and dry sticks and stones for the fireplace which Toby lit up with his fire magic. 

Soon enough, night time came. 

There was this odd silence. Usually crickets would play their music and fill the forest with their sounds. But the forest was eerily quiet.

All the knights were gathered around the campfire with Toby while Artemis stood observe and guard from their surroundings. He insisted that he alone would take watch for the entire night, much to the displeasure of his men. The men, fearing that they've been giving their leader too much work, wanted to take turns making watches but their lord said otherwise. 

And so, Artemis stood watch for the night. 

The night was cold and the only source for heat was the campfire. The distant babbling and laughter of the goblins that roamed around looking for food were the only sounds of the cursed nature that surrounded them. 

The knights then fell asleep, all of them. Artemis couldn't blame them for being too tired. The day was full of fighting, bloodshed, and running. 

The men were also hungry and so, Artemis needed to find some food before his men began to starve and lose energy. 

Artemis found his answer when he caught a glimpse of a lone boar running through the bushes. Using his thermal and xray vision, he confirmed that it was indeed a boar and it was running away from something. 

That something was of course, the goblins, five of them. 

Since his men needed the rest and food, there was only one thing for Artemis to do. 

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The night was again silent. The trees were as calm as the sky above them with the sea of stars that twinkle in its blanket. 

Hidden behind the trees were the bodies of the five goblins who were pursuing the wild boar. Their heads all chopped off as clean as possible. 

To prevent their smell from escaping, they were buried under a pile of dirt. 

The wild boar, on the other hand, was killed immediately with a slash to the neck. 

Artemis managed to find a water source. Some trunks of the trees in the forest contained fresh water. 

After harvesting said water, Artemis chopped the boar into several pieces, cleaned the said pieces and then stuck them through some sticks. 

He then formed his own bonfire and cooked the pieces of boar over the fire. Though he lacked spices, it was bigger than nothing.

But he couldn't hide the smell of the cooked boar from the prowling snouts of the goblins that roamed nearby, and so, knowing that his men would wake up as soon as they smelled the meat, went out to hunt the goblins. 

Artemis ran through the forest, pushing aside the bushes, and plants which were in his way. 

[Goblins detected] Caitlyn displayed both of their detection. 

The goblins were right in front of him, camped as well. 

He was a few hundred meters from camp. Dozens of goblins were all huddled together in crude and torn blankets, keeping each other warm with their own body heat. 

They slept so innocently, any normal man would feel pity for these foul creatures. 

But Artemis? He felt no pity to anyone at all except for a few instances ever since the true Caitlyn revealed herself.

Artemis drew out his two energy swords and killed the goblins in their sleep. They died as peacefully as Artemis could manage since growling in pain would attract the other goblins from afar. 

"Any other goblins nearby?" Artemis asked his wife. 

[There are dear, some of the Drones you send out detecting many pockets in all directions so you better get going] Caitlyn said.

Artemis spared no time. He dashed through the forest floor and slaughtered the nearest goblin groups and encampments. Some had goblins still awake but none were able to voice out that an intruder was near. 

It was thirty minutes of a massacre. Artemis counted at least a thousand goblins killed in a lot of groups.

Everytime he killed the goblins, he would dig up the soil around them and bury them under it to prevent the smell from coming out. 

Artemis' powerful hands and arms were more efficient than a normal shovel and faster.

And there he was, the last goblin group near the camp. 

There were 20 goblins, all were awake. They had this makeshift camp complete with four small tents, a bonfire, and some food. 

The food was a mixture of critters, large animals, and birds.

Artemis was right to think that the goblins overhunted everything. 

[I wouldn't be surprised if everything in the forest has been near extinction] Caitlyn said, with both Artemis killing tens of thousands during his travels in the forest and his battle against the Sun God causing millions more, there is no doubt that the creatures in the forest are on a brink of extinction.

"Likely so," Artemis whispered. His heterochromia eyes pierced the shadows beneath the treeline. One goblin saw it but it was already too late. Before it could speak, an energy beam came speeding out of the darkness and pierced its head, escaping to the back. 

As soon as the beam was fired, Artemis emerged from the darkness with his two energy blades and the goblins were promptly massacred. 

Their camp was promptly destroyed.

As Artemis put out the goblin's bonfire and started digging, Caitlyn analyzed the food the goblins had with them if they were also edible to humans since Artemis is still busy and wasn't aware if these goblins did anything wrong to the food. 

As Artemis buried the last goblin, Caitlyn had finished her analysis of the foods. 

"So?" Artemis asked.

[Most are edible except for the birds, they seem to have a sort of toxin] Caitlyn replied. 

"Strange but okay," Artemis said. 

With the goblins around the camp taken care of, Artemis returned to the camp and to his surprise, everybody was still sleeping. 

"Huh, I think the food is going to waste at this rate," Artemis said as he realized as he placed down his newfound spoils. 

"This is bad," Artemis said