ã€ŠHusband of the Goblin Tribeã€‹


 Chapter One â€“ In which Ark, our main character, has his virginity taken by a thirsty goblin.

    Chapter One ¨C In which Ark, our main character, has his virginity taken by a thirsty goblin.

    When I came to, I had to face a few sobering facts immediately. My two fellow party members, Ste and Kairos, have likely been killed and I¡¯ve somehow been taken prisoner by the<i>thing</i>that all too easily defeated us. It¡¯s shameful to admit, but having just been freshly promoted to Copper-rank adventurers, we thought the goblin subjugation quest we took was going to be piss-easy for us toplete.

    But we were wrong.<i>So very wrong</i>.

    What we encountered deep in that forest was most certainly<i>not</i>a goblin. In the face of whatever it was that had the<i>shape</i> of a humanoid, the power it possessed was on another level entirely. Likely, inparison to it, we weren¡¯t even at the level of a goblin. We were barely mosquitoes, and it pped us¡­ hard. Kairos went down first, having his weapon batted away before being batted away himself right into a thick tree, his body crumpling. Ste was the next one attacked, hit by a magical bolt. A chilling scream from her followed by a thump attested to that. As for myself, I was perfectly counter-spelled. Whatever magic that creature used, it disrupted the fireball spell I was casting and rendered me unconscious.

    But for the life of me, I don¡¯t know why I¡¯m not dead.

    The room I woke up in was pitch ck. I found that both my wrists and ankles were bound tightly by rope, but not so much that the cirction of blood was cut off. I was also strippedpletely naked of my clothes, which only boosted my paranoia about some kind of creepy-crawly that didn¡¯t need light to see where it was going, deciding to climb up my body and having a leisurely taste of my flesh.

    They say that paranoia is a perfectly healthy response when in an unforeseen situation. It seemed fitting then that I was paranoid then, because something suddenly touched my exposed manhood, causing me to yelp in fear. A series of guttural noises echoed in response as I tried to somehow shift my body away from whatever it was. A cold chill passed from my dick right up my spine and into my brain where fear began to take hold about what ns the creature I couldn¡¯t make out in the darkness had for me.

    However, no violence was forting.

    Whatever it was that touched me didn¡¯t bother to touch that part of me again. I was left alone for a white longer and I admit to clenching my jaw while trying to contain my fear, even though I did whimper and cried out a bit anyway. I had expected an entirely different kind of isekai life, not some grueling world stuck in the hellish, technologically devoid past, even if it had something amazing as magic in it.

    There was no further recurrence of the guttural noises I heard from whatever touched me, so I may have been abandoned by whatever it was for now. Since I couldn¡¯t see and I was afraid to say anything, all I could do was spend my time thinking about my current situation. But thinking alone wouldn¡¯t get me out of these ropes I was securely tied with, and I had nothing on my person that I could use to cut them or do anything about.

    In the end, all I could do was wait. Wait in the suffocating darkness for god only knows what to happen again.

    I don¡¯t know if it was a short amount of time or a long amount of time I had waited in the interim, but I could somehow sense that I wasn¡¯t alone anymore. There was some kind of creature that hade close to me. But<i>it</i>wasn¡¯t alone. This time, two guttural voices barked at each other and one of them tried to touch my meat stick again, and once more I resisted with all I could, which was to say, I could do a hell of a lot of nothing to protect myself from having my manhood groped thoroughly by it this time.

    The voices barked at each other for a few more moments before the two voices eventually became only one. I could feel the warmth of the other creature and it had to be a humanoid creature of some kind. The creature hadid down next to me, and the hand which had been touching my crotch was now draped over my chest.

    It was excessively warm, and naked. Fully naked, save for a cloth of some kind around the waist that gave me an itchy sensation when it touched my skin. I was terrified at the thought of being raped by it, should it be male, but when a certain softness that was part of its body began pressing into my torso, I wondered if that was the case here.

    ¡°Dak.¡±

    The yet unknown creature said that word softly to me, and I could only remain somewhat paralyzed as wey together. I don¡¯t think either of us would be sleeping anytime soon. While I was tied up with my hands raised above my head, I was able to slowly lower them down to my chest, though when I began to do so, the creature, or goblin as I surmised it must have been, instantly rolled away and began to bark at me.

    ¡°Wait!¡± I spoke loudly, hoping it wouldn¡¯t strike me or worse.

    ¡°Dak. Ig un guh ugth.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know what you are saying. I don¡¯t speak goblin. I was just moving my arms, that¡¯s all. I¡¯m not stupid enough to try and attack you, being tied up like this.¡±

    There was no reply at first, and I slowly moved my arms back above my head.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, okay? It was just ufortable to stay like that.¡±

    A sound, somewhere between a sigh and a snort echoed from where the goblin should be.

    ¡°Dak. Zab gik nok dokt.¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re saying, just don¡¯t kill me.¡± I said, and tried to remain as docile as possible. The goblin had moved near to my head and took hold of my wrist, moving my arms over my head so they could rest on my stomach.

    ¡°Iggok.¡±

    The goblin remained silent, perhaps awaiting a reply from me. Did it understand me?

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I answered. At least if I was going to suffer, my arms weren¡¯t going to be all pins and needles.

    The goblin then shifted back into the position it was in before, this time draping a leg over me as well as an arm. I was being used as some kind of body pillow, as far as I could put it together. I decided to give up worrying for the moment, and just closed my eyes.

    ¡°Dak.¡±

    It said again, and I felt like it had tried to hug me tightly. Not tight enough to crush my ribs or anything, just¡­ something¡­ bordering on affectionate? Sure I was creeped out, but when it came down to brass tacks, it was better than any of the other horrific alternatives my brain was only too happy to put forth. I don¡¯t think the goblin even tried to sleep, but at the very least, I felt like the immediate threat of death was off the table. I just hoped it wasn¡¯t hugging me like this so as to tenderize me for being eatenter.

    I had no clue what it was saying, but one word was repeated clearly, over and over.

    ¡°Dak?¡±

    I said it quietly, and that got a reaction from the goblin hugging me.

    ¡°Dak.¡±

    ¡°What is¡­<i>Dak</i>?¡±

    The goblin rolled on top of me. On top of my hands, specifically, and I could feel something soft pressing down on them. I was able to twist my hands a little bit to let my fingers deliver me some kind of tactile image since there was no light, and what I felt, for as much as I knew of both human and goblin biology¡­ I had to assume it was a pussy. Goblins¡­ have a pussy, simr to that of a human¡¯s¡­ right? I admit to not being educated on that bit of esoteric knowledge.

    Did the word<i>Dak</i>have to do with sex?

    There wasn¡¯t enough information to conclude it was, but it hardly mattered right now. I could feel an incredible warmth radiating off of it. The idea of experiencing goblin pussy wasn¡¯t anywhere in the list of fetishes I thought I might ever awaken to in this world, but there it was anyway.

    I was being made to feel up a female goblin.

    ¡°Dak. Gip nim sid.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I have no idea what you are saying.¡±

    She lifted her hips, letting her hands touch my manhood again.

    ¡°Gip nim sid. Dak. Kitk ik urk.¡±

    Either I was thinking something entirely unnecessary, or it almost seemed like the goblin was extremely interested in my dick. I didn¡¯t even have an idea of what this female goblin looked like, assuming that<i>is</i>what it was, though perhaps it was for the better, I decided. If it was a horribly ugly creature, as goblins were known to be, there was no way my partner down there was going to react positively to it.

    I had tried to pull my hands out from underneath her, but the goblin grasped my wrists quickly.

    ¡°Dak. Ik tak doo?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m just trying to help. If you want my thing to work, can you at least let me try something?¡±

    I waited patiently while her grip lessened, and I slowly raised my bound hands upward along her body, so she didn¡¯t think I was making any dangerous movements. When I had reached the ce I was aiming for, I was fairly certain the thing both of my hands had captured was a breast. A¡­ prettyrge breast, all things considered.

    ¡°Dak. Tokt?¡±

    I hope she was asking if I liked it, because I hope I did too.

    ¡°<i>Tokt?</i>¡±

    I repeated the word she spoke, though I tried to inflect it as she did, hoping the way she said it was a question. It could have meant breast or tits or something along those lines. If it had, it might still be useful. Maybe if she understood if I could touch them somewhat freely, it might help. I can¡¯t say I was looking forward to the idea of sex with a female goblin, but if it meant I might live another day, I was willing topromise my humanity a bit.

    In the face of certain death, it¡¯s quite amazing how adaptable one bes.

    She had pulled my hands away from her breasts, and climbed off of me. I heard some rustling and when she hade back, I felt something sharp press against my throat. It felt like a knife, so I can only assume it was a warning of some kind.

    ¡°Dak. Suk tokt. Gip nim sid.¡±

    I felt the knife pull away from my neck, and it went for the rope around my wrists.

    ¡°Tokt ekt.¡±

    When I felt the ropes fall away, I kept my hands where they were.

    ¡°Tokt?¡± I asked again.

    She snatched my hands and pulled them to her breasts, which now that I had control of my hands again, felt quiterge and fluffy. I was quick to grope them, gently, and just try and imagine it wasn¡¯t some fugly pocked and wart covered abomination everywhere else but where I was touching. I closed my eyes and tried to think of the most beautiful women I had ever seen, in an effort to stir my boy to life, so that we could both live to see another day.

    Okay.

    I think it¡¯s working. I¡¯m a bit nervous, plenty nauseous about the prospect of raw dogging a gobbo, but I doubt there is much of a chance that they would give me time to learn theirnguage enough to say that I¡¯m willing to do whatever I need to so I don¡¯t die before getting what they want, so I¡¯m just trying to cooperate enough for now to make it to the next day. I¡¯m not craven by the way, this is just a lot to deal with suddenly. It¡¯s not like there were extensive sses that taught goblin-speak avable through the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    I let go of her breasts, slowly lowered my hands along the front of her body, noticing now that it was both squish and kind of toned. I reached her legs and moved to put my hands on her hips, slowly, giving a little push in the hopes she would understand I wanted her to move back so that she could understand when I was¡­ ready.

    ¡°Dak tokt. Uh.. gip im sid?¡±

    ¡°Gip nim sid.¡±

    ¡°Right. Gip nim sid.¡±

    She shifted back and my hands kept to her body, slowly moving up until they were again able to grope herrge goblin breasts. Between the groping and the heat from her goblin cunt, my guy decided to make good on saving my ass here, by poking upwards at the crotch of the goblin that was straddling me.

    ¡°Dak!¡±

    She reached down between her legs and I could feel those calloused fingers touching it, trying to help it along as it got bigger and directing it to the ce she wanted it to go. There was just one problem. I think it was too big to go inside.

    ¡°Dak ogt!¡±

    She slid off of me quickly, the heat of her goblin pussy reced by what had to be her tongue. She was spitting on and licking my junk with what I hoped to god was her tongue before climbing back on me and lining my partner up for the performance of my lifetime.

    Is it okay if I take a moment to say that I¡¯m a double virgin?

    Yep. Both in my previous life and this life, I¡¯d never gotten lucky. Kind of sad that I have to allow being raped by a goblin to be how I lose it over two lifetimes, but¡­ does it even count? Is a goblin civilized enough to be considered something other than a beast or monster?

    Those kinds of esoteric moral questions would have to wait to be answered. For now, I could hear a shrill cry and I felt like my dick was being crushed by how tight she was. Though my hands were groping her chest, her hands were grabbing onto my wrists with a great deal of force.

    ¡°Dak. Tokt! Tokt! Gip nim sid!¡±

    Though it was slow going at first, she was able to limatize her body to receive my partner properly. After a moment, we were able to do the nasty after all. She was rtively dry inside at first, but after the sloppy blowjob, I was able to find some kind of reservoir of cunt juice inside of her and I started fucking it out of her to the point that it was drooling around my tightly fitted cock and guhshed out of her pussy right into my crotch with each piston.

    While she was holding onto my wrists as she rode me, I also thought it was in my best interest to cooperate with a few extra thrusts of my own. She would howl each time I did. All I could see of her in the darkness were her glowing green eyes. Only that.

    ¡°Dak! Dak!¡±

    She pulled my hands to her chest, a clear invitation to grope her plentifully. I did so, not exactly hating what was going on right now, since I was holding on to the mental thought that it was a beautiful woman, maybe a luscious eye-catching whore who I wouldn¡¯t have ever normally thought about visiting for fear of catching a disease, but now that consent wasn¡¯t part of the deal, I did my best in trying to enjoy what I could of the situation.

    I¡¯ll leave any impressive feats of stamina on my part out of this, because I was a virgin up until this point. Did I evenst five minutes? I doubt it. My balls roiled and churned my nut-butter and I could feel my cock pump an entire puberty¡¯s worth of seed into the fuckhole of this goblin.

    ¡°Sid! Dak Sid!¡±

    She yelled loudly and then copsed on me. I remained plugged inside of her while her squishy breasts pressed into my chest.

    ¡°Dak.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ Dak.¡± I answered, hoping it was the right answer as it had somehow managed to be so far.

    I had lost it to a goblin female. Normally when thinking about goblins and humans, it would be the male goblins capturing a female human and using her as a breeding sow. I¡¯d never heard of the opposite before, but I guess this qualified. It¡­ wasn¡¯t so bad. Being unable to see anything but her eyes, and being allowed to touch her breasts, my imagination was able to help out with the rest and I sessfully managed my first interspecies creampie.

    However, as a man, and having now been awoken to what could be considered the pleasure of sex, my partner was more than willing to go again so quickly after being spent.

    ¡°Gip nim sid?¡± I asked her again, figuring that was the equivalent of asking if she wanted to go for round two.

    ¡°Mokt?¡±

    I let my member throb and swell inside of her. She pushed off of me and sat back up, bringing my hands again to her breasts, as she rode me again. She was shouting something and pped my hip with one hand. Did she want me to thrust inside of her?

    The inside of her cunt felt like hot pudding, and it did wonders for me as I went wild thrusting into her, trying to impale whatever constituted a goblin womb with my cock. She was howling uncontrobly, panting on asion when she slowed down. Drool or saliva of some kindnded on my hands, wrists, stomach¡­ it was kind of gross, but I had already came inside of her. I don¡¯t think it was going to get nastier than that for now.

    I know Isted a lot longer this time, and when I finally came inside of her for a second time, she yelped again and copsed on top of me immediately, her head banging into my chin.

    ¡°Dak¡­ tokt! Mokt tokt! Sid! Sid sid sid tokt!¡±

    Uh¡­ that¡¯s good, right?

    She rolled off of me after that, and I ced my wrists together on top of my stomach. I had kind of figured out by this point she could see in the dark. She reached for my wrists and patted them.

    ¡°Dak nokt im doo.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t do anything, I swear.¡± I answered.

    She kept a hand over my wrists, but didn¡¯t squeeze them. Her bodyy resting against mine like before, and not long after, with no light to keep my eyes focused, they closed and I went to sleep once more, hoping I would wake up in the morning¡­

 Chapter Two â€“ In which Ark gets fed and learns what his new job as their Husband is all about.

    Chapter Two ¨C In which Ark gets fed and learns what his new job as their Husband is all about.

    I woke up to being shaken.

    When my eyes adjusted, I saw that I was in a cave, and that there<i>was</i>some light, only it wasing from a flickering torch ensconced on the wall. I could see the face of a person now, a female goblin to be precise. It was naked from the waist up and it was holding something in its hands.

    It was a leg of some animal, freshly torn off and still dripping with blood. When she noticed I was awake, her hand extended and offered me the bloody meat. Being a human, there is no way I can just eat raw meat like that, so I had to shake my head. Iid back down and just waited patiently.

    ¡°Husband, eat.¡±

    Eh? What did she say?

    ¡°Husband?¡±

    ¡°Husband, yes. Give big seed. Husband. Need eat now. Give more big seed.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡±

    Why was I suddenly able to make out what she was saying, even if it sounded broken?

    ¡°Raw meat. If I eat it, I will get sick.¡± I said as politely as I could to my captor. ¡°It has to be cooked.¡±

    ¡°Cooked?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah. Throw on fire, eat after.¡±

    ¡°Husband want fire meat?"

    She looked at me with what I swore was disgust.

    "Husband stay cave-hole, no move or tie up again!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay.¡±

    ¡°Good. Come back soon.¡± She had dashed out of the cave with the bloody leg of meat and I was left alone, finally able to get a better view of my lodgings for the foreseeable future.

    I was definitely in a cavern. As to whether it was spacious or not, I can say it was as big as the lobby of a small fast food restaurant near the counter. Not too spacious, but probably luxurious if it was only to house two people. I was lying on something that looked like hay. I had dared to sit up, but that was all. I kept my hands together in front of me, my only real intention was to look down at my crotch, which I really wished I hadn¡¯t. I was covered in crusty blood and cum. Gross. There were also a few piddly things strewn around the room, but nothing that looked like weaponry.

    Not that I was intending to try and fight my way out. I got my ass whooped once by whatevernded me here. Unless I somehow made it outside and had a chance to make a mad dash out in the forest this cave was most likely located in, and could dodge that<i>thing</i>, I wasn¡¯t going to risk my life just yet.

    A few minutester, as promised, the goblin female had returned with the disgusting leg of whatever it was, now perfectly charred on the outside.

    ¡°Now Husband eat?¡±

    I took it, in an attempt to be amicable, and while it was damn near scalding hot, almost causing me to drop it, I somehow managed to pick the burnt skin off of it and get to the meat underneath, which was thankfully cooked enough for me to tear off and eat.

    ¡°Husband like eat fire meat?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ yes. As long as the meat is cooked I can eat it. Sorry to trouble you.¡±

    ¡°Husband give big seed. Will care for Husband.¡±

    ¡°Thanks?¡±

    She sat down next to me, observing me as I ate.

    ¡°Husband speak gob after all.¡±

    ¡°Gob?¡±

    It took a moment for me to realize she was talking about the goblinnguage.

    ¡°Ah. Actually, no. I¡­ don¡¯t know why I can understand you now.¡±

    ¡°Husband not know gob before?¡±

    ¡°No. I uh¡­ didn¡¯t know what you wanted me to dost night.¡±

    ¡°What else Husband do with goblin? Give big seed, make strong ones.¡±

    ¡°Is that what I am expected to do from now on?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Husband give big seed. Goblin tribe grow.¡±

    ¡°Then you don¡¯t have ns to kill me?¡±

    ¡°Only kill Husband if stupid. Not give big seed to goblins.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll do my best not to be stupid, then.¡±

    I stuffed some more of the charred meat into my gullet and wished I had something to wash it down with. It was gamey as hell, but it¡¯s not like goblins are known to be talented chefs. I was probably lucky to even get any food, let alone be allowed to have it prepared properly for me.

    ¡°When¡­ will I be expected to give uh¡­ big seed again?¡±

    ¡°Husband want give big seed now?¡±

    ¡°Anytime is fine, I guess. I won¡¯t be killed for as long as I cooperate?¡±

    ¡°Goblin tribe care for Husband¡­ unless stupid.¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°I won¡¯t ask you to remove the ropes on my legs yet, but can I keep my hands free at least?¡±

    ¡°Husband obey?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t cause problems. I doubt I could escape anyway, and I¡¯d rather be alive than dead.¡±

    ¡°Will let. But if stupid, will make rope more tight!¡±

    ¡°Thank you. Is there anything you will have me do besides¡­ give big seed?¡±

    ¡°No. Eat, sleep, give big seed. All Husband need do.¡±

    So, I¡¯m a breeding ve after all. I¡¯m going to have to fuck this goblin woman until I do something stupid enough to get myself killed. Well, having had a chance to look at her, she wasn¡¯t half bad to be honest. I mean, she<i>was</i>a goblin, there was no getting around that. Green skin and a long gray tongue. Sharp teeth and stood probably about the same height as me. She had hair on her head, though it was a darker shade of green than her skin and pointy ears jutting out on either side of her head. She wore a filthy, stained loincloth, something I had guessed atst night, but nothing up top. Just a huge pair of free standing green breasts with brown nipples.

    ¡°Husband see body? Like?¡±

    ¡°Please understand that I¡¯m not trying to be rude or say something stupid, but getting to the point I can give you big seed may, uh¡­¡±

    ¡°Need touch milkies?¡±

    ¡°That would help, yes.¡±

    ¡°Understand. Let touch.¡±

    I nodded.

    I had eaten what I could of the leg of¡­ whatever, and didn¡¯t know what to do with the rest.

    ¡°Husband done eat?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    She snatched the bone from my hand and threw it into a far corner of the cave.

    ¡°No shit here, no piss here. Husband, follow.¡±

    She stood up and helped me to my feet. She also bent down and loosened the knotted rope that tied my ankles together as well.

    ¡°Husband no be stupid?¡±

    ¡°Promise.¡±

    She grabbed the torch on the wall and I had followed her down what felt like a hallway further into the cave until we arrived at a room that had a bit of a noxious smell to it. It was ventted however, with a hole in the ceiling.

    ¡°This shit-pit. Need shit, need piss, go in hole. When done, go back cave-hole.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

    ¡°Smart Husbandst long. Like smart Husband.¡±

    I didn¡¯t have to shit, but I did have to take a leak, so I went¡­ with my uh¡­ goblin wife, I guess, watching me. Or standing guard in case I did something stupid. The cave¡¯s shitter was basically a small room with a trench-like hole in the ground to squat over. God help whatever identally falls into the muck pit below. Hepatitis would be the least of a person¡¯s worries.

    ¡°Husband done?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m done.¡±

    ¡°Good. Follow.¡±

    I followed her back to the cavern I had woken up in. I was told to stay, and that she would return soon. As I had nothing to do, I sat on the pile of straw that was my makeshift bed and waited. The bonus in her short absence was that there was some torchlight from the torch she left behind which allowed me to explore the room I was in. The cavernous room wasrge, though there wasn¡¯t much to be found in it. It was pretty much empty save for the straw pile, and myself, some rags, and what felt like organic trash.

    When the goblin female who had been attending to me returned to my room, she wasn¡¯t alone. There was another female goblin who arrived with her. She was simr in height and shape to the first, though slightly more slender and had a bountiful chest as well. She was a lighter green in color, both in skin tone and hair color.

    ¡°Husband, this goblin you give big seed to next.¡±

    The new goblin stepped forward and approached me, walking around my person before standing in front of me and reaching for my cock, giving it a feel with her hands.

    ¡°Husband.¡±

    She looked at me for a moment and grinned, sharp pointed teeth on full disy.

    ¡°Give big seed to me?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ sure?¡±

    ¡°Me ready.¡±

    ¡°...now?¡±

    ¡°Yes now. Why elsee?¡±

    It seems these girls were strictly business when it came to having sex.

    ¡°Husbandy down, give big seed.¡±

    The first goblin pointed to the straw mat I was fortunate enough to have as a bed, it seems.

    ¡°Do I have toy down?¡±

    She furrowed her brow at me.

    ¡°How else Husband give big seed?¡±

    ¡°There are plenty of ways to give big seed.¡±

    I was about to exin how there was more than just the cowgirl position, but I was interrupted by the first goblin before I could even begin.

    ¡°Fine. No care how, just give big seed.¡±

    I nodded at the first goblin and then shifted my attention to the new arrival.

    ¡°Can you get down on your hands and knees?¡±

    She did so quickly, not having any trouble understanding my words.

    ¡°This way?¡±

    ¡°Yes, perfect. I¡¯m going to take your loincloth off, okay?¡±

    ¡°No need.¡±

    She reached down and tugged on it, tossing it to the side and leaving nothing to my imagination anymore.

    ¡°Now give big seed?¡±

    What else could I answer but yes?

    She was kneeling on my makeshift straw bed and I walked behind her, putting myself on my knees as well. Last night might have been my first sexual encounter, but it wasn¡¯t like I didn¡¯t know how to do it. I just didn¡¯t have the right opportunity before then. I was being encouraged right now by the goblin who took my first time, and by this new goblin who was spiritedly interested in being bred by me next as well. I wasn¡¯t exactly reluctant right now in doing this, but a problem cropped up as I tried to fulfill my obligations.

    I was having a bit of trouble getting it to fit inside.

    ¡°What wrong?¡±

    This goblin who was waiting for a good time craned her head around to ask me what the hold up was about.

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Husband seed-stick big. Use tongue, spit on seed-stick. No bite.¡±

    The goblin before me turned around and did as the first who was standing nearby instructed. Her long tongue licked my shaft and she spit something that looked like a vile mucus onto my cock.

    ¡°Husband ready now?¡± She asked after I was coated in goblin astroglide.

    ¡°Husband ready.¡± I confirmed. She quickly turned back around and I put my extremely slippery member against her entrance and pushed it in.

    I had to go a bit slowly at first as her pussy struggled to ept all of me, though cooperated a hell of a lot more now. I looked down to see a pool of blood between our legs. She wasn¡¯t a virgin, was she? I don¡¯t imagine most of these goblins are, but I guess it¡¯s possible. Then again it could be something else. Did I perhaps injure some kind of membrane while going in? Huma women bled a bit when they had their hymens torn, but¡­ not this badly, right?

    I didn¡¯t have time to care about it. Since this encounter was for establishing my future survival here, and possibly even some preferential treatment, I swung my hips back and forth as best I could in order to carve out the shape of my dick inside this goblin¡¯s fuckhole.

    She howled with each powerful thrust, and the other female goblin who watched us slid her loincloth aside and began rubbing herself as she all watched all we did with unblinking eyes.

    ¡°Husband good?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Husband good! Good¡­ Good!¡± The one I was fucking said to the other.

    I leaned over her back and reached underneath to grope at her chest. I wanted nothing more right now than to squeeze those swinging melons she had.

    ¡°What Husband do?¡±

    ¡°Husband like touch chest. Make big seed when do!¡± The familiar voice of the goblin female who had taken my virginity had answered the other. She wasn¡¯t wrong about that. ¡°Feel strange Husband touch chest?¡±

    The one I was fucking couldn¡¯t say anything. Her face was now buried into the cavern floor, and only her ass remained up in the air. Since I had slept, I didn¡¯t have the benefit of a second wind here, so I ended up creaming her entire cunt in one go. As soon as I had nutted inside of her, like a puppet with its strings cut, her body seemed to have given out. I had to gentlyy her down on the ground the rest of the way and when I pulled out of her, my cock was covered in a strawberry-pink colored fluid.

    I squatted down, rubbing the back of this goblin I worried I had injured.

    ¡°Is she okay?¡±

    ¡°Goblin tribe strong. Husband give big seed, make tribe stronger! Husband need rest?¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­ just for¡­ a little while.¡±

    Iid down next to the spent goblin female I had just seeded and draped an arm over her, continuing to rub her back. It was at that moment, a thought urred to me. I didn¡¯t even know the names of either of these two goblins¡­

 Chapter Three â€“ In which Ark gives a name to his first wife, and tells her his own name, too.

    Chapter Three ¨C In which Ark gives a name to his first wife, and tells her his own name, too.

    ¡°What are your names?¡±

    I had felt the inclination to ask the first one who was the only one between them that seemed to be both conscious and able to answer my question.

    ¡°Know goblin by what goblin do. Me Guardian, she Stone-seeker.¡±

    ¡°So you don¡¯t have proper names?¡±

    ¡°What proper name?¡±

    I did my best to exin how humans had names picked out by their parents ahead of time, not being namedter for what they are known for doing. Most times the names a human held some kind of personal importance attached to them.

    ¡°Goblins not have name like human.¡±

    ¡°Is this why you call me Husband then?¡±

    ¡°Why else call you Husband? You make big seed and give to goblin to make strong ones. What Husband do.¡±

    Thinking of goblin society as a caste-based society that naturally gave way to their individual naming scheme, orck thereof, began making perfect sense.

    ¡°Would it bother you if I gave you a name that¡¯s easier for me to remember?¡±

    ¡°What name give me?¡±

    ¡°Prima.¡±

    ¡°Prima? What mean Prima?¡±

    ¡°Well, in Humannguage, it means<em> first</em>. To me, you were my first.¡±

    ¡°First?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Beforest night, I had never um¡­ given big seed to a female.¡±

    ¡°Husband give me name of first big-seed? Name important to Husband?¡±

    I scratched my head. ¡°Something like that. Maybe it¡¯s just because I¡¯m human, but giving names to important and memorable things is something I can¡¯t help but do as one.¡±

    ¡°What Husband name?¡±

    ¡°My name is Ark.¡±

    ¡°Husband¡­ Ark?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Husband keep human name secret. No tell other goblins. Husband is Husband, big safe be Husband only.¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah, sure.¡±

    Did she not want me to tell the other goblin female my real name? I guess I¡¯m d I told her first then. Maybe she knows something I don¡¯t? But what about Prima? Since I¡¯ve given her a name now, does it put her at risk somehow? Should I not call her that openly?

    She walked over by the legs of the one she called Stone-seeker squatting down and touching the still wet pool of blood made when we fucked.

    ¡°Much blood. Good omen.¡±

    Omen?

    ¡°Can I ask something about the whole<i>big seed</i>thing?¡±

    ¡°What want know?¡±

    ¡°How long before¡­¡± I used my hand to make the motion of a pregnant belly. She caught it instantly.

    ¡°Three moons.¡±

    A goblin pregnancy is only three months!? That exins so much about why there are always subjugation quests for them. In the time it takes for one human birth, these creatures can have three litters worth of their own kind.

    ¡°Is that for goblin females only¡­ or for human female who get goblin seed?¡±

    ¡°Three moons, all. Not know more.¡±

    I nodded.

    That kind of toll on the body cannot be healthy for any human women caught by goblins, that¡¯s for damn sure.

    ¡°Thanks. That¡¯s all I wanted to know.¡±

    After taking a few breaths, I put my hand on the ground and helped myself up.

    ¡°Husband no rest more?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good. But are you sure she¡¯s okay?¡± I asked again, pointing at the goblin female I had done in by way of doggy-style.

    ¡°She fine. Eye open. Head stupid-think.¡±

    I moved over to her front and squatted down, looking into her eyes. I reached out and gently touched her hair, stroking her head.

    ¡°I enjoyed it also. Rest well.¡±

    I stood back up and walked over to the goblin in charge of me. My crotch was a bloody mess, and I really wanted to wash my dick clean, but there wasn¡¯t exactly a towel handy.

    ¡°Can I ask a question?¡±

    ¡°What ask now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for my things back, but there is one item I would like to have ess to again if I¡¯m to stay healthy. It¡¯s a water canteen that was in my pack¡­¡±

    I described the canteen and exined about sexual hygiene and how if they wanted me to keep giving them<i>big seed</i>that I had to keep it clean. I didn¡¯t want to create some kind of goblin venereal disease epidemic here.

    ¡°...Prima look. Not know which goblin take.¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t even have to be the canteen. I just need a way to wash my uh¡­¡±

    I pointed down at my bloody crotch.

    ¡°Seed-stick.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. As long as it¡¯s clean, I can give big seed all the time.¡±

    ¡°What mean give big seed all time?¡±

    ¡°Well, as a human, as long as I get to eat cooked meat or have fresh fruits and vegetables, get sunlight every few days, and keep my seed-stick clean, I can pretty much give big seed without any problems. Unless you don¡¯t want to get big seed anymore?¡±

    ¡°Get more big seed? Strong ones made with big seed. Waste big seed bad.¡±

    I reached up and rubbed my neck.

    ¡°Oh. So I won¡¯t be giving you big seed anymore?¡±

    She walked over to me and got all up in my personal space real quickly.

    ¡°Husband¡­<i>want</i>to waste big seed with Prima?¡±

    ¡°I mean, if you aren¡¯t busy doing something else and it¡¯s okay with you, I¡¯d like that, yeah.¡±

    This was simple ingratiation. Keep your warden happy, and you¡¯re safe.

    ¡°Husband¡­ give big seed again now?¡±

    My erection was more of an answer than the nod I had given to that question.

    She looked down at the goblin I just fucked silly.

    ¡°Husband do same? From behind?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Husband no trick Prima and try escape after?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯lly down next to you when it¡¯s over. I won¡¯t go anywhere.¡±

    She then immediately squatted down, hocked up a hefty wad of spit onto my dick and stroked it with one hand, cleaning some of the bloody funk off with her bare hand.

    ¡°Husband seed-stick wet. Prima ready.¡±

    She climbed onto her hands and knees on the straw bed next to the other goblin, and I slid myself into her from behind. There was little to no resistance going into her this time. And while I pounded away at her cunt as best I could, careful not to be <i>too</i>rough, I had the first logical thought since I was captured enter into my mind.

    The only thing that will never betray a man, is his muscles. If I was going to be fucking these horny goblin women, I needed to develop a stamina-based exercise regimen, and quick.

    As I grabbed onto her hips and did my best to churn her guts to hell and back, I tried to put it out of my mind that what I was doing right now was tantamount to creating more goblins that would likely kill humans in the future. But as it came down to it being them or me, I was aware that I was a selfish bastard who wanted to live.

    I had to fuck goblin pussy to live, and I was determined to live no matter what, at least until I found a foolproof chance of escape. I just had to be smart, and y the long con until then. I might be these goblin females'' Husband for now, but I know my limitations. A wife is a woman held above all other women, and I just had to groom Prima to understand that so that I wouldn''t easily be killed just in case I did do something she considered stupid.

    Filling her belly with my seed, I gently helped her down onto the hay bed andid down beside her. I rolled her onto her side and held her from behind, pulling her into a hug. I was fatigued from fucking, but I wasn¡¯t sleepy quiet yet. I just turned my mind off and kept our bodies pressed together and warm for now. Gently stroking her hair, groping her full chest, and calling her name softly¡­

    <b>~~** Interlude | Prima **~~</b>

    Ever since receiving Husband''s big seed, I''ve felt strange.

    Aside from the first few moments that Husband resisted my touch as hey boundst night, nothing at all has happened the way the Great Protector said it would. Husband was supposed to be fearful, angry, furious, desperate, and anything but calm when it came to him giving us big seed. He was supposed to hate us, seek to flee at the first chance he could find, strike us down as soon as he could move hand or foot on his own, yet none of that came to be.

    Husband even now is holding me from behind, as if to protect me. Husband has kept to his promise and hasn¡¯t moved at all from his bed. He has beenpletely obedient and it has left me with more questions than answers. Husband even gave me a name. Prima¨Cwhich in the words of humans meant<i>first-seed</i>. He seemed to think it was important that I have a name with which to call me by that wasn¡¯t what I have always been known as to my tribe¨CGuardian.

    So, to Husband I am Prima now. A strange sounding name to a goblin like myself, yet it feels as if it has always been my name, only missing before now. My fuckhole still quivers from the wasted seed he delivered inside of me. I had been taken from behind, my strength stolen from my legs as I was blinded by the pleasure of the wasted big seed put inside of me, and I didn¡¯t want to get up from this bed anytime soon. I wished to stay here with Husband holding onto me, pressed up against me as his hand rubbed my milkies.

    None of this should be happening!

    He had also asked for a thing that belonged to him before our tribe looted his belongings. Something called a<i>kan-tin</i>, a¡­ container which only held stream-water for drinking, simr to a waterskin. He said it was necessary to keep his seed-stick healthy, but I wasn¡¯t sure whether to believe it or not. Husband seems healthy now, though he would rather eat fire meat instead of bloody meat fresh from the kill. I don¡¯t know how he will stay healthy eating it though¡­

    Is there a chance that the Great Protector is wrong about this human?

    I know it is a sphemous thought for me as the goblin tribe¡¯s guardian to have, but it was still a thought I had nheless. I do not doubt the Great Protector who saved us when all the goblin menfolk were killed when I was only a strong one of not many moons back then, but I am a strong one no longer. The Great Protector promised us the chance to regrow our tribe when we became able to take big seed and make strong ones on our own, and now we were given our Husband, though human, who has seeded me and another so far.

    It will be four more days before the signs begin to show that there is a strong one in my belly, though I am already certain the big seed was sessful. I will soon begin the next generation of our tribe and the others will follow after me. But my fuckhole still quakes! It begs me even now to ask Husband for more big seed. Big seed which belongs to the others but is wasted with me. I cannot be selfish here. Husband is to be shared by all of us. He cannot be treated as a thing to be taken by me alone.

    I had to get up. I had to carefully lift Husband¡¯s arm in order to climb out from underneath it.

    The cave was dark now, the torch had burnt away, and I knew now that Husband could not see me leave. I felt bad leaving him alone in the darkness, however there was much to do. My first task was to bring Stone-seeker back to her cave-hole, to see how she was doing. Now that I had also been on the receiving end of the seed-stick from behind, my legs felt like reeds in the wind with each step I took as I forcibly dragged her out of Husband¡¯s cave-hole.

    Reaching her cave hole took longer and much more energy to do than I had expected it to.

    ¡°Stone-seeker, are you awake?¡±

    ¡°I am. My legs are weak, I cannot even lift them.¡±

    ¡°Husband is good, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°I did not think his seed-stick would make me feel like that. Husband¡¯s big seed stole the strength in my body, and my eyes saw the sun at mid-day. I was blinded but I didn¡¯t wish for it to stop, either.¡±

    ¡°Yes. There was much blood to be found, a good omen. We will both give birth to many strong ones from Husband¡¯s big seed.¡±

    ¡°Why have you brought me back to my room? You wish to trade for a shiny stone?¡±

    ¡°Not for a stone. Husband was looking for a thing he used to own. It is called a<i>kan-tin</i>, it is round and t and water is kept in it.¡±

    ¡°All that I took from Husband¡¯s things was the shiny white stone. Now it is my greatest treasure, more than even my shiny yellow stone. You are collecting Husband¡¯s things to return them?¡±

    ¡°No. He doesn¡¯t care for his other things. Only for the<i>kan-tin</i>. He says it is needed for the health of his seed-stick.¡±

    ¡°If you find who has it, I am willing to help you get it for him.¡±

    ¡°You wish for him to waste seed with you again?¡±

    ¡°Am I wrong to want it?¡±

    ¡°No. I also feel the same.¡±

    ¡°Only my legs fail me for now, Guardian. My fuckhole will not forget how good it felt. I may be head-sick.¡±

    ¡°You are not head-sick. Husband¡¯s seed-stick left me feeling the same. It will pass after more rest.¡±

    ¡°I wish it would¡­ I also wish it would not.¡±

    ¡°Husband showed care with you after. It is possible he may wish to waste seed with you as well. I will tell Husband that you are resting so the big seed may take.¡±

    ¡°I will have many strong ones from Husband¡¯s big seed.¡±

    I left her room, where shey alone in peace and suffering, knowing what I also know, wanting what I also want. I must now think of which goblin to send to his room next. But first, I needed to leave goblin-home. I needed to get a face-full of fresh wind and sun before I returned to Husband¡¯s side again, wanting to crawl back under his arm once more, only to feel unwilling to leave again.

    Many goblins were outside of goblin-home. Some have gone to hunt, others less useful do their tasks, such as dragging branches on the ground, keeping the tracks leading to goblin-home a secret from those who dwell in the forest, like the ck-ws, as the great protector ordered. Most do nothing but sit and talk and argue near the fire pit, but all topics right now are of Husband.

    It was natural for it to be this way, not much else was of importance to the goblin tribe at the moment than our new Husband. I feel superior over the others, not only as their Guardian, but also knowing I have received Husband¡¯s big seed more than once. I must be careful not to let it make me stupid-think.

    I walked into the forest, until I found the one I was looking for. It is the runt of our tribe.

    After some talking, and her thinking that I was trying to coerce one of her treasures from her for the chance to be with Husband tonight, I got mad that she was being stupid with me. Husband so far has had me and Stone-seeker. We are both big goblins, sturdy, strong, with big milkies. What will he do with a runt goblin that has small milkies? Will he also give her big seed knowing she is the weakest and might not even have strong ones?

    ¡°Runt be with Husband? Yes! I wille tonight!¡±

    She agreed quickly when I gave her the choice of being chosen as the next to go to Husband or wait until she was thest goblin to receive big seed. There might not even be big seed for her by that point, since there are many goblins in goblin-home waiting their turn to be with Husband.

    Perhaps she is not that stupid after all, since she<i>has</i>managed to live this long as a runt¡­

 Chapter Forty-two â€“ In which Ark becomes a f*cking monster

    Chapter Forty-two ¨C In which Ark bes a f*cking monster

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Putting a trigger warning notice here for non-consensual sexual activity with a non-goblin. This is the worst of it in this story but it is essential to future plot development. It''s back to wholesome writing after this.

    Later that night, I didn¡¯t sleep with Vera in her room. I spent it inside of mine together with Ste, who was engaging in a bit of hostile behavior. I tightened the ropes on her hands so she didn¡¯t strangle me in my sleep, and Iid down with her in the bed and held her. She was angry, and justifiably so, but I just wanted to enjoy myst day as a decent human being.

    Her body was warm and soft, and most noticeably, not green. I yed nice for the most part, but I admit to groping her chest a little. Even if she was a human, her breasts felt no different from those of the goblins. Just bigger.

    I decided to level with her.

    ¡°Ste¡­ if somethinges of it. If you¡­ get pregnant and can¡¯t stand the sight of the child¡­ I¡¯ll raise it.¡±

    ¡°What, to be a fucking goblin?¡±

    ¡°To be civilized. It may live among goblins, but that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been doing here slowly, and will continue to do so. I will try and make these goblins civilized. I don¡¯t expect your hate or anger towards them to ever be eradicated, but I will try to make these goblins more than what we were told to expect when encountering them. You might not think it, but any child you have from what will happen between us<i>is</i>innocent. It¡¯ll be human. If you¡¯re still human then even you have to respect the sanctity of life.¡±

    ¡°...why don¡¯t you just rape me now?¡±

    ¡°Because there¡¯s a certain goblin that has to watch. She was ordered to, by the<i>thing</i>that captured us, and that<i>thing</i>is no joke. I¡¯m only doing this to save both of our lives, even if it¡¯s a detestable thing. Don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to take great pleasure in doing this. I have over a dozen willing goblins who would rather take your ce, but what must be done, must be done. All I can do for you is apologize and promise to make it as painless as physically possible. I can¡¯t¡­ do anything for your heart or your mind. You can fight and struggle if you want. Do whatever you can to hold onto your humanity, Ste. Do¡­ whatever you can.¡±

    I pulled my hands away from her soft breasts and held her gently as she wept.

    When the next day came, it was breakfast time with everyone once again. Well, minus Ivory today. Doll was there though, and she¡¯s a dedicated member of the bloody meat faction. Not much exercising can do about that.

    ¡°Which is the goblin who has to watch?¡± Ste asked me in in front of all the goblins.

    I tilted my head at Prima in response. Ste spit in her direction.

    ¡°She¡¯s upset you are going to be present when it happens.¡± I exined to Prima.

    ¡°Stupid human not want big seed. Prima know what Husband say, still think human stupid. Diana proof Husband big seed make strong ones. Human should beg get big seed.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t asking her, but it was a nice vote of confidence?

    ¡°Husband, after give human big seed, seed-stick work again for goblins?¡± Berry asked me.

    ¡°I hope so. I¡¯ve gotten to enjoy giving you all big seed, and wasting it with you even more.¡±

    ¡°Not waste if give seed after, make goblin bellies fat with strong ones.¡± Prima added.

    Prima really wanted me to blow her belly up. I wish I knew how!

    After some shared bath time, with the exception of Prima and Vera, the rest had left.

    ¡°Husband, whene watch? Wait three suns.¡±

    I sighed.

    ¡°Then don¡¯t leave. I don¡¯t think it matters whether it¡¯s now orter. May as well watch the moment I be the monster I used you of being, not too long ago¡­¡±

    Ste was sitting at the table still, her piece of fire-meat was only half-eaten. Prima had walked over to her and grabbed her by the arm, pointing to the raised bed covered in straw in the center of the room. Ste looked at me and I closed my eyes to nod at her. It was a gallows walk for her, and Prima was the warden. I was the executioner.

    I couldn¡¯t loosen her bonds for what I was about to do. Ste could trap my head in her thighs and possibly snap my neck. I nned to give her a bit of cunnilingus at first to make her wet so it didn¡¯t hurt going in. I didn¡¯t know if she had ever done it before, and I had no idea exactly what a human female¡¯s hymen looked like, so telling by sight was out. It didn¡¯t seem right to ask her if she ever had a lover before me, and even if she wasn¡¯t pure, did it matter at this point? I had fucked nearly a dozen goblins many times over. I wasn¡¯t in any position to be picky. I wanted this over now, so I could get back to my wives.

    Ste did listen to what I saidst night. She struggled. Even tied up she made it somewhat impossible, to the point that Prima had to intervene by barking out for Vera toe and help hold her down. I felt terrible, but it had to be done. I¡¯d go to hell formitting this sin, but it wouldn¡¯t be today.

    She cried out, and Prima wanted to gag her, but I said no. That was one right she had. The one right I wouldn¡¯t deprive her of. To scream bloody murder and curse me. I reminded Prima of the great human magic called spite. She didn¡¯t say anything more about it once I had, and with Ste¡¯s bound legs being held up in the air with my hands pushing against her thighs, I shoved my face in her clean pink hairy snatch and began to lick it.

    She cried out and cursed at me to stop over and over, but still I licked. With her in this state, she wasn¡¯t going to rx enough to have an orgasm. It¡¯s only in the dirtyic books that you can rape a woman to pleasure. But my goal wasn¡¯t that. I knew she would get no pleasure from this act. It was just to force her body into a wet enough state that it wouldn¡¯t hurt her all that much when I put my cock inside of her.

    I had to probe inside of her with my fingers to check, and it just didn¡¯t feel like it was wet enough, even after taking a while to get her ready with my mouth. Yet, what must be done, must be done, and she was<i>going</i>to be done. My cock fully at the ready, tip at her entrance and ready to push in, she begged with all she had for me to stop. I pushed inside of her slowly and she screamed again.

    ¡°I hate you! Ark you fucking traitor! Goblin fucker! I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡±

    Our pelvises kissed.

    I pulled out slowly, noting my cock was clean, with not a single drop of blood on it. I readily pushed it inside again while holding her legs and just went slow. She didn¡¯t feel all that lubricated inside and for the longer I fucked her, the more chafing friction I felt. To the point she didn¡¯t even feel wet anymore, and even her crying had tapered off. It was going to be difficult to cum inside of her like this.

    I pulled out and Prima looked at me asking if I had given big seed to her.

    I hadn¡¯t. But it was required that I do. I had to ask Vera for her help. I apologized because I was covered in human juices, but I needed her lick me and coat my guy in her goblin saliva. Vera was more than willing, twining her long gray tongue around my shaft. After some heavy saturation from her, I was ready to go back inside Ste.

    This time there was no resistance she could offer. No fight she could hope to put up anymore. It would have been like trying to grasp a stick of melting butter with bare hands over a hot pan. Covered in goblin saliva, I could pump in and out of her at any speed I wanted. But I still tried to remain decent, and went at what I thought would be a fair pace that wouldn¡¯t be too intense or painful for her, and would also get me off the quickest.

    Compared to the goblins in this cave, her pussy didn¡¯t even rank. My dick fit, but I was already thinking about fucking both Prima and Vera after I was done with Ste if it stayed hard. Maybe I¡¯m already too far gone? It was even irritating me how long it was taking. Ste was quiet after she realized resisting was futile andid still, like a dead fish, leaving me to my crime. That only made this rape feel more authentic.

    I fucked her for what felt like forever and I began to feel dizzy. I thought I needed more cardio, but it felt familiar. I felt pure luste from within me. I wasn¡¯t going to yell out anything tacky like ¡°Get pregnant!!!¡± (this time) but I wanted to just seed her so I could be done. Eventually I could feel my balls churning. The familiar sensation of pressure building and the inevitable feeling that I was going to explode inside of her.

    I grabbed her legs tightly, holding them to my chest, and swung my hips for the final few times where my knees locked as I bucked numerous times into her, feeling my consciousness try to slip from my grasp again. My head filled with a white bliss while some darkness threatened to pull me under at the same time. It was Vera who disconnected my body from Ste, and brought me back to the dimly lit cavern I was in.

    I could see my obscene river of semen flowing freely out of Ste¡¯s pussy, and I found myself breathing heavily.

    Prima let her go, and Ste immediately curled up in a ball.

    ¡°Ark. Done?¡±

    I nodded.

    My cock was hard again. Even though I just raped and creampied my adventurerpanion, I wanted to fuck some more. Vera I know wanted it, but she called for her sister instead. Prima sat down in myp and I was taken into her, happy to be deep inside of her inviting goblin cunt. I held on to her and sucked hard on her tits as I thrusted up into her. I felt like I was home again even though I knew the truth. I was fully expendable to these goblins if I couldn¡¯t do my duty as Husband. This horrible atrocity was a mercy from that<i>thing</i>that ruled this tribe. That captured Ste and probably killed Kairos.

    But it was no different than how things were back in my previous life. I was an expendable employee to thepany I worked for in the end. I might have made my department do well because of my diligence, and how I fostered goodmunication and teamwork, but all the upper management ever really cared about were the numbers.

    And the remaining number of goblins was three.

    I did get paid time off and overtime here, which I was pretty sure if this Great Protector was anything like my old boss or the human resources department, I just cashed in everything I had earned all at once over this erection problem.

    Prima¡¯s body felt light, and Prima¡¯s body felt<i>right</i>. I was soon filling her up with big seed, but my head had be clear again. Focused. After her, I couldn¡¯t help but take Vera. She usually liked to sit in myp, but I put her on her hands and knees and mated with her from behind. Prima watched with satisfaction in her eyes. I truly wondered how she could be happy watching me fuck her little sister right in front of her.

    Vera bent her elbows and lifted her ass by locking her knees and straightening her thighs. I drilled her cute little gob-snootch until it, too, was full of my leaky yogurt. I was still breathing hard, but I felt good.

    I wanted more.

    I¡¯m sorry, Ste.

    I climbed onto the raised bed and put myself into her again. It still felt inferior to both Prima and Vera¡¯s, but I no longer cared. I knew I wasn¡¯t good enough to call myself a human being anymore, raping her for the second time. My hands clutched handfuls of barely-tanned cream colored breasts and with my dick thickly coated in goblin secretions, I vited her until more and more of my big seed filled her womb.

    <b>I was the monster now.</b>

    I sat up on the raised bed and Prima looked up at me as she remained lying down on her back on the floor.

    ¡°Husband?¡±

    ¡°Am I a monster for wanting more?¡± I asked her in all seriousness.

    Primaughed.

    ¡°Who want?¡±

    This time Iughed sardonically.

    ¡°I am a greedy goblin, my lovely Prima. I want many goblins with fat bellies.¡±

    She grinned.

    ¡°Husband¡­ not move.¡±

    She got up, drooling globs white onto the floor from between her legs as she left the breeding room, only toe back a short whileter with Berry, Truffle, and Pear.

    It had to be good enough. That¡¯s why she¡¯s my main wife.

    I opened the Gates of Gobylon, and summoned the Unlimited Boner Works.

    I bullied each of them. To make up for days of beingid, I even had my sweet Berry crying out in pleasure as I held her in my arms while I stood up in ce, with no wall to support her back, or front, and dropping her body on my Orichal-cum drill with her legs spread for all to see while I tried with all my might to pierce her heavens.

    Truffle, my tasty little morsel covered in freckles. She was the next to bepletely devoured, her legs wobbling like gtin when I was done with her, bite marks all over her milkies. And Pear, with her deliciously fat and cushy ass¡­ She got double the dose when I dragged her down to her hands and knees and imed both of her holes as my own.

    Vera, the little scamp, wanted a second round and I obliged her, too.

    Then Iid back and found all the gathered goblins found a way to rest on my body.

    Husband was back, baby. And all it cost me was my entrance to the pearly gates.

 Chapter Fifty-four â€“ In which Ark shoulders some guilt, and the Bloodmaws agree to a gag order.

    Chapter Fifty-four ¨C In which Ark shoulders some guilt, and the Bloodmaws agree to a gag order.

    After being worn down from pushing my daughters for what felt like half a day, I took a small break, and went back inside goblin-home and to my room. Vera was in the bath together with Ste, who had finallye out from under therge rag in her room. I decided to join them, and hopefully see how she was doing. For a while, we were all soaking quietly without saying anything, until Ste asked me an unfair question.

    ¡°Ark, did¡­ you do this to me?¡±

    ¡°If I could do something like that, which would require magic of the highest level, I wouldn¡¯t be as afraid of the Great Protector as I am.¡±

    Ste took a deep breath and spoke again.

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t want to be a goblin. I¡¯m a human!¡±

    ¡°I know. I know you are, Ste. No matter what changes happen, you<i>are</i>a human.¡±

    I imagine it was overdue. As a fellow human, she was breaking down right in front of me. She held her arms out, as if to show me I was full of shit in saying that she was human, when her hands were green and her fingers had already be pointed like the other goblins.

    I waded through the bath to her side, and held her close to me.

    ¡°Even if you turn a little green, you¡¯re still a beautiful woman. A beautiful<i>human</i>woman to me, Ste.¡±

    ¡°Ark¡­ I¡­ can¡¯t ever go home.¡±

    ¡°Then stay here. I know I¡¯m not a rich muscr adventurer, but I swear I¡¯ll give you as luxurious a life as I can. Who knows, maybe it¡¯s a temporary thing?¡±

    ¡°Temporary?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll ask the Great Protector when ites back. That<i>thing</i>has to know some serious magic. Maybe it can undo¡­ whatever happened? But until then, everyone here has already epted you. Look, are you even bound with ropes anymore?¡±

    ¡°Hah! Where can a goblin run to? A human vige? I¡¯d be killed before I could even tell them what happened! And even if someone were willing to hear me out, they¡¯d think this was a curse that could spread¡­ where else can I go, Ark?¡±

    Vera had waded over to Ste¡¯s other side, giving her a hug together with me.

    ¡°Sister.¡±

    ¡°See, you aren¡¯t alone. And I won¡¯t treat you any differently. These girls have weed you into the tribe already. There¡¯s only you who needs to ept what you can of the situation for now. But I need you, Ste. I need you more than ever.¡±

    ¡°Why? You¡¯ve never needed me. I just¡­ tagged along with you and Kairos. Now I¡¯m even more useless having be¡­<i>this</i>!¡±

    ¡°I need you precisely because you are human. I want you to help me show these goblins how to live in a civilized way. I want to make this tribe strong. To be far more than the greedy murderous goblins we were told they are. I know you¡¯ve seen it¡­ you were not shunned by a single one of them when Truffle gave birth. And aside from what I did to you, have you been harmed in any way by any goblin here?¡±

    ¡°...no.¡±

    ¡°No. Just by me. I can¡¯t change what has happened to your body, but for anything other than that,<i>anything</i>, just ask me, and I¡¯ll do it for you, okay?¡±

    Ste lowered her head to stare into the water.

    ¡°I can feel it, Ark. The¡­ life inside of me, growing. Ever since¡­ this started. My hearing is better, I can see clearly in the dark, I¡­ don¡¯t have the stomach for cooked meat anymore.¡±

    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, you are still Ste. I won¡¯t abandon you.¡±

    ¡°Together.¡± Vera said, continuing to cling tightly to my formerly humanpanion.

    ¡°And this one¡­ keeps saying that I¡¯m going to have a goblin baby. I¡­ saw what happened with that other girl. This thing is going to eventually w its way out of me. My body is going to bepletely ruined! More than it already is!¡±

    ¡°Ste¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop calling me that! Ste died, Ark! All that¡¯s left of her¡­ is this¡­ nameless and cursed body.¡±

    Vera gave me a pleading look to give Ste some space again. I nodded and got out of the bath. In fact, I left the breeding room entirely and went looking for Berry again, who was stirring the contents of one of the pots I made for her that she had on the new countertop in her cave-hole.

    ¡°Berry¡­ can I borrow you for a moment?¡±

    ¡°Yes. What Husband need?¡±

    ¡°Can¡­ you show me to Beast-talker¡¯s cave-hole?¡±

    ¡°Follow.¡±

    Berry took my hand and led me deep into the cave that was goblin-home. It was probably the furthest I¡¯ve ever walked into the depths of the cave. I was brought to a cave-hole that was littered with animal skins and bone-things which were obviously made by Ivory. It was just a normal looking room with the usual things a goblin tended to have, whenpared to what I¡¯d seen of the others¡¯ so far.

    ¡°This¡­ is going to be Ste¡¯s cave-hole. I¡¯m going to make it¡­ suitable for her. For a human.¡±

    Berry hugged me from behind, her soft goblin mounds pushing into my back.

    ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t do anything for her, Berry. I know¡­ you and Vera have been doing your best, but I also don¡¯t know what to do. I don¡¯t¡­ know what it means to be a woman or a goblin.¡±

    ¡°Husband want Berry talk Ste again?¡±

    ¡°Only if you think there¡¯s something you can say to her that might make a difference.¡±

    ¡°Berry think. Husband make human cave-hole?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ the only thing I can think of doing for her. When I¡¯m done here, I¡¯m going to spend the night with Lily.¡±

    ¡°Want Berry stay Husband?¡±

    I turned around and put her hand on my chest over my heart.

    ¡°Berry, you are always with me here, in my heart.¡±

    ¡°Mm, heart tasty. Tasty like liver, more bloody.¡±

    Ah, she¡¯s a goblin of the bloody meat faction, of course she would see that titude in that way.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you are busy doing things. Maybe¡­ you coulde check on me with something to drink in a little while?¡±

    ¡°Want blue water?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather have more of that red water you gave me.¡±

    With a warm hug and another affectionate kiss on the top of her head, my sweet smelling Berry left me be, to stew in anxious thoughts and to work them out by reshaping a cave-hole good enough for a human-turned-goblin to want to live in.

    I locked my fingers together and let them pop. It was time to get started.

    <b>~~** Interlude | Jewel¡¯s Room **~~</b>

    ¡°We need to do something for Husband.¡±

    Inside of Jewel¡¯s room, all the goblins except Old One, Vera, and the newest, Ste, were present: Jewel, Prima, Lily, Pear, Ivory, Truffle, Doll, Pear, Toy, Pepper, and Crow. Berry was also there, as she had rounded up everyone at first to exin what was going on.

    ¡°The human named Ste, who has be a goblin¡­ Husband says he does not know how to care for her. He wishes to, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Obviously.¡± Prima interrupted with arms crossed. ¡°Can you imagine bing a human? Who can understand what she is feeling?¡±

    ¡°I can,¡± Truffle added. ¡°I had a dream that I was a human once.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you mean a mushroom?¡± Doll joked.

    ¡°This is why¡­ we need to show her the goblin way.¡± Berry redirected constructively. ¡°Is there any goblin here who hates being a goblin?¡±

    Not a single one present did. All of the goblin tribe were proud to be goblins.

    ¡°What we need to do is find a way to show her that being a goblin is<i>better</i>than being human.¡±

    ¡°How are we going to do that?¡± Pear asked.

    ¡°What do goblins do?¡± Berry asked everyone.

    ¡°Find things.¡± Crow said.

    ¡°Fill our cave-holes with shiny things we like.¡± Jewel added.

    ¡°Make many strong ones.¡± Lily followed up.

    ¡°Eat bloody meat.¡± Was the response from Doll.

    ¡°Hunt.¡± Prima joined in.

    ¡°Waste Seed with Husband?¡± Pear had said the most obvious thing, but every goblin was aware it was also the most enjoyable.

    ¡°Husband wants Ste to take Beast-talker¡¯s cave-hole. He¡¯s in there now changing it to be a cave-hole made for a human to live in. I¡­ didn¡¯t know what to say to stop him. But all the things you say goblins do, we do. Now that she looks more like a goblin than a human, we must show her what it is that Bloodmaw Goblins do. If she is a goblin, then she will understand. Prima, remember what Husband said about him not being able to eat bloody meat without getting sick? You saw her eat the bloody leg of both the ck-bear and the ck-w. She didn¡¯t get sick.

    ¡°It¡¯s true. Lily even tried eating bloody ck-w meat. I felt sick eating it and had to make it into fire-meat.¡± the runt of the tribe mentioned.

    ¡°Does that mean Lily will be human?¡± Truffle asked while ying<i>strike</i>with Button who was also present and sitting in front of her.

    ¡°Lily is still a goblin!¡± she answered angrily.

    ¡°It¡¯s Husband.¡± Jewel interjected.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ivory asked.

    ¡°After getting big seed from Husband¡­ All of us have been experiencing new changes happen to our bodies. Prima has gotten better at hunting. I have gotten smarter. Lily eats fire-meat. Doll chops trees better¡­¡± Jewel began exining.

    ¡°Then¡­ Do you think it is Husband¡¯s big seed that made Ste into a goblin?¡± Berry rationalized.

    ¡°It might not be Husband¡¯s big seed. It¡¯s possible that it¡¯s because of the strong ones inside. Berry, what changed in you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel sick or tired so much anymore. I¡¯m always full of energy¡± Berry replied to Jewel.

    ¡°I smell things way better.¡± Pear revealed.

    ¡°And we know Vera has gained magic.¡± Jewel finalized.

    ¡°We can¡¯t let Husband know that his big seed is responsible for turning her into a goblin.¡± Berry nervously stated. ¡°Husband might try and escape with Ste, try to find other humans with strong magic to change her back to human.¡±

    All goblins present then decided to keep it a secret from Husband. They decided to n out how best to integrate Ste into the tribe. Whether it be taking turns bringing her on hunts, helping her collect things she found a liking to and putting them in her new cave-hole, and most importantly, promoting the idea of wanting to have as many strong ones with Husband as possible. Vera, who was not present, had suggested one-sidedly when the changes began, that they leave her alone¡­ but Berry felt they had to do the opposite. To make Ste feel like part of the goblin tribe.

    The n wouldn¡¯t go into action for another two days¡­

 Chapter Sixty-one â€“ In which Ark gets Throngled by all the right goblins.

    Chapter Sixty-one ¨C In which Ark gets Throngled by all the right goblins.

    When I woke up, I found the straw bed was missing a goblin. But that¡¯s to be expected. Prima was upholding her end of the deal, keeping an eye on my three daughters as they went on their first hunt. It¡¯s not Diana I¡¯m truly worried about. I¡¯ve seen her dash into a tight space full of spikes and slit the throat of a huge fuckin¡¯ wolf. I know <i>she</i>can handle it. Orchid and Lc aren¡¯t proven yet, not that I can say with great enthusiasm that I want those two going out and putting themselves in danger so soon, but I do ept that it is a part of this¡­<i>Goblin Way</i>.

    While prima was out, and my mana felt mostly replenished, I decided to do a little organizing for her. I know my main goblin wife is proud of her status as the tribe¡¯s Guardian, so I wanted to make her room a bit more appealing. Aside from finishing her bedroom, making it simr to Berry¡¯s, I also ttened the wall on the South side of her cave. The purpose for doing so was simple; Prima has a fuck-ton of weapons. I don¡¯t know how she got them, and considering these goblins don¡¯t have a forge, it¡¯s either by taking them from bodies, or having them gifted by the Great Protector. Both seemed quite feasible, but without her telling me, it¡¯s only spection.

    I admit to having a secondary purpose, and that was to see if she had my knife. It was made of Vernir, which was some kind of alloy that got mixed with iron or steel. Vernir was highly sought after and difficult to obtain because it was the only known metal that didn¡¯t lose durability when having the Runes of formic magic engraved onto it. Aside from weapons which had a divine blessing, such as a Holy Sword, if someone wanted a magic weapon, say¡­ a spear that could freeze anything that it pierced, it had to be made from Vernir. Well, if it was going to survive more than a few activations of said magic.

    My knife had a single enchantment on it, but it was meant to be a practical one. It dispelled everything it came in contact with. Blood, acid, rust, magically strengthened hides of creatures. I had nned ahead, thinking it would be really stupid if somehow when I was adventuring, I might fight a dragon or basilisk or god only knows, and couldn¡¯t bring back proof to the guild because a regr shitty iron knife wasn¡¯t up to the task.

    So, making many stone hookse out from the wall withnd magic, I began sorting and hanging up all of the weapons just lying there in the pile. There wasn¡¯t any kind of treasure to be found. No bizarre weapon lost to the ages with a seriously ominous name like<i>The Throngler.</i>

    Which was good, because I didn¡¯t want to wind up<i>Throngled</i>.

    There was no sign of my knife, sadly. The only thing of mine that was here in Prima¡¯s cave-hole, was my old Guild Card. I had half a thought to update it again, but before I could entertain the other half, Prima had returned.

    And she was looking kind of pissed off at me.

    ¡°Why Ark not make Prima great weapon?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Prima struggled with some words.

    ¡°Not know how say! Orchid have Fear-fang, Lc have Crunch-maul! ¡±

    ¡°Fearfang? Crunchmaul?¡±

    And here I was worried about<i>The Throngler.</i>

    ¡°Ark not see hunt! Redboar drink from stream. Diana sneak behind, stab in shithole, run fast to big tree. Jump and climb tree quick. Lc and Orchid wait behind bush. Redboar smash head in tree. Lc jump out from bush, swing Fear-fang and rip back leg off like bite! Orchid jump out from bush, smash leg other side, hear big crunch far away. Then Orchid spin body and smash point end at front leg. Diana jump down on Redboar back and stab head many many times like ck-bear.¡±

    Prima¡¯s hand covered and groped her whole face.

    ¡°Ark. When eight moons, go with Old One, Jewel, Doll on hunt. Not strong ones anymore. Time kill more than rabbit, fox, small beast. First time hunt Redboar. Prima stab many times with spear, only make mad. Jewel shoot many arrows, only make mad. Doll sh axe at body, only make mad. Old One watch, tell what do. Run away, leap to side, stab, shoot, chop. It take many many time! What Prima see today¡­ Not goblin way.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not the goblin way? Is there a certain way to hunt? Isn¡¯t the goal to kill things while being as safe as possible?¡±

    ¡°What Ark do big seed make strong ones? Why can strong ones hunt Redboar so soon?¡±

    She¡­ was she frustrated about this!?

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything with my big seed, Prima. I just gave it to each of you like you wanted me to. As for why they can hunt so well, isn¡¯t that because you showed Diana how? She¡¯s a smart little goblin. She¡¯s been teaching those two how to hunt since the day they were born. She also gave them the leg bones from one of the ck-ws that we all killed. She probably saw what the both of them could do with the weapons and came up with that way of hunting. I did tell her it was fine to use her head to think of the best way to fight while keeping her sisters safe.¡±

    ¡°No. She not know how strong weapons are. Diana spend long time make Orchid and Lc hit body until learn. After, look at knife same as Prima look at spear. Never see human weapon like one Ark make.¡±

    Prima looked towards the pile of weapons that should have been there. Then she turned her head to nce at the wall that was full of those same weapons, but now organized in a decorative but efficient way.

    A secondter, I was slugged right in the stomach by a grumpy goblin.

    ¡°Why Ark touch my things!?¡±

    I had doubled over and fell to my knees. It hurt quite a bit, but I could still breathe fine. I¡¯d been hit by Prima before, and I didn¡¯t think of it like domestic violence. She¡¯s just a hot tempered goblin. Plus, I did touch her things when she explicitly told me not to.

    ¡°I thought¡­ you might¡­. like it. Show off all¡­ your nice¡­ weapons to any goblin that¡­.es to visit. Remind them¡­ that you are their¡­ Guardian.¡±

    She harrumphed. ¡°Not have fat belly, not have great weapon!¡±

    ¡°Prima, I said I¡¯d stay here until it was. That was our deal.¡± I reminded her.

    ¡°Go. Eat. Make more big seed and keep trying until keep deal!¡±

    ¡°Go¡­ eat?¡±

    Come to think of it, she wasn¡¯t carrying around a piece of fire-meat for me.

    ¡°Diana say tell Husbande eat in Berry cave-hole.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ She did tell me that she¡¯d invite me to a meal. Alright, permission to go eat?¡±

    ¡°Why need permission?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say I wouldn¡¯t leave your cave-hole until your belly was fat?¡±

    ¡°Stupid Husband! Prima not want cave-hole smell like stinky fire meat! Go ande back!¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    She shooed me out of her cave-hole, and my destination was to the residence of my sweet Berry and brave huntress, Diana. When I got there, there was a lot of meat jutting out of two of the big pots I made for Berry¡¯s countertop. One was bloody, the other was not.

    Berry, Lily, Diana, Lc, and Orchid were all waiting for me to join them. There were two tusks on the ground, each next to Lily¡¯s daughters.

    ¡°Husband! We hunt Redboar!¡± Diana had proudly eximed, handing me a thankfully-not-huge rear leg of partially burnt boar meat.

    I would kill for salt and pepper right now. Well, the non-goblin kind of pepper. When I¡¯m done taking care of Prima, I¡¯ll go sample the other Pepper. And Crow. Those two have unfortunately not been shown nearly enough affection by me.

    As I sat down and joined my two families, Diana, Orchid, and Lc all took turns telling me about their hunt, even though I had heard it from Prima already. It¡¯s a father¡¯s duty to listen to his children express themselves. I don¡¯t want to be considered the kind of daddy who would put a smartphone in their hands and let someone else raise my children.

    The story went a bit different hearing it from them.

    Berry and Lily were weak goblins as far as the goblin way of hunting entailed. But, their weakness was only in physical strength. These goblins had brains and knew how to use them. After all, if they didn¡¯t, they¡¯d starve. The girls had gone out to hunt with their mothers from like the fourth day or so after they were born, and their mothers could move again properly after giving birth to them. During that time, my daughters learned what could be considered a cowardly goblin¡¯s way of hunting. Lily is a master of covering tracks, and Diana had been going on hunts with Prima, so it was easy for Diana to impart her knowledge of hunting to Orchid and Lc.

    Diana chose to hunt at the stream because she recognized the strategic advantage of the bushes we hid behind when we went to rescue Doll from the ck-ws before I used my wind magic to st them into the stream.

    Diana had drawn its attention by stabbing it in the asshole. Yeah. That¡¯ll piss off<i>any</i>wild animal and have them see red. Maximum aggro from the start. I don¡¯t know if Diana is the tank or just the puller. Orchid and Lc came in from behind on either side of it after the Redboar mmed into the tree Diana leapt onto and climbed. Orchid had shed at its back leg with the aim of severing it at what was essentially the thigh joint in one stroke as I had taught her. The Redboar, down to three legs and before it could even respond in anger to Orchid¡¯s sneak attack, had be a victim to Lc, who had smashed the bone-hammer full force into the hind femur on the boar¡¯s other side, breaking the bone and crippling itpletely. Diana did her thing, dropping on top of the boar and keeping it in a state of panic while she stabbed it in every orifice she could find to finish it off. Orchid spun her body backwards at this point, and with a pivot, had brought the full momentum her body could muster with swinging the spiked end of her bone-hammer, driving it deep into the Redboar¡¯s front leg.

    The miserable thing couldn¡¯t even thrash about in its final moments. They massacred itpletely.

    Diana then gave me a look that was impossible to misunderstand.

    It was simply:<i>Where¡¯s my amazing weapon?</i>

    At this point, the three of them understood that as strong as they were, they couldn¡¯t move therge body of the Redboar. Orchid, who had observed what I did carefully to the dirt pir, and what I exined about the saw part of the bone-saw weapon, had begun to dismantle limbs immediately for them to carry back. It was just their luck that Prima,<i>who was conveniently hunting in a nearby area</i>, had<i>heard the noise the Redboar made crashing into the tree</i>, and came to investigate. So, with a bit of avable help from a physically stronger Prima, they had managed to bring it all back, though partially dismembered.

    Lily¡¯s daughters then presented me with the trophy of their hunt. The two front tusks of the Redboar.

    ¡°Daddy proud? We not get hurt!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! We kill Redboar easy after listen daddy!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m proud of all of you, but not because you killed it. I¡¯m proud because you worked together well to kill it! I¡¯m very proud of all three of you showing me how great the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe can be when they work together!¡±

    ¡°Husband¡­¡± Diana looked at me, ¡°Why Diana Artemis not get strong weapon?¡±

    Iughed. ¡°You mean the long knife Berry gave you, that killed a huge bear, sevenrge ck-ws, and now a Redboar isn¡¯t strong enough for you?¡±

    Diana actually pouted at me for a moment.

    ¡°I suppose I can make something.¡± I said to appease her. ¡°Do you have an idea of a weapon you would like?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. I just want a strong weapon too!¡±

    ¡°Alright. Can you let me think about it for a little while? If I¡¯m going to make you something, I want it to fit you.¡±

    Diana nodded.

    ¡°Deal.¡±

    Deal? What did we trade that made this a deal? Heh. Like I can say no to my bloodthirsty little murder princess when she asks me for a weapon capable of brutally ughtering wild game.

    That was a joke. I¡¯m not that far gone yet.

    ¡­I hope.

    ¡°Husband¡­ Need know thing about¡­¡±

    ¡°Is this about the cave-hole Ste went with you to pick?¡±

    Berry nodded.

    ¡°Prima already told me. If that¡¯s what she wants, I have no say in the matter.¡±

    ¡°Husband not care?¡±

    ¡°If she doesn¡¯t want it, when these girls get older, maybe they can share the room, after I make more strong ones with you and Lily to fill the empty ones they leave behind.¡±

    ¡°Husband want us share cave-hole?¡± Diana asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s up to you. But you¡¯re all free to go take a look at it together. I can make any changes you want, but it¡¯s up to you to decide. There are three separate cave-holes for sleeping upstairs, and plenty of space. You could use it as a base or something.¡±

    ¡°What base mean?¡±

    ¡°Uh, a base is sort of like a big cave-hole where you can talk about hunting. n what you will hunt before you hunt it, and talk about how the hunt went after. It can also be a ce where you can bring games and y them together.¡±

    ¡°Sound strange. We go look atter.¡± Diana said and her two sisterly underlings also nodded their agreement.

    I have to say, I think I have the weakest appetite here. The rest of my lovely goblins have already put away all the meat they had brought for this little mixed-family after-hunt meal.

    ¡°Think smart go look at now?¡± Lily suggested. ¡°Berry and Lily spend time with Husband make more strong ones right now.¡±

    ¡°EH?¡±

    Diana stood up and both Lc and Orchid were quick to abandon me to the predation of these two motherly goblins.

    ¡°Berry, ever hunt Redboar?¡± Lily suddenly asked Berry.

    Berry shook her head to indicate she hadn''t.

    ¡°Lily not either. Belly full of tasty Redboar meat, now make it full of more Husband big seed. Think have more strong ones, eat tasty meat for long time.¡±

    Berry was cute until she showed those dangerously sharp teeth of hers as well.

    ¡°Yes. We eat good for long time.¡±

    Both of them crawled towards me, and I knew I was the next thing on the menu.

    Sorry, Prima¡­ I might take a while before returning to your cave-hole!

 Chapter Sixty-nine â€“ In which Ark ends the first volume in the corniest way possible.

    Chapter Sixty-nine ¨C In which Ark ends the first volume in the corniest way possible.

    Old One didn¡¯t say anything when a small mountain of animal corpses was brought into her room by Diana with help from Orchid and Lc. While I held no expectation that she would help me, she did. Not just her, but she brought Pepper to her room once I exined all that I intended to make for Diana, as well as the holsters for Lily¡¯s girls, and the spear that Prima had requested.

    I kind of assumed that she was a crotchety goblin-inw, but that only applied to me. If I was acting to improve the overall might of the Bloodmaw Goblins, she was willing to entertain me.

    Pepper, aside from being a Fish-catching goblin, was also the resident seamstress. Well, that¡¯s an over exaggeration. But she was the goblin responsible for making loincloths out of rags, so Old One had recruited someone with much needed practical experience.

    The better part of the day was spent skinning and sewing. Also watching on as two goblins tore into bloody chunks of fresh meat to help me ess the bones beneath. Sporadically, I watched as almost every goblin in the cave stopped in to see Old One for something or another and realized that while she didn¡¯t generally interact with me, she was here for all of the goblin tribe.

    She was the elder among them, and was respected in her own way by the entire tribe.

    Rope belts were made, animal skin was repurposed into holsters, sheathes, and utility pouches. What remained were piles of skin, and quite a number of bones. Before I could get started, it needed to be understood that I was in a room, alone, with two goblins. Pepper who had not had all that much time with me as one of my wives, and¡­ well¡­ Old One.

    Look, Ste was absolutely right calling me what she did when I raped her. I¡¯m a goblin fucker. I¡¯m a goblin fucker in and simple. There was a willing goblin, and a willing Husband, and we both wanted to take a roll in the straw. No harm, no foul. Pepper had a nice swell to her belly which Old One approved of, and I keep saying that they just don¡¯t care if there¡¯s someone else in the room when it¡¯s time to give big seed.

    Old One wasn¡¯t the type to shy away from watching either. Pepper happened to like it rough. And I mean<b><i>rough</i></b><b>.</b>While I made no attempt to be gentle as I seeded her, though I was aware there was no shame among the goblins to enjoy watching such things as simply entertainment, as Old One rubbed her mature pussy right in front of me I swear her eyes didn¡¯t blink once as I vited what was essentially one of her daughters, and she only licked her lips as she watched what this Husband tried showing off that could do.

    For good measure, not only did I<i>enjoy</i>defiling Pepper in front of Old One, I also bit and allowed Pepper to bite me, under Old One¡¯s watchful gaze. My body ached as sharp goblin teeth sunk into my flesh again. My hands groped soft green goblin milkies and I twisted and pulled and tortured her nutmeg colored nipples to her satisfaction as our lower halves smashed against each other, squelching and smacking sounds mirroring goblins feasting on raw meat ravenously echoed throughout the room.

    Pepper¡¯s body was left once again broken, spasming in euphoria with my wasted seed spilling out of her onto the floor, and my cock still erect as an obelisk.

    ¡°If you weren¡¯t so damn ugly, you would make a decent goblin, Ark.¡±

    ¡°...you know my name?¡±

    ¡°I know many things about you. I have read your square of symbols.¡±

    ¡°My Sq¨C¡­ my journal? ¡­wait. You can read?¡±

    ¡°When I was a goblin, fresh of fifteen moons, not yet having had my Blood Awakening, I hade across another human like you, though many years older than the both of us are now. When I took refuge in a cave during a storm. Our first meeting would also be ourst. You see, he was mortally wounded with a spear in his side. The same spear I gave to my strong one, Spear-hand, and the same one that Guardian uses on the hunt.¡±

    ¡°...what happened?¡±

    ¡°I call it the curse of tongues. Some wicked human magic he cast upon me. With it I could listen and speak to him in his words without knowing words other than gob.¡±

    She took a few steps towards me, her loincloth had already fallen to the floor by her own hand.

    ¡°He was a pitiful human. He told me a story about being unloved by women of his own tribe, though his appearance was quite desirable to a goblin such as myself at the ripest of ages. He had a thick body, bulging stomach, blunt protruding nose, a face full of fur with many strands of ck and silver¡­ all with the delicious scent of blood wafting around in that small cave.¡±

    ¡°So, he used magic to talk to you?¡±

    ¡°No. He<i>cursed</i>me with magic so I had no choice but to understand his words. However, what he had to say interested me, so I listened. It did not matter to him that I was a Bloodmaw. He wanted to do the Blood Awakening with me as the parting act of his life, and in exchange, since he knew he was mortally wounded and immting himself would be such a waste, he agreed to let me feast on his body. And I did. With a belly full of his big seed, and a smile on his face which I saved until the end, I slit his throat and feasted on his meat for two full days before I left that cave.¡±

    ¡°...so, would that mean your daughter Spear-hand was made from human seed?¡±

    Her hand slid down my body and she carefully wrapped her pointed fingers around my seed-stick.

    ¡°Yes. Does it surprise you to know I¡¯ve also had a Husband who was Human?¡±

    ¡°It does, actually.¡±

    ¡°It was many years before the massacre of my tribe. All that mattered to me back then was following my nature and embracing the goblin way. Taking what I wanted, having many strong ones¡­ though it was only ever Spear-hand that I had¡­¡±

    She looked up at me and grinned at what, to another goblin perhaps, might be a seductive manner.

    ¡°Uh, y-you aren¡¯t by chance interested in having another strong one¡­?¡±

    ¡°Listen carefully, Human. I am a<i>true</i>Bloodmaw. I can feel my womb throbbing right this moment thinking of being fat with another strong one. Perhaps this time, it whispers to me, that it might be with one stronger than even my Spear-hand.¡±

    I feel like it¡¯s important to state here and now, that the Old One<i>was not by any means ugly</i>. She did have an older looking countenance, sure, but it¡¯s no different from seeing an experienced thirty-year old woman who unted the most lewd promises of carnal satisfaction with her body to a younger man.

    Plus, I mean, she¡¯s been working hard to raise fourteen goblins to adulthood, up until the death of Beast-talker. There¡¯s no way it wasn¡¯t difficult for her to do, and then to see all of them, something not too different from daughters to her, all get knocked up while she has had to¡­<i>endure</i>.

    It would be quite rude of me to turn her down¡­ wouldn¡¯t it? I know there was a quote from a certain ind nation in my previous life that said it was a man¡¯s shame to not eat a buffet ced in front of him by a gracious hostess, even if he had a homemade meal waiting for him at home.

    ¡°Just to be clear¡­ you aren¡¯t nning on killing me and eating me afterwards, are you?¡±

    The Old One pushed me down with a strength I had not expected, and climbed on top of me.

    ¡°For as long as you still draw breath, Human, you are safe.¡±

    Like a being forcefully drawn into the event horizon of a ck hole, nothing could have prepared me for the ferocity such a sexually starved goblin matriarch was possessed of. I had thought I was a bully at times to my wives, but it only reinforced the reality that they were immature babespared to the real deal.

    Her cougarly cunt was some kind of deathly cocktrap. The further inside of her she took me, the tighter the squeeze and more difficult it was to escape her milking muscles. Old One had long flowing green hair, and a round pair of sun-dried olive-tanned gobby-knockers. She would arch her back and stick out her chest as she groped herself or slid her hands down her own body, shaking her head and letting her far from filthy hair preen. She never once needed to bnce herself by cing a hand on my torso as she rode me. She was, however, seemingly adept at danger-y and would trace her sharp pointed finger along my chest, scratching, yet not quite drawing blood, but fully capable of sending warning signals that hemorrhaged fear along every nerve pathway I had.

    My wives were just inexperienced, I understood. I was too. I was a double-virgin right around a month ago. The level difference between the Old One and I wasn¡¯t something that could be so easily offset by my cockiness. I was ruthlessly and utterly exploited and definitely<i>not</i>raped. Old One was a maneater, and I, a featherless biped, naked as Diogenes¡¯ plucked chicken, was but a man.

    Our little interlude ended with me having suffered a loss. Or a win, if being fully satisfied was a winning condition. And for the three of us afterwards, an enjoyable nap together.

    Some timeter when we woke, it was back to the grind.

    Thanks to the numerous small bones avable to me, ones from arge and plump roon being the sturdiest and most useful, I had created a pair of bone and stone weapons for Diana that I felt best suited her. I happened to love period pieces of Eastern cinema, as well as a certain genre of video game that told the story of an Western assassin. For Diana, being a drop-goblin who liked to jump on her prey and stab it to death, I felt this would be the perfectbination of force and utility.

    One was a Tekkou-kagi, the other was a Katar.

    The Tekkou-kagi, often known as the Iron w, was unfortunately devoid of iron due to the current production capabilities of the tribe. So, I did the next best thing. Long curving rib bones were used from a roon, and with Pepper¡¯s help, sewn to the outside of a piece of animal skin acting as a sort of gauntlet. They were sharpened, and the backs of the bones were given a sharpened serrated coating of stone so she could inflict damage with both a forehand wing and a backhand shing motion.

    The Katar was made from a few long thin t bones, and sharpened to the best of my ability on some stonepacted dirt doubling as a whetstone. Unlike the w, there was no curvature in what was the bone de. It was tightly sewn to another piece of animal skin in three ces to give it the most stability, and I had made a t grip of bone, puncturing some of the w nails through it and fastening it at the base with a thinyer of stone. This would allow Diana to grip her fingers around it when punching with the de, but at the same time allow her to release her grip and let the nails offer some purchase when climbing a tree, acting as a bnce to the w which she could use to fully dig into something like a tree trunk so she could dangle herself safely while waiting for the moment to drop.

    Now, the skin of the roon was, save for the stomach, impably removed. Old One had actually done that work, and I had gained quite a bit of respect for her because of it. The size of the skin was on par with that of my daughter ce, so while not admitting that I think children in cosy costumes are the most adorable thing in the world, a roon suit was made.

    Well, less of a suit and more of a hooded cloak, I guess?

    Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t think of a weapon design for Prima, and decided that I wanted to make it with her, instead of for her. I felt like if we made it together, it would be more meaningful. That, and she could better tell me what parts of the design she liked and it could be the weapon that would show my sincerity and make up for my failure to make her belly fat.

    There was plenty of leftover animal skin, and as Old One had a supply of rope handy, I made a few belts with pouches that could be attached so that my girls could carry some supplies into the forest, or if they found something interesting, they could bring it home more easily. Up until this point, I had only ever seen Berry use anything like a sash with pockets, for storing her poisonous berries used to hunt small creatures like rabbits or squirrels. I felt this was something being sorely underutilized, and wanted to capitalize on it.

    All of my daughters paid a visit to me when the work was done.

    I spent some time showing Diana how to wear and use each of the weapons, though I hadn¡¯te up with any fancy name for either. I felt like that was her privilege to do.

    For Orchid and Lc, they now had durable animal skin holsters for their weapons, which honestly, I¡¯m d there is no child protective services around to call me a bad parent for allowing them to have. But, provided a parent teaches their child to respect dangerous weaponry, education is the best tool and deterrent for making bad mistakes with using them.

    For ce, she allowed me to put on what would be a sign of her status as the Bloodmaw¡¯s new Shaman. The Racoon Mantle. The face of the racoon rested on top of her tiny head perfectly like a hoodie. The skin draped around her back like a cloak, and with a loop and sp added on each pair of paws, they hooked around the front of her body and doubled as a small bra and with the tailing up and around her front from behind, also a pair of panties.

    Since Button was ce¡¯s big sister¨Ca role she fully embraced¨CI showed her how to hook and unhook the paws and tail so ce could go to the shit-pit without getting her new clothes dirty, but ce wasn¡¯t stupid. She simply tugged the tail aside and peed on my foot.

    Ah, what a brat!

    For Button, she got the most out of the rope belt and pouches. That, and the tribe¡¯s first backpack. Or front-pack. She seemed to like wearing it that way. It would be that when not busy doing things for ce, she found some kind of job transporting things around goblin-home with it.

    Incidentally, ce fit inside of the front pack, but Button wasn¡¯t strong enough to support carrying her like that just yet. I imagine that might change in the future. Thebination of ce and Button reminded me of a certain pairing from a dystopian post-apocalyptic movie from thend down-under in my previous life as well.

    It wouldn¡¯t take long for the outfitting of my children to spark a myriad of changes in the tribe.

    But for now, I had made all my little girls happy, and had gained clearance to see Prima, who had ovee her Blood Fury.

    I did have to pay for Pepper¡¯s help with all of this. She wanted a fish-bath in her room. So, I ended up making her one. It wasn¡¯t an aquarium, just a ce to keep fish alive a bit longer after she caught them, so she could bezy and not have to go out to the stream every day.

    Lazy goblin.

    I want to do it with her and Jewel at the same time.

    Right, Prima!

    Well, before I could go see her at her cave-hole, I was apprehended by Ste, who was her new cavern-mate across the way, having taken Vera¡¯s old cave-hole as her own.

    ¡°Ark. We need to talk.¡±

    No further goblinization had taken ce with Ste. She was still the most human looking goblin. She led me into her room and I noticed it was still quite empty, save for a neatly woven straw bed, and a bow and quiver stocked with arrows leaning against the wall nearby.

    ¡°I¡¯ve decided I will let you make it up to me. If I¡¯m going to be a part of this tribe, and another of your wives, hating you forever will be counterproductive. So, I want to be taken care of.<i>Well</i>taken care of. You barely have muscles, you don¡¯t have any gold, and you are far from my ideal man. But, you can give me a better life than this. I didn¡¯t take that room because I don¡¯t want to be reminded of what I once was. But, and I¡¯ve seen Jewel¡¯s room, you can make me the envy of your other wives. Of the entire tribe. And of course you won¡¯t forget to take excellent care of our child, which you absolutely had to put inside of me.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    She wanted to livevishly andfortably in exchange for allowing me to be alleviated of my guilt in raping her, and possibly having transformed her into a goblin, not to mention knocking her up?

    She also threw her arms around my neck and forced a not so terrible and bloody kiss onto me this time.

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for all of this for free. You cane here when you tire of your other wives and I¡¯ll give you all the things you can¡¯t get from them. Like it or not, they are goblins, Ark. I might no longer be a human, but you are. There wille times when you want to be reminded of that, and not while feeling miserable by yourself next to your half-mute sweetheart who can¡¯t help but be a busybody.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk down about Vera.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not doing any such thing. I¡¯m simply pointing out a fact. Why, we¡¯re quite friendly with each other. She oftenes to visit me and listen to me talk all about you before we wound up here. Anyway, that¡¯s my offer to you. It¡¯s up to you to take it or leave it.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    I caved rather easily, but that¡¯s because I have not coped with the guilt well. I don¡¯t know what exactly she expects me to be able to give her, but if it¡¯s something I can, I will. Atonement is a long process, and maybe there wille a way to undo her change.

    But for now, her business with me concluded. I proceeded to leave her cave-hole, and walk the few steps I would need to in order to meet with Prima, my main wife, once more.

    Prima was already the tallest goblin in the cave, though still shorter than I was. She was also the most physically fit. What I saw when I entered her cave-hole, was a goblin that, to borrow from the Old One¡­ was<b>more.</b>

    ¡°Hello, Prima.¡±

    Prima had grown, physically, and not a small amount. She was taller, and more muscr. Her skin which was a light green now had a bit of a darker hue to it, but she was no less beautiful.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    ¡°Are you feeling alright? Old One¡­ exined things to me.¡±

    She stood up, and now equaled me in height. If I thought I might have ever stood a chance against her before physically, I no longer believed so anymore.

    ¡°I¡¯ve gone through the Blood Fury. I¡¯m¡­ no longer the same goblin I was.¡±

    The most profound change to me, was that she spoke naturally, with no broken words.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad thing, is it?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Another profound change was her stomach, which was swollen further, but not at full term. Following where my eyes were looking, she rubbed a hand along her belly in a circr motion.

    ¡°I can feel it. I wasn¡¯t the only one to change along with it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±

    ¡°Are you afraid of me now?¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°Not at all. You¡¯re still my first-seed. You will always be my first-seed.¡±

    ¡°Ark, if Vera, ce, and Diana hadn¡¯t stopped me¡­ I might have eaten you. When I bit you, I felt something take over my mind and body, I wanted¡­¡±

    I moved towards Prima, embracing her.

    ¡°If it was you, then it would have been fine. But only you.¡±

    Sharing an intimate exchange with Prima, who had difficulty being honest with her feelings, I changed the subject to one she might prefer talking about.

    ¡°I finished making Diana her weapons, and even made a few things for my other daughters. But thest thing that remains is to make your grand weapon. So, I thought I would, you know, since you underwent a change, see if you¡¯d like to make it together with me?¡±

    ¡°Ark¡­ why do I smell Old One on you?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ that¡¯s¡­¡±

    Prima grinned.

    ¡°Seems like our tribe will continue to grow.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d like nothing more than to continue being a part of that.¡±

    ¡°Do you have your Topaz stone with you?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°Want to go on a hunt with me?¡±

    ¡°Oh, am I allowed to go past the trees now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make an exception today. You will have to watch how I hunt if you want to make me the best weapon. I won¡¯t lose to Diana.¡±

    I grinned in response.

    ¡°Even if she surpasses you, only you will be my Guardian.¡±

    Prima grabbed her spear off the wall of weapons I had made for her and nodded with her head to follow.

    ¡°Did you know there is something more dangerous in the forest than the ck-ws?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called the Honking Death by us, but the Great Protector said it is a creature from beyond the stars known by another name. GUU¡¯Z.¡±

    ¡°...Goose?¡±

    Prima nodded.

    ¡°Funny you should say that. There is a saying I once heard that a tribe of warriors beyond the stars would say before fighting something that sounds like certain death.¡±

    I grabbed a long dagger from her wall of weapons and twirled it in my hand. One can never be too armed against the universe¡¯s most terrifying creature.

    ¡°Today¡­ is a good day to die.¡±

    For as long as I continue to draw breath, my precious family will continue growing, and thriving, and bing... <strong>MORE.</strong>

    I am Ark Wyze. Reincarnator. Second circle magician. Father to the next generation of Bloodmaw strong-ones, and the one and only Husband... of the Goblin Tribe.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    This marks the official end of Volume One. Thank you very much for choosing to read this novel, and I hope you will continue to read the future exploits and intriguesing in the next. The story of the Bloodmaws has only just begun...

 Promotional Advertisement â€“ Porter of the Kobold Tribe

    Promotional Advertisement ¨C Porter of the Kobold Tribe

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Hello folks! This is your seriously degenerate author here to shamelessly seek some feedback and opinions on a novel idea I had which would be set in the same world as Husband of the Goblin Tribe. It would focus around a party of six thirsty, klutzy, and absolutely irresponsible (dragon-kin style) Kobolds who are aiming to be famous adventurers, and one Human who they hire to deal with their <em>baggage</em>, and in more ways than one. Obviously this is an unpolished introductory sample chapter, and there is no smut present at the moment. But, I fully intend to rectify that once I canmit to writing this story out further, <em>after</em>pleting volume 2 of HotGT. If you don''t want to leave ament, but think it''s a fun idea to run with, could you possibly leave a favorite instead? I figure it''s easier to do that than set up a poll. Anyway, on with the shameless promotion!

    <b>Porter of the Kobold Party</b>

    <strong>Chapter One</strong>

    <strong>In which it was definitely the fault of the luggage being too heavy, and not the fault of the Kobold having to carry it.</strong>

    ¡°Nymfi! What we do now?¡± Trixie, the chromatic-ck Kobold and party¡¯s Trickster asked their leader.

    ¡°We get porter to carry luggage for us. We not lose because we weak Kobolds. I know we strong! But, because luggage heavy, we no move fast and sneaky like Kobold should. That why we lose to goblins this time.¡± Nymfi the chromatic-white Dragoon exined.

    ¡°Make sense.¡± Added the chromatic-green Silky, resident Alchemist who was slotting potion vials into her bandoleer.

    ¡°Who we get to carry luggage? Gnome not want to bring grumpy Dwarf along!¡± Gnome, the chromatic-blue Artificer of the group, felt the need to throw in her two copper shinies about who not to pick.

    ¡°How about Humie?¡± Boggie, the Dragonfist Brawler and the only non-chromatic metallic-gold Kobold suggested.

    ¡°Humie? Hmm¡­ Tall, handsome, and many muscles not bad to travel with. Not mind let carry things.¡± Mandy, the chromatic-red Warlock in the group, felt that Boggie¡¯s suggestion had merit. It would be much more enjoyable to travel with a good looking Humie than an ugly, noisy, smelly, Dwarf.

    Nymfi was quick to jump on the bandwagon once Mandy had gotten a bit descriptive with the type of human she wanted.

    ¡°Trixie, Silky, Gnome¡­ also okay with Humie?¡±

    The three of them looked at each other and nodded, bringing the total number of Kobolds in agreement to six. Which conveniently was also how many Kobolds there were present.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go back to nest, and I go to Adventurer Guild and find Humie to carry luggage.¡±

    The six Kobolds, a fledgling party carrying the much undeserved party name<i>Breath of Fire</i>, had left the ins where they had escaped to safety from the forest that was home to the goblins they were supposed to have subjugated, and headed back to the nearby town of Thorn.

    Kobolds, being distant cousins of dragon-kind, were considered to be one of the sentient races, and were generally not shunned as adventurers, though not nearly as in demand as actual Dragonkin, theirrger cousins, were. Usually only the sneakiest of Kobolds lucked themselves into a good party. But luck was a skill appreciated by Kobolds¡­ almost as much as being sneaky.

    Though not a single one of these six kobolds would ever admit it, they allcked the ability to take both responsibility and ountability for their actions. Instead, if me could be ced on <i>anything</i>else for their shorings or failures, it would be. Which was exactly why they hade to the conclusion that they couldn¡¯t possibly be at fault for losing to the small party of goblins encountered today. It was definitely because the goblins<i>weren¡¯t</i>carrying backpacks, while the kobold party<i>were</i>.

    Each of the Kobolds hailed from a different tribe, and had also belonged to other parties at one point. Due to circumstances that they were in no way responsible for, each of them had coincidentally been med and kicked out of their respective parties for said circumstances with no room for rebuttal or escuses. So, while searching for a new party to join, the six of them, all party-less at the same time, eventually realized they could just make their own party. A Kobold party, where they could all be on the same page; in that the other parties they had been a part of were just specist, and that there was no way that a clever Kobold could be at fault for anything.

    Kobolds were self-admittedly part dragon, and fiercely proud of their heritage, however tiny and distant it was. Dragons were known far and wide as the strongest and smartest creatures around. Therefore, if a Kobold were to be at fault for something, wouldn¡¯t they, as a smart dragon-kin, be the first to know? The logic was as solid as a perfectly packed sand cube. Absolutely incontestable!

    The Kobold party returned to their small shared nest and took a break, while Nymfi took it upon herself to report in to the Adventurer''s Guild about theirtest round of bad luck. Entering the Guildhall, Nymfi went up to the receptionist, who greeted her with a smile. It was a Lagosian, one of the Beastkin who had rabbit ancestry. A tall and extremely lewd body with ridiculously oversized milkies that would get in the way, Nymfi was in no way jealous of her, because she wasn¡¯t even an adventurer. She just handled the paperwork.

    ¡°Hello Nymfi, did the goblin subjugation go well?¡±

    Nymfi shifted a bit ufortably, eventually leaning back on her tail for support.

    ¡°No. Sneaky goblins move too quick to catch. All because they not have to carry anything but loincloths and light weapons, while Kobolds had to carry heavy backpacks along with heavy weapons.¡±

    The Lagosian receptionist covered her mouth when speaking next.

    ¡°I¡­ see¡­ um¡­ so¡­<i>kuku~¡­</i>how can I¡­ help you¡­?¡±

    The receptionist was shaking, her other hand holding her stomach. She was most likely inplete and total fear of how powerful Nymfi was. It made Nymfi feel superior knowing that. It certainly wasn''t because the long-ears was trying to hide herughter.

    ¡°Talk with party. Decide together that Kobolds want to hire Humie porter to carry things so not move slow.¡±

    ¡°You¡­<i>pfft</i>¡­ want to hire a¡­ Human porter¡­ to carry your bags?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Also, want Humie be tall, handsome, and have many muscles.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ oh my! Such specific criteria¡­ why¡­ I do think¡­ we might even have one¡­ in stock.¡±

    The Lagosian receptionist leveled a trembling finger towards the rear of the Guildhall, where Nymfi saw a soft-skinned human with ck top-hair sitting at a table drinking.

    ¡°That Humie?¡±

    When Nymfi looked back, the Lagosian was no longer trembling.

    ¡°His name is Cobi. From what I understand, he¡¯s one of the best porters around. Why, I¡¯m certain if you had him carry your stuff, there is no way you would run into any problems.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Kobolds also think so. Why we want one in first ce. Nymfi go talk with Humie now.¡±

    A single silver coin was ced on the counter in front of the receptionist. Nymfi was aware that it was a good practice to give shinies to the tall ones who help Kobolds. It kept things running smoothly, and no Kobold ever wants to be caught up in bad bureaucracy. They were dragonkin too, and any kin with dragon blood in their veins knew there was no such thing as good bureaucracy in the first ce. In fact, Bureaucracy was created to keep the non-dragon races from getting ahead in the first ce.

    Any Kobold worth their name would have many shinies on hand to take care of such trivialities.

    Walking over to the far end of the Guildhall, Nymfi approached the Human who raised an eyebrow as he drank from his mug.

    ¡°Humie want carry things?¡±

    The mug slowly descended from his lips to rest on the table, the human giving Nymfi a non-threatening stare the entire while.

    ¡°Are you looking to hire a porter, Miss¡­ Kobold?¡±

    The first thing Nymfi noticed about the human as he spoke was that his voice had a pleasant tone to it. Absolutely nothing like those noisy Dwarves who drank too much and made fun of Kobold craftsmanship every chance they got.

    ¡°Yes. Humie carry things and Nymfi give shinies. Not only Nymfi things. All Kobold things.¡±

    ¡°I... see. You wouldn¡¯t happen to be part of the <i>Breath of Fire</i>party, would you?¡±

    Nymfi¡¯s tail slid back and forth on the ground, subconsciously reacting to the human very clearly recognizing her party¡¯s famous name, which has most certainly been spread far and wide in every direction by now.

    ¡°Nymfi is party leader.¡± She said proudly.

    The human stuck out his long arm with a wless open palm in front of Nymfi.

    ¡°Pleased to meet you. Do you shake hands? I¡¯m Cobi. I¡¯m not much of an adventurer, but when ites to carrying things, I can say with confidence that there hasn¡¯t yet been a full bag I couldn¡¯t lift. I¡¯ll take the job, provided the shinies are enough.¡±

    Nymfi nodded. The human was confident, and even had a name that sounded pretty close to Kobold. Maybe it was the will of the Divine Clutch-Mother that this meeting had happened so quickly. Nymfi took out a small pouch and extracted two gold coins.

    ¡°How long carry things for this many shinies?¡±

    Money was more of an abstract concept for Nymfi and the other Kobolds. Almost all of them came from well established ns who served dragons withrge hoards of treasure. As such, they were entirely unaware of how valuable a single gold coin actually was. They just assumed that it was one of the shinier of shinies, and putting one out on the table while negotiating, usually got them the better end of the deal.

    There wasn¡¯t a merchant alive in the town of Thorn that was remotely willing to correct them, either.

    ¡°Hmm. How about we do a trial run first?¡±

    ¡°What Humie mean by trial run?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll carry all your things, and you can decide if I¡¯m only worth this many of your shinies, or if I¡¯m worth more. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s fair?¡±

    Nymfi agreed.

    ¡°Sound fair. Not go on adventure today, just get back. Maybe tomorrow. Humiee to ce where party nest and meet other Kobolds?¡±

    ¡°Sure, it¡¯ll also be good to see exactly what it is you want me to carry.¡±

    So far, things were looking bright for the Kobold party¡¯s future. Not being bogged down by heavy backpacks meant they would for sure be able to focus on adventuring properly!

    The human took the two gold coins and slid them into a hidden pocket in his vest. Then he stood up and Nymfi was surprised to see how the human was easily two feet taller than she was.

    ¡°Humie tall!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only six feet.¡±

    ¡°Six feet? Nymfi only count two feet.¡±

    That elicited a chuckle from Cobi.

    ¡°It¡¯s not important. Being tall just means there¡¯s more space for me to carry things.¡±

    Nymfi could not refute his words which made perfect sense to her. Yes, this human might be a real bargain for the Kobold party. As well as having silky looking ck top-hair, the human also had a skin coloring closer to a metallic-bronze than the usual pale-pink, at least where his skin showed. Metallics tended to be a bit less sneaky than chromatics, though no less greedy for shinies. Having a Human that wasn¡¯t sneaky might very well be to their benefit. Plus, it would make Boggie feel much happier having someone simr to her, since the rest of the Kobolds were all chromatic in color, and not metallic.

    ¡°Humie follow. ce where Kobolds nest is close by.¡±

    The two left the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and ventured through the town a short distance until they reached what Cobi saw only as an old dpidated house. Entering their so-called next, there were five other Kobolds inside, allzing about on piles of hay and straw. Heads perked up once the door closed behind them.

    ¡°Oh, Nymfi back!¡±

    ¡°Nymfi bring Humie?¡±

    ¡°Kuoh! Humie tall!¡±

    ¡°Humie have many muscles?¡±

    To Cobi, the Kobolds present resembled more a collection of stray cats than a clutch of self-professed dragon-kin. Nymfi stood tall and introduced their newest acquistion.

    ¡°This Humie Cobi. Carry Kobold things for shinies. Humie, this rest of Kobold party. Nymfi introduce everybody. Start with Trixie Trixter.¡±

    The ck-chromatic Kobold lifted her tail in the air and swished it around in greeting.

    ¡°Then have Silky. She Alchemist and Songhealer.¡±

    ¡°No worry, Humie. Silky potions heal lots!¡±

    All of the girls nodded at that. They had been saved many times from bad injuries thanks to their green-chromatic friend¡¯s potions.

    ¡°Next is Mandy. Best fire Warlock ever meet.¡±

    A small ball of me was conjured in her open chromatic-red wed hand, and then quickly snuffed out when it closed.

    ¡°Then Gnome, she Artificer and also in charge of fixing Kobold weapons when break.¡±

    Azy chromatic-blue arm half-covered in a gauntlet waved slightly from atop a pile of straw.

    ¡°Last is Boggie. She Dragonfist Brawler.¡±

    The Metallic-gold Kobold was sitting up in a cross-legged position.

    ¡°Humie know how to fight?¡±

    Cobi just shook his head.

    ¡°I¡¯m not much of a fighter, I¡¯m afraid. My job is mainly to carry things, though I can make things quite easy for you all because of that. I can also do a little cooking and a few other things here and there.¡±

    ¡°Humie not need listen to Boggie. She like fighting too much. Even punch and kick things when asleep.¡± Trixie spoke while her tail pped the pile of straw she was curled up on.

    ¡°Not matter if Humie not fight. Only care Humie carry things! We strong enough protect Humie.¡±

    Nymfi was quick to shut down any potential bickering. Once the others were quiet again, she introduced herself as well.

    ¡°I Nymfi. Party leader and Dragoon.¡±

    Cobi was fairly impressed. The party was well-bnced. He could certainly remember a time when he was in a mostly all-magician party with a single knight acting as a tank. What a disaster that party was¡­ once the knight had been disabled during a particrly nasty fight with a chimera.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you all. I am Cobi. May I inquire as to what exactly I will be carrying?¡±

    Six fairly standard medium sized backpacks were all quickly revealed by each of the Kobolds.

    ¡°Hmm. May I inspect the bags?¡±

    The Kobolds agreed to let him, and Cobi went around hefting each backpack and taking a peek inside. To his discerning eye, all he could see inside each of them was junk. But, as he was being hired to carry things for this party, he assumed these things must have had some practical use for these Kobolds, otherwise they could just be left behind.

    It certainly<i>wasn¡¯t</i>in the nature of a dragon-kin to<i>carry their entire hoard</i>around with them wherever they went. No, nothing as<i>foolish as that</i>could<i>possibly</i>be the reason the Kobold party was slowed down by the weight of their luggage.

    Regardless, Cobi was an expert at handling luggage, and would be sure to keep an itemized inventory on hand, since it would be vastly inefficient to carry six separate backpacks. Instead, Cobi had a special backpack of his own meant for absolute organization and efficiency in carrying and transporting goods.

    But, just for good measure, he scooped up all of the bags and lifted them three to an arm with incredible ease, thus causing all of the female Kobolds to be wildly impressed.

    ¡°Humie Strong!¡±

    ¡°How can lift Gnome backpack so easy?¡±

    ¡°Can Humie lift me next?¡±

    ¡°Want to feel Humie¡¯s many muscles!¡±

    ¡°Hear Humies have front tail? Is it true?¡±

    Of course, at no point would any of these female Kobolds ever admit that they were sexually starved and therefore ridiculously thirsty for a cross-specied good time. It was clearly the Human''s fault, seducing them with his tall body, handsome face, and amazing muscle strength.

    Returning the packs to each one of the Kobolds, already having memorized which one belonged to who, Cobi informed Nymfi that he needed to make arrangements to carry everything, and would returnter in the afternoon.

    The six Kobolds took the time to rest and mend from theirtest loss, looking forward to adventuring with the Human, while Cobi, after leaving the dpidated house that the Kobolds upied, returned immediately to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to speak with Vi, the Lagosian receptionist who sent the Kobold his way.

    ¡°Kobolds?¡±

    ¡°You said you wanted an easy job.¡±

    Cobi sighed.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the truth. Well, I guess I can¡¯tin, they already paid upfront. Just promise me one thing, Vi. No quests going to the Dark Forest.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, I know. None of us have forgotten about that massacre, or the warning you said you received from the being that called itself The Great Protector.¡±

    Cobi saw himself out and went back to the low-budget inn he was staying at just down the street. In the far corner of his room on the second floor was his trusty magical pack, and the secret to why he was considered one of the best porters around.

    Slipping it on and taking a deep breath, he exhaled once more the words that had been his mantra of life.

    ¡°A job¡­ is a job.¡±

    Then he left the inn, began shopping around for supplies, and eventually made his way back to the Kobold party, who were now his newest employers, even if they seemed to be a bit too... eager to have him.

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Melon, a gourmet goblin.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Melon, a gourmet goblin.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Volume Two will pick up a few months after Volume One. That being the case, Ark has had a number of new goblin daughters arrive into the world during this interim of time. While not every single new daughter will be covered in depth, a few noteworthy ones most certainly will.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Melon **~~</strong>

    ¡°HaABEe!¡±

    The first word I can recall saying is Hubby. I had intended to call him Husband at first, since Pear and everyone else also called him Husband. But he seemed intent on wanting me to call him<i>Daddy</i>. I wound up getting confused and calling him Hubby, but my reward for speaking at all was to get picked up and squished into a warm hug by him before he put his mouth on my belly and blew on it, making sounds that tickled me and made me giggle, so, I assumed it was him telling me that it was fine to call him that from now on.

    I hadn¡¯te into the world for very long and I was already feeling tired,zy, and hungry all at the same time. But I was certain of one thing already¡­ these two goblins knew how to live it up!

    We¡¯d bezy and nap together, with me in the middle, nice and warm after having eaten a lot of food and drank a lot of Pear''s milkies together with Hubby. Then I¡¯d be carried to the smelly room called the shit-pit since that¡¯s where that stuff went, and then we¡¯d go back to my cave-hole where Hubby and Pear would y games with me. Pear liked ying Strike, while Hubby taught me games like checkers and four-color! (It was a game where we had to make a line of four colors that matched.) Hubby was pretty good at it, but I was better!

    I also got to meet plenty of other goblins as well. Adult goblins like Berry who hunted for tasty berries, Old One who poked me all over my body a whole bunch and called me a fat andzy strong-one, Ivory who brought me a bone charm that I liked very much. Then smaller goblins visited, like Diana Artemis, my eldest sister, who said I wasn¡¯t going to be much of a hunter. Orchid and Lc who said I should try fire-meat and see if I like it (which I did). Button who spoke for my youngest older sister ce who didn¡¯t talk at all herself, but who said through Button that I should learn a special skill from Hubby called <i>cooking</i>since she felt I had a talent for it.

    I didn¡¯t know what a talent was, but the thing called<i>cooking</i>had to do with making and eating tasty food, and that was something I was sure I was going to be good at doing. It wasn¡¯t long before Hubby stopped staying in the same cave-hole Pear and I shared, but he did continue to visit us a lot. As it turns out, He, ce, and Vera¡ªce¡¯s maker goblin¡ªwere digging a cave-hole right next to this one to turn into a<i>kit-chin,</i>which was supposed to be a special cave-hole I would be using in order to make all kinds of tasty food, so I was looking forward to it being finished!

    ce would visit my cave-hole often, to join me when it was time for drinking milkies from Pear. She tried to teach me something called Magic, but I wasn¡¯t able to do the things she could do. I did figure it out, but only enough to activate something called a Rune. However, that was exactly what she wanted me to be able to do, so I was told that I did a great job.

    I was still a strong-one and not allowed to walk the whole of Goblin-home yet. I could only go to the shit-pit and Hubby¡¯s cave-hole by myself, and that was only after being escorted many times by both adult goblins and my older sisters until I was familiar with how to get there and back to my own cave-hole without getting lost.

    It seems that Button had gotten lost once before I came into the world, and it made many goblins worried.

    It wasn¡¯t too long after the<i>kit-chin</i>was finallypleted that I became a big sister myself. An adult goblin named Toy had made two strong-ones at the same time, my sisters Game and Fun. They were also like me, goblins who weren¡¯t considered to be strong as hunters or casters of magic, so they would be makers, instead.

    I was told that as far as us younger sisters went, Diana was in charge of any goblins who would be hunters, ce was in charge of any goblins who would be casters¡ªgoblins who used magic to hunt, and I would be in charge of any goblins who would be makers. At first I didn¡¯t understand why that was important, but I was told that there were going to be many many more sistersing into the world from now on, and that they needed someone to look up to who understood what they were good at, and what they weren¡¯t.

    I also began to learn a bunch of things all at once shortly after those two came into the world.

    Pear would take me to visit Old One who lived in the back of Goblin-home and she taught me all about what it meant to be a Bloodmaw Goblin. I was often joined by Game and Fun since they lived in a cave-hole close by to Old One. Turns out Hubby had a really important job in the tribe. He was responsible for helping to make strong-ones with all the adult goblins, which meant that he was responsible for making me all my sisters. Eventually we would be old enough to make our own strong-ones and when that happened, Hubby would be the one to help us with that as well.

    I had seen Hubby and Pear do the thing that makes strong-ones when they thought I was asleep, and I have to say, Pear seemed to enjoy it a whole bunch. Especially the part that came after when sheid down and Hubbyid next to her and fed her lots of fruits and rubbed her milkies and squished her belly.

    I asked Pear about making strong-ones and she said it would take a few moons before she could make another strong-onee into the world, so I would have to wait a while for another sister to be made by her. That was okay, since I had plenty of other sisters made by other adult goblins, like Game and Fun to keep me upied until it was my turn to make strong-ones with Hubby.

    Lessons with Hubby were also some of the most fun I could possibly have since they involved making and eating tasty food. Hubby had given me a special thing called a<i>vernir knife</i>. It wasn¡¯t meant for hunting with, though. He said it was going to be one of the most important tools I would need for learning how to cook.

    And he was right.

    Near the front of Goblinhome was a cave-hole that was kept cold. Vera was in charge of it. Before Vera learned how to use picture-magic from Hubby, food which came from hunted beasties didn¡¯tst too long and had to be eaten quickly. Now it could be kept longer, which meant that hunting didn¡¯t have to happen every single day.

    I was brought there by Hubby, and three other goblins were waiting for us when we arrived. Vera, Pepper, and Orchid. Vera melted the cold hard water called ice that the beasties were kept in so it could be removed and dismantled. Pepper and Orchid showed me how to separate the skin and fur from the meat, and then the meat from the bones. There was no part of the beastie that didn¡¯t have a use.

    The skins and furs would be made into things like loincloths, pillows, nkets, and whatever else Hubby might think up that went over well with the tribe by Pepper. Bones were almost exclusively traded to Ivory, who would make things out of them (like my bone charm) in exchange for bloody meat. And the meat¡­ well, that was the most important part.

    What Hubby was trying to teach me about butchering the meat of a beastie was something called the<i>cuts</i>. He admitted to not knowing enough to be an expert on it, but that meat from the different parts, such as legs, or the ribs, had different ways of being prepared and had different tastes and textures that came with them. I also didn¡¯t understand what he meant at first by that, and neither did any of the other goblins who were present and helping, but it wasn¡¯t long before I<i>did.</i>

    I can¡¯t exin how it happened, but while Hubby and I were testing out cooking various pieces of meat I had cut up using the<i>vernir knife</i>on the magic hot stone in the<i>kit-chin</i>, I tried samples of some and began to understand how each piece tasted and how it could taste better depending on how it was turned into fire-meat.

    It wasn¡¯t just fire-meat that I learned how to<i>cook</i>. I learned how to make things called<i>desserts</i>as well. How to mash big tree-fruits into a pulp and serve it next to meat on the same te. How to ferment things to make stuff like<i>sauces</i>and<i>condy-mints</i>. There was a particr one that was made from a juicy red vine-fruit which went extremely well with hamburgers. ce was so happy to have it that she had Pepper make me a special loincloth called an Apron to wear so I wouldn¡¯t get burned while<i>cooking</i>.

    Old One hade to visit one day, wanting to eat something that was not fire-meat. Hubby was with me in the<i>kit-chin</i>and decided he wanted to fool her a bit. He showed me how to make something called a<i>pate</i>which was from a food he liked to eat called a<i>bon-me</i>. It was finely chopped meat and liver mixed with onion and even had some<i>blue water</i>added to it before it was very lightly<i>cooked</i>on low heat using the special magic hot stone which was made by Vera and had all sorts of picture-magic Runes drawn into it.

    When it came out, it was served with some of the applesauce desert on the same te and, with the pate meat looking pink in color, it was enough to fool Old One who said it was some of the easiest to eat bloody meat she had ever tasted. From that day on, she woulde in from time to time to have the same thing, telling me never to get too serious about learning Human fire-meat cooking, and to keep thinking of all the goblins who preferred the taste of bloody-meat.

    I now know what Button meant by always saying that Hubby was a tricky one.

    There was no way I could ever tell Old One that what she had been stopping in to eat was in fact, fire-meat.

    I didn¡¯t spend all my time in the<i>kit-chin</i>. Hubby would take me outside to the yground, where there were swings he would push me and my sisters on, and adder I could climb that went into some kind of wooden cave-hole that led to a thing called a slide that brought you from up high to the ground really fast and in a fun way!

    My older sisters were quite busy doing all sorts of things, like hunting, so the sisters I did y with were mostly Game and Fun. They lived with Toy and helped make new games for the Bloodmaw to y. They stopped by once in a while to eat<i>fruit sd</i>with<i>nuts</i>, saying that it was good food for helping them think of new games to make.

    That¡¯s when Game had a good idea and a few dayster had brought Hubby in and the part of the cave-hole where people sat and ate food underwent a huge change. Many many tables were made and each of them had a ce on the top for a game board to be iid in and yed on (along with pieces!).

    My<i>kit-chin</i>had now be a ce that goblins wanted to stop in at for eating, drinking<i>blue water</i>, or ying a rxing game or two with another goblin. Some goblins brought in bloody meat they didn¡¯t care to have made into anything, and others brought their meat for me to make it into something tastier. They¡¯d y chess, or checkers, or color-four, or whatever new games Toy, Game, and Fun happened to make that were interesting and enjoyable.

    As things started to fall into ce for me, that was when I became an older sister once again...

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Figurine, a goblin who moves to her own beat.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Figurine, a goblin who moves to her own beat.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Figurine **~~</strong>

    <strong>Tap, tap, step.</strong>

    <strong>Tap, tap, step.</strong>

    <strong>Touch, touch, lift.</strong>

    <strong>Lick, lick, bite.</strong>

    <strong>Chew, chew, swallow.</strong>

    It was not lost on me that the many other ones simr to me who were gathered around were observing me closely. I felt no danger from any of them, I could even tell immediately which one of them was my maker, and I could tell that the one who looked least like any of the others was also important in some way¡­ but aside from that, I couldn¡¯t care less about any of the others.

    I felt the desire within me to eat the soft bloody thing attached to me, and after that, I felt the need to climb onto my Maker and follow the scent to the round things attached to her body and drink from them. I didn¡¯t know why I needed to do this, only that I needed to do this. There was something behind the ce I could see out from, telling me to do these things, and I listened.

    The problem was theck of what usually went with<i>it.</i>

    It was something intimate that I understood was missing from me now that I hade into the world, but for some reason couldn¡¯t remember clearly what exactly it was. Something which was once constantly in motion with me, both silent and loud. An ever-present apaniment which gave me peace that was now missing from my being. I wanted nothing more than to have it back, but I didn¡¯t know how tomunicate with any of these others who were here to exin it. I could only listen to that ce behind where I could see and continue what I was doing.

    <strong>Squeeze, squeeze, suck.</strong>

    <strong>Squeeze, squeeze, suck.</strong>

    <strong>Suck, suck, swallow.</strong>

    The only time I could find peace from that ce behind where I saw things, was when I was asleep. But it wasn¡¯t my maker who helped me find it. It was the strange tall one who looked different from the others. The one who pointed at itself and said <i>daddy</i>.

    I climbed onto that one and put my ear next to the t and empty milkie they had and listened.

    <strong>Thum-thump. Thum-thump. Thum-thump.</strong>

    Yes, whatever sound that it was making was fine with me. As long as the sound remained steady, I felt rxed¡­

    <strong>~~** ??? **~~</strong>

    ¡°Something strange strong-one¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with Figurine. She just has her own way of doing things.¡±

    ¡°No. Strange! Touch ground twice before step. Always same, never change. Touch thing twice before hold. Lick food twice before eat! Strange! Strong-one have curse!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a curse. Humans have things like that sometimes¡­ it¡¯s called a neurosis... uh¡­ extra-think. It¡¯s a feeling she has deep inside her head that tells her she has to do something in a certain way. It won¡¯t prevent her from doing anything important, it¡¯s just how her head tells her to do that something in the first ce. Vera has something simr¡­¡±

    ¡°Same Vera?¡±

    ¡°In a way, but I don¡¯t think it will affect her learning how to speak gob or talking with the others. She can probably even learn to hunt or do magic if she has the desire to. Usually, humans who have this kind of thing have something they can do far better than anyone else. The trick is to find out what it is¡­¡±

    ¡°Sure not cursed little-seed? Husband make strong-one with me, seed-stick stop working for days, yes?¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be the opposite? Look at ce. She came out a Runt, but she¡¯s got stronger magic than both Vera and I.¡±

    ¡°Strange Shaman no talk! What can do fix strong-one?¡±

    ¡°We just do what we can. The only thing I ask is that you don¡¯t punish her for trying to do something as best she can in her own way. With care and support from us, she might be able to take control over what makes her do that.¡±

    ¡°What if not?¡±

    ¡°Let me worry about that. No matter whates of it, she¡¯s our strong-one. I¡¯ll take care of her like I do Vera if there¡¯s no sign of her improving, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­for now, listen¡­¡±

    <strong>~~** Figurine **~~</strong>

    My maker¡¯s name is Doll. She has an important job chopping trees so that the fire in the fire-pit outside of Goblinhome doesn¡¯t go out. The tall one who looks different from all the others is also someone who made me. He has many names; Husband, Daddy, Ark¡­ But the one he seems to respond to the best when I call out to him, is<i>Dad</i>. I think he might understand me the best out of all the goblins. Doll, I think, tries, but she doesn¡¯t understand me like he does. Dad doesn¡¯t get visibly upset when I follow what the thing behind my eyes tells me to do. Dad also does it along with me sometimes to put me at ease. He even did things a little differently than I did, and it was okay because whatever it was that he did, it didn¡¯t bother the thing behind my eyes at all.

    One of my favorite games to y with Dad was called p-p-pop!

    Both he and I would sit down in front of one another, and we would p our hands against each other¡¯s. It was a game I could understand how to y easily. Sometimes the patterns Dad used were long, but he would speak words in a certain way when we would p our hands by ourselves, which made remembering how exactly we needed to p or p or even pop easy.

    My sisters, Button and Melon would show up sometimes when I was in Dad¡¯s cave-hole where he would watch me while Doll was out hunting or chopping trees, and when they saw the game he was ying with me, he also taught it to them, so we all could y together.

    <i>Goblins hunt at morning</i>

    <i>And go to sleep at night</i>

    <i>When beasties see a Bloodmaw</i>

    <i>They run away in fright!</i>

    <i>Diana hunts the ck-ws</i>

    <i>While Shaman casts her spells</i>

    <i>The one thing Husband hates the most</i>

    <i>Is when a goblin<b>smells!</b></i>

    The words he used were simple to remember and funny to repeat as our hands pped with each other.

    Anytime there was something new I needed to learn how to do, Dad would try to exin what it was and how it was supposed to be done first, then if one of my sisters was nearby, he¡¯d have them demonstrate it for me. If not, then he would demonstrate it himself before asking me to do it. Because of that, I was soon able to enter the bath and the shit-pit without being afraid at all.

    I tried learning how to hunt from Diana, Orchid, and Lc, but I wasn¡¯t very good at using any of the weapons Prima had avable to lend me for training. I tried learning how to use magic from ce and Vera, but I didn¡¯t really have the right sense of how to feel mana in my body. I even tried visiting Melon and my older sisters Game and Fun, but making things was also something I wasn¡¯t very good at¡­ I was at aplete loss as to what it was that I could do that would be useful to the Bloodmaw Tribe.

    Days passed and I slowly grew older. Around this time, Dad had visited Ivory one night and the following day, I had be an older sister when Ebony came into the world. And she came in hard. Until Ebony, only Diana Artemis and ce had given Old One a reason to be happy.

    ¡°Bone Lord!¡±

    Old One dered Ebony a very powerful strong-one, like Diana and ce, and was exceptionally pleased. So pleased, in fact, she celebrated by drinking a lot of <i>Blue Water</i>and pushed Dad down only to hop on him a whole lot, saying he wasn¡¯t so ugly today for some reason.

    But that celebratory feeling of having a strong sister joining the tribe also left me feeling afraid.

    I still hadn¡¯t found what I was good at, what use I might have, and now I was already having younger sisterse into the world who were far better than I was¡­

    I felt lost.

    I felt like I had disappointed my maker, Doll. I had disappointed my Dad¡­ and I had disappointed all of my sisters who tried to help me because I wasn¡¯t all that good at anything.

    I thought I might be abandoned for being useless and different, but that didn¡¯t happen at all.

    Dad made me a small axe and told me to join Doll in chopping down trees for now.

    When not trying to help Doll, who was a bit frustrated that I chopped slower than her but also didn¡¯t scold me for it, Button had said she wanted to spend time alone with me. That involved following her to a spot in the forest where many many mushrooms grew in a circle.

    ¡°Rine¡­ you might not be a mushroom goblin like Husband and I are, but you can appreciate the swirly-whirly.¡±

    Button was referring to the thing Dad did in the bath where he spun his finger around in a circle and made the water spin and pull downward. I also found it interesting to watch when he did that.

    ¡°Tricky Husband Ark taught me the secret of the swirly-whirly, and so I will teach it to you, because I feel like it can help you. What is important about the swirly-whirly is how you find the way to use it¡­ with the way that you are. All you need to know is that Husband and I will always believe in you.¡±

    And so, Button showed me certain ways to move and how to throw out my hands and feet to defend and attack, as a hunter without a weapon, like Button was, would.

    My days were filled with chopping trees and spinning around while throwing punches and kicks, but I couldn¡¯tpletely change what the thing behind my eyes, which I learned from Dad was called my<i>mind</i>, told me to do.

    One day after working hard at doing both, I was tired and sweaty, and wanted to take a bath before I ate something andid down to rest and bezy. I heard a strange sounding from Dad¡¯s cave-hole and rushed inside to find out what it was.

    He was sitting by himself in the space to the left of the entrance to his cave-hole. In his arms was some long thing made of wood and his fingers were passing over thin strands of rope which were making sounds that had drawn myplete attention. My feet had taken me right to his side without any dy and I could only stare at Dad in amazement.

    ¡°What is that?¡±

    Dad looked up at me and smiled.

    ¡°Called Lute. Prima let use. Make music with.¡±

    ¡°Music?¡±

    He passed his fingers over it a certain way and different kinds of sounds came out. Every single time it did, my entire body felt strange. Even the ce behind my eyes¡ªmy mind¡ªsaid that the thing I was missing, the thing that kept me from being like the others¡­ was this.

    ¡°I want to hear more music, Dad!¡±

    ¡°Okay, want teach you fun thing do music?¡±

    I nodded with the entire force my body could muster. I needed to know more about this thing called music.

    Dad stood up and began to pass his fingers over the thing he called a Lute and began to speak words that went along with the sounds while doing things with his legs.

    <i>You put your left foot in,</i>

    <i>And take your left foot out,</i>

    <i>You put your left foot in,</i>

    <i>And you shake it all about!</i>

    <i>You do the hokey-pokey,</i>

    <i>And you turn yourself around,</i>

    <i>That¡¯s what it¡¯s all about~!</i>

    Dad then stopped the sounds and pointed at me.

    ¡°Want try?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Keep making music!!¡±

    He told me the words were something called a song, and the song was called the hokey-pokey (it didn''t mean anything). What he was doing was a simple form of something called <i>dancing</i>. Dad would y the song and change the words to suit a different part of my body which I had to extend and then retract and then extend and then shake. It was veryfortable to do, and when I ran out of arms and legs to use, he would move on to weird things like my butt or my tongue or my ears¡­ I couldn¡¯t get enough of it.

    The grip my mind had on my body since I came into the world had, for the short time Dad made music, let go of the control it had over me. As long as my body moved to the music, I was¡­ free. Until, inevitably, like all other things, it came to an end.

    Iy on the floor, sweating, breathing hard, butpletely satisfied.

    ¡°Dad¡­ I think I found it.¡±

    ¡°What find?¡±

    ¡°Teach me how to make music.¡±

    Dad frowned a little when I asked him.

    ¡°Not know how teach music well. Show Figurine what know, all can do.¡±

    I knew the frown on his face was one of disappointment. Not at me, but at himself. Dad was the kind of goblin who would give anything and everything he had to make any of his strong-ones happy. He was just disappointed that music wasn¡¯t something he was good enough at to teach reliably. Just like how using weapons to hunt wasn¡¯t something I was good enough at to learn reliably. However, even knowing a little bit of how to make music was more important than anything else to me.

    We took a bath together after the music ended and Dad began to examine my body closely, especially my arms and legs.

    ¡°Figurine train body with Doll?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Button is also teaching me things.¡±

    Dad nodded.

    ¡°Lute belong Prima, no can make one Figurine. Not know way make string for sound. Lute not only thing make music. Called instrument. Many kind. Make many Figurine try, find which ones like use.¡±

    ¡°I want something that can make music while I move my body. Is there one like that?¡±

    ¡°Already know what want? Can make something, need time think how.¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡±

    The next day was one where Dad couldn¡¯t be found by anyone. Turns out he was in Toy¡¯s cave-hole, in the special cave-hole he made for her called the<i>work-shop</i>. He had spent the entire day using his magic to make me things that made music.

    The day after, I was in his cave-hole and the long table near the entrance was full of thingsying atop it.

    ¡°All instruments can use while moving. Can show how use, not sure-think how make right sound with all¡­¡±

    Each of them had strange names that weren¡¯t in gob, but Dad was easily able to fix that.

    The first was a pair of wooden things that looked like bird legs. He called them<i>marr-akh-ahs</i>at first, but then called them shake-shakes. He picked one up and shook it. Sound came from inside the fat part that would have been the upper leg meat. Depending on how he shook it, hard or soft, the sounds would change.

    Next was the<i>kass-ta</i>, which he then called ck-cks. Using a small piece of rope, they slid onto his fingers and thumbs and would make a sharp sound when cked together. I liked those a lot!

    Next was something called a<i>oh-kah-ree-nah, </i>nowcalled a blow-shell. It had a hole to blow in, and holes that sound came out of. Depending on how his finger pressed on a hole, different sounds could be made! There were two other kinds of blow-shells. One was a blow-box and a blow-stick which he called a<i>har-mon-ee-kah,</i>and<i>re-kor-dur.</i>

    I was already thrilled seeing this many that Dad had made for me, but it wasn¡¯t all of them yet.

    There were some that were made with fur and bones that really had me excited. They went around my wrists and ankles and had balls of bone that had small stones inside of them. When I shook my hands or my feet they would make noises as well. Dad didn¡¯t have a name for them, and said I was free toe up with one if I wanted to. Thest major item was something that looked like Melon¡¯s apron, only there were thin pieces of wood sewed into the front. Dad then had me push my fingers into the dirt and after pulling them out he did some kind of magic and there were now thin stone finger-coverings which he called<i>Thim-bulls</i>. He put them on my fingers which made the sharp tips of them round like his, and told me to run them against the wood on the apron.

    When I did, many t sounds came out.

    He then told me there were many many more kinds of instruments, but for now this was all he had the ability to make for me. Certain other ones needed metals of certain shapes and thickness which couldn¡¯t be found or made here in Goblinhome¡­ yet.

    I couldn¡¯t use all of them at the same time, so I went through using them one by one with Dad joining in using the blow-stick and yed more music. Songs he called the <i>ground-bird dance</i>and<i>shiny-star</i>which were fast music and slow music, but both equally enjoyable to listen to.

    Vera, who lived in Dad¡¯s cave-hole together with him had sat down and listened to us making music together, with me trying to find the right moment to use a shake-shake or a ck-ck or even to use the scrape-scrape (the apron with the wood sewn onto it). I don¡¯t think I ever felt as good as I did in my entire life than I had in this moment with Dad.

    But he had reached his limit.

    I hadn¡¯t realized it, but we had been making music together for almost the entire day! Dad looked more pale than usual, which was a hard thing to do since he wasn¡¯t green-skinned like most of us goblins.

    ¡°Figurine¡­ learn what need?¡±

    Ah, it¡¯s not that he was having the same amount of fun that I was¡­ he was teaching me what he knew by having me make music together with him. Dad was exhausted, lying on the floor. Vera had me help her drag him to his cave-hole next to hers where he couldy down on his straw bed.

    ¡°Husband. Rest.¡±

    Vera hardly ever said more than one word at the same time, which meant that she felt Dad really needed toy down and rest. Dad reached out to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me onto his body, giving me a powerful hug.

    ¡°Still most important thing teach Figurine music. Listen, yes?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m listening, Dad.¡±

    ¡°When make music, never think job. Never think what must do for tribe. Music powerful magic. Not less strong magic Me, Vera, ce, Ebony have. Music Figurine magic. Always important know how feel make music. Music powere from how feel. Make music happy, make music sad, change what magic music power have. Dad proud. Want listen music Figurine make. What special music hide here sincee into world.¡±

    He poked his finger into the side of my head, to the ce behind where I saw.

    And I began to cry.

    He knew.

    What am I saying? Of course he knew!

    Dad always knew and understood me the best.

    At times better than I understood myself¡­

    ¡°How¡­ did you know music was what I was missing?¡±

    ¡°Not know music. Only know something. Believe one day Figurine find. When happen, Dad promise Doll do everything can for strong-one. Not fix everything. Not need fix anything. Figurine not broken. Figurine special goblin. Way do thing special, way think special, now way make music special.¡±

    After giving me a kiss on the forehead, he let go of me and wiped away my tears with his not-pointy fingers.

    I wound up leaving his cave-hole, but not without being told to take all the things that he made for me to make music with. Vera helped me carry them to my cave-hole, where Doll was already sitting down beingzy, drinking <i>blue water</i>with Berry.

    ¡°What is all of that?¡± Doll asked me.

    ¡°What Dad made for me. What was missing from my life this entire time.¡±

    ¡°Is that for hunting?¡±

    ¡°No. It¡¯s for making music.¡±

    ¡°Music? The thing Prima has that Husband uses?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s different from the Lute, but these all make sounds in a simr way.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ and you know how to use them?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m learning. Dad says making music is my magic.¡±

    ¡°Magic? You can use magic?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what Dad said.¡±

    Doll took a drink of her<i>blue water</i>and leaned back.

    ¡°If you can use magic, then you don¡¯t need to help me chop trees anymore.¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°No. I¡¯ll keep helping you chop trees. Until I know how to use it properly, I still need to be useful in some way.¡±

    Doll only nodded.

    ¡°Vera, want to join us for a drink of <i>blue water</i>?¡±

    Vera took a seat and joined Doll and Berry while they drank for a little while, as I put all the instruments except the shake-shakes onto the shelves inside my own cave-hole. Those I held onto as Iid down on my straw bed and shook them softly and as quietly as they could, listening to the sounds they made and what ones I found pleasant to hear.

    I couldn¡¯t wait for tomorrow toe, when I could tell Button all about everything that happened¡­

    <strong>~~** ??? **~~</strong>

    ¡°How was it this time training with her?¡±

    ¡°Different. Way body move change since find music. Think can be hunter now if want. Figurine strong.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never doubted that she is.¡±

    ¡°What thing Tricky Husband want show Button today?¡±

    ¡°Something I want you to pass on to her. A new¡­ martial art meant for her, but one you might appreciate as well. You might be able to fill in the missing parts that I¡¯ve forgotten.¡±

    ¡°What called?¡±

    ¡°Capoiera.¡±

    ¡°<i>Kah-poh-ed-da</i>?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It involves a lot of moving, tumbling, flips, and kicks¡­ you can think of it like a swirly-whirly kind ofbat.¡±

    ¡°Sound fun. Want see.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but first I need to teach you the singing music that goes along with it.¡±

    ¡°Button listen.¡±

    ¡°Repeat after me: Paranau¨º~, paranau¨º, Paran¨¢!¡±

    ¡°<i>Banana way</i>?¡±

    ¡°Close enough.¡±

    ¡°Different from<i>Human way</i>or<i>Goblin way</i>?¡±

    ¡°L-let¡¯s not worry about the details. Now, watch my legs closely, this is how it¡¯s supposed to go¡­¡±

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Ebony, the Little Lord of Bones

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Ebony, the Little Lord of Bones

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ebony **~~</strong>

    ¡°You, Ebony, little sister goblin. Me, Button, big sister goblin. Job big sister goblin teach little sister goblin how be goblin.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Ebony listen Button!¡±

    Most of my sisters can remember the day they came into the world. For me, that¡¯s not the case at all. My first real memory was when I met my big sister, Button. Unlike other goblins, both Button and I have two maker goblins¡ªIvory and Truffle.

    Truffle is azy goblin who is almost never angry. Her favorite things in the world are mushrooms, Husband, and her strong-ones, in that order. As for Ivory, she is usually angry about all sort of things, and is only everzy when she¡¯s done making things out of bones and starts drinking<i>blue water</i>.

    While Ivory is busy making things out of bones almost every day, Truffle will teach me all about mushrooms as Iy down next to her and sometimes Button who stops in for milkies. While I like mushrooms well enough, I do like bones more. I can sometimes hear them say things like they want to be friends with me when I touch them. Ivory says I¡¯m stupid since bones don¡¯t talk, and Truffle says that sometimes when she has a good batch of color-spin-think powder, she thinks she can hear the mushrooms talk, but the only person who seems to believe me without question, is Button.

    ¡°You hear bones talk in your head? That sounds like how ce talks to me.¡±

    ce is my older sister as well, and also the Shaman of the Bloodmaw Tribe. She doesn¡¯t talk aloud at all, instead using my sister to speak for her. She¡¯s also able to use special magic simr to Husband and Vera to do all sorts of amazing things. Button says she can¡¯t use magic without ce, but I can use it a little, mostly to make bones move on their own like they want to.

    Ivory gets mad at me sometimes when I use magic to make the bones in her room move. So, the only thing I¡¯m allowed to use it on is Gogok and Shumi, the bone charms which belong to me and Button. Button says she¡¯s going to be an adult goblin soon, so she doesn¡¯t need Shu-mi as much anymore, and wants her to have a friend who will y with her.

    There is one bone I want to y with the most, but Ivory never lets me. It¡¯s a special thin ck bone with something wrapped around it. It¡¯s on a shelf way up high that I can¡¯t reach, and one time when I tried to, Ivory caught me and spanked my butt really hard.

    I don¡¯t like being spanked, and I don¡¯t like Ivory anymore!

    Button says she understands exactly what I¡¯m feeling. She also told me that she was spanked by Ivory many times when she was a little goblin and didn¡¯t like it either.

    Since I¡¯m a little goblin, I can¡¯t leave my cave-hole by myself just yet. Truffle or Ivory will follow me to the shit-pit if I have to go, or otherwise, unless another goblin or Husband visits my cave-hole, I have to wait for Button to take me ces.

    One of the ces I like to go is Old One¡¯s cave-hole.

    Old One is really nice to me. She says I¡¯m a special goblin, just like Husband does. Because I have bone-magic, Old One says I¡¯m something called a Bone Lord, a goblin who uses real Bloodmaw magic, and not wicked human magic. She then tells me stories about an old goblin called Bone-eyes, who was a really old goblin back when Old One was still only a little goblin strong-one herself!

    ording to Old One, Bone Lords are able to listen to andmand bones. This is important, since the bones of the dead still carry the memories of the time when they were alive. She says most of what she knows about Bone Lords came from Stone-foot, her maker and the former Shaman of the tribe before the<i>silver-skins</i>attacked and killed everyone but us who came to Goblinhome.

    After learning all about the Bloodmaw Tribe from Old One, she will bring me back to my cave-hole, but not before stopping off at my older sister Melon¡¯s special cave-hole, called the<i>kit-chin</i>. Old One frowns at me sometimes when I order the tasty hamburger with nt-blood, instead of something that looks bloody, but Melon is quick to show Old One that there¡¯s plenty of pink-colored bloody meat inside it, and so Old One doesn¡¯t get as upset anymore.

    Apparently there are goblins who are very opinionated on which is better; bloody-meat or fire-meat. I like both, but nothing beats a tasty hamburger made by Melon.

    Husband also likes to visit me, sometimes bringing me to Melon¡¯s<i>kit-chin</i>after taking me outside the cave and pushing me on the swings. I get to meet my other sisters a lot more when I¡¯m outside and I have a whole bunch of them!

    Diana Artemis, who is going to be the next Guardian of the tribe. She¡¯s really good at hunting! I heard my other older sisters, Orchid and Lc, tell stories about how she and Husband went hunting at night to kill a bunch of ck-ws who killed one of the adult goblins called Beast-talker and tried to kill Prima, Jewel, and Doll!

    There¡¯s also Game, Fun, and Figurine (who Button says is fine to just call her Rine). Game and Fun live with Toy and make all the fun games that goblins like to y when not busy. One of thetest games was a game called<i>bones</i>that involved rectangles with circles on them that needed to be matched up a certain way. It¡¯s a sort of counting-game but I like anything that involves bones, even if they aren¡¯t made out of them.

    Button saw me having lots of fun ying the game with Game and Fun, and not even a few dayster she had managed to give me a set of my own to y with, and even yed a few games with me. Button is the best big sister!

    Husband hade to visit our cave-hole the day after that and showed me a fun way to y with them when I was alone. He stood the<i>bones</i>up in a line and ced them a certain distance apart before having me tip one at the end over, causing the whole line of them to fall over in a fast and exciting way!

    He couldn¡¯t stay for long, though. As it turns out, he wanted to spend some time with me today because he would be staying in Pepper¡¯s cave-hole for a while after this. When I asked why, he said it was because I would soon have a little sistering into the world.

    Button had exined to me once that Husband has an important job he does in the Bloodmaw Tribe. He goes around to all the cave-holes and helps adult goblins make strong-ones. That¡¯s why he¡¯s called Husband. Button told me when I be older like she is, we¡¯ll also be able to make strong-ones with him.

    Button and Truffle both consider Husband to be a mushroom-goblin like them, since he has a mushroom growing between his legs. I asked him if I could see it once, and he showed me, but said I couldn¡¯t touch it. From how it looked though, I think there was a big fat bone inside instead of a soft and squishy mushroom. It made me think that Husband might be a bone-goblin like Ivory and me.

    Anyway, since I wasn¡¯t going to see Husband for a while, I asked him if he would do something for me.

    ¡°What Ebony want?¡±

    I exined to him about wanting to see the special ck bone Ivory kept on the shelf I couldn¡¯t reach that she never let me touch. Husband went to find it and beganughing as he held it.

    ¡°Mean this?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Not bone. Dead branch. Hmm¡­ maybe¡­ special tree bone?¡±

    ¡°Tree bone?¡±

    Husband then exined the thin ck bone once belonged to him and was a gift to him from his maker for using his magic. It was called a<i>magic wand,</i>and was made from a long dead branch of an important magic tree. When he let me hold it, I could hear the voiceing from the tree-bone very clearly in my head.

    <<Little Lord. At longst we finally meet!>>

    I told Husband the magic wand was talking to me in my head, and he smiled and patted my head in response.

    ¡°Ebony lucky. Have wand long time, never hear speak head.¡±

    ¡°Wand, why do you not talk to Husband?¡± I asked it.

    <<How can I? His magic is stupidly¡­<i>never mind.</i>But your magic, Little Lord, is a perfect match to me.>>

    ¡°Husband, the wand says your magic is stupid. That¡¯s why it didn¡¯t talk to you.¡±

    ¡°Make sense.¡±

    <<You don¡¯t need to call me<i>wand</i>. The one over there gave me the name Yggdrasil, though, if you have a better name, I will be happy to receive it.>>

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll think of one.¡±

    <<Very well.>>

    ¡°Ebony talk wand?¡± Husband asked, pointing at my new friend, Iggy.

    I nodded in reply.

    <<Little Lord, you must tell that one something important right now before your maker returns.>>

    ¡°Something important?¡±

    <<Tell him that I must belong to you.>>

    ¡°Iggy says it belongs to me.¡±

    ¡°Iggy?¡±

    I held out the magic wand in front of Husband.

    ¡°It said you gave it the name Iggy¡­ um¡­¡±

    ¡°Yggdrasil?¡±

    I nodded again. That name was too hard to say!

    <<Tell him you will show him why.>>

    ¡°Iggy says I will show you why.¡±

    Husband looked at the wand and then back to me.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m watching.¡±

    <<Go over to the pile of bones. we will make us a new friend, together. That one will understand once it is done.>>

    ¡°Make a new friend?¡±

    Listening to Iggy, I walked over to the wall where almost all of the bones Ivory had in the cave-hole were kept. Iggy told me to focus my magic into the wand and it would do the rest.

    ¡°Can it be a friend who can climb and hunt well? Big sister Button is a hunter goblin. Ebony is going to be a hunter goblin, too!¡±

    <<If that is your wish, then that is what our friend shall be!>>

    I focused my magic into Iggy the magic wand and it began to glow. Many bones began to shake and rattle, moving themselves out of the boxes and shelves they had been resting in and came together one by one until our new friend, made entirely of bones, had taken shape.

    ¡°Ebony¡­ what do?¡±

    ¡°Making a friend with Iggy!¡±

    ¡°Husband, do you know what this is?¡±

    ¡°Look like bone spider.¡±

    <<It is done Little Lord. A replica of one of the children of Arachnida, she who weaves the Divine Web and guards the canopy of the Spirit Tree. There is no better climber and hunter in all the world.>>

    ¡°You¡¯re kind of small for a friend¡­ Can you climb?¡± I asked it.

    I watched as my new friend moved about quickly and climbed up the closest thing to it¡ªme! It climbed all the way up my body until it settled on top of my head.

    ¡°What about hunting?¡±

    I felt it leap off of my head after I asked and jumped onto Husband¡¯s arm, where it immediately began biting him.

    ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t hunt Husband!!¡±

    Husband wasughing as he held his arm out.

    ¡°Not hurt. Bitey here friend. Only show Ebony can hunt.¡±

    It stopped biting Husband and walked to his hand before it spun around in ce to face him. Then it raised one of its legs in front.

    ¡°Bitey?¡±

    My new friend spun around in ce again until it was facing me and raised one of its legs again. I could tell it was happy to see me.

    ¡°Seem like good name give. Not like?¡±

    ¡°No, I like it. Hello Bitey, I¡¯m your friend, Ebony! That¡¯s Husband, and he¡¯s also your friend!¡±

    Husband reached out and began to pet Bitey who ttened down onto his hand.

    ¡°Okay. See what Ebony mean wand belong. Speak Ivory when can about give wand Ebony. Not sure if listen... For now, put back, okay?¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to give the wand back, and Iggy didn¡¯t want me to give it back, either. But, before I could, and I was going to, because I do listen to Husband since he doesn¡¯t ever spank me, Ivory and Truffle hade back into the cave-hole after going out hunting for mushrooms.

    ¡°What are you holding in your hand!? You know that things on the top shelf aren¡¯t for you to touch!¡±

    Ivory began to yell at me as she quickly rushed over to yank Iggy out of my hand and immediately begin spanking my butt.

    <<How dare you harm the Little Lord!!>>

    I could still hear Iggy¡¯s voice loud and clear. Iggy was very angry at Ivory, just like I was!

    ¡°No more spanking Ebony!!!¡± I yelled.

    I felt the bones around me also be angry, and one of them¡­ one that had been sharpened by Ivory earlier and was resting on the table that went into the wall where she would sit with Truffle, got mad and flew right at her face!

    Husband was quick to reach out and grab hold of the bone right in the middle of the air before it poked her in the eye¡­ if he hadn¡¯t¡­ Ivory would have been really hurt.

    ¡°You¡­ tried to kill me!?¡±

    I¡­ I wasn¡¯t trying to kill Ivory! I was only trying to get her to stop spanking me! I wanted to say something, to defend myself, but I was caught between my mouth hanging open mid-cry from my butt hurting and fromplete surprise at what had happened.

    ¡°Ivory¡­ no be angry. Ebony not mean what happen.¡± Husband said while stepping in between us.

    ¡°Stay out of this, Husband. Ebony is<i>my</i>strong-one!¡±

    ¡°Also mine. Why think this happen?¡± he said, waving the sharp bone he caught in front of her. ¡°Ebony afraid Ivory. Afraid be spanked. Remember what do first find Button safe after think fall in shit-pit? First thing do is spank Button! Why need spank? Not able be calm, talk Ebony first? Button me me long time for what Ivory do!¡±

    Husband¡­ wasing to my defense. Or at least trying to¡­ I think.

    ¡°Then why did she have the ck bone?¡±

    ¡°Ebony curious. Want see it. Say okay. Keep watch, make sure safe.¡±

    ¡°If I wanted her to have it, I would have given it to her!¡±

    ¡°Ivory¡­ Ebony special goblin. Like bones same you. Not happy bones like Ebony? Not¡­ proud strong-one bone-goblin like Truffle proud Button mushroom-goblin?¡±

    Ivory threw the bone wand into Truffle¡¯s side of the cave and grabbed Husband by the shoulders, digging her pointy fingers into them, and pushed him up against the wall.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me what to do or who to be proud of! Who do you think keeps Truffle alive? Who did most of the raising of Button!? ME! That¡¯s who!¡±

    ¡°Not argue that. Know Ivory do what say. But maybe way Ivory do¡­ not best way!¡±

    ¡°¡­Fine. If Husband thinks he knows how to raise a bone-goblin better than a bone-goblin does¡­ Then do it! Take Ebony and get out of my cave-hole!¡±

    Ivory pushed herself away from Husband, leaving behind five lines of blood streaking down his arms from each of his shoulders.

    ¡°Ivory¡­ not saying can do better. Only think better talk first, find better way not need spank strong-ones before have good reason¡­¡±

    ¡°GET OUT!¡±

    Ivory pushed Husband right out of her cave-hole. Then she turned around and red at me.

    ¡°What that?¡±

    I followed her line of sight to my feet where Bitey was trying to¡­ protect me.

    ¡°This is my friend, Bitey.¡±

    ¡°Made from bones you took without asking...¡±

    Truffle had walked over to me and squatted down, holding a small mushroom out in front of Bitey.

    ¡°Does Bitey like mushrooms?¡±

    Bitey didn¡¯t seem all that interested in them. Ivory seemed to be mad that Truffle was being nice to Bitey.

    ¡°Truffle¡­ what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Anything that likes mushrooms can be friendly.¡±

    ¡°Why are you such a mushroom-head?¡±

    Truffle shook her head before putting her hands on my shoulders and looking me right in the eyes.

    ¡°What do you want to do, Ebony?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Want to stay with Husband for a while?¡±

    ¡°Truffle! What are you saying to Ebony?¡±

    Truffle stood up and turned to face Ivory.

    ¡°I¡¯ll say this clearly, so you realize what just happened here. I almost lost my tree, Bone-taker. If Husband hadn¡¯t caught that bone, where would I be right now? What would happen to me? I know I¡¯m azy mushroom-head goblin. Nobody knows that better than me, not even you! You were being a rock-head when Old One said she was a Bone Lord, and you¡¯re being even more of a rock-head now! Ebony has magic. Magic that neither you, me, or Button know how to use! But Husband does. ce does. Vera does. Let Ebony go stay in Husband¡¯s cave-hole for a while. Let her learn how to use it the right way so that she doesn¡¯t make a mistake and hurt you back for all the times you¡¯ve hurt her, even if you think you were right in doing so. You and I were both spanked when we did things adult goblins didn¡¯t want us to do¡­ but maybe Husband knows a better way? All I know is that I can¡¯t lose you, stupid meanie Bone-taker!¡±

    ¡°Mushroom-picker¡­ do you think I¡¯m that bad at teaching our strong-ones how to be goblins?¡±

    ¡°When did I say that? I¡¯m the one who is no good at it! I push all the stuff I don¡¯t want to do onto you. I do think it¡¯s different with Ebony than it was with Button, and I think it might be different still when we have more strong-ones with Husband, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯re bad at it. But all of the strong-ones that Husband has made with us¡­ are different and stronger than we were as strong-ones. Do you think you could defeat Diana Artemis even though you are many moons older? What about Orchid or Lc? Even Shaman if she was serious?¡±

    I watched Ivory frown at her words.

    ¡°She¡¯s still a strong-one who can¡¯t even walk Goblinhome on her own¡­¡±

    ¡°Button taught ce how to walk Goblinhome. How to use the shit-pit. You were there to see it, weren¡¯t you? Following behind them the entire time¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You can me me if you need to. I will take care of it all, Bone-taker. My one and only tree.¡±

    A few things happened quickly after that.

    Ivory took one of her big pots full of<i>blue water</i>and went into her smaller cave-hole. Truffle had collected a few things of mine and the most important thing¡ªIggy, which she gave to me¡ªand walked together with me to Husband¡¯s cave-hole.

    Husband agreed to take care of me, saying for now his cave-hole would be my new cave-hole. He also agreed to doing what he could when it came to teaching me how to control my magic, since he didn¡¯t know the specifics of how my bone-magic worked. Button would continue to visit me, taking me ces and teaching me all the things about being a goblin that Old One, Ivory, and Truffle didn¡¯t.

    Truffle said I coulde to her for anything I needed¡ªwhether it be bones, mushrooms, or even milkies. Even if things were bad between Ivory and I, both she and Ivory were my makers, and until I was old enough to not need milkies anymore and get my own cave-hole, she would be there for me if I needed her.

    ce was nice to me at first, but when I had Bitey say hello to her by climbing up onto her head, she screamed a whole bunch and ran away while pping herself. I don¡¯t know why she doesn¡¯t like Bitey, because Bitey likes her a whole lot!

    Husband brought me to meet my little sister Mint when she came into the world together with Diana Artemis, Button, and ce.

    Seeing my newest little sister goblin, I finally understood how Button felt about me once I had be a big sister atst! And I knew exactly what it was that I needed to do here as a new big sister goblin. I had to give her an important memory to have so she knew who to trust!

    ¡°Mint, you are my little sister goblin. I am Ebony, your big sister goblin. It¡¯s the job of a big sister goblin to teach her little sister goblin how be a goblin!¡±

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Mint, a goblin with a mission.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Mint, a goblin with a mission.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Mint **~~</strong>

    I¡¯ve been ying this VRMMORPG for as long as I can remember, I knew all the races and factions inside and out and had raised nearly a dozen characters to the counter stop. However, I had only heard snippets of the so-called Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe in all of my ythroughs. In the beginning of almost every main story quest, when first encountering goblins, a certain NPC named Yx is met, who wanders the world looking for thest remaining Bloodmaw Goblin, hoping to find them in order revive the lost tribe.

    Yx would appear whenever a quest took you to one of the many goblin factions around the world, whether for negotiation or subjugation, continuallymenting about how not a single goblin they hade across contained the<i>origin blood</i>of the Creator.

    There were spections on some forums that there would likely be a payoff to doing the questline in a future expansion of the game. Maybe Yx would finally locate thest Bloodmaw Goblin or some hidden tribe and it would lead to a new yable race opening up? I admit to being excited about the idea since I loved the worldbuilding lore and the difficult magic system that required detailed learning of the Rune connection system for creating and using magic.

    I never would have thought that while exploring the game¡¯s world randomly one day, in an effort to be the first yer to report one-hundred percent mappletion, that I would stumble across them. Thest remaining Bloodmaw¡ªAn NPC named Ark Wyze.

    It didn¡¯t make sense to me at first. Ark Wyze?

    The name Wyze was unmistakable to anyone who had ever yed a magician-ss character.

    Salondra Wyze, one of the most powerful mage NPCs in the game and the only Tower Master to have reached the ninth circle in thest one-thousand years¡­ there was a book in the private library in her mansion which spoke of her once having a son who met his end as an adventurer.

    No traces of him or his party were ever found.

    If Ark Wyze was her missing son, why was he a goblin and not a human? Salondra was known for her active hatred towards the uncivilized races, whom she considered to be a blight and gue upon the world¡ªand to which goblins were at the forefront.

    The look on the face of thest Bloodmaw Goblin was etched in sorrow.

    ¡°Why have you sought me out, Adventurer?¡±

    Engaging with the NPC, there were two dialogue choices to answer with. The first was to say that you were here to take the head of thest Bloodmaw and prevent the resurrection of the tribe that Yx was aiming for. The second was the exact opposite, offering to help restore the Bloodmaw tribe back to its once legendary greatness through any means necessary.

    Naturally, I wanted the secret storyline I had found to continue onwards, so I chose the second option.

    ¡°I would have chosen the first option, Adventurer.¡±

    Huh? Did the NPC know I had a different selection avable?

    ¡°No matter. For you to have found me, it can only mean that damnable<i>thing,</i>Yx, eventually will, as well.¡±

    He knew Yx? The story was starting to get good!

    ¡°I no longer have the strength to witness losing my loved ones yet again. I can feel the age seeped into my bones, Adventurer, and I know that I¡¯m nearing my end. Since you aren¡¯t here to kill me, would you like to listen to an old goblin¡¯s story? I would say old man, but I¡¯ve long since lost my humanity¡­¡±

    Holy crap! Am I going to get to hear the backstory of the Bloodmaw Tribe straight from the source atst!?

    I quickly chose that I wanted to listen to his tale and was invited to follow him to a nearby cave. Upon entering, it was an absolutely unremarkable cave with nothing in it¡­ that was, until his hand glowed and the wall opened in front of us, turning into a long passageway.

    ¡°Just a little bit further¡­¡± the NPC spoke.

    When we reached the end of the passageway, I saw an amazing sight. A single borate cavern expanded into view. It looked like a small ptial mansion!

    ¡°Surprising, isn¡¯t it? I tried to reconstruct it from the original, but it has been so long, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve forgotten more than a few of the details¡­¡±

    An option came up to ask about the original.

    ¡°When I was ad, I wanted to be an adventurer and see the world. I never would have expected that on my first goblin subjugation quest that I would be captured and made to be breeding stock for them.¡±

    A small mirthful chuckle exited the mouth of the NPC.

    ¡°Given the choices being to breed them or die, I hope you can understand that as a youth full of life, I wasn¡¯t exactly looking forward to letting it end prematurely. Still, I couldn¡¯t have known that it was my destiny to be part of something as great as the Bloodmaw Tribe. That¡¯s not to say I didn¡¯t have my points of contention with them. I had many, and we shed often due to how different our societies were. But do not for a moment believe that the Bloodmaw Tribe wasn¡¯t civilized¡ªThey were! It¡¯s just a matter of perspective, you see¡­¡±

    He gestured with his hand all about the room.

    ¡°Dak. In thenguage of the Bloodmaw, it meant Husband. To them, that¡¯s exactly what I was. The one and only male to be used by the remnants of the Bloodmaw Tribe after a subjugation had wiped out all but a hidden few females protected by a single elder goblin known as the Old One a year earlier. Hells, how she hated me! Ha ha ha! This room once belonged entirely to me, and I called it the Breeding Room. My task back then was each night to put a child in the belly of one of the fourteen goblins who were of age to repopte the tribe. I had only thought of how to escape at first, but¡­ things changed rather quickly for me.¡±

    The goblin NPC walked over to a section of the room that had a number of pirs with various items situated on top of each of them.

    ¡°When my first daughter was born, thoughts of escaping had all but left my mind. I named her Diana Artemis, and she was a paragon of what it meant to be a Bloodmaw Goblin. She was the future hope and Guardian of the tribe¡­ but that didn¡¯t matter one iota to me. Even though she was born a full goblin in appearance, I never once saw her as such. She was my daughter¡­ as human to me as she was goblin to them. Ah, I should touch on it briefly, that I was originally a human.¡±

    He held his hands out and turned them over, showing off his green skin.

    ¡°I chose to be like this only after I lost everyone. Before this I wasn¡¯t half-bad in appearance as a human. Now where was I? Oh yes, my first daughter, Diana¡­¡±

    He pointed to the pir in the middle, at what appeared to be the severed w of a bear.

    ¡°Would you believe that she was hardly a month old and hunted down a bear? It wasn¡¯t by herself, but it hardly made a difference¡­ she was mostly responsible for its death, and she was someone I was immensely proud of. You see, my fourth daughter, Button, was in the process of being born at that time, and she thought it would be nice for us to have a feast for her arrival. Say¡­ do you like mushrooms, Adventurer?¡±

    His words were soft and filled with warmth as he talked about his goblin daughters for what felt like an extremely long time.

    ¡°By the time six months had passed, the number of my daughters running around Goblinhome had almost reached twenty. You can see why most of the other races regard goblins as vermin. They can reproduce three times as fast as a human can. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t understand the desire to cull their numbers, and when ites to other goblin tribes, I may still share that sentiment. But the Bloodmaw were different¡­¡±

    There was what looked like a small shrine that was immactely kept. Within it was what looked like an infant goblin skeleton.

    ¡°My eleventh daughter, Mint. None of us knew why, but when she was born, it was like she had already given up on life. I often wonder what kind of goblin she might have grown up as. It wasn¡¯t a week after she was born that she died, and Ebony, my tenth daughter, took it quite personal, since she wanted nothing more than to be a big sister, and went so far as to use her magic to animate these bones. I must say, as a skeleton daughter, Mint was quite affectionate.¡±

    What sounded like a horrible life event was talked about with a smile on his face.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t long after my first round of children were born when the troubles began. What should have been a safe area protected by Yx was suddenly set upon by a number of foes. The boundaries of the Bloodmaw¡¯s territory were a forest of ck trees to the west, a big rock to the south, and a clear stream to the east. The cavern happened to be part of a mountain range to the north so there was little to no threating from that direction. From the other side of the stream came the orcs, who had grown toorge in number and were forced to split their tribe to settle more territory and hunting grounds. Just past the big rock to the south were the ck-ws, gigantic ferocious wolves who had established themselves as the primary enemy of the tribe and were ying a waiting game. I believe you adventurers call them Shadow Wolves? And from the west, what else woulde but the natural enemy of a goblin¡­ self-righteous parties of adventurers filling subjugation requests.¡±

    The NPC walked a bit further past the pir disys and to a wall full of armaments.

    ¡°What killed the Bloodmaw weren¡¯t the foes on the outside, but me from the inside.¡±

    He picked up a spear and twirled it around.

    ¡°I killed them because I couldn¡¯t kill thest vestiges of my own humanity. What makes the Bloodmaw so strong is not their individual abilities, but how theye together as a unit. What killed them was theck of numbers that I was made responsible for re-creating. Tell me, Adventurer, if the survival and advancement of your own race rested entirely on you needing to procreate with your own progeny, could you do so willingly and still think of yourself as a human? It sounds uncivilized and rather taboo, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    I expected a selection to appear for me to choose from, but none did.

    ¡°That was my folly, you see. If I had only epted that I was already a monster by that point¡­ that I had already be a Bloodmaw Goblin, same as them¡­ things might have gone differently. The secret of the<i>Origin Blood</i>is that it is Divinely given to the ones called Bloodmaw by their Creator. So long as one can procreate with it, there will never be an issue with whom. I only wish there was someone who could have convinced me to do what needed to be done in a way that made sense, so that I wouldn¡¯t have lost everyone important to me.¡±

    The goblin NPC sighed.

    ¡°Adventurer¡­ there is no need for you to burden yourself with restoring the Bloodmaw. For as long as they exist, the entire world will be their enemy until they are strong enough and plentiful enough to overwhelm all the other races. Only then might the Bloodmaw know peace¡­¡±

    Finally, the selection box opened up. The two options were to offer to stay with the NPC until they passed away, which would be soon, or to volunteer to make the whole world my enemy and try to preserve the<i>origin blood</i>of the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe.

    That second choice had to be it¡­ had to be how to unlock the Bloodmaw goblins as a yable race!!

    I hesitated a bit before pressing the button. I made sure to screenshot everything. I was going to be famous on the forums for being the one to open the door to one of the game¡¯s most niche secrets!

    [I volunteer to make the world my enemy.]

    ¡°Are you certain? I will not ask again¡­ this choice will directly affect your life, Adventurer.¡±

    I chose the follow up option.

    [I will preserve the<i>Origin Blood</i>.]

    ¡°I see¡­ I have no time left to test your true conviction. I will ask for your forgiveness then, for what must happen to pass along the<i>origin blood</i>¡­ is not very civilized, I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±

    The NPC¡¯s hand began to glow and I was hit with an unguardable paralysis spell.

    ¡°When you wake up, I will be dead, and you will be thest Bloodmaw Goblin. Goblin instinct will take over for everything else, so whether you consume my body or not out of necessity, I will not hold any grudge. I ask only one thing of you from this moment on¡­ please name the child you will give birth to¡­ Mint. I at least wanted to give her a second chance at life¡­¡±

    What happened after that was something R18+ that shouldn¡¯t have been in a video game meant for minors to y.

    I felt extremely vited, yet I couldn¡¯t close my eyes to it.

    After it was done, the NPC who had initially appeared as a goblin to me began to change shape into that of an old human male with a white beard, looking at me with an apologetic face.

    Then, pixels filled my vision until there was only darkness.

    [Your quest has ended. Would you like to begin your life anew as Mint the Bloodmaw?]

    There it was! Wait? Did that mean this character was being deleted?

    Damn, I had some good items on this one¡­ but¡­ argh, it¡¯s a new yable race!

    Fuck it, YOLO!!

    [Transferring yer now¡­ ]

    [Emergency Quest: Survive!]

    [You must escape. Failure to do so will result in permanent death!]

    <i>Huh?</i>

    <i>Where am I?</i>

    <i>I¡­ can¡¯t breathe!</i>

    I felt a desperate urge to get out of wherever I was!

    I found myself wing through a tight passage on my way towards a single speck of light below me.

    I had to hurry!

    I was almost there, just need to push my hands through and pull myself out of this hole¡­

    <b>Plop.<i></i></b>

    I was suddenly in a dimly lit cave, surrounded by many goblins and a single human male. They were all talking, but I couldn¡¯t understand any of the words they were saying.

    Looking at them, I saw names above each of their heads.

    What looked like an umbilical cord was stretching out from me and going into the one named Pepper. There was a middle-aged goblin called Old One. Four small goblins: Diana Artemis, Button, ce, and Ebony. Two goblins who looked to be in theirte teens with the names Jewel and Berry, and the lone human¡­ who was rather attractive, actually¡­ Ark Wyze.

    Did I somehow get sent back into the game¡¯s past? Is this a divergent storyline?

    Ah~, I was tired as could be. I needed to log out for now and make a quick post on the forums before taking a nap. My gamer blood was surging and I couldn¡¯t wait to see how this storyline continued.

    ¡­

    Uh¡­ where¡¯s the logout button?

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which some merged magic involves a prenatal panic

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which some merged magic involves a prenatal panic

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ebony **~~</strong>

    When Mint and I arrived at Old One¡¯s cave-hole, we weren¡¯t the only ones there. My big sister, Button, was the one to tell me I needed to go to Old One¡¯s cave-hole and keep it a secret, but neither she nor ce were there. It was just Old One, and another that made Mint shake and go pee right there on the ground next to me.

    ¡°Do you recognize me, little goblin?¡±

    The voiceing from the tall one with dark skin and horns growing out of their head and wings out of their back that were tucked away had a really strong voice that made all of the bones around me, even the ones still inside bodies, shake.

    The question wasn¡¯t aimed at me, but rather, Mint.

    ¡°Y-y-y-y-y-yx¡­.¡±

    Mint nodded but couldn¡¯t answer yes.

    ¡°And what about you?¡±

    This time the question<i>was</i>aimed at me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! You look like a really strong goblin. Maybe Old One¡¯s big sister goblin?¡±

    They let out a deep rumblingugh that made the entire cave-hole feel like it was squishing me, but only for a moment.

    ¡°My apologies, Great Protector, this is the first time you have met our new Bone Lord. She¡¯s a bit¡­¡±

    Looking around the room, I saw something that interested me immediately. I was quick to ask Old One about it.

    ¡°What¡¯s that pile of bones for?¡±

    ¡°Why, they¡¯re for you. Do you remember hearing the story of Huntress and your Husband going on the hunt to kill the ck-ws?¡±

    ¡°Everyone knows the story!¡± I replied happily. It was a good story!

    ¡°Well, these bones belonged to Beast-talker, who died at that time.¡±

    ¡°She collected bones?¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t collect these bones. These <em>are</em> the bones from inside her dead body.¡±

    My eyes opened wide. Before I could ask why the bones of Beast-talker were being kept in Old One¡¯s room, because Ivory didn¡¯t have a single one of them, Old One began talking about the reason for it.

    ¡°I was holding on to them in case a Bone Lord should appear in our tribe. I expected one eventually, but not so soon.¡±

    ¡°Did you want me to do something with the bones? Listen to what they say? I can already tell you that those bones are happy to be in same cave-hole as Ebony and want to see Husband. They like Old One too, but not as much.¡±

    ¡°Do you think you can make them move, as you do with your spider?¡± Old One asked me.

    ¡°Like Bitey? I think so. Might take a little while to figure out how. There <em>are</em> a lot of bones!¡±

    ¡°Take your time then and show the Great Protector here what you can do with your bone-magic.¡±

    Using bone-magic for me was like talking to bones in my head. I¡¯d ask them to do something, or they¡¯d ask me to do something, and we¡¯de to an agreement. But there were way too many bones all trying to talk at once and trying to talk to each of them at once was tricky. It was like that when I lived in Ivory¡¯s cave-hole. And she had many many more bones than this!

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m not actually sure how to do it on my own. Iggy helped me when Bitey was made.¡±

    ¡°Iggy?¡± The tall strong goblin with horns and wings called the Great Protector spoke from next to Old One.

    I pulled out my wand to show them.

    ¡°Iggy! It used to belong to Husband, but now it belongs to Ebony!¡±

    ¡°Hoh~? That isn¡¯t just a wand. I can feel the aura of the Spirit Treeing from it.¡±

    The voice of Iggy began to enter my mind.

    <<Little Lord. Let¡¯s be careful in what we tell that one.>>

    ¡°Why?¡±

    <<They don¡¯t have the best rtionship with the Spirit Tree.>>

    ¡°They don¡¯t?¡±

    <<How about we get right to making our new friend?>>

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    I pushed my mana into Iggy, and the pile of bones began to move themselves into all the right spots before settling down.

    <<Little Lord. While your magic is strong, I¡¯m not sure that you have enough of it to raise all the bones into a friend.>>

    ¡°We can¡¯t do it?¡±

    <<There is a way, but we would need to borrow mana from another.>>

    ¡°Mint?¡±

    <<She would be eptable to borrow mana from. Her mana ispatible enough with mine, since ites from a simr source.>>

    ¡°Husband?¡±

    <<That¡¯s right.>>

    ¡°Makes sense, we¡¯re sisters. What does Mint need to do?¡±

    <<The same as you, Little Lord. Just have her hold me together with you and have her focus her mana into me at the same time you do. I¡¯ll handle the rest.>>

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I ryed to Mint what Iggy wanted her to do and she agreed to help. As we held on to Iggy together, Mint¡¯s tree-magic and my bone-magic pushed into Iggy at the same time and the bones began to rise up of the ground starting from the feet and settle on top of each other until after a long while, there was aplete bone-goblin standing up right next to Old One!

    <<Little Lord¡­ there... might be a problem.>>

    ¡°What¡¯s the problem, Iggy?¡±

    Before Iggy could answer, everything exploded into a bright light¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ste **~~</strong>

    ¡°Mmmmh~, yes! Keep licking right there, Ark¡­ don¡¯t slow down either~!¡±

    The trickiest part of having an idiot Husband with thirteen other needy goblin wives is finding the right time to corner him into taking care of<i>my</i>needs first. As I¡¯m the only goblin who he can enjoy certain things from, such as tongue kissing and using my mouth devoid of razor-sharp teeth to pleasure him in a certain way, he is usually willing to go along with whatever I want, with the end goal of making sure I¡¯m left as satisfied as he is.

    While I¡¯m still not sure if Ark genuinely loves me now that he¡¯s made me a goblin, he seems to be tied up in enough guilt at least to make sure that I¡¯m taken care of excessively well. And that¡¯s really all that I wanted anyway. I suppose him having a tool that can leave both my body and mind the same consistency as that weird meat thing his daughter Melon makes that Old One can¡¯t stop talking about¡­ is not a bad thing either.

    ¡°Ahhn~?¡±

    As my body rocked from its second orgasm, Ark removed his face from between my legs and came up onto the borate straw bed he made for me, pressing his warm body against mine from behind and slid himself into my wetness immediately. That would only be for a little while, though, until I coerced him to the position I preferred.

    I had already hunted, eaten, and freed up anything inside of me that might cut short the time I had avable to hog Ark all to myself. It¡¯s not that I minded sharing him sometimes with the pretty one, Jewel, or even that weird one, Vera, who seems to think of me as a sister. But same as all the other goblins feel on the matter, there¡¯s nothing better than having him all to yourself.

    Mostly because he¡¯s thorough. Not a single one of his wives has walked away dissatisfied once he gets going. And sometimes not a single one of his wives<i>can</i>walk away¡­<i>if</i>he gets serious.

    Which is why we have all learned at this point that it is wise to get everything done that needs to be done, just in case of thetter urring.

    When ites to mating with Ark, my preference is when he has me on my side and lifts one of my legs up to rest against his chest or on his shoulder while he goes at me that way. It¡¯s one of the most pleasurable positions I¡¯ve found when doing it with him, and by a stroke of luck it also gives him ess to y with the rest of my body in interesting ways. Rubbing my already sensitivedybits with his fingers or thumb, caressing and squeezing my butt, reaching for my breasts to grope as he plunges that damnable thing of his<i>all the way</i>inside me¡­

    The problem with having goblin instincts overwriting my old human ones is that I¡¯m wholly in need of attentive mating. All of his wives are. I asked Prima about it, but she said it¡¯s just the<i>goblin way</i>. Old One was able to give me a better answer, which I wasn¡¯t all too keen on epting.

    Males with big-seed emit some kind of scent that trigger a mating instinct within a female Bloodmaw ready to create strong-ones. It acts as a deterrent as well, for those without big-seed. To use an appropriate metaphor¡­ it¡¯s like eating fire-meat all your life before realizing how delicious bloody meat is, and never wanting to sully your sense of taste with anything fire-meat ever again. We can furiously hate Ark at times, but we can¡¯t deny our body¡¯s desire to im his seed. Forck of a better way of saying it, some of the best sex to be had with him is pure hatefucking.

    Ark joked about it once saying how unfair something like that was,<i>Darwinian cuckolding</i>, he called it. Talked about some historian named Darwin and how the Bloodmaw were perfect executioners of some concept called<i>survival of the fittest</i>.

    Were it not for the massacre that happened which led to Ark being the one taken as the first candidate for repopting the tribe since then, goblins like Vera, Lily, and Berry would most likely never be allowed to go near big-seed before the ones most worthy of it; ones like Prima, Jewel, and Doll. And at the very least, a goblin like Berry who could barely hunt anything bigger than a rabbit would have never had an elite strong-one such as Diana Artemis.

    Ark, being possessed of such a vast amount of what they consider to be big-seed, has no idea the lengths the Bloodmaw are willing to go to make sure he never leaves in order to secure the impressive future of their tribe, from his loins. I wonder if he realizes yet that, unlike me, he can never escape from here?

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to mess me up today, Ark.¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­ sure?¡±

    ¡°Mhm~?¡±

    Giving him the okay, Ark¡¯s handiwork that melts both brain and body had begun. As his member dug deep inside of me, constantly reminding my guts that maintaining any shape other than his member was obstinate foolishness, he was not beyond being yfully immature by biting my leg just below the calf when he filled me full of his first round of seed.

    But, this time, something strange happened as he let it out inside of me.

    The whole of Goblinhome shook as he did, and then something like a wave of bright piercing light fell over us, robbing us both of our consciousness¡­ And me of myst remaining bits of maidenhood.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Button **~~</strong>

    <<Button, something has happened.>>

    ce, who was sleepingzily on top of me had used her magic to put some kind of see-through bubble around us.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know. Can you carry me quickly to where Papa is?>>

    While getting up, I felt the entirety of Goblinhome suddenly shake.

    ¡°Did Tricky Husband do that?¡±

    <<No. That came from the direction of Old One¡¯s cave-hole. Right now, I¡¯m feeling the same sensation I did when Prima began her Blood Fury. Which is why we need to find Papa right now!>>

    I squatted down to let ce wrap her arms around my neck from the back.

    I was d I learned the feeling of the tree-magic that Husband had taught Mint a few days ago. Thanks to that, I was able to merge it with one of the special martial arts he had been teaching me recently, called the<i>Steps of the World-Ruler</i>. It involved him drawing his picture-magic on the ground and putting a certain one in the center that grew bigger the more we practiced. I showed ce what picture-magic Husband had drawn and she said it was called<i>gravity</i>. That it could make things lighter or heavier when used. That matched up with what Husband told me, about how if I trained with a strong force pressing against me and pulling me down, when it finally wasn¡¯t, I¡¯d be able to move my body faster and all of my punches and kicks would hit harder.

    The training wasn¡¯t more than just having me be able to stand up, walk a few steps slowly, and throw out a few punches and kicks. That was it. I just did it for a short while each morning. I already know how to touch the Rune in the stone bath in Husband¡¯s cave-hole that makes the water get hot. I can train on my own, and Husbandes to check on my progress every couple of days, making an adjustment into the form on the ground whenever he thinks I¡¯m ready to feel more<i>gravity</i>.

    So far, I¡¯m almost at something called<i>two-times gravity</i>. Which, ording to Husband, means it¡¯s like I¡¯m trying to move while also carrying another Button. One thing I learned while training in the gravity magic formation was how it felt when the<i>gravity</i>Rune was in use. While I can¡¯t use the picture-magic that ce can, or the stone-magic that Husband can, I can use some kind of body-magic that lets me copy an effect I can remember as long as it¡¯s limited to my body.

    I haven¡¯t mastered the Wolf Wind all the way yet, but I can simte the feeling a little bit and I am noticeably faster now. When I copy the feeling of<i>gravity</i>on the bottom of my feet, I became able to do things I¡¯ve never seen even Prima or Diana Artemis do before.

    Instead of only running on the ground, I can step onto the walls and it feels just the same as if I¡¯m running on the ground. I can also run up trees without needing to use my arms and hands to dig into the trunk. I can do it without running, but it¡¯s way more difficult and it doesn¡¯tst long before I wind up falling.

    I haven¡¯t had a chance to show ce what I can do yet, which is why I¡¯m excited to do so now!

    I dashed out of Husband¡¯s cave-hole, since we were beingzy together in his cave-hole in the corner, and ce was already clinging to me tightly with her legs as well.

    <<Button, you¡¯re going way too fast!>>

    ¡°I need to go fast, or I can¡¯t do this!¡±

    As soon as I cleared the entrance to Husband¡¯s cave hole, I leapt at the wall and twisted my body so that as soon as my feet hit the stone, it became like the ground. Then I continued running as fast as I could, leaping over the entrances to the other cave-holes along the way between where we were, and where the scent of Husband wasing from¡ªnear the front of Goblinhome, at either Prima or Ste¡¯s cave-hole.

    <<AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!>>

    In no time at all, we had arrived, with me leaping from the wall to the ground lightly and making sure my hands were behind me and holding onto ce¡¯s butt so she didn¡¯t fall off, just in case. It was smart of me to do so because she began to lose her grip and slipped off of me.

    ¡°Look! Husband and Ste¡­?¡±

    I pointed at both of them who were lying on the ground in positions that would not befortable at all to sleep in.

    ce, who was now standing up on the ground moved slowly towards Ste.

    <<It¡¯s Ste.>>

    ce had put her hand on Ste¡¯s belly.

    <<The strong-one inside of her¡­ Is having a Blood Fury! Or¡­ something like it! I¡¯ll stay here and keep an eye on these two. Button, you need to go get Old One and Berry, quickly!>>

    ¡°Is the strong-oneing?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know for sure, but it¡¯s best to believe for now that¡¯s exactly what¡¯s happening.>>

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back as fast as I can.¡±

    I turned my body in ce and prepared to run to the back of Goblinhome when something crazy was standing right at the entrance to Ste¡¯s cave-hole, staring right at us.

    ¡°ce! What¡¯s that!?¡±

    ce turned around and she saw what I saw.

    <<A Skeleton?>>

    I wasn¡¯t usually scared of anything, having hunted most of the creatures in the forest outside Goblinhome, with the exception of a ck-w, but right now everything was telling me that thing was something to be scared of!

    <<Button, be careful! I don¡¯t know why, but that thing¡­ is strong!>>

    I was already ahead of her in assessing that threat.

    ¡°Do we need to fight it?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know. Forget going to get Old One, we need to stay here to protect Papa and Ste.>>

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Mint **~~</strong>

    Ugh.

    I felt sore all over.

    Looking around, I saw Old One and Ebony both lying unconscious on the floor. There was no sign of any of the bones Ebony and I had tried to raise, and the only other body in here was that of¡­

    ¡°Little goblin, you seem to have endured it well.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ w-what happened?¡±

    ¡°Something that I would have stopped had I realized what you were. A fucking Bloody Druid!¡±

    I was terrified that I was about to make an enemy out of Yx for something I had no control over. Yeah, the being that carried the name Great Protector was none other than the infamous NPC Yx!

    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t know this would happen!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not ming you, little goblin. But your existence is strange. To have a Bloody Druid and a Bone Lord born in the same generation¡­ I had expectations, but that damn human breaks every single one of them every time!¡±

    Yx walked over to me and picked me up as if I was a sack of onions.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°From the magic in the air, and with how quick that skeleton took off with the Bone Lord¡¯s pet spider, I imagine it can be both nothing good and something splendid.¡±

    That assessment didn¡¯t help anything at all.

    ¡°What about Ebony and Old One?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll be fine. It was just magical reverberation. There¡¯s a reason nature magic and decay magic should never bebined. It encroaches on the realm of the Divine, and the Gods really don¡¯t like mortals doing that.¡±

    ¡°Gods?¡±

    ¡°Yes, little goblin. Gods. Nasty beings who have far too much power, time, and boredom on their hands. Pray you never meet another in your lifetime.¡±

    <i>Another?</i>

    ¡°You¡­ are Yx¡­ aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Before we had reached the shit-pit, Yx stopped moving.

    ¡°A name you shouldn¡¯t know. Who are you? You are recently born, yet you know who I am, when the others here do not.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ w-well, I sort of know you¡­ in the future¡­¡±

    ¡°The future?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°Interesting. And how am I in the future?¡±

    ¡°Busy¡­ looking for someone.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°T-thest Bloodmaw¡­¡±

    I was dropped, unceremoniously, onto the floor.

    ¡°Are you saying my children have been in once more?¡±

    ¡°S-something like that? I¡¯ve met you many times, whenever I¡¯vee across goblin encampments. But¡­¡±

    ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°There were no remaining true Bloodmaw Goblins left¡­ I was the one to find thest Bloodmaw.¡±

    ¡°You speak in riddles. I have no patience for such things!¡±

    ¡°Ark Wyze!¡± I squeaked out in terror.

    ¡°What about the human? Did he somehow kill them?¡±

    The anger on the face of Yx was damning. I did not think I was going to live after this.

    ¡°He said so, but not directly¡­¡±

    I mbered back to my feet and began exining everything from the storyline I knew about the Bloodmaw Goblins to Yx.

    ¡°Hoh. So, you im to be from a future timeline of this world, and that after meeting both Ark and I, he had passed the Origin Blood to you, and that was when you were reborn here in the present... <em>your past</em> as you are now?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much. ording to what I saw in that ce in the future, I was supposed to die today. I thought I was going to earlier, but Ebony¡­¡±

    ¡°Bah. Fate changes as often as a goblin takes a shit. I can feel the life force inside of you, little goblin. You will not be dying anytime soon¡­ unless you choose to seek it out yourself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. Ebony might be sad if I died.¡±

    ¡°Can you walk?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s continue our talk as we do.¡±

    Both Yx and I continued walking, and it asked me more question about Ark Wyze.

    ¡°So, in the future he has be a Bloodmaw in body?¡±

    ¡°Green skin and all. It seems like he can change his appearance with magic. He was deeply mournful at having lost everyone and he med himself¡­¡±

    ¡°Did he mention how the Bloodmaw met their end?¡±

    ¡°He only touched on it, I¡¯m afraid. Something about how enemies came on three sides, Orcs, Shadow Wolves, and Adventurers¡­¡±

    Yx stopped walking again for a moment and appeared to be pondering something.

    ¡°The current state of the tribe should be able to fend off the ck-ws, but if the Orcs dare disobey my benevolence and cross the eastern stream, that may be an issue. Should the older children band together with the Guardian, Stone-seeker, and Tree-chopper, they should be enough to handle them. But Adventurersing through the night forest¡­ that may pose a problem. It seems like I will have to pay attention to the movements of the human settlements outside of my domain from now on¡­¡±

    Sounds of fighting wereing from up ahead. The shrill scream of goblin could be heard.

    ¡°Little goblin¡­ Mint, was it? I trust you are wise enough to keep what we have spoken about secret. Never let my name escape your lips as anything other than Great Protector, and tell no-one of your future knowledge, not your sisters, not Old One, and not Ark. Live freely as a Bloodmaw, and enjoy the¡­<i>story</i>that will unfold.¡±

    I nodded profusely.

    ¡°Good. Now that our conversation has ended, let¡¯s see what troublese to the wonderful Husband I¡¯ve gone through so much trouble to procure for my children¡­¡±

    <strong>~~** Interlude | ??? **~~</strong>

    <i>Friend.</i>

    <i>Husband¡­ friend¡­</i>

    <i>Danger!</i>

    <i>Bitey! Friend! Come!</i>

    I was in Goblinhome, but I don¡¯t remember anything after the ck-ws ambushed me in the forest. All I knew was that I felt there was something dangerous around Husband. I knew right where he was, too, for some reason. He was in Stupid-one¡¯s room, and the dangerous thing was there with him!

    I moved with lightness I never knew I had, ran without feeling the tightness in my legs, and felt no need to draw breath.

    When I arrived at the Stupid-one¡¯s room, I saw three goblins and Husband inside.

    The two were strong-ones I hadn¡¯t seen before. Husband I recognized, but not the adult goblin on the ground, which was the source of my worry. I wanted to say to the strong-ones to step aside so I could deal with the problem, but words wouldn¡¯t escape my lips.

    The two strong-ones were wary of me, and both of them felt as dangerous as the thing inside the adult goblin¡¯s body.

    <i>Friend. Small. ce. Bitey¡­ friend!</i>

    I could hear Bitey telling me that the smaller goblin strong-one was a friend.

    <i>Other¡­ friend?</i>

    I tried asking Bitey if the other one who looked to be ready to take action against me was also a friend.

    <i>Ebony¡­ big sister. Friend!</i>

    Ebony?

    Ebony¡­?

    I clutched my head and felt a sharp pain as the name Ebony kept repeating.

    I had never heard it before, yet I knew it was the most important thing I needed to protect¡­ as important as Husband is.

    I might not be as strong a hunter as Guardian, Stone-seeker, and Tree-chopper are, but there¡¯s no better beast tamer and stalker in the tribe than me! I¡¯m sorry if both of these strong-ones are friends, but I must stop what¡¯sing and protect Husband!

    <i>Protect Husband?</i><i>Important Friend! Bitey help!</i>

    Bitey, who had been clinging to my back climbed onto my shoulder and leapt a far distance, right into the top hair of the little strong-one. She immediately screamed and began running around pping the top of her head with her little hands.

    ¡°ce! It¡¯s only Bitey! Bitey would never hurt you!!¡±

    The bigger strong-one understood, but still remained in my way.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are, but I can¡¯t let you hurt Husband or Ste.¡±

    I raised my hand and pointed at the one she called Ste.

    In response, the strong-one who spoke to me had stepped forward and spread her legs, balling up her fists like she was going to fight.

    So be it.

    I didn¡¯t want to harm her, so I would just throw her out of the way. As long as I could prevent what was inside of the one called Ste from escaping¡­

    I rushed forward and aimed to grab the strong-one, only to find that though I could grab her, I couldn¡¯t budge her an inch from where she stood.

    I felt a powerful blow right to my chest that rattled my body.

    She was strong!

    But she was still just a strong-one. I, however, am an adult goblin!

    I leapt at her with the intention of pinning her down, only to find her squatting down quickly and then leaping up at me with her fist rising upwards, shouting something unintelligible, possibly one of Husband¡¯s human words¡­

    ¡°<b>Shoutakeken!</b>¡± (¡¸•NÈ×È­¡¹Rising-mushroom-fist!)

    I felt the impact on my bones again and found myself flying backwards¡ªupwards!¡ªuntil my back collided into the rough stone ceiling of the cave-hole. At which point I began to fall face-first towards the ground.

    I saw her preparing to do something with her hands. I managed to orient myself somehow so I¡¯dnd on my feed and I crossed my arms in front of me as I felt a blue light hit me harder than a readboar¡¯s charge.

    ¡°<b>Kinokokikouhou!¡±</b>(¡¸È×šÝ¹¦·¨¡¹Mushroom-spirit-flow!)

    Even with my toes digging into the dirt, I was still blown back almost to the entrance of the cave-hole.

    Was she using some kind of goblin magic that Old One spoke of?

    Shit, was she even stronger than Guardian!?

    ¡°<b>Hissatsu!!</b>¡± (¡¸±Øš¢¡¹Final attack!!)

    I felt a familiar energy building up within her, like when I had taken a particrly tasty mushroom from Truffle and realized she was not going to forgive me for it.

    ¡°<b>Kinokoakumahouhou!!</b>¡± (¡¸È×£¨×Ó£©™Ä§£¨·½£©·¨¡¹Way of the Magic-Mushroom-Goblin!!)

    A whirlwind of punches and kicks came at me faster than I could see, and far faster than I could hope to block. With as much damage as I was receiving, I was surprisingly not feeling the pain I was expecting to. In fact, aside from being knocked around, I really didn¡¯t feel any pain at all from any of her attacks. They just rattled me. But, she was faster than I was and I just couldn¡¯t find a single opening to counterattack anywhere.

    Having lost sight of her, by the time I realized she was behind me, she swept her foot out and tripped me, then hopped onto my chest and began punching me in the face repeatedly. It only stopped when a familiar face had grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her off of me.

    It was the Great Protector!

    ¡°Beast-talker¡­ is what you came to find in here?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t answer with words, so I just sat up and nodded, pointing to the inside of the cave-hole.

    ¡°Ah, the strong-one of the mushroom-picker¡­ Button, I believe. You have gotten much stronger as ofte.¡±

    ¡°G-Great Protector! The skeleton¡­¡± she pointed at me.

    ¡°Is a friend of your sister, the Bone Lord.¡±

    ¡°It is?¡±

    ¡°<i>She</i>is. Tell me, is your Husband inside? Is he safe?¡±

    ¡°He is, but¡­ ce says something is wrong with Ste. Her strong-one may being¡­ but also having a Blood Fury inside of her¡­¡±

    A loud boom came from inside the room and Bitey came scurrying out, its bones just a little darker in color than when it leapt off of me and onto the small strong-one.

    Bitey began climbing up the new strong-one who had appeared with the Great Protector.

    <i>Mint important friend!</i>

    Bitey ryed what he could to me.

    I rose to my feet and recognized the one it called Mint as being important to me as well.

    ¡°No more fighting for now. Go and calm the Shaman so we can make sense of what is happening.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    The strong-one that the Great Protector called Button reached a hand outward to me, which I epted, and was pulled back onto my feet easily enough.

    ¡°You strong skeleton. Want fight moreter.¡±

    Button then turned around and went back into the cave-hole. I followed, with the Great Protector and the other strong-one who had Bitey sitting on her head right behind me¡­

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we finally meet Lumi, who f*cked around and was made to find out.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we finally meet Lumi, who f*cked around and was made to find out.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Sorry this chapter took so long, it ran away with me, and I also got captured by my family into watching that new Shogun miniseries. After this, there should only be a couple chapters left in the Daughters of the Goblin Tribe Interludes before we dive into volume 2. This chapter is a bit sizeable at around 6k words, but I did try and build up to this one properly, since Lumi will be an important goblinter on...

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Somewhere Outside the Realm of Life and Death **~~</strong>

    In what could be considered a mental reconstruction of what appeared to be a cavernous throne room, two formless beings manifested inside of it, as they had once before.

    ¡°It seems your time here as my guest has finallye to an end.¡±

    ¡°Finally came to your senses and decided to return me to the Goddess¡¯ embrace, I take it?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I have kept you here because I had hoped to find the right opportunity to allow you a chance to atone for your crimes, and, fortunately for us both, such a time hase.¡±

    ¡°Crimes?¡±

    ¡°Yes,<i>crimes</i>. Or is child-ughtering a facet of ra she keeps hidden to all but her faithful?¡±

    ¡°Purging your evil spawn from the world is not a crime, it¡¯s a sacred duty!¡±

    ¡°So sacred a duty it must have been that, when I asked ra for your soul aspensation for such an act done in her name, it took her less than the span of a mortal breath to agree.¡±

    ¡°Impossible! The Goddess would not have forsaken my soul! It was likely some heretical magic being cast by your shaman and that nasty one with the spear to obscure my death from the eyes of the Goddess!¡±

    ¡°When did I say she had forsaken your soul? I should think ra is in agreement with me, that you are deserving of a second chance at life. All that will change for you is the perspective you will observe that second life from¡­¡±

    A snap of the fingers showed a Human woman on a raised block of stone being vited by another Human male in the presence of two goblins.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°That would be your mother and father currently in the process of creating a suitable vessel for you.¡±

    ¡°They are human?¡±

    ¡°The woman is, at least for the moment. As a Saintess of ra, certainly it would be unreasonable to ask you to be born to someone not of the same faith. The man, however, is something of an anomaly, but one who has willingly epted the <i>origin blood</i>of my children and also seeks to show them a path to bing more than the evil spawn you purport them to be.¡±

    A snap of the fingers sped up the scene before them both. The human copted with the two goblins present, then vited the human woman once more. While time passed over days, the woman underwent some kind of physical change until her body was somewhere between that of a goblin and a human.

    ¡°What manner of corruption is this¡­?¡±

    ¡°Why, love, of course.¡±

    ¡°sphemy!¡±

    ¡°Not at all. The human man wanted nothing more than to strongly save the life of that woman, and this was the result of his will. His seed nted inside of her belly will create a worthy vessel, a goblin vessel suitable to house the soul of a Saintess¡­¡±

    ¡°Lies!¡±

    ¡°Shall we continue to observe?¡±

    Time rapidly sped up until an explosion of light happened in a small cave that four goblins upied, and a small ripple in the fabric of the universe formed for a fraction of a second before time froze.

    ¡°Your passage back to the world, without loss of a single bit of yourself. Your memories, your faith in ra, your hatred of my children, all of it shall remain with you. Only now, you shall be one of them. But, do keep one thing at the forefront of your thoughts¡­ suicide shall not be permitted, not by ra, and not by Me. Enjoy your new life as the first Saintess of the Bloodmaw Goblins. <strong>Ha ha ha ha!!!</strong>¡±

    And like that, the intangible form of the one called the Saintess of ra had been thrust through the small ripple in the fabric of reality, and catapulted at full force into the body of a strong-one growing inside of of a half-goblin Bloodmaw named Ste...

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ark Wyze **~~</strong>

    Surprise childbirths are no longer something new and unexpected to me. Diana Artemis set the bar, and it hasn¡¯t dropped an inch since. I had been forcibly awakened by ce with her magically chilled water pistol to a scene I would have preferred been a nightmare instead.

    I was being helped up by an extremely malevolent-looking skeleton goblin while ce was busying herself with doing the things Old One usually would with a goblin about to give birth. Button was supporting Ste by keeping her body in an upright position, Mint was doing whatever Button told her to do as Bitey stayed firmly entrenched in the hair on her head, and the Great Protector had a bemused expression on its face while watching everything going on.

    Yeah, it was essentially hell.

    ¡°Ark, you bastard! You said you wouldn¡¯t make ite early!¡± Ste shouted at me once she realized I was conscious.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me!¡± I retorted while on autopilot, having just awoken.

    While I had be able to detect when the sudden pregnancy ability I possess would ur¡ªa feeling of total exhaustion that preceded one of my manyicallyrge ejactions, followed by an almost magically enforced slumber afterwards¡ªI made a promise to Ste that I would make every effort to not rush her pregnancy. So far, there hadn¡¯t been any signs that it would happen¡­ but why she was having it now, when I have no recollection of feeling that strange sensation which leads up to it, had left me bewildered.

    Regardless, whether it<i>was</i>my doing or not, ce had ryed it through Button to me that my newest daughter was on the way, and nothing was going to slow or stop her froming into the world, and soon!

    There was an issue though. ording to ce and backed up by a nod from the Skeleton, my unborn daughter inside of Ste was currently undergoing something simr to the Blood Fury which Prima underwent not too long ago. For whatever reason, there was a sense of unease that when my daughteres out into the world, I may be a target for¡­ who knows what.

    Am I afraid?

    Not in the slightest. How can a father be afraid of their own newborn daughter?

    So, as Husband to Ste and daddy to what¡¯s about toe, naturally it was my job to do what I could to support Ste right now. Which meant I quickly took over as standing support for Ste¡¯s body which was inbor, and asked Button to go find the biting branch in Old One¡¯s room if she had any idea where it was. Thankfully, she did, and left immediately to go fetch it.

    ¡°I know it can probably wait, but what¡¯s the story with the skeleton?¡± I asked Mint, who would be the one to give me the best answer out of anyone currently present.

    ¡°Ebony and Mint try make new friend like Bitey. Bones belong goblin Beast-talker.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me? The bones¡­ belong to¡­ Beast-talker?¡±

    Beast-talker? As in, the one who died to the ck-ws over a month ago?

    A nce at the skeleton who was observing me without any visible eyes had lifted her arm and waved at me.

    ¡°Are you really Beast-talker?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask the Skeleton. Of all of my eventually-to-be wives, she was the one I knew the least.

    The skeleton nodded. All supernatural creepiness aside, the skeleton had no vocal cords and so couldn¡¯t audibly respond with words. I questioned how much awareness it had, since usually, aside from the ridiculouslyplicated magic required to be a lich and retain one¡¯s sense of self, skeletons didn¡¯t usually keep their personalities about who they were while they were alive. Or at least, that¡¯s what thependiums on Necromancy in my mother¡¯s personal library stated¡­

    ¡°Not know how know. Beast-talker¡­ still think Husband.¡± Mint spoke further in her small voice.

    So now I had a skeleton goblin as a wife? Isn¡¯t marriage supposed to end at<i>death do us part</i>?

    ¡°Well, if it makes her happy to still think of me like that, then I¡¯m fine with it. d to see you again, Beast-talker. Just to let you know, Diana Artemis and I took revenge on all of those ck-ws who attacked you. Their meat was delicious, and their skins and bones were put to good use.¡±

    In lieu of a voice, the skeletal jaw of Beast-talker cked with what I hoped was approval.

    ¡°Ark, why are you talking to a fucking skeleton?¡± Ste grumbled.

    ¡°Well, she¡¯s technically my wife, so why wouldn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s a<i>fucking</i>skeleton!¡±

    Ste took in a deep breath and made a slightly pained expression before speaking.

    ¡°Ark¡­ just promise me you aren¡¯t going to fuck it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not even sure how that would work.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to figure out <em>how</em> it would work, I asked you to promise me <strong>not to do it at all!</strong> GHHH¡­. <strong>Fuck</strong>¡­ GRRRRH¡­.¡±

    While yelling at me for the most ridiculous thing she could, Ste entered into another set of contractions. Button had returned in record time, and with the biting branch ready to go, so was Ste.

    A small pir of dirt was raised underneath ce and she assumed the duties of Old One, pressing down on Ste¡¯s belly when she needed to and Button both helping me support Ste and repeating what ce was telling her.

    ¡°Ark, I hate you.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°You had better take responsibility for this!¡±

    ¡°I will.¡±

    ¡°She better note out retarded like your other ones.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be as normal as you want her to be.¡±

    ¡°I just want her to be smart and strong without being weird.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t promise that. I mean, she¡¯s half mine.¡±

    ¡°Fuck!¡±

    After a small tirade of colorful words, mostly shouted at me in the human tongue, nature began to do what nature does best.

    ¡°Oh god, it fucking hurts! Ark, I¡¯m never letting you put another one of these damn things inside of MEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!¡±

    As two wed hands found their way outside of her birthing canal and plunged small, pointed fingers into the soft flesh of her thighs, the head crowned and a momentter, my daughter entered the worldpletely.

    And what a daughter she was.

    Though she was covered in a fair amount of blood, there was no mistaking that she had a simr skin coloring to both Ste when she was still a human, and of myself. In fact, aside from the pointed fingers, toes, and ears, along with the teeth, she was quite human in appearance. She didn¡¯t have the tell-tale greenish gold eyes at all, and just a small hint of growing red hair on her scalp.

    Rather than go for the centa which came out a momentter with a final push from Ste, she stood up and stretched out her tiny arms, turning them over and clenching her hands into fists before looking around the room. She then raised her hand upwards, and a bright light began to gather in the palm of her hand.

    I did not have a good feeling about what wasing next¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Lumi **~~</strong>

    <i>ra! Answer your faithful servant¡¯s call! I offer up my body to be a vessel for your grace and mercy so that your holy might may smite these abominations!</i>

    I let loose a smiting st of holy energy at all the evil gathered in this room. To think that<i>I</i>had been sent back to this world only to be reborn as a goblin!

    Inconceivable!

    I was met with stares from all around. A human, a human-like goblin, and three goblin children, unharmed, hidden behind shields of darkness. The remaining two abominations; the skeleton and the¡­!

    ¡°Hoh? Why does this little goblin have the taint of ra upon it?¡±

    My body froze in fear when I saw the creature with ashen skin, horns jutting out from its head, and two wings which unfolded themselves in front of me speak. It was something I had seen before, as I took myst breaths when I was still alive as a human¡­

    ¡­It was the thing which tore through the group of holy knights and pious adventurers blessed by the Church of ra to cleanse the world of evil abominations that would bring it to ruin!

    ¡°Taint?¡± The male human who spoke in themon tongue asked the abomination.

    ¡°Ark, do you worship the Goddess ra?¡± the Abomination asked him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t worship any of the pantheon. I am a man of science.¡±

    ¡°What about your woman?¡± It said, pointing to the body of the half-transformed female goblin lying on the ground next to him.

    The woman, a half-goblin from the looks of her and the one who must have begotten me just now croaked out an answer.

    ¡°The Goddess ra has always been the patron deity of my vige.¡± She said with a strained voice.

    ¡°I see. So that is how it was done! Marvelous!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s marvelous, Great Protector?¡±

    ¡°The Creator has given the Bloodmaw a Saintess.¡± It stated mirthfully. ¡°I do believe this is the first time in history something like this has happened¡­¡±

    ¡°Do Bloodmaw not normally have them?¡± the male human questioned.

    ¡°What need have they for one? The strong live to be stronger, and the weak die as fodder for the strong. The Bloodmaw have no need for phony religions, or to worship any deity other than the Creator. Adherence to the <i>ceremonies of blood</i>is how the Bloodmaw show their worth in receiving the gifts the Creator has bestowed upon them, as the perpetual growth of the Bloodmaw is the only thing ever pleasing to the eyes of the Creator.¡±

    The words that the high abomination spoke were pure Evil¡¯s Doctrine!

    ¡°Does my daughter having some alignment with the Goddess ra constitute a problem?¡±

    ¡°Who says she is aligned with ra?¡± The Abomination said, which incensed me greatly.

    ¡°Well, you said there was a¡­<i>taint</i>.¡±

    ¡°There is. But that¡¯s all it is. Did you not feel how pathetically weak her call to smite us just now was? It seems what blessings were given to her by ra may have already been purged.¡±

    The human got up and walked over to me, squatting down and looking me in the eyes.

    ¡°Hello, Lumi. I¡¯m your daddy. I¡¯m sureing into the world with so many people around you was probably scary, huh? It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t know what I¡¯m saying yet. All that you need to know is that you¡¯re my daughter, and I love you very much.¡±

    The existence of this human was a sacrilege. How dare a human cavort around with goblinkind and think he is clean enough toy a hand on me, let alone call himself my father! Being filled with righteous anger, and not wanting to believe that ra had forsaken me, feeling no more divine power in my body at the moment, I saw fit to bite him on the arm.

    <b><i>Ka-thump!</i></b>

    I screamed.

    I screamed but couldn¡¯t remove my mouth from the arm of this despicable human male. The taste of his blood was like the ceremonial ambrosia given to me to drink at my baptism when I first became a Saintess. I felt my body burning up while my thoughts became muddy. In that moment, all I wanted to do was devour this man entirely¡­<b><i></i></b>

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ste **~~</strong>

    It¡¯s been three days since my daughter, Lumi, was born. What was thought to be a Blood Fury turned out to be something else entirely. Neither the Old One nor that<i>thing</i>¡ªthe Great Protector¡ªknowledgeable as they were on the history of the Bloodmaw, had an exact exnation for what urred. A discussion involving Ark and ce came up with some excuse that it must have been Lumi¡¯s body undergoing some necessary change in order for her to be able to use divine magic as the Bloodmaw Creator¡¯s first Saintess, but not since that one time using it after she was born had she cast any other holy magic.

    With exception to myself and Ark, Lumi is actively hostile to all the other Bloodmaw. When ites to Ark, all she desires from him is a mouthful of his blood¡­ for me, she is willing to nurse, if begrudgingly, to continue living. She never ate the centa, and as twisted as it sounds, I wound up doing it while she took a nap. If there was anything magical or divine within it, I felt nothing.

    I think the only reason she¡¯s even willing to interact with me was when I had told her that even though I was a goblin now, I was once human and still believed in the Goddess ra, even after what had happened to me. I told her about my life as a vige daughter, about the adventures I went on together with Ark and Kairos, and about how it was a goblin subjugation request of all things thatnded us here as captives, and subsequently led to her being born.

    So far, motherhood hasn¡¯t turned out to be anything like I thought it would.

    There is no such thing as a goblin infant. The closest point to that is the eating of the centa and their first nursing. After that, it¡¯s straight into being a toddler. Within a day or so they can pick up the goblinnguage and begin learning life skills, such as hunting. Their teeth are sharp enough by then to crunch the skull bones of a rabbit. By the end of the first week, if they are smart and strong enough, they are capable of hunting small prey on their own.

    When Lumi finally decided to speak to me, it was to ask me for something.

    ¡°ra.¡±

    She had drawn a picture in the dirt on the floor of our cave-hole. It was the symbol of the Goddess ra.

    ¡°You want this?¡±

    My daughter nodded.

    What she was asking me for was some kind of ne. The symbol of ra, the five-pointed star which represented the five virtues of the Goddess. I only know it because there was a stone statue of ra in my vige, and carved into it was the symbol.

    I suppose Ivory could make something like that, but at the same time, I wanted to be the one to make it for her. Negotiating with Ivory, I was given some bones and string in return for a few rabbits I had hunted with my bow.

    Lumi had sat down with me and watched as I tried my best to craft it for her. It was by no means perfect, and Ivory could have probably done a much better job of it, but Lumi was satisfied enough when it adorned her neck. She had gotten down on her knees and sped her hands together, praying, from the sight of it. I decided to join her, though I only knew the prayers for a good night¡¯s sleep and for a good harvest.

    Slowly, she warmed up to me, though she was no less independent than any of the other goblin children. And she still fought with them all, and still sunk her teeth into Ark whenever she got the chance.

    It wasn¡¯t until Ebony¡¯s pet spider made of bones, Bitey¡ªI believe, had paid an unannounced and unwee visit to our cave-hole, that I saw my daughter once more use the magic light she was possessed of, taking aim at the spider and unleashing her divine magic.

    I don¡¯t know what I expected to happen, but it wasn¡¯t what did. I think Lumi was also unprepared for the oue. Bitey, whose bones were dark in color, had been restored to a pristine white. Whiter than they originally were when it was first created. Spinning around in ce, the spider then jumped and scurried out of the room, only to return some timeter, dragging a dead snake in from god-knows-where and depositing it at Lumi¡¯s feet and then saluting with its front bony foreleg before scurrying out of our cave-hole.

    Lumi stared down at the snake and then sat down on the ground and poked it a few times.

    She prayed again, tears streaming down her eyes, before grabbing the snake and taking a bite out of it directly. Lumi looked up at me and pointed at the snake. I sat down next to her and took a bite of it myself, enjoying how delicious it was¡­ something that was only possible because I was possessed of the goblin¡¯s instinct to eat raw and bloody meat.

    It wasn¡¯t easy for Lumi to be a goblin. The part of me that had be a mother understood this. But, for me it was. Oh, there were things I hated about being a goblin, still having the memories of being a human present in my mind, but I didn¡¯t hate being a Bloodmaw, overall.

    Aside from my beauty as a human woman, every other part of me had been enhanced. Including my physical properties and my senses. And so long as Ark gave me all that I wanted, there really wasn¡¯t much of a loss for me to ept being one. So what I felt I needed to do for Lumi was to find out what it was she wanted in order to be happy.

    Her reply to my question was short and simple.

    ¡°Want¡­ chapel.¡±

    A chapel. A room to pray to the Goddess ra in.

    When I next saw Ark, I brought it up to him, and he was entirely fine with it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make her one right away.¡±

    It had urred to me that I should have mentioned that it be a chapel dedicated to ra, but it seems Ark was already well aware of Lumi¡¯s faith.

    Ark had enlisted the help of many of his magically inclined daughters to build some kind of stone building attached to the immediate outside of Goblinhome, opposite to the yground, that came equipped with an ornately carved wooden double-door. Inside was what looked like some kind of a small church with stone benches for seating and two statues present, though one had a draping over it.

    The statue with no draping was of the Goddess ra, as borate as ones found in bigger towns and cities I had seen after having left my own vige. What had a draping was a strange statue. It was a poorly crafted statue of a goblin, like some kind of rudimentary wall-painting by someone with no artistic skill, wearing only a loincloth and the most pronounced point of it being an open mouth full of sharp teeth readying to eat a piece of meat.

    I had asked Ark what the deal was with it, and he said it was something Mint came up with that ce and Ebony also strongly agreed with. ra was not the Creator of the Bloodmaw. Mint felt that if there was to be some kind of church or religion present in Goblinhome, then it was necessary for there to also be some representation of the Bloodmaw¡¯s Creator, even if the chapel was only to be used by Lumi to worship and revere the Goddess ra.

    Seeing that it remained covered in her presence, as well as ridiculous to look at as an object of worship, Lumi found it eptable,ughing mockingly at the pitiful statue.

    Ebony and Mint would frequent the chapel and listen to Lumi speak about the Goddess ra, and the three of them became somewhat friendly as a result. Ark, on the other hand, would visit the chapel when Lumi wasn¡¯t present and would remove the draping on the statue, clean the dust from it, and offer a prayer up to it, only ever asking for the continued safety, growth, and well-being of his daughters, before covering it back up. I confronted him once about it, and all he had to say on the matter was, while he didn¡¯t necessarily believe in any of the Gods, if one might be willing to listen to him, wouldn¡¯t it be the one who most had some need for him?

    I couldn¡¯t find any fault in what he said.

    For Ark to be the key piece in restoring an otherwise damned tribe of goblins, it might very well be the work of the Bloodmaw¡¯s Creator to have brought him here. To have the power to change me from a human into a Bloodmaw¡­ perhaps Ark was some kind of chosen one. But I didn¡¯t believe that <i>too</i>deeply.

    After all, Ark was an idiot. An idiot with excessively powerful magic who loved all of his children with his naively kind heart.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Lumi **~~</strong>

    ¡°ra, have you truly forsaken me?¡±

    I have never had reason to doubt the Goddess before now, but to find that the only magic being bestowed to me as a Saintess from the Goddess ra was magic to heal and purify, naturally some concern would have taken root inside of me.

    The one to answer my grievance wasn¡¯t my Goddess, however, but the goblin elder they called Old One.

    ¡°I wondered the same thing once before about the Creator. When the Silver Skins and the Woman of Burning Light came to my tribe¡¯s cave one day and mercilessly ughtered my kin... My mother, Stone-feet, and my only daughter Spear-hand. I never forgot the feeling of terror and dread I felt at that human woman¡¯s magic, dressed in those white robes, able to bring the dead back to life and tomand a handful of goblins to die with but a single word from her lips¡­¡±

    She walked over to the draped statue and pulled it down.

    ¡°It is a simplistic depiction of the Creator, is it not? Compared to the one you believe in, there is no need for borate decorations to conceal what is essentially the truth of our kind. We are born simple; some weak, some strong. But all can grow through consumption of the blood of those stronger than us. And it is all that our Creator asks of us. Not to war pointlessly with others, not to create things to worship, simply to live and grow, to take what is necessary to be more than we are, but to never forget we are simple beings with simple beginnings.¡±

    I stared at the old one who then touched the statue, before putting the draping back over it.

    ¡°I know who you are. I was there when you came before I had to conceal myself and protect thest of my tribe. But that is in the past. You cannot give me back my maker, nor can you restore to me my irreceable Spear-hand. I take pleasure knowing her spear was what ended your life back then, but now you are a Bloodmaw, child. Shall I tell you why your spells of smite do not work on us now? I¡¯m sure you are curious as to the reason.¡±

    She was right. I was exceptionally curious as to why I couldn¡¯t smite all of these damn abominations.

    ¡°Quite simply, should you somehow be able to cast those spells again, you would also be killed by them. It¡¯s not that you<i>can¡¯t</i>cast them, it¡¯s just that your very blood prevents you from killing yourself in such a way. It would not be a noble self-sacrifice to do so, but both murder and suicide. I¡¯m sure your Goddess doesn¡¯t wish to see you die in such a useless and wretched way, which is why she has made it so your divine magic can only restore and repair. However, should you find yourself willing to pray to the Creator, perhaps that will change. Of course, I don¡¯t intend to try and convert your beliefs¡­ nor do I n to stop you trying to convert any of the tribe to believe in your Goddess, should you somehow find sess in that. You are free to do as you like, Sunless-saint. Whether you ept your new fate or not, you are now a Bloodmaw Goblin, and all the hatred of the human world you came from, that you held onto so firmly in your heart, and that you brought with you to destroy us, is now yours to shoulder. Time will pass, you will eventually undergo the <i>ceremonies of blood</i> and be more Bloodmaw than you could ever wish to be. And that is the just revenge the Creator has bequeathed to me, at the cost of the lives of my precious tribe at your hands, and those of the Silver Skins. Now you may begin to atone for all that you have done, and your forgiveness will onlye once you have done what all other Bloodmaw are tasked to do with their lives¡­ be <b>more.</b>¡±

    A hand patted my shoulder and the Old One walked out of the chapel. I was left staring up at the statue of the Goddess ra, and I felt broken. I couldn¡¯t find the words inside of me to continue my prayer to the Goddess, simply sitting down on one of the stone benches and clutching the holy symbol made of bones around my neck that my new mother had made for me, in an attempt at making some peace between us.

    A short whileter, the human male that was my new father hade into the chapel and sat down next to me.

    ¡°Hello, Lumi. If you¡¯re done praying, want to go y on the swings?¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ do you corrupt yourself with these goblins?¡±

    I had never asked him the reason before, but after listening to the Old One, I wanted to know why this Human would help restore these evil abominations.

    ¡°Because I could find love nowhere else in the world, Lumi. As for marital love, I remain unsure that all but Vera is capable of feeling that way about me. But there is not a sliver of doubt that all of my daughters are innocent young girls who, with proper guidance, can be as civilized and proper as the children of any other goodly race. And so long as I live and breathe, I will do all that I can to see them live happy lives away from the hateful stigma that follows all of the so-called evil races.¡±

    ¡°What about my mother, who was once human?¡±

    ¡°What about her? I would love to tell you that we love each other, but I would be a fool to think that she could ever love me for all the pain I¡¯ve inflicted upon her, knowingly or otherwise. Instead, she¡¯s given me a chance to atone for my sins by giving her the best life possible within these circumstances, and that is what I have chosen to do. In return, when I have a rare moment when I desire to be with a human, she offers me it as a small mercy. The fact that both she and you are the most human-like among the Bloodmaw is something that brings a little peace to my heart.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯d rather be among humans?¡±

    ¡°Not particrly. As I said before, I could find love nowhere else. The ones to ept me as I am were the Bloodmaw Goblins. There are two adages from where I originally hailed from that may exin why I amfortable here, and do not think of escaping. The first is <i>home is where the heart is</i>. All that I love is within Goblinhome. You, and all my daughters. The second is<i>the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb</i>. I have shed blood and taken lives, granted they were only big nasty ck wolves twice the size of me, for the sake of protecting these goblins and it¡¯s more than any human might have ever done for me on ount of just being another person from the same race.¡±

    What he said felt profound, but I needed time to understand it further.

    He offered his arm outstretched before me and I took it, biting into his flesh and savoring his blood. It was surely an impure act, but one I couldn¡¯t help but take part in. Only in those moments were my thoughts free of torment, and once more could I feel divine power course through my veins.

    When I was done, he wiped my mouth and then picked me up.

    ¡°Swings?¡±

    I didn¡¯t feel like arguing with him and agreed to letting him enjoy his role as my damned father.

    Leaving the chapel, it was a few steps to the swings where Ebony and Mint were being pushed by Beastie, the goblin skeleton who was partly responsible for my imprisonment in this human-like goblin body.

    ¡°Lumi!¡±

    ¡°Came to y with us?¡±

    At least these two goblin children were reasonable to deal with. I took my seat on the swing being pushed by my father and the other two being pushed by the skeleton who, somehow, seemed pleased to see him. Bitey, who had been sitting on Ebony¡¯s head, leapt from there onto myp and spun around before sitting down and gesturing for me to pet it.

    ¡°Want to go hunt with uster?¡± Ebony asked me.

    ¡°Hunt?¡± I asked, confused.

    ¡°Yeah. Something easy, like squirrels. Bitey is good at finding them.¡±

    ¡°Why bring me?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m a big sister goblin and so is Mint. It¡¯s our job to teach a little sister goblin like you how to be a goblin!¡± She whimsically imed.

    I felt my father¡¯s hand ruffle my hair for a moment before being pushed again.

    ¡°Why not give it a try, Lumi?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know how!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Ste teach you how to hunt?¡± Father asked me.

    ¡°She tried, but I¡¯m no good with the bow. If I had a staff, maybe....¡±

    ¡°Hmm, a staff¡­? I suppose I can make one for you. But you should go along with your sisters for now and just listen to what they need you to do. Even if it¡¯s only to be an extra pair of eyes to watch out for danger.¡±

    After spending some time on the swings, I reluctantly did as he suggested and went out into the forest with Ebony and Mint. Bitey and Beastie came along and it was less a hunt and more of a massacre. Mint would use her Druidic magic to ensnare animals with grass and nts while Bitey wouldnd killing blows, usually a snap of the neck, on whatever they came across. Beastie would carry all the spoils, and at the end of it, when we returned to Goblinhome, a number of them were dropped off at Melon¡¯s Kitchen where they were converted to decent quality food for us to enjoy eating.

    Father hade to find us there and had brought something nearly the same size as I was.

    It was a staff made of bone, from thest remaining femur of a ck-w which Ivory still had to trade with, or so I was told. It had an etching of a snake twining around it with an open mouth trying to consume the symbol of the Goddess ra, the five-pointed star at the head. Coupled with the twining of the snake was some kind of formic magic that ended at the top with a magic Rune I was entirely unfamiliar with.

    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°I call it Aurora. It''s a staff meant to channel light magic. It might not be as effective as yours since it¡¯s iyed with Runes instead of some divine charge, but I have a feeling you¡¯d be the best qualified to use light magic among all of my daughters.¡±

    ¡°GWOH! Lumi just got a grand weapon!¡± Ebony said with admiration.

    ¡°Mint, you should ask Husband for one, too!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need one right now.¡± she said quietly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go test it out on a hunt tomorrow, Lumi!¡±

    It was decided to do so. After eating, Father brought me back to my cave-hole where Mother was in the middle of making me something along with Pepper. It was a familiar thing, too. When asking what it was, Mother said that it was something Old One brought over to her a little bit earlier. But there was no mistaking what it was to me. The white vestments I was given to wear when I became a Saintess. The robes I still wore when I died in that cave while purging goblins from this world.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    I threw aplete fit when I saw it. I¡¯m sure it bothered my Mother to see me do that in front of the other goblin, but I was filled with anger and hate upon seeing it. The robes were a sign of purity, and being a goblin now¡­ how could I wear such a thing?

    I knew I was being selfish, but Mother and Pepper stopped mending it and Pepper took it with her when she left.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lumi. Old One was sure you¡¯d enjoy wearing it. I thought you might as well...¡±

    I truly despised that Old One in this moment. Mother was quick to shift the subject to that of my new staff.

    ¡°Did Ark give that to you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mother scooped me up and put me in herp, I helped myself to some milk while she caressed my head.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he knows what he¡¯s doing if he¡¯s given you a weapon already. I must have failed in teaching you how to hunt as a goblin¡­¡±

    The caressing then turned into a hug, which then turned into her carrying my tired body to our bed where she snuggled up with me under some warm covers¡­ I had no idea where things would go from here, but I was sure of one thing at least. My mother and father were prisoners here, and it was my job to help them escape. Only then might the Goddess ra restore us all to what we should truly be¡­

    As such, I will never offer up a prayer to that twisted Creator of the Bloodmaws¡­

    <b>Never.</b>

 [v2] Chapter Nineteen â€“ In which Ark gets a much needed reality check from an unusually kind Stella.

    [v2] Chapter Neen ¨C In which Ark gets a much needed reality check from an unusually kind Ste.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    Lifting my head from against my knees, I looked up to see Ste staring down at me. Why had shee to Rushk¡¯s cave? Was it to see if I had done to the orc what I had done to her not too long ago?

    ¡°Ste. Came to call me an orc-fucker this time, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you already one? I was going to take a bath and saw you and the two weirdos having a good time with the orc that has tanned skin. Decided it could wait untilter.¡±

    ¡°Grotte.¡± I said, in case Ste didn¡¯t know her name.

    ¡°Is this how you n on taking care of her afterwards?¡± Ste asked while taking a seat on the floor next to me, gesturing with her head over at Rushk who was lying quietly in her bed.

    ¡°I figured thest thing she wanted was me draping my arm over her and telling her it was going to be alright.¡±

    ¡°Basing that off of what you did to me?¡±

    ¡°I still close my eyes sometimes and remember you calling me a traitor, a goblin-fucker, and that you would never forgive me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still a goblin-fucker.¡±

    ¡°Gee, thanks.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just lucky for you that I also happen to be something of a goblin myself.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re killing me, Ste.¡±

    ¡°Oh, suck it up, Ark. You did what you had to do, right¡­ so that she can live?¡±

    I shook my head but began tough. Ste shoved my shoulder and asked me what was so funny. I had thought of a strange joke that hardly fit the situation, yet kind of did in a macabre way.

    ¡°You can pick your friends. You can pick your nose. But you can¡¯t pick your friend¡¯s nose.¡±

    ¡°What the fuck are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°A joke I heard a long time ago. Just found it sort of fitting for how things are around here. It¡¯s a roundabout way of saying that I can either be right, or be happy, but never both at the same time.¡±

    ¡°So, then are you happy, or are you right?¡±

    ¡°Neither.¡± I answered inly. ¡°I told her what was going to happen... that there was a chance she¡¯d be a goblin. A high chance she¡¯d probably get pregnant with some kind of goblin. And that I probably couldn¡¯t save her life a second time if she didn¡¯t let me do what everyone else said needed to be done. She didn¡¯t fight it. She didn¡¯t want to let me make her feel good. She just wanted it done and over as fast as possible, and so that¡¯s what happened. I don¡¯t think it was the right thing to do, but hey, that¡¯s just the human in me talking¡­¡±

    I extended my hand and manifested two Runes, Wind ones, not that it mattered. I let them dance around each other for a little while before allowing them to wink out of existence.

    ¡°I want power, Ste. I want enough power to be able to say no, and fuck anyone who tries to make me do something like this ever again.¡±

    ¡°Oh, found your balls atst?¡±

    ¡°Is insulting me the only thing you came up here to do?¡±

    ¡°No. I came up here to make sure you¡¯re still human.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What, did you think I¡¯d turn into that goblin again?¡±

    Ste shook her head.

    ¡°Mind if I sit on yourp?¡±

    I didn¡¯t have the energy to brush her off. I figured it would be quicker to just let her do whatever it is she came to do, and then go. I slid my legs down and Ste sat on my thighs, cupping my face in her hands and staring deeply into my eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Ark. <strong>It¡¯s okay</strong>. What I¡¯m going to tell you now ising from my human half. The half you must have felt a need to leave behind with me for moments like this, so listen carefully. <em>Okay</em>?¡±

    She nodded my head with her hands, forcing my agreement to listen.

    ¡°You¡¯re an idiot. A kind, na?ve idiot. Maybe it¡¯s because you were raised as a spoiled sheltered noble boy, I don¡¯t know. But you seem to think that the world is supposed to be this perfect, idyllic,wful, peaceful ce where everyone has some gods-given right to be treated fair and equal. That talking things out at length, about what is right and wrong, is somehow supposed to make a tribe of bloodthirsty cannibalistic carnivorous goblins change their minds on what they¡¯ve always known since the moment they wed their way out of their mothers. Ark. The world is a harsh, cruel ce. It¡¯s not peaceful. People lie, steal, murder, and yes... rape. And most have no problems thinking their actions justified. It¡¯s time for you to get that through your thick skull already. Do you think for even a second that any of the goblins you¡¯ve been captured by give a flying fuck about taking a bath? No. They don¡¯t. Not one tiny fuck-all do they care if they smell worse than the shit-pit they all use. You know <i>why</i> theye to your room and use the bath? Because spending five minutes in the water makes it easier for them to get what they want from you. Tell me, and be honest, what do you think is easier? Going through <em>all</em> the trouble to tie you up and hold you down so they can rape you for your seed, or spending <em>just a few moments</em> in a small clean pool of water inside their own cave, so that youe to them, all happy as a sow in mud, and give them it freely, eagerly, even?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°When you were first captured, do you think Prima gave a single shit about whether or not you could stomach raw bloody meat? I¡¯ve talked with her about your early days here, when you were still tied up with ropes like I was. The only reason she went along with cooking your meat at all, was that you had said if you can eat cooked meat and clean your dick with water, you could produce unlimited healthy seed. And for the record, she didn¡¯t believe youpletely until Diana Artemis was born. When that fucking demon who captured us both paid a visit to Berry and said that your eldest brat was supposed to be some mighty huntress for the tribe, she was sold on your bullshit. <em>But only to a point</em>.¡±

    I didn¡¯t like what Ste was saying. But what I didn¡¯t like more was that she was probably telling me the cold hard truth. I¡¯m a reverse seed-bed. No matter what else I¡¯ve done or have tried to do to bring civilization to the Bloodmaw, they¡¯ll go along with my whims only to a point if it means I¡¯ll shut up and continue giving them what they want from me. The only thing they truly want or need from me.

    ¡°I get why you raped me, Ark. I was being stubborn, but you did it anyway to save my life which I am grateful for. Did I hate it at the time? Yes. I did. I was upset for a good long while, but it¡¯s different now. I made my choice to adapt along with the changes it brought and became a Bloodmaw. I¡¯m alive, and I even have a daughter who I struggle with sometimes but love dearly even though she¡¯s a total mess, not to mention also half a goblin in appearance. But that¡¯s what the orchard pickers say¡­<i>the apple doesn¡¯t roll far from its tree</i>.¡±

    Ste pulled my face into her chest, her soft and tender breasts a warm and wee pillow for my tired mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m here for you, Ark. As your human wife, your adventuringpanion, the mother of your adorable daughter, whatever you need me to be in this moment. I¡¯m here to tell you that it¡¯s okay. For all the good you do, that you try to do to make the world a better ce, even if it¡¯s impossible from the start to do, it¡¯s okay. You raped an orc. It was something inevitable for her. Were it not you, then another orc would have probably done it to her eventually. Or worse, she might have sessfully escaped, only to wind up getting killed by some passing party outside of the forest. Because of you, she has been given a chance she quite honestly doesn¡¯t deserve. But you happen to think she does. If you didn¡¯t think so, you wouldn¡¯t have done what needed to be done to keep her alive. If she has any sense at all, she¡¯ll figure it out. Yeah, she¡¯ll probably hate you for a while, but that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    Ste stroked my head and just held me close to her for a while. I didn¡¯t cry, but the numbness I was feeling was beginning to fade.

    ¡°Why¡­ are you doing this¡­ for me?¡±

    ¡°Want me to lie to you?¡±

    ¡°It would be better if you did, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It would.¡±

    ¡°¡­tell me anyway.¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ even though I¡¯m a goblin now, what I want hasn¡¯t changed all that much from when I was a human.<i>All Ste wanted was a strong, muscr, handsome, rich man to give her an easy life.</i>The way I see it, aside from being handsome, and only having a few muscles of any quality to speak of, you¡¯ve been doing your best to provide me with the best of the other two. Which is why I don¡¯t mind being your wife. Well, in the goblin sense of it. Marriage is out, but with you sleeping around with everyone else, it would only be sphemy in the eyes of the Goddess were we to actually tie the knot. In ce of that, when you be king of this dump, remember who is most suitable to be the queen.¡±

    ¡°Button?¡±

    I felt eight fingers dig into my back and scratch me. I¡¯m so d that her fingers didn¡¯t be as sharp as a full goblin¡¯s.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    ¡°Kidding!¡±

    ¡°Hmph. You better be. Now, are you feeling human again?¡±

    ¡°I guess¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine, I have no choice then, it seems. Shall we go find Vera and get wild?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Are you¡­ being serious?¡±

    ¡°That depends. You willing to use that mouth of yours?¡±

    No further convincing was necessary. She got up off myp and helped me to my feet. After that, we left Rushk¡¯s cave and went down to the breeding room. Vera was in, and after being propositioned by Ste into a threesome, to which Vera happily replied with ¡°Sister!¡±

    Seeing Ste suck on Vera¡¯s titties alongside me only agitated the beast. Ste rode my face while Vera rode my cock and at the end of it all there were two very satisfied goblinsying on either side of me. We¡¯d eventually make it to the bath and clean up¡­ but for now, I felt a little less guilty than I had, and I hoped Ste was right.

    That maybe if I keep on doing what I can that is good, it will offset all the bad shit I wind up doing, because this world isn¡¯t the same as my past life. There is no right to live. It¡¯s an eat-or-be-eaten world.

    And I have more pussy to eat than I can handle, goblin<i>and</i>orc!

    <b>~~ Sometimeter, in Rushk¡¯s cave¡­ ~~</b>

    ¡°Rushk. Now that you are third, and a proper war-bride, would you care to have a drink with me?¡±

    Hearing Orga Lush speak to me, I rolled over and sat up. She had brough two cups and a jar full of what the goblins call<i>blue water</i>, a crude fruity alcohol. I took the offered cup already filled with it and sipped on it slowly. She sat down next to me and patted my leg.

    ¡°How was it? Are you sore from his<i>kosh</i>?¡±

    ¡°¡­no. He¡­ listened to my request and finished as quickly as he could.¡±

    ¡°Silly girl. After all he did for you, that is how you repay him?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I was¡­ nervous.¡±

    ¡°Nervous? Gah! Grmm¡­ Not that I don¡¯t understand. I was nervous for my first mating. I didn¡¯t even have any rings in my<i>pimpims</i>yet and only a few stars decorated on my left mam, since I loved gazing at the stars from the very first memory that I had of doing so as a whelp. I had always wanted to be a bride, but such a thing was never in my stars.¡±

    Orga Lush took a long sip of the alcohol, draining her entire cup before pouring another.

    ¡°No matter what maye of it, you will always be an orc to us.¡±

    ¡°You think I will undergo this change the War Chief spoke of?¡±

    ¡°I do. I would like tofort you saying otherwise, but I believe you will.¡±

    ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    ¡°All living beings have a star that governs them. I used to listen to the Shamans speak of the starless ones. Beings of unspeakable powers to twist fate itself to their liking.¡±

    ¡°Starless ones?¡±

    Orga Lush pulled out a pouch of bones and spilled them on the ground before us.

    ¡°Have you seen the ck-skinned one? Has the spider and skeleton as familiars?¡±

    ¡°I have. What about her?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a Tuothoc.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°Yes. These bones are blessed by her. She gave them to me freely just agreeing to let her sit on Missy for a few moments. While I¡¯m no Shaman, I was taught how to read the bones by the one in my camp after my first mating as a war-bride for the first time. What I find interesting is that the bones say that the War Chief is a starless one.¡±

    ¡°What does¡­ that mean, exactly?¡±

    ¡°<b>Chazok Hruth</b>. The War Chief will create a mighty kingdom in time. We could not be more fortunate with what has happened, bing his war-brides. But what I want to show you is this.¡±

    Orga Lush pointed to three bones crossing each other.

    ¡°The star of<b>Nekses</b>. The Iron Lord, who breaths magic into metal.¡±

    ¡°What about it? I don¡¯t know the bones, Orga Lush.¡±

    Orga Lush gathered up the bones and handed them to me.

    ¡°Go ahead, cast them.¡±

    I did as she said and cast the bones onto the floor.

    ¡°Again, the star of<b>Nekses</b>.¡± She pointed to the three bones crossing each other.

    ¡°Yes, but what does that mean, exactly?¡±

    ¡°The Warchief has plucked a star from the sky and put it in your belly. Your whelp will be blessed with the touch of iron.¡±

    ¡°We have mated only once. There is no guarantee I have a whelp in my belly already.¡±

    Orga Lush shook her head at me, her gaze full of pity.

    ¡°<b>Kumosh</b>.¡± She said, pointing to a few curved bones which had formed a ring.

    ¡°You will have this child in one season.¡±

    ¡°How can that be? It takes at<i>least</i>two seasons to bear a whelp!¡±

    ¡°It is not my ce to question the bones. I am only telling you what fate awaits you.¡±

    ¡°Is it only me? What about Grotte or Krushka?¡±

    ¡°They will carry his whelps as well. But their bones only showed<b>Guvek Kesht</b>.¡±

    ¡°<b>Guvek</b>¡­<b>Kesht</b>? That¡¯s¡­ my star.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Like you, their whelps will be favored by the War Chief. Perhaps they will also have whelps who are stars plucked from the sky as well. Truly a great fortune to see.¡±

    ¡°¡­what about you?¡±

    Orga Lush shook her head.

    ¡°<b>Kah Kamon</b>.¡±

    ¡°A curse?¡±

    ¡°I am old, Rushk. My time wille soon.¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s a starless one or whatever, can¡¯t he break it?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps. But for now, the bones say<b>Kah Kamon</b>.¡±

    ¡°Do you know how long?¡±

    ¡°No one may know when. Only<b>Kah Kamon</b>decides the time one meets them.¡±

    ¡°Orga¡­¡±

    She smiled at me before plucking up a long fat bone.

    ¡°Now that you are mated and no longer nervous or afraid, you should speak with your Husband. There are many pleasures to be had mating, and I¡¯m sure he would love to show them to you. Enjoy your youth and mate as often as you can before your tusks fall out.¡±

    We drank a bit more until the jar was emptied. Orga Lush then left my cave, and I was left alone with my thoughts. Thoughts of what happens next¡­

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-one â€“ In which Ark and the Great Protector talk about the past and the present.

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-one ¨C In which Ark and the Great Protector talk about the past and the present.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Apologies for not posting in a few days. From the 4th to the 8th of July I prioritize spending time with my own goblin tribe. Should be back to posting daily for the foreseeable future.

    ¡°Excellent news!¡±

    The only person who seemed genuinely happy to see Rushk transforming into a goblin was the Great Protector, who hade with some news that one of its agents would be entering the Bloodmaw domain soon to deliver what I had requested of it¡ªseeds for the new field we had created so that Melon would eventually have ess to new ingredients she could use to make more dishes for the Bloodmaw to enjoy eating.

    So far, Rushk¡¯s transformation into a goblin seemed to be following a simr route to Ste. She still retains her small tusks, her height and skin color haven¡¯t changed, and she says she still feels like an orc. But her ears now jut out to the side and her eyes have undergone the change into that gold and green color which have given her better vision than she already had with seeing in the dark.

    Okay, I may have lied.

    Ste is also someone who seems happy to see Rushk¡¯s transformation, but I can¡¯t believe that the motivation behind it is of a goodly nature. Is it schadenfreude perhaps? Now that she¡¯s no longer the only transformed goblin, Ste has gone out of her way to befriend Rushk as a fellow victim of circumstance.

    ¡°I take it the skull-mouth is your doing, Ark?¡±

    The change to the external appearance of Goblinhome did not go unnoticed by the Great Protector.

    ¡°I was feeling inspired. Ebony happens to love it.¡±

    ¡°The Bone-Lord? Not surprising. Have any new goblinse into the world since myst visit?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. But quite a few of the adults are already in their second month. Berry, Truffle, Pear¡­ not to mention those who just became pregnant after¡­¡±

    ¡°Your temporary change into a Bloodmaw?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°At this rate, three generations in a year isn¡¯t bad at all. By the time your children are of the age to have their own, the poption of Goblinhome will be one hundred or more. After that, it will truly begin to explode.¡±

    ¡°Do¡­ you have some goal in mind with using me to repopte the Bloodmaw?¡±

    ¡°My only goal is to see that they do not be extinct.¡±

    ¡°Do you not intend to bring another male¡­ into the tribe?¡±

    ¡°None. You have already proven yourself to be enough. Or is having an unlimited amount of goblin women who want only to mate with you and bear your children without taboo or consequence not what you truly desire?¡±

    I sighed.

    ¡°I will tell you something you may appreciate but do keep it to yourself.¡±

    My ears perked up at the hint of some secret motive the Great Protector was willing to reveal to me.

    ¡°The Bloodmaw are my precious children, Ark. My entire domain is meant for them to inherit. When their numbers be enough, I will lift the restrictions on the three borders. If you wish to continue teaching them how to be civilized as you profess, then do consider teaching them how to build camps and viges. I want the Bloodmaw to spread to all the corners of my domain and continue to grow in number.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t that attract the attention of the nearby towns and viges? Surely the Adventurer¡¯s guild will send out more subjugation parties if they find the number of goblins has grown substantially¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you not see how strong your children are? The Huntress alone could best a party of B-rank adventurers. Add the tworge ones from the runt and they could take on a four-man party of A-rank. How many Adventurers of that rank do you think the Guild can just spare to throw at a goblin subjugation? What they see as only a minor growing infestation of<i>goblins</i>?¡±

    That¡¯s true. Goblins aren¡¯t exactly considered to be priority one monsters to needing to be eradicated. They¡¯re only considered to be nuisances and annoyances inrge numbers, to be dealt with by the lower ranks.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why was there a party of S-ranks sent to massacre them?¡±

    ¡°Spear-hand.¡±

    ¡°Old One¡¯s daughter?¡±

    ¡°She wasn¡¯t only a Guardian, Ark. She was a Goblin Champion.¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what that means.¡±

    ¡°She was no less strong than the Huntress when she was born. She also underwent six Blood Furies, a Blood Awakening, and A Blood Oracle. To call her a Goblin Queen is an understatement. Her very existence was a threat to what you call the civilized races. And she was a<i>true</i>Bloodmaw on top of that. Vicious, brutal, and superior. Inparison to the rest of the tribe she ruled, she was like a¡­<i>tower master</i>.¡±

    I whistled.

    ¡°She was that strong?¡±

    ¡°She was. She was also<i>extremely</i>intelligent. I mourned her death deeply together with the Old One. Which is exactly why I ughtered everyone involved in causing her death, save for one. One to spread the word that I was furious and that on pain of the most excruciating death, entry into mynds was forbidden without permission. At which point I brought the remaining Bloodmaw here, so they would still have a chance to regain what once was. What I didn¡¯t expect was my luck in getting ahold of<i>you</i>.¡±

    ¡°We must have different definitions of what luck is.¡±

    I only caught something strange in what the Great Protector said just then by sheer chance. Something I wouldn¡¯t have normally paid attention to were this truly a casual conversation between us¡­

    ¡°Wait a minute. If entry to yournds was forbidden without permission, then why was there a goblin subjugation mission posted in the guild?¡±

    ¡°Because I had it posted. As you saw when you arrived, my children were ready to begin restoring the tribe.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ it¡¯s because of you that Kairos is dead, and Ste was forced into bing a goblin?¡±

    ¡°Kairos?¡±

    ¡°Ourpanion. Kairos, Ste, and I all epted the quest toe subjugate¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, the brash young man who tried to attack me with that flimsy sword. He¡¯s not dead¡­ at least I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°I had no need of that desert-skinned ruffian, so I expelled him from the forest. I even left the clothes both you and the girl wore, torn and covered in blood next to him to find when he woke. If he was smart, he would have drawn from that the conclusion both of you were dead and reported to the guild the failure of your mission.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ your aim the entire time was¡­ me?¡±

    ¡°Would you prefer I tell you that any man would have done in your stead? Cheapen your struggle over thest six months, perhaps? I could do so, but I find no reason to hide the truth. I have never lied to you even once, Ark. You were indeed my aim at that time, and still remain so. A scion of the Wyze bloodline? The Old One has mentioned her human husband to you, the one called Grant, yes?¡±

    ¡°Yes. She mentioned him.¡±

    ¡°He was a ridiculously powerful tower mage, some twenty or so years ago. Perhaps stronger back then than Salondra is today. Were he not already at death¡¯s door when the Old One found him, there is a chance he might still be where you stand now, doing wholeheartedly what you feel that you have been forcibly coerced into doing. Instead, the only proof of his legacy was lost together with Spear-hand. Now, what if what happened with Spear-hand¡¯s nature from birth wasn¡¯t a fluke? Mix the blood of Wyze with the Origin Blood of the Creator and see whates from it? Surely you aren¡¯t so foolish as to keep closed your eyes to the nature of your goblin children? A potential Champion, A Shaman, A Bone Lord, A Bloody Druid, A Saintess¡­ what other marvels will your blood create? Don¡¯t think for a moment that the child of the Mushroom-picker goes unnoticed, either. Just being in close proximity to her makes me feel like I¡¯m standing amidst a tempest. I would feel more anxious in trading blows with her even once versus you in your goblin form a hundred times over.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying my blood is responsible for making¡­ unnaturally strong children with the Bloodmaw?¡±

    ¡°To be clear, I believe it to be the magic lying dormant inside of you that is somehow being passed through your blood<i>and</i>seed, but yes, unequivocally, as the answer.¡±

    ¡°¡­Why are you choosing now to tell me any of this?¡±

    ¡°The orc.¡±

    ¡°Rushk?¡±

    ¡°You threatened the Guardian over her when she was brought back after attempting to flee. What was it you said to her¡­ if the orc stops breathing, all of Goblin homees down?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Let me ask you something in all seriousness. Were I to allow you to leave peacefully right now, under the condition of never being allowed to return, to be seen as an enemy of the tribe for all time for doing so¡­ would you go?¡±

    ¡°Only me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll humor you in saying that you can also take your formerly humanpanion<i>and</i>the Saintess as well.¡±

    I pondered it over for a little bit, but I already had my answer to this question a long time ago.

    ¡°No. There¡¯s¡­ nowhere I particrly care to return to. Nor do I have any idea how to undo Ste¡¯s transformation. I don¡¯t even think it¡¯s possible to do that with Lumi at all, either. From what I can tell, she¡¯s a true goblin¡­¡±

    ¡°Look, I will not say I am no longer your enemy, Ark. The Bloodmaw are and will always be my precious children who I will prioritize the safety of. But you are also<i>their</i>Husband, by<i>their</i>choice. The only ce we need to meet in the middle of, is that we both agree in wanting to see them prosper. Something I believe it is safe to say we both want, yes?¡±

    ¡°If you are suggesting we are family now, I regret to inform you that I already have a wicked mother-inw in the form of Old One and have no desire for a second one more wicked than she is, so what does that make you?¡±

    The Great Protector¡¯s bone-rattlingugh was particrly nasty when I said that.

    ¡°Then, how about you think of me as a¡­ Fairy Godparent!¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re a Fairy, then I¡¯m a one-tentacled deep-sea Kraken.¡±

    Moreughter shook my skeleton from the inside causing my brain to slosh around inside my skull like lumpy stew.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s enough talk for now. I¡¯m sure you have many things to think about, and I need to meet with the Bloody Druid.¡±

    ¡°Mint? What for?¡±

    ¡°I presume you¡¯d like to have the wonderful bounty of nature which surrounds you to lend you their blessings so that your precious seeds will grow?¡±

    I held my hands up in surrender. I was neither farmer nor druid, and I sure as hell knew that we were going to need whatever blessings were avable to us to see our first nting and harvest through sessfully.

    The Great Protector walked into the open mouth of Castle Gobskull¡ªI mean Goblinhome¡ªand left me outside scratching my head at first, then staring at them.

    ¡°The blood of Wyze, huh?¡±

    Should I consider myself lucky that I was born to that woman in my second life? She wasn¡¯t much of a mother to be honest, and even calling her that¡­ kind of sticks in my throat. I¡¯ve been gone for almost a year now. I wonder if she even realizes¡­?

    No. She has to. After all, there¡¯s less than a year to go until that arranged marriage which she was trying to force me into. Wasn¡¯t even someone I knew, just the daughter of some other Tower Magus she was hoping to scheme into an alliance with.

    Yeah. I need to get stronger. Blood of Wyze indeed. I need to find a way to unlock that vast amount of magical power within me that the Monster had no problems essing¡­

    But how?

    Pulling me out of my thoughts was Berry, smelling like her sweet berries and holding her fat belly swollen with the second child of mine she was eager to carry.

    ¡°Husband¡­ would you like to spend some time with us?¡±

    ¡°Us?¡± I asked, curiously.

    She grinned sneakily.

    It took no effort for her to take me by the hand and drag me into her cave-hole where not only Diana Artemis was waiting for me, but also Pear and Melon, along with many bowls of fruits and berries.

    I could already feel a sense of stickiness from my body¡­

    Yeah, the Great Protector was right. I had a lot to digest upstairs, and the best way to do so would be after I took care of my primitive needs and could find myself entering sage mode.

    I reached for my loincloth and tugged it off and threw it to the side in one fluid motion exposing my erect seed-stick, made unyieldingly fierce once more by simply being in the presence of the Great Protector.

    ¡°Alright my lovelies. Eeny-meenie-miney-mo. Catch a goblin by the toe¡­¡±

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-three â€“ In which Nova and Ark have a friendly, long overdue, spar.

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-three ¨C In which Nova and Ark have a friendly, long overdue, spar.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Nova **~~</strong>

    ¡°How¡¯s it going, kiddo? Thirsty?¡±

    A cup filled with the sweet red fruit water and plenty of ice cubes was pressed against my cheek before being handed over to me. As a Swordsaint, I practice with the shoddy iron sword my goblin mother gave to me for a short while every morning. While I know she would have preferred me to use the spear as she does, it¡¯s simply not a weapon that I can bring the full potential out of.

    Hakim Al-Khamsin¡­ that was once my name. Now I am called Nova, a name which my father says means<i>a bright new star</i>. I¡¯m not quite sure I¡¯m deserving of such a name, though myst one meant<i>the wise desert wind</i>, a name I had at least grown into properly even if my actions were repugnant at times. I was a womanizer, and a mercenary, but I was also a patriot to my homnd in the desert kingdom known to outsiders only as Sunscorch.

    My mother was a whore and my father was a king as the joke went. I was a ruffian and a troublemaker from the time I could first swing my fists. Iter picked up a sword and began doing what I needed to in order to secure my future, since I was only a burden to my mother who while she cared for me as best she could, surely was burdened by me as well.

    I took a sip of the refreshing drink my new father had given to me and sat down in the grass next to him. My father¡¯s name is Ark Wyze, a rather powerful human sorcerer. He is also the only man to be found in both the tribe and within the entirety of the Bloodmaw domain.

    ¡°It¡¯s good.¡±

    ¡°I mixed in some citrus syrup. I figured it would cool you down nicely.¡±

    I was used to dry heat. Instead, the forest is full of humidity, leaving my mostly naked body feeling sweaty and sticky all the time.

    ¡°Want to spar with me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m no match for you, Nova. Even if I had a magical sword to use.¡±

    My father is a terrible liar as well. He has knowledge of armaments I¡¯ve never seen before, and many that I have which I would even consider to be exotic. I remember him showing my older sister, Magpie, how to do something he called<i>iaido</i>. It involved drawing a sword from its sheath in one motion to deal devastating damage. He¡¯s well versed in fighting theory at least, to the point that I would be willing to learn from him what I do not already know. He even made me a weapon from magically crafted stone surrounding a bone that I had only wished was made of metal. It was arge t curved de that, when I held it, felt like an extension of my arm. The weight and bncing were impable, to the point that were it made of metal, I would be willing to think myself unparalleled inbat.

    ¡°Then if you aren¡¯t going to spar with me¡­ are we just going to talk?¡±

    ¡°If you want. Anything specific you have in mind?¡±

    ¡°There is something I¡¯m curious about. Do you feel no shame in indulging with your own children?¡±

    My father who was usually easy-going and jovial, crinkled his face when I asked him that. To be clear, I¡¯m not judging him. But as someone who was also a civilized man at one point, such a thing is¡­ unbing, even to the worst of us.

    ¡°I feel plenty of it, Nova. There¡¯s something I heard someone say once, though I can¡¯t remember when or where. When one betrays their morals, they stop being morals and be more of a hobby instead.¡±

    I snorted when I heard him say that.

    ¡°At the very least, should any of my daughters want me to nevery a hand on them, I will abide that decision no matter what.¡±

    ¡°In that case, you can leave those to me.¡±

    This time my old man snorted.

    ¡°What if they don¡¯t have fat tits and arge ass?¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll just have to fatten them up until they do!¡±

    We bothughed at the stupidity of what we were saying to each other.

    ¡°I appreciate you not saying anything about¡­<i>that time</i>. I thought you had betrayed me when Prima suddenly came to me the other day saying that she knew all about my secret. I didn¡¯t realize she was aware I was using a sword skill.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, your mother has aplex about being the strongest.¡±

    ¡°She sure does. Who do you think is the strongest?¡±

    ¡°Tough call. Lily¡¯s moved up my list, but the top three are Pepper, Pear, and Berry for sure.¡±

    ¡°Uh? What?¡±

    My old man pointed at his crotch.

    ¡°I meant in a fight, not rolling around in the hay!¡±

    ¡°Got news for you, kiddo. The only swordy I¡¯m any good at is with the meat stick.¡±

    My father stood up and stretched his arms out above his head before answering seriously.

    ¡°But I suppose I owe it to you once, even if it¡¯ll only disappoint you. Can you give me a little bit of time to make my own weapon? It won¡¯t be traditional in appearance, but it<i>will</i>be a sword.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to make it now?¡±

    ¡°Depends on the quality of bones Ivory has on hand.¡±

    ¡°Can I watch you make it?¡±

    ¡°Sure. There¡¯s nothing secret about its design.¡±

    My father let me apany him to the cave-hole belonging to Ivory and Truffle. When we got there, my father immediately rushed to see Ivory who had¡­pany at the time. It was the orc with tanned-orange skin, Grotto or something.

    ¡°What the¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Ah! Husband came visiting too soon! Ivory wanted to show this to youter!¡±

    My father stood there, jaw agape, staring at Ivory¡¯s tits, which were now simr to the orc¡¯s. She had two thin bones pierced through her nipples and some pictures on her breasts. One breast, at least. It was of a tree and a mushroom growing next to it.

    My father engaged in a conversation with both Ivory and the Orc. Truffle was also there, holding up a mushroom that looked identical to the one on Ivory¡¯s breast, but she had no changes to her breasts at all. Just a swollen pregnant belly. I didn¡¯t understand the oguage, but I did understand Ivory just fine.

    It seems that my father was the adventurous sort with these three, having engaged in some cross-species y at the same time. Ivory was fascinated by the tattooing and piercings the orcs had and wanted to do the same to her own chest after having seen it. Ivory also appeared to be able to speak a few words of orcish now, at least enough to ask the orc, whose name was Grotte, not Grotto, to assist her, which she was happy to do.

    Turns out that Ivory was going to need a day or two to heal and keep her breasts clean before father could enjoy them. If I had to say where the whorehouse was in Goblinhome, I believe I just witnessed its establishment.

    I will give him credit. He managed to collect himself well in the situation and had gone about asking permission from her to look through some of her bones to find a few suitable for making a weapon. Both Ivory and Truffle were surprised to find that he was intending to make<i>himself</i>a Grand Weapon.

    Apparently, since father is a magician and a powerful one at that, not a single goblin save for my mother would have thought he would ever have the intention of using an actual weapon. The one weapon he did have, a magical wand that Ivory herself mistook as a ck bone, was given to her own daughter, Ebony, which is something that happened before I was born as a goblin.

    Given the interest both Ivory and Truffle had, as well as Grotte who also seemed to be interested in the magic my father could use, let him stay in their cave-hole while he assembled not only one, but two weapons that even a Swordsaint such as myself found intriguing.

    ¡°These are des used by the warrior elites of the Covenant Empire. I don¡¯t know their exact name, only that the cruder versions were called<i>burndes</i>. The more advanced types used a special kind of¡­ hmm¡­ shall we call it star-magic? This one won¡¯t be remotely as strong as one of those types, but it should hold up to at least a few strikes from your metal sword<i>¡­</i>I think.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t identify the bones he used to make it, but he fashioned a short fat bone for a grip, and a few long bones for the des, as it had two triangr halves with a gap in the middle. It looked a bit like a sword-catcher. Two holes were fashioned with father cing the Topaz stone he carried within a bone bracelet he almost always wore into one, and a perfectly clear quartz stone into the other. Once the bone framework was done, it was reinforced with dirt he hardened to stone around it.

    They reminded me of Diana¡¯s weapon, the one she called<i>Bleed</i>, which in turn seemed like a close cousin of the<i>Qattari</i>used by nefarious assassins in the shadowed alleys of my former homnd, Sunscorch.

    Father stood up and carefully moved his arms while holding the exotic weapon he called a<i>burnde.</i>

    ¡°I suppose this will have to do. No promises I¡¯m going to be good at fighting you with them.¡±

    ¡°Husband is going to fight Nova? Can wee and watch?¡±

    Truffle was interested in the fight, and so father invited the three of them toe and watch if they wanted once he rified that it was a spar, and that he was probably going to lose to me. I can¡¯t speak for the other goblins, but I think everyone here in Goblinhome enjoys watching a good spar.

    I¡¯m sure he would have preferred it being something casual between only us, but I¡¯ve been hounding him for a proper fight for a long time now, and I kind of wanted an audience. Maybe it¡¯s my childish nature¡­ being a juvenile goblin and all right now, but I can only listen to Diana go on and on about our old man being impossibly strong without wanting to cross des with him myself, just to be sure!

    So, a few more goblins were gathered for the event.

    And by a few goblins, I mean everyone that was inside Goblinhome¡­ on both floors.

    There was a wide-open space to spar on the West side of the fire-pit, so the logs that had been ced around it now became the stands. Everybody but Figurine, ce, Button, Jewel, Ruby, and Jade hade out to watch. Even Old One and my younger sister Wise-eyes hade to watch.

    The rules were as basic as it got for a spar. The first tond a clean blow or what would be a fatal strike determined the winner.

    The two of us stood about a dozen paces apart with my mother, Prima, acting as the judge. Father already told me before we began that he wouldn¡¯t use any magic that wasn¡¯t constrained to his sword, for fairness¡¯ sake.

    I appreciated that. But why does he think I can use magic in my sword?

    ¡°Are you ready?¡± My mother announced in a loud voice, to which the both of us said we were.

    ¡°Then¡­ fight!¡±

    When fighting an opponent one isn¡¯t sure the exact strength or skill of, moving slowly and cautiously is usually the best approach. But I knew my father to be a calm and calctive man most of the time, so I decided to rush him and see what came of it. I¡¯ve been in more battles than I can hope to count and felt confident that my experience would guide me to a victory.

    But my old man is full of surprises. His eyes weren¡¯t focused on my arms at all. Instead, he was staring at my feet. When I swung my sword, he sprang towards it, intercepting my sword with his left de, and it felt like I had struck the side of the mountain we lived in.

    I felt the recoil from the sword jolt my arms, and in that single moment of minor difort, he pivoted his body and the top of his foot hit the back of my knee, sending me to the ground, where I quickly rolled away to avoid any follow-up strike, springing to my feet and reorienting myself.

    ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I missed. I was aiming for your calf muscle with that kick.¡±

    ¡°This is a swordfight!¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Why are you kicking?¡±

    ¡°To limit your movement.¡± He said stone-faced. ¡°Nova, a swordfight is very much like a game of chess. I need to limit the moves you can make so I can put you in a position where you are forced to make a mistake and I can im victory. If you are expecting me to only use my weapons, you are sorely mistaken.¡±

    I felt like he had just cheapened our spar, but at the same time, he had approached our spar as if it was something more than just a casual shing of swords. He was taking me seriously from the start, and I respected that more than he could know.

    I took the stance of the form I was most familiar with. The form I had learned and used for over fifteen years.

    ¡°I won¡¯t hold back, old man.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to endure.¡± He replied in his usual ill-confident manner.

    I approached him cautiously this time, and he began to circle around me. He kept his left side exposed to me and tucked his right side behind him. His fists were up like he was nning to brawl with punches, but with the long reach of his swords, I found myself needing to search for an opening that he wasn¡¯t trying to lure me in with since there were so many.

    I¡¯ve fought a few who wielded weapons in both hands, but usually only one weapon had reach, while the other weapon was much shorter, like a dagger or long a long knife. He had two weapons that both had long reach but also could be used in a shielding manner, making things tricky for me.

    ¡°Not going to attack? Then I will.¡±

    The<i>burnde</i>he held onto with his right hand began to glow and with a shing motion the very air in front of it distorted and rippled towards me. I focused on it and swung my own sword with a full spin of my body to cut the dangerous wave of air rushing at me. I wasn¡¯t left unharmed as I felt a part of my non-dominant shoulder sting as if it was cut.

    Sparing a nce, I noticed it had been. A small scratch, but still a scratch.

    Aside from the time he had turned into a full goblin, I¡¯ve never seen my father truly raise his hand to anyone or ever swing it with violence. Especially not towards us, his children.

    I see.

    This was his test for me.

    No words needed to be exchanged anymore.

    I gathered myself and immediately dashed towards him, Confronting him with all of my experience as a Swordsaint. My sword rang loud with heavy and dull hits as my own collided with his. I danced around him, seeking to strike him at each and every opening he presented me with. The weapon in his left hand moved close to his body to try and receive or deflect each of my attacks, but quite a few got through. They weren¡¯t clean cuts, but he was now bleeding from a small cut on the side of his defensive arm, and two ncing cuts to his unprotected body on the same side.

    Drawing blood on him caused a scent to fill the air and I felt¡­<i>disturbed</i>.

    I had an urge to pounce on him and w at him with my own hands rather than to keep using the sword I wielded, but I had the mental fortitude to shake it off. I felt like the fight should have been over, and that he shouldn¡¯t have been able to defend my attacks as well as he had.

    But the fight wasn¡¯t over. I continued my assault, circling around him and pressing my attacks at any openings that looked worthwhile. He was entirely on the defensive, continuing to use his left weapon as a shield of sorts. But my metal sword was chipping away at his weapon made only a short while ago with nothing other than a few bones and dirt made magically stone.

    Then, he smiled and swung his right weapon upwards, shouting something stupid.

    ¡°<b>FACE THE WIND!!</b>¡±

    It felt like a wall of impassable air was right between us. Trying to approach it only pushed me back. My toes dug into the dirt just to keep my body steady.

    ¡°<b>AKU!</b><b>?</b><b>SOKU!</b><b>?</b><b>ZAN!¡±</b>

    Father took that moment to propel himself through that wall of wind. His speed was amplified, and his right weapon was aimed straight at my head. I put all my strength into swinging my sword up to parry it, only to find that his left weapon was also moving to strike what would be my exposed nk.

    Shit!

    I immediately let go of my sword and tucked into a roll trying to dodge everything. When I came up from my roll right behind him, I crouched down low and threw my body at his legs from behind, knocking him to the ground. Then I sprung to my feet, leapt into the air to grab my sword which was descending, and poked his exposed butt as soon as my feet hit the ground.

    ¡°Nova has won!¡± Prima dered.

    I dropped my sword and leaned over, cing my hands on my knees and breathing heavily.

    Thatst attack¡­ I couldn¡¯t tell if the old man was fucking around the entire fight or not.

    He groaned a little bit and pushed himself up off the ground onto his hands and knees. The right weapon he held onto had shattered into about six pieces, but the left one was still fine.

    He then rotated his body so that he was sitting down, the entire front of his body was covered in dirt and grass, including his face.

    ¡°Was that good enough for you, kiddo?¡±

    I let my body go and fell right onto my butt.

    ¡°Yeah. I had fun.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± He said with another smile and fell back onto the ground, spreading out his arms.

    We both began tough together for a bit before my sisters came over and began to harass him about a few things. Diana wanted to know all about the weapon he was using that she picked up and began swinging around. Magpie was curious as to how father created the wall of wind. But all of them were affected by the scent of his blood, and he was about to be ate breakfast for the entire tribe.

    But my mother wasn¡¯t having any of it. She just sat on him and red at every single goblin and orc present, making them cower away. Lumi was the only one allowed to approach, using her Saintly magic to quickly heal the cuts on his body which we all felt the effects of. I can¡¯t say I enjoyed the feeling of arousal it brought about towards him.

    While father was recovering, sitting on a log and talking about some members of a so-called<i>Legendary League</i>to Magpie and the others who remained, with Ivory taking up the space in hisp that everyone else wanted. Diana had gone into the forest and came back quickly with a pair of freshly killed foxes, skewered on father¡¯s weapon.

    The orcs quickly prepared one for cooking over the fire while the other was immediately torn into by the goblins who preferred fresh bloody meat.

    Yes, it was just another quiet and peaceful day here in this little goblin kingdom hidden in the forest¡­ sitting in thep of arge orc called Krushka as her two massively tattooed and pierced breasts pressed down on my head while I ate some delicious meat she offered to feed me.

    Whether male or female, the orcs appreciate strength. And as the War Chief¡¯s mighty daughter who won our battle, to the victor goes the spoils,<i>old man</i>!

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-seven â€“ In which Ark explains the various types of love to Diana Artemis

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-seven ¨C In which Ark exins the various types of love to Diana Artemis

    ¡°Want to run away again?¡±

    After the party held out in the open yesterday, most if not all of the goblin tribe went back to their usual daily lives. It was currently raining. Nothing too fierce¡ªlittle more than a steady drizzle, not cool enough to make me catch a cold with my body soaked as it was. I was once more at the tree line, staring out endlessly into it while not really thinking about anything in particr.

    Diana Artemis had once moree to me, not bothering to put a knife to my neck as she had before. She took a seat on the muddy ground next to me and leaned her head gently against my shoulder.

    In that moment, I wished I could say I was just her father. But that line had been crossed and I was the very thing she had always called me from the start¡ªher Husband.

    ¡°No. No matter where I go, I¡¯m convinced that too will be a prison for me.¡± Was all I could answer.

    ¡°What¡¯s a<i>prison</i>?¡±

    As it turns out, for the Bloodmaw, there is no real concept of a prison. If there was internal strife within the tribe, it was mediated by someone strong like Spear-hand, Old One, or even Prima. Anyone captured would obviously either be raped or eaten. Why keep someone alive just for the sake of keeping them alive if they had no other use? These goblins are practical to the extreme. I mean, I¡¯m not a prisoner. I¡¯m a breeding ve.

    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be a ce where people who do bad things are kept. A ce where no one really cares about them. But sometimes even good people wind up there for the wrong reasons, or because of the scheming of others. Sometimes they are kept there for a short period of time as a punishment, and sometimes they are sent there and will remain there for the rest of their life.¡±

    ¡°Does Husband think Goblinhome is a prison for him?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t deny that at the start of my stay here, I thought it the case. If I still think of it as being one these days, then Goblinhome has be a prison of my own making.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because of you. Because of your sisters. Because even if you won¡¯t ever call me daddy, I will never be fully able to see you as the beautiful and powerful independent female goblin huntress that you know yourself to be. I find it hard to even think of abandoning you all. To me, even if you wish to have strong-ones of your own with me which pains me emotionally, you will still always be<i>my</i>daughters¡ª<i>my</i>strong-ones. I can<i>try</i>toe to terms with it,<i>twist</i>my way of thinking to deceive myself that you are an adult no different than Berry, Vera, or even Prima who don¡¯t share my human blood¡­ but it will always be a fact of life that I made you, and that in the world I was once a part of, it¡¯s considered a human crime¡ªpunishable by being put in prison.¡±

    ¡°Even¡­ if Diana Artemis loves Husband in the same way humans love?¡±

    I scoffed for a moment, but not in an offensive way. While I have a considerable amount of life experience over her, she¡¯s still just over six months going on sixteen candles¡­ there¡¯s so much she still needs to learn about love. I mean, hell, barely a few days before she was born was the first time I had ever held a woman in an intimate embrace¡­ even if it was really just Prima raping me in the most peaceful way possible.

    ¡°In thends of humans far, far, away from here, there was a big tribe known as the Greeks. This tribe are the same as the ones who worshipped the Goddess of your namesake. They also determined that humans had eight ways to love each other and gave a name to each one.¡±

    Diana Artemis tilted her head up and looked at me with great confusion.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t love¡­ love? Berry said¡­¡±

    I shook my head gently, not letting her finish her sentence.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about them in detail, then maybe you might understand how different it is from whatever the Bloodmaw equivalent is. To answer your question, Love isn¡¯t simply love¡ªat least not to humans. One of our bad habits is the need to sort every single thing in this world into its own ce, much like how quickly Truffle can identify a specific mushroom just from hearing you describe it.¡±

    ¡°The first kind of love is called<b>Eros</b>. It is the same as the love felt when making strong-ones.¡±

    ¡°Diana Artemis likes that one.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s usually the most enjoyable.¡± I quickly quipped.

    ¡°Diana Artemis is d she got to know how good Husband¡¯s seed-stick inside of her feels.¡±

    ¡°I figured you¡¯d enjoy the biting part more.¡±

    ¡°That part is also good but feels different.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    My short time spent as a goblin, especially with Melon, taught me what my wives and daughters felt when we exchanged bites and tasted each other¡¯s blood. A surge of power and knowledge transferred between each other in a preternatural way.

    ¡°The next type of love is called<b>Philia</b>. That¡¯s considered the kind of thing where you think¡­<i>I love being around this goblin the most</i>. I suppose the best examples of this are Truffle and Ivory as well as Button and ce.¡±

    Diana nodded before adding ¡°Also Ebony and Mint¡­ Luna and Nova.¡±

    I quickly agreed seeing that she understood the gist of it quickly enough.

    ¡°The third type of love is called<b>Agape</b>. This is the kind of love where you¡¯re willing to sacrifice yourself for another. For me, it would have been when I stood against Prima and the Great Protector so that I could make sure you had space in Berry¡¯s cave-hole for you to grow up well in. Actually, in the moment I probably did it for Berry more than you, but you were certainly on my mind after having met you for the first time.¡±

    Diana¡¯s wickedly sharp-toothed smile beamed when I said that.

    ¡°Diana Artemis knows this love. Felt it when we hunted ck-ws together.¡±

    She was spot on. If one of those damn wolves would have gone for her, I would have shielded her with my life. I imagine she believes she would have done the same.

    ¡°Alright, then we¡¯ll move to the fourth type of love called<b>Storge</b>. This is the love a maker goblin has for their strong-ones and sister-goblins. This one is ipatible with<b>Eros</b>. This should be the feelings you have when ites to wanting to protect and take care of Berry and I, as well as the feelings you have as a big sister goblin towards Orchid and Lc¡ªspecifically.¡±

    Diana crinkled her brow for a moment nodding only slightly at my exnation.

    ¡°Something confusing about it, Diana?¡± I asked.

    ¡°This is not part of the<i>goblin way</i>. Strong-ones do not usually bring food to their maker goblins. And I only became a big sister goblin to Orchid and Lc because of Husband¡¯s warning.¡±

    ¡°My warning?¡±

    Diana recounted what I told her about being strong by force, and how if she was benevolent to Lily¡¯s twins that they would one day help her when she needed it the most rather than abandon her. It¡¯s impressive to me how a single lesson can be fully retained by her at the young age she was back then.

    ¡°Mm. Then maybe that¡¯s proof there¡¯s some<i>human way</i>inside of you somewhere.¡±

    ¡°Not just Diana Artemis. This kind of love only exists in the Bloodmaw because Husband created it.¡±

    I was momentarily stunned by her admission of that. Power is Hierarchy within the Bloodmaw, such things as care and generosity were foreign things to them. Did I really have such an influence on the whole tribe regarding this aspect of love?

    ¡°Alright let¡¯s move on to the fifth type of love called<b>Mania</b>. It happens when your feelings of love overwhelm your otherwise normal rational reasoning, usually as a result of a desire to possess someone or somethingpletely. It¡¯s not considered a safe or healthy form of love, but it exists, nheless. I would think you suffered from that directly when you underwent your Blood Fury and decided to be an adult goblin the first time without obtaining my permission.¡±

    Diana frowned at thatst bit I was still aggrieved enough to tack on at the end.

    ¡°Diana Artemis did not need permission. Adult goblins make strong-ones! To make strong-ones, need seed-stick and big-seed. Husband¡¯s job is to give it to all goblins that are ready.¡±

    Yeah, try telling a pubescent teenage girl that she¡¯s not an adult. It¡¯s easier to win a knock-down drag-out fight with the Great Protector¡­

    ¡°Forget it. The Sixth type of love is called<b>Ludus</b>. It¡¯s the enjoyment one feels when ying around with and teasing others. I dare say that this is the kind of love you might see between myself and either Jewel or Pepper. I don¡¯t think they particrly care for me as a Husband in the same way say¡­ Vera does. But most definitely they enjoy the benefits thate along with me being everyone¡¯s Husband here and having limited time with me.¡±

    Diana seemed to grasp that one quitefortably with nothing to add. I do flirt with everyone, and it¡¯s inline with normal everyday operations here.

    ¡°Then the seventh is probably the one you¡¯d most be able to understand. It¡¯s called<b>Pragma</b>. It¡¯s the kind of love meant to fulfill an obligation. In my case, if any of the adult goblins love me for a specific reason, it¡¯s because I am here to make strong-ones with them. It¡¯s the reason why I am everyone¡¯s Husband and can¡¯t belong to any individual goblin. It¡¯s also the reason I¡¯m sitting here right now. Not only am I every adult goblin¡¯s Husband, I¡¯m also every strong-one¡¯s daddy, too.¡±

    Diana also signaled her understanding of this type of love.

    ¡°Husband is wrong. Diana listens to Old One talk about what it means to be n. What Husband is saying about this type of love is more like being n.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°Being n is important to the Bloodmaw.¡±

    I got a small lecture from Diana about her understanding of n as she understood it from Old One which was somewhat different than the exnation I got from Toy, the first person I became n with. Apparently, in the past of the tribe, n considerations were based not only on selecting a mating partner or partners, but also theirpatibility with fellow n members and howplementary their acquired skillsets in life were. Diana really did nail it on the head.

    ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve got a point.¡± I conceded. ¡°So, finally, there¡¯s the eighth and final type of love called<b>Phutia</b>. While all the other types of love involve other people, this one is specifically about loving yourself¡ªor at least beingfortably proud of what you are. If Diana can say to herself that she takes pride in being the next Guardian of the goblin tribe, and that she also take pride in others acknowledging that about herself, then that¡¯s pretty much what it is.¡±

    ¡°Same as how Husband is proud that he can use Human stone magic to make the Bloodmaw stronger?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ and no. What I love about myself is¡­ well¡­ being your daddy. Being all your sisters¡¯ daddy. Even if you arepletely Bloodmaw in appearance and ability, to me, you will always be in some part¡ªhuman. You are my family no matter what, and that makes me feel like I have good worth.¡±

    I don¡¯t know if Diana Artemis fully understands thisst one, since it¡¯s a bit more subtle than its nearest neighbor, Narcissism. What she was fully understanding of at this moment, however, was<b>Eros.</b>Diana, in a single swift movement, had upied myp and put her hands around my neck. With only a soggy, muddied loincloth on, her bare tan colored chest, enhanced by the physical transformation of her body after her Blood Fury that had happened not too long ago, perked out in front of me with youthful indiscretion.

    Giving in to the taboo which had already been broken, in the drizzling rain, my eldest huntress and I became a beast with two backs once more. We rolled in the grass and mud and Diana Artemis did her damnedest to try and make a strong-one as she desired with the absurd amount of human genome she extracted from me.

    My reward from all of this?

    ¡°Achoo!¡±

    Was to be, for the first time since arriving in Goblinhome, to be the recipient of a cold¡­

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-Eight â€“ In which Ark truly regrets catching a cold.

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-Eight ¨C In which Ark truly regrets catching a cold.

    ¡°Gishoo! Uwachoo! Guhhh¡­¡±

    How long had it been since I caught a cold? Maybe a year or so? I¡¯m rather cautious about taking care of myself, but these things are bound to happen. I honestly think I was more worried about acquiring some kind of goblin venereal disease than just a regr cold. But, a cold I had caught from not drying off quick enough from the rain and I was soon shivering underneath a nice ck-w pelt nket in my own room within the breeding room.

    I had been visited by Old One, Berry, one of the Kobolds, Silky, the green-scaled one, I believe, Dara the Dwarf who lives underneath the breeding room, Orga Lush, and of course, was being fully attended to by Vera. Old One, acting as a trantor with her omni-linguistic skill, was facilitating the discussion on what to do about my sudden illness.

    Goblins don¡¯t usually catch colds. Neither really do Orcs. Dwarves do, and on asion, Kobolds do, usually when shedding their scales in inclement atmospheric conditions. So, naturally, the Kobold and the Dwarf were talking about medicinal remedies. Dara suggested I drink some hard spirits and let alcohol fix things up¡ª<i>Dwarf way</i>, and all¡ªwhile Silky suggested something far less savory for the insectophobe that I am¡­<i>leeches</i>.

    I wasn¡¯t particrly interested in either remedy being suggested, so I offered one of my own based on my own experiences in my previous life. Chicken soup. It¡¯s not like there aren¡¯t any fowl to be found in the forest, and it¡¯s not like it necessarily needed to be a chicken, specifically. I also am pretty sure whatever the fowl was, it most definitely wasn¡¯t going to be a certain Emden Goose.

    Before the girls involved could confirm the method of healing me, a diminutive goblin wearing a racoon outfit appeared and began to point and growl. Everyone was chased out of the breeding room before she sighed and walked into my room, standing up and looking down at me. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against my own and nodded.

    ¡°You have an idea, ce?¡±

    ce pointed at herself for a moment. I understood what she meant, strangely enough. It was along the lines of<i>Aren¡¯t I the tribe¡¯s shaman?</i><i>Leave it to me!</i>She then knelt down next to my body and slipped her tiny hands under the pelt nket before feeling a finely controlled surge of warmth flow through my body. I turned my head to sneeze again and groaned, but feeling a bit better and not feeling the cold sweat that I had been enduring for thest couple of hours.

    ¡°Gwah.¡± She said, authoritatively to me.

    While I¡¯m good at guessing, I had no idea what the specificint she voiced was about. A light manifested on her fingertip, and she spelled out in the air, the goblin script that we had learned thanks to Vera¡¯s ingenuity, what her diagnosis for me was.

    <i>Rest now. I will take care of you, Papa.</i>

    ce might be a bit of a rascal, but she¡¯s still my daughter and ostensibly the most powerful magician among the tribe. She¡¯s also fiercely intelligent. She patted me gently and even fluffed up my pillow before gesturing for me to rest more. ce then left my room, letting me fall asleepfortably, even though my nose was stuffy, and I had to breathe through my mouth.

    A whileter, I was awakened by a gentle nudge. When I opened my eyes, ce was sitting next to me with two stone bowls full of¡­ soup. I sat up a little and ce smiled at me cutely, lifting a spoonful of it and blowing on it lightly before opening her small mouth, exposing her sharp teeth and saying ¡°Aah~¡±

    Yeah, being a dad is the best thing in the whole world.

    ¡°Ahh~¡± I said, and was promptly spoon-fed bites of soup, feeling warm inside in more ways than one. While there weren¡¯t any noodles to be found within the soup, it was definitely some kind of chicken soup, with diced potatoes and carrots. I was sold on itpletely.

    It brought back nostalgic feelings of my mother taking care of me when I caught colds back when I was school aged. I don¡¯t think I ever fed her chicken soup once, though. Was I unfilial? I mean, I did try and lessen the burden for her by cleaning up the house and not being noisy, as well as looking after my younger siblings so she could rest a little bit¡­

    I reached out and patted her head while smiling at her.

    ¡°Thank you, ce. Daddy feels really loved right now.¡±

    ce nodded and smiled toothily.

    ¡°Gwah!¡±

    ¡°Is the other bowl for you?¡±

    ce nodded.

    ¡°Want to eat together?¡±

    ce nodded and handed me the stone bowl and spoon. She picked up the other and held her spoon out at me. I tapped her spoon lightly and we both enjoyed eating together. When we were done, she took the bowls and put them aside on the floor before slipping herself underneath the pelt nket and snuggled up against my body.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of catching my cold?¡± I asked.

    ce shook her head and ced her hand on my chest, rubbing in a circr motion. Iid back down and wrapped my arm around her runt-like body. Once more afortable warmth spread outward to the extremities of my body. Disgracefully, even<i>that</i>part of me was warmed up.

    My nose had also leaked a little and some snot adjusted itself so that I could breathe a bit morefortably.

    ¡°Is everything good with Button?¡± I asked.

    ce nodded her face against the side of my chest. I suddenly felt a bit tired again, and my body rxed quite a bit. I hugged her softly and told ce that I definitely loved her, because I love all my daughters and believe that they need to hear it from me as often as possible. Even if ce was a conspirator in the Diana Artemis adulting event, and even though I was still holding on to some anger directly aimed at her¡­ what can I even say or do? My heart softened a little and I just epted that the past was the past and that ce must have had her reasons and even if I don¡¯t understand them, she probably had the best interest of the tribe in mind at the time.

    I can¡¯t fault her for that. While I am her father, I still consider myself objectively human¡ªeven if I at one point turned into a goblin¡­

    ¡°ce, you at least see me as a daddy instead of a Husband, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ce lifted her head, stared at me with her golden eyes, and nodded. One of the few times she didn¡¯t stick her tongue out at me. Receiving that confirmation from her, she reached up with her small arm and patted my head. My resistance to sleeping some more instantly crumbled and I was once again in dreand within seconds¡­

    <strong>~~** A little whileter¡­ **~~</strong>

    My eyed opened again, and ce was sitting up next to me, her hands ced on the center of my torso. Berry was here too, currently straddling my waist and copting with me. There was a huge thrum of mana present in my small room, and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what my daughter was doing¡­<i>exactly</i>.

    I turned my head slightly, enough to make me feel dizzy.

    ¡°ce¡­ what¡¯s going on?¡±

    A number of Runes were already manifested and floating around us, bouncing off of some kind of magical wall constructed within the room itself. As I watched, too tired to move, they managed to avoid touching either ce or I and all struck Berry¡¯s body¡ªspecifically her pregnant belly.

    I didn¡¯t notice it at first, but my arms, at least, had taken on a greenish tone. My cock and balls both felt unnaturally heavy. Berry wasn¡¯t even looking at me. Her eyes were rolled back into her head and she was just grinding on me with something like fanaticism. The sweet scent of her milk leaked from her tan breasts and I felt iting on. That strange sensation that I hadn¡¯t felt in a while. The feeling before I would pass out before the blessing that hurried along the birth of a new daughter after waking up.

    My loins twitched and I was unable to stop the volcanic explosion of my semen into Berry¡¯s body. I reached up with difficulty to touch her face. Without looking, she reached for my arm and bit into it. I felt herher regions tighten extremely and it felt like she was trying to snap it in half!

    A mixture of pain and pleasure overloaded my mind and once more I plunged into darkness¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Berry **~~</strong>

    ¡°Is¡­ Husband awake yet?¡±

    I remained in Husband¡¯s cave hole, not wanting to return to my own. I could feel the strong-one inside of me ready to crawl out at any moment. Old One, Lumi, ce, Button, Vera, Truffle, Ivory, and Diana Artemis were all gathered there to support me.

    Button, in response to my question, went into Husband¡¯s cave-hole and carried him out, depositing him close by. His face was moving but his eyes remained closed. ce, our tribe¡¯s Shaman, hade to my room and, in her own way ofmunicating with gestures when Button wasn¡¯t around to speak for her properly, intimated to me that if I wanted to have my strong-one now, I needed toe with her.

    What goblin isn¡¯t eager to have their strong-onee sooner rather thanter?

    I followed her to Husband¡¯s room and did what came naturally with him. She began to call upon some kind of magic that I couldn¡¯t begin to understand¡ªyet understood what was going on almost immediately after I put Husband¡¯s seed-stick inside of me.

    It was my time.

    Not only for having my strong-one, but to undergo something I didn¡¯t think I ever would.

    I began my<i>Blood Fury</i>.

    Between Husband and Shaman, I could feel the strange power known as Magic flow into me¡ªor more precisely, my belly.

    Shaman, moons ago, had told me that my next child would know magic, same as she and many of my sister¡¯s strong-ones. I was already immensely proud of Diana Artemis being an amazing huntress and the next Guardian of the tribe. But what woulde of this one? I didn¡¯t know how to use magic; whether the stone kind that Husband uses, the picture kind that Vera uses, or the strange kind somewhere in between that Shaman uses. So how would I be able to teach her?

    I growled as thebor pain wracked my body once again. Old One ced the biting branch in my mouth and rubbed my back while I endured.

    Shaman, after feeling my stomach and nodding, pointed her finger at Husband and a small burst of water shot at his face. Husband quickly sat up and gasped for air, wiping his face at the same time and looked around in confusion.

    ¡°¡­what¡¯s going on?¡±

    With his eyes unfocused, yet clearly locked on the Shaman, she pointed at my belly.

    ¡°The strong-one ising now.¡± Old One said to him.

    Husband sat there motionless for a short while, taking deep breaths before cing his hand on the ground and attempting to climb onto his feet. Diana Artemis helped him up and he took a few slow steps towards me, eventually arriving and cing his hand on my belly before moving his hand upward to stroke the hair on my head and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

    ¡°I¡¯m here for you, Berry.¡± He said, but rather than feeling happy he was here next to me right now, I felt hungry. I wanted to devour him. Was this how Prima felt when she underwent her<i>Blood Fury</i>?

    I felt like I was losing my mind.

    Husband continued to hold me tight, not understanding that I wasn¡¯t going to win this battle with my own instincts as a goblin. My desires went wild and I growled with rage. I still had some of the taste of his Blood on my lips and the scenting from his arm only made me be more irrational.

    But Husband never left my side.

    I screamed in pain onest time as my strong-one exited my fuckhole, falling to the ground with a light plop. When it vacated my body, I lostplete control. I reached down and grabbed the cord attached to the remaining mass inside of me and pulled until it, too, came out. Then I took a step and growled, pushing Husband down onto the ground and inserting him once more inside of myself. It didn¡¯t matter that my fuckhole was a broken bloody mess¡ªI needed to devour himpletely!

    I opened my mouth and growled, then went right for his throat with my teeth.

    Instead of reaching my target, he had managed to get his arm in between and I bit down on it. Harder than I¡¯d ever bit down on anything, including the biting branch. When the blood flowed into me¡­

    <strong>~~** Ark Wyze **~~</strong>

    ¡°GH¡ªAAAAAH!!!¡±

    Berry had suddenly attacked me and bit my arm. I worry that if I hadn¡¯t gotten it between us in time, she might have torn out my jugr with her teeth. Her bite was insanely strong and I clearly felt the radial bone in my left arm snap into pieces. She hadn¡¯t ripped it off; something I believe she could have done easily, but I hadn¡¯t expected Berry would be so powerful immediately after our newest daughter was born. Furthermore, I could feel my crotch wet and slick with blood. I knew I was inside of her, and I feared that, somehow, she might get some kind of infection if it continued to be the case.

    Truffle came over to us and told me to hold my breath.

    I did as she said, stifling my desire to yell further, and she quickly blew some kind of powder into the face of Berry.

    A few momentster, Berry went limp.

    Truffle, together with Ivory, managed to dislodge Berry¡¯s bite from my arm and rolled her off of me and onto her back. The entire while this was happening, the instinct present in my newly born daughter had proceeded entirely as it should. She had devoured the cental mass that Berry pulled out of herself and then moved to crawl onto Berry. I held my arm in pain, gasping through wet lips as I tried to cope with the feeling of an extremely broken arm. I had difficulty even clenching my fist.

    ¡°Husband, is your arm okay?¡±

    Diana was the first to ask me.

    I shook my head and grit my teeth, not even able to say it was broken.

    I felt like the most important thing right now was getting Berry cleaned up, but ce held a hand up to stop me. Lumi approached and began to use her divine magic to heal Berry while Button spoke up.

    ¡°ce says for Husband not to worry.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t<i>not</i>worry, but seeing divine magic in y, I was able to worry a<i>little less</i>. Staring down at Berry, I saw our new bundle of joy greedily sucking on her breasts. At least she hade into the world safely, though I can¡¯t imagine why in the world Berry decided to attack me.

    Old One took a breath and sighed.

    ¡°You are lucky to be alive, Ark.¡±

    ¡°Trust me, I¡¯m well aware of that. Why¡­ Did Berry¡­?¡±

    ¡°Blood Fury.¡± Diana answered without missing a beat. ¡°Diana Artemis also felt that way¡­¡±

    I stared incredulously at everyone gathered and they all nodded their heads.

    ¡°ce¡­ what exactly did you do to Berry?¡±

    No matter how I looked at it, ce was definitely the culprit of it this time. But no one answered my question. Not even Button to tell me ce didn¡¯t want to answer.

    I was a bit frustrated and angry not having a reason given for my current situation. I was still feeling infirm from my cold and now my arm was broken from Berry¡¯s ferocious bite. I felt that I was entitled to an answer, even if it was a shitty one.

    Seeing that nothing was forting, I watched as my arm turned green again. The same shade as the Monster¡¯s color. I trudged over to the bath and activated (with some difficulty) the heating Runes and grit my teeth and hissed as my arm submerged into the water.

    I sat on one of the submerged steps alone and closed my eyes, trying to center my state of mind amidst the pain I was feeling.

    A few momentster, Vera came to join me¡­ holding the sleeping form of my daughter. Unlike Diana and Berry who were more tan-skinned, this one¡¯s skin bordered the hue between green and gray.

    ¡°Name. Give?¡±

    I let my head loll back and rest on the lip of the bath. Taking some deep breaths, I coughed a few times, my throat scratchy, before speaking.

    ¡°Selene Hecate. I suppose she needs a name to rival that of Diana Artemis¡­ otherwise Berry might get upset if I only give her one¡­¡±

    ¡°Selene¡­ Hecate¡­¡± Vera repeated it, then I felt a hand press down on my shoulder.

    It wasn¡¯t Vera¡¯s hand, but Diana¡¯s who was sitting next to me now on the lip of the pool.

    ¡°Are those names also belong to the gods?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ a counterbnce to Diana and Artemis.¡± I replied. ¡°Rather than the Goddess of the Forest, Moon, and Hunt¡­ she¡¯s the Goddess of Mysteries, Magic, and the Night.¡±

    ¡°She will be strong like Diana Artemis?¡±

    ¡°One can only hope¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t remember much more after saying that. When I woke up next, it was the following day. Lumi was by my side and my arm was wrapped up in some kind of shredded cloth. It hurt quite a bit and remained green in color from the elbow down, my fingers also sharp, but unlike immediately after the bite, I could at least clench my fistpletely, if not strongly.

    My first thoughts were to go see Berry and Selene, but as soon as I moved, Lumi had awoken and immediately put her hand on my chest to hold me down.

    ¡°You can¡¯t see Berry yet. It¡¯s not safe.¡±

    She stared at me with sincere worry on her face, leaving me nothing to do but nod my head.

    ¡°What about our strong-one, Selene?¡±

    Lumi paused for a moment and nodded.

    ¡°In a little while, okay? For now, you still need to rest.¡±

    ¡°My arm¡­ did you heal it?¡±

    She looked at me for a moment and bit her lip.

    I exhaled deeply from my nose. Was I wrong about being healed by Lumi?

    ¡°ra¡¯s blessing¡­ was rejected.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ makes sense, I guess. I¡¯m not exactly a pious person.¡±

    Lumi shook her head.

    ¡°It''s not that you''re not pious... Just not pious to <em>ra</em>.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Lumi wasn¡¯t forting with a proper exnation, but I got the feeling that divine magic of some kind was still somehow used¡­

    ¡°I see. Then, will it healpletely in a few days if I take care of it properly?¡±

    Lumi nodded.

    I thenid back down. I felt better at least as far as the cold was concerned, but I was decidedly tired for other reasons. Staring up at the ceiling, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what further troubles tomorrow would bring and felt saddened that I couldn''t hold my newest daughter in my arms yet...

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-three â€“ In which Ark endeavors to keep his promises.

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-three ¨C In which Ark endeavors to keep his promises.

    The situation with Crow is heart-wrenching. Do I dare to think I canprehend what she¡¯s going through right now, being so young and bing disabled? I dare not. Berry may have broken my arm, and somehow it became a goblin arm when Lumi healed it, but at least it¡¯s functional. The same cannot be said about Crow¡¯s leg. There is no modern science to repair it. Between Dara and I¡­ we could probably somehow create a prosthetic, but that would also mean her leg would need to be amputated. There was also the matter of a leg brace, but I wasn¡¯tpletely sure about how to go about creating it.

    I stayed by Crow¡¯s side whenever possible over the next week, receiving help from Toy and Lily, stating that they were my n, and that if I wished to make Crow¡¯s troubles my own, then they would help me shoulder the burden. Diana Artemis also helped out, doing a little extra hunting so that Crow wouldn¡¯t need to worry about hunting her own food.

    For the first couple of days, Crow was in and out of consciousness thanks to Truffle¡¯s color-spin-think powder. What caused Crow to refuse taking any more of the drug was when Button, ce, Figurine, and Nova all came into the room on the third day afterwards to deliver a message to Crow when she was awake.

    I had assumed Magpie was avoiding seeing her mother like this. Or maybe she didn¡¯t want to see me because I was in Crow¡¯s cave-hole for long periods of time.

    I was wrong.

    The message my daughters delivered was to inform Crow that Magpie had run away.

    While there were words left behind for Crow. There were none left for me.

    Before I could feel any anger or guilt at her actions, my children informed me that Magpie¡¯s decision was something they all supported. If any goblin among them had the knowledge and skillset to survive outside of Goblinhome without support, it was Magpie. Now that the Bloodmaw were increasing in number, my gathered children felt that it was a smart move to have Magpie see if she could make a ce for herself among the many<i>civilized</i>races that I have spoken to them at length about. If it was possible that she could be epted, then there was a chance that Goblinhome wouldn¡¯t need to remain isted forever.

    I also hoped for something like this, but not so soon. Not with a goblin so young. Magpie was still my daughter, and I still thought of her as a child. Obviously, I was extremely worried. Crow, on the other hand, seemed satisfied with the decision our daughter made.

    ¡°Crow taught Magpie the way of the Sneaky n. Magpie is cautious and won¡¯t die easily.¡±

    I want to believe that as well. It was just that seeing how easily Diana Artemis¡­ handled her the other day. Then again, Diana Artemis is also something like a massive wall for my other daughters to measure themselves up against.

    Not just them, but me as well. I haven¡¯t forgotten how easily she subdued me during her Blood Fury, and how even if ce hadn¡¯t shackled me to Diana¡¯s bed with magic, I still might not have actually been able to avoid what happened to me that night¡­

    I guess, as a father, I have to just trust and believe that Crow and I have taught her the most important things she needs to know and that it will have to be enough as she makes her own way into the world.

    What didn¡¯t get mentioned with any specifics was how she left Goblinhome, but I¡¯m fairly certain it involved Cobi and those Kobolds in some manner. I felt a strange kinship with him, as if he and I weren¡¯t entirely unalike in how we dealt with the overbearing women in our lives. For him, six Kobolds. For me, a menagerie that will only continue to grow. If she went with them, as I figure she had, I felt confident they would see her safely to whatever town they ventured from.

    With any luck, it might be Thorn.

    Though, that might also be a bad option. Remembering what the Great Protector said to me about not having killed Kairos¡­ it¡¯s entirely possible she mighte across him. If she somehow mentions my name or that I¡¯m here in this forest¡­

    No. I¡¯d rather not think of what would happen were<i>she</i>to find out.

    And by<i>she</i>, yes, I mean my dear old mother in this world¡­ Salondra Wyze.

    <i>Sigh.</i>

    The day after my children brought news of Magpie¡¯s departure, Prima hade to visit Crow. The matter was exactly what I expected it to be about. Crow¡¯s¡­ disability.

    Crow was also one of the few goblins not pregnant currently¡­ I think.

    So, Prima came with an ultimatum for her.

    ¡°It would be stupid to die when you could still make many strong-ones for the tribe. Even if you cannot teach them to hunt, there are others who can. In that way, you will still be useful.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t considered that Crow thought to die so that she wasn¡¯t a burden, but that¡¯s also because I wasn¡¯t thinking like a goblin. I mean, Prima¡¯s mercy for Vera back then was to have me forcefully breed her, thinking her incapable of contributing to the tribe¡­ or being able to take care of herself in any meaningful way other than that. So, it really shouldn¡¯t havee as a surprise that she would say this to Crow.

    I could even see the look in Prima¡¯s eyes, as if she was expecting me to challenge her right now on this, what is clearly a basic matter to the Bloodmaw, and intrinsic to the<i>goblin way</i>.

    I didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Not going to call me a monster, Ark? Or threaten to bring our home down?¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°No. I think I¡¯ll be the monster this time.¡±

    ¡°You?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll keep her belly full of goblins, even if she wants to refuse me. However, I will also need to make some changes to Goblinhome. She might not have use of one leg anymore, but she still has another perfectly good one, and I intend to make a way for her to be mobile again.¡±

    I stared at Crow for a moment.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I misunderstood what happened just now, but whether I did or not doesn¡¯t matter. I have no intention of letting you die, Crow. I am your Husband, and if there is a way to keep you living, then I will do it even if youe to hate me for it.¡±

    Prima crossed her arms.

    ¡°Then make whatever changes you need. As long as her belly is fat, I have nothing to else to say.¡±

    Prima then left the room, and us, alone once more.

    Crow remained quiet for a while, before eventually speaking to me.

    ¡°Husband¡­ still wants to make strong-ones with Crow now that she is a weak-one?¡±

    What?

    ¡°You aren¡¯t a weak-one. Surviving that attack¡­ living on¡­ that¡¯s proof that you are a strong-one, Crow. I hear it from Prima¡­ Old One¡­ even Diana Artemis more times than I care to.<i>Weak-ones die so that strong-ones can live</i>. Together with everyone, you hunted fifteen ck-ws, captured two more for us to raise and breed, and even the damn Jaguar that got you was killed by Button. No one important died. No one needs to feel sad over losing a sister like they did for Beast-talker.¡±

    ¡°Beast-talker still has all her bones.¡±

    ¡°She does, but the trade-off is that she can¡¯t make strong-ones anymore.¡±

    Crow touched her belly thoughtfully for a moment.

    ¡°Do you think Crow will ever walk again?¡±

    ¡°Maybe not the same as you once did, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s impossible.¡±

    ¡°¡­Then Crow trusts Husband. Only Husband cleans my shit and piss, takes me to the bath and washes me, brings me food, stays to eat with me¡­¡±

    ¡°What about Lily and Toy?¡±

    Crow didn¡¯t reply. I know that both Lily and Toy have kept an eye on Crow when I had things that needing doing around Goblinhome that pulled me away from her side. Which means we both know she¡¯s embellishing some facts here.

    But¡­

    There was truth to what she said.

    I took care of her when she unintentionally soiled herself while under the medicated effects of color-spin-think powder. I scooped her up as carefully as I could and brought her to the bath, letting her soak in the warm water draped over myp, scooping handfuls of it and gently washing her skin and hair, and, yes, I ate with her in her cave¡­ going so far as to borrow Melon¡¯s Kitchen in order to make some easy-to-digest food. Raw when applicable.

    While I know I would do the same for any other of my goblin wives, and most certainly my daughters were this kind of life altering injury befall them, I¡¯ve often thought that Crow¡­ was something like the kind of wife I might have wound up with in my previous life. An otherwise unassuming woman who for some reason found me to be¡­ enjoyable to be around.

    Nothing excessive.

    Just someone to enjoy passing the time of life with.

    She¡¯s fine with me caring for her, but she also has a private side to herself that she is unwilling to show mepletely. And that¡¯s okay. I won¡¯t press her about it. I won¡¯t try and force her to be n with me. I¡¯m fine just co-existing with her and continuing to put little goblin children inside of her belly, because that¡¯s also what she wants from me.

    So as time passed, I began renovating her cave to make way for her to be able to move about both it, and with the permission I obtained from Prima, Goblinhome.

    Small rails were created along the walls so that she could leverage her weight and hop-step through the main thoroughfare. Small pirs with handles in certain ces allowed her to enter cave-holes while not getting in everyone else¡¯s way, locations such as the breeding room so she could take baths on her own, or to enter Melon¡¯s Kitchen or the shit-pit. Independence is a very ingrained trait in a goblin, and Crow was<i>very</i>goblin to begin with.

    While Crow was the main focus of my time, I had made other promises that needed to be kept.

    I promised to teach Button the Fist of the Hungry Wolf. So, in our ce of practice in the nearby forest, we fought. I taught her the Cracking Shot, the Burning Knuckle, and the Geyser of Power. And once more Button grew stronger. Button also wanted my attention as a man, and I, having opened Pandora¡¯s Box with her, didn¡¯t refuse. Thankfully, she was fine with the method we had used before.

    But¡­ I¡¯m starting to think that my so-called big-seed is doing strange things to these girls.

    Back at Goblinhome, Krushka and Rushk had been patient in waiting for the reward I promised them for doing an excellent job nting the seeds Cobi had brought us. Krushka¡¯s request was simple enough. She just wanted to spend time with me and drink.

    For as big as she is, and Krushka is the biggest and tallest Orc out of all four, with my forehead just about reaching the front of her corbone, she¡¯s rather straightforward about her wants and needs from me, as her War-chief Husband.

    She even had her own stash of<i>blue water</i>. The only thing missing was my participation.

    She was curious about my life and how it led me to bing the goblin War-chief that I apparently am. I opened up in exchange for learning about the art on her<i>mams</i>. We slowly drained the jar of<i>blue water</i>as we told each other our stories. Krushka, having been a war-bride multiple times, is domestically-oriented. She has given birth and raised a number of children. She¡¯s skilled in cooking, making clothes, and child-rearing. While she<i>can</i>fight, she¡¯s not formally trained in anything. It¡¯s more like, she can grab a branch and give someone hell with a few whacks with it.

    Of the people she was a war-bride to, she said most of them were tolerable. The worst one was her most recent. He was too arrogant for her liking, and not good enough in the sack to warrant it. He also eyed one of her daughterssciviously and sent her youngest son who was still rather young to a war-camp to be taught to fight for a lesser chieftain¡¯s army who he was aligned with. While it sounded terrible, it was rather standard where orc society was concerned.

    I spoke about my life as the son of a famous magician, not going too in-depth about how famous she was, growing up in her shadow, learning magic, often being a disappointment to her. My time spent at the academy never making much progress in the realm of formic magic and spending my time learning the ins and outs of being a force magician, which I enjoyed immensely.

    She asked if our child when it came would know how to use magic.

    I didn¡¯t have an answer, but I said there was a good chance it might. That seemed to please her. There weren¡¯t really orc magicians. Orcs became Shaman, and that was it. Whether their magic was of a divine or arcane origin wasn¡¯t of particr importance.

    Being a Shaman to an orc was like having a guaranteed career as a civil servant. She spoke much like a mother who wanted her children to have a good shot at sess in their lives, and I couldn¡¯t help but think of her as being far from uncivilized, as orcs often were thought of as.

    We both became rather tipsy. I wasn¡¯t very good at consuming alcohol, but I think Krushka was worse. She was quick to get naked and we had an egregious amount of violent and sloppy sex. But that¡¯s her nature, I suppose. She was able to vent whatever frustrations she must have rued recently, and after a few healthy doses of my liquid calming agent, she was soonfortably out cold.

    I stayed with her for a while, not wanting to just abandon her right away, but as was the case, I inevitably had to go. This had all happened the first night after Crow had been brought back.

    Rushk was willing to wait for the next day, at which point the reward she wanted was a little more practical. Rushk, while having been partially goblinized as well as showing a bump indicating she was for sure carrying a goblin strong-one inside of her, was looking for something to do to feel useful.

    She had lived a somewhat sheltered life, with her only real interest to be found in learning speary. When spears are involved, my immediate thought would be to point her in Prima¡¯s direction. Turns out, that was exactly what needed to happen.

    Rushk is by no means a hunter, but Prima was more than willing to teach her the ropes.

    I had even gone on a hunt with them, though the only thing I had to offer was the limitednd-based magic I could use with the Topaz stone, since my Quartz Focus Orb had been integrated into my youngest daughter, Selene Hecate.

    After a sessful hunt, nothing too crazy, just some blue-haired foxes, the two of them tore right into one almost immediately after securing the kill. Rushk seems to enjoy both cooked and raw meat. Thetter being an adjustment due to her bing part goblin.

    I didn¡¯t judge.

    I also didn¡¯t judge when Prima helped instigate a post-meal rape.

    Rushk was a little apologetic afterwards, but she was also in a much better mood. Seeing that, I also was happy. After that, in the early mornings that followed, Prima could be found sparring with Rushk with spears, not being too overbearing.

    I actually got an earful from Nova about how Prima never let her off easily when it came to sparring.

    But that¡¯s how it is sometimes¡­

    Mint, who was reclusive ever since the incident where I turned into the Monster, had begun to show herself more often now that the field had been nted. Maybe it was due to her position in the tribe as its [Bloody Druid], but she was often found there just¡­<i>doing things</i>.

    I worried that whatever trauma I caused her was longsting, but she assured me that she would be fine eventually. She also said she had acquired some¡­ ability that would allow her to cultivate the field and that she hoped it would produce some beneficial results soon.

    I would have expected to find Ebony by her side, but no. Ebony was busy with other matters. Matters in the form of one young goblin strong-one with far too much destructive power on tap.

    Yes.

    Ebony was teaching Selene Hecate how to use magic.

    I figured for sure it would have been ce getting involved with the matter at Diana¡¯s behest, but no. Ebony, as it turns out, possesses true Bloodmaw Magic. Selene Hecate apparently doesn¡¯t need to use Runes or Forms to cast magic at all.

    I feel like there needed to be someone with a rational mind to oversee this strange mentor-mentee rtionship, but Ebony assured me that she was a very capable big-sister goblin, and that she had it all under control.

    Naturally, I didn¡¯t believe that for a fucking second.

    But, true to her word, Selene Hecate seemed to look up to Ebony and along with Bitey and Beastie, those four went out into the forest on a hunt, with Diana asionally keeping an eye on things after all.

    With all the business of my days in the past week nowing to a head, I found myself visiting Truffle at longst. I wanted to keep my promise to repay her for her help with Crow. She had been working on a new strain of her mushroom powder, and with a small bit of reluctance¡­ we indulged.

    Unlike with Button, I didn¡¯t experience anything too¡­ strange. It was quite enjoyable. I had be a mushroom, and Truffle was a mushroom¡­ even Button was there, and she was a mushroom! I somehow did a spore-dance and all the mushrooms were happy.

    When I came to, Truffle was in my arms, caressing my face and grinning.

    ¡°Husband. It¡¯s time again.¡±

    Yes. Another mushroom-goblin was about toe into the world.

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-four â€“ In which we meet Chanterelle, a big-lazy little-lady mushroom-goblin.

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-four ¨C In which we meet Chanterelle, a bigzy littledy mushroom-goblin.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Chanterelle **~~</strong>

    This is the life¡­

    My name is Chanty and I live in a cave-hole with a goblin called Truffle and a goblin called Ivory. I am surrounded by mushrooms and bones. While I don¡¯t mind the bones, I can¡¯t help but be fascinated by the mushrooms. There¡¯s also a goblin called Husband who is very nice to me. He lets me sit on hisp and he holds tasty mushrooms up to my mouth so I can bezy and eat them.

    I also have some big-sister goblins. Button who loves mushrooms just like Truffle, Husband, and me. Ebony who only likes mushrooms a lot, and her friends Bitey and Beastie who can¡¯t eat mushrooms at all but are also nice to me. Bitey will even bring me mushrooms if I ask nicely. So, Bitey is definitely a mushroom bone-spider and can be trustedpletely. I¡¯m sure of it.

    One of my favorite things to do is talk to the mushrooms.

    They know a lot of things.

    Some of them say they are safe to eat, others say they are not. All of them love Truffle very much. Some of them even like Husband, which is good. Husband is an interesting goblin. He has a mushroom growing on his body between his legs. I asked the other mushrooms about it, but they say that Husband¡¯s mushroom is different from them.

    I¡¯ve seen Ivory and Button and even Truffle lick his mushroom and have him stick it inside of them when they thought I was asleep. I wasn¡¯t asleep, I was just beingzy and thinking about mushrooms. Was his mushroom tasty? They don¡¯t seem to want to eat it, only lick it or have him rub it on their body. I tried sticking a mushroom between my legs so I could be like Husband, but it keeps falling off.

    I guess it really is a different kind of mushroom.

    I don¡¯t know everything about mushrooms yet, even though Truffle says one day I will.

    I live in a big cave called Goblin-home.

    There are many many other goblins who live here. All of them seem to be very busy, alwaysing and going. Of course, there are times when they arezy, too. Lots of goblins stop into our cave-hole and ask Ivory for things made out of bones, or to ask Truffle for tasty mushrooms, or her specialty¡ªcolor-spin-think powder, which is also made from the mushrooms that warned me not to eat them.

    Color-spin-think powder is different, though. It can be sniffed or eaten, but only in small amounts. Then it¡¯s best to bezy afterwards. But it¡¯s important to go piss first, otherwise when beingzy¡­

    Well, idents happen.

    Husbandes to visit and take me to his cave-hole for a little while every day. There¡¯s this really big wet thing in there called a<i>bath</i>and it¡¯s fun to ssh the water inside of it. Button once showed me something she called the<i>swirly-whirly</i>and I had fun sshing it when she made it with her finger.

    I love it when Button and Ebonye to visit and y with me.

    I also have two other big-sister goblins whoe to y with me as well.

    One is Primmy, the other is Sewwy.

    There are a lot of games to y in Husband¡¯s cave-hole. Games like Checkers and Four-color and a picture game and another with long rectangles that get pulled out and put on top until it all crashes down!

    Primmy likes things that go crash and boom. Sewwy likes using something called magic to do everything.

    Both Primmy and Sewwy like to bite Husband¡¯s hand whenever they get the chance. I tried biting him too, but he doesn¡¯t taste like a mushroom like I expected him to. But he is still tasty!<b>Super</b><b>tasty</b>, in fact!

    In our cave-hole, there¡¯s a very special mushroom growing in it.

    Truffle says she¡¯s been feeding it something called big-seed that she gets from Husband. I don¡¯t know what it is exactly, but it is sticky and white. The mushroom that eats it is really really smart. It knows way more than any of the other mushrooms. It¡¯s also in a special ce up high that I can¡¯t reach.

    One day when Truffle was asleep, Sewwy came to visit since she lives close by.

    The special mushroom said something good would happen if I took a bite out of it.

    But since I couldn¡¯t get to it, I asked Sewwy if she could use her magic to float it down to me so I could take a bite.

    Sewwy doesn¡¯t mind mushrooms, but she wasn¡¯t all that interested in eating it with me. She still floated it down for me and being careful, I took a small bite out of it so it wasn''t too noticeable. I asked Sewwy if she could float it back up and turn it around so that Truffle wouldn¡¯t notice the ce where I took a bite out of it. Sewwy had no trouble doing so, and afterwards we went to y on the swings outside.

    I¡¯m still a small goblin, and so is Sewwy. We¡¯re not allowed to walk all of Goblinhome yet unless there¡¯s a bigger goblin with us. Primmy can though, so she takes us ces! Like outside!

    Beastie is good friends with Primmy, so she¡¯ll push us on the swings sometimes, even though she¡¯s made of bones and doesn¡¯t talk. Well, Bitey doesn¡¯t talk either, but that doesn¡¯t bother me. Bitey is really nice! Sometimes Bitey will crawl up my body and sit on my head and swing with me!

    Ebony is also friends with a big blue goblin called Orga. She¡¯s in charge of the big ck furry things that Ebony likes to y with. I think they¡¯re called ck-ws? I find them a bit scary though.

    Sewwy and Primmy aren¡¯t afraid of them. They even got to ride on the backs of the two bigger ones. I tried feeding a mushroom I brought with me to the littler ones, but they didn¡¯t want to eat it. Truffle taught me not to trust things that don¡¯t like mushrooms. I felt bad because the little ones aren¡¯t too scary¡­ but I agree with Truffle.

    While my big-sisters Primmy and Sewwy like to go into the forest to hunt¡­ I don¡¯t really want to because that seems like a lot of work and I¡¯d rather bezy. Mushrooms do just fine beingzy, and I sometimes think I have more inmon with mushrooms than with goblins.

    There¡¯s also another big-sister of mine called Lumi who I see sometimes when I go outside.

    She spends a lot of time in a small cave-hole on the other side of the yground and inside of it there are lots of wooden benches to sit on and two big statues. One is called ra and she¡¯s supposed to be super strong! The other is a strange looking one called the Creator, and they are supposed to be the one who made our tribe, the Bloodmaw.

    Since the little ck-ws didn¡¯t want to eat the mushroom I tried to give them, I broke it in half and put half in front of each of the statues.

    I figured they both liked mushrooms, because ra looked strong, and I know my big-sister Button who likes mushroom is also super strong, so ra must definitely like mushrooms. As for the other one, if they made the Bloodmaw, then they made Truffle, and that means they have to like mushrooms! Why would someone make a mushroom goblin but not like mushrooms?

    While watching the statues who weren¡¯t moving to eat the mushrooms, Lumi opened the door and began talking to Husband who was just outside.

    While I was sitting down and looking at the statues, wondering when they were going to eat them, I saw that both halves of the mushroom began to glow and then disappeared!

    It reminded me of Sewwy¡¯s magic, so I figured they used magic to eat them. Seemed like a perfectlyzy way to do it, too!

    Feeling good that they got to eat Truffle¡¯s yummy mushrooms, I went outside to see Husband, who was happy to pick me up and let me ride on his shoulders. It would have been more fun if Bitey was riding on his head so we could have fun together, but I wasn¡¯t too disappointed.

    Big-sister Lumi also likes biting Husband as well.

    I don¡¯t know if she likes mushrooms though¡­ I hope she does.

    It¡¯s not good to not like mushrooms.

    Husband took me back into Goblinhome to one of my favorite cave-holes. There¡¯s another of my big-sister goblins in there. Well, sometimes two of them. Big-sisters Melon and Reeny!

    Melon is definitely a good goblin because she makes something super tasty to eat called Mushroom Stew! It¡¯s got meat and mushrooms. I mean, what kind of genius is she toe up with something like that!?

    And Figurine is amazing because she sings me the mushroom song!

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-w ck-w!</i>

    <i>A-mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-w ck-w!</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-ck-w!</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Ah! A GUU¡¯Z! A GUU¡¯Z!</i>

    <i>GUU¡¯Z a GUUUU¡¯Z OOOOH It¡¯s a GUU¡¯Z!!!</i>

    Gweeheehee~

    I love that song so much!

    I haven¡¯t met GUU¡¯Z yet. But I heard from Truffle that even Prima and Sewwy¡¯s big-sister Deena can¡¯t beat it in a fight. I wonder if Button could? Button knows something called the Mushroom Fist. She used it to punch a many-spots to death with one punch! Even broke its whole mouth full of teeth and gave them to Husband as a¡­ what was it called again¡­ a tribute?

    Something like that.

    Button also told me Husband was tricky sometimes.

    I didn¡¯t think so until I saw what Melon brought him to eat.

    While I had a bowl of mushroom stew¡­ he had a triple-decker hamburger with mushrooms in some kind of brown mud on top!

    ¡°Husband twicky!¡± I said, pointing at him.

    ¡°Nope. Husband not do this with Chanterelle. Husband <em>not</em> tricky. Husband smart. Chanterelle not think Husband share tasty mushrooms with her? Husband get taste Chanterelle mushroom soup. Let Chanterelle taste Husband mushroom burger. Big-smart, yes?¡±

    My mouth dropped wide open.

    Gwowowowoh! Husband is really really smart!

    While Husband used the food-eating things called a fork and a knife to cut the big mushroom burger into smaller pieces for us to share, I tried using the spoony thing to feed Husband. I spilled a little on him trying to fit it in his small mouth but he didn¡¯t get upset.

    Husband is nice. He doesn¡¯t spank at all.

    Ivory spanks¡­ or so I¡¯m told.

    She hasn¡¯t spanked me yet, though.

    Sewwy said that Deena spanked her when she first used magic. She cried a lot. Said it wasn¡¯t fun at all to get spanked.

    I hope I don¡¯t get spanked.

    I heard it from the mushrooms in Truffle¡¯s room that Melon has a strong-one inside of her belly. She didn¡¯t eat it, so I don¡¯t know how it got there, but it¡¯s not a mushroom goblin like Truffle, Husband, Button, or me.

    Will it also be a big-fat goblin like big-sister Melon is when ites into the world?

    Melon and Figurine keep talking about wanting Husband to spend the night with them in Figurine¡¯s cave-hole. I don¡¯t know where exactly that is, but it¡¯s near Old One¡¯s room.

    Old One is kind of mean. She calls me azy goblin just like Truffle. Says I should be more like Button, but I¡¯m fine just being Chanty.

    After eating a whole bunch, Husband took me to the shit-pit and then brought me back to Truffle¡¯s room. That¡¯s a good thing, because I was ready to bezy after ying and eating.

    Husband woke Truffle up and she let me drink some milkies for a little bit and then we both went to sleep.

    I had a good dream.

    Just like Sewwy and Ebony, I could use magic too, but it was mushroom magic!

    I woke up when Truffle shook me.

    When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by lots and lots of mushrooms!

    ¡°Chanterelle. What you do?¡±

    I don¡¯t know what I did. What did I do?

    Truffle began to pick up some of the mushrooms and stepped out of the small cave-hole we slept in. She then yelled really loudly once she did.

    ¡°<b>WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF TRUFFLES MUSHROOMS!?</b>¡±

    I got up and stepped out too, only to see all of her mushrooms missing from the dirt shelves.

    I suddenly felt a lot of voices in my head all at once, asking me if I was in trouble.

    But I don¡¯t think I was¡­?

    Truffle turned back to look at me, and then looked down.

    I looked down too.

    All around me, mushrooms were wiggle-walking, surrounding me.

    Ivory came over from her cave-hole and saw what was going on. Then sheughed.

    Sheughed andughed and I thought she was crazy from how much sheughed.

    ¡°Stopughing, Ivory!¡±

    ¡°No! Too funny! How it feel to have strong-one who mushrooms love more than Truffle?¡±

    Truffle sat down and looked really sad.

    ¡°Mushrooms love Chanterelle more than Truffle?¡±

    All of the mushrooms slowly wiggle-walked over to Truffle and surrounded her.

    I could hear them all saying that they loved her very much.

    Truffle rubbed the tops of many of them and scooped a few of them up.

    ¡°Oh¡­ this nice. Not bad thing. Truffle not mad mushrooms love Chanterelle. So long as mushrooms know Truffle love mushrooms many many.¡±

    After a while, the mushrooms walked back to the dirt, but some of them needed help from Truffle to get back to the high ces they used to be. Only one mushroom didn¡¯t move.

    The special mushroom.

    Truffle looked at it for a moment and saw the ce that had a small bite taken out of it.

    ¡°Chanterelle. No lie to Truffle. You eat this one?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Small bite.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Only that mushroom not try go back. Truffle take great care to grow that mushroom special.¡±

    Truffle picked it up and inspected it for a while.

    ¡°Okay. Truffle understand.¡±

    She handed me the mushroom.

    ¡°This mushroom same as Bitey. Job Chanterelle take good care of it. Not eat this one anymore.¡±

    The big mushroom agreed to what Truffle said.

    I was kind of sad since it was tasty, but I also now have a new friend!

    Though¡­ I couldn¡¯t think of a name for it just yet, and I was still tired. I went back to sleep while Truffle stayed awake¡­ probably to take care of the mushrooms since she felt better knowing they loved her very much.

    When I woke up again, the special mushroom had grown bigger. Way bigger!

    It also had eyes and a mouth on the stalk.

    Husband was also in our cave-hole now for some reason and he was poking the special mushroom while Truffle watched with interest.

    ¡°This one Kino.¡± He said.

    ¡°Kino?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Mm. Thought first might be Take, but now sure <em>definitely</em> Kino.¡±

    ¡°Kino hear? Name Kino!¡± I told Kino.

    Kino wobbled around in a circle happily, identally falling once but getting up quickly.

    ¡°Truffle. Husband think maybe not good idea use color-spin-think powder when have strong-one inside now on.¡±

    ¡°No. Truffle use now, every time. Button special, Chanterelle special. Good idea use color-spin-think powder. Keep have special goblins.¡±

    Husband only shook his head.

    ¡°Whatever say. Husband only mushroom-Husband. Truffle one who make mushroom-goblins.¡±

    Truffle sat in Husband¡¯sp and offered him a mushroom to eat.

    ¡°Husband help make.¡±

    Husband ate half and put the other half in Truffle¡¯s mouth, then they hugged for a long time.

    After that, Husband took me to meet with my big sisters again. And I got to introduce them to Kino!

    But Kino is special, so I had to tell them not to eat Kino.

    When we went outside, Kino wanted to go see the field where big-sister Mint is always standing at.

    When Mint saw Kino, shepletely freaked out.

    ¡°What Myconid Emperor doing here!? Why outside of bottom floor Navara Deep Dungeon!?!?!¡±

    I ran over to where Kino was and patted Kino¡¯s pretty cap.

    ¡°Big-sister Mint! This Kino! Chanty friend.¡±

    Big-sister Mint froze.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ your friend?¡±

    Kino danced around Mint in a circle.

    ¡°Big-sister Mint like mushrooms?¡±

    ¡°Sure¡­ but¡­ that mushroom¡­ ah¡­ you¡¯re... sure... it¡¯s a¡­ friend?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Kino friend!¡±

    ¡°Kino?¡±

    ¡°Husband give name.¡±

    ¡°Of course he did¡­¡±

    Kino urged me to dance, and we both began doing the mushroom dance together.

    ¡°Haaah¡­ Why Mint ever think it good idea dost bloodmaw quest¡­?¡±

    Mint sat down and watched as Kino walked into the field. Then Kino¡¯s cap spread open wide and lots of spores came out andnded on the dirt. Mint quickly got onto her knees and stared at something, moving her hands in front of her body really quickly in a strange way.

    ¡°No¡­ way¡­ it¡­ unlocked!?¡±

    I had no idea what Mint was talking about.

    ¡°Chanterelle¡­ what is your mushroom¡­ doing?¡±

    After making spores, Kino was feelingzy.

    ¡°Bezy.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Big-sis Mint. Want push Chanty on swings?¡±

    Mint stared at Kino and then me and then Kino and then me again.

    ¡°World boss show up. Take spore shit on field next to Goblinhome. Yx even care anymore? Haaah¡­ why Mint not hit log out button when have chance?¡±

    I have no idea what she was talking about.

    Either way she took my hand, bringing me over to the swings where she pushed me and my other big-sisters.

    ying on swings, eating mushrooms, beingzy, and now I have a mushroom friend to do it with together¡­. This really<i>is</i>the life!

    <b>~~** Interlude | Somewhere Outside the Realm of Life and Death **~~</b>

    In what could be considered a mental reconstruction of what appeared to be a cavernous throne room, two formless beings manifested inside of it, as they had many times before.

    ¡°She gave you a mushroom, so you sent her<i>that</i>?¡±

    ¡°Correction. She gave us <em>both</em> mushrooms, and without wanting a single thing in return other than for us to enjoy how tasty they were.¡±

    ¡°¡­it was<i>just</i>a mushroom. You can find them anywhere you look in the damn world.¡±

    ¡°ra, are you jealous that I have a child who loves me so?¡±

    ¡°Tch. Who¡¯s jealous. And I have plenty of children who love me.¡±

    ¡°Like your little Saintess¡­ or should I say<i>my</i>little Saintess.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. Say whatever you want. One of yours is now one of mine.¡±

    ¡°She prayed once, at a statue in the center of the town because she thought it might reach me, since I am next to you in that ce.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you put up with that ugly¡­ icon.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s adorable. My children made it for me out of love and respect. Why wouldn¡¯t I like it?¡±

    One of the formless beings manifested the idea of divine alcohol and some elegant sses to drink it out of. It handed it over to the other one and toasted one-sidedly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll trust you to keep an eye on that one living alone for me.¡±

    ¡°Why should I?¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk. Are we not being amicable with each other after so long?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been how many thousands of years? We did it once, and we can do it again.¡±

    One of the formless beings manifested the idea of a divinely embroidered dress which revealed much, and yet nothing, while being absolutely alluring to the senses of the other.

    ¡°ra, ra¡­ not even an eternity can shake your beauty.¡±

    ¡°Hmph! You¡¯ve sent a Huntress, Shaman, Bone Lord, Blood Druid, and with my help, a Saintess. What do you n on sending next?¡±

    ¡°A Nightsmith, if I can get it right.¡±

    ¡°To the Orc?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s the most likely candidate.¡±

    ¡°What about the¡­ fat goblin?¡±

    ¡°Which one? The maker or the¡­ soon to be maker?¡±

    ¡°The daughter! Bad enough the Bone Lord and the Bloody Druid trespassed on Kamon¡¯s domain. I bet you have something devious nned for that one, considering the helping hand you lent while he was¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, I took care of Kamon already.¡±

    ¡°How? No. Wait¡­ I don¡¯t need to know. It can¡¯t be anything good if it¡¯sing from you.¡±

    ¡°No? Kamon is quite interested in the skeleton.¡±

    ¡°Forget Kamon. The daughter. Tell me.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to wait for the surprise?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re using all your divine pieces at once. I don¡¯t expect you will stop now.¡±

    ¡°True. But you¡¯ll just need to wait and see. It won¡¯t be long, anyway.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not the Hero, is it?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯ll at least tell you that much. It¡¯s not the Hero.¡±

    ¡°A Champion, then?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯m thinking of returning that to the Old One. There is a loophole to allow it.¡±

    ¡°There is also Yx.¡±

    ¡°Would you have Yx involved more than they already are?¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ are you preparing the Huntress to beget the Hero?¡±

    One of the formless beings dissolved and vacated the mental reconstruction of the cavernous throne room.

    ¡°You coward! Don¡¯t run away when I ask you an important question! Which one will beget the Hero!?¡±

    The other formless being dissolved and with it, the mental reconstruction of the cavernous throne room once more blinked out of existence¡­

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-eight â€“ In which Kiwi, a jack-of-all-trades goblin does her very best!

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-eight ¨C In which Kiwi, a jack-of-all-trades goblin does her very best!

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Kiwi **~~</strong>

    My Husband and my sisters are all so amazing. It¡¯s hard for me to find something I¡¯m good at that either an adult goblin or one of my big sister goblins aren¡¯t already amazing at. Forget fighting. While I have learned how to use different weapons for the hunt, I¡¯m by no means as good as the adult hunters like Prima and Jewel, or my big sisters Diana, Orchid, Lc, and Nova. When ites to magic, how can I possiblypare myself to Vera, ce, Ebony, or Selene? And as for making things? I¡¯m not as good at creating fun new games as Game and Toy are, or even when ites to making tasty food like big sister Melon is.

    I know Pear is disappointed that I¡¯m not a big fat goblin like she and Melon are so that Husband will love me lots, but it¡¯s not like I chose to be like this!

    I know I also disappoint Husband by always pestering him to as much as possible about everything he knows, unlike my sisters who only need to know a little bit and can do or make amazing things having only talked with him about something for a little bit.

    I think, sometimes, that¡¯s about the only thing I¡¯m good at¡ª<b>talking</b>.

    Well, I¡¯m also good at listening, too.

    That¡¯s why I thought I might try something different today. Recently, I became a big-sister goblin. Before that, I was the youngest strong-one in the tribe. As the youngest, I couldn¡¯t help but look up in amazement at all the amazing things my big-sister goblins could do that I couldn¡¯t. And when I see my little-sister goblin Gremory being carried around on Husband¡¯s shoulders all the time, ying with him, I can¡¯t help but think that she¡¯s also going to be more amazing a goblin than I am.

    That¡¯s why I wanted to see if there was something I could do better than any other goblin, and my idea came from something I had talked about with Husband.

    He had mentioned something called a<i>store</i>before. It¡¯s supposed to be something found in big ces that not-goblins gather outside of Goblinhome called<i>towns</i>. Basically, it¡¯s a gathering of outside cave-holes called<i>houses</i>made of tree-wood that not-goblins live inside of.

    There are people who make things and sell them to these big<i>houses</i>called<i>stores</i>that gather all kinds of things and make it easy to buy them.<i></i>ording to Husband, it¡¯s not only in a goblin¡¯s nature to bezy. A store is a ce where instead of having to go all over the ce to different cave-holes and order things, they can just make onezy trip to the<i>store</i>and get just about everything they could want or need.

    Husband taught me about something called<i>currency</i>or as it¡¯s better known as in the outside world:<i>money</i>. It¡¯s the same thing that we use now called<i>standing</i>, which is what goblins now use instead of just trading favors to other goblins in order to get the things they want.

    In the Goblin¡¯s Guild, there are requests put up on the wall¡ªa few specifically that never need toe down, and filling those requests are both an easy way to earn (and sometimes spend) standing. In fact, sometimes filling one request also fills another.

    In order to maximize earning standing when I started out, I went to talk with Ivory first about what bones she was low on that she needed and wound up hunting the beasties that usually had those exact bones. Whitefeathers, stripe-faces, king snakes, and even on two asions with help from Primrose and Selene, some many-horns were the bones in demand the most. ck-ws too, but that felt a bit dangerous for now. Most of the meat from those hunted beasties Melon used her Kitchen¡¯s standing budget to buy, and the pelts I had worked to strip cleanly off having been taught by Pepper were bought by both Pepper and the Orc, Krushka.

    Husband says what I was doing back then was properly creating and exploiting the economy of Goblinhome, and ruffled my hair, telling me he was proud of me for being the first goblin to really understand that.

    I don¡¯t think any words ever mattered to me more than hearing him say that.

    Game and Fun, when not busy in their workshop, often work at the Goblin¡¯s Guild when Vera or Husband aren¡¯t there to do so. They verify the things brought in and record the payment logs of<i>standing</i>to each goblin. They call it<i>calcting</i>and I had to spend some standing to learn how to do it. I¡¯ve also learned how to read and write<i>gob</i>, so I figured now was the best time to try my hand at doing something I might actually be good at.

    When talking about something called<imerce</i>with Husband, he mentioned that sometimes goblins and not-goblins may be unsure if they really need something they don¡¯t yet know serves a good purpose.

    For instance, there is a tool Husband told me about called a Fishing Rod. While Pepper wades into the Eastern stream and hunts fish with a spear, not everyone is that skilled to do so. Fish taste good but aren¡¯t as popr to eat as beasts are because they are tricky to catch. With the fishing rod, any goblin can catch a fish if they are willing to bezy for a little while, and that¡¯s most of the goblins in Goblinhome!

    So, I decided the first thing I wanted to try making and selling with<i>standing</i>were fishing rods. Initially, I wanted to use long bones, but they are a lot harder toe by than wood. So, I paid doll some standing to have her cut a tree down for me and chop it up into long pieces. I then took it to Toy and we worked on cutting and smoothing the pieces with the tools she has so that they would be long and easy to hold. Then I went to Pepper to see if she could make me some thin rope to attach to it. But Pepper is also a busy goblin. Instead, I wound up being sent to Crow who knew how to make thin rope just as good as Pepper did.

    Crow¡¯s injured leg doesn¡¯t leave her with much to do, and little way to earn standing. As a result, she was interested in doing something to stay active, and so I made a deal with her. I visited Ivory to see about having her make me the thing known as a<i>hook</i>which was used to catch fish. It¡¯s the thin fishbones that are the best for catching fish, surprisingly.

    I had to do the assembling myself, but at the cost of twenty-five total<i>standing</i>, I had managed to make ten fishing rods in total. If I sold them each for five<i>standing</i>, which was more than reasonable considering the amount of work I had to put in myself and pay for up front, I could double my total<i>standing</i>if I managed to sell them all.

    However, the only goblins that know how to use a fishing rod are Husband and myself, so, no matter what goblin I tried to get to buy it, they weren¡¯t all that interested.

    Except one.

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ is that¡­ a fishing rod?¡±

    Husband had seen me sitting outside by the fire pit dangling a piece of meat from a bone hood at the end of one of my fishing rods while sitting on a log.

    ¡°Yes. I tried making it as you described.¡±

    ¡°Mind if I see it?¡±

    I handed it over and Husband yed around with it for a bit, mentioning something about it needing a bit more rope, and that something called a<i>reel</i>was probably not possible to include on it just yet. He admired the bone<i>hook</i>saying that it looked nice, and that all it was really missing was a small weight on it.

    My curiosity got the better of me, as it usually did, and I once again pestered Husband to tell me what was wrong with it.

    ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong with this. It¡¯s really well made, Kiwi. I was just talking about things you could consider<i>upgrades</i>to this rod.¡±

    ¡°<i>Upgrades</i>? What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Ah, let¡¯s say you make something, but you think<i>oh, I wish what I have could do this or that, or do something it already does a bit easier or simpler.</i>That¡¯s an upgrade. Let¡¯s take this fishing rod for example. The string on it is good and tight, but with it only being this long, you have to constantly stand close to the water. With a longer string, you can cast the string into the water and sit ory down on the bank instead of having to constantly stand and hold it. I have noints about the<i>hook</i>, since it¡¯s perfect already, but there are many different kinds of<i>hooks</i>which the design, shape, and material of can possibly attract different kinds of fish. If one was made of metal, sometimes the sunlight might hit it and make it shine, which will make a fish think it¡¯s something they can eat and want to try biting it not knowing they¡¯ll get hooked. Then there¡¯s the weight¡­ something just a little bit heavy and not<i>buoyant</i>¡­ uh¡­ not something that floats. If the string sinks easily then that opens up the opportunity for fish that swim deep toe across the hook. There¡¯s more to it, but I really think you¡¯ve done a great job with the resources you have avable.¡±

    I listened carefully to what Husband said, even some of the words he used that weren¡¯t<i>gob</i>and I had a little trouble understanding at first. I asked more about the different kinds of<i>hooks</i>he talked about, and the<i>weight</i>and how it was supposed to fit on the thin rope. Usually by this point, Husband would get this look on his face and say to me ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Kiwi, but that¡¯s all I really know about it.¡±

    However, that didn¡¯t happen this time.

    ¡°Hey kiddo, want to go fishing with your old man?¡±

    I did.

    I wanted to go fishing with Husband very much.

    So, I went to go fetch another fishing rod for us to use.

    Husband picked me up and put me on his shoulders, and then the two of us with our fishing rods in hand headed East from Goblinhome to the stream. Right about when we got there, Husband pointed out a particr spot where the bushes ended and there was only grass leading to the stream.

    ¡°You know the story about Diana Artemis and me hunting the ck-ws, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard it. What about it?¡±

    ¡°This was the ce where it ended. I had used some hasting magic and we ran from this big tree a bit back all the way here. Doll was in the stream with her tree-chopping axe with four ck-ws ready to attack her. Prima, Jewel, Me, and Diana were right here. I had to use a wind spell to knock the four ck-ws into the water. It was myst bit of mana before I sumbed to mana fatigue and fell on my butt. The four of them managed to kill the ck-ws and rescue Doll. After that, I was dragged back to Goblinhome. I feel a bit sad knowing there was nothing I could do to save Beast-talker, but I¡¯m d everyone else lived.¡±

    I¡¯ve heard some of my older big-sister goblins talk about it, but as for the exact details, never this specific. That story is something of a legend told to us younger goblins. Diana Artemis is very much the epitome of a big-sister goblin. Even more now that she¡¯s the head of her own Moon n, and that both she and Berry have undergone a Blood Fury.

    While there are a couple of my big-sister goblins who think Button is stronger, I don¡¯t believe it. When Nova was teaching me how to use a sword, Diana Artemis was watching and offered to spar with me. I have never seen a goblin who could move and react as fast as she could. Not even Prima, and she is a master at dodging and countering almost any attack with her spear!

    The way Husband exined the story in detail, I could feel how proud he was of Diana Artemis. And howpletely he trusted her. He never once doubted her ability or her ce as the next Guardian of the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe.

    She was barely older than me when this happened.

    For us younger goblins, which is essentially everyone not an adult goblin already, Diana Artemis is like this huge imprable, impassable wall we can never measure up to. And here I am, in such a famous spot, wasting Husband¡¯s time¡­ going fishing.

    Setting me down on the ground, I stood close to the stream and held my fishing rod out, letting the hook sink into the water.

    Husband stood next to me but didn¡¯t put his hook into the water.

    ¡°Eager to catch something so soon?¡± He asked, with a bit of augh.

    ¡°Am I not fishing the right way?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ there is a step missing.¡±

    Husband reached for the string and showed me the hook on the end of his fishing rod.

    ¡°Fishing is just like an economy. You can¡¯t expect to just catch a fish for free.¡±

    I lifted my fishing rod and brought my hook out of the water.

    ¡°Then how am I supposed to catch one?¡±

    ¡°Bait. We¡­ need something to put<i>on</i>the hook that will make a fish interested in biting it. Only then can we reel them in.¡±

    ¡°What are fish interested in?¡±

    ¡°Worms, flies, generally anything like an insect or bug. You can think of it like one of Berry¡¯s poison traps. Well, we don¡¯t want to use poison since we¡¯ll be eating these, but we¡¯re pretty much tricking the fish into thinking that it¡¯s going to get an easy free meal, then when it¡¯s caught on the hook, it won¡¯t even realize that it¡¯s going to be<i>our</i>meal until it¡¯s toote. And all it costs us is a worm or two.¡±

    ¡°But we don¡¯t have any worms. Or flies.¡±

    ¡°True, but¡­ do you think there aren¡¯t any all around us?¡±

    Husband put his fishing rod down and walked back towards the bushes. He used hisnd magic to raise some pirs of dirt and then said ¡°Aha!¡± before returning with two worms, handing me one.

    ¡°Don¡¯t eat that. Watch what I do, and then do the same, okay?¡±

    I nodded.

    Husband carefully stabbed the worm onto the hook, moving it so that it was a bit down on the loop before holding out his rod and dunking the hook into the water. The worm was still squirming even in the water.

    ¡°When the fish see a squirming worm, they¡¯ll go for it. It might take a while for them to notice it though. Patience is the name of the game when ites to fishing.¡±

    I followed Husband¡¯s words and put the worm he gave me onto my fishing rod¡¯s hook and then held it out, dunking the hook adorned with a squirming worm into the water. The two of us just stood there, waiting, with nothing happening. No fish trying to eat either of our worms at all. I decided to ask him a question, since I thought talking about anything was better than just standing around in silence.

    ¡°Husband, since you had a strong-one with Lumi, and big-sister Melon says her strong-one wille into the world in less than a moon, are you not thinking about making a strong-one with Diana Artemis?¡±

    Husband gently swished his fishing rod a few times before answering.

    ¡°Well, Diana is doing her best to try and make one with me every chance she gets, but it¡¯s not like I¡¯m in any hurry for her to have one. I¡¯m sure when it¡¯s the right time, it¡¯ll happen. I certainly never thought Lumi would be the first of my daughters to¡­ well¡­ make a¡­¡±

    Husband seemed to be unsure how to finish his thought. Was it because Gremory was a bit different from us in appearance, having wings and a tail?

    ¡°I¡¯m not actually sure if she¡¯s not both my daughter and granddaughter at the same time¡­¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just easier to say she¡¯s your strong-one?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess calling her that in<i>gob</i>makes it way lessplicated than it needs to be.¡±

    ¡°Do you think big-sister Melon¡¯s strong one will be a fat goblin like she and Pear are?¡±

    ¡°Could be.¡±

    ¡°Husband prefers fat goblins, right?¡±

    ¡°Hm? What makes you think that?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell Pear that you wanted her to make you chubby goblins for the rest of her life.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like something I¡¯d say. But it¡¯s not like I prefer them over any other goblin.¡±

    ¡°Then why tell her that?¡±

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ your mother¡­ hmm¡­ how do I put this? The fact that Pear is a very adventurous chubby goblin makes me<i>seriously</i>enjoy both making strong-ones with her and wasting big-seed with her. Really, I just like that she¡¯s squishy. She¡¯s very enjoyable to hug after we¡­ um¡­¡±

    ¡°Make strong-ones?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Then you also like Melon because she¡¯s fat and squishy too?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s certainly not the only reason, but yes, I love giving her squishy hugs too.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ what about me?¡±

    Husbandughed all of a sudden.

    ¡°Kiwi, do you think I wouldn¡¯t enjoy your hugs just because you aren¡¯t a chubby goblin?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you are saying?¡±

    ¡°No, baby girl. I love your hugs just as much as Pear¡¯s or Melon¡¯s. Oh!¡±

    Suddenly, Husband held onto his fishing rod firmly and pulled it upwards, taking a few steps back. The sound of sshing water filled my ears and with a small grunt, Husband had yanked the fishing rod high up over his head and a small fish was dangling on the end of the tiny rope.

    ¡°Looks like we managed to catch one!¡±

    Husband brought the fishing rod to a standing position and held on to the fish with one hand, tucking the fishing rod in his armpit, and used his now freed hand to pull the bone hook out of the mouth of the small fish.

    ¡°It¡¯s a sturdy rod. Could do with having a bit more flexibility, but really, noints so far considering the materials you had to work with.¡±

    Husband put the fishing rod down and then used hisnd magic to make a small pot hardened from grass and dirt. Then he dunked it in the stream to fill it with water before putting the fish he caught in it, leaving it on the ground just behind where he was standing.

    My fishing rod still didn¡¯t have a single bite. I¡¯m pretty sure my worm was dead by now, too. Husband went to go fetch a new worm to put on his hook and quickly returned to the bank of the stream, sitting down next to me.

    ¡°Want to sit in myp while we wait for the fish to bite?¡±

    I eagerly sat down in hisp, leaning back against his chest while the two of us held onto our rods.

    ¡°This brings back good memories¡­ When I was a strong-one, I used to go fishing with my father once or twice a moon or so. He taught me everything I know about fishing.¡±

    I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard about Husband¡¯s maker¡¯s Husband before from any conversations I¡¯ve had with him or any other goblin before.

    ¡°What kind of goblin was your maker¡¯s Husband?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. He was a fair man, if not a bit stricter than me. He worked a lot, since his job was to make money by selling things to people in order to support our family¡­ uh¡­ our n¡­ and on his days off, he tried to spend what time he could with my mother and me and my siblings.¡±

    ¡°He sold things?¡±

    ¡°Oh yes. He was a<i>businessman</i>, and so worked from sunup to sundown five out of every seven days at a minimum. Thanks to his hard work, the life I was able to live growing up from a strong-one into an adult was rather luxuriouspared to many other families¡­ ns¡­<i>whatever</i>.¡±

    Husband talked about his former n in depth as the two of us sat there holding fishing rods that received no bites from any fish. The strange thing about his story was that Husband¡¯s maker¡¯s Husband didn¡¯t have more than one goblin he made strong ones with. Only five strong-ones in total came into the world and the third one was Husband. ording to Husband, his next younger brother-goblin was kind of like Vera, which is why caring for her in his cave-hole is something he demanded Prima to let him do.

    But that wasn¡¯t all he had to say.

    ¡°So, before Husband became an adventurer, he also sold things?¡±

    ¡°Yes. While not the same exact things that my father did, after attending a ce where I learned worldly things for a long time, I joined apany just as my father had long before me and sold plenty of things just as he did. I didn¡¯t have anyone at the time to¡­ take care of, like I do the adult goblins here in Goblinhome. I lived by myself and either saved my money, hoping I might find someone in the future to spend it on who might end up living with and making strong-ones together with me, or spend it on things to decorate my apartment¡­ uh¡­ cave-hole with that I enjoy.¡±

    ¡°Things like games, and the big bath?¡±

    ¡°Most cave-holes came with a smaller bath, but yeah, for sure there were plenty of games. I even had a collection of¡­<i>figurines</i>.¡±

    ¡°Figurine?¡±

    ¡°Think of it as something simr to smaller statues like the two found in Lumi¡¯s chapel. Not much bigger than my hand and they would decorate shelves in my room. They would bring me great pleasure to look at.¡±

    ¡°What was your favorite figurine to look at?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s a toss-up. I had a game I used to y every day for years about a group of female soldiers led by amander who tried to reim the surface hundreds of moons after humanity had to retreat to an underground city to live in or face extinction from the rapture queen¡ªa big metal golem that sought to destroy everything and rule the world as the supreme civilization. Rather than say I had a single favorite one to look at, I would enjoy collecting as many of them as I could since each of them were different and enjoyable in their own way, just like all of the adult goblins and my daughters are.¡±

    I suddenly felt something pull on my fishing rod. I gripped it tightly and let Husband know. He put his down and held onto mine with me while I stood up first. Husband moved to the side from behind me and cheered me on as I struggled to take steps backward and lift the fishing rod up high, eventually managing to bring the sshing struggling fish out of the water. It wasn¡¯t much bigger than the one Husband caught earlier, but I felt happy that I was able to also catch one now!

    ¡°Great going, Kiwi!¡± Husband cheered me on.

    With the fish dangling from the end of the tiny rope, Husband helped me undo the hook from its mouth and put it into the stone bucket with the other fish he had caught.

    Once more his hand pressed down upon my head and ruffled my hair.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this fun? This is the kind ofziness your daddy can get behind.¡±

    ¡°You like beingzy?¡±

    I actually found that to be shocking information. Husband was<i>always</i>busy!

    ¡°Sure. While being busy and productive is a good trait to have, if you¡¯re always busy¡­ then you¡¯ll eventually be worn out. Taking time every so often to bezy and enjoy the things you¡¯ve worked hard for is important for your personal growth as a goblin. For me, a nicezy day is taking a long warm bath and then ying with my daughters. I would certainly count going fishing with my baby girl as an enjoyablezy day to have.¡±

    ¡°GGGRRRARK! GRARK!¡±

    Catching us from surprise from behind, arge ck beast had suddenly appeared!

    Husband quickly extended his arms and stood in front of me protectively.

    While I had never seen one alive before, I knew exactly what it was¡ªa ck-w!

    ¡°Shit. This isn¡¯t good. Stay behind me, Kiwi¡­ Daddy¡­ will do something.¡±

    I could see well enough to know that this ck-w, even though it was only this one, was already nning on hunting us both.

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ how¡¯s your throwing arm?¡± Husband asked me all of a sudden.

    ¡°Want me to try and find a stone in the stream?¡±

    ¡°No. Reach in the pot and throw a fish close to it. Stay behind me while you do, okay?¡±

    Listening to Husband, I reached into the nearby pot and pulled one of the two fish out, throwing it right in front of the ck-w. We both watched as it was on full alert for a moment, before sniffing the air and taking a tentative step forward to sniff it. Then opening its mouth to grab it off the ground and begin chewing and swallowing it.

    While it ate the fish, I don¡¯t think that was enough of an offering to let us go.

    ¡°Kiwi. I want to lock it down with somend magic. I want you to throw the other fish so that it will be distracted enough while eating for me to do so. After that, the two of us are going to run. Forget about the rods, okay?¡±

    ¡°Why not kill it.¡±

    ¡°I would never forgive myself if something happened to you, Kiwi.¡±

    ¡°I might not be Diana Artemis, but I can fight, too.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt that. But do you have a weapon?¡±

    ¡°No, but¡­ will you trust me?¡±

    Husband was quiet, locking eyes with the ck-w.

    ¡°I trust you. Throw the fish or we won¡¯t even have a chance to find out how much I trust you.¡±

    I lobbed thest remaining fish at the ck-w again, and it once more cautiously approached it to snatch it up.

    All of a sudden,nd rose up around all four legs of the ck w and solidified quickly, locking it into ce.

    I rushed forward, hearing Husband yell at me to be careful.

    I might not be as strong as my sisters, but I knew a few things.

    ¡°Kiwi-ken Upper!¡±

    Shouting the name of my attack as Button had taught me to do, since it made attacks more powerful, I dove forward into a roll just under the ck-w¡¯s face and sprung up with a tightly clenched fist, impacting the underside of its maw and snapping its head upwards and back, hearing a satisfying crack as I did.

    ¡°Kiwi-ken w Barrage!¡±

    I then began to sh at its vulnerable neck as fast as I could with a series of shing strikes with my bare hands before leaping backwards out of range of any counterattack.

    But it was unnecessary.

    Its throat was heavily torn and it half-copsed, held up only by the stone surrounding its legs. The head of the ck-w hung limply, blood pouring out onto the ground.

    Husband had quickly secured it further, raising morend around it and solidifying it into stone so that even if the ck-w was still alive, it wouldn¡¯t be able to escape. Then he came to check on me.

    ¡°Kiwi, are you alright?¡±

    I nodded. I was perfectly fine.

    ¡°How did I do?¡±

    Husband chopped the top of my head with his hand, but didn¡¯t say a word. Instead, he knelt down and pulled me into a hug.

    ¡°You did great, baby girl. You did great.¡±

    It was a while before Husband let go of me, not that I minded. He could have hugged me forever and that would have been fine.

    We had lost the fish we had caught, and even one of the rods. The hook attached to the tiny rope on Husband¡¯s fishing rod was still in the water of the stream and something must have pulled it in while we were dealing with the ck-w.

    Husband carefully inspected the ck-w for a while before deciding it was dead enough to remove the stone bonds he had created, securing it in ce.

    ¡°I think we should head back now. I¡¯ll handle this guy, you keep an eye out for anything else that might be trying to hunt us, okay Kiwi?¡±

    I agreed. Husband grabbed hold of the back legs with both hands, dragging the body behind him slowly. It took us a while to get back to Goblinhome, along the way Husband asked me when I learned how to fight like that.

    ¡°Button gives lessons. She says all her sisters should know a little about the<i>swirly-whirly</i>to keep themselves safe.¡±

    Truthfully, I didn¡¯t understand the whole<i>swirly-whirly</i>thing she talked about, but the lessons I had taken with Prima, Diana, and Nova had taught me enough that a weapon wasn¡¯t the only weapon a goblin had. Our ws were sharp for a reason, and that reason was to hunt. Button has her own martial art called the Mushroom Fist, but says that since I am a fruit-goblin, I should discover my own martial art.

    The result, of course, is my Kiwi-ken Fist.

    ¡°I can¡¯t beat Button or Figurine with it, though. Those two are just too strong. Everyone is¡­ too strong.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay. The purpose of learning a martial art isn¡¯t for beating someone¡­ it¡¯s for protecting yourself and the people you care about, and that¡¯s exactly what you did. While it might have been safer to run away, I¡¯m still incredibly proud of you, Kiwi.¡±

    I held the remaining fishing rod in my hand and swished it about as I basked in the praise Husband gave me.

    He was proud of me!

    Me, who wasn¡¯t better at a single thing than any of my big-sisters were¡­

    There was nothing that dared to hunt us in the forest on the way back to Goblinhome. When we got back, Husband asked me if he could have the bones and skin of the ck-w. He said he had something important in mind for them. I didn¡¯t mind, since he made it possible for us to kill it in the first ce.

    With some help from Pepper, Melon, Ste, Ivory and even Diana Artemis, the ck-w was quickly disassembled and butchered. Melon had taken a bit of the meat to cook with, but left much of it for what cameter. Husband asked the entire tribe toe out to the fire-pit when it became dark, and everyone was given some of the ck-w to eat. I think there might have been part of another ck-w added because the one we brought back couldn¡¯t have possibly had that much meat on it.

    Goblins eat a lot, especially tasty bloody meat!

    While eating, Husband recounted the story of us going out to fish at the stream, recounted the part of the story of Diana and Husband¡¯s hunt where they reached the stream to rescue Doll, and then recounted the story of Husband and me fighting the single ck-w who thought us easy prey!

    The way he told it was a bit more borate than what happened, but everyone was listening intently and giving me nods of approval. Diana Artemis told me she was d I am bing a strong goblin who can protect Husband.

    Diana Artemis said that!

    I didn¡¯t protect him, though¡­ he¡­

    I could see something in her eyes that told me nothing I would say would matter at this point. This was her judgment of my kill. Of my and Husband¡¯s kill¡­

    Button and Prima had also given me approving nods as they ate some of the bloody ck-w meat.

    Riding some kind of high, Husband invited me to spend the night with him in his cave-hole. I held onto him tight as we talked about many more things. Especially on how to improve the fishing rod. I slept well, only to wake up and find Husband gone.

    Husband had been busy the next day, but I tried not to let that bring my spirits down.

    Instead, Primrose, Selene, Chanterelle asked me to tell the story again to them, which I did, happily. Lumi was there too with my little sister goblin Gremory, giving us all pushes on the swings.

    After that, I returned to Pear¡¯s cave-hole and tried to understand the part called a<i>reel</i>that Husband said would be important to the new fishing rod I wanted to make. It would be another whole day before I saw Husband again.

    At that time, he had something for me.

    It was some kind of ck-w clothing. Husband had been working with Pepper to make it. The top half of the ck-w¡¯s head was able to rest on my head or be pulled back. The back of the ck-w became like a cloak that covered my back, down to my butt where the tail was. And two front paws came across my chest, tied with a bit of thin rope. There was also a ne he gave me¡ªall of the bottom teeth from the ck-w strung together, proof of my kill.

    But that wasn¡¯t all.

    He had made me a grand weapon, too!

    Modeled a bit after<i>Ripper</i>, part of Diana¡¯s original grand weapons Ripper and Bleed, two long bone-ws made from sharpened bone done by Ivory and some sharpened metal on the undersides of the bone-ws added by Dara who lives under Husband¡¯s cave-hole. They had some padding on the insides so that they would fitfortably on my arms. They also could be attached to my new clothes so that I didn¡¯t have to wear them all the time. I could just put them on when I was ready to hunt.

    There was also something else. There was a pocket of some kind that had been made out of the belly-skin from the ck-w on the inside so that I could store things I wanted to carry or keep hidden inside of it.

    Even ce¡¯s Shaman¡¯s clothes weren¡¯t as amazing as mine!

    I found myself exceptionally busy after that. Not only the modifications to the fishing rod, I also began to try and make a few new things that didn¡¯t exist yet in Goblinhome. Getting permission from Vera, I was allowed to use a small bit of space behind the Goblin¡¯s Guild counter to run my new<i>store</i>.

    I had all sorts of interesting things I thought goblins might want to buy now.

    With help from Dara, I managed to create the<i>reel</i>Husband spoke of, increased the length of the thin rope, and added a small smooth stone Vera helped me make withnd magic. Now any goblin could fishzily! Husband even agreed to go fishing with any goblins who bought them and wanted to learn how to use it!

    I also made some of the<i>figurines</i>Husband talked about out of small bones, only they were all designed after my big sister goblins. I even made ones to resemble ck-ws and Husband too! Turns out, they became popr as recement chess-pieces!

    Husband is naturally the King piece.

    Game and Fun, seeing that goblins came almost every day to my new store talked about having the things they make be sold in my shop. There were a few things that I didn¡¯t sell¡ªIvory¡¯s bone charms and Truffle¡¯s color-spin-think powder. Those are items those two are best known for and I didn¡¯t want to take away all their business.

    I did, however, buy manymon items made from bone from Ivory, since if they were readily avable, goblins would buy them. Chanterelle had actually started her own little mushroom farm, and she wanted me to sell them for her because she was toozy to sell them herself. Apparently, they are mushrooms made by Kino¡¯s spores. They have a¡­ unique taste. But they certainly aren¡¯t bad. Big-sister Melon made a soup out of them, and it was actually pretty tasty.

    Turns out, Husband had used some of the ck-w leg bones to make some kind of outer bone-leg for Crow with help from Dara, along with a metal stick that let her move a bit more freely. While slow, she could even make it upstairs to the Goblin¡¯s Guild on her own.

    So now, Crow watches my store while I go about my day making or sourcing things to be sold there.

    All in all, things are going greattely. I have earned way more standing than I thought possible.

    Crow has also recently been in a good mood. Husband managed to put another strong-one inside of her belly. I¡¯m happy for her. Crow says it¡¯ll soon be time for the strong-one inside my big-sister Melon toe into the world.

    I wonder, will it be a fat goblin like she is, or a skinny goblin like me?

    Crow tells me not to worry. When I get bigger, Husband will help me be an adult goblin and give me a strong-one of my own. I¡¯m looking forward to it, but time is money, and I have a lot more standing I want to earn before then.

    Until then, I will do my best with my store and continue to make Husband proud of me.

    The only store in all of Goblinhome¡ªKiwi¡¯s Lazy-buy! We have things goblins want to buy!

 Chapter Forty-two â€“ In which Ark becomes a f*cking monster

    Chapter Forty-two ¨C In which Ark bes a f*cking monster

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Putting a trigger warning notice here for non-consensual sexual activity with a non-goblin. This is the worst of it in this story but it is essential to future plot development. It''s back to wholesome writing after this.

    Later that night, I didn¡¯t sleep with Vera in her room. I spent it inside of mine together with Ste, who was engaging in a bit of hostile behavior. I tightened the ropes on her hands so she didn¡¯t strangle me in my sleep, and Iid down with her in the bed and held her. She was angry, and justifiably so, but I just wanted to enjoy myst day as a decent human being.

    Her body was warm and soft, and most noticeably, not green. I yed nice for the most part, but I admit to groping her chest a little. Even if she was a human, her breasts felt no different from those of the goblins. Just bigger.

    I decided to level with her.

    ¡°Ste¡­ if somethinges of it. If you¡­ get pregnant and can¡¯t stand the sight of the child¡­ I¡¯ll raise it.¡±

    ¡°What, to be a fucking goblin?¡±

    ¡°To be civilized. It may live among goblins, but that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been doing here slowly, and will continue to do so. I will try and make these goblins civilized. I don¡¯t expect your hate or anger towards them to ever be eradicated, but I will try to make these goblins more than what we were told to expect when encountering them. You might not think it, but any child you have from what will happen between us<i>is</i>innocent. It¡¯ll be human. If you¡¯re still human then even you have to respect the sanctity of life.¡±

    ¡°...why don¡¯t you just rape me now?¡±

    ¡°Because there¡¯s a certain goblin that has to watch. She was ordered to, by the<i>thing</i>that captured us, and that<i>thing</i>is no joke. I¡¯m only doing this to save both of our lives, even if it¡¯s a detestable thing. Don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to take great pleasure in doing this. I have over a dozen willing goblins who would rather take your ce, but what must be done, must be done. All I can do for you is apologize and promise to make it as painless as physically possible. I can¡¯t¡­ do anything for your heart or your mind. You can fight and struggle if you want. Do whatever you can to hold onto your humanity, Ste. Do¡­ whatever you can.¡±

    I pulled my hands away from her soft breasts and held her gently as she wept.

    When the next day came, it was breakfast time with everyone once again. Well, minus Ivory today. Doll was there though, and she¡¯s a dedicated member of the bloody meat faction. Not much exercising can do about that.

    ¡°Which is the goblin who has to watch?¡± Ste asked me in in front of all the goblins.

    I tilted my head at Prima in response. Ste spit in her direction.

    ¡°She¡¯s upset you are going to be present when it happens.¡± I exined to Prima.

    ¡°Stupid human not want big seed. Prima know what Husband say, still think human stupid. Diana proof Husband big seed make strong ones. Human should beg get big seed.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t asking her, but it was a nice vote of confidence?

    ¡°Husband, after give human big seed, seed-stick work again for goblins?¡± Berry asked me.

    ¡°I hope so. I¡¯ve gotten to enjoy giving you all big seed, and wasting it with you even more.¡±

    ¡°Not waste if give seed after, make goblin bellies fat with strong ones.¡± Prima added.

    Prima really wanted me to blow her belly up. I wish I knew how!

    After some shared bath time, with the exception of Prima and Vera, the rest had left.

    ¡°Husband, whene watch? Wait three suns.¡±

    I sighed.

    ¡°Then don¡¯t leave. I don¡¯t think it matters whether it¡¯s now orter. May as well watch the moment I be the monster I used you of being, not too long ago¡­¡±

    Ste was sitting at the table still, her piece of fire-meat was only half-eaten. Prima had walked over to her and grabbed her by the arm, pointing to the raised bed covered in straw in the center of the room. Ste looked at me and I closed my eyes to nod at her. It was a gallows walk for her, and Prima was the warden. I was the executioner.

    I couldn¡¯t loosen her bonds for what I was about to do. Ste could trap my head in her thighs and possibly snap my neck. I nned to give her a bit of cunnilingus at first to make her wet so it didn¡¯t hurt going in. I didn¡¯t know if she had ever done it before, and I had no idea exactly what a human female¡¯s hymen looked like, so telling by sight was out. It didn¡¯t seem right to ask her if she ever had a lover before me, and even if she wasn¡¯t pure, did it matter at this point? I had fucked nearly a dozen goblins many times over. I wasn¡¯t in any position to be picky. I wanted this over now, so I could get back to my wives.

    Ste did listen to what I saidst night. She struggled. Even tied up she made it somewhat impossible, to the point that Prima had to intervene by barking out for Vera toe and help hold her down. I felt terrible, but it had to be done. I¡¯d go to hell formitting this sin, but it wouldn¡¯t be today.

    She cried out, and Prima wanted to gag her, but I said no. That was one right she had. The one right I wouldn¡¯t deprive her of. To scream bloody murder and curse me. I reminded Prima of the great human magic called spite. She didn¡¯t say anything more about it once I had, and with Ste¡¯s bound legs being held up in the air with my hands pushing against her thighs, I shoved my face in her clean pink hairy snatch and began to lick it.

    She cried out and cursed at me to stop over and over, but still I licked. With her in this state, she wasn¡¯t going to rx enough to have an orgasm. It¡¯s only in the dirtyic books that you can rape a woman to pleasure. But my goal wasn¡¯t that. I knew she would get no pleasure from this act. It was just to force her body into a wet enough state that it wouldn¡¯t hurt her all that much when I put my cock inside of her.

    I had to probe inside of her with my fingers to check, and it just didn¡¯t feel like it was wet enough, even after taking a while to get her ready with my mouth. Yet, what must be done, must be done, and she was<i>going</i>to be done. My cock fully at the ready, tip at her entrance and ready to push in, she begged with all she had for me to stop. I pushed inside of her slowly and she screamed again.

    ¡°I hate you! Ark you fucking traitor! Goblin fucker! I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡±

    Our pelvises kissed.

    I pulled out slowly, noting my cock was clean, with not a single drop of blood on it. I readily pushed it inside again while holding her legs and just went slow. She didn¡¯t feel all that lubricated inside and for the longer I fucked her, the more chafing friction I felt. To the point she didn¡¯t even feel wet anymore, and even her crying had tapered off. It was going to be difficult to cum inside of her like this.

    I pulled out and Prima looked at me asking if I had given big seed to her.

    I hadn¡¯t. But it was required that I do. I had to ask Vera for her help. I apologized because I was covered in human juices, but I needed her lick me and coat my guy in her goblin saliva. Vera was more than willing, twining her long gray tongue around my shaft. After some heavy saturation from her, I was ready to go back inside Ste.

    This time there was no resistance she could offer. No fight she could hope to put up anymore. It would have been like trying to grasp a stick of melting butter with bare hands over a hot pan. Covered in goblin saliva, I could pump in and out of her at any speed I wanted. But I still tried to remain decent, and went at what I thought would be a fair pace that wouldn¡¯t be too intense or painful for her, and would also get me off the quickest.

    Compared to the goblins in this cave, her pussy didn¡¯t even rank. My dick fit, but I was already thinking about fucking both Prima and Vera after I was done with Ste if it stayed hard. Maybe I¡¯m already too far gone? It was even irritating me how long it was taking. Ste was quiet after she realized resisting was futile andid still, like a dead fish, leaving me to my crime. That only made this rape feel more authentic.

    I fucked her for what felt like forever and I began to feel dizzy. I thought I needed more cardio, but it felt familiar. I felt pure luste from within me. I wasn¡¯t going to yell out anything tacky like ¡°Get pregnant!!!¡± (this time) but I wanted to just seed her so I could be done. Eventually I could feel my balls churning. The familiar sensation of pressure building and the inevitable feeling that I was going to explode inside of her.

    I grabbed her legs tightly, holding them to my chest, and swung my hips for the final few times where my knees locked as I bucked numerous times into her, feeling my consciousness try to slip from my grasp again. My head filled with a white bliss while some darkness threatened to pull me under at the same time. It was Vera who disconnected my body from Ste, and brought me back to the dimly lit cavern I was in.

    I could see my obscene river of semen flowing freely out of Ste¡¯s pussy, and I found myself breathing heavily.

    Prima let her go, and Ste immediately curled up in a ball.

    ¡°Ark. Done?¡±

    I nodded.

    My cock was hard again. Even though I just raped and creampied my adventurerpanion, I wanted to fuck some more. Vera I know wanted it, but she called for her sister instead. Prima sat down in myp and I was taken into her, happy to be deep inside of her inviting goblin cunt. I held on to her and sucked hard on her tits as I thrusted up into her. I felt like I was home again even though I knew the truth. I was fully expendable to these goblins if I couldn¡¯t do my duty as Husband. This horrible atrocity was a mercy from that<i>thing</i>that ruled this tribe. That captured Ste and probably killed Kairos.

    But it was no different than how things were back in my previous life. I was an expendable employee to thepany I worked for in the end. I might have made my department do well because of my diligence, and how I fostered goodmunication and teamwork, but all the upper management ever really cared about were the numbers.

    And the remaining number of goblins was three.

    I did get paid time off and overtime here, which I was pretty sure if this Great Protector was anything like my old boss or the human resources department, I just cashed in everything I had earned all at once over this erection problem.

    Prima¡¯s body felt light, and Prima¡¯s body felt<i>right</i>. I was soon filling her up with big seed, but my head had be clear again. Focused. After her, I couldn¡¯t help but take Vera. She usually liked to sit in myp, but I put her on her hands and knees and mated with her from behind. Prima watched with satisfaction in her eyes. I truly wondered how she could be happy watching me fuck her little sister right in front of her.

    Vera bent her elbows and lifted her ass by locking her knees and straightening her thighs. I drilled her cute little gob-snootch until it, too, was full of my leaky yogurt. I was still breathing hard, but I felt good.

    I wanted more.

    I¡¯m sorry, Ste.

    I climbed onto the raised bed and put myself into her again. It still felt inferior to both Prima and Vera¡¯s, but I no longer cared. I knew I wasn¡¯t good enough to call myself a human being anymore, raping her for the second time. My hands clutched handfuls of barely-tanned cream colored breasts and with my dick thickly coated in goblin secretions, I vited her until more and more of my big seed filled her womb.

    <b>I was the monster now.</b>

    I sat up on the raised bed and Prima looked up at me as she remained lying down on her back on the floor.

    ¡°Husband?¡±

    ¡°Am I a monster for wanting more?¡± I asked her in all seriousness.

    Primaughed.

    ¡°Who want?¡±

    This time Iughed sardonically.

    ¡°I am a greedy goblin, my lovely Prima. I want many goblins with fat bellies.¡±

    She grinned.

    ¡°Husband¡­ not move.¡±

    She got up, drooling globs white onto the floor from between her legs as she left the breeding room, only toe back a short whileter with Berry, Truffle, and Pear.

    It had to be good enough. That¡¯s why she¡¯s my main wife.

    I opened the Gates of Gobylon, and summoned the Unlimited Boner Works.

    I bullied each of them. To make up for days of beingid, I even had my sweet Berry crying out in pleasure as I held her in my arms while I stood up in ce, with no wall to support her back, or front, and dropping her body on my Orichal-cum drill with her legs spread for all to see while I tried with all my might to pierce her heavens.

    Truffle, my tasty little morsel covered in freckles. She was the next to bepletely devoured, her legs wobbling like gtin when I was done with her, bite marks all over her milkies. And Pear, with her deliciously fat and cushy ass¡­ She got double the dose when I dragged her down to her hands and knees and imed both of her holes as my own.

    Vera, the little scamp, wanted a second round and I obliged her, too.

    Then Iid back and found all the gathered goblins found a way to rest on my body.

    Husband was back, baby. And all it cost me was my entrance to the pearly gates.

 Chapter Fifty-four â€“ In which Ark shoulders some guilt, and the Bloodmaws agree to a gag order.

    Chapter Fifty-four ¨C In which Ark shoulders some guilt, and the Bloodmaws agree to a gag order.

    After being worn down from pushing my daughters for what felt like half a day, I took a small break, and went back inside goblin-home and to my room. Vera was in the bath together with Ste, who had finallye out from under therge rag in her room. I decided to join them, and hopefully see how she was doing. For a while, we were all soaking quietly without saying anything, until Ste asked me an unfair question.

    ¡°Ark, did¡­ you do this to me?¡±

    ¡°If I could do something like that, which would require magic of the highest level, I wouldn¡¯t be as afraid of the Great Protector as I am.¡±

    Ste took a deep breath and spoke again.

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t want to be a goblin. I¡¯m a human!¡±

    ¡°I know. I know you are, Ste. No matter what changes happen, you<i>are</i>a human.¡±

    I imagine it was overdue. As a fellow human, she was breaking down right in front of me. She held her arms out, as if to show me I was full of shit in saying that she was human, when her hands were green and her fingers had already be pointed like the other goblins.

    I waded through the bath to her side, and held her close to me.

    ¡°Even if you turn a little green, you¡¯re still a beautiful woman. A beautiful<i>human</i>woman to me, Ste.¡±

    ¡°Ark¡­ I¡­ can¡¯t ever go home.¡±

    ¡°Then stay here. I know I¡¯m not a rich muscr adventurer, but I swear I¡¯ll give you as luxurious a life as I can. Who knows, maybe it¡¯s a temporary thing?¡±

    ¡°Temporary?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll ask the Great Protector when ites back. That<i>thing</i>has to know some serious magic. Maybe it can undo¡­ whatever happened? But until then, everyone here has already epted you. Look, are you even bound with ropes anymore?¡±

    ¡°Hah! Where can a goblin run to? A human vige? I¡¯d be killed before I could even tell them what happened! And even if someone were willing to hear me out, they¡¯d think this was a curse that could spread¡­ where else can I go, Ark?¡±

    Vera had waded over to Ste¡¯s other side, giving her a hug together with me.

    ¡°Sister.¡±

    ¡°See, you aren¡¯t alone. And I won¡¯t treat you any differently. These girls have weed you into the tribe already. There¡¯s only you who needs to ept what you can of the situation for now. But I need you, Ste. I need you more than ever.¡±

    ¡°Why? You¡¯ve never needed me. I just¡­ tagged along with you and Kairos. Now I¡¯m even more useless having be¡­<i>this</i>!¡±

    ¡°I need you precisely because you are human. I want you to help me show these goblins how to live in a civilized way. I want to make this tribe strong. To be far more than the greedy murderous goblins we were told they are. I know you¡¯ve seen it¡­ you were not shunned by a single one of them when Truffle gave birth. And aside from what I did to you, have you been harmed in any way by any goblin here?¡±

    ¡°...no.¡±

    ¡°No. Just by me. I can¡¯t change what has happened to your body, but for anything other than that,<i>anything</i>, just ask me, and I¡¯ll do it for you, okay?¡±

    Ste lowered her head to stare into the water.

    ¡°I can feel it, Ark. The¡­ life inside of me, growing. Ever since¡­ this started. My hearing is better, I can see clearly in the dark, I¡­ don¡¯t have the stomach for cooked meat anymore.¡±

    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, you are still Ste. I won¡¯t abandon you.¡±

    ¡°Together.¡± Vera said, continuing to cling tightly to my formerly humanpanion.

    ¡°And this one¡­ keeps saying that I¡¯m going to have a goblin baby. I¡­ saw what happened with that other girl. This thing is going to eventually w its way out of me. My body is going to bepletely ruined! More than it already is!¡±

    ¡°Ste¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop calling me that! Ste died, Ark! All that¡¯s left of her¡­ is this¡­ nameless and cursed body.¡±

    Vera gave me a pleading look to give Ste some space again. I nodded and got out of the bath. In fact, I left the breeding room entirely and went looking for Berry again, who was stirring the contents of one of the pots I made for her that she had on the new countertop in her cave-hole.

    ¡°Berry¡­ can I borrow you for a moment?¡±

    ¡°Yes. What Husband need?¡±

    ¡°Can¡­ you show me to Beast-talker¡¯s cave-hole?¡±

    ¡°Follow.¡±

    Berry took my hand and led me deep into the cave that was goblin-home. It was probably the furthest I¡¯ve ever walked into the depths of the cave. I was brought to a cave-hole that was littered with animal skins and bone-things which were obviously made by Ivory. It was just a normal looking room with the usual things a goblin tended to have, whenpared to what I¡¯d seen of the others¡¯ so far.

    ¡°This¡­ is going to be Ste¡¯s cave-hole. I¡¯m going to make it¡­ suitable for her. For a human.¡±

    Berry hugged me from behind, her soft goblin mounds pushing into my back.

    ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t do anything for her, Berry. I know¡­ you and Vera have been doing your best, but I also don¡¯t know what to do. I don¡¯t¡­ know what it means to be a woman or a goblin.¡±

    ¡°Husband want Berry talk Ste again?¡±

    ¡°Only if you think there¡¯s something you can say to her that might make a difference.¡±

    ¡°Berry think. Husband make human cave-hole?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ the only thing I can think of doing for her. When I¡¯m done here, I¡¯m going to spend the night with Lily.¡±

    ¡°Want Berry stay Husband?¡±

    I turned around and put her hand on my chest over my heart.

    ¡°Berry, you are always with me here, in my heart.¡±

    ¡°Mm, heart tasty. Tasty like liver, more bloody.¡±

    Ah, she¡¯s a goblin of the bloody meat faction, of course she would see that titude in that way.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you are busy doing things. Maybe¡­ you coulde check on me with something to drink in a little while?¡±

    ¡°Want blue water?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather have more of that red water you gave me.¡±

    With a warm hug and another affectionate kiss on the top of her head, my sweet smelling Berry left me be, to stew in anxious thoughts and to work them out by reshaping a cave-hole good enough for a human-turned-goblin to want to live in.

    I locked my fingers together and let them pop. It was time to get started.

    <b>~~** Interlude | Jewel¡¯s Room **~~</b>

    ¡°We need to do something for Husband.¡±

    Inside of Jewel¡¯s room, all the goblins except Old One, Vera, and the newest, Ste, were present: Jewel, Prima, Lily, Pear, Ivory, Truffle, Doll, Pear, Toy, Pepper, and Crow. Berry was also there, as she had rounded up everyone at first to exin what was going on.

    ¡°The human named Ste, who has be a goblin¡­ Husband says he does not know how to care for her. He wishes to, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Obviously.¡± Prima interrupted with arms crossed. ¡°Can you imagine bing a human? Who can understand what she is feeling?¡±

    ¡°I can,¡± Truffle added. ¡°I had a dream that I was a human once.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you mean a mushroom?¡± Doll joked.

    ¡°This is why¡­ we need to show her the goblin way.¡± Berry redirected constructively. ¡°Is there any goblin here who hates being a goblin?¡±

    Not a single one present did. All of the goblin tribe were proud to be goblins.

    ¡°What we need to do is find a way to show her that being a goblin is<i>better</i>than being human.¡±

    ¡°How are we going to do that?¡± Pear asked.

    ¡°What do goblins do?¡± Berry asked everyone.

    ¡°Find things.¡± Crow said.

    ¡°Fill our cave-holes with shiny things we like.¡± Jewel added.

    ¡°Make many strong ones.¡± Lily followed up.

    ¡°Eat bloody meat.¡± Was the response from Doll.

    ¡°Hunt.¡± Prima joined in.

    ¡°Waste Seed with Husband?¡± Pear had said the most obvious thing, but every goblin was aware it was also the most enjoyable.

    ¡°Husband wants Ste to take Beast-talker¡¯s cave-hole. He¡¯s in there now changing it to be a cave-hole made for a human to live in. I¡­ didn¡¯t know what to say to stop him. But all the things you say goblins do, we do. Now that she looks more like a goblin than a human, we must show her what it is that Bloodmaw Goblins do. If she is a goblin, then she will understand. Prima, remember what Husband said about him not being able to eat bloody meat without getting sick? You saw her eat the bloody leg of both the ck-bear and the ck-w. She didn¡¯t get sick.

    ¡°It¡¯s true. Lily even tried eating bloody ck-w meat. I felt sick eating it and had to make it into fire-meat.¡± the runt of the tribe mentioned.

    ¡°Does that mean Lily will be human?¡± Truffle asked while ying<i>strike</i>with Button who was also present and sitting in front of her.

    ¡°Lily is still a goblin!¡± she answered angrily.

    ¡°It¡¯s Husband.¡± Jewel interjected.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ivory asked.

    ¡°After getting big seed from Husband¡­ All of us have been experiencing new changes happen to our bodies. Prima has gotten better at hunting. I have gotten smarter. Lily eats fire-meat. Doll chops trees better¡­¡± Jewel began exining.

    ¡°Then¡­ Do you think it is Husband¡¯s big seed that made Ste into a goblin?¡± Berry rationalized.

    ¡°It might not be Husband¡¯s big seed. It¡¯s possible that it¡¯s because of the strong ones inside. Berry, what changed in you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel sick or tired so much anymore. I¡¯m always full of energy¡± Berry replied to Jewel.

    ¡°I smell things way better.¡± Pear revealed.

    ¡°And we know Vera has gained magic.¡± Jewel finalized.

    ¡°We can¡¯t let Husband know that his big seed is responsible for turning her into a goblin.¡± Berry nervously stated. ¡°Husband might try and escape with Ste, try to find other humans with strong magic to change her back to human.¡±

    All goblins present then decided to keep it a secret from Husband. They decided to n out how best to integrate Ste into the tribe. Whether it be taking turns bringing her on hunts, helping her collect things she found a liking to and putting them in her new cave-hole, and most importantly, promoting the idea of wanting to have as many strong ones with Husband as possible. Vera, who was not present, had suggested one-sidedly when the changes began, that they leave her alone¡­ but Berry felt they had to do the opposite. To make Ste feel like part of the goblin tribe.

    The n wouldn¡¯t go into action for another two days¡­

 Chapter Sixty-one â€“ In which Ark gets Throngled by all the right goblins.

    Chapter Sixty-one ¨C In which Ark gets Throngled by all the right goblins.

    When I woke up, I found the straw bed was missing a goblin. But that¡¯s to be expected. Prima was upholding her end of the deal, keeping an eye on my three daughters as they went on their first hunt. It¡¯s not Diana I¡¯m truly worried about. I¡¯ve seen her dash into a tight space full of spikes and slit the throat of a huge fuckin¡¯ wolf. I know <i>she</i>can handle it. Orchid and Lc aren¡¯t proven yet, not that I can say with great enthusiasm that I want those two going out and putting themselves in danger so soon, but I do ept that it is a part of this¡­<i>Goblin Way</i>.

    While prima was out, and my mana felt mostly replenished, I decided to do a little organizing for her. I know my main goblin wife is proud of her status as the tribe¡¯s Guardian, so I wanted to make her room a bit more appealing. Aside from finishing her bedroom, making it simr to Berry¡¯s, I also ttened the wall on the South side of her cave. The purpose for doing so was simple; Prima has a fuck-ton of weapons. I don¡¯t know how she got them, and considering these goblins don¡¯t have a forge, it¡¯s either by taking them from bodies, or having them gifted by the Great Protector. Both seemed quite feasible, but without her telling me, it¡¯s only spection.

    I admit to having a secondary purpose, and that was to see if she had my knife. It was made of Vernir, which was some kind of alloy that got mixed with iron or steel. Vernir was highly sought after and difficult to obtain because it was the only known metal that didn¡¯t lose durability when having the Runes of formic magic engraved onto it. Aside from weapons which had a divine blessing, such as a Holy Sword, if someone wanted a magic weapon, say¡­ a spear that could freeze anything that it pierced, it had to be made from Vernir. Well, if it was going to survive more than a few activations of said magic.

    My knife had a single enchantment on it, but it was meant to be a practical one. It dispelled everything it came in contact with. Blood, acid, rust, magically strengthened hides of creatures. I had nned ahead, thinking it would be really stupid if somehow when I was adventuring, I might fight a dragon or basilisk or god only knows, and couldn¡¯t bring back proof to the guild because a regr shitty iron knife wasn¡¯t up to the task.

    So, making many stone hookse out from the wall withnd magic, I began sorting and hanging up all of the weapons just lying there in the pile. There wasn¡¯t any kind of treasure to be found. No bizarre weapon lost to the ages with a seriously ominous name like<i>The Throngler.</i>

    Which was good, because I didn¡¯t want to wind up<i>Throngled</i>.

    There was no sign of my knife, sadly. The only thing of mine that was here in Prima¡¯s cave-hole, was my old Guild Card. I had half a thought to update it again, but before I could entertain the other half, Prima had returned.

    And she was looking kind of pissed off at me.

    ¡°Why Ark not make Prima great weapon?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Prima struggled with some words.

    ¡°Not know how say! Orchid have Fear-fang, Lc have Crunch-maul! ¡±

    ¡°Fearfang? Crunchmaul?¡±

    And here I was worried about<i>The Throngler.</i>

    ¡°Ark not see hunt! Redboar drink from stream. Diana sneak behind, stab in shithole, run fast to big tree. Jump and climb tree quick. Lc and Orchid wait behind bush. Redboar smash head in tree. Lc jump out from bush, swing Fear-fang and rip back leg off like bite! Orchid jump out from bush, smash leg other side, hear big crunch far away. Then Orchid spin body and smash point end at front leg. Diana jump down on Redboar back and stab head many many times like ck-bear.¡±

    Prima¡¯s hand covered and groped her whole face.

    ¡°Ark. When eight moons, go with Old One, Jewel, Doll on hunt. Not strong ones anymore. Time kill more than rabbit, fox, small beast. First time hunt Redboar. Prima stab many times with spear, only make mad. Jewel shoot many arrows, only make mad. Doll sh axe at body, only make mad. Old One watch, tell what do. Run away, leap to side, stab, shoot, chop. It take many many time! What Prima see today¡­ Not goblin way.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not the goblin way? Is there a certain way to hunt? Isn¡¯t the goal to kill things while being as safe as possible?¡±

    ¡°What Ark do big seed make strong ones? Why can strong ones hunt Redboar so soon?¡±

    She¡­ was she frustrated about this!?

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything with my big seed, Prima. I just gave it to each of you like you wanted me to. As for why they can hunt so well, isn¡¯t that because you showed Diana how? She¡¯s a smart little goblin. She¡¯s been teaching those two how to hunt since the day they were born. She also gave them the leg bones from one of the ck-ws that we all killed. She probably saw what the both of them could do with the weapons and came up with that way of hunting. I did tell her it was fine to use her head to think of the best way to fight while keeping her sisters safe.¡±

    ¡°No. She not know how strong weapons are. Diana spend long time make Orchid and Lc hit body until learn. After, look at knife same as Prima look at spear. Never see human weapon like one Ark make.¡±

    Prima looked towards the pile of weapons that should have been there. Then she turned her head to nce at the wall that was full of those same weapons, but now organized in a decorative but efficient way.

    A secondter, I was slugged right in the stomach by a grumpy goblin.

    ¡°Why Ark touch my things!?¡±

    I had doubled over and fell to my knees. It hurt quite a bit, but I could still breathe fine. I¡¯d been hit by Prima before, and I didn¡¯t think of it like domestic violence. She¡¯s just a hot tempered goblin. Plus, I did touch her things when she explicitly told me not to.

    ¡°I thought¡­ you might¡­. like it. Show off all¡­ your nice¡­ weapons to any goblin that¡­.es to visit. Remind them¡­ that you are their¡­ Guardian.¡±

    She harrumphed. ¡°Not have fat belly, not have great weapon!¡±

    ¡°Prima, I said I¡¯d stay here until it was. That was our deal.¡± I reminded her.

    ¡°Go. Eat. Make more big seed and keep trying until keep deal!¡±

    ¡°Go¡­ eat?¡±

    Come to think of it, she wasn¡¯t carrying around a piece of fire-meat for me.

    ¡°Diana say tell Husbande eat in Berry cave-hole.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ She did tell me that she¡¯d invite me to a meal. Alright, permission to go eat?¡±

    ¡°Why need permission?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say I wouldn¡¯t leave your cave-hole until your belly was fat?¡±

    ¡°Stupid Husband! Prima not want cave-hole smell like stinky fire meat! Go ande back!¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    She shooed me out of her cave-hole, and my destination was to the residence of my sweet Berry and brave huntress, Diana. When I got there, there was a lot of meat jutting out of two of the big pots I made for Berry¡¯s countertop. One was bloody, the other was not.

    Berry, Lily, Diana, Lc, and Orchid were all waiting for me to join them. There were two tusks on the ground, each next to Lily¡¯s daughters.

    ¡°Husband! We hunt Redboar!¡± Diana had proudly eximed, handing me a thankfully-not-huge rear leg of partially burnt boar meat.

    I would kill for salt and pepper right now. Well, the non-goblin kind of pepper. When I¡¯m done taking care of Prima, I¡¯ll go sample the other Pepper. And Crow. Those two have unfortunately not been shown nearly enough affection by me.

    As I sat down and joined my two families, Diana, Orchid, and Lc all took turns telling me about their hunt, even though I had heard it from Prima already. It¡¯s a father¡¯s duty to listen to his children express themselves. I don¡¯t want to be considered the kind of daddy who would put a smartphone in their hands and let someone else raise my children.

    The story went a bit different hearing it from them.

    Berry and Lily were weak goblins as far as the goblin way of hunting entailed. But, their weakness was only in physical strength. These goblins had brains and knew how to use them. After all, if they didn¡¯t, they¡¯d starve. The girls had gone out to hunt with their mothers from like the fourth day or so after they were born, and their mothers could move again properly after giving birth to them. During that time, my daughters learned what could be considered a cowardly goblin¡¯s way of hunting. Lily is a master of covering tracks, and Diana had been going on hunts with Prima, so it was easy for Diana to impart her knowledge of hunting to Orchid and Lc.

    Diana chose to hunt at the stream because she recognized the strategic advantage of the bushes we hid behind when we went to rescue Doll from the ck-ws before I used my wind magic to st them into the stream.

    Diana had drawn its attention by stabbing it in the asshole. Yeah. That¡¯ll piss off<i>any</i>wild animal and have them see red. Maximum aggro from the start. I don¡¯t know if Diana is the tank or just the puller. Orchid and Lc came in from behind on either side of it after the Redboar mmed into the tree Diana leapt onto and climbed. Orchid had shed at its back leg with the aim of severing it at what was essentially the thigh joint in one stroke as I had taught her. The Redboar, down to three legs and before it could even respond in anger to Orchid¡¯s sneak attack, had be a victim to Lc, who had smashed the bone-hammer full force into the hind femur on the boar¡¯s other side, breaking the bone and crippling itpletely. Diana did her thing, dropping on top of the boar and keeping it in a state of panic while she stabbed it in every orifice she could find to finish it off. Orchid spun her body backwards at this point, and with a pivot, had brought the full momentum her body could muster with swinging the spiked end of her bone-hammer, driving it deep into the Redboar¡¯s front leg.

    The miserable thing couldn¡¯t even thrash about in its final moments. They massacred itpletely.

    Diana then gave me a look that was impossible to misunderstand.

    It was simply:<i>Where¡¯s my amazing weapon?</i>

    At this point, the three of them understood that as strong as they were, they couldn¡¯t move therge body of the Redboar. Orchid, who had observed what I did carefully to the dirt pir, and what I exined about the saw part of the bone-saw weapon, had begun to dismantle limbs immediately for them to carry back. It was just their luck that Prima,<i>who was conveniently hunting in a nearby area</i>, had<i>heard the noise the Redboar made crashing into the tree</i>, and came to investigate. So, with a bit of avable help from a physically stronger Prima, they had managed to bring it all back, though partially dismembered.

    Lily¡¯s daughters then presented me with the trophy of their hunt. The two front tusks of the Redboar.

    ¡°Daddy proud? We not get hurt!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! We kill Redboar easy after listen daddy!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m proud of all of you, but not because you killed it. I¡¯m proud because you worked together well to kill it! I¡¯m very proud of all three of you showing me how great the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe can be when they work together!¡±

    ¡°Husband¡­¡± Diana looked at me, ¡°Why Diana Artemis not get strong weapon?¡±

    Iughed. ¡°You mean the long knife Berry gave you, that killed a huge bear, sevenrge ck-ws, and now a Redboar isn¡¯t strong enough for you?¡±

    Diana actually pouted at me for a moment.

    ¡°I suppose I can make something.¡± I said to appease her. ¡°Do you have an idea of a weapon you would like?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. I just want a strong weapon too!¡±

    ¡°Alright. Can you let me think about it for a little while? If I¡¯m going to make you something, I want it to fit you.¡±

    Diana nodded.

    ¡°Deal.¡±

    Deal? What did we trade that made this a deal? Heh. Like I can say no to my bloodthirsty little murder princess when she asks me for a weapon capable of brutally ughtering wild game.

    That was a joke. I¡¯m not that far gone yet.

    ¡­I hope.

    ¡°Husband¡­ Need know thing about¡­¡±

    ¡°Is this about the cave-hole Ste went with you to pick?¡±

    Berry nodded.

    ¡°Prima already told me. If that¡¯s what she wants, I have no say in the matter.¡±

    ¡°Husband not care?¡±

    ¡°If she doesn¡¯t want it, when these girls get older, maybe they can share the room, after I make more strong ones with you and Lily to fill the empty ones they leave behind.¡±

    ¡°Husband want us share cave-hole?¡± Diana asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s up to you. But you¡¯re all free to go take a look at it together. I can make any changes you want, but it¡¯s up to you to decide. There are three separate cave-holes for sleeping upstairs, and plenty of space. You could use it as a base or something.¡±

    ¡°What base mean?¡±

    ¡°Uh, a base is sort of like a big cave-hole where you can talk about hunting. n what you will hunt before you hunt it, and talk about how the hunt went after. It can also be a ce where you can bring games and y them together.¡±

    ¡°Sound strange. We go look atter.¡± Diana said and her two sisterly underlings also nodded their agreement.

    I have to say, I think I have the weakest appetite here. The rest of my lovely goblins have already put away all the meat they had brought for this little mixed-family after-hunt meal.

    ¡°Think smart go look at now?¡± Lily suggested. ¡°Berry and Lily spend time with Husband make more strong ones right now.¡±

    ¡°EH?¡±

    Diana stood up and both Lc and Orchid were quick to abandon me to the predation of these two motherly goblins.

    ¡°Berry, ever hunt Redboar?¡± Lily suddenly asked Berry.

    Berry shook her head to indicate she hadn''t.

    ¡°Lily not either. Belly full of tasty Redboar meat, now make it full of more Husband big seed. Think have more strong ones, eat tasty meat for long time.¡±

    Berry was cute until she showed those dangerously sharp teeth of hers as well.

    ¡°Yes. We eat good for long time.¡±

    Both of them crawled towards me, and I knew I was the next thing on the menu.

    Sorry, Prima¡­ I might take a while before returning to your cave-hole!

 Chapter Sixty-nine â€“ In which Ark ends the first volume in the corniest way possible.

    Chapter Sixty-nine ¨C In which Ark ends the first volume in the corniest way possible.

    Old One didn¡¯t say anything when a small mountain of animal corpses was brought into her room by Diana with help from Orchid and Lc. While I held no expectation that she would help me, she did. Not just her, but she brought Pepper to her room once I exined all that I intended to make for Diana, as well as the holsters for Lily¡¯s girls, and the spear that Prima had requested.

    I kind of assumed that she was a crotchety goblin-inw, but that only applied to me. If I was acting to improve the overall might of the Bloodmaw Goblins, she was willing to entertain me.

    Pepper, aside from being a Fish-catching goblin, was also the resident seamstress. Well, that¡¯s an over exaggeration. But she was the goblin responsible for making loincloths out of rags, so Old One had recruited someone with much needed practical experience.

    The better part of the day was spent skinning and sewing. Also watching on as two goblins tore into bloody chunks of fresh meat to help me ess the bones beneath. Sporadically, I watched as almost every goblin in the cave stopped in to see Old One for something or another and realized that while she didn¡¯t generally interact with me, she was here for all of the goblin tribe.

    She was the elder among them, and was respected in her own way by the entire tribe.

    Rope belts were made, animal skin was repurposed into holsters, sheathes, and utility pouches. What remained were piles of skin, and quite a number of bones. Before I could get started, it needed to be understood that I was in a room, alone, with two goblins. Pepper who had not had all that much time with me as one of my wives, and¡­ well¡­ Old One.

    Look, Ste was absolutely right calling me what she did when I raped her. I¡¯m a goblin fucker. I¡¯m a goblin fucker in and simple. There was a willing goblin, and a willing Husband, and we both wanted to take a roll in the straw. No harm, no foul. Pepper had a nice swell to her belly which Old One approved of, and I keep saying that they just don¡¯t care if there¡¯s someone else in the room when it¡¯s time to give big seed.

    Old One wasn¡¯t the type to shy away from watching either. Pepper happened to like it rough. And I mean<b><i>rough</i></b><b>.</b>While I made no attempt to be gentle as I seeded her, though I was aware there was no shame among the goblins to enjoy watching such things as simply entertainment, as Old One rubbed her mature pussy right in front of me I swear her eyes didn¡¯t blink once as I vited what was essentially one of her daughters, and she only licked her lips as she watched what this Husband tried showing off that could do.

    For good measure, not only did I<i>enjoy</i>defiling Pepper in front of Old One, I also bit and allowed Pepper to bite me, under Old One¡¯s watchful gaze. My body ached as sharp goblin teeth sunk into my flesh again. My hands groped soft green goblin milkies and I twisted and pulled and tortured her nutmeg colored nipples to her satisfaction as our lower halves smashed against each other, squelching and smacking sounds mirroring goblins feasting on raw meat ravenously echoed throughout the room.

    Pepper¡¯s body was left once again broken, spasming in euphoria with my wasted seed spilling out of her onto the floor, and my cock still erect as an obelisk.

    ¡°If you weren¡¯t so damn ugly, you would make a decent goblin, Ark.¡±

    ¡°...you know my name?¡±

    ¡°I know many things about you. I have read your square of symbols.¡±

    ¡°My Sq¨C¡­ my journal? ¡­wait. You can read?¡±

    ¡°When I was a goblin, fresh of fifteen moons, not yet having had my Blood Awakening, I hade across another human like you, though many years older than the both of us are now. When I took refuge in a cave during a storm. Our first meeting would also be ourst. You see, he was mortally wounded with a spear in his side. The same spear I gave to my strong one, Spear-hand, and the same one that Guardian uses on the hunt.¡±

    ¡°...what happened?¡±

    ¡°I call it the curse of tongues. Some wicked human magic he cast upon me. With it I could listen and speak to him in his words without knowing words other than gob.¡±

    She took a few steps towards me, her loincloth had already fallen to the floor by her own hand.

    ¡°He was a pitiful human. He told me a story about being unloved by women of his own tribe, though his appearance was quite desirable to a goblin such as myself at the ripest of ages. He had a thick body, bulging stomach, blunt protruding nose, a face full of fur with many strands of ck and silver¡­ all with the delicious scent of blood wafting around in that small cave.¡±

    ¡°So, he used magic to talk to you?¡±

    ¡°No. He<i>cursed</i>me with magic so I had no choice but to understand his words. However, what he had to say interested me, so I listened. It did not matter to him that I was a Bloodmaw. He wanted to do the Blood Awakening with me as the parting act of his life, and in exchange, since he knew he was mortally wounded and immting himself would be such a waste, he agreed to let me feast on his body. And I did. With a belly full of his big seed, and a smile on his face which I saved until the end, I slit his throat and feasted on his meat for two full days before I left that cave.¡±

    ¡°...so, would that mean your daughter Spear-hand was made from human seed?¡±

    Her hand slid down my body and she carefully wrapped her pointed fingers around my seed-stick.

    ¡°Yes. Does it surprise you to know I¡¯ve also had a Husband who was Human?¡±

    ¡°It does, actually.¡±

    ¡°It was many years before the massacre of my tribe. All that mattered to me back then was following my nature and embracing the goblin way. Taking what I wanted, having many strong ones¡­ though it was only ever Spear-hand that I had¡­¡±

    She looked up at me and grinned at what, to another goblin perhaps, might be a seductive manner.

    ¡°Uh, y-you aren¡¯t by chance interested in having another strong one¡­?¡±

    ¡°Listen carefully, Human. I am a<i>true</i>Bloodmaw. I can feel my womb throbbing right this moment thinking of being fat with another strong one. Perhaps this time, it whispers to me, that it might be with one stronger than even my Spear-hand.¡±

    I feel like it¡¯s important to state here and now, that the Old One<i>was not by any means ugly</i>. She did have an older looking countenance, sure, but it¡¯s no different from seeing an experienced thirty-year old woman who unted the most lewd promises of carnal satisfaction with her body to a younger man.

    Plus, I mean, she¡¯s been working hard to raise fourteen goblins to adulthood, up until the death of Beast-talker. There¡¯s no way it wasn¡¯t difficult for her to do, and then to see all of them, something not too different from daughters to her, all get knocked up while she has had to¡­<i>endure</i>.

    It would be quite rude of me to turn her down¡­ wouldn¡¯t it? I know there was a quote from a certain ind nation in my previous life that said it was a man¡¯s shame to not eat a buffet ced in front of him by a gracious hostess, even if he had a homemade meal waiting for him at home.

    ¡°Just to be clear¡­ you aren¡¯t nning on killing me and eating me afterwards, are you?¡±

    The Old One pushed me down with a strength I had not expected, and climbed on top of me.

    ¡°For as long as you still draw breath, Human, you are safe.¡±

    Like a being forcefully drawn into the event horizon of a ck hole, nothing could have prepared me for the ferocity such a sexually starved goblin matriarch was possessed of. I had thought I was a bully at times to my wives, but it only reinforced the reality that they were immature babespared to the real deal.

    Her cougarly cunt was some kind of deathly cocktrap. The further inside of her she took me, the tighter the squeeze and more difficult it was to escape her milking muscles. Old One had long flowing green hair, and a round pair of sun-dried olive-tanned gobby-knockers. She would arch her back and stick out her chest as she groped herself or slid her hands down her own body, shaking her head and letting her far from filthy hair preen. She never once needed to bnce herself by cing a hand on my torso as she rode me. She was, however, seemingly adept at danger-y and would trace her sharp pointed finger along my chest, scratching, yet not quite drawing blood, but fully capable of sending warning signals that hemorrhaged fear along every nerve pathway I had.

    My wives were just inexperienced, I understood. I was too. I was a double-virgin right around a month ago. The level difference between the Old One and I wasn¡¯t something that could be so easily offset by my cockiness. I was ruthlessly and utterly exploited and definitely<i>not</i>raped. Old One was a maneater, and I, a featherless biped, naked as Diogenes¡¯ plucked chicken, was but a man.

    Our little interlude ended with me having suffered a loss. Or a win, if being fully satisfied was a winning condition. And for the three of us afterwards, an enjoyable nap together.

    Some timeter when we woke, it was back to the grind.

    Thanks to the numerous small bones avable to me, ones from arge and plump roon being the sturdiest and most useful, I had created a pair of bone and stone weapons for Diana that I felt best suited her. I happened to love period pieces of Eastern cinema, as well as a certain genre of video game that told the story of an Western assassin. For Diana, being a drop-goblin who liked to jump on her prey and stab it to death, I felt this would be the perfectbination of force and utility.

    One was a Tekkou-kagi, the other was a Katar.

    The Tekkou-kagi, often known as the Iron w, was unfortunately devoid of iron due to the current production capabilities of the tribe. So, I did the next best thing. Long curving rib bones were used from a roon, and with Pepper¡¯s help, sewn to the outside of a piece of animal skin acting as a sort of gauntlet. They were sharpened, and the backs of the bones were given a sharpened serrated coating of stone so she could inflict damage with both a forehand wing and a backhand shing motion.

    The Katar was made from a few long thin t bones, and sharpened to the best of my ability on some stonepacted dirt doubling as a whetstone. Unlike the w, there was no curvature in what was the bone de. It was tightly sewn to another piece of animal skin in three ces to give it the most stability, and I had made a t grip of bone, puncturing some of the w nails through it and fastening it at the base with a thinyer of stone. This would allow Diana to grip her fingers around it when punching with the de, but at the same time allow her to release her grip and let the nails offer some purchase when climbing a tree, acting as a bnce to the w which she could use to fully dig into something like a tree trunk so she could dangle herself safely while waiting for the moment to drop.

    Now, the skin of the roon was, save for the stomach, impably removed. Old One had actually done that work, and I had gained quite a bit of respect for her because of it. The size of the skin was on par with that of my daughter ce, so while not admitting that I think children in cosy costumes are the most adorable thing in the world, a roon suit was made.

    Well, less of a suit and more of a hooded cloak, I guess?

    Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t think of a weapon design for Prima, and decided that I wanted to make it with her, instead of for her. I felt like if we made it together, it would be more meaningful. That, and she could better tell me what parts of the design she liked and it could be the weapon that would show my sincerity and make up for my failure to make her belly fat.

    There was plenty of leftover animal skin, and as Old One had a supply of rope handy, I made a few belts with pouches that could be attached so that my girls could carry some supplies into the forest, or if they found something interesting, they could bring it home more easily. Up until this point, I had only ever seen Berry use anything like a sash with pockets, for storing her poisonous berries used to hunt small creatures like rabbits or squirrels. I felt this was something being sorely underutilized, and wanted to capitalize on it.

    All of my daughters paid a visit to me when the work was done.

    I spent some time showing Diana how to wear and use each of the weapons, though I hadn¡¯te up with any fancy name for either. I felt like that was her privilege to do.

    For Orchid and Lc, they now had durable animal skin holsters for their weapons, which honestly, I¡¯m d there is no child protective services around to call me a bad parent for allowing them to have. But, provided a parent teaches their child to respect dangerous weaponry, education is the best tool and deterrent for making bad mistakes with using them.

    For ce, she allowed me to put on what would be a sign of her status as the Bloodmaw¡¯s new Shaman. The Racoon Mantle. The face of the racoon rested on top of her tiny head perfectly like a hoodie. The skin draped around her back like a cloak, and with a loop and sp added on each pair of paws, they hooked around the front of her body and doubled as a small bra and with the tailing up and around her front from behind, also a pair of panties.

    Since Button was ce¡¯s big sister¨Ca role she fully embraced¨CI showed her how to hook and unhook the paws and tail so ce could go to the shit-pit without getting her new clothes dirty, but ce wasn¡¯t stupid. She simply tugged the tail aside and peed on my foot.

    Ah, what a brat!

    For Button, she got the most out of the rope belt and pouches. That, and the tribe¡¯s first backpack. Or front-pack. She seemed to like wearing it that way. It would be that when not busy doing things for ce, she found some kind of job transporting things around goblin-home with it.

    Incidentally, ce fit inside of the front pack, but Button wasn¡¯t strong enough to support carrying her like that just yet. I imagine that might change in the future. Thebination of ce and Button reminded me of a certain pairing from a dystopian post-apocalyptic movie from thend down-under in my previous life as well.

    It wouldn¡¯t take long for the outfitting of my children to spark a myriad of changes in the tribe.

    But for now, I had made all my little girls happy, and had gained clearance to see Prima, who had ovee her Blood Fury.

    I did have to pay for Pepper¡¯s help with all of this. She wanted a fish-bath in her room. So, I ended up making her one. It wasn¡¯t an aquarium, just a ce to keep fish alive a bit longer after she caught them, so she could bezy and not have to go out to the stream every day.

    Lazy goblin.

    I want to do it with her and Jewel at the same time.

    Right, Prima!

    Well, before I could go see her at her cave-hole, I was apprehended by Ste, who was her new cavern-mate across the way, having taken Vera¡¯s old cave-hole as her own.

    ¡°Ark. We need to talk.¡±

    No further goblinization had taken ce with Ste. She was still the most human looking goblin. She led me into her room and I noticed it was still quite empty, save for a neatly woven straw bed, and a bow and quiver stocked with arrows leaning against the wall nearby.

    ¡°I¡¯ve decided I will let you make it up to me. If I¡¯m going to be a part of this tribe, and another of your wives, hating you forever will be counterproductive. So, I want to be taken care of.<i>Well</i>taken care of. You barely have muscles, you don¡¯t have any gold, and you are far from my ideal man. But, you can give me a better life than this. I didn¡¯t take that room because I don¡¯t want to be reminded of what I once was. But, and I¡¯ve seen Jewel¡¯s room, you can make me the envy of your other wives. Of the entire tribe. And of course you won¡¯t forget to take excellent care of our child, which you absolutely had to put inside of me.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    She wanted to livevishly andfortably in exchange for allowing me to be alleviated of my guilt in raping her, and possibly having transformed her into a goblin, not to mention knocking her up?

    She also threw her arms around my neck and forced a not so terrible and bloody kiss onto me this time.

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for all of this for free. You cane here when you tire of your other wives and I¡¯ll give you all the things you can¡¯t get from them. Like it or not, they are goblins, Ark. I might no longer be a human, but you are. There wille times when you want to be reminded of that, and not while feeling miserable by yourself next to your half-mute sweetheart who can¡¯t help but be a busybody.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk down about Vera.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not doing any such thing. I¡¯m simply pointing out a fact. Why, we¡¯re quite friendly with each other. She oftenes to visit me and listen to me talk all about you before we wound up here. Anyway, that¡¯s my offer to you. It¡¯s up to you to take it or leave it.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    I caved rather easily, but that¡¯s because I have not coped with the guilt well. I don¡¯t know what exactly she expects me to be able to give her, but if it¡¯s something I can, I will. Atonement is a long process, and maybe there wille a way to undo her change.

    But for now, her business with me concluded. I proceeded to leave her cave-hole, and walk the few steps I would need to in order to meet with Prima, my main wife, once more.

    Prima was already the tallest goblin in the cave, though still shorter than I was. She was also the most physically fit. What I saw when I entered her cave-hole, was a goblin that, to borrow from the Old One¡­ was<b>more.</b>

    ¡°Hello, Prima.¡±

    Prima had grown, physically, and not a small amount. She was taller, and more muscr. Her skin which was a light green now had a bit of a darker hue to it, but she was no less beautiful.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    ¡°Are you feeling alright? Old One¡­ exined things to me.¡±

    She stood up, and now equaled me in height. If I thought I might have ever stood a chance against her before physically, I no longer believed so anymore.

    ¡°I¡¯ve gone through the Blood Fury. I¡¯m¡­ no longer the same goblin I was.¡±

    The most profound change to me, was that she spoke naturally, with no broken words.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad thing, is it?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Another profound change was her stomach, which was swollen further, but not at full term. Following where my eyes were looking, she rubbed a hand along her belly in a circr motion.

    ¡°I can feel it. I wasn¡¯t the only one to change along with it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±

    ¡°Are you afraid of me now?¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°Not at all. You¡¯re still my first-seed. You will always be my first-seed.¡±

    ¡°Ark, if Vera, ce, and Diana hadn¡¯t stopped me¡­ I might have eaten you. When I bit you, I felt something take over my mind and body, I wanted¡­¡±

    I moved towards Prima, embracing her.

    ¡°If it was you, then it would have been fine. But only you.¡±

    Sharing an intimate exchange with Prima, who had difficulty being honest with her feelings, I changed the subject to one she might prefer talking about.

    ¡°I finished making Diana her weapons, and even made a few things for my other daughters. But thest thing that remains is to make your grand weapon. So, I thought I would, you know, since you underwent a change, see if you¡¯d like to make it together with me?¡±

    ¡°Ark¡­ why do I smell Old One on you?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ that¡¯s¡­¡±

    Prima grinned.

    ¡°Seems like our tribe will continue to grow.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d like nothing more than to continue being a part of that.¡±

    ¡°Do you have your Topaz stone with you?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°Want to go on a hunt with me?¡±

    ¡°Oh, am I allowed to go past the trees now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make an exception today. You will have to watch how I hunt if you want to make me the best weapon. I won¡¯t lose to Diana.¡±

    I grinned in response.

    ¡°Even if she surpasses you, only you will be my Guardian.¡±

    Prima grabbed her spear off the wall of weapons I had made for her and nodded with her head to follow.

    ¡°Did you know there is something more dangerous in the forest than the ck-ws?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called the Honking Death by us, but the Great Protector said it is a creature from beyond the stars known by another name. GUU¡¯Z.¡±

    ¡°...Goose?¡±

    Prima nodded.

    ¡°Funny you should say that. There is a saying I once heard that a tribe of warriors beyond the stars would say before fighting something that sounds like certain death.¡±

    I grabbed a long dagger from her wall of weapons and twirled it in my hand. One can never be too armed against the universe¡¯s most terrifying creature.

    ¡°Today¡­ is a good day to die.¡±

    For as long as I continue to draw breath, my precious family will continue growing, and thriving, and bing... <strong>MORE.</strong>

    I am Ark Wyze. Reincarnator. Second circle magician. Father to the next generation of Bloodmaw strong-ones, and the one and only Husband... of the Goblin Tribe.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    This marks the official end of Volume One. Thank you very much for choosing to read this novel, and I hope you will continue to read the future exploits and intriguesing in the next. The story of the Bloodmaws has only just begun...

 Promotional Advertisement â€“ Porter of the Kobold Tribe

    Promotional Advertisement ¨C Porter of the Kobold Tribe

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Hello folks! This is your seriously degenerate author here to shamelessly seek some feedback and opinions on a novel idea I had which would be set in the same world as Husband of the Goblin Tribe. It would focus around a party of six thirsty, klutzy, and absolutely irresponsible (dragon-kin style) Kobolds who are aiming to be famous adventurers, and one Human who they hire to deal with their <em>baggage</em>, and in more ways than one. Obviously this is an unpolished introductory sample chapter, and there is no smut present at the moment. But, I fully intend to rectify that once I canmit to writing this story out further, <em>after</em>pleting volume 2 of HotGT. If you don''t want to leave ament, but think it''s a fun idea to run with, could you possibly leave a favorite instead? I figure it''s easier to do that than set up a poll. Anyway, on with the shameless promotion!

    <b>Porter of the Kobold Party</b>

    <strong>Chapter One</strong>

    <strong>In which it was definitely the fault of the luggage being too heavy, and not the fault of the Kobold having to carry it.</strong>

    ¡°Nymfi! What we do now?¡± Trixie, the chromatic-ck Kobold and party¡¯s Trickster asked their leader.

    ¡°We get porter to carry luggage for us. We not lose because we weak Kobolds. I know we strong! But, because luggage heavy, we no move fast and sneaky like Kobold should. That why we lose to goblins this time.¡± Nymfi the chromatic-white Dragoon exined.

    ¡°Make sense.¡± Added the chromatic-green Silky, resident Alchemist who was slotting potion vials into her bandoleer.

    ¡°Who we get to carry luggage? Gnome not want to bring grumpy Dwarf along!¡± Gnome, the chromatic-blue Artificer of the group, felt the need to throw in her two copper shinies about who not to pick.

    ¡°How about Humie?¡± Boggie, the Dragonfist Brawler and the only non-chromatic metallic-gold Kobold suggested.

    ¡°Humie? Hmm¡­ Tall, handsome, and many muscles not bad to travel with. Not mind let carry things.¡± Mandy, the chromatic-red Warlock in the group, felt that Boggie¡¯s suggestion had merit. It would be much more enjoyable to travel with a good looking Humie than an ugly, noisy, smelly, Dwarf.

    Nymfi was quick to jump on the bandwagon once Mandy had gotten a bit descriptive with the type of human she wanted.

    ¡°Trixie, Silky, Gnome¡­ also okay with Humie?¡±

    The three of them looked at each other and nodded, bringing the total number of Kobolds in agreement to six. Which conveniently was also how many Kobolds there were present.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go back to nest, and I go to Adventurer Guild and find Humie to carry luggage.¡±

    The six Kobolds, a fledgling party carrying the much undeserved party name<i>Breath of Fire</i>, had left the ins where they had escaped to safety from the forest that was home to the goblins they were supposed to have subjugated, and headed back to the nearby town of Thorn.

    Kobolds, being distant cousins of dragon-kind, were considered to be one of the sentient races, and were generally not shunned as adventurers, though not nearly as in demand as actual Dragonkin, theirrger cousins, were. Usually only the sneakiest of Kobolds lucked themselves into a good party. But luck was a skill appreciated by Kobolds¡­ almost as much as being sneaky.

    Though not a single one of these six kobolds would ever admit it, they allcked the ability to take both responsibility and ountability for their actions. Instead, if me could be ced on <i>anything</i>else for their shorings or failures, it would be. Which was exactly why they hade to the conclusion that they couldn¡¯t possibly be at fault for losing to the small party of goblins encountered today. It was definitely because the goblins<i>weren¡¯t</i>carrying backpacks, while the kobold party<i>were</i>.

    Each of the Kobolds hailed from a different tribe, and had also belonged to other parties at one point. Due to circumstances that they were in no way responsible for, each of them had coincidentally been med and kicked out of their respective parties for said circumstances with no room for rebuttal or escuses. So, while searching for a new party to join, the six of them, all party-less at the same time, eventually realized they could just make their own party. A Kobold party, where they could all be on the same page; in that the other parties they had been a part of were just specist, and that there was no way that a clever Kobold could be at fault for anything.

    Kobolds were self-admittedly part dragon, and fiercely proud of their heritage, however tiny and distant it was. Dragons were known far and wide as the strongest and smartest creatures around. Therefore, if a Kobold were to be at fault for something, wouldn¡¯t they, as a smart dragon-kin, be the first to know? The logic was as solid as a perfectly packed sand cube. Absolutely incontestable!

    The Kobold party returned to their small shared nest and took a break, while Nymfi took it upon herself to report in to the Adventurer''s Guild about theirtest round of bad luck. Entering the Guildhall, Nymfi went up to the receptionist, who greeted her with a smile. It was a Lagosian, one of the Beastkin who had rabbit ancestry. A tall and extremely lewd body with ridiculously oversized milkies that would get in the way, Nymfi was in no way jealous of her, because she wasn¡¯t even an adventurer. She just handled the paperwork.

    ¡°Hello Nymfi, did the goblin subjugation go well?¡±

    Nymfi shifted a bit ufortably, eventually leaning back on her tail for support.

    ¡°No. Sneaky goblins move too quick to catch. All because they not have to carry anything but loincloths and light weapons, while Kobolds had to carry heavy backpacks along with heavy weapons.¡±

    The Lagosian receptionist covered her mouth when speaking next.

    ¡°I¡­ see¡­ um¡­ so¡­<i>kuku~¡­</i>how can I¡­ help you¡­?¡±

    The receptionist was shaking, her other hand holding her stomach. She was most likely inplete and total fear of how powerful Nymfi was. It made Nymfi feel superior knowing that. It certainly wasn''t because the long-ears was trying to hide herughter.

    ¡°Talk with party. Decide together that Kobolds want to hire Humie porter to carry things so not move slow.¡±

    ¡°You¡­<i>pfft</i>¡­ want to hire a¡­ Human porter¡­ to carry your bags?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Also, want Humie be tall, handsome, and have many muscles.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ oh my! Such specific criteria¡­ why¡­ I do think¡­ we might even have one¡­ in stock.¡±

    The Lagosian receptionist leveled a trembling finger towards the rear of the Guildhall, where Nymfi saw a soft-skinned human with ck top-hair sitting at a table drinking.

    ¡°That Humie?¡±

    When Nymfi looked back, the Lagosian was no longer trembling.

    ¡°His name is Cobi. From what I understand, he¡¯s one of the best porters around. Why, I¡¯m certain if you had him carry your stuff, there is no way you would run into any problems.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Kobolds also think so. Why we want one in first ce. Nymfi go talk with Humie now.¡±

    A single silver coin was ced on the counter in front of the receptionist. Nymfi was aware that it was a good practice to give shinies to the tall ones who help Kobolds. It kept things running smoothly, and no Kobold ever wants to be caught up in bad bureaucracy. They were dragonkin too, and any kin with dragon blood in their veins knew there was no such thing as good bureaucracy in the first ce. In fact, Bureaucracy was created to keep the non-dragon races from getting ahead in the first ce.

    Any Kobold worth their name would have many shinies on hand to take care of such trivialities.

    Walking over to the far end of the Guildhall, Nymfi approached the Human who raised an eyebrow as he drank from his mug.

    ¡°Humie want carry things?¡±

    The mug slowly descended from his lips to rest on the table, the human giving Nymfi a non-threatening stare the entire while.

    ¡°Are you looking to hire a porter, Miss¡­ Kobold?¡±

    The first thing Nymfi noticed about the human as he spoke was that his voice had a pleasant tone to it. Absolutely nothing like those noisy Dwarves who drank too much and made fun of Kobold craftsmanship every chance they got.

    ¡°Yes. Humie carry things and Nymfi give shinies. Not only Nymfi things. All Kobold things.¡±

    ¡°I... see. You wouldn¡¯t happen to be part of the <i>Breath of Fire</i>party, would you?¡±

    Nymfi¡¯s tail slid back and forth on the ground, subconsciously reacting to the human very clearly recognizing her party¡¯s famous name, which has most certainly been spread far and wide in every direction by now.

    ¡°Nymfi is party leader.¡± She said proudly.

    The human stuck out his long arm with a wless open palm in front of Nymfi.

    ¡°Pleased to meet you. Do you shake hands? I¡¯m Cobi. I¡¯m not much of an adventurer, but when ites to carrying things, I can say with confidence that there hasn¡¯t yet been a full bag I couldn¡¯t lift. I¡¯ll take the job, provided the shinies are enough.¡±

    Nymfi nodded. The human was confident, and even had a name that sounded pretty close to Kobold. Maybe it was the will of the Divine Clutch-Mother that this meeting had happened so quickly. Nymfi took out a small pouch and extracted two gold coins.

    ¡°How long carry things for this many shinies?¡±

    Money was more of an abstract concept for Nymfi and the other Kobolds. Almost all of them came from well established ns who served dragons withrge hoards of treasure. As such, they were entirely unaware of how valuable a single gold coin actually was. They just assumed that it was one of the shinier of shinies, and putting one out on the table while negotiating, usually got them the better end of the deal.

    There wasn¡¯t a merchant alive in the town of Thorn that was remotely willing to correct them, either.

    ¡°Hmm. How about we do a trial run first?¡±

    ¡°What Humie mean by trial run?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll carry all your things, and you can decide if I¡¯m only worth this many of your shinies, or if I¡¯m worth more. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s fair?¡±

    Nymfi agreed.

    ¡°Sound fair. Not go on adventure today, just get back. Maybe tomorrow. Humiee to ce where party nest and meet other Kobolds?¡±

    ¡°Sure, it¡¯ll also be good to see exactly what it is you want me to carry.¡±

    So far, things were looking bright for the Kobold party¡¯s future. Not being bogged down by heavy backpacks meant they would for sure be able to focus on adventuring properly!

    The human took the two gold coins and slid them into a hidden pocket in his vest. Then he stood up and Nymfi was surprised to see how the human was easily two feet taller than she was.

    ¡°Humie tall!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only six feet.¡±

    ¡°Six feet? Nymfi only count two feet.¡±

    That elicited a chuckle from Cobi.

    ¡°It¡¯s not important. Being tall just means there¡¯s more space for me to carry things.¡±

    Nymfi could not refute his words which made perfect sense to her. Yes, this human might be a real bargain for the Kobold party. As well as having silky looking ck top-hair, the human also had a skin coloring closer to a metallic-bronze than the usual pale-pink, at least where his skin showed. Metallics tended to be a bit less sneaky than chromatics, though no less greedy for shinies. Having a Human that wasn¡¯t sneaky might very well be to their benefit. Plus, it would make Boggie feel much happier having someone simr to her, since the rest of the Kobolds were all chromatic in color, and not metallic.

    ¡°Humie follow. ce where Kobolds nest is close by.¡±

    The two left the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and ventured through the town a short distance until they reached what Cobi saw only as an old dpidated house. Entering their so-called next, there were five other Kobolds inside, allzing about on piles of hay and straw. Heads perked up once the door closed behind them.

    ¡°Oh, Nymfi back!¡±

    ¡°Nymfi bring Humie?¡±

    ¡°Kuoh! Humie tall!¡±

    ¡°Humie have many muscles?¡±

    To Cobi, the Kobolds present resembled more a collection of stray cats than a clutch of self-professed dragon-kin. Nymfi stood tall and introduced their newest acquistion.

    ¡°This Humie Cobi. Carry Kobold things for shinies. Humie, this rest of Kobold party. Nymfi introduce everybody. Start with Trixie Trixter.¡±

    The ck-chromatic Kobold lifted her tail in the air and swished it around in greeting.

    ¡°Then have Silky. She Alchemist and Songhealer.¡±

    ¡°No worry, Humie. Silky potions heal lots!¡±

    All of the girls nodded at that. They had been saved many times from bad injuries thanks to their green-chromatic friend¡¯s potions.

    ¡°Next is Mandy. Best fire Warlock ever meet.¡±

    A small ball of me was conjured in her open chromatic-red wed hand, and then quickly snuffed out when it closed.

    ¡°Then Gnome, she Artificer and also in charge of fixing Kobold weapons when break.¡±

    Azy chromatic-blue arm half-covered in a gauntlet waved slightly from atop a pile of straw.

    ¡°Last is Boggie. She Dragonfist Brawler.¡±

    The Metallic-gold Kobold was sitting up in a cross-legged position.

    ¡°Humie know how to fight?¡±

    Cobi just shook his head.

    ¡°I¡¯m not much of a fighter, I¡¯m afraid. My job is mainly to carry things, though I can make things quite easy for you all because of that. I can also do a little cooking and a few other things here and there.¡±

    ¡°Humie not need listen to Boggie. She like fighting too much. Even punch and kick things when asleep.¡± Trixie spoke while her tail pped the pile of straw she was curled up on.

    ¡°Not matter if Humie not fight. Only care Humie carry things! We strong enough protect Humie.¡±

    Nymfi was quick to shut down any potential bickering. Once the others were quiet again, she introduced herself as well.

    ¡°I Nymfi. Party leader and Dragoon.¡±

    Cobi was fairly impressed. The party was well-bnced. He could certainly remember a time when he was in a mostly all-magician party with a single knight acting as a tank. What a disaster that party was¡­ once the knight had been disabled during a particrly nasty fight with a chimera.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you all. I am Cobi. May I inquire as to what exactly I will be carrying?¡±

    Six fairly standard medium sized backpacks were all quickly revealed by each of the Kobolds.

    ¡°Hmm. May I inspect the bags?¡±

    The Kobolds agreed to let him, and Cobi went around hefting each backpack and taking a peek inside. To his discerning eye, all he could see inside each of them was junk. But, as he was being hired to carry things for this party, he assumed these things must have had some practical use for these Kobolds, otherwise they could just be left behind.

    It certainly<i>wasn¡¯t</i>in the nature of a dragon-kin to<i>carry their entire hoard</i>around with them wherever they went. No, nothing as<i>foolish as that</i>could<i>possibly</i>be the reason the Kobold party was slowed down by the weight of their luggage.

    Regardless, Cobi was an expert at handling luggage, and would be sure to keep an itemized inventory on hand, since it would be vastly inefficient to carry six separate backpacks. Instead, Cobi had a special backpack of his own meant for absolute organization and efficiency in carrying and transporting goods.

    But, just for good measure, he scooped up all of the bags and lifted them three to an arm with incredible ease, thus causing all of the female Kobolds to be wildly impressed.

    ¡°Humie Strong!¡±

    ¡°How can lift Gnome backpack so easy?¡±

    ¡°Can Humie lift me next?¡±

    ¡°Want to feel Humie¡¯s many muscles!¡±

    ¡°Hear Humies have front tail? Is it true?¡±

    Of course, at no point would any of these female Kobolds ever admit that they were sexually starved and therefore ridiculously thirsty for a cross-specied good time. It was clearly the Human''s fault, seducing them with his tall body, handsome face, and amazing muscle strength.

    Returning the packs to each one of the Kobolds, already having memorized which one belonged to who, Cobi informed Nymfi that he needed to make arrangements to carry everything, and would returnter in the afternoon.

    The six Kobolds took the time to rest and mend from theirtest loss, looking forward to adventuring with the Human, while Cobi, after leaving the dpidated house that the Kobolds upied, returned immediately to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to speak with Vi, the Lagosian receptionist who sent the Kobold his way.

    ¡°Kobolds?¡±

    ¡°You said you wanted an easy job.¡±

    Cobi sighed.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the truth. Well, I guess I can¡¯tin, they already paid upfront. Just promise me one thing, Vi. No quests going to the Dark Forest.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, I know. None of us have forgotten about that massacre, or the warning you said you received from the being that called itself The Great Protector.¡±

    Cobi saw himself out and went back to the low-budget inn he was staying at just down the street. In the far corner of his room on the second floor was his trusty magical pack, and the secret to why he was considered one of the best porters around.

    Slipping it on and taking a deep breath, he exhaled once more the words that had been his mantra of life.

    ¡°A job¡­ is a job.¡±

    Then he left the inn, began shopping around for supplies, and eventually made his way back to the Kobold party, who were now his newest employers, even if they seemed to be a bit too... eager to have him.

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Melon, a gourmet goblin.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Melon, a gourmet goblin.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Volume Two will pick up a few months after Volume One. That being the case, Ark has had a number of new goblin daughters arrive into the world during this interim of time. While not every single new daughter will be covered in depth, a few noteworthy ones most certainly will.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Melon **~~</strong>

    ¡°HaABEe!¡±

    The first word I can recall saying is Hubby. I had intended to call him Husband at first, since Pear and everyone else also called him Husband. But he seemed intent on wanting me to call him<i>Daddy</i>. I wound up getting confused and calling him Hubby, but my reward for speaking at all was to get picked up and squished into a warm hug by him before he put his mouth on my belly and blew on it, making sounds that tickled me and made me giggle, so, I assumed it was him telling me that it was fine to call him that from now on.

    I hadn¡¯te into the world for very long and I was already feeling tired,zy, and hungry all at the same time. But I was certain of one thing already¡­ these two goblins knew how to live it up!

    We¡¯d bezy and nap together, with me in the middle, nice and warm after having eaten a lot of food and drank a lot of Pear''s milkies together with Hubby. Then I¡¯d be carried to the smelly room called the shit-pit since that¡¯s where that stuff went, and then we¡¯d go back to my cave-hole where Hubby and Pear would y games with me. Pear liked ying Strike, while Hubby taught me games like checkers and four-color! (It was a game where we had to make a line of four colors that matched.) Hubby was pretty good at it, but I was better!

    I also got to meet plenty of other goblins as well. Adult goblins like Berry who hunted for tasty berries, Old One who poked me all over my body a whole bunch and called me a fat andzy strong-one, Ivory who brought me a bone charm that I liked very much. Then smaller goblins visited, like Diana Artemis, my eldest sister, who said I wasn¡¯t going to be much of a hunter. Orchid and Lc who said I should try fire-meat and see if I like it (which I did). Button who spoke for my youngest older sister ce who didn¡¯t talk at all herself, but who said through Button that I should learn a special skill from Hubby called <i>cooking</i>since she felt I had a talent for it.

    I didn¡¯t know what a talent was, but the thing called<i>cooking</i>had to do with making and eating tasty food, and that was something I was sure I was going to be good at doing. It wasn¡¯t long before Hubby stopped staying in the same cave-hole Pear and I shared, but he did continue to visit us a lot. As it turns out, He, ce, and Vera¡ªce¡¯s maker goblin¡ªwere digging a cave-hole right next to this one to turn into a<i>kit-chin,</i>which was supposed to be a special cave-hole I would be using in order to make all kinds of tasty food, so I was looking forward to it being finished!

    ce would visit my cave-hole often, to join me when it was time for drinking milkies from Pear. She tried to teach me something called Magic, but I wasn¡¯t able to do the things she could do. I did figure it out, but only enough to activate something called a Rune. However, that was exactly what she wanted me to be able to do, so I was told that I did a great job.

    I was still a strong-one and not allowed to walk the whole of Goblin-home yet. I could only go to the shit-pit and Hubby¡¯s cave-hole by myself, and that was only after being escorted many times by both adult goblins and my older sisters until I was familiar with how to get there and back to my own cave-hole without getting lost.

    It seems that Button had gotten lost once before I came into the world, and it made many goblins worried.

    It wasn¡¯t too long after the<i>kit-chin</i>was finallypleted that I became a big sister myself. An adult goblin named Toy had made two strong-ones at the same time, my sisters Game and Fun. They were also like me, goblins who weren¡¯t considered to be strong as hunters or casters of magic, so they would be makers, instead.

    I was told that as far as us younger sisters went, Diana was in charge of any goblins who would be hunters, ce was in charge of any goblins who would be casters¡ªgoblins who used magic to hunt, and I would be in charge of any goblins who would be makers. At first I didn¡¯t understand why that was important, but I was told that there were going to be many many more sistersing into the world from now on, and that they needed someone to look up to who understood what they were good at, and what they weren¡¯t.

    I also began to learn a bunch of things all at once shortly after those two came into the world.

    Pear would take me to visit Old One who lived in the back of Goblin-home and she taught me all about what it meant to be a Bloodmaw Goblin. I was often joined by Game and Fun since they lived in a cave-hole close by to Old One. Turns out Hubby had a really important job in the tribe. He was responsible for helping to make strong-ones with all the adult goblins, which meant that he was responsible for making me all my sisters. Eventually we would be old enough to make our own strong-ones and when that happened, Hubby would be the one to help us with that as well.

    I had seen Hubby and Pear do the thing that makes strong-ones when they thought I was asleep, and I have to say, Pear seemed to enjoy it a whole bunch. Especially the part that came after when sheid down and Hubbyid next to her and fed her lots of fruits and rubbed her milkies and squished her belly.

    I asked Pear about making strong-ones and she said it would take a few moons before she could make another strong-onee into the world, so I would have to wait a while for another sister to be made by her. That was okay, since I had plenty of other sisters made by other adult goblins, like Game and Fun to keep me upied until it was my turn to make strong-ones with Hubby.

    Lessons with Hubby were also some of the most fun I could possibly have since they involved making and eating tasty food. Hubby had given me a special thing called a<i>vernir knife</i>. It wasn¡¯t meant for hunting with, though. He said it was going to be one of the most important tools I would need for learning how to cook.

    And he was right.

    Near the front of Goblinhome was a cave-hole that was kept cold. Vera was in charge of it. Before Vera learned how to use picture-magic from Hubby, food which came from hunted beasties didn¡¯tst too long and had to be eaten quickly. Now it could be kept longer, which meant that hunting didn¡¯t have to happen every single day.

    I was brought there by Hubby, and three other goblins were waiting for us when we arrived. Vera, Pepper, and Orchid. Vera melted the cold hard water called ice that the beasties were kept in so it could be removed and dismantled. Pepper and Orchid showed me how to separate the skin and fur from the meat, and then the meat from the bones. There was no part of the beastie that didn¡¯t have a use.

    The skins and furs would be made into things like loincloths, pillows, nkets, and whatever else Hubby might think up that went over well with the tribe by Pepper. Bones were almost exclusively traded to Ivory, who would make things out of them (like my bone charm) in exchange for bloody meat. And the meat¡­ well, that was the most important part.

    What Hubby was trying to teach me about butchering the meat of a beastie was something called the<i>cuts</i>. He admitted to not knowing enough to be an expert on it, but that meat from the different parts, such as legs, or the ribs, had different ways of being prepared and had different tastes and textures that came with them. I also didn¡¯t understand what he meant at first by that, and neither did any of the other goblins who were present and helping, but it wasn¡¯t long before I<i>did.</i>

    I can¡¯t exin how it happened, but while Hubby and I were testing out cooking various pieces of meat I had cut up using the<i>vernir knife</i>on the magic hot stone in the<i>kit-chin</i>, I tried samples of some and began to understand how each piece tasted and how it could taste better depending on how it was turned into fire-meat.

    It wasn¡¯t just fire-meat that I learned how to<i>cook</i>. I learned how to make things called<i>desserts</i>as well. How to mash big tree-fruits into a pulp and serve it next to meat on the same te. How to ferment things to make stuff like<i>sauces</i>and<i>condy-mints</i>. There was a particr one that was made from a juicy red vine-fruit which went extremely well with hamburgers. ce was so happy to have it that she had Pepper make me a special loincloth called an Apron to wear so I wouldn¡¯t get burned while<i>cooking</i>.

    Old One hade to visit one day, wanting to eat something that was not fire-meat. Hubby was with me in the<i>kit-chin</i>and decided he wanted to fool her a bit. He showed me how to make something called a<i>pate</i>which was from a food he liked to eat called a<i>bon-me</i>. It was finely chopped meat and liver mixed with onion and even had some<i>blue water</i>added to it before it was very lightly<i>cooked</i>on low heat using the special magic hot stone which was made by Vera and had all sorts of picture-magic Runes drawn into it.

    When it came out, it was served with some of the applesauce desert on the same te and, with the pate meat looking pink in color, it was enough to fool Old One who said it was some of the easiest to eat bloody meat she had ever tasted. From that day on, she woulde in from time to time to have the same thing, telling me never to get too serious about learning Human fire-meat cooking, and to keep thinking of all the goblins who preferred the taste of bloody-meat.

    I now know what Button meant by always saying that Hubby was a tricky one.

    There was no way I could ever tell Old One that what she had been stopping in to eat was in fact, fire-meat.

    I didn¡¯t spend all my time in the<i>kit-chin</i>. Hubby would take me outside to the yground, where there were swings he would push me and my sisters on, and adder I could climb that went into some kind of wooden cave-hole that led to a thing called a slide that brought you from up high to the ground really fast and in a fun way!

    My older sisters were quite busy doing all sorts of things, like hunting, so the sisters I did y with were mostly Game and Fun. They lived with Toy and helped make new games for the Bloodmaw to y. They stopped by once in a while to eat<i>fruit sd</i>with<i>nuts</i>, saying that it was good food for helping them think of new games to make.

    That¡¯s when Game had a good idea and a few dayster had brought Hubby in and the part of the cave-hole where people sat and ate food underwent a huge change. Many many tables were made and each of them had a ce on the top for a game board to be iid in and yed on (along with pieces!).

    My<i>kit-chin</i>had now be a ce that goblins wanted to stop in at for eating, drinking<i>blue water</i>, or ying a rxing game or two with another goblin. Some goblins brought in bloody meat they didn¡¯t care to have made into anything, and others brought their meat for me to make it into something tastier. They¡¯d y chess, or checkers, or color-four, or whatever new games Toy, Game, and Fun happened to make that were interesting and enjoyable.

    As things started to fall into ce for me, that was when I became an older sister once again...

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Figurine, a goblin who moves to her own beat.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Figurine, a goblin who moves to her own beat.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Figurine **~~</strong>

    <strong>Tap, tap, step.</strong>

    <strong>Tap, tap, step.</strong>

    <strong>Touch, touch, lift.</strong>

    <strong>Lick, lick, bite.</strong>

    <strong>Chew, chew, swallow.</strong>

    It was not lost on me that the many other ones simr to me who were gathered around were observing me closely. I felt no danger from any of them, I could even tell immediately which one of them was my maker, and I could tell that the one who looked least like any of the others was also important in some way¡­ but aside from that, I couldn¡¯t care less about any of the others.

    I felt the desire within me to eat the soft bloody thing attached to me, and after that, I felt the need to climb onto my Maker and follow the scent to the round things attached to her body and drink from them. I didn¡¯t know why I needed to do this, only that I needed to do this. There was something behind the ce I could see out from, telling me to do these things, and I listened.

    The problem was theck of what usually went with<i>it.</i>

    It was something intimate that I understood was missing from me now that I hade into the world, but for some reason couldn¡¯t remember clearly what exactly it was. Something which was once constantly in motion with me, both silent and loud. An ever-present apaniment which gave me peace that was now missing from my being. I wanted nothing more than to have it back, but I didn¡¯t know how tomunicate with any of these others who were here to exin it. I could only listen to that ce behind where I could see and continue what I was doing.

    <strong>Squeeze, squeeze, suck.</strong>

    <strong>Squeeze, squeeze, suck.</strong>

    <strong>Suck, suck, swallow.</strong>

    The only time I could find peace from that ce behind where I saw things, was when I was asleep. But it wasn¡¯t my maker who helped me find it. It was the strange tall one who looked different from the others. The one who pointed at itself and said <i>daddy</i>.

    I climbed onto that one and put my ear next to the t and empty milkie they had and listened.

    <strong>Thum-thump. Thum-thump. Thum-thump.</strong>

    Yes, whatever sound that it was making was fine with me. As long as the sound remained steady, I felt rxed¡­

    <strong>~~** ??? **~~</strong>

    ¡°Something strange strong-one¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with Figurine. She just has her own way of doing things.¡±

    ¡°No. Strange! Touch ground twice before step. Always same, never change. Touch thing twice before hold. Lick food twice before eat! Strange! Strong-one have curse!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a curse. Humans have things like that sometimes¡­ it¡¯s called a neurosis... uh¡­ extra-think. It¡¯s a feeling she has deep inside her head that tells her she has to do something in a certain way. It won¡¯t prevent her from doing anything important, it¡¯s just how her head tells her to do that something in the first ce. Vera has something simr¡­¡±

    ¡°Same Vera?¡±

    ¡°In a way, but I don¡¯t think it will affect her learning how to speak gob or talking with the others. She can probably even learn to hunt or do magic if she has the desire to. Usually, humans who have this kind of thing have something they can do far better than anyone else. The trick is to find out what it is¡­¡±

    ¡°Sure not cursed little-seed? Husband make strong-one with me, seed-stick stop working for days, yes?¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be the opposite? Look at ce. She came out a Runt, but she¡¯s got stronger magic than both Vera and I.¡±

    ¡°Strange Shaman no talk! What can do fix strong-one?¡±

    ¡°We just do what we can. The only thing I ask is that you don¡¯t punish her for trying to do something as best she can in her own way. With care and support from us, she might be able to take control over what makes her do that.¡±

    ¡°What if not?¡±

    ¡°Let me worry about that. No matter whates of it, she¡¯s our strong-one. I¡¯ll take care of her like I do Vera if there¡¯s no sign of her improving, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­for now, listen¡­¡±

    <strong>~~** Figurine **~~</strong>

    My maker¡¯s name is Doll. She has an important job chopping trees so that the fire in the fire-pit outside of Goblinhome doesn¡¯t go out. The tall one who looks different from all the others is also someone who made me. He has many names; Husband, Daddy, Ark¡­ But the one he seems to respond to the best when I call out to him, is<i>Dad</i>. I think he might understand me the best out of all the goblins. Doll, I think, tries, but she doesn¡¯t understand me like he does. Dad doesn¡¯t get visibly upset when I follow what the thing behind my eyes tells me to do. Dad also does it along with me sometimes to put me at ease. He even did things a little differently than I did, and it was okay because whatever it was that he did, it didn¡¯t bother the thing behind my eyes at all.

    One of my favorite games to y with Dad was called p-p-pop!

    Both he and I would sit down in front of one another, and we would p our hands against each other¡¯s. It was a game I could understand how to y easily. Sometimes the patterns Dad used were long, but he would speak words in a certain way when we would p our hands by ourselves, which made remembering how exactly we needed to p or p or even pop easy.

    My sisters, Button and Melon would show up sometimes when I was in Dad¡¯s cave-hole where he would watch me while Doll was out hunting or chopping trees, and when they saw the game he was ying with me, he also taught it to them, so we all could y together.

    <i>Goblins hunt at morning</i>

    <i>And go to sleep at night</i>

    <i>When beasties see a Bloodmaw</i>

    <i>They run away in fright!</i>

    <i>Diana hunts the ck-ws</i>

    <i>While Shaman casts her spells</i>

    <i>The one thing Husband hates the most</i>

    <i>Is when a goblin<b>smells!</b></i>

    The words he used were simple to remember and funny to repeat as our hands pped with each other.

    Anytime there was something new I needed to learn how to do, Dad would try to exin what it was and how it was supposed to be done first, then if one of my sisters was nearby, he¡¯d have them demonstrate it for me. If not, then he would demonstrate it himself before asking me to do it. Because of that, I was soon able to enter the bath and the shit-pit without being afraid at all.

    I tried learning how to hunt from Diana, Orchid, and Lc, but I wasn¡¯t very good at using any of the weapons Prima had avable to lend me for training. I tried learning how to use magic from ce and Vera, but I didn¡¯t really have the right sense of how to feel mana in my body. I even tried visiting Melon and my older sisters Game and Fun, but making things was also something I wasn¡¯t very good at¡­ I was at aplete loss as to what it was that I could do that would be useful to the Bloodmaw Tribe.

    Days passed and I slowly grew older. Around this time, Dad had visited Ivory one night and the following day, I had be an older sister when Ebony came into the world. And she came in hard. Until Ebony, only Diana Artemis and ce had given Old One a reason to be happy.

    ¡°Bone Lord!¡±

    Old One dered Ebony a very powerful strong-one, like Diana and ce, and was exceptionally pleased. So pleased, in fact, she celebrated by drinking a lot of <i>Blue Water</i>and pushed Dad down only to hop on him a whole lot, saying he wasn¡¯t so ugly today for some reason.

    But that celebratory feeling of having a strong sister joining the tribe also left me feeling afraid.

    I still hadn¡¯t found what I was good at, what use I might have, and now I was already having younger sisterse into the world who were far better than I was¡­

    I felt lost.

    I felt like I had disappointed my maker, Doll. I had disappointed my Dad¡­ and I had disappointed all of my sisters who tried to help me because I wasn¡¯t all that good at anything.

    I thought I might be abandoned for being useless and different, but that didn¡¯t happen at all.

    Dad made me a small axe and told me to join Doll in chopping down trees for now.

    When not trying to help Doll, who was a bit frustrated that I chopped slower than her but also didn¡¯t scold me for it, Button had said she wanted to spend time alone with me. That involved following her to a spot in the forest where many many mushrooms grew in a circle.

    ¡°Rine¡­ you might not be a mushroom goblin like Husband and I are, but you can appreciate the swirly-whirly.¡±

    Button was referring to the thing Dad did in the bath where he spun his finger around in a circle and made the water spin and pull downward. I also found it interesting to watch when he did that.

    ¡°Tricky Husband Ark taught me the secret of the swirly-whirly, and so I will teach it to you, because I feel like it can help you. What is important about the swirly-whirly is how you find the way to use it¡­ with the way that you are. All you need to know is that Husband and I will always believe in you.¡±

    And so, Button showed me certain ways to move and how to throw out my hands and feet to defend and attack, as a hunter without a weapon, like Button was, would.

    My days were filled with chopping trees and spinning around while throwing punches and kicks, but I couldn¡¯tpletely change what the thing behind my eyes, which I learned from Dad was called my<i>mind</i>, told me to do.

    One day after working hard at doing both, I was tired and sweaty, and wanted to take a bath before I ate something andid down to rest and bezy. I heard a strange sounding from Dad¡¯s cave-hole and rushed inside to find out what it was.

    He was sitting by himself in the space to the left of the entrance to his cave-hole. In his arms was some long thing made of wood and his fingers were passing over thin strands of rope which were making sounds that had drawn myplete attention. My feet had taken me right to his side without any dy and I could only stare at Dad in amazement.

    ¡°What is that?¡±

    Dad looked up at me and smiled.

    ¡°Called Lute. Prima let use. Make music with.¡±

    ¡°Music?¡±

    He passed his fingers over it a certain way and different kinds of sounds came out. Every single time it did, my entire body felt strange. Even the ce behind my eyes¡ªmy mind¡ªsaid that the thing I was missing, the thing that kept me from being like the others¡­ was this.

    ¡°I want to hear more music, Dad!¡±

    ¡°Okay, want teach you fun thing do music?¡±

    I nodded with the entire force my body could muster. I needed to know more about this thing called music.

    Dad stood up and began to pass his fingers over the thing he called a Lute and began to speak words that went along with the sounds while doing things with his legs.

    <i>You put your left foot in,</i>

    <i>And take your left foot out,</i>

    <i>You put your left foot in,</i>

    <i>And you shake it all about!</i>

    <i>You do the hokey-pokey,</i>

    <i>And you turn yourself around,</i>

    <i>That¡¯s what it¡¯s all about~!</i>

    Dad then stopped the sounds and pointed at me.

    ¡°Want try?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Keep making music!!¡±

    He told me the words were something called a song, and the song was called the hokey-pokey (it didn''t mean anything). What he was doing was a simple form of something called <i>dancing</i>. Dad would y the song and change the words to suit a different part of my body which I had to extend and then retract and then extend and then shake. It was veryfortable to do, and when I ran out of arms and legs to use, he would move on to weird things like my butt or my tongue or my ears¡­ I couldn¡¯t get enough of it.

    The grip my mind had on my body since I came into the world had, for the short time Dad made music, let go of the control it had over me. As long as my body moved to the music, I was¡­ free. Until, inevitably, like all other things, it came to an end.

    Iy on the floor, sweating, breathing hard, butpletely satisfied.

    ¡°Dad¡­ I think I found it.¡±

    ¡°What find?¡±

    ¡°Teach me how to make music.¡±

    Dad frowned a little when I asked him.

    ¡°Not know how teach music well. Show Figurine what know, all can do.¡±

    I knew the frown on his face was one of disappointment. Not at me, but at himself. Dad was the kind of goblin who would give anything and everything he had to make any of his strong-ones happy. He was just disappointed that music wasn¡¯t something he was good enough at to teach reliably. Just like how using weapons to hunt wasn¡¯t something I was good enough at to learn reliably. However, even knowing a little bit of how to make music was more important than anything else to me.

    We took a bath together after the music ended and Dad began to examine my body closely, especially my arms and legs.

    ¡°Figurine train body with Doll?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Button is also teaching me things.¡±

    Dad nodded.

    ¡°Lute belong Prima, no can make one Figurine. Not know way make string for sound. Lute not only thing make music. Called instrument. Many kind. Make many Figurine try, find which ones like use.¡±

    ¡°I want something that can make music while I move my body. Is there one like that?¡±

    ¡°Already know what want? Can make something, need time think how.¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡±

    The next day was one where Dad couldn¡¯t be found by anyone. Turns out he was in Toy¡¯s cave-hole, in the special cave-hole he made for her called the<i>work-shop</i>. He had spent the entire day using his magic to make me things that made music.

    The day after, I was in his cave-hole and the long table near the entrance was full of thingsying atop it.

    ¡°All instruments can use while moving. Can show how use, not sure-think how make right sound with all¡­¡±

    Each of them had strange names that weren¡¯t in gob, but Dad was easily able to fix that.

    The first was a pair of wooden things that looked like bird legs. He called them<i>marr-akh-ahs</i>at first, but then called them shake-shakes. He picked one up and shook it. Sound came from inside the fat part that would have been the upper leg meat. Depending on how he shook it, hard or soft, the sounds would change.

    Next was the<i>kass-ta</i>, which he then called ck-cks. Using a small piece of rope, they slid onto his fingers and thumbs and would make a sharp sound when cked together. I liked those a lot!

    Next was something called a<i>oh-kah-ree-nah, </i>nowcalled a blow-shell. It had a hole to blow in, and holes that sound came out of. Depending on how his finger pressed on a hole, different sounds could be made! There were two other kinds of blow-shells. One was a blow-box and a blow-stick which he called a<i>har-mon-ee-kah,</i>and<i>re-kor-dur.</i>

    I was already thrilled seeing this many that Dad had made for me, but it wasn¡¯t all of them yet.

    There were some that were made with fur and bones that really had me excited. They went around my wrists and ankles and had balls of bone that had small stones inside of them. When I shook my hands or my feet they would make noises as well. Dad didn¡¯t have a name for them, and said I was free toe up with one if I wanted to. Thest major item was something that looked like Melon¡¯s apron, only there were thin pieces of wood sewed into the front. Dad then had me push my fingers into the dirt and after pulling them out he did some kind of magic and there were now thin stone finger-coverings which he called<i>Thim-bulls</i>. He put them on my fingers which made the sharp tips of them round like his, and told me to run them against the wood on the apron.

    When I did, many t sounds came out.

    He then told me there were many many more kinds of instruments, but for now this was all he had the ability to make for me. Certain other ones needed metals of certain shapes and thickness which couldn¡¯t be found or made here in Goblinhome¡­ yet.

    I couldn¡¯t use all of them at the same time, so I went through using them one by one with Dad joining in using the blow-stick and yed more music. Songs he called the <i>ground-bird dance</i>and<i>shiny-star</i>which were fast music and slow music, but both equally enjoyable to listen to.

    Vera, who lived in Dad¡¯s cave-hole together with him had sat down and listened to us making music together, with me trying to find the right moment to use a shake-shake or a ck-ck or even to use the scrape-scrape (the apron with the wood sewn onto it). I don¡¯t think I ever felt as good as I did in my entire life than I had in this moment with Dad.

    But he had reached his limit.

    I hadn¡¯t realized it, but we had been making music together for almost the entire day! Dad looked more pale than usual, which was a hard thing to do since he wasn¡¯t green-skinned like most of us goblins.

    ¡°Figurine¡­ learn what need?¡±

    Ah, it¡¯s not that he was having the same amount of fun that I was¡­ he was teaching me what he knew by having me make music together with him. Dad was exhausted, lying on the floor. Vera had me help her drag him to his cave-hole next to hers where he couldy down on his straw bed.

    ¡°Husband. Rest.¡±

    Vera hardly ever said more than one word at the same time, which meant that she felt Dad really needed toy down and rest. Dad reached out to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me onto his body, giving me a powerful hug.

    ¡°Still most important thing teach Figurine music. Listen, yes?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m listening, Dad.¡±

    ¡°When make music, never think job. Never think what must do for tribe. Music powerful magic. Not less strong magic Me, Vera, ce, Ebony have. Music Figurine magic. Always important know how feel make music. Music powere from how feel. Make music happy, make music sad, change what magic music power have. Dad proud. Want listen music Figurine make. What special music hide here sincee into world.¡±

    He poked his finger into the side of my head, to the ce behind where I saw.

    And I began to cry.

    He knew.

    What am I saying? Of course he knew!

    Dad always knew and understood me the best.

    At times better than I understood myself¡­

    ¡°How¡­ did you know music was what I was missing?¡±

    ¡°Not know music. Only know something. Believe one day Figurine find. When happen, Dad promise Doll do everything can for strong-one. Not fix everything. Not need fix anything. Figurine not broken. Figurine special goblin. Way do thing special, way think special, now way make music special.¡±

    After giving me a kiss on the forehead, he let go of me and wiped away my tears with his not-pointy fingers.

    I wound up leaving his cave-hole, but not without being told to take all the things that he made for me to make music with. Vera helped me carry them to my cave-hole, where Doll was already sitting down beingzy, drinking <i>blue water</i>with Berry.

    ¡°What is all of that?¡± Doll asked me.

    ¡°What Dad made for me. What was missing from my life this entire time.¡±

    ¡°Is that for hunting?¡±

    ¡°No. It¡¯s for making music.¡±

    ¡°Music? The thing Prima has that Husband uses?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s different from the Lute, but these all make sounds in a simr way.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ and you know how to use them?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m learning. Dad says making music is my magic.¡±

    ¡°Magic? You can use magic?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what Dad said.¡±

    Doll took a drink of her<i>blue water</i>and leaned back.

    ¡°If you can use magic, then you don¡¯t need to help me chop trees anymore.¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°No. I¡¯ll keep helping you chop trees. Until I know how to use it properly, I still need to be useful in some way.¡±

    Doll only nodded.

    ¡°Vera, want to join us for a drink of <i>blue water</i>?¡±

    Vera took a seat and joined Doll and Berry while they drank for a little while, as I put all the instruments except the shake-shakes onto the shelves inside my own cave-hole. Those I held onto as Iid down on my straw bed and shook them softly and as quietly as they could, listening to the sounds they made and what ones I found pleasant to hear.

    I couldn¡¯t wait for tomorrow toe, when I could tell Button all about everything that happened¡­

    <strong>~~** ??? **~~</strong>

    ¡°How was it this time training with her?¡±

    ¡°Different. Way body move change since find music. Think can be hunter now if want. Figurine strong.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never doubted that she is.¡±

    ¡°What thing Tricky Husband want show Button today?¡±

    ¡°Something I want you to pass on to her. A new¡­ martial art meant for her, but one you might appreciate as well. You might be able to fill in the missing parts that I¡¯ve forgotten.¡±

    ¡°What called?¡±

    ¡°Capoiera.¡±

    ¡°<i>Kah-poh-ed-da</i>?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It involves a lot of moving, tumbling, flips, and kicks¡­ you can think of it like a swirly-whirly kind ofbat.¡±

    ¡°Sound fun. Want see.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but first I need to teach you the singing music that goes along with it.¡±

    ¡°Button listen.¡±

    ¡°Repeat after me: Paranau¨º~, paranau¨º, Paran¨¢!¡±

    ¡°<i>Banana way</i>?¡±

    ¡°Close enough.¡±

    ¡°Different from<i>Human way</i>or<i>Goblin way</i>?¡±

    ¡°L-let¡¯s not worry about the details. Now, watch my legs closely, this is how it¡¯s supposed to go¡­¡±

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Ebony, the Little Lord of Bones

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Ebony, the Little Lord of Bones

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ebony **~~</strong>

    ¡°You, Ebony, little sister goblin. Me, Button, big sister goblin. Job big sister goblin teach little sister goblin how be goblin.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Ebony listen Button!¡±

    Most of my sisters can remember the day they came into the world. For me, that¡¯s not the case at all. My first real memory was when I met my big sister, Button. Unlike other goblins, both Button and I have two maker goblins¡ªIvory and Truffle.

    Truffle is azy goblin who is almost never angry. Her favorite things in the world are mushrooms, Husband, and her strong-ones, in that order. As for Ivory, she is usually angry about all sort of things, and is only everzy when she¡¯s done making things out of bones and starts drinking<i>blue water</i>.

    While Ivory is busy making things out of bones almost every day, Truffle will teach me all about mushrooms as Iy down next to her and sometimes Button who stops in for milkies. While I like mushrooms well enough, I do like bones more. I can sometimes hear them say things like they want to be friends with me when I touch them. Ivory says I¡¯m stupid since bones don¡¯t talk, and Truffle says that sometimes when she has a good batch of color-spin-think powder, she thinks she can hear the mushrooms talk, but the only person who seems to believe me without question, is Button.

    ¡°You hear bones talk in your head? That sounds like how ce talks to me.¡±

    ce is my older sister as well, and also the Shaman of the Bloodmaw Tribe. She doesn¡¯t talk aloud at all, instead using my sister to speak for her. She¡¯s also able to use special magic simr to Husband and Vera to do all sorts of amazing things. Button says she can¡¯t use magic without ce, but I can use it a little, mostly to make bones move on their own like they want to.

    Ivory gets mad at me sometimes when I use magic to make the bones in her room move. So, the only thing I¡¯m allowed to use it on is Gogok and Shumi, the bone charms which belong to me and Button. Button says she¡¯s going to be an adult goblin soon, so she doesn¡¯t need Shu-mi as much anymore, and wants her to have a friend who will y with her.

    There is one bone I want to y with the most, but Ivory never lets me. It¡¯s a special thin ck bone with something wrapped around it. It¡¯s on a shelf way up high that I can¡¯t reach, and one time when I tried to, Ivory caught me and spanked my butt really hard.

    I don¡¯t like being spanked, and I don¡¯t like Ivory anymore!

    Button says she understands exactly what I¡¯m feeling. She also told me that she was spanked by Ivory many times when she was a little goblin and didn¡¯t like it either.

    Since I¡¯m a little goblin, I can¡¯t leave my cave-hole by myself just yet. Truffle or Ivory will follow me to the shit-pit if I have to go, or otherwise, unless another goblin or Husband visits my cave-hole, I have to wait for Button to take me ces.

    One of the ces I like to go is Old One¡¯s cave-hole.

    Old One is really nice to me. She says I¡¯m a special goblin, just like Husband does. Because I have bone-magic, Old One says I¡¯m something called a Bone Lord, a goblin who uses real Bloodmaw magic, and not wicked human magic. She then tells me stories about an old goblin called Bone-eyes, who was a really old goblin back when Old One was still only a little goblin strong-one herself!

    ording to Old One, Bone Lords are able to listen to andmand bones. This is important, since the bones of the dead still carry the memories of the time when they were alive. She says most of what she knows about Bone Lords came from Stone-foot, her maker and the former Shaman of the tribe before the<i>silver-skins</i>attacked and killed everyone but us who came to Goblinhome.

    After learning all about the Bloodmaw Tribe from Old One, she will bring me back to my cave-hole, but not before stopping off at my older sister Melon¡¯s special cave-hole, called the<i>kit-chin</i>. Old One frowns at me sometimes when I order the tasty hamburger with nt-blood, instead of something that looks bloody, but Melon is quick to show Old One that there¡¯s plenty of pink-colored bloody meat inside it, and so Old One doesn¡¯t get as upset anymore.

    Apparently there are goblins who are very opinionated on which is better; bloody-meat or fire-meat. I like both, but nothing beats a tasty hamburger made by Melon.

    Husband also likes to visit me, sometimes bringing me to Melon¡¯s<i>kit-chin</i>after taking me outside the cave and pushing me on the swings. I get to meet my other sisters a lot more when I¡¯m outside and I have a whole bunch of them!

    Diana Artemis, who is going to be the next Guardian of the tribe. She¡¯s really good at hunting! I heard my other older sisters, Orchid and Lc, tell stories about how she and Husband went hunting at night to kill a bunch of ck-ws who killed one of the adult goblins called Beast-talker and tried to kill Prima, Jewel, and Doll!

    There¡¯s also Game, Fun, and Figurine (who Button says is fine to just call her Rine). Game and Fun live with Toy and make all the fun games that goblins like to y when not busy. One of thetest games was a game called<i>bones</i>that involved rectangles with circles on them that needed to be matched up a certain way. It¡¯s a sort of counting-game but I like anything that involves bones, even if they aren¡¯t made out of them.

    Button saw me having lots of fun ying the game with Game and Fun, and not even a few dayster she had managed to give me a set of my own to y with, and even yed a few games with me. Button is the best big sister!

    Husband hade to visit our cave-hole the day after that and showed me a fun way to y with them when I was alone. He stood the<i>bones</i>up in a line and ced them a certain distance apart before having me tip one at the end over, causing the whole line of them to fall over in a fast and exciting way!

    He couldn¡¯t stay for long, though. As it turns out, he wanted to spend some time with me today because he would be staying in Pepper¡¯s cave-hole for a while after this. When I asked why, he said it was because I would soon have a little sistering into the world.

    Button had exined to me once that Husband has an important job he does in the Bloodmaw Tribe. He goes around to all the cave-holes and helps adult goblins make strong-ones. That¡¯s why he¡¯s called Husband. Button told me when I be older like she is, we¡¯ll also be able to make strong-ones with him.

    Button and Truffle both consider Husband to be a mushroom-goblin like them, since he has a mushroom growing between his legs. I asked him if I could see it once, and he showed me, but said I couldn¡¯t touch it. From how it looked though, I think there was a big fat bone inside instead of a soft and squishy mushroom. It made me think that Husband might be a bone-goblin like Ivory and me.

    Anyway, since I wasn¡¯t going to see Husband for a while, I asked him if he would do something for me.

    ¡°What Ebony want?¡±

    I exined to him about wanting to see the special ck bone Ivory kept on the shelf I couldn¡¯t reach that she never let me touch. Husband went to find it and beganughing as he held it.

    ¡°Mean this?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Not bone. Dead branch. Hmm¡­ maybe¡­ special tree bone?¡±

    ¡°Tree bone?¡±

    Husband then exined the thin ck bone once belonged to him and was a gift to him from his maker for using his magic. It was called a<i>magic wand,</i>and was made from a long dead branch of an important magic tree. When he let me hold it, I could hear the voiceing from the tree-bone very clearly in my head.

    <<Little Lord. At longst we finally meet!>>

    I told Husband the magic wand was talking to me in my head, and he smiled and patted my head in response.

    ¡°Ebony lucky. Have wand long time, never hear speak head.¡±

    ¡°Wand, why do you not talk to Husband?¡± I asked it.

    <<How can I? His magic is stupidly¡­<i>never mind.</i>But your magic, Little Lord, is a perfect match to me.>>

    ¡°Husband, the wand says your magic is stupid. That¡¯s why it didn¡¯t talk to you.¡±

    ¡°Make sense.¡±

    <<You don¡¯t need to call me<i>wand</i>. The one over there gave me the name Yggdrasil, though, if you have a better name, I will be happy to receive it.>>

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll think of one.¡±

    <<Very well.>>

    ¡°Ebony talk wand?¡± Husband asked, pointing at my new friend, Iggy.

    I nodded in reply.

    <<Little Lord, you must tell that one something important right now before your maker returns.>>

    ¡°Something important?¡±

    <<Tell him that I must belong to you.>>

    ¡°Iggy says it belongs to me.¡±

    ¡°Iggy?¡±

    I held out the magic wand in front of Husband.

    ¡°It said you gave it the name Iggy¡­ um¡­¡±

    ¡°Yggdrasil?¡±

    I nodded again. That name was too hard to say!

    <<Tell him you will show him why.>>

    ¡°Iggy says I will show you why.¡±

    Husband looked at the wand and then back to me.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m watching.¡±

    <<Go over to the pile of bones. we will make us a new friend, together. That one will understand once it is done.>>

    ¡°Make a new friend?¡±

    Listening to Iggy, I walked over to the wall where almost all of the bones Ivory had in the cave-hole were kept. Iggy told me to focus my magic into the wand and it would do the rest.

    ¡°Can it be a friend who can climb and hunt well? Big sister Button is a hunter goblin. Ebony is going to be a hunter goblin, too!¡±

    <<If that is your wish, then that is what our friend shall be!>>

    I focused my magic into Iggy the magic wand and it began to glow. Many bones began to shake and rattle, moving themselves out of the boxes and shelves they had been resting in and came together one by one until our new friend, made entirely of bones, had taken shape.

    ¡°Ebony¡­ what do?¡±

    ¡°Making a friend with Iggy!¡±

    ¡°Husband, do you know what this is?¡±

    ¡°Look like bone spider.¡±

    <<It is done Little Lord. A replica of one of the children of Arachnida, she who weaves the Divine Web and guards the canopy of the Spirit Tree. There is no better climber and hunter in all the world.>>

    ¡°You¡¯re kind of small for a friend¡­ Can you climb?¡± I asked it.

    I watched as my new friend moved about quickly and climbed up the closest thing to it¡ªme! It climbed all the way up my body until it settled on top of my head.

    ¡°What about hunting?¡±

    I felt it leap off of my head after I asked and jumped onto Husband¡¯s arm, where it immediately began biting him.

    ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t hunt Husband!!¡±

    Husband wasughing as he held his arm out.

    ¡°Not hurt. Bitey here friend. Only show Ebony can hunt.¡±

    It stopped biting Husband and walked to his hand before it spun around in ce to face him. Then it raised one of its legs in front.

    ¡°Bitey?¡±

    My new friend spun around in ce again until it was facing me and raised one of its legs again. I could tell it was happy to see me.

    ¡°Seem like good name give. Not like?¡±

    ¡°No, I like it. Hello Bitey, I¡¯m your friend, Ebony! That¡¯s Husband, and he¡¯s also your friend!¡±

    Husband reached out and began to pet Bitey who ttened down onto his hand.

    ¡°Okay. See what Ebony mean wand belong. Speak Ivory when can about give wand Ebony. Not sure if listen... For now, put back, okay?¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to give the wand back, and Iggy didn¡¯t want me to give it back, either. But, before I could, and I was going to, because I do listen to Husband since he doesn¡¯t ever spank me, Ivory and Truffle hade back into the cave-hole after going out hunting for mushrooms.

    ¡°What are you holding in your hand!? You know that things on the top shelf aren¡¯t for you to touch!¡±

    Ivory began to yell at me as she quickly rushed over to yank Iggy out of my hand and immediately begin spanking my butt.

    <<How dare you harm the Little Lord!!>>

    I could still hear Iggy¡¯s voice loud and clear. Iggy was very angry at Ivory, just like I was!

    ¡°No more spanking Ebony!!!¡± I yelled.

    I felt the bones around me also be angry, and one of them¡­ one that had been sharpened by Ivory earlier and was resting on the table that went into the wall where she would sit with Truffle, got mad and flew right at her face!

    Husband was quick to reach out and grab hold of the bone right in the middle of the air before it poked her in the eye¡­ if he hadn¡¯t¡­ Ivory would have been really hurt.

    ¡°You¡­ tried to kill me!?¡±

    I¡­ I wasn¡¯t trying to kill Ivory! I was only trying to get her to stop spanking me! I wanted to say something, to defend myself, but I was caught between my mouth hanging open mid-cry from my butt hurting and fromplete surprise at what had happened.

    ¡°Ivory¡­ no be angry. Ebony not mean what happen.¡± Husband said while stepping in between us.

    ¡°Stay out of this, Husband. Ebony is<i>my</i>strong-one!¡±

    ¡°Also mine. Why think this happen?¡± he said, waving the sharp bone he caught in front of her. ¡°Ebony afraid Ivory. Afraid be spanked. Remember what do first find Button safe after think fall in shit-pit? First thing do is spank Button! Why need spank? Not able be calm, talk Ebony first? Button me me long time for what Ivory do!¡±

    Husband¡­ wasing to my defense. Or at least trying to¡­ I think.

    ¡°Then why did she have the ck bone?¡±

    ¡°Ebony curious. Want see it. Say okay. Keep watch, make sure safe.¡±

    ¡°If I wanted her to have it, I would have given it to her!¡±

    ¡°Ivory¡­ Ebony special goblin. Like bones same you. Not happy bones like Ebony? Not¡­ proud strong-one bone-goblin like Truffle proud Button mushroom-goblin?¡±

    Ivory threw the bone wand into Truffle¡¯s side of the cave and grabbed Husband by the shoulders, digging her pointy fingers into them, and pushed him up against the wall.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me what to do or who to be proud of! Who do you think keeps Truffle alive? Who did most of the raising of Button!? ME! That¡¯s who!¡±

    ¡°Not argue that. Know Ivory do what say. But maybe way Ivory do¡­ not best way!¡±

    ¡°¡­Fine. If Husband thinks he knows how to raise a bone-goblin better than a bone-goblin does¡­ Then do it! Take Ebony and get out of my cave-hole!¡±

    Ivory pushed herself away from Husband, leaving behind five lines of blood streaking down his arms from each of his shoulders.

    ¡°Ivory¡­ not saying can do better. Only think better talk first, find better way not need spank strong-ones before have good reason¡­¡±

    ¡°GET OUT!¡±

    Ivory pushed Husband right out of her cave-hole. Then she turned around and red at me.

    ¡°What that?¡±

    I followed her line of sight to my feet where Bitey was trying to¡­ protect me.

    ¡°This is my friend, Bitey.¡±

    ¡°Made from bones you took without asking...¡±

    Truffle had walked over to me and squatted down, holding a small mushroom out in front of Bitey.

    ¡°Does Bitey like mushrooms?¡±

    Bitey didn¡¯t seem all that interested in them. Ivory seemed to be mad that Truffle was being nice to Bitey.

    ¡°Truffle¡­ what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Anything that likes mushrooms can be friendly.¡±

    ¡°Why are you such a mushroom-head?¡±

    Truffle shook her head before putting her hands on my shoulders and looking me right in the eyes.

    ¡°What do you want to do, Ebony?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Want to stay with Husband for a while?¡±

    ¡°Truffle! What are you saying to Ebony?¡±

    Truffle stood up and turned to face Ivory.

    ¡°I¡¯ll say this clearly, so you realize what just happened here. I almost lost my tree, Bone-taker. If Husband hadn¡¯t caught that bone, where would I be right now? What would happen to me? I know I¡¯m azy mushroom-head goblin. Nobody knows that better than me, not even you! You were being a rock-head when Old One said she was a Bone Lord, and you¡¯re being even more of a rock-head now! Ebony has magic. Magic that neither you, me, or Button know how to use! But Husband does. ce does. Vera does. Let Ebony go stay in Husband¡¯s cave-hole for a while. Let her learn how to use it the right way so that she doesn¡¯t make a mistake and hurt you back for all the times you¡¯ve hurt her, even if you think you were right in doing so. You and I were both spanked when we did things adult goblins didn¡¯t want us to do¡­ but maybe Husband knows a better way? All I know is that I can¡¯t lose you, stupid meanie Bone-taker!¡±

    ¡°Mushroom-picker¡­ do you think I¡¯m that bad at teaching our strong-ones how to be goblins?¡±

    ¡°When did I say that? I¡¯m the one who is no good at it! I push all the stuff I don¡¯t want to do onto you. I do think it¡¯s different with Ebony than it was with Button, and I think it might be different still when we have more strong-ones with Husband, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯re bad at it. But all of the strong-ones that Husband has made with us¡­ are different and stronger than we were as strong-ones. Do you think you could defeat Diana Artemis even though you are many moons older? What about Orchid or Lc? Even Shaman if she was serious?¡±

    I watched Ivory frown at her words.

    ¡°She¡¯s still a strong-one who can¡¯t even walk Goblinhome on her own¡­¡±

    ¡°Button taught ce how to walk Goblinhome. How to use the shit-pit. You were there to see it, weren¡¯t you? Following behind them the entire time¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You can me me if you need to. I will take care of it all, Bone-taker. My one and only tree.¡±

    A few things happened quickly after that.

    Ivory took one of her big pots full of<i>blue water</i>and went into her smaller cave-hole. Truffle had collected a few things of mine and the most important thing¡ªIggy, which she gave to me¡ªand walked together with me to Husband¡¯s cave-hole.

    Husband agreed to take care of me, saying for now his cave-hole would be my new cave-hole. He also agreed to doing what he could when it came to teaching me how to control my magic, since he didn¡¯t know the specifics of how my bone-magic worked. Button would continue to visit me, taking me ces and teaching me all the things about being a goblin that Old One, Ivory, and Truffle didn¡¯t.

    Truffle said I coulde to her for anything I needed¡ªwhether it be bones, mushrooms, or even milkies. Even if things were bad between Ivory and I, both she and Ivory were my makers, and until I was old enough to not need milkies anymore and get my own cave-hole, she would be there for me if I needed her.

    ce was nice to me at first, but when I had Bitey say hello to her by climbing up onto her head, she screamed a whole bunch and ran away while pping herself. I don¡¯t know why she doesn¡¯t like Bitey, because Bitey likes her a whole lot!

    Husband brought me to meet my little sister Mint when she came into the world together with Diana Artemis, Button, and ce.

    Seeing my newest little sister goblin, I finally understood how Button felt about me once I had be a big sister atst! And I knew exactly what it was that I needed to do here as a new big sister goblin. I had to give her an important memory to have so she knew who to trust!

    ¡°Mint, you are my little sister goblin. I am Ebony, your big sister goblin. It¡¯s the job of a big sister goblin to teach her little sister goblin how be a goblin!¡±

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Mint, a goblin with a mission.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Mint, a goblin with a mission.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Mint **~~</strong>

    I¡¯ve been ying this VRMMORPG for as long as I can remember, I knew all the races and factions inside and out and had raised nearly a dozen characters to the counter stop. However, I had only heard snippets of the so-called Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe in all of my ythroughs. In the beginning of almost every main story quest, when first encountering goblins, a certain NPC named Yx is met, who wanders the world looking for thest remaining Bloodmaw Goblin, hoping to find them in order revive the lost tribe.

    Yx would appear whenever a quest took you to one of the many goblin factions around the world, whether for negotiation or subjugation, continuallymenting about how not a single goblin they hade across contained the<i>origin blood</i>of the Creator.

    There were spections on some forums that there would likely be a payoff to doing the questline in a future expansion of the game. Maybe Yx would finally locate thest Bloodmaw Goblin or some hidden tribe and it would lead to a new yable race opening up? I admit to being excited about the idea since I loved the worldbuilding lore and the difficult magic system that required detailed learning of the Rune connection system for creating and using magic.

    I never would have thought that while exploring the game¡¯s world randomly one day, in an effort to be the first yer to report one-hundred percent mappletion, that I would stumble across them. Thest remaining Bloodmaw¡ªAn NPC named Ark Wyze.

    It didn¡¯t make sense to me at first. Ark Wyze?

    The name Wyze was unmistakable to anyone who had ever yed a magician-ss character.

    Salondra Wyze, one of the most powerful mage NPCs in the game and the only Tower Master to have reached the ninth circle in thest one-thousand years¡­ there was a book in the private library in her mansion which spoke of her once having a son who met his end as an adventurer.

    No traces of him or his party were ever found.

    If Ark Wyze was her missing son, why was he a goblin and not a human? Salondra was known for her active hatred towards the uncivilized races, whom she considered to be a blight and gue upon the world¡ªand to which goblins were at the forefront.

    The look on the face of thest Bloodmaw Goblin was etched in sorrow.

    ¡°Why have you sought me out, Adventurer?¡±

    Engaging with the NPC, there were two dialogue choices to answer with. The first was to say that you were here to take the head of thest Bloodmaw and prevent the resurrection of the tribe that Yx was aiming for. The second was the exact opposite, offering to help restore the Bloodmaw tribe back to its once legendary greatness through any means necessary.

    Naturally, I wanted the secret storyline I had found to continue onwards, so I chose the second option.

    ¡°I would have chosen the first option, Adventurer.¡±

    Huh? Did the NPC know I had a different selection avable?

    ¡°No matter. For you to have found me, it can only mean that damnable<i>thing,</i>Yx, eventually will, as well.¡±

    He knew Yx? The story was starting to get good!

    ¡°I no longer have the strength to witness losing my loved ones yet again. I can feel the age seeped into my bones, Adventurer, and I know that I¡¯m nearing my end. Since you aren¡¯t here to kill me, would you like to listen to an old goblin¡¯s story? I would say old man, but I¡¯ve long since lost my humanity¡­¡±

    Holy crap! Am I going to get to hear the backstory of the Bloodmaw Tribe straight from the source atst!?

    I quickly chose that I wanted to listen to his tale and was invited to follow him to a nearby cave. Upon entering, it was an absolutely unremarkable cave with nothing in it¡­ that was, until his hand glowed and the wall opened in front of us, turning into a long passageway.

    ¡°Just a little bit further¡­¡± the NPC spoke.

    When we reached the end of the passageway, I saw an amazing sight. A single borate cavern expanded into view. It looked like a small ptial mansion!

    ¡°Surprising, isn¡¯t it? I tried to reconstruct it from the original, but it has been so long, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve forgotten more than a few of the details¡­¡±

    An option came up to ask about the original.

    ¡°When I was ad, I wanted to be an adventurer and see the world. I never would have expected that on my first goblin subjugation quest that I would be captured and made to be breeding stock for them.¡±

    A small mirthful chuckle exited the mouth of the NPC.

    ¡°Given the choices being to breed them or die, I hope you can understand that as a youth full of life, I wasn¡¯t exactly looking forward to letting it end prematurely. Still, I couldn¡¯t have known that it was my destiny to be part of something as great as the Bloodmaw Tribe. That¡¯s not to say I didn¡¯t have my points of contention with them. I had many, and we shed often due to how different our societies were. But do not for a moment believe that the Bloodmaw Tribe wasn¡¯t civilized¡ªThey were! It¡¯s just a matter of perspective, you see¡­¡±

    He gestured with his hand all about the room.

    ¡°Dak. In thenguage of the Bloodmaw, it meant Husband. To them, that¡¯s exactly what I was. The one and only male to be used by the remnants of the Bloodmaw Tribe after a subjugation had wiped out all but a hidden few females protected by a single elder goblin known as the Old One a year earlier. Hells, how she hated me! Ha ha ha! This room once belonged entirely to me, and I called it the Breeding Room. My task back then was each night to put a child in the belly of one of the fourteen goblins who were of age to repopte the tribe. I had only thought of how to escape at first, but¡­ things changed rather quickly for me.¡±

    The goblin NPC walked over to a section of the room that had a number of pirs with various items situated on top of each of them.

    ¡°When my first daughter was born, thoughts of escaping had all but left my mind. I named her Diana Artemis, and she was a paragon of what it meant to be a Bloodmaw Goblin. She was the future hope and Guardian of the tribe¡­ but that didn¡¯t matter one iota to me. Even though she was born a full goblin in appearance, I never once saw her as such. She was my daughter¡­ as human to me as she was goblin to them. Ah, I should touch on it briefly, that I was originally a human.¡±

    He held his hands out and turned them over, showing off his green skin.

    ¡°I chose to be like this only after I lost everyone. Before this I wasn¡¯t half-bad in appearance as a human. Now where was I? Oh yes, my first daughter, Diana¡­¡±

    He pointed to the pir in the middle, at what appeared to be the severed w of a bear.

    ¡°Would you believe that she was hardly a month old and hunted down a bear? It wasn¡¯t by herself, but it hardly made a difference¡­ she was mostly responsible for its death, and she was someone I was immensely proud of. You see, my fourth daughter, Button, was in the process of being born at that time, and she thought it would be nice for us to have a feast for her arrival. Say¡­ do you like mushrooms, Adventurer?¡±

    His words were soft and filled with warmth as he talked about his goblin daughters for what felt like an extremely long time.

    ¡°By the time six months had passed, the number of my daughters running around Goblinhome had almost reached twenty. You can see why most of the other races regard goblins as vermin. They can reproduce three times as fast as a human can. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t understand the desire to cull their numbers, and when ites to other goblin tribes, I may still share that sentiment. But the Bloodmaw were different¡­¡±

    There was what looked like a small shrine that was immactely kept. Within it was what looked like an infant goblin skeleton.

    ¡°My eleventh daughter, Mint. None of us knew why, but when she was born, it was like she had already given up on life. I often wonder what kind of goblin she might have grown up as. It wasn¡¯t a week after she was born that she died, and Ebony, my tenth daughter, took it quite personal, since she wanted nothing more than to be a big sister, and went so far as to use her magic to animate these bones. I must say, as a skeleton daughter, Mint was quite affectionate.¡±

    What sounded like a horrible life event was talked about with a smile on his face.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t long after my first round of children were born when the troubles began. What should have been a safe area protected by Yx was suddenly set upon by a number of foes. The boundaries of the Bloodmaw¡¯s territory were a forest of ck trees to the west, a big rock to the south, and a clear stream to the east. The cavern happened to be part of a mountain range to the north so there was little to no threating from that direction. From the other side of the stream came the orcs, who had grown toorge in number and were forced to split their tribe to settle more territory and hunting grounds. Just past the big rock to the south were the ck-ws, gigantic ferocious wolves who had established themselves as the primary enemy of the tribe and were ying a waiting game. I believe you adventurers call them Shadow Wolves? And from the west, what else woulde but the natural enemy of a goblin¡­ self-righteous parties of adventurers filling subjugation requests.¡±

    The NPC walked a bit further past the pir disys and to a wall full of armaments.

    ¡°What killed the Bloodmaw weren¡¯t the foes on the outside, but me from the inside.¡±

    He picked up a spear and twirled it around.

    ¡°I killed them because I couldn¡¯t kill thest vestiges of my own humanity. What makes the Bloodmaw so strong is not their individual abilities, but how theye together as a unit. What killed them was theck of numbers that I was made responsible for re-creating. Tell me, Adventurer, if the survival and advancement of your own race rested entirely on you needing to procreate with your own progeny, could you do so willingly and still think of yourself as a human? It sounds uncivilized and rather taboo, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    I expected a selection to appear for me to choose from, but none did.

    ¡°That was my folly, you see. If I had only epted that I was already a monster by that point¡­ that I had already be a Bloodmaw Goblin, same as them¡­ things might have gone differently. The secret of the<i>Origin Blood</i>is that it is Divinely given to the ones called Bloodmaw by their Creator. So long as one can procreate with it, there will never be an issue with whom. I only wish there was someone who could have convinced me to do what needed to be done in a way that made sense, so that I wouldn¡¯t have lost everyone important to me.¡±

    The goblin NPC sighed.

    ¡°Adventurer¡­ there is no need for you to burden yourself with restoring the Bloodmaw. For as long as they exist, the entire world will be their enemy until they are strong enough and plentiful enough to overwhelm all the other races. Only then might the Bloodmaw know peace¡­¡±

    Finally, the selection box opened up. The two options were to offer to stay with the NPC until they passed away, which would be soon, or to volunteer to make the whole world my enemy and try to preserve the<i>origin blood</i>of the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe.

    That second choice had to be it¡­ had to be how to unlock the Bloodmaw goblins as a yable race!!

    I hesitated a bit before pressing the button. I made sure to screenshot everything. I was going to be famous on the forums for being the one to open the door to one of the game¡¯s most niche secrets!

    [I volunteer to make the world my enemy.]

    ¡°Are you certain? I will not ask again¡­ this choice will directly affect your life, Adventurer.¡±

    I chose the follow up option.

    [I will preserve the<i>Origin Blood</i>.]

    ¡°I see¡­ I have no time left to test your true conviction. I will ask for your forgiveness then, for what must happen to pass along the<i>origin blood</i>¡­ is not very civilized, I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±

    The NPC¡¯s hand began to glow and I was hit with an unguardable paralysis spell.

    ¡°When you wake up, I will be dead, and you will be thest Bloodmaw Goblin. Goblin instinct will take over for everything else, so whether you consume my body or not out of necessity, I will not hold any grudge. I ask only one thing of you from this moment on¡­ please name the child you will give birth to¡­ Mint. I at least wanted to give her a second chance at life¡­¡±

    What happened after that was something R18+ that shouldn¡¯t have been in a video game meant for minors to y.

    I felt extremely vited, yet I couldn¡¯t close my eyes to it.

    After it was done, the NPC who had initially appeared as a goblin to me began to change shape into that of an old human male with a white beard, looking at me with an apologetic face.

    Then, pixels filled my vision until there was only darkness.

    [Your quest has ended. Would you like to begin your life anew as Mint the Bloodmaw?]

    There it was! Wait? Did that mean this character was being deleted?

    Damn, I had some good items on this one¡­ but¡­ argh, it¡¯s a new yable race!

    Fuck it, YOLO!!

    [Transferring yer now¡­ ]

    [Emergency Quest: Survive!]

    [You must escape. Failure to do so will result in permanent death!]

    <i>Huh?</i>

    <i>Where am I?</i>

    <i>I¡­ can¡¯t breathe!</i>

    I felt a desperate urge to get out of wherever I was!

    I found myself wing through a tight passage on my way towards a single speck of light below me.

    I had to hurry!

    I was almost there, just need to push my hands through and pull myself out of this hole¡­

    <b>Plop.<i></i></b>

    I was suddenly in a dimly lit cave, surrounded by many goblins and a single human male. They were all talking, but I couldn¡¯t understand any of the words they were saying.

    Looking at them, I saw names above each of their heads.

    What looked like an umbilical cord was stretching out from me and going into the one named Pepper. There was a middle-aged goblin called Old One. Four small goblins: Diana Artemis, Button, ce, and Ebony. Two goblins who looked to be in theirte teens with the names Jewel and Berry, and the lone human¡­ who was rather attractive, actually¡­ Ark Wyze.

    Did I somehow get sent back into the game¡¯s past? Is this a divergent storyline?

    Ah~, I was tired as could be. I needed to log out for now and make a quick post on the forums before taking a nap. My gamer blood was surging and I couldn¡¯t wait to see how this storyline continued.

    ¡­

    Uh¡­ where¡¯s the logout button?

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which some merged magic involves a prenatal panic

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which some merged magic involves a prenatal panic

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ebony **~~</strong>

    When Mint and I arrived at Old One¡¯s cave-hole, we weren¡¯t the only ones there. My big sister, Button, was the one to tell me I needed to go to Old One¡¯s cave-hole and keep it a secret, but neither she nor ce were there. It was just Old One, and another that made Mint shake and go pee right there on the ground next to me.

    ¡°Do you recognize me, little goblin?¡±

    The voiceing from the tall one with dark skin and horns growing out of their head and wings out of their back that were tucked away had a really strong voice that made all of the bones around me, even the ones still inside bodies, shake.

    The question wasn¡¯t aimed at me, but rather, Mint.

    ¡°Y-y-y-y-y-yx¡­.¡±

    Mint nodded but couldn¡¯t answer yes.

    ¡°And what about you?¡±

    This time the question<i>was</i>aimed at me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! You look like a really strong goblin. Maybe Old One¡¯s big sister goblin?¡±

    They let out a deep rumblingugh that made the entire cave-hole feel like it was squishing me, but only for a moment.

    ¡°My apologies, Great Protector, this is the first time you have met our new Bone Lord. She¡¯s a bit¡­¡±

    Looking around the room, I saw something that interested me immediately. I was quick to ask Old One about it.

    ¡°What¡¯s that pile of bones for?¡±

    ¡°Why, they¡¯re for you. Do you remember hearing the story of Huntress and your Husband going on the hunt to kill the ck-ws?¡±

    ¡°Everyone knows the story!¡± I replied happily. It was a good story!

    ¡°Well, these bones belonged to Beast-talker, who died at that time.¡±

    ¡°She collected bones?¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t collect these bones. These <em>are</em> the bones from inside her dead body.¡±

    My eyes opened wide. Before I could ask why the bones of Beast-talker were being kept in Old One¡¯s room, because Ivory didn¡¯t have a single one of them, Old One began talking about the reason for it.

    ¡°I was holding on to them in case a Bone Lord should appear in our tribe. I expected one eventually, but not so soon.¡±

    ¡°Did you want me to do something with the bones? Listen to what they say? I can already tell you that those bones are happy to be in same cave-hole as Ebony and want to see Husband. They like Old One too, but not as much.¡±

    ¡°Do you think you can make them move, as you do with your spider?¡± Old One asked me.

    ¡°Like Bitey? I think so. Might take a little while to figure out how. There <em>are</em> a lot of bones!¡±

    ¡°Take your time then and show the Great Protector here what you can do with your bone-magic.¡±

    Using bone-magic for me was like talking to bones in my head. I¡¯d ask them to do something, or they¡¯d ask me to do something, and we¡¯de to an agreement. But there were way too many bones all trying to talk at once and trying to talk to each of them at once was tricky. It was like that when I lived in Ivory¡¯s cave-hole. And she had many many more bones than this!

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m not actually sure how to do it on my own. Iggy helped me when Bitey was made.¡±

    ¡°Iggy?¡± The tall strong goblin with horns and wings called the Great Protector spoke from next to Old One.

    I pulled out my wand to show them.

    ¡°Iggy! It used to belong to Husband, but now it belongs to Ebony!¡±

    ¡°Hoh~? That isn¡¯t just a wand. I can feel the aura of the Spirit Treeing from it.¡±

    The voice of Iggy began to enter my mind.

    <<Little Lord. Let¡¯s be careful in what we tell that one.>>

    ¡°Why?¡±

    <<They don¡¯t have the best rtionship with the Spirit Tree.>>

    ¡°They don¡¯t?¡±

    <<How about we get right to making our new friend?>>

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    I pushed my mana into Iggy, and the pile of bones began to move themselves into all the right spots before settling down.

    <<Little Lord. While your magic is strong, I¡¯m not sure that you have enough of it to raise all the bones into a friend.>>

    ¡°We can¡¯t do it?¡±

    <<There is a way, but we would need to borrow mana from another.>>

    ¡°Mint?¡±

    <<She would be eptable to borrow mana from. Her mana ispatible enough with mine, since ites from a simr source.>>

    ¡°Husband?¡±

    <<That¡¯s right.>>

    ¡°Makes sense, we¡¯re sisters. What does Mint need to do?¡±

    <<The same as you, Little Lord. Just have her hold me together with you and have her focus her mana into me at the same time you do. I¡¯ll handle the rest.>>

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I ryed to Mint what Iggy wanted her to do and she agreed to help. As we held on to Iggy together, Mint¡¯s tree-magic and my bone-magic pushed into Iggy at the same time and the bones began to rise up of the ground starting from the feet and settle on top of each other until after a long while, there was aplete bone-goblin standing up right next to Old One!

    <<Little Lord¡­ there... might be a problem.>>

    ¡°What¡¯s the problem, Iggy?¡±

    Before Iggy could answer, everything exploded into a bright light¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ste **~~</strong>

    ¡°Mmmmh~, yes! Keep licking right there, Ark¡­ don¡¯t slow down either~!¡±

    The trickiest part of having an idiot Husband with thirteen other needy goblin wives is finding the right time to corner him into taking care of<i>my</i>needs first. As I¡¯m the only goblin who he can enjoy certain things from, such as tongue kissing and using my mouth devoid of razor-sharp teeth to pleasure him in a certain way, he is usually willing to go along with whatever I want, with the end goal of making sure I¡¯m left as satisfied as he is.

    While I¡¯m still not sure if Ark genuinely loves me now that he¡¯s made me a goblin, he seems to be tied up in enough guilt at least to make sure that I¡¯m taken care of excessively well. And that¡¯s really all that I wanted anyway. I suppose him having a tool that can leave both my body and mind the same consistency as that weird meat thing his daughter Melon makes that Old One can¡¯t stop talking about¡­ is not a bad thing either.

    ¡°Ahhn~?¡±

    As my body rocked from its second orgasm, Ark removed his face from between my legs and came up onto the borate straw bed he made for me, pressing his warm body against mine from behind and slid himself into my wetness immediately. That would only be for a little while, though, until I coerced him to the position I preferred.

    I had already hunted, eaten, and freed up anything inside of me that might cut short the time I had avable to hog Ark all to myself. It¡¯s not that I minded sharing him sometimes with the pretty one, Jewel, or even that weird one, Vera, who seems to think of me as a sister. But same as all the other goblins feel on the matter, there¡¯s nothing better than having him all to yourself.

    Mostly because he¡¯s thorough. Not a single one of his wives has walked away dissatisfied once he gets going. And sometimes not a single one of his wives<i>can</i>walk away¡­<i>if</i>he gets serious.

    Which is why we have all learned at this point that it is wise to get everything done that needs to be done, just in case of thetter urring.

    When ites to mating with Ark, my preference is when he has me on my side and lifts one of my legs up to rest against his chest or on his shoulder while he goes at me that way. It¡¯s one of the most pleasurable positions I¡¯ve found when doing it with him, and by a stroke of luck it also gives him ess to y with the rest of my body in interesting ways. Rubbing my already sensitivedybits with his fingers or thumb, caressing and squeezing my butt, reaching for my breasts to grope as he plunges that damnable thing of his<i>all the way</i>inside me¡­

    The problem with having goblin instincts overwriting my old human ones is that I¡¯m wholly in need of attentive mating. All of his wives are. I asked Prima about it, but she said it¡¯s just the<i>goblin way</i>. Old One was able to give me a better answer, which I wasn¡¯t all too keen on epting.

    Males with big-seed emit some kind of scent that trigger a mating instinct within a female Bloodmaw ready to create strong-ones. It acts as a deterrent as well, for those without big-seed. To use an appropriate metaphor¡­ it¡¯s like eating fire-meat all your life before realizing how delicious bloody meat is, and never wanting to sully your sense of taste with anything fire-meat ever again. We can furiously hate Ark at times, but we can¡¯t deny our body¡¯s desire to im his seed. Forck of a better way of saying it, some of the best sex to be had with him is pure hatefucking.

    Ark joked about it once saying how unfair something like that was,<i>Darwinian cuckolding</i>, he called it. Talked about some historian named Darwin and how the Bloodmaw were perfect executioners of some concept called<i>survival of the fittest</i>.

    Were it not for the massacre that happened which led to Ark being the one taken as the first candidate for repopting the tribe since then, goblins like Vera, Lily, and Berry would most likely never be allowed to go near big-seed before the ones most worthy of it; ones like Prima, Jewel, and Doll. And at the very least, a goblin like Berry who could barely hunt anything bigger than a rabbit would have never had an elite strong-one such as Diana Artemis.

    Ark, being possessed of such a vast amount of what they consider to be big-seed, has no idea the lengths the Bloodmaw are willing to go to make sure he never leaves in order to secure the impressive future of their tribe, from his loins. I wonder if he realizes yet that, unlike me, he can never escape from here?

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to mess me up today, Ark.¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­ sure?¡±

    ¡°Mhm~?¡±

    Giving him the okay, Ark¡¯s handiwork that melts both brain and body had begun. As his member dug deep inside of me, constantly reminding my guts that maintaining any shape other than his member was obstinate foolishness, he was not beyond being yfully immature by biting my leg just below the calf when he filled me full of his first round of seed.

    But, this time, something strange happened as he let it out inside of me.

    The whole of Goblinhome shook as he did, and then something like a wave of bright piercing light fell over us, robbing us both of our consciousness¡­ And me of myst remaining bits of maidenhood.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Button **~~</strong>

    <<Button, something has happened.>>

    ce, who was sleepingzily on top of me had used her magic to put some kind of see-through bubble around us.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know. Can you carry me quickly to where Papa is?>>

    While getting up, I felt the entirety of Goblinhome suddenly shake.

    ¡°Did Tricky Husband do that?¡±

    <<No. That came from the direction of Old One¡¯s cave-hole. Right now, I¡¯m feeling the same sensation I did when Prima began her Blood Fury. Which is why we need to find Papa right now!>>

    I squatted down to let ce wrap her arms around my neck from the back.

    I was d I learned the feeling of the tree-magic that Husband had taught Mint a few days ago. Thanks to that, I was able to merge it with one of the special martial arts he had been teaching me recently, called the<i>Steps of the World-Ruler</i>. It involved him drawing his picture-magic on the ground and putting a certain one in the center that grew bigger the more we practiced. I showed ce what picture-magic Husband had drawn and she said it was called<i>gravity</i>. That it could make things lighter or heavier when used. That matched up with what Husband told me, about how if I trained with a strong force pressing against me and pulling me down, when it finally wasn¡¯t, I¡¯d be able to move my body faster and all of my punches and kicks would hit harder.

    The training wasn¡¯t more than just having me be able to stand up, walk a few steps slowly, and throw out a few punches and kicks. That was it. I just did it for a short while each morning. I already know how to touch the Rune in the stone bath in Husband¡¯s cave-hole that makes the water get hot. I can train on my own, and Husbandes to check on my progress every couple of days, making an adjustment into the form on the ground whenever he thinks I¡¯m ready to feel more<i>gravity</i>.

    So far, I¡¯m almost at something called<i>two-times gravity</i>. Which, ording to Husband, means it¡¯s like I¡¯m trying to move while also carrying another Button. One thing I learned while training in the gravity magic formation was how it felt when the<i>gravity</i>Rune was in use. While I can¡¯t use the picture-magic that ce can, or the stone-magic that Husband can, I can use some kind of body-magic that lets me copy an effect I can remember as long as it¡¯s limited to my body.

    I haven¡¯t mastered the Wolf Wind all the way yet, but I can simte the feeling a little bit and I am noticeably faster now. When I copy the feeling of<i>gravity</i>on the bottom of my feet, I became able to do things I¡¯ve never seen even Prima or Diana Artemis do before.

    Instead of only running on the ground, I can step onto the walls and it feels just the same as if I¡¯m running on the ground. I can also run up trees without needing to use my arms and hands to dig into the trunk. I can do it without running, but it¡¯s way more difficult and it doesn¡¯tst long before I wind up falling.

    I haven¡¯t had a chance to show ce what I can do yet, which is why I¡¯m excited to do so now!

    I dashed out of Husband¡¯s cave-hole, since we were beingzy together in his cave-hole in the corner, and ce was already clinging to me tightly with her legs as well.

    <<Button, you¡¯re going way too fast!>>

    ¡°I need to go fast, or I can¡¯t do this!¡±

    As soon as I cleared the entrance to Husband¡¯s cave hole, I leapt at the wall and twisted my body so that as soon as my feet hit the stone, it became like the ground. Then I continued running as fast as I could, leaping over the entrances to the other cave-holes along the way between where we were, and where the scent of Husband wasing from¡ªnear the front of Goblinhome, at either Prima or Ste¡¯s cave-hole.

    <<AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!>>

    In no time at all, we had arrived, with me leaping from the wall to the ground lightly and making sure my hands were behind me and holding onto ce¡¯s butt so she didn¡¯t fall off, just in case. It was smart of me to do so because she began to lose her grip and slipped off of me.

    ¡°Look! Husband and Ste¡­?¡±

    I pointed at both of them who were lying on the ground in positions that would not befortable at all to sleep in.

    ce, who was now standing up on the ground moved slowly towards Ste.

    <<It¡¯s Ste.>>

    ce had put her hand on Ste¡¯s belly.

    <<The strong-one inside of her¡­ Is having a Blood Fury! Or¡­ something like it! I¡¯ll stay here and keep an eye on these two. Button, you need to go get Old One and Berry, quickly!>>

    ¡°Is the strong-oneing?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know for sure, but it¡¯s best to believe for now that¡¯s exactly what¡¯s happening.>>

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back as fast as I can.¡±

    I turned my body in ce and prepared to run to the back of Goblinhome when something crazy was standing right at the entrance to Ste¡¯s cave-hole, staring right at us.

    ¡°ce! What¡¯s that!?¡±

    ce turned around and she saw what I saw.

    <<A Skeleton?>>

    I wasn¡¯t usually scared of anything, having hunted most of the creatures in the forest outside Goblinhome, with the exception of a ck-w, but right now everything was telling me that thing was something to be scared of!

    <<Button, be careful! I don¡¯t know why, but that thing¡­ is strong!>>

    I was already ahead of her in assessing that threat.

    ¡°Do we need to fight it?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know. Forget going to get Old One, we need to stay here to protect Papa and Ste.>>

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Mint **~~</strong>

    Ugh.

    I felt sore all over.

    Looking around, I saw Old One and Ebony both lying unconscious on the floor. There was no sign of any of the bones Ebony and I had tried to raise, and the only other body in here was that of¡­

    ¡°Little goblin, you seem to have endured it well.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ w-what happened?¡±

    ¡°Something that I would have stopped had I realized what you were. A fucking Bloody Druid!¡±

    I was terrified that I was about to make an enemy out of Yx for something I had no control over. Yeah, the being that carried the name Great Protector was none other than the infamous NPC Yx!

    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t know this would happen!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not ming you, little goblin. But your existence is strange. To have a Bloody Druid and a Bone Lord born in the same generation¡­ I had expectations, but that damn human breaks every single one of them every time!¡±

    Yx walked over to me and picked me up as if I was a sack of onions.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°From the magic in the air, and with how quick that skeleton took off with the Bone Lord¡¯s pet spider, I imagine it can be both nothing good and something splendid.¡±

    That assessment didn¡¯t help anything at all.

    ¡°What about Ebony and Old One?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll be fine. It was just magical reverberation. There¡¯s a reason nature magic and decay magic should never bebined. It encroaches on the realm of the Divine, and the Gods really don¡¯t like mortals doing that.¡±

    ¡°Gods?¡±

    ¡°Yes, little goblin. Gods. Nasty beings who have far too much power, time, and boredom on their hands. Pray you never meet another in your lifetime.¡±

    <i>Another?</i>

    ¡°You¡­ are Yx¡­ aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Before we had reached the shit-pit, Yx stopped moving.

    ¡°A name you shouldn¡¯t know. Who are you? You are recently born, yet you know who I am, when the others here do not.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ w-well, I sort of know you¡­ in the future¡­¡±

    ¡°The future?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°Interesting. And how am I in the future?¡±

    ¡°Busy¡­ looking for someone.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°T-thest Bloodmaw¡­¡±

    I was dropped, unceremoniously, onto the floor.

    ¡°Are you saying my children have been in once more?¡±

    ¡°S-something like that? I¡¯ve met you many times, whenever I¡¯vee across goblin encampments. But¡­¡±

    ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°There were no remaining true Bloodmaw Goblins left¡­ I was the one to find thest Bloodmaw.¡±

    ¡°You speak in riddles. I have no patience for such things!¡±

    ¡°Ark Wyze!¡± I squeaked out in terror.

    ¡°What about the human? Did he somehow kill them?¡±

    The anger on the face of Yx was damning. I did not think I was going to live after this.

    ¡°He said so, but not directly¡­¡±

    I mbered back to my feet and began exining everything from the storyline I knew about the Bloodmaw Goblins to Yx.

    ¡°Hoh. So, you im to be from a future timeline of this world, and that after meeting both Ark and I, he had passed the Origin Blood to you, and that was when you were reborn here in the present... <em>your past</em> as you are now?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much. ording to what I saw in that ce in the future, I was supposed to die today. I thought I was going to earlier, but Ebony¡­¡±

    ¡°Bah. Fate changes as often as a goblin takes a shit. I can feel the life force inside of you, little goblin. You will not be dying anytime soon¡­ unless you choose to seek it out yourself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. Ebony might be sad if I died.¡±

    ¡°Can you walk?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s continue our talk as we do.¡±

    Both Yx and I continued walking, and it asked me more question about Ark Wyze.

    ¡°So, in the future he has be a Bloodmaw in body?¡±

    ¡°Green skin and all. It seems like he can change his appearance with magic. He was deeply mournful at having lost everyone and he med himself¡­¡±

    ¡°Did he mention how the Bloodmaw met their end?¡±

    ¡°He only touched on it, I¡¯m afraid. Something about how enemies came on three sides, Orcs, Shadow Wolves, and Adventurers¡­¡±

    Yx stopped walking again for a moment and appeared to be pondering something.

    ¡°The current state of the tribe should be able to fend off the ck-ws, but if the Orcs dare disobey my benevolence and cross the eastern stream, that may be an issue. Should the older children band together with the Guardian, Stone-seeker, and Tree-chopper, they should be enough to handle them. But Adventurersing through the night forest¡­ that may pose a problem. It seems like I will have to pay attention to the movements of the human settlements outside of my domain from now on¡­¡±

    Sounds of fighting wereing from up ahead. The shrill scream of goblin could be heard.

    ¡°Little goblin¡­ Mint, was it? I trust you are wise enough to keep what we have spoken about secret. Never let my name escape your lips as anything other than Great Protector, and tell no-one of your future knowledge, not your sisters, not Old One, and not Ark. Live freely as a Bloodmaw, and enjoy the¡­<i>story</i>that will unfold.¡±

    I nodded profusely.

    ¡°Good. Now that our conversation has ended, let¡¯s see what troublese to the wonderful Husband I¡¯ve gone through so much trouble to procure for my children¡­¡±

    <strong>~~** Interlude | ??? **~~</strong>

    <i>Friend.</i>

    <i>Husband¡­ friend¡­</i>

    <i>Danger!</i>

    <i>Bitey! Friend! Come!</i>

    I was in Goblinhome, but I don¡¯t remember anything after the ck-ws ambushed me in the forest. All I knew was that I felt there was something dangerous around Husband. I knew right where he was, too, for some reason. He was in Stupid-one¡¯s room, and the dangerous thing was there with him!

    I moved with lightness I never knew I had, ran without feeling the tightness in my legs, and felt no need to draw breath.

    When I arrived at the Stupid-one¡¯s room, I saw three goblins and Husband inside.

    The two were strong-ones I hadn¡¯t seen before. Husband I recognized, but not the adult goblin on the ground, which was the source of my worry. I wanted to say to the strong-ones to step aside so I could deal with the problem, but words wouldn¡¯t escape my lips.

    The two strong-ones were wary of me, and both of them felt as dangerous as the thing inside the adult goblin¡¯s body.

    <i>Friend. Small. ce. Bitey¡­ friend!</i>

    I could hear Bitey telling me that the smaller goblin strong-one was a friend.

    <i>Other¡­ friend?</i>

    I tried asking Bitey if the other one who looked to be ready to take action against me was also a friend.

    <i>Ebony¡­ big sister. Friend!</i>

    Ebony?

    Ebony¡­?

    I clutched my head and felt a sharp pain as the name Ebony kept repeating.

    I had never heard it before, yet I knew it was the most important thing I needed to protect¡­ as important as Husband is.

    I might not be as strong a hunter as Guardian, Stone-seeker, and Tree-chopper are, but there¡¯s no better beast tamer and stalker in the tribe than me! I¡¯m sorry if both of these strong-ones are friends, but I must stop what¡¯sing and protect Husband!

    <i>Protect Husband?</i><i>Important Friend! Bitey help!</i>

    Bitey, who had been clinging to my back climbed onto my shoulder and leapt a far distance, right into the top hair of the little strong-one. She immediately screamed and began running around pping the top of her head with her little hands.

    ¡°ce! It¡¯s only Bitey! Bitey would never hurt you!!¡±

    The bigger strong-one understood, but still remained in my way.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are, but I can¡¯t let you hurt Husband or Ste.¡±

    I raised my hand and pointed at the one she called Ste.

    In response, the strong-one who spoke to me had stepped forward and spread her legs, balling up her fists like she was going to fight.

    So be it.

    I didn¡¯t want to harm her, so I would just throw her out of the way. As long as I could prevent what was inside of the one called Ste from escaping¡­

    I rushed forward and aimed to grab the strong-one, only to find that though I could grab her, I couldn¡¯t budge her an inch from where she stood.

    I felt a powerful blow right to my chest that rattled my body.

    She was strong!

    But she was still just a strong-one. I, however, am an adult goblin!

    I leapt at her with the intention of pinning her down, only to find her squatting down quickly and then leaping up at me with her fist rising upwards, shouting something unintelligible, possibly one of Husband¡¯s human words¡­

    ¡°<b>Shoutakeken!</b>¡± (¡¸•NÈ×È­¡¹Rising-mushroom-fist!)

    I felt the impact on my bones again and found myself flying backwards¡ªupwards!¡ªuntil my back collided into the rough stone ceiling of the cave-hole. At which point I began to fall face-first towards the ground.

    I saw her preparing to do something with her hands. I managed to orient myself somehow so I¡¯dnd on my feed and I crossed my arms in front of me as I felt a blue light hit me harder than a readboar¡¯s charge.

    ¡°<b>Kinokokikouhou!¡±</b>(¡¸È×šÝ¹¦·¨¡¹Mushroom-spirit-flow!)

    Even with my toes digging into the dirt, I was still blown back almost to the entrance of the cave-hole.

    Was she using some kind of goblin magic that Old One spoke of?

    Shit, was she even stronger than Guardian!?

    ¡°<b>Hissatsu!!</b>¡± (¡¸±Øš¢¡¹Final attack!!)

    I felt a familiar energy building up within her, like when I had taken a particrly tasty mushroom from Truffle and realized she was not going to forgive me for it.

    ¡°<b>Kinokoakumahouhou!!</b>¡± (¡¸È×£¨×Ó£©™Ä§£¨·½£©·¨¡¹Way of the Magic-Mushroom-Goblin!!)

    A whirlwind of punches and kicks came at me faster than I could see, and far faster than I could hope to block. With as much damage as I was receiving, I was surprisingly not feeling the pain I was expecting to. In fact, aside from being knocked around, I really didn¡¯t feel any pain at all from any of her attacks. They just rattled me. But, she was faster than I was and I just couldn¡¯t find a single opening to counterattack anywhere.

    Having lost sight of her, by the time I realized she was behind me, she swept her foot out and tripped me, then hopped onto my chest and began punching me in the face repeatedly. It only stopped when a familiar face had grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her off of me.

    It was the Great Protector!

    ¡°Beast-talker¡­ is what you came to find in here?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t answer with words, so I just sat up and nodded, pointing to the inside of the cave-hole.

    ¡°Ah, the strong-one of the mushroom-picker¡­ Button, I believe. You have gotten much stronger as ofte.¡±

    ¡°G-Great Protector! The skeleton¡­¡± she pointed at me.

    ¡°Is a friend of your sister, the Bone Lord.¡±

    ¡°It is?¡±

    ¡°<i>She</i>is. Tell me, is your Husband inside? Is he safe?¡±

    ¡°He is, but¡­ ce says something is wrong with Ste. Her strong-one may being¡­ but also having a Blood Fury inside of her¡­¡±

    A loud boom came from inside the room and Bitey came scurrying out, its bones just a little darker in color than when it leapt off of me and onto the small strong-one.

    Bitey began climbing up the new strong-one who had appeared with the Great Protector.

    <i>Mint important friend!</i>

    Bitey ryed what he could to me.

    I rose to my feet and recognized the one it called Mint as being important to me as well.

    ¡°No more fighting for now. Go and calm the Shaman so we can make sense of what is happening.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    The strong-one that the Great Protector called Button reached a hand outward to me, which I epted, and was pulled back onto my feet easily enough.

    ¡°You strong skeleton. Want fight moreter.¡±

    Button then turned around and went back into the cave-hole. I followed, with the Great Protector and the other strong-one who had Bitey sitting on her head right behind me¡­

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we finally meet Lumi, who f*cked around and was made to find out.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we finally meet Lumi, who f*cked around and was made to find out.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Sorry this chapter took so long, it ran away with me, and I also got captured by my family into watching that new Shogun miniseries. After this, there should only be a couple chapters left in the Daughters of the Goblin Tribe Interludes before we dive into volume 2. This chapter is a bit sizeable at around 6k words, but I did try and build up to this one properly, since Lumi will be an important goblinter on...

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Somewhere Outside the Realm of Life and Death **~~</strong>

    In what could be considered a mental reconstruction of what appeared to be a cavernous throne room, two formless beings manifested inside of it, as they had once before.

    ¡°It seems your time here as my guest has finallye to an end.¡±

    ¡°Finally came to your senses and decided to return me to the Goddess¡¯ embrace, I take it?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I have kept you here because I had hoped to find the right opportunity to allow you a chance to atone for your crimes, and, fortunately for us both, such a time hase.¡±

    ¡°Crimes?¡±

    ¡°Yes,<i>crimes</i>. Or is child-ughtering a facet of ra she keeps hidden to all but her faithful?¡±

    ¡°Purging your evil spawn from the world is not a crime, it¡¯s a sacred duty!¡±

    ¡°So sacred a duty it must have been that, when I asked ra for your soul aspensation for such an act done in her name, it took her less than the span of a mortal breath to agree.¡±

    ¡°Impossible! The Goddess would not have forsaken my soul! It was likely some heretical magic being cast by your shaman and that nasty one with the spear to obscure my death from the eyes of the Goddess!¡±

    ¡°When did I say she had forsaken your soul? I should think ra is in agreement with me, that you are deserving of a second chance at life. All that will change for you is the perspective you will observe that second life from¡­¡±

    A snap of the fingers showed a Human woman on a raised block of stone being vited by another Human male in the presence of two goblins.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°That would be your mother and father currently in the process of creating a suitable vessel for you.¡±

    ¡°They are human?¡±

    ¡°The woman is, at least for the moment. As a Saintess of ra, certainly it would be unreasonable to ask you to be born to someone not of the same faith. The man, however, is something of an anomaly, but one who has willingly epted the <i>origin blood</i>of my children and also seeks to show them a path to bing more than the evil spawn you purport them to be.¡±

    A snap of the fingers sped up the scene before them both. The human copted with the two goblins present, then vited the human woman once more. While time passed over days, the woman underwent some kind of physical change until her body was somewhere between that of a goblin and a human.

    ¡°What manner of corruption is this¡­?¡±

    ¡°Why, love, of course.¡±

    ¡°sphemy!¡±

    ¡°Not at all. The human man wanted nothing more than to strongly save the life of that woman, and this was the result of his will. His seed nted inside of her belly will create a worthy vessel, a goblin vessel suitable to house the soul of a Saintess¡­¡±

    ¡°Lies!¡±

    ¡°Shall we continue to observe?¡±

    Time rapidly sped up until an explosion of light happened in a small cave that four goblins upied, and a small ripple in the fabric of the universe formed for a fraction of a second before time froze.

    ¡°Your passage back to the world, without loss of a single bit of yourself. Your memories, your faith in ra, your hatred of my children, all of it shall remain with you. Only now, you shall be one of them. But, do keep one thing at the forefront of your thoughts¡­ suicide shall not be permitted, not by ra, and not by Me. Enjoy your new life as the first Saintess of the Bloodmaw Goblins. <strong>Ha ha ha ha!!!</strong>¡±

    And like that, the intangible form of the one called the Saintess of ra had been thrust through the small ripple in the fabric of reality, and catapulted at full force into the body of a strong-one growing inside of of a half-goblin Bloodmaw named Ste...

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ark Wyze **~~</strong>

    Surprise childbirths are no longer something new and unexpected to me. Diana Artemis set the bar, and it hasn¡¯t dropped an inch since. I had been forcibly awakened by ce with her magically chilled water pistol to a scene I would have preferred been a nightmare instead.

    I was being helped up by an extremely malevolent-looking skeleton goblin while ce was busying herself with doing the things Old One usually would with a goblin about to give birth. Button was supporting Ste by keeping her body in an upright position, Mint was doing whatever Button told her to do as Bitey stayed firmly entrenched in the hair on her head, and the Great Protector had a bemused expression on its face while watching everything going on.

    Yeah, it was essentially hell.

    ¡°Ark, you bastard! You said you wouldn¡¯t make ite early!¡± Ste shouted at me once she realized I was conscious.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me!¡± I retorted while on autopilot, having just awoken.

    While I had be able to detect when the sudden pregnancy ability I possess would ur¡ªa feeling of total exhaustion that preceded one of my manyicallyrge ejactions, followed by an almost magically enforced slumber afterwards¡ªI made a promise to Ste that I would make every effort to not rush her pregnancy. So far, there hadn¡¯t been any signs that it would happen¡­ but why she was having it now, when I have no recollection of feeling that strange sensation which leads up to it, had left me bewildered.

    Regardless, whether it<i>was</i>my doing or not, ce had ryed it through Button to me that my newest daughter was on the way, and nothing was going to slow or stop her froming into the world, and soon!

    There was an issue though. ording to ce and backed up by a nod from the Skeleton, my unborn daughter inside of Ste was currently undergoing something simr to the Blood Fury which Prima underwent not too long ago. For whatever reason, there was a sense of unease that when my daughteres out into the world, I may be a target for¡­ who knows what.

    Am I afraid?

    Not in the slightest. How can a father be afraid of their own newborn daughter?

    So, as Husband to Ste and daddy to what¡¯s about toe, naturally it was my job to do what I could to support Ste right now. Which meant I quickly took over as standing support for Ste¡¯s body which was inbor, and asked Button to go find the biting branch in Old One¡¯s room if she had any idea where it was. Thankfully, she did, and left immediately to go fetch it.

    ¡°I know it can probably wait, but what¡¯s the story with the skeleton?¡± I asked Mint, who would be the one to give me the best answer out of anyone currently present.

    ¡°Ebony and Mint try make new friend like Bitey. Bones belong goblin Beast-talker.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me? The bones¡­ belong to¡­ Beast-talker?¡±

    Beast-talker? As in, the one who died to the ck-ws over a month ago?

    A nce at the skeleton who was observing me without any visible eyes had lifted her arm and waved at me.

    ¡°Are you really Beast-talker?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask the Skeleton. Of all of my eventually-to-be wives, she was the one I knew the least.

    The skeleton nodded. All supernatural creepiness aside, the skeleton had no vocal cords and so couldn¡¯t audibly respond with words. I questioned how much awareness it had, since usually, aside from the ridiculouslyplicated magic required to be a lich and retain one¡¯s sense of self, skeletons didn¡¯t usually keep their personalities about who they were while they were alive. Or at least, that¡¯s what thependiums on Necromancy in my mother¡¯s personal library stated¡­

    ¡°Not know how know. Beast-talker¡­ still think Husband.¡± Mint spoke further in her small voice.

    So now I had a skeleton goblin as a wife? Isn¡¯t marriage supposed to end at<i>death do us part</i>?

    ¡°Well, if it makes her happy to still think of me like that, then I¡¯m fine with it. d to see you again, Beast-talker. Just to let you know, Diana Artemis and I took revenge on all of those ck-ws who attacked you. Their meat was delicious, and their skins and bones were put to good use.¡±

    In lieu of a voice, the skeletal jaw of Beast-talker cked with what I hoped was approval.

    ¡°Ark, why are you talking to a fucking skeleton?¡± Ste grumbled.

    ¡°Well, she¡¯s technically my wife, so why wouldn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s a<i>fucking</i>skeleton!¡±

    Ste took in a deep breath and made a slightly pained expression before speaking.

    ¡°Ark¡­ just promise me you aren¡¯t going to fuck it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not even sure how that would work.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to figure out <em>how</em> it would work, I asked you to promise me <strong>not to do it at all!</strong> GHHH¡­. <strong>Fuck</strong>¡­ GRRRRH¡­.¡±

    While yelling at me for the most ridiculous thing she could, Ste entered into another set of contractions. Button had returned in record time, and with the biting branch ready to go, so was Ste.

    A small pir of dirt was raised underneath ce and she assumed the duties of Old One, pressing down on Ste¡¯s belly when she needed to and Button both helping me support Ste and repeating what ce was telling her.

    ¡°Ark, I hate you.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°You had better take responsibility for this!¡±

    ¡°I will.¡±

    ¡°She better note out retarded like your other ones.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be as normal as you want her to be.¡±

    ¡°I just want her to be smart and strong without being weird.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t promise that. I mean, she¡¯s half mine.¡±

    ¡°Fuck!¡±

    After a small tirade of colorful words, mostly shouted at me in the human tongue, nature began to do what nature does best.

    ¡°Oh god, it fucking hurts! Ark, I¡¯m never letting you put another one of these damn things inside of MEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!¡±

    As two wed hands found their way outside of her birthing canal and plunged small, pointed fingers into the soft flesh of her thighs, the head crowned and a momentter, my daughter entered the worldpletely.

    And what a daughter she was.

    Though she was covered in a fair amount of blood, there was no mistaking that she had a simr skin coloring to both Ste when she was still a human, and of myself. In fact, aside from the pointed fingers, toes, and ears, along with the teeth, she was quite human in appearance. She didn¡¯t have the tell-tale greenish gold eyes at all, and just a small hint of growing red hair on her scalp.

    Rather than go for the centa which came out a momentter with a final push from Ste, she stood up and stretched out her tiny arms, turning them over and clenching her hands into fists before looking around the room. She then raised her hand upwards, and a bright light began to gather in the palm of her hand.

    I did not have a good feeling about what wasing next¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Lumi **~~</strong>

    <i>ra! Answer your faithful servant¡¯s call! I offer up my body to be a vessel for your grace and mercy so that your holy might may smite these abominations!</i>

    I let loose a smiting st of holy energy at all the evil gathered in this room. To think that<i>I</i>had been sent back to this world only to be reborn as a goblin!

    Inconceivable!

    I was met with stares from all around. A human, a human-like goblin, and three goblin children, unharmed, hidden behind shields of darkness. The remaining two abominations; the skeleton and the¡­!

    ¡°Hoh? Why does this little goblin have the taint of ra upon it?¡±

    My body froze in fear when I saw the creature with ashen skin, horns jutting out from its head, and two wings which unfolded themselves in front of me speak. It was something I had seen before, as I took myst breaths when I was still alive as a human¡­

    ¡­It was the thing which tore through the group of holy knights and pious adventurers blessed by the Church of ra to cleanse the world of evil abominations that would bring it to ruin!

    ¡°Taint?¡± The male human who spoke in themon tongue asked the abomination.

    ¡°Ark, do you worship the Goddess ra?¡± the Abomination asked him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t worship any of the pantheon. I am a man of science.¡±

    ¡°What about your woman?¡± It said, pointing to the body of the half-transformed female goblin lying on the ground next to him.

    The woman, a half-goblin from the looks of her and the one who must have begotten me just now croaked out an answer.

    ¡°The Goddess ra has always been the patron deity of my vige.¡± She said with a strained voice.

    ¡°I see. So that is how it was done! Marvelous!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s marvelous, Great Protector?¡±

    ¡°The Creator has given the Bloodmaw a Saintess.¡± It stated mirthfully. ¡°I do believe this is the first time in history something like this has happened¡­¡±

    ¡°Do Bloodmaw not normally have them?¡± the male human questioned.

    ¡°What need have they for one? The strong live to be stronger, and the weak die as fodder for the strong. The Bloodmaw have no need for phony religions, or to worship any deity other than the Creator. Adherence to the <i>ceremonies of blood</i>is how the Bloodmaw show their worth in receiving the gifts the Creator has bestowed upon them, as the perpetual growth of the Bloodmaw is the only thing ever pleasing to the eyes of the Creator.¡±

    The words that the high abomination spoke were pure Evil¡¯s Doctrine!

    ¡°Does my daughter having some alignment with the Goddess ra constitute a problem?¡±

    ¡°Who says she is aligned with ra?¡± The Abomination said, which incensed me greatly.

    ¡°Well, you said there was a¡­<i>taint</i>.¡±

    ¡°There is. But that¡¯s all it is. Did you not feel how pathetically weak her call to smite us just now was? It seems what blessings were given to her by ra may have already been purged.¡±

    The human got up and walked over to me, squatting down and looking me in the eyes.

    ¡°Hello, Lumi. I¡¯m your daddy. I¡¯m sureing into the world with so many people around you was probably scary, huh? It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t know what I¡¯m saying yet. All that you need to know is that you¡¯re my daughter, and I love you very much.¡±

    The existence of this human was a sacrilege. How dare a human cavort around with goblinkind and think he is clean enough toy a hand on me, let alone call himself my father! Being filled with righteous anger, and not wanting to believe that ra had forsaken me, feeling no more divine power in my body at the moment, I saw fit to bite him on the arm.

    <b><i>Ka-thump!</i></b>

    I screamed.

    I screamed but couldn¡¯t remove my mouth from the arm of this despicable human male. The taste of his blood was like the ceremonial ambrosia given to me to drink at my baptism when I first became a Saintess. I felt my body burning up while my thoughts became muddy. In that moment, all I wanted to do was devour this man entirely¡­<b><i></i></b>

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ste **~~</strong>

    It¡¯s been three days since my daughter, Lumi, was born. What was thought to be a Blood Fury turned out to be something else entirely. Neither the Old One nor that<i>thing</i>¡ªthe Great Protector¡ªknowledgeable as they were on the history of the Bloodmaw, had an exact exnation for what urred. A discussion involving Ark and ce came up with some excuse that it must have been Lumi¡¯s body undergoing some necessary change in order for her to be able to use divine magic as the Bloodmaw Creator¡¯s first Saintess, but not since that one time using it after she was born had she cast any other holy magic.

    With exception to myself and Ark, Lumi is actively hostile to all the other Bloodmaw. When ites to Ark, all she desires from him is a mouthful of his blood¡­ for me, she is willing to nurse, if begrudgingly, to continue living. She never ate the centa, and as twisted as it sounds, I wound up doing it while she took a nap. If there was anything magical or divine within it, I felt nothing.

    I think the only reason she¡¯s even willing to interact with me was when I had told her that even though I was a goblin now, I was once human and still believed in the Goddess ra, even after what had happened to me. I told her about my life as a vige daughter, about the adventures I went on together with Ark and Kairos, and about how it was a goblin subjugation request of all things thatnded us here as captives, and subsequently led to her being born.

    So far, motherhood hasn¡¯t turned out to be anything like I thought it would.

    There is no such thing as a goblin infant. The closest point to that is the eating of the centa and their first nursing. After that, it¡¯s straight into being a toddler. Within a day or so they can pick up the goblinnguage and begin learning life skills, such as hunting. Their teeth are sharp enough by then to crunch the skull bones of a rabbit. By the end of the first week, if they are smart and strong enough, they are capable of hunting small prey on their own.

    When Lumi finally decided to speak to me, it was to ask me for something.

    ¡°ra.¡±

    She had drawn a picture in the dirt on the floor of our cave-hole. It was the symbol of the Goddess ra.

    ¡°You want this?¡±

    My daughter nodded.

    What she was asking me for was some kind of ne. The symbol of ra, the five-pointed star which represented the five virtues of the Goddess. I only know it because there was a stone statue of ra in my vige, and carved into it was the symbol.

    I suppose Ivory could make something like that, but at the same time, I wanted to be the one to make it for her. Negotiating with Ivory, I was given some bones and string in return for a few rabbits I had hunted with my bow.

    Lumi had sat down with me and watched as I tried my best to craft it for her. It was by no means perfect, and Ivory could have probably done a much better job of it, but Lumi was satisfied enough when it adorned her neck. She had gotten down on her knees and sped her hands together, praying, from the sight of it. I decided to join her, though I only knew the prayers for a good night¡¯s sleep and for a good harvest.

    Slowly, she warmed up to me, though she was no less independent than any of the other goblin children. And she still fought with them all, and still sunk her teeth into Ark whenever she got the chance.

    It wasn¡¯t until Ebony¡¯s pet spider made of bones, Bitey¡ªI believe, had paid an unannounced and unwee visit to our cave-hole, that I saw my daughter once more use the magic light she was possessed of, taking aim at the spider and unleashing her divine magic.

    I don¡¯t know what I expected to happen, but it wasn¡¯t what did. I think Lumi was also unprepared for the oue. Bitey, whose bones were dark in color, had been restored to a pristine white. Whiter than they originally were when it was first created. Spinning around in ce, the spider then jumped and scurried out of the room, only to return some timeter, dragging a dead snake in from god-knows-where and depositing it at Lumi¡¯s feet and then saluting with its front bony foreleg before scurrying out of our cave-hole.

    Lumi stared down at the snake and then sat down on the ground and poked it a few times.

    She prayed again, tears streaming down her eyes, before grabbing the snake and taking a bite out of it directly. Lumi looked up at me and pointed at the snake. I sat down next to her and took a bite of it myself, enjoying how delicious it was¡­ something that was only possible because I was possessed of the goblin¡¯s instinct to eat raw and bloody meat.

    It wasn¡¯t easy for Lumi to be a goblin. The part of me that had be a mother understood this. But, for me it was. Oh, there were things I hated about being a goblin, still having the memories of being a human present in my mind, but I didn¡¯t hate being a Bloodmaw, overall.

    Aside from my beauty as a human woman, every other part of me had been enhanced. Including my physical properties and my senses. And so long as Ark gave me all that I wanted, there really wasn¡¯t much of a loss for me to ept being one. So what I felt I needed to do for Lumi was to find out what it was she wanted in order to be happy.

    Her reply to my question was short and simple.

    ¡°Want¡­ chapel.¡±

    A chapel. A room to pray to the Goddess ra in.

    When I next saw Ark, I brought it up to him, and he was entirely fine with it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make her one right away.¡±

    It had urred to me that I should have mentioned that it be a chapel dedicated to ra, but it seems Ark was already well aware of Lumi¡¯s faith.

    Ark had enlisted the help of many of his magically inclined daughters to build some kind of stone building attached to the immediate outside of Goblinhome, opposite to the yground, that came equipped with an ornately carved wooden double-door. Inside was what looked like some kind of a small church with stone benches for seating and two statues present, though one had a draping over it.

    The statue with no draping was of the Goddess ra, as borate as ones found in bigger towns and cities I had seen after having left my own vige. What had a draping was a strange statue. It was a poorly crafted statue of a goblin, like some kind of rudimentary wall-painting by someone with no artistic skill, wearing only a loincloth and the most pronounced point of it being an open mouth full of sharp teeth readying to eat a piece of meat.

    I had asked Ark what the deal was with it, and he said it was something Mint came up with that ce and Ebony also strongly agreed with. ra was not the Creator of the Bloodmaw. Mint felt that if there was to be some kind of church or religion present in Goblinhome, then it was necessary for there to also be some representation of the Bloodmaw¡¯s Creator, even if the chapel was only to be used by Lumi to worship and revere the Goddess ra.

    Seeing that it remained covered in her presence, as well as ridiculous to look at as an object of worship, Lumi found it eptable,ughing mockingly at the pitiful statue.

    Ebony and Mint would frequent the chapel and listen to Lumi speak about the Goddess ra, and the three of them became somewhat friendly as a result. Ark, on the other hand, would visit the chapel when Lumi wasn¡¯t present and would remove the draping on the statue, clean the dust from it, and offer a prayer up to it, only ever asking for the continued safety, growth, and well-being of his daughters, before covering it back up. I confronted him once about it, and all he had to say on the matter was, while he didn¡¯t necessarily believe in any of the Gods, if one might be willing to listen to him, wouldn¡¯t it be the one who most had some need for him?

    I couldn¡¯t find any fault in what he said.

    For Ark to be the key piece in restoring an otherwise damned tribe of goblins, it might very well be the work of the Bloodmaw¡¯s Creator to have brought him here. To have the power to change me from a human into a Bloodmaw¡­ perhaps Ark was some kind of chosen one. But I didn¡¯t believe that <i>too</i>deeply.

    After all, Ark was an idiot. An idiot with excessively powerful magic who loved all of his children with his naively kind heart.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Lumi **~~</strong>

    ¡°ra, have you truly forsaken me?¡±

    I have never had reason to doubt the Goddess before now, but to find that the only magic being bestowed to me as a Saintess from the Goddess ra was magic to heal and purify, naturally some concern would have taken root inside of me.

    The one to answer my grievance wasn¡¯t my Goddess, however, but the goblin elder they called Old One.

    ¡°I wondered the same thing once before about the Creator. When the Silver Skins and the Woman of Burning Light came to my tribe¡¯s cave one day and mercilessly ughtered my kin... My mother, Stone-feet, and my only daughter Spear-hand. I never forgot the feeling of terror and dread I felt at that human woman¡¯s magic, dressed in those white robes, able to bring the dead back to life and tomand a handful of goblins to die with but a single word from her lips¡­¡±

    She walked over to the draped statue and pulled it down.

    ¡°It is a simplistic depiction of the Creator, is it not? Compared to the one you believe in, there is no need for borate decorations to conceal what is essentially the truth of our kind. We are born simple; some weak, some strong. But all can grow through consumption of the blood of those stronger than us. And it is all that our Creator asks of us. Not to war pointlessly with others, not to create things to worship, simply to live and grow, to take what is necessary to be more than we are, but to never forget we are simple beings with simple beginnings.¡±

    I stared at the old one who then touched the statue, before putting the draping back over it.

    ¡°I know who you are. I was there when you came before I had to conceal myself and protect thest of my tribe. But that is in the past. You cannot give me back my maker, nor can you restore to me my irreceable Spear-hand. I take pleasure knowing her spear was what ended your life back then, but now you are a Bloodmaw, child. Shall I tell you why your spells of smite do not work on us now? I¡¯m sure you are curious as to the reason.¡±

    She was right. I was exceptionally curious as to why I couldn¡¯t smite all of these damn abominations.

    ¡°Quite simply, should you somehow be able to cast those spells again, you would also be killed by them. It¡¯s not that you<i>can¡¯t</i>cast them, it¡¯s just that your very blood prevents you from killing yourself in such a way. It would not be a noble self-sacrifice to do so, but both murder and suicide. I¡¯m sure your Goddess doesn¡¯t wish to see you die in such a useless and wretched way, which is why she has made it so your divine magic can only restore and repair. However, should you find yourself willing to pray to the Creator, perhaps that will change. Of course, I don¡¯t intend to try and convert your beliefs¡­ nor do I n to stop you trying to convert any of the tribe to believe in your Goddess, should you somehow find sess in that. You are free to do as you like, Sunless-saint. Whether you ept your new fate or not, you are now a Bloodmaw Goblin, and all the hatred of the human world you came from, that you held onto so firmly in your heart, and that you brought with you to destroy us, is now yours to shoulder. Time will pass, you will eventually undergo the <i>ceremonies of blood</i> and be more Bloodmaw than you could ever wish to be. And that is the just revenge the Creator has bequeathed to me, at the cost of the lives of my precious tribe at your hands, and those of the Silver Skins. Now you may begin to atone for all that you have done, and your forgiveness will onlye once you have done what all other Bloodmaw are tasked to do with their lives¡­ be <b>more.</b>¡±

    A hand patted my shoulder and the Old One walked out of the chapel. I was left staring up at the statue of the Goddess ra, and I felt broken. I couldn¡¯t find the words inside of me to continue my prayer to the Goddess, simply sitting down on one of the stone benches and clutching the holy symbol made of bones around my neck that my new mother had made for me, in an attempt at making some peace between us.

    A short whileter, the human male that was my new father hade into the chapel and sat down next to me.

    ¡°Hello, Lumi. If you¡¯re done praying, want to go y on the swings?¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ do you corrupt yourself with these goblins?¡±

    I had never asked him the reason before, but after listening to the Old One, I wanted to know why this Human would help restore these evil abominations.

    ¡°Because I could find love nowhere else in the world, Lumi. As for marital love, I remain unsure that all but Vera is capable of feeling that way about me. But there is not a sliver of doubt that all of my daughters are innocent young girls who, with proper guidance, can be as civilized and proper as the children of any other goodly race. And so long as I live and breathe, I will do all that I can to see them live happy lives away from the hateful stigma that follows all of the so-called evil races.¡±

    ¡°What about my mother, who was once human?¡±

    ¡°What about her? I would love to tell you that we love each other, but I would be a fool to think that she could ever love me for all the pain I¡¯ve inflicted upon her, knowingly or otherwise. Instead, she¡¯s given me a chance to atone for my sins by giving her the best life possible within these circumstances, and that is what I have chosen to do. In return, when I have a rare moment when I desire to be with a human, she offers me it as a small mercy. The fact that both she and you are the most human-like among the Bloodmaw is something that brings a little peace to my heart.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯d rather be among humans?¡±

    ¡°Not particrly. As I said before, I could find love nowhere else. The ones to ept me as I am were the Bloodmaw Goblins. There are two adages from where I originally hailed from that may exin why I amfortable here, and do not think of escaping. The first is <i>home is where the heart is</i>. All that I love is within Goblinhome. You, and all my daughters. The second is<i>the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb</i>. I have shed blood and taken lives, granted they were only big nasty ck wolves twice the size of me, for the sake of protecting these goblins and it¡¯s more than any human might have ever done for me on ount of just being another person from the same race.¡±

    What he said felt profound, but I needed time to understand it further.

    He offered his arm outstretched before me and I took it, biting into his flesh and savoring his blood. It was surely an impure act, but one I couldn¡¯t help but take part in. Only in those moments were my thoughts free of torment, and once more could I feel divine power course through my veins.

    When I was done, he wiped my mouth and then picked me up.

    ¡°Swings?¡±

    I didn¡¯t feel like arguing with him and agreed to letting him enjoy his role as my damned father.

    Leaving the chapel, it was a few steps to the swings where Ebony and Mint were being pushed by Beastie, the goblin skeleton who was partly responsible for my imprisonment in this human-like goblin body.

    ¡°Lumi!¡±

    ¡°Came to y with us?¡±

    At least these two goblin children were reasonable to deal with. I took my seat on the swing being pushed by my father and the other two being pushed by the skeleton who, somehow, seemed pleased to see him. Bitey, who had been sitting on Ebony¡¯s head, leapt from there onto myp and spun around before sitting down and gesturing for me to pet it.

    ¡°Want to go hunt with uster?¡± Ebony asked me.

    ¡°Hunt?¡± I asked, confused.

    ¡°Yeah. Something easy, like squirrels. Bitey is good at finding them.¡±

    ¡°Why bring me?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m a big sister goblin and so is Mint. It¡¯s our job to teach a little sister goblin like you how to be a goblin!¡± She whimsically imed.

    I felt my father¡¯s hand ruffle my hair for a moment before being pushed again.

    ¡°Why not give it a try, Lumi?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know how!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Ste teach you how to hunt?¡± Father asked me.

    ¡°She tried, but I¡¯m no good with the bow. If I had a staff, maybe....¡±

    ¡°Hmm, a staff¡­? I suppose I can make one for you. But you should go along with your sisters for now and just listen to what they need you to do. Even if it¡¯s only to be an extra pair of eyes to watch out for danger.¡±

    After spending some time on the swings, I reluctantly did as he suggested and went out into the forest with Ebony and Mint. Bitey and Beastie came along and it was less a hunt and more of a massacre. Mint would use her Druidic magic to ensnare animals with grass and nts while Bitey wouldnd killing blows, usually a snap of the neck, on whatever they came across. Beastie would carry all the spoils, and at the end of it, when we returned to Goblinhome, a number of them were dropped off at Melon¡¯s Kitchen where they were converted to decent quality food for us to enjoy eating.

    Father hade to find us there and had brought something nearly the same size as I was.

    It was a staff made of bone, from thest remaining femur of a ck-w which Ivory still had to trade with, or so I was told. It had an etching of a snake twining around it with an open mouth trying to consume the symbol of the Goddess ra, the five-pointed star at the head. Coupled with the twining of the snake was some kind of formic magic that ended at the top with a magic Rune I was entirely unfamiliar with.

    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°I call it Aurora. It''s a staff meant to channel light magic. It might not be as effective as yours since it¡¯s iyed with Runes instead of some divine charge, but I have a feeling you¡¯d be the best qualified to use light magic among all of my daughters.¡±

    ¡°GWOH! Lumi just got a grand weapon!¡± Ebony said with admiration.

    ¡°Mint, you should ask Husband for one, too!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need one right now.¡± she said quietly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go test it out on a hunt tomorrow, Lumi!¡±

    It was decided to do so. After eating, Father brought me back to my cave-hole where Mother was in the middle of making me something along with Pepper. It was a familiar thing, too. When asking what it was, Mother said that it was something Old One brought over to her a little bit earlier. But there was no mistaking what it was to me. The white vestments I was given to wear when I became a Saintess. The robes I still wore when I died in that cave while purging goblins from this world.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    I threw aplete fit when I saw it. I¡¯m sure it bothered my Mother to see me do that in front of the other goblin, but I was filled with anger and hate upon seeing it. The robes were a sign of purity, and being a goblin now¡­ how could I wear such a thing?

    I knew I was being selfish, but Mother and Pepper stopped mending it and Pepper took it with her when she left.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lumi. Old One was sure you¡¯d enjoy wearing it. I thought you might as well...¡±

    I truly despised that Old One in this moment. Mother was quick to shift the subject to that of my new staff.

    ¡°Did Ark give that to you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mother scooped me up and put me in herp, I helped myself to some milk while she caressed my head.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he knows what he¡¯s doing if he¡¯s given you a weapon already. I must have failed in teaching you how to hunt as a goblin¡­¡±

    The caressing then turned into a hug, which then turned into her carrying my tired body to our bed where she snuggled up with me under some warm covers¡­ I had no idea where things would go from here, but I was sure of one thing at least. My mother and father were prisoners here, and it was my job to help them escape. Only then might the Goddess ra restore us all to what we should truly be¡­

    As such, I will never offer up a prayer to that twisted Creator of the Bloodmaws¡­

    <b>Never.</b>

 [v2] Chapter Nineteen â€“ In which Ark gets a much needed reality check from an unusually kind Stella.

    [v2] Chapter Neen ¨C In which Ark gets a much needed reality check from an unusually kind Ste.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    Lifting my head from against my knees, I looked up to see Ste staring down at me. Why had shee to Rushk¡¯s cave? Was it to see if I had done to the orc what I had done to her not too long ago?

    ¡°Ste. Came to call me an orc-fucker this time, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you already one? I was going to take a bath and saw you and the two weirdos having a good time with the orc that has tanned skin. Decided it could wait untilter.¡±

    ¡°Grotte.¡± I said, in case Ste didn¡¯t know her name.

    ¡°Is this how you n on taking care of her afterwards?¡± Ste asked while taking a seat on the floor next to me, gesturing with her head over at Rushk who was lying quietly in her bed.

    ¡°I figured thest thing she wanted was me draping my arm over her and telling her it was going to be alright.¡±

    ¡°Basing that off of what you did to me?¡±

    ¡°I still close my eyes sometimes and remember you calling me a traitor, a goblin-fucker, and that you would never forgive me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still a goblin-fucker.¡±

    ¡°Gee, thanks.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just lucky for you that I also happen to be something of a goblin myself.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re killing me, Ste.¡±

    ¡°Oh, suck it up, Ark. You did what you had to do, right¡­ so that she can live?¡±

    I shook my head but began tough. Ste shoved my shoulder and asked me what was so funny. I had thought of a strange joke that hardly fit the situation, yet kind of did in a macabre way.

    ¡°You can pick your friends. You can pick your nose. But you can¡¯t pick your friend¡¯s nose.¡±

    ¡°What the fuck are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°A joke I heard a long time ago. Just found it sort of fitting for how things are around here. It¡¯s a roundabout way of saying that I can either be right, or be happy, but never both at the same time.¡±

    ¡°So, then are you happy, or are you right?¡±

    ¡°Neither.¡± I answered inly. ¡°I told her what was going to happen... that there was a chance she¡¯d be a goblin. A high chance she¡¯d probably get pregnant with some kind of goblin. And that I probably couldn¡¯t save her life a second time if she didn¡¯t let me do what everyone else said needed to be done. She didn¡¯t fight it. She didn¡¯t want to let me make her feel good. She just wanted it done and over as fast as possible, and so that¡¯s what happened. I don¡¯t think it was the right thing to do, but hey, that¡¯s just the human in me talking¡­¡±

    I extended my hand and manifested two Runes, Wind ones, not that it mattered. I let them dance around each other for a little while before allowing them to wink out of existence.

    ¡°I want power, Ste. I want enough power to be able to say no, and fuck anyone who tries to make me do something like this ever again.¡±

    ¡°Oh, found your balls atst?¡±

    ¡°Is insulting me the only thing you came up here to do?¡±

    ¡°No. I came up here to make sure you¡¯re still human.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What, did you think I¡¯d turn into that goblin again?¡±

    Ste shook her head.

    ¡°Mind if I sit on yourp?¡±

    I didn¡¯t have the energy to brush her off. I figured it would be quicker to just let her do whatever it is she came to do, and then go. I slid my legs down and Ste sat on my thighs, cupping my face in her hands and staring deeply into my eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Ark. <strong>It¡¯s okay</strong>. What I¡¯m going to tell you now ising from my human half. The half you must have felt a need to leave behind with me for moments like this, so listen carefully. <em>Okay</em>?¡±

    She nodded my head with her hands, forcing my agreement to listen.

    ¡°You¡¯re an idiot. A kind, na?ve idiot. Maybe it¡¯s because you were raised as a spoiled sheltered noble boy, I don¡¯t know. But you seem to think that the world is supposed to be this perfect, idyllic,wful, peaceful ce where everyone has some gods-given right to be treated fair and equal. That talking things out at length, about what is right and wrong, is somehow supposed to make a tribe of bloodthirsty cannibalistic carnivorous goblins change their minds on what they¡¯ve always known since the moment they wed their way out of their mothers. Ark. The world is a harsh, cruel ce. It¡¯s not peaceful. People lie, steal, murder, and yes... rape. And most have no problems thinking their actions justified. It¡¯s time for you to get that through your thick skull already. Do you think for even a second that any of the goblins you¡¯ve been captured by give a flying fuck about taking a bath? No. They don¡¯t. Not one tiny fuck-all do they care if they smell worse than the shit-pit they all use. You know <i>why</i> theye to your room and use the bath? Because spending five minutes in the water makes it easier for them to get what they want from you. Tell me, and be honest, what do you think is easier? Going through <em>all</em> the trouble to tie you up and hold you down so they can rape you for your seed, or spending <em>just a few moments</em> in a small clean pool of water inside their own cave, so that youe to them, all happy as a sow in mud, and give them it freely, eagerly, even?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°When you were first captured, do you think Prima gave a single shit about whether or not you could stomach raw bloody meat? I¡¯ve talked with her about your early days here, when you were still tied up with ropes like I was. The only reason she went along with cooking your meat at all, was that you had said if you can eat cooked meat and clean your dick with water, you could produce unlimited healthy seed. And for the record, she didn¡¯t believe youpletely until Diana Artemis was born. When that fucking demon who captured us both paid a visit to Berry and said that your eldest brat was supposed to be some mighty huntress for the tribe, she was sold on your bullshit. <em>But only to a point</em>.¡±

    I didn¡¯t like what Ste was saying. But what I didn¡¯t like more was that she was probably telling me the cold hard truth. I¡¯m a reverse seed-bed. No matter what else I¡¯ve done or have tried to do to bring civilization to the Bloodmaw, they¡¯ll go along with my whims only to a point if it means I¡¯ll shut up and continue giving them what they want from me. The only thing they truly want or need from me.

    ¡°I get why you raped me, Ark. I was being stubborn, but you did it anyway to save my life which I am grateful for. Did I hate it at the time? Yes. I did. I was upset for a good long while, but it¡¯s different now. I made my choice to adapt along with the changes it brought and became a Bloodmaw. I¡¯m alive, and I even have a daughter who I struggle with sometimes but love dearly even though she¡¯s a total mess, not to mention also half a goblin in appearance. But that¡¯s what the orchard pickers say¡­<i>the apple doesn¡¯t roll far from its tree</i>.¡±

    Ste pulled my face into her chest, her soft and tender breasts a warm and wee pillow for my tired mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m here for you, Ark. As your human wife, your adventuringpanion, the mother of your adorable daughter, whatever you need me to be in this moment. I¡¯m here to tell you that it¡¯s okay. For all the good you do, that you try to do to make the world a better ce, even if it¡¯s impossible from the start to do, it¡¯s okay. You raped an orc. It was something inevitable for her. Were it not you, then another orc would have probably done it to her eventually. Or worse, she might have sessfully escaped, only to wind up getting killed by some passing party outside of the forest. Because of you, she has been given a chance she quite honestly doesn¡¯t deserve. But you happen to think she does. If you didn¡¯t think so, you wouldn¡¯t have done what needed to be done to keep her alive. If she has any sense at all, she¡¯ll figure it out. Yeah, she¡¯ll probably hate you for a while, but that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    Ste stroked my head and just held me close to her for a while. I didn¡¯t cry, but the numbness I was feeling was beginning to fade.

    ¡°Why¡­ are you doing this¡­ for me?¡±

    ¡°Want me to lie to you?¡±

    ¡°It would be better if you did, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It would.¡±

    ¡°¡­tell me anyway.¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ even though I¡¯m a goblin now, what I want hasn¡¯t changed all that much from when I was a human.<i>All Ste wanted was a strong, muscr, handsome, rich man to give her an easy life.</i>The way I see it, aside from being handsome, and only having a few muscles of any quality to speak of, you¡¯ve been doing your best to provide me with the best of the other two. Which is why I don¡¯t mind being your wife. Well, in the goblin sense of it. Marriage is out, but with you sleeping around with everyone else, it would only be sphemy in the eyes of the Goddess were we to actually tie the knot. In ce of that, when you be king of this dump, remember who is most suitable to be the queen.¡±

    ¡°Button?¡±

    I felt eight fingers dig into my back and scratch me. I¡¯m so d that her fingers didn¡¯t be as sharp as a full goblin¡¯s.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    ¡°Kidding!¡±

    ¡°Hmph. You better be. Now, are you feeling human again?¡±

    ¡°I guess¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine, I have no choice then, it seems. Shall we go find Vera and get wild?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Are you¡­ being serious?¡±

    ¡°That depends. You willing to use that mouth of yours?¡±

    No further convincing was necessary. She got up off myp and helped me to my feet. After that, we left Rushk¡¯s cave and went down to the breeding room. Vera was in, and after being propositioned by Ste into a threesome, to which Vera happily replied with ¡°Sister!¡±

    Seeing Ste suck on Vera¡¯s titties alongside me only agitated the beast. Ste rode my face while Vera rode my cock and at the end of it all there were two very satisfied goblinsying on either side of me. We¡¯d eventually make it to the bath and clean up¡­ but for now, I felt a little less guilty than I had, and I hoped Ste was right.

    That maybe if I keep on doing what I can that is good, it will offset all the bad shit I wind up doing, because this world isn¡¯t the same as my past life. There is no right to live. It¡¯s an eat-or-be-eaten world.

    And I have more pussy to eat than I can handle, goblin<i>and</i>orc!

    <b>~~ Sometimeter, in Rushk¡¯s cave¡­ ~~</b>

    ¡°Rushk. Now that you are third, and a proper war-bride, would you care to have a drink with me?¡±

    Hearing Orga Lush speak to me, I rolled over and sat up. She had brough two cups and a jar full of what the goblins call<i>blue water</i>, a crude fruity alcohol. I took the offered cup already filled with it and sipped on it slowly. She sat down next to me and patted my leg.

    ¡°How was it? Are you sore from his<i>kosh</i>?¡±

    ¡°¡­no. He¡­ listened to my request and finished as quickly as he could.¡±

    ¡°Silly girl. After all he did for you, that is how you repay him?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I was¡­ nervous.¡±

    ¡°Nervous? Gah! Grmm¡­ Not that I don¡¯t understand. I was nervous for my first mating. I didn¡¯t even have any rings in my<i>pimpims</i>yet and only a few stars decorated on my left mam, since I loved gazing at the stars from the very first memory that I had of doing so as a whelp. I had always wanted to be a bride, but such a thing was never in my stars.¡±

    Orga Lush took a long sip of the alcohol, draining her entire cup before pouring another.

    ¡°No matter what maye of it, you will always be an orc to us.¡±

    ¡°You think I will undergo this change the War Chief spoke of?¡±

    ¡°I do. I would like tofort you saying otherwise, but I believe you will.¡±

    ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    ¡°All living beings have a star that governs them. I used to listen to the Shamans speak of the starless ones. Beings of unspeakable powers to twist fate itself to their liking.¡±

    ¡°Starless ones?¡±

    Orga Lush pulled out a pouch of bones and spilled them on the ground before us.

    ¡°Have you seen the ck-skinned one? Has the spider and skeleton as familiars?¡±

    ¡°I have. What about her?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a Tuothoc.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°Yes. These bones are blessed by her. She gave them to me freely just agreeing to let her sit on Missy for a few moments. While I¡¯m no Shaman, I was taught how to read the bones by the one in my camp after my first mating as a war-bride for the first time. What I find interesting is that the bones say that the War Chief is a starless one.¡±

    ¡°What does¡­ that mean, exactly?¡±

    ¡°<b>Chazok Hruth</b>. The War Chief will create a mighty kingdom in time. We could not be more fortunate with what has happened, bing his war-brides. But what I want to show you is this.¡±

    Orga Lush pointed to three bones crossing each other.

    ¡°The star of<b>Nekses</b>. The Iron Lord, who breaths magic into metal.¡±

    ¡°What about it? I don¡¯t know the bones, Orga Lush.¡±

    Orga Lush gathered up the bones and handed them to me.

    ¡°Go ahead, cast them.¡±

    I did as she said and cast the bones onto the floor.

    ¡°Again, the star of<b>Nekses</b>.¡± She pointed to the three bones crossing each other.

    ¡°Yes, but what does that mean, exactly?¡±

    ¡°The Warchief has plucked a star from the sky and put it in your belly. Your whelp will be blessed with the touch of iron.¡±

    ¡°We have mated only once. There is no guarantee I have a whelp in my belly already.¡±

    Orga Lush shook her head at me, her gaze full of pity.

    ¡°<b>Kumosh</b>.¡± She said, pointing to a few curved bones which had formed a ring.

    ¡°You will have this child in one season.¡±

    ¡°How can that be? It takes at<i>least</i>two seasons to bear a whelp!¡±

    ¡°It is not my ce to question the bones. I am only telling you what fate awaits you.¡±

    ¡°Is it only me? What about Grotte or Krushka?¡±

    ¡°They will carry his whelps as well. But their bones only showed<b>Guvek Kesht</b>.¡±

    ¡°<b>Guvek</b>¡­<b>Kesht</b>? That¡¯s¡­ my star.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Like you, their whelps will be favored by the War Chief. Perhaps they will also have whelps who are stars plucked from the sky as well. Truly a great fortune to see.¡±

    ¡°¡­what about you?¡±

    Orga Lush shook her head.

    ¡°<b>Kah Kamon</b>.¡±

    ¡°A curse?¡±

    ¡°I am old, Rushk. My time wille soon.¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s a starless one or whatever, can¡¯t he break it?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps. But for now, the bones say<b>Kah Kamon</b>.¡±

    ¡°Do you know how long?¡±

    ¡°No one may know when. Only<b>Kah Kamon</b>decides the time one meets them.¡±

    ¡°Orga¡­¡±

    She smiled at me before plucking up a long fat bone.

    ¡°Now that you are mated and no longer nervous or afraid, you should speak with your Husband. There are many pleasures to be had mating, and I¡¯m sure he would love to show them to you. Enjoy your youth and mate as often as you can before your tusks fall out.¡±

    We drank a bit more until the jar was emptied. Orga Lush then left my cave, and I was left alone with my thoughts. Thoughts of what happens next¡­

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-one â€“ In which Ark and the Great Protector talk about the past and the present.

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-one ¨C In which Ark and the Great Protector talk about the past and the present.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Apologies for not posting in a few days. From the 4th to the 8th of July I prioritize spending time with my own goblin tribe. Should be back to posting daily for the foreseeable future.

    ¡°Excellent news!¡±

    The only person who seemed genuinely happy to see Rushk transforming into a goblin was the Great Protector, who hade with some news that one of its agents would be entering the Bloodmaw domain soon to deliver what I had requested of it¡ªseeds for the new field we had created so that Melon would eventually have ess to new ingredients she could use to make more dishes for the Bloodmaw to enjoy eating.

    So far, Rushk¡¯s transformation into a goblin seemed to be following a simr route to Ste. She still retains her small tusks, her height and skin color haven¡¯t changed, and she says she still feels like an orc. But her ears now jut out to the side and her eyes have undergone the change into that gold and green color which have given her better vision than she already had with seeing in the dark.

    Okay, I may have lied.

    Ste is also someone who seems happy to see Rushk¡¯s transformation, but I can¡¯t believe that the motivation behind it is of a goodly nature. Is it schadenfreude perhaps? Now that she¡¯s no longer the only transformed goblin, Ste has gone out of her way to befriend Rushk as a fellow victim of circumstance.

    ¡°I take it the skull-mouth is your doing, Ark?¡±

    The change to the external appearance of Goblinhome did not go unnoticed by the Great Protector.

    ¡°I was feeling inspired. Ebony happens to love it.¡±

    ¡°The Bone-Lord? Not surprising. Have any new goblinse into the world since myst visit?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. But quite a few of the adults are already in their second month. Berry, Truffle, Pear¡­ not to mention those who just became pregnant after¡­¡±

    ¡°Your temporary change into a Bloodmaw?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°At this rate, three generations in a year isn¡¯t bad at all. By the time your children are of the age to have their own, the poption of Goblinhome will be one hundred or more. After that, it will truly begin to explode.¡±

    ¡°Do¡­ you have some goal in mind with using me to repopte the Bloodmaw?¡±

    ¡°My only goal is to see that they do not be extinct.¡±

    ¡°Do you not intend to bring another male¡­ into the tribe?¡±

    ¡°None. You have already proven yourself to be enough. Or is having an unlimited amount of goblin women who want only to mate with you and bear your children without taboo or consequence not what you truly desire?¡±

    I sighed.

    ¡°I will tell you something you may appreciate but do keep it to yourself.¡±

    My ears perked up at the hint of some secret motive the Great Protector was willing to reveal to me.

    ¡°The Bloodmaw are my precious children, Ark. My entire domain is meant for them to inherit. When their numbers be enough, I will lift the restrictions on the three borders. If you wish to continue teaching them how to be civilized as you profess, then do consider teaching them how to build camps and viges. I want the Bloodmaw to spread to all the corners of my domain and continue to grow in number.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t that attract the attention of the nearby towns and viges? Surely the Adventurer¡¯s guild will send out more subjugation parties if they find the number of goblins has grown substantially¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you not see how strong your children are? The Huntress alone could best a party of B-rank adventurers. Add the tworge ones from the runt and they could take on a four-man party of A-rank. How many Adventurers of that rank do you think the Guild can just spare to throw at a goblin subjugation? What they see as only a minor growing infestation of<i>goblins</i>?¡±

    That¡¯s true. Goblins aren¡¯t exactly considered to be priority one monsters to needing to be eradicated. They¡¯re only considered to be nuisances and annoyances inrge numbers, to be dealt with by the lower ranks.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why was there a party of S-ranks sent to massacre them?¡±

    ¡°Spear-hand.¡±

    ¡°Old One¡¯s daughter?¡±

    ¡°She wasn¡¯t only a Guardian, Ark. She was a Goblin Champion.¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what that means.¡±

    ¡°She was no less strong than the Huntress when she was born. She also underwent six Blood Furies, a Blood Awakening, and A Blood Oracle. To call her a Goblin Queen is an understatement. Her very existence was a threat to what you call the civilized races. And she was a<i>true</i>Bloodmaw on top of that. Vicious, brutal, and superior. Inparison to the rest of the tribe she ruled, she was like a¡­<i>tower master</i>.¡±

    I whistled.

    ¡°She was that strong?¡±

    ¡°She was. She was also<i>extremely</i>intelligent. I mourned her death deeply together with the Old One. Which is exactly why I ughtered everyone involved in causing her death, save for one. One to spread the word that I was furious and that on pain of the most excruciating death, entry into mynds was forbidden without permission. At which point I brought the remaining Bloodmaw here, so they would still have a chance to regain what once was. What I didn¡¯t expect was my luck in getting ahold of<i>you</i>.¡±

    ¡°We must have different definitions of what luck is.¡±

    I only caught something strange in what the Great Protector said just then by sheer chance. Something I wouldn¡¯t have normally paid attention to were this truly a casual conversation between us¡­

    ¡°Wait a minute. If entry to yournds was forbidden without permission, then why was there a goblin subjugation mission posted in the guild?¡±

    ¡°Because I had it posted. As you saw when you arrived, my children were ready to begin restoring the tribe.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ it¡¯s because of you that Kairos is dead, and Ste was forced into bing a goblin?¡±

    ¡°Kairos?¡±

    ¡°Ourpanion. Kairos, Ste, and I all epted the quest toe subjugate¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, the brash young man who tried to attack me with that flimsy sword. He¡¯s not dead¡­ at least I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°I had no need of that desert-skinned ruffian, so I expelled him from the forest. I even left the clothes both you and the girl wore, torn and covered in blood next to him to find when he woke. If he was smart, he would have drawn from that the conclusion both of you were dead and reported to the guild the failure of your mission.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ your aim the entire time was¡­ me?¡±

    ¡°Would you prefer I tell you that any man would have done in your stead? Cheapen your struggle over thest six months, perhaps? I could do so, but I find no reason to hide the truth. I have never lied to you even once, Ark. You were indeed my aim at that time, and still remain so. A scion of the Wyze bloodline? The Old One has mentioned her human husband to you, the one called Grant, yes?¡±

    ¡°Yes. She mentioned him.¡±

    ¡°He was a ridiculously powerful tower mage, some twenty or so years ago. Perhaps stronger back then than Salondra is today. Were he not already at death¡¯s door when the Old One found him, there is a chance he might still be where you stand now, doing wholeheartedly what you feel that you have been forcibly coerced into doing. Instead, the only proof of his legacy was lost together with Spear-hand. Now, what if what happened with Spear-hand¡¯s nature from birth wasn¡¯t a fluke? Mix the blood of Wyze with the Origin Blood of the Creator and see whates from it? Surely you aren¡¯t so foolish as to keep closed your eyes to the nature of your goblin children? A potential Champion, A Shaman, A Bone Lord, A Bloody Druid, A Saintess¡­ what other marvels will your blood create? Don¡¯t think for a moment that the child of the Mushroom-picker goes unnoticed, either. Just being in close proximity to her makes me feel like I¡¯m standing amidst a tempest. I would feel more anxious in trading blows with her even once versus you in your goblin form a hundred times over.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying my blood is responsible for making¡­ unnaturally strong children with the Bloodmaw?¡±

    ¡°To be clear, I believe it to be the magic lying dormant inside of you that is somehow being passed through your blood<i>and</i>seed, but yes, unequivocally, as the answer.¡±

    ¡°¡­Why are you choosing now to tell me any of this?¡±

    ¡°The orc.¡±

    ¡°Rushk?¡±

    ¡°You threatened the Guardian over her when she was brought back after attempting to flee. What was it you said to her¡­ if the orc stops breathing, all of Goblin homees down?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Let me ask you something in all seriousness. Were I to allow you to leave peacefully right now, under the condition of never being allowed to return, to be seen as an enemy of the tribe for all time for doing so¡­ would you go?¡±

    ¡°Only me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll humor you in saying that you can also take your formerly humanpanion<i>and</i>the Saintess as well.¡±

    I pondered it over for a little bit, but I already had my answer to this question a long time ago.

    ¡°No. There¡¯s¡­ nowhere I particrly care to return to. Nor do I have any idea how to undo Ste¡¯s transformation. I don¡¯t even think it¡¯s possible to do that with Lumi at all, either. From what I can tell, she¡¯s a true goblin¡­¡±

    ¡°Look, I will not say I am no longer your enemy, Ark. The Bloodmaw are and will always be my precious children who I will prioritize the safety of. But you are also<i>their</i>Husband, by<i>their</i>choice. The only ce we need to meet in the middle of, is that we both agree in wanting to see them prosper. Something I believe it is safe to say we both want, yes?¡±

    ¡°If you are suggesting we are family now, I regret to inform you that I already have a wicked mother-inw in the form of Old One and have no desire for a second one more wicked than she is, so what does that make you?¡±

    The Great Protector¡¯s bone-rattlingugh was particrly nasty when I said that.

    ¡°Then, how about you think of me as a¡­ Fairy Godparent!¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re a Fairy, then I¡¯m a one-tentacled deep-sea Kraken.¡±

    Moreughter shook my skeleton from the inside causing my brain to slosh around inside my skull like lumpy stew.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s enough talk for now. I¡¯m sure you have many things to think about, and I need to meet with the Bloody Druid.¡±

    ¡°Mint? What for?¡±

    ¡°I presume you¡¯d like to have the wonderful bounty of nature which surrounds you to lend you their blessings so that your precious seeds will grow?¡±

    I held my hands up in surrender. I was neither farmer nor druid, and I sure as hell knew that we were going to need whatever blessings were avable to us to see our first nting and harvest through sessfully.

    The Great Protector walked into the open mouth of Castle Gobskull¡ªI mean Goblinhome¡ªand left me outside scratching my head at first, then staring at them.

    ¡°The blood of Wyze, huh?¡±

    Should I consider myself lucky that I was born to that woman in my second life? She wasn¡¯t much of a mother to be honest, and even calling her that¡­ kind of sticks in my throat. I¡¯ve been gone for almost a year now. I wonder if she even realizes¡­?

    No. She has to. After all, there¡¯s less than a year to go until that arranged marriage which she was trying to force me into. Wasn¡¯t even someone I knew, just the daughter of some other Tower Magus she was hoping to scheme into an alliance with.

    Yeah. I need to get stronger. Blood of Wyze indeed. I need to find a way to unlock that vast amount of magical power within me that the Monster had no problems essing¡­

    But how?

    Pulling me out of my thoughts was Berry, smelling like her sweet berries and holding her fat belly swollen with the second child of mine she was eager to carry.

    ¡°Husband¡­ would you like to spend some time with us?¡±

    ¡°Us?¡± I asked, curiously.

    She grinned sneakily.

    It took no effort for her to take me by the hand and drag me into her cave-hole where not only Diana Artemis was waiting for me, but also Pear and Melon, along with many bowls of fruits and berries.

    I could already feel a sense of stickiness from my body¡­

    Yeah, the Great Protector was right. I had a lot to digest upstairs, and the best way to do so would be after I took care of my primitive needs and could find myself entering sage mode.

    I reached for my loincloth and tugged it off and threw it to the side in one fluid motion exposing my erect seed-stick, made unyieldingly fierce once more by simply being in the presence of the Great Protector.

    ¡°Alright my lovelies. Eeny-meenie-miney-mo. Catch a goblin by the toe¡­¡±

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-three â€“ In which Nova and Ark have a friendly, long overdue, spar.

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-three ¨C In which Nova and Ark have a friendly, long overdue, spar.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Nova **~~</strong>

    ¡°How¡¯s it going, kiddo? Thirsty?¡±

    A cup filled with the sweet red fruit water and plenty of ice cubes was pressed against my cheek before being handed over to me. As a Swordsaint, I practice with the shoddy iron sword my goblin mother gave to me for a short while every morning. While I know she would have preferred me to use the spear as she does, it¡¯s simply not a weapon that I can bring the full potential out of.

    Hakim Al-Khamsin¡­ that was once my name. Now I am called Nova, a name which my father says means<i>a bright new star</i>. I¡¯m not quite sure I¡¯m deserving of such a name, though myst one meant<i>the wise desert wind</i>, a name I had at least grown into properly even if my actions were repugnant at times. I was a womanizer, and a mercenary, but I was also a patriot to my homnd in the desert kingdom known to outsiders only as Sunscorch.

    My mother was a whore and my father was a king as the joke went. I was a ruffian and a troublemaker from the time I could first swing my fists. Iter picked up a sword and began doing what I needed to in order to secure my future, since I was only a burden to my mother who while she cared for me as best she could, surely was burdened by me as well.

    I took a sip of the refreshing drink my new father had given to me and sat down in the grass next to him. My father¡¯s name is Ark Wyze, a rather powerful human sorcerer. He is also the only man to be found in both the tribe and within the entirety of the Bloodmaw domain.

    ¡°It¡¯s good.¡±

    ¡°I mixed in some citrus syrup. I figured it would cool you down nicely.¡±

    I was used to dry heat. Instead, the forest is full of humidity, leaving my mostly naked body feeling sweaty and sticky all the time.

    ¡°Want to spar with me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m no match for you, Nova. Even if I had a magical sword to use.¡±

    My father is a terrible liar as well. He has knowledge of armaments I¡¯ve never seen before, and many that I have which I would even consider to be exotic. I remember him showing my older sister, Magpie, how to do something he called<i>iaido</i>. It involved drawing a sword from its sheath in one motion to deal devastating damage. He¡¯s well versed in fighting theory at least, to the point that I would be willing to learn from him what I do not already know. He even made me a weapon from magically crafted stone surrounding a bone that I had only wished was made of metal. It was arge t curved de that, when I held it, felt like an extension of my arm. The weight and bncing were impable, to the point that were it made of metal, I would be willing to think myself unparalleled inbat.

    ¡°Then if you aren¡¯t going to spar with me¡­ are we just going to talk?¡±

    ¡°If you want. Anything specific you have in mind?¡±

    ¡°There is something I¡¯m curious about. Do you feel no shame in indulging with your own children?¡±

    My father who was usually easy-going and jovial, crinkled his face when I asked him that. To be clear, I¡¯m not judging him. But as someone who was also a civilized man at one point, such a thing is¡­ unbing, even to the worst of us.

    ¡°I feel plenty of it, Nova. There¡¯s something I heard someone say once, though I can¡¯t remember when or where. When one betrays their morals, they stop being morals and be more of a hobby instead.¡±

    I snorted when I heard him say that.

    ¡°At the very least, should any of my daughters want me to nevery a hand on them, I will abide that decision no matter what.¡±

    ¡°In that case, you can leave those to me.¡±

    This time my old man snorted.

    ¡°What if they don¡¯t have fat tits and arge ass?¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll just have to fatten them up until they do!¡±

    We bothughed at the stupidity of what we were saying to each other.

    ¡°I appreciate you not saying anything about¡­<i>that time</i>. I thought you had betrayed me when Prima suddenly came to me the other day saying that she knew all about my secret. I didn¡¯t realize she was aware I was using a sword skill.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, your mother has aplex about being the strongest.¡±

    ¡°She sure does. Who do you think is the strongest?¡±

    ¡°Tough call. Lily¡¯s moved up my list, but the top three are Pepper, Pear, and Berry for sure.¡±

    ¡°Uh? What?¡±

    My old man pointed at his crotch.

    ¡°I meant in a fight, not rolling around in the hay!¡±

    ¡°Got news for you, kiddo. The only swordy I¡¯m any good at is with the meat stick.¡±

    My father stood up and stretched his arms out above his head before answering seriously.

    ¡°But I suppose I owe it to you once, even if it¡¯ll only disappoint you. Can you give me a little bit of time to make my own weapon? It won¡¯t be traditional in appearance, but it<i>will</i>be a sword.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to make it now?¡±

    ¡°Depends on the quality of bones Ivory has on hand.¡±

    ¡°Can I watch you make it?¡±

    ¡°Sure. There¡¯s nothing secret about its design.¡±

    My father let me apany him to the cave-hole belonging to Ivory and Truffle. When we got there, my father immediately rushed to see Ivory who had¡­pany at the time. It was the orc with tanned-orange skin, Grotto or something.

    ¡°What the¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Ah! Husband came visiting too soon! Ivory wanted to show this to youter!¡±

    My father stood there, jaw agape, staring at Ivory¡¯s tits, which were now simr to the orc¡¯s. She had two thin bones pierced through her nipples and some pictures on her breasts. One breast, at least. It was of a tree and a mushroom growing next to it.

    My father engaged in a conversation with both Ivory and the Orc. Truffle was also there, holding up a mushroom that looked identical to the one on Ivory¡¯s breast, but she had no changes to her breasts at all. Just a swollen pregnant belly. I didn¡¯t understand the oguage, but I did understand Ivory just fine.

    It seems that my father was the adventurous sort with these three, having engaged in some cross-species y at the same time. Ivory was fascinated by the tattooing and piercings the orcs had and wanted to do the same to her own chest after having seen it. Ivory also appeared to be able to speak a few words of orcish now, at least enough to ask the orc, whose name was Grotte, not Grotto, to assist her, which she was happy to do.

    Turns out that Ivory was going to need a day or two to heal and keep her breasts clean before father could enjoy them. If I had to say where the whorehouse was in Goblinhome, I believe I just witnessed its establishment.

    I will give him credit. He managed to collect himself well in the situation and had gone about asking permission from her to look through some of her bones to find a few suitable for making a weapon. Both Ivory and Truffle were surprised to find that he was intending to make<i>himself</i>a Grand Weapon.

    Apparently, since father is a magician and a powerful one at that, not a single goblin save for my mother would have thought he would ever have the intention of using an actual weapon. The one weapon he did have, a magical wand that Ivory herself mistook as a ck bone, was given to her own daughter, Ebony, which is something that happened before I was born as a goblin.

    Given the interest both Ivory and Truffle had, as well as Grotte who also seemed to be interested in the magic my father could use, let him stay in their cave-hole while he assembled not only one, but two weapons that even a Swordsaint such as myself found intriguing.

    ¡°These are des used by the warrior elites of the Covenant Empire. I don¡¯t know their exact name, only that the cruder versions were called<i>burndes</i>. The more advanced types used a special kind of¡­ hmm¡­ shall we call it star-magic? This one won¡¯t be remotely as strong as one of those types, but it should hold up to at least a few strikes from your metal sword<i>¡­</i>I think.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t identify the bones he used to make it, but he fashioned a short fat bone for a grip, and a few long bones for the des, as it had two triangr halves with a gap in the middle. It looked a bit like a sword-catcher. Two holes were fashioned with father cing the Topaz stone he carried within a bone bracelet he almost always wore into one, and a perfectly clear quartz stone into the other. Once the bone framework was done, it was reinforced with dirt he hardened to stone around it.

    They reminded me of Diana¡¯s weapon, the one she called<i>Bleed</i>, which in turn seemed like a close cousin of the<i>Qattari</i>used by nefarious assassins in the shadowed alleys of my former homnd, Sunscorch.

    Father stood up and carefully moved his arms while holding the exotic weapon he called a<i>burnde.</i>

    ¡°I suppose this will have to do. No promises I¡¯m going to be good at fighting you with them.¡±

    ¡°Husband is going to fight Nova? Can wee and watch?¡±

    Truffle was interested in the fight, and so father invited the three of them toe and watch if they wanted once he rified that it was a spar, and that he was probably going to lose to me. I can¡¯t speak for the other goblins, but I think everyone here in Goblinhome enjoys watching a good spar.

    I¡¯m sure he would have preferred it being something casual between only us, but I¡¯ve been hounding him for a proper fight for a long time now, and I kind of wanted an audience. Maybe it¡¯s my childish nature¡­ being a juvenile goblin and all right now, but I can only listen to Diana go on and on about our old man being impossibly strong without wanting to cross des with him myself, just to be sure!

    So, a few more goblins were gathered for the event.

    And by a few goblins, I mean everyone that was inside Goblinhome¡­ on both floors.

    There was a wide-open space to spar on the West side of the fire-pit, so the logs that had been ced around it now became the stands. Everybody but Figurine, ce, Button, Jewel, Ruby, and Jade hade out to watch. Even Old One and my younger sister Wise-eyes hade to watch.

    The rules were as basic as it got for a spar. The first tond a clean blow or what would be a fatal strike determined the winner.

    The two of us stood about a dozen paces apart with my mother, Prima, acting as the judge. Father already told me before we began that he wouldn¡¯t use any magic that wasn¡¯t constrained to his sword, for fairness¡¯ sake.

    I appreciated that. But why does he think I can use magic in my sword?

    ¡°Are you ready?¡± My mother announced in a loud voice, to which the both of us said we were.

    ¡°Then¡­ fight!¡±

    When fighting an opponent one isn¡¯t sure the exact strength or skill of, moving slowly and cautiously is usually the best approach. But I knew my father to be a calm and calctive man most of the time, so I decided to rush him and see what came of it. I¡¯ve been in more battles than I can hope to count and felt confident that my experience would guide me to a victory.

    But my old man is full of surprises. His eyes weren¡¯t focused on my arms at all. Instead, he was staring at my feet. When I swung my sword, he sprang towards it, intercepting my sword with his left de, and it felt like I had struck the side of the mountain we lived in.

    I felt the recoil from the sword jolt my arms, and in that single moment of minor difort, he pivoted his body and the top of his foot hit the back of my knee, sending me to the ground, where I quickly rolled away to avoid any follow-up strike, springing to my feet and reorienting myself.

    ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I missed. I was aiming for your calf muscle with that kick.¡±

    ¡°This is a swordfight!¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Why are you kicking?¡±

    ¡°To limit your movement.¡± He said stone-faced. ¡°Nova, a swordfight is very much like a game of chess. I need to limit the moves you can make so I can put you in a position where you are forced to make a mistake and I can im victory. If you are expecting me to only use my weapons, you are sorely mistaken.¡±

    I felt like he had just cheapened our spar, but at the same time, he had approached our spar as if it was something more than just a casual shing of swords. He was taking me seriously from the start, and I respected that more than he could know.

    I took the stance of the form I was most familiar with. The form I had learned and used for over fifteen years.

    ¡°I won¡¯t hold back, old man.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to endure.¡± He replied in his usual ill-confident manner.

    I approached him cautiously this time, and he began to circle around me. He kept his left side exposed to me and tucked his right side behind him. His fists were up like he was nning to brawl with punches, but with the long reach of his swords, I found myself needing to search for an opening that he wasn¡¯t trying to lure me in with since there were so many.

    I¡¯ve fought a few who wielded weapons in both hands, but usually only one weapon had reach, while the other weapon was much shorter, like a dagger or long a long knife. He had two weapons that both had long reach but also could be used in a shielding manner, making things tricky for me.

    ¡°Not going to attack? Then I will.¡±

    The<i>burnde</i>he held onto with his right hand began to glow and with a shing motion the very air in front of it distorted and rippled towards me. I focused on it and swung my own sword with a full spin of my body to cut the dangerous wave of air rushing at me. I wasn¡¯t left unharmed as I felt a part of my non-dominant shoulder sting as if it was cut.

    Sparing a nce, I noticed it had been. A small scratch, but still a scratch.

    Aside from the time he had turned into a full goblin, I¡¯ve never seen my father truly raise his hand to anyone or ever swing it with violence. Especially not towards us, his children.

    I see.

    This was his test for me.

    No words needed to be exchanged anymore.

    I gathered myself and immediately dashed towards him, Confronting him with all of my experience as a Swordsaint. My sword rang loud with heavy and dull hits as my own collided with his. I danced around him, seeking to strike him at each and every opening he presented me with. The weapon in his left hand moved close to his body to try and receive or deflect each of my attacks, but quite a few got through. They weren¡¯t clean cuts, but he was now bleeding from a small cut on the side of his defensive arm, and two ncing cuts to his unprotected body on the same side.

    Drawing blood on him caused a scent to fill the air and I felt¡­<i>disturbed</i>.

    I had an urge to pounce on him and w at him with my own hands rather than to keep using the sword I wielded, but I had the mental fortitude to shake it off. I felt like the fight should have been over, and that he shouldn¡¯t have been able to defend my attacks as well as he had.

    But the fight wasn¡¯t over. I continued my assault, circling around him and pressing my attacks at any openings that looked worthwhile. He was entirely on the defensive, continuing to use his left weapon as a shield of sorts. But my metal sword was chipping away at his weapon made only a short while ago with nothing other than a few bones and dirt made magically stone.

    Then, he smiled and swung his right weapon upwards, shouting something stupid.

    ¡°<b>FACE THE WIND!!</b>¡±

    It felt like a wall of impassable air was right between us. Trying to approach it only pushed me back. My toes dug into the dirt just to keep my body steady.

    ¡°<b>AKU!</b><b>?</b><b>SOKU!</b><b>?</b><b>ZAN!¡±</b>

    Father took that moment to propel himself through that wall of wind. His speed was amplified, and his right weapon was aimed straight at my head. I put all my strength into swinging my sword up to parry it, only to find that his left weapon was also moving to strike what would be my exposed nk.

    Shit!

    I immediately let go of my sword and tucked into a roll trying to dodge everything. When I came up from my roll right behind him, I crouched down low and threw my body at his legs from behind, knocking him to the ground. Then I sprung to my feet, leapt into the air to grab my sword which was descending, and poked his exposed butt as soon as my feet hit the ground.

    ¡°Nova has won!¡± Prima dered.

    I dropped my sword and leaned over, cing my hands on my knees and breathing heavily.

    Thatst attack¡­ I couldn¡¯t tell if the old man was fucking around the entire fight or not.

    He groaned a little bit and pushed himself up off the ground onto his hands and knees. The right weapon he held onto had shattered into about six pieces, but the left one was still fine.

    He then rotated his body so that he was sitting down, the entire front of his body was covered in dirt and grass, including his face.

    ¡°Was that good enough for you, kiddo?¡±

    I let my body go and fell right onto my butt.

    ¡°Yeah. I had fun.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± He said with another smile and fell back onto the ground, spreading out his arms.

    We both began tough together for a bit before my sisters came over and began to harass him about a few things. Diana wanted to know all about the weapon he was using that she picked up and began swinging around. Magpie was curious as to how father created the wall of wind. But all of them were affected by the scent of his blood, and he was about to be ate breakfast for the entire tribe.

    But my mother wasn¡¯t having any of it. She just sat on him and red at every single goblin and orc present, making them cower away. Lumi was the only one allowed to approach, using her Saintly magic to quickly heal the cuts on his body which we all felt the effects of. I can¡¯t say I enjoyed the feeling of arousal it brought about towards him.

    While father was recovering, sitting on a log and talking about some members of a so-called<i>Legendary League</i>to Magpie and the others who remained, with Ivory taking up the space in hisp that everyone else wanted. Diana had gone into the forest and came back quickly with a pair of freshly killed foxes, skewered on father¡¯s weapon.

    The orcs quickly prepared one for cooking over the fire while the other was immediately torn into by the goblins who preferred fresh bloody meat.

    Yes, it was just another quiet and peaceful day here in this little goblin kingdom hidden in the forest¡­ sitting in thep of arge orc called Krushka as her two massively tattooed and pierced breasts pressed down on my head while I ate some delicious meat she offered to feed me.

    Whether male or female, the orcs appreciate strength. And as the War Chief¡¯s mighty daughter who won our battle, to the victor goes the spoils,<i>old man</i>!

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-seven â€“ In which Ark explains the various types of love to Diana Artemis

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-seven ¨C In which Ark exins the various types of love to Diana Artemis

    ¡°Want to run away again?¡±

    After the party held out in the open yesterday, most if not all of the goblin tribe went back to their usual daily lives. It was currently raining. Nothing too fierce¡ªlittle more than a steady drizzle, not cool enough to make me catch a cold with my body soaked as it was. I was once more at the tree line, staring out endlessly into it while not really thinking about anything in particr.

    Diana Artemis had once moree to me, not bothering to put a knife to my neck as she had before. She took a seat on the muddy ground next to me and leaned her head gently against my shoulder.

    In that moment, I wished I could say I was just her father. But that line had been crossed and I was the very thing she had always called me from the start¡ªher Husband.

    ¡°No. No matter where I go, I¡¯m convinced that too will be a prison for me.¡± Was all I could answer.

    ¡°What¡¯s a<i>prison</i>?¡±

    As it turns out, for the Bloodmaw, there is no real concept of a prison. If there was internal strife within the tribe, it was mediated by someone strong like Spear-hand, Old One, or even Prima. Anyone captured would obviously either be raped or eaten. Why keep someone alive just for the sake of keeping them alive if they had no other use? These goblins are practical to the extreme. I mean, I¡¯m not a prisoner. I¡¯m a breeding ve.

    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be a ce where people who do bad things are kept. A ce where no one really cares about them. But sometimes even good people wind up there for the wrong reasons, or because of the scheming of others. Sometimes they are kept there for a short period of time as a punishment, and sometimes they are sent there and will remain there for the rest of their life.¡±

    ¡°Does Husband think Goblinhome is a prison for him?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t deny that at the start of my stay here, I thought it the case. If I still think of it as being one these days, then Goblinhome has be a prison of my own making.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because of you. Because of your sisters. Because even if you won¡¯t ever call me daddy, I will never be fully able to see you as the beautiful and powerful independent female goblin huntress that you know yourself to be. I find it hard to even think of abandoning you all. To me, even if you wish to have strong-ones of your own with me which pains me emotionally, you will still always be<i>my</i>daughters¡ª<i>my</i>strong-ones. I can<i>try</i>toe to terms with it,<i>twist</i>my way of thinking to deceive myself that you are an adult no different than Berry, Vera, or even Prima who don¡¯t share my human blood¡­ but it will always be a fact of life that I made you, and that in the world I was once a part of, it¡¯s considered a human crime¡ªpunishable by being put in prison.¡±

    ¡°Even¡­ if Diana Artemis loves Husband in the same way humans love?¡±

    I scoffed for a moment, but not in an offensive way. While I have a considerable amount of life experience over her, she¡¯s still just over six months going on sixteen candles¡­ there¡¯s so much she still needs to learn about love. I mean, hell, barely a few days before she was born was the first time I had ever held a woman in an intimate embrace¡­ even if it was really just Prima raping me in the most peaceful way possible.

    ¡°In thends of humans far, far, away from here, there was a big tribe known as the Greeks. This tribe are the same as the ones who worshipped the Goddess of your namesake. They also determined that humans had eight ways to love each other and gave a name to each one.¡±

    Diana Artemis tilted her head up and looked at me with great confusion.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t love¡­ love? Berry said¡­¡±

    I shook my head gently, not letting her finish her sentence.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about them in detail, then maybe you might understand how different it is from whatever the Bloodmaw equivalent is. To answer your question, Love isn¡¯t simply love¡ªat least not to humans. One of our bad habits is the need to sort every single thing in this world into its own ce, much like how quickly Truffle can identify a specific mushroom just from hearing you describe it.¡±

    ¡°The first kind of love is called<b>Eros</b>. It is the same as the love felt when making strong-ones.¡±

    ¡°Diana Artemis likes that one.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s usually the most enjoyable.¡± I quickly quipped.

    ¡°Diana Artemis is d she got to know how good Husband¡¯s seed-stick inside of her feels.¡±

    ¡°I figured you¡¯d enjoy the biting part more.¡±

    ¡°That part is also good but feels different.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    My short time spent as a goblin, especially with Melon, taught me what my wives and daughters felt when we exchanged bites and tasted each other¡¯s blood. A surge of power and knowledge transferred between each other in a preternatural way.

    ¡°The next type of love is called<b>Philia</b>. That¡¯s considered the kind of thing where you think¡­<i>I love being around this goblin the most</i>. I suppose the best examples of this are Truffle and Ivory as well as Button and ce.¡±

    Diana nodded before adding ¡°Also Ebony and Mint¡­ Luna and Nova.¡±

    I quickly agreed seeing that she understood the gist of it quickly enough.

    ¡°The third type of love is called<b>Agape</b>. This is the kind of love where you¡¯re willing to sacrifice yourself for another. For me, it would have been when I stood against Prima and the Great Protector so that I could make sure you had space in Berry¡¯s cave-hole for you to grow up well in. Actually, in the moment I probably did it for Berry more than you, but you were certainly on my mind after having met you for the first time.¡±

    Diana¡¯s wickedly sharp-toothed smile beamed when I said that.

    ¡°Diana Artemis knows this love. Felt it when we hunted ck-ws together.¡±

    She was spot on. If one of those damn wolves would have gone for her, I would have shielded her with my life. I imagine she believes she would have done the same.

    ¡°Alright, then we¡¯ll move to the fourth type of love called<b>Storge</b>. This is the love a maker goblin has for their strong-ones and sister-goblins. This one is ipatible with<b>Eros</b>. This should be the feelings you have when ites to wanting to protect and take care of Berry and I, as well as the feelings you have as a big sister goblin towards Orchid and Lc¡ªspecifically.¡±

    Diana crinkled her brow for a moment nodding only slightly at my exnation.

    ¡°Something confusing about it, Diana?¡± I asked.

    ¡°This is not part of the<i>goblin way</i>. Strong-ones do not usually bring food to their maker goblins. And I only became a big sister goblin to Orchid and Lc because of Husband¡¯s warning.¡±

    ¡°My warning?¡±

    Diana recounted what I told her about being strong by force, and how if she was benevolent to Lily¡¯s twins that they would one day help her when she needed it the most rather than abandon her. It¡¯s impressive to me how a single lesson can be fully retained by her at the young age she was back then.

    ¡°Mm. Then maybe that¡¯s proof there¡¯s some<i>human way</i>inside of you somewhere.¡±

    ¡°Not just Diana Artemis. This kind of love only exists in the Bloodmaw because Husband created it.¡±

    I was momentarily stunned by her admission of that. Power is Hierarchy within the Bloodmaw, such things as care and generosity were foreign things to them. Did I really have such an influence on the whole tribe regarding this aspect of love?

    ¡°Alright let¡¯s move on to the fifth type of love called<b>Mania</b>. It happens when your feelings of love overwhelm your otherwise normal rational reasoning, usually as a result of a desire to possess someone or somethingpletely. It¡¯s not considered a safe or healthy form of love, but it exists, nheless. I would think you suffered from that directly when you underwent your Blood Fury and decided to be an adult goblin the first time without obtaining my permission.¡±

    Diana frowned at thatst bit I was still aggrieved enough to tack on at the end.

    ¡°Diana Artemis did not need permission. Adult goblins make strong-ones! To make strong-ones, need seed-stick and big-seed. Husband¡¯s job is to give it to all goblins that are ready.¡±

    Yeah, try telling a pubescent teenage girl that she¡¯s not an adult. It¡¯s easier to win a knock-down drag-out fight with the Great Protector¡­

    ¡°Forget it. The Sixth type of love is called<b>Ludus</b>. It¡¯s the enjoyment one feels when ying around with and teasing others. I dare say that this is the kind of love you might see between myself and either Jewel or Pepper. I don¡¯t think they particrly care for me as a Husband in the same way say¡­ Vera does. But most definitely they enjoy the benefits thate along with me being everyone¡¯s Husband here and having limited time with me.¡±

    Diana seemed to grasp that one quitefortably with nothing to add. I do flirt with everyone, and it¡¯s inline with normal everyday operations here.

    ¡°Then the seventh is probably the one you¡¯d most be able to understand. It¡¯s called<b>Pragma</b>. It¡¯s the kind of love meant to fulfill an obligation. In my case, if any of the adult goblins love me for a specific reason, it¡¯s because I am here to make strong-ones with them. It¡¯s the reason why I am everyone¡¯s Husband and can¡¯t belong to any individual goblin. It¡¯s also the reason I¡¯m sitting here right now. Not only am I every adult goblin¡¯s Husband, I¡¯m also every strong-one¡¯s daddy, too.¡±

    Diana also signaled her understanding of this type of love.

    ¡°Husband is wrong. Diana listens to Old One talk about what it means to be n. What Husband is saying about this type of love is more like being n.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°Being n is important to the Bloodmaw.¡±

    I got a small lecture from Diana about her understanding of n as she understood it from Old One which was somewhat different than the exnation I got from Toy, the first person I became n with. Apparently, in the past of the tribe, n considerations were based not only on selecting a mating partner or partners, but also theirpatibility with fellow n members and howplementary their acquired skillsets in life were. Diana really did nail it on the head.

    ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve got a point.¡± I conceded. ¡°So, finally, there¡¯s the eighth and final type of love called<b>Phutia</b>. While all the other types of love involve other people, this one is specifically about loving yourself¡ªor at least beingfortably proud of what you are. If Diana can say to herself that she takes pride in being the next Guardian of the goblin tribe, and that she also take pride in others acknowledging that about herself, then that¡¯s pretty much what it is.¡±

    ¡°Same as how Husband is proud that he can use Human stone magic to make the Bloodmaw stronger?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ and no. What I love about myself is¡­ well¡­ being your daddy. Being all your sisters¡¯ daddy. Even if you arepletely Bloodmaw in appearance and ability, to me, you will always be in some part¡ªhuman. You are my family no matter what, and that makes me feel like I have good worth.¡±

    I don¡¯t know if Diana Artemis fully understands thisst one, since it¡¯s a bit more subtle than its nearest neighbor, Narcissism. What she was fully understanding of at this moment, however, was<b>Eros.</b>Diana, in a single swift movement, had upied myp and put her hands around my neck. With only a soggy, muddied loincloth on, her bare tan colored chest, enhanced by the physical transformation of her body after her Blood Fury that had happened not too long ago, perked out in front of me with youthful indiscretion.

    Giving in to the taboo which had already been broken, in the drizzling rain, my eldest huntress and I became a beast with two backs once more. We rolled in the grass and mud and Diana Artemis did her damnedest to try and make a strong-one as she desired with the absurd amount of human genome she extracted from me.

    My reward from all of this?

    ¡°Achoo!¡±

    Was to be, for the first time since arriving in Goblinhome, to be the recipient of a cold¡­

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-Eight â€“ In which Ark truly regrets catching a cold.

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-Eight ¨C In which Ark truly regrets catching a cold.

    ¡°Gishoo! Uwachoo! Guhhh¡­¡±

    How long had it been since I caught a cold? Maybe a year or so? I¡¯m rather cautious about taking care of myself, but these things are bound to happen. I honestly think I was more worried about acquiring some kind of goblin venereal disease than just a regr cold. But, a cold I had caught from not drying off quick enough from the rain and I was soon shivering underneath a nice ck-w pelt nket in my own room within the breeding room.

    I had been visited by Old One, Berry, one of the Kobolds, Silky, the green-scaled one, I believe, Dara the Dwarf who lives underneath the breeding room, Orga Lush, and of course, was being fully attended to by Vera. Old One, acting as a trantor with her omni-linguistic skill, was facilitating the discussion on what to do about my sudden illness.

    Goblins don¡¯t usually catch colds. Neither really do Orcs. Dwarves do, and on asion, Kobolds do, usually when shedding their scales in inclement atmospheric conditions. So, naturally, the Kobold and the Dwarf were talking about medicinal remedies. Dara suggested I drink some hard spirits and let alcohol fix things up¡ª<i>Dwarf way</i>, and all¡ªwhile Silky suggested something far less savory for the insectophobe that I am¡­<i>leeches</i>.

    I wasn¡¯t particrly interested in either remedy being suggested, so I offered one of my own based on my own experiences in my previous life. Chicken soup. It¡¯s not like there aren¡¯t any fowl to be found in the forest, and it¡¯s not like it necessarily needed to be a chicken, specifically. I also am pretty sure whatever the fowl was, it most definitely wasn¡¯t going to be a certain Emden Goose.

    Before the girls involved could confirm the method of healing me, a diminutive goblin wearing a racoon outfit appeared and began to point and growl. Everyone was chased out of the breeding room before she sighed and walked into my room, standing up and looking down at me. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against my own and nodded.

    ¡°You have an idea, ce?¡±

    ce pointed at herself for a moment. I understood what she meant, strangely enough. It was along the lines of<i>Aren¡¯t I the tribe¡¯s shaman?</i><i>Leave it to me!</i>She then knelt down next to my body and slipped her tiny hands under the pelt nket before feeling a finely controlled surge of warmth flow through my body. I turned my head to sneeze again and groaned, but feeling a bit better and not feeling the cold sweat that I had been enduring for thest couple of hours.

    ¡°Gwah.¡± She said, authoritatively to me.

    While I¡¯m good at guessing, I had no idea what the specificint she voiced was about. A light manifested on her fingertip, and she spelled out in the air, the goblin script that we had learned thanks to Vera¡¯s ingenuity, what her diagnosis for me was.

    <i>Rest now. I will take care of you, Papa.</i>

    ce might be a bit of a rascal, but she¡¯s still my daughter and ostensibly the most powerful magician among the tribe. She¡¯s also fiercely intelligent. She patted me gently and even fluffed up my pillow before gesturing for me to rest more. ce then left my room, letting me fall asleepfortably, even though my nose was stuffy, and I had to breathe through my mouth.

    A whileter, I was awakened by a gentle nudge. When I opened my eyes, ce was sitting next to me with two stone bowls full of¡­ soup. I sat up a little and ce smiled at me cutely, lifting a spoonful of it and blowing on it lightly before opening her small mouth, exposing her sharp teeth and saying ¡°Aah~¡±

    Yeah, being a dad is the best thing in the whole world.

    ¡°Ahh~¡± I said, and was promptly spoon-fed bites of soup, feeling warm inside in more ways than one. While there weren¡¯t any noodles to be found within the soup, it was definitely some kind of chicken soup, with diced potatoes and carrots. I was sold on itpletely.

    It brought back nostalgic feelings of my mother taking care of me when I caught colds back when I was school aged. I don¡¯t think I ever fed her chicken soup once, though. Was I unfilial? I mean, I did try and lessen the burden for her by cleaning up the house and not being noisy, as well as looking after my younger siblings so she could rest a little bit¡­

    I reached out and patted her head while smiling at her.

    ¡°Thank you, ce. Daddy feels really loved right now.¡±

    ce nodded and smiled toothily.

    ¡°Gwah!¡±

    ¡°Is the other bowl for you?¡±

    ce nodded.

    ¡°Want to eat together?¡±

    ce nodded and handed me the stone bowl and spoon. She picked up the other and held her spoon out at me. I tapped her spoon lightly and we both enjoyed eating together. When we were done, she took the bowls and put them aside on the floor before slipping herself underneath the pelt nket and snuggled up against my body.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of catching my cold?¡± I asked.

    ce shook her head and ced her hand on my chest, rubbing in a circr motion. Iid back down and wrapped my arm around her runt-like body. Once more afortable warmth spread outward to the extremities of my body. Disgracefully, even<i>that</i>part of me was warmed up.

    My nose had also leaked a little and some snot adjusted itself so that I could breathe a bit morefortably.

    ¡°Is everything good with Button?¡± I asked.

    ce nodded her face against the side of my chest. I suddenly felt a bit tired again, and my body rxed quite a bit. I hugged her softly and told ce that I definitely loved her, because I love all my daughters and believe that they need to hear it from me as often as possible. Even if ce was a conspirator in the Diana Artemis adulting event, and even though I was still holding on to some anger directly aimed at her¡­ what can I even say or do? My heart softened a little and I just epted that the past was the past and that ce must have had her reasons and even if I don¡¯t understand them, she probably had the best interest of the tribe in mind at the time.

    I can¡¯t fault her for that. While I am her father, I still consider myself objectively human¡ªeven if I at one point turned into a goblin¡­

    ¡°ce, you at least see me as a daddy instead of a Husband, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ce lifted her head, stared at me with her golden eyes, and nodded. One of the few times she didn¡¯t stick her tongue out at me. Receiving that confirmation from her, she reached up with her small arm and patted my head. My resistance to sleeping some more instantly crumbled and I was once again in dreand within seconds¡­

    <strong>~~** A little whileter¡­ **~~</strong>

    My eyed opened again, and ce was sitting up next to me, her hands ced on the center of my torso. Berry was here too, currently straddling my waist and copting with me. There was a huge thrum of mana present in my small room, and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what my daughter was doing¡­<i>exactly</i>.

    I turned my head slightly, enough to make me feel dizzy.

    ¡°ce¡­ what¡¯s going on?¡±

    A number of Runes were already manifested and floating around us, bouncing off of some kind of magical wall constructed within the room itself. As I watched, too tired to move, they managed to avoid touching either ce or I and all struck Berry¡¯s body¡ªspecifically her pregnant belly.

    I didn¡¯t notice it at first, but my arms, at least, had taken on a greenish tone. My cock and balls both felt unnaturally heavy. Berry wasn¡¯t even looking at me. Her eyes were rolled back into her head and she was just grinding on me with something like fanaticism. The sweet scent of her milk leaked from her tan breasts and I felt iting on. That strange sensation that I hadn¡¯t felt in a while. The feeling before I would pass out before the blessing that hurried along the birth of a new daughter after waking up.

    My loins twitched and I was unable to stop the volcanic explosion of my semen into Berry¡¯s body. I reached up with difficulty to touch her face. Without looking, she reached for my arm and bit into it. I felt herher regions tighten extremely and it felt like she was trying to snap it in half!

    A mixture of pain and pleasure overloaded my mind and once more I plunged into darkness¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Berry **~~</strong>

    ¡°Is¡­ Husband awake yet?¡±

    I remained in Husband¡¯s cave hole, not wanting to return to my own. I could feel the strong-one inside of me ready to crawl out at any moment. Old One, Lumi, ce, Button, Vera, Truffle, Ivory, and Diana Artemis were all gathered there to support me.

    Button, in response to my question, went into Husband¡¯s cave-hole and carried him out, depositing him close by. His face was moving but his eyes remained closed. ce, our tribe¡¯s Shaman, hade to my room and, in her own way ofmunicating with gestures when Button wasn¡¯t around to speak for her properly, intimated to me that if I wanted to have my strong-one now, I needed toe with her.

    What goblin isn¡¯t eager to have their strong-onee sooner rather thanter?

    I followed her to Husband¡¯s room and did what came naturally with him. She began to call upon some kind of magic that I couldn¡¯t begin to understand¡ªyet understood what was going on almost immediately after I put Husband¡¯s seed-stick inside of me.

    It was my time.

    Not only for having my strong-one, but to undergo something I didn¡¯t think I ever would.

    I began my<i>Blood Fury</i>.

    Between Husband and Shaman, I could feel the strange power known as Magic flow into me¡ªor more precisely, my belly.

    Shaman, moons ago, had told me that my next child would know magic, same as she and many of my sister¡¯s strong-ones. I was already immensely proud of Diana Artemis being an amazing huntress and the next Guardian of the tribe. But what woulde of this one? I didn¡¯t know how to use magic; whether the stone kind that Husband uses, the picture kind that Vera uses, or the strange kind somewhere in between that Shaman uses. So how would I be able to teach her?

    I growled as thebor pain wracked my body once again. Old One ced the biting branch in my mouth and rubbed my back while I endured.

    Shaman, after feeling my stomach and nodding, pointed her finger at Husband and a small burst of water shot at his face. Husband quickly sat up and gasped for air, wiping his face at the same time and looked around in confusion.

    ¡°¡­what¡¯s going on?¡±

    With his eyes unfocused, yet clearly locked on the Shaman, she pointed at my belly.

    ¡°The strong-one ising now.¡± Old One said to him.

    Husband sat there motionless for a short while, taking deep breaths before cing his hand on the ground and attempting to climb onto his feet. Diana Artemis helped him up and he took a few slow steps towards me, eventually arriving and cing his hand on my belly before moving his hand upward to stroke the hair on my head and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

    ¡°I¡¯m here for you, Berry.¡± He said, but rather than feeling happy he was here next to me right now, I felt hungry. I wanted to devour him. Was this how Prima felt when she underwent her<i>Blood Fury</i>?

    I felt like I was losing my mind.

    Husband continued to hold me tight, not understanding that I wasn¡¯t going to win this battle with my own instincts as a goblin. My desires went wild and I growled with rage. I still had some of the taste of his Blood on my lips and the scenting from his arm only made me be more irrational.

    But Husband never left my side.

    I screamed in pain onest time as my strong-one exited my fuckhole, falling to the ground with a light plop. When it vacated my body, I lostplete control. I reached down and grabbed the cord attached to the remaining mass inside of me and pulled until it, too, came out. Then I took a step and growled, pushing Husband down onto the ground and inserting him once more inside of myself. It didn¡¯t matter that my fuckhole was a broken bloody mess¡ªI needed to devour himpletely!

    I opened my mouth and growled, then went right for his throat with my teeth.

    Instead of reaching my target, he had managed to get his arm in between and I bit down on it. Harder than I¡¯d ever bit down on anything, including the biting branch. When the blood flowed into me¡­

    <strong>~~** Ark Wyze **~~</strong>

    ¡°GH¡ªAAAAAH!!!¡±

    Berry had suddenly attacked me and bit my arm. I worry that if I hadn¡¯t gotten it between us in time, she might have torn out my jugr with her teeth. Her bite was insanely strong and I clearly felt the radial bone in my left arm snap into pieces. She hadn¡¯t ripped it off; something I believe she could have done easily, but I hadn¡¯t expected Berry would be so powerful immediately after our newest daughter was born. Furthermore, I could feel my crotch wet and slick with blood. I knew I was inside of her, and I feared that, somehow, she might get some kind of infection if it continued to be the case.

    Truffle came over to us and told me to hold my breath.

    I did as she said, stifling my desire to yell further, and she quickly blew some kind of powder into the face of Berry.

    A few momentster, Berry went limp.

    Truffle, together with Ivory, managed to dislodge Berry¡¯s bite from my arm and rolled her off of me and onto her back. The entire while this was happening, the instinct present in my newly born daughter had proceeded entirely as it should. She had devoured the cental mass that Berry pulled out of herself and then moved to crawl onto Berry. I held my arm in pain, gasping through wet lips as I tried to cope with the feeling of an extremely broken arm. I had difficulty even clenching my fist.

    ¡°Husband, is your arm okay?¡±

    Diana was the first to ask me.

    I shook my head and grit my teeth, not even able to say it was broken.

    I felt like the most important thing right now was getting Berry cleaned up, but ce held a hand up to stop me. Lumi approached and began to use her divine magic to heal Berry while Button spoke up.

    ¡°ce says for Husband not to worry.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t<i>not</i>worry, but seeing divine magic in y, I was able to worry a<i>little less</i>. Staring down at Berry, I saw our new bundle of joy greedily sucking on her breasts. At least she hade into the world safely, though I can¡¯t imagine why in the world Berry decided to attack me.

    Old One took a breath and sighed.

    ¡°You are lucky to be alive, Ark.¡±

    ¡°Trust me, I¡¯m well aware of that. Why¡­ Did Berry¡­?¡±

    ¡°Blood Fury.¡± Diana answered without missing a beat. ¡°Diana Artemis also felt that way¡­¡±

    I stared incredulously at everyone gathered and they all nodded their heads.

    ¡°ce¡­ what exactly did you do to Berry?¡±

    No matter how I looked at it, ce was definitely the culprit of it this time. But no one answered my question. Not even Button to tell me ce didn¡¯t want to answer.

    I was a bit frustrated and angry not having a reason given for my current situation. I was still feeling infirm from my cold and now my arm was broken from Berry¡¯s ferocious bite. I felt that I was entitled to an answer, even if it was a shitty one.

    Seeing that nothing was forting, I watched as my arm turned green again. The same shade as the Monster¡¯s color. I trudged over to the bath and activated (with some difficulty) the heating Runes and grit my teeth and hissed as my arm submerged into the water.

    I sat on one of the submerged steps alone and closed my eyes, trying to center my state of mind amidst the pain I was feeling.

    A few momentster, Vera came to join me¡­ holding the sleeping form of my daughter. Unlike Diana and Berry who were more tan-skinned, this one¡¯s skin bordered the hue between green and gray.

    ¡°Name. Give?¡±

    I let my head loll back and rest on the lip of the bath. Taking some deep breaths, I coughed a few times, my throat scratchy, before speaking.

    ¡°Selene Hecate. I suppose she needs a name to rival that of Diana Artemis¡­ otherwise Berry might get upset if I only give her one¡­¡±

    ¡°Selene¡­ Hecate¡­¡± Vera repeated it, then I felt a hand press down on my shoulder.

    It wasn¡¯t Vera¡¯s hand, but Diana¡¯s who was sitting next to me now on the lip of the pool.

    ¡°Are those names also belong to the gods?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ a counterbnce to Diana and Artemis.¡± I replied. ¡°Rather than the Goddess of the Forest, Moon, and Hunt¡­ she¡¯s the Goddess of Mysteries, Magic, and the Night.¡±

    ¡°She will be strong like Diana Artemis?¡±

    ¡°One can only hope¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t remember much more after saying that. When I woke up next, it was the following day. Lumi was by my side and my arm was wrapped up in some kind of shredded cloth. It hurt quite a bit and remained green in color from the elbow down, my fingers also sharp, but unlike immediately after the bite, I could at least clench my fistpletely, if not strongly.

    My first thoughts were to go see Berry and Selene, but as soon as I moved, Lumi had awoken and immediately put her hand on my chest to hold me down.

    ¡°You can¡¯t see Berry yet. It¡¯s not safe.¡±

    She stared at me with sincere worry on her face, leaving me nothing to do but nod my head.

    ¡°What about our strong-one, Selene?¡±

    Lumi paused for a moment and nodded.

    ¡°In a little while, okay? For now, you still need to rest.¡±

    ¡°My arm¡­ did you heal it?¡±

    She looked at me for a moment and bit her lip.

    I exhaled deeply from my nose. Was I wrong about being healed by Lumi?

    ¡°ra¡¯s blessing¡­ was rejected.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ makes sense, I guess. I¡¯m not exactly a pious person.¡±

    Lumi shook her head.

    ¡°It''s not that you''re not pious... Just not pious to <em>ra</em>.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Lumi wasn¡¯t forting with a proper exnation, but I got the feeling that divine magic of some kind was still somehow used¡­

    ¡°I see. Then, will it healpletely in a few days if I take care of it properly?¡±

    Lumi nodded.

    I thenid back down. I felt better at least as far as the cold was concerned, but I was decidedly tired for other reasons. Staring up at the ceiling, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what further troubles tomorrow would bring and felt saddened that I couldn''t hold my newest daughter in my arms yet...

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-three â€“ In which Ark endeavors to keep his promises.

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-three ¨C In which Ark endeavors to keep his promises.

    The situation with Crow is heart-wrenching. Do I dare to think I canprehend what she¡¯s going through right now, being so young and bing disabled? I dare not. Berry may have broken my arm, and somehow it became a goblin arm when Lumi healed it, but at least it¡¯s functional. The same cannot be said about Crow¡¯s leg. There is no modern science to repair it. Between Dara and I¡­ we could probably somehow create a prosthetic, but that would also mean her leg would need to be amputated. There was also the matter of a leg brace, but I wasn¡¯tpletely sure about how to go about creating it.

    I stayed by Crow¡¯s side whenever possible over the next week, receiving help from Toy and Lily, stating that they were my n, and that if I wished to make Crow¡¯s troubles my own, then they would help me shoulder the burden. Diana Artemis also helped out, doing a little extra hunting so that Crow wouldn¡¯t need to worry about hunting her own food.

    For the first couple of days, Crow was in and out of consciousness thanks to Truffle¡¯s color-spin-think powder. What caused Crow to refuse taking any more of the drug was when Button, ce, Figurine, and Nova all came into the room on the third day afterwards to deliver a message to Crow when she was awake.

    I had assumed Magpie was avoiding seeing her mother like this. Or maybe she didn¡¯t want to see me because I was in Crow¡¯s cave-hole for long periods of time.

    I was wrong.

    The message my daughters delivered was to inform Crow that Magpie had run away.

    While there were words left behind for Crow. There were none left for me.

    Before I could feel any anger or guilt at her actions, my children informed me that Magpie¡¯s decision was something they all supported. If any goblin among them had the knowledge and skillset to survive outside of Goblinhome without support, it was Magpie. Now that the Bloodmaw were increasing in number, my gathered children felt that it was a smart move to have Magpie see if she could make a ce for herself among the many<i>civilized</i>races that I have spoken to them at length about. If it was possible that she could be epted, then there was a chance that Goblinhome wouldn¡¯t need to remain isted forever.

    I also hoped for something like this, but not so soon. Not with a goblin so young. Magpie was still my daughter, and I still thought of her as a child. Obviously, I was extremely worried. Crow, on the other hand, seemed satisfied with the decision our daughter made.

    ¡°Crow taught Magpie the way of the Sneaky n. Magpie is cautious and won¡¯t die easily.¡±

    I want to believe that as well. It was just that seeing how easily Diana Artemis¡­ handled her the other day. Then again, Diana Artemis is also something like a massive wall for my other daughters to measure themselves up against.

    Not just them, but me as well. I haven¡¯t forgotten how easily she subdued me during her Blood Fury, and how even if ce hadn¡¯t shackled me to Diana¡¯s bed with magic, I still might not have actually been able to avoid what happened to me that night¡­

    I guess, as a father, I have to just trust and believe that Crow and I have taught her the most important things she needs to know and that it will have to be enough as she makes her own way into the world.

    What didn¡¯t get mentioned with any specifics was how she left Goblinhome, but I¡¯m fairly certain it involved Cobi and those Kobolds in some manner. I felt a strange kinship with him, as if he and I weren¡¯t entirely unalike in how we dealt with the overbearing women in our lives. For him, six Kobolds. For me, a menagerie that will only continue to grow. If she went with them, as I figure she had, I felt confident they would see her safely to whatever town they ventured from.

    With any luck, it might be Thorn.

    Though, that might also be a bad option. Remembering what the Great Protector said to me about not having killed Kairos¡­ it¡¯s entirely possible she mighte across him. If she somehow mentions my name or that I¡¯m here in this forest¡­

    No. I¡¯d rather not think of what would happen were<i>she</i>to find out.

    And by<i>she</i>, yes, I mean my dear old mother in this world¡­ Salondra Wyze.

    <i>Sigh.</i>

    The day after my children brought news of Magpie¡¯s departure, Prima hade to visit Crow. The matter was exactly what I expected it to be about. Crow¡¯s¡­ disability.

    Crow was also one of the few goblins not pregnant currently¡­ I think.

    So, Prima came with an ultimatum for her.

    ¡°It would be stupid to die when you could still make many strong-ones for the tribe. Even if you cannot teach them to hunt, there are others who can. In that way, you will still be useful.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t considered that Crow thought to die so that she wasn¡¯t a burden, but that¡¯s also because I wasn¡¯t thinking like a goblin. I mean, Prima¡¯s mercy for Vera back then was to have me forcefully breed her, thinking her incapable of contributing to the tribe¡­ or being able to take care of herself in any meaningful way other than that. So, it really shouldn¡¯t havee as a surprise that she would say this to Crow.

    I could even see the look in Prima¡¯s eyes, as if she was expecting me to challenge her right now on this, what is clearly a basic matter to the Bloodmaw, and intrinsic to the<i>goblin way</i>.

    I didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Not going to call me a monster, Ark? Or threaten to bring our home down?¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°No. I think I¡¯ll be the monster this time.¡±

    ¡°You?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll keep her belly full of goblins, even if she wants to refuse me. However, I will also need to make some changes to Goblinhome. She might not have use of one leg anymore, but she still has another perfectly good one, and I intend to make a way for her to be mobile again.¡±

    I stared at Crow for a moment.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I misunderstood what happened just now, but whether I did or not doesn¡¯t matter. I have no intention of letting you die, Crow. I am your Husband, and if there is a way to keep you living, then I will do it even if youe to hate me for it.¡±

    Prima crossed her arms.

    ¡°Then make whatever changes you need. As long as her belly is fat, I have nothing to else to say.¡±

    Prima then left the room, and us, alone once more.

    Crow remained quiet for a while, before eventually speaking to me.

    ¡°Husband¡­ still wants to make strong-ones with Crow now that she is a weak-one?¡±

    What?

    ¡°You aren¡¯t a weak-one. Surviving that attack¡­ living on¡­ that¡¯s proof that you are a strong-one, Crow. I hear it from Prima¡­ Old One¡­ even Diana Artemis more times than I care to.<i>Weak-ones die so that strong-ones can live</i>. Together with everyone, you hunted fifteen ck-ws, captured two more for us to raise and breed, and even the damn Jaguar that got you was killed by Button. No one important died. No one needs to feel sad over losing a sister like they did for Beast-talker.¡±

    ¡°Beast-talker still has all her bones.¡±

    ¡°She does, but the trade-off is that she can¡¯t make strong-ones anymore.¡±

    Crow touched her belly thoughtfully for a moment.

    ¡°Do you think Crow will ever walk again?¡±

    ¡°Maybe not the same as you once did, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s impossible.¡±

    ¡°¡­Then Crow trusts Husband. Only Husband cleans my shit and piss, takes me to the bath and washes me, brings me food, stays to eat with me¡­¡±

    ¡°What about Lily and Toy?¡±

    Crow didn¡¯t reply. I know that both Lily and Toy have kept an eye on Crow when I had things that needing doing around Goblinhome that pulled me away from her side. Which means we both know she¡¯s embellishing some facts here.

    But¡­

    There was truth to what she said.

    I took care of her when she unintentionally soiled herself while under the medicated effects of color-spin-think powder. I scooped her up as carefully as I could and brought her to the bath, letting her soak in the warm water draped over myp, scooping handfuls of it and gently washing her skin and hair, and, yes, I ate with her in her cave¡­ going so far as to borrow Melon¡¯s Kitchen in order to make some easy-to-digest food. Raw when applicable.

    While I know I would do the same for any other of my goblin wives, and most certainly my daughters were this kind of life altering injury befall them, I¡¯ve often thought that Crow¡­ was something like the kind of wife I might have wound up with in my previous life. An otherwise unassuming woman who for some reason found me to be¡­ enjoyable to be around.

    Nothing excessive.

    Just someone to enjoy passing the time of life with.

    She¡¯s fine with me caring for her, but she also has a private side to herself that she is unwilling to show mepletely. And that¡¯s okay. I won¡¯t press her about it. I won¡¯t try and force her to be n with me. I¡¯m fine just co-existing with her and continuing to put little goblin children inside of her belly, because that¡¯s also what she wants from me.

    So as time passed, I began renovating her cave to make way for her to be able to move about both it, and with the permission I obtained from Prima, Goblinhome.

    Small rails were created along the walls so that she could leverage her weight and hop-step through the main thoroughfare. Small pirs with handles in certain ces allowed her to enter cave-holes while not getting in everyone else¡¯s way, locations such as the breeding room so she could take baths on her own, or to enter Melon¡¯s Kitchen or the shit-pit. Independence is a very ingrained trait in a goblin, and Crow was<i>very</i>goblin to begin with.

    While Crow was the main focus of my time, I had made other promises that needed to be kept.

    I promised to teach Button the Fist of the Hungry Wolf. So, in our ce of practice in the nearby forest, we fought. I taught her the Cracking Shot, the Burning Knuckle, and the Geyser of Power. And once more Button grew stronger. Button also wanted my attention as a man, and I, having opened Pandora¡¯s Box with her, didn¡¯t refuse. Thankfully, she was fine with the method we had used before.

    But¡­ I¡¯m starting to think that my so-called big-seed is doing strange things to these girls.

    Back at Goblinhome, Krushka and Rushk had been patient in waiting for the reward I promised them for doing an excellent job nting the seeds Cobi had brought us. Krushka¡¯s request was simple enough. She just wanted to spend time with me and drink.

    For as big as she is, and Krushka is the biggest and tallest Orc out of all four, with my forehead just about reaching the front of her corbone, she¡¯s rather straightforward about her wants and needs from me, as her War-chief Husband.

    She even had her own stash of<i>blue water</i>. The only thing missing was my participation.

    She was curious about my life and how it led me to bing the goblin War-chief that I apparently am. I opened up in exchange for learning about the art on her<i>mams</i>. We slowly drained the jar of<i>blue water</i>as we told each other our stories. Krushka, having been a war-bride multiple times, is domestically-oriented. She has given birth and raised a number of children. She¡¯s skilled in cooking, making clothes, and child-rearing. While she<i>can</i>fight, she¡¯s not formally trained in anything. It¡¯s more like, she can grab a branch and give someone hell with a few whacks with it.

    Of the people she was a war-bride to, she said most of them were tolerable. The worst one was her most recent. He was too arrogant for her liking, and not good enough in the sack to warrant it. He also eyed one of her daughterssciviously and sent her youngest son who was still rather young to a war-camp to be taught to fight for a lesser chieftain¡¯s army who he was aligned with. While it sounded terrible, it was rather standard where orc society was concerned.

    I spoke about my life as the son of a famous magician, not going too in-depth about how famous she was, growing up in her shadow, learning magic, often being a disappointment to her. My time spent at the academy never making much progress in the realm of formic magic and spending my time learning the ins and outs of being a force magician, which I enjoyed immensely.

    She asked if our child when it came would know how to use magic.

    I didn¡¯t have an answer, but I said there was a good chance it might. That seemed to please her. There weren¡¯t really orc magicians. Orcs became Shaman, and that was it. Whether their magic was of a divine or arcane origin wasn¡¯t of particr importance.

    Being a Shaman to an orc was like having a guaranteed career as a civil servant. She spoke much like a mother who wanted her children to have a good shot at sess in their lives, and I couldn¡¯t help but think of her as being far from uncivilized, as orcs often were thought of as.

    We both became rather tipsy. I wasn¡¯t very good at consuming alcohol, but I think Krushka was worse. She was quick to get naked and we had an egregious amount of violent and sloppy sex. But that¡¯s her nature, I suppose. She was able to vent whatever frustrations she must have rued recently, and after a few healthy doses of my liquid calming agent, she was soonfortably out cold.

    I stayed with her for a while, not wanting to just abandon her right away, but as was the case, I inevitably had to go. This had all happened the first night after Crow had been brought back.

    Rushk was willing to wait for the next day, at which point the reward she wanted was a little more practical. Rushk, while having been partially goblinized as well as showing a bump indicating she was for sure carrying a goblin strong-one inside of her, was looking for something to do to feel useful.

    She had lived a somewhat sheltered life, with her only real interest to be found in learning speary. When spears are involved, my immediate thought would be to point her in Prima¡¯s direction. Turns out, that was exactly what needed to happen.

    Rushk is by no means a hunter, but Prima was more than willing to teach her the ropes.

    I had even gone on a hunt with them, though the only thing I had to offer was the limitednd-based magic I could use with the Topaz stone, since my Quartz Focus Orb had been integrated into my youngest daughter, Selene Hecate.

    After a sessful hunt, nothing too crazy, just some blue-haired foxes, the two of them tore right into one almost immediately after securing the kill. Rushk seems to enjoy both cooked and raw meat. Thetter being an adjustment due to her bing part goblin.

    I didn¡¯t judge.

    I also didn¡¯t judge when Prima helped instigate a post-meal rape.

    Rushk was a little apologetic afterwards, but she was also in a much better mood. Seeing that, I also was happy. After that, in the early mornings that followed, Prima could be found sparring with Rushk with spears, not being too overbearing.

    I actually got an earful from Nova about how Prima never let her off easily when it came to sparring.

    But that¡¯s how it is sometimes¡­

    Mint, who was reclusive ever since the incident where I turned into the Monster, had begun to show herself more often now that the field had been nted. Maybe it was due to her position in the tribe as its [Bloody Druid], but she was often found there just¡­<i>doing things</i>.

    I worried that whatever trauma I caused her was longsting, but she assured me that she would be fine eventually. She also said she had acquired some¡­ ability that would allow her to cultivate the field and that she hoped it would produce some beneficial results soon.

    I would have expected to find Ebony by her side, but no. Ebony was busy with other matters. Matters in the form of one young goblin strong-one with far too much destructive power on tap.

    Yes.

    Ebony was teaching Selene Hecate how to use magic.

    I figured for sure it would have been ce getting involved with the matter at Diana¡¯s behest, but no. Ebony, as it turns out, possesses true Bloodmaw Magic. Selene Hecate apparently doesn¡¯t need to use Runes or Forms to cast magic at all.

    I feel like there needed to be someone with a rational mind to oversee this strange mentor-mentee rtionship, but Ebony assured me that she was a very capable big-sister goblin, and that she had it all under control.

    Naturally, I didn¡¯t believe that for a fucking second.

    But, true to her word, Selene Hecate seemed to look up to Ebony and along with Bitey and Beastie, those four went out into the forest on a hunt, with Diana asionally keeping an eye on things after all.

    With all the business of my days in the past week nowing to a head, I found myself visiting Truffle at longst. I wanted to keep my promise to repay her for her help with Crow. She had been working on a new strain of her mushroom powder, and with a small bit of reluctance¡­ we indulged.

    Unlike with Button, I didn¡¯t experience anything too¡­ strange. It was quite enjoyable. I had be a mushroom, and Truffle was a mushroom¡­ even Button was there, and she was a mushroom! I somehow did a spore-dance and all the mushrooms were happy.

    When I came to, Truffle was in my arms, caressing my face and grinning.

    ¡°Husband. It¡¯s time again.¡±

    Yes. Another mushroom-goblin was about toe into the world.

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-four â€“ In which we meet Chanterelle, a big-lazy little-lady mushroom-goblin.

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-four ¨C In which we meet Chanterelle, a bigzy littledy mushroom-goblin.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Chanterelle **~~</strong>

    This is the life¡­

    My name is Chanty and I live in a cave-hole with a goblin called Truffle and a goblin called Ivory. I am surrounded by mushrooms and bones. While I don¡¯t mind the bones, I can¡¯t help but be fascinated by the mushrooms. There¡¯s also a goblin called Husband who is very nice to me. He lets me sit on hisp and he holds tasty mushrooms up to my mouth so I can bezy and eat them.

    I also have some big-sister goblins. Button who loves mushrooms just like Truffle, Husband, and me. Ebony who only likes mushrooms a lot, and her friends Bitey and Beastie who can¡¯t eat mushrooms at all but are also nice to me. Bitey will even bring me mushrooms if I ask nicely. So, Bitey is definitely a mushroom bone-spider and can be trustedpletely. I¡¯m sure of it.

    One of my favorite things to do is talk to the mushrooms.

    They know a lot of things.

    Some of them say they are safe to eat, others say they are not. All of them love Truffle very much. Some of them even like Husband, which is good. Husband is an interesting goblin. He has a mushroom growing on his body between his legs. I asked the other mushrooms about it, but they say that Husband¡¯s mushroom is different from them.

    I¡¯ve seen Ivory and Button and even Truffle lick his mushroom and have him stick it inside of them when they thought I was asleep. I wasn¡¯t asleep, I was just beingzy and thinking about mushrooms. Was his mushroom tasty? They don¡¯t seem to want to eat it, only lick it or have him rub it on their body. I tried sticking a mushroom between my legs so I could be like Husband, but it keeps falling off.

    I guess it really is a different kind of mushroom.

    I don¡¯t know everything about mushrooms yet, even though Truffle says one day I will.

    I live in a big cave called Goblin-home.

    There are many many other goblins who live here. All of them seem to be very busy, alwaysing and going. Of course, there are times when they arezy, too. Lots of goblins stop into our cave-hole and ask Ivory for things made out of bones, or to ask Truffle for tasty mushrooms, or her specialty¡ªcolor-spin-think powder, which is also made from the mushrooms that warned me not to eat them.

    Color-spin-think powder is different, though. It can be sniffed or eaten, but only in small amounts. Then it¡¯s best to bezy afterwards. But it¡¯s important to go piss first, otherwise when beingzy¡­

    Well, idents happen.

    Husbandes to visit and take me to his cave-hole for a little while every day. There¡¯s this really big wet thing in there called a<i>bath</i>and it¡¯s fun to ssh the water inside of it. Button once showed me something she called the<i>swirly-whirly</i>and I had fun sshing it when she made it with her finger.

    I love it when Button and Ebonye to visit and y with me.

    I also have two other big-sister goblins whoe to y with me as well.

    One is Primmy, the other is Sewwy.

    There are a lot of games to y in Husband¡¯s cave-hole. Games like Checkers and Four-color and a picture game and another with long rectangles that get pulled out and put on top until it all crashes down!

    Primmy likes things that go crash and boom. Sewwy likes using something called magic to do everything.

    Both Primmy and Sewwy like to bite Husband¡¯s hand whenever they get the chance. I tried biting him too, but he doesn¡¯t taste like a mushroom like I expected him to. But he is still tasty!<b>Super</b><b>tasty</b>, in fact!

    In our cave-hole, there¡¯s a very special mushroom growing in it.

    Truffle says she¡¯s been feeding it something called big-seed that she gets from Husband. I don¡¯t know what it is exactly, but it is sticky and white. The mushroom that eats it is really really smart. It knows way more than any of the other mushrooms. It¡¯s also in a special ce up high that I can¡¯t reach.

    One day when Truffle was asleep, Sewwy came to visit since she lives close by.

    The special mushroom said something good would happen if I took a bite out of it.

    But since I couldn¡¯t get to it, I asked Sewwy if she could use her magic to float it down to me so I could take a bite.

    Sewwy doesn¡¯t mind mushrooms, but she wasn¡¯t all that interested in eating it with me. She still floated it down for me and being careful, I took a small bite out of it so it wasn''t too noticeable. I asked Sewwy if she could float it back up and turn it around so that Truffle wouldn¡¯t notice the ce where I took a bite out of it. Sewwy had no trouble doing so, and afterwards we went to y on the swings outside.

    I¡¯m still a small goblin, and so is Sewwy. We¡¯re not allowed to walk all of Goblinhome yet unless there¡¯s a bigger goblin with us. Primmy can though, so she takes us ces! Like outside!

    Beastie is good friends with Primmy, so she¡¯ll push us on the swings sometimes, even though she¡¯s made of bones and doesn¡¯t talk. Well, Bitey doesn¡¯t talk either, but that doesn¡¯t bother me. Bitey is really nice! Sometimes Bitey will crawl up my body and sit on my head and swing with me!

    Ebony is also friends with a big blue goblin called Orga. She¡¯s in charge of the big ck furry things that Ebony likes to y with. I think they¡¯re called ck-ws? I find them a bit scary though.

    Sewwy and Primmy aren¡¯t afraid of them. They even got to ride on the backs of the two bigger ones. I tried feeding a mushroom I brought with me to the littler ones, but they didn¡¯t want to eat it. Truffle taught me not to trust things that don¡¯t like mushrooms. I felt bad because the little ones aren¡¯t too scary¡­ but I agree with Truffle.

    While my big-sisters Primmy and Sewwy like to go into the forest to hunt¡­ I don¡¯t really want to because that seems like a lot of work and I¡¯d rather bezy. Mushrooms do just fine beingzy, and I sometimes think I have more inmon with mushrooms than with goblins.

    There¡¯s also another big-sister of mine called Lumi who I see sometimes when I go outside.

    She spends a lot of time in a small cave-hole on the other side of the yground and inside of it there are lots of wooden benches to sit on and two big statues. One is called ra and she¡¯s supposed to be super strong! The other is a strange looking one called the Creator, and they are supposed to be the one who made our tribe, the Bloodmaw.

    Since the little ck-ws didn¡¯t want to eat the mushroom I tried to give them, I broke it in half and put half in front of each of the statues.

    I figured they both liked mushrooms, because ra looked strong, and I know my big-sister Button who likes mushroom is also super strong, so ra must definitely like mushrooms. As for the other one, if they made the Bloodmaw, then they made Truffle, and that means they have to like mushrooms! Why would someone make a mushroom goblin but not like mushrooms?

    While watching the statues who weren¡¯t moving to eat the mushrooms, Lumi opened the door and began talking to Husband who was just outside.

    While I was sitting down and looking at the statues, wondering when they were going to eat them, I saw that both halves of the mushroom began to glow and then disappeared!

    It reminded me of Sewwy¡¯s magic, so I figured they used magic to eat them. Seemed like a perfectlyzy way to do it, too!

    Feeling good that they got to eat Truffle¡¯s yummy mushrooms, I went outside to see Husband, who was happy to pick me up and let me ride on his shoulders. It would have been more fun if Bitey was riding on his head so we could have fun together, but I wasn¡¯t too disappointed.

    Big-sister Lumi also likes biting Husband as well.

    I don¡¯t know if she likes mushrooms though¡­ I hope she does.

    It¡¯s not good to not like mushrooms.

    Husband took me back into Goblinhome to one of my favorite cave-holes. There¡¯s another of my big-sister goblins in there. Well, sometimes two of them. Big-sisters Melon and Reeny!

    Melon is definitely a good goblin because she makes something super tasty to eat called Mushroom Stew! It¡¯s got meat and mushrooms. I mean, what kind of genius is she toe up with something like that!?

    And Figurine is amazing because she sings me the mushroom song!

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-w ck-w!</i>

    <i>A-mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-w ck-w!</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-ck-w!</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Ah! A GUU¡¯Z! A GUU¡¯Z!</i>

    <i>GUU¡¯Z a GUUUU¡¯Z OOOOH It¡¯s a GUU¡¯Z!!!</i>

    Gweeheehee~

    I love that song so much!

    I haven¡¯t met GUU¡¯Z yet. But I heard from Truffle that even Prima and Sewwy¡¯s big-sister Deena can¡¯t beat it in a fight. I wonder if Button could? Button knows something called the Mushroom Fist. She used it to punch a many-spots to death with one punch! Even broke its whole mouth full of teeth and gave them to Husband as a¡­ what was it called again¡­ a tribute?

    Something like that.

    Button also told me Husband was tricky sometimes.

    I didn¡¯t think so until I saw what Melon brought him to eat.

    While I had a bowl of mushroom stew¡­ he had a triple-decker hamburger with mushrooms in some kind of brown mud on top!

    ¡°Husband twicky!¡± I said, pointing at him.

    ¡°Nope. Husband not do this with Chanterelle. Husband <em>not</em> tricky. Husband smart. Chanterelle not think Husband share tasty mushrooms with her? Husband get taste Chanterelle mushroom soup. Let Chanterelle taste Husband mushroom burger. Big-smart, yes?¡±

    My mouth dropped wide open.

    Gwowowowoh! Husband is really really smart!

    While Husband used the food-eating things called a fork and a knife to cut the big mushroom burger into smaller pieces for us to share, I tried using the spoony thing to feed Husband. I spilled a little on him trying to fit it in his small mouth but he didn¡¯t get upset.

    Husband is nice. He doesn¡¯t spank at all.

    Ivory spanks¡­ or so I¡¯m told.

    She hasn¡¯t spanked me yet, though.

    Sewwy said that Deena spanked her when she first used magic. She cried a lot. Said it wasn¡¯t fun at all to get spanked.

    I hope I don¡¯t get spanked.

    I heard it from the mushrooms in Truffle¡¯s room that Melon has a strong-one inside of her belly. She didn¡¯t eat it, so I don¡¯t know how it got there, but it¡¯s not a mushroom goblin like Truffle, Husband, Button, or me.

    Will it also be a big-fat goblin like big-sister Melon is when ites into the world?

    Melon and Figurine keep talking about wanting Husband to spend the night with them in Figurine¡¯s cave-hole. I don¡¯t know where exactly that is, but it¡¯s near Old One¡¯s room.

    Old One is kind of mean. She calls me azy goblin just like Truffle. Says I should be more like Button, but I¡¯m fine just being Chanty.

    After eating a whole bunch, Husband took me to the shit-pit and then brought me back to Truffle¡¯s room. That¡¯s a good thing, because I was ready to bezy after ying and eating.

    Husband woke Truffle up and she let me drink some milkies for a little bit and then we both went to sleep.

    I had a good dream.

    Just like Sewwy and Ebony, I could use magic too, but it was mushroom magic!

    I woke up when Truffle shook me.

    When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by lots and lots of mushrooms!

    ¡°Chanterelle. What you do?¡±

    I don¡¯t know what I did. What did I do?

    Truffle began to pick up some of the mushrooms and stepped out of the small cave-hole we slept in. She then yelled really loudly once she did.

    ¡°<b>WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF TRUFFLES MUSHROOMS!?</b>¡±

    I got up and stepped out too, only to see all of her mushrooms missing from the dirt shelves.

    I suddenly felt a lot of voices in my head all at once, asking me if I was in trouble.

    But I don¡¯t think I was¡­?

    Truffle turned back to look at me, and then looked down.

    I looked down too.

    All around me, mushrooms were wiggle-walking, surrounding me.

    Ivory came over from her cave-hole and saw what was going on. Then sheughed.

    Sheughed andughed and I thought she was crazy from how much sheughed.

    ¡°Stopughing, Ivory!¡±

    ¡°No! Too funny! How it feel to have strong-one who mushrooms love more than Truffle?¡±

    Truffle sat down and looked really sad.

    ¡°Mushrooms love Chanterelle more than Truffle?¡±

    All of the mushrooms slowly wiggle-walked over to Truffle and surrounded her.

    I could hear them all saying that they loved her very much.

    Truffle rubbed the tops of many of them and scooped a few of them up.

    ¡°Oh¡­ this nice. Not bad thing. Truffle not mad mushrooms love Chanterelle. So long as mushrooms know Truffle love mushrooms many many.¡±

    After a while, the mushrooms walked back to the dirt, but some of them needed help from Truffle to get back to the high ces they used to be. Only one mushroom didn¡¯t move.

    The special mushroom.

    Truffle looked at it for a moment and saw the ce that had a small bite taken out of it.

    ¡°Chanterelle. No lie to Truffle. You eat this one?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Small bite.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Only that mushroom not try go back. Truffle take great care to grow that mushroom special.¡±

    Truffle picked it up and inspected it for a while.

    ¡°Okay. Truffle understand.¡±

    She handed me the mushroom.

    ¡°This mushroom same as Bitey. Job Chanterelle take good care of it. Not eat this one anymore.¡±

    The big mushroom agreed to what Truffle said.

    I was kind of sad since it was tasty, but I also now have a new friend!

    Though¡­ I couldn¡¯t think of a name for it just yet, and I was still tired. I went back to sleep while Truffle stayed awake¡­ probably to take care of the mushrooms since she felt better knowing they loved her very much.

    When I woke up again, the special mushroom had grown bigger. Way bigger!

    It also had eyes and a mouth on the stalk.

    Husband was also in our cave-hole now for some reason and he was poking the special mushroom while Truffle watched with interest.

    ¡°This one Kino.¡± He said.

    ¡°Kino?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Mm. Thought first might be Take, but now sure <em>definitely</em> Kino.¡±

    ¡°Kino hear? Name Kino!¡± I told Kino.

    Kino wobbled around in a circle happily, identally falling once but getting up quickly.

    ¡°Truffle. Husband think maybe not good idea use color-spin-think powder when have strong-one inside now on.¡±

    ¡°No. Truffle use now, every time. Button special, Chanterelle special. Good idea use color-spin-think powder. Keep have special goblins.¡±

    Husband only shook his head.

    ¡°Whatever say. Husband only mushroom-Husband. Truffle one who make mushroom-goblins.¡±

    Truffle sat in Husband¡¯sp and offered him a mushroom to eat.

    ¡°Husband help make.¡±

    Husband ate half and put the other half in Truffle¡¯s mouth, then they hugged for a long time.

    After that, Husband took me to meet with my big sisters again. And I got to introduce them to Kino!

    But Kino is special, so I had to tell them not to eat Kino.

    When we went outside, Kino wanted to go see the field where big-sister Mint is always standing at.

    When Mint saw Kino, shepletely freaked out.

    ¡°What Myconid Emperor doing here!? Why outside of bottom floor Navara Deep Dungeon!?!?!¡±

    I ran over to where Kino was and patted Kino¡¯s pretty cap.

    ¡°Big-sister Mint! This Kino! Chanty friend.¡±

    Big-sister Mint froze.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ your friend?¡±

    Kino danced around Mint in a circle.

    ¡°Big-sister Mint like mushrooms?¡±

    ¡°Sure¡­ but¡­ that mushroom¡­ ah¡­ you¡¯re... sure... it¡¯s a¡­ friend?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Kino friend!¡±

    ¡°Kino?¡±

    ¡°Husband give name.¡±

    ¡°Of course he did¡­¡±

    Kino urged me to dance, and we both began doing the mushroom dance together.

    ¡°Haaah¡­ Why Mint ever think it good idea dost bloodmaw quest¡­?¡±

    Mint sat down and watched as Kino walked into the field. Then Kino¡¯s cap spread open wide and lots of spores came out andnded on the dirt. Mint quickly got onto her knees and stared at something, moving her hands in front of her body really quickly in a strange way.

    ¡°No¡­ way¡­ it¡­ unlocked!?¡±

    I had no idea what Mint was talking about.

    ¡°Chanterelle¡­ what is your mushroom¡­ doing?¡±

    After making spores, Kino was feelingzy.

    ¡°Bezy.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Big-sis Mint. Want push Chanty on swings?¡±

    Mint stared at Kino and then me and then Kino and then me again.

    ¡°World boss show up. Take spore shit on field next to Goblinhome. Yx even care anymore? Haaah¡­ why Mint not hit log out button when have chance?¡±

    I have no idea what she was talking about.

    Either way she took my hand, bringing me over to the swings where she pushed me and my other big-sisters.

    ying on swings, eating mushrooms, beingzy, and now I have a mushroom friend to do it with together¡­. This really<i>is</i>the life!

    <b>~~** Interlude | Somewhere Outside the Realm of Life and Death **~~</b>

    In what could be considered a mental reconstruction of what appeared to be a cavernous throne room, two formless beings manifested inside of it, as they had many times before.

    ¡°She gave you a mushroom, so you sent her<i>that</i>?¡±

    ¡°Correction. She gave us <em>both</em> mushrooms, and without wanting a single thing in return other than for us to enjoy how tasty they were.¡±

    ¡°¡­it was<i>just</i>a mushroom. You can find them anywhere you look in the damn world.¡±

    ¡°ra, are you jealous that I have a child who loves me so?¡±

    ¡°Tch. Who¡¯s jealous. And I have plenty of children who love me.¡±

    ¡°Like your little Saintess¡­ or should I say<i>my</i>little Saintess.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. Say whatever you want. One of yours is now one of mine.¡±

    ¡°She prayed once, at a statue in the center of the town because she thought it might reach me, since I am next to you in that ce.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you put up with that ugly¡­ icon.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s adorable. My children made it for me out of love and respect. Why wouldn¡¯t I like it?¡±

    One of the formless beings manifested the idea of divine alcohol and some elegant sses to drink it out of. It handed it over to the other one and toasted one-sidedly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll trust you to keep an eye on that one living alone for me.¡±

    ¡°Why should I?¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk. Are we not being amicable with each other after so long?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been how many thousands of years? We did it once, and we can do it again.¡±

    One of the formless beings manifested the idea of a divinely embroidered dress which revealed much, and yet nothing, while being absolutely alluring to the senses of the other.

    ¡°ra, ra¡­ not even an eternity can shake your beauty.¡±

    ¡°Hmph! You¡¯ve sent a Huntress, Shaman, Bone Lord, Blood Druid, and with my help, a Saintess. What do you n on sending next?¡±

    ¡°A Nightsmith, if I can get it right.¡±

    ¡°To the Orc?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s the most likely candidate.¡±

    ¡°What about the¡­ fat goblin?¡±

    ¡°Which one? The maker or the¡­ soon to be maker?¡±

    ¡°The daughter! Bad enough the Bone Lord and the Bloody Druid trespassed on Kamon¡¯s domain. I bet you have something devious nned for that one, considering the helping hand you lent while he was¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, I took care of Kamon already.¡±

    ¡°How? No. Wait¡­ I don¡¯t need to know. It can¡¯t be anything good if it¡¯sing from you.¡±

    ¡°No? Kamon is quite interested in the skeleton.¡±

    ¡°Forget Kamon. The daughter. Tell me.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to wait for the surprise?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re using all your divine pieces at once. I don¡¯t expect you will stop now.¡±

    ¡°True. But you¡¯ll just need to wait and see. It won¡¯t be long, anyway.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not the Hero, is it?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯ll at least tell you that much. It¡¯s not the Hero.¡±

    ¡°A Champion, then?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯m thinking of returning that to the Old One. There is a loophole to allow it.¡±

    ¡°There is also Yx.¡±

    ¡°Would you have Yx involved more than they already are?¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ are you preparing the Huntress to beget the Hero?¡±

    One of the formless beings dissolved and vacated the mental reconstruction of the cavernous throne room.

    ¡°You coward! Don¡¯t run away when I ask you an important question! Which one will beget the Hero!?¡±

    The other formless being dissolved and with it, the mental reconstruction of the cavernous throne room once more blinked out of existence¡­

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-eight â€“ In which Kiwi, a jack-of-all-trades goblin does her very best!

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-eight ¨C In which Kiwi, a jack-of-all-trades goblin does her very best!

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Kiwi **~~</strong>

    My Husband and my sisters are all so amazing. It¡¯s hard for me to find something I¡¯m good at that either an adult goblin or one of my big sister goblins aren¡¯t already amazing at. Forget fighting. While I have learned how to use different weapons for the hunt, I¡¯m by no means as good as the adult hunters like Prima and Jewel, or my big sisters Diana, Orchid, Lc, and Nova. When ites to magic, how can I possiblypare myself to Vera, ce, Ebony, or Selene? And as for making things? I¡¯m not as good at creating fun new games as Game and Toy are, or even when ites to making tasty food like big sister Melon is.

    I know Pear is disappointed that I¡¯m not a big fat goblin like she and Melon are so that Husband will love me lots, but it¡¯s not like I chose to be like this!

    I know I also disappoint Husband by always pestering him to as much as possible about everything he knows, unlike my sisters who only need to know a little bit and can do or make amazing things having only talked with him about something for a little bit.

    I think, sometimes, that¡¯s about the only thing I¡¯m good at¡ª<b>talking</b>.

    Well, I¡¯m also good at listening, too.

    That¡¯s why I thought I might try something different today. Recently, I became a big-sister goblin. Before that, I was the youngest strong-one in the tribe. As the youngest, I couldn¡¯t help but look up in amazement at all the amazing things my big-sister goblins could do that I couldn¡¯t. And when I see my little-sister goblin Gremory being carried around on Husband¡¯s shoulders all the time, ying with him, I can¡¯t help but think that she¡¯s also going to be more amazing a goblin than I am.

    That¡¯s why I wanted to see if there was something I could do better than any other goblin, and my idea came from something I had talked about with Husband.

    He had mentioned something called a<i>store</i>before. It¡¯s supposed to be something found in big ces that not-goblins gather outside of Goblinhome called<i>towns</i>. Basically, it¡¯s a gathering of outside cave-holes called<i>houses</i>made of tree-wood that not-goblins live inside of.

    There are people who make things and sell them to these big<i>houses</i>called<i>stores</i>that gather all kinds of things and make it easy to buy them.<i></i>ording to Husband, it¡¯s not only in a goblin¡¯s nature to bezy. A store is a ce where instead of having to go all over the ce to different cave-holes and order things, they can just make onezy trip to the<i>store</i>and get just about everything they could want or need.

    Husband taught me about something called<i>currency</i>or as it¡¯s better known as in the outside world:<i>money</i>. It¡¯s the same thing that we use now called<i>standing</i>, which is what goblins now use instead of just trading favors to other goblins in order to get the things they want.

    In the Goblin¡¯s Guild, there are requests put up on the wall¡ªa few specifically that never need toe down, and filling those requests are both an easy way to earn (and sometimes spend) standing. In fact, sometimes filling one request also fills another.

    In order to maximize earning standing when I started out, I went to talk with Ivory first about what bones she was low on that she needed and wound up hunting the beasties that usually had those exact bones. Whitefeathers, stripe-faces, king snakes, and even on two asions with help from Primrose and Selene, some many-horns were the bones in demand the most. ck-ws too, but that felt a bit dangerous for now. Most of the meat from those hunted beasties Melon used her Kitchen¡¯s standing budget to buy, and the pelts I had worked to strip cleanly off having been taught by Pepper were bought by both Pepper and the Orc, Krushka.

    Husband says what I was doing back then was properly creating and exploiting the economy of Goblinhome, and ruffled my hair, telling me he was proud of me for being the first goblin to really understand that.

    I don¡¯t think any words ever mattered to me more than hearing him say that.

    Game and Fun, when not busy in their workshop, often work at the Goblin¡¯s Guild when Vera or Husband aren¡¯t there to do so. They verify the things brought in and record the payment logs of<i>standing</i>to each goblin. They call it<i>calcting</i>and I had to spend some standing to learn how to do it. I¡¯ve also learned how to read and write<i>gob</i>, so I figured now was the best time to try my hand at doing something I might actually be good at.

    When talking about something called<imerce</i>with Husband, he mentioned that sometimes goblins and not-goblins may be unsure if they really need something they don¡¯t yet know serves a good purpose.

    For instance, there is a tool Husband told me about called a Fishing Rod. While Pepper wades into the Eastern stream and hunts fish with a spear, not everyone is that skilled to do so. Fish taste good but aren¡¯t as popr to eat as beasts are because they are tricky to catch. With the fishing rod, any goblin can catch a fish if they are willing to bezy for a little while, and that¡¯s most of the goblins in Goblinhome!

    So, I decided the first thing I wanted to try making and selling with<i>standing</i>were fishing rods. Initially, I wanted to use long bones, but they are a lot harder toe by than wood. So, I paid doll some standing to have her cut a tree down for me and chop it up into long pieces. I then took it to Toy and we worked on cutting and smoothing the pieces with the tools she has so that they would be long and easy to hold. Then I went to Pepper to see if she could make me some thin rope to attach to it. But Pepper is also a busy goblin. Instead, I wound up being sent to Crow who knew how to make thin rope just as good as Pepper did.

    Crow¡¯s injured leg doesn¡¯t leave her with much to do, and little way to earn standing. As a result, she was interested in doing something to stay active, and so I made a deal with her. I visited Ivory to see about having her make me the thing known as a<i>hook</i>which was used to catch fish. It¡¯s the thin fishbones that are the best for catching fish, surprisingly.

    I had to do the assembling myself, but at the cost of twenty-five total<i>standing</i>, I had managed to make ten fishing rods in total. If I sold them each for five<i>standing</i>, which was more than reasonable considering the amount of work I had to put in myself and pay for up front, I could double my total<i>standing</i>if I managed to sell them all.

    However, the only goblins that know how to use a fishing rod are Husband and myself, so, no matter what goblin I tried to get to buy it, they weren¡¯t all that interested.

    Except one.

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ is that¡­ a fishing rod?¡±

    Husband had seen me sitting outside by the fire pit dangling a piece of meat from a bone hood at the end of one of my fishing rods while sitting on a log.

    ¡°Yes. I tried making it as you described.¡±

    ¡°Mind if I see it?¡±

    I handed it over and Husband yed around with it for a bit, mentioning something about it needing a bit more rope, and that something called a<i>reel</i>was probably not possible to include on it just yet. He admired the bone<i>hook</i>saying that it looked nice, and that all it was really missing was a small weight on it.

    My curiosity got the better of me, as it usually did, and I once again pestered Husband to tell me what was wrong with it.

    ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong with this. It¡¯s really well made, Kiwi. I was just talking about things you could consider<i>upgrades</i>to this rod.¡±

    ¡°<i>Upgrades</i>? What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Ah, let¡¯s say you make something, but you think<i>oh, I wish what I have could do this or that, or do something it already does a bit easier or simpler.</i>That¡¯s an upgrade. Let¡¯s take this fishing rod for example. The string on it is good and tight, but with it only being this long, you have to constantly stand close to the water. With a longer string, you can cast the string into the water and sit ory down on the bank instead of having to constantly stand and hold it. I have noints about the<i>hook</i>, since it¡¯s perfect already, but there are many different kinds of<i>hooks</i>which the design, shape, and material of can possibly attract different kinds of fish. If one was made of metal, sometimes the sunlight might hit it and make it shine, which will make a fish think it¡¯s something they can eat and want to try biting it not knowing they¡¯ll get hooked. Then there¡¯s the weight¡­ something just a little bit heavy and not<i>buoyant</i>¡­ uh¡­ not something that floats. If the string sinks easily then that opens up the opportunity for fish that swim deep toe across the hook. There¡¯s more to it, but I really think you¡¯ve done a great job with the resources you have avable.¡±

    I listened carefully to what Husband said, even some of the words he used that weren¡¯t<i>gob</i>and I had a little trouble understanding at first. I asked more about the different kinds of<i>hooks</i>he talked about, and the<i>weight</i>and how it was supposed to fit on the thin rope. Usually by this point, Husband would get this look on his face and say to me ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Kiwi, but that¡¯s all I really know about it.¡±

    However, that didn¡¯t happen this time.

    ¡°Hey kiddo, want to go fishing with your old man?¡±

    I did.

    I wanted to go fishing with Husband very much.

    So, I went to go fetch another fishing rod for us to use.

    Husband picked me up and put me on his shoulders, and then the two of us with our fishing rods in hand headed East from Goblinhome to the stream. Right about when we got there, Husband pointed out a particr spot where the bushes ended and there was only grass leading to the stream.

    ¡°You know the story about Diana Artemis and me hunting the ck-ws, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard it. What about it?¡±

    ¡°This was the ce where it ended. I had used some hasting magic and we ran from this big tree a bit back all the way here. Doll was in the stream with her tree-chopping axe with four ck-ws ready to attack her. Prima, Jewel, Me, and Diana were right here. I had to use a wind spell to knock the four ck-ws into the water. It was myst bit of mana before I sumbed to mana fatigue and fell on my butt. The four of them managed to kill the ck-ws and rescue Doll. After that, I was dragged back to Goblinhome. I feel a bit sad knowing there was nothing I could do to save Beast-talker, but I¡¯m d everyone else lived.¡±

    I¡¯ve heard some of my older big-sister goblins talk about it, but as for the exact details, never this specific. That story is something of a legend told to us younger goblins. Diana Artemis is very much the epitome of a big-sister goblin. Even more now that she¡¯s the head of her own Moon n, and that both she and Berry have undergone a Blood Fury.

    While there are a couple of my big-sister goblins who think Button is stronger, I don¡¯t believe it. When Nova was teaching me how to use a sword, Diana Artemis was watching and offered to spar with me. I have never seen a goblin who could move and react as fast as she could. Not even Prima, and she is a master at dodging and countering almost any attack with her spear!

    The way Husband exined the story in detail, I could feel how proud he was of Diana Artemis. And howpletely he trusted her. He never once doubted her ability or her ce as the next Guardian of the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe.

    She was barely older than me when this happened.

    For us younger goblins, which is essentially everyone not an adult goblin already, Diana Artemis is like this huge imprable, impassable wall we can never measure up to. And here I am, in such a famous spot, wasting Husband¡¯s time¡­ going fishing.

    Setting me down on the ground, I stood close to the stream and held my fishing rod out, letting the hook sink into the water.

    Husband stood next to me but didn¡¯t put his hook into the water.

    ¡°Eager to catch something so soon?¡± He asked, with a bit of augh.

    ¡°Am I not fishing the right way?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ there is a step missing.¡±

    Husband reached for the string and showed me the hook on the end of his fishing rod.

    ¡°Fishing is just like an economy. You can¡¯t expect to just catch a fish for free.¡±

    I lifted my fishing rod and brought my hook out of the water.

    ¡°Then how am I supposed to catch one?¡±

    ¡°Bait. We¡­ need something to put<i>on</i>the hook that will make a fish interested in biting it. Only then can we reel them in.¡±

    ¡°What are fish interested in?¡±

    ¡°Worms, flies, generally anything like an insect or bug. You can think of it like one of Berry¡¯s poison traps. Well, we don¡¯t want to use poison since we¡¯ll be eating these, but we¡¯re pretty much tricking the fish into thinking that it¡¯s going to get an easy free meal, then when it¡¯s caught on the hook, it won¡¯t even realize that it¡¯s going to be<i>our</i>meal until it¡¯s toote. And all it costs us is a worm or two.¡±

    ¡°But we don¡¯t have any worms. Or flies.¡±

    ¡°True, but¡­ do you think there aren¡¯t any all around us?¡±

    Husband put his fishing rod down and walked back towards the bushes. He used hisnd magic to raise some pirs of dirt and then said ¡°Aha!¡± before returning with two worms, handing me one.

    ¡°Don¡¯t eat that. Watch what I do, and then do the same, okay?¡±

    I nodded.

    Husband carefully stabbed the worm onto the hook, moving it so that it was a bit down on the loop before holding out his rod and dunking the hook into the water. The worm was still squirming even in the water.

    ¡°When the fish see a squirming worm, they¡¯ll go for it. It might take a while for them to notice it though. Patience is the name of the game when ites to fishing.¡±

    I followed Husband¡¯s words and put the worm he gave me onto my fishing rod¡¯s hook and then held it out, dunking the hook adorned with a squirming worm into the water. The two of us just stood there, waiting, with nothing happening. No fish trying to eat either of our worms at all. I decided to ask him a question, since I thought talking about anything was better than just standing around in silence.

    ¡°Husband, since you had a strong-one with Lumi, and big-sister Melon says her strong-one wille into the world in less than a moon, are you not thinking about making a strong-one with Diana Artemis?¡±

    Husband gently swished his fishing rod a few times before answering.

    ¡°Well, Diana is doing her best to try and make one with me every chance she gets, but it¡¯s not like I¡¯m in any hurry for her to have one. I¡¯m sure when it¡¯s the right time, it¡¯ll happen. I certainly never thought Lumi would be the first of my daughters to¡­ well¡­ make a¡­¡±

    Husband seemed to be unsure how to finish his thought. Was it because Gremory was a bit different from us in appearance, having wings and a tail?

    ¡°I¡¯m not actually sure if she¡¯s not both my daughter and granddaughter at the same time¡­¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just easier to say she¡¯s your strong-one?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess calling her that in<i>gob</i>makes it way lessplicated than it needs to be.¡±

    ¡°Do you think big-sister Melon¡¯s strong one will be a fat goblin like she and Pear are?¡±

    ¡°Could be.¡±

    ¡°Husband prefers fat goblins, right?¡±

    ¡°Hm? What makes you think that?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell Pear that you wanted her to make you chubby goblins for the rest of her life.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like something I¡¯d say. But it¡¯s not like I prefer them over any other goblin.¡±

    ¡°Then why tell her that?¡±

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ your mother¡­ hmm¡­ how do I put this? The fact that Pear is a very adventurous chubby goblin makes me<i>seriously</i>enjoy both making strong-ones with her and wasting big-seed with her. Really, I just like that she¡¯s squishy. She¡¯s very enjoyable to hug after we¡­ um¡­¡±

    ¡°Make strong-ones?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Then you also like Melon because she¡¯s fat and squishy too?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s certainly not the only reason, but yes, I love giving her squishy hugs too.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ what about me?¡±

    Husbandughed all of a sudden.

    ¡°Kiwi, do you think I wouldn¡¯t enjoy your hugs just because you aren¡¯t a chubby goblin?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you are saying?¡±

    ¡°No, baby girl. I love your hugs just as much as Pear¡¯s or Melon¡¯s. Oh!¡±

    Suddenly, Husband held onto his fishing rod firmly and pulled it upwards, taking a few steps back. The sound of sshing water filled my ears and with a small grunt, Husband had yanked the fishing rod high up over his head and a small fish was dangling on the end of the tiny rope.

    ¡°Looks like we managed to catch one!¡±

    Husband brought the fishing rod to a standing position and held on to the fish with one hand, tucking the fishing rod in his armpit, and used his now freed hand to pull the bone hook out of the mouth of the small fish.

    ¡°It¡¯s a sturdy rod. Could do with having a bit more flexibility, but really, noints so far considering the materials you had to work with.¡±

    Husband put the fishing rod down and then used hisnd magic to make a small pot hardened from grass and dirt. Then he dunked it in the stream to fill it with water before putting the fish he caught in it, leaving it on the ground just behind where he was standing.

    My fishing rod still didn¡¯t have a single bite. I¡¯m pretty sure my worm was dead by now, too. Husband went to go fetch a new worm to put on his hook and quickly returned to the bank of the stream, sitting down next to me.

    ¡°Want to sit in myp while we wait for the fish to bite?¡±

    I eagerly sat down in hisp, leaning back against his chest while the two of us held onto our rods.

    ¡°This brings back good memories¡­ When I was a strong-one, I used to go fishing with my father once or twice a moon or so. He taught me everything I know about fishing.¡±

    I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard about Husband¡¯s maker¡¯s Husband before from any conversations I¡¯ve had with him or any other goblin before.

    ¡°What kind of goblin was your maker¡¯s Husband?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. He was a fair man, if not a bit stricter than me. He worked a lot, since his job was to make money by selling things to people in order to support our family¡­ uh¡­ our n¡­ and on his days off, he tried to spend what time he could with my mother and me and my siblings.¡±

    ¡°He sold things?¡±

    ¡°Oh yes. He was a<i>businessman</i>, and so worked from sunup to sundown five out of every seven days at a minimum. Thanks to his hard work, the life I was able to live growing up from a strong-one into an adult was rather luxuriouspared to many other families¡­ ns¡­<i>whatever</i>.¡±

    Husband talked about his former n in depth as the two of us sat there holding fishing rods that received no bites from any fish. The strange thing about his story was that Husband¡¯s maker¡¯s Husband didn¡¯t have more than one goblin he made strong ones with. Only five strong-ones in total came into the world and the third one was Husband. ording to Husband, his next younger brother-goblin was kind of like Vera, which is why caring for her in his cave-hole is something he demanded Prima to let him do.

    But that wasn¡¯t all he had to say.

    ¡°So, before Husband became an adventurer, he also sold things?¡±

    ¡°Yes. While not the same exact things that my father did, after attending a ce where I learned worldly things for a long time, I joined apany just as my father had long before me and sold plenty of things just as he did. I didn¡¯t have anyone at the time to¡­ take care of, like I do the adult goblins here in Goblinhome. I lived by myself and either saved my money, hoping I might find someone in the future to spend it on who might end up living with and making strong-ones together with me, or spend it on things to decorate my apartment¡­ uh¡­ cave-hole with that I enjoy.¡±

    ¡°Things like games, and the big bath?¡±

    ¡°Most cave-holes came with a smaller bath, but yeah, for sure there were plenty of games. I even had a collection of¡­<i>figurines</i>.¡±

    ¡°Figurine?¡±

    ¡°Think of it as something simr to smaller statues like the two found in Lumi¡¯s chapel. Not much bigger than my hand and they would decorate shelves in my room. They would bring me great pleasure to look at.¡±

    ¡°What was your favorite figurine to look at?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s a toss-up. I had a game I used to y every day for years about a group of female soldiers led by amander who tried to reim the surface hundreds of moons after humanity had to retreat to an underground city to live in or face extinction from the rapture queen¡ªa big metal golem that sought to destroy everything and rule the world as the supreme civilization. Rather than say I had a single favorite one to look at, I would enjoy collecting as many of them as I could since each of them were different and enjoyable in their own way, just like all of the adult goblins and my daughters are.¡±

    I suddenly felt something pull on my fishing rod. I gripped it tightly and let Husband know. He put his down and held onto mine with me while I stood up first. Husband moved to the side from behind me and cheered me on as I struggled to take steps backward and lift the fishing rod up high, eventually managing to bring the sshing struggling fish out of the water. It wasn¡¯t much bigger than the one Husband caught earlier, but I felt happy that I was able to also catch one now!

    ¡°Great going, Kiwi!¡± Husband cheered me on.

    With the fish dangling from the end of the tiny rope, Husband helped me undo the hook from its mouth and put it into the stone bucket with the other fish he had caught.

    Once more his hand pressed down upon my head and ruffled my hair.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this fun? This is the kind ofziness your daddy can get behind.¡±

    ¡°You like beingzy?¡±

    I actually found that to be shocking information. Husband was<i>always</i>busy!

    ¡°Sure. While being busy and productive is a good trait to have, if you¡¯re always busy¡­ then you¡¯ll eventually be worn out. Taking time every so often to bezy and enjoy the things you¡¯ve worked hard for is important for your personal growth as a goblin. For me, a nicezy day is taking a long warm bath and then ying with my daughters. I would certainly count going fishing with my baby girl as an enjoyablezy day to have.¡±

    ¡°GGGRRRARK! GRARK!¡±

    Catching us from surprise from behind, arge ck beast had suddenly appeared!

    Husband quickly extended his arms and stood in front of me protectively.

    While I had never seen one alive before, I knew exactly what it was¡ªa ck-w!

    ¡°Shit. This isn¡¯t good. Stay behind me, Kiwi¡­ Daddy¡­ will do something.¡±

    I could see well enough to know that this ck-w, even though it was only this one, was already nning on hunting us both.

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ how¡¯s your throwing arm?¡± Husband asked me all of a sudden.

    ¡°Want me to try and find a stone in the stream?¡±

    ¡°No. Reach in the pot and throw a fish close to it. Stay behind me while you do, okay?¡±

    Listening to Husband, I reached into the nearby pot and pulled one of the two fish out, throwing it right in front of the ck-w. We both watched as it was on full alert for a moment, before sniffing the air and taking a tentative step forward to sniff it. Then opening its mouth to grab it off the ground and begin chewing and swallowing it.

    While it ate the fish, I don¡¯t think that was enough of an offering to let us go.

    ¡°Kiwi. I want to lock it down with somend magic. I want you to throw the other fish so that it will be distracted enough while eating for me to do so. After that, the two of us are going to run. Forget about the rods, okay?¡±

    ¡°Why not kill it.¡±

    ¡°I would never forgive myself if something happened to you, Kiwi.¡±

    ¡°I might not be Diana Artemis, but I can fight, too.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt that. But do you have a weapon?¡±

    ¡°No, but¡­ will you trust me?¡±

    Husband was quiet, locking eyes with the ck-w.

    ¡°I trust you. Throw the fish or we won¡¯t even have a chance to find out how much I trust you.¡±

    I lobbed thest remaining fish at the ck-w again, and it once more cautiously approached it to snatch it up.

    All of a sudden,nd rose up around all four legs of the ck w and solidified quickly, locking it into ce.

    I rushed forward, hearing Husband yell at me to be careful.

    I might not be as strong as my sisters, but I knew a few things.

    ¡°Kiwi-ken Upper!¡±

    Shouting the name of my attack as Button had taught me to do, since it made attacks more powerful, I dove forward into a roll just under the ck-w¡¯s face and sprung up with a tightly clenched fist, impacting the underside of its maw and snapping its head upwards and back, hearing a satisfying crack as I did.

    ¡°Kiwi-ken w Barrage!¡±

    I then began to sh at its vulnerable neck as fast as I could with a series of shing strikes with my bare hands before leaping backwards out of range of any counterattack.

    But it was unnecessary.

    Its throat was heavily torn and it half-copsed, held up only by the stone surrounding its legs. The head of the ck-w hung limply, blood pouring out onto the ground.

    Husband had quickly secured it further, raising morend around it and solidifying it into stone so that even if the ck-w was still alive, it wouldn¡¯t be able to escape. Then he came to check on me.

    ¡°Kiwi, are you alright?¡±

    I nodded. I was perfectly fine.

    ¡°How did I do?¡±

    Husband chopped the top of my head with his hand, but didn¡¯t say a word. Instead, he knelt down and pulled me into a hug.

    ¡°You did great, baby girl. You did great.¡±

    It was a while before Husband let go of me, not that I minded. He could have hugged me forever and that would have been fine.

    We had lost the fish we had caught, and even one of the rods. The hook attached to the tiny rope on Husband¡¯s fishing rod was still in the water of the stream and something must have pulled it in while we were dealing with the ck-w.

    Husband carefully inspected the ck-w for a while before deciding it was dead enough to remove the stone bonds he had created, securing it in ce.

    ¡°I think we should head back now. I¡¯ll handle this guy, you keep an eye out for anything else that might be trying to hunt us, okay Kiwi?¡±

    I agreed. Husband grabbed hold of the back legs with both hands, dragging the body behind him slowly. It took us a while to get back to Goblinhome, along the way Husband asked me when I learned how to fight like that.

    ¡°Button gives lessons. She says all her sisters should know a little about the<i>swirly-whirly</i>to keep themselves safe.¡±

    Truthfully, I didn¡¯t understand the whole<i>swirly-whirly</i>thing she talked about, but the lessons I had taken with Prima, Diana, and Nova had taught me enough that a weapon wasn¡¯t the only weapon a goblin had. Our ws were sharp for a reason, and that reason was to hunt. Button has her own martial art called the Mushroom Fist, but says that since I am a fruit-goblin, I should discover my own martial art.

    The result, of course, is my Kiwi-ken Fist.

    ¡°I can¡¯t beat Button or Figurine with it, though. Those two are just too strong. Everyone is¡­ too strong.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay. The purpose of learning a martial art isn¡¯t for beating someone¡­ it¡¯s for protecting yourself and the people you care about, and that¡¯s exactly what you did. While it might have been safer to run away, I¡¯m still incredibly proud of you, Kiwi.¡±

    I held the remaining fishing rod in my hand and swished it about as I basked in the praise Husband gave me.

    He was proud of me!

    Me, who wasn¡¯t better at a single thing than any of my big-sisters were¡­

    There was nothing that dared to hunt us in the forest on the way back to Goblinhome. When we got back, Husband asked me if he could have the bones and skin of the ck-w. He said he had something important in mind for them. I didn¡¯t mind, since he made it possible for us to kill it in the first ce.

    With some help from Pepper, Melon, Ste, Ivory and even Diana Artemis, the ck-w was quickly disassembled and butchered. Melon had taken a bit of the meat to cook with, but left much of it for what cameter. Husband asked the entire tribe toe out to the fire-pit when it became dark, and everyone was given some of the ck-w to eat. I think there might have been part of another ck-w added because the one we brought back couldn¡¯t have possibly had that much meat on it.

    Goblins eat a lot, especially tasty bloody meat!

    While eating, Husband recounted the story of us going out to fish at the stream, recounted the part of the story of Diana and Husband¡¯s hunt where they reached the stream to rescue Doll, and then recounted the story of Husband and me fighting the single ck-w who thought us easy prey!

    The way he told it was a bit more borate than what happened, but everyone was listening intently and giving me nods of approval. Diana Artemis told me she was d I am bing a strong goblin who can protect Husband.

    Diana Artemis said that!

    I didn¡¯t protect him, though¡­ he¡­

    I could see something in her eyes that told me nothing I would say would matter at this point. This was her judgment of my kill. Of my and Husband¡¯s kill¡­

    Button and Prima had also given me approving nods as they ate some of the bloody ck-w meat.

    Riding some kind of high, Husband invited me to spend the night with him in his cave-hole. I held onto him tight as we talked about many more things. Especially on how to improve the fishing rod. I slept well, only to wake up and find Husband gone.

    Husband had been busy the next day, but I tried not to let that bring my spirits down.

    Instead, Primrose, Selene, Chanterelle asked me to tell the story again to them, which I did, happily. Lumi was there too with my little sister goblin Gremory, giving us all pushes on the swings.

    After that, I returned to Pear¡¯s cave-hole and tried to understand the part called a<i>reel</i>that Husband said would be important to the new fishing rod I wanted to make. It would be another whole day before I saw Husband again.

    At that time, he had something for me.

    It was some kind of ck-w clothing. Husband had been working with Pepper to make it. The top half of the ck-w¡¯s head was able to rest on my head or be pulled back. The back of the ck-w became like a cloak that covered my back, down to my butt where the tail was. And two front paws came across my chest, tied with a bit of thin rope. There was also a ne he gave me¡ªall of the bottom teeth from the ck-w strung together, proof of my kill.

    But that wasn¡¯t all.

    He had made me a grand weapon, too!

    Modeled a bit after<i>Ripper</i>, part of Diana¡¯s original grand weapons Ripper and Bleed, two long bone-ws made from sharpened bone done by Ivory and some sharpened metal on the undersides of the bone-ws added by Dara who lives under Husband¡¯s cave-hole. They had some padding on the insides so that they would fitfortably on my arms. They also could be attached to my new clothes so that I didn¡¯t have to wear them all the time. I could just put them on when I was ready to hunt.

    There was also something else. There was a pocket of some kind that had been made out of the belly-skin from the ck-w on the inside so that I could store things I wanted to carry or keep hidden inside of it.

    Even ce¡¯s Shaman¡¯s clothes weren¡¯t as amazing as mine!

    I found myself exceptionally busy after that. Not only the modifications to the fishing rod, I also began to try and make a few new things that didn¡¯t exist yet in Goblinhome. Getting permission from Vera, I was allowed to use a small bit of space behind the Goblin¡¯s Guild counter to run my new<i>store</i>.

    I had all sorts of interesting things I thought goblins might want to buy now.

    With help from Dara, I managed to create the<i>reel</i>Husband spoke of, increased the length of the thin rope, and added a small smooth stone Vera helped me make withnd magic. Now any goblin could fishzily! Husband even agreed to go fishing with any goblins who bought them and wanted to learn how to use it!

    I also made some of the<i>figurines</i>Husband talked about out of small bones, only they were all designed after my big sister goblins. I even made ones to resemble ck-ws and Husband too! Turns out, they became popr as recement chess-pieces!

    Husband is naturally the King piece.

    Game and Fun, seeing that goblins came almost every day to my new store talked about having the things they make be sold in my shop. There were a few things that I didn¡¯t sell¡ªIvory¡¯s bone charms and Truffle¡¯s color-spin-think powder. Those are items those two are best known for and I didn¡¯t want to take away all their business.

    I did, however, buy manymon items made from bone from Ivory, since if they were readily avable, goblins would buy them. Chanterelle had actually started her own little mushroom farm, and she wanted me to sell them for her because she was toozy to sell them herself. Apparently, they are mushrooms made by Kino¡¯s spores. They have a¡­ unique taste. But they certainly aren¡¯t bad. Big-sister Melon made a soup out of them, and it was actually pretty tasty.

    Turns out, Husband had used some of the ck-w leg bones to make some kind of outer bone-leg for Crow with help from Dara, along with a metal stick that let her move a bit more freely. While slow, she could even make it upstairs to the Goblin¡¯s Guild on her own.

    So now, Crow watches my store while I go about my day making or sourcing things to be sold there.

    All in all, things are going greattely. I have earned way more standing than I thought possible.

    Crow has also recently been in a good mood. Husband managed to put another strong-one inside of her belly. I¡¯m happy for her. Crow says it¡¯ll soon be time for the strong-one inside my big-sister Melon toe into the world.

    I wonder, will it be a fat goblin like she is, or a skinny goblin like me?

    Crow tells me not to worry. When I get bigger, Husband will help me be an adult goblin and give me a strong-one of my own. I¡¯m looking forward to it, but time is money, and I have a lot more standing I want to earn before then.

    Until then, I will do my best with my store and continue to make Husband proud of me.

    The only store in all of Goblinhome¡ªKiwi¡¯s Lazy-buy! We have things goblins want to buy!

 Chapter Forty-two â€“ In which Ark becomes a f*cking monster

    Chapter Forty-two ¨C In which Ark bes a f*cking monster

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Putting a trigger warning notice here for non-consensual sexual activity with a non-goblin. This is the worst of it in this story but it is essential to future plot development. It''s back to wholesome writing after this.

    Later that night, I didn¡¯t sleep with Vera in her room. I spent it inside of mine together with Ste, who was engaging in a bit of hostile behavior. I tightened the ropes on her hands so she didn¡¯t strangle me in my sleep, and Iid down with her in the bed and held her. She was angry, and justifiably so, but I just wanted to enjoy myst day as a decent human being.

    Her body was warm and soft, and most noticeably, not green. I yed nice for the most part, but I admit to groping her chest a little. Even if she was a human, her breasts felt no different from those of the goblins. Just bigger.

    I decided to level with her.

    ¡°Ste¡­ if somethinges of it. If you¡­ get pregnant and can¡¯t stand the sight of the child¡­ I¡¯ll raise it.¡±

    ¡°What, to be a fucking goblin?¡±

    ¡°To be civilized. It may live among goblins, but that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been doing here slowly, and will continue to do so. I will try and make these goblins civilized. I don¡¯t expect your hate or anger towards them to ever be eradicated, but I will try to make these goblins more than what we were told to expect when encountering them. You might not think it, but any child you have from what will happen between us<i>is</i>innocent. It¡¯ll be human. If you¡¯re still human then even you have to respect the sanctity of life.¡±

    ¡°...why don¡¯t you just rape me now?¡±

    ¡°Because there¡¯s a certain goblin that has to watch. She was ordered to, by the<i>thing</i>that captured us, and that<i>thing</i>is no joke. I¡¯m only doing this to save both of our lives, even if it¡¯s a detestable thing. Don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to take great pleasure in doing this. I have over a dozen willing goblins who would rather take your ce, but what must be done, must be done. All I can do for you is apologize and promise to make it as painless as physically possible. I can¡¯t¡­ do anything for your heart or your mind. You can fight and struggle if you want. Do whatever you can to hold onto your humanity, Ste. Do¡­ whatever you can.¡±

    I pulled my hands away from her soft breasts and held her gently as she wept.

    When the next day came, it was breakfast time with everyone once again. Well, minus Ivory today. Doll was there though, and she¡¯s a dedicated member of the bloody meat faction. Not much exercising can do about that.

    ¡°Which is the goblin who has to watch?¡± Ste asked me in in front of all the goblins.

    I tilted my head at Prima in response. Ste spit in her direction.

    ¡°She¡¯s upset you are going to be present when it happens.¡± I exined to Prima.

    ¡°Stupid human not want big seed. Prima know what Husband say, still think human stupid. Diana proof Husband big seed make strong ones. Human should beg get big seed.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t asking her, but it was a nice vote of confidence?

    ¡°Husband, after give human big seed, seed-stick work again for goblins?¡± Berry asked me.

    ¡°I hope so. I¡¯ve gotten to enjoy giving you all big seed, and wasting it with you even more.¡±

    ¡°Not waste if give seed after, make goblin bellies fat with strong ones.¡± Prima added.

    Prima really wanted me to blow her belly up. I wish I knew how!

    After some shared bath time, with the exception of Prima and Vera, the rest had left.

    ¡°Husband, whene watch? Wait three suns.¡±

    I sighed.

    ¡°Then don¡¯t leave. I don¡¯t think it matters whether it¡¯s now orter. May as well watch the moment I be the monster I used you of being, not too long ago¡­¡±

    Ste was sitting at the table still, her piece of fire-meat was only half-eaten. Prima had walked over to her and grabbed her by the arm, pointing to the raised bed covered in straw in the center of the room. Ste looked at me and I closed my eyes to nod at her. It was a gallows walk for her, and Prima was the warden. I was the executioner.

    I couldn¡¯t loosen her bonds for what I was about to do. Ste could trap my head in her thighs and possibly snap my neck. I nned to give her a bit of cunnilingus at first to make her wet so it didn¡¯t hurt going in. I didn¡¯t know if she had ever done it before, and I had no idea exactly what a human female¡¯s hymen looked like, so telling by sight was out. It didn¡¯t seem right to ask her if she ever had a lover before me, and even if she wasn¡¯t pure, did it matter at this point? I had fucked nearly a dozen goblins many times over. I wasn¡¯t in any position to be picky. I wanted this over now, so I could get back to my wives.

    Ste did listen to what I saidst night. She struggled. Even tied up she made it somewhat impossible, to the point that Prima had to intervene by barking out for Vera toe and help hold her down. I felt terrible, but it had to be done. I¡¯d go to hell formitting this sin, but it wouldn¡¯t be today.

    She cried out, and Prima wanted to gag her, but I said no. That was one right she had. The one right I wouldn¡¯t deprive her of. To scream bloody murder and curse me. I reminded Prima of the great human magic called spite. She didn¡¯t say anything more about it once I had, and with Ste¡¯s bound legs being held up in the air with my hands pushing against her thighs, I shoved my face in her clean pink hairy snatch and began to lick it.

    She cried out and cursed at me to stop over and over, but still I licked. With her in this state, she wasn¡¯t going to rx enough to have an orgasm. It¡¯s only in the dirtyic books that you can rape a woman to pleasure. But my goal wasn¡¯t that. I knew she would get no pleasure from this act. It was just to force her body into a wet enough state that it wouldn¡¯t hurt her all that much when I put my cock inside of her.

    I had to probe inside of her with my fingers to check, and it just didn¡¯t feel like it was wet enough, even after taking a while to get her ready with my mouth. Yet, what must be done, must be done, and she was<i>going</i>to be done. My cock fully at the ready, tip at her entrance and ready to push in, she begged with all she had for me to stop. I pushed inside of her slowly and she screamed again.

    ¡°I hate you! Ark you fucking traitor! Goblin fucker! I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡±

    Our pelvises kissed.

    I pulled out slowly, noting my cock was clean, with not a single drop of blood on it. I readily pushed it inside again while holding her legs and just went slow. She didn¡¯t feel all that lubricated inside and for the longer I fucked her, the more chafing friction I felt. To the point she didn¡¯t even feel wet anymore, and even her crying had tapered off. It was going to be difficult to cum inside of her like this.

    I pulled out and Prima looked at me asking if I had given big seed to her.

    I hadn¡¯t. But it was required that I do. I had to ask Vera for her help. I apologized because I was covered in human juices, but I needed her lick me and coat my guy in her goblin saliva. Vera was more than willing, twining her long gray tongue around my shaft. After some heavy saturation from her, I was ready to go back inside Ste.

    This time there was no resistance she could offer. No fight she could hope to put up anymore. It would have been like trying to grasp a stick of melting butter with bare hands over a hot pan. Covered in goblin saliva, I could pump in and out of her at any speed I wanted. But I still tried to remain decent, and went at what I thought would be a fair pace that wouldn¡¯t be too intense or painful for her, and would also get me off the quickest.

    Compared to the goblins in this cave, her pussy didn¡¯t even rank. My dick fit, but I was already thinking about fucking both Prima and Vera after I was done with Ste if it stayed hard. Maybe I¡¯m already too far gone? It was even irritating me how long it was taking. Ste was quiet after she realized resisting was futile andid still, like a dead fish, leaving me to my crime. That only made this rape feel more authentic.

    I fucked her for what felt like forever and I began to feel dizzy. I thought I needed more cardio, but it felt familiar. I felt pure luste from within me. I wasn¡¯t going to yell out anything tacky like ¡°Get pregnant!!!¡± (this time) but I wanted to just seed her so I could be done. Eventually I could feel my balls churning. The familiar sensation of pressure building and the inevitable feeling that I was going to explode inside of her.

    I grabbed her legs tightly, holding them to my chest, and swung my hips for the final few times where my knees locked as I bucked numerous times into her, feeling my consciousness try to slip from my grasp again. My head filled with a white bliss while some darkness threatened to pull me under at the same time. It was Vera who disconnected my body from Ste, and brought me back to the dimly lit cavern I was in.

    I could see my obscene river of semen flowing freely out of Ste¡¯s pussy, and I found myself breathing heavily.

    Prima let her go, and Ste immediately curled up in a ball.

    ¡°Ark. Done?¡±

    I nodded.

    My cock was hard again. Even though I just raped and creampied my adventurerpanion, I wanted to fuck some more. Vera I know wanted it, but she called for her sister instead. Prima sat down in myp and I was taken into her, happy to be deep inside of her inviting goblin cunt. I held on to her and sucked hard on her tits as I thrusted up into her. I felt like I was home again even though I knew the truth. I was fully expendable to these goblins if I couldn¡¯t do my duty as Husband. This horrible atrocity was a mercy from that<i>thing</i>that ruled this tribe. That captured Ste and probably killed Kairos.

    But it was no different than how things were back in my previous life. I was an expendable employee to thepany I worked for in the end. I might have made my department do well because of my diligence, and how I fostered goodmunication and teamwork, but all the upper management ever really cared about were the numbers.

    And the remaining number of goblins was three.

    I did get paid time off and overtime here, which I was pretty sure if this Great Protector was anything like my old boss or the human resources department, I just cashed in everything I had earned all at once over this erection problem.

    Prima¡¯s body felt light, and Prima¡¯s body felt<i>right</i>. I was soon filling her up with big seed, but my head had be clear again. Focused. After her, I couldn¡¯t help but take Vera. She usually liked to sit in myp, but I put her on her hands and knees and mated with her from behind. Prima watched with satisfaction in her eyes. I truly wondered how she could be happy watching me fuck her little sister right in front of her.

    Vera bent her elbows and lifted her ass by locking her knees and straightening her thighs. I drilled her cute little gob-snootch until it, too, was full of my leaky yogurt. I was still breathing hard, but I felt good.

    I wanted more.

    I¡¯m sorry, Ste.

    I climbed onto the raised bed and put myself into her again. It still felt inferior to both Prima and Vera¡¯s, but I no longer cared. I knew I wasn¡¯t good enough to call myself a human being anymore, raping her for the second time. My hands clutched handfuls of barely-tanned cream colored breasts and with my dick thickly coated in goblin secretions, I vited her until more and more of my big seed filled her womb.

    <b>I was the monster now.</b>

    I sat up on the raised bed and Prima looked up at me as she remained lying down on her back on the floor.

    ¡°Husband?¡±

    ¡°Am I a monster for wanting more?¡± I asked her in all seriousness.

    Primaughed.

    ¡°Who want?¡±

    This time Iughed sardonically.

    ¡°I am a greedy goblin, my lovely Prima. I want many goblins with fat bellies.¡±

    She grinned.

    ¡°Husband¡­ not move.¡±

    She got up, drooling globs white onto the floor from between her legs as she left the breeding room, only toe back a short whileter with Berry, Truffle, and Pear.

    It had to be good enough. That¡¯s why she¡¯s my main wife.

    I opened the Gates of Gobylon, and summoned the Unlimited Boner Works.

    I bullied each of them. To make up for days of beingid, I even had my sweet Berry crying out in pleasure as I held her in my arms while I stood up in ce, with no wall to support her back, or front, and dropping her body on my Orichal-cum drill with her legs spread for all to see while I tried with all my might to pierce her heavens.

    Truffle, my tasty little morsel covered in freckles. She was the next to bepletely devoured, her legs wobbling like gtin when I was done with her, bite marks all over her milkies. And Pear, with her deliciously fat and cushy ass¡­ She got double the dose when I dragged her down to her hands and knees and imed both of her holes as my own.

    Vera, the little scamp, wanted a second round and I obliged her, too.

    Then Iid back and found all the gathered goblins found a way to rest on my body.

    Husband was back, baby. And all it cost me was my entrance to the pearly gates.

 Chapter Forty-two â€“ In which Ark becomes a f*cking monster

    Chapter Forty-two ¨C In which Ark bes a f*cking monster

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Putting a trigger warning notice here for non-consensual sexual activity with a non-goblin. This is the worst of it in this story but it is essential to future plot development. It''s back to wholesome writing after this.

    Later that night, I didn¡¯t sleep with Vera in her room. I spent it inside of mine together with Ste, who was engaging in a bit of hostile behavior. I tightened the ropes on her hands so she didn¡¯t strangle me in my sleep, and Iid down with her in the bed and held her. She was angry, and justifiably so, but I just wanted to enjoy myst day as a decent human being.

    Her body was warm and soft, and most noticeably, not green. I yed nice for the most part, but I admit to groping her chest a little. Even if she was a human, her breasts felt no different from those of the goblins. Just bigger.

    I decided to level with her.

    ¡°Ste¡­ if somethinges of it. If you¡­ get pregnant and can¡¯t stand the sight of the child¡­ I¡¯ll raise it.¡±

    ¡°What, to be a fucking goblin?¡±

    ¡°To be civilized. It may live among goblins, but that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been doing here slowly, and will continue to do so. I will try and make these goblins civilized. I don¡¯t expect your hate or anger towards them to ever be eradicated, but I will try to make these goblins more than what we were told to expect when encountering them. You might not think it, but any child you have from what will happen between us<i>is</i>innocent. It¡¯ll be human. If you¡¯re still human then even you have to respect the sanctity of life.¡±

    ¡°...why don¡¯t you just rape me now?¡±

    ¡°Because there¡¯s a certain goblin that has to watch. She was ordered to, by the<i>thing</i>that captured us, and that<i>thing</i>is no joke. I¡¯m only doing this to save both of our lives, even if it¡¯s a detestable thing. Don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to take great pleasure in doing this. I have over a dozen willing goblins who would rather take your ce, but what must be done, must be done. All I can do for you is apologize and promise to make it as painless as physically possible. I can¡¯t¡­ do anything for your heart or your mind. You can fight and struggle if you want. Do whatever you can to hold onto your humanity, Ste. Do¡­ whatever you can.¡±

    I pulled my hands away from her soft breasts and held her gently as she wept.

    When the next day came, it was breakfast time with everyone once again. Well, minus Ivory today. Doll was there though, and she¡¯s a dedicated member of the bloody meat faction. Not much exercising can do about that.

    ¡°Which is the goblin who has to watch?¡± Ste asked me in in front of all the goblins.

    I tilted my head at Prima in response. Ste spit in her direction.

    ¡°She¡¯s upset you are going to be present when it happens.¡± I exined to Prima.

    ¡°Stupid human not want big seed. Prima know what Husband say, still think human stupid. Diana proof Husband big seed make strong ones. Human should beg get big seed.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t asking her, but it was a nice vote of confidence?

    ¡°Husband, after give human big seed, seed-stick work again for goblins?¡± Berry asked me.

    ¡°I hope so. I¡¯ve gotten to enjoy giving you all big seed, and wasting it with you even more.¡±

    ¡°Not waste if give seed after, make goblin bellies fat with strong ones.¡± Prima added.

    Prima really wanted me to blow her belly up. I wish I knew how!

    After some shared bath time, with the exception of Prima and Vera, the rest had left.

    ¡°Husband, whene watch? Wait three suns.¡±

    I sighed.

    ¡°Then don¡¯t leave. I don¡¯t think it matters whether it¡¯s now orter. May as well watch the moment I be the monster I used you of being, not too long ago¡­¡±

    Ste was sitting at the table still, her piece of fire-meat was only half-eaten. Prima had walked over to her and grabbed her by the arm, pointing to the raised bed covered in straw in the center of the room. Ste looked at me and I closed my eyes to nod at her. It was a gallows walk for her, and Prima was the warden. I was the executioner.

    I couldn¡¯t loosen her bonds for what I was about to do. Ste could trap my head in her thighs and possibly snap my neck. I nned to give her a bit of cunnilingus at first to make her wet so it didn¡¯t hurt going in. I didn¡¯t know if she had ever done it before, and I had no idea exactly what a human female¡¯s hymen looked like, so telling by sight was out. It didn¡¯t seem right to ask her if she ever had a lover before me, and even if she wasn¡¯t pure, did it matter at this point? I had fucked nearly a dozen goblins many times over. I wasn¡¯t in any position to be picky. I wanted this over now, so I could get back to my wives.

    Ste did listen to what I saidst night. She struggled. Even tied up she made it somewhat impossible, to the point that Prima had to intervene by barking out for Vera toe and help hold her down. I felt terrible, but it had to be done. I¡¯d go to hell formitting this sin, but it wouldn¡¯t be today.

    She cried out, and Prima wanted to gag her, but I said no. That was one right she had. The one right I wouldn¡¯t deprive her of. To scream bloody murder and curse me. I reminded Prima of the great human magic called spite. She didn¡¯t say anything more about it once I had, and with Ste¡¯s bound legs being held up in the air with my hands pushing against her thighs, I shoved my face in her clean pink hairy snatch and began to lick it.

    She cried out and cursed at me to stop over and over, but still I licked. With her in this state, she wasn¡¯t going to rx enough to have an orgasm. It¡¯s only in the dirtyic books that you can rape a woman to pleasure. But my goal wasn¡¯t that. I knew she would get no pleasure from this act. It was just to force her body into a wet enough state that it wouldn¡¯t hurt her all that much when I put my cock inside of her.

    I had to probe inside of her with my fingers to check, and it just didn¡¯t feel like it was wet enough, even after taking a while to get her ready with my mouth. Yet, what must be done, must be done, and she was<i>going</i>to be done. My cock fully at the ready, tip at her entrance and ready to push in, she begged with all she had for me to stop. I pushed inside of her slowly and she screamed again.

    ¡°I hate you! Ark you fucking traitor! Goblin fucker! I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡±

    Our pelvises kissed.

    I pulled out slowly, noting my cock was clean, with not a single drop of blood on it. I readily pushed it inside again while holding her legs and just went slow. She didn¡¯t feel all that lubricated inside and for the longer I fucked her, the more chafing friction I felt. To the point she didn¡¯t even feel wet anymore, and even her crying had tapered off. It was going to be difficult to cum inside of her like this.

    I pulled out and Prima looked at me asking if I had given big seed to her.

    I hadn¡¯t. But it was required that I do. I had to ask Vera for her help. I apologized because I was covered in human juices, but I needed her lick me and coat my guy in her goblin saliva. Vera was more than willing, twining her long gray tongue around my shaft. After some heavy saturation from her, I was ready to go back inside Ste.

    This time there was no resistance she could offer. No fight she could hope to put up anymore. It would have been like trying to grasp a stick of melting butter with bare hands over a hot pan. Covered in goblin saliva, I could pump in and out of her at any speed I wanted. But I still tried to remain decent, and went at what I thought would be a fair pace that wouldn¡¯t be too intense or painful for her, and would also get me off the quickest.

    Compared to the goblins in this cave, her pussy didn¡¯t even rank. My dick fit, but I was already thinking about fucking both Prima and Vera after I was done with Ste if it stayed hard. Maybe I¡¯m already too far gone? It was even irritating me how long it was taking. Ste was quiet after she realized resisting was futile andid still, like a dead fish, leaving me to my crime. That only made this rape feel more authentic.

    I fucked her for what felt like forever and I began to feel dizzy. I thought I needed more cardio, but it felt familiar. I felt pure luste from within me. I wasn¡¯t going to yell out anything tacky like ¡°Get pregnant!!!¡± (this time) but I wanted to just seed her so I could be done. Eventually I could feel my balls churning. The familiar sensation of pressure building and the inevitable feeling that I was going to explode inside of her.

    I grabbed her legs tightly, holding them to my chest, and swung my hips for the final few times where my knees locked as I bucked numerous times into her, feeling my consciousness try to slip from my grasp again. My head filled with a white bliss while some darkness threatened to pull me under at the same time. It was Vera who disconnected my body from Ste, and brought me back to the dimly lit cavern I was in.

    I could see my obscene river of semen flowing freely out of Ste¡¯s pussy, and I found myself breathing heavily.

    Prima let her go, and Ste immediately curled up in a ball.

    ¡°Ark. Done?¡±

    I nodded.

    My cock was hard again. Even though I just raped and creampied my adventurerpanion, I wanted to fuck some more. Vera I know wanted it, but she called for her sister instead. Prima sat down in myp and I was taken into her, happy to be deep inside of her inviting goblin cunt. I held on to her and sucked hard on her tits as I thrusted up into her. I felt like I was home again even though I knew the truth. I was fully expendable to these goblins if I couldn¡¯t do my duty as Husband. This horrible atrocity was a mercy from that<i>thing</i>that ruled this tribe. That captured Ste and probably killed Kairos.

    But it was no different than how things were back in my previous life. I was an expendable employee to thepany I worked for in the end. I might have made my department do well because of my diligence, and how I fostered goodmunication and teamwork, but all the upper management ever really cared about were the numbers.

    And the remaining number of goblins was three.

    I did get paid time off and overtime here, which I was pretty sure if this Great Protector was anything like my old boss or the human resources department, I just cashed in everything I had earned all at once over this erection problem.

    Prima¡¯s body felt light, and Prima¡¯s body felt<i>right</i>. I was soon filling her up with big seed, but my head had be clear again. Focused. After her, I couldn¡¯t help but take Vera. She usually liked to sit in myp, but I put her on her hands and knees and mated with her from behind. Prima watched with satisfaction in her eyes. I truly wondered how she could be happy watching me fuck her little sister right in front of her.

    Vera bent her elbows and lifted her ass by locking her knees and straightening her thighs. I drilled her cute little gob-snootch until it, too, was full of my leaky yogurt. I was still breathing hard, but I felt good.

    I wanted more.

    I¡¯m sorry, Ste.

    I climbed onto the raised bed and put myself into her again. It still felt inferior to both Prima and Vera¡¯s, but I no longer cared. I knew I wasn¡¯t good enough to call myself a human being anymore, raping her for the second time. My hands clutched handfuls of barely-tanned cream colored breasts and with my dick thickly coated in goblin secretions, I vited her until more and more of my big seed filled her womb.

    <b>I was the monster now.</b>

    I sat up on the raised bed and Prima looked up at me as she remained lying down on her back on the floor.

    ¡°Husband?¡±

    ¡°Am I a monster for wanting more?¡± I asked her in all seriousness.

    Primaughed.

    ¡°Who want?¡±

    This time Iughed sardonically.

    ¡°I am a greedy goblin, my lovely Prima. I want many goblins with fat bellies.¡±

    She grinned.

    ¡°Husband¡­ not move.¡±

    She got up, drooling globs white onto the floor from between her legs as she left the breeding room, only toe back a short whileter with Berry, Truffle, and Pear.

    It had to be good enough. That¡¯s why she¡¯s my main wife.

    I opened the Gates of Gobylon, and summoned the Unlimited Boner Works.

    I bullied each of them. To make up for days of beingid, I even had my sweet Berry crying out in pleasure as I held her in my arms while I stood up in ce, with no wall to support her back, or front, and dropping her body on my Orichal-cum drill with her legs spread for all to see while I tried with all my might to pierce her heavens.

    Truffle, my tasty little morsel covered in freckles. She was the next to bepletely devoured, her legs wobbling like gtin when I was done with her, bite marks all over her milkies. And Pear, with her deliciously fat and cushy ass¡­ She got double the dose when I dragged her down to her hands and knees and imed both of her holes as my own.

    Vera, the little scamp, wanted a second round and I obliged her, too.

    Then Iid back and found all the gathered goblins found a way to rest on my body.

    Husband was back, baby. And all it cost me was my entrance to the pearly gates.

 Chapter Sixty-one â€“ In which Ark gets Throngled by all the right goblins.

    Chapter Sixty-one ¨C In which Ark gets Throngled by all the right goblins.

    When I woke up, I found the straw bed was missing a goblin. But that¡¯s to be expected. Prima was upholding her end of the deal, keeping an eye on my three daughters as they went on their first hunt. It¡¯s not Diana I¡¯m truly worried about. I¡¯ve seen her dash into a tight space full of spikes and slit the throat of a huge fuckin¡¯ wolf. I know <i>she</i>can handle it. Orchid and Lc aren¡¯t proven yet, not that I can say with great enthusiasm that I want those two going out and putting themselves in danger so soon, but I do ept that it is a part of this¡­<i>Goblin Way</i>.

    While prima was out, and my mana felt mostly replenished, I decided to do a little organizing for her. I know my main goblin wife is proud of her status as the tribe¡¯s Guardian, so I wanted to make her room a bit more appealing. Aside from finishing her bedroom, making it simr to Berry¡¯s, I also ttened the wall on the South side of her cave. The purpose for doing so was simple; Prima has a fuck-ton of weapons. I don¡¯t know how she got them, and considering these goblins don¡¯t have a forge, it¡¯s either by taking them from bodies, or having them gifted by the Great Protector. Both seemed quite feasible, but without her telling me, it¡¯s only spection.

    I admit to having a secondary purpose, and that was to see if she had my knife. It was made of Vernir, which was some kind of alloy that got mixed with iron or steel. Vernir was highly sought after and difficult to obtain because it was the only known metal that didn¡¯t lose durability when having the Runes of formic magic engraved onto it. Aside from weapons which had a divine blessing, such as a Holy Sword, if someone wanted a magic weapon, say¡­ a spear that could freeze anything that it pierced, it had to be made from Vernir. Well, if it was going to survive more than a few activations of said magic.

    My knife had a single enchantment on it, but it was meant to be a practical one. It dispelled everything it came in contact with. Blood, acid, rust, magically strengthened hides of creatures. I had nned ahead, thinking it would be really stupid if somehow when I was adventuring, I might fight a dragon or basilisk or god only knows, and couldn¡¯t bring back proof to the guild because a regr shitty iron knife wasn¡¯t up to the task.

    So, making many stone hookse out from the wall withnd magic, I began sorting and hanging up all of the weapons just lying there in the pile. There wasn¡¯t any kind of treasure to be found. No bizarre weapon lost to the ages with a seriously ominous name like<i>The Throngler.</i>

    Which was good, because I didn¡¯t want to wind up<i>Throngled</i>.

    There was no sign of my knife, sadly. The only thing of mine that was here in Prima¡¯s cave-hole, was my old Guild Card. I had half a thought to update it again, but before I could entertain the other half, Prima had returned.

    And she was looking kind of pissed off at me.

    ¡°Why Ark not make Prima great weapon?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Prima struggled with some words.

    ¡°Not know how say! Orchid have Fear-fang, Lc have Crunch-maul! ¡±

    ¡°Fearfang? Crunchmaul?¡±

    And here I was worried about<i>The Throngler.</i>

    ¡°Ark not see hunt! Redboar drink from stream. Diana sneak behind, stab in shithole, run fast to big tree. Jump and climb tree quick. Lc and Orchid wait behind bush. Redboar smash head in tree. Lc jump out from bush, swing Fear-fang and rip back leg off like bite! Orchid jump out from bush, smash leg other side, hear big crunch far away. Then Orchid spin body and smash point end at front leg. Diana jump down on Redboar back and stab head many many times like ck-bear.¡±

    Prima¡¯s hand covered and groped her whole face.

    ¡°Ark. When eight moons, go with Old One, Jewel, Doll on hunt. Not strong ones anymore. Time kill more than rabbit, fox, small beast. First time hunt Redboar. Prima stab many times with spear, only make mad. Jewel shoot many arrows, only make mad. Doll sh axe at body, only make mad. Old One watch, tell what do. Run away, leap to side, stab, shoot, chop. It take many many time! What Prima see today¡­ Not goblin way.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not the goblin way? Is there a certain way to hunt? Isn¡¯t the goal to kill things while being as safe as possible?¡±

    ¡°What Ark do big seed make strong ones? Why can strong ones hunt Redboar so soon?¡±

    She¡­ was she frustrated about this!?

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything with my big seed, Prima. I just gave it to each of you like you wanted me to. As for why they can hunt so well, isn¡¯t that because you showed Diana how? She¡¯s a smart little goblin. She¡¯s been teaching those two how to hunt since the day they were born. She also gave them the leg bones from one of the ck-ws that we all killed. She probably saw what the both of them could do with the weapons and came up with that way of hunting. I did tell her it was fine to use her head to think of the best way to fight while keeping her sisters safe.¡±

    ¡°No. She not know how strong weapons are. Diana spend long time make Orchid and Lc hit body until learn. After, look at knife same as Prima look at spear. Never see human weapon like one Ark make.¡±

    Prima looked towards the pile of weapons that should have been there. Then she turned her head to nce at the wall that was full of those same weapons, but now organized in a decorative but efficient way.

    A secondter, I was slugged right in the stomach by a grumpy goblin.

    ¡°Why Ark touch my things!?¡±

    I had doubled over and fell to my knees. It hurt quite a bit, but I could still breathe fine. I¡¯d been hit by Prima before, and I didn¡¯t think of it like domestic violence. She¡¯s just a hot tempered goblin. Plus, I did touch her things when she explicitly told me not to.

    ¡°I thought¡­ you might¡­. like it. Show off all¡­ your nice¡­ weapons to any goblin that¡­.es to visit. Remind them¡­ that you are their¡­ Guardian.¡±

    She harrumphed. ¡°Not have fat belly, not have great weapon!¡±

    ¡°Prima, I said I¡¯d stay here until it was. That was our deal.¡± I reminded her.

    ¡°Go. Eat. Make more big seed and keep trying until keep deal!¡±

    ¡°Go¡­ eat?¡±

    Come to think of it, she wasn¡¯t carrying around a piece of fire-meat for me.

    ¡°Diana say tell Husbande eat in Berry cave-hole.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ She did tell me that she¡¯d invite me to a meal. Alright, permission to go eat?¡±

    ¡°Why need permission?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say I wouldn¡¯t leave your cave-hole until your belly was fat?¡±

    ¡°Stupid Husband! Prima not want cave-hole smell like stinky fire meat! Go ande back!¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    She shooed me out of her cave-hole, and my destination was to the residence of my sweet Berry and brave huntress, Diana. When I got there, there was a lot of meat jutting out of two of the big pots I made for Berry¡¯s countertop. One was bloody, the other was not.

    Berry, Lily, Diana, Lc, and Orchid were all waiting for me to join them. There were two tusks on the ground, each next to Lily¡¯s daughters.

    ¡°Husband! We hunt Redboar!¡± Diana had proudly eximed, handing me a thankfully-not-huge rear leg of partially burnt boar meat.

    I would kill for salt and pepper right now. Well, the non-goblin kind of pepper. When I¡¯m done taking care of Prima, I¡¯ll go sample the other Pepper. And Crow. Those two have unfortunately not been shown nearly enough affection by me.

    As I sat down and joined my two families, Diana, Orchid, and Lc all took turns telling me about their hunt, even though I had heard it from Prima already. It¡¯s a father¡¯s duty to listen to his children express themselves. I don¡¯t want to be considered the kind of daddy who would put a smartphone in their hands and let someone else raise my children.

    The story went a bit different hearing it from them.

    Berry and Lily were weak goblins as far as the goblin way of hunting entailed. But, their weakness was only in physical strength. These goblins had brains and knew how to use them. After all, if they didn¡¯t, they¡¯d starve. The girls had gone out to hunt with their mothers from like the fourth day or so after they were born, and their mothers could move again properly after giving birth to them. During that time, my daughters learned what could be considered a cowardly goblin¡¯s way of hunting. Lily is a master of covering tracks, and Diana had been going on hunts with Prima, so it was easy for Diana to impart her knowledge of hunting to Orchid and Lc.

    Diana chose to hunt at the stream because she recognized the strategic advantage of the bushes we hid behind when we went to rescue Doll from the ck-ws before I used my wind magic to st them into the stream.

    Diana had drawn its attention by stabbing it in the asshole. Yeah. That¡¯ll piss off<i>any</i>wild animal and have them see red. Maximum aggro from the start. I don¡¯t know if Diana is the tank or just the puller. Orchid and Lc came in from behind on either side of it after the Redboar mmed into the tree Diana leapt onto and climbed. Orchid had shed at its back leg with the aim of severing it at what was essentially the thigh joint in one stroke as I had taught her. The Redboar, down to three legs and before it could even respond in anger to Orchid¡¯s sneak attack, had be a victim to Lc, who had smashed the bone-hammer full force into the hind femur on the boar¡¯s other side, breaking the bone and crippling itpletely. Diana did her thing, dropping on top of the boar and keeping it in a state of panic while she stabbed it in every orifice she could find to finish it off. Orchid spun her body backwards at this point, and with a pivot, had brought the full momentum her body could muster with swinging the spiked end of her bone-hammer, driving it deep into the Redboar¡¯s front leg.

    The miserable thing couldn¡¯t even thrash about in its final moments. They massacred itpletely.

    Diana then gave me a look that was impossible to misunderstand.

    It was simply:<i>Where¡¯s my amazing weapon?</i>

    At this point, the three of them understood that as strong as they were, they couldn¡¯t move therge body of the Redboar. Orchid, who had observed what I did carefully to the dirt pir, and what I exined about the saw part of the bone-saw weapon, had begun to dismantle limbs immediately for them to carry back. It was just their luck that Prima,<i>who was conveniently hunting in a nearby area</i>, had<i>heard the noise the Redboar made crashing into the tree</i>, and came to investigate. So, with a bit of avable help from a physically stronger Prima, they had managed to bring it all back, though partially dismembered.

    Lily¡¯s daughters then presented me with the trophy of their hunt. The two front tusks of the Redboar.

    ¡°Daddy proud? We not get hurt!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! We kill Redboar easy after listen daddy!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m proud of all of you, but not because you killed it. I¡¯m proud because you worked together well to kill it! I¡¯m very proud of all three of you showing me how great the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe can be when they work together!¡±

    ¡°Husband¡­¡± Diana looked at me, ¡°Why Diana Artemis not get strong weapon?¡±

    Iughed. ¡°You mean the long knife Berry gave you, that killed a huge bear, sevenrge ck-ws, and now a Redboar isn¡¯t strong enough for you?¡±

    Diana actually pouted at me for a moment.

    ¡°I suppose I can make something.¡± I said to appease her. ¡°Do you have an idea of a weapon you would like?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. I just want a strong weapon too!¡±

    ¡°Alright. Can you let me think about it for a little while? If I¡¯m going to make you something, I want it to fit you.¡±

    Diana nodded.

    ¡°Deal.¡±

    Deal? What did we trade that made this a deal? Heh. Like I can say no to my bloodthirsty little murder princess when she asks me for a weapon capable of brutally ughtering wild game.

    That was a joke. I¡¯m not that far gone yet.

    ¡­I hope.

    ¡°Husband¡­ Need know thing about¡­¡±

    ¡°Is this about the cave-hole Ste went with you to pick?¡±

    Berry nodded.

    ¡°Prima already told me. If that¡¯s what she wants, I have no say in the matter.¡±

    ¡°Husband not care?¡±

    ¡°If she doesn¡¯t want it, when these girls get older, maybe they can share the room, after I make more strong ones with you and Lily to fill the empty ones they leave behind.¡±

    ¡°Husband want us share cave-hole?¡± Diana asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s up to you. But you¡¯re all free to go take a look at it together. I can make any changes you want, but it¡¯s up to you to decide. There are three separate cave-holes for sleeping upstairs, and plenty of space. You could use it as a base or something.¡±

    ¡°What base mean?¡±

    ¡°Uh, a base is sort of like a big cave-hole where you can talk about hunting. n what you will hunt before you hunt it, and talk about how the hunt went after. It can also be a ce where you can bring games and y them together.¡±

    ¡°Sound strange. We go look atter.¡± Diana said and her two sisterly underlings also nodded their agreement.

    I have to say, I think I have the weakest appetite here. The rest of my lovely goblins have already put away all the meat they had brought for this little mixed-family after-hunt meal.

    ¡°Think smart go look at now?¡± Lily suggested. ¡°Berry and Lily spend time with Husband make more strong ones right now.¡±

    ¡°EH?¡±

    Diana stood up and both Lc and Orchid were quick to abandon me to the predation of these two motherly goblins.

    ¡°Berry, ever hunt Redboar?¡± Lily suddenly asked Berry.

    Berry shook her head to indicate she hadn''t.

    ¡°Lily not either. Belly full of tasty Redboar meat, now make it full of more Husband big seed. Think have more strong ones, eat tasty meat for long time.¡±

    Berry was cute until she showed those dangerously sharp teeth of hers as well.

    ¡°Yes. We eat good for long time.¡±

    Both of them crawled towards me, and I knew I was the next thing on the menu.

    Sorry, Prima¡­ I might take a while before returning to your cave-hole!

 Chapter Sixty-nine â€“ In which Ark ends the first volume in the corniest way possible.

    Chapter Sixty-nine ¨C In which Ark ends the first volume in the corniest way possible.

    Old One didn¡¯t say anything when a small mountain of animal corpses was brought into her room by Diana with help from Orchid and Lc. While I held no expectation that she would help me, she did. Not just her, but she brought Pepper to her room once I exined all that I intended to make for Diana, as well as the holsters for Lily¡¯s girls, and the spear that Prima had requested.

    I kind of assumed that she was a crotchety goblin-inw, but that only applied to me. If I was acting to improve the overall might of the Bloodmaw Goblins, she was willing to entertain me.

    Pepper, aside from being a Fish-catching goblin, was also the resident seamstress. Well, that¡¯s an over exaggeration. But she was the goblin responsible for making loincloths out of rags, so Old One had recruited someone with much needed practical experience.

    The better part of the day was spent skinning and sewing. Also watching on as two goblins tore into bloody chunks of fresh meat to help me ess the bones beneath. Sporadically, I watched as almost every goblin in the cave stopped in to see Old One for something or another and realized that while she didn¡¯t generally interact with me, she was here for all of the goblin tribe.

    She was the elder among them, and was respected in her own way by the entire tribe.

    Rope belts were made, animal skin was repurposed into holsters, sheathes, and utility pouches. What remained were piles of skin, and quite a number of bones. Before I could get started, it needed to be understood that I was in a room, alone, with two goblins. Pepper who had not had all that much time with me as one of my wives, and¡­ well¡­ Old One.

    Look, Ste was absolutely right calling me what she did when I raped her. I¡¯m a goblin fucker. I¡¯m a goblin fucker in and simple. There was a willing goblin, and a willing Husband, and we both wanted to take a roll in the straw. No harm, no foul. Pepper had a nice swell to her belly which Old One approved of, and I keep saying that they just don¡¯t care if there¡¯s someone else in the room when it¡¯s time to give big seed.

    Old One wasn¡¯t the type to shy away from watching either. Pepper happened to like it rough. And I mean<b><i>rough</i></b><b>.</b>While I made no attempt to be gentle as I seeded her, though I was aware there was no shame among the goblins to enjoy watching such things as simply entertainment, as Old One rubbed her mature pussy right in front of me I swear her eyes didn¡¯t blink once as I vited what was essentially one of her daughters, and she only licked her lips as she watched what this Husband tried showing off that could do.

    For good measure, not only did I<i>enjoy</i>defiling Pepper in front of Old One, I also bit and allowed Pepper to bite me, under Old One¡¯s watchful gaze. My body ached as sharp goblin teeth sunk into my flesh again. My hands groped soft green goblin milkies and I twisted and pulled and tortured her nutmeg colored nipples to her satisfaction as our lower halves smashed against each other, squelching and smacking sounds mirroring goblins feasting on raw meat ravenously echoed throughout the room.

    Pepper¡¯s body was left once again broken, spasming in euphoria with my wasted seed spilling out of her onto the floor, and my cock still erect as an obelisk.

    ¡°If you weren¡¯t so damn ugly, you would make a decent goblin, Ark.¡±

    ¡°...you know my name?¡±

    ¡°I know many things about you. I have read your square of symbols.¡±

    ¡°My Sq¨C¡­ my journal? ¡­wait. You can read?¡±

    ¡°When I was a goblin, fresh of fifteen moons, not yet having had my Blood Awakening, I hade across another human like you, though many years older than the both of us are now. When I took refuge in a cave during a storm. Our first meeting would also be ourst. You see, he was mortally wounded with a spear in his side. The same spear I gave to my strong one, Spear-hand, and the same one that Guardian uses on the hunt.¡±

    ¡°...what happened?¡±

    ¡°I call it the curse of tongues. Some wicked human magic he cast upon me. With it I could listen and speak to him in his words without knowing words other than gob.¡±

    She took a few steps towards me, her loincloth had already fallen to the floor by her own hand.

    ¡°He was a pitiful human. He told me a story about being unloved by women of his own tribe, though his appearance was quite desirable to a goblin such as myself at the ripest of ages. He had a thick body, bulging stomach, blunt protruding nose, a face full of fur with many strands of ck and silver¡­ all with the delicious scent of blood wafting around in that small cave.¡±

    ¡°So, he used magic to talk to you?¡±

    ¡°No. He<i>cursed</i>me with magic so I had no choice but to understand his words. However, what he had to say interested me, so I listened. It did not matter to him that I was a Bloodmaw. He wanted to do the Blood Awakening with me as the parting act of his life, and in exchange, since he knew he was mortally wounded and immting himself would be such a waste, he agreed to let me feast on his body. And I did. With a belly full of his big seed, and a smile on his face which I saved until the end, I slit his throat and feasted on his meat for two full days before I left that cave.¡±

    ¡°...so, would that mean your daughter Spear-hand was made from human seed?¡±

    Her hand slid down my body and she carefully wrapped her pointed fingers around my seed-stick.

    ¡°Yes. Does it surprise you to know I¡¯ve also had a Husband who was Human?¡±

    ¡°It does, actually.¡±

    ¡°It was many years before the massacre of my tribe. All that mattered to me back then was following my nature and embracing the goblin way. Taking what I wanted, having many strong ones¡­ though it was only ever Spear-hand that I had¡­¡±

    She looked up at me and grinned at what, to another goblin perhaps, might be a seductive manner.

    ¡°Uh, y-you aren¡¯t by chance interested in having another strong one¡­?¡±

    ¡°Listen carefully, Human. I am a<i>true</i>Bloodmaw. I can feel my womb throbbing right this moment thinking of being fat with another strong one. Perhaps this time, it whispers to me, that it might be with one stronger than even my Spear-hand.¡±

    I feel like it¡¯s important to state here and now, that the Old One<i>was not by any means ugly</i>. She did have an older looking countenance, sure, but it¡¯s no different from seeing an experienced thirty-year old woman who unted the most lewd promises of carnal satisfaction with her body to a younger man.

    Plus, I mean, she¡¯s been working hard to raise fourteen goblins to adulthood, up until the death of Beast-talker. There¡¯s no way it wasn¡¯t difficult for her to do, and then to see all of them, something not too different from daughters to her, all get knocked up while she has had to¡­<i>endure</i>.

    It would be quite rude of me to turn her down¡­ wouldn¡¯t it? I know there was a quote from a certain ind nation in my previous life that said it was a man¡¯s shame to not eat a buffet ced in front of him by a gracious hostess, even if he had a homemade meal waiting for him at home.

    ¡°Just to be clear¡­ you aren¡¯t nning on killing me and eating me afterwards, are you?¡±

    The Old One pushed me down with a strength I had not expected, and climbed on top of me.

    ¡°For as long as you still draw breath, Human, you are safe.¡±

    Like a being forcefully drawn into the event horizon of a ck hole, nothing could have prepared me for the ferocity such a sexually starved goblin matriarch was possessed of. I had thought I was a bully at times to my wives, but it only reinforced the reality that they were immature babespared to the real deal.

    Her cougarly cunt was some kind of deathly cocktrap. The further inside of her she took me, the tighter the squeeze and more difficult it was to escape her milking muscles. Old One had long flowing green hair, and a round pair of sun-dried olive-tanned gobby-knockers. She would arch her back and stick out her chest as she groped herself or slid her hands down her own body, shaking her head and letting her far from filthy hair preen. She never once needed to bnce herself by cing a hand on my torso as she rode me. She was, however, seemingly adept at danger-y and would trace her sharp pointed finger along my chest, scratching, yet not quite drawing blood, but fully capable of sending warning signals that hemorrhaged fear along every nerve pathway I had.

    My wives were just inexperienced, I understood. I was too. I was a double-virgin right around a month ago. The level difference between the Old One and I wasn¡¯t something that could be so easily offset by my cockiness. I was ruthlessly and utterly exploited and definitely<i>not</i>raped. Old One was a maneater, and I, a featherless biped, naked as Diogenes¡¯ plucked chicken, was but a man.

    Our little interlude ended with me having suffered a loss. Or a win, if being fully satisfied was a winning condition. And for the three of us afterwards, an enjoyable nap together.

    Some timeter when we woke, it was back to the grind.

    Thanks to the numerous small bones avable to me, ones from arge and plump roon being the sturdiest and most useful, I had created a pair of bone and stone weapons for Diana that I felt best suited her. I happened to love period pieces of Eastern cinema, as well as a certain genre of video game that told the story of an Western assassin. For Diana, being a drop-goblin who liked to jump on her prey and stab it to death, I felt this would be the perfectbination of force and utility.

    One was a Tekkou-kagi, the other was a Katar.

    The Tekkou-kagi, often known as the Iron w, was unfortunately devoid of iron due to the current production capabilities of the tribe. So, I did the next best thing. Long curving rib bones were used from a roon, and with Pepper¡¯s help, sewn to the outside of a piece of animal skin acting as a sort of gauntlet. They were sharpened, and the backs of the bones were given a sharpened serrated coating of stone so she could inflict damage with both a forehand wing and a backhand shing motion.

    The Katar was made from a few long thin t bones, and sharpened to the best of my ability on some stonepacted dirt doubling as a whetstone. Unlike the w, there was no curvature in what was the bone de. It was tightly sewn to another piece of animal skin in three ces to give it the most stability, and I had made a t grip of bone, puncturing some of the w nails through it and fastening it at the base with a thinyer of stone. This would allow Diana to grip her fingers around it when punching with the de, but at the same time allow her to release her grip and let the nails offer some purchase when climbing a tree, acting as a bnce to the w which she could use to fully dig into something like a tree trunk so she could dangle herself safely while waiting for the moment to drop.

    Now, the skin of the roon was, save for the stomach, impably removed. Old One had actually done that work, and I had gained quite a bit of respect for her because of it. The size of the skin was on par with that of my daughter ce, so while not admitting that I think children in cosy costumes are the most adorable thing in the world, a roon suit was made.

    Well, less of a suit and more of a hooded cloak, I guess?

    Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t think of a weapon design for Prima, and decided that I wanted to make it with her, instead of for her. I felt like if we made it together, it would be more meaningful. That, and she could better tell me what parts of the design she liked and it could be the weapon that would show my sincerity and make up for my failure to make her belly fat.

    There was plenty of leftover animal skin, and as Old One had a supply of rope handy, I made a few belts with pouches that could be attached so that my girls could carry some supplies into the forest, or if they found something interesting, they could bring it home more easily. Up until this point, I had only ever seen Berry use anything like a sash with pockets, for storing her poisonous berries used to hunt small creatures like rabbits or squirrels. I felt this was something being sorely underutilized, and wanted to capitalize on it.

    All of my daughters paid a visit to me when the work was done.

    I spent some time showing Diana how to wear and use each of the weapons, though I hadn¡¯te up with any fancy name for either. I felt like that was her privilege to do.

    For Orchid and Lc, they now had durable animal skin holsters for their weapons, which honestly, I¡¯m d there is no child protective services around to call me a bad parent for allowing them to have. But, provided a parent teaches their child to respect dangerous weaponry, education is the best tool and deterrent for making bad mistakes with using them.

    For ce, she allowed me to put on what would be a sign of her status as the Bloodmaw¡¯s new Shaman. The Racoon Mantle. The face of the racoon rested on top of her tiny head perfectly like a hoodie. The skin draped around her back like a cloak, and with a loop and sp added on each pair of paws, they hooked around the front of her body and doubled as a small bra and with the tailing up and around her front from behind, also a pair of panties.

    Since Button was ce¡¯s big sister¨Ca role she fully embraced¨CI showed her how to hook and unhook the paws and tail so ce could go to the shit-pit without getting her new clothes dirty, but ce wasn¡¯t stupid. She simply tugged the tail aside and peed on my foot.

    Ah, what a brat!

    For Button, she got the most out of the rope belt and pouches. That, and the tribe¡¯s first backpack. Or front-pack. She seemed to like wearing it that way. It would be that when not busy doing things for ce, she found some kind of job transporting things around goblin-home with it.

    Incidentally, ce fit inside of the front pack, but Button wasn¡¯t strong enough to support carrying her like that just yet. I imagine that might change in the future. Thebination of ce and Button reminded me of a certain pairing from a dystopian post-apocalyptic movie from thend down-under in my previous life as well.

    It wouldn¡¯t take long for the outfitting of my children to spark a myriad of changes in the tribe.

    But for now, I had made all my little girls happy, and had gained clearance to see Prima, who had ovee her Blood Fury.

    I did have to pay for Pepper¡¯s help with all of this. She wanted a fish-bath in her room. So, I ended up making her one. It wasn¡¯t an aquarium, just a ce to keep fish alive a bit longer after she caught them, so she could bezy and not have to go out to the stream every day.

    Lazy goblin.

    I want to do it with her and Jewel at the same time.

    Right, Prima!

    Well, before I could go see her at her cave-hole, I was apprehended by Ste, who was her new cavern-mate across the way, having taken Vera¡¯s old cave-hole as her own.

    ¡°Ark. We need to talk.¡±

    No further goblinization had taken ce with Ste. She was still the most human looking goblin. She led me into her room and I noticed it was still quite empty, save for a neatly woven straw bed, and a bow and quiver stocked with arrows leaning against the wall nearby.

    ¡°I¡¯ve decided I will let you make it up to me. If I¡¯m going to be a part of this tribe, and another of your wives, hating you forever will be counterproductive. So, I want to be taken care of.<i>Well</i>taken care of. You barely have muscles, you don¡¯t have any gold, and you are far from my ideal man. But, you can give me a better life than this. I didn¡¯t take that room because I don¡¯t want to be reminded of what I once was. But, and I¡¯ve seen Jewel¡¯s room, you can make me the envy of your other wives. Of the entire tribe. And of course you won¡¯t forget to take excellent care of our child, which you absolutely had to put inside of me.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    She wanted to livevishly andfortably in exchange for allowing me to be alleviated of my guilt in raping her, and possibly having transformed her into a goblin, not to mention knocking her up?

    She also threw her arms around my neck and forced a not so terrible and bloody kiss onto me this time.

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for all of this for free. You cane here when you tire of your other wives and I¡¯ll give you all the things you can¡¯t get from them. Like it or not, they are goblins, Ark. I might no longer be a human, but you are. There wille times when you want to be reminded of that, and not while feeling miserable by yourself next to your half-mute sweetheart who can¡¯t help but be a busybody.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk down about Vera.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not doing any such thing. I¡¯m simply pointing out a fact. Why, we¡¯re quite friendly with each other. She oftenes to visit me and listen to me talk all about you before we wound up here. Anyway, that¡¯s my offer to you. It¡¯s up to you to take it or leave it.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    I caved rather easily, but that¡¯s because I have not coped with the guilt well. I don¡¯t know what exactly she expects me to be able to give her, but if it¡¯s something I can, I will. Atonement is a long process, and maybe there wille a way to undo her change.

    But for now, her business with me concluded. I proceeded to leave her cave-hole, and walk the few steps I would need to in order to meet with Prima, my main wife, once more.

    Prima was already the tallest goblin in the cave, though still shorter than I was. She was also the most physically fit. What I saw when I entered her cave-hole, was a goblin that, to borrow from the Old One¡­ was<b>more.</b>

    ¡°Hello, Prima.¡±

    Prima had grown, physically, and not a small amount. She was taller, and more muscr. Her skin which was a light green now had a bit of a darker hue to it, but she was no less beautiful.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    ¡°Are you feeling alright? Old One¡­ exined things to me.¡±

    She stood up, and now equaled me in height. If I thought I might have ever stood a chance against her before physically, I no longer believed so anymore.

    ¡°I¡¯ve gone through the Blood Fury. I¡¯m¡­ no longer the same goblin I was.¡±

    The most profound change to me, was that she spoke naturally, with no broken words.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad thing, is it?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Another profound change was her stomach, which was swollen further, but not at full term. Following where my eyes were looking, she rubbed a hand along her belly in a circr motion.

    ¡°I can feel it. I wasn¡¯t the only one to change along with it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±

    ¡°Are you afraid of me now?¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°Not at all. You¡¯re still my first-seed. You will always be my first-seed.¡±

    ¡°Ark, if Vera, ce, and Diana hadn¡¯t stopped me¡­ I might have eaten you. When I bit you, I felt something take over my mind and body, I wanted¡­¡±

    I moved towards Prima, embracing her.

    ¡°If it was you, then it would have been fine. But only you.¡±

    Sharing an intimate exchange with Prima, who had difficulty being honest with her feelings, I changed the subject to one she might prefer talking about.

    ¡°I finished making Diana her weapons, and even made a few things for my other daughters. But thest thing that remains is to make your grand weapon. So, I thought I would, you know, since you underwent a change, see if you¡¯d like to make it together with me?¡±

    ¡°Ark¡­ why do I smell Old One on you?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ that¡¯s¡­¡±

    Prima grinned.

    ¡°Seems like our tribe will continue to grow.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d like nothing more than to continue being a part of that.¡±

    ¡°Do you have your Topaz stone with you?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°Want to go on a hunt with me?¡±

    ¡°Oh, am I allowed to go past the trees now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make an exception today. You will have to watch how I hunt if you want to make me the best weapon. I won¡¯t lose to Diana.¡±

    I grinned in response.

    ¡°Even if she surpasses you, only you will be my Guardian.¡±

    Prima grabbed her spear off the wall of weapons I had made for her and nodded with her head to follow.

    ¡°Did you know there is something more dangerous in the forest than the ck-ws?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called the Honking Death by us, but the Great Protector said it is a creature from beyond the stars known by another name. GUU¡¯Z.¡±

    ¡°...Goose?¡±

    Prima nodded.

    ¡°Funny you should say that. There is a saying I once heard that a tribe of warriors beyond the stars would say before fighting something that sounds like certain death.¡±

    I grabbed a long dagger from her wall of weapons and twirled it in my hand. One can never be too armed against the universe¡¯s most terrifying creature.

    ¡°Today¡­ is a good day to die.¡±

    For as long as I continue to draw breath, my precious family will continue growing, and thriving, and bing... <strong>MORE.</strong>

    I am Ark Wyze. Reincarnator. Second circle magician. Father to the next generation of Bloodmaw strong-ones, and the one and only Husband... of the Goblin Tribe.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    This marks the official end of Volume One. Thank you very much for choosing to read this novel, and I hope you will continue to read the future exploits and intriguesing in the next. The story of the Bloodmaws has only just begun...

 Promotional Advertisement â€“ Porter of the Kobold Tribe

    Promotional Advertisement ¨C Porter of the Kobold Tribe

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Hello folks! This is your seriously degenerate author here to shamelessly seek some feedback and opinions on a novel idea I had which would be set in the same world as Husband of the Goblin Tribe. It would focus around a party of six thirsty, klutzy, and absolutely irresponsible (dragon-kin style) Kobolds who are aiming to be famous adventurers, and one Human who they hire to deal with their <em>baggage</em>, and in more ways than one. Obviously this is an unpolished introductory sample chapter, and there is no smut present at the moment. But, I fully intend to rectify that once I canmit to writing this story out further, <em>after</em>pleting volume 2 of HotGT. If you don''t want to leave ament, but think it''s a fun idea to run with, could you possibly leave a favorite instead? I figure it''s easier to do that than set up a poll. Anyway, on with the shameless promotion!

    <b>Porter of the Kobold Party</b>

    <strong>Chapter One</strong>

    <strong>In which it was definitely the fault of the luggage being too heavy, and not the fault of the Kobold having to carry it.</strong>

    ¡°Nymfi! What we do now?¡± Trixie, the chromatic-ck Kobold and party¡¯s Trickster asked their leader.

    ¡°We get porter to carry luggage for us. We not lose because we weak Kobolds. I know we strong! But, because luggage heavy, we no move fast and sneaky like Kobold should. That why we lose to goblins this time.¡± Nymfi the chromatic-white Dragoon exined.

    ¡°Make sense.¡± Added the chromatic-green Silky, resident Alchemist who was slotting potion vials into her bandoleer.

    ¡°Who we get to carry luggage? Gnome not want to bring grumpy Dwarf along!¡± Gnome, the chromatic-blue Artificer of the group, felt the need to throw in her two copper shinies about who not to pick.

    ¡°How about Humie?¡± Boggie, the Dragonfist Brawler and the only non-chromatic metallic-gold Kobold suggested.

    ¡°Humie? Hmm¡­ Tall, handsome, and many muscles not bad to travel with. Not mind let carry things.¡± Mandy, the chromatic-red Warlock in the group, felt that Boggie¡¯s suggestion had merit. It would be much more enjoyable to travel with a good looking Humie than an ugly, noisy, smelly, Dwarf.

    Nymfi was quick to jump on the bandwagon once Mandy had gotten a bit descriptive with the type of human she wanted.

    ¡°Trixie, Silky, Gnome¡­ also okay with Humie?¡±

    The three of them looked at each other and nodded, bringing the total number of Kobolds in agreement to six. Which conveniently was also how many Kobolds there were present.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go back to nest, and I go to Adventurer Guild and find Humie to carry luggage.¡±

    The six Kobolds, a fledgling party carrying the much undeserved party name<i>Breath of Fire</i>, had left the ins where they had escaped to safety from the forest that was home to the goblins they were supposed to have subjugated, and headed back to the nearby town of Thorn.

    Kobolds, being distant cousins of dragon-kind, were considered to be one of the sentient races, and were generally not shunned as adventurers, though not nearly as in demand as actual Dragonkin, theirrger cousins, were. Usually only the sneakiest of Kobolds lucked themselves into a good party. But luck was a skill appreciated by Kobolds¡­ almost as much as being sneaky.

    Though not a single one of these six kobolds would ever admit it, they allcked the ability to take both responsibility and ountability for their actions. Instead, if me could be ced on <i>anything</i>else for their shorings or failures, it would be. Which was exactly why they hade to the conclusion that they couldn¡¯t possibly be at fault for losing to the small party of goblins encountered today. It was definitely because the goblins<i>weren¡¯t</i>carrying backpacks, while the kobold party<i>were</i>.

    Each of the Kobolds hailed from a different tribe, and had also belonged to other parties at one point. Due to circumstances that they were in no way responsible for, each of them had coincidentally been med and kicked out of their respective parties for said circumstances with no room for rebuttal or escuses. So, while searching for a new party to join, the six of them, all party-less at the same time, eventually realized they could just make their own party. A Kobold party, where they could all be on the same page; in that the other parties they had been a part of were just specist, and that there was no way that a clever Kobold could be at fault for anything.

    Kobolds were self-admittedly part dragon, and fiercely proud of their heritage, however tiny and distant it was. Dragons were known far and wide as the strongest and smartest creatures around. Therefore, if a Kobold were to be at fault for something, wouldn¡¯t they, as a smart dragon-kin, be the first to know? The logic was as solid as a perfectly packed sand cube. Absolutely incontestable!

    The Kobold party returned to their small shared nest and took a break, while Nymfi took it upon herself to report in to the Adventurer''s Guild about theirtest round of bad luck. Entering the Guildhall, Nymfi went up to the receptionist, who greeted her with a smile. It was a Lagosian, one of the Beastkin who had rabbit ancestry. A tall and extremely lewd body with ridiculously oversized milkies that would get in the way, Nymfi was in no way jealous of her, because she wasn¡¯t even an adventurer. She just handled the paperwork.

    ¡°Hello Nymfi, did the goblin subjugation go well?¡±

    Nymfi shifted a bit ufortably, eventually leaning back on her tail for support.

    ¡°No. Sneaky goblins move too quick to catch. All because they not have to carry anything but loincloths and light weapons, while Kobolds had to carry heavy backpacks along with heavy weapons.¡±

    The Lagosian receptionist covered her mouth when speaking next.

    ¡°I¡­ see¡­ um¡­ so¡­<i>kuku~¡­</i>how can I¡­ help you¡­?¡±

    The receptionist was shaking, her other hand holding her stomach. She was most likely inplete and total fear of how powerful Nymfi was. It made Nymfi feel superior knowing that. It certainly wasn''t because the long-ears was trying to hide herughter.

    ¡°Talk with party. Decide together that Kobolds want to hire Humie porter to carry things so not move slow.¡±

    ¡°You¡­<i>pfft</i>¡­ want to hire a¡­ Human porter¡­ to carry your bags?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Also, want Humie be tall, handsome, and have many muscles.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ oh my! Such specific criteria¡­ why¡­ I do think¡­ we might even have one¡­ in stock.¡±

    The Lagosian receptionist leveled a trembling finger towards the rear of the Guildhall, where Nymfi saw a soft-skinned human with ck top-hair sitting at a table drinking.

    ¡°That Humie?¡±

    When Nymfi looked back, the Lagosian was no longer trembling.

    ¡°His name is Cobi. From what I understand, he¡¯s one of the best porters around. Why, I¡¯m certain if you had him carry your stuff, there is no way you would run into any problems.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Kobolds also think so. Why we want one in first ce. Nymfi go talk with Humie now.¡±

    A single silver coin was ced on the counter in front of the receptionist. Nymfi was aware that it was a good practice to give shinies to the tall ones who help Kobolds. It kept things running smoothly, and no Kobold ever wants to be caught up in bad bureaucracy. They were dragonkin too, and any kin with dragon blood in their veins knew there was no such thing as good bureaucracy in the first ce. In fact, Bureaucracy was created to keep the non-dragon races from getting ahead in the first ce.

    Any Kobold worth their name would have many shinies on hand to take care of such trivialities.

    Walking over to the far end of the Guildhall, Nymfi approached the Human who raised an eyebrow as he drank from his mug.

    ¡°Humie want carry things?¡±

    The mug slowly descended from his lips to rest on the table, the human giving Nymfi a non-threatening stare the entire while.

    ¡°Are you looking to hire a porter, Miss¡­ Kobold?¡±

    The first thing Nymfi noticed about the human as he spoke was that his voice had a pleasant tone to it. Absolutely nothing like those noisy Dwarves who drank too much and made fun of Kobold craftsmanship every chance they got.

    ¡°Yes. Humie carry things and Nymfi give shinies. Not only Nymfi things. All Kobold things.¡±

    ¡°I... see. You wouldn¡¯t happen to be part of the <i>Breath of Fire</i>party, would you?¡±

    Nymfi¡¯s tail slid back and forth on the ground, subconsciously reacting to the human very clearly recognizing her party¡¯s famous name, which has most certainly been spread far and wide in every direction by now.

    ¡°Nymfi is party leader.¡± She said proudly.

    The human stuck out his long arm with a wless open palm in front of Nymfi.

    ¡°Pleased to meet you. Do you shake hands? I¡¯m Cobi. I¡¯m not much of an adventurer, but when ites to carrying things, I can say with confidence that there hasn¡¯t yet been a full bag I couldn¡¯t lift. I¡¯ll take the job, provided the shinies are enough.¡±

    Nymfi nodded. The human was confident, and even had a name that sounded pretty close to Kobold. Maybe it was the will of the Divine Clutch-Mother that this meeting had happened so quickly. Nymfi took out a small pouch and extracted two gold coins.

    ¡°How long carry things for this many shinies?¡±

    Money was more of an abstract concept for Nymfi and the other Kobolds. Almost all of them came from well established ns who served dragons withrge hoards of treasure. As such, they were entirely unaware of how valuable a single gold coin actually was. They just assumed that it was one of the shinier of shinies, and putting one out on the table while negotiating, usually got them the better end of the deal.

    There wasn¡¯t a merchant alive in the town of Thorn that was remotely willing to correct them, either.

    ¡°Hmm. How about we do a trial run first?¡±

    ¡°What Humie mean by trial run?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll carry all your things, and you can decide if I¡¯m only worth this many of your shinies, or if I¡¯m worth more. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s fair?¡±

    Nymfi agreed.

    ¡°Sound fair. Not go on adventure today, just get back. Maybe tomorrow. Humiee to ce where party nest and meet other Kobolds?¡±

    ¡°Sure, it¡¯ll also be good to see exactly what it is you want me to carry.¡±

    So far, things were looking bright for the Kobold party¡¯s future. Not being bogged down by heavy backpacks meant they would for sure be able to focus on adventuring properly!

    The human took the two gold coins and slid them into a hidden pocket in his vest. Then he stood up and Nymfi was surprised to see how the human was easily two feet taller than she was.

    ¡°Humie tall!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only six feet.¡±

    ¡°Six feet? Nymfi only count two feet.¡±

    That elicited a chuckle from Cobi.

    ¡°It¡¯s not important. Being tall just means there¡¯s more space for me to carry things.¡±

    Nymfi could not refute his words which made perfect sense to her. Yes, this human might be a real bargain for the Kobold party. As well as having silky looking ck top-hair, the human also had a skin coloring closer to a metallic-bronze than the usual pale-pink, at least where his skin showed. Metallics tended to be a bit less sneaky than chromatics, though no less greedy for shinies. Having a Human that wasn¡¯t sneaky might very well be to their benefit. Plus, it would make Boggie feel much happier having someone simr to her, since the rest of the Kobolds were all chromatic in color, and not metallic.

    ¡°Humie follow. ce where Kobolds nest is close by.¡±

    The two left the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and ventured through the town a short distance until they reached what Cobi saw only as an old dpidated house. Entering their so-called next, there were five other Kobolds inside, allzing about on piles of hay and straw. Heads perked up once the door closed behind them.

    ¡°Oh, Nymfi back!¡±

    ¡°Nymfi bring Humie?¡±

    ¡°Kuoh! Humie tall!¡±

    ¡°Humie have many muscles?¡±

    To Cobi, the Kobolds present resembled more a collection of stray cats than a clutch of self-professed dragon-kin. Nymfi stood tall and introduced their newest acquistion.

    ¡°This Humie Cobi. Carry Kobold things for shinies. Humie, this rest of Kobold party. Nymfi introduce everybody. Start with Trixie Trixter.¡±

    The ck-chromatic Kobold lifted her tail in the air and swished it around in greeting.

    ¡°Then have Silky. She Alchemist and Songhealer.¡±

    ¡°No worry, Humie. Silky potions heal lots!¡±

    All of the girls nodded at that. They had been saved many times from bad injuries thanks to their green-chromatic friend¡¯s potions.

    ¡°Next is Mandy. Best fire Warlock ever meet.¡±

    A small ball of me was conjured in her open chromatic-red wed hand, and then quickly snuffed out when it closed.

    ¡°Then Gnome, she Artificer and also in charge of fixing Kobold weapons when break.¡±

    Azy chromatic-blue arm half-covered in a gauntlet waved slightly from atop a pile of straw.

    ¡°Last is Boggie. She Dragonfist Brawler.¡±

    The Metallic-gold Kobold was sitting up in a cross-legged position.

    ¡°Humie know how to fight?¡±

    Cobi just shook his head.

    ¡°I¡¯m not much of a fighter, I¡¯m afraid. My job is mainly to carry things, though I can make things quite easy for you all because of that. I can also do a little cooking and a few other things here and there.¡±

    ¡°Humie not need listen to Boggie. She like fighting too much. Even punch and kick things when asleep.¡± Trixie spoke while her tail pped the pile of straw she was curled up on.

    ¡°Not matter if Humie not fight. Only care Humie carry things! We strong enough protect Humie.¡±

    Nymfi was quick to shut down any potential bickering. Once the others were quiet again, she introduced herself as well.

    ¡°I Nymfi. Party leader and Dragoon.¡±

    Cobi was fairly impressed. The party was well-bnced. He could certainly remember a time when he was in a mostly all-magician party with a single knight acting as a tank. What a disaster that party was¡­ once the knight had been disabled during a particrly nasty fight with a chimera.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you all. I am Cobi. May I inquire as to what exactly I will be carrying?¡±

    Six fairly standard medium sized backpacks were all quickly revealed by each of the Kobolds.

    ¡°Hmm. May I inspect the bags?¡±

    The Kobolds agreed to let him, and Cobi went around hefting each backpack and taking a peek inside. To his discerning eye, all he could see inside each of them was junk. But, as he was being hired to carry things for this party, he assumed these things must have had some practical use for these Kobolds, otherwise they could just be left behind.

    It certainly<i>wasn¡¯t</i>in the nature of a dragon-kin to<i>carry their entire hoard</i>around with them wherever they went. No, nothing as<i>foolish as that</i>could<i>possibly</i>be the reason the Kobold party was slowed down by the weight of their luggage.

    Regardless, Cobi was an expert at handling luggage, and would be sure to keep an itemized inventory on hand, since it would be vastly inefficient to carry six separate backpacks. Instead, Cobi had a special backpack of his own meant for absolute organization and efficiency in carrying and transporting goods.

    But, just for good measure, he scooped up all of the bags and lifted them three to an arm with incredible ease, thus causing all of the female Kobolds to be wildly impressed.

    ¡°Humie Strong!¡±

    ¡°How can lift Gnome backpack so easy?¡±

    ¡°Can Humie lift me next?¡±

    ¡°Want to feel Humie¡¯s many muscles!¡±

    ¡°Hear Humies have front tail? Is it true?¡±

    Of course, at no point would any of these female Kobolds ever admit that they were sexually starved and therefore ridiculously thirsty for a cross-specied good time. It was clearly the Human''s fault, seducing them with his tall body, handsome face, and amazing muscle strength.

    Returning the packs to each one of the Kobolds, already having memorized which one belonged to who, Cobi informed Nymfi that he needed to make arrangements to carry everything, and would returnter in the afternoon.

    The six Kobolds took the time to rest and mend from theirtest loss, looking forward to adventuring with the Human, while Cobi, after leaving the dpidated house that the Kobolds upied, returned immediately to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to speak with Vi, the Lagosian receptionist who sent the Kobold his way.

    ¡°Kobolds?¡±

    ¡°You said you wanted an easy job.¡±

    Cobi sighed.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the truth. Well, I guess I can¡¯tin, they already paid upfront. Just promise me one thing, Vi. No quests going to the Dark Forest.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, I know. None of us have forgotten about that massacre, or the warning you said you received from the being that called itself The Great Protector.¡±

    Cobi saw himself out and went back to the low-budget inn he was staying at just down the street. In the far corner of his room on the second floor was his trusty magical pack, and the secret to why he was considered one of the best porters around.

    Slipping it on and taking a deep breath, he exhaled once more the words that had been his mantra of life.

    ¡°A job¡­ is a job.¡±

    Then he left the inn, began shopping around for supplies, and eventually made his way back to the Kobold party, who were now his newest employers, even if they seemed to be a bit too... eager to have him.

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Melon, a gourmet goblin.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Melon, a gourmet goblin.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Volume Two will pick up a few months after Volume One. That being the case, Ark has had a number of new goblin daughters arrive into the world during this interim of time. While not every single new daughter will be covered in depth, a few noteworthy ones most certainly will.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Melon **~~</strong>

    ¡°HaABEe!¡±

    The first word I can recall saying is Hubby. I had intended to call him Husband at first, since Pear and everyone else also called him Husband. But he seemed intent on wanting me to call him<i>Daddy</i>. I wound up getting confused and calling him Hubby, but my reward for speaking at all was to get picked up and squished into a warm hug by him before he put his mouth on my belly and blew on it, making sounds that tickled me and made me giggle, so, I assumed it was him telling me that it was fine to call him that from now on.

    I hadn¡¯te into the world for very long and I was already feeling tired,zy, and hungry all at the same time. But I was certain of one thing already¡­ these two goblins knew how to live it up!

    We¡¯d bezy and nap together, with me in the middle, nice and warm after having eaten a lot of food and drank a lot of Pear''s milkies together with Hubby. Then I¡¯d be carried to the smelly room called the shit-pit since that¡¯s where that stuff went, and then we¡¯d go back to my cave-hole where Hubby and Pear would y games with me. Pear liked ying Strike, while Hubby taught me games like checkers and four-color! (It was a game where we had to make a line of four colors that matched.) Hubby was pretty good at it, but I was better!

    I also got to meet plenty of other goblins as well. Adult goblins like Berry who hunted for tasty berries, Old One who poked me all over my body a whole bunch and called me a fat andzy strong-one, Ivory who brought me a bone charm that I liked very much. Then smaller goblins visited, like Diana Artemis, my eldest sister, who said I wasn¡¯t going to be much of a hunter. Orchid and Lc who said I should try fire-meat and see if I like it (which I did). Button who spoke for my youngest older sister ce who didn¡¯t talk at all herself, but who said through Button that I should learn a special skill from Hubby called <i>cooking</i>since she felt I had a talent for it.

    I didn¡¯t know what a talent was, but the thing called<i>cooking</i>had to do with making and eating tasty food, and that was something I was sure I was going to be good at doing. It wasn¡¯t long before Hubby stopped staying in the same cave-hole Pear and I shared, but he did continue to visit us a lot. As it turns out, He, ce, and Vera¡ªce¡¯s maker goblin¡ªwere digging a cave-hole right next to this one to turn into a<i>kit-chin,</i>which was supposed to be a special cave-hole I would be using in order to make all kinds of tasty food, so I was looking forward to it being finished!

    ce would visit my cave-hole often, to join me when it was time for drinking milkies from Pear. She tried to teach me something called Magic, but I wasn¡¯t able to do the things she could do. I did figure it out, but only enough to activate something called a Rune. However, that was exactly what she wanted me to be able to do, so I was told that I did a great job.

    I was still a strong-one and not allowed to walk the whole of Goblin-home yet. I could only go to the shit-pit and Hubby¡¯s cave-hole by myself, and that was only after being escorted many times by both adult goblins and my older sisters until I was familiar with how to get there and back to my own cave-hole without getting lost.

    It seems that Button had gotten lost once before I came into the world, and it made many goblins worried.

    It wasn¡¯t too long after the<i>kit-chin</i>was finallypleted that I became a big sister myself. An adult goblin named Toy had made two strong-ones at the same time, my sisters Game and Fun. They were also like me, goblins who weren¡¯t considered to be strong as hunters or casters of magic, so they would be makers, instead.

    I was told that as far as us younger sisters went, Diana was in charge of any goblins who would be hunters, ce was in charge of any goblins who would be casters¡ªgoblins who used magic to hunt, and I would be in charge of any goblins who would be makers. At first I didn¡¯t understand why that was important, but I was told that there were going to be many many more sistersing into the world from now on, and that they needed someone to look up to who understood what they were good at, and what they weren¡¯t.

    I also began to learn a bunch of things all at once shortly after those two came into the world.

    Pear would take me to visit Old One who lived in the back of Goblin-home and she taught me all about what it meant to be a Bloodmaw Goblin. I was often joined by Game and Fun since they lived in a cave-hole close by to Old One. Turns out Hubby had a really important job in the tribe. He was responsible for helping to make strong-ones with all the adult goblins, which meant that he was responsible for making me all my sisters. Eventually we would be old enough to make our own strong-ones and when that happened, Hubby would be the one to help us with that as well.

    I had seen Hubby and Pear do the thing that makes strong-ones when they thought I was asleep, and I have to say, Pear seemed to enjoy it a whole bunch. Especially the part that came after when sheid down and Hubbyid next to her and fed her lots of fruits and rubbed her milkies and squished her belly.

    I asked Pear about making strong-ones and she said it would take a few moons before she could make another strong-onee into the world, so I would have to wait a while for another sister to be made by her. That was okay, since I had plenty of other sisters made by other adult goblins, like Game and Fun to keep me upied until it was my turn to make strong-ones with Hubby.

    Lessons with Hubby were also some of the most fun I could possibly have since they involved making and eating tasty food. Hubby had given me a special thing called a<i>vernir knife</i>. It wasn¡¯t meant for hunting with, though. He said it was going to be one of the most important tools I would need for learning how to cook.

    And he was right.

    Near the front of Goblinhome was a cave-hole that was kept cold. Vera was in charge of it. Before Vera learned how to use picture-magic from Hubby, food which came from hunted beasties didn¡¯tst too long and had to be eaten quickly. Now it could be kept longer, which meant that hunting didn¡¯t have to happen every single day.

    I was brought there by Hubby, and three other goblins were waiting for us when we arrived. Vera, Pepper, and Orchid. Vera melted the cold hard water called ice that the beasties were kept in so it could be removed and dismantled. Pepper and Orchid showed me how to separate the skin and fur from the meat, and then the meat from the bones. There was no part of the beastie that didn¡¯t have a use.

    The skins and furs would be made into things like loincloths, pillows, nkets, and whatever else Hubby might think up that went over well with the tribe by Pepper. Bones were almost exclusively traded to Ivory, who would make things out of them (like my bone charm) in exchange for bloody meat. And the meat¡­ well, that was the most important part.

    What Hubby was trying to teach me about butchering the meat of a beastie was something called the<i>cuts</i>. He admitted to not knowing enough to be an expert on it, but that meat from the different parts, such as legs, or the ribs, had different ways of being prepared and had different tastes and textures that came with them. I also didn¡¯t understand what he meant at first by that, and neither did any of the other goblins who were present and helping, but it wasn¡¯t long before I<i>did.</i>

    I can¡¯t exin how it happened, but while Hubby and I were testing out cooking various pieces of meat I had cut up using the<i>vernir knife</i>on the magic hot stone in the<i>kit-chin</i>, I tried samples of some and began to understand how each piece tasted and how it could taste better depending on how it was turned into fire-meat.

    It wasn¡¯t just fire-meat that I learned how to<i>cook</i>. I learned how to make things called<i>desserts</i>as well. How to mash big tree-fruits into a pulp and serve it next to meat on the same te. How to ferment things to make stuff like<i>sauces</i>and<i>condy-mints</i>. There was a particr one that was made from a juicy red vine-fruit which went extremely well with hamburgers. ce was so happy to have it that she had Pepper make me a special loincloth called an Apron to wear so I wouldn¡¯t get burned while<i>cooking</i>.

    Old One hade to visit one day, wanting to eat something that was not fire-meat. Hubby was with me in the<i>kit-chin</i>and decided he wanted to fool her a bit. He showed me how to make something called a<i>pate</i>which was from a food he liked to eat called a<i>bon-me</i>. It was finely chopped meat and liver mixed with onion and even had some<i>blue water</i>added to it before it was very lightly<i>cooked</i>on low heat using the special magic hot stone which was made by Vera and had all sorts of picture-magic Runes drawn into it.

    When it came out, it was served with some of the applesauce desert on the same te and, with the pate meat looking pink in color, it was enough to fool Old One who said it was some of the easiest to eat bloody meat she had ever tasted. From that day on, she woulde in from time to time to have the same thing, telling me never to get too serious about learning Human fire-meat cooking, and to keep thinking of all the goblins who preferred the taste of bloody-meat.

    I now know what Button meant by always saying that Hubby was a tricky one.

    There was no way I could ever tell Old One that what she had been stopping in to eat was in fact, fire-meat.

    I didn¡¯t spend all my time in the<i>kit-chin</i>. Hubby would take me outside to the yground, where there were swings he would push me and my sisters on, and adder I could climb that went into some kind of wooden cave-hole that led to a thing called a slide that brought you from up high to the ground really fast and in a fun way!

    My older sisters were quite busy doing all sorts of things, like hunting, so the sisters I did y with were mostly Game and Fun. They lived with Toy and helped make new games for the Bloodmaw to y. They stopped by once in a while to eat<i>fruit sd</i>with<i>nuts</i>, saying that it was good food for helping them think of new games to make.

    That¡¯s when Game had a good idea and a few dayster had brought Hubby in and the part of the cave-hole where people sat and ate food underwent a huge change. Many many tables were made and each of them had a ce on the top for a game board to be iid in and yed on (along with pieces!).

    My<i>kit-chin</i>had now be a ce that goblins wanted to stop in at for eating, drinking<i>blue water</i>, or ying a rxing game or two with another goblin. Some goblins brought in bloody meat they didn¡¯t care to have made into anything, and others brought their meat for me to make it into something tastier. They¡¯d y chess, or checkers, or color-four, or whatever new games Toy, Game, and Fun happened to make that were interesting and enjoyable.

    As things started to fall into ce for me, that was when I became an older sister once again...

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Figurine, a goblin who moves to her own beat.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Figurine, a goblin who moves to her own beat.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Figurine **~~</strong>

    <strong>Tap, tap, step.</strong>

    <strong>Tap, tap, step.</strong>

    <strong>Touch, touch, lift.</strong>

    <strong>Lick, lick, bite.</strong>

    <strong>Chew, chew, swallow.</strong>

    It was not lost on me that the many other ones simr to me who were gathered around were observing me closely. I felt no danger from any of them, I could even tell immediately which one of them was my maker, and I could tell that the one who looked least like any of the others was also important in some way¡­ but aside from that, I couldn¡¯t care less about any of the others.

    I felt the desire within me to eat the soft bloody thing attached to me, and after that, I felt the need to climb onto my Maker and follow the scent to the round things attached to her body and drink from them. I didn¡¯t know why I needed to do this, only that I needed to do this. There was something behind the ce I could see out from, telling me to do these things, and I listened.

    The problem was theck of what usually went with<i>it.</i>

    It was something intimate that I understood was missing from me now that I hade into the world, but for some reason couldn¡¯t remember clearly what exactly it was. Something which was once constantly in motion with me, both silent and loud. An ever-present apaniment which gave me peace that was now missing from my being. I wanted nothing more than to have it back, but I didn¡¯t know how tomunicate with any of these others who were here to exin it. I could only listen to that ce behind where I could see and continue what I was doing.

    <strong>Squeeze, squeeze, suck.</strong>

    <strong>Squeeze, squeeze, suck.</strong>

    <strong>Suck, suck, swallow.</strong>

    The only time I could find peace from that ce behind where I saw things, was when I was asleep. But it wasn¡¯t my maker who helped me find it. It was the strange tall one who looked different from the others. The one who pointed at itself and said <i>daddy</i>.

    I climbed onto that one and put my ear next to the t and empty milkie they had and listened.

    <strong>Thum-thump. Thum-thump. Thum-thump.</strong>

    Yes, whatever sound that it was making was fine with me. As long as the sound remained steady, I felt rxed¡­

    <strong>~~** ??? **~~</strong>

    ¡°Something strange strong-one¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with Figurine. She just has her own way of doing things.¡±

    ¡°No. Strange! Touch ground twice before step. Always same, never change. Touch thing twice before hold. Lick food twice before eat! Strange! Strong-one have curse!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a curse. Humans have things like that sometimes¡­ it¡¯s called a neurosis... uh¡­ extra-think. It¡¯s a feeling she has deep inside her head that tells her she has to do something in a certain way. It won¡¯t prevent her from doing anything important, it¡¯s just how her head tells her to do that something in the first ce. Vera has something simr¡­¡±

    ¡°Same Vera?¡±

    ¡°In a way, but I don¡¯t think it will affect her learning how to speak gob or talking with the others. She can probably even learn to hunt or do magic if she has the desire to. Usually, humans who have this kind of thing have something they can do far better than anyone else. The trick is to find out what it is¡­¡±

    ¡°Sure not cursed little-seed? Husband make strong-one with me, seed-stick stop working for days, yes?¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be the opposite? Look at ce. She came out a Runt, but she¡¯s got stronger magic than both Vera and I.¡±

    ¡°Strange Shaman no talk! What can do fix strong-one?¡±

    ¡°We just do what we can. The only thing I ask is that you don¡¯t punish her for trying to do something as best she can in her own way. With care and support from us, she might be able to take control over what makes her do that.¡±

    ¡°What if not?¡±

    ¡°Let me worry about that. No matter whates of it, she¡¯s our strong-one. I¡¯ll take care of her like I do Vera if there¡¯s no sign of her improving, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­for now, listen¡­¡±

    <strong>~~** Figurine **~~</strong>

    My maker¡¯s name is Doll. She has an important job chopping trees so that the fire in the fire-pit outside of Goblinhome doesn¡¯t go out. The tall one who looks different from all the others is also someone who made me. He has many names; Husband, Daddy, Ark¡­ But the one he seems to respond to the best when I call out to him, is<i>Dad</i>. I think he might understand me the best out of all the goblins. Doll, I think, tries, but she doesn¡¯t understand me like he does. Dad doesn¡¯t get visibly upset when I follow what the thing behind my eyes tells me to do. Dad also does it along with me sometimes to put me at ease. He even did things a little differently than I did, and it was okay because whatever it was that he did, it didn¡¯t bother the thing behind my eyes at all.

    One of my favorite games to y with Dad was called p-p-pop!

    Both he and I would sit down in front of one another, and we would p our hands against each other¡¯s. It was a game I could understand how to y easily. Sometimes the patterns Dad used were long, but he would speak words in a certain way when we would p our hands by ourselves, which made remembering how exactly we needed to p or p or even pop easy.

    My sisters, Button and Melon would show up sometimes when I was in Dad¡¯s cave-hole where he would watch me while Doll was out hunting or chopping trees, and when they saw the game he was ying with me, he also taught it to them, so we all could y together.

    <i>Goblins hunt at morning</i>

    <i>And go to sleep at night</i>

    <i>When beasties see a Bloodmaw</i>

    <i>They run away in fright!</i>

    <i>Diana hunts the ck-ws</i>

    <i>While Shaman casts her spells</i>

    <i>The one thing Husband hates the most</i>

    <i>Is when a goblin<b>smells!</b></i>

    The words he used were simple to remember and funny to repeat as our hands pped with each other.

    Anytime there was something new I needed to learn how to do, Dad would try to exin what it was and how it was supposed to be done first, then if one of my sisters was nearby, he¡¯d have them demonstrate it for me. If not, then he would demonstrate it himself before asking me to do it. Because of that, I was soon able to enter the bath and the shit-pit without being afraid at all.

    I tried learning how to hunt from Diana, Orchid, and Lc, but I wasn¡¯t very good at using any of the weapons Prima had avable to lend me for training. I tried learning how to use magic from ce and Vera, but I didn¡¯t really have the right sense of how to feel mana in my body. I even tried visiting Melon and my older sisters Game and Fun, but making things was also something I wasn¡¯t very good at¡­ I was at aplete loss as to what it was that I could do that would be useful to the Bloodmaw Tribe.

    Days passed and I slowly grew older. Around this time, Dad had visited Ivory one night and the following day, I had be an older sister when Ebony came into the world. And she came in hard. Until Ebony, only Diana Artemis and ce had given Old One a reason to be happy.

    ¡°Bone Lord!¡±

    Old One dered Ebony a very powerful strong-one, like Diana and ce, and was exceptionally pleased. So pleased, in fact, she celebrated by drinking a lot of <i>Blue Water</i>and pushed Dad down only to hop on him a whole lot, saying he wasn¡¯t so ugly today for some reason.

    But that celebratory feeling of having a strong sister joining the tribe also left me feeling afraid.

    I still hadn¡¯t found what I was good at, what use I might have, and now I was already having younger sisterse into the world who were far better than I was¡­

    I felt lost.

    I felt like I had disappointed my maker, Doll. I had disappointed my Dad¡­ and I had disappointed all of my sisters who tried to help me because I wasn¡¯t all that good at anything.

    I thought I might be abandoned for being useless and different, but that didn¡¯t happen at all.

    Dad made me a small axe and told me to join Doll in chopping down trees for now.

    When not trying to help Doll, who was a bit frustrated that I chopped slower than her but also didn¡¯t scold me for it, Button had said she wanted to spend time alone with me. That involved following her to a spot in the forest where many many mushrooms grew in a circle.

    ¡°Rine¡­ you might not be a mushroom goblin like Husband and I are, but you can appreciate the swirly-whirly.¡±

    Button was referring to the thing Dad did in the bath where he spun his finger around in a circle and made the water spin and pull downward. I also found it interesting to watch when he did that.

    ¡°Tricky Husband Ark taught me the secret of the swirly-whirly, and so I will teach it to you, because I feel like it can help you. What is important about the swirly-whirly is how you find the way to use it¡­ with the way that you are. All you need to know is that Husband and I will always believe in you.¡±

    And so, Button showed me certain ways to move and how to throw out my hands and feet to defend and attack, as a hunter without a weapon, like Button was, would.

    My days were filled with chopping trees and spinning around while throwing punches and kicks, but I couldn¡¯tpletely change what the thing behind my eyes, which I learned from Dad was called my<i>mind</i>, told me to do.

    One day after working hard at doing both, I was tired and sweaty, and wanted to take a bath before I ate something andid down to rest and bezy. I heard a strange sounding from Dad¡¯s cave-hole and rushed inside to find out what it was.

    He was sitting by himself in the space to the left of the entrance to his cave-hole. In his arms was some long thing made of wood and his fingers were passing over thin strands of rope which were making sounds that had drawn myplete attention. My feet had taken me right to his side without any dy and I could only stare at Dad in amazement.

    ¡°What is that?¡±

    Dad looked up at me and smiled.

    ¡°Called Lute. Prima let use. Make music with.¡±

    ¡°Music?¡±

    He passed his fingers over it a certain way and different kinds of sounds came out. Every single time it did, my entire body felt strange. Even the ce behind my eyes¡ªmy mind¡ªsaid that the thing I was missing, the thing that kept me from being like the others¡­ was this.

    ¡°I want to hear more music, Dad!¡±

    ¡°Okay, want teach you fun thing do music?¡±

    I nodded with the entire force my body could muster. I needed to know more about this thing called music.

    Dad stood up and began to pass his fingers over the thing he called a Lute and began to speak words that went along with the sounds while doing things with his legs.

    <i>You put your left foot in,</i>

    <i>And take your left foot out,</i>

    <i>You put your left foot in,</i>

    <i>And you shake it all about!</i>

    <i>You do the hokey-pokey,</i>

    <i>And you turn yourself around,</i>

    <i>That¡¯s what it¡¯s all about~!</i>

    Dad then stopped the sounds and pointed at me.

    ¡°Want try?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Keep making music!!¡±

    He told me the words were something called a song, and the song was called the hokey-pokey (it didn''t mean anything). What he was doing was a simple form of something called <i>dancing</i>. Dad would y the song and change the words to suit a different part of my body which I had to extend and then retract and then extend and then shake. It was veryfortable to do, and when I ran out of arms and legs to use, he would move on to weird things like my butt or my tongue or my ears¡­ I couldn¡¯t get enough of it.

    The grip my mind had on my body since I came into the world had, for the short time Dad made music, let go of the control it had over me. As long as my body moved to the music, I was¡­ free. Until, inevitably, like all other things, it came to an end.

    Iy on the floor, sweating, breathing hard, butpletely satisfied.

    ¡°Dad¡­ I think I found it.¡±

    ¡°What find?¡±

    ¡°Teach me how to make music.¡±

    Dad frowned a little when I asked him.

    ¡°Not know how teach music well. Show Figurine what know, all can do.¡±

    I knew the frown on his face was one of disappointment. Not at me, but at himself. Dad was the kind of goblin who would give anything and everything he had to make any of his strong-ones happy. He was just disappointed that music wasn¡¯t something he was good enough at to teach reliably. Just like how using weapons to hunt wasn¡¯t something I was good enough at to learn reliably. However, even knowing a little bit of how to make music was more important than anything else to me.

    We took a bath together after the music ended and Dad began to examine my body closely, especially my arms and legs.

    ¡°Figurine train body with Doll?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Button is also teaching me things.¡±

    Dad nodded.

    ¡°Lute belong Prima, no can make one Figurine. Not know way make string for sound. Lute not only thing make music. Called instrument. Many kind. Make many Figurine try, find which ones like use.¡±

    ¡°I want something that can make music while I move my body. Is there one like that?¡±

    ¡°Already know what want? Can make something, need time think how.¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡±

    The next day was one where Dad couldn¡¯t be found by anyone. Turns out he was in Toy¡¯s cave-hole, in the special cave-hole he made for her called the<i>work-shop</i>. He had spent the entire day using his magic to make me things that made music.

    The day after, I was in his cave-hole and the long table near the entrance was full of thingsying atop it.

    ¡°All instruments can use while moving. Can show how use, not sure-think how make right sound with all¡­¡±

    Each of them had strange names that weren¡¯t in gob, but Dad was easily able to fix that.

    The first was a pair of wooden things that looked like bird legs. He called them<i>marr-akh-ahs</i>at first, but then called them shake-shakes. He picked one up and shook it. Sound came from inside the fat part that would have been the upper leg meat. Depending on how he shook it, hard or soft, the sounds would change.

    Next was the<i>kass-ta</i>, which he then called ck-cks. Using a small piece of rope, they slid onto his fingers and thumbs and would make a sharp sound when cked together. I liked those a lot!

    Next was something called a<i>oh-kah-ree-nah, </i>nowcalled a blow-shell. It had a hole to blow in, and holes that sound came out of. Depending on how his finger pressed on a hole, different sounds could be made! There were two other kinds of blow-shells. One was a blow-box and a blow-stick which he called a<i>har-mon-ee-kah,</i>and<i>re-kor-dur.</i>

    I was already thrilled seeing this many that Dad had made for me, but it wasn¡¯t all of them yet.

    There were some that were made with fur and bones that really had me excited. They went around my wrists and ankles and had balls of bone that had small stones inside of them. When I shook my hands or my feet they would make noises as well. Dad didn¡¯t have a name for them, and said I was free toe up with one if I wanted to. Thest major item was something that looked like Melon¡¯s apron, only there were thin pieces of wood sewed into the front. Dad then had me push my fingers into the dirt and after pulling them out he did some kind of magic and there were now thin stone finger-coverings which he called<i>Thim-bulls</i>. He put them on my fingers which made the sharp tips of them round like his, and told me to run them against the wood on the apron.

    When I did, many t sounds came out.

    He then told me there were many many more kinds of instruments, but for now this was all he had the ability to make for me. Certain other ones needed metals of certain shapes and thickness which couldn¡¯t be found or made here in Goblinhome¡­ yet.

    I couldn¡¯t use all of them at the same time, so I went through using them one by one with Dad joining in using the blow-stick and yed more music. Songs he called the <i>ground-bird dance</i>and<i>shiny-star</i>which were fast music and slow music, but both equally enjoyable to listen to.

    Vera, who lived in Dad¡¯s cave-hole together with him had sat down and listened to us making music together, with me trying to find the right moment to use a shake-shake or a ck-ck or even to use the scrape-scrape (the apron with the wood sewn onto it). I don¡¯t think I ever felt as good as I did in my entire life than I had in this moment with Dad.

    But he had reached his limit.

    I hadn¡¯t realized it, but we had been making music together for almost the entire day! Dad looked more pale than usual, which was a hard thing to do since he wasn¡¯t green-skinned like most of us goblins.

    ¡°Figurine¡­ learn what need?¡±

    Ah, it¡¯s not that he was having the same amount of fun that I was¡­ he was teaching me what he knew by having me make music together with him. Dad was exhausted, lying on the floor. Vera had me help her drag him to his cave-hole next to hers where he couldy down on his straw bed.

    ¡°Husband. Rest.¡±

    Vera hardly ever said more than one word at the same time, which meant that she felt Dad really needed toy down and rest. Dad reached out to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me onto his body, giving me a powerful hug.

    ¡°Still most important thing teach Figurine music. Listen, yes?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m listening, Dad.¡±

    ¡°When make music, never think job. Never think what must do for tribe. Music powerful magic. Not less strong magic Me, Vera, ce, Ebony have. Music Figurine magic. Always important know how feel make music. Music powere from how feel. Make music happy, make music sad, change what magic music power have. Dad proud. Want listen music Figurine make. What special music hide here sincee into world.¡±

    He poked his finger into the side of my head, to the ce behind where I saw.

    And I began to cry.

    He knew.

    What am I saying? Of course he knew!

    Dad always knew and understood me the best.

    At times better than I understood myself¡­

    ¡°How¡­ did you know music was what I was missing?¡±

    ¡°Not know music. Only know something. Believe one day Figurine find. When happen, Dad promise Doll do everything can for strong-one. Not fix everything. Not need fix anything. Figurine not broken. Figurine special goblin. Way do thing special, way think special, now way make music special.¡±

    After giving me a kiss on the forehead, he let go of me and wiped away my tears with his not-pointy fingers.

    I wound up leaving his cave-hole, but not without being told to take all the things that he made for me to make music with. Vera helped me carry them to my cave-hole, where Doll was already sitting down beingzy, drinking <i>blue water</i>with Berry.

    ¡°What is all of that?¡± Doll asked me.

    ¡°What Dad made for me. What was missing from my life this entire time.¡±

    ¡°Is that for hunting?¡±

    ¡°No. It¡¯s for making music.¡±

    ¡°Music? The thing Prima has that Husband uses?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s different from the Lute, but these all make sounds in a simr way.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ and you know how to use them?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m learning. Dad says making music is my magic.¡±

    ¡°Magic? You can use magic?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what Dad said.¡±

    Doll took a drink of her<i>blue water</i>and leaned back.

    ¡°If you can use magic, then you don¡¯t need to help me chop trees anymore.¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°No. I¡¯ll keep helping you chop trees. Until I know how to use it properly, I still need to be useful in some way.¡±

    Doll only nodded.

    ¡°Vera, want to join us for a drink of <i>blue water</i>?¡±

    Vera took a seat and joined Doll and Berry while they drank for a little while, as I put all the instruments except the shake-shakes onto the shelves inside my own cave-hole. Those I held onto as Iid down on my straw bed and shook them softly and as quietly as they could, listening to the sounds they made and what ones I found pleasant to hear.

    I couldn¡¯t wait for tomorrow toe, when I could tell Button all about everything that happened¡­

    <strong>~~** ??? **~~</strong>

    ¡°How was it this time training with her?¡±

    ¡°Different. Way body move change since find music. Think can be hunter now if want. Figurine strong.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never doubted that she is.¡±

    ¡°What thing Tricky Husband want show Button today?¡±

    ¡°Something I want you to pass on to her. A new¡­ martial art meant for her, but one you might appreciate as well. You might be able to fill in the missing parts that I¡¯ve forgotten.¡±

    ¡°What called?¡±

    ¡°Capoiera.¡±

    ¡°<i>Kah-poh-ed-da</i>?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It involves a lot of moving, tumbling, flips, and kicks¡­ you can think of it like a swirly-whirly kind ofbat.¡±

    ¡°Sound fun. Want see.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but first I need to teach you the singing music that goes along with it.¡±

    ¡°Button listen.¡±

    ¡°Repeat after me: Paranau¨º~, paranau¨º, Paran¨¢!¡±

    ¡°<i>Banana way</i>?¡±

    ¡°Close enough.¡±

    ¡°Different from<i>Human way</i>or<i>Goblin way</i>?¡±

    ¡°L-let¡¯s not worry about the details. Now, watch my legs closely, this is how it¡¯s supposed to go¡­¡±

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Ebony, the Little Lord of Bones

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Ebony, the Little Lord of Bones

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ebony **~~</strong>

    ¡°You, Ebony, little sister goblin. Me, Button, big sister goblin. Job big sister goblin teach little sister goblin how be goblin.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Ebony listen Button!¡±

    Most of my sisters can remember the day they came into the world. For me, that¡¯s not the case at all. My first real memory was when I met my big sister, Button. Unlike other goblins, both Button and I have two maker goblins¡ªIvory and Truffle.

    Truffle is azy goblin who is almost never angry. Her favorite things in the world are mushrooms, Husband, and her strong-ones, in that order. As for Ivory, she is usually angry about all sort of things, and is only everzy when she¡¯s done making things out of bones and starts drinking<i>blue water</i>.

    While Ivory is busy making things out of bones almost every day, Truffle will teach me all about mushrooms as Iy down next to her and sometimes Button who stops in for milkies. While I like mushrooms well enough, I do like bones more. I can sometimes hear them say things like they want to be friends with me when I touch them. Ivory says I¡¯m stupid since bones don¡¯t talk, and Truffle says that sometimes when she has a good batch of color-spin-think powder, she thinks she can hear the mushrooms talk, but the only person who seems to believe me without question, is Button.

    ¡°You hear bones talk in your head? That sounds like how ce talks to me.¡±

    ce is my older sister as well, and also the Shaman of the Bloodmaw Tribe. She doesn¡¯t talk aloud at all, instead using my sister to speak for her. She¡¯s also able to use special magic simr to Husband and Vera to do all sorts of amazing things. Button says she can¡¯t use magic without ce, but I can use it a little, mostly to make bones move on their own like they want to.

    Ivory gets mad at me sometimes when I use magic to make the bones in her room move. So, the only thing I¡¯m allowed to use it on is Gogok and Shumi, the bone charms which belong to me and Button. Button says she¡¯s going to be an adult goblin soon, so she doesn¡¯t need Shu-mi as much anymore, and wants her to have a friend who will y with her.

    There is one bone I want to y with the most, but Ivory never lets me. It¡¯s a special thin ck bone with something wrapped around it. It¡¯s on a shelf way up high that I can¡¯t reach, and one time when I tried to, Ivory caught me and spanked my butt really hard.

    I don¡¯t like being spanked, and I don¡¯t like Ivory anymore!

    Button says she understands exactly what I¡¯m feeling. She also told me that she was spanked by Ivory many times when she was a little goblin and didn¡¯t like it either.

    Since I¡¯m a little goblin, I can¡¯t leave my cave-hole by myself just yet. Truffle or Ivory will follow me to the shit-pit if I have to go, or otherwise, unless another goblin or Husband visits my cave-hole, I have to wait for Button to take me ces.

    One of the ces I like to go is Old One¡¯s cave-hole.

    Old One is really nice to me. She says I¡¯m a special goblin, just like Husband does. Because I have bone-magic, Old One says I¡¯m something called a Bone Lord, a goblin who uses real Bloodmaw magic, and not wicked human magic. She then tells me stories about an old goblin called Bone-eyes, who was a really old goblin back when Old One was still only a little goblin strong-one herself!

    ording to Old One, Bone Lords are able to listen to andmand bones. This is important, since the bones of the dead still carry the memories of the time when they were alive. She says most of what she knows about Bone Lords came from Stone-foot, her maker and the former Shaman of the tribe before the<i>silver-skins</i>attacked and killed everyone but us who came to Goblinhome.

    After learning all about the Bloodmaw Tribe from Old One, she will bring me back to my cave-hole, but not before stopping off at my older sister Melon¡¯s special cave-hole, called the<i>kit-chin</i>. Old One frowns at me sometimes when I order the tasty hamburger with nt-blood, instead of something that looks bloody, but Melon is quick to show Old One that there¡¯s plenty of pink-colored bloody meat inside it, and so Old One doesn¡¯t get as upset anymore.

    Apparently there are goblins who are very opinionated on which is better; bloody-meat or fire-meat. I like both, but nothing beats a tasty hamburger made by Melon.

    Husband also likes to visit me, sometimes bringing me to Melon¡¯s<i>kit-chin</i>after taking me outside the cave and pushing me on the swings. I get to meet my other sisters a lot more when I¡¯m outside and I have a whole bunch of them!

    Diana Artemis, who is going to be the next Guardian of the tribe. She¡¯s really good at hunting! I heard my other older sisters, Orchid and Lc, tell stories about how she and Husband went hunting at night to kill a bunch of ck-ws who killed one of the adult goblins called Beast-talker and tried to kill Prima, Jewel, and Doll!

    There¡¯s also Game, Fun, and Figurine (who Button says is fine to just call her Rine). Game and Fun live with Toy and make all the fun games that goblins like to y when not busy. One of thetest games was a game called<i>bones</i>that involved rectangles with circles on them that needed to be matched up a certain way. It¡¯s a sort of counting-game but I like anything that involves bones, even if they aren¡¯t made out of them.

    Button saw me having lots of fun ying the game with Game and Fun, and not even a few dayster she had managed to give me a set of my own to y with, and even yed a few games with me. Button is the best big sister!

    Husband hade to visit our cave-hole the day after that and showed me a fun way to y with them when I was alone. He stood the<i>bones</i>up in a line and ced them a certain distance apart before having me tip one at the end over, causing the whole line of them to fall over in a fast and exciting way!

    He couldn¡¯t stay for long, though. As it turns out, he wanted to spend some time with me today because he would be staying in Pepper¡¯s cave-hole for a while after this. When I asked why, he said it was because I would soon have a little sistering into the world.

    Button had exined to me once that Husband has an important job he does in the Bloodmaw Tribe. He goes around to all the cave-holes and helps adult goblins make strong-ones. That¡¯s why he¡¯s called Husband. Button told me when I be older like she is, we¡¯ll also be able to make strong-ones with him.

    Button and Truffle both consider Husband to be a mushroom-goblin like them, since he has a mushroom growing between his legs. I asked him if I could see it once, and he showed me, but said I couldn¡¯t touch it. From how it looked though, I think there was a big fat bone inside instead of a soft and squishy mushroom. It made me think that Husband might be a bone-goblin like Ivory and me.

    Anyway, since I wasn¡¯t going to see Husband for a while, I asked him if he would do something for me.

    ¡°What Ebony want?¡±

    I exined to him about wanting to see the special ck bone Ivory kept on the shelf I couldn¡¯t reach that she never let me touch. Husband went to find it and beganughing as he held it.

    ¡°Mean this?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Not bone. Dead branch. Hmm¡­ maybe¡­ special tree bone?¡±

    ¡°Tree bone?¡±

    Husband then exined the thin ck bone once belonged to him and was a gift to him from his maker for using his magic. It was called a<i>magic wand,</i>and was made from a long dead branch of an important magic tree. When he let me hold it, I could hear the voiceing from the tree-bone very clearly in my head.

    <<Little Lord. At longst we finally meet!>>

    I told Husband the magic wand was talking to me in my head, and he smiled and patted my head in response.

    ¡°Ebony lucky. Have wand long time, never hear speak head.¡±

    ¡°Wand, why do you not talk to Husband?¡± I asked it.

    <<How can I? His magic is stupidly¡­<i>never mind.</i>But your magic, Little Lord, is a perfect match to me.>>

    ¡°Husband, the wand says your magic is stupid. That¡¯s why it didn¡¯t talk to you.¡±

    ¡°Make sense.¡±

    <<You don¡¯t need to call me<i>wand</i>. The one over there gave me the name Yggdrasil, though, if you have a better name, I will be happy to receive it.>>

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll think of one.¡±

    <<Very well.>>

    ¡°Ebony talk wand?¡± Husband asked, pointing at my new friend, Iggy.

    I nodded in reply.

    <<Little Lord, you must tell that one something important right now before your maker returns.>>

    ¡°Something important?¡±

    <<Tell him that I must belong to you.>>

    ¡°Iggy says it belongs to me.¡±

    ¡°Iggy?¡±

    I held out the magic wand in front of Husband.

    ¡°It said you gave it the name Iggy¡­ um¡­¡±

    ¡°Yggdrasil?¡±

    I nodded again. That name was too hard to say!

    <<Tell him you will show him why.>>

    ¡°Iggy says I will show you why.¡±

    Husband looked at the wand and then back to me.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m watching.¡±

    <<Go over to the pile of bones. we will make us a new friend, together. That one will understand once it is done.>>

    ¡°Make a new friend?¡±

    Listening to Iggy, I walked over to the wall where almost all of the bones Ivory had in the cave-hole were kept. Iggy told me to focus my magic into the wand and it would do the rest.

    ¡°Can it be a friend who can climb and hunt well? Big sister Button is a hunter goblin. Ebony is going to be a hunter goblin, too!¡±

    <<If that is your wish, then that is what our friend shall be!>>

    I focused my magic into Iggy the magic wand and it began to glow. Many bones began to shake and rattle, moving themselves out of the boxes and shelves they had been resting in and came together one by one until our new friend, made entirely of bones, had taken shape.

    ¡°Ebony¡­ what do?¡±

    ¡°Making a friend with Iggy!¡±

    ¡°Husband, do you know what this is?¡±

    ¡°Look like bone spider.¡±

    <<It is done Little Lord. A replica of one of the children of Arachnida, she who weaves the Divine Web and guards the canopy of the Spirit Tree. There is no better climber and hunter in all the world.>>

    ¡°You¡¯re kind of small for a friend¡­ Can you climb?¡± I asked it.

    I watched as my new friend moved about quickly and climbed up the closest thing to it¡ªme! It climbed all the way up my body until it settled on top of my head.

    ¡°What about hunting?¡±

    I felt it leap off of my head after I asked and jumped onto Husband¡¯s arm, where it immediately began biting him.

    ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t hunt Husband!!¡±

    Husband wasughing as he held his arm out.

    ¡°Not hurt. Bitey here friend. Only show Ebony can hunt.¡±

    It stopped biting Husband and walked to his hand before it spun around in ce to face him. Then it raised one of its legs in front.

    ¡°Bitey?¡±

    My new friend spun around in ce again until it was facing me and raised one of its legs again. I could tell it was happy to see me.

    ¡°Seem like good name give. Not like?¡±

    ¡°No, I like it. Hello Bitey, I¡¯m your friend, Ebony! That¡¯s Husband, and he¡¯s also your friend!¡±

    Husband reached out and began to pet Bitey who ttened down onto his hand.

    ¡°Okay. See what Ebony mean wand belong. Speak Ivory when can about give wand Ebony. Not sure if listen... For now, put back, okay?¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to give the wand back, and Iggy didn¡¯t want me to give it back, either. But, before I could, and I was going to, because I do listen to Husband since he doesn¡¯t ever spank me, Ivory and Truffle hade back into the cave-hole after going out hunting for mushrooms.

    ¡°What are you holding in your hand!? You know that things on the top shelf aren¡¯t for you to touch!¡±

    Ivory began to yell at me as she quickly rushed over to yank Iggy out of my hand and immediately begin spanking my butt.

    <<How dare you harm the Little Lord!!>>

    I could still hear Iggy¡¯s voice loud and clear. Iggy was very angry at Ivory, just like I was!

    ¡°No more spanking Ebony!!!¡± I yelled.

    I felt the bones around me also be angry, and one of them¡­ one that had been sharpened by Ivory earlier and was resting on the table that went into the wall where she would sit with Truffle, got mad and flew right at her face!

    Husband was quick to reach out and grab hold of the bone right in the middle of the air before it poked her in the eye¡­ if he hadn¡¯t¡­ Ivory would have been really hurt.

    ¡°You¡­ tried to kill me!?¡±

    I¡­ I wasn¡¯t trying to kill Ivory! I was only trying to get her to stop spanking me! I wanted to say something, to defend myself, but I was caught between my mouth hanging open mid-cry from my butt hurting and fromplete surprise at what had happened.

    ¡°Ivory¡­ no be angry. Ebony not mean what happen.¡± Husband said while stepping in between us.

    ¡°Stay out of this, Husband. Ebony is<i>my</i>strong-one!¡±

    ¡°Also mine. Why think this happen?¡± he said, waving the sharp bone he caught in front of her. ¡°Ebony afraid Ivory. Afraid be spanked. Remember what do first find Button safe after think fall in shit-pit? First thing do is spank Button! Why need spank? Not able be calm, talk Ebony first? Button me me long time for what Ivory do!¡±

    Husband¡­ wasing to my defense. Or at least trying to¡­ I think.

    ¡°Then why did she have the ck bone?¡±

    ¡°Ebony curious. Want see it. Say okay. Keep watch, make sure safe.¡±

    ¡°If I wanted her to have it, I would have given it to her!¡±

    ¡°Ivory¡­ Ebony special goblin. Like bones same you. Not happy bones like Ebony? Not¡­ proud strong-one bone-goblin like Truffle proud Button mushroom-goblin?¡±

    Ivory threw the bone wand into Truffle¡¯s side of the cave and grabbed Husband by the shoulders, digging her pointy fingers into them, and pushed him up against the wall.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me what to do or who to be proud of! Who do you think keeps Truffle alive? Who did most of the raising of Button!? ME! That¡¯s who!¡±

    ¡°Not argue that. Know Ivory do what say. But maybe way Ivory do¡­ not best way!¡±

    ¡°¡­Fine. If Husband thinks he knows how to raise a bone-goblin better than a bone-goblin does¡­ Then do it! Take Ebony and get out of my cave-hole!¡±

    Ivory pushed herself away from Husband, leaving behind five lines of blood streaking down his arms from each of his shoulders.

    ¡°Ivory¡­ not saying can do better. Only think better talk first, find better way not need spank strong-ones before have good reason¡­¡±

    ¡°GET OUT!¡±

    Ivory pushed Husband right out of her cave-hole. Then she turned around and red at me.

    ¡°What that?¡±

    I followed her line of sight to my feet where Bitey was trying to¡­ protect me.

    ¡°This is my friend, Bitey.¡±

    ¡°Made from bones you took without asking...¡±

    Truffle had walked over to me and squatted down, holding a small mushroom out in front of Bitey.

    ¡°Does Bitey like mushrooms?¡±

    Bitey didn¡¯t seem all that interested in them. Ivory seemed to be mad that Truffle was being nice to Bitey.

    ¡°Truffle¡­ what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Anything that likes mushrooms can be friendly.¡±

    ¡°Why are you such a mushroom-head?¡±

    Truffle shook her head before putting her hands on my shoulders and looking me right in the eyes.

    ¡°What do you want to do, Ebony?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Want to stay with Husband for a while?¡±

    ¡°Truffle! What are you saying to Ebony?¡±

    Truffle stood up and turned to face Ivory.

    ¡°I¡¯ll say this clearly, so you realize what just happened here. I almost lost my tree, Bone-taker. If Husband hadn¡¯t caught that bone, where would I be right now? What would happen to me? I know I¡¯m azy mushroom-head goblin. Nobody knows that better than me, not even you! You were being a rock-head when Old One said she was a Bone Lord, and you¡¯re being even more of a rock-head now! Ebony has magic. Magic that neither you, me, or Button know how to use! But Husband does. ce does. Vera does. Let Ebony go stay in Husband¡¯s cave-hole for a while. Let her learn how to use it the right way so that she doesn¡¯t make a mistake and hurt you back for all the times you¡¯ve hurt her, even if you think you were right in doing so. You and I were both spanked when we did things adult goblins didn¡¯t want us to do¡­ but maybe Husband knows a better way? All I know is that I can¡¯t lose you, stupid meanie Bone-taker!¡±

    ¡°Mushroom-picker¡­ do you think I¡¯m that bad at teaching our strong-ones how to be goblins?¡±

    ¡°When did I say that? I¡¯m the one who is no good at it! I push all the stuff I don¡¯t want to do onto you. I do think it¡¯s different with Ebony than it was with Button, and I think it might be different still when we have more strong-ones with Husband, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯re bad at it. But all of the strong-ones that Husband has made with us¡­ are different and stronger than we were as strong-ones. Do you think you could defeat Diana Artemis even though you are many moons older? What about Orchid or Lc? Even Shaman if she was serious?¡±

    I watched Ivory frown at her words.

    ¡°She¡¯s still a strong-one who can¡¯t even walk Goblinhome on her own¡­¡±

    ¡°Button taught ce how to walk Goblinhome. How to use the shit-pit. You were there to see it, weren¡¯t you? Following behind them the entire time¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You can me me if you need to. I will take care of it all, Bone-taker. My one and only tree.¡±

    A few things happened quickly after that.

    Ivory took one of her big pots full of<i>blue water</i>and went into her smaller cave-hole. Truffle had collected a few things of mine and the most important thing¡ªIggy, which she gave to me¡ªand walked together with me to Husband¡¯s cave-hole.

    Husband agreed to take care of me, saying for now his cave-hole would be my new cave-hole. He also agreed to doing what he could when it came to teaching me how to control my magic, since he didn¡¯t know the specifics of how my bone-magic worked. Button would continue to visit me, taking me ces and teaching me all the things about being a goblin that Old One, Ivory, and Truffle didn¡¯t.

    Truffle said I coulde to her for anything I needed¡ªwhether it be bones, mushrooms, or even milkies. Even if things were bad between Ivory and I, both she and Ivory were my makers, and until I was old enough to not need milkies anymore and get my own cave-hole, she would be there for me if I needed her.

    ce was nice to me at first, but when I had Bitey say hello to her by climbing up onto her head, she screamed a whole bunch and ran away while pping herself. I don¡¯t know why she doesn¡¯t like Bitey, because Bitey likes her a whole lot!

    Husband brought me to meet my little sister Mint when she came into the world together with Diana Artemis, Button, and ce.

    Seeing my newest little sister goblin, I finally understood how Button felt about me once I had be a big sister atst! And I knew exactly what it was that I needed to do here as a new big sister goblin. I had to give her an important memory to have so she knew who to trust!

    ¡°Mint, you are my little sister goblin. I am Ebony, your big sister goblin. It¡¯s the job of a big sister goblin to teach her little sister goblin how be a goblin!¡±

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Mint, a goblin with a mission.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Mint, a goblin with a mission.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Mint **~~</strong>

    I¡¯ve been ying this VRMMORPG for as long as I can remember, I knew all the races and factions inside and out and had raised nearly a dozen characters to the counter stop. However, I had only heard snippets of the so-called Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe in all of my ythroughs. In the beginning of almost every main story quest, when first encountering goblins, a certain NPC named Yx is met, who wanders the world looking for thest remaining Bloodmaw Goblin, hoping to find them in order revive the lost tribe.

    Yx would appear whenever a quest took you to one of the many goblin factions around the world, whether for negotiation or subjugation, continuallymenting about how not a single goblin they hade across contained the<i>origin blood</i>of the Creator.

    There were spections on some forums that there would likely be a payoff to doing the questline in a future expansion of the game. Maybe Yx would finally locate thest Bloodmaw Goblin or some hidden tribe and it would lead to a new yable race opening up? I admit to being excited about the idea since I loved the worldbuilding lore and the difficult magic system that required detailed learning of the Rune connection system for creating and using magic.

    I never would have thought that while exploring the game¡¯s world randomly one day, in an effort to be the first yer to report one-hundred percent mappletion, that I would stumble across them. Thest remaining Bloodmaw¡ªAn NPC named Ark Wyze.

    It didn¡¯t make sense to me at first. Ark Wyze?

    The name Wyze was unmistakable to anyone who had ever yed a magician-ss character.

    Salondra Wyze, one of the most powerful mage NPCs in the game and the only Tower Master to have reached the ninth circle in thest one-thousand years¡­ there was a book in the private library in her mansion which spoke of her once having a son who met his end as an adventurer.

    No traces of him or his party were ever found.

    If Ark Wyze was her missing son, why was he a goblin and not a human? Salondra was known for her active hatred towards the uncivilized races, whom she considered to be a blight and gue upon the world¡ªand to which goblins were at the forefront.

    The look on the face of thest Bloodmaw Goblin was etched in sorrow.

    ¡°Why have you sought me out, Adventurer?¡±

    Engaging with the NPC, there were two dialogue choices to answer with. The first was to say that you were here to take the head of thest Bloodmaw and prevent the resurrection of the tribe that Yx was aiming for. The second was the exact opposite, offering to help restore the Bloodmaw tribe back to its once legendary greatness through any means necessary.

    Naturally, I wanted the secret storyline I had found to continue onwards, so I chose the second option.

    ¡°I would have chosen the first option, Adventurer.¡±

    Huh? Did the NPC know I had a different selection avable?

    ¡°No matter. For you to have found me, it can only mean that damnable<i>thing,</i>Yx, eventually will, as well.¡±

    He knew Yx? The story was starting to get good!

    ¡°I no longer have the strength to witness losing my loved ones yet again. I can feel the age seeped into my bones, Adventurer, and I know that I¡¯m nearing my end. Since you aren¡¯t here to kill me, would you like to listen to an old goblin¡¯s story? I would say old man, but I¡¯ve long since lost my humanity¡­¡±

    Holy crap! Am I going to get to hear the backstory of the Bloodmaw Tribe straight from the source atst!?

    I quickly chose that I wanted to listen to his tale and was invited to follow him to a nearby cave. Upon entering, it was an absolutely unremarkable cave with nothing in it¡­ that was, until his hand glowed and the wall opened in front of us, turning into a long passageway.

    ¡°Just a little bit further¡­¡± the NPC spoke.

    When we reached the end of the passageway, I saw an amazing sight. A single borate cavern expanded into view. It looked like a small ptial mansion!

    ¡°Surprising, isn¡¯t it? I tried to reconstruct it from the original, but it has been so long, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve forgotten more than a few of the details¡­¡±

    An option came up to ask about the original.

    ¡°When I was ad, I wanted to be an adventurer and see the world. I never would have expected that on my first goblin subjugation quest that I would be captured and made to be breeding stock for them.¡±

    A small mirthful chuckle exited the mouth of the NPC.

    ¡°Given the choices being to breed them or die, I hope you can understand that as a youth full of life, I wasn¡¯t exactly looking forward to letting it end prematurely. Still, I couldn¡¯t have known that it was my destiny to be part of something as great as the Bloodmaw Tribe. That¡¯s not to say I didn¡¯t have my points of contention with them. I had many, and we shed often due to how different our societies were. But do not for a moment believe that the Bloodmaw Tribe wasn¡¯t civilized¡ªThey were! It¡¯s just a matter of perspective, you see¡­¡±

    He gestured with his hand all about the room.

    ¡°Dak. In thenguage of the Bloodmaw, it meant Husband. To them, that¡¯s exactly what I was. The one and only male to be used by the remnants of the Bloodmaw Tribe after a subjugation had wiped out all but a hidden few females protected by a single elder goblin known as the Old One a year earlier. Hells, how she hated me! Ha ha ha! This room once belonged entirely to me, and I called it the Breeding Room. My task back then was each night to put a child in the belly of one of the fourteen goblins who were of age to repopte the tribe. I had only thought of how to escape at first, but¡­ things changed rather quickly for me.¡±

    The goblin NPC walked over to a section of the room that had a number of pirs with various items situated on top of each of them.

    ¡°When my first daughter was born, thoughts of escaping had all but left my mind. I named her Diana Artemis, and she was a paragon of what it meant to be a Bloodmaw Goblin. She was the future hope and Guardian of the tribe¡­ but that didn¡¯t matter one iota to me. Even though she was born a full goblin in appearance, I never once saw her as such. She was my daughter¡­ as human to me as she was goblin to them. Ah, I should touch on it briefly, that I was originally a human.¡±

    He held his hands out and turned them over, showing off his green skin.

    ¡°I chose to be like this only after I lost everyone. Before this I wasn¡¯t half-bad in appearance as a human. Now where was I? Oh yes, my first daughter, Diana¡­¡±

    He pointed to the pir in the middle, at what appeared to be the severed w of a bear.

    ¡°Would you believe that she was hardly a month old and hunted down a bear? It wasn¡¯t by herself, but it hardly made a difference¡­ she was mostly responsible for its death, and she was someone I was immensely proud of. You see, my fourth daughter, Button, was in the process of being born at that time, and she thought it would be nice for us to have a feast for her arrival. Say¡­ do you like mushrooms, Adventurer?¡±

    His words were soft and filled with warmth as he talked about his goblin daughters for what felt like an extremely long time.

    ¡°By the time six months had passed, the number of my daughters running around Goblinhome had almost reached twenty. You can see why most of the other races regard goblins as vermin. They can reproduce three times as fast as a human can. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t understand the desire to cull their numbers, and when ites to other goblin tribes, I may still share that sentiment. But the Bloodmaw were different¡­¡±

    There was what looked like a small shrine that was immactely kept. Within it was what looked like an infant goblin skeleton.

    ¡°My eleventh daughter, Mint. None of us knew why, but when she was born, it was like she had already given up on life. I often wonder what kind of goblin she might have grown up as. It wasn¡¯t a week after she was born that she died, and Ebony, my tenth daughter, took it quite personal, since she wanted nothing more than to be a big sister, and went so far as to use her magic to animate these bones. I must say, as a skeleton daughter, Mint was quite affectionate.¡±

    What sounded like a horrible life event was talked about with a smile on his face.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t long after my first round of children were born when the troubles began. What should have been a safe area protected by Yx was suddenly set upon by a number of foes. The boundaries of the Bloodmaw¡¯s territory were a forest of ck trees to the west, a big rock to the south, and a clear stream to the east. The cavern happened to be part of a mountain range to the north so there was little to no threating from that direction. From the other side of the stream came the orcs, who had grown toorge in number and were forced to split their tribe to settle more territory and hunting grounds. Just past the big rock to the south were the ck-ws, gigantic ferocious wolves who had established themselves as the primary enemy of the tribe and were ying a waiting game. I believe you adventurers call them Shadow Wolves? And from the west, what else woulde but the natural enemy of a goblin¡­ self-righteous parties of adventurers filling subjugation requests.¡±

    The NPC walked a bit further past the pir disys and to a wall full of armaments.

    ¡°What killed the Bloodmaw weren¡¯t the foes on the outside, but me from the inside.¡±

    He picked up a spear and twirled it around.

    ¡°I killed them because I couldn¡¯t kill thest vestiges of my own humanity. What makes the Bloodmaw so strong is not their individual abilities, but how theye together as a unit. What killed them was theck of numbers that I was made responsible for re-creating. Tell me, Adventurer, if the survival and advancement of your own race rested entirely on you needing to procreate with your own progeny, could you do so willingly and still think of yourself as a human? It sounds uncivilized and rather taboo, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    I expected a selection to appear for me to choose from, but none did.

    ¡°That was my folly, you see. If I had only epted that I was already a monster by that point¡­ that I had already be a Bloodmaw Goblin, same as them¡­ things might have gone differently. The secret of the<i>Origin Blood</i>is that it is Divinely given to the ones called Bloodmaw by their Creator. So long as one can procreate with it, there will never be an issue with whom. I only wish there was someone who could have convinced me to do what needed to be done in a way that made sense, so that I wouldn¡¯t have lost everyone important to me.¡±

    The goblin NPC sighed.

    ¡°Adventurer¡­ there is no need for you to burden yourself with restoring the Bloodmaw. For as long as they exist, the entire world will be their enemy until they are strong enough and plentiful enough to overwhelm all the other races. Only then might the Bloodmaw know peace¡­¡±

    Finally, the selection box opened up. The two options were to offer to stay with the NPC until they passed away, which would be soon, or to volunteer to make the whole world my enemy and try to preserve the<i>origin blood</i>of the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe.

    That second choice had to be it¡­ had to be how to unlock the Bloodmaw goblins as a yable race!!

    I hesitated a bit before pressing the button. I made sure to screenshot everything. I was going to be famous on the forums for being the one to open the door to one of the game¡¯s most niche secrets!

    [I volunteer to make the world my enemy.]

    ¡°Are you certain? I will not ask again¡­ this choice will directly affect your life, Adventurer.¡±

    I chose the follow up option.

    [I will preserve the<i>Origin Blood</i>.]

    ¡°I see¡­ I have no time left to test your true conviction. I will ask for your forgiveness then, for what must happen to pass along the<i>origin blood</i>¡­ is not very civilized, I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±

    The NPC¡¯s hand began to glow and I was hit with an unguardable paralysis spell.

    ¡°When you wake up, I will be dead, and you will be thest Bloodmaw Goblin. Goblin instinct will take over for everything else, so whether you consume my body or not out of necessity, I will not hold any grudge. I ask only one thing of you from this moment on¡­ please name the child you will give birth to¡­ Mint. I at least wanted to give her a second chance at life¡­¡±

    What happened after that was something R18+ that shouldn¡¯t have been in a video game meant for minors to y.

    I felt extremely vited, yet I couldn¡¯t close my eyes to it.

    After it was done, the NPC who had initially appeared as a goblin to me began to change shape into that of an old human male with a white beard, looking at me with an apologetic face.

    Then, pixels filled my vision until there was only darkness.

    [Your quest has ended. Would you like to begin your life anew as Mint the Bloodmaw?]

    There it was! Wait? Did that mean this character was being deleted?

    Damn, I had some good items on this one¡­ but¡­ argh, it¡¯s a new yable race!

    Fuck it, YOLO!!

    [Transferring yer now¡­ ]

    [Emergency Quest: Survive!]

    [You must escape. Failure to do so will result in permanent death!]

    <i>Huh?</i>

    <i>Where am I?</i>

    <i>I¡­ can¡¯t breathe!</i>

    I felt a desperate urge to get out of wherever I was!

    I found myself wing through a tight passage on my way towards a single speck of light below me.

    I had to hurry!

    I was almost there, just need to push my hands through and pull myself out of this hole¡­

    <b>Plop.<i></i></b>

    I was suddenly in a dimly lit cave, surrounded by many goblins and a single human male. They were all talking, but I couldn¡¯t understand any of the words they were saying.

    Looking at them, I saw names above each of their heads.

    What looked like an umbilical cord was stretching out from me and going into the one named Pepper. There was a middle-aged goblin called Old One. Four small goblins: Diana Artemis, Button, ce, and Ebony. Two goblins who looked to be in theirte teens with the names Jewel and Berry, and the lone human¡­ who was rather attractive, actually¡­ Ark Wyze.

    Did I somehow get sent back into the game¡¯s past? Is this a divergent storyline?

    Ah~, I was tired as could be. I needed to log out for now and make a quick post on the forums before taking a nap. My gamer blood was surging and I couldn¡¯t wait to see how this storyline continued.

    ¡­

    Uh¡­ where¡¯s the logout button?

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which some merged magic involves a prenatal panic

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which some merged magic involves a prenatal panic

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ebony **~~</strong>

    When Mint and I arrived at Old One¡¯s cave-hole, we weren¡¯t the only ones there. My big sister, Button, was the one to tell me I needed to go to Old One¡¯s cave-hole and keep it a secret, but neither she nor ce were there. It was just Old One, and another that made Mint shake and go pee right there on the ground next to me.

    ¡°Do you recognize me, little goblin?¡±

    The voiceing from the tall one with dark skin and horns growing out of their head and wings out of their back that were tucked away had a really strong voice that made all of the bones around me, even the ones still inside bodies, shake.

    The question wasn¡¯t aimed at me, but rather, Mint.

    ¡°Y-y-y-y-y-yx¡­.¡±

    Mint nodded but couldn¡¯t answer yes.

    ¡°And what about you?¡±

    This time the question<i>was</i>aimed at me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! You look like a really strong goblin. Maybe Old One¡¯s big sister goblin?¡±

    They let out a deep rumblingugh that made the entire cave-hole feel like it was squishing me, but only for a moment.

    ¡°My apologies, Great Protector, this is the first time you have met our new Bone Lord. She¡¯s a bit¡­¡±

    Looking around the room, I saw something that interested me immediately. I was quick to ask Old One about it.

    ¡°What¡¯s that pile of bones for?¡±

    ¡°Why, they¡¯re for you. Do you remember hearing the story of Huntress and your Husband going on the hunt to kill the ck-ws?¡±

    ¡°Everyone knows the story!¡± I replied happily. It was a good story!

    ¡°Well, these bones belonged to Beast-talker, who died at that time.¡±

    ¡°She collected bones?¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t collect these bones. These <em>are</em> the bones from inside her dead body.¡±

    My eyes opened wide. Before I could ask why the bones of Beast-talker were being kept in Old One¡¯s room, because Ivory didn¡¯t have a single one of them, Old One began talking about the reason for it.

    ¡°I was holding on to them in case a Bone Lord should appear in our tribe. I expected one eventually, but not so soon.¡±

    ¡°Did you want me to do something with the bones? Listen to what they say? I can already tell you that those bones are happy to be in same cave-hole as Ebony and want to see Husband. They like Old One too, but not as much.¡±

    ¡°Do you think you can make them move, as you do with your spider?¡± Old One asked me.

    ¡°Like Bitey? I think so. Might take a little while to figure out how. There <em>are</em> a lot of bones!¡±

    ¡°Take your time then and show the Great Protector here what you can do with your bone-magic.¡±

    Using bone-magic for me was like talking to bones in my head. I¡¯d ask them to do something, or they¡¯d ask me to do something, and we¡¯de to an agreement. But there were way too many bones all trying to talk at once and trying to talk to each of them at once was tricky. It was like that when I lived in Ivory¡¯s cave-hole. And she had many many more bones than this!

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m not actually sure how to do it on my own. Iggy helped me when Bitey was made.¡±

    ¡°Iggy?¡± The tall strong goblin with horns and wings called the Great Protector spoke from next to Old One.

    I pulled out my wand to show them.

    ¡°Iggy! It used to belong to Husband, but now it belongs to Ebony!¡±

    ¡°Hoh~? That isn¡¯t just a wand. I can feel the aura of the Spirit Treeing from it.¡±

    The voice of Iggy began to enter my mind.

    <<Little Lord. Let¡¯s be careful in what we tell that one.>>

    ¡°Why?¡±

    <<They don¡¯t have the best rtionship with the Spirit Tree.>>

    ¡°They don¡¯t?¡±

    <<How about we get right to making our new friend?>>

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    I pushed my mana into Iggy, and the pile of bones began to move themselves into all the right spots before settling down.

    <<Little Lord. While your magic is strong, I¡¯m not sure that you have enough of it to raise all the bones into a friend.>>

    ¡°We can¡¯t do it?¡±

    <<There is a way, but we would need to borrow mana from another.>>

    ¡°Mint?¡±

    <<She would be eptable to borrow mana from. Her mana ispatible enough with mine, since ites from a simr source.>>

    ¡°Husband?¡±

    <<That¡¯s right.>>

    ¡°Makes sense, we¡¯re sisters. What does Mint need to do?¡±

    <<The same as you, Little Lord. Just have her hold me together with you and have her focus her mana into me at the same time you do. I¡¯ll handle the rest.>>

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I ryed to Mint what Iggy wanted her to do and she agreed to help. As we held on to Iggy together, Mint¡¯s tree-magic and my bone-magic pushed into Iggy at the same time and the bones began to rise up of the ground starting from the feet and settle on top of each other until after a long while, there was aplete bone-goblin standing up right next to Old One!

    <<Little Lord¡­ there... might be a problem.>>

    ¡°What¡¯s the problem, Iggy?¡±

    Before Iggy could answer, everything exploded into a bright light¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ste **~~</strong>

    ¡°Mmmmh~, yes! Keep licking right there, Ark¡­ don¡¯t slow down either~!¡±

    The trickiest part of having an idiot Husband with thirteen other needy goblin wives is finding the right time to corner him into taking care of<i>my</i>needs first. As I¡¯m the only goblin who he can enjoy certain things from, such as tongue kissing and using my mouth devoid of razor-sharp teeth to pleasure him in a certain way, he is usually willing to go along with whatever I want, with the end goal of making sure I¡¯m left as satisfied as he is.

    While I¡¯m still not sure if Ark genuinely loves me now that he¡¯s made me a goblin, he seems to be tied up in enough guilt at least to make sure that I¡¯m taken care of excessively well. And that¡¯s really all that I wanted anyway. I suppose him having a tool that can leave both my body and mind the same consistency as that weird meat thing his daughter Melon makes that Old One can¡¯t stop talking about¡­ is not a bad thing either.

    ¡°Ahhn~?¡±

    As my body rocked from its second orgasm, Ark removed his face from between my legs and came up onto the borate straw bed he made for me, pressing his warm body against mine from behind and slid himself into my wetness immediately. That would only be for a little while, though, until I coerced him to the position I preferred.

    I had already hunted, eaten, and freed up anything inside of me that might cut short the time I had avable to hog Ark all to myself. It¡¯s not that I minded sharing him sometimes with the pretty one, Jewel, or even that weird one, Vera, who seems to think of me as a sister. But same as all the other goblins feel on the matter, there¡¯s nothing better than having him all to yourself.

    Mostly because he¡¯s thorough. Not a single one of his wives has walked away dissatisfied once he gets going. And sometimes not a single one of his wives<i>can</i>walk away¡­<i>if</i>he gets serious.

    Which is why we have all learned at this point that it is wise to get everything done that needs to be done, just in case of thetter urring.

    When ites to mating with Ark, my preference is when he has me on my side and lifts one of my legs up to rest against his chest or on his shoulder while he goes at me that way. It¡¯s one of the most pleasurable positions I¡¯ve found when doing it with him, and by a stroke of luck it also gives him ess to y with the rest of my body in interesting ways. Rubbing my already sensitivedybits with his fingers or thumb, caressing and squeezing my butt, reaching for my breasts to grope as he plunges that damnable thing of his<i>all the way</i>inside me¡­

    The problem with having goblin instincts overwriting my old human ones is that I¡¯m wholly in need of attentive mating. All of his wives are. I asked Prima about it, but she said it¡¯s just the<i>goblin way</i>. Old One was able to give me a better answer, which I wasn¡¯t all too keen on epting.

    Males with big-seed emit some kind of scent that trigger a mating instinct within a female Bloodmaw ready to create strong-ones. It acts as a deterrent as well, for those without big-seed. To use an appropriate metaphor¡­ it¡¯s like eating fire-meat all your life before realizing how delicious bloody meat is, and never wanting to sully your sense of taste with anything fire-meat ever again. We can furiously hate Ark at times, but we can¡¯t deny our body¡¯s desire to im his seed. Forck of a better way of saying it, some of the best sex to be had with him is pure hatefucking.

    Ark joked about it once saying how unfair something like that was,<i>Darwinian cuckolding</i>, he called it. Talked about some historian named Darwin and how the Bloodmaw were perfect executioners of some concept called<i>survival of the fittest</i>.

    Were it not for the massacre that happened which led to Ark being the one taken as the first candidate for repopting the tribe since then, goblins like Vera, Lily, and Berry would most likely never be allowed to go near big-seed before the ones most worthy of it; ones like Prima, Jewel, and Doll. And at the very least, a goblin like Berry who could barely hunt anything bigger than a rabbit would have never had an elite strong-one such as Diana Artemis.

    Ark, being possessed of such a vast amount of what they consider to be big-seed, has no idea the lengths the Bloodmaw are willing to go to make sure he never leaves in order to secure the impressive future of their tribe, from his loins. I wonder if he realizes yet that, unlike me, he can never escape from here?

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to mess me up today, Ark.¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­ sure?¡±

    ¡°Mhm~?¡±

    Giving him the okay, Ark¡¯s handiwork that melts both brain and body had begun. As his member dug deep inside of me, constantly reminding my guts that maintaining any shape other than his member was obstinate foolishness, he was not beyond being yfully immature by biting my leg just below the calf when he filled me full of his first round of seed.

    But, this time, something strange happened as he let it out inside of me.

    The whole of Goblinhome shook as he did, and then something like a wave of bright piercing light fell over us, robbing us both of our consciousness¡­ And me of myst remaining bits of maidenhood.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Button **~~</strong>

    <<Button, something has happened.>>

    ce, who was sleepingzily on top of me had used her magic to put some kind of see-through bubble around us.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know. Can you carry me quickly to where Papa is?>>

    While getting up, I felt the entirety of Goblinhome suddenly shake.

    ¡°Did Tricky Husband do that?¡±

    <<No. That came from the direction of Old One¡¯s cave-hole. Right now, I¡¯m feeling the same sensation I did when Prima began her Blood Fury. Which is why we need to find Papa right now!>>

    I squatted down to let ce wrap her arms around my neck from the back.

    I was d I learned the feeling of the tree-magic that Husband had taught Mint a few days ago. Thanks to that, I was able to merge it with one of the special martial arts he had been teaching me recently, called the<i>Steps of the World-Ruler</i>. It involved him drawing his picture-magic on the ground and putting a certain one in the center that grew bigger the more we practiced. I showed ce what picture-magic Husband had drawn and she said it was called<i>gravity</i>. That it could make things lighter or heavier when used. That matched up with what Husband told me, about how if I trained with a strong force pressing against me and pulling me down, when it finally wasn¡¯t, I¡¯d be able to move my body faster and all of my punches and kicks would hit harder.

    The training wasn¡¯t more than just having me be able to stand up, walk a few steps slowly, and throw out a few punches and kicks. That was it. I just did it for a short while each morning. I already know how to touch the Rune in the stone bath in Husband¡¯s cave-hole that makes the water get hot. I can train on my own, and Husbandes to check on my progress every couple of days, making an adjustment into the form on the ground whenever he thinks I¡¯m ready to feel more<i>gravity</i>.

    So far, I¡¯m almost at something called<i>two-times gravity</i>. Which, ording to Husband, means it¡¯s like I¡¯m trying to move while also carrying another Button. One thing I learned while training in the gravity magic formation was how it felt when the<i>gravity</i>Rune was in use. While I can¡¯t use the picture-magic that ce can, or the stone-magic that Husband can, I can use some kind of body-magic that lets me copy an effect I can remember as long as it¡¯s limited to my body.

    I haven¡¯t mastered the Wolf Wind all the way yet, but I can simte the feeling a little bit and I am noticeably faster now. When I copy the feeling of<i>gravity</i>on the bottom of my feet, I became able to do things I¡¯ve never seen even Prima or Diana Artemis do before.

    Instead of only running on the ground, I can step onto the walls and it feels just the same as if I¡¯m running on the ground. I can also run up trees without needing to use my arms and hands to dig into the trunk. I can do it without running, but it¡¯s way more difficult and it doesn¡¯tst long before I wind up falling.

    I haven¡¯t had a chance to show ce what I can do yet, which is why I¡¯m excited to do so now!

    I dashed out of Husband¡¯s cave-hole, since we were beingzy together in his cave-hole in the corner, and ce was already clinging to me tightly with her legs as well.

    <<Button, you¡¯re going way too fast!>>

    ¡°I need to go fast, or I can¡¯t do this!¡±

    As soon as I cleared the entrance to Husband¡¯s cave hole, I leapt at the wall and twisted my body so that as soon as my feet hit the stone, it became like the ground. Then I continued running as fast as I could, leaping over the entrances to the other cave-holes along the way between where we were, and where the scent of Husband wasing from¡ªnear the front of Goblinhome, at either Prima or Ste¡¯s cave-hole.

    <<AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!>>

    In no time at all, we had arrived, with me leaping from the wall to the ground lightly and making sure my hands were behind me and holding onto ce¡¯s butt so she didn¡¯t fall off, just in case. It was smart of me to do so because she began to lose her grip and slipped off of me.

    ¡°Look! Husband and Ste¡­?¡±

    I pointed at both of them who were lying on the ground in positions that would not befortable at all to sleep in.

    ce, who was now standing up on the ground moved slowly towards Ste.

    <<It¡¯s Ste.>>

    ce had put her hand on Ste¡¯s belly.

    <<The strong-one inside of her¡­ Is having a Blood Fury! Or¡­ something like it! I¡¯ll stay here and keep an eye on these two. Button, you need to go get Old One and Berry, quickly!>>

    ¡°Is the strong-oneing?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know for sure, but it¡¯s best to believe for now that¡¯s exactly what¡¯s happening.>>

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back as fast as I can.¡±

    I turned my body in ce and prepared to run to the back of Goblinhome when something crazy was standing right at the entrance to Ste¡¯s cave-hole, staring right at us.

    ¡°ce! What¡¯s that!?¡±

    ce turned around and she saw what I saw.

    <<A Skeleton?>>

    I wasn¡¯t usually scared of anything, having hunted most of the creatures in the forest outside Goblinhome, with the exception of a ck-w, but right now everything was telling me that thing was something to be scared of!

    <<Button, be careful! I don¡¯t know why, but that thing¡­ is strong!>>

    I was already ahead of her in assessing that threat.

    ¡°Do we need to fight it?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know. Forget going to get Old One, we need to stay here to protect Papa and Ste.>>

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Mint **~~</strong>

    Ugh.

    I felt sore all over.

    Looking around, I saw Old One and Ebony both lying unconscious on the floor. There was no sign of any of the bones Ebony and I had tried to raise, and the only other body in here was that of¡­

    ¡°Little goblin, you seem to have endured it well.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ w-what happened?¡±

    ¡°Something that I would have stopped had I realized what you were. A fucking Bloody Druid!¡±

    I was terrified that I was about to make an enemy out of Yx for something I had no control over. Yeah, the being that carried the name Great Protector was none other than the infamous NPC Yx!

    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t know this would happen!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not ming you, little goblin. But your existence is strange. To have a Bloody Druid and a Bone Lord born in the same generation¡­ I had expectations, but that damn human breaks every single one of them every time!¡±

    Yx walked over to me and picked me up as if I was a sack of onions.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°From the magic in the air, and with how quick that skeleton took off with the Bone Lord¡¯s pet spider, I imagine it can be both nothing good and something splendid.¡±

    That assessment didn¡¯t help anything at all.

    ¡°What about Ebony and Old One?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll be fine. It was just magical reverberation. There¡¯s a reason nature magic and decay magic should never bebined. It encroaches on the realm of the Divine, and the Gods really don¡¯t like mortals doing that.¡±

    ¡°Gods?¡±

    ¡°Yes, little goblin. Gods. Nasty beings who have far too much power, time, and boredom on their hands. Pray you never meet another in your lifetime.¡±

    <i>Another?</i>

    ¡°You¡­ are Yx¡­ aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Before we had reached the shit-pit, Yx stopped moving.

    ¡°A name you shouldn¡¯t know. Who are you? You are recently born, yet you know who I am, when the others here do not.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ w-well, I sort of know you¡­ in the future¡­¡±

    ¡°The future?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°Interesting. And how am I in the future?¡±

    ¡°Busy¡­ looking for someone.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°T-thest Bloodmaw¡­¡±

    I was dropped, unceremoniously, onto the floor.

    ¡°Are you saying my children have been in once more?¡±

    ¡°S-something like that? I¡¯ve met you many times, whenever I¡¯vee across goblin encampments. But¡­¡±

    ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°There were no remaining true Bloodmaw Goblins left¡­ I was the one to find thest Bloodmaw.¡±

    ¡°You speak in riddles. I have no patience for such things!¡±

    ¡°Ark Wyze!¡± I squeaked out in terror.

    ¡°What about the human? Did he somehow kill them?¡±

    The anger on the face of Yx was damning. I did not think I was going to live after this.

    ¡°He said so, but not directly¡­¡±

    I mbered back to my feet and began exining everything from the storyline I knew about the Bloodmaw Goblins to Yx.

    ¡°Hoh. So, you im to be from a future timeline of this world, and that after meeting both Ark and I, he had passed the Origin Blood to you, and that was when you were reborn here in the present... <em>your past</em> as you are now?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much. ording to what I saw in that ce in the future, I was supposed to die today. I thought I was going to earlier, but Ebony¡­¡±

    ¡°Bah. Fate changes as often as a goblin takes a shit. I can feel the life force inside of you, little goblin. You will not be dying anytime soon¡­ unless you choose to seek it out yourself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. Ebony might be sad if I died.¡±

    ¡°Can you walk?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s continue our talk as we do.¡±

    Both Yx and I continued walking, and it asked me more question about Ark Wyze.

    ¡°So, in the future he has be a Bloodmaw in body?¡±

    ¡°Green skin and all. It seems like he can change his appearance with magic. He was deeply mournful at having lost everyone and he med himself¡­¡±

    ¡°Did he mention how the Bloodmaw met their end?¡±

    ¡°He only touched on it, I¡¯m afraid. Something about how enemies came on three sides, Orcs, Shadow Wolves, and Adventurers¡­¡±

    Yx stopped walking again for a moment and appeared to be pondering something.

    ¡°The current state of the tribe should be able to fend off the ck-ws, but if the Orcs dare disobey my benevolence and cross the eastern stream, that may be an issue. Should the older children band together with the Guardian, Stone-seeker, and Tree-chopper, they should be enough to handle them. But Adventurersing through the night forest¡­ that may pose a problem. It seems like I will have to pay attention to the movements of the human settlements outside of my domain from now on¡­¡±

    Sounds of fighting wereing from up ahead. The shrill scream of goblin could be heard.

    ¡°Little goblin¡­ Mint, was it? I trust you are wise enough to keep what we have spoken about secret. Never let my name escape your lips as anything other than Great Protector, and tell no-one of your future knowledge, not your sisters, not Old One, and not Ark. Live freely as a Bloodmaw, and enjoy the¡­<i>story</i>that will unfold.¡±

    I nodded profusely.

    ¡°Good. Now that our conversation has ended, let¡¯s see what troublese to the wonderful Husband I¡¯ve gone through so much trouble to procure for my children¡­¡±

    <strong>~~** Interlude | ??? **~~</strong>

    <i>Friend.</i>

    <i>Husband¡­ friend¡­</i>

    <i>Danger!</i>

    <i>Bitey! Friend! Come!</i>

    I was in Goblinhome, but I don¡¯t remember anything after the ck-ws ambushed me in the forest. All I knew was that I felt there was something dangerous around Husband. I knew right where he was, too, for some reason. He was in Stupid-one¡¯s room, and the dangerous thing was there with him!

    I moved with lightness I never knew I had, ran without feeling the tightness in my legs, and felt no need to draw breath.

    When I arrived at the Stupid-one¡¯s room, I saw three goblins and Husband inside.

    The two were strong-ones I hadn¡¯t seen before. Husband I recognized, but not the adult goblin on the ground, which was the source of my worry. I wanted to say to the strong-ones to step aside so I could deal with the problem, but words wouldn¡¯t escape my lips.

    The two strong-ones were wary of me, and both of them felt as dangerous as the thing inside the adult goblin¡¯s body.

    <i>Friend. Small. ce. Bitey¡­ friend!</i>

    I could hear Bitey telling me that the smaller goblin strong-one was a friend.

    <i>Other¡­ friend?</i>

    I tried asking Bitey if the other one who looked to be ready to take action against me was also a friend.

    <i>Ebony¡­ big sister. Friend!</i>

    Ebony?

    Ebony¡­?

    I clutched my head and felt a sharp pain as the name Ebony kept repeating.

    I had never heard it before, yet I knew it was the most important thing I needed to protect¡­ as important as Husband is.

    I might not be as strong a hunter as Guardian, Stone-seeker, and Tree-chopper are, but there¡¯s no better beast tamer and stalker in the tribe than me! I¡¯m sorry if both of these strong-ones are friends, but I must stop what¡¯sing and protect Husband!

    <i>Protect Husband?</i><i>Important Friend! Bitey help!</i>

    Bitey, who had been clinging to my back climbed onto my shoulder and leapt a far distance, right into the top hair of the little strong-one. She immediately screamed and began running around pping the top of her head with her little hands.

    ¡°ce! It¡¯s only Bitey! Bitey would never hurt you!!¡±

    The bigger strong-one understood, but still remained in my way.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are, but I can¡¯t let you hurt Husband or Ste.¡±

    I raised my hand and pointed at the one she called Ste.

    In response, the strong-one who spoke to me had stepped forward and spread her legs, balling up her fists like she was going to fight.

    So be it.

    I didn¡¯t want to harm her, so I would just throw her out of the way. As long as I could prevent what was inside of the one called Ste from escaping¡­

    I rushed forward and aimed to grab the strong-one, only to find that though I could grab her, I couldn¡¯t budge her an inch from where she stood.

    I felt a powerful blow right to my chest that rattled my body.

    She was strong!

    But she was still just a strong-one. I, however, am an adult goblin!

    I leapt at her with the intention of pinning her down, only to find her squatting down quickly and then leaping up at me with her fist rising upwards, shouting something unintelligible, possibly one of Husband¡¯s human words¡­

    ¡°<b>Shoutakeken!</b>¡± (¡¸•NÈ×È­¡¹Rising-mushroom-fist!)

    I felt the impact on my bones again and found myself flying backwards¡ªupwards!¡ªuntil my back collided into the rough stone ceiling of the cave-hole. At which point I began to fall face-first towards the ground.

    I saw her preparing to do something with her hands. I managed to orient myself somehow so I¡¯dnd on my feed and I crossed my arms in front of me as I felt a blue light hit me harder than a readboar¡¯s charge.

    ¡°<b>Kinokokikouhou!¡±</b>(¡¸È×šÝ¹¦·¨¡¹Mushroom-spirit-flow!)

    Even with my toes digging into the dirt, I was still blown back almost to the entrance of the cave-hole.

    Was she using some kind of goblin magic that Old One spoke of?

    Shit, was she even stronger than Guardian!?

    ¡°<b>Hissatsu!!</b>¡± (¡¸±Øš¢¡¹Final attack!!)

    I felt a familiar energy building up within her, like when I had taken a particrly tasty mushroom from Truffle and realized she was not going to forgive me for it.

    ¡°<b>Kinokoakumahouhou!!</b>¡± (¡¸È×£¨×Ó£©™Ä§£¨·½£©·¨¡¹Way of the Magic-Mushroom-Goblin!!)

    A whirlwind of punches and kicks came at me faster than I could see, and far faster than I could hope to block. With as much damage as I was receiving, I was surprisingly not feeling the pain I was expecting to. In fact, aside from being knocked around, I really didn¡¯t feel any pain at all from any of her attacks. They just rattled me. But, she was faster than I was and I just couldn¡¯t find a single opening to counterattack anywhere.

    Having lost sight of her, by the time I realized she was behind me, she swept her foot out and tripped me, then hopped onto my chest and began punching me in the face repeatedly. It only stopped when a familiar face had grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her off of me.

    It was the Great Protector!

    ¡°Beast-talker¡­ is what you came to find in here?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t answer with words, so I just sat up and nodded, pointing to the inside of the cave-hole.

    ¡°Ah, the strong-one of the mushroom-picker¡­ Button, I believe. You have gotten much stronger as ofte.¡±

    ¡°G-Great Protector! The skeleton¡­¡± she pointed at me.

    ¡°Is a friend of your sister, the Bone Lord.¡±

    ¡°It is?¡±

    ¡°<i>She</i>is. Tell me, is your Husband inside? Is he safe?¡±

    ¡°He is, but¡­ ce says something is wrong with Ste. Her strong-one may being¡­ but also having a Blood Fury inside of her¡­¡±

    A loud boom came from inside the room and Bitey came scurrying out, its bones just a little darker in color than when it leapt off of me and onto the small strong-one.

    Bitey began climbing up the new strong-one who had appeared with the Great Protector.

    <i>Mint important friend!</i>

    Bitey ryed what he could to me.

    I rose to my feet and recognized the one it called Mint as being important to me as well.

    ¡°No more fighting for now. Go and calm the Shaman so we can make sense of what is happening.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    The strong-one that the Great Protector called Button reached a hand outward to me, which I epted, and was pulled back onto my feet easily enough.

    ¡°You strong skeleton. Want fight moreter.¡±

    Button then turned around and went back into the cave-hole. I followed, with the Great Protector and the other strong-one who had Bitey sitting on her head right behind me¡­

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we finally meet Lumi, who f*cked around and was made to find out.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we finally meet Lumi, who f*cked around and was made to find out.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Sorry this chapter took so long, it ran away with me, and I also got captured by my family into watching that new Shogun miniseries. After this, there should only be a couple chapters left in the Daughters of the Goblin Tribe Interludes before we dive into volume 2. This chapter is a bit sizeable at around 6k words, but I did try and build up to this one properly, since Lumi will be an important goblinter on...

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Somewhere Outside the Realm of Life and Death **~~</strong>

    In what could be considered a mental reconstruction of what appeared to be a cavernous throne room, two formless beings manifested inside of it, as they had once before.

    ¡°It seems your time here as my guest has finallye to an end.¡±

    ¡°Finally came to your senses and decided to return me to the Goddess¡¯ embrace, I take it?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I have kept you here because I had hoped to find the right opportunity to allow you a chance to atone for your crimes, and, fortunately for us both, such a time hase.¡±

    ¡°Crimes?¡±

    ¡°Yes,<i>crimes</i>. Or is child-ughtering a facet of ra she keeps hidden to all but her faithful?¡±

    ¡°Purging your evil spawn from the world is not a crime, it¡¯s a sacred duty!¡±

    ¡°So sacred a duty it must have been that, when I asked ra for your soul aspensation for such an act done in her name, it took her less than the span of a mortal breath to agree.¡±

    ¡°Impossible! The Goddess would not have forsaken my soul! It was likely some heretical magic being cast by your shaman and that nasty one with the spear to obscure my death from the eyes of the Goddess!¡±

    ¡°When did I say she had forsaken your soul? I should think ra is in agreement with me, that you are deserving of a second chance at life. All that will change for you is the perspective you will observe that second life from¡­¡±

    A snap of the fingers showed a Human woman on a raised block of stone being vited by another Human male in the presence of two goblins.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°That would be your mother and father currently in the process of creating a suitable vessel for you.¡±

    ¡°They are human?¡±

    ¡°The woman is, at least for the moment. As a Saintess of ra, certainly it would be unreasonable to ask you to be born to someone not of the same faith. The man, however, is something of an anomaly, but one who has willingly epted the <i>origin blood</i>of my children and also seeks to show them a path to bing more than the evil spawn you purport them to be.¡±

    A snap of the fingers sped up the scene before them both. The human copted with the two goblins present, then vited the human woman once more. While time passed over days, the woman underwent some kind of physical change until her body was somewhere between that of a goblin and a human.

    ¡°What manner of corruption is this¡­?¡±

    ¡°Why, love, of course.¡±

    ¡°sphemy!¡±

    ¡°Not at all. The human man wanted nothing more than to strongly save the life of that woman, and this was the result of his will. His seed nted inside of her belly will create a worthy vessel, a goblin vessel suitable to house the soul of a Saintess¡­¡±

    ¡°Lies!¡±

    ¡°Shall we continue to observe?¡±

    Time rapidly sped up until an explosion of light happened in a small cave that four goblins upied, and a small ripple in the fabric of the universe formed for a fraction of a second before time froze.

    ¡°Your passage back to the world, without loss of a single bit of yourself. Your memories, your faith in ra, your hatred of my children, all of it shall remain with you. Only now, you shall be one of them. But, do keep one thing at the forefront of your thoughts¡­ suicide shall not be permitted, not by ra, and not by Me. Enjoy your new life as the first Saintess of the Bloodmaw Goblins. <strong>Ha ha ha ha!!!</strong>¡±

    And like that, the intangible form of the one called the Saintess of ra had been thrust through the small ripple in the fabric of reality, and catapulted at full force into the body of a strong-one growing inside of of a half-goblin Bloodmaw named Ste...

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ark Wyze **~~</strong>

    Surprise childbirths are no longer something new and unexpected to me. Diana Artemis set the bar, and it hasn¡¯t dropped an inch since. I had been forcibly awakened by ce with her magically chilled water pistol to a scene I would have preferred been a nightmare instead.

    I was being helped up by an extremely malevolent-looking skeleton goblin while ce was busying herself with doing the things Old One usually would with a goblin about to give birth. Button was supporting Ste by keeping her body in an upright position, Mint was doing whatever Button told her to do as Bitey stayed firmly entrenched in the hair on her head, and the Great Protector had a bemused expression on its face while watching everything going on.

    Yeah, it was essentially hell.

    ¡°Ark, you bastard! You said you wouldn¡¯t make ite early!¡± Ste shouted at me once she realized I was conscious.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me!¡± I retorted while on autopilot, having just awoken.

    While I had be able to detect when the sudden pregnancy ability I possess would ur¡ªa feeling of total exhaustion that preceded one of my manyicallyrge ejactions, followed by an almost magically enforced slumber afterwards¡ªI made a promise to Ste that I would make every effort to not rush her pregnancy. So far, there hadn¡¯t been any signs that it would happen¡­ but why she was having it now, when I have no recollection of feeling that strange sensation which leads up to it, had left me bewildered.

    Regardless, whether it<i>was</i>my doing or not, ce had ryed it through Button to me that my newest daughter was on the way, and nothing was going to slow or stop her froming into the world, and soon!

    There was an issue though. ording to ce and backed up by a nod from the Skeleton, my unborn daughter inside of Ste was currently undergoing something simr to the Blood Fury which Prima underwent not too long ago. For whatever reason, there was a sense of unease that when my daughteres out into the world, I may be a target for¡­ who knows what.

    Am I afraid?

    Not in the slightest. How can a father be afraid of their own newborn daughter?

    So, as Husband to Ste and daddy to what¡¯s about toe, naturally it was my job to do what I could to support Ste right now. Which meant I quickly took over as standing support for Ste¡¯s body which was inbor, and asked Button to go find the biting branch in Old One¡¯s room if she had any idea where it was. Thankfully, she did, and left immediately to go fetch it.

    ¡°I know it can probably wait, but what¡¯s the story with the skeleton?¡± I asked Mint, who would be the one to give me the best answer out of anyone currently present.

    ¡°Ebony and Mint try make new friend like Bitey. Bones belong goblin Beast-talker.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me? The bones¡­ belong to¡­ Beast-talker?¡±

    Beast-talker? As in, the one who died to the ck-ws over a month ago?

    A nce at the skeleton who was observing me without any visible eyes had lifted her arm and waved at me.

    ¡°Are you really Beast-talker?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask the Skeleton. Of all of my eventually-to-be wives, she was the one I knew the least.

    The skeleton nodded. All supernatural creepiness aside, the skeleton had no vocal cords and so couldn¡¯t audibly respond with words. I questioned how much awareness it had, since usually, aside from the ridiculouslyplicated magic required to be a lich and retain one¡¯s sense of self, skeletons didn¡¯t usually keep their personalities about who they were while they were alive. Or at least, that¡¯s what thependiums on Necromancy in my mother¡¯s personal library stated¡­

    ¡°Not know how know. Beast-talker¡­ still think Husband.¡± Mint spoke further in her small voice.

    So now I had a skeleton goblin as a wife? Isn¡¯t marriage supposed to end at<i>death do us part</i>?

    ¡°Well, if it makes her happy to still think of me like that, then I¡¯m fine with it. d to see you again, Beast-talker. Just to let you know, Diana Artemis and I took revenge on all of those ck-ws who attacked you. Their meat was delicious, and their skins and bones were put to good use.¡±

    In lieu of a voice, the skeletal jaw of Beast-talker cked with what I hoped was approval.

    ¡°Ark, why are you talking to a fucking skeleton?¡± Ste grumbled.

    ¡°Well, she¡¯s technically my wife, so why wouldn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s a<i>fucking</i>skeleton!¡±

    Ste took in a deep breath and made a slightly pained expression before speaking.

    ¡°Ark¡­ just promise me you aren¡¯t going to fuck it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not even sure how that would work.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to figure out <em>how</em> it would work, I asked you to promise me <strong>not to do it at all!</strong> GHHH¡­. <strong>Fuck</strong>¡­ GRRRRH¡­.¡±

    While yelling at me for the most ridiculous thing she could, Ste entered into another set of contractions. Button had returned in record time, and with the biting branch ready to go, so was Ste.

    A small pir of dirt was raised underneath ce and she assumed the duties of Old One, pressing down on Ste¡¯s belly when she needed to and Button both helping me support Ste and repeating what ce was telling her.

    ¡°Ark, I hate you.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°You had better take responsibility for this!¡±

    ¡°I will.¡±

    ¡°She better note out retarded like your other ones.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be as normal as you want her to be.¡±

    ¡°I just want her to be smart and strong without being weird.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t promise that. I mean, she¡¯s half mine.¡±

    ¡°Fuck!¡±

    After a small tirade of colorful words, mostly shouted at me in the human tongue, nature began to do what nature does best.

    ¡°Oh god, it fucking hurts! Ark, I¡¯m never letting you put another one of these damn things inside of MEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!¡±

    As two wed hands found their way outside of her birthing canal and plunged small, pointed fingers into the soft flesh of her thighs, the head crowned and a momentter, my daughter entered the worldpletely.

    And what a daughter she was.

    Though she was covered in a fair amount of blood, there was no mistaking that she had a simr skin coloring to both Ste when she was still a human, and of myself. In fact, aside from the pointed fingers, toes, and ears, along with the teeth, she was quite human in appearance. She didn¡¯t have the tell-tale greenish gold eyes at all, and just a small hint of growing red hair on her scalp.

    Rather than go for the centa which came out a momentter with a final push from Ste, she stood up and stretched out her tiny arms, turning them over and clenching her hands into fists before looking around the room. She then raised her hand upwards, and a bright light began to gather in the palm of her hand.

    I did not have a good feeling about what wasing next¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Lumi **~~</strong>

    <i>ra! Answer your faithful servant¡¯s call! I offer up my body to be a vessel for your grace and mercy so that your holy might may smite these abominations!</i>

    I let loose a smiting st of holy energy at all the evil gathered in this room. To think that<i>I</i>had been sent back to this world only to be reborn as a goblin!

    Inconceivable!

    I was met with stares from all around. A human, a human-like goblin, and three goblin children, unharmed, hidden behind shields of darkness. The remaining two abominations; the skeleton and the¡­!

    ¡°Hoh? Why does this little goblin have the taint of ra upon it?¡±

    My body froze in fear when I saw the creature with ashen skin, horns jutting out from its head, and two wings which unfolded themselves in front of me speak. It was something I had seen before, as I took myst breaths when I was still alive as a human¡­

    ¡­It was the thing which tore through the group of holy knights and pious adventurers blessed by the Church of ra to cleanse the world of evil abominations that would bring it to ruin!

    ¡°Taint?¡± The male human who spoke in themon tongue asked the abomination.

    ¡°Ark, do you worship the Goddess ra?¡± the Abomination asked him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t worship any of the pantheon. I am a man of science.¡±

    ¡°What about your woman?¡± It said, pointing to the body of the half-transformed female goblin lying on the ground next to him.

    The woman, a half-goblin from the looks of her and the one who must have begotten me just now croaked out an answer.

    ¡°The Goddess ra has always been the patron deity of my vige.¡± She said with a strained voice.

    ¡°I see. So that is how it was done! Marvelous!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s marvelous, Great Protector?¡±

    ¡°The Creator has given the Bloodmaw a Saintess.¡± It stated mirthfully. ¡°I do believe this is the first time in history something like this has happened¡­¡±

    ¡°Do Bloodmaw not normally have them?¡± the male human questioned.

    ¡°What need have they for one? The strong live to be stronger, and the weak die as fodder for the strong. The Bloodmaw have no need for phony religions, or to worship any deity other than the Creator. Adherence to the <i>ceremonies of blood</i>is how the Bloodmaw show their worth in receiving the gifts the Creator has bestowed upon them, as the perpetual growth of the Bloodmaw is the only thing ever pleasing to the eyes of the Creator.¡±

    The words that the high abomination spoke were pure Evil¡¯s Doctrine!

    ¡°Does my daughter having some alignment with the Goddess ra constitute a problem?¡±

    ¡°Who says she is aligned with ra?¡± The Abomination said, which incensed me greatly.

    ¡°Well, you said there was a¡­<i>taint</i>.¡±

    ¡°There is. But that¡¯s all it is. Did you not feel how pathetically weak her call to smite us just now was? It seems what blessings were given to her by ra may have already been purged.¡±

    The human got up and walked over to me, squatting down and looking me in the eyes.

    ¡°Hello, Lumi. I¡¯m your daddy. I¡¯m sureing into the world with so many people around you was probably scary, huh? It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t know what I¡¯m saying yet. All that you need to know is that you¡¯re my daughter, and I love you very much.¡±

    The existence of this human was a sacrilege. How dare a human cavort around with goblinkind and think he is clean enough toy a hand on me, let alone call himself my father! Being filled with righteous anger, and not wanting to believe that ra had forsaken me, feeling no more divine power in my body at the moment, I saw fit to bite him on the arm.

    <b><i>Ka-thump!</i></b>

    I screamed.

    I screamed but couldn¡¯t remove my mouth from the arm of this despicable human male. The taste of his blood was like the ceremonial ambrosia given to me to drink at my baptism when I first became a Saintess. I felt my body burning up while my thoughts became muddy. In that moment, all I wanted to do was devour this man entirely¡­<b><i></i></b>

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ste **~~</strong>

    It¡¯s been three days since my daughter, Lumi, was born. What was thought to be a Blood Fury turned out to be something else entirely. Neither the Old One nor that<i>thing</i>¡ªthe Great Protector¡ªknowledgeable as they were on the history of the Bloodmaw, had an exact exnation for what urred. A discussion involving Ark and ce came up with some excuse that it must have been Lumi¡¯s body undergoing some necessary change in order for her to be able to use divine magic as the Bloodmaw Creator¡¯s first Saintess, but not since that one time using it after she was born had she cast any other holy magic.

    With exception to myself and Ark, Lumi is actively hostile to all the other Bloodmaw. When ites to Ark, all she desires from him is a mouthful of his blood¡­ for me, she is willing to nurse, if begrudgingly, to continue living. She never ate the centa, and as twisted as it sounds, I wound up doing it while she took a nap. If there was anything magical or divine within it, I felt nothing.

    I think the only reason she¡¯s even willing to interact with me was when I had told her that even though I was a goblin now, I was once human and still believed in the Goddess ra, even after what had happened to me. I told her about my life as a vige daughter, about the adventures I went on together with Ark and Kairos, and about how it was a goblin subjugation request of all things thatnded us here as captives, and subsequently led to her being born.

    So far, motherhood hasn¡¯t turned out to be anything like I thought it would.

    There is no such thing as a goblin infant. The closest point to that is the eating of the centa and their first nursing. After that, it¡¯s straight into being a toddler. Within a day or so they can pick up the goblinnguage and begin learning life skills, such as hunting. Their teeth are sharp enough by then to crunch the skull bones of a rabbit. By the end of the first week, if they are smart and strong enough, they are capable of hunting small prey on their own.

    When Lumi finally decided to speak to me, it was to ask me for something.

    ¡°ra.¡±

    She had drawn a picture in the dirt on the floor of our cave-hole. It was the symbol of the Goddess ra.

    ¡°You want this?¡±

    My daughter nodded.

    What she was asking me for was some kind of ne. The symbol of ra, the five-pointed star which represented the five virtues of the Goddess. I only know it because there was a stone statue of ra in my vige, and carved into it was the symbol.

    I suppose Ivory could make something like that, but at the same time, I wanted to be the one to make it for her. Negotiating with Ivory, I was given some bones and string in return for a few rabbits I had hunted with my bow.

    Lumi had sat down with me and watched as I tried my best to craft it for her. It was by no means perfect, and Ivory could have probably done a much better job of it, but Lumi was satisfied enough when it adorned her neck. She had gotten down on her knees and sped her hands together, praying, from the sight of it. I decided to join her, though I only knew the prayers for a good night¡¯s sleep and for a good harvest.

    Slowly, she warmed up to me, though she was no less independent than any of the other goblin children. And she still fought with them all, and still sunk her teeth into Ark whenever she got the chance.

    It wasn¡¯t until Ebony¡¯s pet spider made of bones, Bitey¡ªI believe, had paid an unannounced and unwee visit to our cave-hole, that I saw my daughter once more use the magic light she was possessed of, taking aim at the spider and unleashing her divine magic.

    I don¡¯t know what I expected to happen, but it wasn¡¯t what did. I think Lumi was also unprepared for the oue. Bitey, whose bones were dark in color, had been restored to a pristine white. Whiter than they originally were when it was first created. Spinning around in ce, the spider then jumped and scurried out of the room, only to return some timeter, dragging a dead snake in from god-knows-where and depositing it at Lumi¡¯s feet and then saluting with its front bony foreleg before scurrying out of our cave-hole.

    Lumi stared down at the snake and then sat down on the ground and poked it a few times.

    She prayed again, tears streaming down her eyes, before grabbing the snake and taking a bite out of it directly. Lumi looked up at me and pointed at the snake. I sat down next to her and took a bite of it myself, enjoying how delicious it was¡­ something that was only possible because I was possessed of the goblin¡¯s instinct to eat raw and bloody meat.

    It wasn¡¯t easy for Lumi to be a goblin. The part of me that had be a mother understood this. But, for me it was. Oh, there were things I hated about being a goblin, still having the memories of being a human present in my mind, but I didn¡¯t hate being a Bloodmaw, overall.

    Aside from my beauty as a human woman, every other part of me had been enhanced. Including my physical properties and my senses. And so long as Ark gave me all that I wanted, there really wasn¡¯t much of a loss for me to ept being one. So what I felt I needed to do for Lumi was to find out what it was she wanted in order to be happy.

    Her reply to my question was short and simple.

    ¡°Want¡­ chapel.¡±

    A chapel. A room to pray to the Goddess ra in.

    When I next saw Ark, I brought it up to him, and he was entirely fine with it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make her one right away.¡±

    It had urred to me that I should have mentioned that it be a chapel dedicated to ra, but it seems Ark was already well aware of Lumi¡¯s faith.

    Ark had enlisted the help of many of his magically inclined daughters to build some kind of stone building attached to the immediate outside of Goblinhome, opposite to the yground, that came equipped with an ornately carved wooden double-door. Inside was what looked like some kind of a small church with stone benches for seating and two statues present, though one had a draping over it.

    The statue with no draping was of the Goddess ra, as borate as ones found in bigger towns and cities I had seen after having left my own vige. What had a draping was a strange statue. It was a poorly crafted statue of a goblin, like some kind of rudimentary wall-painting by someone with no artistic skill, wearing only a loincloth and the most pronounced point of it being an open mouth full of sharp teeth readying to eat a piece of meat.

    I had asked Ark what the deal was with it, and he said it was something Mint came up with that ce and Ebony also strongly agreed with. ra was not the Creator of the Bloodmaw. Mint felt that if there was to be some kind of church or religion present in Goblinhome, then it was necessary for there to also be some representation of the Bloodmaw¡¯s Creator, even if the chapel was only to be used by Lumi to worship and revere the Goddess ra.

    Seeing that it remained covered in her presence, as well as ridiculous to look at as an object of worship, Lumi found it eptable,ughing mockingly at the pitiful statue.

    Ebony and Mint would frequent the chapel and listen to Lumi speak about the Goddess ra, and the three of them became somewhat friendly as a result. Ark, on the other hand, would visit the chapel when Lumi wasn¡¯t present and would remove the draping on the statue, clean the dust from it, and offer a prayer up to it, only ever asking for the continued safety, growth, and well-being of his daughters, before covering it back up. I confronted him once about it, and all he had to say on the matter was, while he didn¡¯t necessarily believe in any of the Gods, if one might be willing to listen to him, wouldn¡¯t it be the one who most had some need for him?

    I couldn¡¯t find any fault in what he said.

    For Ark to be the key piece in restoring an otherwise damned tribe of goblins, it might very well be the work of the Bloodmaw¡¯s Creator to have brought him here. To have the power to change me from a human into a Bloodmaw¡­ perhaps Ark was some kind of chosen one. But I didn¡¯t believe that <i>too</i>deeply.

    After all, Ark was an idiot. An idiot with excessively powerful magic who loved all of his children with his naively kind heart.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Lumi **~~</strong>

    ¡°ra, have you truly forsaken me?¡±

    I have never had reason to doubt the Goddess before now, but to find that the only magic being bestowed to me as a Saintess from the Goddess ra was magic to heal and purify, naturally some concern would have taken root inside of me.

    The one to answer my grievance wasn¡¯t my Goddess, however, but the goblin elder they called Old One.

    ¡°I wondered the same thing once before about the Creator. When the Silver Skins and the Woman of Burning Light came to my tribe¡¯s cave one day and mercilessly ughtered my kin... My mother, Stone-feet, and my only daughter Spear-hand. I never forgot the feeling of terror and dread I felt at that human woman¡¯s magic, dressed in those white robes, able to bring the dead back to life and tomand a handful of goblins to die with but a single word from her lips¡­¡±

    She walked over to the draped statue and pulled it down.

    ¡°It is a simplistic depiction of the Creator, is it not? Compared to the one you believe in, there is no need for borate decorations to conceal what is essentially the truth of our kind. We are born simple; some weak, some strong. But all can grow through consumption of the blood of those stronger than us. And it is all that our Creator asks of us. Not to war pointlessly with others, not to create things to worship, simply to live and grow, to take what is necessary to be more than we are, but to never forget we are simple beings with simple beginnings.¡±

    I stared at the old one who then touched the statue, before putting the draping back over it.

    ¡°I know who you are. I was there when you came before I had to conceal myself and protect thest of my tribe. But that is in the past. You cannot give me back my maker, nor can you restore to me my irreceable Spear-hand. I take pleasure knowing her spear was what ended your life back then, but now you are a Bloodmaw, child. Shall I tell you why your spells of smite do not work on us now? I¡¯m sure you are curious as to the reason.¡±

    She was right. I was exceptionally curious as to why I couldn¡¯t smite all of these damn abominations.

    ¡°Quite simply, should you somehow be able to cast those spells again, you would also be killed by them. It¡¯s not that you<i>can¡¯t</i>cast them, it¡¯s just that your very blood prevents you from killing yourself in such a way. It would not be a noble self-sacrifice to do so, but both murder and suicide. I¡¯m sure your Goddess doesn¡¯t wish to see you die in such a useless and wretched way, which is why she has made it so your divine magic can only restore and repair. However, should you find yourself willing to pray to the Creator, perhaps that will change. Of course, I don¡¯t intend to try and convert your beliefs¡­ nor do I n to stop you trying to convert any of the tribe to believe in your Goddess, should you somehow find sess in that. You are free to do as you like, Sunless-saint. Whether you ept your new fate or not, you are now a Bloodmaw Goblin, and all the hatred of the human world you came from, that you held onto so firmly in your heart, and that you brought with you to destroy us, is now yours to shoulder. Time will pass, you will eventually undergo the <i>ceremonies of blood</i> and be more Bloodmaw than you could ever wish to be. And that is the just revenge the Creator has bequeathed to me, at the cost of the lives of my precious tribe at your hands, and those of the Silver Skins. Now you may begin to atone for all that you have done, and your forgiveness will onlye once you have done what all other Bloodmaw are tasked to do with their lives¡­ be <b>more.</b>¡±

    A hand patted my shoulder and the Old One walked out of the chapel. I was left staring up at the statue of the Goddess ra, and I felt broken. I couldn¡¯t find the words inside of me to continue my prayer to the Goddess, simply sitting down on one of the stone benches and clutching the holy symbol made of bones around my neck that my new mother had made for me, in an attempt at making some peace between us.

    A short whileter, the human male that was my new father hade into the chapel and sat down next to me.

    ¡°Hello, Lumi. If you¡¯re done praying, want to go y on the swings?¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ do you corrupt yourself with these goblins?¡±

    I had never asked him the reason before, but after listening to the Old One, I wanted to know why this Human would help restore these evil abominations.

    ¡°Because I could find love nowhere else in the world, Lumi. As for marital love, I remain unsure that all but Vera is capable of feeling that way about me. But there is not a sliver of doubt that all of my daughters are innocent young girls who, with proper guidance, can be as civilized and proper as the children of any other goodly race. And so long as I live and breathe, I will do all that I can to see them live happy lives away from the hateful stigma that follows all of the so-called evil races.¡±

    ¡°What about my mother, who was once human?¡±

    ¡°What about her? I would love to tell you that we love each other, but I would be a fool to think that she could ever love me for all the pain I¡¯ve inflicted upon her, knowingly or otherwise. Instead, she¡¯s given me a chance to atone for my sins by giving her the best life possible within these circumstances, and that is what I have chosen to do. In return, when I have a rare moment when I desire to be with a human, she offers me it as a small mercy. The fact that both she and you are the most human-like among the Bloodmaw is something that brings a little peace to my heart.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯d rather be among humans?¡±

    ¡°Not particrly. As I said before, I could find love nowhere else. The ones to ept me as I am were the Bloodmaw Goblins. There are two adages from where I originally hailed from that may exin why I amfortable here, and do not think of escaping. The first is <i>home is where the heart is</i>. All that I love is within Goblinhome. You, and all my daughters. The second is<i>the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb</i>. I have shed blood and taken lives, granted they were only big nasty ck wolves twice the size of me, for the sake of protecting these goblins and it¡¯s more than any human might have ever done for me on ount of just being another person from the same race.¡±

    What he said felt profound, but I needed time to understand it further.

    He offered his arm outstretched before me and I took it, biting into his flesh and savoring his blood. It was surely an impure act, but one I couldn¡¯t help but take part in. Only in those moments were my thoughts free of torment, and once more could I feel divine power course through my veins.

    When I was done, he wiped my mouth and then picked me up.

    ¡°Swings?¡±

    I didn¡¯t feel like arguing with him and agreed to letting him enjoy his role as my damned father.

    Leaving the chapel, it was a few steps to the swings where Ebony and Mint were being pushed by Beastie, the goblin skeleton who was partly responsible for my imprisonment in this human-like goblin body.

    ¡°Lumi!¡±

    ¡°Came to y with us?¡±

    At least these two goblin children were reasonable to deal with. I took my seat on the swing being pushed by my father and the other two being pushed by the skeleton who, somehow, seemed pleased to see him. Bitey, who had been sitting on Ebony¡¯s head, leapt from there onto myp and spun around before sitting down and gesturing for me to pet it.

    ¡°Want to go hunt with uster?¡± Ebony asked me.

    ¡°Hunt?¡± I asked, confused.

    ¡°Yeah. Something easy, like squirrels. Bitey is good at finding them.¡±

    ¡°Why bring me?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m a big sister goblin and so is Mint. It¡¯s our job to teach a little sister goblin like you how to be a goblin!¡± She whimsically imed.

    I felt my father¡¯s hand ruffle my hair for a moment before being pushed again.

    ¡°Why not give it a try, Lumi?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know how!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Ste teach you how to hunt?¡± Father asked me.

    ¡°She tried, but I¡¯m no good with the bow. If I had a staff, maybe....¡±

    ¡°Hmm, a staff¡­? I suppose I can make one for you. But you should go along with your sisters for now and just listen to what they need you to do. Even if it¡¯s only to be an extra pair of eyes to watch out for danger.¡±

    After spending some time on the swings, I reluctantly did as he suggested and went out into the forest with Ebony and Mint. Bitey and Beastie came along and it was less a hunt and more of a massacre. Mint would use her Druidic magic to ensnare animals with grass and nts while Bitey wouldnd killing blows, usually a snap of the neck, on whatever they came across. Beastie would carry all the spoils, and at the end of it, when we returned to Goblinhome, a number of them were dropped off at Melon¡¯s Kitchen where they were converted to decent quality food for us to enjoy eating.

    Father hade to find us there and had brought something nearly the same size as I was.

    It was a staff made of bone, from thest remaining femur of a ck-w which Ivory still had to trade with, or so I was told. It had an etching of a snake twining around it with an open mouth trying to consume the symbol of the Goddess ra, the five-pointed star at the head. Coupled with the twining of the snake was some kind of formic magic that ended at the top with a magic Rune I was entirely unfamiliar with.

    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°I call it Aurora. It''s a staff meant to channel light magic. It might not be as effective as yours since it¡¯s iyed with Runes instead of some divine charge, but I have a feeling you¡¯d be the best qualified to use light magic among all of my daughters.¡±

    ¡°GWOH! Lumi just got a grand weapon!¡± Ebony said with admiration.

    ¡°Mint, you should ask Husband for one, too!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need one right now.¡± she said quietly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go test it out on a hunt tomorrow, Lumi!¡±

    It was decided to do so. After eating, Father brought me back to my cave-hole where Mother was in the middle of making me something along with Pepper. It was a familiar thing, too. When asking what it was, Mother said that it was something Old One brought over to her a little bit earlier. But there was no mistaking what it was to me. The white vestments I was given to wear when I became a Saintess. The robes I still wore when I died in that cave while purging goblins from this world.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    I threw aplete fit when I saw it. I¡¯m sure it bothered my Mother to see me do that in front of the other goblin, but I was filled with anger and hate upon seeing it. The robes were a sign of purity, and being a goblin now¡­ how could I wear such a thing?

    I knew I was being selfish, but Mother and Pepper stopped mending it and Pepper took it with her when she left.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lumi. Old One was sure you¡¯d enjoy wearing it. I thought you might as well...¡±

    I truly despised that Old One in this moment. Mother was quick to shift the subject to that of my new staff.

    ¡°Did Ark give that to you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mother scooped me up and put me in herp, I helped myself to some milk while she caressed my head.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he knows what he¡¯s doing if he¡¯s given you a weapon already. I must have failed in teaching you how to hunt as a goblin¡­¡±

    The caressing then turned into a hug, which then turned into her carrying my tired body to our bed where she snuggled up with me under some warm covers¡­ I had no idea where things would go from here, but I was sure of one thing at least. My mother and father were prisoners here, and it was my job to help them escape. Only then might the Goddess ra restore us all to what we should truly be¡­

    As such, I will never offer up a prayer to that twisted Creator of the Bloodmaws¡­

    <b>Never.</b>

 [v2] Chapter Nineteen â€“ In which Ark gets a much needed reality check from an unusually kind Stella.

    [v2] Chapter Neen ¨C In which Ark gets a much needed reality check from an unusually kind Ste.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    Lifting my head from against my knees, I looked up to see Ste staring down at me. Why had shee to Rushk¡¯s cave? Was it to see if I had done to the orc what I had done to her not too long ago?

    ¡°Ste. Came to call me an orc-fucker this time, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you already one? I was going to take a bath and saw you and the two weirdos having a good time with the orc that has tanned skin. Decided it could wait untilter.¡±

    ¡°Grotte.¡± I said, in case Ste didn¡¯t know her name.

    ¡°Is this how you n on taking care of her afterwards?¡± Ste asked while taking a seat on the floor next to me, gesturing with her head over at Rushk who was lying quietly in her bed.

    ¡°I figured thest thing she wanted was me draping my arm over her and telling her it was going to be alright.¡±

    ¡°Basing that off of what you did to me?¡±

    ¡°I still close my eyes sometimes and remember you calling me a traitor, a goblin-fucker, and that you would never forgive me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still a goblin-fucker.¡±

    ¡°Gee, thanks.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just lucky for you that I also happen to be something of a goblin myself.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re killing me, Ste.¡±

    ¡°Oh, suck it up, Ark. You did what you had to do, right¡­ so that she can live?¡±

    I shook my head but began tough. Ste shoved my shoulder and asked me what was so funny. I had thought of a strange joke that hardly fit the situation, yet kind of did in a macabre way.

    ¡°You can pick your friends. You can pick your nose. But you can¡¯t pick your friend¡¯s nose.¡±

    ¡°What the fuck are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°A joke I heard a long time ago. Just found it sort of fitting for how things are around here. It¡¯s a roundabout way of saying that I can either be right, or be happy, but never both at the same time.¡±

    ¡°So, then are you happy, or are you right?¡±

    ¡°Neither.¡± I answered inly. ¡°I told her what was going to happen... that there was a chance she¡¯d be a goblin. A high chance she¡¯d probably get pregnant with some kind of goblin. And that I probably couldn¡¯t save her life a second time if she didn¡¯t let me do what everyone else said needed to be done. She didn¡¯t fight it. She didn¡¯t want to let me make her feel good. She just wanted it done and over as fast as possible, and so that¡¯s what happened. I don¡¯t think it was the right thing to do, but hey, that¡¯s just the human in me talking¡­¡±

    I extended my hand and manifested two Runes, Wind ones, not that it mattered. I let them dance around each other for a little while before allowing them to wink out of existence.

    ¡°I want power, Ste. I want enough power to be able to say no, and fuck anyone who tries to make me do something like this ever again.¡±

    ¡°Oh, found your balls atst?¡±

    ¡°Is insulting me the only thing you came up here to do?¡±

    ¡°No. I came up here to make sure you¡¯re still human.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What, did you think I¡¯d turn into that goblin again?¡±

    Ste shook her head.

    ¡°Mind if I sit on yourp?¡±

    I didn¡¯t have the energy to brush her off. I figured it would be quicker to just let her do whatever it is she came to do, and then go. I slid my legs down and Ste sat on my thighs, cupping my face in her hands and staring deeply into my eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Ark. <strong>It¡¯s okay</strong>. What I¡¯m going to tell you now ising from my human half. The half you must have felt a need to leave behind with me for moments like this, so listen carefully. <em>Okay</em>?¡±

    She nodded my head with her hands, forcing my agreement to listen.

    ¡°You¡¯re an idiot. A kind, na?ve idiot. Maybe it¡¯s because you were raised as a spoiled sheltered noble boy, I don¡¯t know. But you seem to think that the world is supposed to be this perfect, idyllic,wful, peaceful ce where everyone has some gods-given right to be treated fair and equal. That talking things out at length, about what is right and wrong, is somehow supposed to make a tribe of bloodthirsty cannibalistic carnivorous goblins change their minds on what they¡¯ve always known since the moment they wed their way out of their mothers. Ark. The world is a harsh, cruel ce. It¡¯s not peaceful. People lie, steal, murder, and yes... rape. And most have no problems thinking their actions justified. It¡¯s time for you to get that through your thick skull already. Do you think for even a second that any of the goblins you¡¯ve been captured by give a flying fuck about taking a bath? No. They don¡¯t. Not one tiny fuck-all do they care if they smell worse than the shit-pit they all use. You know <i>why</i> theye to your room and use the bath? Because spending five minutes in the water makes it easier for them to get what they want from you. Tell me, and be honest, what do you think is easier? Going through <em>all</em> the trouble to tie you up and hold you down so they can rape you for your seed, or spending <em>just a few moments</em> in a small clean pool of water inside their own cave, so that youe to them, all happy as a sow in mud, and give them it freely, eagerly, even?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°When you were first captured, do you think Prima gave a single shit about whether or not you could stomach raw bloody meat? I¡¯ve talked with her about your early days here, when you were still tied up with ropes like I was. The only reason she went along with cooking your meat at all, was that you had said if you can eat cooked meat and clean your dick with water, you could produce unlimited healthy seed. And for the record, she didn¡¯t believe youpletely until Diana Artemis was born. When that fucking demon who captured us both paid a visit to Berry and said that your eldest brat was supposed to be some mighty huntress for the tribe, she was sold on your bullshit. <em>But only to a point</em>.¡±

    I didn¡¯t like what Ste was saying. But what I didn¡¯t like more was that she was probably telling me the cold hard truth. I¡¯m a reverse seed-bed. No matter what else I¡¯ve done or have tried to do to bring civilization to the Bloodmaw, they¡¯ll go along with my whims only to a point if it means I¡¯ll shut up and continue giving them what they want from me. The only thing they truly want or need from me.

    ¡°I get why you raped me, Ark. I was being stubborn, but you did it anyway to save my life which I am grateful for. Did I hate it at the time? Yes. I did. I was upset for a good long while, but it¡¯s different now. I made my choice to adapt along with the changes it brought and became a Bloodmaw. I¡¯m alive, and I even have a daughter who I struggle with sometimes but love dearly even though she¡¯s a total mess, not to mention also half a goblin in appearance. But that¡¯s what the orchard pickers say¡­<i>the apple doesn¡¯t roll far from its tree</i>.¡±

    Ste pulled my face into her chest, her soft and tender breasts a warm and wee pillow for my tired mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m here for you, Ark. As your human wife, your adventuringpanion, the mother of your adorable daughter, whatever you need me to be in this moment. I¡¯m here to tell you that it¡¯s okay. For all the good you do, that you try to do to make the world a better ce, even if it¡¯s impossible from the start to do, it¡¯s okay. You raped an orc. It was something inevitable for her. Were it not you, then another orc would have probably done it to her eventually. Or worse, she might have sessfully escaped, only to wind up getting killed by some passing party outside of the forest. Because of you, she has been given a chance she quite honestly doesn¡¯t deserve. But you happen to think she does. If you didn¡¯t think so, you wouldn¡¯t have done what needed to be done to keep her alive. If she has any sense at all, she¡¯ll figure it out. Yeah, she¡¯ll probably hate you for a while, but that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    Ste stroked my head and just held me close to her for a while. I didn¡¯t cry, but the numbness I was feeling was beginning to fade.

    ¡°Why¡­ are you doing this¡­ for me?¡±

    ¡°Want me to lie to you?¡±

    ¡°It would be better if you did, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It would.¡±

    ¡°¡­tell me anyway.¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ even though I¡¯m a goblin now, what I want hasn¡¯t changed all that much from when I was a human.<i>All Ste wanted was a strong, muscr, handsome, rich man to give her an easy life.</i>The way I see it, aside from being handsome, and only having a few muscles of any quality to speak of, you¡¯ve been doing your best to provide me with the best of the other two. Which is why I don¡¯t mind being your wife. Well, in the goblin sense of it. Marriage is out, but with you sleeping around with everyone else, it would only be sphemy in the eyes of the Goddess were we to actually tie the knot. In ce of that, when you be king of this dump, remember who is most suitable to be the queen.¡±

    ¡°Button?¡±

    I felt eight fingers dig into my back and scratch me. I¡¯m so d that her fingers didn¡¯t be as sharp as a full goblin¡¯s.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    ¡°Kidding!¡±

    ¡°Hmph. You better be. Now, are you feeling human again?¡±

    ¡°I guess¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine, I have no choice then, it seems. Shall we go find Vera and get wild?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Are you¡­ being serious?¡±

    ¡°That depends. You willing to use that mouth of yours?¡±

    No further convincing was necessary. She got up off myp and helped me to my feet. After that, we left Rushk¡¯s cave and went down to the breeding room. Vera was in, and after being propositioned by Ste into a threesome, to which Vera happily replied with ¡°Sister!¡±

    Seeing Ste suck on Vera¡¯s titties alongside me only agitated the beast. Ste rode my face while Vera rode my cock and at the end of it all there were two very satisfied goblinsying on either side of me. We¡¯d eventually make it to the bath and clean up¡­ but for now, I felt a little less guilty than I had, and I hoped Ste was right.

    That maybe if I keep on doing what I can that is good, it will offset all the bad shit I wind up doing, because this world isn¡¯t the same as my past life. There is no right to live. It¡¯s an eat-or-be-eaten world.

    And I have more pussy to eat than I can handle, goblin<i>and</i>orc!

    <b>~~ Sometimeter, in Rushk¡¯s cave¡­ ~~</b>

    ¡°Rushk. Now that you are third, and a proper war-bride, would you care to have a drink with me?¡±

    Hearing Orga Lush speak to me, I rolled over and sat up. She had brough two cups and a jar full of what the goblins call<i>blue water</i>, a crude fruity alcohol. I took the offered cup already filled with it and sipped on it slowly. She sat down next to me and patted my leg.

    ¡°How was it? Are you sore from his<i>kosh</i>?¡±

    ¡°¡­no. He¡­ listened to my request and finished as quickly as he could.¡±

    ¡°Silly girl. After all he did for you, that is how you repay him?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I was¡­ nervous.¡±

    ¡°Nervous? Gah! Grmm¡­ Not that I don¡¯t understand. I was nervous for my first mating. I didn¡¯t even have any rings in my<i>pimpims</i>yet and only a few stars decorated on my left mam, since I loved gazing at the stars from the very first memory that I had of doing so as a whelp. I had always wanted to be a bride, but such a thing was never in my stars.¡±

    Orga Lush took a long sip of the alcohol, draining her entire cup before pouring another.

    ¡°No matter what maye of it, you will always be an orc to us.¡±

    ¡°You think I will undergo this change the War Chief spoke of?¡±

    ¡°I do. I would like tofort you saying otherwise, but I believe you will.¡±

    ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    ¡°All living beings have a star that governs them. I used to listen to the Shamans speak of the starless ones. Beings of unspeakable powers to twist fate itself to their liking.¡±

    ¡°Starless ones?¡±

    Orga Lush pulled out a pouch of bones and spilled them on the ground before us.

    ¡°Have you seen the ck-skinned one? Has the spider and skeleton as familiars?¡±

    ¡°I have. What about her?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a Tuothoc.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°Yes. These bones are blessed by her. She gave them to me freely just agreeing to let her sit on Missy for a few moments. While I¡¯m no Shaman, I was taught how to read the bones by the one in my camp after my first mating as a war-bride for the first time. What I find interesting is that the bones say that the War Chief is a starless one.¡±

    ¡°What does¡­ that mean, exactly?¡±

    ¡°<b>Chazok Hruth</b>. The War Chief will create a mighty kingdom in time. We could not be more fortunate with what has happened, bing his war-brides. But what I want to show you is this.¡±

    Orga Lush pointed to three bones crossing each other.

    ¡°The star of<b>Nekses</b>. The Iron Lord, who breaths magic into metal.¡±

    ¡°What about it? I don¡¯t know the bones, Orga Lush.¡±

    Orga Lush gathered up the bones and handed them to me.

    ¡°Go ahead, cast them.¡±

    I did as she said and cast the bones onto the floor.

    ¡°Again, the star of<b>Nekses</b>.¡± She pointed to the three bones crossing each other.

    ¡°Yes, but what does that mean, exactly?¡±

    ¡°The Warchief has plucked a star from the sky and put it in your belly. Your whelp will be blessed with the touch of iron.¡±

    ¡°We have mated only once. There is no guarantee I have a whelp in my belly already.¡±

    Orga Lush shook her head at me, her gaze full of pity.

    ¡°<b>Kumosh</b>.¡± She said, pointing to a few curved bones which had formed a ring.

    ¡°You will have this child in one season.¡±

    ¡°How can that be? It takes at<i>least</i>two seasons to bear a whelp!¡±

    ¡°It is not my ce to question the bones. I am only telling you what fate awaits you.¡±

    ¡°Is it only me? What about Grotte or Krushka?¡±

    ¡°They will carry his whelps as well. But their bones only showed<b>Guvek Kesht</b>.¡±

    ¡°<b>Guvek</b>¡­<b>Kesht</b>? That¡¯s¡­ my star.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Like you, their whelps will be favored by the War Chief. Perhaps they will also have whelps who are stars plucked from the sky as well. Truly a great fortune to see.¡±

    ¡°¡­what about you?¡±

    Orga Lush shook her head.

    ¡°<b>Kah Kamon</b>.¡±

    ¡°A curse?¡±

    ¡°I am old, Rushk. My time wille soon.¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s a starless one or whatever, can¡¯t he break it?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps. But for now, the bones say<b>Kah Kamon</b>.¡±

    ¡°Do you know how long?¡±

    ¡°No one may know when. Only<b>Kah Kamon</b>decides the time one meets them.¡±

    ¡°Orga¡­¡±

    She smiled at me before plucking up a long fat bone.

    ¡°Now that you are mated and no longer nervous or afraid, you should speak with your Husband. There are many pleasures to be had mating, and I¡¯m sure he would love to show them to you. Enjoy your youth and mate as often as you can before your tusks fall out.¡±

    We drank a bit more until the jar was emptied. Orga Lush then left my cave, and I was left alone with my thoughts. Thoughts of what happens next¡­

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-one â€“ In which Ark and the Great Protector talk about the past and the present.

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-one ¨C In which Ark and the Great Protector talk about the past and the present.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Apologies for not posting in a few days. From the 4th to the 8th of July I prioritize spending time with my own goblin tribe. Should be back to posting daily for the foreseeable future.

    ¡°Excellent news!¡±

    The only person who seemed genuinely happy to see Rushk transforming into a goblin was the Great Protector, who hade with some news that one of its agents would be entering the Bloodmaw domain soon to deliver what I had requested of it¡ªseeds for the new field we had created so that Melon would eventually have ess to new ingredients she could use to make more dishes for the Bloodmaw to enjoy eating.

    So far, Rushk¡¯s transformation into a goblin seemed to be following a simr route to Ste. She still retains her small tusks, her height and skin color haven¡¯t changed, and she says she still feels like an orc. But her ears now jut out to the side and her eyes have undergone the change into that gold and green color which have given her better vision than she already had with seeing in the dark.

    Okay, I may have lied.

    Ste is also someone who seems happy to see Rushk¡¯s transformation, but I can¡¯t believe that the motivation behind it is of a goodly nature. Is it schadenfreude perhaps? Now that she¡¯s no longer the only transformed goblin, Ste has gone out of her way to befriend Rushk as a fellow victim of circumstance.

    ¡°I take it the skull-mouth is your doing, Ark?¡±

    The change to the external appearance of Goblinhome did not go unnoticed by the Great Protector.

    ¡°I was feeling inspired. Ebony happens to love it.¡±

    ¡°The Bone-Lord? Not surprising. Have any new goblinse into the world since myst visit?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. But quite a few of the adults are already in their second month. Berry, Truffle, Pear¡­ not to mention those who just became pregnant after¡­¡±

    ¡°Your temporary change into a Bloodmaw?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°At this rate, three generations in a year isn¡¯t bad at all. By the time your children are of the age to have their own, the poption of Goblinhome will be one hundred or more. After that, it will truly begin to explode.¡±

    ¡°Do¡­ you have some goal in mind with using me to repopte the Bloodmaw?¡±

    ¡°My only goal is to see that they do not be extinct.¡±

    ¡°Do you not intend to bring another male¡­ into the tribe?¡±

    ¡°None. You have already proven yourself to be enough. Or is having an unlimited amount of goblin women who want only to mate with you and bear your children without taboo or consequence not what you truly desire?¡±

    I sighed.

    ¡°I will tell you something you may appreciate but do keep it to yourself.¡±

    My ears perked up at the hint of some secret motive the Great Protector was willing to reveal to me.

    ¡°The Bloodmaw are my precious children, Ark. My entire domain is meant for them to inherit. When their numbers be enough, I will lift the restrictions on the three borders. If you wish to continue teaching them how to be civilized as you profess, then do consider teaching them how to build camps and viges. I want the Bloodmaw to spread to all the corners of my domain and continue to grow in number.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t that attract the attention of the nearby towns and viges? Surely the Adventurer¡¯s guild will send out more subjugation parties if they find the number of goblins has grown substantially¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you not see how strong your children are? The Huntress alone could best a party of B-rank adventurers. Add the tworge ones from the runt and they could take on a four-man party of A-rank. How many Adventurers of that rank do you think the Guild can just spare to throw at a goblin subjugation? What they see as only a minor growing infestation of<i>goblins</i>?¡±

    That¡¯s true. Goblins aren¡¯t exactly considered to be priority one monsters to needing to be eradicated. They¡¯re only considered to be nuisances and annoyances inrge numbers, to be dealt with by the lower ranks.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why was there a party of S-ranks sent to massacre them?¡±

    ¡°Spear-hand.¡±

    ¡°Old One¡¯s daughter?¡±

    ¡°She wasn¡¯t only a Guardian, Ark. She was a Goblin Champion.¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what that means.¡±

    ¡°She was no less strong than the Huntress when she was born. She also underwent six Blood Furies, a Blood Awakening, and A Blood Oracle. To call her a Goblin Queen is an understatement. Her very existence was a threat to what you call the civilized races. And she was a<i>true</i>Bloodmaw on top of that. Vicious, brutal, and superior. Inparison to the rest of the tribe she ruled, she was like a¡­<i>tower master</i>.¡±

    I whistled.

    ¡°She was that strong?¡±

    ¡°She was. She was also<i>extremely</i>intelligent. I mourned her death deeply together with the Old One. Which is exactly why I ughtered everyone involved in causing her death, save for one. One to spread the word that I was furious and that on pain of the most excruciating death, entry into mynds was forbidden without permission. At which point I brought the remaining Bloodmaw here, so they would still have a chance to regain what once was. What I didn¡¯t expect was my luck in getting ahold of<i>you</i>.¡±

    ¡°We must have different definitions of what luck is.¡±

    I only caught something strange in what the Great Protector said just then by sheer chance. Something I wouldn¡¯t have normally paid attention to were this truly a casual conversation between us¡­

    ¡°Wait a minute. If entry to yournds was forbidden without permission, then why was there a goblin subjugation mission posted in the guild?¡±

    ¡°Because I had it posted. As you saw when you arrived, my children were ready to begin restoring the tribe.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ it¡¯s because of you that Kairos is dead, and Ste was forced into bing a goblin?¡±

    ¡°Kairos?¡±

    ¡°Ourpanion. Kairos, Ste, and I all epted the quest toe subjugate¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, the brash young man who tried to attack me with that flimsy sword. He¡¯s not dead¡­ at least I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°I had no need of that desert-skinned ruffian, so I expelled him from the forest. I even left the clothes both you and the girl wore, torn and covered in blood next to him to find when he woke. If he was smart, he would have drawn from that the conclusion both of you were dead and reported to the guild the failure of your mission.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ your aim the entire time was¡­ me?¡±

    ¡°Would you prefer I tell you that any man would have done in your stead? Cheapen your struggle over thest six months, perhaps? I could do so, but I find no reason to hide the truth. I have never lied to you even once, Ark. You were indeed my aim at that time, and still remain so. A scion of the Wyze bloodline? The Old One has mentioned her human husband to you, the one called Grant, yes?¡±

    ¡°Yes. She mentioned him.¡±

    ¡°He was a ridiculously powerful tower mage, some twenty or so years ago. Perhaps stronger back then than Salondra is today. Were he not already at death¡¯s door when the Old One found him, there is a chance he might still be where you stand now, doing wholeheartedly what you feel that you have been forcibly coerced into doing. Instead, the only proof of his legacy was lost together with Spear-hand. Now, what if what happened with Spear-hand¡¯s nature from birth wasn¡¯t a fluke? Mix the blood of Wyze with the Origin Blood of the Creator and see whates from it? Surely you aren¡¯t so foolish as to keep closed your eyes to the nature of your goblin children? A potential Champion, A Shaman, A Bone Lord, A Bloody Druid, A Saintess¡­ what other marvels will your blood create? Don¡¯t think for a moment that the child of the Mushroom-picker goes unnoticed, either. Just being in close proximity to her makes me feel like I¡¯m standing amidst a tempest. I would feel more anxious in trading blows with her even once versus you in your goblin form a hundred times over.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying my blood is responsible for making¡­ unnaturally strong children with the Bloodmaw?¡±

    ¡°To be clear, I believe it to be the magic lying dormant inside of you that is somehow being passed through your blood<i>and</i>seed, but yes, unequivocally, as the answer.¡±

    ¡°¡­Why are you choosing now to tell me any of this?¡±

    ¡°The orc.¡±

    ¡°Rushk?¡±

    ¡°You threatened the Guardian over her when she was brought back after attempting to flee. What was it you said to her¡­ if the orc stops breathing, all of Goblin homees down?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Let me ask you something in all seriousness. Were I to allow you to leave peacefully right now, under the condition of never being allowed to return, to be seen as an enemy of the tribe for all time for doing so¡­ would you go?¡±

    ¡°Only me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll humor you in saying that you can also take your formerly humanpanion<i>and</i>the Saintess as well.¡±

    I pondered it over for a little bit, but I already had my answer to this question a long time ago.

    ¡°No. There¡¯s¡­ nowhere I particrly care to return to. Nor do I have any idea how to undo Ste¡¯s transformation. I don¡¯t even think it¡¯s possible to do that with Lumi at all, either. From what I can tell, she¡¯s a true goblin¡­¡±

    ¡°Look, I will not say I am no longer your enemy, Ark. The Bloodmaw are and will always be my precious children who I will prioritize the safety of. But you are also<i>their</i>Husband, by<i>their</i>choice. The only ce we need to meet in the middle of, is that we both agree in wanting to see them prosper. Something I believe it is safe to say we both want, yes?¡±

    ¡°If you are suggesting we are family now, I regret to inform you that I already have a wicked mother-inw in the form of Old One and have no desire for a second one more wicked than she is, so what does that make you?¡±

    The Great Protector¡¯s bone-rattlingugh was particrly nasty when I said that.

    ¡°Then, how about you think of me as a¡­ Fairy Godparent!¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re a Fairy, then I¡¯m a one-tentacled deep-sea Kraken.¡±

    Moreughter shook my skeleton from the inside causing my brain to slosh around inside my skull like lumpy stew.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s enough talk for now. I¡¯m sure you have many things to think about, and I need to meet with the Bloody Druid.¡±

    ¡°Mint? What for?¡±

    ¡°I presume you¡¯d like to have the wonderful bounty of nature which surrounds you to lend you their blessings so that your precious seeds will grow?¡±

    I held my hands up in surrender. I was neither farmer nor druid, and I sure as hell knew that we were going to need whatever blessings were avable to us to see our first nting and harvest through sessfully.

    The Great Protector walked into the open mouth of Castle Gobskull¡ªI mean Goblinhome¡ªand left me outside scratching my head at first, then staring at them.

    ¡°The blood of Wyze, huh?¡±

    Should I consider myself lucky that I was born to that woman in my second life? She wasn¡¯t much of a mother to be honest, and even calling her that¡­ kind of sticks in my throat. I¡¯ve been gone for almost a year now. I wonder if she even realizes¡­?

    No. She has to. After all, there¡¯s less than a year to go until that arranged marriage which she was trying to force me into. Wasn¡¯t even someone I knew, just the daughter of some other Tower Magus she was hoping to scheme into an alliance with.

    Yeah. I need to get stronger. Blood of Wyze indeed. I need to find a way to unlock that vast amount of magical power within me that the Monster had no problems essing¡­

    But how?

    Pulling me out of my thoughts was Berry, smelling like her sweet berries and holding her fat belly swollen with the second child of mine she was eager to carry.

    ¡°Husband¡­ would you like to spend some time with us?¡±

    ¡°Us?¡± I asked, curiously.

    She grinned sneakily.

    It took no effort for her to take me by the hand and drag me into her cave-hole where not only Diana Artemis was waiting for me, but also Pear and Melon, along with many bowls of fruits and berries.

    I could already feel a sense of stickiness from my body¡­

    Yeah, the Great Protector was right. I had a lot to digest upstairs, and the best way to do so would be after I took care of my primitive needs and could find myself entering sage mode.

    I reached for my loincloth and tugged it off and threw it to the side in one fluid motion exposing my erect seed-stick, made unyieldingly fierce once more by simply being in the presence of the Great Protector.

    ¡°Alright my lovelies. Eeny-meenie-miney-mo. Catch a goblin by the toe¡­¡±

 Chapter Fifty-four â€“ In which Ark shoulders some guilt, and the Bloodmaws agree to a gag order.

    Chapter Fifty-four ¨C In which Ark shoulders some guilt, and the Bloodmaws agree to a gag order.

    After being worn down from pushing my daughters for what felt like half a day, I took a small break, and went back inside goblin-home and to my room. Vera was in the bath together with Ste, who had finallye out from under therge rag in her room. I decided to join them, and hopefully see how she was doing. For a while, we were all soaking quietly without saying anything, until Ste asked me an unfair question.

    ¡°Ark, did¡­ you do this to me?¡±

    ¡°If I could do something like that, which would require magic of the highest level, I wouldn¡¯t be as afraid of the Great Protector as I am.¡±

    Ste took a deep breath and spoke again.

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t want to be a goblin. I¡¯m a human!¡±

    ¡°I know. I know you are, Ste. No matter what changes happen, you<i>are</i>a human.¡±

    I imagine it was overdue. As a fellow human, she was breaking down right in front of me. She held her arms out, as if to show me I was full of shit in saying that she was human, when her hands were green and her fingers had already be pointed like the other goblins.

    I waded through the bath to her side, and held her close to me.

    ¡°Even if you turn a little green, you¡¯re still a beautiful woman. A beautiful<i>human</i>woman to me, Ste.¡±

    ¡°Ark¡­ I¡­ can¡¯t ever go home.¡±

    ¡°Then stay here. I know I¡¯m not a rich muscr adventurer, but I swear I¡¯ll give you as luxurious a life as I can. Who knows, maybe it¡¯s a temporary thing?¡±

    ¡°Temporary?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll ask the Great Protector when ites back. That<i>thing</i>has to know some serious magic. Maybe it can undo¡­ whatever happened? But until then, everyone here has already epted you. Look, are you even bound with ropes anymore?¡±

    ¡°Hah! Where can a goblin run to? A human vige? I¡¯d be killed before I could even tell them what happened! And even if someone were willing to hear me out, they¡¯d think this was a curse that could spread¡­ where else can I go, Ark?¡±

    Vera had waded over to Ste¡¯s other side, giving her a hug together with me.

    ¡°Sister.¡±

    ¡°See, you aren¡¯t alone. And I won¡¯t treat you any differently. These girls have weed you into the tribe already. There¡¯s only you who needs to ept what you can of the situation for now. But I need you, Ste. I need you more than ever.¡±

    ¡°Why? You¡¯ve never needed me. I just¡­ tagged along with you and Kairos. Now I¡¯m even more useless having be¡­<i>this</i>!¡±

    ¡°I need you precisely because you are human. I want you to help me show these goblins how to live in a civilized way. I want to make this tribe strong. To be far more than the greedy murderous goblins we were told they are. I know you¡¯ve seen it¡­ you were not shunned by a single one of them when Truffle gave birth. And aside from what I did to you, have you been harmed in any way by any goblin here?¡±

    ¡°...no.¡±

    ¡°No. Just by me. I can¡¯t change what has happened to your body, but for anything other than that,<i>anything</i>, just ask me, and I¡¯ll do it for you, okay?¡±

    Ste lowered her head to stare into the water.

    ¡°I can feel it, Ark. The¡­ life inside of me, growing. Ever since¡­ this started. My hearing is better, I can see clearly in the dark, I¡­ don¡¯t have the stomach for cooked meat anymore.¡±

    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, you are still Ste. I won¡¯t abandon you.¡±

    ¡°Together.¡± Vera said, continuing to cling tightly to my formerly humanpanion.

    ¡°And this one¡­ keeps saying that I¡¯m going to have a goblin baby. I¡­ saw what happened with that other girl. This thing is going to eventually w its way out of me. My body is going to bepletely ruined! More than it already is!¡±

    ¡°Ste¡­¡±

    ¡°Stop calling me that! Ste died, Ark! All that¡¯s left of her¡­ is this¡­ nameless and cursed body.¡±

    Vera gave me a pleading look to give Ste some space again. I nodded and got out of the bath. In fact, I left the breeding room entirely and went looking for Berry again, who was stirring the contents of one of the pots I made for her that she had on the new countertop in her cave-hole.

    ¡°Berry¡­ can I borrow you for a moment?¡±

    ¡°Yes. What Husband need?¡±

    ¡°Can¡­ you show me to Beast-talker¡¯s cave-hole?¡±

    ¡°Follow.¡±

    Berry took my hand and led me deep into the cave that was goblin-home. It was probably the furthest I¡¯ve ever walked into the depths of the cave. I was brought to a cave-hole that was littered with animal skins and bone-things which were obviously made by Ivory. It was just a normal looking room with the usual things a goblin tended to have, whenpared to what I¡¯d seen of the others¡¯ so far.

    ¡°This¡­ is going to be Ste¡¯s cave-hole. I¡¯m going to make it¡­ suitable for her. For a human.¡±

    Berry hugged me from behind, her soft goblin mounds pushing into my back.

    ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t do anything for her, Berry. I know¡­ you and Vera have been doing your best, but I also don¡¯t know what to do. I don¡¯t¡­ know what it means to be a woman or a goblin.¡±

    ¡°Husband want Berry talk Ste again?¡±

    ¡°Only if you think there¡¯s something you can say to her that might make a difference.¡±

    ¡°Berry think. Husband make human cave-hole?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ the only thing I can think of doing for her. When I¡¯m done here, I¡¯m going to spend the night with Lily.¡±

    ¡°Want Berry stay Husband?¡±

    I turned around and put her hand on my chest over my heart.

    ¡°Berry, you are always with me here, in my heart.¡±

    ¡°Mm, heart tasty. Tasty like liver, more bloody.¡±

    Ah, she¡¯s a goblin of the bloody meat faction, of course she would see that titude in that way.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you are busy doing things. Maybe¡­ you coulde check on me with something to drink in a little while?¡±

    ¡°Want blue water?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather have more of that red water you gave me.¡±

    With a warm hug and another affectionate kiss on the top of her head, my sweet smelling Berry left me be, to stew in anxious thoughts and to work them out by reshaping a cave-hole good enough for a human-turned-goblin to want to live in.

    I locked my fingers together and let them pop. It was time to get started.

    <b>~~** Interlude | Jewel¡¯s Room **~~</b>

    ¡°We need to do something for Husband.¡±

    Inside of Jewel¡¯s room, all the goblins except Old One, Vera, and the newest, Ste, were present: Jewel, Prima, Lily, Pear, Ivory, Truffle, Doll, Pear, Toy, Pepper, and Crow. Berry was also there, as she had rounded up everyone at first to exin what was going on.

    ¡°The human named Ste, who has be a goblin¡­ Husband says he does not know how to care for her. He wishes to, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Obviously.¡± Prima interrupted with arms crossed. ¡°Can you imagine bing a human? Who can understand what she is feeling?¡±

    ¡°I can,¡± Truffle added. ¡°I had a dream that I was a human once.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you mean a mushroom?¡± Doll joked.

    ¡°This is why¡­ we need to show her the goblin way.¡± Berry redirected constructively. ¡°Is there any goblin here who hates being a goblin?¡±

    Not a single one present did. All of the goblin tribe were proud to be goblins.

    ¡°What we need to do is find a way to show her that being a goblin is<i>better</i>than being human.¡±

    ¡°How are we going to do that?¡± Pear asked.

    ¡°What do goblins do?¡± Berry asked everyone.

    ¡°Find things.¡± Crow said.

    ¡°Fill our cave-holes with shiny things we like.¡± Jewel added.

    ¡°Make many strong ones.¡± Lily followed up.

    ¡°Eat bloody meat.¡± Was the response from Doll.

    ¡°Hunt.¡± Prima joined in.

    ¡°Waste Seed with Husband?¡± Pear had said the most obvious thing, but every goblin was aware it was also the most enjoyable.

    ¡°Husband wants Ste to take Beast-talker¡¯s cave-hole. He¡¯s in there now changing it to be a cave-hole made for a human to live in. I¡­ didn¡¯t know what to say to stop him. But all the things you say goblins do, we do. Now that she looks more like a goblin than a human, we must show her what it is that Bloodmaw Goblins do. If she is a goblin, then she will understand. Prima, remember what Husband said about him not being able to eat bloody meat without getting sick? You saw her eat the bloody leg of both the ck-bear and the ck-w. She didn¡¯t get sick.

    ¡°It¡¯s true. Lily even tried eating bloody ck-w meat. I felt sick eating it and had to make it into fire-meat.¡± the runt of the tribe mentioned.

    ¡°Does that mean Lily will be human?¡± Truffle asked while ying<i>strike</i>with Button who was also present and sitting in front of her.

    ¡°Lily is still a goblin!¡± she answered angrily.

    ¡°It¡¯s Husband.¡± Jewel interjected.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Ivory asked.

    ¡°After getting big seed from Husband¡­ All of us have been experiencing new changes happen to our bodies. Prima has gotten better at hunting. I have gotten smarter. Lily eats fire-meat. Doll chops trees better¡­¡± Jewel began exining.

    ¡°Then¡­ Do you think it is Husband¡¯s big seed that made Ste into a goblin?¡± Berry rationalized.

    ¡°It might not be Husband¡¯s big seed. It¡¯s possible that it¡¯s because of the strong ones inside. Berry, what changed in you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel sick or tired so much anymore. I¡¯m always full of energy¡± Berry replied to Jewel.

    ¡°I smell things way better.¡± Pear revealed.

    ¡°And we know Vera has gained magic.¡± Jewel finalized.

    ¡°We can¡¯t let Husband know that his big seed is responsible for turning her into a goblin.¡± Berry nervously stated. ¡°Husband might try and escape with Ste, try to find other humans with strong magic to change her back to human.¡±

    All goblins present then decided to keep it a secret from Husband. They decided to n out how best to integrate Ste into the tribe. Whether it be taking turns bringing her on hunts, helping her collect things she found a liking to and putting them in her new cave-hole, and most importantly, promoting the idea of wanting to have as many strong ones with Husband as possible. Vera, who was not present, had suggested one-sidedly when the changes began, that they leave her alone¡­ but Berry felt they had to do the opposite. To make Ste feel like part of the goblin tribe.

    The n wouldn¡¯t go into action for another two days¡­

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-seven â€“ In which Ark explains the various types of love to Diana Artemis

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-seven ¨C In which Ark exins the various types of love to Diana Artemis

    ¡°Want to run away again?¡±

    After the party held out in the open yesterday, most if not all of the goblin tribe went back to their usual daily lives. It was currently raining. Nothing too fierce¡ªlittle more than a steady drizzle, not cool enough to make me catch a cold with my body soaked as it was. I was once more at the tree line, staring out endlessly into it while not really thinking about anything in particr.

    Diana Artemis had once moree to me, not bothering to put a knife to my neck as she had before. She took a seat on the muddy ground next to me and leaned her head gently against my shoulder.

    In that moment, I wished I could say I was just her father. But that line had been crossed and I was the very thing she had always called me from the start¡ªher Husband.

    ¡°No. No matter where I go, I¡¯m convinced that too will be a prison for me.¡± Was all I could answer.

    ¡°What¡¯s a<i>prison</i>?¡±

    As it turns out, for the Bloodmaw, there is no real concept of a prison. If there was internal strife within the tribe, it was mediated by someone strong like Spear-hand, Old One, or even Prima. Anyone captured would obviously either be raped or eaten. Why keep someone alive just for the sake of keeping them alive if they had no other use? These goblins are practical to the extreme. I mean, I¡¯m not a prisoner. I¡¯m a breeding ve.

    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be a ce where people who do bad things are kept. A ce where no one really cares about them. But sometimes even good people wind up there for the wrong reasons, or because of the scheming of others. Sometimes they are kept there for a short period of time as a punishment, and sometimes they are sent there and will remain there for the rest of their life.¡±

    ¡°Does Husband think Goblinhome is a prison for him?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t deny that at the start of my stay here, I thought it the case. If I still think of it as being one these days, then Goblinhome has be a prison of my own making.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because of you. Because of your sisters. Because even if you won¡¯t ever call me daddy, I will never be fully able to see you as the beautiful and powerful independent female goblin huntress that you know yourself to be. I find it hard to even think of abandoning you all. To me, even if you wish to have strong-ones of your own with me which pains me emotionally, you will still always be<i>my</i>daughters¡ª<i>my</i>strong-ones. I can<i>try</i>toe to terms with it,<i>twist</i>my way of thinking to deceive myself that you are an adult no different than Berry, Vera, or even Prima who don¡¯t share my human blood¡­ but it will always be a fact of life that I made you, and that in the world I was once a part of, it¡¯s considered a human crime¡ªpunishable by being put in prison.¡±

    ¡°Even¡­ if Diana Artemis loves Husband in the same way humans love?¡±

    I scoffed for a moment, but not in an offensive way. While I have a considerable amount of life experience over her, she¡¯s still just over six months going on sixteen candles¡­ there¡¯s so much she still needs to learn about love. I mean, hell, barely a few days before she was born was the first time I had ever held a woman in an intimate embrace¡­ even if it was really just Prima raping me in the most peaceful way possible.

    ¡°In thends of humans far, far, away from here, there was a big tribe known as the Greeks. This tribe are the same as the ones who worshipped the Goddess of your namesake. They also determined that humans had eight ways to love each other and gave a name to each one.¡±

    Diana Artemis tilted her head up and looked at me with great confusion.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t love¡­ love? Berry said¡­¡±

    I shook my head gently, not letting her finish her sentence.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about them in detail, then maybe you might understand how different it is from whatever the Bloodmaw equivalent is. To answer your question, Love isn¡¯t simply love¡ªat least not to humans. One of our bad habits is the need to sort every single thing in this world into its own ce, much like how quickly Truffle can identify a specific mushroom just from hearing you describe it.¡±

    ¡°The first kind of love is called<b>Eros</b>. It is the same as the love felt when making strong-ones.¡±

    ¡°Diana Artemis likes that one.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s usually the most enjoyable.¡± I quickly quipped.

    ¡°Diana Artemis is d she got to know how good Husband¡¯s seed-stick inside of her feels.¡±

    ¡°I figured you¡¯d enjoy the biting part more.¡±

    ¡°That part is also good but feels different.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    My short time spent as a goblin, especially with Melon, taught me what my wives and daughters felt when we exchanged bites and tasted each other¡¯s blood. A surge of power and knowledge transferred between each other in a preternatural way.

    ¡°The next type of love is called<b>Philia</b>. That¡¯s considered the kind of thing where you think¡­<i>I love being around this goblin the most</i>. I suppose the best examples of this are Truffle and Ivory as well as Button and ce.¡±

    Diana nodded before adding ¡°Also Ebony and Mint¡­ Luna and Nova.¡±

    I quickly agreed seeing that she understood the gist of it quickly enough.

    ¡°The third type of love is called<b>Agape</b>. This is the kind of love where you¡¯re willing to sacrifice yourself for another. For me, it would have been when I stood against Prima and the Great Protector so that I could make sure you had space in Berry¡¯s cave-hole for you to grow up well in. Actually, in the moment I probably did it for Berry more than you, but you were certainly on my mind after having met you for the first time.¡±

    Diana¡¯s wickedly sharp-toothed smile beamed when I said that.

    ¡°Diana Artemis knows this love. Felt it when we hunted ck-ws together.¡±

    She was spot on. If one of those damn wolves would have gone for her, I would have shielded her with my life. I imagine she believes she would have done the same.

    ¡°Alright, then we¡¯ll move to the fourth type of love called<b>Storge</b>. This is the love a maker goblin has for their strong-ones and sister-goblins. This one is ipatible with<b>Eros</b>. This should be the feelings you have when ites to wanting to protect and take care of Berry and I, as well as the feelings you have as a big sister goblin towards Orchid and Lc¡ªspecifically.¡±

    Diana crinkled her brow for a moment nodding only slightly at my exnation.

    ¡°Something confusing about it, Diana?¡± I asked.

    ¡°This is not part of the<i>goblin way</i>. Strong-ones do not usually bring food to their maker goblins. And I only became a big sister goblin to Orchid and Lc because of Husband¡¯s warning.¡±

    ¡°My warning?¡±

    Diana recounted what I told her about being strong by force, and how if she was benevolent to Lily¡¯s twins that they would one day help her when she needed it the most rather than abandon her. It¡¯s impressive to me how a single lesson can be fully retained by her at the young age she was back then.

    ¡°Mm. Then maybe that¡¯s proof there¡¯s some<i>human way</i>inside of you somewhere.¡±

    ¡°Not just Diana Artemis. This kind of love only exists in the Bloodmaw because Husband created it.¡±

    I was momentarily stunned by her admission of that. Power is Hierarchy within the Bloodmaw, such things as care and generosity were foreign things to them. Did I really have such an influence on the whole tribe regarding this aspect of love?

    ¡°Alright let¡¯s move on to the fifth type of love called<b>Mania</b>. It happens when your feelings of love overwhelm your otherwise normal rational reasoning, usually as a result of a desire to possess someone or somethingpletely. It¡¯s not considered a safe or healthy form of love, but it exists, nheless. I would think you suffered from that directly when you underwent your Blood Fury and decided to be an adult goblin the first time without obtaining my permission.¡±

    Diana frowned at thatst bit I was still aggrieved enough to tack on at the end.

    ¡°Diana Artemis did not need permission. Adult goblins make strong-ones! To make strong-ones, need seed-stick and big-seed. Husband¡¯s job is to give it to all goblins that are ready.¡±

    Yeah, try telling a pubescent teenage girl that she¡¯s not an adult. It¡¯s easier to win a knock-down drag-out fight with the Great Protector¡­

    ¡°Forget it. The Sixth type of love is called<b>Ludus</b>. It¡¯s the enjoyment one feels when ying around with and teasing others. I dare say that this is the kind of love you might see between myself and either Jewel or Pepper. I don¡¯t think they particrly care for me as a Husband in the same way say¡­ Vera does. But most definitely they enjoy the benefits thate along with me being everyone¡¯s Husband here and having limited time with me.¡±

    Diana seemed to grasp that one quitefortably with nothing to add. I do flirt with everyone, and it¡¯s inline with normal everyday operations here.

    ¡°Then the seventh is probably the one you¡¯d most be able to understand. It¡¯s called<b>Pragma</b>. It¡¯s the kind of love meant to fulfill an obligation. In my case, if any of the adult goblins love me for a specific reason, it¡¯s because I am here to make strong-ones with them. It¡¯s the reason why I am everyone¡¯s Husband and can¡¯t belong to any individual goblin. It¡¯s also the reason I¡¯m sitting here right now. Not only am I every adult goblin¡¯s Husband, I¡¯m also every strong-one¡¯s daddy, too.¡±

    Diana also signaled her understanding of this type of love.

    ¡°Husband is wrong. Diana listens to Old One talk about what it means to be n. What Husband is saying about this type of love is more like being n.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°Being n is important to the Bloodmaw.¡±

    I got a small lecture from Diana about her understanding of n as she understood it from Old One which was somewhat different than the exnation I got from Toy, the first person I became n with. Apparently, in the past of the tribe, n considerations were based not only on selecting a mating partner or partners, but also theirpatibility with fellow n members and howplementary their acquired skillsets in life were. Diana really did nail it on the head.

    ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve got a point.¡± I conceded. ¡°So, finally, there¡¯s the eighth and final type of love called<b>Phutia</b>. While all the other types of love involve other people, this one is specifically about loving yourself¡ªor at least beingfortably proud of what you are. If Diana can say to herself that she takes pride in being the next Guardian of the goblin tribe, and that she also take pride in others acknowledging that about herself, then that¡¯s pretty much what it is.¡±

    ¡°Same as how Husband is proud that he can use Human stone magic to make the Bloodmaw stronger?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ and no. What I love about myself is¡­ well¡­ being your daddy. Being all your sisters¡¯ daddy. Even if you arepletely Bloodmaw in appearance and ability, to me, you will always be in some part¡ªhuman. You are my family no matter what, and that makes me feel like I have good worth.¡±

    I don¡¯t know if Diana Artemis fully understands thisst one, since it¡¯s a bit more subtle than its nearest neighbor, Narcissism. What she was fully understanding of at this moment, however, was<b>Eros.</b>Diana, in a single swift movement, had upied myp and put her hands around my neck. With only a soggy, muddied loincloth on, her bare tan colored chest, enhanced by the physical transformation of her body after her Blood Fury that had happened not too long ago, perked out in front of me with youthful indiscretion.

    Giving in to the taboo which had already been broken, in the drizzling rain, my eldest huntress and I became a beast with two backs once more. We rolled in the grass and mud and Diana Artemis did her damnedest to try and make a strong-one as she desired with the absurd amount of human genome she extracted from me.

    My reward from all of this?

    ¡°Achoo!¡±

    Was to be, for the first time since arriving in Goblinhome, to be the recipient of a cold¡­

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-Eight â€“ In which Ark truly regrets catching a cold.

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-Eight ¨C In which Ark truly regrets catching a cold.

    ¡°Gishoo! Uwachoo! Guhhh¡­¡±

    How long had it been since I caught a cold? Maybe a year or so? I¡¯m rather cautious about taking care of myself, but these things are bound to happen. I honestly think I was more worried about acquiring some kind of goblin venereal disease than just a regr cold. But, a cold I had caught from not drying off quick enough from the rain and I was soon shivering underneath a nice ck-w pelt nket in my own room within the breeding room.

    I had been visited by Old One, Berry, one of the Kobolds, Silky, the green-scaled one, I believe, Dara the Dwarf who lives underneath the breeding room, Orga Lush, and of course, was being fully attended to by Vera. Old One, acting as a trantor with her omni-linguistic skill, was facilitating the discussion on what to do about my sudden illness.

    Goblins don¡¯t usually catch colds. Neither really do Orcs. Dwarves do, and on asion, Kobolds do, usually when shedding their scales in inclement atmospheric conditions. So, naturally, the Kobold and the Dwarf were talking about medicinal remedies. Dara suggested I drink some hard spirits and let alcohol fix things up¡ª<i>Dwarf way</i>, and all¡ªwhile Silky suggested something far less savory for the insectophobe that I am¡­<i>leeches</i>.

    I wasn¡¯t particrly interested in either remedy being suggested, so I offered one of my own based on my own experiences in my previous life. Chicken soup. It¡¯s not like there aren¡¯t any fowl to be found in the forest, and it¡¯s not like it necessarily needed to be a chicken, specifically. I also am pretty sure whatever the fowl was, it most definitely wasn¡¯t going to be a certain Emden Goose.

    Before the girls involved could confirm the method of healing me, a diminutive goblin wearing a racoon outfit appeared and began to point and growl. Everyone was chased out of the breeding room before she sighed and walked into my room, standing up and looking down at me. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against my own and nodded.

    ¡°You have an idea, ce?¡±

    ce pointed at herself for a moment. I understood what she meant, strangely enough. It was along the lines of<i>Aren¡¯t I the tribe¡¯s shaman?</i><i>Leave it to me!</i>She then knelt down next to my body and slipped her tiny hands under the pelt nket before feeling a finely controlled surge of warmth flow through my body. I turned my head to sneeze again and groaned, but feeling a bit better and not feeling the cold sweat that I had been enduring for thest couple of hours.

    ¡°Gwah.¡± She said, authoritatively to me.

    While I¡¯m good at guessing, I had no idea what the specificint she voiced was about. A light manifested on her fingertip, and she spelled out in the air, the goblin script that we had learned thanks to Vera¡¯s ingenuity, what her diagnosis for me was.

    <i>Rest now. I will take care of you, Papa.</i>

    ce might be a bit of a rascal, but she¡¯s still my daughter and ostensibly the most powerful magician among the tribe. She¡¯s also fiercely intelligent. She patted me gently and even fluffed up my pillow before gesturing for me to rest more. ce then left my room, letting me fall asleepfortably, even though my nose was stuffy, and I had to breathe through my mouth.

    A whileter, I was awakened by a gentle nudge. When I opened my eyes, ce was sitting next to me with two stone bowls full of¡­ soup. I sat up a little and ce smiled at me cutely, lifting a spoonful of it and blowing on it lightly before opening her small mouth, exposing her sharp teeth and saying ¡°Aah~¡±

    Yeah, being a dad is the best thing in the whole world.

    ¡°Ahh~¡± I said, and was promptly spoon-fed bites of soup, feeling warm inside in more ways than one. While there weren¡¯t any noodles to be found within the soup, it was definitely some kind of chicken soup, with diced potatoes and carrots. I was sold on itpletely.

    It brought back nostalgic feelings of my mother taking care of me when I caught colds back when I was school aged. I don¡¯t think I ever fed her chicken soup once, though. Was I unfilial? I mean, I did try and lessen the burden for her by cleaning up the house and not being noisy, as well as looking after my younger siblings so she could rest a little bit¡­

    I reached out and patted her head while smiling at her.

    ¡°Thank you, ce. Daddy feels really loved right now.¡±

    ce nodded and smiled toothily.

    ¡°Gwah!¡±

    ¡°Is the other bowl for you?¡±

    ce nodded.

    ¡°Want to eat together?¡±

    ce nodded and handed me the stone bowl and spoon. She picked up the other and held her spoon out at me. I tapped her spoon lightly and we both enjoyed eating together. When we were done, she took the bowls and put them aside on the floor before slipping herself underneath the pelt nket and snuggled up against my body.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of catching my cold?¡± I asked.

    ce shook her head and ced her hand on my chest, rubbing in a circr motion. Iid back down and wrapped my arm around her runt-like body. Once more afortable warmth spread outward to the extremities of my body. Disgracefully, even<i>that</i>part of me was warmed up.

    My nose had also leaked a little and some snot adjusted itself so that I could breathe a bit morefortably.

    ¡°Is everything good with Button?¡± I asked.

    ce nodded her face against the side of my chest. I suddenly felt a bit tired again, and my body rxed quite a bit. I hugged her softly and told ce that I definitely loved her, because I love all my daughters and believe that they need to hear it from me as often as possible. Even if ce was a conspirator in the Diana Artemis adulting event, and even though I was still holding on to some anger directly aimed at her¡­ what can I even say or do? My heart softened a little and I just epted that the past was the past and that ce must have had her reasons and even if I don¡¯t understand them, she probably had the best interest of the tribe in mind at the time.

    I can¡¯t fault her for that. While I am her father, I still consider myself objectively human¡ªeven if I at one point turned into a goblin¡­

    ¡°ce, you at least see me as a daddy instead of a Husband, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ce lifted her head, stared at me with her golden eyes, and nodded. One of the few times she didn¡¯t stick her tongue out at me. Receiving that confirmation from her, she reached up with her small arm and patted my head. My resistance to sleeping some more instantly crumbled and I was once again in dreand within seconds¡­

    <strong>~~** A little whileter¡­ **~~</strong>

    My eyed opened again, and ce was sitting up next to me, her hands ced on the center of my torso. Berry was here too, currently straddling my waist and copting with me. There was a huge thrum of mana present in my small room, and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what my daughter was doing¡­<i>exactly</i>.

    I turned my head slightly, enough to make me feel dizzy.

    ¡°ce¡­ what¡¯s going on?¡±

    A number of Runes were already manifested and floating around us, bouncing off of some kind of magical wall constructed within the room itself. As I watched, too tired to move, they managed to avoid touching either ce or I and all struck Berry¡¯s body¡ªspecifically her pregnant belly.

    I didn¡¯t notice it at first, but my arms, at least, had taken on a greenish tone. My cock and balls both felt unnaturally heavy. Berry wasn¡¯t even looking at me. Her eyes were rolled back into her head and she was just grinding on me with something like fanaticism. The sweet scent of her milk leaked from her tan breasts and I felt iting on. That strange sensation that I hadn¡¯t felt in a while. The feeling before I would pass out before the blessing that hurried along the birth of a new daughter after waking up.

    My loins twitched and I was unable to stop the volcanic explosion of my semen into Berry¡¯s body. I reached up with difficulty to touch her face. Without looking, she reached for my arm and bit into it. I felt herher regions tighten extremely and it felt like she was trying to snap it in half!

    A mixture of pain and pleasure overloaded my mind and once more I plunged into darkness¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Berry **~~</strong>

    ¡°Is¡­ Husband awake yet?¡±

    I remained in Husband¡¯s cave hole, not wanting to return to my own. I could feel the strong-one inside of me ready to crawl out at any moment. Old One, Lumi, ce, Button, Vera, Truffle, Ivory, and Diana Artemis were all gathered there to support me.

    Button, in response to my question, went into Husband¡¯s cave-hole and carried him out, depositing him close by. His face was moving but his eyes remained closed. ce, our tribe¡¯s Shaman, hade to my room and, in her own way ofmunicating with gestures when Button wasn¡¯t around to speak for her properly, intimated to me that if I wanted to have my strong-one now, I needed toe with her.

    What goblin isn¡¯t eager to have their strong-onee sooner rather thanter?

    I followed her to Husband¡¯s room and did what came naturally with him. She began to call upon some kind of magic that I couldn¡¯t begin to understand¡ªyet understood what was going on almost immediately after I put Husband¡¯s seed-stick inside of me.

    It was my time.

    Not only for having my strong-one, but to undergo something I didn¡¯t think I ever would.

    I began my<i>Blood Fury</i>.

    Between Husband and Shaman, I could feel the strange power known as Magic flow into me¡ªor more precisely, my belly.

    Shaman, moons ago, had told me that my next child would know magic, same as she and many of my sister¡¯s strong-ones. I was already immensely proud of Diana Artemis being an amazing huntress and the next Guardian of the tribe. But what woulde of this one? I didn¡¯t know how to use magic; whether the stone kind that Husband uses, the picture kind that Vera uses, or the strange kind somewhere in between that Shaman uses. So how would I be able to teach her?

    I growled as thebor pain wracked my body once again. Old One ced the biting branch in my mouth and rubbed my back while I endured.

    Shaman, after feeling my stomach and nodding, pointed her finger at Husband and a small burst of water shot at his face. Husband quickly sat up and gasped for air, wiping his face at the same time and looked around in confusion.

    ¡°¡­what¡¯s going on?¡±

    With his eyes unfocused, yet clearly locked on the Shaman, she pointed at my belly.

    ¡°The strong-one ising now.¡± Old One said to him.

    Husband sat there motionless for a short while, taking deep breaths before cing his hand on the ground and attempting to climb onto his feet. Diana Artemis helped him up and he took a few slow steps towards me, eventually arriving and cing his hand on my belly before moving his hand upward to stroke the hair on my head and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

    ¡°I¡¯m here for you, Berry.¡± He said, but rather than feeling happy he was here next to me right now, I felt hungry. I wanted to devour him. Was this how Prima felt when she underwent her<i>Blood Fury</i>?

    I felt like I was losing my mind.

    Husband continued to hold me tight, not understanding that I wasn¡¯t going to win this battle with my own instincts as a goblin. My desires went wild and I growled with rage. I still had some of the taste of his Blood on my lips and the scenting from his arm only made me be more irrational.

    But Husband never left my side.

    I screamed in pain onest time as my strong-one exited my fuckhole, falling to the ground with a light plop. When it vacated my body, I lostplete control. I reached down and grabbed the cord attached to the remaining mass inside of me and pulled until it, too, came out. Then I took a step and growled, pushing Husband down onto the ground and inserting him once more inside of myself. It didn¡¯t matter that my fuckhole was a broken bloody mess¡ªI needed to devour himpletely!

    I opened my mouth and growled, then went right for his throat with my teeth.

    Instead of reaching my target, he had managed to get his arm in between and I bit down on it. Harder than I¡¯d ever bit down on anything, including the biting branch. When the blood flowed into me¡­

    <strong>~~** Ark Wyze **~~</strong>

    ¡°GH¡ªAAAAAH!!!¡±

    Berry had suddenly attacked me and bit my arm. I worry that if I hadn¡¯t gotten it between us in time, she might have torn out my jugr with her teeth. Her bite was insanely strong and I clearly felt the radial bone in my left arm snap into pieces. She hadn¡¯t ripped it off; something I believe she could have done easily, but I hadn¡¯t expected Berry would be so powerful immediately after our newest daughter was born. Furthermore, I could feel my crotch wet and slick with blood. I knew I was inside of her, and I feared that, somehow, she might get some kind of infection if it continued to be the case.

    Truffle came over to us and told me to hold my breath.

    I did as she said, stifling my desire to yell further, and she quickly blew some kind of powder into the face of Berry.

    A few momentster, Berry went limp.

    Truffle, together with Ivory, managed to dislodge Berry¡¯s bite from my arm and rolled her off of me and onto her back. The entire while this was happening, the instinct present in my newly born daughter had proceeded entirely as it should. She had devoured the cental mass that Berry pulled out of herself and then moved to crawl onto Berry. I held my arm in pain, gasping through wet lips as I tried to cope with the feeling of an extremely broken arm. I had difficulty even clenching my fist.

    ¡°Husband, is your arm okay?¡±

    Diana was the first to ask me.

    I shook my head and grit my teeth, not even able to say it was broken.

    I felt like the most important thing right now was getting Berry cleaned up, but ce held a hand up to stop me. Lumi approached and began to use her divine magic to heal Berry while Button spoke up.

    ¡°ce says for Husband not to worry.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t<i>not</i>worry, but seeing divine magic in y, I was able to worry a<i>little less</i>. Staring down at Berry, I saw our new bundle of joy greedily sucking on her breasts. At least she hade into the world safely, though I can¡¯t imagine why in the world Berry decided to attack me.

    Old One took a breath and sighed.

    ¡°You are lucky to be alive, Ark.¡±

    ¡°Trust me, I¡¯m well aware of that. Why¡­ Did Berry¡­?¡±

    ¡°Blood Fury.¡± Diana answered without missing a beat. ¡°Diana Artemis also felt that way¡­¡±

    I stared incredulously at everyone gathered and they all nodded their heads.

    ¡°ce¡­ what exactly did you do to Berry?¡±

    No matter how I looked at it, ce was definitely the culprit of it this time. But no one answered my question. Not even Button to tell me ce didn¡¯t want to answer.

    I was a bit frustrated and angry not having a reason given for my current situation. I was still feeling infirm from my cold and now my arm was broken from Berry¡¯s ferocious bite. I felt that I was entitled to an answer, even if it was a shitty one.

    Seeing that nothing was forting, I watched as my arm turned green again. The same shade as the Monster¡¯s color. I trudged over to the bath and activated (with some difficulty) the heating Runes and grit my teeth and hissed as my arm submerged into the water.

    I sat on one of the submerged steps alone and closed my eyes, trying to center my state of mind amidst the pain I was feeling.

    A few momentster, Vera came to join me¡­ holding the sleeping form of my daughter. Unlike Diana and Berry who were more tan-skinned, this one¡¯s skin bordered the hue between green and gray.

    ¡°Name. Give?¡±

    I let my head loll back and rest on the lip of the bath. Taking some deep breaths, I coughed a few times, my throat scratchy, before speaking.

    ¡°Selene Hecate. I suppose she needs a name to rival that of Diana Artemis¡­ otherwise Berry might get upset if I only give her one¡­¡±

    ¡°Selene¡­ Hecate¡­¡± Vera repeated it, then I felt a hand press down on my shoulder.

    It wasn¡¯t Vera¡¯s hand, but Diana¡¯s who was sitting next to me now on the lip of the pool.

    ¡°Are those names also belong to the gods?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ a counterbnce to Diana and Artemis.¡± I replied. ¡°Rather than the Goddess of the Forest, Moon, and Hunt¡­ she¡¯s the Goddess of Mysteries, Magic, and the Night.¡±

    ¡°She will be strong like Diana Artemis?¡±

    ¡°One can only hope¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t remember much more after saying that. When I woke up next, it was the following day. Lumi was by my side and my arm was wrapped up in some kind of shredded cloth. It hurt quite a bit and remained green in color from the elbow down, my fingers also sharp, but unlike immediately after the bite, I could at least clench my fistpletely, if not strongly.

    My first thoughts were to go see Berry and Selene, but as soon as I moved, Lumi had awoken and immediately put her hand on my chest to hold me down.

    ¡°You can¡¯t see Berry yet. It¡¯s not safe.¡±

    She stared at me with sincere worry on her face, leaving me nothing to do but nod my head.

    ¡°What about our strong-one, Selene?¡±

    Lumi paused for a moment and nodded.

    ¡°In a little while, okay? For now, you still need to rest.¡±

    ¡°My arm¡­ did you heal it?¡±

    She looked at me for a moment and bit her lip.

    I exhaled deeply from my nose. Was I wrong about being healed by Lumi?

    ¡°ra¡¯s blessing¡­ was rejected.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ makes sense, I guess. I¡¯m not exactly a pious person.¡±

    Lumi shook her head.

    ¡°It''s not that you''re not pious... Just not pious to <em>ra</em>.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Lumi wasn¡¯t forting with a proper exnation, but I got the feeling that divine magic of some kind was still somehow used¡­

    ¡°I see. Then, will it healpletely in a few days if I take care of it properly?¡±

    Lumi nodded.

    I thenid back down. I felt better at least as far as the cold was concerned, but I was decidedly tired for other reasons. Staring up at the ceiling, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what further troubles tomorrow would bring and felt saddened that I couldn''t hold my newest daughter in my arms yet...

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-three â€“ In which Ark endeavors to keep his promises.

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-three ¨C In which Ark endeavors to keep his promises.

    The situation with Crow is heart-wrenching. Do I dare to think I canprehend what she¡¯s going through right now, being so young and bing disabled? I dare not. Berry may have broken my arm, and somehow it became a goblin arm when Lumi healed it, but at least it¡¯s functional. The same cannot be said about Crow¡¯s leg. There is no modern science to repair it. Between Dara and I¡­ we could probably somehow create a prosthetic, but that would also mean her leg would need to be amputated. There was also the matter of a leg brace, but I wasn¡¯tpletely sure about how to go about creating it.

    I stayed by Crow¡¯s side whenever possible over the next week, receiving help from Toy and Lily, stating that they were my n, and that if I wished to make Crow¡¯s troubles my own, then they would help me shoulder the burden. Diana Artemis also helped out, doing a little extra hunting so that Crow wouldn¡¯t need to worry about hunting her own food.

    For the first couple of days, Crow was in and out of consciousness thanks to Truffle¡¯s color-spin-think powder. What caused Crow to refuse taking any more of the drug was when Button, ce, Figurine, and Nova all came into the room on the third day afterwards to deliver a message to Crow when she was awake.

    I had assumed Magpie was avoiding seeing her mother like this. Or maybe she didn¡¯t want to see me because I was in Crow¡¯s cave-hole for long periods of time.

    I was wrong.

    The message my daughters delivered was to inform Crow that Magpie had run away.

    While there were words left behind for Crow. There were none left for me.

    Before I could feel any anger or guilt at her actions, my children informed me that Magpie¡¯s decision was something they all supported. If any goblin among them had the knowledge and skillset to survive outside of Goblinhome without support, it was Magpie. Now that the Bloodmaw were increasing in number, my gathered children felt that it was a smart move to have Magpie see if she could make a ce for herself among the many<i>civilized</i>races that I have spoken to them at length about. If it was possible that she could be epted, then there was a chance that Goblinhome wouldn¡¯t need to remain isted forever.

    I also hoped for something like this, but not so soon. Not with a goblin so young. Magpie was still my daughter, and I still thought of her as a child. Obviously, I was extremely worried. Crow, on the other hand, seemed satisfied with the decision our daughter made.

    ¡°Crow taught Magpie the way of the Sneaky n. Magpie is cautious and won¡¯t die easily.¡±

    I want to believe that as well. It was just that seeing how easily Diana Artemis¡­ handled her the other day. Then again, Diana Artemis is also something like a massive wall for my other daughters to measure themselves up against.

    Not just them, but me as well. I haven¡¯t forgotten how easily she subdued me during her Blood Fury, and how even if ce hadn¡¯t shackled me to Diana¡¯s bed with magic, I still might not have actually been able to avoid what happened to me that night¡­

    I guess, as a father, I have to just trust and believe that Crow and I have taught her the most important things she needs to know and that it will have to be enough as she makes her own way into the world.

    What didn¡¯t get mentioned with any specifics was how she left Goblinhome, but I¡¯m fairly certain it involved Cobi and those Kobolds in some manner. I felt a strange kinship with him, as if he and I weren¡¯t entirely unalike in how we dealt with the overbearing women in our lives. For him, six Kobolds. For me, a menagerie that will only continue to grow. If she went with them, as I figure she had, I felt confident they would see her safely to whatever town they ventured from.

    With any luck, it might be Thorn.

    Though, that might also be a bad option. Remembering what the Great Protector said to me about not having killed Kairos¡­ it¡¯s entirely possible she mighte across him. If she somehow mentions my name or that I¡¯m here in this forest¡­

    No. I¡¯d rather not think of what would happen were<i>she</i>to find out.

    And by<i>she</i>, yes, I mean my dear old mother in this world¡­ Salondra Wyze.

    <i>Sigh.</i>

    The day after my children brought news of Magpie¡¯s departure, Prima hade to visit Crow. The matter was exactly what I expected it to be about. Crow¡¯s¡­ disability.

    Crow was also one of the few goblins not pregnant currently¡­ I think.

    So, Prima came with an ultimatum for her.

    ¡°It would be stupid to die when you could still make many strong-ones for the tribe. Even if you cannot teach them to hunt, there are others who can. In that way, you will still be useful.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t considered that Crow thought to die so that she wasn¡¯t a burden, but that¡¯s also because I wasn¡¯t thinking like a goblin. I mean, Prima¡¯s mercy for Vera back then was to have me forcefully breed her, thinking her incapable of contributing to the tribe¡­ or being able to take care of herself in any meaningful way other than that. So, it really shouldn¡¯t havee as a surprise that she would say this to Crow.

    I could even see the look in Prima¡¯s eyes, as if she was expecting me to challenge her right now on this, what is clearly a basic matter to the Bloodmaw, and intrinsic to the<i>goblin way</i>.

    I didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Not going to call me a monster, Ark? Or threaten to bring our home down?¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°No. I think I¡¯ll be the monster this time.¡±

    ¡°You?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll keep her belly full of goblins, even if she wants to refuse me. However, I will also need to make some changes to Goblinhome. She might not have use of one leg anymore, but she still has another perfectly good one, and I intend to make a way for her to be mobile again.¡±

    I stared at Crow for a moment.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I misunderstood what happened just now, but whether I did or not doesn¡¯t matter. I have no intention of letting you die, Crow. I am your Husband, and if there is a way to keep you living, then I will do it even if youe to hate me for it.¡±

    Prima crossed her arms.

    ¡°Then make whatever changes you need. As long as her belly is fat, I have nothing to else to say.¡±

    Prima then left the room, and us, alone once more.

    Crow remained quiet for a while, before eventually speaking to me.

    ¡°Husband¡­ still wants to make strong-ones with Crow now that she is a weak-one?¡±

    What?

    ¡°You aren¡¯t a weak-one. Surviving that attack¡­ living on¡­ that¡¯s proof that you are a strong-one, Crow. I hear it from Prima¡­ Old One¡­ even Diana Artemis more times than I care to.<i>Weak-ones die so that strong-ones can live</i>. Together with everyone, you hunted fifteen ck-ws, captured two more for us to raise and breed, and even the damn Jaguar that got you was killed by Button. No one important died. No one needs to feel sad over losing a sister like they did for Beast-talker.¡±

    ¡°Beast-talker still has all her bones.¡±

    ¡°She does, but the trade-off is that she can¡¯t make strong-ones anymore.¡±

    Crow touched her belly thoughtfully for a moment.

    ¡°Do you think Crow will ever walk again?¡±

    ¡°Maybe not the same as you once did, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s impossible.¡±

    ¡°¡­Then Crow trusts Husband. Only Husband cleans my shit and piss, takes me to the bath and washes me, brings me food, stays to eat with me¡­¡±

    ¡°What about Lily and Toy?¡±

    Crow didn¡¯t reply. I know that both Lily and Toy have kept an eye on Crow when I had things that needing doing around Goblinhome that pulled me away from her side. Which means we both know she¡¯s embellishing some facts here.

    But¡­

    There was truth to what she said.

    I took care of her when she unintentionally soiled herself while under the medicated effects of color-spin-think powder. I scooped her up as carefully as I could and brought her to the bath, letting her soak in the warm water draped over myp, scooping handfuls of it and gently washing her skin and hair, and, yes, I ate with her in her cave¡­ going so far as to borrow Melon¡¯s Kitchen in order to make some easy-to-digest food. Raw when applicable.

    While I know I would do the same for any other of my goblin wives, and most certainly my daughters were this kind of life altering injury befall them, I¡¯ve often thought that Crow¡­ was something like the kind of wife I might have wound up with in my previous life. An otherwise unassuming woman who for some reason found me to be¡­ enjoyable to be around.

    Nothing excessive.

    Just someone to enjoy passing the time of life with.

    She¡¯s fine with me caring for her, but she also has a private side to herself that she is unwilling to show mepletely. And that¡¯s okay. I won¡¯t press her about it. I won¡¯t try and force her to be n with me. I¡¯m fine just co-existing with her and continuing to put little goblin children inside of her belly, because that¡¯s also what she wants from me.

    So as time passed, I began renovating her cave to make way for her to be able to move about both it, and with the permission I obtained from Prima, Goblinhome.

    Small rails were created along the walls so that she could leverage her weight and hop-step through the main thoroughfare. Small pirs with handles in certain ces allowed her to enter cave-holes while not getting in everyone else¡¯s way, locations such as the breeding room so she could take baths on her own, or to enter Melon¡¯s Kitchen or the shit-pit. Independence is a very ingrained trait in a goblin, and Crow was<i>very</i>goblin to begin with.

    While Crow was the main focus of my time, I had made other promises that needed to be kept.

    I promised to teach Button the Fist of the Hungry Wolf. So, in our ce of practice in the nearby forest, we fought. I taught her the Cracking Shot, the Burning Knuckle, and the Geyser of Power. And once more Button grew stronger. Button also wanted my attention as a man, and I, having opened Pandora¡¯s Box with her, didn¡¯t refuse. Thankfully, she was fine with the method we had used before.

    But¡­ I¡¯m starting to think that my so-called big-seed is doing strange things to these girls.

    Back at Goblinhome, Krushka and Rushk had been patient in waiting for the reward I promised them for doing an excellent job nting the seeds Cobi had brought us. Krushka¡¯s request was simple enough. She just wanted to spend time with me and drink.

    For as big as she is, and Krushka is the biggest and tallest Orc out of all four, with my forehead just about reaching the front of her corbone, she¡¯s rather straightforward about her wants and needs from me, as her War-chief Husband.

    She even had her own stash of<i>blue water</i>. The only thing missing was my participation.

    She was curious about my life and how it led me to bing the goblin War-chief that I apparently am. I opened up in exchange for learning about the art on her<i>mams</i>. We slowly drained the jar of<i>blue water</i>as we told each other our stories. Krushka, having been a war-bride multiple times, is domestically-oriented. She has given birth and raised a number of children. She¡¯s skilled in cooking, making clothes, and child-rearing. While she<i>can</i>fight, she¡¯s not formally trained in anything. It¡¯s more like, she can grab a branch and give someone hell with a few whacks with it.

    Of the people she was a war-bride to, she said most of them were tolerable. The worst one was her most recent. He was too arrogant for her liking, and not good enough in the sack to warrant it. He also eyed one of her daughterssciviously and sent her youngest son who was still rather young to a war-camp to be taught to fight for a lesser chieftain¡¯s army who he was aligned with. While it sounded terrible, it was rather standard where orc society was concerned.

    I spoke about my life as the son of a famous magician, not going too in-depth about how famous she was, growing up in her shadow, learning magic, often being a disappointment to her. My time spent at the academy never making much progress in the realm of formic magic and spending my time learning the ins and outs of being a force magician, which I enjoyed immensely.

    She asked if our child when it came would know how to use magic.

    I didn¡¯t have an answer, but I said there was a good chance it might. That seemed to please her. There weren¡¯t really orc magicians. Orcs became Shaman, and that was it. Whether their magic was of a divine or arcane origin wasn¡¯t of particr importance.

    Being a Shaman to an orc was like having a guaranteed career as a civil servant. She spoke much like a mother who wanted her children to have a good shot at sess in their lives, and I couldn¡¯t help but think of her as being far from uncivilized, as orcs often were thought of as.

    We both became rather tipsy. I wasn¡¯t very good at consuming alcohol, but I think Krushka was worse. She was quick to get naked and we had an egregious amount of violent and sloppy sex. But that¡¯s her nature, I suppose. She was able to vent whatever frustrations she must have rued recently, and after a few healthy doses of my liquid calming agent, she was soonfortably out cold.

    I stayed with her for a while, not wanting to just abandon her right away, but as was the case, I inevitably had to go. This had all happened the first night after Crow had been brought back.

    Rushk was willing to wait for the next day, at which point the reward she wanted was a little more practical. Rushk, while having been partially goblinized as well as showing a bump indicating she was for sure carrying a goblin strong-one inside of her, was looking for something to do to feel useful.

    She had lived a somewhat sheltered life, with her only real interest to be found in learning speary. When spears are involved, my immediate thought would be to point her in Prima¡¯s direction. Turns out, that was exactly what needed to happen.

    Rushk is by no means a hunter, but Prima was more than willing to teach her the ropes.

    I had even gone on a hunt with them, though the only thing I had to offer was the limitednd-based magic I could use with the Topaz stone, since my Quartz Focus Orb had been integrated into my youngest daughter, Selene Hecate.

    After a sessful hunt, nothing too crazy, just some blue-haired foxes, the two of them tore right into one almost immediately after securing the kill. Rushk seems to enjoy both cooked and raw meat. Thetter being an adjustment due to her bing part goblin.

    I didn¡¯t judge.

    I also didn¡¯t judge when Prima helped instigate a post-meal rape.

    Rushk was a little apologetic afterwards, but she was also in a much better mood. Seeing that, I also was happy. After that, in the early mornings that followed, Prima could be found sparring with Rushk with spears, not being too overbearing.

    I actually got an earful from Nova about how Prima never let her off easily when it came to sparring.

    But that¡¯s how it is sometimes¡­

    Mint, who was reclusive ever since the incident where I turned into the Monster, had begun to show herself more often now that the field had been nted. Maybe it was due to her position in the tribe as its [Bloody Druid], but she was often found there just¡­<i>doing things</i>.

    I worried that whatever trauma I caused her was longsting, but she assured me that she would be fine eventually. She also said she had acquired some¡­ ability that would allow her to cultivate the field and that she hoped it would produce some beneficial results soon.

    I would have expected to find Ebony by her side, but no. Ebony was busy with other matters. Matters in the form of one young goblin strong-one with far too much destructive power on tap.

    Yes.

    Ebony was teaching Selene Hecate how to use magic.

    I figured for sure it would have been ce getting involved with the matter at Diana¡¯s behest, but no. Ebony, as it turns out, possesses true Bloodmaw Magic. Selene Hecate apparently doesn¡¯t need to use Runes or Forms to cast magic at all.

    I feel like there needed to be someone with a rational mind to oversee this strange mentor-mentee rtionship, but Ebony assured me that she was a very capable big-sister goblin, and that she had it all under control.

    Naturally, I didn¡¯t believe that for a fucking second.

    But, true to her word, Selene Hecate seemed to look up to Ebony and along with Bitey and Beastie, those four went out into the forest on a hunt, with Diana asionally keeping an eye on things after all.

    With all the business of my days in the past week nowing to a head, I found myself visiting Truffle at longst. I wanted to keep my promise to repay her for her help with Crow. She had been working on a new strain of her mushroom powder, and with a small bit of reluctance¡­ we indulged.

    Unlike with Button, I didn¡¯t experience anything too¡­ strange. It was quite enjoyable. I had be a mushroom, and Truffle was a mushroom¡­ even Button was there, and she was a mushroom! I somehow did a spore-dance and all the mushrooms were happy.

    When I came to, Truffle was in my arms, caressing my face and grinning.

    ¡°Husband. It¡¯s time again.¡±

    Yes. Another mushroom-goblin was about toe into the world.

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-four â€“ In which we meet Chanterelle, a big-lazy little-lady mushroom-goblin.

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-four ¨C In which we meet Chanterelle, a bigzy littledy mushroom-goblin.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Chanterelle **~~</strong>

    This is the life¡­

    My name is Chanty and I live in a cave-hole with a goblin called Truffle and a goblin called Ivory. I am surrounded by mushrooms and bones. While I don¡¯t mind the bones, I can¡¯t help but be fascinated by the mushrooms. There¡¯s also a goblin called Husband who is very nice to me. He lets me sit on hisp and he holds tasty mushrooms up to my mouth so I can bezy and eat them.

    I also have some big-sister goblins. Button who loves mushrooms just like Truffle, Husband, and me. Ebony who only likes mushrooms a lot, and her friends Bitey and Beastie who can¡¯t eat mushrooms at all but are also nice to me. Bitey will even bring me mushrooms if I ask nicely. So, Bitey is definitely a mushroom bone-spider and can be trustedpletely. I¡¯m sure of it.

    One of my favorite things to do is talk to the mushrooms.

    They know a lot of things.

    Some of them say they are safe to eat, others say they are not. All of them love Truffle very much. Some of them even like Husband, which is good. Husband is an interesting goblin. He has a mushroom growing on his body between his legs. I asked the other mushrooms about it, but they say that Husband¡¯s mushroom is different from them.

    I¡¯ve seen Ivory and Button and even Truffle lick his mushroom and have him stick it inside of them when they thought I was asleep. I wasn¡¯t asleep, I was just beingzy and thinking about mushrooms. Was his mushroom tasty? They don¡¯t seem to want to eat it, only lick it or have him rub it on their body. I tried sticking a mushroom between my legs so I could be like Husband, but it keeps falling off.

    I guess it really is a different kind of mushroom.

    I don¡¯t know everything about mushrooms yet, even though Truffle says one day I will.

    I live in a big cave called Goblin-home.

    There are many many other goblins who live here. All of them seem to be very busy, alwaysing and going. Of course, there are times when they arezy, too. Lots of goblins stop into our cave-hole and ask Ivory for things made out of bones, or to ask Truffle for tasty mushrooms, or her specialty¡ªcolor-spin-think powder, which is also made from the mushrooms that warned me not to eat them.

    Color-spin-think powder is different, though. It can be sniffed or eaten, but only in small amounts. Then it¡¯s best to bezy afterwards. But it¡¯s important to go piss first, otherwise when beingzy¡­

    Well, idents happen.

    Husbandes to visit and take me to his cave-hole for a little while every day. There¡¯s this really big wet thing in there called a<i>bath</i>and it¡¯s fun to ssh the water inside of it. Button once showed me something she called the<i>swirly-whirly</i>and I had fun sshing it when she made it with her finger.

    I love it when Button and Ebonye to visit and y with me.

    I also have two other big-sister goblins whoe to y with me as well.

    One is Primmy, the other is Sewwy.

    There are a lot of games to y in Husband¡¯s cave-hole. Games like Checkers and Four-color and a picture game and another with long rectangles that get pulled out and put on top until it all crashes down!

    Primmy likes things that go crash and boom. Sewwy likes using something called magic to do everything.

    Both Primmy and Sewwy like to bite Husband¡¯s hand whenever they get the chance. I tried biting him too, but he doesn¡¯t taste like a mushroom like I expected him to. But he is still tasty!<b>Super</b><b>tasty</b>, in fact!

    In our cave-hole, there¡¯s a very special mushroom growing in it.

    Truffle says she¡¯s been feeding it something called big-seed that she gets from Husband. I don¡¯t know what it is exactly, but it is sticky and white. The mushroom that eats it is really really smart. It knows way more than any of the other mushrooms. It¡¯s also in a special ce up high that I can¡¯t reach.

    One day when Truffle was asleep, Sewwy came to visit since she lives close by.

    The special mushroom said something good would happen if I took a bite out of it.

    But since I couldn¡¯t get to it, I asked Sewwy if she could use her magic to float it down to me so I could take a bite.

    Sewwy doesn¡¯t mind mushrooms, but she wasn¡¯t all that interested in eating it with me. She still floated it down for me and being careful, I took a small bite out of it so it wasn''t too noticeable. I asked Sewwy if she could float it back up and turn it around so that Truffle wouldn¡¯t notice the ce where I took a bite out of it. Sewwy had no trouble doing so, and afterwards we went to y on the swings outside.

    I¡¯m still a small goblin, and so is Sewwy. We¡¯re not allowed to walk all of Goblinhome yet unless there¡¯s a bigger goblin with us. Primmy can though, so she takes us ces! Like outside!

    Beastie is good friends with Primmy, so she¡¯ll push us on the swings sometimes, even though she¡¯s made of bones and doesn¡¯t talk. Well, Bitey doesn¡¯t talk either, but that doesn¡¯t bother me. Bitey is really nice! Sometimes Bitey will crawl up my body and sit on my head and swing with me!

    Ebony is also friends with a big blue goblin called Orga. She¡¯s in charge of the big ck furry things that Ebony likes to y with. I think they¡¯re called ck-ws? I find them a bit scary though.

    Sewwy and Primmy aren¡¯t afraid of them. They even got to ride on the backs of the two bigger ones. I tried feeding a mushroom I brought with me to the littler ones, but they didn¡¯t want to eat it. Truffle taught me not to trust things that don¡¯t like mushrooms. I felt bad because the little ones aren¡¯t too scary¡­ but I agree with Truffle.

    While my big-sisters Primmy and Sewwy like to go into the forest to hunt¡­ I don¡¯t really want to because that seems like a lot of work and I¡¯d rather bezy. Mushrooms do just fine beingzy, and I sometimes think I have more inmon with mushrooms than with goblins.

    There¡¯s also another big-sister of mine called Lumi who I see sometimes when I go outside.

    She spends a lot of time in a small cave-hole on the other side of the yground and inside of it there are lots of wooden benches to sit on and two big statues. One is called ra and she¡¯s supposed to be super strong! The other is a strange looking one called the Creator, and they are supposed to be the one who made our tribe, the Bloodmaw.

    Since the little ck-ws didn¡¯t want to eat the mushroom I tried to give them, I broke it in half and put half in front of each of the statues.

    I figured they both liked mushrooms, because ra looked strong, and I know my big-sister Button who likes mushroom is also super strong, so ra must definitely like mushrooms. As for the other one, if they made the Bloodmaw, then they made Truffle, and that means they have to like mushrooms! Why would someone make a mushroom goblin but not like mushrooms?

    While watching the statues who weren¡¯t moving to eat the mushrooms, Lumi opened the door and began talking to Husband who was just outside.

    While I was sitting down and looking at the statues, wondering when they were going to eat them, I saw that both halves of the mushroom began to glow and then disappeared!

    It reminded me of Sewwy¡¯s magic, so I figured they used magic to eat them. Seemed like a perfectlyzy way to do it, too!

    Feeling good that they got to eat Truffle¡¯s yummy mushrooms, I went outside to see Husband, who was happy to pick me up and let me ride on his shoulders. It would have been more fun if Bitey was riding on his head so we could have fun together, but I wasn¡¯t too disappointed.

    Big-sister Lumi also likes biting Husband as well.

    I don¡¯t know if she likes mushrooms though¡­ I hope she does.

    It¡¯s not good to not like mushrooms.

    Husband took me back into Goblinhome to one of my favorite cave-holes. There¡¯s another of my big-sister goblins in there. Well, sometimes two of them. Big-sisters Melon and Reeny!

    Melon is definitely a good goblin because she makes something super tasty to eat called Mushroom Stew! It¡¯s got meat and mushrooms. I mean, what kind of genius is she toe up with something like that!?

    And Figurine is amazing because she sings me the mushroom song!

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-w ck-w!</i>

    <i>A-mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-w ck-w!</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-ck-w!</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Ah! A GUU¡¯Z! A GUU¡¯Z!</i>

    <i>GUU¡¯Z a GUUUU¡¯Z OOOOH It¡¯s a GUU¡¯Z!!!</i>

    Gweeheehee~

    I love that song so much!

    I haven¡¯t met GUU¡¯Z yet. But I heard from Truffle that even Prima and Sewwy¡¯s big-sister Deena can¡¯t beat it in a fight. I wonder if Button could? Button knows something called the Mushroom Fist. She used it to punch a many-spots to death with one punch! Even broke its whole mouth full of teeth and gave them to Husband as a¡­ what was it called again¡­ a tribute?

    Something like that.

    Button also told me Husband was tricky sometimes.

    I didn¡¯t think so until I saw what Melon brought him to eat.

    While I had a bowl of mushroom stew¡­ he had a triple-decker hamburger with mushrooms in some kind of brown mud on top!

    ¡°Husband twicky!¡± I said, pointing at him.

    ¡°Nope. Husband not do this with Chanterelle. Husband <em>not</em> tricky. Husband smart. Chanterelle not think Husband share tasty mushrooms with her? Husband get taste Chanterelle mushroom soup. Let Chanterelle taste Husband mushroom burger. Big-smart, yes?¡±

    My mouth dropped wide open.

    Gwowowowoh! Husband is really really smart!

    While Husband used the food-eating things called a fork and a knife to cut the big mushroom burger into smaller pieces for us to share, I tried using the spoony thing to feed Husband. I spilled a little on him trying to fit it in his small mouth but he didn¡¯t get upset.

    Husband is nice. He doesn¡¯t spank at all.

    Ivory spanks¡­ or so I¡¯m told.

    She hasn¡¯t spanked me yet, though.

    Sewwy said that Deena spanked her when she first used magic. She cried a lot. Said it wasn¡¯t fun at all to get spanked.

    I hope I don¡¯t get spanked.

    I heard it from the mushrooms in Truffle¡¯s room that Melon has a strong-one inside of her belly. She didn¡¯t eat it, so I don¡¯t know how it got there, but it¡¯s not a mushroom goblin like Truffle, Husband, Button, or me.

    Will it also be a big-fat goblin like big-sister Melon is when ites into the world?

    Melon and Figurine keep talking about wanting Husband to spend the night with them in Figurine¡¯s cave-hole. I don¡¯t know where exactly that is, but it¡¯s near Old One¡¯s room.

    Old One is kind of mean. She calls me azy goblin just like Truffle. Says I should be more like Button, but I¡¯m fine just being Chanty.

    After eating a whole bunch, Husband took me to the shit-pit and then brought me back to Truffle¡¯s room. That¡¯s a good thing, because I was ready to bezy after ying and eating.

    Husband woke Truffle up and she let me drink some milkies for a little bit and then we both went to sleep.

    I had a good dream.

    Just like Sewwy and Ebony, I could use magic too, but it was mushroom magic!

    I woke up when Truffle shook me.

    When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by lots and lots of mushrooms!

    ¡°Chanterelle. What you do?¡±

    I don¡¯t know what I did. What did I do?

    Truffle began to pick up some of the mushrooms and stepped out of the small cave-hole we slept in. She then yelled really loudly once she did.

    ¡°<b>WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF TRUFFLES MUSHROOMS!?</b>¡±

    I got up and stepped out too, only to see all of her mushrooms missing from the dirt shelves.

    I suddenly felt a lot of voices in my head all at once, asking me if I was in trouble.

    But I don¡¯t think I was¡­?

    Truffle turned back to look at me, and then looked down.

    I looked down too.

    All around me, mushrooms were wiggle-walking, surrounding me.

    Ivory came over from her cave-hole and saw what was going on. Then sheughed.

    Sheughed andughed and I thought she was crazy from how much sheughed.

    ¡°Stopughing, Ivory!¡±

    ¡°No! Too funny! How it feel to have strong-one who mushrooms love more than Truffle?¡±

    Truffle sat down and looked really sad.

    ¡°Mushrooms love Chanterelle more than Truffle?¡±

    All of the mushrooms slowly wiggle-walked over to Truffle and surrounded her.

    I could hear them all saying that they loved her very much.

    Truffle rubbed the tops of many of them and scooped a few of them up.

    ¡°Oh¡­ this nice. Not bad thing. Truffle not mad mushrooms love Chanterelle. So long as mushrooms know Truffle love mushrooms many many.¡±

    After a while, the mushrooms walked back to the dirt, but some of them needed help from Truffle to get back to the high ces they used to be. Only one mushroom didn¡¯t move.

    The special mushroom.

    Truffle looked at it for a moment and saw the ce that had a small bite taken out of it.

    ¡°Chanterelle. No lie to Truffle. You eat this one?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Small bite.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Only that mushroom not try go back. Truffle take great care to grow that mushroom special.¡±

    Truffle picked it up and inspected it for a while.

    ¡°Okay. Truffle understand.¡±

    She handed me the mushroom.

    ¡°This mushroom same as Bitey. Job Chanterelle take good care of it. Not eat this one anymore.¡±

    The big mushroom agreed to what Truffle said.

    I was kind of sad since it was tasty, but I also now have a new friend!

    Though¡­ I couldn¡¯t think of a name for it just yet, and I was still tired. I went back to sleep while Truffle stayed awake¡­ probably to take care of the mushrooms since she felt better knowing they loved her very much.

    When I woke up again, the special mushroom had grown bigger. Way bigger!

    It also had eyes and a mouth on the stalk.

    Husband was also in our cave-hole now for some reason and he was poking the special mushroom while Truffle watched with interest.

    ¡°This one Kino.¡± He said.

    ¡°Kino?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Mm. Thought first might be Take, but now sure <em>definitely</em> Kino.¡±

    ¡°Kino hear? Name Kino!¡± I told Kino.

    Kino wobbled around in a circle happily, identally falling once but getting up quickly.

    ¡°Truffle. Husband think maybe not good idea use color-spin-think powder when have strong-one inside now on.¡±

    ¡°No. Truffle use now, every time. Button special, Chanterelle special. Good idea use color-spin-think powder. Keep have special goblins.¡±

    Husband only shook his head.

    ¡°Whatever say. Husband only mushroom-Husband. Truffle one who make mushroom-goblins.¡±

    Truffle sat in Husband¡¯sp and offered him a mushroom to eat.

    ¡°Husband help make.¡±

    Husband ate half and put the other half in Truffle¡¯s mouth, then they hugged for a long time.

    After that, Husband took me to meet with my big sisters again. And I got to introduce them to Kino!

    But Kino is special, so I had to tell them not to eat Kino.

    When we went outside, Kino wanted to go see the field where big-sister Mint is always standing at.

    When Mint saw Kino, shepletely freaked out.

    ¡°What Myconid Emperor doing here!? Why outside of bottom floor Navara Deep Dungeon!?!?!¡±

    I ran over to where Kino was and patted Kino¡¯s pretty cap.

    ¡°Big-sister Mint! This Kino! Chanty friend.¡±

    Big-sister Mint froze.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ your friend?¡±

    Kino danced around Mint in a circle.

    ¡°Big-sister Mint like mushrooms?¡±

    ¡°Sure¡­ but¡­ that mushroom¡­ ah¡­ you¡¯re... sure... it¡¯s a¡­ friend?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Kino friend!¡±

    ¡°Kino?¡±

    ¡°Husband give name.¡±

    ¡°Of course he did¡­¡±

    Kino urged me to dance, and we both began doing the mushroom dance together.

    ¡°Haaah¡­ Why Mint ever think it good idea dost bloodmaw quest¡­?¡±

    Mint sat down and watched as Kino walked into the field. Then Kino¡¯s cap spread open wide and lots of spores came out andnded on the dirt. Mint quickly got onto her knees and stared at something, moving her hands in front of her body really quickly in a strange way.

    ¡°No¡­ way¡­ it¡­ unlocked!?¡±

    I had no idea what Mint was talking about.

    ¡°Chanterelle¡­ what is your mushroom¡­ doing?¡±

    After making spores, Kino was feelingzy.

    ¡°Bezy.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Big-sis Mint. Want push Chanty on swings?¡±

    Mint stared at Kino and then me and then Kino and then me again.

    ¡°World boss show up. Take spore shit on field next to Goblinhome. Yx even care anymore? Haaah¡­ why Mint not hit log out button when have chance?¡±

    I have no idea what she was talking about.

    Either way she took my hand, bringing me over to the swings where she pushed me and my other big-sisters.

    ying on swings, eating mushrooms, beingzy, and now I have a mushroom friend to do it with together¡­. This really<i>is</i>the life!

    <b>~~** Interlude | Somewhere Outside the Realm of Life and Death **~~</b>

    In what could be considered a mental reconstruction of what appeared to be a cavernous throne room, two formless beings manifested inside of it, as they had many times before.

    ¡°She gave you a mushroom, so you sent her<i>that</i>?¡±

    ¡°Correction. She gave us <em>both</em> mushrooms, and without wanting a single thing in return other than for us to enjoy how tasty they were.¡±

    ¡°¡­it was<i>just</i>a mushroom. You can find them anywhere you look in the damn world.¡±

    ¡°ra, are you jealous that I have a child who loves me so?¡±

    ¡°Tch. Who¡¯s jealous. And I have plenty of children who love me.¡±

    ¡°Like your little Saintess¡­ or should I say<i>my</i>little Saintess.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. Say whatever you want. One of yours is now one of mine.¡±

    ¡°She prayed once, at a statue in the center of the town because she thought it might reach me, since I am next to you in that ce.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you put up with that ugly¡­ icon.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s adorable. My children made it for me out of love and respect. Why wouldn¡¯t I like it?¡±

    One of the formless beings manifested the idea of divine alcohol and some elegant sses to drink it out of. It handed it over to the other one and toasted one-sidedly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll trust you to keep an eye on that one living alone for me.¡±

    ¡°Why should I?¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk. Are we not being amicable with each other after so long?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been how many thousands of years? We did it once, and we can do it again.¡±

    One of the formless beings manifested the idea of a divinely embroidered dress which revealed much, and yet nothing, while being absolutely alluring to the senses of the other.

    ¡°ra, ra¡­ not even an eternity can shake your beauty.¡±

    ¡°Hmph! You¡¯ve sent a Huntress, Shaman, Bone Lord, Blood Druid, and with my help, a Saintess. What do you n on sending next?¡±

    ¡°A Nightsmith, if I can get it right.¡±

    ¡°To the Orc?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s the most likely candidate.¡±

    ¡°What about the¡­ fat goblin?¡±

    ¡°Which one? The maker or the¡­ soon to be maker?¡±

    ¡°The daughter! Bad enough the Bone Lord and the Bloody Druid trespassed on Kamon¡¯s domain. I bet you have something devious nned for that one, considering the helping hand you lent while he was¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, I took care of Kamon already.¡±

    ¡°How? No. Wait¡­ I don¡¯t need to know. It can¡¯t be anything good if it¡¯sing from you.¡±

    ¡°No? Kamon is quite interested in the skeleton.¡±

    ¡°Forget Kamon. The daughter. Tell me.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to wait for the surprise?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re using all your divine pieces at once. I don¡¯t expect you will stop now.¡±

    ¡°True. But you¡¯ll just need to wait and see. It won¡¯t be long, anyway.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not the Hero, is it?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯ll at least tell you that much. It¡¯s not the Hero.¡±

    ¡°A Champion, then?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯m thinking of returning that to the Old One. There is a loophole to allow it.¡±

    ¡°There is also Yx.¡±

    ¡°Would you have Yx involved more than they already are?¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ are you preparing the Huntress to beget the Hero?¡±

    One of the formless beings dissolved and vacated the mental reconstruction of the cavernous throne room.

    ¡°You coward! Don¡¯t run away when I ask you an important question! Which one will beget the Hero!?¡±

    The other formless being dissolved and with it, the mental reconstruction of the cavernous throne room once more blinked out of existence¡­

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-eight â€“ In which Kiwi, a jack-of-all-trades goblin does her very best!

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-eight ¨C In which Kiwi, a jack-of-all-trades goblin does her very best!

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Kiwi **~~</strong>

    My Husband and my sisters are all so amazing. It¡¯s hard for me to find something I¡¯m good at that either an adult goblin or one of my big sister goblins aren¡¯t already amazing at. Forget fighting. While I have learned how to use different weapons for the hunt, I¡¯m by no means as good as the adult hunters like Prima and Jewel, or my big sisters Diana, Orchid, Lc, and Nova. When ites to magic, how can I possiblypare myself to Vera, ce, Ebony, or Selene? And as for making things? I¡¯m not as good at creating fun new games as Game and Toy are, or even when ites to making tasty food like big sister Melon is.

    I know Pear is disappointed that I¡¯m not a big fat goblin like she and Melon are so that Husband will love me lots, but it¡¯s not like I chose to be like this!

    I know I also disappoint Husband by always pestering him to as much as possible about everything he knows, unlike my sisters who only need to know a little bit and can do or make amazing things having only talked with him about something for a little bit.

    I think, sometimes, that¡¯s about the only thing I¡¯m good at¡ª<b>talking</b>.

    Well, I¡¯m also good at listening, too.

    That¡¯s why I thought I might try something different today. Recently, I became a big-sister goblin. Before that, I was the youngest strong-one in the tribe. As the youngest, I couldn¡¯t help but look up in amazement at all the amazing things my big-sister goblins could do that I couldn¡¯t. And when I see my little-sister goblin Gremory being carried around on Husband¡¯s shoulders all the time, ying with him, I can¡¯t help but think that she¡¯s also going to be more amazing a goblin than I am.

    That¡¯s why I wanted to see if there was something I could do better than any other goblin, and my idea came from something I had talked about with Husband.

    He had mentioned something called a<i>store</i>before. It¡¯s supposed to be something found in big ces that not-goblins gather outside of Goblinhome called<i>towns</i>. Basically, it¡¯s a gathering of outside cave-holes called<i>houses</i>made of tree-wood that not-goblins live inside of.

    There are people who make things and sell them to these big<i>houses</i>called<i>stores</i>that gather all kinds of things and make it easy to buy them.<i></i>ording to Husband, it¡¯s not only in a goblin¡¯s nature to bezy. A store is a ce where instead of having to go all over the ce to different cave-holes and order things, they can just make onezy trip to the<i>store</i>and get just about everything they could want or need.

    Husband taught me about something called<i>currency</i>or as it¡¯s better known as in the outside world:<i>money</i>. It¡¯s the same thing that we use now called<i>standing</i>, which is what goblins now use instead of just trading favors to other goblins in order to get the things they want.

    In the Goblin¡¯s Guild, there are requests put up on the wall¡ªa few specifically that never need toe down, and filling those requests are both an easy way to earn (and sometimes spend) standing. In fact, sometimes filling one request also fills another.

    In order to maximize earning standing when I started out, I went to talk with Ivory first about what bones she was low on that she needed and wound up hunting the beasties that usually had those exact bones. Whitefeathers, stripe-faces, king snakes, and even on two asions with help from Primrose and Selene, some many-horns were the bones in demand the most. ck-ws too, but that felt a bit dangerous for now. Most of the meat from those hunted beasties Melon used her Kitchen¡¯s standing budget to buy, and the pelts I had worked to strip cleanly off having been taught by Pepper were bought by both Pepper and the Orc, Krushka.

    Husband says what I was doing back then was properly creating and exploiting the economy of Goblinhome, and ruffled my hair, telling me he was proud of me for being the first goblin to really understand that.

    I don¡¯t think any words ever mattered to me more than hearing him say that.

    Game and Fun, when not busy in their workshop, often work at the Goblin¡¯s Guild when Vera or Husband aren¡¯t there to do so. They verify the things brought in and record the payment logs of<i>standing</i>to each goblin. They call it<i>calcting</i>and I had to spend some standing to learn how to do it. I¡¯ve also learned how to read and write<i>gob</i>, so I figured now was the best time to try my hand at doing something I might actually be good at.

    When talking about something called<imerce</i>with Husband, he mentioned that sometimes goblins and not-goblins may be unsure if they really need something they don¡¯t yet know serves a good purpose.

    For instance, there is a tool Husband told me about called a Fishing Rod. While Pepper wades into the Eastern stream and hunts fish with a spear, not everyone is that skilled to do so. Fish taste good but aren¡¯t as popr to eat as beasts are because they are tricky to catch. With the fishing rod, any goblin can catch a fish if they are willing to bezy for a little while, and that¡¯s most of the goblins in Goblinhome!

    So, I decided the first thing I wanted to try making and selling with<i>standing</i>were fishing rods. Initially, I wanted to use long bones, but they are a lot harder toe by than wood. So, I paid doll some standing to have her cut a tree down for me and chop it up into long pieces. I then took it to Toy and we worked on cutting and smoothing the pieces with the tools she has so that they would be long and easy to hold. Then I went to Pepper to see if she could make me some thin rope to attach to it. But Pepper is also a busy goblin. Instead, I wound up being sent to Crow who knew how to make thin rope just as good as Pepper did.

    Crow¡¯s injured leg doesn¡¯t leave her with much to do, and little way to earn standing. As a result, she was interested in doing something to stay active, and so I made a deal with her. I visited Ivory to see about having her make me the thing known as a<i>hook</i>which was used to catch fish. It¡¯s the thin fishbones that are the best for catching fish, surprisingly.

    I had to do the assembling myself, but at the cost of twenty-five total<i>standing</i>, I had managed to make ten fishing rods in total. If I sold them each for five<i>standing</i>, which was more than reasonable considering the amount of work I had to put in myself and pay for up front, I could double my total<i>standing</i>if I managed to sell them all.

    However, the only goblins that know how to use a fishing rod are Husband and myself, so, no matter what goblin I tried to get to buy it, they weren¡¯t all that interested.

    Except one.

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ is that¡­ a fishing rod?¡±

    Husband had seen me sitting outside by the fire pit dangling a piece of meat from a bone hood at the end of one of my fishing rods while sitting on a log.

    ¡°Yes. I tried making it as you described.¡±

    ¡°Mind if I see it?¡±

    I handed it over and Husband yed around with it for a bit, mentioning something about it needing a bit more rope, and that something called a<i>reel</i>was probably not possible to include on it just yet. He admired the bone<i>hook</i>saying that it looked nice, and that all it was really missing was a small weight on it.

    My curiosity got the better of me, as it usually did, and I once again pestered Husband to tell me what was wrong with it.

    ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong with this. It¡¯s really well made, Kiwi. I was just talking about things you could consider<i>upgrades</i>to this rod.¡±

    ¡°<i>Upgrades</i>? What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Ah, let¡¯s say you make something, but you think<i>oh, I wish what I have could do this or that, or do something it already does a bit easier or simpler.</i>That¡¯s an upgrade. Let¡¯s take this fishing rod for example. The string on it is good and tight, but with it only being this long, you have to constantly stand close to the water. With a longer string, you can cast the string into the water and sit ory down on the bank instead of having to constantly stand and hold it. I have noints about the<i>hook</i>, since it¡¯s perfect already, but there are many different kinds of<i>hooks</i>which the design, shape, and material of can possibly attract different kinds of fish. If one was made of metal, sometimes the sunlight might hit it and make it shine, which will make a fish think it¡¯s something they can eat and want to try biting it not knowing they¡¯ll get hooked. Then there¡¯s the weight¡­ something just a little bit heavy and not<i>buoyant</i>¡­ uh¡­ not something that floats. If the string sinks easily then that opens up the opportunity for fish that swim deep toe across the hook. There¡¯s more to it, but I really think you¡¯ve done a great job with the resources you have avable.¡±

    I listened carefully to what Husband said, even some of the words he used that weren¡¯t<i>gob</i>and I had a little trouble understanding at first. I asked more about the different kinds of<i>hooks</i>he talked about, and the<i>weight</i>and how it was supposed to fit on the thin rope. Usually by this point, Husband would get this look on his face and say to me ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Kiwi, but that¡¯s all I really know about it.¡±

    However, that didn¡¯t happen this time.

    ¡°Hey kiddo, want to go fishing with your old man?¡±

    I did.

    I wanted to go fishing with Husband very much.

    So, I went to go fetch another fishing rod for us to use.

    Husband picked me up and put me on his shoulders, and then the two of us with our fishing rods in hand headed East from Goblinhome to the stream. Right about when we got there, Husband pointed out a particr spot where the bushes ended and there was only grass leading to the stream.

    ¡°You know the story about Diana Artemis and me hunting the ck-ws, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard it. What about it?¡±

    ¡°This was the ce where it ended. I had used some hasting magic and we ran from this big tree a bit back all the way here. Doll was in the stream with her tree-chopping axe with four ck-ws ready to attack her. Prima, Jewel, Me, and Diana were right here. I had to use a wind spell to knock the four ck-ws into the water. It was myst bit of mana before I sumbed to mana fatigue and fell on my butt. The four of them managed to kill the ck-ws and rescue Doll. After that, I was dragged back to Goblinhome. I feel a bit sad knowing there was nothing I could do to save Beast-talker, but I¡¯m d everyone else lived.¡±

    I¡¯ve heard some of my older big-sister goblins talk about it, but as for the exact details, never this specific. That story is something of a legend told to us younger goblins. Diana Artemis is very much the epitome of a big-sister goblin. Even more now that she¡¯s the head of her own Moon n, and that both she and Berry have undergone a Blood Fury.

    While there are a couple of my big-sister goblins who think Button is stronger, I don¡¯t believe it. When Nova was teaching me how to use a sword, Diana Artemis was watching and offered to spar with me. I have never seen a goblin who could move and react as fast as she could. Not even Prima, and she is a master at dodging and countering almost any attack with her spear!

    The way Husband exined the story in detail, I could feel how proud he was of Diana Artemis. And howpletely he trusted her. He never once doubted her ability or her ce as the next Guardian of the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe.

    She was barely older than me when this happened.

    For us younger goblins, which is essentially everyone not an adult goblin already, Diana Artemis is like this huge imprable, impassable wall we can never measure up to. And here I am, in such a famous spot, wasting Husband¡¯s time¡­ going fishing.

    Setting me down on the ground, I stood close to the stream and held my fishing rod out, letting the hook sink into the water.

    Husband stood next to me but didn¡¯t put his hook into the water.

    ¡°Eager to catch something so soon?¡± He asked, with a bit of augh.

    ¡°Am I not fishing the right way?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ there is a step missing.¡±

    Husband reached for the string and showed me the hook on the end of his fishing rod.

    ¡°Fishing is just like an economy. You can¡¯t expect to just catch a fish for free.¡±

    I lifted my fishing rod and brought my hook out of the water.

    ¡°Then how am I supposed to catch one?¡±

    ¡°Bait. We¡­ need something to put<i>on</i>the hook that will make a fish interested in biting it. Only then can we reel them in.¡±

    ¡°What are fish interested in?¡±

    ¡°Worms, flies, generally anything like an insect or bug. You can think of it like one of Berry¡¯s poison traps. Well, we don¡¯t want to use poison since we¡¯ll be eating these, but we¡¯re pretty much tricking the fish into thinking that it¡¯s going to get an easy free meal, then when it¡¯s caught on the hook, it won¡¯t even realize that it¡¯s going to be<i>our</i>meal until it¡¯s toote. And all it costs us is a worm or two.¡±

    ¡°But we don¡¯t have any worms. Or flies.¡±

    ¡°True, but¡­ do you think there aren¡¯t any all around us?¡±

    Husband put his fishing rod down and walked back towards the bushes. He used hisnd magic to raise some pirs of dirt and then said ¡°Aha!¡± before returning with two worms, handing me one.

    ¡°Don¡¯t eat that. Watch what I do, and then do the same, okay?¡±

    I nodded.

    Husband carefully stabbed the worm onto the hook, moving it so that it was a bit down on the loop before holding out his rod and dunking the hook into the water. The worm was still squirming even in the water.

    ¡°When the fish see a squirming worm, they¡¯ll go for it. It might take a while for them to notice it though. Patience is the name of the game when ites to fishing.¡±

    I followed Husband¡¯s words and put the worm he gave me onto my fishing rod¡¯s hook and then held it out, dunking the hook adorned with a squirming worm into the water. The two of us just stood there, waiting, with nothing happening. No fish trying to eat either of our worms at all. I decided to ask him a question, since I thought talking about anything was better than just standing around in silence.

    ¡°Husband, since you had a strong-one with Lumi, and big-sister Melon says her strong-one wille into the world in less than a moon, are you not thinking about making a strong-one with Diana Artemis?¡±

    Husband gently swished his fishing rod a few times before answering.

    ¡°Well, Diana is doing her best to try and make one with me every chance she gets, but it¡¯s not like I¡¯m in any hurry for her to have one. I¡¯m sure when it¡¯s the right time, it¡¯ll happen. I certainly never thought Lumi would be the first of my daughters to¡­ well¡­ make a¡­¡±

    Husband seemed to be unsure how to finish his thought. Was it because Gremory was a bit different from us in appearance, having wings and a tail?

    ¡°I¡¯m not actually sure if she¡¯s not both my daughter and granddaughter at the same time¡­¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just easier to say she¡¯s your strong-one?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess calling her that in<i>gob</i>makes it way lessplicated than it needs to be.¡±

    ¡°Do you think big-sister Melon¡¯s strong one will be a fat goblin like she and Pear are?¡±

    ¡°Could be.¡±

    ¡°Husband prefers fat goblins, right?¡±

    ¡°Hm? What makes you think that?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell Pear that you wanted her to make you chubby goblins for the rest of her life.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like something I¡¯d say. But it¡¯s not like I prefer them over any other goblin.¡±

    ¡°Then why tell her that?¡±

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ your mother¡­ hmm¡­ how do I put this? The fact that Pear is a very adventurous chubby goblin makes me<i>seriously</i>enjoy both making strong-ones with her and wasting big-seed with her. Really, I just like that she¡¯s squishy. She¡¯s very enjoyable to hug after we¡­ um¡­¡±

    ¡°Make strong-ones?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Then you also like Melon because she¡¯s fat and squishy too?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s certainly not the only reason, but yes, I love giving her squishy hugs too.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ what about me?¡±

    Husbandughed all of a sudden.

    ¡°Kiwi, do you think I wouldn¡¯t enjoy your hugs just because you aren¡¯t a chubby goblin?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you are saying?¡±

    ¡°No, baby girl. I love your hugs just as much as Pear¡¯s or Melon¡¯s. Oh!¡±

    Suddenly, Husband held onto his fishing rod firmly and pulled it upwards, taking a few steps back. The sound of sshing water filled my ears and with a small grunt, Husband had yanked the fishing rod high up over his head and a small fish was dangling on the end of the tiny rope.

    ¡°Looks like we managed to catch one!¡±

    Husband brought the fishing rod to a standing position and held on to the fish with one hand, tucking the fishing rod in his armpit, and used his now freed hand to pull the bone hook out of the mouth of the small fish.

    ¡°It¡¯s a sturdy rod. Could do with having a bit more flexibility, but really, noints so far considering the materials you had to work with.¡±

    Husband put the fishing rod down and then used hisnd magic to make a small pot hardened from grass and dirt. Then he dunked it in the stream to fill it with water before putting the fish he caught in it, leaving it on the ground just behind where he was standing.

    My fishing rod still didn¡¯t have a single bite. I¡¯m pretty sure my worm was dead by now, too. Husband went to go fetch a new worm to put on his hook and quickly returned to the bank of the stream, sitting down next to me.

    ¡°Want to sit in myp while we wait for the fish to bite?¡±

    I eagerly sat down in hisp, leaning back against his chest while the two of us held onto our rods.

    ¡°This brings back good memories¡­ When I was a strong-one, I used to go fishing with my father once or twice a moon or so. He taught me everything I know about fishing.¡±

    I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard about Husband¡¯s maker¡¯s Husband before from any conversations I¡¯ve had with him or any other goblin before.

    ¡°What kind of goblin was your maker¡¯s Husband?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. He was a fair man, if not a bit stricter than me. He worked a lot, since his job was to make money by selling things to people in order to support our family¡­ uh¡­ our n¡­ and on his days off, he tried to spend what time he could with my mother and me and my siblings.¡±

    ¡°He sold things?¡±

    ¡°Oh yes. He was a<i>businessman</i>, and so worked from sunup to sundown five out of every seven days at a minimum. Thanks to his hard work, the life I was able to live growing up from a strong-one into an adult was rather luxuriouspared to many other families¡­ ns¡­<i>whatever</i>.¡±

    Husband talked about his former n in depth as the two of us sat there holding fishing rods that received no bites from any fish. The strange thing about his story was that Husband¡¯s maker¡¯s Husband didn¡¯t have more than one goblin he made strong ones with. Only five strong-ones in total came into the world and the third one was Husband. ording to Husband, his next younger brother-goblin was kind of like Vera, which is why caring for her in his cave-hole is something he demanded Prima to let him do.

    But that wasn¡¯t all he had to say.

    ¡°So, before Husband became an adventurer, he also sold things?¡±

    ¡°Yes. While not the same exact things that my father did, after attending a ce where I learned worldly things for a long time, I joined apany just as my father had long before me and sold plenty of things just as he did. I didn¡¯t have anyone at the time to¡­ take care of, like I do the adult goblins here in Goblinhome. I lived by myself and either saved my money, hoping I might find someone in the future to spend it on who might end up living with and making strong-ones together with me, or spend it on things to decorate my apartment¡­ uh¡­ cave-hole with that I enjoy.¡±

    ¡°Things like games, and the big bath?¡±

    ¡°Most cave-holes came with a smaller bath, but yeah, for sure there were plenty of games. I even had a collection of¡­<i>figurines</i>.¡±

    ¡°Figurine?¡±

    ¡°Think of it as something simr to smaller statues like the two found in Lumi¡¯s chapel. Not much bigger than my hand and they would decorate shelves in my room. They would bring me great pleasure to look at.¡±

    ¡°What was your favorite figurine to look at?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s a toss-up. I had a game I used to y every day for years about a group of female soldiers led by amander who tried to reim the surface hundreds of moons after humanity had to retreat to an underground city to live in or face extinction from the rapture queen¡ªa big metal golem that sought to destroy everything and rule the world as the supreme civilization. Rather than say I had a single favorite one to look at, I would enjoy collecting as many of them as I could since each of them were different and enjoyable in their own way, just like all of the adult goblins and my daughters are.¡±

    I suddenly felt something pull on my fishing rod. I gripped it tightly and let Husband know. He put his down and held onto mine with me while I stood up first. Husband moved to the side from behind me and cheered me on as I struggled to take steps backward and lift the fishing rod up high, eventually managing to bring the sshing struggling fish out of the water. It wasn¡¯t much bigger than the one Husband caught earlier, but I felt happy that I was able to also catch one now!

    ¡°Great going, Kiwi!¡± Husband cheered me on.

    With the fish dangling from the end of the tiny rope, Husband helped me undo the hook from its mouth and put it into the stone bucket with the other fish he had caught.

    Once more his hand pressed down upon my head and ruffled my hair.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this fun? This is the kind ofziness your daddy can get behind.¡±

    ¡°You like beingzy?¡±

    I actually found that to be shocking information. Husband was<i>always</i>busy!

    ¡°Sure. While being busy and productive is a good trait to have, if you¡¯re always busy¡­ then you¡¯ll eventually be worn out. Taking time every so often to bezy and enjoy the things you¡¯ve worked hard for is important for your personal growth as a goblin. For me, a nicezy day is taking a long warm bath and then ying with my daughters. I would certainly count going fishing with my baby girl as an enjoyablezy day to have.¡±

    ¡°GGGRRRARK! GRARK!¡±

    Catching us from surprise from behind, arge ck beast had suddenly appeared!

    Husband quickly extended his arms and stood in front of me protectively.

    While I had never seen one alive before, I knew exactly what it was¡ªa ck-w!

    ¡°Shit. This isn¡¯t good. Stay behind me, Kiwi¡­ Daddy¡­ will do something.¡±

    I could see well enough to know that this ck-w, even though it was only this one, was already nning on hunting us both.

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ how¡¯s your throwing arm?¡± Husband asked me all of a sudden.

    ¡°Want me to try and find a stone in the stream?¡±

    ¡°No. Reach in the pot and throw a fish close to it. Stay behind me while you do, okay?¡±

    Listening to Husband, I reached into the nearby pot and pulled one of the two fish out, throwing it right in front of the ck-w. We both watched as it was on full alert for a moment, before sniffing the air and taking a tentative step forward to sniff it. Then opening its mouth to grab it off the ground and begin chewing and swallowing it.

    While it ate the fish, I don¡¯t think that was enough of an offering to let us go.

    ¡°Kiwi. I want to lock it down with somend magic. I want you to throw the other fish so that it will be distracted enough while eating for me to do so. After that, the two of us are going to run. Forget about the rods, okay?¡±

    ¡°Why not kill it.¡±

    ¡°I would never forgive myself if something happened to you, Kiwi.¡±

    ¡°I might not be Diana Artemis, but I can fight, too.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt that. But do you have a weapon?¡±

    ¡°No, but¡­ will you trust me?¡±

    Husband was quiet, locking eyes with the ck-w.

    ¡°I trust you. Throw the fish or we won¡¯t even have a chance to find out how much I trust you.¡±

    I lobbed thest remaining fish at the ck-w again, and it once more cautiously approached it to snatch it up.

    All of a sudden,nd rose up around all four legs of the ck w and solidified quickly, locking it into ce.

    I rushed forward, hearing Husband yell at me to be careful.

    I might not be as strong as my sisters, but I knew a few things.

    ¡°Kiwi-ken Upper!¡±

    Shouting the name of my attack as Button had taught me to do, since it made attacks more powerful, I dove forward into a roll just under the ck-w¡¯s face and sprung up with a tightly clenched fist, impacting the underside of its maw and snapping its head upwards and back, hearing a satisfying crack as I did.

    ¡°Kiwi-ken w Barrage!¡±

    I then began to sh at its vulnerable neck as fast as I could with a series of shing strikes with my bare hands before leaping backwards out of range of any counterattack.

    But it was unnecessary.

    Its throat was heavily torn and it half-copsed, held up only by the stone surrounding its legs. The head of the ck-w hung limply, blood pouring out onto the ground.

    Husband had quickly secured it further, raising morend around it and solidifying it into stone so that even if the ck-w was still alive, it wouldn¡¯t be able to escape. Then he came to check on me.

    ¡°Kiwi, are you alright?¡±

    I nodded. I was perfectly fine.

    ¡°How did I do?¡±

    Husband chopped the top of my head with his hand, but didn¡¯t say a word. Instead, he knelt down and pulled me into a hug.

    ¡°You did great, baby girl. You did great.¡±

    It was a while before Husband let go of me, not that I minded. He could have hugged me forever and that would have been fine.

    We had lost the fish we had caught, and even one of the rods. The hook attached to the tiny rope on Husband¡¯s fishing rod was still in the water of the stream and something must have pulled it in while we were dealing with the ck-w.

    Husband carefully inspected the ck-w for a while before deciding it was dead enough to remove the stone bonds he had created, securing it in ce.

    ¡°I think we should head back now. I¡¯ll handle this guy, you keep an eye out for anything else that might be trying to hunt us, okay Kiwi?¡±

    I agreed. Husband grabbed hold of the back legs with both hands, dragging the body behind him slowly. It took us a while to get back to Goblinhome, along the way Husband asked me when I learned how to fight like that.

    ¡°Button gives lessons. She says all her sisters should know a little about the<i>swirly-whirly</i>to keep themselves safe.¡±

    Truthfully, I didn¡¯t understand the whole<i>swirly-whirly</i>thing she talked about, but the lessons I had taken with Prima, Diana, and Nova had taught me enough that a weapon wasn¡¯t the only weapon a goblin had. Our ws were sharp for a reason, and that reason was to hunt. Button has her own martial art called the Mushroom Fist, but says that since I am a fruit-goblin, I should discover my own martial art.

    The result, of course, is my Kiwi-ken Fist.

    ¡°I can¡¯t beat Button or Figurine with it, though. Those two are just too strong. Everyone is¡­ too strong.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay. The purpose of learning a martial art isn¡¯t for beating someone¡­ it¡¯s for protecting yourself and the people you care about, and that¡¯s exactly what you did. While it might have been safer to run away, I¡¯m still incredibly proud of you, Kiwi.¡±

    I held the remaining fishing rod in my hand and swished it about as I basked in the praise Husband gave me.

    He was proud of me!

    Me, who wasn¡¯t better at a single thing than any of my big-sisters were¡­

    There was nothing that dared to hunt us in the forest on the way back to Goblinhome. When we got back, Husband asked me if he could have the bones and skin of the ck-w. He said he had something important in mind for them. I didn¡¯t mind, since he made it possible for us to kill it in the first ce.

    With some help from Pepper, Melon, Ste, Ivory and even Diana Artemis, the ck-w was quickly disassembled and butchered. Melon had taken a bit of the meat to cook with, but left much of it for what cameter. Husband asked the entire tribe toe out to the fire-pit when it became dark, and everyone was given some of the ck-w to eat. I think there might have been part of another ck-w added because the one we brought back couldn¡¯t have possibly had that much meat on it.

    Goblins eat a lot, especially tasty bloody meat!

    While eating, Husband recounted the story of us going out to fish at the stream, recounted the part of the story of Diana and Husband¡¯s hunt where they reached the stream to rescue Doll, and then recounted the story of Husband and me fighting the single ck-w who thought us easy prey!

    The way he told it was a bit more borate than what happened, but everyone was listening intently and giving me nods of approval. Diana Artemis told me she was d I am bing a strong goblin who can protect Husband.

    Diana Artemis said that!

    I didn¡¯t protect him, though¡­ he¡­

    I could see something in her eyes that told me nothing I would say would matter at this point. This was her judgment of my kill. Of my and Husband¡¯s kill¡­

    Button and Prima had also given me approving nods as they ate some of the bloody ck-w meat.

    Riding some kind of high, Husband invited me to spend the night with him in his cave-hole. I held onto him tight as we talked about many more things. Especially on how to improve the fishing rod. I slept well, only to wake up and find Husband gone.

    Husband had been busy the next day, but I tried not to let that bring my spirits down.

    Instead, Primrose, Selene, Chanterelle asked me to tell the story again to them, which I did, happily. Lumi was there too with my little sister goblin Gremory, giving us all pushes on the swings.

    After that, I returned to Pear¡¯s cave-hole and tried to understand the part called a<i>reel</i>that Husband said would be important to the new fishing rod I wanted to make. It would be another whole day before I saw Husband again.

    At that time, he had something for me.

    It was some kind of ck-w clothing. Husband had been working with Pepper to make it. The top half of the ck-w¡¯s head was able to rest on my head or be pulled back. The back of the ck-w became like a cloak that covered my back, down to my butt where the tail was. And two front paws came across my chest, tied with a bit of thin rope. There was also a ne he gave me¡ªall of the bottom teeth from the ck-w strung together, proof of my kill.

    But that wasn¡¯t all.

    He had made me a grand weapon, too!

    Modeled a bit after<i>Ripper</i>, part of Diana¡¯s original grand weapons Ripper and Bleed, two long bone-ws made from sharpened bone done by Ivory and some sharpened metal on the undersides of the bone-ws added by Dara who lives under Husband¡¯s cave-hole. They had some padding on the insides so that they would fitfortably on my arms. They also could be attached to my new clothes so that I didn¡¯t have to wear them all the time. I could just put them on when I was ready to hunt.

    There was also something else. There was a pocket of some kind that had been made out of the belly-skin from the ck-w on the inside so that I could store things I wanted to carry or keep hidden inside of it.

    Even ce¡¯s Shaman¡¯s clothes weren¡¯t as amazing as mine!

    I found myself exceptionally busy after that. Not only the modifications to the fishing rod, I also began to try and make a few new things that didn¡¯t exist yet in Goblinhome. Getting permission from Vera, I was allowed to use a small bit of space behind the Goblin¡¯s Guild counter to run my new<i>store</i>.

    I had all sorts of interesting things I thought goblins might want to buy now.

    With help from Dara, I managed to create the<i>reel</i>Husband spoke of, increased the length of the thin rope, and added a small smooth stone Vera helped me make withnd magic. Now any goblin could fishzily! Husband even agreed to go fishing with any goblins who bought them and wanted to learn how to use it!

    I also made some of the<i>figurines</i>Husband talked about out of small bones, only they were all designed after my big sister goblins. I even made ones to resemble ck-ws and Husband too! Turns out, they became popr as recement chess-pieces!

    Husband is naturally the King piece.

    Game and Fun, seeing that goblins came almost every day to my new store talked about having the things they make be sold in my shop. There were a few things that I didn¡¯t sell¡ªIvory¡¯s bone charms and Truffle¡¯s color-spin-think powder. Those are items those two are best known for and I didn¡¯t want to take away all their business.

    I did, however, buy manymon items made from bone from Ivory, since if they were readily avable, goblins would buy them. Chanterelle had actually started her own little mushroom farm, and she wanted me to sell them for her because she was toozy to sell them herself. Apparently, they are mushrooms made by Kino¡¯s spores. They have a¡­ unique taste. But they certainly aren¡¯t bad. Big-sister Melon made a soup out of them, and it was actually pretty tasty.

    Turns out, Husband had used some of the ck-w leg bones to make some kind of outer bone-leg for Crow with help from Dara, along with a metal stick that let her move a bit more freely. While slow, she could even make it upstairs to the Goblin¡¯s Guild on her own.

    So now, Crow watches my store while I go about my day making or sourcing things to be sold there.

    All in all, things are going greattely. I have earned way more standing than I thought possible.

    Crow has also recently been in a good mood. Husband managed to put another strong-one inside of her belly. I¡¯m happy for her. Crow says it¡¯ll soon be time for the strong-one inside my big-sister Melon toe into the world.

    I wonder, will it be a fat goblin like she is, or a skinny goblin like me?

    Crow tells me not to worry. When I get bigger, Husband will help me be an adult goblin and give me a strong-one of my own. I¡¯m looking forward to it, but time is money, and I have a lot more standing I want to earn before then.

    Until then, I will do my best with my store and continue to make Husband proud of me.

    The only store in all of Goblinhome¡ªKiwi¡¯s Lazy-buy! We have things goblins want to buy!

 Chapter Sixty-one â€“ In which Ark gets Throngled by all the right goblins.

    Chapter Sixty-one ¨C In which Ark gets Throngled by all the right goblins.

    When I woke up, I found the straw bed was missing a goblin. But that¡¯s to be expected. Prima was upholding her end of the deal, keeping an eye on my three daughters as they went on their first hunt. It¡¯s not Diana I¡¯m truly worried about. I¡¯ve seen her dash into a tight space full of spikes and slit the throat of a huge fuckin¡¯ wolf. I know <i>she</i>can handle it. Orchid and Lc aren¡¯t proven yet, not that I can say with great enthusiasm that I want those two going out and putting themselves in danger so soon, but I do ept that it is a part of this¡­<i>Goblin Way</i>.

    While prima was out, and my mana felt mostly replenished, I decided to do a little organizing for her. I know my main goblin wife is proud of her status as the tribe¡¯s Guardian, so I wanted to make her room a bit more appealing. Aside from finishing her bedroom, making it simr to Berry¡¯s, I also ttened the wall on the South side of her cave. The purpose for doing so was simple; Prima has a fuck-ton of weapons. I don¡¯t know how she got them, and considering these goblins don¡¯t have a forge, it¡¯s either by taking them from bodies, or having them gifted by the Great Protector. Both seemed quite feasible, but without her telling me, it¡¯s only spection.

    I admit to having a secondary purpose, and that was to see if she had my knife. It was made of Vernir, which was some kind of alloy that got mixed with iron or steel. Vernir was highly sought after and difficult to obtain because it was the only known metal that didn¡¯t lose durability when having the Runes of formic magic engraved onto it. Aside from weapons which had a divine blessing, such as a Holy Sword, if someone wanted a magic weapon, say¡­ a spear that could freeze anything that it pierced, it had to be made from Vernir. Well, if it was going to survive more than a few activations of said magic.

    My knife had a single enchantment on it, but it was meant to be a practical one. It dispelled everything it came in contact with. Blood, acid, rust, magically strengthened hides of creatures. I had nned ahead, thinking it would be really stupid if somehow when I was adventuring, I might fight a dragon or basilisk or god only knows, and couldn¡¯t bring back proof to the guild because a regr shitty iron knife wasn¡¯t up to the task.

    So, making many stone hookse out from the wall withnd magic, I began sorting and hanging up all of the weapons just lying there in the pile. There wasn¡¯t any kind of treasure to be found. No bizarre weapon lost to the ages with a seriously ominous name like<i>The Throngler.</i>

    Which was good, because I didn¡¯t want to wind up<i>Throngled</i>.

    There was no sign of my knife, sadly. The only thing of mine that was here in Prima¡¯s cave-hole, was my old Guild Card. I had half a thought to update it again, but before I could entertain the other half, Prima had returned.

    And she was looking kind of pissed off at me.

    ¡°Why Ark not make Prima great weapon?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Prima struggled with some words.

    ¡°Not know how say! Orchid have Fear-fang, Lc have Crunch-maul! ¡±

    ¡°Fearfang? Crunchmaul?¡±

    And here I was worried about<i>The Throngler.</i>

    ¡°Ark not see hunt! Redboar drink from stream. Diana sneak behind, stab in shithole, run fast to big tree. Jump and climb tree quick. Lc and Orchid wait behind bush. Redboar smash head in tree. Lc jump out from bush, swing Fear-fang and rip back leg off like bite! Orchid jump out from bush, smash leg other side, hear big crunch far away. Then Orchid spin body and smash point end at front leg. Diana jump down on Redboar back and stab head many many times like ck-bear.¡±

    Prima¡¯s hand covered and groped her whole face.

    ¡°Ark. When eight moons, go with Old One, Jewel, Doll on hunt. Not strong ones anymore. Time kill more than rabbit, fox, small beast. First time hunt Redboar. Prima stab many times with spear, only make mad. Jewel shoot many arrows, only make mad. Doll sh axe at body, only make mad. Old One watch, tell what do. Run away, leap to side, stab, shoot, chop. It take many many time! What Prima see today¡­ Not goblin way.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s not the goblin way? Is there a certain way to hunt? Isn¡¯t the goal to kill things while being as safe as possible?¡±

    ¡°What Ark do big seed make strong ones? Why can strong ones hunt Redboar so soon?¡±

    She¡­ was she frustrated about this!?

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything with my big seed, Prima. I just gave it to each of you like you wanted me to. As for why they can hunt so well, isn¡¯t that because you showed Diana how? She¡¯s a smart little goblin. She¡¯s been teaching those two how to hunt since the day they were born. She also gave them the leg bones from one of the ck-ws that we all killed. She probably saw what the both of them could do with the weapons and came up with that way of hunting. I did tell her it was fine to use her head to think of the best way to fight while keeping her sisters safe.¡±

    ¡°No. She not know how strong weapons are. Diana spend long time make Orchid and Lc hit body until learn. After, look at knife same as Prima look at spear. Never see human weapon like one Ark make.¡±

    Prima looked towards the pile of weapons that should have been there. Then she turned her head to nce at the wall that was full of those same weapons, but now organized in a decorative but efficient way.

    A secondter, I was slugged right in the stomach by a grumpy goblin.

    ¡°Why Ark touch my things!?¡±

    I had doubled over and fell to my knees. It hurt quite a bit, but I could still breathe fine. I¡¯d been hit by Prima before, and I didn¡¯t think of it like domestic violence. She¡¯s just a hot tempered goblin. Plus, I did touch her things when she explicitly told me not to.

    ¡°I thought¡­ you might¡­. like it. Show off all¡­ your nice¡­ weapons to any goblin that¡­.es to visit. Remind them¡­ that you are their¡­ Guardian.¡±

    She harrumphed. ¡°Not have fat belly, not have great weapon!¡±

    ¡°Prima, I said I¡¯d stay here until it was. That was our deal.¡± I reminded her.

    ¡°Go. Eat. Make more big seed and keep trying until keep deal!¡±

    ¡°Go¡­ eat?¡±

    Come to think of it, she wasn¡¯t carrying around a piece of fire-meat for me.

    ¡°Diana say tell Husbande eat in Berry cave-hole.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ She did tell me that she¡¯d invite me to a meal. Alright, permission to go eat?¡±

    ¡°Why need permission?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say I wouldn¡¯t leave your cave-hole until your belly was fat?¡±

    ¡°Stupid Husband! Prima not want cave-hole smell like stinky fire meat! Go ande back!¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    She shooed me out of her cave-hole, and my destination was to the residence of my sweet Berry and brave huntress, Diana. When I got there, there was a lot of meat jutting out of two of the big pots I made for Berry¡¯s countertop. One was bloody, the other was not.

    Berry, Lily, Diana, Lc, and Orchid were all waiting for me to join them. There were two tusks on the ground, each next to Lily¡¯s daughters.

    ¡°Husband! We hunt Redboar!¡± Diana had proudly eximed, handing me a thankfully-not-huge rear leg of partially burnt boar meat.

    I would kill for salt and pepper right now. Well, the non-goblin kind of pepper. When I¡¯m done taking care of Prima, I¡¯ll go sample the other Pepper. And Crow. Those two have unfortunately not been shown nearly enough affection by me.

    As I sat down and joined my two families, Diana, Orchid, and Lc all took turns telling me about their hunt, even though I had heard it from Prima already. It¡¯s a father¡¯s duty to listen to his children express themselves. I don¡¯t want to be considered the kind of daddy who would put a smartphone in their hands and let someone else raise my children.

    The story went a bit different hearing it from them.

    Berry and Lily were weak goblins as far as the goblin way of hunting entailed. But, their weakness was only in physical strength. These goblins had brains and knew how to use them. After all, if they didn¡¯t, they¡¯d starve. The girls had gone out to hunt with their mothers from like the fourth day or so after they were born, and their mothers could move again properly after giving birth to them. During that time, my daughters learned what could be considered a cowardly goblin¡¯s way of hunting. Lily is a master of covering tracks, and Diana had been going on hunts with Prima, so it was easy for Diana to impart her knowledge of hunting to Orchid and Lc.

    Diana chose to hunt at the stream because she recognized the strategic advantage of the bushes we hid behind when we went to rescue Doll from the ck-ws before I used my wind magic to st them into the stream.

    Diana had drawn its attention by stabbing it in the asshole. Yeah. That¡¯ll piss off<i>any</i>wild animal and have them see red. Maximum aggro from the start. I don¡¯t know if Diana is the tank or just the puller. Orchid and Lc came in from behind on either side of it after the Redboar mmed into the tree Diana leapt onto and climbed. Orchid had shed at its back leg with the aim of severing it at what was essentially the thigh joint in one stroke as I had taught her. The Redboar, down to three legs and before it could even respond in anger to Orchid¡¯s sneak attack, had be a victim to Lc, who had smashed the bone-hammer full force into the hind femur on the boar¡¯s other side, breaking the bone and crippling itpletely. Diana did her thing, dropping on top of the boar and keeping it in a state of panic while she stabbed it in every orifice she could find to finish it off. Orchid spun her body backwards at this point, and with a pivot, had brought the full momentum her body could muster with swinging the spiked end of her bone-hammer, driving it deep into the Redboar¡¯s front leg.

    The miserable thing couldn¡¯t even thrash about in its final moments. They massacred itpletely.

    Diana then gave me a look that was impossible to misunderstand.

    It was simply:<i>Where¡¯s my amazing weapon?</i>

    At this point, the three of them understood that as strong as they were, they couldn¡¯t move therge body of the Redboar. Orchid, who had observed what I did carefully to the dirt pir, and what I exined about the saw part of the bone-saw weapon, had begun to dismantle limbs immediately for them to carry back. It was just their luck that Prima,<i>who was conveniently hunting in a nearby area</i>, had<i>heard the noise the Redboar made crashing into the tree</i>, and came to investigate. So, with a bit of avable help from a physically stronger Prima, they had managed to bring it all back, though partially dismembered.

    Lily¡¯s daughters then presented me with the trophy of their hunt. The two front tusks of the Redboar.

    ¡°Daddy proud? We not get hurt!¡±

    ¡°Yeah! We kill Redboar easy after listen daddy!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m proud of all of you, but not because you killed it. I¡¯m proud because you worked together well to kill it! I¡¯m very proud of all three of you showing me how great the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe can be when they work together!¡±

    ¡°Husband¡­¡± Diana looked at me, ¡°Why Diana Artemis not get strong weapon?¡±

    Iughed. ¡°You mean the long knife Berry gave you, that killed a huge bear, sevenrge ck-ws, and now a Redboar isn¡¯t strong enough for you?¡±

    Diana actually pouted at me for a moment.

    ¡°I suppose I can make something.¡± I said to appease her. ¡°Do you have an idea of a weapon you would like?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care. I just want a strong weapon too!¡±

    ¡°Alright. Can you let me think about it for a little while? If I¡¯m going to make you something, I want it to fit you.¡±

    Diana nodded.

    ¡°Deal.¡±

    Deal? What did we trade that made this a deal? Heh. Like I can say no to my bloodthirsty little murder princess when she asks me for a weapon capable of brutally ughtering wild game.

    That was a joke. I¡¯m not that far gone yet.

    ¡­I hope.

    ¡°Husband¡­ Need know thing about¡­¡±

    ¡°Is this about the cave-hole Ste went with you to pick?¡±

    Berry nodded.

    ¡°Prima already told me. If that¡¯s what she wants, I have no say in the matter.¡±

    ¡°Husband not care?¡±

    ¡°If she doesn¡¯t want it, when these girls get older, maybe they can share the room, after I make more strong ones with you and Lily to fill the empty ones they leave behind.¡±

    ¡°Husband want us share cave-hole?¡± Diana asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s up to you. But you¡¯re all free to go take a look at it together. I can make any changes you want, but it¡¯s up to you to decide. There are three separate cave-holes for sleeping upstairs, and plenty of space. You could use it as a base or something.¡±

    ¡°What base mean?¡±

    ¡°Uh, a base is sort of like a big cave-hole where you can talk about hunting. n what you will hunt before you hunt it, and talk about how the hunt went after. It can also be a ce where you can bring games and y them together.¡±

    ¡°Sound strange. We go look atter.¡± Diana said and her two sisterly underlings also nodded their agreement.

    I have to say, I think I have the weakest appetite here. The rest of my lovely goblins have already put away all the meat they had brought for this little mixed-family after-hunt meal.

    ¡°Think smart go look at now?¡± Lily suggested. ¡°Berry and Lily spend time with Husband make more strong ones right now.¡±

    ¡°EH?¡±

    Diana stood up and both Lc and Orchid were quick to abandon me to the predation of these two motherly goblins.

    ¡°Berry, ever hunt Redboar?¡± Lily suddenly asked Berry.

    Berry shook her head to indicate she hadn''t.

    ¡°Lily not either. Belly full of tasty Redboar meat, now make it full of more Husband big seed. Think have more strong ones, eat tasty meat for long time.¡±

    Berry was cute until she showed those dangerously sharp teeth of hers as well.

    ¡°Yes. We eat good for long time.¡±

    Both of them crawled towards me, and I knew I was the next thing on the menu.

    Sorry, Prima¡­ I might take a while before returning to your cave-hole!

 Chapter Sixty-nine â€“ In which Ark ends the first volume in the corniest way possible.

    Chapter Sixty-nine ¨C In which Ark ends the first volume in the corniest way possible.

    Old One didn¡¯t say anything when a small mountain of animal corpses was brought into her room by Diana with help from Orchid and Lc. While I held no expectation that she would help me, she did. Not just her, but she brought Pepper to her room once I exined all that I intended to make for Diana, as well as the holsters for Lily¡¯s girls, and the spear that Prima had requested.

    I kind of assumed that she was a crotchety goblin-inw, but that only applied to me. If I was acting to improve the overall might of the Bloodmaw Goblins, she was willing to entertain me.

    Pepper, aside from being a Fish-catching goblin, was also the resident seamstress. Well, that¡¯s an over exaggeration. But she was the goblin responsible for making loincloths out of rags, so Old One had recruited someone with much needed practical experience.

    The better part of the day was spent skinning and sewing. Also watching on as two goblins tore into bloody chunks of fresh meat to help me ess the bones beneath. Sporadically, I watched as almost every goblin in the cave stopped in to see Old One for something or another and realized that while she didn¡¯t generally interact with me, she was here for all of the goblin tribe.

    She was the elder among them, and was respected in her own way by the entire tribe.

    Rope belts were made, animal skin was repurposed into holsters, sheathes, and utility pouches. What remained were piles of skin, and quite a number of bones. Before I could get started, it needed to be understood that I was in a room, alone, with two goblins. Pepper who had not had all that much time with me as one of my wives, and¡­ well¡­ Old One.

    Look, Ste was absolutely right calling me what she did when I raped her. I¡¯m a goblin fucker. I¡¯m a goblin fucker in and simple. There was a willing goblin, and a willing Husband, and we both wanted to take a roll in the straw. No harm, no foul. Pepper had a nice swell to her belly which Old One approved of, and I keep saying that they just don¡¯t care if there¡¯s someone else in the room when it¡¯s time to give big seed.

    Old One wasn¡¯t the type to shy away from watching either. Pepper happened to like it rough. And I mean<b><i>rough</i></b><b>.</b>While I made no attempt to be gentle as I seeded her, though I was aware there was no shame among the goblins to enjoy watching such things as simply entertainment, as Old One rubbed her mature pussy right in front of me I swear her eyes didn¡¯t blink once as I vited what was essentially one of her daughters, and she only licked her lips as she watched what this Husband tried showing off that could do.

    For good measure, not only did I<i>enjoy</i>defiling Pepper in front of Old One, I also bit and allowed Pepper to bite me, under Old One¡¯s watchful gaze. My body ached as sharp goblin teeth sunk into my flesh again. My hands groped soft green goblin milkies and I twisted and pulled and tortured her nutmeg colored nipples to her satisfaction as our lower halves smashed against each other, squelching and smacking sounds mirroring goblins feasting on raw meat ravenously echoed throughout the room.

    Pepper¡¯s body was left once again broken, spasming in euphoria with my wasted seed spilling out of her onto the floor, and my cock still erect as an obelisk.

    ¡°If you weren¡¯t so damn ugly, you would make a decent goblin, Ark.¡±

    ¡°...you know my name?¡±

    ¡°I know many things about you. I have read your square of symbols.¡±

    ¡°My Sq¨C¡­ my journal? ¡­wait. You can read?¡±

    ¡°When I was a goblin, fresh of fifteen moons, not yet having had my Blood Awakening, I hade across another human like you, though many years older than the both of us are now. When I took refuge in a cave during a storm. Our first meeting would also be ourst. You see, he was mortally wounded with a spear in his side. The same spear I gave to my strong one, Spear-hand, and the same one that Guardian uses on the hunt.¡±

    ¡°...what happened?¡±

    ¡°I call it the curse of tongues. Some wicked human magic he cast upon me. With it I could listen and speak to him in his words without knowing words other than gob.¡±

    She took a few steps towards me, her loincloth had already fallen to the floor by her own hand.

    ¡°He was a pitiful human. He told me a story about being unloved by women of his own tribe, though his appearance was quite desirable to a goblin such as myself at the ripest of ages. He had a thick body, bulging stomach, blunt protruding nose, a face full of fur with many strands of ck and silver¡­ all with the delicious scent of blood wafting around in that small cave.¡±

    ¡°So, he used magic to talk to you?¡±

    ¡°No. He<i>cursed</i>me with magic so I had no choice but to understand his words. However, what he had to say interested me, so I listened. It did not matter to him that I was a Bloodmaw. He wanted to do the Blood Awakening with me as the parting act of his life, and in exchange, since he knew he was mortally wounded and immting himself would be such a waste, he agreed to let me feast on his body. And I did. With a belly full of his big seed, and a smile on his face which I saved until the end, I slit his throat and feasted on his meat for two full days before I left that cave.¡±

    ¡°...so, would that mean your daughter Spear-hand was made from human seed?¡±

    Her hand slid down my body and she carefully wrapped her pointed fingers around my seed-stick.

    ¡°Yes. Does it surprise you to know I¡¯ve also had a Husband who was Human?¡±

    ¡°It does, actually.¡±

    ¡°It was many years before the massacre of my tribe. All that mattered to me back then was following my nature and embracing the goblin way. Taking what I wanted, having many strong ones¡­ though it was only ever Spear-hand that I had¡­¡±

    She looked up at me and grinned at what, to another goblin perhaps, might be a seductive manner.

    ¡°Uh, y-you aren¡¯t by chance interested in having another strong one¡­?¡±

    ¡°Listen carefully, Human. I am a<i>true</i>Bloodmaw. I can feel my womb throbbing right this moment thinking of being fat with another strong one. Perhaps this time, it whispers to me, that it might be with one stronger than even my Spear-hand.¡±

    I feel like it¡¯s important to state here and now, that the Old One<i>was not by any means ugly</i>. She did have an older looking countenance, sure, but it¡¯s no different from seeing an experienced thirty-year old woman who unted the most lewd promises of carnal satisfaction with her body to a younger man.

    Plus, I mean, she¡¯s been working hard to raise fourteen goblins to adulthood, up until the death of Beast-talker. There¡¯s no way it wasn¡¯t difficult for her to do, and then to see all of them, something not too different from daughters to her, all get knocked up while she has had to¡­<i>endure</i>.

    It would be quite rude of me to turn her down¡­ wouldn¡¯t it? I know there was a quote from a certain ind nation in my previous life that said it was a man¡¯s shame to not eat a buffet ced in front of him by a gracious hostess, even if he had a homemade meal waiting for him at home.

    ¡°Just to be clear¡­ you aren¡¯t nning on killing me and eating me afterwards, are you?¡±

    The Old One pushed me down with a strength I had not expected, and climbed on top of me.

    ¡°For as long as you still draw breath, Human, you are safe.¡±

    Like a being forcefully drawn into the event horizon of a ck hole, nothing could have prepared me for the ferocity such a sexually starved goblin matriarch was possessed of. I had thought I was a bully at times to my wives, but it only reinforced the reality that they were immature babespared to the real deal.

    Her cougarly cunt was some kind of deathly cocktrap. The further inside of her she took me, the tighter the squeeze and more difficult it was to escape her milking muscles. Old One had long flowing green hair, and a round pair of sun-dried olive-tanned gobby-knockers. She would arch her back and stick out her chest as she groped herself or slid her hands down her own body, shaking her head and letting her far from filthy hair preen. She never once needed to bnce herself by cing a hand on my torso as she rode me. She was, however, seemingly adept at danger-y and would trace her sharp pointed finger along my chest, scratching, yet not quite drawing blood, but fully capable of sending warning signals that hemorrhaged fear along every nerve pathway I had.

    My wives were just inexperienced, I understood. I was too. I was a double-virgin right around a month ago. The level difference between the Old One and I wasn¡¯t something that could be so easily offset by my cockiness. I was ruthlessly and utterly exploited and definitely<i>not</i>raped. Old One was a maneater, and I, a featherless biped, naked as Diogenes¡¯ plucked chicken, was but a man.

    Our little interlude ended with me having suffered a loss. Or a win, if being fully satisfied was a winning condition. And for the three of us afterwards, an enjoyable nap together.

    Some timeter when we woke, it was back to the grind.

    Thanks to the numerous small bones avable to me, ones from arge and plump roon being the sturdiest and most useful, I had created a pair of bone and stone weapons for Diana that I felt best suited her. I happened to love period pieces of Eastern cinema, as well as a certain genre of video game that told the story of an Western assassin. For Diana, being a drop-goblin who liked to jump on her prey and stab it to death, I felt this would be the perfectbination of force and utility.

    One was a Tekkou-kagi, the other was a Katar.

    The Tekkou-kagi, often known as the Iron w, was unfortunately devoid of iron due to the current production capabilities of the tribe. So, I did the next best thing. Long curving rib bones were used from a roon, and with Pepper¡¯s help, sewn to the outside of a piece of animal skin acting as a sort of gauntlet. They were sharpened, and the backs of the bones were given a sharpened serrated coating of stone so she could inflict damage with both a forehand wing and a backhand shing motion.

    The Katar was made from a few long thin t bones, and sharpened to the best of my ability on some stonepacted dirt doubling as a whetstone. Unlike the w, there was no curvature in what was the bone de. It was tightly sewn to another piece of animal skin in three ces to give it the most stability, and I had made a t grip of bone, puncturing some of the w nails through it and fastening it at the base with a thinyer of stone. This would allow Diana to grip her fingers around it when punching with the de, but at the same time allow her to release her grip and let the nails offer some purchase when climbing a tree, acting as a bnce to the w which she could use to fully dig into something like a tree trunk so she could dangle herself safely while waiting for the moment to drop.

    Now, the skin of the roon was, save for the stomach, impably removed. Old One had actually done that work, and I had gained quite a bit of respect for her because of it. The size of the skin was on par with that of my daughter ce, so while not admitting that I think children in cosy costumes are the most adorable thing in the world, a roon suit was made.

    Well, less of a suit and more of a hooded cloak, I guess?

    Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t think of a weapon design for Prima, and decided that I wanted to make it with her, instead of for her. I felt like if we made it together, it would be more meaningful. That, and she could better tell me what parts of the design she liked and it could be the weapon that would show my sincerity and make up for my failure to make her belly fat.

    There was plenty of leftover animal skin, and as Old One had a supply of rope handy, I made a few belts with pouches that could be attached so that my girls could carry some supplies into the forest, or if they found something interesting, they could bring it home more easily. Up until this point, I had only ever seen Berry use anything like a sash with pockets, for storing her poisonous berries used to hunt small creatures like rabbits or squirrels. I felt this was something being sorely underutilized, and wanted to capitalize on it.

    All of my daughters paid a visit to me when the work was done.

    I spent some time showing Diana how to wear and use each of the weapons, though I hadn¡¯te up with any fancy name for either. I felt like that was her privilege to do.

    For Orchid and Lc, they now had durable animal skin holsters for their weapons, which honestly, I¡¯m d there is no child protective services around to call me a bad parent for allowing them to have. But, provided a parent teaches their child to respect dangerous weaponry, education is the best tool and deterrent for making bad mistakes with using them.

    For ce, she allowed me to put on what would be a sign of her status as the Bloodmaw¡¯s new Shaman. The Racoon Mantle. The face of the racoon rested on top of her tiny head perfectly like a hoodie. The skin draped around her back like a cloak, and with a loop and sp added on each pair of paws, they hooked around the front of her body and doubled as a small bra and with the tailing up and around her front from behind, also a pair of panties.

    Since Button was ce¡¯s big sister¨Ca role she fully embraced¨CI showed her how to hook and unhook the paws and tail so ce could go to the shit-pit without getting her new clothes dirty, but ce wasn¡¯t stupid. She simply tugged the tail aside and peed on my foot.

    Ah, what a brat!

    For Button, she got the most out of the rope belt and pouches. That, and the tribe¡¯s first backpack. Or front-pack. She seemed to like wearing it that way. It would be that when not busy doing things for ce, she found some kind of job transporting things around goblin-home with it.

    Incidentally, ce fit inside of the front pack, but Button wasn¡¯t strong enough to support carrying her like that just yet. I imagine that might change in the future. Thebination of ce and Button reminded me of a certain pairing from a dystopian post-apocalyptic movie from thend down-under in my previous life as well.

    It wouldn¡¯t take long for the outfitting of my children to spark a myriad of changes in the tribe.

    But for now, I had made all my little girls happy, and had gained clearance to see Prima, who had ovee her Blood Fury.

    I did have to pay for Pepper¡¯s help with all of this. She wanted a fish-bath in her room. So, I ended up making her one. It wasn¡¯t an aquarium, just a ce to keep fish alive a bit longer after she caught them, so she could bezy and not have to go out to the stream every day.

    Lazy goblin.

    I want to do it with her and Jewel at the same time.

    Right, Prima!

    Well, before I could go see her at her cave-hole, I was apprehended by Ste, who was her new cavern-mate across the way, having taken Vera¡¯s old cave-hole as her own.

    ¡°Ark. We need to talk.¡±

    No further goblinization had taken ce with Ste. She was still the most human looking goblin. She led me into her room and I noticed it was still quite empty, save for a neatly woven straw bed, and a bow and quiver stocked with arrows leaning against the wall nearby.

    ¡°I¡¯ve decided I will let you make it up to me. If I¡¯m going to be a part of this tribe, and another of your wives, hating you forever will be counterproductive. So, I want to be taken care of.<i>Well</i>taken care of. You barely have muscles, you don¡¯t have any gold, and you are far from my ideal man. But, you can give me a better life than this. I didn¡¯t take that room because I don¡¯t want to be reminded of what I once was. But, and I¡¯ve seen Jewel¡¯s room, you can make me the envy of your other wives. Of the entire tribe. And of course you won¡¯t forget to take excellent care of our child, which you absolutely had to put inside of me.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    She wanted to livevishly andfortably in exchange for allowing me to be alleviated of my guilt in raping her, and possibly having transformed her into a goblin, not to mention knocking her up?

    She also threw her arms around my neck and forced a not so terrible and bloody kiss onto me this time.

    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for all of this for free. You cane here when you tire of your other wives and I¡¯ll give you all the things you can¡¯t get from them. Like it or not, they are goblins, Ark. I might no longer be a human, but you are. There wille times when you want to be reminded of that, and not while feeling miserable by yourself next to your half-mute sweetheart who can¡¯t help but be a busybody.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t talk down about Vera.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not doing any such thing. I¡¯m simply pointing out a fact. Why, we¡¯re quite friendly with each other. She oftenes to visit me and listen to me talk all about you before we wound up here. Anyway, that¡¯s my offer to you. It¡¯s up to you to take it or leave it.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    I caved rather easily, but that¡¯s because I have not coped with the guilt well. I don¡¯t know what exactly she expects me to be able to give her, but if it¡¯s something I can, I will. Atonement is a long process, and maybe there wille a way to undo her change.

    But for now, her business with me concluded. I proceeded to leave her cave-hole, and walk the few steps I would need to in order to meet with Prima, my main wife, once more.

    Prima was already the tallest goblin in the cave, though still shorter than I was. She was also the most physically fit. What I saw when I entered her cave-hole, was a goblin that, to borrow from the Old One¡­ was<b>more.</b>

    ¡°Hello, Prima.¡±

    Prima had grown, physically, and not a small amount. She was taller, and more muscr. Her skin which was a light green now had a bit of a darker hue to it, but she was no less beautiful.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    ¡°Are you feeling alright? Old One¡­ exined things to me.¡±

    She stood up, and now equaled me in height. If I thought I might have ever stood a chance against her before physically, I no longer believed so anymore.

    ¡°I¡¯ve gone through the Blood Fury. I¡¯m¡­ no longer the same goblin I was.¡±

    The most profound change to me, was that she spoke naturally, with no broken words.

    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad thing, is it?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    Another profound change was her stomach, which was swollen further, but not at full term. Following where my eyes were looking, she rubbed a hand along her belly in a circr motion.

    ¡°I can feel it. I wasn¡¯t the only one to change along with it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±

    ¡°Are you afraid of me now?¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°Not at all. You¡¯re still my first-seed. You will always be my first-seed.¡±

    ¡°Ark, if Vera, ce, and Diana hadn¡¯t stopped me¡­ I might have eaten you. When I bit you, I felt something take over my mind and body, I wanted¡­¡±

    I moved towards Prima, embracing her.

    ¡°If it was you, then it would have been fine. But only you.¡±

    Sharing an intimate exchange with Prima, who had difficulty being honest with her feelings, I changed the subject to one she might prefer talking about.

    ¡°I finished making Diana her weapons, and even made a few things for my other daughters. But thest thing that remains is to make your grand weapon. So, I thought I would, you know, since you underwent a change, see if you¡¯d like to make it together with me?¡±

    ¡°Ark¡­ why do I smell Old One on you?¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ that¡¯s¡­¡±

    Prima grinned.

    ¡°Seems like our tribe will continue to grow.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d like nothing more than to continue being a part of that.¡±

    ¡°Do you have your Topaz stone with you?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°Want to go on a hunt with me?¡±

    ¡°Oh, am I allowed to go past the trees now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make an exception today. You will have to watch how I hunt if you want to make me the best weapon. I won¡¯t lose to Diana.¡±

    I grinned in response.

    ¡°Even if she surpasses you, only you will be my Guardian.¡±

    Prima grabbed her spear off the wall of weapons I had made for her and nodded with her head to follow.

    ¡°Did you know there is something more dangerous in the forest than the ck-ws?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s called the Honking Death by us, but the Great Protector said it is a creature from beyond the stars known by another name. GUU¡¯Z.¡±

    ¡°...Goose?¡±

    Prima nodded.

    ¡°Funny you should say that. There is a saying I once heard that a tribe of warriors beyond the stars would say before fighting something that sounds like certain death.¡±

    I grabbed a long dagger from her wall of weapons and twirled it in my hand. One can never be too armed against the universe¡¯s most terrifying creature.

    ¡°Today¡­ is a good day to die.¡±

    For as long as I continue to draw breath, my precious family will continue growing, and thriving, and bing... <strong>MORE.</strong>

    I am Ark Wyze. Reincarnator. Second circle magician. Father to the next generation of Bloodmaw strong-ones, and the one and only Husband... of the Goblin Tribe.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    This marks the official end of Volume One. Thank you very much for choosing to read this novel, and I hope you will continue to read the future exploits and intriguesing in the next. The story of the Bloodmaws has only just begun...

 Promotional Advertisement â€“ Porter of the Kobold Tribe

    Promotional Advertisement ¨C Porter of the Kobold Tribe

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Hello folks! This is your seriously degenerate author here to shamelessly seek some feedback and opinions on a novel idea I had which would be set in the same world as Husband of the Goblin Tribe. It would focus around a party of six thirsty, klutzy, and absolutely irresponsible (dragon-kin style) Kobolds who are aiming to be famous adventurers, and one Human who they hire to deal with their <em>baggage</em>, and in more ways than one. Obviously this is an unpolished introductory sample chapter, and there is no smut present at the moment. But, I fully intend to rectify that once I canmit to writing this story out further, <em>after</em>pleting volume 2 of HotGT. If you don''t want to leave ament, but think it''s a fun idea to run with, could you possibly leave a favorite instead? I figure it''s easier to do that than set up a poll. Anyway, on with the shameless promotion!

    <b>Porter of the Kobold Party</b>

    <strong>Chapter One</strong>

    <strong>In which it was definitely the fault of the luggage being too heavy, and not the fault of the Kobold having to carry it.</strong>

    ¡°Nymfi! What we do now?¡± Trixie, the chromatic-ck Kobold and party¡¯s Trickster asked their leader.

    ¡°We get porter to carry luggage for us. We not lose because we weak Kobolds. I know we strong! But, because luggage heavy, we no move fast and sneaky like Kobold should. That why we lose to goblins this time.¡± Nymfi the chromatic-white Dragoon exined.

    ¡°Make sense.¡± Added the chromatic-green Silky, resident Alchemist who was slotting potion vials into her bandoleer.

    ¡°Who we get to carry luggage? Gnome not want to bring grumpy Dwarf along!¡± Gnome, the chromatic-blue Artificer of the group, felt the need to throw in her two copper shinies about who not to pick.

    ¡°How about Humie?¡± Boggie, the Dragonfist Brawler and the only non-chromatic metallic-gold Kobold suggested.

    ¡°Humie? Hmm¡­ Tall, handsome, and many muscles not bad to travel with. Not mind let carry things.¡± Mandy, the chromatic-red Warlock in the group, felt that Boggie¡¯s suggestion had merit. It would be much more enjoyable to travel with a good looking Humie than an ugly, noisy, smelly, Dwarf.

    Nymfi was quick to jump on the bandwagon once Mandy had gotten a bit descriptive with the type of human she wanted.

    ¡°Trixie, Silky, Gnome¡­ also okay with Humie?¡±

    The three of them looked at each other and nodded, bringing the total number of Kobolds in agreement to six. Which conveniently was also how many Kobolds there were present.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go back to nest, and I go to Adventurer Guild and find Humie to carry luggage.¡±

    The six Kobolds, a fledgling party carrying the much undeserved party name<i>Breath of Fire</i>, had left the ins where they had escaped to safety from the forest that was home to the goblins they were supposed to have subjugated, and headed back to the nearby town of Thorn.

    Kobolds, being distant cousins of dragon-kind, were considered to be one of the sentient races, and were generally not shunned as adventurers, though not nearly as in demand as actual Dragonkin, theirrger cousins, were. Usually only the sneakiest of Kobolds lucked themselves into a good party. But luck was a skill appreciated by Kobolds¡­ almost as much as being sneaky.

    Though not a single one of these six kobolds would ever admit it, they allcked the ability to take both responsibility and ountability for their actions. Instead, if me could be ced on <i>anything</i>else for their shorings or failures, it would be. Which was exactly why they hade to the conclusion that they couldn¡¯t possibly be at fault for losing to the small party of goblins encountered today. It was definitely because the goblins<i>weren¡¯t</i>carrying backpacks, while the kobold party<i>were</i>.

    Each of the Kobolds hailed from a different tribe, and had also belonged to other parties at one point. Due to circumstances that they were in no way responsible for, each of them had coincidentally been med and kicked out of their respective parties for said circumstances with no room for rebuttal or escuses. So, while searching for a new party to join, the six of them, all party-less at the same time, eventually realized they could just make their own party. A Kobold party, where they could all be on the same page; in that the other parties they had been a part of were just specist, and that there was no way that a clever Kobold could be at fault for anything.

    Kobolds were self-admittedly part dragon, and fiercely proud of their heritage, however tiny and distant it was. Dragons were known far and wide as the strongest and smartest creatures around. Therefore, if a Kobold were to be at fault for something, wouldn¡¯t they, as a smart dragon-kin, be the first to know? The logic was as solid as a perfectly packed sand cube. Absolutely incontestable!

    The Kobold party returned to their small shared nest and took a break, while Nymfi took it upon herself to report in to the Adventurer''s Guild about theirtest round of bad luck. Entering the Guildhall, Nymfi went up to the receptionist, who greeted her with a smile. It was a Lagosian, one of the Beastkin who had rabbit ancestry. A tall and extremely lewd body with ridiculously oversized milkies that would get in the way, Nymfi was in no way jealous of her, because she wasn¡¯t even an adventurer. She just handled the paperwork.

    ¡°Hello Nymfi, did the goblin subjugation go well?¡±

    Nymfi shifted a bit ufortably, eventually leaning back on her tail for support.

    ¡°No. Sneaky goblins move too quick to catch. All because they not have to carry anything but loincloths and light weapons, while Kobolds had to carry heavy backpacks along with heavy weapons.¡±

    The Lagosian receptionist covered her mouth when speaking next.

    ¡°I¡­ see¡­ um¡­ so¡­<i>kuku~¡­</i>how can I¡­ help you¡­?¡±

    The receptionist was shaking, her other hand holding her stomach. She was most likely inplete and total fear of how powerful Nymfi was. It made Nymfi feel superior knowing that. It certainly wasn''t because the long-ears was trying to hide herughter.

    ¡°Talk with party. Decide together that Kobolds want to hire Humie porter to carry things so not move slow.¡±

    ¡°You¡­<i>pfft</i>¡­ want to hire a¡­ Human porter¡­ to carry your bags?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Also, want Humie be tall, handsome, and have many muscles.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ oh my! Such specific criteria¡­ why¡­ I do think¡­ we might even have one¡­ in stock.¡±

    The Lagosian receptionist leveled a trembling finger towards the rear of the Guildhall, where Nymfi saw a soft-skinned human with ck top-hair sitting at a table drinking.

    ¡°That Humie?¡±

    When Nymfi looked back, the Lagosian was no longer trembling.

    ¡°His name is Cobi. From what I understand, he¡¯s one of the best porters around. Why, I¡¯m certain if you had him carry your stuff, there is no way you would run into any problems.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Kobolds also think so. Why we want one in first ce. Nymfi go talk with Humie now.¡±

    A single silver coin was ced on the counter in front of the receptionist. Nymfi was aware that it was a good practice to give shinies to the tall ones who help Kobolds. It kept things running smoothly, and no Kobold ever wants to be caught up in bad bureaucracy. They were dragonkin too, and any kin with dragon blood in their veins knew there was no such thing as good bureaucracy in the first ce. In fact, Bureaucracy was created to keep the non-dragon races from getting ahead in the first ce.

    Any Kobold worth their name would have many shinies on hand to take care of such trivialities.

    Walking over to the far end of the Guildhall, Nymfi approached the Human who raised an eyebrow as he drank from his mug.

    ¡°Humie want carry things?¡±

    The mug slowly descended from his lips to rest on the table, the human giving Nymfi a non-threatening stare the entire while.

    ¡°Are you looking to hire a porter, Miss¡­ Kobold?¡±

    The first thing Nymfi noticed about the human as he spoke was that his voice had a pleasant tone to it. Absolutely nothing like those noisy Dwarves who drank too much and made fun of Kobold craftsmanship every chance they got.

    ¡°Yes. Humie carry things and Nymfi give shinies. Not only Nymfi things. All Kobold things.¡±

    ¡°I... see. You wouldn¡¯t happen to be part of the <i>Breath of Fire</i>party, would you?¡±

    Nymfi¡¯s tail slid back and forth on the ground, subconsciously reacting to the human very clearly recognizing her party¡¯s famous name, which has most certainly been spread far and wide in every direction by now.

    ¡°Nymfi is party leader.¡± She said proudly.

    The human stuck out his long arm with a wless open palm in front of Nymfi.

    ¡°Pleased to meet you. Do you shake hands? I¡¯m Cobi. I¡¯m not much of an adventurer, but when ites to carrying things, I can say with confidence that there hasn¡¯t yet been a full bag I couldn¡¯t lift. I¡¯ll take the job, provided the shinies are enough.¡±

    Nymfi nodded. The human was confident, and even had a name that sounded pretty close to Kobold. Maybe it was the will of the Divine Clutch-Mother that this meeting had happened so quickly. Nymfi took out a small pouch and extracted two gold coins.

    ¡°How long carry things for this many shinies?¡±

    Money was more of an abstract concept for Nymfi and the other Kobolds. Almost all of them came from well established ns who served dragons withrge hoards of treasure. As such, they were entirely unaware of how valuable a single gold coin actually was. They just assumed that it was one of the shinier of shinies, and putting one out on the table while negotiating, usually got them the better end of the deal.

    There wasn¡¯t a merchant alive in the town of Thorn that was remotely willing to correct them, either.

    ¡°Hmm. How about we do a trial run first?¡±

    ¡°What Humie mean by trial run?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll carry all your things, and you can decide if I¡¯m only worth this many of your shinies, or if I¡¯m worth more. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s fair?¡±

    Nymfi agreed.

    ¡°Sound fair. Not go on adventure today, just get back. Maybe tomorrow. Humiee to ce where party nest and meet other Kobolds?¡±

    ¡°Sure, it¡¯ll also be good to see exactly what it is you want me to carry.¡±

    So far, things were looking bright for the Kobold party¡¯s future. Not being bogged down by heavy backpacks meant they would for sure be able to focus on adventuring properly!

    The human took the two gold coins and slid them into a hidden pocket in his vest. Then he stood up and Nymfi was surprised to see how the human was easily two feet taller than she was.

    ¡°Humie tall!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only six feet.¡±

    ¡°Six feet? Nymfi only count two feet.¡±

    That elicited a chuckle from Cobi.

    ¡°It¡¯s not important. Being tall just means there¡¯s more space for me to carry things.¡±

    Nymfi could not refute his words which made perfect sense to her. Yes, this human might be a real bargain for the Kobold party. As well as having silky looking ck top-hair, the human also had a skin coloring closer to a metallic-bronze than the usual pale-pink, at least where his skin showed. Metallics tended to be a bit less sneaky than chromatics, though no less greedy for shinies. Having a Human that wasn¡¯t sneaky might very well be to their benefit. Plus, it would make Boggie feel much happier having someone simr to her, since the rest of the Kobolds were all chromatic in color, and not metallic.

    ¡°Humie follow. ce where Kobolds nest is close by.¡±

    The two left the Adventurer¡¯s Guild and ventured through the town a short distance until they reached what Cobi saw only as an old dpidated house. Entering their so-called next, there were five other Kobolds inside, allzing about on piles of hay and straw. Heads perked up once the door closed behind them.

    ¡°Oh, Nymfi back!¡±

    ¡°Nymfi bring Humie?¡±

    ¡°Kuoh! Humie tall!¡±

    ¡°Humie have many muscles?¡±

    To Cobi, the Kobolds present resembled more a collection of stray cats than a clutch of self-professed dragon-kin. Nymfi stood tall and introduced their newest acquistion.

    ¡°This Humie Cobi. Carry Kobold things for shinies. Humie, this rest of Kobold party. Nymfi introduce everybody. Start with Trixie Trixter.¡±

    The ck-chromatic Kobold lifted her tail in the air and swished it around in greeting.

    ¡°Then have Silky. She Alchemist and Songhealer.¡±

    ¡°No worry, Humie. Silky potions heal lots!¡±

    All of the girls nodded at that. They had been saved many times from bad injuries thanks to their green-chromatic friend¡¯s potions.

    ¡°Next is Mandy. Best fire Warlock ever meet.¡±

    A small ball of me was conjured in her open chromatic-red wed hand, and then quickly snuffed out when it closed.

    ¡°Then Gnome, she Artificer and also in charge of fixing Kobold weapons when break.¡±

    Azy chromatic-blue arm half-covered in a gauntlet waved slightly from atop a pile of straw.

    ¡°Last is Boggie. She Dragonfist Brawler.¡±

    The Metallic-gold Kobold was sitting up in a cross-legged position.

    ¡°Humie know how to fight?¡±

    Cobi just shook his head.

    ¡°I¡¯m not much of a fighter, I¡¯m afraid. My job is mainly to carry things, though I can make things quite easy for you all because of that. I can also do a little cooking and a few other things here and there.¡±

    ¡°Humie not need listen to Boggie. She like fighting too much. Even punch and kick things when asleep.¡± Trixie spoke while her tail pped the pile of straw she was curled up on.

    ¡°Not matter if Humie not fight. Only care Humie carry things! We strong enough protect Humie.¡±

    Nymfi was quick to shut down any potential bickering. Once the others were quiet again, she introduced herself as well.

    ¡°I Nymfi. Party leader and Dragoon.¡±

    Cobi was fairly impressed. The party was well-bnced. He could certainly remember a time when he was in a mostly all-magician party with a single knight acting as a tank. What a disaster that party was¡­ once the knight had been disabled during a particrly nasty fight with a chimera.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you all. I am Cobi. May I inquire as to what exactly I will be carrying?¡±

    Six fairly standard medium sized backpacks were all quickly revealed by each of the Kobolds.

    ¡°Hmm. May I inspect the bags?¡±

    The Kobolds agreed to let him, and Cobi went around hefting each backpack and taking a peek inside. To his discerning eye, all he could see inside each of them was junk. But, as he was being hired to carry things for this party, he assumed these things must have had some practical use for these Kobolds, otherwise they could just be left behind.

    It certainly<i>wasn¡¯t</i>in the nature of a dragon-kin to<i>carry their entire hoard</i>around with them wherever they went. No, nothing as<i>foolish as that</i>could<i>possibly</i>be the reason the Kobold party was slowed down by the weight of their luggage.

    Regardless, Cobi was an expert at handling luggage, and would be sure to keep an itemized inventory on hand, since it would be vastly inefficient to carry six separate backpacks. Instead, Cobi had a special backpack of his own meant for absolute organization and efficiency in carrying and transporting goods.

    But, just for good measure, he scooped up all of the bags and lifted them three to an arm with incredible ease, thus causing all of the female Kobolds to be wildly impressed.

    ¡°Humie Strong!¡±

    ¡°How can lift Gnome backpack so easy?¡±

    ¡°Can Humie lift me next?¡±

    ¡°Want to feel Humie¡¯s many muscles!¡±

    ¡°Hear Humies have front tail? Is it true?¡±

    Of course, at no point would any of these female Kobolds ever admit that they were sexually starved and therefore ridiculously thirsty for a cross-specied good time. It was clearly the Human''s fault, seducing them with his tall body, handsome face, and amazing muscle strength.

    Returning the packs to each one of the Kobolds, already having memorized which one belonged to who, Cobi informed Nymfi that he needed to make arrangements to carry everything, and would returnter in the afternoon.

    The six Kobolds took the time to rest and mend from theirtest loss, looking forward to adventuring with the Human, while Cobi, after leaving the dpidated house that the Kobolds upied, returned immediately to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild to speak with Vi, the Lagosian receptionist who sent the Kobold his way.

    ¡°Kobolds?¡±

    ¡°You said you wanted an easy job.¡±

    Cobi sighed.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the truth. Well, I guess I can¡¯tin, they already paid upfront. Just promise me one thing, Vi. No quests going to the Dark Forest.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, I know. None of us have forgotten about that massacre, or the warning you said you received from the being that called itself The Great Protector.¡±

    Cobi saw himself out and went back to the low-budget inn he was staying at just down the street. In the far corner of his room on the second floor was his trusty magical pack, and the secret to why he was considered one of the best porters around.

    Slipping it on and taking a deep breath, he exhaled once more the words that had been his mantra of life.

    ¡°A job¡­ is a job.¡±

    Then he left the inn, began shopping around for supplies, and eventually made his way back to the Kobold party, who were now his newest employers, even if they seemed to be a bit too... eager to have him.

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Melon, a gourmet goblin.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Melon, a gourmet goblin.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Volume Two will pick up a few months after Volume One. That being the case, Ark has had a number of new goblin daughters arrive into the world during this interim of time. While not every single new daughter will be covered in depth, a few noteworthy ones most certainly will.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Melon **~~</strong>

    ¡°HaABEe!¡±

    The first word I can recall saying is Hubby. I had intended to call him Husband at first, since Pear and everyone else also called him Husband. But he seemed intent on wanting me to call him<i>Daddy</i>. I wound up getting confused and calling him Hubby, but my reward for speaking at all was to get picked up and squished into a warm hug by him before he put his mouth on my belly and blew on it, making sounds that tickled me and made me giggle, so, I assumed it was him telling me that it was fine to call him that from now on.

    I hadn¡¯te into the world for very long and I was already feeling tired,zy, and hungry all at the same time. But I was certain of one thing already¡­ these two goblins knew how to live it up!

    We¡¯d bezy and nap together, with me in the middle, nice and warm after having eaten a lot of food and drank a lot of Pear''s milkies together with Hubby. Then I¡¯d be carried to the smelly room called the shit-pit since that¡¯s where that stuff went, and then we¡¯d go back to my cave-hole where Hubby and Pear would y games with me. Pear liked ying Strike, while Hubby taught me games like checkers and four-color! (It was a game where we had to make a line of four colors that matched.) Hubby was pretty good at it, but I was better!

    I also got to meet plenty of other goblins as well. Adult goblins like Berry who hunted for tasty berries, Old One who poked me all over my body a whole bunch and called me a fat andzy strong-one, Ivory who brought me a bone charm that I liked very much. Then smaller goblins visited, like Diana Artemis, my eldest sister, who said I wasn¡¯t going to be much of a hunter. Orchid and Lc who said I should try fire-meat and see if I like it (which I did). Button who spoke for my youngest older sister ce who didn¡¯t talk at all herself, but who said through Button that I should learn a special skill from Hubby called <i>cooking</i>since she felt I had a talent for it.

    I didn¡¯t know what a talent was, but the thing called<i>cooking</i>had to do with making and eating tasty food, and that was something I was sure I was going to be good at doing. It wasn¡¯t long before Hubby stopped staying in the same cave-hole Pear and I shared, but he did continue to visit us a lot. As it turns out, He, ce, and Vera¡ªce¡¯s maker goblin¡ªwere digging a cave-hole right next to this one to turn into a<i>kit-chin,</i>which was supposed to be a special cave-hole I would be using in order to make all kinds of tasty food, so I was looking forward to it being finished!

    ce would visit my cave-hole often, to join me when it was time for drinking milkies from Pear. She tried to teach me something called Magic, but I wasn¡¯t able to do the things she could do. I did figure it out, but only enough to activate something called a Rune. However, that was exactly what she wanted me to be able to do, so I was told that I did a great job.

    I was still a strong-one and not allowed to walk the whole of Goblin-home yet. I could only go to the shit-pit and Hubby¡¯s cave-hole by myself, and that was only after being escorted many times by both adult goblins and my older sisters until I was familiar with how to get there and back to my own cave-hole without getting lost.

    It seems that Button had gotten lost once before I came into the world, and it made many goblins worried.

    It wasn¡¯t too long after the<i>kit-chin</i>was finallypleted that I became a big sister myself. An adult goblin named Toy had made two strong-ones at the same time, my sisters Game and Fun. They were also like me, goblins who weren¡¯t considered to be strong as hunters or casters of magic, so they would be makers, instead.

    I was told that as far as us younger sisters went, Diana was in charge of any goblins who would be hunters, ce was in charge of any goblins who would be casters¡ªgoblins who used magic to hunt, and I would be in charge of any goblins who would be makers. At first I didn¡¯t understand why that was important, but I was told that there were going to be many many more sistersing into the world from now on, and that they needed someone to look up to who understood what they were good at, and what they weren¡¯t.

    I also began to learn a bunch of things all at once shortly after those two came into the world.

    Pear would take me to visit Old One who lived in the back of Goblin-home and she taught me all about what it meant to be a Bloodmaw Goblin. I was often joined by Game and Fun since they lived in a cave-hole close by to Old One. Turns out Hubby had a really important job in the tribe. He was responsible for helping to make strong-ones with all the adult goblins, which meant that he was responsible for making me all my sisters. Eventually we would be old enough to make our own strong-ones and when that happened, Hubby would be the one to help us with that as well.

    I had seen Hubby and Pear do the thing that makes strong-ones when they thought I was asleep, and I have to say, Pear seemed to enjoy it a whole bunch. Especially the part that came after when sheid down and Hubbyid next to her and fed her lots of fruits and rubbed her milkies and squished her belly.

    I asked Pear about making strong-ones and she said it would take a few moons before she could make another strong-onee into the world, so I would have to wait a while for another sister to be made by her. That was okay, since I had plenty of other sisters made by other adult goblins, like Game and Fun to keep me upied until it was my turn to make strong-ones with Hubby.

    Lessons with Hubby were also some of the most fun I could possibly have since they involved making and eating tasty food. Hubby had given me a special thing called a<i>vernir knife</i>. It wasn¡¯t meant for hunting with, though. He said it was going to be one of the most important tools I would need for learning how to cook.

    And he was right.

    Near the front of Goblinhome was a cave-hole that was kept cold. Vera was in charge of it. Before Vera learned how to use picture-magic from Hubby, food which came from hunted beasties didn¡¯tst too long and had to be eaten quickly. Now it could be kept longer, which meant that hunting didn¡¯t have to happen every single day.

    I was brought there by Hubby, and three other goblins were waiting for us when we arrived. Vera, Pepper, and Orchid. Vera melted the cold hard water called ice that the beasties were kept in so it could be removed and dismantled. Pepper and Orchid showed me how to separate the skin and fur from the meat, and then the meat from the bones. There was no part of the beastie that didn¡¯t have a use.

    The skins and furs would be made into things like loincloths, pillows, nkets, and whatever else Hubby might think up that went over well with the tribe by Pepper. Bones were almost exclusively traded to Ivory, who would make things out of them (like my bone charm) in exchange for bloody meat. And the meat¡­ well, that was the most important part.

    What Hubby was trying to teach me about butchering the meat of a beastie was something called the<i>cuts</i>. He admitted to not knowing enough to be an expert on it, but that meat from the different parts, such as legs, or the ribs, had different ways of being prepared and had different tastes and textures that came with them. I also didn¡¯t understand what he meant at first by that, and neither did any of the other goblins who were present and helping, but it wasn¡¯t long before I<i>did.</i>

    I can¡¯t exin how it happened, but while Hubby and I were testing out cooking various pieces of meat I had cut up using the<i>vernir knife</i>on the magic hot stone in the<i>kit-chin</i>, I tried samples of some and began to understand how each piece tasted and how it could taste better depending on how it was turned into fire-meat.

    It wasn¡¯t just fire-meat that I learned how to<i>cook</i>. I learned how to make things called<i>desserts</i>as well. How to mash big tree-fruits into a pulp and serve it next to meat on the same te. How to ferment things to make stuff like<i>sauces</i>and<i>condy-mints</i>. There was a particr one that was made from a juicy red vine-fruit which went extremely well with hamburgers. ce was so happy to have it that she had Pepper make me a special loincloth called an Apron to wear so I wouldn¡¯t get burned while<i>cooking</i>.

    Old One hade to visit one day, wanting to eat something that was not fire-meat. Hubby was with me in the<i>kit-chin</i>and decided he wanted to fool her a bit. He showed me how to make something called a<i>pate</i>which was from a food he liked to eat called a<i>bon-me</i>. It was finely chopped meat and liver mixed with onion and even had some<i>blue water</i>added to it before it was very lightly<i>cooked</i>on low heat using the special magic hot stone which was made by Vera and had all sorts of picture-magic Runes drawn into it.

    When it came out, it was served with some of the applesauce desert on the same te and, with the pate meat looking pink in color, it was enough to fool Old One who said it was some of the easiest to eat bloody meat she had ever tasted. From that day on, she woulde in from time to time to have the same thing, telling me never to get too serious about learning Human fire-meat cooking, and to keep thinking of all the goblins who preferred the taste of bloody-meat.

    I now know what Button meant by always saying that Hubby was a tricky one.

    There was no way I could ever tell Old One that what she had been stopping in to eat was in fact, fire-meat.

    I didn¡¯t spend all my time in the<i>kit-chin</i>. Hubby would take me outside to the yground, where there were swings he would push me and my sisters on, and adder I could climb that went into some kind of wooden cave-hole that led to a thing called a slide that brought you from up high to the ground really fast and in a fun way!

    My older sisters were quite busy doing all sorts of things, like hunting, so the sisters I did y with were mostly Game and Fun. They lived with Toy and helped make new games for the Bloodmaw to y. They stopped by once in a while to eat<i>fruit sd</i>with<i>nuts</i>, saying that it was good food for helping them think of new games to make.

    That¡¯s when Game had a good idea and a few dayster had brought Hubby in and the part of the cave-hole where people sat and ate food underwent a huge change. Many many tables were made and each of them had a ce on the top for a game board to be iid in and yed on (along with pieces!).

    My<i>kit-chin</i>had now be a ce that goblins wanted to stop in at for eating, drinking<i>blue water</i>, or ying a rxing game or two with another goblin. Some goblins brought in bloody meat they didn¡¯t care to have made into anything, and others brought their meat for me to make it into something tastier. They¡¯d y chess, or checkers, or color-four, or whatever new games Toy, Game, and Fun happened to make that were interesting and enjoyable.

    As things started to fall into ce for me, that was when I became an older sister once again...

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Figurine, a goblin who moves to her own beat.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Figurine, a goblin who moves to her own beat.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Figurine **~~</strong>

    <strong>Tap, tap, step.</strong>

    <strong>Tap, tap, step.</strong>

    <strong>Touch, touch, lift.</strong>

    <strong>Lick, lick, bite.</strong>

    <strong>Chew, chew, swallow.</strong>

    It was not lost on me that the many other ones simr to me who were gathered around were observing me closely. I felt no danger from any of them, I could even tell immediately which one of them was my maker, and I could tell that the one who looked least like any of the others was also important in some way¡­ but aside from that, I couldn¡¯t care less about any of the others.

    I felt the desire within me to eat the soft bloody thing attached to me, and after that, I felt the need to climb onto my Maker and follow the scent to the round things attached to her body and drink from them. I didn¡¯t know why I needed to do this, only that I needed to do this. There was something behind the ce I could see out from, telling me to do these things, and I listened.

    The problem was theck of what usually went with<i>it.</i>

    It was something intimate that I understood was missing from me now that I hade into the world, but for some reason couldn¡¯t remember clearly what exactly it was. Something which was once constantly in motion with me, both silent and loud. An ever-present apaniment which gave me peace that was now missing from my being. I wanted nothing more than to have it back, but I didn¡¯t know how tomunicate with any of these others who were here to exin it. I could only listen to that ce behind where I could see and continue what I was doing.

    <strong>Squeeze, squeeze, suck.</strong>

    <strong>Squeeze, squeeze, suck.</strong>

    <strong>Suck, suck, swallow.</strong>

    The only time I could find peace from that ce behind where I saw things, was when I was asleep. But it wasn¡¯t my maker who helped me find it. It was the strange tall one who looked different from the others. The one who pointed at itself and said <i>daddy</i>.

    I climbed onto that one and put my ear next to the t and empty milkie they had and listened.

    <strong>Thum-thump. Thum-thump. Thum-thump.</strong>

    Yes, whatever sound that it was making was fine with me. As long as the sound remained steady, I felt rxed¡­

    <strong>~~** ??? **~~</strong>

    ¡°Something strange strong-one¡­¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with Figurine. She just has her own way of doing things.¡±

    ¡°No. Strange! Touch ground twice before step. Always same, never change. Touch thing twice before hold. Lick food twice before eat! Strange! Strong-one have curse!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a curse. Humans have things like that sometimes¡­ it¡¯s called a neurosis... uh¡­ extra-think. It¡¯s a feeling she has deep inside her head that tells her she has to do something in a certain way. It won¡¯t prevent her from doing anything important, it¡¯s just how her head tells her to do that something in the first ce. Vera has something simr¡­¡±

    ¡°Same Vera?¡±

    ¡°In a way, but I don¡¯t think it will affect her learning how to speak gob or talking with the others. She can probably even learn to hunt or do magic if she has the desire to. Usually, humans who have this kind of thing have something they can do far better than anyone else. The trick is to find out what it is¡­¡±

    ¡°Sure not cursed little-seed? Husband make strong-one with me, seed-stick stop working for days, yes?¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be the opposite? Look at ce. She came out a Runt, but she¡¯s got stronger magic than both Vera and I.¡±

    ¡°Strange Shaman no talk! What can do fix strong-one?¡±

    ¡°We just do what we can. The only thing I ask is that you don¡¯t punish her for trying to do something as best she can in her own way. With care and support from us, she might be able to take control over what makes her do that.¡±

    ¡°What if not?¡±

    ¡°Let me worry about that. No matter whates of it, she¡¯s our strong-one. I¡¯ll take care of her like I do Vera if there¡¯s no sign of her improving, okay?¡±

    ¡°¡­for now, listen¡­¡±

    <strong>~~** Figurine **~~</strong>

    My maker¡¯s name is Doll. She has an important job chopping trees so that the fire in the fire-pit outside of Goblinhome doesn¡¯t go out. The tall one who looks different from all the others is also someone who made me. He has many names; Husband, Daddy, Ark¡­ But the one he seems to respond to the best when I call out to him, is<i>Dad</i>. I think he might understand me the best out of all the goblins. Doll, I think, tries, but she doesn¡¯t understand me like he does. Dad doesn¡¯t get visibly upset when I follow what the thing behind my eyes tells me to do. Dad also does it along with me sometimes to put me at ease. He even did things a little differently than I did, and it was okay because whatever it was that he did, it didn¡¯t bother the thing behind my eyes at all.

    One of my favorite games to y with Dad was called p-p-pop!

    Both he and I would sit down in front of one another, and we would p our hands against each other¡¯s. It was a game I could understand how to y easily. Sometimes the patterns Dad used were long, but he would speak words in a certain way when we would p our hands by ourselves, which made remembering how exactly we needed to p or p or even pop easy.

    My sisters, Button and Melon would show up sometimes when I was in Dad¡¯s cave-hole where he would watch me while Doll was out hunting or chopping trees, and when they saw the game he was ying with me, he also taught it to them, so we all could y together.

    <i>Goblins hunt at morning</i>

    <i>And go to sleep at night</i>

    <i>When beasties see a Bloodmaw</i>

    <i>They run away in fright!</i>

    <i>Diana hunts the ck-ws</i>

    <i>While Shaman casts her spells</i>

    <i>The one thing Husband hates the most</i>

    <i>Is when a goblin<b>smells!</b></i>

    The words he used were simple to remember and funny to repeat as our hands pped with each other.

    Anytime there was something new I needed to learn how to do, Dad would try to exin what it was and how it was supposed to be done first, then if one of my sisters was nearby, he¡¯d have them demonstrate it for me. If not, then he would demonstrate it himself before asking me to do it. Because of that, I was soon able to enter the bath and the shit-pit without being afraid at all.

    I tried learning how to hunt from Diana, Orchid, and Lc, but I wasn¡¯t very good at using any of the weapons Prima had avable to lend me for training. I tried learning how to use magic from ce and Vera, but I didn¡¯t really have the right sense of how to feel mana in my body. I even tried visiting Melon and my older sisters Game and Fun, but making things was also something I wasn¡¯t very good at¡­ I was at aplete loss as to what it was that I could do that would be useful to the Bloodmaw Tribe.

    Days passed and I slowly grew older. Around this time, Dad had visited Ivory one night and the following day, I had be an older sister when Ebony came into the world. And she came in hard. Until Ebony, only Diana Artemis and ce had given Old One a reason to be happy.

    ¡°Bone Lord!¡±

    Old One dered Ebony a very powerful strong-one, like Diana and ce, and was exceptionally pleased. So pleased, in fact, she celebrated by drinking a lot of <i>Blue Water</i>and pushed Dad down only to hop on him a whole lot, saying he wasn¡¯t so ugly today for some reason.

    But that celebratory feeling of having a strong sister joining the tribe also left me feeling afraid.

    I still hadn¡¯t found what I was good at, what use I might have, and now I was already having younger sisterse into the world who were far better than I was¡­

    I felt lost.

    I felt like I had disappointed my maker, Doll. I had disappointed my Dad¡­ and I had disappointed all of my sisters who tried to help me because I wasn¡¯t all that good at anything.

    I thought I might be abandoned for being useless and different, but that didn¡¯t happen at all.

    Dad made me a small axe and told me to join Doll in chopping down trees for now.

    When not trying to help Doll, who was a bit frustrated that I chopped slower than her but also didn¡¯t scold me for it, Button had said she wanted to spend time alone with me. That involved following her to a spot in the forest where many many mushrooms grew in a circle.

    ¡°Rine¡­ you might not be a mushroom goblin like Husband and I are, but you can appreciate the swirly-whirly.¡±

    Button was referring to the thing Dad did in the bath where he spun his finger around in a circle and made the water spin and pull downward. I also found it interesting to watch when he did that.

    ¡°Tricky Husband Ark taught me the secret of the swirly-whirly, and so I will teach it to you, because I feel like it can help you. What is important about the swirly-whirly is how you find the way to use it¡­ with the way that you are. All you need to know is that Husband and I will always believe in you.¡±

    And so, Button showed me certain ways to move and how to throw out my hands and feet to defend and attack, as a hunter without a weapon, like Button was, would.

    My days were filled with chopping trees and spinning around while throwing punches and kicks, but I couldn¡¯tpletely change what the thing behind my eyes, which I learned from Dad was called my<i>mind</i>, told me to do.

    One day after working hard at doing both, I was tired and sweaty, and wanted to take a bath before I ate something andid down to rest and bezy. I heard a strange sounding from Dad¡¯s cave-hole and rushed inside to find out what it was.

    He was sitting by himself in the space to the left of the entrance to his cave-hole. In his arms was some long thing made of wood and his fingers were passing over thin strands of rope which were making sounds that had drawn myplete attention. My feet had taken me right to his side without any dy and I could only stare at Dad in amazement.

    ¡°What is that?¡±

    Dad looked up at me and smiled.

    ¡°Called Lute. Prima let use. Make music with.¡±

    ¡°Music?¡±

    He passed his fingers over it a certain way and different kinds of sounds came out. Every single time it did, my entire body felt strange. Even the ce behind my eyes¡ªmy mind¡ªsaid that the thing I was missing, the thing that kept me from being like the others¡­ was this.

    ¡°I want to hear more music, Dad!¡±

    ¡°Okay, want teach you fun thing do music?¡±

    I nodded with the entire force my body could muster. I needed to know more about this thing called music.

    Dad stood up and began to pass his fingers over the thing he called a Lute and began to speak words that went along with the sounds while doing things with his legs.

    <i>You put your left foot in,</i>

    <i>And take your left foot out,</i>

    <i>You put your left foot in,</i>

    <i>And you shake it all about!</i>

    <i>You do the hokey-pokey,</i>

    <i>And you turn yourself around,</i>

    <i>That¡¯s what it¡¯s all about~!</i>

    Dad then stopped the sounds and pointed at me.

    ¡°Want try?¡±

    ¡°Yes! Keep making music!!¡±

    He told me the words were something called a song, and the song was called the hokey-pokey (it didn''t mean anything). What he was doing was a simple form of something called <i>dancing</i>. Dad would y the song and change the words to suit a different part of my body which I had to extend and then retract and then extend and then shake. It was veryfortable to do, and when I ran out of arms and legs to use, he would move on to weird things like my butt or my tongue or my ears¡­ I couldn¡¯t get enough of it.

    The grip my mind had on my body since I came into the world had, for the short time Dad made music, let go of the control it had over me. As long as my body moved to the music, I was¡­ free. Until, inevitably, like all other things, it came to an end.

    Iy on the floor, sweating, breathing hard, butpletely satisfied.

    ¡°Dad¡­ I think I found it.¡±

    ¡°What find?¡±

    ¡°Teach me how to make music.¡±

    Dad frowned a little when I asked him.

    ¡°Not know how teach music well. Show Figurine what know, all can do.¡±

    I knew the frown on his face was one of disappointment. Not at me, but at himself. Dad was the kind of goblin who would give anything and everything he had to make any of his strong-ones happy. He was just disappointed that music wasn¡¯t something he was good enough at to teach reliably. Just like how using weapons to hunt wasn¡¯t something I was good enough at to learn reliably. However, even knowing a little bit of how to make music was more important than anything else to me.

    We took a bath together after the music ended and Dad began to examine my body closely, especially my arms and legs.

    ¡°Figurine train body with Doll?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Button is also teaching me things.¡±

    Dad nodded.

    ¡°Lute belong Prima, no can make one Figurine. Not know way make string for sound. Lute not only thing make music. Called instrument. Many kind. Make many Figurine try, find which ones like use.¡±

    ¡°I want something that can make music while I move my body. Is there one like that?¡±

    ¡°Already know what want? Can make something, need time think how.¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡±

    The next day was one where Dad couldn¡¯t be found by anyone. Turns out he was in Toy¡¯s cave-hole, in the special cave-hole he made for her called the<i>work-shop</i>. He had spent the entire day using his magic to make me things that made music.

    The day after, I was in his cave-hole and the long table near the entrance was full of thingsying atop it.

    ¡°All instruments can use while moving. Can show how use, not sure-think how make right sound with all¡­¡±

    Each of them had strange names that weren¡¯t in gob, but Dad was easily able to fix that.

    The first was a pair of wooden things that looked like bird legs. He called them<i>marr-akh-ahs</i>at first, but then called them shake-shakes. He picked one up and shook it. Sound came from inside the fat part that would have been the upper leg meat. Depending on how he shook it, hard or soft, the sounds would change.

    Next was the<i>kass-ta</i>, which he then called ck-cks. Using a small piece of rope, they slid onto his fingers and thumbs and would make a sharp sound when cked together. I liked those a lot!

    Next was something called a<i>oh-kah-ree-nah, </i>nowcalled a blow-shell. It had a hole to blow in, and holes that sound came out of. Depending on how his finger pressed on a hole, different sounds could be made! There were two other kinds of blow-shells. One was a blow-box and a blow-stick which he called a<i>har-mon-ee-kah,</i>and<i>re-kor-dur.</i>

    I was already thrilled seeing this many that Dad had made for me, but it wasn¡¯t all of them yet.

    There were some that were made with fur and bones that really had me excited. They went around my wrists and ankles and had balls of bone that had small stones inside of them. When I shook my hands or my feet they would make noises as well. Dad didn¡¯t have a name for them, and said I was free toe up with one if I wanted to. Thest major item was something that looked like Melon¡¯s apron, only there were thin pieces of wood sewed into the front. Dad then had me push my fingers into the dirt and after pulling them out he did some kind of magic and there were now thin stone finger-coverings which he called<i>Thim-bulls</i>. He put them on my fingers which made the sharp tips of them round like his, and told me to run them against the wood on the apron.

    When I did, many t sounds came out.

    He then told me there were many many more kinds of instruments, but for now this was all he had the ability to make for me. Certain other ones needed metals of certain shapes and thickness which couldn¡¯t be found or made here in Goblinhome¡­ yet.

    I couldn¡¯t use all of them at the same time, so I went through using them one by one with Dad joining in using the blow-stick and yed more music. Songs he called the <i>ground-bird dance</i>and<i>shiny-star</i>which were fast music and slow music, but both equally enjoyable to listen to.

    Vera, who lived in Dad¡¯s cave-hole together with him had sat down and listened to us making music together, with me trying to find the right moment to use a shake-shake or a ck-ck or even to use the scrape-scrape (the apron with the wood sewn onto it). I don¡¯t think I ever felt as good as I did in my entire life than I had in this moment with Dad.

    But he had reached his limit.

    I hadn¡¯t realized it, but we had been making music together for almost the entire day! Dad looked more pale than usual, which was a hard thing to do since he wasn¡¯t green-skinned like most of us goblins.

    ¡°Figurine¡­ learn what need?¡±

    Ah, it¡¯s not that he was having the same amount of fun that I was¡­ he was teaching me what he knew by having me make music together with him. Dad was exhausted, lying on the floor. Vera had me help her drag him to his cave-hole next to hers where he couldy down on his straw bed.

    ¡°Husband. Rest.¡±

    Vera hardly ever said more than one word at the same time, which meant that she felt Dad really needed toy down and rest. Dad reached out to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me onto his body, giving me a powerful hug.

    ¡°Still most important thing teach Figurine music. Listen, yes?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m listening, Dad.¡±

    ¡°When make music, never think job. Never think what must do for tribe. Music powerful magic. Not less strong magic Me, Vera, ce, Ebony have. Music Figurine magic. Always important know how feel make music. Music powere from how feel. Make music happy, make music sad, change what magic music power have. Dad proud. Want listen music Figurine make. What special music hide here sincee into world.¡±

    He poked his finger into the side of my head, to the ce behind where I saw.

    And I began to cry.

    He knew.

    What am I saying? Of course he knew!

    Dad always knew and understood me the best.

    At times better than I understood myself¡­

    ¡°How¡­ did you know music was what I was missing?¡±

    ¡°Not know music. Only know something. Believe one day Figurine find. When happen, Dad promise Doll do everything can for strong-one. Not fix everything. Not need fix anything. Figurine not broken. Figurine special goblin. Way do thing special, way think special, now way make music special.¡±

    After giving me a kiss on the forehead, he let go of me and wiped away my tears with his not-pointy fingers.

    I wound up leaving his cave-hole, but not without being told to take all the things that he made for me to make music with. Vera helped me carry them to my cave-hole, where Doll was already sitting down beingzy, drinking <i>blue water</i>with Berry.

    ¡°What is all of that?¡± Doll asked me.

    ¡°What Dad made for me. What was missing from my life this entire time.¡±

    ¡°Is that for hunting?¡±

    ¡°No. It¡¯s for making music.¡±

    ¡°Music? The thing Prima has that Husband uses?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s different from the Lute, but these all make sounds in a simr way.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­ and you know how to use them?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m learning. Dad says making music is my magic.¡±

    ¡°Magic? You can use magic?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what Dad said.¡±

    Doll took a drink of her<i>blue water</i>and leaned back.

    ¡°If you can use magic, then you don¡¯t need to help me chop trees anymore.¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°No. I¡¯ll keep helping you chop trees. Until I know how to use it properly, I still need to be useful in some way.¡±

    Doll only nodded.

    ¡°Vera, want to join us for a drink of <i>blue water</i>?¡±

    Vera took a seat and joined Doll and Berry while they drank for a little while, as I put all the instruments except the shake-shakes onto the shelves inside my own cave-hole. Those I held onto as Iid down on my straw bed and shook them softly and as quietly as they could, listening to the sounds they made and what ones I found pleasant to hear.

    I couldn¡¯t wait for tomorrow toe, when I could tell Button all about everything that happened¡­

    <strong>~~** ??? **~~</strong>

    ¡°How was it this time training with her?¡±

    ¡°Different. Way body move change since find music. Think can be hunter now if want. Figurine strong.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never doubted that she is.¡±

    ¡°What thing Tricky Husband want show Button today?¡±

    ¡°Something I want you to pass on to her. A new¡­ martial art meant for her, but one you might appreciate as well. You might be able to fill in the missing parts that I¡¯ve forgotten.¡±

    ¡°What called?¡±

    ¡°Capoiera.¡±

    ¡°<i>Kah-poh-ed-da</i>?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It involves a lot of moving, tumbling, flips, and kicks¡­ you can think of it like a swirly-whirly kind ofbat.¡±

    ¡°Sound fun. Want see.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but first I need to teach you the singing music that goes along with it.¡±

    ¡°Button listen.¡±

    ¡°Repeat after me: Paranau¨º~, paranau¨º, Paran¨¢!¡±

    ¡°<i>Banana way</i>?¡±

    ¡°Close enough.¡±

    ¡°Different from<i>Human way</i>or<i>Goblin way</i>?¡±

    ¡°L-let¡¯s not worry about the details. Now, watch my legs closely, this is how it¡¯s supposed to go¡­¡±

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Ebony, the Little Lord of Bones

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Ebony, the Little Lord of Bones

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ebony **~~</strong>

    ¡°You, Ebony, little sister goblin. Me, Button, big sister goblin. Job big sister goblin teach little sister goblin how be goblin.¡±

    ¡°Okay! Ebony listen Button!¡±

    Most of my sisters can remember the day they came into the world. For me, that¡¯s not the case at all. My first real memory was when I met my big sister, Button. Unlike other goblins, both Button and I have two maker goblins¡ªIvory and Truffle.

    Truffle is azy goblin who is almost never angry. Her favorite things in the world are mushrooms, Husband, and her strong-ones, in that order. As for Ivory, she is usually angry about all sort of things, and is only everzy when she¡¯s done making things out of bones and starts drinking<i>blue water</i>.

    While Ivory is busy making things out of bones almost every day, Truffle will teach me all about mushrooms as Iy down next to her and sometimes Button who stops in for milkies. While I like mushrooms well enough, I do like bones more. I can sometimes hear them say things like they want to be friends with me when I touch them. Ivory says I¡¯m stupid since bones don¡¯t talk, and Truffle says that sometimes when she has a good batch of color-spin-think powder, she thinks she can hear the mushrooms talk, but the only person who seems to believe me without question, is Button.

    ¡°You hear bones talk in your head? That sounds like how ce talks to me.¡±

    ce is my older sister as well, and also the Shaman of the Bloodmaw Tribe. She doesn¡¯t talk aloud at all, instead using my sister to speak for her. She¡¯s also able to use special magic simr to Husband and Vera to do all sorts of amazing things. Button says she can¡¯t use magic without ce, but I can use it a little, mostly to make bones move on their own like they want to.

    Ivory gets mad at me sometimes when I use magic to make the bones in her room move. So, the only thing I¡¯m allowed to use it on is Gogok and Shumi, the bone charms which belong to me and Button. Button says she¡¯s going to be an adult goblin soon, so she doesn¡¯t need Shu-mi as much anymore, and wants her to have a friend who will y with her.

    There is one bone I want to y with the most, but Ivory never lets me. It¡¯s a special thin ck bone with something wrapped around it. It¡¯s on a shelf way up high that I can¡¯t reach, and one time when I tried to, Ivory caught me and spanked my butt really hard.

    I don¡¯t like being spanked, and I don¡¯t like Ivory anymore!

    Button says she understands exactly what I¡¯m feeling. She also told me that she was spanked by Ivory many times when she was a little goblin and didn¡¯t like it either.

    Since I¡¯m a little goblin, I can¡¯t leave my cave-hole by myself just yet. Truffle or Ivory will follow me to the shit-pit if I have to go, or otherwise, unless another goblin or Husband visits my cave-hole, I have to wait for Button to take me ces.

    One of the ces I like to go is Old One¡¯s cave-hole.

    Old One is really nice to me. She says I¡¯m a special goblin, just like Husband does. Because I have bone-magic, Old One says I¡¯m something called a Bone Lord, a goblin who uses real Bloodmaw magic, and not wicked human magic. She then tells me stories about an old goblin called Bone-eyes, who was a really old goblin back when Old One was still only a little goblin strong-one herself!

    ording to Old One, Bone Lords are able to listen to andmand bones. This is important, since the bones of the dead still carry the memories of the time when they were alive. She says most of what she knows about Bone Lords came from Stone-foot, her maker and the former Shaman of the tribe before the<i>silver-skins</i>attacked and killed everyone but us who came to Goblinhome.

    After learning all about the Bloodmaw Tribe from Old One, she will bring me back to my cave-hole, but not before stopping off at my older sister Melon¡¯s special cave-hole, called the<i>kit-chin</i>. Old One frowns at me sometimes when I order the tasty hamburger with nt-blood, instead of something that looks bloody, but Melon is quick to show Old One that there¡¯s plenty of pink-colored bloody meat inside it, and so Old One doesn¡¯t get as upset anymore.

    Apparently there are goblins who are very opinionated on which is better; bloody-meat or fire-meat. I like both, but nothing beats a tasty hamburger made by Melon.

    Husband also likes to visit me, sometimes bringing me to Melon¡¯s<i>kit-chin</i>after taking me outside the cave and pushing me on the swings. I get to meet my other sisters a lot more when I¡¯m outside and I have a whole bunch of them!

    Diana Artemis, who is going to be the next Guardian of the tribe. She¡¯s really good at hunting! I heard my other older sisters, Orchid and Lc, tell stories about how she and Husband went hunting at night to kill a bunch of ck-ws who killed one of the adult goblins called Beast-talker and tried to kill Prima, Jewel, and Doll!

    There¡¯s also Game, Fun, and Figurine (who Button says is fine to just call her Rine). Game and Fun live with Toy and make all the fun games that goblins like to y when not busy. One of thetest games was a game called<i>bones</i>that involved rectangles with circles on them that needed to be matched up a certain way. It¡¯s a sort of counting-game but I like anything that involves bones, even if they aren¡¯t made out of them.

    Button saw me having lots of fun ying the game with Game and Fun, and not even a few dayster she had managed to give me a set of my own to y with, and even yed a few games with me. Button is the best big sister!

    Husband hade to visit our cave-hole the day after that and showed me a fun way to y with them when I was alone. He stood the<i>bones</i>up in a line and ced them a certain distance apart before having me tip one at the end over, causing the whole line of them to fall over in a fast and exciting way!

    He couldn¡¯t stay for long, though. As it turns out, he wanted to spend some time with me today because he would be staying in Pepper¡¯s cave-hole for a while after this. When I asked why, he said it was because I would soon have a little sistering into the world.

    Button had exined to me once that Husband has an important job he does in the Bloodmaw Tribe. He goes around to all the cave-holes and helps adult goblins make strong-ones. That¡¯s why he¡¯s called Husband. Button told me when I be older like she is, we¡¯ll also be able to make strong-ones with him.

    Button and Truffle both consider Husband to be a mushroom-goblin like them, since he has a mushroom growing between his legs. I asked him if I could see it once, and he showed me, but said I couldn¡¯t touch it. From how it looked though, I think there was a big fat bone inside instead of a soft and squishy mushroom. It made me think that Husband might be a bone-goblin like Ivory and me.

    Anyway, since I wasn¡¯t going to see Husband for a while, I asked him if he would do something for me.

    ¡°What Ebony want?¡±

    I exined to him about wanting to see the special ck bone Ivory kept on the shelf I couldn¡¯t reach that she never let me touch. Husband went to find it and beganughing as he held it.

    ¡°Mean this?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Not bone. Dead branch. Hmm¡­ maybe¡­ special tree bone?¡±

    ¡°Tree bone?¡±

    Husband then exined the thin ck bone once belonged to him and was a gift to him from his maker for using his magic. It was called a<i>magic wand,</i>and was made from a long dead branch of an important magic tree. When he let me hold it, I could hear the voiceing from the tree-bone very clearly in my head.

    <<Little Lord. At longst we finally meet!>>

    I told Husband the magic wand was talking to me in my head, and he smiled and patted my head in response.

    ¡°Ebony lucky. Have wand long time, never hear speak head.¡±

    ¡°Wand, why do you not talk to Husband?¡± I asked it.

    <<How can I? His magic is stupidly¡­<i>never mind.</i>But your magic, Little Lord, is a perfect match to me.>>

    ¡°Husband, the wand says your magic is stupid. That¡¯s why it didn¡¯t talk to you.¡±

    ¡°Make sense.¡±

    <<You don¡¯t need to call me<i>wand</i>. The one over there gave me the name Yggdrasil, though, if you have a better name, I will be happy to receive it.>>

    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll think of one.¡±

    <<Very well.>>

    ¡°Ebony talk wand?¡± Husband asked, pointing at my new friend, Iggy.

    I nodded in reply.

    <<Little Lord, you must tell that one something important right now before your maker returns.>>

    ¡°Something important?¡±

    <<Tell him that I must belong to you.>>

    ¡°Iggy says it belongs to me.¡±

    ¡°Iggy?¡±

    I held out the magic wand in front of Husband.

    ¡°It said you gave it the name Iggy¡­ um¡­¡±

    ¡°Yggdrasil?¡±

    I nodded again. That name was too hard to say!

    <<Tell him you will show him why.>>

    ¡°Iggy says I will show you why.¡±

    Husband looked at the wand and then back to me.

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m watching.¡±

    <<Go over to the pile of bones. we will make us a new friend, together. That one will understand once it is done.>>

    ¡°Make a new friend?¡±

    Listening to Iggy, I walked over to the wall where almost all of the bones Ivory had in the cave-hole were kept. Iggy told me to focus my magic into the wand and it would do the rest.

    ¡°Can it be a friend who can climb and hunt well? Big sister Button is a hunter goblin. Ebony is going to be a hunter goblin, too!¡±

    <<If that is your wish, then that is what our friend shall be!>>

    I focused my magic into Iggy the magic wand and it began to glow. Many bones began to shake and rattle, moving themselves out of the boxes and shelves they had been resting in and came together one by one until our new friend, made entirely of bones, had taken shape.

    ¡°Ebony¡­ what do?¡±

    ¡°Making a friend with Iggy!¡±

    ¡°Husband, do you know what this is?¡±

    ¡°Look like bone spider.¡±

    <<It is done Little Lord. A replica of one of the children of Arachnida, she who weaves the Divine Web and guards the canopy of the Spirit Tree. There is no better climber and hunter in all the world.>>

    ¡°You¡¯re kind of small for a friend¡­ Can you climb?¡± I asked it.

    I watched as my new friend moved about quickly and climbed up the closest thing to it¡ªme! It climbed all the way up my body until it settled on top of my head.

    ¡°What about hunting?¡±

    I felt it leap off of my head after I asked and jumped onto Husband¡¯s arm, where it immediately began biting him.

    ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t hunt Husband!!¡±

    Husband wasughing as he held his arm out.

    ¡°Not hurt. Bitey here friend. Only show Ebony can hunt.¡±

    It stopped biting Husband and walked to his hand before it spun around in ce to face him. Then it raised one of its legs in front.

    ¡°Bitey?¡±

    My new friend spun around in ce again until it was facing me and raised one of its legs again. I could tell it was happy to see me.

    ¡°Seem like good name give. Not like?¡±

    ¡°No, I like it. Hello Bitey, I¡¯m your friend, Ebony! That¡¯s Husband, and he¡¯s also your friend!¡±

    Husband reached out and began to pet Bitey who ttened down onto his hand.

    ¡°Okay. See what Ebony mean wand belong. Speak Ivory when can about give wand Ebony. Not sure if listen... For now, put back, okay?¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to give the wand back, and Iggy didn¡¯t want me to give it back, either. But, before I could, and I was going to, because I do listen to Husband since he doesn¡¯t ever spank me, Ivory and Truffle hade back into the cave-hole after going out hunting for mushrooms.

    ¡°What are you holding in your hand!? You know that things on the top shelf aren¡¯t for you to touch!¡±

    Ivory began to yell at me as she quickly rushed over to yank Iggy out of my hand and immediately begin spanking my butt.

    <<How dare you harm the Little Lord!!>>

    I could still hear Iggy¡¯s voice loud and clear. Iggy was very angry at Ivory, just like I was!

    ¡°No more spanking Ebony!!!¡± I yelled.

    I felt the bones around me also be angry, and one of them¡­ one that had been sharpened by Ivory earlier and was resting on the table that went into the wall where she would sit with Truffle, got mad and flew right at her face!

    Husband was quick to reach out and grab hold of the bone right in the middle of the air before it poked her in the eye¡­ if he hadn¡¯t¡­ Ivory would have been really hurt.

    ¡°You¡­ tried to kill me!?¡±

    I¡­ I wasn¡¯t trying to kill Ivory! I was only trying to get her to stop spanking me! I wanted to say something, to defend myself, but I was caught between my mouth hanging open mid-cry from my butt hurting and fromplete surprise at what had happened.

    ¡°Ivory¡­ no be angry. Ebony not mean what happen.¡± Husband said while stepping in between us.

    ¡°Stay out of this, Husband. Ebony is<i>my</i>strong-one!¡±

    ¡°Also mine. Why think this happen?¡± he said, waving the sharp bone he caught in front of her. ¡°Ebony afraid Ivory. Afraid be spanked. Remember what do first find Button safe after think fall in shit-pit? First thing do is spank Button! Why need spank? Not able be calm, talk Ebony first? Button me me long time for what Ivory do!¡±

    Husband¡­ wasing to my defense. Or at least trying to¡­ I think.

    ¡°Then why did she have the ck bone?¡±

    ¡°Ebony curious. Want see it. Say okay. Keep watch, make sure safe.¡±

    ¡°If I wanted her to have it, I would have given it to her!¡±

    ¡°Ivory¡­ Ebony special goblin. Like bones same you. Not happy bones like Ebony? Not¡­ proud strong-one bone-goblin like Truffle proud Button mushroom-goblin?¡±

    Ivory threw the bone wand into Truffle¡¯s side of the cave and grabbed Husband by the shoulders, digging her pointy fingers into them, and pushed him up against the wall.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me what to do or who to be proud of! Who do you think keeps Truffle alive? Who did most of the raising of Button!? ME! That¡¯s who!¡±

    ¡°Not argue that. Know Ivory do what say. But maybe way Ivory do¡­ not best way!¡±

    ¡°¡­Fine. If Husband thinks he knows how to raise a bone-goblin better than a bone-goblin does¡­ Then do it! Take Ebony and get out of my cave-hole!¡±

    Ivory pushed herself away from Husband, leaving behind five lines of blood streaking down his arms from each of his shoulders.

    ¡°Ivory¡­ not saying can do better. Only think better talk first, find better way not need spank strong-ones before have good reason¡­¡±

    ¡°GET OUT!¡±

    Ivory pushed Husband right out of her cave-hole. Then she turned around and red at me.

    ¡°What that?¡±

    I followed her line of sight to my feet where Bitey was trying to¡­ protect me.

    ¡°This is my friend, Bitey.¡±

    ¡°Made from bones you took without asking...¡±

    Truffle had walked over to me and squatted down, holding a small mushroom out in front of Bitey.

    ¡°Does Bitey like mushrooms?¡±

    Bitey didn¡¯t seem all that interested in them. Ivory seemed to be mad that Truffle was being nice to Bitey.

    ¡°Truffle¡­ what are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Anything that likes mushrooms can be friendly.¡±

    ¡°Why are you such a mushroom-head?¡±

    Truffle shook her head before putting her hands on my shoulders and looking me right in the eyes.

    ¡°What do you want to do, Ebony?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Want to stay with Husband for a while?¡±

    ¡°Truffle! What are you saying to Ebony?¡±

    Truffle stood up and turned to face Ivory.

    ¡°I¡¯ll say this clearly, so you realize what just happened here. I almost lost my tree, Bone-taker. If Husband hadn¡¯t caught that bone, where would I be right now? What would happen to me? I know I¡¯m azy mushroom-head goblin. Nobody knows that better than me, not even you! You were being a rock-head when Old One said she was a Bone Lord, and you¡¯re being even more of a rock-head now! Ebony has magic. Magic that neither you, me, or Button know how to use! But Husband does. ce does. Vera does. Let Ebony go stay in Husband¡¯s cave-hole for a while. Let her learn how to use it the right way so that she doesn¡¯t make a mistake and hurt you back for all the times you¡¯ve hurt her, even if you think you were right in doing so. You and I were both spanked when we did things adult goblins didn¡¯t want us to do¡­ but maybe Husband knows a better way? All I know is that I can¡¯t lose you, stupid meanie Bone-taker!¡±

    ¡°Mushroom-picker¡­ do you think I¡¯m that bad at teaching our strong-ones how to be goblins?¡±

    ¡°When did I say that? I¡¯m the one who is no good at it! I push all the stuff I don¡¯t want to do onto you. I do think it¡¯s different with Ebony than it was with Button, and I think it might be different still when we have more strong-ones with Husband, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯re bad at it. But all of the strong-ones that Husband has made with us¡­ are different and stronger than we were as strong-ones. Do you think you could defeat Diana Artemis even though you are many moons older? What about Orchid or Lc? Even Shaman if she was serious?¡±

    I watched Ivory frown at her words.

    ¡°She¡¯s still a strong-one who can¡¯t even walk Goblinhome on her own¡­¡±

    ¡°Button taught ce how to walk Goblinhome. How to use the shit-pit. You were there to see it, weren¡¯t you? Following behind them the entire time¡­¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°You can me me if you need to. I will take care of it all, Bone-taker. My one and only tree.¡±

    A few things happened quickly after that.

    Ivory took one of her big pots full of<i>blue water</i>and went into her smaller cave-hole. Truffle had collected a few things of mine and the most important thing¡ªIggy, which she gave to me¡ªand walked together with me to Husband¡¯s cave-hole.

    Husband agreed to take care of me, saying for now his cave-hole would be my new cave-hole. He also agreed to doing what he could when it came to teaching me how to control my magic, since he didn¡¯t know the specifics of how my bone-magic worked. Button would continue to visit me, taking me ces and teaching me all the things about being a goblin that Old One, Ivory, and Truffle didn¡¯t.

    Truffle said I coulde to her for anything I needed¡ªwhether it be bones, mushrooms, or even milkies. Even if things were bad between Ivory and I, both she and Ivory were my makers, and until I was old enough to not need milkies anymore and get my own cave-hole, she would be there for me if I needed her.

    ce was nice to me at first, but when I had Bitey say hello to her by climbing up onto her head, she screamed a whole bunch and ran away while pping herself. I don¡¯t know why she doesn¡¯t like Bitey, because Bitey likes her a whole lot!

    Husband brought me to meet my little sister Mint when she came into the world together with Diana Artemis, Button, and ce.

    Seeing my newest little sister goblin, I finally understood how Button felt about me once I had be a big sister atst! And I knew exactly what it was that I needed to do here as a new big sister goblin. I had to give her an important memory to have so she knew who to trust!

    ¡°Mint, you are my little sister goblin. I am Ebony, your big sister goblin. It¡¯s the job of a big sister goblin to teach her little sister goblin how be a goblin!¡±

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Mint, a goblin with a mission.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we meet Mint, a goblin with a mission.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Mint **~~</strong>

    I¡¯ve been ying this VRMMORPG for as long as I can remember, I knew all the races and factions inside and out and had raised nearly a dozen characters to the counter stop. However, I had only heard snippets of the so-called Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe in all of my ythroughs. In the beginning of almost every main story quest, when first encountering goblins, a certain NPC named Yx is met, who wanders the world looking for thest remaining Bloodmaw Goblin, hoping to find them in order revive the lost tribe.

    Yx would appear whenever a quest took you to one of the many goblin factions around the world, whether for negotiation or subjugation, continuallymenting about how not a single goblin they hade across contained the<i>origin blood</i>of the Creator.

    There were spections on some forums that there would likely be a payoff to doing the questline in a future expansion of the game. Maybe Yx would finally locate thest Bloodmaw Goblin or some hidden tribe and it would lead to a new yable race opening up? I admit to being excited about the idea since I loved the worldbuilding lore and the difficult magic system that required detailed learning of the Rune connection system for creating and using magic.

    I never would have thought that while exploring the game¡¯s world randomly one day, in an effort to be the first yer to report one-hundred percent mappletion, that I would stumble across them. Thest remaining Bloodmaw¡ªAn NPC named Ark Wyze.

    It didn¡¯t make sense to me at first. Ark Wyze?

    The name Wyze was unmistakable to anyone who had ever yed a magician-ss character.

    Salondra Wyze, one of the most powerful mage NPCs in the game and the only Tower Master to have reached the ninth circle in thest one-thousand years¡­ there was a book in the private library in her mansion which spoke of her once having a son who met his end as an adventurer.

    No traces of him or his party were ever found.

    If Ark Wyze was her missing son, why was he a goblin and not a human? Salondra was known for her active hatred towards the uncivilized races, whom she considered to be a blight and gue upon the world¡ªand to which goblins were at the forefront.

    The look on the face of thest Bloodmaw Goblin was etched in sorrow.

    ¡°Why have you sought me out, Adventurer?¡±

    Engaging with the NPC, there were two dialogue choices to answer with. The first was to say that you were here to take the head of thest Bloodmaw and prevent the resurrection of the tribe that Yx was aiming for. The second was the exact opposite, offering to help restore the Bloodmaw tribe back to its once legendary greatness through any means necessary.

    Naturally, I wanted the secret storyline I had found to continue onwards, so I chose the second option.

    ¡°I would have chosen the first option, Adventurer.¡±

    Huh? Did the NPC know I had a different selection avable?

    ¡°No matter. For you to have found me, it can only mean that damnable<i>thing,</i>Yx, eventually will, as well.¡±

    He knew Yx? The story was starting to get good!

    ¡°I no longer have the strength to witness losing my loved ones yet again. I can feel the age seeped into my bones, Adventurer, and I know that I¡¯m nearing my end. Since you aren¡¯t here to kill me, would you like to listen to an old goblin¡¯s story? I would say old man, but I¡¯ve long since lost my humanity¡­¡±

    Holy crap! Am I going to get to hear the backstory of the Bloodmaw Tribe straight from the source atst!?

    I quickly chose that I wanted to listen to his tale and was invited to follow him to a nearby cave. Upon entering, it was an absolutely unremarkable cave with nothing in it¡­ that was, until his hand glowed and the wall opened in front of us, turning into a long passageway.

    ¡°Just a little bit further¡­¡± the NPC spoke.

    When we reached the end of the passageway, I saw an amazing sight. A single borate cavern expanded into view. It looked like a small ptial mansion!

    ¡°Surprising, isn¡¯t it? I tried to reconstruct it from the original, but it has been so long, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve forgotten more than a few of the details¡­¡±

    An option came up to ask about the original.

    ¡°When I was ad, I wanted to be an adventurer and see the world. I never would have expected that on my first goblin subjugation quest that I would be captured and made to be breeding stock for them.¡±

    A small mirthful chuckle exited the mouth of the NPC.

    ¡°Given the choices being to breed them or die, I hope you can understand that as a youth full of life, I wasn¡¯t exactly looking forward to letting it end prematurely. Still, I couldn¡¯t have known that it was my destiny to be part of something as great as the Bloodmaw Tribe. That¡¯s not to say I didn¡¯t have my points of contention with them. I had many, and we shed often due to how different our societies were. But do not for a moment believe that the Bloodmaw Tribe wasn¡¯t civilized¡ªThey were! It¡¯s just a matter of perspective, you see¡­¡±

    He gestured with his hand all about the room.

    ¡°Dak. In thenguage of the Bloodmaw, it meant Husband. To them, that¡¯s exactly what I was. The one and only male to be used by the remnants of the Bloodmaw Tribe after a subjugation had wiped out all but a hidden few females protected by a single elder goblin known as the Old One a year earlier. Hells, how she hated me! Ha ha ha! This room once belonged entirely to me, and I called it the Breeding Room. My task back then was each night to put a child in the belly of one of the fourteen goblins who were of age to repopte the tribe. I had only thought of how to escape at first, but¡­ things changed rather quickly for me.¡±

    The goblin NPC walked over to a section of the room that had a number of pirs with various items situated on top of each of them.

    ¡°When my first daughter was born, thoughts of escaping had all but left my mind. I named her Diana Artemis, and she was a paragon of what it meant to be a Bloodmaw Goblin. She was the future hope and Guardian of the tribe¡­ but that didn¡¯t matter one iota to me. Even though she was born a full goblin in appearance, I never once saw her as such. She was my daughter¡­ as human to me as she was goblin to them. Ah, I should touch on it briefly, that I was originally a human.¡±

    He held his hands out and turned them over, showing off his green skin.

    ¡°I chose to be like this only after I lost everyone. Before this I wasn¡¯t half-bad in appearance as a human. Now where was I? Oh yes, my first daughter, Diana¡­¡±

    He pointed to the pir in the middle, at what appeared to be the severed w of a bear.

    ¡°Would you believe that she was hardly a month old and hunted down a bear? It wasn¡¯t by herself, but it hardly made a difference¡­ she was mostly responsible for its death, and she was someone I was immensely proud of. You see, my fourth daughter, Button, was in the process of being born at that time, and she thought it would be nice for us to have a feast for her arrival. Say¡­ do you like mushrooms, Adventurer?¡±

    His words were soft and filled with warmth as he talked about his goblin daughters for what felt like an extremely long time.

    ¡°By the time six months had passed, the number of my daughters running around Goblinhome had almost reached twenty. You can see why most of the other races regard goblins as vermin. They can reproduce three times as fast as a human can. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t understand the desire to cull their numbers, and when ites to other goblin tribes, I may still share that sentiment. But the Bloodmaw were different¡­¡±

    There was what looked like a small shrine that was immactely kept. Within it was what looked like an infant goblin skeleton.

    ¡°My eleventh daughter, Mint. None of us knew why, but when she was born, it was like she had already given up on life. I often wonder what kind of goblin she might have grown up as. It wasn¡¯t a week after she was born that she died, and Ebony, my tenth daughter, took it quite personal, since she wanted nothing more than to be a big sister, and went so far as to use her magic to animate these bones. I must say, as a skeleton daughter, Mint was quite affectionate.¡±

    What sounded like a horrible life event was talked about with a smile on his face.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t long after my first round of children were born when the troubles began. What should have been a safe area protected by Yx was suddenly set upon by a number of foes. The boundaries of the Bloodmaw¡¯s territory were a forest of ck trees to the west, a big rock to the south, and a clear stream to the east. The cavern happened to be part of a mountain range to the north so there was little to no threating from that direction. From the other side of the stream came the orcs, who had grown toorge in number and were forced to split their tribe to settle more territory and hunting grounds. Just past the big rock to the south were the ck-ws, gigantic ferocious wolves who had established themselves as the primary enemy of the tribe and were ying a waiting game. I believe you adventurers call them Shadow Wolves? And from the west, what else woulde but the natural enemy of a goblin¡­ self-righteous parties of adventurers filling subjugation requests.¡±

    The NPC walked a bit further past the pir disys and to a wall full of armaments.

    ¡°What killed the Bloodmaw weren¡¯t the foes on the outside, but me from the inside.¡±

    He picked up a spear and twirled it around.

    ¡°I killed them because I couldn¡¯t kill thest vestiges of my own humanity. What makes the Bloodmaw so strong is not their individual abilities, but how theye together as a unit. What killed them was theck of numbers that I was made responsible for re-creating. Tell me, Adventurer, if the survival and advancement of your own race rested entirely on you needing to procreate with your own progeny, could you do so willingly and still think of yourself as a human? It sounds uncivilized and rather taboo, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    I expected a selection to appear for me to choose from, but none did.

    ¡°That was my folly, you see. If I had only epted that I was already a monster by that point¡­ that I had already be a Bloodmaw Goblin, same as them¡­ things might have gone differently. The secret of the<i>Origin Blood</i>is that it is Divinely given to the ones called Bloodmaw by their Creator. So long as one can procreate with it, there will never be an issue with whom. I only wish there was someone who could have convinced me to do what needed to be done in a way that made sense, so that I wouldn¡¯t have lost everyone important to me.¡±

    The goblin NPC sighed.

    ¡°Adventurer¡­ there is no need for you to burden yourself with restoring the Bloodmaw. For as long as they exist, the entire world will be their enemy until they are strong enough and plentiful enough to overwhelm all the other races. Only then might the Bloodmaw know peace¡­¡±

    Finally, the selection box opened up. The two options were to offer to stay with the NPC until they passed away, which would be soon, or to volunteer to make the whole world my enemy and try to preserve the<i>origin blood</i>of the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe.

    That second choice had to be it¡­ had to be how to unlock the Bloodmaw goblins as a yable race!!

    I hesitated a bit before pressing the button. I made sure to screenshot everything. I was going to be famous on the forums for being the one to open the door to one of the game¡¯s most niche secrets!

    [I volunteer to make the world my enemy.]

    ¡°Are you certain? I will not ask again¡­ this choice will directly affect your life, Adventurer.¡±

    I chose the follow up option.

    [I will preserve the<i>Origin Blood</i>.]

    ¡°I see¡­ I have no time left to test your true conviction. I will ask for your forgiveness then, for what must happen to pass along the<i>origin blood</i>¡­ is not very civilized, I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±

    The NPC¡¯s hand began to glow and I was hit with an unguardable paralysis spell.

    ¡°When you wake up, I will be dead, and you will be thest Bloodmaw Goblin. Goblin instinct will take over for everything else, so whether you consume my body or not out of necessity, I will not hold any grudge. I ask only one thing of you from this moment on¡­ please name the child you will give birth to¡­ Mint. I at least wanted to give her a second chance at life¡­¡±

    What happened after that was something R18+ that shouldn¡¯t have been in a video game meant for minors to y.

    I felt extremely vited, yet I couldn¡¯t close my eyes to it.

    After it was done, the NPC who had initially appeared as a goblin to me began to change shape into that of an old human male with a white beard, looking at me with an apologetic face.

    Then, pixels filled my vision until there was only darkness.

    [Your quest has ended. Would you like to begin your life anew as Mint the Bloodmaw?]

    There it was! Wait? Did that mean this character was being deleted?

    Damn, I had some good items on this one¡­ but¡­ argh, it¡¯s a new yable race!

    Fuck it, YOLO!!

    [Transferring yer now¡­ ]

    [Emergency Quest: Survive!]

    [You must escape. Failure to do so will result in permanent death!]

    <i>Huh?</i>

    <i>Where am I?</i>

    <i>I¡­ can¡¯t breathe!</i>

    I felt a desperate urge to get out of wherever I was!

    I found myself wing through a tight passage on my way towards a single speck of light below me.

    I had to hurry!

    I was almost there, just need to push my hands through and pull myself out of this hole¡­

    <b>Plop.<i></i></b>

    I was suddenly in a dimly lit cave, surrounded by many goblins and a single human male. They were all talking, but I couldn¡¯t understand any of the words they were saying.

    Looking at them, I saw names above each of their heads.

    What looked like an umbilical cord was stretching out from me and going into the one named Pepper. There was a middle-aged goblin called Old One. Four small goblins: Diana Artemis, Button, ce, and Ebony. Two goblins who looked to be in theirte teens with the names Jewel and Berry, and the lone human¡­ who was rather attractive, actually¡­ Ark Wyze.

    Did I somehow get sent back into the game¡¯s past? Is this a divergent storyline?

    Ah~, I was tired as could be. I needed to log out for now and make a quick post on the forums before taking a nap. My gamer blood was surging and I couldn¡¯t wait to see how this storyline continued.

    ¡­

    Uh¡­ where¡¯s the logout button?

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which some merged magic involves a prenatal panic

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which some merged magic involves a prenatal panic

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ebony **~~</strong>

    When Mint and I arrived at Old One¡¯s cave-hole, we weren¡¯t the only ones there. My big sister, Button, was the one to tell me I needed to go to Old One¡¯s cave-hole and keep it a secret, but neither she nor ce were there. It was just Old One, and another that made Mint shake and go pee right there on the ground next to me.

    ¡°Do you recognize me, little goblin?¡±

    The voiceing from the tall one with dark skin and horns growing out of their head and wings out of their back that were tucked away had a really strong voice that made all of the bones around me, even the ones still inside bodies, shake.

    The question wasn¡¯t aimed at me, but rather, Mint.

    ¡°Y-y-y-y-y-yx¡­.¡±

    Mint nodded but couldn¡¯t answer yes.

    ¡°And what about you?¡±

    This time the question<i>was</i>aimed at me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know! You look like a really strong goblin. Maybe Old One¡¯s big sister goblin?¡±

    They let out a deep rumblingugh that made the entire cave-hole feel like it was squishing me, but only for a moment.

    ¡°My apologies, Great Protector, this is the first time you have met our new Bone Lord. She¡¯s a bit¡­¡±

    Looking around the room, I saw something that interested me immediately. I was quick to ask Old One about it.

    ¡°What¡¯s that pile of bones for?¡±

    ¡°Why, they¡¯re for you. Do you remember hearing the story of Huntress and your Husband going on the hunt to kill the ck-ws?¡±

    ¡°Everyone knows the story!¡± I replied happily. It was a good story!

    ¡°Well, these bones belonged to Beast-talker, who died at that time.¡±

    ¡°She collected bones?¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t collect these bones. These <em>are</em> the bones from inside her dead body.¡±

    My eyes opened wide. Before I could ask why the bones of Beast-talker were being kept in Old One¡¯s room, because Ivory didn¡¯t have a single one of them, Old One began talking about the reason for it.

    ¡°I was holding on to them in case a Bone Lord should appear in our tribe. I expected one eventually, but not so soon.¡±

    ¡°Did you want me to do something with the bones? Listen to what they say? I can already tell you that those bones are happy to be in same cave-hole as Ebony and want to see Husband. They like Old One too, but not as much.¡±

    ¡°Do you think you can make them move, as you do with your spider?¡± Old One asked me.

    ¡°Like Bitey? I think so. Might take a little while to figure out how. There <em>are</em> a lot of bones!¡±

    ¡°Take your time then and show the Great Protector here what you can do with your bone-magic.¡±

    Using bone-magic for me was like talking to bones in my head. I¡¯d ask them to do something, or they¡¯d ask me to do something, and we¡¯de to an agreement. But there were way too many bones all trying to talk at once and trying to talk to each of them at once was tricky. It was like that when I lived in Ivory¡¯s cave-hole. And she had many many more bones than this!

    ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯m not actually sure how to do it on my own. Iggy helped me when Bitey was made.¡±

    ¡°Iggy?¡± The tall strong goblin with horns and wings called the Great Protector spoke from next to Old One.

    I pulled out my wand to show them.

    ¡°Iggy! It used to belong to Husband, but now it belongs to Ebony!¡±

    ¡°Hoh~? That isn¡¯t just a wand. I can feel the aura of the Spirit Treeing from it.¡±

    The voice of Iggy began to enter my mind.

    <<Little Lord. Let¡¯s be careful in what we tell that one.>>

    ¡°Why?¡±

    <<They don¡¯t have the best rtionship with the Spirit Tree.>>

    ¡°They don¡¯t?¡±

    <<How about we get right to making our new friend?>>

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    I pushed my mana into Iggy, and the pile of bones began to move themselves into all the right spots before settling down.

    <<Little Lord. While your magic is strong, I¡¯m not sure that you have enough of it to raise all the bones into a friend.>>

    ¡°We can¡¯t do it?¡±

    <<There is a way, but we would need to borrow mana from another.>>

    ¡°Mint?¡±

    <<She would be eptable to borrow mana from. Her mana ispatible enough with mine, since ites from a simr source.>>

    ¡°Husband?¡±

    <<That¡¯s right.>>

    ¡°Makes sense, we¡¯re sisters. What does Mint need to do?¡±

    <<The same as you, Little Lord. Just have her hold me together with you and have her focus her mana into me at the same time you do. I¡¯ll handle the rest.>>

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    I ryed to Mint what Iggy wanted her to do and she agreed to help. As we held on to Iggy together, Mint¡¯s tree-magic and my bone-magic pushed into Iggy at the same time and the bones began to rise up of the ground starting from the feet and settle on top of each other until after a long while, there was aplete bone-goblin standing up right next to Old One!

    <<Little Lord¡­ there... might be a problem.>>

    ¡°What¡¯s the problem, Iggy?¡±

    Before Iggy could answer, everything exploded into a bright light¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ste **~~</strong>

    ¡°Mmmmh~, yes! Keep licking right there, Ark¡­ don¡¯t slow down either~!¡±

    The trickiest part of having an idiot Husband with thirteen other needy goblin wives is finding the right time to corner him into taking care of<i>my</i>needs first. As I¡¯m the only goblin who he can enjoy certain things from, such as tongue kissing and using my mouth devoid of razor-sharp teeth to pleasure him in a certain way, he is usually willing to go along with whatever I want, with the end goal of making sure I¡¯m left as satisfied as he is.

    While I¡¯m still not sure if Ark genuinely loves me now that he¡¯s made me a goblin, he seems to be tied up in enough guilt at least to make sure that I¡¯m taken care of excessively well. And that¡¯s really all that I wanted anyway. I suppose him having a tool that can leave both my body and mind the same consistency as that weird meat thing his daughter Melon makes that Old One can¡¯t stop talking about¡­ is not a bad thing either.

    ¡°Ahhn~?¡±

    As my body rocked from its second orgasm, Ark removed his face from between my legs and came up onto the borate straw bed he made for me, pressing his warm body against mine from behind and slid himself into my wetness immediately. That would only be for a little while, though, until I coerced him to the position I preferred.

    I had already hunted, eaten, and freed up anything inside of me that might cut short the time I had avable to hog Ark all to myself. It¡¯s not that I minded sharing him sometimes with the pretty one, Jewel, or even that weird one, Vera, who seems to think of me as a sister. But same as all the other goblins feel on the matter, there¡¯s nothing better than having him all to yourself.

    Mostly because he¡¯s thorough. Not a single one of his wives has walked away dissatisfied once he gets going. And sometimes not a single one of his wives<i>can</i>walk away¡­<i>if</i>he gets serious.

    Which is why we have all learned at this point that it is wise to get everything done that needs to be done, just in case of thetter urring.

    When ites to mating with Ark, my preference is when he has me on my side and lifts one of my legs up to rest against his chest or on his shoulder while he goes at me that way. It¡¯s one of the most pleasurable positions I¡¯ve found when doing it with him, and by a stroke of luck it also gives him ess to y with the rest of my body in interesting ways. Rubbing my already sensitivedybits with his fingers or thumb, caressing and squeezing my butt, reaching for my breasts to grope as he plunges that damnable thing of his<i>all the way</i>inside me¡­

    The problem with having goblin instincts overwriting my old human ones is that I¡¯m wholly in need of attentive mating. All of his wives are. I asked Prima about it, but she said it¡¯s just the<i>goblin way</i>. Old One was able to give me a better answer, which I wasn¡¯t all too keen on epting.

    Males with big-seed emit some kind of scent that trigger a mating instinct within a female Bloodmaw ready to create strong-ones. It acts as a deterrent as well, for those without big-seed. To use an appropriate metaphor¡­ it¡¯s like eating fire-meat all your life before realizing how delicious bloody meat is, and never wanting to sully your sense of taste with anything fire-meat ever again. We can furiously hate Ark at times, but we can¡¯t deny our body¡¯s desire to im his seed. Forck of a better way of saying it, some of the best sex to be had with him is pure hatefucking.

    Ark joked about it once saying how unfair something like that was,<i>Darwinian cuckolding</i>, he called it. Talked about some historian named Darwin and how the Bloodmaw were perfect executioners of some concept called<i>survival of the fittest</i>.

    Were it not for the massacre that happened which led to Ark being the one taken as the first candidate for repopting the tribe since then, goblins like Vera, Lily, and Berry would most likely never be allowed to go near big-seed before the ones most worthy of it; ones like Prima, Jewel, and Doll. And at the very least, a goblin like Berry who could barely hunt anything bigger than a rabbit would have never had an elite strong-one such as Diana Artemis.

    Ark, being possessed of such a vast amount of what they consider to be big-seed, has no idea the lengths the Bloodmaw are willing to go to make sure he never leaves in order to secure the impressive future of their tribe, from his loins. I wonder if he realizes yet that, unlike me, he can never escape from here?

    ¡°It¡¯s okay to mess me up today, Ark.¡±

    ¡°Are you¡­ sure?¡±

    ¡°Mhm~?¡±

    Giving him the okay, Ark¡¯s handiwork that melts both brain and body had begun. As his member dug deep inside of me, constantly reminding my guts that maintaining any shape other than his member was obstinate foolishness, he was not beyond being yfully immature by biting my leg just below the calf when he filled me full of his first round of seed.

    But, this time, something strange happened as he let it out inside of me.

    The whole of Goblinhome shook as he did, and then something like a wave of bright piercing light fell over us, robbing us both of our consciousness¡­ And me of myst remaining bits of maidenhood.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Button **~~</strong>

    <<Button, something has happened.>>

    ce, who was sleepingzily on top of me had used her magic to put some kind of see-through bubble around us.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know. Can you carry me quickly to where Papa is?>>

    While getting up, I felt the entirety of Goblinhome suddenly shake.

    ¡°Did Tricky Husband do that?¡±

    <<No. That came from the direction of Old One¡¯s cave-hole. Right now, I¡¯m feeling the same sensation I did when Prima began her Blood Fury. Which is why we need to find Papa right now!>>

    I squatted down to let ce wrap her arms around my neck from the back.

    I was d I learned the feeling of the tree-magic that Husband had taught Mint a few days ago. Thanks to that, I was able to merge it with one of the special martial arts he had been teaching me recently, called the<i>Steps of the World-Ruler</i>. It involved him drawing his picture-magic on the ground and putting a certain one in the center that grew bigger the more we practiced. I showed ce what picture-magic Husband had drawn and she said it was called<i>gravity</i>. That it could make things lighter or heavier when used. That matched up with what Husband told me, about how if I trained with a strong force pressing against me and pulling me down, when it finally wasn¡¯t, I¡¯d be able to move my body faster and all of my punches and kicks would hit harder.

    The training wasn¡¯t more than just having me be able to stand up, walk a few steps slowly, and throw out a few punches and kicks. That was it. I just did it for a short while each morning. I already know how to touch the Rune in the stone bath in Husband¡¯s cave-hole that makes the water get hot. I can train on my own, and Husbandes to check on my progress every couple of days, making an adjustment into the form on the ground whenever he thinks I¡¯m ready to feel more<i>gravity</i>.

    So far, I¡¯m almost at something called<i>two-times gravity</i>. Which, ording to Husband, means it¡¯s like I¡¯m trying to move while also carrying another Button. One thing I learned while training in the gravity magic formation was how it felt when the<i>gravity</i>Rune was in use. While I can¡¯t use the picture-magic that ce can, or the stone-magic that Husband can, I can use some kind of body-magic that lets me copy an effect I can remember as long as it¡¯s limited to my body.

    I haven¡¯t mastered the Wolf Wind all the way yet, but I can simte the feeling a little bit and I am noticeably faster now. When I copy the feeling of<i>gravity</i>on the bottom of my feet, I became able to do things I¡¯ve never seen even Prima or Diana Artemis do before.

    Instead of only running on the ground, I can step onto the walls and it feels just the same as if I¡¯m running on the ground. I can also run up trees without needing to use my arms and hands to dig into the trunk. I can do it without running, but it¡¯s way more difficult and it doesn¡¯tst long before I wind up falling.

    I haven¡¯t had a chance to show ce what I can do yet, which is why I¡¯m excited to do so now!

    I dashed out of Husband¡¯s cave-hole, since we were beingzy together in his cave-hole in the corner, and ce was already clinging to me tightly with her legs as well.

    <<Button, you¡¯re going way too fast!>>

    ¡°I need to go fast, or I can¡¯t do this!¡±

    As soon as I cleared the entrance to Husband¡¯s cave hole, I leapt at the wall and twisted my body so that as soon as my feet hit the stone, it became like the ground. Then I continued running as fast as I could, leaping over the entrances to the other cave-holes along the way between where we were, and where the scent of Husband wasing from¡ªnear the front of Goblinhome, at either Prima or Ste¡¯s cave-hole.

    <<AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!>>

    In no time at all, we had arrived, with me leaping from the wall to the ground lightly and making sure my hands were behind me and holding onto ce¡¯s butt so she didn¡¯t fall off, just in case. It was smart of me to do so because she began to lose her grip and slipped off of me.

    ¡°Look! Husband and Ste¡­?¡±

    I pointed at both of them who were lying on the ground in positions that would not befortable at all to sleep in.

    ce, who was now standing up on the ground moved slowly towards Ste.

    <<It¡¯s Ste.>>

    ce had put her hand on Ste¡¯s belly.

    <<The strong-one inside of her¡­ Is having a Blood Fury! Or¡­ something like it! I¡¯ll stay here and keep an eye on these two. Button, you need to go get Old One and Berry, quickly!>>

    ¡°Is the strong-oneing?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know for sure, but it¡¯s best to believe for now that¡¯s exactly what¡¯s happening.>>

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back as fast as I can.¡±

    I turned my body in ce and prepared to run to the back of Goblinhome when something crazy was standing right at the entrance to Ste¡¯s cave-hole, staring right at us.

    ¡°ce! What¡¯s that!?¡±

    ce turned around and she saw what I saw.

    <<A Skeleton?>>

    I wasn¡¯t usually scared of anything, having hunted most of the creatures in the forest outside Goblinhome, with the exception of a ck-w, but right now everything was telling me that thing was something to be scared of!

    <<Button, be careful! I don¡¯t know why, but that thing¡­ is strong!>>

    I was already ahead of her in assessing that threat.

    ¡°Do we need to fight it?¡±

    <<I don¡¯t know. Forget going to get Old One, we need to stay here to protect Papa and Ste.>>

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Mint **~~</strong>

    Ugh.

    I felt sore all over.

    Looking around, I saw Old One and Ebony both lying unconscious on the floor. There was no sign of any of the bones Ebony and I had tried to raise, and the only other body in here was that of¡­

    ¡°Little goblin, you seem to have endured it well.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ w-what happened?¡±

    ¡°Something that I would have stopped had I realized what you were. A fucking Bloody Druid!¡±

    I was terrified that I was about to make an enemy out of Yx for something I had no control over. Yeah, the being that carried the name Great Protector was none other than the infamous NPC Yx!

    ¡°I¡­ I didn¡¯t know this would happen!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not ming you, little goblin. But your existence is strange. To have a Bloody Druid and a Bone Lord born in the same generation¡­ I had expectations, but that damn human breaks every single one of them every time!¡±

    Yx walked over to me and picked me up as if I was a sack of onions.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°From the magic in the air, and with how quick that skeleton took off with the Bone Lord¡¯s pet spider, I imagine it can be both nothing good and something splendid.¡±

    That assessment didn¡¯t help anything at all.

    ¡°What about Ebony and Old One?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll be fine. It was just magical reverberation. There¡¯s a reason nature magic and decay magic should never bebined. It encroaches on the realm of the Divine, and the Gods really don¡¯t like mortals doing that.¡±

    ¡°Gods?¡±

    ¡°Yes, little goblin. Gods. Nasty beings who have far too much power, time, and boredom on their hands. Pray you never meet another in your lifetime.¡±

    <i>Another?</i>

    ¡°You¡­ are Yx¡­ aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Before we had reached the shit-pit, Yx stopped moving.

    ¡°A name you shouldn¡¯t know. Who are you? You are recently born, yet you know who I am, when the others here do not.¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ w-well, I sort of know you¡­ in the future¡­¡±

    ¡°The future?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah¡­¡±

    ¡°Interesting. And how am I in the future?¡±

    ¡°Busy¡­ looking for someone.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°T-thest Bloodmaw¡­¡±

    I was dropped, unceremoniously, onto the floor.

    ¡°Are you saying my children have been in once more?¡±

    ¡°S-something like that? I¡¯ve met you many times, whenever I¡¯vee across goblin encampments. But¡­¡±

    ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°There were no remaining true Bloodmaw Goblins left¡­ I was the one to find thest Bloodmaw.¡±

    ¡°You speak in riddles. I have no patience for such things!¡±

    ¡°Ark Wyze!¡± I squeaked out in terror.

    ¡°What about the human? Did he somehow kill them?¡±

    The anger on the face of Yx was damning. I did not think I was going to live after this.

    ¡°He said so, but not directly¡­¡±

    I mbered back to my feet and began exining everything from the storyline I knew about the Bloodmaw Goblins to Yx.

    ¡°Hoh. So, you im to be from a future timeline of this world, and that after meeting both Ark and I, he had passed the Origin Blood to you, and that was when you were reborn here in the present... <em>your past</em> as you are now?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much. ording to what I saw in that ce in the future, I was supposed to die today. I thought I was going to earlier, but Ebony¡­¡±

    ¡°Bah. Fate changes as often as a goblin takes a shit. I can feel the life force inside of you, little goblin. You will not be dying anytime soon¡­ unless you choose to seek it out yourself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good. Ebony might be sad if I died.¡±

    ¡°Can you walk?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s continue our talk as we do.¡±

    Both Yx and I continued walking, and it asked me more question about Ark Wyze.

    ¡°So, in the future he has be a Bloodmaw in body?¡±

    ¡°Green skin and all. It seems like he can change his appearance with magic. He was deeply mournful at having lost everyone and he med himself¡­¡±

    ¡°Did he mention how the Bloodmaw met their end?¡±

    ¡°He only touched on it, I¡¯m afraid. Something about how enemies came on three sides, Orcs, Shadow Wolves, and Adventurers¡­¡±

    Yx stopped walking again for a moment and appeared to be pondering something.

    ¡°The current state of the tribe should be able to fend off the ck-ws, but if the Orcs dare disobey my benevolence and cross the eastern stream, that may be an issue. Should the older children band together with the Guardian, Stone-seeker, and Tree-chopper, they should be enough to handle them. But Adventurersing through the night forest¡­ that may pose a problem. It seems like I will have to pay attention to the movements of the human settlements outside of my domain from now on¡­¡±

    Sounds of fighting wereing from up ahead. The shrill scream of goblin could be heard.

    ¡°Little goblin¡­ Mint, was it? I trust you are wise enough to keep what we have spoken about secret. Never let my name escape your lips as anything other than Great Protector, and tell no-one of your future knowledge, not your sisters, not Old One, and not Ark. Live freely as a Bloodmaw, and enjoy the¡­<i>story</i>that will unfold.¡±

    I nodded profusely.

    ¡°Good. Now that our conversation has ended, let¡¯s see what troublese to the wonderful Husband I¡¯ve gone through so much trouble to procure for my children¡­¡±

    <strong>~~** Interlude | ??? **~~</strong>

    <i>Friend.</i>

    <i>Husband¡­ friend¡­</i>

    <i>Danger!</i>

    <i>Bitey! Friend! Come!</i>

    I was in Goblinhome, but I don¡¯t remember anything after the ck-ws ambushed me in the forest. All I knew was that I felt there was something dangerous around Husband. I knew right where he was, too, for some reason. He was in Stupid-one¡¯s room, and the dangerous thing was there with him!

    I moved with lightness I never knew I had, ran without feeling the tightness in my legs, and felt no need to draw breath.

    When I arrived at the Stupid-one¡¯s room, I saw three goblins and Husband inside.

    The two were strong-ones I hadn¡¯t seen before. Husband I recognized, but not the adult goblin on the ground, which was the source of my worry. I wanted to say to the strong-ones to step aside so I could deal with the problem, but words wouldn¡¯t escape my lips.

    The two strong-ones were wary of me, and both of them felt as dangerous as the thing inside the adult goblin¡¯s body.

    <i>Friend. Small. ce. Bitey¡­ friend!</i>

    I could hear Bitey telling me that the smaller goblin strong-one was a friend.

    <i>Other¡­ friend?</i>

    I tried asking Bitey if the other one who looked to be ready to take action against me was also a friend.

    <i>Ebony¡­ big sister. Friend!</i>

    Ebony?

    Ebony¡­?

    I clutched my head and felt a sharp pain as the name Ebony kept repeating.

    I had never heard it before, yet I knew it was the most important thing I needed to protect¡­ as important as Husband is.

    I might not be as strong a hunter as Guardian, Stone-seeker, and Tree-chopper are, but there¡¯s no better beast tamer and stalker in the tribe than me! I¡¯m sorry if both of these strong-ones are friends, but I must stop what¡¯sing and protect Husband!

    <i>Protect Husband?</i><i>Important Friend! Bitey help!</i>

    Bitey, who had been clinging to my back climbed onto my shoulder and leapt a far distance, right into the top hair of the little strong-one. She immediately screamed and began running around pping the top of her head with her little hands.

    ¡°ce! It¡¯s only Bitey! Bitey would never hurt you!!¡±

    The bigger strong-one understood, but still remained in my way.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are, but I can¡¯t let you hurt Husband or Ste.¡±

    I raised my hand and pointed at the one she called Ste.

    In response, the strong-one who spoke to me had stepped forward and spread her legs, balling up her fists like she was going to fight.

    So be it.

    I didn¡¯t want to harm her, so I would just throw her out of the way. As long as I could prevent what was inside of the one called Ste from escaping¡­

    I rushed forward and aimed to grab the strong-one, only to find that though I could grab her, I couldn¡¯t budge her an inch from where she stood.

    I felt a powerful blow right to my chest that rattled my body.

    She was strong!

    But she was still just a strong-one. I, however, am an adult goblin!

    I leapt at her with the intention of pinning her down, only to find her squatting down quickly and then leaping up at me with her fist rising upwards, shouting something unintelligible, possibly one of Husband¡¯s human words¡­

    ¡°<b>Shoutakeken!</b>¡± (¡¸•NÈ×È­¡¹Rising-mushroom-fist!)

    I felt the impact on my bones again and found myself flying backwards¡ªupwards!¡ªuntil my back collided into the rough stone ceiling of the cave-hole. At which point I began to fall face-first towards the ground.

    I saw her preparing to do something with her hands. I managed to orient myself somehow so I¡¯dnd on my feed and I crossed my arms in front of me as I felt a blue light hit me harder than a readboar¡¯s charge.

    ¡°<b>Kinokokikouhou!¡±</b>(¡¸È×šÝ¹¦·¨¡¹Mushroom-spirit-flow!)

    Even with my toes digging into the dirt, I was still blown back almost to the entrance of the cave-hole.

    Was she using some kind of goblin magic that Old One spoke of?

    Shit, was she even stronger than Guardian!?

    ¡°<b>Hissatsu!!</b>¡± (¡¸±Øš¢¡¹Final attack!!)

    I felt a familiar energy building up within her, like when I had taken a particrly tasty mushroom from Truffle and realized she was not going to forgive me for it.

    ¡°<b>Kinokoakumahouhou!!</b>¡± (¡¸È×£¨×Ó£©™Ä§£¨·½£©·¨¡¹Way of the Magic-Mushroom-Goblin!!)

    A whirlwind of punches and kicks came at me faster than I could see, and far faster than I could hope to block. With as much damage as I was receiving, I was surprisingly not feeling the pain I was expecting to. In fact, aside from being knocked around, I really didn¡¯t feel any pain at all from any of her attacks. They just rattled me. But, she was faster than I was and I just couldn¡¯t find a single opening to counterattack anywhere.

    Having lost sight of her, by the time I realized she was behind me, she swept her foot out and tripped me, then hopped onto my chest and began punching me in the face repeatedly. It only stopped when a familiar face had grabbed her by the back of her neck and pulled her off of me.

    It was the Great Protector!

    ¡°Beast-talker¡­ is what you came to find in here?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t answer with words, so I just sat up and nodded, pointing to the inside of the cave-hole.

    ¡°Ah, the strong-one of the mushroom-picker¡­ Button, I believe. You have gotten much stronger as ofte.¡±

    ¡°G-Great Protector! The skeleton¡­¡± she pointed at me.

    ¡°Is a friend of your sister, the Bone Lord.¡±

    ¡°It is?¡±

    ¡°<i>She</i>is. Tell me, is your Husband inside? Is he safe?¡±

    ¡°He is, but¡­ ce says something is wrong with Ste. Her strong-one may being¡­ but also having a Blood Fury inside of her¡­¡±

    A loud boom came from inside the room and Bitey came scurrying out, its bones just a little darker in color than when it leapt off of me and onto the small strong-one.

    Bitey began climbing up the new strong-one who had appeared with the Great Protector.

    <i>Mint important friend!</i>

    Bitey ryed what he could to me.

    I rose to my feet and recognized the one it called Mint as being important to me as well.

    ¡°No more fighting for now. Go and calm the Shaman so we can make sense of what is happening.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    The strong-one that the Great Protector called Button reached a hand outward to me, which I epted, and was pulled back onto my feet easily enough.

    ¡°You strong skeleton. Want fight moreter.¡±

    Button then turned around and went back into the cave-hole. I followed, with the Great Protector and the other strong-one who had Bitey sitting on her head right behind me¡­

 [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we finally meet Lumi, who f*cked around and was made to find out.

    [Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we finally meet Lumi, who f*cked around and was made to find out.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Sorry this chapter took so long, it ran away with me, and I also got captured by my family into watching that new Shogun miniseries. After this, there should only be a couple chapters left in the Daughters of the Goblin Tribe Interludes before we dive into volume 2. This chapter is a bit sizeable at around 6k words, but I did try and build up to this one properly, since Lumi will be an important goblinter on...

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Somewhere Outside the Realm of Life and Death **~~</strong>

    In what could be considered a mental reconstruction of what appeared to be a cavernous throne room, two formless beings manifested inside of it, as they had once before.

    ¡°It seems your time here as my guest has finallye to an end.¡±

    ¡°Finally came to your senses and decided to return me to the Goddess¡¯ embrace, I take it?¡±

    ¡°Not at all. I have kept you here because I had hoped to find the right opportunity to allow you a chance to atone for your crimes, and, fortunately for us both, such a time hase.¡±

    ¡°Crimes?¡±

    ¡°Yes,<i>crimes</i>. Or is child-ughtering a facet of ra she keeps hidden to all but her faithful?¡±

    ¡°Purging your evil spawn from the world is not a crime, it¡¯s a sacred duty!¡±

    ¡°So sacred a duty it must have been that, when I asked ra for your soul aspensation for such an act done in her name, it took her less than the span of a mortal breath to agree.¡±

    ¡°Impossible! The Goddess would not have forsaken my soul! It was likely some heretical magic being cast by your shaman and that nasty one with the spear to obscure my death from the eyes of the Goddess!¡±

    ¡°When did I say she had forsaken your soul? I should think ra is in agreement with me, that you are deserving of a second chance at life. All that will change for you is the perspective you will observe that second life from¡­¡±

    A snap of the fingers showed a Human woman on a raised block of stone being vited by another Human male in the presence of two goblins.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    ¡°That would be your mother and father currently in the process of creating a suitable vessel for you.¡±

    ¡°They are human?¡±

    ¡°The woman is, at least for the moment. As a Saintess of ra, certainly it would be unreasonable to ask you to be born to someone not of the same faith. The man, however, is something of an anomaly, but one who has willingly epted the <i>origin blood</i>of my children and also seeks to show them a path to bing more than the evil spawn you purport them to be.¡±

    A snap of the fingers sped up the scene before them both. The human copted with the two goblins present, then vited the human woman once more. While time passed over days, the woman underwent some kind of physical change until her body was somewhere between that of a goblin and a human.

    ¡°What manner of corruption is this¡­?¡±

    ¡°Why, love, of course.¡±

    ¡°sphemy!¡±

    ¡°Not at all. The human man wanted nothing more than to strongly save the life of that woman, and this was the result of his will. His seed nted inside of her belly will create a worthy vessel, a goblin vessel suitable to house the soul of a Saintess¡­¡±

    ¡°Lies!¡±

    ¡°Shall we continue to observe?¡±

    Time rapidly sped up until an explosion of light happened in a small cave that four goblins upied, and a small ripple in the fabric of the universe formed for a fraction of a second before time froze.

    ¡°Your passage back to the world, without loss of a single bit of yourself. Your memories, your faith in ra, your hatred of my children, all of it shall remain with you. Only now, you shall be one of them. But, do keep one thing at the forefront of your thoughts¡­ suicide shall not be permitted, not by ra, and not by Me. Enjoy your new life as the first Saintess of the Bloodmaw Goblins. <strong>Ha ha ha ha!!!</strong>¡±

    And like that, the intangible form of the one called the Saintess of ra had been thrust through the small ripple in the fabric of reality, and catapulted at full force into the body of a strong-one growing inside of of a half-goblin Bloodmaw named Ste...

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ark Wyze **~~</strong>

    Surprise childbirths are no longer something new and unexpected to me. Diana Artemis set the bar, and it hasn¡¯t dropped an inch since. I had been forcibly awakened by ce with her magically chilled water pistol to a scene I would have preferred been a nightmare instead.

    I was being helped up by an extremely malevolent-looking skeleton goblin while ce was busying herself with doing the things Old One usually would with a goblin about to give birth. Button was supporting Ste by keeping her body in an upright position, Mint was doing whatever Button told her to do as Bitey stayed firmly entrenched in the hair on her head, and the Great Protector had a bemused expression on its face while watching everything going on.

    Yeah, it was essentially hell.

    ¡°Ark, you bastard! You said you wouldn¡¯t make ite early!¡± Ste shouted at me once she realized I was conscious.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me!¡± I retorted while on autopilot, having just awoken.

    While I had be able to detect when the sudden pregnancy ability I possess would ur¡ªa feeling of total exhaustion that preceded one of my manyicallyrge ejactions, followed by an almost magically enforced slumber afterwards¡ªI made a promise to Ste that I would make every effort to not rush her pregnancy. So far, there hadn¡¯t been any signs that it would happen¡­ but why she was having it now, when I have no recollection of feeling that strange sensation which leads up to it, had left me bewildered.

    Regardless, whether it<i>was</i>my doing or not, ce had ryed it through Button to me that my newest daughter was on the way, and nothing was going to slow or stop her froming into the world, and soon!

    There was an issue though. ording to ce and backed up by a nod from the Skeleton, my unborn daughter inside of Ste was currently undergoing something simr to the Blood Fury which Prima underwent not too long ago. For whatever reason, there was a sense of unease that when my daughteres out into the world, I may be a target for¡­ who knows what.

    Am I afraid?

    Not in the slightest. How can a father be afraid of their own newborn daughter?

    So, as Husband to Ste and daddy to what¡¯s about toe, naturally it was my job to do what I could to support Ste right now. Which meant I quickly took over as standing support for Ste¡¯s body which was inbor, and asked Button to go find the biting branch in Old One¡¯s room if she had any idea where it was. Thankfully, she did, and left immediately to go fetch it.

    ¡°I know it can probably wait, but what¡¯s the story with the skeleton?¡± I asked Mint, who would be the one to give me the best answer out of anyone currently present.

    ¡°Ebony and Mint try make new friend like Bitey. Bones belong goblin Beast-talker.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me? The bones¡­ belong to¡­ Beast-talker?¡±

    Beast-talker? As in, the one who died to the ck-ws over a month ago?

    A nce at the skeleton who was observing me without any visible eyes had lifted her arm and waved at me.

    ¡°Are you really Beast-talker?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but ask the Skeleton. Of all of my eventually-to-be wives, she was the one I knew the least.

    The skeleton nodded. All supernatural creepiness aside, the skeleton had no vocal cords and so couldn¡¯t audibly respond with words. I questioned how much awareness it had, since usually, aside from the ridiculouslyplicated magic required to be a lich and retain one¡¯s sense of self, skeletons didn¡¯t usually keep their personalities about who they were while they were alive. Or at least, that¡¯s what thependiums on Necromancy in my mother¡¯s personal library stated¡­

    ¡°Not know how know. Beast-talker¡­ still think Husband.¡± Mint spoke further in her small voice.

    So now I had a skeleton goblin as a wife? Isn¡¯t marriage supposed to end at<i>death do us part</i>?

    ¡°Well, if it makes her happy to still think of me like that, then I¡¯m fine with it. d to see you again, Beast-talker. Just to let you know, Diana Artemis and I took revenge on all of those ck-ws who attacked you. Their meat was delicious, and their skins and bones were put to good use.¡±

    In lieu of a voice, the skeletal jaw of Beast-talker cked with what I hoped was approval.

    ¡°Ark, why are you talking to a fucking skeleton?¡± Ste grumbled.

    ¡°Well, she¡¯s technically my wife, so why wouldn¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Because it¡¯s a<i>fucking</i>skeleton!¡±

    Ste took in a deep breath and made a slightly pained expression before speaking.

    ¡°Ark¡­ just promise me you aren¡¯t going to fuck it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not even sure how that would work.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to figure out <em>how</em> it would work, I asked you to promise me <strong>not to do it at all!</strong> GHHH¡­. <strong>Fuck</strong>¡­ GRRRRH¡­.¡±

    While yelling at me for the most ridiculous thing she could, Ste entered into another set of contractions. Button had returned in record time, and with the biting branch ready to go, so was Ste.

    A small pir of dirt was raised underneath ce and she assumed the duties of Old One, pressing down on Ste¡¯s belly when she needed to and Button both helping me support Ste and repeating what ce was telling her.

    ¡°Ark, I hate you.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°You had better take responsibility for this!¡±

    ¡°I will.¡±

    ¡°She better note out retarded like your other ones.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be as normal as you want her to be.¡±

    ¡°I just want her to be smart and strong without being weird.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t promise that. I mean, she¡¯s half mine.¡±

    ¡°Fuck!¡±

    After a small tirade of colorful words, mostly shouted at me in the human tongue, nature began to do what nature does best.

    ¡°Oh god, it fucking hurts! Ark, I¡¯m never letting you put another one of these damn things inside of MEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!¡±

    As two wed hands found their way outside of her birthing canal and plunged small, pointed fingers into the soft flesh of her thighs, the head crowned and a momentter, my daughter entered the worldpletely.

    And what a daughter she was.

    Though she was covered in a fair amount of blood, there was no mistaking that she had a simr skin coloring to both Ste when she was still a human, and of myself. In fact, aside from the pointed fingers, toes, and ears, along with the teeth, she was quite human in appearance. She didn¡¯t have the tell-tale greenish gold eyes at all, and just a small hint of growing red hair on her scalp.

    Rather than go for the centa which came out a momentter with a final push from Ste, she stood up and stretched out her tiny arms, turning them over and clenching her hands into fists before looking around the room. She then raised her hand upwards, and a bright light began to gather in the palm of her hand.

    I did not have a good feeling about what wasing next¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Lumi **~~</strong>

    <i>ra! Answer your faithful servant¡¯s call! I offer up my body to be a vessel for your grace and mercy so that your holy might may smite these abominations!</i>

    I let loose a smiting st of holy energy at all the evil gathered in this room. To think that<i>I</i>had been sent back to this world only to be reborn as a goblin!

    Inconceivable!

    I was met with stares from all around. A human, a human-like goblin, and three goblin children, unharmed, hidden behind shields of darkness. The remaining two abominations; the skeleton and the¡­!

    ¡°Hoh? Why does this little goblin have the taint of ra upon it?¡±

    My body froze in fear when I saw the creature with ashen skin, horns jutting out from its head, and two wings which unfolded themselves in front of me speak. It was something I had seen before, as I took myst breaths when I was still alive as a human¡­

    ¡­It was the thing which tore through the group of holy knights and pious adventurers blessed by the Church of ra to cleanse the world of evil abominations that would bring it to ruin!

    ¡°Taint?¡± The male human who spoke in themon tongue asked the abomination.

    ¡°Ark, do you worship the Goddess ra?¡± the Abomination asked him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t worship any of the pantheon. I am a man of science.¡±

    ¡°What about your woman?¡± It said, pointing to the body of the half-transformed female goblin lying on the ground next to him.

    The woman, a half-goblin from the looks of her and the one who must have begotten me just now croaked out an answer.

    ¡°The Goddess ra has always been the patron deity of my vige.¡± She said with a strained voice.

    ¡°I see. So that is how it was done! Marvelous!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s marvelous, Great Protector?¡±

    ¡°The Creator has given the Bloodmaw a Saintess.¡± It stated mirthfully. ¡°I do believe this is the first time in history something like this has happened¡­¡±

    ¡°Do Bloodmaw not normally have them?¡± the male human questioned.

    ¡°What need have they for one? The strong live to be stronger, and the weak die as fodder for the strong. The Bloodmaw have no need for phony religions, or to worship any deity other than the Creator. Adherence to the <i>ceremonies of blood</i>is how the Bloodmaw show their worth in receiving the gifts the Creator has bestowed upon them, as the perpetual growth of the Bloodmaw is the only thing ever pleasing to the eyes of the Creator.¡±

    The words that the high abomination spoke were pure Evil¡¯s Doctrine!

    ¡°Does my daughter having some alignment with the Goddess ra constitute a problem?¡±

    ¡°Who says she is aligned with ra?¡± The Abomination said, which incensed me greatly.

    ¡°Well, you said there was a¡­<i>taint</i>.¡±

    ¡°There is. But that¡¯s all it is. Did you not feel how pathetically weak her call to smite us just now was? It seems what blessings were given to her by ra may have already been purged.¡±

    The human got up and walked over to me, squatting down and looking me in the eyes.

    ¡°Hello, Lumi. I¡¯m your daddy. I¡¯m sureing into the world with so many people around you was probably scary, huh? It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t know what I¡¯m saying yet. All that you need to know is that you¡¯re my daughter, and I love you very much.¡±

    The existence of this human was a sacrilege. How dare a human cavort around with goblinkind and think he is clean enough toy a hand on me, let alone call himself my father! Being filled with righteous anger, and not wanting to believe that ra had forsaken me, feeling no more divine power in my body at the moment, I saw fit to bite him on the arm.

    <b><i>Ka-thump!</i></b>

    I screamed.

    I screamed but couldn¡¯t remove my mouth from the arm of this despicable human male. The taste of his blood was like the ceremonial ambrosia given to me to drink at my baptism when I first became a Saintess. I felt my body burning up while my thoughts became muddy. In that moment, all I wanted to do was devour this man entirely¡­<b><i></i></b>

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Ste **~~</strong>

    It¡¯s been three days since my daughter, Lumi, was born. What was thought to be a Blood Fury turned out to be something else entirely. Neither the Old One nor that<i>thing</i>¡ªthe Great Protector¡ªknowledgeable as they were on the history of the Bloodmaw, had an exact exnation for what urred. A discussion involving Ark and ce came up with some excuse that it must have been Lumi¡¯s body undergoing some necessary change in order for her to be able to use divine magic as the Bloodmaw Creator¡¯s first Saintess, but not since that one time using it after she was born had she cast any other holy magic.

    With exception to myself and Ark, Lumi is actively hostile to all the other Bloodmaw. When ites to Ark, all she desires from him is a mouthful of his blood¡­ for me, she is willing to nurse, if begrudgingly, to continue living. She never ate the centa, and as twisted as it sounds, I wound up doing it while she took a nap. If there was anything magical or divine within it, I felt nothing.

    I think the only reason she¡¯s even willing to interact with me was when I had told her that even though I was a goblin now, I was once human and still believed in the Goddess ra, even after what had happened to me. I told her about my life as a vige daughter, about the adventures I went on together with Ark and Kairos, and about how it was a goblin subjugation request of all things thatnded us here as captives, and subsequently led to her being born.

    So far, motherhood hasn¡¯t turned out to be anything like I thought it would.

    There is no such thing as a goblin infant. The closest point to that is the eating of the centa and their first nursing. After that, it¡¯s straight into being a toddler. Within a day or so they can pick up the goblinnguage and begin learning life skills, such as hunting. Their teeth are sharp enough by then to crunch the skull bones of a rabbit. By the end of the first week, if they are smart and strong enough, they are capable of hunting small prey on their own.

    When Lumi finally decided to speak to me, it was to ask me for something.

    ¡°ra.¡±

    She had drawn a picture in the dirt on the floor of our cave-hole. It was the symbol of the Goddess ra.

    ¡°You want this?¡±

    My daughter nodded.

    What she was asking me for was some kind of ne. The symbol of ra, the five-pointed star which represented the five virtues of the Goddess. I only know it because there was a stone statue of ra in my vige, and carved into it was the symbol.

    I suppose Ivory could make something like that, but at the same time, I wanted to be the one to make it for her. Negotiating with Ivory, I was given some bones and string in return for a few rabbits I had hunted with my bow.

    Lumi had sat down with me and watched as I tried my best to craft it for her. It was by no means perfect, and Ivory could have probably done a much better job of it, but Lumi was satisfied enough when it adorned her neck. She had gotten down on her knees and sped her hands together, praying, from the sight of it. I decided to join her, though I only knew the prayers for a good night¡¯s sleep and for a good harvest.

    Slowly, she warmed up to me, though she was no less independent than any of the other goblin children. And she still fought with them all, and still sunk her teeth into Ark whenever she got the chance.

    It wasn¡¯t until Ebony¡¯s pet spider made of bones, Bitey¡ªI believe, had paid an unannounced and unwee visit to our cave-hole, that I saw my daughter once more use the magic light she was possessed of, taking aim at the spider and unleashing her divine magic.

    I don¡¯t know what I expected to happen, but it wasn¡¯t what did. I think Lumi was also unprepared for the oue. Bitey, whose bones were dark in color, had been restored to a pristine white. Whiter than they originally were when it was first created. Spinning around in ce, the spider then jumped and scurried out of the room, only to return some timeter, dragging a dead snake in from god-knows-where and depositing it at Lumi¡¯s feet and then saluting with its front bony foreleg before scurrying out of our cave-hole.

    Lumi stared down at the snake and then sat down on the ground and poked it a few times.

    She prayed again, tears streaming down her eyes, before grabbing the snake and taking a bite out of it directly. Lumi looked up at me and pointed at the snake. I sat down next to her and took a bite of it myself, enjoying how delicious it was¡­ something that was only possible because I was possessed of the goblin¡¯s instinct to eat raw and bloody meat.

    It wasn¡¯t easy for Lumi to be a goblin. The part of me that had be a mother understood this. But, for me it was. Oh, there were things I hated about being a goblin, still having the memories of being a human present in my mind, but I didn¡¯t hate being a Bloodmaw, overall.

    Aside from my beauty as a human woman, every other part of me had been enhanced. Including my physical properties and my senses. And so long as Ark gave me all that I wanted, there really wasn¡¯t much of a loss for me to ept being one. So what I felt I needed to do for Lumi was to find out what it was she wanted in order to be happy.

    Her reply to my question was short and simple.

    ¡°Want¡­ chapel.¡±

    A chapel. A room to pray to the Goddess ra in.

    When I next saw Ark, I brought it up to him, and he was entirely fine with it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll make her one right away.¡±

    It had urred to me that I should have mentioned that it be a chapel dedicated to ra, but it seems Ark was already well aware of Lumi¡¯s faith.

    Ark had enlisted the help of many of his magically inclined daughters to build some kind of stone building attached to the immediate outside of Goblinhome, opposite to the yground, that came equipped with an ornately carved wooden double-door. Inside was what looked like some kind of a small church with stone benches for seating and two statues present, though one had a draping over it.

    The statue with no draping was of the Goddess ra, as borate as ones found in bigger towns and cities I had seen after having left my own vige. What had a draping was a strange statue. It was a poorly crafted statue of a goblin, like some kind of rudimentary wall-painting by someone with no artistic skill, wearing only a loincloth and the most pronounced point of it being an open mouth full of sharp teeth readying to eat a piece of meat.

    I had asked Ark what the deal was with it, and he said it was something Mint came up with that ce and Ebony also strongly agreed with. ra was not the Creator of the Bloodmaw. Mint felt that if there was to be some kind of church or religion present in Goblinhome, then it was necessary for there to also be some representation of the Bloodmaw¡¯s Creator, even if the chapel was only to be used by Lumi to worship and revere the Goddess ra.

    Seeing that it remained covered in her presence, as well as ridiculous to look at as an object of worship, Lumi found it eptable,ughing mockingly at the pitiful statue.

    Ebony and Mint would frequent the chapel and listen to Lumi speak about the Goddess ra, and the three of them became somewhat friendly as a result. Ark, on the other hand, would visit the chapel when Lumi wasn¡¯t present and would remove the draping on the statue, clean the dust from it, and offer a prayer up to it, only ever asking for the continued safety, growth, and well-being of his daughters, before covering it back up. I confronted him once about it, and all he had to say on the matter was, while he didn¡¯t necessarily believe in any of the Gods, if one might be willing to listen to him, wouldn¡¯t it be the one who most had some need for him?

    I couldn¡¯t find any fault in what he said.

    For Ark to be the key piece in restoring an otherwise damned tribe of goblins, it might very well be the work of the Bloodmaw¡¯s Creator to have brought him here. To have the power to change me from a human into a Bloodmaw¡­ perhaps Ark was some kind of chosen one. But I didn¡¯t believe that <i>too</i>deeply.

    After all, Ark was an idiot. An idiot with excessively powerful magic who loved all of his children with his naively kind heart.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Lumi **~~</strong>

    ¡°ra, have you truly forsaken me?¡±

    I have never had reason to doubt the Goddess before now, but to find that the only magic being bestowed to me as a Saintess from the Goddess ra was magic to heal and purify, naturally some concern would have taken root inside of me.

    The one to answer my grievance wasn¡¯t my Goddess, however, but the goblin elder they called Old One.

    ¡°I wondered the same thing once before about the Creator. When the Silver Skins and the Woman of Burning Light came to my tribe¡¯s cave one day and mercilessly ughtered my kin... My mother, Stone-feet, and my only daughter Spear-hand. I never forgot the feeling of terror and dread I felt at that human woman¡¯s magic, dressed in those white robes, able to bring the dead back to life and tomand a handful of goblins to die with but a single word from her lips¡­¡±

    She walked over to the draped statue and pulled it down.

    ¡°It is a simplistic depiction of the Creator, is it not? Compared to the one you believe in, there is no need for borate decorations to conceal what is essentially the truth of our kind. We are born simple; some weak, some strong. But all can grow through consumption of the blood of those stronger than us. And it is all that our Creator asks of us. Not to war pointlessly with others, not to create things to worship, simply to live and grow, to take what is necessary to be more than we are, but to never forget we are simple beings with simple beginnings.¡±

    I stared at the old one who then touched the statue, before putting the draping back over it.

    ¡°I know who you are. I was there when you came before I had to conceal myself and protect thest of my tribe. But that is in the past. You cannot give me back my maker, nor can you restore to me my irreceable Spear-hand. I take pleasure knowing her spear was what ended your life back then, but now you are a Bloodmaw, child. Shall I tell you why your spells of smite do not work on us now? I¡¯m sure you are curious as to the reason.¡±

    She was right. I was exceptionally curious as to why I couldn¡¯t smite all of these damn abominations.

    ¡°Quite simply, should you somehow be able to cast those spells again, you would also be killed by them. It¡¯s not that you<i>can¡¯t</i>cast them, it¡¯s just that your very blood prevents you from killing yourself in such a way. It would not be a noble self-sacrifice to do so, but both murder and suicide. I¡¯m sure your Goddess doesn¡¯t wish to see you die in such a useless and wretched way, which is why she has made it so your divine magic can only restore and repair. However, should you find yourself willing to pray to the Creator, perhaps that will change. Of course, I don¡¯t intend to try and convert your beliefs¡­ nor do I n to stop you trying to convert any of the tribe to believe in your Goddess, should you somehow find sess in that. You are free to do as you like, Sunless-saint. Whether you ept your new fate or not, you are now a Bloodmaw Goblin, and all the hatred of the human world you came from, that you held onto so firmly in your heart, and that you brought with you to destroy us, is now yours to shoulder. Time will pass, you will eventually undergo the <i>ceremonies of blood</i> and be more Bloodmaw than you could ever wish to be. And that is the just revenge the Creator has bequeathed to me, at the cost of the lives of my precious tribe at your hands, and those of the Silver Skins. Now you may begin to atone for all that you have done, and your forgiveness will onlye once you have done what all other Bloodmaw are tasked to do with their lives¡­ be <b>more.</b>¡±

    A hand patted my shoulder and the Old One walked out of the chapel. I was left staring up at the statue of the Goddess ra, and I felt broken. I couldn¡¯t find the words inside of me to continue my prayer to the Goddess, simply sitting down on one of the stone benches and clutching the holy symbol made of bones around my neck that my new mother had made for me, in an attempt at making some peace between us.

    A short whileter, the human male that was my new father hade into the chapel and sat down next to me.

    ¡°Hello, Lumi. If you¡¯re done praying, want to go y on the swings?¡±

    ¡°Why¡­ do you corrupt yourself with these goblins?¡±

    I had never asked him the reason before, but after listening to the Old One, I wanted to know why this Human would help restore these evil abominations.

    ¡°Because I could find love nowhere else in the world, Lumi. As for marital love, I remain unsure that all but Vera is capable of feeling that way about me. But there is not a sliver of doubt that all of my daughters are innocent young girls who, with proper guidance, can be as civilized and proper as the children of any other goodly race. And so long as I live and breathe, I will do all that I can to see them live happy lives away from the hateful stigma that follows all of the so-called evil races.¡±

    ¡°What about my mother, who was once human?¡±

    ¡°What about her? I would love to tell you that we love each other, but I would be a fool to think that she could ever love me for all the pain I¡¯ve inflicted upon her, knowingly or otherwise. Instead, she¡¯s given me a chance to atone for my sins by giving her the best life possible within these circumstances, and that is what I have chosen to do. In return, when I have a rare moment when I desire to be with a human, she offers me it as a small mercy. The fact that both she and you are the most human-like among the Bloodmaw is something that brings a little peace to my heart.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯d rather be among humans?¡±

    ¡°Not particrly. As I said before, I could find love nowhere else. The ones to ept me as I am were the Bloodmaw Goblins. There are two adages from where I originally hailed from that may exin why I amfortable here, and do not think of escaping. The first is <i>home is where the heart is</i>. All that I love is within Goblinhome. You, and all my daughters. The second is<i>the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb</i>. I have shed blood and taken lives, granted they were only big nasty ck wolves twice the size of me, for the sake of protecting these goblins and it¡¯s more than any human might have ever done for me on ount of just being another person from the same race.¡±

    What he said felt profound, but I needed time to understand it further.

    He offered his arm outstretched before me and I took it, biting into his flesh and savoring his blood. It was surely an impure act, but one I couldn¡¯t help but take part in. Only in those moments were my thoughts free of torment, and once more could I feel divine power course through my veins.

    When I was done, he wiped my mouth and then picked me up.

    ¡°Swings?¡±

    I didn¡¯t feel like arguing with him and agreed to letting him enjoy his role as my damned father.

    Leaving the chapel, it was a few steps to the swings where Ebony and Mint were being pushed by Beastie, the goblin skeleton who was partly responsible for my imprisonment in this human-like goblin body.

    ¡°Lumi!¡±

    ¡°Came to y with us?¡±

    At least these two goblin children were reasonable to deal with. I took my seat on the swing being pushed by my father and the other two being pushed by the skeleton who, somehow, seemed pleased to see him. Bitey, who had been sitting on Ebony¡¯s head, leapt from there onto myp and spun around before sitting down and gesturing for me to pet it.

    ¡°Want to go hunt with uster?¡± Ebony asked me.

    ¡°Hunt?¡± I asked, confused.

    ¡°Yeah. Something easy, like squirrels. Bitey is good at finding them.¡±

    ¡°Why bring me?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m a big sister goblin and so is Mint. It¡¯s our job to teach a little sister goblin like you how to be a goblin!¡± She whimsically imed.

    I felt my father¡¯s hand ruffle my hair for a moment before being pushed again.

    ¡°Why not give it a try, Lumi?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know how!¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Ste teach you how to hunt?¡± Father asked me.

    ¡°She tried, but I¡¯m no good with the bow. If I had a staff, maybe....¡±

    ¡°Hmm, a staff¡­? I suppose I can make one for you. But you should go along with your sisters for now and just listen to what they need you to do. Even if it¡¯s only to be an extra pair of eyes to watch out for danger.¡±

    After spending some time on the swings, I reluctantly did as he suggested and went out into the forest with Ebony and Mint. Bitey and Beastie came along and it was less a hunt and more of a massacre. Mint would use her Druidic magic to ensnare animals with grass and nts while Bitey wouldnd killing blows, usually a snap of the neck, on whatever they came across. Beastie would carry all the spoils, and at the end of it, when we returned to Goblinhome, a number of them were dropped off at Melon¡¯s Kitchen where they were converted to decent quality food for us to enjoy eating.

    Father hade to find us there and had brought something nearly the same size as I was.

    It was a staff made of bone, from thest remaining femur of a ck-w which Ivory still had to trade with, or so I was told. It had an etching of a snake twining around it with an open mouth trying to consume the symbol of the Goddess ra, the five-pointed star at the head. Coupled with the twining of the snake was some kind of formic magic that ended at the top with a magic Rune I was entirely unfamiliar with.

    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°I call it Aurora. It''s a staff meant to channel light magic. It might not be as effective as yours since it¡¯s iyed with Runes instead of some divine charge, but I have a feeling you¡¯d be the best qualified to use light magic among all of my daughters.¡±

    ¡°GWOH! Lumi just got a grand weapon!¡± Ebony said with admiration.

    ¡°Mint, you should ask Husband for one, too!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need one right now.¡± she said quietly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go test it out on a hunt tomorrow, Lumi!¡±

    It was decided to do so. After eating, Father brought me back to my cave-hole where Mother was in the middle of making me something along with Pepper. It was a familiar thing, too. When asking what it was, Mother said that it was something Old One brought over to her a little bit earlier. But there was no mistaking what it was to me. The white vestments I was given to wear when I became a Saintess. The robes I still wore when I died in that cave while purging goblins from this world.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    I threw aplete fit when I saw it. I¡¯m sure it bothered my Mother to see me do that in front of the other goblin, but I was filled with anger and hate upon seeing it. The robes were a sign of purity, and being a goblin now¡­ how could I wear such a thing?

    I knew I was being selfish, but Mother and Pepper stopped mending it and Pepper took it with her when she left.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lumi. Old One was sure you¡¯d enjoy wearing it. I thought you might as well...¡±

    I truly despised that Old One in this moment. Mother was quick to shift the subject to that of my new staff.

    ¡°Did Ark give that to you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Mother scooped me up and put me in herp, I helped myself to some milk while she caressed my head.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he knows what he¡¯s doing if he¡¯s given you a weapon already. I must have failed in teaching you how to hunt as a goblin¡­¡±

    The caressing then turned into a hug, which then turned into her carrying my tired body to our bed where she snuggled up with me under some warm covers¡­ I had no idea where things would go from here, but I was sure of one thing at least. My mother and father were prisoners here, and it was my job to help them escape. Only then might the Goddess ra restore us all to what we should truly be¡­

    As such, I will never offer up a prayer to that twisted Creator of the Bloodmaws¡­

    <b>Never.</b>

 [v2] Chapter Nineteen â€“ In which Ark gets a much needed reality check from an unusually kind Stella.

    [v2] Chapter Neen ¨C In which Ark gets a much needed reality check from an unusually kind Ste.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    Lifting my head from against my knees, I looked up to see Ste staring down at me. Why had shee to Rushk¡¯s cave? Was it to see if I had done to the orc what I had done to her not too long ago?

    ¡°Ste. Came to call me an orc-fucker this time, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you already one? I was going to take a bath and saw you and the two weirdos having a good time with the orc that has tanned skin. Decided it could wait untilter.¡±

    ¡°Grotte.¡± I said, in case Ste didn¡¯t know her name.

    ¡°Is this how you n on taking care of her afterwards?¡± Ste asked while taking a seat on the floor next to me, gesturing with her head over at Rushk who was lying quietly in her bed.

    ¡°I figured thest thing she wanted was me draping my arm over her and telling her it was going to be alright.¡±

    ¡°Basing that off of what you did to me?¡±

    ¡°I still close my eyes sometimes and remember you calling me a traitor, a goblin-fucker, and that you would never forgive me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still a goblin-fucker.¡±

    ¡°Gee, thanks.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just lucky for you that I also happen to be something of a goblin myself.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re killing me, Ste.¡±

    ¡°Oh, suck it up, Ark. You did what you had to do, right¡­ so that she can live?¡±

    I shook my head but began tough. Ste shoved my shoulder and asked me what was so funny. I had thought of a strange joke that hardly fit the situation, yet kind of did in a macabre way.

    ¡°You can pick your friends. You can pick your nose. But you can¡¯t pick your friend¡¯s nose.¡±

    ¡°What the fuck are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°A joke I heard a long time ago. Just found it sort of fitting for how things are around here. It¡¯s a roundabout way of saying that I can either be right, or be happy, but never both at the same time.¡±

    ¡°So, then are you happy, or are you right?¡±

    ¡°Neither.¡± I answered inly. ¡°I told her what was going to happen... that there was a chance she¡¯d be a goblin. A high chance she¡¯d probably get pregnant with some kind of goblin. And that I probably couldn¡¯t save her life a second time if she didn¡¯t let me do what everyone else said needed to be done. She didn¡¯t fight it. She didn¡¯t want to let me make her feel good. She just wanted it done and over as fast as possible, and so that¡¯s what happened. I don¡¯t think it was the right thing to do, but hey, that¡¯s just the human in me talking¡­¡±

    I extended my hand and manifested two Runes, Wind ones, not that it mattered. I let them dance around each other for a little while before allowing them to wink out of existence.

    ¡°I want power, Ste. I want enough power to be able to say no, and fuck anyone who tries to make me do something like this ever again.¡±

    ¡°Oh, found your balls atst?¡±

    ¡°Is insulting me the only thing you came up here to do?¡±

    ¡°No. I came up here to make sure you¡¯re still human.¡±

    ¡°Huh? What, did you think I¡¯d turn into that goblin again?¡±

    Ste shook her head.

    ¡°Mind if I sit on yourp?¡±

    I didn¡¯t have the energy to brush her off. I figured it would be quicker to just let her do whatever it is she came to do, and then go. I slid my legs down and Ste sat on my thighs, cupping my face in her hands and staring deeply into my eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Ark. <strong>It¡¯s okay</strong>. What I¡¯m going to tell you now ising from my human half. The half you must have felt a need to leave behind with me for moments like this, so listen carefully. <em>Okay</em>?¡±

    She nodded my head with her hands, forcing my agreement to listen.

    ¡°You¡¯re an idiot. A kind, na?ve idiot. Maybe it¡¯s because you were raised as a spoiled sheltered noble boy, I don¡¯t know. But you seem to think that the world is supposed to be this perfect, idyllic,wful, peaceful ce where everyone has some gods-given right to be treated fair and equal. That talking things out at length, about what is right and wrong, is somehow supposed to make a tribe of bloodthirsty cannibalistic carnivorous goblins change their minds on what they¡¯ve always known since the moment they wed their way out of their mothers. Ark. The world is a harsh, cruel ce. It¡¯s not peaceful. People lie, steal, murder, and yes... rape. And most have no problems thinking their actions justified. It¡¯s time for you to get that through your thick skull already. Do you think for even a second that any of the goblins you¡¯ve been captured by give a flying fuck about taking a bath? No. They don¡¯t. Not one tiny fuck-all do they care if they smell worse than the shit-pit they all use. You know <i>why</i> theye to your room and use the bath? Because spending five minutes in the water makes it easier for them to get what they want from you. Tell me, and be honest, what do you think is easier? Going through <em>all</em> the trouble to tie you up and hold you down so they can rape you for your seed, or spending <em>just a few moments</em> in a small clean pool of water inside their own cave, so that youe to them, all happy as a sow in mud, and give them it freely, eagerly, even?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°When you were first captured, do you think Prima gave a single shit about whether or not you could stomach raw bloody meat? I¡¯ve talked with her about your early days here, when you were still tied up with ropes like I was. The only reason she went along with cooking your meat at all, was that you had said if you can eat cooked meat and clean your dick with water, you could produce unlimited healthy seed. And for the record, she didn¡¯t believe youpletely until Diana Artemis was born. When that fucking demon who captured us both paid a visit to Berry and said that your eldest brat was supposed to be some mighty huntress for the tribe, she was sold on your bullshit. <em>But only to a point</em>.¡±

    I didn¡¯t like what Ste was saying. But what I didn¡¯t like more was that she was probably telling me the cold hard truth. I¡¯m a reverse seed-bed. No matter what else I¡¯ve done or have tried to do to bring civilization to the Bloodmaw, they¡¯ll go along with my whims only to a point if it means I¡¯ll shut up and continue giving them what they want from me. The only thing they truly want or need from me.

    ¡°I get why you raped me, Ark. I was being stubborn, but you did it anyway to save my life which I am grateful for. Did I hate it at the time? Yes. I did. I was upset for a good long while, but it¡¯s different now. I made my choice to adapt along with the changes it brought and became a Bloodmaw. I¡¯m alive, and I even have a daughter who I struggle with sometimes but love dearly even though she¡¯s a total mess, not to mention also half a goblin in appearance. But that¡¯s what the orchard pickers say¡­<i>the apple doesn¡¯t roll far from its tree</i>.¡±

    Ste pulled my face into her chest, her soft and tender breasts a warm and wee pillow for my tired mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m here for you, Ark. As your human wife, your adventuringpanion, the mother of your adorable daughter, whatever you need me to be in this moment. I¡¯m here to tell you that it¡¯s okay. For all the good you do, that you try to do to make the world a better ce, even if it¡¯s impossible from the start to do, it¡¯s okay. You raped an orc. It was something inevitable for her. Were it not you, then another orc would have probably done it to her eventually. Or worse, she might have sessfully escaped, only to wind up getting killed by some passing party outside of the forest. Because of you, she has been given a chance she quite honestly doesn¡¯t deserve. But you happen to think she does. If you didn¡¯t think so, you wouldn¡¯t have done what needed to be done to keep her alive. If she has any sense at all, she¡¯ll figure it out. Yeah, she¡¯ll probably hate you for a while, but that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    Ste stroked my head and just held me close to her for a while. I didn¡¯t cry, but the numbness I was feeling was beginning to fade.

    ¡°Why¡­ are you doing this¡­ for me?¡±

    ¡°Want me to lie to you?¡±

    ¡°It would be better if you did, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah. It would.¡±

    ¡°¡­tell me anyway.¡±

    ¡°Because¡­ even though I¡¯m a goblin now, what I want hasn¡¯t changed all that much from when I was a human.<i>All Ste wanted was a strong, muscr, handsome, rich man to give her an easy life.</i>The way I see it, aside from being handsome, and only having a few muscles of any quality to speak of, you¡¯ve been doing your best to provide me with the best of the other two. Which is why I don¡¯t mind being your wife. Well, in the goblin sense of it. Marriage is out, but with you sleeping around with everyone else, it would only be sphemy in the eyes of the Goddess were we to actually tie the knot. In ce of that, when you be king of this dump, remember who is most suitable to be the queen.¡±

    ¡°Button?¡±

    I felt eight fingers dig into my back and scratch me. I¡¯m so d that her fingers didn¡¯t be as sharp as a full goblin¡¯s.

    ¡°Ark.¡±

    ¡°Kidding!¡±

    ¡°Hmph. You better be. Now, are you feeling human again?¡±

    ¡°I guess¡­¡±

    ¡°Fine, I have no choice then, it seems. Shall we go find Vera and get wild?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Are you¡­ being serious?¡±

    ¡°That depends. You willing to use that mouth of yours?¡±

    No further convincing was necessary. She got up off myp and helped me to my feet. After that, we left Rushk¡¯s cave and went down to the breeding room. Vera was in, and after being propositioned by Ste into a threesome, to which Vera happily replied with ¡°Sister!¡±

    Seeing Ste suck on Vera¡¯s titties alongside me only agitated the beast. Ste rode my face while Vera rode my cock and at the end of it all there were two very satisfied goblinsying on either side of me. We¡¯d eventually make it to the bath and clean up¡­ but for now, I felt a little less guilty than I had, and I hoped Ste was right.

    That maybe if I keep on doing what I can that is good, it will offset all the bad shit I wind up doing, because this world isn¡¯t the same as my past life. There is no right to live. It¡¯s an eat-or-be-eaten world.

    And I have more pussy to eat than I can handle, goblin<i>and</i>orc!

    <b>~~ Sometimeter, in Rushk¡¯s cave¡­ ~~</b>

    ¡°Rushk. Now that you are third, and a proper war-bride, would you care to have a drink with me?¡±

    Hearing Orga Lush speak to me, I rolled over and sat up. She had brough two cups and a jar full of what the goblins call<i>blue water</i>, a crude fruity alcohol. I took the offered cup already filled with it and sipped on it slowly. She sat down next to me and patted my leg.

    ¡°How was it? Are you sore from his<i>kosh</i>?¡±

    ¡°¡­no. He¡­ listened to my request and finished as quickly as he could.¡±

    ¡°Silly girl. After all he did for you, that is how you repay him?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I was¡­ nervous.¡±

    ¡°Nervous? Gah! Grmm¡­ Not that I don¡¯t understand. I was nervous for my first mating. I didn¡¯t even have any rings in my<i>pimpims</i>yet and only a few stars decorated on my left mam, since I loved gazing at the stars from the very first memory that I had of doing so as a whelp. I had always wanted to be a bride, but such a thing was never in my stars.¡±

    Orga Lush took a long sip of the alcohol, draining her entire cup before pouring another.

    ¡°No matter what maye of it, you will always be an orc to us.¡±

    ¡°You think I will undergo this change the War Chief spoke of?¡±

    ¡°I do. I would like tofort you saying otherwise, but I believe you will.¡±

    ¡°Why do you say that?¡±

    ¡°All living beings have a star that governs them. I used to listen to the Shamans speak of the starless ones. Beings of unspeakable powers to twist fate itself to their liking.¡±

    ¡°Starless ones?¡±

    Orga Lush pulled out a pouch of bones and spilled them on the ground before us.

    ¡°Have you seen the ck-skinned one? Has the spider and skeleton as familiars?¡±

    ¡°I have. What about her?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a Tuothoc.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°Yes. These bones are blessed by her. She gave them to me freely just agreeing to let her sit on Missy for a few moments. While I¡¯m no Shaman, I was taught how to read the bones by the one in my camp after my first mating as a war-bride for the first time. What I find interesting is that the bones say that the War Chief is a starless one.¡±

    ¡°What does¡­ that mean, exactly?¡±

    ¡°<b>Chazok Hruth</b>. The War Chief will create a mighty kingdom in time. We could not be more fortunate with what has happened, bing his war-brides. But what I want to show you is this.¡±

    Orga Lush pointed to three bones crossing each other.

    ¡°The star of<b>Nekses</b>. The Iron Lord, who breaths magic into metal.¡±

    ¡°What about it? I don¡¯t know the bones, Orga Lush.¡±

    Orga Lush gathered up the bones and handed them to me.

    ¡°Go ahead, cast them.¡±

    I did as she said and cast the bones onto the floor.

    ¡°Again, the star of<b>Nekses</b>.¡± She pointed to the three bones crossing each other.

    ¡°Yes, but what does that mean, exactly?¡±

    ¡°The Warchief has plucked a star from the sky and put it in your belly. Your whelp will be blessed with the touch of iron.¡±

    ¡°We have mated only once. There is no guarantee I have a whelp in my belly already.¡±

    Orga Lush shook her head at me, her gaze full of pity.

    ¡°<b>Kumosh</b>.¡± She said, pointing to a few curved bones which had formed a ring.

    ¡°You will have this child in one season.¡±

    ¡°How can that be? It takes at<i>least</i>two seasons to bear a whelp!¡±

    ¡°It is not my ce to question the bones. I am only telling you what fate awaits you.¡±

    ¡°Is it only me? What about Grotte or Krushka?¡±

    ¡°They will carry his whelps as well. But their bones only showed<b>Guvek Kesht</b>.¡±

    ¡°<b>Guvek</b>¡­<b>Kesht</b>? That¡¯s¡­ my star.¡±

    ¡°Yes. Like you, their whelps will be favored by the War Chief. Perhaps they will also have whelps who are stars plucked from the sky as well. Truly a great fortune to see.¡±

    ¡°¡­what about you?¡±

    Orga Lush shook her head.

    ¡°<b>Kah Kamon</b>.¡±

    ¡°A curse?¡±

    ¡°I am old, Rushk. My time wille soon.¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s a starless one or whatever, can¡¯t he break it?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps. But for now, the bones say<b>Kah Kamon</b>.¡±

    ¡°Do you know how long?¡±

    ¡°No one may know when. Only<b>Kah Kamon</b>decides the time one meets them.¡±

    ¡°Orga¡­¡±

    She smiled at me before plucking up a long fat bone.

    ¡°Now that you are mated and no longer nervous or afraid, you should speak with your Husband. There are many pleasures to be had mating, and I¡¯m sure he would love to show them to you. Enjoy your youth and mate as often as you can before your tusks fall out.¡±

    We drank a bit more until the jar was emptied. Orga Lush then left my cave, and I was left alone with my thoughts. Thoughts of what happens next¡­

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-one â€“ In which Ark and the Great Protector talk about the past and the present.

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-one ¨C In which Ark and the Great Protector talk about the past and the present.

    <i ss="fa fa-exmation-triangle" aria-hidden="true" style="padding-right:5px;"></i> Announcement

    Apologies for not posting in a few days. From the 4th to the 8th of July I prioritize spending time with my own goblin tribe. Should be back to posting daily for the foreseeable future.

    ¡°Excellent news!¡±

    The only person who seemed genuinely happy to see Rushk transforming into a goblin was the Great Protector, who hade with some news that one of its agents would be entering the Bloodmaw domain soon to deliver what I had requested of it¡ªseeds for the new field we had created so that Melon would eventually have ess to new ingredients she could use to make more dishes for the Bloodmaw to enjoy eating.

    So far, Rushk¡¯s transformation into a goblin seemed to be following a simr route to Ste. She still retains her small tusks, her height and skin color haven¡¯t changed, and she says she still feels like an orc. But her ears now jut out to the side and her eyes have undergone the change into that gold and green color which have given her better vision than she already had with seeing in the dark.

    Okay, I may have lied.

    Ste is also someone who seems happy to see Rushk¡¯s transformation, but I can¡¯t believe that the motivation behind it is of a goodly nature. Is it schadenfreude perhaps? Now that she¡¯s no longer the only transformed goblin, Ste has gone out of her way to befriend Rushk as a fellow victim of circumstance.

    ¡°I take it the skull-mouth is your doing, Ark?¡±

    The change to the external appearance of Goblinhome did not go unnoticed by the Great Protector.

    ¡°I was feeling inspired. Ebony happens to love it.¡±

    ¡°The Bone-Lord? Not surprising. Have any new goblinse into the world since myst visit?¡±

    ¡°Not yet. But quite a few of the adults are already in their second month. Berry, Truffle, Pear¡­ not to mention those who just became pregnant after¡­¡±

    ¡°Your temporary change into a Bloodmaw?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°At this rate, three generations in a year isn¡¯t bad at all. By the time your children are of the age to have their own, the poption of Goblinhome will be one hundred or more. After that, it will truly begin to explode.¡±

    ¡°Do¡­ you have some goal in mind with using me to repopte the Bloodmaw?¡±

    ¡°My only goal is to see that they do not be extinct.¡±

    ¡°Do you not intend to bring another male¡­ into the tribe?¡±

    ¡°None. You have already proven yourself to be enough. Or is having an unlimited amount of goblin women who want only to mate with you and bear your children without taboo or consequence not what you truly desire?¡±

    I sighed.

    ¡°I will tell you something you may appreciate but do keep it to yourself.¡±

    My ears perked up at the hint of some secret motive the Great Protector was willing to reveal to me.

    ¡°The Bloodmaw are my precious children, Ark. My entire domain is meant for them to inherit. When their numbers be enough, I will lift the restrictions on the three borders. If you wish to continue teaching them how to be civilized as you profess, then do consider teaching them how to build camps and viges. I want the Bloodmaw to spread to all the corners of my domain and continue to grow in number.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t that attract the attention of the nearby towns and viges? Surely the Adventurer¡¯s guild will send out more subjugation parties if they find the number of goblins has grown substantially¡­¡±

    ¡°Do you not see how strong your children are? The Huntress alone could best a party of B-rank adventurers. Add the tworge ones from the runt and they could take on a four-man party of A-rank. How many Adventurers of that rank do you think the Guild can just spare to throw at a goblin subjugation? What they see as only a minor growing infestation of<i>goblins</i>?¡±

    That¡¯s true. Goblins aren¡¯t exactly considered to be priority one monsters to needing to be eradicated. They¡¯re only considered to be nuisances and annoyances inrge numbers, to be dealt with by the lower ranks.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why was there a party of S-ranks sent to massacre them?¡±

    ¡°Spear-hand.¡±

    ¡°Old One¡¯s daughter?¡±

    ¡°She wasn¡¯t only a Guardian, Ark. She was a Goblin Champion.¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what that means.¡±

    ¡°She was no less strong than the Huntress when she was born. She also underwent six Blood Furies, a Blood Awakening, and A Blood Oracle. To call her a Goblin Queen is an understatement. Her very existence was a threat to what you call the civilized races. And she was a<i>true</i>Bloodmaw on top of that. Vicious, brutal, and superior. Inparison to the rest of the tribe she ruled, she was like a¡­<i>tower master</i>.¡±

    I whistled.

    ¡°She was that strong?¡±

    ¡°She was. She was also<i>extremely</i>intelligent. I mourned her death deeply together with the Old One. Which is exactly why I ughtered everyone involved in causing her death, save for one. One to spread the word that I was furious and that on pain of the most excruciating death, entry into mynds was forbidden without permission. At which point I brought the remaining Bloodmaw here, so they would still have a chance to regain what once was. What I didn¡¯t expect was my luck in getting ahold of<i>you</i>.¡±

    ¡°We must have different definitions of what luck is.¡±

    I only caught something strange in what the Great Protector said just then by sheer chance. Something I wouldn¡¯t have normally paid attention to were this truly a casual conversation between us¡­

    ¡°Wait a minute. If entry to yournds was forbidden without permission, then why was there a goblin subjugation mission posted in the guild?¡±

    ¡°Because I had it posted. As you saw when you arrived, my children were ready to begin restoring the tribe.¡±

    ¡°So¡­ it¡¯s because of you that Kairos is dead, and Ste was forced into bing a goblin?¡±

    ¡°Kairos?¡±

    ¡°Ourpanion. Kairos, Ste, and I all epted the quest toe subjugate¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, the brash young man who tried to attack me with that flimsy sword. He¡¯s not dead¡­ at least I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°I had no need of that desert-skinned ruffian, so I expelled him from the forest. I even left the clothes both you and the girl wore, torn and covered in blood next to him to find when he woke. If he was smart, he would have drawn from that the conclusion both of you were dead and reported to the guild the failure of your mission.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ your aim the entire time was¡­ me?¡±

    ¡°Would you prefer I tell you that any man would have done in your stead? Cheapen your struggle over thest six months, perhaps? I could do so, but I find no reason to hide the truth. I have never lied to you even once, Ark. You were indeed my aim at that time, and still remain so. A scion of the Wyze bloodline? The Old One has mentioned her human husband to you, the one called Grant, yes?¡±

    ¡°Yes. She mentioned him.¡±

    ¡°He was a ridiculously powerful tower mage, some twenty or so years ago. Perhaps stronger back then than Salondra is today. Were he not already at death¡¯s door when the Old One found him, there is a chance he might still be where you stand now, doing wholeheartedly what you feel that you have been forcibly coerced into doing. Instead, the only proof of his legacy was lost together with Spear-hand. Now, what if what happened with Spear-hand¡¯s nature from birth wasn¡¯t a fluke? Mix the blood of Wyze with the Origin Blood of the Creator and see whates from it? Surely you aren¡¯t so foolish as to keep closed your eyes to the nature of your goblin children? A potential Champion, A Shaman, A Bone Lord, A Bloody Druid, A Saintess¡­ what other marvels will your blood create? Don¡¯t think for a moment that the child of the Mushroom-picker goes unnoticed, either. Just being in close proximity to her makes me feel like I¡¯m standing amidst a tempest. I would feel more anxious in trading blows with her even once versus you in your goblin form a hundred times over.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying my blood is responsible for making¡­ unnaturally strong children with the Bloodmaw?¡±

    ¡°To be clear, I believe it to be the magic lying dormant inside of you that is somehow being passed through your blood<i>and</i>seed, but yes, unequivocally, as the answer.¡±

    ¡°¡­Why are you choosing now to tell me any of this?¡±

    ¡°The orc.¡±

    ¡°Rushk?¡±

    ¡°You threatened the Guardian over her when she was brought back after attempting to flee. What was it you said to her¡­ if the orc stops breathing, all of Goblin homees down?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°Let me ask you something in all seriousness. Were I to allow you to leave peacefully right now, under the condition of never being allowed to return, to be seen as an enemy of the tribe for all time for doing so¡­ would you go?¡±

    ¡°Only me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll humor you in saying that you can also take your formerly humanpanion<i>and</i>the Saintess as well.¡±

    I pondered it over for a little bit, but I already had my answer to this question a long time ago.

    ¡°No. There¡¯s¡­ nowhere I particrly care to return to. Nor do I have any idea how to undo Ste¡¯s transformation. I don¡¯t even think it¡¯s possible to do that with Lumi at all, either. From what I can tell, she¡¯s a true goblin¡­¡±

    ¡°Look, I will not say I am no longer your enemy, Ark. The Bloodmaw are and will always be my precious children who I will prioritize the safety of. But you are also<i>their</i>Husband, by<i>their</i>choice. The only ce we need to meet in the middle of, is that we both agree in wanting to see them prosper. Something I believe it is safe to say we both want, yes?¡±

    ¡°If you are suggesting we are family now, I regret to inform you that I already have a wicked mother-inw in the form of Old One and have no desire for a second one more wicked than she is, so what does that make you?¡±

    The Great Protector¡¯s bone-rattlingugh was particrly nasty when I said that.

    ¡°Then, how about you think of me as a¡­ Fairy Godparent!¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re a Fairy, then I¡¯m a one-tentacled deep-sea Kraken.¡±

    Moreughter shook my skeleton from the inside causing my brain to slosh around inside my skull like lumpy stew.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s enough talk for now. I¡¯m sure you have many things to think about, and I need to meet with the Bloody Druid.¡±

    ¡°Mint? What for?¡±

    ¡°I presume you¡¯d like to have the wonderful bounty of nature which surrounds you to lend you their blessings so that your precious seeds will grow?¡±

    I held my hands up in surrender. I was neither farmer nor druid, and I sure as hell knew that we were going to need whatever blessings were avable to us to see our first nting and harvest through sessfully.

    The Great Protector walked into the open mouth of Castle Gobskull¡ªI mean Goblinhome¡ªand left me outside scratching my head at first, then staring at them.

    ¡°The blood of Wyze, huh?¡±

    Should I consider myself lucky that I was born to that woman in my second life? She wasn¡¯t much of a mother to be honest, and even calling her that¡­ kind of sticks in my throat. I¡¯ve been gone for almost a year now. I wonder if she even realizes¡­?

    No. She has to. After all, there¡¯s less than a year to go until that arranged marriage which she was trying to force me into. Wasn¡¯t even someone I knew, just the daughter of some other Tower Magus she was hoping to scheme into an alliance with.

    Yeah. I need to get stronger. Blood of Wyze indeed. I need to find a way to unlock that vast amount of magical power within me that the Monster had no problems essing¡­

    But how?

    Pulling me out of my thoughts was Berry, smelling like her sweet berries and holding her fat belly swollen with the second child of mine she was eager to carry.

    ¡°Husband¡­ would you like to spend some time with us?¡±

    ¡°Us?¡± I asked, curiously.

    She grinned sneakily.

    It took no effort for her to take me by the hand and drag me into her cave-hole where not only Diana Artemis was waiting for me, but also Pear and Melon, along with many bowls of fruits and berries.

    I could already feel a sense of stickiness from my body¡­

    Yeah, the Great Protector was right. I had a lot to digest upstairs, and the best way to do so would be after I took care of my primitive needs and could find myself entering sage mode.

    I reached for my loincloth and tugged it off and threw it to the side in one fluid motion exposing my erect seed-stick, made unyieldingly fierce once more by simply being in the presence of the Great Protector.

    ¡°Alright my lovelies. Eeny-meenie-miney-mo. Catch a goblin by the toe¡­¡±

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-three â€“ In which Nova and Ark have a friendly, long overdue, spar.

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-three ¨C In which Nova and Ark have a friendly, long overdue, spar.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Nova **~~</strong>

    ¡°How¡¯s it going, kiddo? Thirsty?¡±

    A cup filled with the sweet red fruit water and plenty of ice cubes was pressed against my cheek before being handed over to me. As a Swordsaint, I practice with the shoddy iron sword my goblin mother gave to me for a short while every morning. While I know she would have preferred me to use the spear as she does, it¡¯s simply not a weapon that I can bring the full potential out of.

    Hakim Al-Khamsin¡­ that was once my name. Now I am called Nova, a name which my father says means<i>a bright new star</i>. I¡¯m not quite sure I¡¯m deserving of such a name, though myst one meant<i>the wise desert wind</i>, a name I had at least grown into properly even if my actions were repugnant at times. I was a womanizer, and a mercenary, but I was also a patriot to my homnd in the desert kingdom known to outsiders only as Sunscorch.

    My mother was a whore and my father was a king as the joke went. I was a ruffian and a troublemaker from the time I could first swing my fists. Iter picked up a sword and began doing what I needed to in order to secure my future, since I was only a burden to my mother who while she cared for me as best she could, surely was burdened by me as well.

    I took a sip of the refreshing drink my new father had given to me and sat down in the grass next to him. My father¡¯s name is Ark Wyze, a rather powerful human sorcerer. He is also the only man to be found in both the tribe and within the entirety of the Bloodmaw domain.

    ¡°It¡¯s good.¡±

    ¡°I mixed in some citrus syrup. I figured it would cool you down nicely.¡±

    I was used to dry heat. Instead, the forest is full of humidity, leaving my mostly naked body feeling sweaty and sticky all the time.

    ¡°Want to spar with me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m no match for you, Nova. Even if I had a magical sword to use.¡±

    My father is a terrible liar as well. He has knowledge of armaments I¡¯ve never seen before, and many that I have which I would even consider to be exotic. I remember him showing my older sister, Magpie, how to do something he called<i>iaido</i>. It involved drawing a sword from its sheath in one motion to deal devastating damage. He¡¯s well versed in fighting theory at least, to the point that I would be willing to learn from him what I do not already know. He even made me a weapon from magically crafted stone surrounding a bone that I had only wished was made of metal. It was arge t curved de that, when I held it, felt like an extension of my arm. The weight and bncing were impable, to the point that were it made of metal, I would be willing to think myself unparalleled inbat.

    ¡°Then if you aren¡¯t going to spar with me¡­ are we just going to talk?¡±

    ¡°If you want. Anything specific you have in mind?¡±

    ¡°There is something I¡¯m curious about. Do you feel no shame in indulging with your own children?¡±

    My father who was usually easy-going and jovial, crinkled his face when I asked him that. To be clear, I¡¯m not judging him. But as someone who was also a civilized man at one point, such a thing is¡­ unbing, even to the worst of us.

    ¡°I feel plenty of it, Nova. There¡¯s something I heard someone say once, though I can¡¯t remember when or where. When one betrays their morals, they stop being morals and be more of a hobby instead.¡±

    I snorted when I heard him say that.

    ¡°At the very least, should any of my daughters want me to nevery a hand on them, I will abide that decision no matter what.¡±

    ¡°In that case, you can leave those to me.¡±

    This time my old man snorted.

    ¡°What if they don¡¯t have fat tits and arge ass?¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯ll just have to fatten them up until they do!¡±

    We bothughed at the stupidity of what we were saying to each other.

    ¡°I appreciate you not saying anything about¡­<i>that time</i>. I thought you had betrayed me when Prima suddenly came to me the other day saying that she knew all about my secret. I didn¡¯t realize she was aware I was using a sword skill.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, your mother has aplex about being the strongest.¡±

    ¡°She sure does. Who do you think is the strongest?¡±

    ¡°Tough call. Lily¡¯s moved up my list, but the top three are Pepper, Pear, and Berry for sure.¡±

    ¡°Uh? What?¡±

    My old man pointed at his crotch.

    ¡°I meant in a fight, not rolling around in the hay!¡±

    ¡°Got news for you, kiddo. The only swordy I¡¯m any good at is with the meat stick.¡±

    My father stood up and stretched his arms out above his head before answering seriously.

    ¡°But I suppose I owe it to you once, even if it¡¯ll only disappoint you. Can you give me a little bit of time to make my own weapon? It won¡¯t be traditional in appearance, but it<i>will</i>be a sword.¡±

    ¡°Are you going to make it now?¡±

    ¡°Depends on the quality of bones Ivory has on hand.¡±

    ¡°Can I watch you make it?¡±

    ¡°Sure. There¡¯s nothing secret about its design.¡±

    My father let me apany him to the cave-hole belonging to Ivory and Truffle. When we got there, my father immediately rushed to see Ivory who had¡­pany at the time. It was the orc with tanned-orange skin, Grotto or something.

    ¡°What the¡­!?¡±

    ¡°Ah! Husband came visiting too soon! Ivory wanted to show this to youter!¡±

    My father stood there, jaw agape, staring at Ivory¡¯s tits, which were now simr to the orc¡¯s. She had two thin bones pierced through her nipples and some pictures on her breasts. One breast, at least. It was of a tree and a mushroom growing next to it.

    My father engaged in a conversation with both Ivory and the Orc. Truffle was also there, holding up a mushroom that looked identical to the one on Ivory¡¯s breast, but she had no changes to her breasts at all. Just a swollen pregnant belly. I didn¡¯t understand the oguage, but I did understand Ivory just fine.

    It seems that my father was the adventurous sort with these three, having engaged in some cross-species y at the same time. Ivory was fascinated by the tattooing and piercings the orcs had and wanted to do the same to her own chest after having seen it. Ivory also appeared to be able to speak a few words of orcish now, at least enough to ask the orc, whose name was Grotte, not Grotto, to assist her, which she was happy to do.

    Turns out that Ivory was going to need a day or two to heal and keep her breasts clean before father could enjoy them. If I had to say where the whorehouse was in Goblinhome, I believe I just witnessed its establishment.

    I will give him credit. He managed to collect himself well in the situation and had gone about asking permission from her to look through some of her bones to find a few suitable for making a weapon. Both Ivory and Truffle were surprised to find that he was intending to make<i>himself</i>a Grand Weapon.

    Apparently, since father is a magician and a powerful one at that, not a single goblin save for my mother would have thought he would ever have the intention of using an actual weapon. The one weapon he did have, a magical wand that Ivory herself mistook as a ck bone, was given to her own daughter, Ebony, which is something that happened before I was born as a goblin.

    Given the interest both Ivory and Truffle had, as well as Grotte who also seemed to be interested in the magic my father could use, let him stay in their cave-hole while he assembled not only one, but two weapons that even a Swordsaint such as myself found intriguing.

    ¡°These are des used by the warrior elites of the Covenant Empire. I don¡¯t know their exact name, only that the cruder versions were called<i>burndes</i>. The more advanced types used a special kind of¡­ hmm¡­ shall we call it star-magic? This one won¡¯t be remotely as strong as one of those types, but it should hold up to at least a few strikes from your metal sword<i>¡­</i>I think.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t identify the bones he used to make it, but he fashioned a short fat bone for a grip, and a few long bones for the des, as it had two triangr halves with a gap in the middle. It looked a bit like a sword-catcher. Two holes were fashioned with father cing the Topaz stone he carried within a bone bracelet he almost always wore into one, and a perfectly clear quartz stone into the other. Once the bone framework was done, it was reinforced with dirt he hardened to stone around it.

    They reminded me of Diana¡¯s weapon, the one she called<i>Bleed</i>, which in turn seemed like a close cousin of the<i>Qattari</i>used by nefarious assassins in the shadowed alleys of my former homnd, Sunscorch.

    Father stood up and carefully moved his arms while holding the exotic weapon he called a<i>burnde.</i>

    ¡°I suppose this will have to do. No promises I¡¯m going to be good at fighting you with them.¡±

    ¡°Husband is going to fight Nova? Can wee and watch?¡±

    Truffle was interested in the fight, and so father invited the three of them toe and watch if they wanted once he rified that it was a spar, and that he was probably going to lose to me. I can¡¯t speak for the other goblins, but I think everyone here in Goblinhome enjoys watching a good spar.

    I¡¯m sure he would have preferred it being something casual between only us, but I¡¯ve been hounding him for a proper fight for a long time now, and I kind of wanted an audience. Maybe it¡¯s my childish nature¡­ being a juvenile goblin and all right now, but I can only listen to Diana go on and on about our old man being impossibly strong without wanting to cross des with him myself, just to be sure!

    So, a few more goblins were gathered for the event.

    And by a few goblins, I mean everyone that was inside Goblinhome¡­ on both floors.

    There was a wide-open space to spar on the West side of the fire-pit, so the logs that had been ced around it now became the stands. Everybody but Figurine, ce, Button, Jewel, Ruby, and Jade hade out to watch. Even Old One and my younger sister Wise-eyes hade to watch.

    The rules were as basic as it got for a spar. The first tond a clean blow or what would be a fatal strike determined the winner.

    The two of us stood about a dozen paces apart with my mother, Prima, acting as the judge. Father already told me before we began that he wouldn¡¯t use any magic that wasn¡¯t constrained to his sword, for fairness¡¯ sake.

    I appreciated that. But why does he think I can use magic in my sword?

    ¡°Are you ready?¡± My mother announced in a loud voice, to which the both of us said we were.

    ¡°Then¡­ fight!¡±

    When fighting an opponent one isn¡¯t sure the exact strength or skill of, moving slowly and cautiously is usually the best approach. But I knew my father to be a calm and calctive man most of the time, so I decided to rush him and see what came of it. I¡¯ve been in more battles than I can hope to count and felt confident that my experience would guide me to a victory.

    But my old man is full of surprises. His eyes weren¡¯t focused on my arms at all. Instead, he was staring at my feet. When I swung my sword, he sprang towards it, intercepting my sword with his left de, and it felt like I had struck the side of the mountain we lived in.

    I felt the recoil from the sword jolt my arms, and in that single moment of minor difort, he pivoted his body and the top of his foot hit the back of my knee, sending me to the ground, where I quickly rolled away to avoid any follow-up strike, springing to my feet and reorienting myself.

    ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I missed. I was aiming for your calf muscle with that kick.¡±

    ¡°This is a swordfight!¡±

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Why are you kicking?¡±

    ¡°To limit your movement.¡± He said stone-faced. ¡°Nova, a swordfight is very much like a game of chess. I need to limit the moves you can make so I can put you in a position where you are forced to make a mistake and I can im victory. If you are expecting me to only use my weapons, you are sorely mistaken.¡±

    I felt like he had just cheapened our spar, but at the same time, he had approached our spar as if it was something more than just a casual shing of swords. He was taking me seriously from the start, and I respected that more than he could know.

    I took the stance of the form I was most familiar with. The form I had learned and used for over fifteen years.

    ¡°I won¡¯t hold back, old man.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to endure.¡± He replied in his usual ill-confident manner.

    I approached him cautiously this time, and he began to circle around me. He kept his left side exposed to me and tucked his right side behind him. His fists were up like he was nning to brawl with punches, but with the long reach of his swords, I found myself needing to search for an opening that he wasn¡¯t trying to lure me in with since there were so many.

    I¡¯ve fought a few who wielded weapons in both hands, but usually only one weapon had reach, while the other weapon was much shorter, like a dagger or long a long knife. He had two weapons that both had long reach but also could be used in a shielding manner, making things tricky for me.

    ¡°Not going to attack? Then I will.¡±

    The<i>burnde</i>he held onto with his right hand began to glow and with a shing motion the very air in front of it distorted and rippled towards me. I focused on it and swung my own sword with a full spin of my body to cut the dangerous wave of air rushing at me. I wasn¡¯t left unharmed as I felt a part of my non-dominant shoulder sting as if it was cut.

    Sparing a nce, I noticed it had been. A small scratch, but still a scratch.

    Aside from the time he had turned into a full goblin, I¡¯ve never seen my father truly raise his hand to anyone or ever swing it with violence. Especially not towards us, his children.

    I see.

    This was his test for me.

    No words needed to be exchanged anymore.

    I gathered myself and immediately dashed towards him, Confronting him with all of my experience as a Swordsaint. My sword rang loud with heavy and dull hits as my own collided with his. I danced around him, seeking to strike him at each and every opening he presented me with. The weapon in his left hand moved close to his body to try and receive or deflect each of my attacks, but quite a few got through. They weren¡¯t clean cuts, but he was now bleeding from a small cut on the side of his defensive arm, and two ncing cuts to his unprotected body on the same side.

    Drawing blood on him caused a scent to fill the air and I felt¡­<i>disturbed</i>.

    I had an urge to pounce on him and w at him with my own hands rather than to keep using the sword I wielded, but I had the mental fortitude to shake it off. I felt like the fight should have been over, and that he shouldn¡¯t have been able to defend my attacks as well as he had.

    But the fight wasn¡¯t over. I continued my assault, circling around him and pressing my attacks at any openings that looked worthwhile. He was entirely on the defensive, continuing to use his left weapon as a shield of sorts. But my metal sword was chipping away at his weapon made only a short while ago with nothing other than a few bones and dirt made magically stone.

    Then, he smiled and swung his right weapon upwards, shouting something stupid.

    ¡°<b>FACE THE WIND!!</b>¡±

    It felt like a wall of impassable air was right between us. Trying to approach it only pushed me back. My toes dug into the dirt just to keep my body steady.

    ¡°<b>AKU!</b><b>?</b><b>SOKU!</b><b>?</b><b>ZAN!¡±</b>

    Father took that moment to propel himself through that wall of wind. His speed was amplified, and his right weapon was aimed straight at my head. I put all my strength into swinging my sword up to parry it, only to find that his left weapon was also moving to strike what would be my exposed nk.

    Shit!

    I immediately let go of my sword and tucked into a roll trying to dodge everything. When I came up from my roll right behind him, I crouched down low and threw my body at his legs from behind, knocking him to the ground. Then I sprung to my feet, leapt into the air to grab my sword which was descending, and poked his exposed butt as soon as my feet hit the ground.

    ¡°Nova has won!¡± Prima dered.

    I dropped my sword and leaned over, cing my hands on my knees and breathing heavily.

    Thatst attack¡­ I couldn¡¯t tell if the old man was fucking around the entire fight or not.

    He groaned a little bit and pushed himself up off the ground onto his hands and knees. The right weapon he held onto had shattered into about six pieces, but the left one was still fine.

    He then rotated his body so that he was sitting down, the entire front of his body was covered in dirt and grass, including his face.

    ¡°Was that good enough for you, kiddo?¡±

    I let my body go and fell right onto my butt.

    ¡°Yeah. I had fun.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± He said with another smile and fell back onto the ground, spreading out his arms.

    We both began tough together for a bit before my sisters came over and began to harass him about a few things. Diana wanted to know all about the weapon he was using that she picked up and began swinging around. Magpie was curious as to how father created the wall of wind. But all of them were affected by the scent of his blood, and he was about to be ate breakfast for the entire tribe.

    But my mother wasn¡¯t having any of it. She just sat on him and red at every single goblin and orc present, making them cower away. Lumi was the only one allowed to approach, using her Saintly magic to quickly heal the cuts on his body which we all felt the effects of. I can¡¯t say I enjoyed the feeling of arousal it brought about towards him.

    While father was recovering, sitting on a log and talking about some members of a so-called<i>Legendary League</i>to Magpie and the others who remained, with Ivory taking up the space in hisp that everyone else wanted. Diana had gone into the forest and came back quickly with a pair of freshly killed foxes, skewered on father¡¯s weapon.

    The orcs quickly prepared one for cooking over the fire while the other was immediately torn into by the goblins who preferred fresh bloody meat.

    Yes, it was just another quiet and peaceful day here in this little goblin kingdom hidden in the forest¡­ sitting in thep of arge orc called Krushka as her two massively tattooed and pierced breasts pressed down on my head while I ate some delicious meat she offered to feed me.

    Whether male or female, the orcs appreciate strength. And as the War Chief¡¯s mighty daughter who won our battle, to the victor goes the spoils,<i>old man</i>!

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-seven â€“ In which Ark explains the various types of love to Diana Artemis

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-seven ¨C In which Ark exins the various types of love to Diana Artemis

    ¡°Want to run away again?¡±

    After the party held out in the open yesterday, most if not all of the goblin tribe went back to their usual daily lives. It was currently raining. Nothing too fierce¡ªlittle more than a steady drizzle, not cool enough to make me catch a cold with my body soaked as it was. I was once more at the tree line, staring out endlessly into it while not really thinking about anything in particr.

    Diana Artemis had once moree to me, not bothering to put a knife to my neck as she had before. She took a seat on the muddy ground next to me and leaned her head gently against my shoulder.

    In that moment, I wished I could say I was just her father. But that line had been crossed and I was the very thing she had always called me from the start¡ªher Husband.

    ¡°No. No matter where I go, I¡¯m convinced that too will be a prison for me.¡± Was all I could answer.

    ¡°What¡¯s a<i>prison</i>?¡±

    As it turns out, for the Bloodmaw, there is no real concept of a prison. If there was internal strife within the tribe, it was mediated by someone strong like Spear-hand, Old One, or even Prima. Anyone captured would obviously either be raped or eaten. Why keep someone alive just for the sake of keeping them alive if they had no other use? These goblins are practical to the extreme. I mean, I¡¯m not a prisoner. I¡¯m a breeding ve.

    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be a ce where people who do bad things are kept. A ce where no one really cares about them. But sometimes even good people wind up there for the wrong reasons, or because of the scheming of others. Sometimes they are kept there for a short period of time as a punishment, and sometimes they are sent there and will remain there for the rest of their life.¡±

    ¡°Does Husband think Goblinhome is a prison for him?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t deny that at the start of my stay here, I thought it the case. If I still think of it as being one these days, then Goblinhome has be a prison of my own making.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because of you. Because of your sisters. Because even if you won¡¯t ever call me daddy, I will never be fully able to see you as the beautiful and powerful independent female goblin huntress that you know yourself to be. I find it hard to even think of abandoning you all. To me, even if you wish to have strong-ones of your own with me which pains me emotionally, you will still always be<i>my</i>daughters¡ª<i>my</i>strong-ones. I can<i>try</i>toe to terms with it,<i>twist</i>my way of thinking to deceive myself that you are an adult no different than Berry, Vera, or even Prima who don¡¯t share my human blood¡­ but it will always be a fact of life that I made you, and that in the world I was once a part of, it¡¯s considered a human crime¡ªpunishable by being put in prison.¡±

    ¡°Even¡­ if Diana Artemis loves Husband in the same way humans love?¡±

    I scoffed for a moment, but not in an offensive way. While I have a considerable amount of life experience over her, she¡¯s still just over six months going on sixteen candles¡­ there¡¯s so much she still needs to learn about love. I mean, hell, barely a few days before she was born was the first time I had ever held a woman in an intimate embrace¡­ even if it was really just Prima raping me in the most peaceful way possible.

    ¡°In thends of humans far, far, away from here, there was a big tribe known as the Greeks. This tribe are the same as the ones who worshipped the Goddess of your namesake. They also determined that humans had eight ways to love each other and gave a name to each one.¡±

    Diana Artemis tilted her head up and looked at me with great confusion.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t love¡­ love? Berry said¡­¡±

    I shook my head gently, not letting her finish her sentence.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about them in detail, then maybe you might understand how different it is from whatever the Bloodmaw equivalent is. To answer your question, Love isn¡¯t simply love¡ªat least not to humans. One of our bad habits is the need to sort every single thing in this world into its own ce, much like how quickly Truffle can identify a specific mushroom just from hearing you describe it.¡±

    ¡°The first kind of love is called<b>Eros</b>. It is the same as the love felt when making strong-ones.¡±

    ¡°Diana Artemis likes that one.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s usually the most enjoyable.¡± I quickly quipped.

    ¡°Diana Artemis is d she got to know how good Husband¡¯s seed-stick inside of her feels.¡±

    ¡°I figured you¡¯d enjoy the biting part more.¡±

    ¡°That part is also good but feels different.¡±

    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±

    My short time spent as a goblin, especially with Melon, taught me what my wives and daughters felt when we exchanged bites and tasted each other¡¯s blood. A surge of power and knowledge transferred between each other in a preternatural way.

    ¡°The next type of love is called<b>Philia</b>. That¡¯s considered the kind of thing where you think¡­<i>I love being around this goblin the most</i>. I suppose the best examples of this are Truffle and Ivory as well as Button and ce.¡±

    Diana nodded before adding ¡°Also Ebony and Mint¡­ Luna and Nova.¡±

    I quickly agreed seeing that she understood the gist of it quickly enough.

    ¡°The third type of love is called<b>Agape</b>. This is the kind of love where you¡¯re willing to sacrifice yourself for another. For me, it would have been when I stood against Prima and the Great Protector so that I could make sure you had space in Berry¡¯s cave-hole for you to grow up well in. Actually, in the moment I probably did it for Berry more than you, but you were certainly on my mind after having met you for the first time.¡±

    Diana¡¯s wickedly sharp-toothed smile beamed when I said that.

    ¡°Diana Artemis knows this love. Felt it when we hunted ck-ws together.¡±

    She was spot on. If one of those damn wolves would have gone for her, I would have shielded her with my life. I imagine she believes she would have done the same.

    ¡°Alright, then we¡¯ll move to the fourth type of love called<b>Storge</b>. This is the love a maker goblin has for their strong-ones and sister-goblins. This one is ipatible with<b>Eros</b>. This should be the feelings you have when ites to wanting to protect and take care of Berry and I, as well as the feelings you have as a big sister goblin towards Orchid and Lc¡ªspecifically.¡±

    Diana crinkled her brow for a moment nodding only slightly at my exnation.

    ¡°Something confusing about it, Diana?¡± I asked.

    ¡°This is not part of the<i>goblin way</i>. Strong-ones do not usually bring food to their maker goblins. And I only became a big sister goblin to Orchid and Lc because of Husband¡¯s warning.¡±

    ¡°My warning?¡±

    Diana recounted what I told her about being strong by force, and how if she was benevolent to Lily¡¯s twins that they would one day help her when she needed it the most rather than abandon her. It¡¯s impressive to me how a single lesson can be fully retained by her at the young age she was back then.

    ¡°Mm. Then maybe that¡¯s proof there¡¯s some<i>human way</i>inside of you somewhere.¡±

    ¡°Not just Diana Artemis. This kind of love only exists in the Bloodmaw because Husband created it.¡±

    I was momentarily stunned by her admission of that. Power is Hierarchy within the Bloodmaw, such things as care and generosity were foreign things to them. Did I really have such an influence on the whole tribe regarding this aspect of love?

    ¡°Alright let¡¯s move on to the fifth type of love called<b>Mania</b>. It happens when your feelings of love overwhelm your otherwise normal rational reasoning, usually as a result of a desire to possess someone or somethingpletely. It¡¯s not considered a safe or healthy form of love, but it exists, nheless. I would think you suffered from that directly when you underwent your Blood Fury and decided to be an adult goblin the first time without obtaining my permission.¡±

    Diana frowned at thatst bit I was still aggrieved enough to tack on at the end.

    ¡°Diana Artemis did not need permission. Adult goblins make strong-ones! To make strong-ones, need seed-stick and big-seed. Husband¡¯s job is to give it to all goblins that are ready.¡±

    Yeah, try telling a pubescent teenage girl that she¡¯s not an adult. It¡¯s easier to win a knock-down drag-out fight with the Great Protector¡­

    ¡°Forget it. The Sixth type of love is called<b>Ludus</b>. It¡¯s the enjoyment one feels when ying around with and teasing others. I dare say that this is the kind of love you might see between myself and either Jewel or Pepper. I don¡¯t think they particrly care for me as a Husband in the same way say¡­ Vera does. But most definitely they enjoy the benefits thate along with me being everyone¡¯s Husband here and having limited time with me.¡±

    Diana seemed to grasp that one quitefortably with nothing to add. I do flirt with everyone, and it¡¯s inline with normal everyday operations here.

    ¡°Then the seventh is probably the one you¡¯d most be able to understand. It¡¯s called<b>Pragma</b>. It¡¯s the kind of love meant to fulfill an obligation. In my case, if any of the adult goblins love me for a specific reason, it¡¯s because I am here to make strong-ones with them. It¡¯s the reason why I am everyone¡¯s Husband and can¡¯t belong to any individual goblin. It¡¯s also the reason I¡¯m sitting here right now. Not only am I every adult goblin¡¯s Husband, I¡¯m also every strong-one¡¯s daddy, too.¡±

    Diana also signaled her understanding of this type of love.

    ¡°Husband is wrong. Diana listens to Old One talk about what it means to be n. What Husband is saying about this type of love is more like being n.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°Being n is important to the Bloodmaw.¡±

    I got a small lecture from Diana about her understanding of n as she understood it from Old One which was somewhat different than the exnation I got from Toy, the first person I became n with. Apparently, in the past of the tribe, n considerations were based not only on selecting a mating partner or partners, but also theirpatibility with fellow n members and howplementary their acquired skillsets in life were. Diana really did nail it on the head.

    ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve got a point.¡± I conceded. ¡°So, finally, there¡¯s the eighth and final type of love called<b>Phutia</b>. While all the other types of love involve other people, this one is specifically about loving yourself¡ªor at least beingfortably proud of what you are. If Diana can say to herself that she takes pride in being the next Guardian of the goblin tribe, and that she also take pride in others acknowledging that about herself, then that¡¯s pretty much what it is.¡±

    ¡°Same as how Husband is proud that he can use Human stone magic to make the Bloodmaw stronger?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ and no. What I love about myself is¡­ well¡­ being your daddy. Being all your sisters¡¯ daddy. Even if you arepletely Bloodmaw in appearance and ability, to me, you will always be in some part¡ªhuman. You are my family no matter what, and that makes me feel like I have good worth.¡±

    I don¡¯t know if Diana Artemis fully understands thisst one, since it¡¯s a bit more subtle than its nearest neighbor, Narcissism. What she was fully understanding of at this moment, however, was<b>Eros.</b>Diana, in a single swift movement, had upied myp and put her hands around my neck. With only a soggy, muddied loincloth on, her bare tan colored chest, enhanced by the physical transformation of her body after her Blood Fury that had happened not too long ago, perked out in front of me with youthful indiscretion.

    Giving in to the taboo which had already been broken, in the drizzling rain, my eldest huntress and I became a beast with two backs once more. We rolled in the grass and mud and Diana Artemis did her damnedest to try and make a strong-one as she desired with the absurd amount of human genome she extracted from me.

    My reward from all of this?

    ¡°Achoo!¡±

    Was to be, for the first time since arriving in Goblinhome, to be the recipient of a cold¡­

 [v2] Chapter Twenty-Eight â€“ In which Ark truly regrets catching a cold.

    [v2] Chapter Twenty-Eight ¨C In which Ark truly regrets catching a cold.

    ¡°Gishoo! Uwachoo! Guhhh¡­¡±

    How long had it been since I caught a cold? Maybe a year or so? I¡¯m rather cautious about taking care of myself, but these things are bound to happen. I honestly think I was more worried about acquiring some kind of goblin venereal disease than just a regr cold. But, a cold I had caught from not drying off quick enough from the rain and I was soon shivering underneath a nice ck-w pelt nket in my own room within the breeding room.

    I had been visited by Old One, Berry, one of the Kobolds, Silky, the green-scaled one, I believe, Dara the Dwarf who lives underneath the breeding room, Orga Lush, and of course, was being fully attended to by Vera. Old One, acting as a trantor with her omni-linguistic skill, was facilitating the discussion on what to do about my sudden illness.

    Goblins don¡¯t usually catch colds. Neither really do Orcs. Dwarves do, and on asion, Kobolds do, usually when shedding their scales in inclement atmospheric conditions. So, naturally, the Kobold and the Dwarf were talking about medicinal remedies. Dara suggested I drink some hard spirits and let alcohol fix things up¡ª<i>Dwarf way</i>, and all¡ªwhile Silky suggested something far less savory for the insectophobe that I am¡­<i>leeches</i>.

    I wasn¡¯t particrly interested in either remedy being suggested, so I offered one of my own based on my own experiences in my previous life. Chicken soup. It¡¯s not like there aren¡¯t any fowl to be found in the forest, and it¡¯s not like it necessarily needed to be a chicken, specifically. I also am pretty sure whatever the fowl was, it most definitely wasn¡¯t going to be a certain Emden Goose.

    Before the girls involved could confirm the method of healing me, a diminutive goblin wearing a racoon outfit appeared and began to point and growl. Everyone was chased out of the breeding room before she sighed and walked into my room, standing up and looking down at me. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against my own and nodded.

    ¡°You have an idea, ce?¡±

    ce pointed at herself for a moment. I understood what she meant, strangely enough. It was along the lines of<i>Aren¡¯t I the tribe¡¯s shaman?</i><i>Leave it to me!</i>She then knelt down next to my body and slipped her tiny hands under the pelt nket before feeling a finely controlled surge of warmth flow through my body. I turned my head to sneeze again and groaned, but feeling a bit better and not feeling the cold sweat that I had been enduring for thest couple of hours.

    ¡°Gwah.¡± She said, authoritatively to me.

    While I¡¯m good at guessing, I had no idea what the specificint she voiced was about. A light manifested on her fingertip, and she spelled out in the air, the goblin script that we had learned thanks to Vera¡¯s ingenuity, what her diagnosis for me was.

    <i>Rest now. I will take care of you, Papa.</i>

    ce might be a bit of a rascal, but she¡¯s still my daughter and ostensibly the most powerful magician among the tribe. She¡¯s also fiercely intelligent. She patted me gently and even fluffed up my pillow before gesturing for me to rest more. ce then left my room, letting me fall asleepfortably, even though my nose was stuffy, and I had to breathe through my mouth.

    A whileter, I was awakened by a gentle nudge. When I opened my eyes, ce was sitting next to me with two stone bowls full of¡­ soup. I sat up a little and ce smiled at me cutely, lifting a spoonful of it and blowing on it lightly before opening her small mouth, exposing her sharp teeth and saying ¡°Aah~¡±

    Yeah, being a dad is the best thing in the whole world.

    ¡°Ahh~¡± I said, and was promptly spoon-fed bites of soup, feeling warm inside in more ways than one. While there weren¡¯t any noodles to be found within the soup, it was definitely some kind of chicken soup, with diced potatoes and carrots. I was sold on itpletely.

    It brought back nostalgic feelings of my mother taking care of me when I caught colds back when I was school aged. I don¡¯t think I ever fed her chicken soup once, though. Was I unfilial? I mean, I did try and lessen the burden for her by cleaning up the house and not being noisy, as well as looking after my younger siblings so she could rest a little bit¡­

    I reached out and patted her head while smiling at her.

    ¡°Thank you, ce. Daddy feels really loved right now.¡±

    ce nodded and smiled toothily.

    ¡°Gwah!¡±

    ¡°Is the other bowl for you?¡±

    ce nodded.

    ¡°Want to eat together?¡±

    ce nodded and handed me the stone bowl and spoon. She picked up the other and held her spoon out at me. I tapped her spoon lightly and we both enjoyed eating together. When we were done, she took the bowls and put them aside on the floor before slipping herself underneath the pelt nket and snuggled up against my body.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of catching my cold?¡± I asked.

    ce shook her head and ced her hand on my chest, rubbing in a circr motion. Iid back down and wrapped my arm around her runt-like body. Once more afortable warmth spread outward to the extremities of my body. Disgracefully, even<i>that</i>part of me was warmed up.

    My nose had also leaked a little and some snot adjusted itself so that I could breathe a bit morefortably.

    ¡°Is everything good with Button?¡± I asked.

    ce nodded her face against the side of my chest. I suddenly felt a bit tired again, and my body rxed quite a bit. I hugged her softly and told ce that I definitely loved her, because I love all my daughters and believe that they need to hear it from me as often as possible. Even if ce was a conspirator in the Diana Artemis adulting event, and even though I was still holding on to some anger directly aimed at her¡­ what can I even say or do? My heart softened a little and I just epted that the past was the past and that ce must have had her reasons and even if I don¡¯t understand them, she probably had the best interest of the tribe in mind at the time.

    I can¡¯t fault her for that. While I am her father, I still consider myself objectively human¡ªeven if I at one point turned into a goblin¡­

    ¡°ce, you at least see me as a daddy instead of a Husband, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ce lifted her head, stared at me with her golden eyes, and nodded. One of the few times she didn¡¯t stick her tongue out at me. Receiving that confirmation from her, she reached up with her small arm and patted my head. My resistance to sleeping some more instantly crumbled and I was once again in dreand within seconds¡­

    <strong>~~** A little whileter¡­ **~~</strong>

    My eyed opened again, and ce was sitting up next to me, her hands ced on the center of my torso. Berry was here too, currently straddling my waist and copting with me. There was a huge thrum of mana present in my small room, and I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what my daughter was doing¡­<i>exactly</i>.

    I turned my head slightly, enough to make me feel dizzy.

    ¡°ce¡­ what¡¯s going on?¡±

    A number of Runes were already manifested and floating around us, bouncing off of some kind of magical wall constructed within the room itself. As I watched, too tired to move, they managed to avoid touching either ce or I and all struck Berry¡¯s body¡ªspecifically her pregnant belly.

    I didn¡¯t notice it at first, but my arms, at least, had taken on a greenish tone. My cock and balls both felt unnaturally heavy. Berry wasn¡¯t even looking at me. Her eyes were rolled back into her head and she was just grinding on me with something like fanaticism. The sweet scent of her milk leaked from her tan breasts and I felt iting on. That strange sensation that I hadn¡¯t felt in a while. The feeling before I would pass out before the blessing that hurried along the birth of a new daughter after waking up.

    My loins twitched and I was unable to stop the volcanic explosion of my semen into Berry¡¯s body. I reached up with difficulty to touch her face. Without looking, she reached for my arm and bit into it. I felt herher regions tighten extremely and it felt like she was trying to snap it in half!

    A mixture of pain and pleasure overloaded my mind and once more I plunged into darkness¡­

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Berry **~~</strong>

    ¡°Is¡­ Husband awake yet?¡±

    I remained in Husband¡¯s cave hole, not wanting to return to my own. I could feel the strong-one inside of me ready to crawl out at any moment. Old One, Lumi, ce, Button, Vera, Truffle, Ivory, and Diana Artemis were all gathered there to support me.

    Button, in response to my question, went into Husband¡¯s cave-hole and carried him out, depositing him close by. His face was moving but his eyes remained closed. ce, our tribe¡¯s Shaman, hade to my room and, in her own way ofmunicating with gestures when Button wasn¡¯t around to speak for her properly, intimated to me that if I wanted to have my strong-one now, I needed toe with her.

    What goblin isn¡¯t eager to have their strong-onee sooner rather thanter?

    I followed her to Husband¡¯s room and did what came naturally with him. She began to call upon some kind of magic that I couldn¡¯t begin to understand¡ªyet understood what was going on almost immediately after I put Husband¡¯s seed-stick inside of me.

    It was my time.

    Not only for having my strong-one, but to undergo something I didn¡¯t think I ever would.

    I began my<i>Blood Fury</i>.

    Between Husband and Shaman, I could feel the strange power known as Magic flow into me¡ªor more precisely, my belly.

    Shaman, moons ago, had told me that my next child would know magic, same as she and many of my sister¡¯s strong-ones. I was already immensely proud of Diana Artemis being an amazing huntress and the next Guardian of the tribe. But what woulde of this one? I didn¡¯t know how to use magic; whether the stone kind that Husband uses, the picture kind that Vera uses, or the strange kind somewhere in between that Shaman uses. So how would I be able to teach her?

    I growled as thebor pain wracked my body once again. Old One ced the biting branch in my mouth and rubbed my back while I endured.

    Shaman, after feeling my stomach and nodding, pointed her finger at Husband and a small burst of water shot at his face. Husband quickly sat up and gasped for air, wiping his face at the same time and looked around in confusion.

    ¡°¡­what¡¯s going on?¡±

    With his eyes unfocused, yet clearly locked on the Shaman, she pointed at my belly.

    ¡°The strong-one ising now.¡± Old One said to him.

    Husband sat there motionless for a short while, taking deep breaths before cing his hand on the ground and attempting to climb onto his feet. Diana Artemis helped him up and he took a few slow steps towards me, eventually arriving and cing his hand on my belly before moving his hand upward to stroke the hair on my head and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

    ¡°I¡¯m here for you, Berry.¡± He said, but rather than feeling happy he was here next to me right now, I felt hungry. I wanted to devour him. Was this how Prima felt when she underwent her<i>Blood Fury</i>?

    I felt like I was losing my mind.

    Husband continued to hold me tight, not understanding that I wasn¡¯t going to win this battle with my own instincts as a goblin. My desires went wild and I growled with rage. I still had some of the taste of his Blood on my lips and the scenting from his arm only made me be more irrational.

    But Husband never left my side.

    I screamed in pain onest time as my strong-one exited my fuckhole, falling to the ground with a light plop. When it vacated my body, I lostplete control. I reached down and grabbed the cord attached to the remaining mass inside of me and pulled until it, too, came out. Then I took a step and growled, pushing Husband down onto the ground and inserting him once more inside of myself. It didn¡¯t matter that my fuckhole was a broken bloody mess¡ªI needed to devour himpletely!

    I opened my mouth and growled, then went right for his throat with my teeth.

    Instead of reaching my target, he had managed to get his arm in between and I bit down on it. Harder than I¡¯d ever bit down on anything, including the biting branch. When the blood flowed into me¡­

    <strong>~~** Ark Wyze **~~</strong>

    ¡°GH¡ªAAAAAH!!!¡±

    Berry had suddenly attacked me and bit my arm. I worry that if I hadn¡¯t gotten it between us in time, she might have torn out my jugr with her teeth. Her bite was insanely strong and I clearly felt the radial bone in my left arm snap into pieces. She hadn¡¯t ripped it off; something I believe she could have done easily, but I hadn¡¯t expected Berry would be so powerful immediately after our newest daughter was born. Furthermore, I could feel my crotch wet and slick with blood. I knew I was inside of her, and I feared that, somehow, she might get some kind of infection if it continued to be the case.

    Truffle came over to us and told me to hold my breath.

    I did as she said, stifling my desire to yell further, and she quickly blew some kind of powder into the face of Berry.

    A few momentster, Berry went limp.

    Truffle, together with Ivory, managed to dislodge Berry¡¯s bite from my arm and rolled her off of me and onto her back. The entire while this was happening, the instinct present in my newly born daughter had proceeded entirely as it should. She had devoured the cental mass that Berry pulled out of herself and then moved to crawl onto Berry. I held my arm in pain, gasping through wet lips as I tried to cope with the feeling of an extremely broken arm. I had difficulty even clenching my fist.

    ¡°Husband, is your arm okay?¡±

    Diana was the first to ask me.

    I shook my head and grit my teeth, not even able to say it was broken.

    I felt like the most important thing right now was getting Berry cleaned up, but ce held a hand up to stop me. Lumi approached and began to use her divine magic to heal Berry while Button spoke up.

    ¡°ce says for Husband not to worry.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t<i>not</i>worry, but seeing divine magic in y, I was able to worry a<i>little less</i>. Staring down at Berry, I saw our new bundle of joy greedily sucking on her breasts. At least she hade into the world safely, though I can¡¯t imagine why in the world Berry decided to attack me.

    Old One took a breath and sighed.

    ¡°You are lucky to be alive, Ark.¡±

    ¡°Trust me, I¡¯m well aware of that. Why¡­ Did Berry¡­?¡±

    ¡°Blood Fury.¡± Diana answered without missing a beat. ¡°Diana Artemis also felt that way¡­¡±

    I stared incredulously at everyone gathered and they all nodded their heads.

    ¡°ce¡­ what exactly did you do to Berry?¡±

    No matter how I looked at it, ce was definitely the culprit of it this time. But no one answered my question. Not even Button to tell me ce didn¡¯t want to answer.

    I was a bit frustrated and angry not having a reason given for my current situation. I was still feeling infirm from my cold and now my arm was broken from Berry¡¯s ferocious bite. I felt that I was entitled to an answer, even if it was a shitty one.

    Seeing that nothing was forting, I watched as my arm turned green again. The same shade as the Monster¡¯s color. I trudged over to the bath and activated (with some difficulty) the heating Runes and grit my teeth and hissed as my arm submerged into the water.

    I sat on one of the submerged steps alone and closed my eyes, trying to center my state of mind amidst the pain I was feeling.

    A few momentster, Vera came to join me¡­ holding the sleeping form of my daughter. Unlike Diana and Berry who were more tan-skinned, this one¡¯s skin bordered the hue between green and gray.

    ¡°Name. Give?¡±

    I let my head loll back and rest on the lip of the bath. Taking some deep breaths, I coughed a few times, my throat scratchy, before speaking.

    ¡°Selene Hecate. I suppose she needs a name to rival that of Diana Artemis¡­ otherwise Berry might get upset if I only give her one¡­¡±

    ¡°Selene¡­ Hecate¡­¡± Vera repeated it, then I felt a hand press down on my shoulder.

    It wasn¡¯t Vera¡¯s hand, but Diana¡¯s who was sitting next to me now on the lip of the pool.

    ¡°Are those names also belong to the gods?¡±

    ¡°Yes¡­ a counterbnce to Diana and Artemis.¡± I replied. ¡°Rather than the Goddess of the Forest, Moon, and Hunt¡­ she¡¯s the Goddess of Mysteries, Magic, and the Night.¡±

    ¡°She will be strong like Diana Artemis?¡±

    ¡°One can only hope¡­¡±

    I don¡¯t remember much more after saying that. When I woke up next, it was the following day. Lumi was by my side and my arm was wrapped up in some kind of shredded cloth. It hurt quite a bit and remained green in color from the elbow down, my fingers also sharp, but unlike immediately after the bite, I could at least clench my fistpletely, if not strongly.

    My first thoughts were to go see Berry and Selene, but as soon as I moved, Lumi had awoken and immediately put her hand on my chest to hold me down.

    ¡°You can¡¯t see Berry yet. It¡¯s not safe.¡±

    She stared at me with sincere worry on her face, leaving me nothing to do but nod my head.

    ¡°What about our strong-one, Selene?¡±

    Lumi paused for a moment and nodded.

    ¡°In a little while, okay? For now, you still need to rest.¡±

    ¡°My arm¡­ did you heal it?¡±

    She looked at me for a moment and bit her lip.

    I exhaled deeply from my nose. Was I wrong about being healed by Lumi?

    ¡°ra¡¯s blessing¡­ was rejected.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­ makes sense, I guess. I¡¯m not exactly a pious person.¡±

    Lumi shook her head.

    ¡°It''s not that you''re not pious... Just not pious to <em>ra</em>.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    Lumi wasn¡¯t forting with a proper exnation, but I got the feeling that divine magic of some kind was still somehow used¡­

    ¡°I see. Then, will it healpletely in a few days if I take care of it properly?¡±

    Lumi nodded.

    I thenid back down. I felt better at least as far as the cold was concerned, but I was decidedly tired for other reasons. Staring up at the ceiling, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what further troubles tomorrow would bring and felt saddened that I couldn''t hold my newest daughter in my arms yet...

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-three â€“ In which Ark endeavors to keep his promises.

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-three ¨C In which Ark endeavors to keep his promises.

    The situation with Crow is heart-wrenching. Do I dare to think I canprehend what she¡¯s going through right now, being so young and bing disabled? I dare not. Berry may have broken my arm, and somehow it became a goblin arm when Lumi healed it, but at least it¡¯s functional. The same cannot be said about Crow¡¯s leg. There is no modern science to repair it. Between Dara and I¡­ we could probably somehow create a prosthetic, but that would also mean her leg would need to be amputated. There was also the matter of a leg brace, but I wasn¡¯tpletely sure about how to go about creating it.

    I stayed by Crow¡¯s side whenever possible over the next week, receiving help from Toy and Lily, stating that they were my n, and that if I wished to make Crow¡¯s troubles my own, then they would help me shoulder the burden. Diana Artemis also helped out, doing a little extra hunting so that Crow wouldn¡¯t need to worry about hunting her own food.

    For the first couple of days, Crow was in and out of consciousness thanks to Truffle¡¯s color-spin-think powder. What caused Crow to refuse taking any more of the drug was when Button, ce, Figurine, and Nova all came into the room on the third day afterwards to deliver a message to Crow when she was awake.

    I had assumed Magpie was avoiding seeing her mother like this. Or maybe she didn¡¯t want to see me because I was in Crow¡¯s cave-hole for long periods of time.

    I was wrong.

    The message my daughters delivered was to inform Crow that Magpie had run away.

    While there were words left behind for Crow. There were none left for me.

    Before I could feel any anger or guilt at her actions, my children informed me that Magpie¡¯s decision was something they all supported. If any goblin among them had the knowledge and skillset to survive outside of Goblinhome without support, it was Magpie. Now that the Bloodmaw were increasing in number, my gathered children felt that it was a smart move to have Magpie see if she could make a ce for herself among the many<i>civilized</i>races that I have spoken to them at length about. If it was possible that she could be epted, then there was a chance that Goblinhome wouldn¡¯t need to remain isted forever.

    I also hoped for something like this, but not so soon. Not with a goblin so young. Magpie was still my daughter, and I still thought of her as a child. Obviously, I was extremely worried. Crow, on the other hand, seemed satisfied with the decision our daughter made.

    ¡°Crow taught Magpie the way of the Sneaky n. Magpie is cautious and won¡¯t die easily.¡±

    I want to believe that as well. It was just that seeing how easily Diana Artemis¡­ handled her the other day. Then again, Diana Artemis is also something like a massive wall for my other daughters to measure themselves up against.

    Not just them, but me as well. I haven¡¯t forgotten how easily she subdued me during her Blood Fury, and how even if ce hadn¡¯t shackled me to Diana¡¯s bed with magic, I still might not have actually been able to avoid what happened to me that night¡­

    I guess, as a father, I have to just trust and believe that Crow and I have taught her the most important things she needs to know and that it will have to be enough as she makes her own way into the world.

    What didn¡¯t get mentioned with any specifics was how she left Goblinhome, but I¡¯m fairly certain it involved Cobi and those Kobolds in some manner. I felt a strange kinship with him, as if he and I weren¡¯t entirely unalike in how we dealt with the overbearing women in our lives. For him, six Kobolds. For me, a menagerie that will only continue to grow. If she went with them, as I figure she had, I felt confident they would see her safely to whatever town they ventured from.

    With any luck, it might be Thorn.

    Though, that might also be a bad option. Remembering what the Great Protector said to me about not having killed Kairos¡­ it¡¯s entirely possible she mighte across him. If she somehow mentions my name or that I¡¯m here in this forest¡­

    No. I¡¯d rather not think of what would happen were<i>she</i>to find out.

    And by<i>she</i>, yes, I mean my dear old mother in this world¡­ Salondra Wyze.

    <i>Sigh.</i>

    The day after my children brought news of Magpie¡¯s departure, Prima hade to visit Crow. The matter was exactly what I expected it to be about. Crow¡¯s¡­ disability.

    Crow was also one of the few goblins not pregnant currently¡­ I think.

    So, Prima came with an ultimatum for her.

    ¡°It would be stupid to die when you could still make many strong-ones for the tribe. Even if you cannot teach them to hunt, there are others who can. In that way, you will still be useful.¡±

    I hadn¡¯t considered that Crow thought to die so that she wasn¡¯t a burden, but that¡¯s also because I wasn¡¯t thinking like a goblin. I mean, Prima¡¯s mercy for Vera back then was to have me forcefully breed her, thinking her incapable of contributing to the tribe¡­ or being able to take care of herself in any meaningful way other than that. So, it really shouldn¡¯t havee as a surprise that she would say this to Crow.

    I could even see the look in Prima¡¯s eyes, as if she was expecting me to challenge her right now on this, what is clearly a basic matter to the Bloodmaw, and intrinsic to the<i>goblin way</i>.

    I didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Not going to call me a monster, Ark? Or threaten to bring our home down?¡±

    I shook my head.

    ¡°No. I think I¡¯ll be the monster this time.¡±

    ¡°You?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll keep her belly full of goblins, even if she wants to refuse me. However, I will also need to make some changes to Goblinhome. She might not have use of one leg anymore, but she still has another perfectly good one, and I intend to make a way for her to be mobile again.¡±

    I stared at Crow for a moment.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I misunderstood what happened just now, but whether I did or not doesn¡¯t matter. I have no intention of letting you die, Crow. I am your Husband, and if there is a way to keep you living, then I will do it even if youe to hate me for it.¡±

    Prima crossed her arms.

    ¡°Then make whatever changes you need. As long as her belly is fat, I have nothing to else to say.¡±

    Prima then left the room, and us, alone once more.

    Crow remained quiet for a while, before eventually speaking to me.

    ¡°Husband¡­ still wants to make strong-ones with Crow now that she is a weak-one?¡±

    What?

    ¡°You aren¡¯t a weak-one. Surviving that attack¡­ living on¡­ that¡¯s proof that you are a strong-one, Crow. I hear it from Prima¡­ Old One¡­ even Diana Artemis more times than I care to.<i>Weak-ones die so that strong-ones can live</i>. Together with everyone, you hunted fifteen ck-ws, captured two more for us to raise and breed, and even the damn Jaguar that got you was killed by Button. No one important died. No one needs to feel sad over losing a sister like they did for Beast-talker.¡±

    ¡°Beast-talker still has all her bones.¡±

    ¡°She does, but the trade-off is that she can¡¯t make strong-ones anymore.¡±

    Crow touched her belly thoughtfully for a moment.

    ¡°Do you think Crow will ever walk again?¡±

    ¡°Maybe not the same as you once did, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s impossible.¡±

    ¡°¡­Then Crow trusts Husband. Only Husband cleans my shit and piss, takes me to the bath and washes me, brings me food, stays to eat with me¡­¡±

    ¡°What about Lily and Toy?¡±

    Crow didn¡¯t reply. I know that both Lily and Toy have kept an eye on Crow when I had things that needing doing around Goblinhome that pulled me away from her side. Which means we both know she¡¯s embellishing some facts here.

    But¡­

    There was truth to what she said.

    I took care of her when she unintentionally soiled herself while under the medicated effects of color-spin-think powder. I scooped her up as carefully as I could and brought her to the bath, letting her soak in the warm water draped over myp, scooping handfuls of it and gently washing her skin and hair, and, yes, I ate with her in her cave¡­ going so far as to borrow Melon¡¯s Kitchen in order to make some easy-to-digest food. Raw when applicable.

    While I know I would do the same for any other of my goblin wives, and most certainly my daughters were this kind of life altering injury befall them, I¡¯ve often thought that Crow¡­ was something like the kind of wife I might have wound up with in my previous life. An otherwise unassuming woman who for some reason found me to be¡­ enjoyable to be around.

    Nothing excessive.

    Just someone to enjoy passing the time of life with.

    She¡¯s fine with me caring for her, but she also has a private side to herself that she is unwilling to show mepletely. And that¡¯s okay. I won¡¯t press her about it. I won¡¯t try and force her to be n with me. I¡¯m fine just co-existing with her and continuing to put little goblin children inside of her belly, because that¡¯s also what she wants from me.

    So as time passed, I began renovating her cave to make way for her to be able to move about both it, and with the permission I obtained from Prima, Goblinhome.

    Small rails were created along the walls so that she could leverage her weight and hop-step through the main thoroughfare. Small pirs with handles in certain ces allowed her to enter cave-holes while not getting in everyone else¡¯s way, locations such as the breeding room so she could take baths on her own, or to enter Melon¡¯s Kitchen or the shit-pit. Independence is a very ingrained trait in a goblin, and Crow was<i>very</i>goblin to begin with.

    While Crow was the main focus of my time, I had made other promises that needed to be kept.

    I promised to teach Button the Fist of the Hungry Wolf. So, in our ce of practice in the nearby forest, we fought. I taught her the Cracking Shot, the Burning Knuckle, and the Geyser of Power. And once more Button grew stronger. Button also wanted my attention as a man, and I, having opened Pandora¡¯s Box with her, didn¡¯t refuse. Thankfully, she was fine with the method we had used before.

    But¡­ I¡¯m starting to think that my so-called big-seed is doing strange things to these girls.

    Back at Goblinhome, Krushka and Rushk had been patient in waiting for the reward I promised them for doing an excellent job nting the seeds Cobi had brought us. Krushka¡¯s request was simple enough. She just wanted to spend time with me and drink.

    For as big as she is, and Krushka is the biggest and tallest Orc out of all four, with my forehead just about reaching the front of her corbone, she¡¯s rather straightforward about her wants and needs from me, as her War-chief Husband.

    She even had her own stash of<i>blue water</i>. The only thing missing was my participation.

    She was curious about my life and how it led me to bing the goblin War-chief that I apparently am. I opened up in exchange for learning about the art on her<i>mams</i>. We slowly drained the jar of<i>blue water</i>as we told each other our stories. Krushka, having been a war-bride multiple times, is domestically-oriented. She has given birth and raised a number of children. She¡¯s skilled in cooking, making clothes, and child-rearing. While she<i>can</i>fight, she¡¯s not formally trained in anything. It¡¯s more like, she can grab a branch and give someone hell with a few whacks with it.

    Of the people she was a war-bride to, she said most of them were tolerable. The worst one was her most recent. He was too arrogant for her liking, and not good enough in the sack to warrant it. He also eyed one of her daughterssciviously and sent her youngest son who was still rather young to a war-camp to be taught to fight for a lesser chieftain¡¯s army who he was aligned with. While it sounded terrible, it was rather standard where orc society was concerned.

    I spoke about my life as the son of a famous magician, not going too in-depth about how famous she was, growing up in her shadow, learning magic, often being a disappointment to her. My time spent at the academy never making much progress in the realm of formic magic and spending my time learning the ins and outs of being a force magician, which I enjoyed immensely.

    She asked if our child when it came would know how to use magic.

    I didn¡¯t have an answer, but I said there was a good chance it might. That seemed to please her. There weren¡¯t really orc magicians. Orcs became Shaman, and that was it. Whether their magic was of a divine or arcane origin wasn¡¯t of particr importance.

    Being a Shaman to an orc was like having a guaranteed career as a civil servant. She spoke much like a mother who wanted her children to have a good shot at sess in their lives, and I couldn¡¯t help but think of her as being far from uncivilized, as orcs often were thought of as.

    We both became rather tipsy. I wasn¡¯t very good at consuming alcohol, but I think Krushka was worse. She was quick to get naked and we had an egregious amount of violent and sloppy sex. But that¡¯s her nature, I suppose. She was able to vent whatever frustrations she must have rued recently, and after a few healthy doses of my liquid calming agent, she was soonfortably out cold.

    I stayed with her for a while, not wanting to just abandon her right away, but as was the case, I inevitably had to go. This had all happened the first night after Crow had been brought back.

    Rushk was willing to wait for the next day, at which point the reward she wanted was a little more practical. Rushk, while having been partially goblinized as well as showing a bump indicating she was for sure carrying a goblin strong-one inside of her, was looking for something to do to feel useful.

    She had lived a somewhat sheltered life, with her only real interest to be found in learning speary. When spears are involved, my immediate thought would be to point her in Prima¡¯s direction. Turns out, that was exactly what needed to happen.

    Rushk is by no means a hunter, but Prima was more than willing to teach her the ropes.

    I had even gone on a hunt with them, though the only thing I had to offer was the limitednd-based magic I could use with the Topaz stone, since my Quartz Focus Orb had been integrated into my youngest daughter, Selene Hecate.

    After a sessful hunt, nothing too crazy, just some blue-haired foxes, the two of them tore right into one almost immediately after securing the kill. Rushk seems to enjoy both cooked and raw meat. Thetter being an adjustment due to her bing part goblin.

    I didn¡¯t judge.

    I also didn¡¯t judge when Prima helped instigate a post-meal rape.

    Rushk was a little apologetic afterwards, but she was also in a much better mood. Seeing that, I also was happy. After that, in the early mornings that followed, Prima could be found sparring with Rushk with spears, not being too overbearing.

    I actually got an earful from Nova about how Prima never let her off easily when it came to sparring.

    But that¡¯s how it is sometimes¡­

    Mint, who was reclusive ever since the incident where I turned into the Monster, had begun to show herself more often now that the field had been nted. Maybe it was due to her position in the tribe as its [Bloody Druid], but she was often found there just¡­<i>doing things</i>.

    I worried that whatever trauma I caused her was longsting, but she assured me that she would be fine eventually. She also said she had acquired some¡­ ability that would allow her to cultivate the field and that she hoped it would produce some beneficial results soon.

    I would have expected to find Ebony by her side, but no. Ebony was busy with other matters. Matters in the form of one young goblin strong-one with far too much destructive power on tap.

    Yes.

    Ebony was teaching Selene Hecate how to use magic.

    I figured for sure it would have been ce getting involved with the matter at Diana¡¯s behest, but no. Ebony, as it turns out, possesses true Bloodmaw Magic. Selene Hecate apparently doesn¡¯t need to use Runes or Forms to cast magic at all.

    I feel like there needed to be someone with a rational mind to oversee this strange mentor-mentee rtionship, but Ebony assured me that she was a very capable big-sister goblin, and that she had it all under control.

    Naturally, I didn¡¯t believe that for a fucking second.

    But, true to her word, Selene Hecate seemed to look up to Ebony and along with Bitey and Beastie, those four went out into the forest on a hunt, with Diana asionally keeping an eye on things after all.

    With all the business of my days in the past week nowing to a head, I found myself visiting Truffle at longst. I wanted to keep my promise to repay her for her help with Crow. She had been working on a new strain of her mushroom powder, and with a small bit of reluctance¡­ we indulged.

    Unlike with Button, I didn¡¯t experience anything too¡­ strange. It was quite enjoyable. I had be a mushroom, and Truffle was a mushroom¡­ even Button was there, and she was a mushroom! I somehow did a spore-dance and all the mushrooms were happy.

    When I came to, Truffle was in my arms, caressing my face and grinning.

    ¡°Husband. It¡¯s time again.¡±

    Yes. Another mushroom-goblin was about toe into the world.

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-four â€“ In which we meet Chanterelle, a big-lazy little-lady mushroom-goblin.

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-four ¨C In which we meet Chanterelle, a bigzy littledy mushroom-goblin.

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Chanterelle **~~</strong>

    This is the life¡­

    My name is Chanty and I live in a cave-hole with a goblin called Truffle and a goblin called Ivory. I am surrounded by mushrooms and bones. While I don¡¯t mind the bones, I can¡¯t help but be fascinated by the mushrooms. There¡¯s also a goblin called Husband who is very nice to me. He lets me sit on hisp and he holds tasty mushrooms up to my mouth so I can bezy and eat them.

    I also have some big-sister goblins. Button who loves mushrooms just like Truffle, Husband, and me. Ebony who only likes mushrooms a lot, and her friends Bitey and Beastie who can¡¯t eat mushrooms at all but are also nice to me. Bitey will even bring me mushrooms if I ask nicely. So, Bitey is definitely a mushroom bone-spider and can be trustedpletely. I¡¯m sure of it.

    One of my favorite things to do is talk to the mushrooms.

    They know a lot of things.

    Some of them say they are safe to eat, others say they are not. All of them love Truffle very much. Some of them even like Husband, which is good. Husband is an interesting goblin. He has a mushroom growing on his body between his legs. I asked the other mushrooms about it, but they say that Husband¡¯s mushroom is different from them.

    I¡¯ve seen Ivory and Button and even Truffle lick his mushroom and have him stick it inside of them when they thought I was asleep. I wasn¡¯t asleep, I was just beingzy and thinking about mushrooms. Was his mushroom tasty? They don¡¯t seem to want to eat it, only lick it or have him rub it on their body. I tried sticking a mushroom between my legs so I could be like Husband, but it keeps falling off.

    I guess it really is a different kind of mushroom.

    I don¡¯t know everything about mushrooms yet, even though Truffle says one day I will.

    I live in a big cave called Goblin-home.

    There are many many other goblins who live here. All of them seem to be very busy, alwaysing and going. Of course, there are times when they arezy, too. Lots of goblins stop into our cave-hole and ask Ivory for things made out of bones, or to ask Truffle for tasty mushrooms, or her specialty¡ªcolor-spin-think powder, which is also made from the mushrooms that warned me not to eat them.

    Color-spin-think powder is different, though. It can be sniffed or eaten, but only in small amounts. Then it¡¯s best to bezy afterwards. But it¡¯s important to go piss first, otherwise when beingzy¡­

    Well, idents happen.

    Husbandes to visit and take me to his cave-hole for a little while every day. There¡¯s this really big wet thing in there called a<i>bath</i>and it¡¯s fun to ssh the water inside of it. Button once showed me something she called the<i>swirly-whirly</i>and I had fun sshing it when she made it with her finger.

    I love it when Button and Ebonye to visit and y with me.

    I also have two other big-sister goblins whoe to y with me as well.

    One is Primmy, the other is Sewwy.

    There are a lot of games to y in Husband¡¯s cave-hole. Games like Checkers and Four-color and a picture game and another with long rectangles that get pulled out and put on top until it all crashes down!

    Primmy likes things that go crash and boom. Sewwy likes using something called magic to do everything.

    Both Primmy and Sewwy like to bite Husband¡¯s hand whenever they get the chance. I tried biting him too, but he doesn¡¯t taste like a mushroom like I expected him to. But he is still tasty!<b>Super</b><b>tasty</b>, in fact!

    In our cave-hole, there¡¯s a very special mushroom growing in it.

    Truffle says she¡¯s been feeding it something called big-seed that she gets from Husband. I don¡¯t know what it is exactly, but it is sticky and white. The mushroom that eats it is really really smart. It knows way more than any of the other mushrooms. It¡¯s also in a special ce up high that I can¡¯t reach.

    One day when Truffle was asleep, Sewwy came to visit since she lives close by.

    The special mushroom said something good would happen if I took a bite out of it.

    But since I couldn¡¯t get to it, I asked Sewwy if she could use her magic to float it down to me so I could take a bite.

    Sewwy doesn¡¯t mind mushrooms, but she wasn¡¯t all that interested in eating it with me. She still floated it down for me and being careful, I took a small bite out of it so it wasn''t too noticeable. I asked Sewwy if she could float it back up and turn it around so that Truffle wouldn¡¯t notice the ce where I took a bite out of it. Sewwy had no trouble doing so, and afterwards we went to y on the swings outside.

    I¡¯m still a small goblin, and so is Sewwy. We¡¯re not allowed to walk all of Goblinhome yet unless there¡¯s a bigger goblin with us. Primmy can though, so she takes us ces! Like outside!

    Beastie is good friends with Primmy, so she¡¯ll push us on the swings sometimes, even though she¡¯s made of bones and doesn¡¯t talk. Well, Bitey doesn¡¯t talk either, but that doesn¡¯t bother me. Bitey is really nice! Sometimes Bitey will crawl up my body and sit on my head and swing with me!

    Ebony is also friends with a big blue goblin called Orga. She¡¯s in charge of the big ck furry things that Ebony likes to y with. I think they¡¯re called ck-ws? I find them a bit scary though.

    Sewwy and Primmy aren¡¯t afraid of them. They even got to ride on the backs of the two bigger ones. I tried feeding a mushroom I brought with me to the littler ones, but they didn¡¯t want to eat it. Truffle taught me not to trust things that don¡¯t like mushrooms. I felt bad because the little ones aren¡¯t too scary¡­ but I agree with Truffle.

    While my big-sisters Primmy and Sewwy like to go into the forest to hunt¡­ I don¡¯t really want to because that seems like a lot of work and I¡¯d rather bezy. Mushrooms do just fine beingzy, and I sometimes think I have more inmon with mushrooms than with goblins.

    There¡¯s also another big-sister of mine called Lumi who I see sometimes when I go outside.

    She spends a lot of time in a small cave-hole on the other side of the yground and inside of it there are lots of wooden benches to sit on and two big statues. One is called ra and she¡¯s supposed to be super strong! The other is a strange looking one called the Creator, and they are supposed to be the one who made our tribe, the Bloodmaw.

    Since the little ck-ws didn¡¯t want to eat the mushroom I tried to give them, I broke it in half and put half in front of each of the statues.

    I figured they both liked mushrooms, because ra looked strong, and I know my big-sister Button who likes mushroom is also super strong, so ra must definitely like mushrooms. As for the other one, if they made the Bloodmaw, then they made Truffle, and that means they have to like mushrooms! Why would someone make a mushroom goblin but not like mushrooms?

    While watching the statues who weren¡¯t moving to eat the mushrooms, Lumi opened the door and began talking to Husband who was just outside.

    While I was sitting down and looking at the statues, wondering when they were going to eat them, I saw that both halves of the mushroom began to glow and then disappeared!

    It reminded me of Sewwy¡¯s magic, so I figured they used magic to eat them. Seemed like a perfectlyzy way to do it, too!

    Feeling good that they got to eat Truffle¡¯s yummy mushrooms, I went outside to see Husband, who was happy to pick me up and let me ride on his shoulders. It would have been more fun if Bitey was riding on his head so we could have fun together, but I wasn¡¯t too disappointed.

    Big-sister Lumi also likes biting Husband as well.

    I don¡¯t know if she likes mushrooms though¡­ I hope she does.

    It¡¯s not good to not like mushrooms.

    Husband took me back into Goblinhome to one of my favorite cave-holes. There¡¯s another of my big-sister goblins in there. Well, sometimes two of them. Big-sisters Melon and Reeny!

    Melon is definitely a good goblin because she makes something super tasty to eat called Mushroom Stew! It¡¯s got meat and mushrooms. I mean, what kind of genius is she toe up with something like that!?

    And Figurine is amazing because she sings me the mushroom song!

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-w ck-w!</i>

    <i>A-mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-w ck-w!</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>ck-ck-w!</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom Mushroom</i>

    <i>Ah! A GUU¡¯Z! A GUU¡¯Z!</i>

    <i>GUU¡¯Z a GUUUU¡¯Z OOOOH It¡¯s a GUU¡¯Z!!!</i>

    Gweeheehee~

    I love that song so much!

    I haven¡¯t met GUU¡¯Z yet. But I heard from Truffle that even Prima and Sewwy¡¯s big-sister Deena can¡¯t beat it in a fight. I wonder if Button could? Button knows something called the Mushroom Fist. She used it to punch a many-spots to death with one punch! Even broke its whole mouth full of teeth and gave them to Husband as a¡­ what was it called again¡­ a tribute?

    Something like that.

    Button also told me Husband was tricky sometimes.

    I didn¡¯t think so until I saw what Melon brought him to eat.

    While I had a bowl of mushroom stew¡­ he had a triple-decker hamburger with mushrooms in some kind of brown mud on top!

    ¡°Husband twicky!¡± I said, pointing at him.

    ¡°Nope. Husband not do this with Chanterelle. Husband <em>not</em> tricky. Husband smart. Chanterelle not think Husband share tasty mushrooms with her? Husband get taste Chanterelle mushroom soup. Let Chanterelle taste Husband mushroom burger. Big-smart, yes?¡±

    My mouth dropped wide open.

    Gwowowowoh! Husband is really really smart!

    While Husband used the food-eating things called a fork and a knife to cut the big mushroom burger into smaller pieces for us to share, I tried using the spoony thing to feed Husband. I spilled a little on him trying to fit it in his small mouth but he didn¡¯t get upset.

    Husband is nice. He doesn¡¯t spank at all.

    Ivory spanks¡­ or so I¡¯m told.

    She hasn¡¯t spanked me yet, though.

    Sewwy said that Deena spanked her when she first used magic. She cried a lot. Said it wasn¡¯t fun at all to get spanked.

    I hope I don¡¯t get spanked.

    I heard it from the mushrooms in Truffle¡¯s room that Melon has a strong-one inside of her belly. She didn¡¯t eat it, so I don¡¯t know how it got there, but it¡¯s not a mushroom goblin like Truffle, Husband, Button, or me.

    Will it also be a big-fat goblin like big-sister Melon is when ites into the world?

    Melon and Figurine keep talking about wanting Husband to spend the night with them in Figurine¡¯s cave-hole. I don¡¯t know where exactly that is, but it¡¯s near Old One¡¯s room.

    Old One is kind of mean. She calls me azy goblin just like Truffle. Says I should be more like Button, but I¡¯m fine just being Chanty.

    After eating a whole bunch, Husband took me to the shit-pit and then brought me back to Truffle¡¯s room. That¡¯s a good thing, because I was ready to bezy after ying and eating.

    Husband woke Truffle up and she let me drink some milkies for a little bit and then we both went to sleep.

    I had a good dream.

    Just like Sewwy and Ebony, I could use magic too, but it was mushroom magic!

    I woke up when Truffle shook me.

    When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by lots and lots of mushrooms!

    ¡°Chanterelle. What you do?¡±

    I don¡¯t know what I did. What did I do?

    Truffle began to pick up some of the mushrooms and stepped out of the small cave-hole we slept in. She then yelled really loudly once she did.

    ¡°<b>WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL OF TRUFFLES MUSHROOMS!?</b>¡±

    I got up and stepped out too, only to see all of her mushrooms missing from the dirt shelves.

    I suddenly felt a lot of voices in my head all at once, asking me if I was in trouble.

    But I don¡¯t think I was¡­?

    Truffle turned back to look at me, and then looked down.

    I looked down too.

    All around me, mushrooms were wiggle-walking, surrounding me.

    Ivory came over from her cave-hole and saw what was going on. Then sheughed.

    Sheughed andughed and I thought she was crazy from how much sheughed.

    ¡°Stopughing, Ivory!¡±

    ¡°No! Too funny! How it feel to have strong-one who mushrooms love more than Truffle?¡±

    Truffle sat down and looked really sad.

    ¡°Mushrooms love Chanterelle more than Truffle?¡±

    All of the mushrooms slowly wiggle-walked over to Truffle and surrounded her.

    I could hear them all saying that they loved her very much.

    Truffle rubbed the tops of many of them and scooped a few of them up.

    ¡°Oh¡­ this nice. Not bad thing. Truffle not mad mushrooms love Chanterelle. So long as mushrooms know Truffle love mushrooms many many.¡±

    After a while, the mushrooms walked back to the dirt, but some of them needed help from Truffle to get back to the high ces they used to be. Only one mushroom didn¡¯t move.

    The special mushroom.

    Truffle looked at it for a moment and saw the ce that had a small bite taken out of it.

    ¡°Chanterelle. No lie to Truffle. You eat this one?¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°Small bite.¡±

    ¡°Hmm. Only that mushroom not try go back. Truffle take great care to grow that mushroom special.¡±

    Truffle picked it up and inspected it for a while.

    ¡°Okay. Truffle understand.¡±

    She handed me the mushroom.

    ¡°This mushroom same as Bitey. Job Chanterelle take good care of it. Not eat this one anymore.¡±

    The big mushroom agreed to what Truffle said.

    I was kind of sad since it was tasty, but I also now have a new friend!

    Though¡­ I couldn¡¯t think of a name for it just yet, and I was still tired. I went back to sleep while Truffle stayed awake¡­ probably to take care of the mushrooms since she felt better knowing they loved her very much.

    When I woke up again, the special mushroom had grown bigger. Way bigger!

    It also had eyes and a mouth on the stalk.

    Husband was also in our cave-hole now for some reason and he was poking the special mushroom while Truffle watched with interest.

    ¡°This one Kino.¡± He said.

    ¡°Kino?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Mm. Thought first might be Take, but now sure <em>definitely</em> Kino.¡±

    ¡°Kino hear? Name Kino!¡± I told Kino.

    Kino wobbled around in a circle happily, identally falling once but getting up quickly.

    ¡°Truffle. Husband think maybe not good idea use color-spin-think powder when have strong-one inside now on.¡±

    ¡°No. Truffle use now, every time. Button special, Chanterelle special. Good idea use color-spin-think powder. Keep have special goblins.¡±

    Husband only shook his head.

    ¡°Whatever say. Husband only mushroom-Husband. Truffle one who make mushroom-goblins.¡±

    Truffle sat in Husband¡¯sp and offered him a mushroom to eat.

    ¡°Husband help make.¡±

    Husband ate half and put the other half in Truffle¡¯s mouth, then they hugged for a long time.

    After that, Husband took me to meet with my big sisters again. And I got to introduce them to Kino!

    But Kino is special, so I had to tell them not to eat Kino.

    When we went outside, Kino wanted to go see the field where big-sister Mint is always standing at.

    When Mint saw Kino, shepletely freaked out.

    ¡°What Myconid Emperor doing here!? Why outside of bottom floor Navara Deep Dungeon!?!?!¡±

    I ran over to where Kino was and patted Kino¡¯s pretty cap.

    ¡°Big-sister Mint! This Kino! Chanty friend.¡±

    Big-sister Mint froze.

    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ your friend?¡±

    Kino danced around Mint in a circle.

    ¡°Big-sister Mint like mushrooms?¡±

    ¡°Sure¡­ but¡­ that mushroom¡­ ah¡­ you¡¯re... sure... it¡¯s a¡­ friend?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! Kino friend!¡±

    ¡°Kino?¡±

    ¡°Husband give name.¡±

    ¡°Of course he did¡­¡±

    Kino urged me to dance, and we both began doing the mushroom dance together.

    ¡°Haaah¡­ Why Mint ever think it good idea dost bloodmaw quest¡­?¡±

    Mint sat down and watched as Kino walked into the field. Then Kino¡¯s cap spread open wide and lots of spores came out andnded on the dirt. Mint quickly got onto her knees and stared at something, moving her hands in front of her body really quickly in a strange way.

    ¡°No¡­ way¡­ it¡­ unlocked!?¡±

    I had no idea what Mint was talking about.

    ¡°Chanterelle¡­ what is your mushroom¡­ doing?¡±

    After making spores, Kino was feelingzy.

    ¡°Bezy.¡±

    ¡°Ah¡­¡±

    ¡°Big-sis Mint. Want push Chanty on swings?¡±

    Mint stared at Kino and then me and then Kino and then me again.

    ¡°World boss show up. Take spore shit on field next to Goblinhome. Yx even care anymore? Haaah¡­ why Mint not hit log out button when have chance?¡±

    I have no idea what she was talking about.

    Either way she took my hand, bringing me over to the swings where she pushed me and my other big-sisters.

    ying on swings, eating mushrooms, beingzy, and now I have a mushroom friend to do it with together¡­. This really<i>is</i>the life!

    <b>~~** Interlude | Somewhere Outside the Realm of Life and Death **~~</b>

    In what could be considered a mental reconstruction of what appeared to be a cavernous throne room, two formless beings manifested inside of it, as they had many times before.

    ¡°She gave you a mushroom, so you sent her<i>that</i>?¡±

    ¡°Correction. She gave us <em>both</em> mushrooms, and without wanting a single thing in return other than for us to enjoy how tasty they were.¡±

    ¡°¡­it was<i>just</i>a mushroom. You can find them anywhere you look in the damn world.¡±

    ¡°ra, are you jealous that I have a child who loves me so?¡±

    ¡°Tch. Who¡¯s jealous. And I have plenty of children who love me.¡±

    ¡°Like your little Saintess¡­ or should I say<i>my</i>little Saintess.¡±

    ¡°Hmph. Say whatever you want. One of yours is now one of mine.¡±

    ¡°She prayed once, at a statue in the center of the town because she thought it might reach me, since I am next to you in that ce.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you put up with that ugly¡­ icon.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s adorable. My children made it for me out of love and respect. Why wouldn¡¯t I like it?¡±

    One of the formless beings manifested the idea of divine alcohol and some elegant sses to drink it out of. It handed it over to the other one and toasted one-sidedly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll trust you to keep an eye on that one living alone for me.¡±

    ¡°Why should I?¡±

    ¡°Tsk, tsk. Are we not being amicable with each other after so long?¡±

    ¡°¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been how many thousands of years? We did it once, and we can do it again.¡±

    One of the formless beings manifested the idea of a divinely embroidered dress which revealed much, and yet nothing, while being absolutely alluring to the senses of the other.

    ¡°ra, ra¡­ not even an eternity can shake your beauty.¡±

    ¡°Hmph! You¡¯ve sent a Huntress, Shaman, Bone Lord, Blood Druid, and with my help, a Saintess. What do you n on sending next?¡±

    ¡°A Nightsmith, if I can get it right.¡±

    ¡°To the Orc?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s the most likely candidate.¡±

    ¡°What about the¡­ fat goblin?¡±

    ¡°Which one? The maker or the¡­ soon to be maker?¡±

    ¡°The daughter! Bad enough the Bone Lord and the Bloody Druid trespassed on Kamon¡¯s domain. I bet you have something devious nned for that one, considering the helping hand you lent while he was¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, I took care of Kamon already.¡±

    ¡°How? No. Wait¡­ I don¡¯t need to know. It can¡¯t be anything good if it¡¯sing from you.¡±

    ¡°No? Kamon is quite interested in the skeleton.¡±

    ¡°Forget Kamon. The daughter. Tell me.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want to wait for the surprise?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re using all your divine pieces at once. I don¡¯t expect you will stop now.¡±

    ¡°True. But you¡¯ll just need to wait and see. It won¡¯t be long, anyway.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not the Hero, is it?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯ll at least tell you that much. It¡¯s not the Hero.¡±

    ¡°A Champion, then?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯m thinking of returning that to the Old One. There is a loophole to allow it.¡±

    ¡°There is also Yx.¡±

    ¡°Would you have Yx involved more than they already are?¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ are you preparing the Huntress to beget the Hero?¡±

    One of the formless beings dissolved and vacated the mental reconstruction of the cavernous throne room.

    ¡°You coward! Don¡¯t run away when I ask you an important question! Which one will beget the Hero!?¡±

    The other formless being dissolved and with it, the mental reconstruction of the cavernous throne room once more blinked out of existence¡­

 [v2] Chapter Thirty-eight â€“ In which Kiwi, a jack-of-all-trades goblin does her very best!

    [v2] Chapter Thirty-eight ¨C In which Kiwi, a jack-of-all-trades goblin does her very best!

    <strong>~~** Interlude | Kiwi **~~</strong>

    My Husband and my sisters are all so amazing. It¡¯s hard for me to find something I¡¯m good at that either an adult goblin or one of my big sister goblins aren¡¯t already amazing at. Forget fighting. While I have learned how to use different weapons for the hunt, I¡¯m by no means as good as the adult hunters like Prima and Jewel, or my big sisters Diana, Orchid, Lc, and Nova. When ites to magic, how can I possiblypare myself to Vera, ce, Ebony, or Selene? And as for making things? I¡¯m not as good at creating fun new games as Game and Toy are, or even when ites to making tasty food like big sister Melon is.

    I know Pear is disappointed that I¡¯m not a big fat goblin like she and Melon are so that Husband will love me lots, but it¡¯s not like I chose to be like this!

    I know I also disappoint Husband by always pestering him to as much as possible about everything he knows, unlike my sisters who only need to know a little bit and can do or make amazing things having only talked with him about something for a little bit.

    I think, sometimes, that¡¯s about the only thing I¡¯m good at¡ª<b>talking</b>.

    Well, I¡¯m also good at listening, too.

    That¡¯s why I thought I might try something different today. Recently, I became a big-sister goblin. Before that, I was the youngest strong-one in the tribe. As the youngest, I couldn¡¯t help but look up in amazement at all the amazing things my big-sister goblins could do that I couldn¡¯t. And when I see my little-sister goblin Gremory being carried around on Husband¡¯s shoulders all the time, ying with him, I can¡¯t help but think that she¡¯s also going to be more amazing a goblin than I am.

    That¡¯s why I wanted to see if there was something I could do better than any other goblin, and my idea came from something I had talked about with Husband.

    He had mentioned something called a<i>store</i>before. It¡¯s supposed to be something found in big ces that not-goblins gather outside of Goblinhome called<i>towns</i>. Basically, it¡¯s a gathering of outside cave-holes called<i>houses</i>made of tree-wood that not-goblins live inside of.

    There are people who make things and sell them to these big<i>houses</i>called<i>stores</i>that gather all kinds of things and make it easy to buy them.<i></i>ording to Husband, it¡¯s not only in a goblin¡¯s nature to bezy. A store is a ce where instead of having to go all over the ce to different cave-holes and order things, they can just make onezy trip to the<i>store</i>and get just about everything they could want or need.

    Husband taught me about something called<i>currency</i>or as it¡¯s better known as in the outside world:<i>money</i>. It¡¯s the same thing that we use now called<i>standing</i>, which is what goblins now use instead of just trading favors to other goblins in order to get the things they want.

    In the Goblin¡¯s Guild, there are requests put up on the wall¡ªa few specifically that never need toe down, and filling those requests are both an easy way to earn (and sometimes spend) standing. In fact, sometimes filling one request also fills another.

    In order to maximize earning standing when I started out, I went to talk with Ivory first about what bones she was low on that she needed and wound up hunting the beasties that usually had those exact bones. Whitefeathers, stripe-faces, king snakes, and even on two asions with help from Primrose and Selene, some many-horns were the bones in demand the most. ck-ws too, but that felt a bit dangerous for now. Most of the meat from those hunted beasties Melon used her Kitchen¡¯s standing budget to buy, and the pelts I had worked to strip cleanly off having been taught by Pepper were bought by both Pepper and the Orc, Krushka.

    Husband says what I was doing back then was properly creating and exploiting the economy of Goblinhome, and ruffled my hair, telling me he was proud of me for being the first goblin to really understand that.

    I don¡¯t think any words ever mattered to me more than hearing him say that.

    Game and Fun, when not busy in their workshop, often work at the Goblin¡¯s Guild when Vera or Husband aren¡¯t there to do so. They verify the things brought in and record the payment logs of<i>standing</i>to each goblin. They call it<i>calcting</i>and I had to spend some standing to learn how to do it. I¡¯ve also learned how to read and write<i>gob</i>, so I figured now was the best time to try my hand at doing something I might actually be good at.

    When talking about something called<imerce</i>with Husband, he mentioned that sometimes goblins and not-goblins may be unsure if they really need something they don¡¯t yet know serves a good purpose.

    For instance, there is a tool Husband told me about called a Fishing Rod. While Pepper wades into the Eastern stream and hunts fish with a spear, not everyone is that skilled to do so. Fish taste good but aren¡¯t as popr to eat as beasts are because they are tricky to catch. With the fishing rod, any goblin can catch a fish if they are willing to bezy for a little while, and that¡¯s most of the goblins in Goblinhome!

    So, I decided the first thing I wanted to try making and selling with<i>standing</i>were fishing rods. Initially, I wanted to use long bones, but they are a lot harder toe by than wood. So, I paid doll some standing to have her cut a tree down for me and chop it up into long pieces. I then took it to Toy and we worked on cutting and smoothing the pieces with the tools she has so that they would be long and easy to hold. Then I went to Pepper to see if she could make me some thin rope to attach to it. But Pepper is also a busy goblin. Instead, I wound up being sent to Crow who knew how to make thin rope just as good as Pepper did.

    Crow¡¯s injured leg doesn¡¯t leave her with much to do, and little way to earn standing. As a result, she was interested in doing something to stay active, and so I made a deal with her. I visited Ivory to see about having her make me the thing known as a<i>hook</i>which was used to catch fish. It¡¯s the thin fishbones that are the best for catching fish, surprisingly.

    I had to do the assembling myself, but at the cost of twenty-five total<i>standing</i>, I had managed to make ten fishing rods in total. If I sold them each for five<i>standing</i>, which was more than reasonable considering the amount of work I had to put in myself and pay for up front, I could double my total<i>standing</i>if I managed to sell them all.

    However, the only goblins that know how to use a fishing rod are Husband and myself, so, no matter what goblin I tried to get to buy it, they weren¡¯t all that interested.

    Except one.

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ is that¡­ a fishing rod?¡±

    Husband had seen me sitting outside by the fire pit dangling a piece of meat from a bone hood at the end of one of my fishing rods while sitting on a log.

    ¡°Yes. I tried making it as you described.¡±

    ¡°Mind if I see it?¡±

    I handed it over and Husband yed around with it for a bit, mentioning something about it needing a bit more rope, and that something called a<i>reel</i>was probably not possible to include on it just yet. He admired the bone<i>hook</i>saying that it looked nice, and that all it was really missing was a small weight on it.

    My curiosity got the better of me, as it usually did, and I once again pestered Husband to tell me what was wrong with it.

    ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong with this. It¡¯s really well made, Kiwi. I was just talking about things you could consider<i>upgrades</i>to this rod.¡±

    ¡°<i>Upgrades</i>? What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Ah, let¡¯s say you make something, but you think<i>oh, I wish what I have could do this or that, or do something it already does a bit easier or simpler.</i>That¡¯s an upgrade. Let¡¯s take this fishing rod for example. The string on it is good and tight, but with it only being this long, you have to constantly stand close to the water. With a longer string, you can cast the string into the water and sit ory down on the bank instead of having to constantly stand and hold it. I have noints about the<i>hook</i>, since it¡¯s perfect already, but there are many different kinds of<i>hooks</i>which the design, shape, and material of can possibly attract different kinds of fish. If one was made of metal, sometimes the sunlight might hit it and make it shine, which will make a fish think it¡¯s something they can eat and want to try biting it not knowing they¡¯ll get hooked. Then there¡¯s the weight¡­ something just a little bit heavy and not<i>buoyant</i>¡­ uh¡­ not something that floats. If the string sinks easily then that opens up the opportunity for fish that swim deep toe across the hook. There¡¯s more to it, but I really think you¡¯ve done a great job with the resources you have avable.¡±

    I listened carefully to what Husband said, even some of the words he used that weren¡¯t<i>gob</i>and I had a little trouble understanding at first. I asked more about the different kinds of<i>hooks</i>he talked about, and the<i>weight</i>and how it was supposed to fit on the thin rope. Usually by this point, Husband would get this look on his face and say to me ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Kiwi, but that¡¯s all I really know about it.¡±

    However, that didn¡¯t happen this time.

    ¡°Hey kiddo, want to go fishing with your old man?¡±

    I did.

    I wanted to go fishing with Husband very much.

    So, I went to go fetch another fishing rod for us to use.

    Husband picked me up and put me on his shoulders, and then the two of us with our fishing rods in hand headed East from Goblinhome to the stream. Right about when we got there, Husband pointed out a particr spot where the bushes ended and there was only grass leading to the stream.

    ¡°You know the story about Diana Artemis and me hunting the ck-ws, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard it. What about it?¡±

    ¡°This was the ce where it ended. I had used some hasting magic and we ran from this big tree a bit back all the way here. Doll was in the stream with her tree-chopping axe with four ck-ws ready to attack her. Prima, Jewel, Me, and Diana were right here. I had to use a wind spell to knock the four ck-ws into the water. It was myst bit of mana before I sumbed to mana fatigue and fell on my butt. The four of them managed to kill the ck-ws and rescue Doll. After that, I was dragged back to Goblinhome. I feel a bit sad knowing there was nothing I could do to save Beast-talker, but I¡¯m d everyone else lived.¡±

    I¡¯ve heard some of my older big-sister goblins talk about it, but as for the exact details, never this specific. That story is something of a legend told to us younger goblins. Diana Artemis is very much the epitome of a big-sister goblin. Even more now that she¡¯s the head of her own Moon n, and that both she and Berry have undergone a Blood Fury.

    While there are a couple of my big-sister goblins who think Button is stronger, I don¡¯t believe it. When Nova was teaching me how to use a sword, Diana Artemis was watching and offered to spar with me. I have never seen a goblin who could move and react as fast as she could. Not even Prima, and she is a master at dodging and countering almost any attack with her spear!

    The way Husband exined the story in detail, I could feel how proud he was of Diana Artemis. And howpletely he trusted her. He never once doubted her ability or her ce as the next Guardian of the Bloodmaw Goblin Tribe.

    She was barely older than me when this happened.

    For us younger goblins, which is essentially everyone not an adult goblin already, Diana Artemis is like this huge imprable, impassable wall we can never measure up to. And here I am, in such a famous spot, wasting Husband¡¯s time¡­ going fishing.

    Setting me down on the ground, I stood close to the stream and held my fishing rod out, letting the hook sink into the water.

    Husband stood next to me but didn¡¯t put his hook into the water.

    ¡°Eager to catch something so soon?¡± He asked, with a bit of augh.

    ¡°Am I not fishing the right way?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ there is a step missing.¡±

    Husband reached for the string and showed me the hook on the end of his fishing rod.

    ¡°Fishing is just like an economy. You can¡¯t expect to just catch a fish for free.¡±

    I lifted my fishing rod and brought my hook out of the water.

    ¡°Then how am I supposed to catch one?¡±

    ¡°Bait. We¡­ need something to put<i>on</i>the hook that will make a fish interested in biting it. Only then can we reel them in.¡±

    ¡°What are fish interested in?¡±

    ¡°Worms, flies, generally anything like an insect or bug. You can think of it like one of Berry¡¯s poison traps. Well, we don¡¯t want to use poison since we¡¯ll be eating these, but we¡¯re pretty much tricking the fish into thinking that it¡¯s going to get an easy free meal, then when it¡¯s caught on the hook, it won¡¯t even realize that it¡¯s going to be<i>our</i>meal until it¡¯s toote. And all it costs us is a worm or two.¡±

    ¡°But we don¡¯t have any worms. Or flies.¡±

    ¡°True, but¡­ do you think there aren¡¯t any all around us?¡±

    Husband put his fishing rod down and walked back towards the bushes. He used hisnd magic to raise some pirs of dirt and then said ¡°Aha!¡± before returning with two worms, handing me one.

    ¡°Don¡¯t eat that. Watch what I do, and then do the same, okay?¡±

    I nodded.

    Husband carefully stabbed the worm onto the hook, moving it so that it was a bit down on the loop before holding out his rod and dunking the hook into the water. The worm was still squirming even in the water.

    ¡°When the fish see a squirming worm, they¡¯ll go for it. It might take a while for them to notice it though. Patience is the name of the game when ites to fishing.¡±

    I followed Husband¡¯s words and put the worm he gave me onto my fishing rod¡¯s hook and then held it out, dunking the hook adorned with a squirming worm into the water. The two of us just stood there, waiting, with nothing happening. No fish trying to eat either of our worms at all. I decided to ask him a question, since I thought talking about anything was better than just standing around in silence.

    ¡°Husband, since you had a strong-one with Lumi, and big-sister Melon says her strong-one wille into the world in less than a moon, are you not thinking about making a strong-one with Diana Artemis?¡±

    Husband gently swished his fishing rod a few times before answering.

    ¡°Well, Diana is doing her best to try and make one with me every chance she gets, but it¡¯s not like I¡¯m in any hurry for her to have one. I¡¯m sure when it¡¯s the right time, it¡¯ll happen. I certainly never thought Lumi would be the first of my daughters to¡­ well¡­ make a¡­¡±

    Husband seemed to be unsure how to finish his thought. Was it because Gremory was a bit different from us in appearance, having wings and a tail?

    ¡°I¡¯m not actually sure if she¡¯s not both my daughter and granddaughter at the same time¡­¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just easier to say she¡¯s your strong-one?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess calling her that in<i>gob</i>makes it way lessplicated than it needs to be.¡±

    ¡°Do you think big-sister Melon¡¯s strong one will be a fat goblin like she and Pear are?¡±

    ¡°Could be.¡±

    ¡°Husband prefers fat goblins, right?¡±

    ¡°Hm? What makes you think that?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell Pear that you wanted her to make you chubby goblins for the rest of her life.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like something I¡¯d say. But it¡¯s not like I prefer them over any other goblin.¡±

    ¡°Then why tell her that?¡±

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ your mother¡­ hmm¡­ how do I put this? The fact that Pear is a very adventurous chubby goblin makes me<i>seriously</i>enjoy both making strong-ones with her and wasting big-seed with her. Really, I just like that she¡¯s squishy. She¡¯s very enjoyable to hug after we¡­ um¡­¡±

    ¡°Make strong-ones?¡±

    ¡°Yep.¡±

    ¡°Then you also like Melon because she¡¯s fat and squishy too?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s certainly not the only reason, but yes, I love giving her squishy hugs too.¡±

    ¡°Then¡­ what about me?¡±

    Husbandughed all of a sudden.

    ¡°Kiwi, do you think I wouldn¡¯t enjoy your hugs just because you aren¡¯t a chubby goblin?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what you are saying?¡±

    ¡°No, baby girl. I love your hugs just as much as Pear¡¯s or Melon¡¯s. Oh!¡±

    Suddenly, Husband held onto his fishing rod firmly and pulled it upwards, taking a few steps back. The sound of sshing water filled my ears and with a small grunt, Husband had yanked the fishing rod high up over his head and a small fish was dangling on the end of the tiny rope.

    ¡°Looks like we managed to catch one!¡±

    Husband brought the fishing rod to a standing position and held on to the fish with one hand, tucking the fishing rod in his armpit, and used his now freed hand to pull the bone hook out of the mouth of the small fish.

    ¡°It¡¯s a sturdy rod. Could do with having a bit more flexibility, but really, noints so far considering the materials you had to work with.¡±

    Husband put the fishing rod down and then used hisnd magic to make a small pot hardened from grass and dirt. Then he dunked it in the stream to fill it with water before putting the fish he caught in it, leaving it on the ground just behind where he was standing.

    My fishing rod still didn¡¯t have a single bite. I¡¯m pretty sure my worm was dead by now, too. Husband went to go fetch a new worm to put on his hook and quickly returned to the bank of the stream, sitting down next to me.

    ¡°Want to sit in myp while we wait for the fish to bite?¡±

    I eagerly sat down in hisp, leaning back against his chest while the two of us held onto our rods.

    ¡°This brings back good memories¡­ When I was a strong-one, I used to go fishing with my father once or twice a moon or so. He taught me everything I know about fishing.¡±

    I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard about Husband¡¯s maker¡¯s Husband before from any conversations I¡¯ve had with him or any other goblin before.

    ¡°What kind of goblin was your maker¡¯s Husband?¡±

    ¡°Hmm. He was a fair man, if not a bit stricter than me. He worked a lot, since his job was to make money by selling things to people in order to support our family¡­ uh¡­ our n¡­ and on his days off, he tried to spend what time he could with my mother and me and my siblings.¡±

    ¡°He sold things?¡±

    ¡°Oh yes. He was a<i>businessman</i>, and so worked from sunup to sundown five out of every seven days at a minimum. Thanks to his hard work, the life I was able to live growing up from a strong-one into an adult was rather luxuriouspared to many other families¡­ ns¡­<i>whatever</i>.¡±

    Husband talked about his former n in depth as the two of us sat there holding fishing rods that received no bites from any fish. The strange thing about his story was that Husband¡¯s maker¡¯s Husband didn¡¯t have more than one goblin he made strong ones with. Only five strong-ones in total came into the world and the third one was Husband. ording to Husband, his next younger brother-goblin was kind of like Vera, which is why caring for her in his cave-hole is something he demanded Prima to let him do.

    But that wasn¡¯t all he had to say.

    ¡°So, before Husband became an adventurer, he also sold things?¡±

    ¡°Yes. While not the same exact things that my father did, after attending a ce where I learned worldly things for a long time, I joined apany just as my father had long before me and sold plenty of things just as he did. I didn¡¯t have anyone at the time to¡­ take care of, like I do the adult goblins here in Goblinhome. I lived by myself and either saved my money, hoping I might find someone in the future to spend it on who might end up living with and making strong-ones together with me, or spend it on things to decorate my apartment¡­ uh¡­ cave-hole with that I enjoy.¡±

    ¡°Things like games, and the big bath?¡±

    ¡°Most cave-holes came with a smaller bath, but yeah, for sure there were plenty of games. I even had a collection of¡­<i>figurines</i>.¡±

    ¡°Figurine?¡±

    ¡°Think of it as something simr to smaller statues like the two found in Lumi¡¯s chapel. Not much bigger than my hand and they would decorate shelves in my room. They would bring me great pleasure to look at.¡±

    ¡°What was your favorite figurine to look at?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s a toss-up. I had a game I used to y every day for years about a group of female soldiers led by amander who tried to reim the surface hundreds of moons after humanity had to retreat to an underground city to live in or face extinction from the rapture queen¡ªa big metal golem that sought to destroy everything and rule the world as the supreme civilization. Rather than say I had a single favorite one to look at, I would enjoy collecting as many of them as I could since each of them were different and enjoyable in their own way, just like all of the adult goblins and my daughters are.¡±

    I suddenly felt something pull on my fishing rod. I gripped it tightly and let Husband know. He put his down and held onto mine with me while I stood up first. Husband moved to the side from behind me and cheered me on as I struggled to take steps backward and lift the fishing rod up high, eventually managing to bring the sshing struggling fish out of the water. It wasn¡¯t much bigger than the one Husband caught earlier, but I felt happy that I was able to also catch one now!

    ¡°Great going, Kiwi!¡± Husband cheered me on.

    With the fish dangling from the end of the tiny rope, Husband helped me undo the hook from its mouth and put it into the stone bucket with the other fish he had caught.

    Once more his hand pressed down upon my head and ruffled my hair.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t this fun? This is the kind ofziness your daddy can get behind.¡±

    ¡°You like beingzy?¡±

    I actually found that to be shocking information. Husband was<i>always</i>busy!

    ¡°Sure. While being busy and productive is a good trait to have, if you¡¯re always busy¡­ then you¡¯ll eventually be worn out. Taking time every so often to bezy and enjoy the things you¡¯ve worked hard for is important for your personal growth as a goblin. For me, a nicezy day is taking a long warm bath and then ying with my daughters. I would certainly count going fishing with my baby girl as an enjoyablezy day to have.¡±

    ¡°GGGRRRARK! GRARK!¡±

    Catching us from surprise from behind, arge ck beast had suddenly appeared!

    Husband quickly extended his arms and stood in front of me protectively.

    While I had never seen one alive before, I knew exactly what it was¡ªa ck-w!

    ¡°Shit. This isn¡¯t good. Stay behind me, Kiwi¡­ Daddy¡­ will do something.¡±

    I could see well enough to know that this ck-w, even though it was only this one, was already nning on hunting us both.

    ¡°Kiwi¡­ how¡¯s your throwing arm?¡± Husband asked me all of a sudden.

    ¡°Want me to try and find a stone in the stream?¡±

    ¡°No. Reach in the pot and throw a fish close to it. Stay behind me while you do, okay?¡±

    Listening to Husband, I reached into the nearby pot and pulled one of the two fish out, throwing it right in front of the ck-w. We both watched as it was on full alert for a moment, before sniffing the air and taking a tentative step forward to sniff it. Then opening its mouth to grab it off the ground and begin chewing and swallowing it.

    While it ate the fish, I don¡¯t think that was enough of an offering to let us go.

    ¡°Kiwi. I want to lock it down with somend magic. I want you to throw the other fish so that it will be distracted enough while eating for me to do so. After that, the two of us are going to run. Forget about the rods, okay?¡±

    ¡°Why not kill it.¡±

    ¡°I would never forgive myself if something happened to you, Kiwi.¡±

    ¡°I might not be Diana Artemis, but I can fight, too.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt that. But do you have a weapon?¡±

    ¡°No, but¡­ will you trust me?¡±

    Husband was quiet, locking eyes with the ck-w.

    ¡°I trust you. Throw the fish or we won¡¯t even have a chance to find out how much I trust you.¡±

    I lobbed thest remaining fish at the ck-w again, and it once more cautiously approached it to snatch it up.

    All of a sudden,nd rose up around all four legs of the ck w and solidified quickly, locking it into ce.

    I rushed forward, hearing Husband yell at me to be careful.

    I might not be as strong as my sisters, but I knew a few things.

    ¡°Kiwi-ken Upper!¡±

    Shouting the name of my attack as Button had taught me to do, since it made attacks more powerful, I dove forward into a roll just under the ck-w¡¯s face and sprung up with a tightly clenched fist, impacting the underside of its maw and snapping its head upwards and back, hearing a satisfying crack as I did.

    ¡°Kiwi-ken w Barrage!¡±

    I then began to sh at its vulnerable neck as fast as I could with a series of shing strikes with my bare hands before leaping backwards out of range of any counterattack.

    But it was unnecessary.

    Its throat was heavily torn and it half-copsed, held up only by the stone surrounding its legs. The head of the ck-w hung limply, blood pouring out onto the ground.

    Husband had quickly secured it further, raising morend around it and solidifying it into stone so that even if the ck-w was still alive, it wouldn¡¯t be able to escape. Then he came to check on me.

    ¡°Kiwi, are you alright?¡±

    I nodded. I was perfectly fine.

    ¡°How did I do?¡±

    Husband chopped the top of my head with his hand, but didn¡¯t say a word. Instead, he knelt down and pulled me into a hug.

    ¡°You did great, baby girl. You did great.¡±

    It was a while before Husband let go of me, not that I minded. He could have hugged me forever and that would have been fine.

    We had lost the fish we had caught, and even one of the rods. The hook attached to the tiny rope on Husband¡¯s fishing rod was still in the water of the stream and something must have pulled it in while we were dealing with the ck-w.

    Husband carefully inspected the ck-w for a while before deciding it was dead enough to remove the stone bonds he had created, securing it in ce.

    ¡°I think we should head back now. I¡¯ll handle this guy, you keep an eye out for anything else that might be trying to hunt us, okay Kiwi?¡±

    I agreed. Husband grabbed hold of the back legs with both hands, dragging the body behind him slowly. It took us a while to get back to Goblinhome, along the way Husband asked me when I learned how to fight like that.

    ¡°Button gives lessons. She says all her sisters should know a little about the<i>swirly-whirly</i>to keep themselves safe.¡±

    Truthfully, I didn¡¯t understand the whole<i>swirly-whirly</i>thing she talked about, but the lessons I had taken with Prima, Diana, and Nova had taught me enough that a weapon wasn¡¯t the only weapon a goblin had. Our ws were sharp for a reason, and that reason was to hunt. Button has her own martial art called the Mushroom Fist, but says that since I am a fruit-goblin, I should discover my own martial art.

    The result, of course, is my Kiwi-ken Fist.

    ¡°I can¡¯t beat Button or Figurine with it, though. Those two are just too strong. Everyone is¡­ too strong.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s okay. The purpose of learning a martial art isn¡¯t for beating someone¡­ it¡¯s for protecting yourself and the people you care about, and that¡¯s exactly what you did. While it might have been safer to run away, I¡¯m still incredibly proud of you, Kiwi.¡±

    I held the remaining fishing rod in my hand and swished it about as I basked in the praise Husband gave me.

    He was proud of me!

    Me, who wasn¡¯t better at a single thing than any of my big-sisters were¡­

    There was nothing that dared to hunt us in the forest on the way back to Goblinhome. When we got back, Husband asked me if he could have the bones and skin of the ck-w. He said he had something important in mind for them. I didn¡¯t mind, since he made it possible for us to kill it in the first ce.

    With some help from Pepper, Melon, Ste, Ivory and even Diana Artemis, the ck-w was quickly disassembled and butchered. Melon had taken a bit of the meat to cook with, but left much of it for what cameter. Husband asked the entire tribe toe out to the fire-pit when it became dark, and everyone was given some of the ck-w to eat. I think there might have been part of another ck-w added because the one we brought back couldn¡¯t have possibly had that much meat on it.

    Goblins eat a lot, especially tasty bloody meat!

    While eating, Husband recounted the story of us going out to fish at the stream, recounted the part of the story of Diana and Husband¡¯s hunt where they reached the stream to rescue Doll, and then recounted the story of Husband and me fighting the single ck-w who thought us easy prey!

    The way he told it was a bit more borate than what happened, but everyone was listening intently and giving me nods of approval. Diana Artemis told me she was d I am bing a strong goblin who can protect Husband.

    Diana Artemis said that!

    I didn¡¯t protect him, though¡­ he¡­

    I could see something in her eyes that told me nothing I would say would matter at this point. This was her judgment of my kill. Of my and Husband¡¯s kill¡­

    Button and Prima had also given me approving nods as they ate some of the bloody ck-w meat.

    Riding some kind of high, Husband invited me to spend the night with him in his cave-hole. I held onto him tight as we talked about many more things. Especially on how to improve the fishing rod. I slept well, only to wake up and find Husband gone.

    Husband had been busy the next day, but I tried not to let that bring my spirits down.

    Instead, Primrose, Selene, Chanterelle asked me to tell the story again to them, which I did, happily. Lumi was there too with my little sister goblin Gremory, giving us all pushes on the swings.

    After that, I returned to Pear¡¯s cave-hole and tried to understand the part called a<i>reel</i>that Husband said would be important to the new fishing rod I wanted to make. It would be another whole day before I saw Husband again.

    At that time, he had something for me.

    It was some kind of ck-w clothing. Husband had been working with Pepper to make it. The top half of the ck-w¡¯s head was able to rest on my head or be pulled back. The back of the ck-w became like a cloak that covered my back, down to my butt where the tail was. And two front paws came across my chest, tied with a bit of thin rope. There was also a ne he gave me¡ªall of the bottom teeth from the ck-w strung together, proof of my kill.

    But that wasn¡¯t all.

    He had made me a grand weapon, too!

    Modeled a bit after<i>Ripper</i>, part of Diana¡¯s original grand weapons Ripper and Bleed, two long bone-ws made from sharpened bone done by Ivory and some sharpened metal on the undersides of the bone-ws added by Dara who lives under Husband¡¯s cave-hole. They had some padding on the insides so that they would fitfortably on my arms. They also could be attached to my new clothes so that I didn¡¯t have to wear them all the time. I could just put them on when I was ready to hunt.

    There was also something else. There was a pocket of some kind that had been made out of the belly-skin from the ck-w on the inside so that I could store things I wanted to carry or keep hidden inside of it.

    Even ce¡¯s Shaman¡¯s clothes weren¡¯t as amazing as mine!

    I found myself exceptionally busy after that. Not only the modifications to the fishing rod, I also began to try and make a few new things that didn¡¯t exist yet in Goblinhome. Getting permission from Vera, I was allowed to use a small bit of space behind the Goblin¡¯s Guild counter to run my new<i>store</i>.

    I had all sorts of interesting things I thought goblins might want to buy now.

    With help from Dara, I managed to create the<i>reel</i>Husband spoke of, increased the length of the thin rope, and added a small smooth stone Vera helped me make withnd magic. Now any goblin could fishzily! Husband even agreed to go fishing with any goblins who bought them and wanted to learn how to use it!

    I also made some of the<i>figurines</i>Husband talked about out of small bones, only they were all designed after my big sister goblins. I even made ones to resemble ck-ws and Husband too! Turns out, they became popr as recement chess-pieces!

    Husband is naturally the King piece.

    Game and Fun, seeing that goblins came almost every day to my new store talked about having the things they make be sold in my shop. There were a few things that I didn¡¯t sell¡ªIvory¡¯s bone charms and Truffle¡¯s color-spin-think powder. Those are items those two are best known for and I didn¡¯t want to take away all their business.

    I did, however, buy manymon items made from bone from Ivory, since if they were readily avable, goblins would buy them. Chanterelle had actually started her own little mushroom farm, and she wanted me to sell them for her because she was toozy to sell them herself. Apparently, they are mushrooms made by Kino¡¯s spores. They have a¡­ unique taste. But they certainly aren¡¯t bad. Big-sister Melon made a soup out of them, and it was actually pretty tasty.

    Turns out, Husband had used some of the ck-w leg bones to make some kind of outer bone-leg for Crow with help from Dara, along with a metal stick that let her move a bit more freely. While slow, she could even make it upstairs to the Goblin¡¯s Guild on her own.

    So now, Crow watches my store while I go about my day making or sourcing things to be sold there.

    All in all, things are going greattely. I have earned way more standing than I thought possible.

    Crow has also recently been in a good mood. Husband managed to put another strong-one inside of her belly. I¡¯m happy for her. Crow says it¡¯ll soon be time for the strong-one inside my big-sister Melon toe into the world.

    I wonder, will it be a fat goblin like she is, or a skinny goblin like me?

    Crow tells me not to worry. When I get bigger, Husband will help me be an adult goblin and give me a strong-one of my own. I¡¯m looking forward to it, but time is money, and I have a lot more standing I want to earn before then.

    Until then, I will do my best with my store and continue to make Husband proud of me.

    The only store in all of Goblinhome¡ªKiwi¡¯s Lazy-buy! We have things goblins want to buy!