Ground Rules

Nothing is free in this world.

However, you can hack your way out of any situation.

Daniel is in such a situation.

"It's just one bite! This is payment for the story I gave you, young Gong! I can't wait three months! Hahahahaha." Bathala was laughing hard at his whim in making Daniel eat the stew.

"You even said you'd take my word for it! What happened to you?"

"It's not as if you'd die when you eat my stew!"

"Three months, old man. That's a deal."

"I will banish your soul to the underworld if you don't honor your words, young Gong."

"Okay, okay. Chill out."

---

The world of Paraiso is extremely beautiful in the eyes of baby-g. Her goblin character made grunting noises as she struts into the village of Balthazar. A lot of eyes were watching her every move. The goblins have good recall and have a strong community so she sticks out like a sore thumb. The goblin city was surprisingly clean for a monster settlement. It has a very unique architecture and the theme definitely is similar to gothic, but it's all green colored. Upon closer inspection, the walls of the buildings were overgrown with moss. baby-g's eyes were sparkling as she looked through every nook and cranny of each building she passes.

As she walked, she noticed that a bespectacled goblin was following her from behind and she pretended not to notice. She kept walking and looking over the whole city until she reached an alley with almost no goblins around. She then turned her back and stared at the goblin who was following her. The goblin was caught unaware and was very much startled when baby-g suddenly faced her.

"Why are you following me!!!" baby-g shouted half scared, and half excited.

"Aaahh! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! I'm called Sayka. I'm a librarian here. I thought you were new to this place, and maybe this world so I thought maybe I could introduce you to the rules."

[baby-g] "Huh? Rules? Hmmm. AHHHH! By any chance, is this a quest?"

[Sayka] "Quest? Yes... yes! This is a quest."

"Ooohhh! Okay okay! Let me know about the rules!"

"Okay, the first rule is, goblins should network!"

"Second rule is, goblins should form teams whenever they can."

"Third rule is, don't go out of Balthazar alone!"

"Whaaaaat? Why can't I go out of this city? I thought you can freely roam in this world?"

"Goblins are easily killed by everyone. Because we are weak, all races prey on us. It's the sad truth. But in groups, we are strong!!!"

"Whaaat? Boooo-riiiiing!!! I will be a strong goblin and roam this beautiful world freely!"

Sayka gasped. She muttered softly, "She definitely gives off the energy of a Goblin Queen!"

"If you want to do that, you should know more about the races and major discovered locations of this world madame! I-I-I mean, uhh, what do I call you?

"Oh, you can call me baby-g! And sure, I'd like to know about this world!"

"baby-g? What a strange name! Okay, so... there are many discovered races here in Paraiso, but there are five major ones. They are humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, and us, goblins! Each one occupies a certain area of the world and has formed kingdoms and empires. The center continent is governed by humans, they have a firm footing and are always looking to establish colonies in other continents. They have been known to be great strategists. The north is owned by the elves, they are a peaceful race and only wage wars when provoked, they have a very strong army of archers. The south has been established by the dwarves, there are many mountain ranges there which they mine for different kinds of metals. They make the greatest weapons. The east has been habituated by the orcs, they are feared for their numbers, like us, because we are monsters. An army of barbarian orcs is something to be feared. And finally, the west is occupied by us, the goblins. As long as we don't exit our continent (or our cities), no one can touch us! We are the smartest race and we handle our finances very well!"

"I see. I see. Okay, so how do I get strong immediately?"

"Well, if you'd like, you can read in the library. There are lots of training manuals there and other things that might help you get stronger."

"I don't want to read! Isn't there any training grounds here?"

"Goblins don't usually train physically. We use gold to settle most affairs."

"Hmm. Alright, let's head to the library then."

---

"Young Gong, what you need to do to survive in this world is to be friends with old, wise men. Like me! HAHAHAHAHA."

"Hehe. Hehe. You don't have to oversell yourself old man, aside from your stew, I like you. Tell me, do you think there's something that will make me stay here after three months?"

"Here in the mountains, there's really nothing much. You're lucky you're with me though, I can make things interesting for you. But if you really want a reason to stay, you need to find your own story. Just like you said, the hero's journey is what makes this world go round. I challenge you to find yours here. I feel that you want a reason to stay because your life in your world is not as you'd expect it would have gone. "

"I wonder who's the psychologist here now? Old man, don't carelessly judge my life by how I look."

"I'm actually peering into your soul, it's a much more complex process. Your life so far has been nothing but work, and you seem to think that it's the sole reason for your existence, but it's not. Your work is slowly eating you alive, and the experiences that your patients are telling you are corrupting your mind in ways that you won't be able to handle in the long run. For your sake, young Gong, take a vacation here. Live another life where you're free of the shackles of your work and be who you're destined to be."

"You're saying as if I'm not destined to be a psychologist."

"You know what? You're not, you're meant for something greater. You said you were drunk when you found your ticket to this place. I know for a fact that you just use that as an excuse because you really wanted to find an escape. Don't lie to yourself, young Gong."

"You'll have a great career at selling things, old man."

"This is serious advice for someone who has lived long enough. You're still young, you can do a lot more."

"Let's say I will take your advice, how do I go find my story, when for the longest time my story was to listen to other people's stories and help them find a way to make it better?"

"The first thing is to taste my stew!"

"Then it's gonna happen in three months, what can I do now though?"

"I can prepare you for the next phase of your life, young Gong."

"Okay, that's better than just staring at the forest and lake. Don't get me wrong, they're beautiful and I can stare at them for days, but I'm used to doing things most of the time."

"Do you want me to direct your trajectory or would you like to develop your own? I can customize your training depending on what you'd like your story to be."

"I don't really know what I want to do, to be honest."

"Hmm, is that so? Then let me test your mind, body, and soul for now. Sit still and look at me."

"Alright." Daniel looked intently at Bathala.

Bathala stared back at Daniel. He started breathing through his nose and made soft growling sounds. Daniel's vision started focusing on Bathala's pupils and after a few seconds, he became disoriented. Bathala's black eyes suddenly looked like it's swirling and there was a glow building on the outline of his eyes. Smoke seemed to cover everything except the glowing eyes and there seems to be a heavier pressure on the room.

Daniel's body started hunching from the pressure and his mouth started opening, drool falling down his pants. His eyes started tearing up and he began to hear a loud ringing in his ears. His hands moved on their own, slowly forming a fist and punching into the air. He then changed to a prayer posture and then he stood up, still hunched. Like a drunken kung-fu master, he made martial arts-like forms and shouted "HU!".

He then sat back again and started weeping silently. He then began laughing maniacally while crying tears of blood and then he made gagging sounds and began throwing up. Black goo went out of his mouth and some smoke also went out.

He then snapped back to reality. Bathala was smiling at him and began to go near the black goo, conjuring up a small container, he gathered the goo and closed the lid tightly.

"What the f--- did you do to me?!?"

"This is your recent life's trauma. If you want, I can transform this into an elixir that will come in handy in the future."

"That doesn't explain what just happened old man!"