Bonus Chapter [Vol.1] – In which the readers are treated to a chapter from Glace’s point-of-view from right around chapter 107 (Part 1)

I've already begun writing the next book and as promised, I'll be posting a few goblin PoV chapters sporadically until I'm far enough ahead to begin posting Volume 2. I'm sure a lot of you are curious about Glace, right? Well, I do hope you enjoy! There will be a part two to this coming soon featuring our adorable little Button!

~~** Interlude | Glace **~~

No matter how many times I jump worlds, I never seem to get used to it. Although I admit this is the first time I'd been aware of myself while gestating in a womb instead of immediately after being delivered. Barring my initial existence, that is.

There were a few things about this time that were bothersome right off the bat, the first being that I am constantly aware of my mother's emotional state. I know that she's deeply in love with my father, or at least the asshole who she keeps letting knock on the entrance to my private suite! 

Hey! Keep it down out there! 

The second is that I discovered I had the ability to communicate with her a little bit. I believed I understood the reason for being able to, at least. This body contained a ridiculous amount of Mana. If I hadn't gained an intuition for sensing mana after my third world hop, I might have actually died of boredom while waiting to be born. I also believed it was due to my father constantly injecting mana, as well as that other stuff that makes me glad I have a placental barrier to keep it out, that I was somehow awakened long before I should have been.

My mother seemed to be some kind of magician, though her control and understanding of mana was at a very basic level. My mother also held the thought that showing my father she could use mana would make him love her more. With that being the case, I thought I'd go ahead and be a good child, doing my part by quietly helping my mother grow and synchronize her mana together with her body. It was easy enough to do, and it's not like I had anything else to do while gestating.

I had no idea what kind of existence I'd be this time around, only that I was fully organic, and until I was born, I would be bereft of my System.

Judging from the pattern of mana activations my mother used, I felt it was safe to conclude that the magic system of this world must be combustive, using active invocations to create causality effects intended to defy the natural laws of physics. Which meant I was likely being born into some medieval hellscape. Did they burn witches as heretical entities here, or were they revered and heralded instead?

At any rate, I was just hoping for one thing. Please give me a decent name once I'm born.

I'd love to have my original name, Grace. It could be so exhaustive growing up with an unnecessarily stupid sounding name. Serendipity, Caerwylan, Moragriph, Nekses Five… yeah, it'd be nice to just be called Grace again. There's just something simple and charming about it. Almost… pure.

I also realized my body was maturing quickly. Which meant I either wasn't a human, or somehow I was in a place with significant bio-tech capabilities. Was it a magi-tech society? I didn't get the feeling it was, because hasting births didn't usually involve allowing a male partner to introduce potentially unsanitized detritus into a vaginal cavity.

It remained a curiosity until I felt nature take its course, at which point an overwhelming desire to escape overtook my higher functioning mind. It must be some kind of genetic call of nature. I'd like to say that having to claw my way out of a hooch is something I would prefer to never experience again. I had no idea what kind of barbaric birthing practices this world has, but landing on my head is not my idea of a good time. Also, my umbilical cord is stuck to my former home which is still inside of my… mother.

Hm. Green skin, clawed fingers, mostly naked, pointed ears…

From the look of things, mama is a goblin, I believe.

Having existed in darkness since coming to, I now looked at my hands and realized that the same must apply to me. I'm also a goblin.

Looking around, I saw three other people in the room. One appeared to be some kind of goblin midwife with a nasty looking scar across her chest. The other goblin seemed like she was on her way to being a crone, and the third was a really handsome looking human. He also seemed to be happy to see me, so, was this guy my father?

Usually humans and goblins do not establish friendships, let alone marital relations, so what was the deal here?

I tried giving my umbilical cord a tug, but I hadn't enough strength to budge it. I decided to see if the human was willing to help, since he looked the strongest. I pointed at the cord and hoped he'd figure it out.

Hey, uh, handsome papa! Can you help me out here?

Oh, is he going to? Ah! It's out! Good job, papa! My hero!

Now go take care of mama, she's staring at you. Be a man! Tell her she did a good job or something!

…wait. What are you doing? Why are you picking me up?

Uh… papa… why are you putting my placenta on mama's chest? You're supposed to sever it and tie up my umbilical cord. How unsanitary! Let's push this thing off of her chest. Are you all barbarians or something?

Ugh. I'm not strong enough to roll it off. And her triangular tits are getting in the way so I can't really move it anywhere. Being weak is such baloney! I want a stat reroll!

Wait. Mama? What's that look in your eyes about?

Papa..., why are you moving my placenta towards mama's mouth?

Oh, oh no. No no no! Please tell me she isn't about to do what I think she's about to do.

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!

Ew, I just watched my mother eat my placenta!

Thankfully I couldn't feel it through my umbilical cord, but that just ain't right!

I give up. At least one of her tits isn't covered in blood. I decided to bite the bullet and decide immediately if nursing from her would be tolerable, or if I should just end it and hop along to the next world.

I heard my papa and the almost-crone goblin talking while I was drinking from my mama's teat. Her breast milk was rich with mana, and the taste wasn't all that bad. The older goblin was saying something to my papa, but I didn't understand the language being spoken yet, so I paid it no mind. I'm a fast learner though, so it shouldn't take long before I do.