[Interludes Vol. 1.5] In which we spent a little time following Mint and Ebony from a little sister goblin’s perspective.(2/3)

Ebony, alone, to be precise, actually.

Honestly, I was wondering how in the hell anyone could cause harm to the Bloodmaw tribe at this point when even the children were all practically elite monsters. I would think just with how many goblins there were right now, not a single guild fifty-strong outside of the top ten could even hope to challenge the just-over two dozen goblins of the Bloodmaw who currently existed.

As for me… I did use the Rune magic system, but… my affinities were janky. My attempts at conjuring basic fireballs to try and impress my sisters had fizzled too quickly to be useful.

"Iggy say Mint use Tree-magic!"

Apparently, while I had held Ebony's wand, it had appraised me somewhat.

In my status page, my class which had yet to be selected since I wasn't yet level ten, now had something listed there.

[Bloody Druid]

I was a Druid?

Hmm, it's not like I hadn't played a Druid before, just not in this VRMMORPG. And one of the most basic bread-and-butter skills a Druid is famously known for is… [Root].

The Rune-crafting system was still functional in my HUD, and so I drew the three Runes in the three available slots I had available at tier-one to create the spell, making sure to use the diacritical marks to enable the exact effect I needed to happen.

[^Land^]->[Power]->['Pull']

The grass underneath Glace grew quickly weaving itself into a vine and wrapped around her tiny legs. She was quick to look down and notice she was now stuck in place.

I received a nod from her before a single Rune [Decay] manifested from her fingertip and bounced from one of the vines to the other and had them wither instantly. Button, who spoke for Glace through something like telepathy, said that Glace would welcome me into her faction of magic users if I wanted. I clearly had enough talent to not need to hunt animals like a musclehead goblin.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, so I deferred joining either faction for now.

With the testing done, everyone gathered decided it was playtime, and so we all played on the swings and tall slide that was just to the side of the entrance to Goblinhome.

I think I was a bit too old in real life to play around like I was an elementary-schooler, but it was kind of fun, and there was the look on Ebony's face that said she wanted to push me on the swing, because, you know, she was my big sister, and that was what big sister goblins are supposed to do for little sister goblins.

Afterwards, it was back to my cave-hole to see a disheveled Ark Wyze and two… depraved goblins leaking fluids from places that should have a mosaic pattern overlaid. Didn't my mother goblin just give birth to me? Why was she already…?

"Oh, Mint! Ebony! Glad come back!"

"Husband~!"

Ebony ran and collided into his leg with a hug.

"Done play? Hungry? Want visit Melon eat hamburger?"

"We go!" Ebony said, deciding for us both.

I was picked up and whisked away by Ark Wyze on his shoulders as we walked the distance of a couple of cave-holes away to the one called Melon's Kitchen. She was another of my older sisters—A really chubby green-skinned one among the production faction who had recently become responsible for creating a variety of goblin cuisine, as before Ark Wyze arrived it was unheard of for goblins to like cooked meat, and pretty much only ate bloody raw meat unless there was none, and then fruits, nuts, or berries, until there was again.

Ark Wyze got his hamburger cooked medium well, whereas Ebony and I got ours medium rare, and absolutely drenched in what I hoped was ketchup on top and not actual blood. I was a bit hesitant to eat it, remembering that bloody mass I had to eat when I first became Mint…

"Mint not like?" Ark Wyze asked me.

My olfactory senses were working at like one-hundred and ten percent right now, and Ark Wyze's burger smelt incredible. I was drooling just looking at it.

"Mint… want this one?"

I nodded before I realized it, and Ark Wyze smiled, taking my plate away and putting his plate in front of me. I didn't even bother waiting for utensils, or said thanks, I just picked it up (it was hot but didn't bother me), and devoured it quickly.

Ark Wyze reached over and patted my head.

"Mint like fire-meat?"

I could only assume he was asking me if I liked cooked meat. Given the choice between cooked or raw meat, unless we were talking sushi or something, I was definitely pro-cooked meat.

"I… like it…" I said with a smile.

He returned a thumbs-up.

Ark Wyze ended up giving the hamburger he took from me to Ebony and ordered two more medium-well cooked burgers for us. The second one tasted even better than the first. Ebony, mouth absolutely dripping with ketchup, looking like a zombie that had lifted its head after having feasted on a corpse and wondering where the next was, told Ark Wyze about what had happened earlier with my sisters.

"Husband listen! Mint use Tree-magic!"

"Tree-magic? That like Ebony bone-magic?"

"Maybe? Make grass grow Glace leg. No can move. Iggy say tree-magic!"

"Hmm. Maybe Druidic magic."

"What… Dru… dick?"

"Druidic… uh… other not-goblins use tree-magic, called Druid. Other not-goblins use bone-magic, called Necromancer. Like Ebony."

"Husband smart. Know how use tree-magic?"

"Little. Use spell carry Diana when hunt Black-claws tree-magic. Called Wolf Wind. Make run fast."

"That tree-magic?? Not stone-magic?? Diana say Husband have special stone use all stone-magic when hunt Black-claws!"

"Special stone called Focus Orb. Jewel keep safe. When hold, easy use many many magic. Maybe even bone-magic if learn Runes."

"Husband can learn bone-magic!?"

"Can if Ebony tell Runes make bone-magic."

"Ebony not use Runes. Feel bones, listen bones. Ebony ask, bones do."

"That called talent. More Ebony use bone-magic, stronger get."

"Gwah! Ebony use bone-magic lots. Become strongest goblin!"

"Hmm, what do when strongest goblin?"

"Rule world?"

"What happen me?"

"Husband rule world Ebony?"

"Hmm… okay. What happen Mint?"

"What Mint want do when rule world?" Ebony asked.

"…be lazy?" I answered. Surprisingly, the work ethic of the Bloodmaw Tribe consists of doing something in order to be lazy later, or being lazy, both considered virtuous things, as long as a goblin isn't too lazy…

"Sound good. Mint take care lazy." Ebony decreed.

Ark Wyze and Ebony both seemed to be in agreement that ruling the world was going to take a lot of work, and there needed to be someone in charge of making sure busy world-ruling goblins could find the time to be lazy. It was a ridiculous conversation, but it really brought to light the kind of person the Ark Wyze of the past was.

The love he has for his daughters is unquestionable. Even me, who was only a few days old and hadn't really accomplished anything of note yet. Spending time eating hamburgers and listening to us go on about trivial things was something that meant everything to him.

SUPPORT MY PREMIUM BOOK BELOW.....