A big splash startled some peacefully drinking animals. Water overflowed from the lake, wetting their legs. They looked ahead in confusion, not understanding what had just happened.

Within a certain bubble a pained scream rang out once again.

“High priest, don’t hit me. This wasn’t my fault! My subordinate must have given me the wrong coordinates!”

While the emperor was in distress, the three heroes from Earth looked at the scenery outside the bubble in astonishment.

“Wow. These trials are really made for my eyes!”, exclaimed Olivia.

“Look at those big fish! I wonder if my son could even fish them.”

“This finally looks more like the southern dragon king’s palace. We must be close!”

Tarun’gra stood next to the three grandmas, her eyes wide open in astonishment. She leaned her head closer to the bubble. Suddenly she started giggling, making funny grimaces at the fish swimming by them.

The inhabitants had quickly noticed the disturbance in their own home. Hundreds of fish had spotted the weird bubble, which had suddenly appeared in the lake. They circled it curiously, from time to time playfully hitting it.

Unfortunately, all the fish here were at least dozens of meters big. A playful hit from them would send the bubble flying through the water.

The goblin girl laughed in excitement, but luckily the bubble’s inside was magically kept stable.

Suddenly the inevitable happened. A huge mouth appeared in their sight. One of the fish finally wanted to try how human meat tasted. The grandmas standing in the first row widened their eyes. They really didn’t think they would end as fish food toady.

Fortunately, the high priest and emperor also noticed the situation. The stopped quarreling, as Zotrahn’gra waved his hand in annoyance. Just before the bubble entered the fish’s mouth it suddenly shot upwards.

It weaved between all obstacles before it left the lake with a loud splash. Continuing to fly upwards for hundreds of meters it finally appeared above the trees.

A spectacular sight unfolded before everyone. As wide as one’s eye could see a massive jungle had conquered mountains and valleys.

Taking in this sight, Dongmei sighed melancholically.

“Our village used to look like this.”

Noticing the sadness in her friend’s voice, Olivia turned towards her.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ahh, once our mountain was also vibrant and full of life. The trees were strong and the animals clever. Our ground was fertile, producing lots of crops. But now…”

Feeling the older ladies need to vent, the others silently listened to her.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Now its not like this anymore. The trees have turned sickly. The animals are hungry. Our fields are barren.

We have stopped worshipping the southern dragon king and that’s what we got for it. Now those blockheads even want to start buying fertilizer. They would only poison our ground! As long as I live, I definitely won’t let them do this!”

Everyone sighed as they listened to the old ladies’ plights.

Only Zotrahn’gra was otherwise occupied right now. He did his best to scan the jungle, searching for the place his subordinate had deemed useful for the second trial.

After a few minutes he finally spotted it. His eyes lit up as he directed the bubble to move. At high speeds it shot forward before sinking into the trees again.

Foliage hit their bubble as branches cracked. Some animals roared angrily as they hastily made way.

The people in the bubble mostly saw a blur as they moved too fast. Just now they were still in the air, but a few seconds later they already hovered above the ground.

The three grandmas shuddered slightly as the goblin girl besides them let out a disgusted shout.

“Ewww!”

The cute girl pointed at their front. A confused centipede looked back at her. It didn’t understand what had just happened. It was only minding its business, but suddenly something dropped from above right in front of it.

Small creatures appeared out of nowhere and one of them even looked at it with disgust.

Now that it got a closer look it seemed to vaguely recognize the green skinned girl. Wasn’t that a goblin? The centipede grew slightly vary. The jungle elders had thought it when it was young.

According to their words goblins were small, green creatures. They were never taken seriously, discriminated against by many races. In some worlds they had to serve as the weakest enemies in dungeons. In others they were even slaves.

But all of this changed when an emperor suddenly emerged among them. Bit by bit he united the goblin race. Only then did other races finally understand how many goblins there were. They simply drowned their enemies in sheer numbers.

After a few years the quantitative change led to a qualitative change. Now, goblins were one of the top races in existence.

As they noticed the centipede silently staring at them, the three grandmas were fearless. Was this there second trial? This would be easy! At home, how many bugs had they already squashed to death? This one was just a slightly larger bug. Yes, only slightly. Maybe… ten or twenty meters.

Since they were already here, Martina didn’t hesitate long. She bravely took a step forward, addressing her friends:

“I know what to do. Watch.”

With those words she put on a menacing face. Shaking her foot, she suddenly took of her sandals. She grabbed it with one hand and swung it above her head.

Just at this moment the goblin emperor also acted. Infusing a mysterious magic in his voice, he loudly shouted:

“Scram!”

Outside the bubble the centipede was startled. As soon as the goblin’s voice reached its ears, its mind was in turmoil. It suffered a splitting headache. Fear overwhelmed its instincts. It turned around, running off as fast as its legs could carry it.

“Ha! You know what’s good for you, bug! And don’t you dare coming back!”, shouted Martina triumphantly. Her power seemed to have already spread among the bug community. She didn’t even hit anyone with her sandal. Simply waving it was intimidating enough!

Dongmei and Olivia had weird look as their eyes shifted between Zotrahn’gra and Martina. They weren’t sure it they should clarify things to their friend.

Tarun’gra on the other hand didn’t have such inhibitions. Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she loudly praised:

“Granny Martina, you’re the best! You intimidated such a ferocious beast!”

“Haha, don’t mention it!”, answered Martina with a joyful smile.

Watching his daughter, the goblin emperor could only shake his head with a sigh. Why was she praising others again and not her father? Everyone could tell that it was his scream, which scared off the centipede.

Annoyed by everything at this point, Zotrahn’gra only wanted to carry on with this trial. He coughed loudly to grab everyone’s attention. Ignoring the fact that Martina’s reaction was once again delayed, he spoke in his majestic voice again:

“Welcome, mortals, to the second trial! We have not spared any efforts, gathering information, asking your fellow humans. After all this work, this second task is tailor made for you heroes from Earth! What you have to do this time is simple:

Save a cat from a tree!”