The Humans Habitat is a complicated realm. On the surface it seems peaceful and blossoming. Humans are working together to form nations, invent new |Artifacts|, and advance their knowledge and society. But it isn´t that simple. No, Humans are not simple
After the world had been divided and the great war had ended, after the common enemy that united them as a species disappeared, they started falling apart. Might, greed, intrigue, power games... those disgusting ideas quickly began surfacing in their minds. Why? Who knows, that´s just how they are apparently.
With the pressure of life and death gone, they quickly accustomed to safety. They got too relaxed, maybe bored even. They reverted to what they once were long before. The higher one rose in rank, the worse it became; Humans could have easily stood on par with other realms by now, even the Demons´, if they didn´t hold each other back. Such is the tragic story of this beautiful yet disgusting species.
--
In the very beginning, villages were built to give Humans a safe place to return to. Some of them were developed further, transforming into cities. And cities joined together to form nations which in turn advanced into kingdoms and empires. Again, some of them further united their strength into what is currently known as an Alliance, with the most powerful Nikites Alliance standing at the top. However, not many parts of the Humans Habitat are this developed. In fact, many smaller villages still exist that only maintain minor contact with Kingdoms and above.
And surrounding all those smaller settlements... is nature.
– – –
A sole female Goblin is running through the forest in a panic. She was out collecting berries and herbs like usual until she sensed an immense disruption in Mana near the cave she and her family live in. Her partner is out hunting which means her three children have been left alone, ordered to not leave their home under any circumstances. She prays for their safety, once again increasing her speed, running just the slightest bit faster than she can.
She sees multiple smaller monsters fleeing from the direction where the Mana Disruption had occurred, only she goes against the current. Arriving at the place of happening, the Goblin sees that the phenomena hit way closer to their home than she hoped. In fact, it was directly in front of the entrance. Breaking out into a cold sweat, she grits her teeth and fixes her eyes on the bright light; the source of the Mana Disruption. She takes a wand made of dark wood out of her |Dimensional Storage| and is ready to intercept anything that dares pass realms, but the overwhelming light slowly begins to dissipate already. The Goblin´s eyes open wide to the single, small figure that now remains after the portal closes. In a mere moment, all pressure she had felt is gone. It´s only a tiny creature lying on the dirty ground, crying helplessly.
The Goblin feels the strength leaving her legs as she falls on her behind and releases a sigh of relief. After a few moments pass, she stands up again and slowly approaches the figure, still careful and on guard against any surprises this situation has in store. But nothing of the sort happens and she finds herself standing in front of the crying creature. ´A baby?´ she thinks. Or at least feels, as no concept of speech or language exists for her species.
She gently picks up the small thing with gray-brown colored skin and two small horns protruding its head and pacifies it like she did when her own kids were younger. Gradually, the baby in her arms calms down and falls asleep. The Goblin´s pupils slightly contract as her gaze fixates on the helpless creature. In this instant, a strange warmth courses throughout her body as if someone casted a spell on her. No, wait, she certainly knows this feeling. She has felt it before, three times actually.
Although the baby is not hers, she can feel the bright threads of light that connect her to the little girl. Does the frail, powerless being stir her sympathy? Does it trigger her instincts as a mother? Or maybe the baby´s state reminded her of her former self, of her old days? No one can tell. Something overcame her at that time, but in this instance, she decided to take care of the girl, raise her as one of her own. And she swore to protect her.
–
With the baby in her arms, the now mother of four steps inside the cave where she is welcomed excitedly by three infant Goblins. She releases a grunt and the three children calm down immediately, only then do they notice that their mother brought back something unusual. Seeing their curious gazes, she raises the baby in her hands and softly pets it, earning some doubt in return. Shaking her head as if disappointed, she gestures at the back of the cavern and starts towards it, her children toddle along behind her.
Arriving at a circular-shaped stone plate – their ´Table´ – she takes off an improvised bag constructed from various plants and sticks from her back and scatters its contents: Mostly berries, herbs and mushrooms. Normally, she would now start washing and preparing her spoils, but she still carries the new addition to their family.
Walking further into the cave, she retrieves a few items; for once she swathes the sleeping baby in some soft rags, she then takes a stone bowl and makes her way back. Returning to the table she spots her other three children happily gnawing on what she left there. She quickly rushes toward them and takes the contents out of their mouth before angrily reprimanding her kids.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
The three of them listen to their furious parent, clear regret on their faces. She wouldn´t have reacted like that if it were just food, but some of the mushrooms and herbs contain lethal poison before they are processed.
Eventually, one of her kids can´t take it any longer and bursts out in tears. The other two, swept by their sibling, tear up as well and begin crying rivers. A complicated expression forms on the Goblin mother´s face as she realizes that it was her mistake leaving her spoils unattended to, even if for just a moment. But, seeing that her children are safe, she sighs, gets on her knees and hugs and reassures them until they´ve calmed down.
A few minutes after, the three troublemakers are now happily playing again, smiles plastered on their faces. Rolling her eyes, the Goblin mother grabs the stone bowl she took with her and moves her hand over it, focusing as she activates her |Water Creation|. Her hand begins glowing in a faint shimmer as fresh water appears out of her palm, filling the bowl to the brim. Her three kids are playing and the baby is asleep, meaning she finally has the time to take care of her spoils.
--
Engaging in her daily work, time flies by and soon her ears react to familiar footsteps approaching the cave. The kids are already at the entrance as the Goblin mother stands up and smilingly makes her way there too. A burly figure dragging a dead monster enters the cave and releases a proud grunt as he sees his family. The infant Goblins stare in amazement at the huge monster's body before they begin hugging and climbing on the one who vanquished it, their father. The male Goblin laughs up and flexes his arms for his children to grab on, but seeing his wife approaching, he puts the crawling Goblins down and hugs her before excitedly pointing at the body behind them. The female Goblin nods happily and gestures for everybody to come further into the cave.
Heading inside, the male Goblin hears an unfamiliar noise. Stopping in his tracks he steps in front of his family and releases a warning sound, signaling them to stand back. Though ignoring his call, the female Goblin hurriedly rushes past him and picks up the crying baby, swaying it caringly as she tries to calm it down again
Stunned, the male Goblin looks at his wife, confused as to why she would do that. His reasoning is totally understandable; it makes no sense for her to care for anyone else besides her family, especially when they´re five heads large and the other party isn´t even a Goblin. She should know fairly well that taking in another specie's child is an unnecessarily dangerous risk, especially if it´s a Demon's. Furthermore, she didn´t even consult him about it. Why, why is she looking at it so lovingly? It makes no sense at all! It makes him furious.
An angry roar escapes the male Goblin´s throat as he approaches his wife with loud steps. Glancing up from the baby she gives him a confused look, not understanding what´s wrong. Towering right in front of her he points his sharp-clawed finger at the baby and makes a low, grumbled noise. The female Goblin looks at his outstretched arm, then at the baby, then back at his arm and back at the baby again. Her eyes blink up in understanding. The male Goblin nods in satisfaction to his wife finally coming back to her senses.
But contrary to what he thought, only a deathly aura emanates from her body. Dumbfounded he takes a few steps back as his wife´s eyebrow twitches and she approaches him with a smile filled with pure fury.
...
10 minutes later the male Goblin is still sitting in a corner and hugging his knees, quietly taking on his wife´s outburst. His children walk up to him and pat him on the shoulder and shake their heads in understanding because they´ve learned their own lessons earlier today.
Angry women are scary, apparently his especially so. Who´s to blame but he for forgetting that?
--
I´m not sure how much time passed, but the female Goblin releases a loud, intentionally audible sigh as she finally calms down. Meanwhile, her dead-inside husband is lying on the floor surrounded by their children who snuggled up to him. ´Pathetic´ her face says as she turns away from the scene and takes the baby into her arms once more. The next moment, she hears a weak noise behind her and turns around to see her husband, who looks even more tired than after returning from his hunt, standing there with an apologetic look on his face. But she ignores him. With a ´Hmpf´, she turns around and tries to walk away, but no matter where she goes he silently keeps following her.
Not being able to shake him off, the female Goblin rolls her eyes and finally pays him some attention. She´s still a little angry, but fine, she´ll forgive him. She points at the haul her husband brought home and presses some air through her nose. The male Goblin´s face lights up as he vigorously nods his head and sprints towards the monster lying on the ground, immediately starting to dismantle it. Seeing him act like that, she can´t help but faintly smile.
It takes him a few hours to dismantle and skin everything, that´s just how large the monster is. The female Goblin retrieves an old, rusty cauldron and puts it on some dry sticks with easily inflammable grass on them. She focuses on her |Ignite| as a small fire appears on her palm. Lighting the grass, she starts to fill up the cauldron with water. Once that´s done she rinses the meat and cuts it into fine pieces with her claws. Putting the meat in the now boiling water she retrieves various dried herbs and mixes them into her cooking. While the food is in the making, the female Goblin takes the rest of the meat and drips it into a gigantic stone jar filled with a mixture similar to salt and some other herbs. She then rolls the meat into large, clean leaves and puts them onto some stalactites sticking out of the cavern´s walls that apparently function as shelves.
As she finishes up, 8 hungry eyes are glued to the cauldron. She hushes them away and to the table while pouring the stew into small bowls. Before long, the food is set up for everyone and fills the cave with a cozy scent. The male Goblin notices that there´s a little extra in his bowl. He lovingly looks at his wife, but she quickly averts her eyes. Though he can see her cheeks are slightly blushing. That's her way of apologizing for overreacting earlier. The father and kids greedily dig in while the mother tends to the baby, blowing at the hot food and slowly feeding her until the little girl is full and once again falls asleep. Then, the female Goblin eats herself.
Finishing their meals, all of them head further back into the cave where multiple piles of leaves are spread out making for their bedding. The three kids hop into their respective heaps and start snoring after about two seconds. The mother gives her kids a confused, but at the same time somewhat jealous look. Her husband also lies down and adds to the nightly chorus after a short while. The female Goblin tugs into bed too and is the last one to fall asleep to the unescapable enchantment of the night.