As Zarian and Naomi wandered around the kitchen, Gilbert, Bianca, and Hannah spoke in hushed murmurs. Zarian didn’t bother to strain his hearing to listen in on them.
He imagined they were more religious. Hearing all of that stuff about gods and goddesses, champions and heroes who were practically demigods, and some slumbering jerk called the First Destroyer Evil King whatever, well, all of that was probably a lot for their old world sensibilities.
Zarian stopped by the storage chests with the glowing symbols. Now that he had a closer look, the symbols were like the runes from Hannah’s enchantments.
He glanced at Naomi as she stood to his right and slightly behind him. “What do you think?”
“It’s like going up the military ranks,” Naomi said. “But this time, the ranks here are levels. And the levels give you actual power. Vitality makes you hardier. Stats grow your capabilities, making you superhuman. We get more of this invisible magic energy called aura when our stats grow.
“With aura, we can use all sorts of magic. Then we can effectively cut down an enemy force that would’ve been impossible to defeat back on Earth. Not without millions of dollars’ worth of military hardware. And this is just the start, sir. The goblin girl, Foodie, said her dad reached the Level 200s and was a Champion. That sounds mighty powerful.”
“This is just the start, huh?” Zarian slowly nodded. “Sounds like you’re excited. I can even see it on your face.”
Naomi’s eyes were lit with thrill, a half smile forming. She was discovering a new side of herself, apparently, and she was clearly loving it.
She didn’t even try to hide her expression from him. She smiled a little more, in fact.
“Yeah, I am. The Marines have nothing like this. Our old world has nothing like this.” Naomi licked her lips. “Maybe I can become so powerful I can beat anybody.”
“Even me?”
“I don’t know about that.” Naomi shifted from side to side slightly. “Maybe if I work hard enough and you slack off.”
“Hm, scary. I’ll have to avoid slacking off. You’ll step all over me if I become weaker than you.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” Naomi grunted, obviously flustered.
Zarian chuckled. “Yeah, well, we’ll see. I don’t want to slack off, anyway. I want to get stronger here since it sounds very necessary. But more importantly … I want to explore. I want to see what more the Star System offers. I want more skills and spells. And … I want to find Ariana.”
“I’ll help you find her.”
“Thank you.”
After the five minutes were up, everyone reconvened at the dining table. Zarian asked the next most pivotal questions.
“How much time do we have before your mother retaliates? How strong is she?” Zarian asked Foodie.
“Sooner than later. And she is strong enough where I can’t use Identify on her. Maybe in the Level 50s. Maybe more. She’s also able to hide her vitality and aura. Since she’s advancing a warlock class, she’s probably buffing her abilities with a pact from some sort of entity.”
Foodie’s ears lowered to her shoulders. “I don’t know what entity that can be. Might be faerie, but I doubt it. Might be a demon, but Shadowfell has no demon servants. It could be Shadowfell herself who is her backer, but that might not be the case. If it is, my mother isn’t as pathetic as I would prefer to think.”
“Now hold your horses,” Gilbert said. “You just described to us that … a twenty-something girl came into the Star System and became a … big deal … with a snap of her baby fingers. And that if we want to free you, we have to face your evil and powerful warlock mom when she might, might, have your evil idol on speed dial?”
Foodie blinked. “Shadowfell is not an idol, she is a goddess. And yes.”
Gilbert sighed. “We’re barking up a tall tree here.”
“Your phrasing is strange, Newbie Gilbert, but I think I understand your worries. Shadowfell won’t do much if you defeat those she favored unless you’re too far into the good alignment,” Foodie explained, before turning to Zarian. “And if you’re evil aligned, then you’ll earn her favor more.”
She never mentioned how she could tell I’m on the evil side, Zarian thought. Black Wizard Apprentice did sound evil, but Foodie acted like she felt Zarian’s alignment regardless. Clearly, she had plenty of things in her profile that helped her. More than what Zarian had.
“Okay, I got a plan,” Zarian said. “We’re leaving for the White Spider Dungeon. We’re going to head for the human town. We’ll get stronger. Build our foundations. Get some better magic items. Then we come back and rescue Foodie.”
“Thank God you’re being sensible,” Gilbert said.
“Which god?” Foodie asked. “Be careful about thanking them if you don’t mean it. You can draw their attention for the wrong reasons or at the wrong moment. And if your Wonder isn’t high enough, they can orchestrate terrible events for you.”
“Well, if you’re strong like you said, Foodie, maybe Shadowfell likes you a lot. But your mother is in the way, stealing all of your shine like jealous moms be. So saving you should make Shadowfell cool with us,” Bianca said.
“That’s an interesting way to put it,” Foodie said. “Unfortunately, we’re almost out of time now. You should go before Mother arrives to punish me.”
Zarian didn’t want to leave. There were more questions he had. There was so much he could learn from Foodie. But he could also learn a lot from the town west of here.
Still, Foodie seemed like the way better option for massively interesting lore and info dumps.
“Okay, we’ll go. But first, you wanted to test my wizardry? Do we have time for that?” Zarian asked.
Foodie gave him an interesting expression. Her ears shifted until they were horizontal with her head. Her eyes closed until they were half-lidded.
Then she smirked.
“Do you have conjurings that can hold a solid shape?” she asked.
Zarian’s face lit up with a cocky grin. “Yeah, I do. And so far, they haven’t been beaten.”
“We shall see.”
Zarian moved from the dining area to a clear spot closer to the stairs. After thinking about what he should form, he settled on an object.
So far, all of his experiences and manipulation of darkness had him think up new ideas on the spot. But now that he was hydrated, well-fed, and well-rested, he had a deeper understanding of all that he’d achieved.
He hadn’t just shaped his darkness skill all willy-nilly. He’d intensified it using his affinity. He’d deepened its density, its integrity, and its weight. He’d gone further with Straight Darkness than any dark manipulations back on Earth.
And he had the stats to back it up once he gave everything 5 Free Points. This was the one time it felt okay to spread the love equally, especially after listening to Foodie.
He had to specialize as a wizard, but it was still nice to have a solid superhuman base in everything. It made him feel better, less frail. And now that he knew there were other ways to grow stats, he could keep that in mind to cover weaknesses, like eating more of Foodie’s cooking once she was free.
He hadn’t noticed before because of the fight for survival, but now he could feel the changes from the new stats once they were invested.
He felt his muscles strengthening once he finally fed points into Strength. He felt the tendons in his joints and his own sense of balance grow from feeding Agility.
His mind hardened with a boost to Willpower. His sense of Wonder became more profound. He had more faith that things would be alright.
And, of course, his Mysticism was grander, more fine tuned, more intricate. It remained his highest stat at 170 points.
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“Straight Darkness: Pillar,” Zarian said, as if evoking an incantation.
He’d noticed the others had sometimes said their skills aloud. He had thought little of it until he tried it himself now. He even added a modifying phrase at the end as he pressed the inner quasi button and saw the skill runes flash through his mind.
The runes looked a little different.
The effect felt stronger. Much stronger.
Immediately, streaks of darkness streamed across the ground from wherever the magic sconce light shone the weakest. Most of the darkness came from the hallway outside and streamed down the steps or slipped out from the gaps in the enchanted storage boxes.
The darkness arrived quickly, too, and formed into a three-foot thick column in front of Zarian within a second. Zarian didn’t stop there, of course. He kept gathering dark streams into his pillar. He made it denser, and denser, and denser some more.
He increased the density as far as it could go until he hit a limit. Then he looked around the straight column with perfect square corners and smiled at Foodie.
The four-foot goblin cook held a butcher’s knife that was nearly as big as her. If she had been a human child, the handle would’ve been too large for her hand. But goblins had longer fingers and big hands, and Foodie wasn’t an exception.
“Hm,” Foodie said. “Form a second one.”
“No fucking way,” Naomi muttered.
“Is this safe?” Gilbert asked.
“Can I root for Foodie? Sorry, Zarian, but I want to adopt her as my little sister for the great cooking,” Bianca said. “And she reminds me of a cat.”
“Should I use my enchantments?” Hannah asked.
Zarian ignored them in favor of forming a second pillar in front of the last. He pushed himself to make it as dense as possible. He strained his Mysticism to have two thick and straight obstructions that should stop just about anything.
Maybe even a few tank rounds and heavy missiles.
“Okay, that’s good enough,” Foodie said. “I will show you two things before you leave. The first is my Aura Ignition.”
Suddenly, a blazing force erupted from around Foodie. The atmosphere within the kitchen became oppressive, and Zarian found it hard to breathe. The others were struggling not to collapse from their seats since they had fewer stats, less aura.
“Second, I will make you a tasty meal.”
Foodie erupted with a single step like a miniature bomb. A pressure wave passed over Zarian and nearly knocked him down and broke his concentration.
He endured as he stumbled back and glimpsed at something fast and green moving like a streak through the air. The streaking green projectile morphed back into Foodie as she skidded to a stop in front of him.
Behind her, both pillars crumbled into dark motes after getting sliced in two neat halves each. Zarian gawked, mouth hanging open, as the strongest and sturdiest version of his spell fell apart.
Then he noticed the butcher’s knife pressed against his neck. The blade nicked him and drew a trickle of blood.
The oppressive atmosphere faded, and Zarian found himself able to breathe again, but he didn’t dare move. He looked past the massive knife and into Foodie’s upturned eyes.
The powerful goblin gave nothing away. Zarian wondered what she saw in him.
Did she see heart-hammering fear?
What about wild, uncontrollable mania?
Or maybe an insatiable thrill and wondrous curiosity?
“Sir?” Naomi called with steel in her voice. The others jumped to their feet after getting knocked down and watched the interaction warily.
“You’re not the first adventurers to come to my kitchen,” Foodie said. “Others have claimed they would defeat my mother and free me so I can serve them food on further adventures. It makes sense. My class is beyond rare. Beyond epic. I am legendary. I am worth an entire kingdom.”
“I see,” Zarian said, his face twitching, unable to keep the smile off his face. “What happened to those adventurers?”
“Some I’ve turned away. Others I’ve defeated to break their spirits. A few I’ve killed, cooked, and eaten. They were not of high quality but they were tasty meals,” Foodie said.
“Please, please, please tell me we didn’t eat people,” Bianca said.
“That’s not a concern right now,” Naomi muttered.
“I might throw up,” Gilbert said. “If the chief dies, we’re cooked.”
“You didn’t feed us people, Foodie. And you will not kill us and eat us,” Zarian declared. “Because you see potential in us, right?”
“I didn’t feed you humans. I fed you high quality monster meat and rare ingredients from outside of Castle Grimrock.” Foodie lowered the butcher’s knife. “I see potential in you, Zarian. And a little in Naomi. I can tell she is a hard worker. The other three … are weak still. I don’t like weak people who think they’re strong. Mother tortures them the worst. It is better for me to eat them. Their deaths are quick, and their flesh is soft and chewy.”
Zarian wiped the blood off his neck with a thumb and sucked on it. “Nah, we’ll win. We can’t afford not to. You’re legendary and worth an entire kingdom. I can’t turn away from this, especially after what you’ve done for us.”
Foodie turned away. “The Infinita Star System is simple. But what is possible is vast and deep. By the time you all come back, if you choose to come back, you must at least achieve the first stage of Aura Ignition.
“You must figure out how to learn it on your own. If not, then I will kill you and eat you all to save you from being tortured by my mother. Now go unless you wish for me to cook you all up as my breakfast now.”
Foodie reached a storage box, flipped the lid open, and grabbed something from inside. She held up a scroll. A tendril from Para snatched it out of her hand rudely.
Zarian could feel Para’s anger. He’d held the Parasite Cloak back during the display. But there wouldn’t be any point for his parasite to get involved.
Hell, even with Para watching over them, their lives were in Foodie’s goblin hands. Foodie wasn’t just Level 37 with a legendary class. She had abilities she’d trained deeply and competently that delve into the System’s deeper mechanics.
Goblins were naturally a weak race in fantasy stories. Zarian figured without the corruption, facing the evil goblins here would’ve been a cake walk.
Foodie was the exception.
She’s like a hidden away master character. She’s a little evil, but she means well by it.
Zarian led his group up the steps as he unrolled the scroll. An illustrated map revealed the maze-like layout of their current floor. The map had instructions written in English that explained what Foodie had told them two meals ago.
Zarian let everyone else pass him up the stairs before stopping on the edge between the hallway and the kitchen. He could feel Foodie’s deadly gaze pierce through him. He felt like steak under the butcher’s knife. She even licked the corner of her lips and looked at him hungrily.
He held his ground and smiled back at her.
“Thank you again. For the food. For letting us rest. For believing in us and showing off some of your real power.” Zarian laughed. “You’re cool. I want you to join us. We’ll be back with Aura Ignition and more, way more. You will be free, Foodie.”
The goblin of small size and incredible strength stared at him long and hard. “We shall see, Zarian Darkrun.”
Nodding, he gave her a wave then got the hell out of there before Foodie changed her mind. His Parasite Cloak picked up and stored away a few goblin corpses to eat while on the go.
***
Half an hour later, Foodie sat kneeling in front of the steps as her mother entered the kitchen.
Her sanctuary became dark and suffocating. However, it didn’t bother Foodie much.
Evil mutterings and demonic cries sounded from the shadows. Foodie had heard them all before.
Foodie did as she was told since the brand on her back wouldn’t let her deny her mother’s direct orders. She stripped down until she was naked and stood with legs wide and arms stretched out.
Fiendish warlock energy shaped like whips lashed at Foodie’s body, but she didn’t cry.
Foodie was nine years old, a young adult in goblin years. She’d suffered this treatment since she was five, and she’d turned away or eaten adventurers about a dozen times so far.
Many adventurer parties had hoped to defeat the goblin warlock in control of Castle Grimrock by sneaking through the lower levels. Many had ended up in Foodie’s kitchen, and some ended up in her belly.
Life had once been nicer when her father became a champion, and had sired many children with her mother. Life worsened when father had died in the worlds above, and before Foodie knew it, mother had fallen into depravity.
Shadowfell’s Tears were only meant for the few who were truly strong, consuming it instead of letting it consume them. Foodie had consumed the corruption because it was meant for her.
She was now blessed enough to surpass her father’s legacy. But her mother had gotten in the way before Foodie could. They had loved each other once, but now mother was a husk of her former self.
“You only get to live because you’re my treasure. But don’t forget I can kill you any time I want,” Mother said nastily.
“Try it.” Foodie looked her in the eye.
The older goblin backed down and changed subjects. “Tell me all you know about the adventurers.”
Foodie told her everything she knew, which was a long list of useless details she’d memorized. She yammered how they’d smelled, how they’d acted in foolish ways, and some of the stupid things they’d said, and her opinions on all of those details no matter how small and frivolous.
She kept yammering and yammering about everything that was unimportant. Mother lost her corrupted patience and told her to shut up.
They continued the lashing until Mother grew bored. Then she ordered Foodie to make her a delicious meal and to not hurt the other goblins.
Foodie and her mother both knew the orders weren’t ironclad unless they were immediate and pertaining to Mother alone. She would get her delicious meals. But the corrupted goblins wouldn’t stay safe from Foodie for long.
Granted, murdering her brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts, in-laws, friends, friends of friends, and so on was better than letting the goblins she once knew rot from untreated corruption. They weren’t themselves anymore. They were shadows of the Green Hop Explorers – the first Corma tribe of united clans to produce a Goblin Champion, a rarity among the many worlds of Infinita.
On a positive note, Foodie could consume corrupted flesh just fine. And corrupted goblins were tasty when you cooked them right. They were tastier than the talented adventurers who might become strong enough to free her.
Foodie watched her mother leave. She ignored her usual suffering and smiled at her second best knife laying on the counter.
Zarian hadn’t noticed how the blade heavily chipped from meeting his pillars. That shouldn’t have happened while Foodie used the second stage of Aura Ignition and her Thematic Concept.
“He’s powerful for a newbie,” she said, her smile growing. “How much stronger would he become if I cook every day for his adventurer party?”
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> image [https://i.imgur.com/D69eTNn.png]