Fenn tried his best to comfort her wife but it was not enough. The egg was the only way to fix this. It was really hard for the two to conceive an offspring and her wife had been waiting for it for a very long time now.

Fenn’s wife hid her head as magic stirred by her emotions flickered. It was almost dawn. If the goblin failed with his task, Fenn was ready to die with her to receive all of her wrath.

“They are here!!” his wife’s sudden jolt of movement caught Fenn off guard. She sprang into action and directly ran outside of their oaken tree.

The goblin was just on the edge of the entrance of their dwelling. In his back were two pieces of eggs. The owl glared at him and the goblin just smiled and placed the egg in front of their mother.

“Their back! Fenn! Their back!” she carefully used her beak to roll the eggs back into their soft nest. “Fenn look!” she urged his husband to check it.

“Nyx… thanks Skulk… I will never forget this… I heard everything from Lammy, I acknowledge you as one of the lords…” Fenn said while bowing his head.

“How about you name one of our children!” Nyx interjected as she successfully placed the egg back in the nest.

“Oh, that truly would be an honor but-” Skulk checked the face of Fenn but the owl just nodded “-Okay, I don’t want to rebuff or something…-” the goblin said as he held his chin for a moment to think. A bright idea glistened in his mind, a vision from his past life “How about Fennix! A combination of your names! Isn’t that cool!” Skulk said waiting for the approval of its parents.

The two nodded. The goblin sighed in a release of tension. It was fortunate that this incident ended without a single drop spilling. A shiver began creeping down Skulk’s back as he remembered that warning Lammy gave him before he went for a mission. Fenn could control the weather in the forest while his wife was a controller of a special attribute of magic that had something to do with poison.

If this accident ended up with him losing the egg, chaos would totally ensue in the whole forest.

<--->

In the following week, the owls became friends with the goblin village, occasionally delivering food in the form of fruits and crops, and even exotic mushrooms.

During those times Skulk still tried to look for Daigo, if he could find him and get him to acknowledge him, then he would be finally recognized as a lord of the forest. Now that he had a leeway in survival his focus was starting to shift on what was his mission, the mission that the goddess asked of him.

Becoming the lord of the forest would be the first step in taking control of the whole forest of Reed.

Still a few more days passed and he still hadn’t any information about the whereabouts of the Daigo. It seemed that even the harpies didn’t know where to find him. It was annoying that Lammy won’t help him but it must be like this or it won’t be a task at all.

Then finally having some free time he decided to go to the fox. Everyone knew where the fox’s territory was since it was a very dangerous place. The fox Rory would attack anyone that would approach on the edge of his territory.

His territory was mostly an orchard of citrus trees. He loved the trees and even his clan was working off of it.

Skulk knew where the entrance was, and entering his territory using this way was actually okay especially if you are a visitor.

A smaller fox was waiting there already like they already knew that he was coming.

“I want to see your boss!” Skulk said trying to be as respectful as possible.

“I know, let’s go to Grandpa!” the fox said. They were talking using the fox’s language of whines and grr.

It was the first time Skulk had entered the territory, it was fruit trees all around. He could smell the different scents of fruits. They followed a path that was made up of flat stones embedded in the ground.

“His there!” the fox said as he stopped.

Skulk approached Rory who was checking the fruits of a tree. “Good day… I’m actually here to take your test!” then Skulk took out some peers who were inside a bundle of leaves.

“Hmm… Oh, that! I had some of it at the party!” the fox said as he took a piece “Delicious! Well, it's not really a hard test, rather, I want you to share your knowledge about trees,” the fox said showing his tooth as a grin.

“My knowledge?” the goblin was a bit confused.

“Humans have specific ways of tending trees, I want to learn that, is it possible?” the fox said putting his two claws on his chin.

The goblin sighed, he was sure that it would be a very hard test, “I could actually do that, let us start on a specific problem you have,” the goblin smiled to make his face more friendlier.

“So you didn’t need the human, I was prepared to offer some rewards,” the fox said.

“Oh! She loves good textured leaves, she is a weaver! I would consult you if I see something,” the goblin said.

They would now begin their conversations about trees.

The problem that they were really struggling with was the propagation of the trees. First of all, it was usual for the new sprouting trees to die immediately. Skulk offered a few solutions that had a vague knowledge of, from mulching to planting the trees in proper depth.

For some reason, a book kept flashing on Skulk’s mind as he was talking about it. It really impressed the fox. Especially the support he was talking about. Some of the trees would grow in a weird way, putting supports would fix their posture and enable them to grow stronger branches.

The time flew by and it was already nighttime, there were already some wooden wares and a portable table in front of the two.

“I’d never imagine to be having fun talking with a goblin… that pruning method… it's really interesting and I have a tree that I would like to try out!” Rory said as they were picking on the watermelon seeds on the table, a delicacy that the goblin offered to him.

“So I passed the test?” Skulk smiled. The fox Rory just nodded with a curving smile.

“Also I know where Daigo’s at… we were actually talking about you days before the establishment of your village,” Rory then took a wooden cup and drank some tea that was brewed in his territory.

He then placed back the cup with grace.

The fox then opened his eyes widely looking at the goblin. “The way you handled the humans was not supposed to be what you did, Lammy is actually really upset with you,” there was a spit of threats on the tone and eyes of the fox.

“Is it okay that you say that to me?” Skulk curved his eyebrow in confusion, Lammy was actually the first one to acknowledge him.

“This is my territory, my privacy is my own, and the snakes hate citrus, Daigo is at the Whispering Caverns, just a bit north of it, it's located on a gorge that has a small stream of water, be careful,” then Rory raised his forelimbs and pointed at a direction which was probably the direction of the exit.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

As soon as Skulk looked at the direction another fox arrived as his guide.

“Can I have the table, I really like your craftsmanship!” the fox said as soon as Skulk stood up and began collecting the wooden wares.

“Okay… thanks for the information…” the Skulk followed the younger fox while waving at Rory.

…

They didn’t take it the same way. The goblin noticed it. “Hey, this isn’t the same way we went through,” he inquired the goblin that was guiding him.

“Of course, it isn’t not! The fruit trees move around so the ways and paths are ever-changing, the entrance would not though!” the fox informed Skulk like it was the most normal thing to do.

‘The fox is really crafty,’ Skulk thought, he had never met Daigo even once, but now that he knew where his location he should talk to him. But what’s the deal with Lammy? Things spun on his head as they walked.

“Maybe I’ll get some alcohol tonight, it must be already ripe…” he muttered. The fox heard it and had an intense stare at him but the fox didn’t speak. They were almost out of the orchard.

<--->

The next day Skulk traveled to the whispering cavern, he immediately found the gorge and then heard the wind whisper. It's scary that the fox’s information was so on point. He followed the small stream down as it trickled. It was still morning but the gorge was already dim, it was because of the natural shape of the gorge.

In the middle of it, he finally found the whispering cave. An ominous feeling washed over him as the wind from the cave touched his cheeks. But Skulk was already familiar with the feeling so he just went on to get it over with.

Since the goblin could see in the dark it was an easy task of navigating inside, following the air draft, and making sure that he didn’t slip was most of the challenge he tackled. The silence and the wind truly made the cavern whisper, until finally upon going out of a tunnel, a large cavern was there, and in the middle of it was a figure shrouded in shadows.

It was his first time seeing it… he was the only known ogre that was living in the forest. He was huge and a large cub was just beside him as he was in a sitting position.

It was a problem since Daigo was the first of his kind he had ever met so he didn’t have any way to communicate with him. It was a pain since he could be attacked but he approached carefully even trying to make sure that he was discreet and obvious at the same time.

He had to circle around and make sure to approach in the front.

And as soon as he was close enough he could tell that there was something wrong, some kind of negative magic that was oozing from the ogre. It made him stop but it was too late, the ogre began to move and the first thing he did was take the club by his hand.

“Daigo! I just want to talk!” like the most natural thing Skulk spoke in human language. Daigo stared at the goblin and prepared for an attack.

The ogre made a sweep attack, Skulk was agile enough to jump over it. He immediately took out his obsidian sword. He landed on the ground and immediately saw some wounds on his knees.

“Ouch… where did it come from? Daigo! Stop!” Skulk screamed trying to talk but the ogre continued his relentless attacks.

Skulk dodged again and this time he had a good look at the club. The club was adorned with spikes of crystals. As the club hit the ground it created slicing waves of wind. It must be where his wound came from.

Skulk decided on his next action and began to move, he sliced the crystals that were on the club one by one. He needed to dodge widely to make sure he didn’t get hit by the wind emitted by the club.

“Daigo!! What is wrong with you!!” then he used sword waves to wound Daigo’s arm to make him let go of the club. But the wind that was emitted on each attack made it impossible and the only way he could attack was to launch a counterattack after the club had been swung.

As bad as it could be he had to cut off all of the wind crystals in the ogre’s club.

The next few minutes of the fight was a furious exchange of dodging and club pruning. Still through his perseverance, Skulk made it. It was now time to disarm the ogre. He again used his sword wave to inflict some damage on the ogre’s hand.

“Roooooooooooaaar!!” the ogre roared as he landed the sword waves on his fingers but it was not enough to make him lose grip on it and as gross as it went, it was regenerating quickly too.

“The hell!-” Then the goblin felt the intense stare from the ogre and all of his being screamed of danger “-Oh, Daigo sorry for that man, can we just talk?” he tried to apologize but there was a glint of anger on his eyes.

The ogre prepared to launch an attack, he put his club high in the air and began charging magic into it. The goblin knew that if he got hit he would be pulverized into smithereens. He put back his sword and began running, he already lost his sense of direction during the fight so he struggled to look for the tunnel of where he came from.

“It's on the other side!!!” the goblin said as he turned his head around. He would not make it, so he began running as straight as he could, if the attack was some kind of ground attack then he had a better chance of surviving if he jumped into one of the stalactites on the ceiling.

He finally reached the wall and began running until he lost the momentum in his legs, he then took out two knives and began climbing upwards.

“Why did you attack me!!” the ogre screamed as he swung as hard as he could into the ground.

“Boom!” the ground shook, the cavern shook, and the whole forest should have shaken, that was the feeling and thoughts of Skulk as he grabbed tightly on his stalactite, on his lifeline.

Still, the stalactite he was grabbing broke apart and he began to fall, he quickly noted the other debris that was falling and he used it to dampen safely his fall by stepping on it. The goblin was successful, this was one of the times he really did thank the gods and goddesses that he was born a goblin.

But Daigo was there in the rubble, waiting for him, the Ogre waved his now culled club. Skulk tried to jump but rubble was falling above him. He gritted as he prepared to receive the club.

“Crush!!!” Skulk flew away like a rugged doll.

As expected, his obsidian sword broke. He still has more swords on his dimension bag. He tried to put his hand in the pocket of his bag but for some reason, his hand won’t follow him.

“Crap… it's broken!” Skulk muttered as he checked his limping right limb. Bones must have been 'crushed and mushed,' funny rhyming words he thought of at that moment.

He then used his other hand to take out another sword. It was a really bad decision that he gave his Mythril Sword to the humans but it is what it is. Another stone sword, it was sturdy enough if he could land a proper strike but then again, it was a stone sword in the first place, against the club that the ogre was swinging.

Skulk was back on his feet as he scanned the area. The smoke and dust from the rubble clouded the field but the sound of the ogre’s heavy movement gave him some idea of where Daigo would be coming from.

‘I have to attack on point… can’t touch the club anymore’ Skulk thought as his concentration heightened.

The goblin of course never thought of killing the ogre, resolving the battle without any blood spelt was his only goal.

‘If I had never met Johanna, I would have been thinking like a monster, I wonder how would I be?’ Skulk thought.

Finally, the large ogre revealed himself. As far as Skulk could remember he still had 1 more sword inside his bag.

Daigo was running with his club on his shoulders, the only probability of the next attack was a bash from the air or probably a side sweep again. He waited for a while before he reacted.

“From the head…” Skulk muttered and reacted accordingly, he ran straight and planned to do a quick side step as soon as the attack began.

He was observant of the ogre and finally observed something on its body. There was some kind of insect that was just near the ogre’s right ear.

The ogre upon reaching a distance swung his club down, then the goblin sidestepped right.

Skulk saw the ogre’s eyes tracking his move, the high swing immediately changed into a side sweep. The angle of the attack and the momentum of the attack would allow the ogre to track him down with the club. Skulk knew that he was going to be hit again.

He placed the stone sword in his mouth, placed his hands on the bag, and took out another stone sword. Forming a sword cross he jumped into the air as the club touched his sword.

This time he used the two swords covered with wind magic to gracefully slide from the club to at least brush off the power of the swing so that he wouldn’t be blasted off again but it cost him his swords.

Now that the attack had passed, its aftermath provided Skulk with a large window of opportunity to strike. Using wind magic, he cushioned his steps and then cast a fireball, aiming at the insect on the ogre's right head.

The ogre moved awkwardly forcing the club back closer to its body. This broke his bones but his regeneration immediately kicked in. Wallowing between breaking and regenerating the ogre’s arms moved while sounds of breaking bones echoed from his arms.

Not only that the flame shot erased by the club, but it also prompted another attack. Skulk was in the air hopelessly floating. He shouldn’t have been so complacent, he should have brought more swords in the fight, trying to muster all of his magic he had to choose which limb would break. He covered his remaining arm with wind magic along with his lower limb on the same side.

The club made contact with Skulk, and he heard his bones breaking, but the wind was not enough to dampen the damage, still, he didn’t lose his consciousness, his body flew again, and using wind magic he cushioned his hit into the cavern’s wall.

The air from his lungs escaped as he fought for his consciousness. ‘Tap your chest,’ a voice rang in his head, and as he fell he swung his body forcing his limping hand to hit his chest.

Skulk Lv57

Title: Degaya, Weirdo, Hunter, Disciple of the War Maiden, Razorback’s Friend

Status: Well Conditioned

Job: Spell Blade

Skills: Sword Mastery Lv10(+3), Sword Wave Mastery Lv9, Elemental Sword Lv2

Magic: Fire Magic Mastery Lv9, Wind Magic Mastery Lv10(+2), Sword Summon Lv1

“Sword Summon?” Skulk muttered, he used his face to stand up. What was amazing with skills was that as soon as you learned it, you could actually understand how it worked. ‘I need a sword… but not to kill Daigo…’

Since his two arms were broken already, he used wind magic to support himself and the sword that he was about to summon. “I’m lucky… at least knees are still intact,” he said with spite.