The Reed Forest, likely the most perilous place on the entire continent, stands as an untamed wilderness for centuries. This ancient forest has defied every attempt at conquest, with numerous grand expeditions meeting their end in its shadowy depths.
Though some managed to create a settlement after a while it would be destroyed by the denizens of the forest. The ruins where a Grandma and a Goblin stayed were one of them.
The meeting of the two was probably the strangest event that could happen in the forest. The two were chatting talking about the mundane things that one could ever talk about.
Taking it back a while from where they met their dialogue began with introductions.
There was a small fire conjured by the War maiden using her fire magic. She sat on the goblin’s bed thinking it was a chair. The goblin didn’t mind though, all he wanted to do was to converse with the first human he ever met in front of him.
The goblin who was standing pointed his fingers to himself “My name is Skulk,-” then pointed back to hers “-yours?” the goblin was the first one to begin.
The War maiden curved her brows, it was too strange for her that a monster would try to converse with her. “Johanna… how could a monster speak human language?”
Skulk nodded and walked into his chest. Took out a book and showed it to her. “Found this on one of the remains of the Chimera’s victims,” the Goblin then opened it flipping its pages.
“But you are so fluent,” the old lady was still skeptical.
“The monkeys know how to speak, they would teach me every time I trade fruits with them,” the goblin spoke this without a hint of doubt.
But what the old lady was hearing was impossible. Monkeys? Trade? Isn’t it too scary to think that monsters had their own settlements?
“Well, sure! I might be already losing my head,-” she then grabbed her head scratching “-how long have you been here?”
“I’ve been roaming around this forest for 3 years now,” the goblin finally sat down along with the old lady face to face.
“So you are the one who is living here-” the old lady nodded and smiled at him “-That really saved me, this is a good place,” she was thankful that she found the ruined that was turned into a makeshift have.
“Yes! This is actually one of the first havens I made! I’ve been searching for the Chimera earlier, did you kill it?” the goblin asked.
“Oh! Is he your friend… I slayed it unfortunately,” the old lady was apologetic in her tone but by all means, didn’t feel remorseful for what she did.
The goblin raised his hands waving “No it's all good, I’m actually trying to remove the sword on its back, it actually wanted to die, the Chimera has been rotting inside, I wanted to help it because he kept me safe when I was still a fledgling,” the goblin explained.
“It raised you?” to the old lady’s surprise.
“Nah, since this ruin is on the territory of the chimera, no monsters approached this place. Don’t think about it that much, also when I said I wanted to remove the sword in its back I meant I wanted to slay it myself,” the goblin showed its smile. It almost looked so human-like to the old lady.
“I see…” the old woman began to sweat.
It was probably the demeanor of the goblin but she could tell that the goblin was really strong. She heard clearly that the goblin wanted to slay the Chimera. The chimera was really strong but the goblin just said it nonchalantly.
“Oh! Don’t worry I won’t attack you or anything!-” the goblin said and from his back, he took out a bundle of leaves. “-How about we eat? I’m really starving!” and cracked another smile at the old lady.
The old lady was clearly confused. She didn’t speak of it but the goblin literally took out the bundle of leaves out of nowhere. She began checking him out, she was sure that the goblin was not carrying a bag or something behind him when they met.
“These are dried peers! The monkeys made it!” he said as he showed what was inside the bundle of leaves.
Of course, the old woman was wary, a food made by monsters. Was it edible? Well, meeting the goblin was already as bad as it was. With her wounded body, she could never run away from the odd, talking goblin. The old lady let herself be led by fate and took a piece out of the six pieces of the said food.
She stared at it a bit and placed it into her mouth. She began chewing it and after a while a large gulp
“This is delicious!!!” she said taking another one.
“Oh! Somebody loves sweets!” the goblin said as he too took some and placed it in his mouth.
Like harmony, the two held their cheeks with a sweet mutter of “Delicious!!” (Umai!!)
The food was the start of the two hitting off each other.
<--->
The next day the old lady woke up, she could hear wood crafting sounds just outside of the shelter she was in. She stood up and immediately went out and checked what it was.
Outside was the goblin doing some carpentry work “Oh did I just wake you up? Sorry! I was trying to wake you up a bit earlier but you won’t wake up! Here! I made you a bed!” the goblin cheerfully showed her the bed that was still missing some of its legs.
“Thanks, you are really an odd one, you know I had been trained to kill monsters on sight!” the old lady said.
She immediately noticed that she was feeling really good that day. She remembered that they talked until before they slept. Talking from the state of the continent and into the small facts of the world.
“How about you continue telling me about the continent!” the goblin said noticing the good mood of the old lady. “You could use my bed as a chair!” and added that.
The old lady laughed, the goblin that literally slept on the ground last night, was saying that. Still, she followed the advice and began speaking.
(Author Notes: INFO DUMP!!!)
The Reed Forest was located on a continent called Alifonza. It was one of the major continents known in the world, this continent had 5 kingdoms and the Kulaz Kingdom was the closest to the forest.
On that note, the large Reed Forest was considered to be inhabitable since monsters that were impossible for humans to conquer lived there.
The Kulaz Kingdom was a realm devoted to the worship of Zorya, the major god venerated by its people. The faith of Zorya not only integrated itself into the governance of the kingdom but was also deeply entrenched among the noble class that ruled it.
The Kingdom of Kulaz had an efficient system based on the Faith’s principles. Every citizen was assigned a specific job deemed suitable according to the blessings they received from the faith when they turned 10.
The children when turned 10 would attend a special ceremony that would shape the path that they would take in their life.
(Author Notes: INFO DUMP FINISHED!!!)
“What’s your job?” Skulk asked.
“You know it's not okay to tell someone their job-” the old lady said as she was watching the goblin finish his work “-I have only declared my job when I was 10 years old,” Johanna explained.
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“I see… my job is Spell Blade, have you heard of it?” still Skulk confessed with no doubt at all.
Johanna’s face totally changed into shock but she retracted to her same demeanor after a few moments. The goblin didn’t miss that but didn’t point it out either. The goblin continued his craft, the large bed for the woman was almost finished.
“Yeah… heard of it… but the Spell Blade I knew was already dead,” the old woman’s voice had some regret in it.
“It's finished!” the goblin declared as he stood up.
“Hmm… good work, so the wooden crafts inside the shelter were your work… amazing,” the old lady said as he stood up to have a look at the finished bed.
Skulk stared at her making her look back at the goblin “My sword mastery is already at 8, I’ve been stuck… is it possible for you to train me or teach me something?” he asked politely.
“You have a level 8 skill?” the old lady was surprised, she couldn’t understand how it was possible.
For her reaching the highest level was hard, from training with the sword masters and even fighting against monsters.
‘Zorya would probably hate me for doing this but I’m going to die anyway’ the old lady thought. It must have been the sweets last night.
“If you bring me more of those sweets and some things then I’ll do it, I will train you!” like she was resigning to her faith she smiled at the goblin.
“Really!!! Of course, whatever you want!!!” the Goblin smiled at the old lady.
Skulk extended his hand for a shake, his eyes betraying a flicker of vulnerability. The old lady, caught off guard by this unexpected gesture, felt a swell of emotion rise within her. For a moment, time seemed to stand still. Her heart softened, and with a tender smile, she grasped his hand firmly, sealing their unspoken understanding.
“Let’s put it inside first, could you also be dear and fix the ceilings of the ruin?” the old woman said as she shook hands with the goblins.
“Mam, you are a slave driver aren’t you?” the goblin said trying to make a crooked smile, but he had an idea but it was a bit far from where he was.
“Okay I will fix it, I'm going to ask for help though,” the goblin said.
<--->
The old lady woke up the next day, the goblin was already outside of the shelter. What surprised her was the new monster that was together with the goblin, it was a really large creature that looked like a beaver.
“Good morning! These are my drinking friends! They are the best carpenters in the whole forest of Reed! Hey guys! Introduce yourself,” the goblin said using his hand as a gesture to show her the friends he brought.
It was a creature, with its sleek, velvety fur, that seemed to glow softly under the sunlight. Its eyes were large, deep, and wise, reflecting the secrets of the ancient forest, while its broad, shimmering tail glistened like a magical artifact.
The creature's teeth, sharp and ever-growing, possess the uncanny ability to cut through the toughest materials, allowing it to shape the environment in ways that defy logic. In the quiet of the night, its activities blend with the natural symphony of the forest, creating a harmonious and serene atmosphere.
(Author’s Note: It’s a large beaver)
The two large creatures whined with their turns and they turned back raising their tails up.
“Slapping tails is their way of greeting, slap it!” the goblin explained the creature's strange behavior.
The old lady just nodded and slapped their tails using her hands. Satisfied the creatures faced front again and began their whines like they were talking.
“Oh they were asking if you would like a second floor they would be willing to do it since you killed the Chimera, they say that their brother was eaten by the Chimera when it was still wandering around, what do you think?” as their translator the goblin was also mimicking their gestures.
The old lady really had fun watching the goblin do his work.
“If they're going to renovate this shed where would I stay?” the old lady asked.
The beavers started groovin', making moves and signs,
Looked like they were talking, dropping beats in rhymes.
Translator Skulk stepped in, mimicked tones and vibes,
He got their gestures down, now he's part of the tribe.
(Author’s Note: Imagine the beavers in a rap battle)
“They said that you don’t have to worry, it would only take a day, we built Skulk’s mansion in a week and it was large, even the snakes could make a slide and turn the party upside down!!” it was the goblin exactly translating their words.
“Okay… how about my sweets?” the old lady was acting spoiled.
Out of nowhere, the goblin took out the same leaf bundle. Johanna noticed it again but didn’t dare to ask, still, the goblin noticed her glance and it was the second time.
“Check this out,-” like it was the most normal thing he took out a bag that was made out of scales. “-This small bag is made out of Lammy’s scales” Skulk explained even highlighting the scale that was embedded in the bag.
“It's a magic bag, could fit a lake inside it!” the goblin smiled and then placed it back on his back. “The woods for the shelter is also inside! They would start the construction as soon as we vacate the things inside!” he gestured using his fingers pointing and thumb outing.
By the goblin’s instructions using his magic pouch, he placed all of their things inside making moving much easier. The old woman though wanted to carry her weapons and armor by herself.
After that, they went outside and the goblin began taking out large logs of different varieties.
The old lady was surprised, she thought that the lake comparison was like a joke but it seemed that it was not. The two large creatures were celebrating as they watched the goblin do his work.
“That’s it, three fern logs, a reed tree mid trunk, and your favorite hush brown logs!” the goblin said. The creatures turned around to show their tails, and he gave each one a playful slap. The two creatures then slapped their own tails in response.
The two began working it put a smile on the goblin’s face, “If you have requested you should tell them now, they will begin the planning phase of their masterpiece!”
“Hmm… I actually want a tailor’s workbench if you know that,” the old lady said.
Skulk smiled, he had understood the idea and he had to tell his friends, he ran to them and began explaining, their humorous communication began and after a while, he came back to the lady.
“They would make one but for the weaving part we will need to call for additional help, Arch would be the perfect one since she is a spider!” the goblin informed the lady.
“Oh, more monsters… hmm okay, so how do you want to go about with your training?” the old lady asked while the two of them were watching the creatures work.
“I want more information about skills and how to level them up, I also have some magic skills too so I want to level them up efficiently, there’s so much I want to know!!” the goblin smiled.
The old lady was a woman of her word she would teach the goblin everything he wanted to know.
“I see, this would be an easy one, I think you already understand a part of this world,” the old lady said “Also my job is War Maiden,” she said smiling at the goblin.
The two began to converse.
First of all was a bit of truth about the job bestowed on them and the skills they learned along with it.
The old lady began with a legend behind the system of jobs and skills, there was actually a good story taught within the faith of the Zorya.
When the world was made, two gods managed the world. Zorya the god of light, he favored humans and demi-humans too, he guided humans by creating a faith for them to follow through. The second one was Hurshak the god of the dark, she favored the animals and what was left, she used natural cues to guide the simple-minded monsters and animals.
Zorya guided the humans so that one day they could lead in the world while Hurshak made sure that the animals and the monster continued the cycle of the world.
There was harmony. Their ruling effectively made the world prosper.
But after a thousand years when the civilization shaped up, things began to change. Unlike the humans and demi humans who could express their love for their patron god the monsters and the animals couldn’t express it. Rather the concept of faith didn’t exist for them.
Hurshak began doing mischievous things to make humanity lose their faith but it just backfired. Zorya was aware of this, and both of them were aware of every action that they would take. Zorya was the father of all and he really loved Hurshak so instead he added sentience to some of the monsters and animals. Still, Hurshak didn’t see it, blinded by her loneliness and jealousy.
From then on Hurshak began to distance herself from Zorya. To the point that she didn’t care about the monsters. The monster without their god’s guidance began to grow out of their purpose.
Zorya understood that the humans wouldn’t survive against the monsters at their natural state so he began bestowing jobs, through the use of the faith he had created.
“This is why we are in this situation right now,” the old woman finished the story about the faith of Zorya.
“That explains a lot…” the goblin answered while nodding.
“But don’t be fooled by skills and jobs, even without the skill on your status screen you could still learn jobs and abilities,” Johanna added with a smile.
“How could I raise my skills to the limit then? How about your skills, have you already reached the limit of your skills?” the answers just made Skulk’s curiosity higher.
“The limit is level 10, once you hit that level you can never go higher than that. I don’t know about you but we could try training by sparring, martial skills are harder to raise, while magic, you just have to keep on spamming it,” the old lady said and she drew her sword.
“That’s a large sword!” the goblin muttered.
“Although we level up, we can’t go farther than the abilities that we are born with, can you beat a giant by brute force? Can you beat a flying wyvern if you can’t fly? Hmm… do you get my point?” the old lady said, she also took some of her arm guards.
“I see that means it's different for everybody… I see…” the goblin said and from his dimension bag, he pulled out a sword that was made out of ebony.
“That’s a very haunting sword… how did you even sharpen that?” the old lady said as she saw the sword.
“A dragon taught me how to sharpen blades… don’t worry! It's not lethal!”
Contrary to what Skulk said, The bone sword was razor-sharp and unnervingly eerie, emanating a chilling aura that sent shivers down the spine. Its jagged edges gleamed with a sinister light, and a palpable, haunting energy seemed to seep from its very core.
“You really are a very strange goblin, Skulk, but I have faith in my sword… you can’t beat me,” the old lady made a mocking grin.
“You bet on it?” the goblin said making a smile.
“Hmm… I hate that smug…” the old lady pointed her sword to the goblin “If you win against me I’ll grant you any wish!” and made the stakes higher.
“I will hold you to that promise, maybe I will make you tell me your life story” the goblin nodded and their sparring began with Skulk rushing for the first attack.