It seemed simple. Make your opponent leave the ring using no weapons. Just force him out no matter how, as long as you don’t kill or permanently hurt him. It was so simple. Expect Piper was the size of an orc. Well, fine he wasn’t as big. He was slightly smaller. Very slightly.

“You are sure little green?”

“Kick him in the groin!”

Fritz seemed overjoyed that he will fight last if at all. Piper looked worried. The ring was big enough for Gob to dodge him forever, but it wasn’t the point of the fight. Goblin will surely lose.

“Yes, I am certain I can make you leave the circle.”

Surprisingly Gob didn’t seem to lie. Standing at the front of the giant he radiated confidence. Or maybe it was excitement? Piper couldn’t tell.

“Should I give you a headstart or.”

“No, just take off your clothes.”

Gob wanted Piper to remove his heavy fur coat for a reason. Although it took the humans a moment to realize that he only wanted Piper to remove the upper part of his clothing.

“Greenskins fight without covering their bodies with fear…”

And always to the death. Gob didn’t add this part of the saying mostly because he considered Piper to be a coward. His pacifistic nature was too high of a concept for a goblin to understand. Didn’t humans kill each other all the time?

He could see why they would fight without killing the other. Even back in his tribe he always considered the fighting somewhat pointless as no matter the result there was one hobgoblin less to command their horde. He just couldn’t understand that someone strong wouldn’t want to fight someone weaker. Spinecrack didn’t forfeit, but maybe he was just too stupid to do so.

Piper removed his garments. Standing in just his boots and pants he really resembled a hobgoblin. A giant one at that. Maybe if he was painted green Gob would mistake him for one. He was bald already which added to the overall feel of familiarity. Gob however couldn’t fight him the way he fought back then with the hob.

Mainly because Piper wasn’t a hob. Because he wasn’t stupid. Yet he also wasn’t a fighter Gob feared.

Piper stood near the end of the ring. Could Gob really push him off? He looked at the goblin.

He stood in the center of the arena. Good move. It was the best place to stay as it was furthest from the out of bounds, but Piper obviously wouldn’t move from his spot no matter what Gob would do.

“All right both set? Ready! Go!”

The moment Fritz started the fight piper focused on Gob. What tactic would he use? Why was he so confident in moving an opponent many times bigger than him? As Piper’s curiosity reached his peak Gob destroyed it with a single blow.

“What is it fatso? Are you going to sit there all day?”

No he wouldn’t…

“The arena is big enough even for you. Why don’t you join me in the middle?”

No way… Gob was speaking like Fritz.

“Fatso...”

Piper suddenly felt like killing this little flea. He wanted to punch him he wanted to punch something.. No calm down it’s just like Curan said. Fritz taunted him to make him control himself. It was all right he won’t attack anyone he won’t punch anyone he won’t…

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“Your cooking is as bad as your stomach.”

“What!!!”

This last one was way too poor of an insult, but Gob did what he needed. When Piper was distressed in the kitchen or annoyed at Fritz, he would lose his temper and wouldn’t focus on anything outside of his own remarks. It was all he needed to close off the distance and put his hand on Piper’s giant stomach.

“My COOKING... AHH!!!”

Gob didn’t use the flame to hurt Piper. He focused on all three symbols to create a warm flash of light. Maybe it was his own imagination that made him also conjure some smoke in the process or maybe it was because he had his hand attached to Piper’s body.

With a sizzle and a scream piper took a large step back. Although he wasn’t burned his mind didn’t care. There was flame and smoke. There was light and warmth. As he stumbled from this sudden explosion of harmless fire Gob pushed him with all his might. He tackled his tummy and with that the giant cook fell down outside the arena.

Gob checked his hand while moving his fingers. He didn’t burn himself this time. He really got a hold of this magic. Visualising the symbols in his head to produce an effect. It was so easy. Should he ask this Viper man to teach him more symbols? He already beat Piper so he might be important enough to do whatever in this tribe!

Sudden rumbling made him stop his overreacting to victory and look back. Piper was on his back. His face was red. Gob thought that he was ashamed that he lost at first, but as Piper kept smashing his arms at the ground, he changed his mind. It was wrong. Something was so very wrong.

With each strike the ground shook. It was incredibly powerful. Strong enough to make not only Gob scared but also make the entire camp tremble. The crates were shaking. Some items have fallen already. Gob was shocked at this display of power and childish rage. He just stood there looking until Fritz pushed him away and shouted at the rampaging Piper.

“He said your cooking was bad!!!”

As he shouted the cooks hands stopped mid punch allowing Fritz to shout more.

“He is hiding behind this rock he needs to be stopped!!! Piper!!!”

With this the hulking mass rolled and started running at Fritz. He instantly run towards the giant rock at the camp outskirts. Gob was dumbfounded. He didn’t get up from the ground where he landed after the push. Piper was fast. He was like a running Kodo Beast, rampaging through the woods. As he ran the ground trembled.

Gob looked at Fritz who stopped near the rock and continued to shout something about bad cooking and being fat. What was going on? Gob looked as piper ran at the rock with a roar. Is he going to punch the rock? It wasn’t just some rock it was a giant boulder. He would crush his arms!

“Smash! Crack!”

Sudden rock debris flew all over the place. Peter gracefully dodged them and helped speechless Gob off the ground. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Piper was smashing the rock with his fists. With his fists!

Peter needed to drag the goblin towards the Curan’s tent before he even took his eyes off the giant. One slap later and he finally paid attention to Curan who was standing outside of his tent. He was shirtless. Many small scars were adorning his well trained body. His short beard was gone. He probably just shaved it.

“Focus you moron! I will only tell it once. The man that you pissed is a Miko and he will kill you if you aren’t paying attention to his actions. Do you know what Miko is?”

Gob shook his head.

“It’s a magical person with an inborn ability. In his case it is inhuman strength.”

“It isn’t magic. It can’t be controlled or stopped. If you make a mistake, he will kill you in rage despite our best efforts.”

Curan paused to let Gob nod. He seemed to understand.

“Don’t mention any bad words near Piper. Don’t be violent near Piper and if you made a mistake run towards Fritz. He is your last hope unless you can kill Piper before he kills you, but take notice that his whole body is as durable as his hands.”

Gob looked back at the giant. Fritz was guiding him to destroy any remaining debris he could find. Piper was slowly picking them up and crushing in his overpowering hands. Gob couldn’t hear what Fritz was saying, but Piper was already back to his peaceful normal self.

“Can I talk with him now?”

“You should refrain from doing so for today. Let him sleep this over. He usually is back to normal after a good night's sleep.”

As Gob looked at the sun shining high in the sky, he felt doubt. What he just did? He should act with the humans like he did with Hestia. Every step should be cautious. He understood nothing around him, so how could he so rashly discard Piper as a coward. Wasn’t Curan powerful? Were all the humans that powerful?

Curan looked at his remorse.

“You know that it is partially my fault. When I said that you have to fight to join us properly I never specified that you should watch out for something like this. Well I didn’t think you would actually fight him. Why did you force Piper to fight? Was it because of me?”

“Would you not fight him if you were me?”

This question surprised Curan. He would fight wouldn’t he?

As the human lost his words Gob looked at Fritz guiding piper to his tent. He acted quickly and kept this monster of a man under control. Maybe he really deserved to be the second in command. As they both disappeared in the tent Curan finally spoke.

“Peter you will fight next as promised. Gob. You should probably know that you won’t win against Peter. In fact only there is no chance in the world the current you can win, so I will bend the rules a little to see how you do.”

“You can use your dagger, but don’t use that flame of yours. I will explain why later.”

“Peter you can go all out. If he can wound you you lose. Also keep it short. There is a chest to dig and Piper won’t wake up soon enough to help you drag it back to the camp.”

Gob looked at Peter. He smirked as always and grabbed a strange cylindrical box from his pocket. It was empty until he removed something from his eyes. Gob looked away. It looked gross.

When he turned back Peter eyes were brimming with colors. They looked like the ever-changing rainbow. Gob took a step back. Peter smirked even more.

He wasn’t a normal human for sure.