Van looked at the egg in front of him conflicted. He had no idea how to take it. He wondered if he should put it back with the rest, or…

He shook his head and slowly put the egg back with the rest. He wasn’t going to mark it. Wasn’t going to make sure who it was when it finally hatches and grows up. For all he knew, one day, he would be breeding with the goblin that comes out of that egg. But for now, he was going to put such thoughts out of his mind.

It had been a month since his arrival. And a lot of things had changed, least of all the fact that Isa gave birth to a few eggs. Though he really should have seen it coming, and asked her from now on to not add to… their collection of eggs… giving an excuse that he wanted to hatch all the eggs they had right now, but doing so would stretch resources so they shouldn’t add more.

What he couldn’t understand was how he got her pregnant in the first place. It shouldn’t be possible without his permission. He later found out that goblins essentially cloned themselves in a way, the sperm was only used for genetic variation as was needed and used as a catalyst for birth. Even if he made his seed infertile, it still wasn’t enough to stop the DNA that his sperm carried from existing, or from being used. Now that he knew, he made the appropriate changes to fix that issue. No information, no eggs.

Or at least that should have fixed the issue… goblins, it turns out. Also, have a small sperm pouch in which they store excess sperm for later use. Meaning Isa had a few dozen eggs left in her… meaning at his order, she would start laying like a chicken… moreover, a few hobgoblins actually approached him, asking if it was okay to become brood mothers instead of soldiers. The term is used for goblins who only focus on egg-laying. He turned them down of course.

Van shuddered at the thought of drowning in eggs. Becoming a somewhat waking nightmare of his. Thankfully his words were absolute, and he didn’t have to lie about the stretched resources either.

His father actually meant it when the responsibility of taking care of the goblins would fall on his shoulders completely, with the exception of the food given. When Van first heard of the proposition of gaining his own small army, his thoughts were filled with how he could make them better and stronger.

But all of that required resources he didn’t have… which meant the best he could do was use the few resources that were given to him and spread them out to his goblins, which barely did anything.

The only thing he had in abundance was mana. But now he was forced, or so he felt like, to put it all into Isa. Using his mana to enchant her gear, grow her mana pool, work on getting her to become a greater hobgoblin, and more. The rest of his goblins were still in their old clothes and using their old equipment and nothing else.

Van had then remembered that there were a few rabbits in his soul realm and asked Lyn and Anna if there were enough that he could kill a few and used their pelts to make proper clothing from. Sadly he got a definitive no. The rabbits weren’t really breeding like rabbits as their namesake would imply. And he was reminded that in order for the actual growth of animals and plants in his soul realm, it would require actual food and nutrients that his soul realm was producing too slowly to make the actual production of rabbit pelts meaningful.

To make matters worse, Van had no money, none whatsoever. After all, he never needed it, most of the resources he could ever want were given to him. And Van was a very frugal person who didn’t want much. But when he tried to leverage more resources for himself, he was road blocked by his dad who knew why he really wanted it. So for the first time, he was feeling the sting of being poor while having everything, a very weird feeling to have.

Thankfully Lorenzo would give him some extra cores to use under the table, for which he was very thankful. And in turn, Van and Lore used those cores to help enchant Isa’s armor and make the paste for runecraft.

They had decided that for now they should focus on making Isa the strongest she could be, and use her as a standard of what they wanted the rest of the goblin troop to look like. To that end, they had made sure to properly tattoo Isa all over to give her a nice boost in all of her abilities, had her train under Thea, enchanted her armor, and to top it all off, Van just finished a special circlet with a medium-sized sapphire like gem in the middle. It was enchanted to make an invisible barrier around the head that wouldn’t get in the way or impede eyesight or hearing and act as a helmet since it seemed that was the only weakness left. Since it seemed she had a complete set of armor, except for the helmet part.

Isa of course took all of this with wide-eyed adoration towards her master who showered her with gifts. It became so much to the point that it felt like too much for her, and she became very self-conscious walking around with fully enchanted gear and a fully enchanted body with their master making sure to spend some time with her to increase her mana pool until it reached two hundred.

But by the end of it all, she was fully clad out and looked more than ready for war. With some signs pointing to her getting close to ranking up and becoming a greater hobgoblin.

Thinking back to it all, Van was actually impressed by how much he was able to accomplish in just a month’s time. But now it was time to go over to Lore’ study and get the circlet and give it to Isa. Then he could rejoin the routine he had going on.

In the morning it was training with Luna, then it was inspecting the troops. Followed by lunch and then studying with Lore followed by Sheri. After that was some free time to do what he wanted and then dinner. After dinner, he was given more free time and a choice of either studying with Lore and Sheri or training with Thea and Luna, after which was a bath, a snack, and bed.

It just so happened this morning he heard about the eggs and had to inspect them. Promising to catch up with the rest later. Now that he was done he made his way to the study to pick up the circlet.

Once there he saw it on the counter where he left it last night, picking it up he inspected it one last time and found it perfect. Or at least as perfect as he could make it given his knowledge and resources. It could withstand a few blows before breaking, which was better than nothing.

Walking out the doors into the training field, he made his way towards Isa who was ordering a few goblins to do more push-ups. Grabbing her attention he handed the accessory to her.

Van was worried that the circlet wouldn't look too good but was surprised that he might be wrong. It was a thin black metal band with a simple but elegant design. The crystal clear blue gem giving it a splash of color. It surprisingly matched her usual theme of dark clothing. And didn’t draw the eye too much while looking nice. Taking a step back, he enjoyed the now complete look of everything brought together. All that work, especially the circlet that opened his eyes to new possibilities.

It was a real joy to work with Lore and Sheri in making that circlet. Since it was the first time he found out that they could combine mana cores with gems and other such things with a form of alchemy to make new and interesting designs with sometimes new properties and traits. Just another fascinating aspect of alchemy that he was learning.

With that done the two separated ways and he moved quickly to catch up with Luna and Thea for his morning exercise.

Reaching them, Thea turned to give him her usual amused smile. “Well, well, well, finally up from your bed sleepyhead?” she asked, “I hope you don’t plan on making this a habit. If you are, I'll gladly double your workload to compensate.” her smile turned somewhat evil and sent a shiver down Van’s spine.

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“No, no, I just had to give Isa something. Now that’s done, I'm ready for anything you got.” Van said, hoping by faking some enthusiasm he could get away from the worst Thea might put him through.

“Good attitude!” she chuckled, “and just in time, I want you to go another bout with Luna.” motioning with her head towards Luna who was covered in blood once again. A sight Van was getting disturbingly used to.

“You want me to fight her again?” Van complained. “How many times does this make it? A dozen?” not wanting to fight his wife over and over again. It felt weird to be in an all-out brawl with the woman you were supposed to share your life with so many times.

“Thirteen, but who’s counting?” Thea joked. “Besides, both of you are very evenly matched. It makes you two perfect for sparring. You and Luna have grown exceptionally quickly after each fight, mostly because you are forced to contend with a person who could meet you blow for blow. The knowledge that if you just pushed a little more you could win, makes you go above and beyond what you would normally go at.”

“Still… doesn't’ feel right for a husband and wife to continuously beat each other to a pulp, I'm sure there are some laws about domestic abuse on things like this,” Van said worriedly.

“Yes, but you are equally if not stronger than Luna, plus it's just us here so no one would really know unless told, so I don’t think we have to worry about Luna getting into trouble or anything like that,” Thea said, somewhat seriously.

Van opened his mouth, blinked, then closed his mouth again as he realized that in a women-run world, the crimes for domestic abuse would fall on the wife, and probably not the husband. In the end, he sighed, resigned to doing another bloody spar with his wife.

Though he had to admit, she was getting stronger. Already Van was feeling that despite winning most of their fights, he was actually slowly losing. The difference between them, growing clear and palpable day by day. Luna was not just gaining on him, she would soon surpass him. And then, when it became consistent, they would use some aura in their fights, turning something already bloody, into something potentially bone-breaking.

Van looked over to her now, watching her with her eyes closed in deep meditation as she worked to increase the speed and efficiency of her healing. After she was done with that they will begin their fight. They would start their fight with her just recovering from her wounds and him still fresh and untired. And she still probably had a big chance of winning against him despite that.

That thought made him feel… nervous… he didn’t like losing, didn’t like the feeling of losing control. And while the feeling of pride burst through his chest every time Luna surpassed a goal, it was always mixed with the fear that that was one more step to her surpassing him.

Again, he had to remind himself that he accepted his fate of being surpassed, that he was here now to help support and lead, and less to be on the front lines. Though the thought of sending Luna out into danger had its own bag of mixed feelings he had to sort through.

Either way, Luna was now coming out of her trance and the fight will soon begin. Even if he was going to be surpassed. He will strain his muscles and work his ass off to give everything he got to make it a hard-won victory. That was the least he could do for himself, and for Luna who was working so hard to surpass him.

Slowly the both of them walked towards each other with nervous energy. They hadn’t even greeted each other yet but already they took their positions and waited for Thea’s signal.

Thea looked left and right, not bothering to tell the rules that have been explained already for about a dozen times. Once she saw that the two were ready, she shouted for them to begin the fight.

It started with two fists meeting in the air. A bang that strained muscle and bone. And not for the first time Van wondered how such a petite fist could carry such devastating power behind it.

Then another bang, followed by a series of fists meeting fist at high speed for a few seconds as a warm-up before they started throwing kicks and trying to flip the other by grabbing onto their attacks or redirecting them.

Van went and took a more defensive stance as Luna’s aggression seemed to explode, surprising him with its ferocity. She went all out on him, almost as if not bothering to conserve energy. Soon, she was attacking so fast and in so many different angles that Van couldn’t help but stop moving and stand there, blocking as much as he could. Slowly being chipped away as it were when her hard punches connected with soft flesh. Getting up close and personal with him.

Feeling like enough was enough, he bear tackled her, opening himself up to attack but spreading his arms wide as he made a sudden move forward to grab at her.

Unexpectedly, she took advantage of his open defense to make strikes on his head and exposed chest, only for that exposed chest to ram into her and the arms constrict around her.

Van then squeezed hard until he felt Luna’s body strain under him. She wiggled as best as she could, then started to knee him in the gut. But that only served to make him squeeze harder so she wouldn’t have the room to hit him anymore.

Luna thought about getting him in the crotch but then decided not to, it wouldn’t be worth winning or losing if she did something like that, not to mention she wasn’t sure it would actually work... So instead she braced herself, planting her feet as firmly on the ground as possible, and tried to twist Van over onto the ground with her on top.

Van then tried to do the opposite, lifting Luna higher up to prevent her from getting out or turning this into an advantage. But Luna then instead used her legs to kick Van in the knees something fierce, making him wince and want to let go. But he still held on and squeezed harder.

But no matter how much he squeezed, Luna used her ability to harden her body up, and the fact they could go for hours without air meant she wasn’t going to lose strength anytime soon. In fact, it was beginning to feel like Van was hugging a bar of concrete, but he knew she couldn’t keep this up forever. So instead decided to use all his strength for one last squeeze.

Luna paused in her kicking to try and get out of this stranglehold that Van was putting her through. She felt like her body was at the breaking point. Little did she know that Van was the same, using every ounce of energy he had to put her in this state.

But it was Thea who ended it, shouting the victor was Van.

With great relief, Van let go of Luna who stood on unsteady legs, Her body finally getting the release it craved.

“The winner is Van!” Thea shouted, but then turned on him pointedly. “Any more of that and you would have broken her bones. From now on, no cheap tricks like that. Got it!?”

Van nodded glumly, getting Thea’s point that it was kinda a cheap trick considering the size and raw strength difference.

Luna for her part just stood there, then tears began to form on her eyes and she began to cry.

Panicking, Van rushed up to her and asked her if she was okay, reaching out and gently making sure there wasn’t any hidden injury on her body.

She waved his concern away, “I’m fine, I just…” she looked away, a few tears streaming down her face. “I’m… never going to win,” she said softly, defeatism in her voice.

It was then he realized for all her upbeat nature, both on and off the training field, Luna must have been going through her own feelings of not being able to catch up or beat Van. While he was doing everything he could do to prevent Luna from surpassing him, Luna was doing her best to do the opposite and prove something to herself. And Van stopped her every time.

Gently, Van slowly pulled her into a heartfelt hug, one that didn’t try to squeeze her bones. “Of course you're going to win… every day you're getting stronger and stronger if anything… I already resigned myself to my... inevitable defeat…” he then gently wiped a tear off her cheek. “So you don’t have to worry about losing, you will win one day… and it will be one day soon… I promise,” he said sadly, making his own feelings on the issue clear.

Luna paused to look at Van, seeing for the first time how worried he actually was about losing to her and how hard he fought just to retain the status quo. In a way, she felt a little silly for crying so quickly when she should have been training. But now she also realized that Van probably was worried about being surpassed, just as much as she was worried about not being able to.

She wiped the rest of her own tears and smiled up at him. “We’ll both get stronger... together... We don’t have to leave each other behind.”

Van’s heart quivered with the show of love Luna gave his way, and slowly the two gave each other a hug and a kiss as they looked into each other's eyes. The two shared a moment and both realized they didn’t have to worry about who was surpassing who and whatnot.

Of course, Luna ruined the moment with what she said next when she went up and whispered into his ears.

“Also when you're plowing me tonight, I want you to squeeze as hard as you did during this training, just really clamped down on me and take control, don’t even leave me room to wiggle as you take everything, I want my bones to strain under you and my breasts to smother you as you try. You’ll do that for me, right?” she said in a breathy whisper and with a devilish smile.

Van leaned back, and the only thoughts that passed through his mind were.“...Gods damn women...”