Beneath the Hermit's Hood

Originally written from September 27, 2022 to October 1, 2022


Panoramic 16:9 landscape establishing shot. Viewpoint is slightly elevated, looking across an untamed, alien wilderness. Feature dense forests composed of dark, gnarled, twisted trees suggesting a primeval or slightly unsettling nature. A shadowy, winding river cuts through the rugged terrain of rolling hills. In the distant background, nestled against the base of imposing, mist-shrouded mountains, sits a small, rustic walled settlement (town or large village) that looks isolated. The lighting is dim and atmospheric, perhaps weak early morning sun filtering through haze or mist, creating long, deep shadows and a brooding, moody atmosphere with a sense of underlying danger. Absolutely no humans or figures visible. Style: Gritty realistic fantasy art, painterly, cinematic, detailed environment design


Chapter 1: Boat Ride and Meeting Sam
To start, a young troll, Don, squeezed in a boat, as she curled her lips inward and scratched her lower back.

Moving on to a more abstract and figurative note, wood cracked into Don’s ears and sang a lullaby that turned her into a sullying quadruple; every rock of the boat syrupped her into a seething blaze of coarse flame and damning incarnation. The sky would tether them into the inevitable, trifling seat of the river’s bed.

Anyway, Don said: “What’s with the small golem back there?”

She rubbed her chin. “Is it operational or something?”

When it came to context, Don was a troll from a far land, and she was coming here to help a man named "Sam." Moreover, she brought two young goblins, whom she had taken under her care. As for her role, being a troll, she was a powerful creature, and Sam, a hybrid between man and fish—a fishman—wanted her help in a coming fight. In conclusion, she was headed to the camp where Sam and his soldiers were, and the fight was about to begin.

Returning to the moment, she played with a weighty, disproportionate, mechanical toy the size of her hand. The rubbing of her lips, like a grimace, fled into raised brows and a blown raspberry.

Dancing yet again into a more metaphorical and abstract tone, the night sky elated her like a molten skee across a dance of tulips organized in a heap. Her soul became uninhabited, dull like a stopped refrain.

To explain these abstractions, despite her seemingly dull and emotionally hampered demeanor, Don had a very vivid inner life, her internal complexities sundering each other and creating vast works of imaginitive artistry.

Bouncing back to the common level, a part fell from the toy Don held, dropping the ground, and the two goblins with her—Ritand and Bata—bent down to pick it up. All three of them were on the same boat.

Regarding their subjective experience altogether, shining white lights blinded them, their moods in suspense at the edge of precipices and unresolved like tritone.

Moving on to one excluding Don; Ritand and Bata imagined themselves like bats soaring and swooning after the birth of a crisp, elegant smile on Don’s face.

Coincidentally, when they bent down and their boat rocked, they dropped the pocketed necklaces.

They gasped and scrambled to return it.

In the end, the night sky demanded their careful obedience to the endless abandon, time and place fifteen years in the past.

Heading into a new phase, Don helped pick up the necklaces on the floor of the boat, smoothing out her sleeves and bending over.

Stretching focus to a larger view, their boat touched land between massifs between a deep valley on one of many white beaches. Faraway, rock outcrops, pinnacles, and cave systems made up this karst region.

Falling back to the in-person perspective, after they crossed the beach, Don tsk-tsked, crouched, and grabbed a torch on the way into a tent.

Playing with a mystical vibe, Sam, a fishman, stood deep inside the tent, staring at the ground, fidgeting with his decorative gills. Second, a cup of bitter coffee dripped down his mouth and mustache: he drank anyhow. Lastly, he shook when he saw Don.

Heightening the mystical aspect, in his head, Sam danced with the fairies as they pointed to his plan for the stone wall Don. Second, he twisted his torso and curled his head, his stomach lightening at the appearance of even an inch of the magnificent troll. Finally, the Arabica coffee by his side softened his gills and made the shadowed light like a soothing, sooting embrace.

Bringing the mystical quality to the everyday level, Sam pointed to his engraved wand containing mana crystal shards. “Pretty heavy.” His voice shook somewhat halfway.

Zooming to Don's side of things, having only entered the cave, she flicked her finger against the toy in her clasped hands in a cursory, fidgeting manner. Then, he gave Sam a greeting stare.

Lowering to Ritand's view, he said, pushing aside Don's leg, “Get out of the way."

When it came to Sam's response, looking downwards, he raised his head, cleared his throat, and said, “Ritand, how sweet! Sick father, again?”

Stretching the view to include Bata, he and Ritand pointed their eyes at him, turning their heads toward the cages around them. Bata was holding onto Ritand’s shoulder.

Meanwhile, Sam said, clearing his throat, wrinkling his nose: "My troopers... they're working." He followed Bata and Ritand's eyes, looking at the cages as well.

Incidentally, Ritand said okay, and Bata pushed the pouch of Ritand behind him, patting Don’s leg twice.

With her attention captured, Don turned around, sat on her haunches, and realigned Ritand’s pouch’s straps up and down until Ritand gave an okay.

In conclusion, not much was said, but Don, Ritand, and Bata were generally comfortable. Sam was making strange statements, but Don was in understanding. Though, she wasn't exactly keen on establishing a long coherent discussion, so their meeting ended with not much said. However, they did already know what to do. The meeting was merely a formality, even if it had nothing to do with the word "formal."

Casting light on a new stage, later, outside Sam's tent and at the camp frontline, Don sat down on a pair of piled logs, putting her foot against a pile of gravel. Ritand and Bata were nearby.

Don pointed to the left, as goblin workers followed Don’s direction.

Bata cracked his fingers on one hand, using only the thumb of the same hand to do it, and walked in a circle. Ritand hugged a log and leaned down on it.

“It’s...” Don imitated a clicking sound, stretched a hand backward, and turned her head around to stare at Sam’s tent. “...right over there.”

Bata rested his chin on his hand and squinted, as a bunch of fishmen passed by him. Ritand glanced at Bata and turned his head toward a loud thud. He got up from the ground and climbed until he was beside Don.

In the distance, six goblins carried a log that fell on their legs. Don dashed and helped these six goblins out of their predicament.

Simultaneously, Ritand and Bata got off the log, as a host of figures wandered close to the site. The two goblins took a deep breath and sighed halfway.

Riding onto a more tense mood, Ritand raised his brows and lip-pointed to them, shaking his hands. “It’s them—the warning!” he said, putting his cup down. As all of the other goblins strided along still, Ritand repeated himself, crescendoing at the phrase “the warning.”

The atmosphere taking a new shape, Bata lifted his head toward a meteor of smokeless fire blasting the camp’s most vulnerable side, his brows squinting somewhat. In the blast, screams pointed at the gory pastes of fishmen.

Introducing Don, Bata, and Ritand's new enemies, in the distance, adventurers slid down the slope and overtook the half-armored goblins. They swung and clashed until these goblins hit the floor.

Furthermore, they held back when they attacked and gave their all when they defended. They hoped that the goblins only died because of their bad falls.

As for the response of Sam and his men, the last fishmen came out of their tents and cast spells of ice that pushed back the adventurers until they retreated.

The fishmen gathered themselves and composed their spirits into one arcane blast of impaling halberds of ice.

Elevating their actions onto a more symbolic layer, their anger united them under a common banner of revenge.

Swinging to the result of the fishmen's attacks, soon enough, the impaled adventurers dotted the floor, as their bodies became a stench.

Turning to something more disturbing than blasts of ice, the fishmen gathered the adventurers' bodies and consumed them, shining with golden light for a moment. On another note, in blows of feet against the ground floor, they waved their hands and took sharp inhales.

Similarly, they each drank a mana potion, as they slung their heavy arms to cast the impaling ice, crying. The side effects of mana potions and their current emotion state combined to make them psychotic.

Ascending to a highly metaphorical domain, they felt the grace of gods pushing them to eradicate the enlightened species, the humans. An eagle spread forth above them and guided them toward victory. The light above became their love, and their love spread forth through magical, sickening gorges in front of them.

In that very moment, besides the dead adventurers, the living ones ran, but the goblins caught up on four legs and surrounded them. As a side note, they rubbed some dirt off their hands on their trousers.

Expanding on the goblins' ferocity, they edged closer every time the adventurers eyed the goblins’ weapons, fidgeting and twisting their body around.

Several moments later, bringing Don into the stage, she placed her hand against the goblins as they fled, guiding them away from the adventureres' arrows and blasts.

Including Sam into the picture, she turned her head toward him as he fell. Behind the goblins, Sam shifted one arm forward and rubbed the elbow with his other hand. “What is it?” he said after he drunk a mana potion. Spreading attention to the background, a fishman flanked him a long distance away on each side.

In the same picture, Bata said, grabbing Ritand by the arm, heading toward Sam, “Don?”

Focusing on Sam's state after he fell, his mouth, eyes, cheeks, and nose turned still. His back became as straight as a stool.

Adjusting to the larger background, the fight with the adventurers continued.

Moving the mood to a lighter one, Ritand caressed Bata’s back and pressed him to do the same.

“Sam, Sam.” Don steepled her fingertips against a potion on her thighs.

Bata said, “Look at their marks—”

He hoped that Don would be pleased with his performance.

Ritand said, “The birthmarks!”

He felt the same as Bata did.

“Birthmarks? This is a high turnover,” Sam said, holding up steepled fingertips. He shouted an incantation: “Tier 2 Shock—”

“Wrong spell,” Ritand said, placing his hand in front of Sam’s face and waving it. Because Sam canceled his spell, his stomach turned over.

Ritand took a deep breath, raised her brows hard, and locked eyes with Don.

Don grinned.

Ritand smiled back, and Bata grinned with an open smile.

A slow wail in the distance blared, as Ritand rubbed his hands together.

Don closed her fingers and tapped Ritand’s shoulder and then his hands. He gazed at Ritand and shot the toy back to Bata. Ritand shoved Don’s hands off and threw out a thank you.

“I’ll give you food later, okay?” he said, frowning on one side of his face.

Ritand curled his lips inward and twisted his head to the side, avoiding Don’s eyes.

He nodded.

Meanwhile, on the safer edges of the battle, goblin workers grouped up on a large cart, some of them hanging to the side and back. They hurried out of the camp site to the closest city, grumbling and pushing one another. Moreover, one of them carried the name "Sicario," who would play a role in Don and the two goblins' journey later on.

They winced at the fishmen’s glances toward them every time they tapped their fingers on the weapons that they tucked away at the side.

Recentering onto the middle of the brawl, goblin warriors fell to the ground, as the adventurers threw javelins and swung at them.

The goblin warriors hurled their handles back and forth, lodging their weapons into a whirl of sullying plumps. The adventurers danced in a mockery of javelins, tossing their torsos with the shots that they flung.

The youngest of the goblins fixed their simple bows in their sweat, shooting anyhow.

The goblins stormed into a human and skewered him with their silky whisks and sick tugs. The humans hurled the goblins off him and stuck around in a fight to the death, running off in a pike charge.

Incorporating Don into this fight, she trudged forth into battle, raised her arms, and stood in the way. She was charging, and she put her cloaked hand over the face of the human the goblins targeted and flung him away.

Don commanded the clouds forth to pull her into the fight. The load of castles sunk under her arms, as they transformed into hundreds of ships of stone. She beat her arms across the sea of muddy earth, hurling herself over the human’s face.

She submerged in his mouth a cloaked, feathery hand, choking him. Then, she swung him into the edges of her sight.

The human broke his back, as red liquid wet his palate.

The goblins congratulated, becoming a tapestry of thank yous.

Don dismissed them with a wave, handling a wet cloth with her other hand.

The humans shielded the fleeing human whom Don had thrown. Moreover, they guided him into their breaking fold-like formaton.

Directing the spotlight to the broader fight, every time a goblin ate a blade with their body, these humans twisted and galloped, jerking off their halberds and swords to further effect.

For each dead goblin, an allied knife plunged into them, and an undead version of them rose off the inanimate ground, twisting its back.

The humans whirled their hands into waves of forward thrusts, as the ground listened to their incantations. Mud bursted from the ground, replacing the hard soil below it. Don hissed, trudging away to avoid getting caught.

Incidental to this ongoing fight, goblin’s head covers fell into pockets, and necklaces were rotated so that they were at the back. Wool trousers took in most of the wealth.

Anyway, introducing the leader of the adventurers, Solvent, a human raid leader, matched Don’s height shoulder-to-shoulder. At the moment, she dangled an oversized necklace above her shoulders. In the larger fight, she huffed each time she hit the goblin vanguards, blunting their shields and armor tips and edges. Overall, she represented the adventurers, but she was also her own person.

Breaking new ground with metaphorical expression, the sky screamed into a radial platitude of sonnet winds at Solvent's careful movements. The goblins hurled back and forth with the waves of her tingling sky of sword swings. Their metal crumbled under the weight of her composition. The necklace held over her the sky of self-abandonment and, yet, immortality.

As for her succeeding actions, Solvent said, “Tire them long enough.” She raised her head, eying the back of the goblins. She pressed two fingers across her forehead and slid them down to her nose, pressing it. She retracted her fingers and huffed, as her furrowed stare tightened further.

“Go!” The monsters’ strongest, Don, threw her bare fist ahead, as Solvent swung, steering downwards columns of adventurers.

Solvent slammed her fists as she ran.

The perspiring goblin frontline charged anyhow through the shrubby slope, holding somehow onto one another and the outcropping rock ledges and creeping figs.

Unveiling magic in an immersive way, Solvent strummed up tiny orbs from her hands and passed them along the winds until they disappeared. A toxic gas leapt from her mouth, but she lost her energy to stand, finding a tiny hiccup flying from her throat. “Heaven’s Joy!” she said, her words inviting the magical winds and beckoning a spell's appearance.

After the able raiders got Solvent off the arrows’ trajectory, the air exploded in front of the goblins, signalling the completion of Solvent's magic spell.



Chapter 2: The Monster Trio's Dealings
When Solvent's spell hit the air, she and the rest of the adventurers left the scene.

Some time after the fight ended, goblins who had survived fight covered their faces.

Involving Don, Bata, and Ritand into this aftermath, they gazed at the falling goblins that had leapt back. They wandered around into their places, quipping at the messy dead.

They shuddered.

The goblin frontline bruised their buttocks when they fell earlier, and some of them had fractured a bone.

The monster trio, Don, Ritand, and Bata, put on their dry clothes and accessories and fixed them until they looked neat. Don was counting the casualties, placing down an empty potion. Ritand grabbed the potion and handed it to Bata, and Bata refilled it to half full with another potion.

Shifting to the decision of Sam and the rest of the fishmen, they left the authority to the goblin leaders and Don.

So Don followed what the fishmen did often in the past: she ordered them to cage the undead goblins. Also, she said that it was advisable for the cages to have food provisions and bags of deodorizing, used coffee grounds.

Afterwards, they went home.

At the end of their short travel, their cracking home city gates welcomed them and bothered them with sour scents.

Wide panoramic landscape, 16:9 aspect ratio. Overlooking the approach to a fantasy city ("Promise City") built alongside a wide, murky river during an overcast late afternoon. On the near bank, rough terrain with piled cobblestones and boulders transitions towards a simple, aged levee lining the river. Across the water, the city's edge is visible: aged, slightly cracking stone walls, tightly packed, somewhat ramshackle buildings hinted at behind them. Several weathered, empty boats are moored densely along the city-side riverbank, almost forming a secondary barrier. The overall atmosphere is slightly gritty, worn, and utilitarian. Photorealistic style. No people, carts, or animals visible.

This opened up a new stage.

Taking a look at what people in this city were like, most of them here lived according to what the newspapers said that the nobles were like. They were coffee-crazed, followed through with promises, each drank a teaspoon of red potion after work, and so on.

Allowing a new perspective into the stage, a goblin worker, Sicario, who left early in the defense with the other workers, stood on the road to the right of the arriving party that included Don, Ritand, Bata, and Sam. He said, “The invaders have kneeled down and complied at our every advantage—” The plump goblins in front of him nodded, rubbing their hands together and embracing one another.

Sam heard the word "ambush" from Sicario to describe what they did to the humans and hesitated, glancing between himself and the goblin warriors with him in the cart. “No.”

Sicario leaned forward, grabbed a dagger on the ground, rolled his head to the side, and rushed away. He came back and handed an old manuscript which he had been hiding inside a small gap in the wall beneath a window frame.

“The meeting engagement had its place,” Sam said, giving a furrowed stare at the goblins pointing their fists at Sicario.

Shifting view to his mind, he organized his thoughts and filed them under specific details in his memory cards. He felt secure in this mind chamber.

Taking focus to the background, a crowd had gathered in front of Sicario and the rest of the arriving party.

He put his voice down on the heads of the crowd in front of him as he would with a table: “Yes, the meeting engagement began with the search party we sent in hopes they found an enlightened traveler.” Sam shifted his clothes to fit and his smile further up at the ene of each sentence.

The congregation listened to his words and acknowledged his report.

Tucking this scene into a corner and transitioning to a new, different segment, to Sam’s left, deep in a narrow alleyway, the monster trio—Don, Ritand, and Bata—murmured among themselves as they snickered. They handed it over their damaged items in bags to Kyra, a helmeted public servant inside a guild. They exchanged items through a barred window at the front of a long line of plump goblins.

Taking a further look at these goblins, they were wiping their sweat away and pointing their fists toward the distance. Some of them wanted the rainy seasons to come.

Anyway, the monster trio thought about a funny connection and wanted to keep enjoying themselves after the boring or tiring fight. Continuing the inclusion of Kyra, the public servant, who was a female fishman, emptied her mind every time that she felt stressed about a faraway but crucial human war.

She threw away the smallest scraps at the bottom of the bags, closing the door on a collection of trash. She said, “Having a lament in a party?"

“Problem? said Don, accepting a pouch of cash from Kyra. “Do you feel enlightened after taking this job?”

Kyra shushed him, and another fish person Cali answered her. Cali had passed behind Kyra and was plumping down dugout chests beside a door. What Cali said was, “Is your orders here by now—”

Shifting to this new person's thoughts, Cali wanted to get out of move to the city away from these slums, but her father wanted her to stay humble. Her father meant that he wanted her to work under Sam instead of a more popular candidate for nation president.

Anyhow, Kyra thought that Cali needed a break after seeing her carry the chests.

Traveling back to an earlier scene, before the monster trio came, Cali leaned against a table and sat down with a weird posture to deal with the back pains.

In the present, Kyra was remembering this scene.

Ignoring Don, Ritand, Bata, and the rest of those in line, Cali watched the gold coins scattering across the floor from the chests. They had fallen while Kyra was in a contemplative mood.

Kyra picked them up two by two and sprayed them across with her sanitizing magic. Some of the coins rolled out the open door.

Pivoting to the two young goblins' entrances, Bata grabbed these outside coins, coming inside, while Ritand patted Bata on the side and told Kyra to straighten up.

Bata asked Ritand to use magic to wet his hands.

Ritand shook his head, but he obeyed anyway.

Bata put his hands against Ritand’s back and continued massaging him, following him around.

Cuing in Kyra, she squinted, raised an eyebrow, and winced at Ritand’s light slap to her back, as she straightened her back.

She took a pursed-lip sigh, as she listened to Don mumbling “Sam.” Don handed her a magical instrument alongside a summary report paper that Kyra folded and tucked under her arm.

After checking a few papers and answering interrogatory questions, the monster trio left the office.

Changing to the outside, at their left, boats lined up behind buildings and on the edge of a levee alongside a river, acting as a wall that broke the waves. Moreover, cobblestones and boulders piled up throughout them; one of the boats had a forest growing on it.

Eventually, having gone a long distance from Kyra and Cali's workplace, Don, Bata, and Ritand slipped inside an inn far from the river, where they slept in their dried sweat.

This sleep lasted 4 hours.

When Ritand and Bata woke up some time later, they found Don imitating a voice crack as part of a joke story at the inn’s bar counter. She was placing a small mug in front of her when Ritand pinched her on the arm. She retracted her arm and placed the mug down to her left. Incidentally, a mother and a child entered the inn.

As for Don, she made many mistakes since she woke up. And one of them was standing up abruptly and spilling her drink after a bartender put two mugs next to her arms. She apologized and handled the payments, glancing between her money and the mother and child. They approached Ritand and Bata, but the young goblins ignored the mother.

Ritand asked Bata about what they were going to do next, staring at a green mountain.

As he shifted the pouch of Ritand behind him, Bata smiled, touched the bottom of Ritand’s pouch, and said, "If he was here, how do you think he would react?” His tone shifted from somewhat abrasive to delighted.

Bata remembered their horrible parents because of their excitement for traveling.

Bata and Ritand knew they were in their twenties, but they would rather live a simple, carefree life like children.

Ritand looked at Don, who finished getting his money and handed it over to the mother. She bowed his head after he learned her ethnicity from her features.

Ritand wanted Don to stop helping people if that meant she would finally stop feeling her absurd guilt.

Meanwhile, the mother imagined the future where she was a spirit and could only watch her child struggling to survive.

Returning to the monster trio, when the two goblins finally went outside, Don rushed out, following them.

There, Ritand stretched backwards and stared down at a food shop.

Don tucked inside Ritand’s pouch a pamphlet from the hare people and asked, “Should Georta be spoken with your cousins?”

Bata said “Yes,” and Ritand nodded his head, turning his head elsewhere.

Don inquired more about the language, asking what words meant.

Soon afterwards, Ritand rubbed his hands together, as Don looked toward a slow wail in the distance. This combination of Ritand rubbing his hands and a slow wail signalled another shift in the direction of their journey. As for the reason of their next action, it would be revealed a little later.

Ritand blasted the corner of a shop, making it like a smokeless fiery furnace. A familiar mother and child in the shop dropped backwards, leaning toward a hiding place.

Ritand studied the crowd: goblins, fishmen, trolls, and hare people. The goblins in the crowd grabbed the trolls’ long arm strong hairs and leapt from troll to troll. The fishmen rode carts, and the hare people were like vehicles, crawling through the streets.

After Don had saved the mother and child and wet their clothes with a red liquid, she handed them a cloth. She dashed past and below the goblins hanging on the trolls that trudged through the streets.

Don pushed through the crowd, looking behind her at Ritand, Bata, the mother, and the child. He gave a thumbs up, to which the child waved.

Don smirked, fading in the distance.

Bata’s head wandered toward Don, but he was too late to see her.

Moving to Don's spirit, thunderstorms and hail clashed inside it, as her feelings dripped against the pavement. She fell backwards and spilled these staining feelings, watching as her hands smudged against the floor. She was standing up again, and her mind was a maelstrom, a disaster upon the street walls and the nightly storming of the crowds.

Ripping this imaginitive sequence apart and jumping to the action, Don fell over.

Far behind Don, Bata put one hand on Ritand and hardened his hand, watching a mass of smokeless fire continue down to the inner-city. The centre of the fire faded away, as Bata was huffing, yet the fire was raging on. “Squatters’ area,” Ritand said, pointing at the wet market and the slums.

A host of shields appeared everywhere, as people watched the strongest among them take control of the commotion. The strongest was a familiar human face, Solvent, who cocked her head at Ritand in the crowd and gestured toward Bata with complicit understanding.

Marking a new, bold step in their journey, Ritand and Bata nodded at Solvent, staring at a muddy hole where one of Solvent's comrades, a human, crawled out. He asked Ritand and Bata for help in coming out, wearing helmets and many layers of clothing.

He grabbed Bata and Ritand’s hands, and with Ritand’s lift, he tumbled inside Ritand’s pouch that held more than it looked. “Yeah, that’s her,” Ritand said vaguely, curling his lips.

The human thanked him, as red potion liquid wet his palate, healing his wounds.

Ritand grabbed the human’s peeking leg and pushed it back in, chewing his lip.

While this was happening, on another side of the city, a wagon, rubbing around his mouth until his moustache became dry, Sam said, “‘The two rugrats are there.’” He nodded and released a human prisoner, ignoring the prisoner’s heroic claims.

Elsewhere, closer to Don, Bata, and Ritand, Solvent swung in the streets, steering downwards columns of adventurers, directing them to fight.

Returning to Sam, in the blurry distance of Solvent, Sicario, a human that had disguised as a goblin worker, arrived with Sam. He asked, “Do you want her as the next top executive?”

Sam laughed. “What, like little Exterme? No one can be me. I have to do this.” He put his hands on Sicario, taking the dagger out of his pocket and placing it in his hands.

Changing to an aggressive tone, Sicario leapt through the crowd to Solvent, grabbed her leg, and stabbed at her. “Sam wants you dead!”

Moving away from this temporarily, at the back of the crowd watching the commotion, Kyra sorted through her pouch and raised a weighty, disproportionate magical instrument. With dark circles around her eyes, she shook the mechanical toy, hyperventilating.

Advancing to some time after Sicario's confrontation, he saw an insect flying in his peripheral view, and his eyes unfocused and refocused at the faraway Kyra.

Nearby, Solvent had fallen to the ground.

Sicario gained a new spell and added it to his inventory of spells. He imagined a grandiose future for himself and smiled, having removed Solvent as a posed danger.

He filled her up with toxic gas, turning away to the crowd and saluting.

In the meantime, Sam appeared from behind Sicario, setting himself down on the edge of a platform. Sicario dropped off it and dashed out of sight, sustaining his salute.

Reverting to Don, who had been in the scene the entire time, being an ally of Solvent, Don got out from the crowd behind Sicario and being both out of sight, bludgeoned him to death.

Earlier, Don felt that she found her opportunity. She wanted to get by like this, waiting for a random moment to strike.

She got lucky maybe, but if this worked her entire life, she was sure that this was right.

With Sicario dead, Sam’s goblin workers leapt to stop Don, but she was too strong.

When Sam turned the corner with the intention of reuniting with Sicario, Don grabbed and pushed him to the ground, breaking his arms and crushing his chest.

Sam yelled and screamed until he shrieked. He lost his life midway.

In the end, Don was huffing, studying Sam’s body, having defeated Sam's workers. She knew Sam was coming, so she ambushed him.

Starting a new journey, Bata and Ritand arrived and edged toward Don, asking her if she was okay.

Don raised his brows, still staring at Sam.

When Bata stood shoulder-to-shoulder, Don turned his head at Bata’s face.

Bata yelped, leaping away. Ritand caught Bata, asking Don what was going on.

Don stared at him in silence. She walked away, watching the goblin workers shriek when she came close. The strongest among them were too injured to do anything.

Don left the streets toward the gates.

Bata and Ritand followed him.

They wanted to know if Don did this because of her plan. They knew Don hid some things from them, especially her plan, but they wanted to know if this was what was supposed to happen.

Don stared at the ground as she walked over the uneven road, going around and jumping over potholes.

However, reintroducing Sam’s bandaged goblin warriors from the fight with the humans, they emerged and went in front of the monster trio, blocking the way.

Don gestured for them to move, glancing between the roads in front of her.

The bandaged goblin warriors asked to join Don.

Don glanced at Ritand and Bata.

They knew what to do.

Chapter 3: Don's Assault and Aftermath
Bata went in front of the goblin warriors who had declared allegiance to Don and ordered them by their features.

Ritand asked for them to remove all their things except their clothes and put their things into his dimensional storage pouch.

Many days later, Don sent two goblins out of the forty to work with Kyra and Cali. At the public servant office, they took on basic requests like carrying dugout chests and other items of significant weight.

The two assigned goblins, Twerp and Birdie, improvised a song about Sam’s fall. Twerp handed to Birdie a mechanical toy that had fallen from the office counter in the night. Kyra put each of them under direct management of Cali, who swore that her father sent them to her.

Twerp wanted to make sure his small duty made waves for Don, whom they described as a troubled leader.

It was Ritand who handed them documents on how to handle Kyra and Cali.

When they opened the documents, the only thing that read was “Don’t tell them about this, but please get me a small mechanical toy from there.”

Birdie told Twerp to ignore Ritand’s requests and focus on getting Kyra and Cali whatever help they needed. Don made sure he funded them enough to enjoy themselves and start a business.

Twerp looked confused most of the time. This made Kyra give him the most physical work, while Birdie got some time to learn his hand at calligraphy.

Birdie put each word into perspective, grabbing the small parts of it and turning it into a spell.

His mana was insufficient for a spell, and even if he threw money at the papers, his improvised spells failed to manifest.

Twerp operated on every muscle in his body, imagining how far and wide his reach could be if he had a magic for it.

These two goblins had similar dispositions with the rest of the goblin race toward magic and humans.

Twerp reified this disposition through creating a small mana potion with Cali after she showed him the way to combine the elements.

Birdie wanted more out of his daily activities as a public servant’s assistant. He asked Cali who Kyra's “employer” was. He meant “the employer that directs her and tells her what to do in her life, not work.”

Cali pointed to the memorial outside of the city mayor Sam. She said, “Sam was also my father’s ‘employer.’”

Earlier, Don sent Ritand and Bata to the office.

By the time they arrived, it was right after Cali pointed at the memorial, where the two young goblins were walking toward her.

They met Birdie first outside the office.

Ritand said, “Have you done your trivial assignment?”

Birdie raised a brow and got Twerp to come out.

Twerp looked at Birdie and imitated his expression of disappointment. “Why did you come?” he said, his voice somewhat tired but excited to humor himself and those around him.

“I needed a little bit of that help for a grand project with the... big bad.”

“‘The big bad?’” said Solvent, putting one foot in front of her before leaning against a wall that retained a small forest. “That’s Don, isn’t it?”

Twerp observed the clashing expressions of the two goblins and Solvent, nudging Birdie for them to leave. The two goblins left and continued their tasks, stopping Kyra from inquiring about the three outside.

Solvent put down her crutch and asked: “Is Don still alive? Sounds like it.” She had a smile that fit the V-shape in her armor. “She’s a she, right?” She laughed too long for it to sound genial.

Twerp peeked from a window, making sure that his whispers to Birdie were dead silent. “What’s up with the tall human in Orlata City?”

“Don is a shell of imperviousness, and her spirit forbids all infiltrations.”

“Eh, tough times we have here—”

Meanwhile, nearby, having lived through the assassination, Solvent stomped her foot forward and then stayed standing.

After a stare between the two shaking goblins and the raid leader, Solvent fell to the ground, slamming against the pavement.

She cursed, asking the two for help.

Twerp and Birdie came out to help her get up.

Ritand held onto Solvent’s hand and pushed her back down. “How’s that for a beatdown—”

“W-what is this?” Kyra asked. Cali followed and inquired the same.

“I assuaged Solvent’s deep threats against the Sam memorial right here,” Birdie said as he read Ritand’s intentions from his face. He had listened to Ritand explain before the two public servants came.

“Where is this Solvent? This?” Cali stepped in front of Kyra and held up Birdie’s skirt.

“Excuse me?” Birdie was half-laughing. He moved his skirt out of the way and gestured toward Solvent. “Pile of dog water fell from the sun.”

Solvent had a blank expression on her face, as she stared at Birdie and then at Cali and Kyra. “Not a nice way to go about this.” She stood up, supporting herself with her crutch again. She chuckled when she half-tripped, taking in the pitying expressions around her. “Stop, stop.” She was smiling, and then, she frowned. “Stop. Too long. Manners, manners.”

Cali put her hand on her hips, bringing Kyra back inside. She gave Birdie and Twerp a meaningful glance as she left.

Twerp’s mouth was agape, and Birdie wanted to ask Don who Solvent was.

Solvent half-smiled.

Cali and Kyra were quiet and finished their business, coming out a few hours later.

They went down the street, passing the road as lizard-drawn carts and hare people made up the only official vehicles.

Cali and Kyra separated ways, as Cali hurled herself down a flight of steps and landed on the bottom with her legs fine.

She opened a door and spun her way inside, looking at the fishmen younglings sleeping in different corners of the room.

Cali lost the flow of her father’s money when Sam died. Moreover, she lost the properties that her father dedicated to Sam and would pass down to her.

She wanted to start again as someone else now that her father stopped paying her to work at the office. She had learned that her father only found a hopeless future after the assassination.

She remembered the two goblins and their dedication to their small work. She asked them the first time they came why they were here. Birdie said: “Don has everything prepared for us. All one needs to do is receive it.” Twerp was like “What he said.”

When it was still dark in the morning, she traveled through many social paths outside of the city to the foot of a cave. She remembered that Twerp described Don’s presence as brooding. She brushed her thoughts aside and reminded herself to focus on getting everything out of the way. She took opportunities: sometimes, these risks failed like the one her father offered her.

She wanted to know if this one would kickstart a better life for her. Her children had to wait for her to get strong before she could teach them how to be strong.

She looked inside the cave, seeing a bunch of goblins telling each other spooky stories.

The goblins stood up, naked and barehanded.

She screamed and ran around, jumping around until she leapt from the cave and past the trees.

She returned, staring at the goblins who stared back at her.

She asked them about Don.

They turned around as they sat on their boulders.

One of them was Birdie.

“I’ve been expecting you,” he said, smiling with his cheeks dimply.

She muttered a curse and trudged forward. “Why,” she said, “did you not give me any information that could have made sure I did not fall, trip, or die?”

Birdie’s expression became awkward.

He thought that Cali would learn how to navigate this place as he did. “Did you get lost?”

“No. I saw more than 10—15—goblins staring at me. So close to catching me!”

Birdie gave a nervous laugh and led her inside.

Don was somewhere there, standing up and reading a doorstopper book. “Why would I?” she said, asking Solvent.

“Were you not supposed to ‘die’ with me?” the raid leader said, holding the hand of one of the adventurers under her. This adventurer underling was shaking.

“Ah, I see,” said Cali.

“Dysfunctional relationship,” Birdie said.

Cali gave him a confused stare.

Birdie scratched his head. “You’ll see what I mean.”

Don stopped talking when she noticed Cali.

Cali saw Solvent and said, “Oh, that crutched—”

“Crutched? Please get your words right, ma’am.” She gestured to herself standing up and dashing around.

“You. Lying?”

“I did, not for bad reasons, you see. I love helping others, don’t I, Don?”

Don was rubbing her chin, looking to the left past Solvent at the wall.

Solvent gave a nervous chuckle and pointed toward a seat in the far left of Don. “Sit there, Cali.”

Cali gazed at Birdie.

“Cali, yes, all accounts point to that being her name, most certainly,” Birdie said, losing his voice projection. “Wow, who has the answers to such a phenomenon?” He cleared his throat.

Cali turned away.

“Excuse me,” Birdie said. His tone was quiet and serious.

Don watched the small goblins converse with the human. Behind her face, she was thinking about where they should drop in the middle of the human war.

Eventually, their conversation ended on an open-ended note, allowing time for their relationship to grow naturally. Don's goal here was simple—to keep his current position clear and safe from disruption and scrutiny, especially since he was the one who had killed Sam. But even the wounded goblin warriors didn't know that. Indeed, Birdie and Twerp had no idea about Don's murder of Sam and Sicario.

Chapter 4 - The Hermit's Task and the Mimic
Moving on to a new stage, a small group of human adventurers passed by Don’s cave.

They wanted a good look at this small cave system in the mountain. It was far enough from Orlata City, a different city from the aforementioned one, and close enough for a three days’ travel on horseback to and fro.

Furthermore, one of them had signed themselves in Solvent’s church. She was an official there that made waves under their nation’s National Commission on Adventurers. This paved the way for their eventual alliance with Don.

So Don came into an agreement with them to pay them handsomely whenever they came to clear monsters unrelated to her and her associates within her cave system.

As for why the adventurers teamed up with Don, one of the reasons included her disguise. Specifically, her disguise was a hermit mage. She even played the role of a storyteller. On top of that, Now Don's committed ally, Solvent, had arranged it so that the adventurers were well-fooled to believe that Don was known in this area.

In the meantime, Bata arrived with the two goblins Birdie and Twerp at Orlata City. Back at the cave, the rest of the goblin warriors were reading books about history, and Don was giving them quizzes. After every quiz, she let them take a break to hunt to get their fill of the day.

Eventually, while all of this was happening, the humans attacked Bata, Birdie, and Twerp and put them in cages. They were current outside Orlata City and had set up camp.

While imprisoned, Bata played with his mechanical toy, while Birdie and Twerp sang songs: “Go to the city to the west, and I’ll reward you with a pretty heavy wand.”

Three members of the adventurer group turned left and right and asked one another what city he was talking about. They were confused and could only assume.

These three stayed behind, while the rest of the members of this adventurer group went down the path to Orlata city, entered it, and prepared to sleep there. They stayed at the foreign inns and ate the monster cuisine there.

One of the three adventurers remaining in the camp, Algae said, “I should know that all hermits ask you to get something faraway as a last request.”

“Assuredly, you know the foes of the hermits—the warlocks, remember?” said Kloe, the other adventurer beside Algae.

“I wouldn’t know—” said Jared, the one in front, finishing a mouthful of banana cue. He drank from a pouch of water and burped. “Excuse me.”

“Yeah, right...” said Algae, looking between himself and the hermit striding toward them from the darkness. He nudged Jared and Kloe, cursing. “Is that...?”

Having come a long way from Sam's city—Promise City—Don, in her hermit form, removed her hood and revealed herself.

From the adventurers' perspective, a moment ago, they saw the hermit, and now, replacing the hermit, a troll stood between the adventurers and the way back to Orlata City’s gates, blocking their way. This was a big development for that, and they could only stare and watch. For context, they stayed here to relax at the camp, preferring a station closer to the dungeons, caves, and wilderness. This made it easier for them to move around between the city and their priorities. However, this proved now life-threatening with the rare troll hopping into their crib.

Squeezing into Don's mind, she grunted, asking them if they saw the two goblins Birdie and Twerp, looking for the cages. She had come here with the help of a teleporter mage, but that costed lots of money. So she didn't want to do it again. The reason she knew of Bata and Ritand's absence was because of a skill that tracked them and their wellbeing. This way, she knew exactly their status and whether she needed to come help.

With that said, entering into a previous unresolved event, the late Sam was unprepared to deal with Don enough that she could get away with killing him, Sicario, and many of his goblins. Indeed, his life had been in her hands ever since he began to put her on the frontline and in the tent, or the equivalent thereof, where he practically slept; having trusted Don as Solvent did. It had been a power struggle between the two, representing different sides, human and monster. Solvent was supposed to die to Sicario, or at least that was what Don planned. But she lived, while Sam died—an imperfect conclusion, but one that Don didn't find a reason to correct afterwards.

Regarding Solvent's case, her adventurer members had all died for her sake. So she had nowhere else to turn to, except Don. She didn't want to return because that would be humiliating. It was much more easier to confide in an enemy-turned-friend than a friend with whom one had a long history with enough that any revealed humiliation would only cause her hopelessness and anxiety.

In conclusion, Sam and Solvent's lives fell into Don's palm because of how greedy they were to get an upperhand. That was why they lost everything. This was Don's divide and conquer strategy, one that Ritand and Bata had yet to recognize.

Returning to the confrontation between Don and the adventurers, now that she was here, they were hyperventilating, overshadowed by Don's massive, lumbering yet limber form.

The nine-foot-tall troll was in the distance in front of them, leaning against a tree the side of his knee, resting both hands on it, and stretching her other leg forward. Her head pointed toward her other leg, and she eyed them, grunting, as a dimple formed on her face’s one side.

The adventurers knew that the monsters reputed the trolls to be calm. However, among the humans, they were known to chase down their prey. They were more endurant than humans and any other studied humanoids.

When the troll stepped forward, she discovered RItand and Bata peeking from behind a log and a boulder.

Algae shot an arrow on the ground in front of the scurrying goblins. “Don’t,” he warned the two goblins. The arrow splintered after it slammed against rock, one of its splinters injuring Ritand.

Bata said, “Got it.” The two goblins hopped off the slope and fled away.

Ritand asked Bata for something to cover his wound.

Bata handed him one of his toys. “I only have this,” he said.

Ritand scratched his head, using the cloth parts of the toy to wipe the drips of blood.

Bata began moving around the fight until he was behind Don.

Don responded with a long, hard stare.

Algae raised his arms to shoot.

Don shook his head toward the adventurers, making a warning.

Algae’s arms froze.

Kloe lowered Algae's arms along with the bow, pointing his shield at Don and the running Bata in the distance to make Algae focus.

Having contacted the other goblins at their base with a magical artifact, Bata joined Don and Ritand and said, “The goblins are asking for you. Should I tell them ‘no’?”

Without warning, Don sat on a log and leaned his leg against a pile of gravel. “I can talk. Please.” He lowered his head and raised open palms.

Kloe almost removed his shield, but Jared stopped him, shaking his head. Jared said, “Why are you guys blocking the way? What did we do to you?”

His tone was aggressive, but Don's overwhelming presence kept him flexible.

When one of the goblins offered a mechanical toy, he found himself forcibly laughing. “This is...” he said, noticing Kloe’s concerned expression.

With this shift in tone, Algae put his bow back in its strap. “I have things to do," he said. "If this isn't what I think it is...” After realizing the possibility of his statement being misinterpreted as aggressive, he tried to lighten the mood, pointing at the small shrubs beside Don jokingly. “I’m going to be eating that, okay?”

Jared chuckled again.

Mysteriously, Don sat up, went over a log, and left.

Bata and Ritand handed Jared the pamphlet from Don, who gave them the agreeing eyes.

The adventurers and the monster trio parted ways on a strange note.

Long after this encounter, returning focus to Promise City, Birdie and Twerp left their small office, saying goodbye to Kyra and Cali. They fidgeted with the mechanical toy that Ritand requested, complaining a customer or two. By the time they reached the city gates, they were guffawing about weird customer they had.

Furthermore, Solvent adjusted her girdle, seeing Birdie and Twerp turn a corner. “Hello, hi. I might have had a little call about two goblins taking a little too much time in the city.”

“No, Don told Bata to tell us that Kyra needed more time with—” said Twerp, bending over to brush the mud off his leg. “Either way, what is it, again, Birdie? What else did he say?”

Birdie said that he forgot, shushing Solvent before she spoke again.

Solvent stopped insulting them and left them to their themselves, continuing her rounds in the inner city.

Resuming Birdie and Twerp's journey on the road outside the city gates, when they passed by a group of adventurers, Birdie saw a hare person sitting in front of Ritand in the distance. “What is Ritand doing—” Birdie said, holding up his mechanical toy and sliding from side to side.

“‘Ritand,’” said Exterme, one of the younger adventurers, trudging up close. “Is the troll Ritand? What is it?”

Birdie raised a brow, chuckling. Twerp stood behind Birdie, studying the hare person.

Exterme stopped his scoff by clearing his throat; instead, his lip curled, and his eyes glinted with a sardonic rage. His mindset had taken a downturn after he lost a good deal with the city mayor Sam after he died.

He unveiled a dagger strapped to his waist.

Unaware, Birdie lowered his arm to his side, saying, “Yeah.” He hesitated, prolonging a vowel. He nudged Twerp on the lower back with his other arm.

In the same scene, Exterme stabbed at Birdie and hardened a whisper. “Tell me. Tell me, please. I need to know, or else, he’ll kill my only friends.”

Birdie fell to the ground, falling away. He died.

Shifting to the larger city, elsewhere, the gate with its water-stained cracks closed, and Cali put each of her children to sleep.

In another place, Don forgot to remove a small fire, trudging toward it, and falling backwards as the night birds fluttered about.

Back at the scene of the murder, Twerp grabbed Birdie’s shoulders and hugged him from behind, pulling him toward a log and boulder.

Exterme chased after them, shouting at Twerp to stop running.

After some time passed, Twerp told Exterme to look behind him.

When Exterme turned around, Algae, Kloe, and Jared grabbed him and put him to sleep.

Now that the chase was over, Twerp let himself collapse, falling to the ground as he tripped backwards, holding again onto Birdie. His face was strained, and his expressions were wrinkly. His mouth was moving up and down, as the hushed voice among the adventurers crescendoed.

Soon, the rest of the goblin warriors arrived, standing before one of their member's decaying body. Their eyes were hard, and then they were soft. They adjusted him until he was curled up.

After the group finally returned to the city and headed to an open forest area, Heset, who was the hare person, said, “How long does a goblin last—oh, sorry, manners." He was a part of the group Exterme belonged to, but he didn't think that Exterme would kill Bata like that. When Exterme chased Twerp, they still couldn't gather up the confidence to kill him. That was why it was a good thing they passed by the camp where Jared, Algae, and Kloe stayed earlier. They had gotten their help to stop Exterme. “How much can a warrior goblin take?” It was a weird question, but he felt that this incident was avoidable if Birdie was stronger. Of course, he knew that it was rest of the party's fault for just watching him chase after Twerp. But Birdie didn't have to die.

They were adventurers, so killing goblins was normal. But these adventurers were part of a new agreement that involved not fighting monsters associated with hermits like Don. Solvent was instrumental in this process, so even if he considered herself a lost soul after her loss, she still had a strong influence among the adventurers. In reality, she just needed a break.

Returning to the moment, incidentally, Ritand touched his pocket, where the mechanical toy Birdie had was.

Bata tried to answer Heset, “Good—”

“Enough for a beating," interrupted Twerp, echoing what he felt was Heset's mocking tone, directing this tone at Heset.

Heset sat down politely. “Is that how they describe you? ‘Underlings of Sam.’” In order to lighten the mood, he placed his legs on the table in front of him. He had the brightest intentions, but he always found a way to make things offensive.

And the thing was that Ritand and Bata were the ones being patient with him.

Heset was pushing a conversation with them, and Ritand and Bata were letting him do so.

Twerp curled his lip, making sure his arms leaned on the table against Heset’s legs.

Heset put down his legs and turned his head away.

“Don and I are done,” Bata said vaguely, leaning his arms beside Twerp’s hands on the table. “Anything?” He tilted his head toward Twerp and Ritand.

Twerp muttered and left the table at the same time as Heset did, putting on his gambeson.

Some time after this interaction, at an inn at Promise City, Jared smoothened his skirt and sat on a chair, hardening his voice. “Are you sure you want to do a side quest with us?” he said, putting a leg to the side of the chair and his other tiptoing on the ground. For context, Cali had mentioned that she wanted to join their small-time adventurer group. It was Don's first request to her.

“I need a little more though.” Cali raised a hand and made a pinch with two fingers.

They drank mugs of coffee, as Cali noticed Solvent. Solvent was walking backwards and conducting for a traveling choir.

She grabbed her arm and rubbed it back and forth. The presence of Don in the city bothered her, but it made her more safe at the same time.

She got up and finished her task, learning that the choirs had strange birthmarks on their necks.

When Algae left through the door before Jared, he made a hesitation sound first and then said, “That’s Solvent, some church official who has an outreach here. I know her from my time back at NCA.”

“Should I know what that means?” Cali said.

“Weak country, small country, power play stuff,” said Kloe, chewing with his mouth closed. “Why don't you tell me about your time there?.”

Algae slapped his neck, failing to hit a fly sitting on him. “I worked as staff for a month—”

Kloe guffawed and patted Algae on the arm, as Algae drew away, going in front of Jared, who was studying Heset standing on two legs.

“Do they have like an extra muscle in this?” Jared said, teasing Heset.

Heset heard and swore at him.

Jared backed off, laughing so hard he slapped the back of Kloe, who was laughing as well.

Kloe almost tripped from the impact. “Hey!”

Jared glanced between Heset and Kloe. “Apologies... Oh, yeah, the troll said he’d meet up... here.”

Eventually, outside the inn, Don arrived, towering over Jared, his expression stiff. He squatted down and said, “Why is it so hot in here?”

Jared raised a brow. “It’s hot in here because it’s the Palamatas." Seeing an opportunity to mention his goal for coming here to meet Don, he asked, "Can we say something?”

Don gave him a stare of agreement.

Jared sighed and moved the things he was holding under his arm. "I'll pay you for asking this once it's over, but how much does a goblin warrior—”

Kloe placed a hand on Jared. He muttered. “After the stunt Algae pulled?” He cursed. To clarify, it was Algae's idea to cage Bata, Birdie, and Twerp earlier, and Jared had been the one most in on it.

Patting his own forehead in contemplation, Jared looked at Algae and nodded, gesturing for him to talk.

Algae went forward and said, “What do you think we should do? You told us to leave you for a few days, and now, what do you want?” He was being direct.

Their previous interactions had been entirely vague due to how uncommunicative Don was as a troll. So this time, Algae was finally breaking the ice and directing everything to this singular point: "What do you want?"

Don took a deep breath and handed him a small toy.

Algae backed off two meters of distance instinctively. As a result of this, Kloe and Jared glared at him, worried that Algae's reaction might have offended Don. So Algae ran back to Don. “I think this means we’re fine?” he said.

Don was very bad at communication, but this world was weird. So the adventurers, with their already unique culture, were the closest ones to a sense that things were coherent and clear in terms of communication and direction.

Anyway, Don handed Algae a long list of names, some of which being Birdie’s extended family. At the top of the list, it read “Goblindom.”

Long afterwards, elsewhere, Jared, Kloe, and Algae and the rest of the members of their party "Saero" dropped off a cart. They surveyed the landscape where Sam’s goblin workers were clearing trees. These were the same workers whom Don had supposedly killed. But they were still alive.

“Sam is dead,” he read from a manuscript Ritand gave him. “Stop.” It was a reminder and a warning to the workers of their current position of weakness and new submission to Don.

The goblin workers looked overworked and dishevealed. Six of the goblin workers had been recuperating for injuries across their arms since Sam’s death. Earlier, these six took a stance against Don, and that was enough for Don to invite them after the goblin warriors.

“Don’t bother repeating,” one of them told Ritand.

Eventually, the goblin workers put down their tools and slumped down onto boulders. Some of them put their hands all over their heads and faces, groaning.

“I should have known Ritand had this in mind,” said Twerp, pacing back and forth behind the goblin workers. He was concerned about the workers, having been harmoniously under Sam with them for a long time.

“Ritand wants you replaced,” said Algae, rubbing his chin.

Surprised, Twerp tripped and dirtied himself.

“Is that enough?” Algae looked at Jared and Kloe, who were nodding at him. They wanted to test Twerp's resolve.

Meanwhile, Ritand stood in the distance.

Returning to Algae, he sighed and he continued, “I need someone I can trust here. I'll let you guys sort things out—" He was referring to the fact that the entire goblin worker group was being used up, so now, having been brought here by Don in order to keep watch, it was hard for him to feel comfortable, because they were adventurers, not Don's donkeys.

“Wait a minute,” said Jared and stood up, speeding up to Algae.

Twerp rubbed the last dirt particles off his clothes at his back. “Don’t worry. I had that with Birdie, I think.” He cupped his chin, failing to pull a boulder under him. He tried grabbing it with two hands and gave up. He sighed, sitting down where two of the goblin workers blocked his line of sight. “I might have done a little challenge under Kyra and Cali, remember?” He looked to his right and covered his mouth. “Ah, right—” He chuckled.

Around the same time, one of the goblin workers insulted one of the adventurers.

“Ah, see, that’s it. Just have a tiny brawl with your buddies. No hard feelings, okay?” He chuckled harder. He softened his voice. “I’m serious.” He saluted toward Extreme, who was passing by.

The adventurers, whose voices were so soft earlier, now shouted at Exterme, worried that he would attack Bata and Ritand since he had killed Birdie. Moreover, they were sure they themselves had sent him to prison. But Exterme was passing by like nothing had happened.

Twerp said: “I found it when you—is it, Jared? Is it fair that he gets to quit the party with only a few scratches—broken bones is fair? Sorry, man. I need more than that—” He was referring to an agreement between him and Jared. For context, Jared had already decided to quit his adventurer party. Moreover, Twerp was angry with Jared since Jared was the one tasked to kill Exterme.

Before anything could happen, Exterme left.

Later, Don got down from a carriage with Bata; the carriage belonged to Cali's father. Behind them, a mother and a child exited and sat down on their haunches at the side. Despite what happened between them in the past, Don had decided to let them come. As for the reasons of Don and the mother, Don just allowed things to happen when it presented itself, while the mother was curious about Don. For context, she didn't know that Ritand had created a magical explosion in the city and that Don had killed Sam. She was just curious after seeing Don earlier and asked to join her.

Anyway, Don minded the rocks on the ground before her and chewed an unpeeled saba banana without pulling it off from the mottled banana hand.

In the meantime, Twerp saluted as a teasing gesture, stopping when Ritand shot him a curious but piercing stare.

Shifting to Ritand, he was eating banana cue, handing half of it to Bata. Bata shook his head, grabbed it, and offered it to Twerp.

Ritand was still staring, as Twerp sat on his haunches with submission.

In the distance, the goblin workers stayed slumping on their boulders, and the adventurers bunched together on a slope like a choir.

Moving on to Bata, he dragged Twerp to him and said, “The mining business is why we are here.” He nodded at Ritand.

Ritand said, “Go with us.” He was holding a pickaxe and slamming at a few cobblestones.

“Just go? Now...?” Twerp wanted to say, but Ritand handed him a handful of gravel.

Twerp gave him a side glance and took the gravel, shaking as he balanced himself as he walked away. “What should I do...?”

Ritand said, “Give it to—” He pointed to Exterme, who was lying on the ground because of his broken body. Don pummelled him after seeing him on the way here earlier.

“I should really tell you how to deal with Birdie’s death.” Twerp chuckled, imitating Birdie’s laugh, tone, and words. “I know you’re struggling...” It was a weird statement, because he was the one that was struggling and confused. Ritand didn't care at all.

Ritand gave him an empty stare, looking at Don.

Don walked up to the goblin workers, listening to them talk about the hare people. She listened to the goblin warriors talk about this earlier, so she was curious.

However, a piercing scream broke Don’s focus.

It was Ritand who screamed. He lost his breath and fell to the ground, as an invisible enemy removed their invisibility to apply the final attack.

The structure of this little community included the goblin warriors, the goblin workers, the adventurers, Solvent, Ritand, Bata, Don, Cali, Kyra, and Twerp, among others. No matter how horrific Ritand scream was, the monsters did not feel anything.

Chapter 5 - Chaos in the City and the Forest Encounter
Callously, Don pushed Ritand down the slope, sliding toward the attacker gallopping away.

The adventurers stayed back and watched Don dashing and grabbing at anything to help boost her.

They wanted to know if Don was the powerful hermit they used to see her as.

Calli, who was standing far off from Don, near the attacker, watched the small attacker split to three forms. Each of these forms had twisted, spiraling appendages.

Don stopped.

Zooming into a magical illusion cast by the enemy, a parade of the crowds from Sam’s time rang in Don's ear, turning the ground into another playground for his whispers. Cali’s long complaints about Sam echoed through Don's body with Birdie’s narration. Sam’s strange stare blew against Don until she was skinless. This imagination was a wet stain on her muscles, growing every time she imagined herself rubbing her skin.

Returning to reality, the forms left the scene, and Ritand sat up, pushing the blood off himself. He dried his hands with a cloth, imitating Don one time.

Don sat down and glanced at the adventurers, goblin workers, two goblins, mother and child, and Solvent in the distance.

She interlaced her fingers and grinded them back and forth, and, after a long mouth smile, put her fingertips together into a steeple.

She stood up and walked up to the cart, passing it and stopping in the middle of the road.

She tilted her head, raising her gaze from the ground toward the distance ahead of her.

Even after being unable to catch the enemy, Don only looked a little bothered.

Later, Solvent arrived, walked up to her, and said, “Are we leaving again, the Don?” She was sweating and pretended to be tired by panting because she didn't want Don to feel threatened.

Heading into a new stage, some time after this event, some of Solvent’s new members in the church asked one of the city officials if they could help sweep the streets with the older women.

Transitioning to the road leading inside the city, there, Solvent sighed, looking between Don and Orlanta City, which lay at the horizon.

Embarking on a metaphorical journey, the looping spiral of architectural comprehension welcomed the used coffee grounds. The coffee grounds provided the coffee plants their precious fertilizer. Solvent opened the gates and closed them, and she put the coffee grounds in sacks and removed them. The looping spirals were the gates, and the coffee grounds were the people: the gates and the people were the city. She said, “The city is right there.”

Falling back to the moment, Solvent looked at Don, curious.

Don stared long, ignoring Solvent and the city, imagining the horizon.

Progressing into the inner city, humans patrolled around with a troll there. “Helping is not obligatory,” said the troll, blocking traffic and directing the traffic to another road that he opened up. “I need every one of you directly combined with the small task force in Small Blithe.”

When Ritand cast the magical explosion, most of the inner city burned down, representing the loss of the city's first layer of skin.

Alongside this loss, opportunistic monsters from outside gathered around and replaced the gangs that fell apart. Adding to the chaos, bandits waited outside the city, offering a way for these monsters to get inside smoothly, and once the monsters took the bait, they robbed them.

In response to the chaos, the city authorities created many new provisional forces. As a result, the bandits stopped after only one day. Coincidentally, mage apprentices and squires practiced their hands during this time, being part of the forces.

Returning to Don, as she walked toward the city.

Meanwhile, Solvent remembered her dream two years ago.

In this dream, she and Don fought each other. Don gave her a light slap and asked her what she needed to be strong. In response, Solvent threw out a flock of orbs from her rolling fingers and let them bloom in the whirls of the air and fade. She tore gasses from her mouth with her nails, letting the pressure explode. She tired and dropped to the ground, making a light hiccup. Don put each orb down and slammed her fists against the pavement, bringing the stones to slam against the orbs. She sucked the gasses that flew across his face, coughing them out until she laughed, roaring all the air out. Solvent died soon after.

Returning to reality, some time after Solvent and Don entered the city, many things occurred in different locations and times.

First, Solvent’s eyes moved from Don to small goblins. These goblins greeted humans and asked them about their opinions on clothing.

Second, Don could only have gotten stronger since then. She strided across the road and reached the city, towering above the guardstones of the gate. Her presence demanded a coalition against her, but she was too far from them to feel the pinches of one.

Third, Calli recruited, screened, and interviewed applicants from a human influx that Solvent provided.

Progressing to the fourth longer scene, Jared dropped by a shop and asked as he waved goodbye at the Don and the others. “Oh, dang, the prices have gone up. Is the price the same there?”

Calli glanced between him, Kyra, Algae, and Kloe. Algae exchanged four silver coins for lettuce and said, poking a curious child on the hands, “It’s somewhat thrice as expensive—” A mother shouted at him, telling him to stop touching her child. He apologized and bowed his head, grabbing his 10 bronze coins change. “It might be temporary because of the fire.”

“Fire,” Calli said, frowning, looking at Don. She thought Don might tell her about the fire since she told her that she killed Sam.

Kyra looked at Algae, asking him if he preferred people with children.

Algae thought she asked him if he felt a kinship with people with children. He nodded, having a goodbye with the child, hiding himself when he saw the mother glance at him. He had been entertaining the child before the mother finished her business with the vendors.

Jared poked inside one of the stores, finding an empty rocker. “I notice that some of these stories have weird scratchings. Do you guys see this in the others, too?”

Algae frowned and arrived first before Calli, who was busy asking Don about the fire.

Venturing into the fifth scene, Kloe was making his rounds when he saw a bunch of hare people gathering to demolish a house.

Sixth, a group of human contractors put down the last goblins in front of them. They tore through the books that the goblin warriors stole from their client by accident. Three goblins, friends of Birdie and Twerp, died.

Seventh, Solvent used the spell Heaven’s Joy and fractured the shields and armor until they fell upon the stalagmites that awaited them. She laughed, remembering the story Birdie told her about Calli. She burned the contractors, whose gambesons read “NCA,” and “Hellioawwerax.”

Eighth, Exterme was sitting down, waiting for his wounds to heal, remembering the quest that the hermit Don told them. He said the words: “‘Go to the city to the west, and I’ll reward you with a pretty heavy wand.’” Also, he remembered Algae, Kloe, and Jared’s words and actions.

“I should know that all hermits ask you to get something faraway as a last request,” he quoted Algae, imitating his movements when he said this, shaking his leg as if he had cramps.

“Assuredly, you know the foes of the hermits—the warlocks, remember?” he quoted Kloe. In imitation of him, he rolled his shoulders around and pressed against his waist, failing to crack his body when he twisted around.

“‘I wouldn’t know—’” he quoted Jared, imitating him by chewing on air, drinking from air, and faking a lame burp.

After doing this, he greeted a young man with uneven eyes.

Diving into the ninth scene, three hours ago, in the city Hereas, a young man lifted both whips of his hair back to its place, tearing open a large chest, leg pressed against it. He sighed and removed all the weight of his voice. “Howdy, little chesty. Make sure you’re tight and hungry.” He gave the mimic a light slap on the side. “Oy, I know you’re in there, Funny!” He already had a name for this random mimic.

The mimic felt the boot with cone-endings, metal straps around the middle, and a long blade jutting out from beneath.

The man kicked the mimic to the wall, jumped, and caught it. “Oh, silly Funny!” He ripped apart with his hands the mouth that had failed to open and dumped poisonous leaves inside. He laughed, watching as the mimic went ballistic and rolled around hoping for its tongue to get every inch of poison out.

He stopped laughing when the mimic threw its tongue and wrapped it around his leg. He cut it in an instant, putting back in its place his short sword. “I suggest you put that down, Mister.” He chewed his lip and squatted in front of it, leaning his head. He grasped it on the side and stared inside, caressing it up and down. “You need to stop and give me the core.” He whispered hushes and tight nudges along where its shoulders and back would be.

His voice turned to shallow breaths.

The mimic jumped and ran away out of the room and around a corner.

He laughed with giggles toward the end, his smile softening his masculine grippy features. He waved his hand from side to side, saying “Bye,” a poof escaping his mouth.

A few minutes later, the mimic yelped after he turned another corner.

The human was in the distance in front of him, leaning the side of a knee against the wall, resting both hands on it, and stretching his other leg forward. His head pointed toward his other leg, and he eyed him, smirking, as a dimple formed on his face’s one side.

The mimic gasped and hyperventilated, running down a flight of stairs.

The human left the dungeon and appeared in front of a monster group, the weight returning to his voice. “It’s there, but I can’t beat it. Can you help me—”

A troll slapped him. “What is it with you?” she said, her voice mirroring that of a neglected child. “Respect those who’ve come to help you in the first place. Say ‘may!’ ‘May!’”

“I see.” The human, Hellioawwerax touched his face, tilting his head downwards at her necklace.

It shone bright every time its owner was emotional, and it wasn’t shining now.

“Good one!” He laughed, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She kicked him on the balls and got one of the other monsters beside her to punch him in the face.

He fell to the ground, his body aching on the belly, sides, balls, and knees. “Ah, did it break?”

She raised an hatchet and hurled it down in an arc, stopping before it hit his face. “You see this. Beg.”

“Ah, sorry, let me just—”

“Beg!”

“Not sorry anymore—” He disappeared and appeared behind them with a mimic under his arm, looking at it. “Howdy, Funny. Howdy, Missus.” He grinned, his face red, but the mimic’s eyes redder.

The mimic lashed its tongue and broke their armor, as Hellioawwerax swooped in to unarm them from their weapons and shields. He jumped over them in a front flip, placed sticky glue where their limbs folded, landed with outstretched arms in a bow, and dashed away. “Hehe.”

The mimic jumped toward him, and he caught it in the air as he jumped, falling over the cliff. “See ya, major suckers for life!”

“I love you, little Funny. Remind me of this when I get old, okay?” He gave it a warm smile, making the mimic his little pet.

“I should really give you a hug.” His voice was distant as if he remembered something.

A dragon arrived to catch him, asking him about the rest of the monsters.

“‘They died because of their weakness’—” He laughed, interrupting himself. He patted the dragon and pointed a sword to the horizon, where they landed in a forest below them. He sang a song about the city mayor Sam, as the dragon finished flapping his winds.

A tall forest of trees that covered the sky welcomed him with melodies of the flapping of birds and the calls of animals of big and small. He shook with excitement, holding onto the dragon’s bone’s wing, bouncing with rotation.

The mimic struggled to get down, being careful as it edged its way.

He caught it, hugged it, and put it down, listening to the growing whispers of the forest. He gulped and looked at his dragon and then at the mimic’s back in front of him. He took a deep breath and sped up his walk.

He saw a small bouncy woman dancing in a clearing in front of him.

He frowned because he was thinking, but then, he smiled because he had an idea.

He cast a spell of protection for himself and had the dragon sit and watch. He brought the mimic with him and joined the woman, standing in front of her and starting with a kick to the left.

He danced, watching the slow fall of her arms as she spun and spun as her eyes locked with his.

He was amazed by how well she kept her gaze and applauded her, nodding, clapping, and saying goodbye to the mimic by tapping it.

He asked her, “Is the sun bright today? Or are you one of the forest elves?”

“Yes.”

“Uh, I see, bright today, huh? He looked up where the clouds and the trees covered the sun. “W-what? You’re an elf?”

The elven woman smiled and nodded. “Yes,” she repeated.

“I see. How about this?” He handed her a large orb and deepened his already low voice. “Do you like orbs?”

The woman screamed.

She galloped toward the orb and swallowed it whole, choking on it.

He stared at her, glancing between her and the mimic walking up to his side.

She stopped choking and got the orb down in her stomach.

He puked and watched the ground turn purple and red.

The woman’s legs got taller, as her head reached higher and higher up up to the forest canopy. She manically laughed as her voice dried up, cracking and disappearing into nothingness.

He gave a nervous laugh and walked away, hiding underneath the dragon’s wing.

The woman swung her fist at him.

He caught it, but his hand slipped in a second, half-tripping.

The adventurer Exterme stabbed the woman, pulling her left and right and failing to kill her. He struggled to pull it out and stabbed her again on the cheek. He winced, running away when the woman clawed at him.

Meanwhile, Bata and Ritand followed behind him, slumping down on the ground.

They had avoided talking and reacting to Exterme when they reminded him about the quest a long while ago.

Exterme grew frustrated, punching the woman on the cheek until she avoided his middle-finger punches.

Hellioawwerax took a deep breath and sat down a distance away from the woman, Exterme, Bata, and Ritand. He continued the song from a while ago.

Jumping to the broader level concluding these nine scenes, this was a very surreal, ambiguous, and disjointed series of events.