Husband of the Goblin Tribe

[v2] Chapter Four – In which Mint decides to challenge Diana Artemis for the sake of fulfilling the wish of the Last Bloodmaw

~~** Interlude | Mint **~~

I had never thought I would go toe to toe against Diana Artemis in a fight, but I realized that this was what I must have been sent back for. The reason why I was chosen to occupy the body of the should-be-deceased Bloodmaw goblin, Mint. I realized it only when Diana mentioned it in the bath right after Ebony and I tried to open the door to Ark Wyze’s bedroom in what he called the breeding room… the real one, anyway, not the facsimile I had seen in the future of the VRMMORPG long after the Bloodmaw had been wiped off the face of the world. She had engaged in an extremely adult activity with him and even claimed that he liked it.

But I knew it to be otherwise.

He was currently fighting an internal battle with his Humanity and his burgeoning Goblinity. Is that even a word? Well, it is now. He hasn’t yet embraced what it means to be a Bloodmaw Goblin, and I don’t blame him. I’m having a bit of a hard time doing the same, and I suspect a few of my fellow sisters are as well.

This is why I challenged her.

In front of everyone in the chapel, as Diana was saying aloud that she would take care of him as she had before after they had hunted the Black-claws, a legendary story which already existed before I had taken over the body of Mint, I had interrupted her and said no.

I must have been crazy, because Diana Artemis is strong. I don’t know how strong exactly, because my HUD won’t let me see her current level. It’s just a crimson color that used to be accompanied by an old bit of flavor text that read: What would you like your tombstone to say?

It doesn’t say it now, but the color was a definite warning in the VRMMORPG that engaging that particular entity in combat was pretty much a guaranteed death wish.

Still, this was most certainly a main story quest event, and I had to try. I had to take hold of Ark Wyze and act as a counselor for him, to help put him on a path he himself lamented at not being able to take due to his morality at the time. While I didn’t necessarily agree with it, I knew at the very least that it would be problematic for everyone if he woke up in the care of Diana Artemis.

So, I challenged her to be the one to look after him.

I honestly expected to lose, but I still had to do it.

We both left the chapel and went outside. Diana had her weapons, ripper and bleed already equipped, and I had nothing but my HUD and a couple of prepared Multi-Rune macros queued up, something I had been working on with Ark Wyze ever since he taught me how to create the Wolf Wind spell some months ago in Melon’s Kitchen.

Since my character status listed my class as a [Bloody Druid], I decided to make use of magic spells which would have a great deal of affinity to a Druid. Unfortunately, none of those spells involved summoning or using any kind of tamed animals. I’ve never been good with the pet system, preferring to trust in my own singular PVP skills.

Also, this is not going to be a lethal duel. Diana is responsible enough to pull her punches. It’s more of a whoever is first to land a potentially disabling hit on the other is considered the winner. Which is why I need to be smart about how to handle her.

We stood some distance apart, and Prima herself had come out to witness our duel. Standing about ten body lengths apart, we both readied ourselves and were told to begin.

Diana immediately rushed towards me, but I had something like an ace up my sleeve, were I to have more than a loincloth on, that is…

I quickly queued up one of my three Rune spell slots and activated it immediately. A large bramble of spikes grew up from the ground quickly and enveloped me in a thorny shroud. It was big enough that should Diana try to pierce through it with Bleed, she would not get away from being pricked by a number of rather viciously barbed thorns.

My second spell was then used, a combination of a rooting spell, tangling her feet, followed up with two large roots that would slap at her a few times before withering. I had managed the first part of it, snaring her legs up to the knees, but she was able to dodge and deflect the two roots that had set about trying to slap her.

She wasn’t one of the strongest in the tribe for no reason. Her practical experience in combat was the real deal.

The last of my spells had been cast at the same moment that her legs had been snared. It was something I hadn’t tested yet but figured it would work. It had a delay in casting time as well, and so I didn’t target where she was, but a space just in front of me. Where I expected her to be, since I didn’t think she would be snared for more than a few seconds once the slapping roots withered.

It was, what I thought, perfect timing when it happened.

She had used her weapons to tear at the snaring roots around her legs and then rushed at me once more. A large blast of lightning had come down right in front of me, and I had actually worried for a second that it had struck her.

But this was Diana Artemis.

She wasn’t without a bit of Ark Wyze’s magic, either.

When my eyes could see again after the sudden brilliance of the lightning bold stole my vision for a second or two, I felt the stone edge of bleed against my neck… from behind.

Prima had declared that I had lost the duel.

Curious about what happened during that moment when the lightning struck the ground?

Diana Artemis had said before that when hunting, she has moments when time seems to slow to a crawl, and she can react accordingly to that. According to what she said after claiming her victory, she had time to see the lightning bolt come down, leap to the side to avoid it, dashed behind me, lifted the bramble of spikes that protected me with her claw-like weapon, ripper, taking a few superficial pricks from it in trade before pressing bleed against my neck.

She’s truly a frightening opponent.

But she’s also extremely honorable and kind to those of us weaker than her.

“What was that magic? I’ve never seen Husband or Shaman use them before when we sparred!” She asked me excitedly after removing bleed from against my neck.

The next while was spent explaining some of my custom Multi-Rune spells to her. She knew I could use magic, but since I didn’t spar with her all that much, she wasn’t aware of any spells I could use that wasn’t Ark Wyze’s Wolf Wind or the same spell both Ark and Glace could use that sent a blast of wind outward and usually lifted whoever or whatever was in its path, flinging them quite a bit of distance away.

“Mint… do you have a reason for wanting to keep me away from Husband?”

Let it be said that Diana Artemis is also extremely clever. I’d fear going against someone with A-rank stats in every category over someone with S-rank stats in only one and B-rank in all the others.

“I do.”

“Let me hear it.”

“…it’s about what you said in the bath yesterday.”

“About Husband and me?”

I nodded.

“I’m not trying to interfere with what you two did. I just don’t think you really understand how different Human society is, and how he might not be okay with what happened.”

“And you know?”

“I do. I believe Stella will confirm such things if you don’t believe me.”

“Why wouldn’t I believe you? You are my sister.”

I took a deep breath and exhaled. This conversation was a lot more civil than I expected it to be, especially considering Diana was still in the last day or so of her Blood Fury.

“Can… we talk somewhere privately for a moment?”

Diana agreed and we moved inside Goblinhome to Melon’s Kitchen. Both Button and Melon were there, but those two I felt were okay to overhear what I needed to talk with Diana Artemis about. Button, who was waiting for Melon to finish making something cooked and easy to eat so she could deliver it to Ark Wyze at the chapel, joined us at the table we occupied.

“So, it’s like this. You know how we were told by our… maker goblins, as well as Old One, that the purpose of a female Bloodmaw is to take the strongest big-seed and make the strongest strong-ones with it?”

Diana nodded, and so did Button who was listening.

“It’s very different for Humans. To a Human, especially a male Human which he is, having strong-ones, particularly female strong-ones which they call daughters, creates a certain instinct inside of them to protect.”

“Diana Artemis knows this. Hunting Black-claws with Husband, he was very careful to make sure I was exposed to the least amount of danger between us.”

“Yes, but it’s different for him. While that instinct also extends to other females in the tribe, because you were made from his big-seed, that means to him that you also carry his blood. And that’s something that Humans instinctually find to be a bad thing. In their society, they absolutely do not make strong-ones with their own strong-ones, and not just because on occasion that will lead to a child with… many issues. Issues far worse than what Vera, Glace, or Figurine have.”

“But Old One also said that Bloodmaw have the Origin Blood. As long as the seed is big-seed, we will never have weak-ones.”

“I’m not denying that. However, the problem is getting him to understand that. Getting him to accept that it’s not a forbidden thing to make strong-ones willingly with his strong-ones… strong-ones who are Bloodmaw and not Humans who do not have the Creator’s blessing. Right now, he is not thinking like a Bloodmaw. He’s thinking like a Human who did a bad thing with his precious daughter who shares his blood. That he failed to protect her by doing that with her. He is not okay right now, and I think if he wakes up next to you, he will think you may have done that with him while he slept and he will be in a much worse state of mind.”

Diana Artemis frowned.

“Are you saying that Husband will never want to make strong-ones with us?”

“I’m not saying that. What I am saying is that we will need to come up with a way for him to accept that it is okay for him to do so. But for now, let me look after him. I think I can be useful here. I know for a fact that he loves his daughters more than anything else. More than the adult goblins, and more than himself. Perhaps I can somehow turn that to our favor.”

“Mint… do you also want to make a strong-one with Husband?”

I had thought back to before I had occupied the body of Mint. Back when I was in my previous character and had experienced what Ark Wyze did to it in order to continue the side quest story of the [Last Bloodmaw]. It was something I didn’t have real life experience with, or even VR experience with!

“I’m not sure yet. But I do want the Bloodmaw to become a large tribe with many strong goblins!”

Diana nodded.

“It’s okay to wait and decide. You’ll be an adult goblin like me soon enough.”

If I were perhaps really a young goblin, I might take that comment in stride. But I am—or at least the me on the other side of the VR2L device is pretty much an adult already…

I feel like I lost something important in this exchange with Diana.

“What about Button? You want to have strong-ones with Husband, right?”

Button quietly nodded.

“Husband has a mushroom. There is no question that we are meant to make many strong mushroom-goblins.”

It seems Button is also a member of the true Bloodmaw faction. Well, she’s a bit obsessed with mushrooms just like Truffle is, and the mushroom she’s talking about Ark Wyze having is the cause of the current conundrum.

“Orchid and Lilac feel the same. MELON! DO YOU WANT TO MAKE STRONG-ONES WITH HUSBAND TOO?”

Diana shouted towards Melon who was in the side room that was the actual kitchen part of Melon’s Kitchen. Instantly, a shout was returned our way.

“YES! MANY MANY!”

Okay. Let’s add Melon to the faction as well. I can probably assume Game and Fun are of the same mind. Ebony… I’m on the fence about. While she does call him Husband like most of the others, I think that she has more of a sense of being an actual daughter than a prospective wife.

A moment after that, Melon yelled out again.

“BUTTON, IT’S READY!”

Button left us and went to take the food that Melon made out to the chapel. Since Melon wasn’t cooking anything else at the moment, Diana had her make a hamburger for me and something entirely uncooked for herself. After some further talk about it, Diana agreed to let me watch over Ark Wyze and put my plan into action.

All that remained was to move him to Pepper’s cave-hole. When I brought it up, Diana objected.

“It will be easier if it’s just you and Husband, right? You can talk about Human things without Pepper interfering.”

Diana suggested that he be brought to one of the new cave-holes that he made at the rear of the main floor of Goblinhome. From the way she said it, I didn’t think I could go against it.

“Alright. Thanks for trusting me on this.”

We left Melon’s Kitchen in agreement, and Ark Wyze was eventually transported by Prima who had no problem at all carrying him by herself. Prima was then brought into the loop by Diana Artemis about what was going on, and she also agreed it was a good idea to break him of, and I quote: “Any stupid Human superstitions he has that might get in the way.”