I wake up and feel a falling sensation.

*THUD*

And then a landing sensation.

I get up and find myself on the grassy ground below the house.

*wheeze* *wheeze* “Fuck! Did you finally wake up you shitty goblin?!”

I look back up to the house and see that Lizz is standing at the edge of the house’s entrance while wheezing heavily.

‘How did she even get there? I thought she couldn’t move that far away from the book?’

While I’m looking at Lizz I also see a rope going over the edge of the house’s floor and when I follow it I see that it eventually leads to me.

It’s tied around my waist.

I start climbing my way back up to the house while trying to mutter something(Didn’t work, I’m still mute), this time on a tree that’s a bit closer, all the while I hear Lizz swearing and throwing a tantrum about how much of a heavy sleeper I am.

When I finally get back inside I see that the other end of the rope that’s tied to my waist is tied around the book and that the book is now much closer to the entrance.

‘So that’s how she moved so far!’

I try to send her a glare again, but judging by how she doesn't seem to notice at all I think my mask got in the way again.

‘Speaking of mask.’

*flutter* *flutter*

Hey Lizz, you said I was wearing a mask yesterday, what’s it look like?

“What, don’t feel like taking it off and and showing your face in front of a lady?” She says while smiling mischievously.

I can’t take it off, it’s stuck to my face. Just tell me what it looks like already.

Lizz then starts looking me in the eyes, tilts her head and looks to be in deep thought.

After a while she straightens herself out, holds one of her hands, palm upwards, in front of herself and hits it with her other.

“It’s like a pearl!” She says, seemingly satisfied and proud of her answer.

Like a pearl? What do you mean?

“Well, other than your eyeholes it’s completely smooth and shiny, I can even see a vague reflection of myself in it. Actually, you look kinda like a pearl with red seaweed growing out of it!” She says while leaning backwards, seemingly even prouder.

I think she might have been trying to puff out her chest, but since there's nothing to puff out it just looks like she's leaning backwards.

I look at her with pity as she seems completely unaware of what I’m thinking.

‘Come to think of it, what should I do now? I was originally planning on maybe just staying in the house and live peacefully since i don’t really need anything to survive… but since i know that Shiona is somewhere in this world now I want to go out and find her. And to do that I need information.’

Say, you were stuck to the book, right? So that means that if I bring the book with me when I leave to find a town I’d be forced to take you as well?

“Yup. Now that I finally found someone who can use the book I’m not letting you get away from me, even if you are a shitty purple goblin.”

Honestly, why do you keep calling me a goblin? What part of me makes me look like a goblin?

“You’re the same height as a fucking goblin so I’m calling you a goddamn goblin until you prove me the fuck wrong.”

Something about that remark seemed off to me, but I was too annoyed to pay enough attention to remember it.

Say, what does a goblin's hand feel like?

“Very thin and bony, usually very ragged too, why? You of all people ought to know what a goblin's hand is li-”

While she’s in the middle of talking I quickly stretch out my arm and grab her, my fingers reaching all the way around her and covering everything from below her shoulders to her knees.

“Iii! Thi-this is… so.. sof..sof…” *Snore*

‘wait… what?’

Suddenly the book jumps up from the ground, and with a *flutter* *flutter* it turns to a new page.

Lulling Touch

Due to being a creature that is commonly believed to help ward off sleepless nights you have been given this ability.

This ability will cause those who touch you while using this ability to slowly fall asleep.

The effect of this ability is exponentially proportional to how big of a surface area of the target that you are touching

‘What? it says slowly but… Then again my hand was covering more than three quarters of her body so I guess that’s why it worked so quickly.’

And then i realise:

‘Wait. I didn’t have this ability before! Did I just get it? Or does the book only show them after I’ve already used them once? If it’s the latter then does that mean I could have more Active Skills that i don’t know about?’

Either way, when I looked at the Active Skills tab again Lulling Touch now showed up below Phasing.

*drip* *drip*

Suddenly I hear a dripping sound so I look outside, expecting it to start raining soon. but…

*drip* *drip*

The sound is coming from inside.

I look to where the sound is coming from, and see that Lizz, still sleeping in my hand, has started drooling and it’s dripping on the floor.

“...”

I decide to put her down, and the moment I let go of her fully, she immediately jerks upward with eyes wide open in shock.

“What…”

‘Uh oh.’

“That was…”

‘Oh no.’

“So soft!!!” ‘Wha?!’

Suddenly her eyes, which i thought were filled with shock, start sparkling while she’s looking at me.

“I haven’t slept that well since before I came to this place!”

“...” I start walking backwards to get away from her.

“I was already planning to follow you to see the book in action, but now there's absolutely no way I’m letting you get away from me!”

She tries to fly towards me but it seems her wings are sticking to each other due to her drool so after trying it once she starts walking towards me instead, al the while having a crescent moon chaped smile and a dangerous glint in both her eyes.

‘How can something so small be so terrifying?!’

I keep walking away only to find that I’ve backed myself into a corner, I try to run to the side only for her to run up and glomp me.

As i struggle to get her off of me I slowly start resigning to my fate.

I guess this means we won’t be leaving for the town today either.

*Snore*