She ushered him out the door, and quietly closed it behind him. He remained where he was for a moment, before heading off in search of houses. He had to find a place that didn’t have any inhabitants, as well as not being able to see the boat. His plan was to lie to the Aspirant, whose name he hadn’t got…and keep her in the house until after the Goblins had sailed away.

It took him some time to find a good place. A lot of the houses were facing the docks, and had at least one Goblin inside it. He had accidentally walked in on one family having lunch, and subsequently had plates thrown at him until he left – he was once again thankful for [Phantom State]. Not far from there, he had found the place, a small shack nestled between houses that was facing towards what seemed like a church. He did briefly consider that place instead, but decided that it was a bit too obvious. With a place in mind, he just needed to wait until night came to enact his plan.

With nothing better to do, he spent the rest of the day observing the town as the Goblins started the long process of packing. There was some violence, stabbing and snarling while fighting over possessions. There was also kindness, whittling toys for kids so they wouldn’t be bored during the journey. However, It was mostly just chaos. He saw the extremes everywhere, but not all of them were bad.

He made his way back to the town hall, and hesitated before entering. What he was about to do could be considered really dumb…but at this rate the Goblins would be finished by tomorrow, and there was one thing he wanted to do before they left. He walked down the hallway again, his feet squeaking occasionally on the still somewhat polished floor. He entered the main hall to find it almost empty, with only a snoozing warrior in the corner, and of course, the three Chieftains. He made his way down, the sound of his footsteps covered by the loud snoring, and eventually he stood before the leaders. They were staring intently at a piece of paper, their brows furrowed with concentration. The Icy Caverns noticed him first, and his eyes lit up. “Ah, human, come here and help.”

The other two glanced up as well, their eyebrows raised. Jason eyed them, but complied, being ready to use his State at the drop of a pin. He stepped up to see what they were looking at, and his gaze widened at the sight of a beautifully weathered map. Its edges were stained and burnt in places, but the artwork on it remained glossy. His eyes wandered over the visibly shifting waters, with tentacles rising occasionally from the depths. Giant eyes with oddly shaped pupils would slowly blur into focus, before fading away as flashing storms rolled over them. Down in the corner, he could see an ‘X’ on some wind-swept beaches. Above it, there was a name that had been crossed out in a flowing manner. ‘Seaholm’, and to the left of it was Frogob instead. His eyes widened as at the very edge of the map, to the north-west of Frogob, was another name, Danist.

‘Ding’ [Living Map of the Eastern Seas]

He blinked. This town wasn't called Fogob originally…He looked back up at the Chieftains. It must have been them. I wonder where they got the map? “Is this accurate? The tentacles and storms, and stuff?”

The Deep Marsh leader grunted in affirmation. “We don’t know how to read it.” She stated, like a challenge.

Jason was taken aback. “O-oh? And you think that I can?”

They frowned. “Your human right?”

“Yeeees?” he said questiongly.

They glanced at each other, before The Icy Caverns Chieftain snorted. “Useless human. You must know more than us?”

“Well, I…” He looked down again, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. “Nope. The maps I’ve worked with have been for land, never the sea.”

The Chieftain huffed, and Jason frowned, looking down at the ‘X’ again. “Isn’t this a magic map though? I wouldn’t be surprised if it showed you your position.”

They frowned, and this time, the Shifting Sands spoke up. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “Well, it just makes sense, doesn’t it? A magic map that shows what's happening over the eastern ocean should show where itself is? I mean there is a big sign over Frogob.”

The Deep Marsh leader hummed thoughtfully, her deep voice vibrating through the table. “We’ll have to hope that’s the case. There isn’t much else we can do.” She looked up at him again. “Thank you. Was there something you wanted to ask?”

Jason pursed his lips. “Yeah, it's just…what are you guys going to do once you make it?”

She cocked her head. “Set up our settlements again, while some of us break off into roving bands to hunt and plunder. As we have always done.”

Jason winced at the word plunder. “I see…maybe…”

The Icy Caverns Chieftain leaned forward. “Maybe what? Say it.”

He swallowed at his sudden looming presence and was very aware of how exposed he was.

“Icy Caverns, enough. Let me hear what he wishes to say.”

The Chieftain glowered at the female Goblin, but still listened. Jason took a deep breath. “I was just going to say, you guys are nearly extinct, right?”

They stiffened, especially the Shifting Sands leader, but he pressed on. “Surely, there must be something you guys are doing for it to be like this. I mean, this town is a perfect example, any normal person would swear vengeance for all the people you…” He stopped. It had never really hit him, what they had done here. There had never been any bodies, and he’d been too busy with his problems to think about it. Yet now? He imagined the screams of despair that must have filled this place when they attacked, not to mention…the children. Goosebumps rose on his skin, and he looked up at them, at their uncaring gazes. Monsters.

Then the Deep Marsh Chieftain sighed, and took off her circlet, while rubbing her eyes. “You’re not the first to say so, Jason.” A jolt ran through him. How does she…? “There are some places where Goblins are allowed to coexist, but there is always a price. We were forced into the people we are today. Hungry pillagers, that's all we are, and we can’t stop now, can we? It's too late. We’re a hardy race, incredibly adaptable. There aren’t many factions that could roam the Wildlands like we could. What would you do, boy? If you were hunted by the world, to the point where every person you leave alive is added to the approaching army? If your tribe was starving? Would you have the strength to do whatever it takes?”

He stared at her, his mouth hanging open. The Shifting Sands Chieftain snorted, and turned back to the others. “Come on, we better try our best to plan, in case this map doesn’t work like we hope.” They then ignored him, giving him an unspoken dismissal. He exhaled slowly, and turned to walk out of the building.

His thoughts were blank as he wandered back to the house. He didn’t even realise when he had arrived, too caught up in his mind. Snap out of it. It just means my plan hasn't changed… He sighed, and opened the door. Some of the Rotting Hill tribe were already there, lounging about. They apparently trained when he was wandering, refining their skills; which reminded him, he needed to work on trying to manipulate bone. He felt that something to distract him would be nice right now, so he grabbed the bones that he’d set aside for exactly this, and took them up to his room. He spent the next hour or so fruitlessly trying to ‘familiarise’ himself with the element. This mainly included him gnawing on it, feeling it, but most importantly, extending his Mana into it. That was a bizarre experience. He had spent a few minutes floundering to make it move, and had almost given up when it suddenly did exactly what he asked. The moment he focused on it again, it twitched and swirled back. He sighed in frustration, thinking about how he managed it; he had just done it, he didn’t think about how at all. So, keeping his mind blank, he tried doing it again – It worked flawlessly, it was incredible; the storm behind his heart flowed like water along his arm and into the bone…doing absolutely nothing. He exhaled noisily, and tossed the bone onto the dresser. It looked like he wasn’t going to figure it out anytime soon. He heard the door opening downstairs, and the muffled steps of people entering. Ah…I need to talk to the Mink. He got up and headed downstairs, walking into the kitchen once more. The Rotting Hill tribe all stopped what they were doing, and looked at him, surprised.

“Jason?” Gomorra asked from where she was gutting a fish.

He nodded. “I’m going to stay for an extra night.” He didn’t say anything else, and they seemed to accept it. He moved over to help in whatever way he could – which wasn’t much, there were already ten of them. He popped out the plates, and spotted the Mink which was looking at him curiously. He pointed at it, and then himself, before upstairs; understanding dawned in its eyes, and it started swimming in the air. It followed him as he walked out, and back to his room. He held the door open for it, and closed it with a soft thud. “So Mink, you’re going to stay?”

The Mink gave the expressional equivalent of raising an eyebrow. “I’m taking that as a yes. I…out of curiosity, are you okay with that?”

The Mink blinked, and snorted, waving him off.

“You are? But you’ll be a test subject, trapped.”

It shook its head and used magic to lift up the bone he’d thrown. It hovered in the air, before zipping it out of the window. Jason stared as the bone quickly disappeared into the distance. The Mink pointed at itself proudly and then towards the window.

“I was still using that, you know.”

Its expression fell a bit, but it still waited for him.

He looked at it thoughtfully. “You know, you were pretty sadistic when we first started hanging out. Why are you changing?”

Its face changed and it almost looked…guilty?

He frowned, and hesitated, before sighing. “Well… never mind that. Was that demonstration to show me you can escape whenever? Why haven’t you?”

It pointed straight at him.

What the fuck. “You…were concerned about me?”

It nodded. “I really don’t understand, but okay. There’s one thing that I wanted to talk about.” He regarded it seriously. “I want to be able to get back to my world one day, or at least tell the people who care about me that I’m okay, alright? You’re my best chance for that to happen, so I want to tell you…you still owe me. This whole mess? Really is because of you. So, I need you to figure out a way back. I don’t expect you to devote everything to it, there isn’t a time limit or anything…I think so at least, but you are the only one who can help me, understand?”

The Mink had gone very quiet, and nodded meekly. Jason grimaced. “Come on, don’t look like that, it doesn’t suit you at all. You…” He hesitated. Was he really about to comfort the little rat? He gazed at it, its uncharacteristic expression almost reminding him of a…child? He sighed, and kneeled down. “Look, I don’t appreciate what you did, you’ve put me in serious danger, however…it might not be so bad. This world seems so interesting, with magic, amazing creatures like you, and even more, I’m guessing. So, this is an opportunity for me. I…don’t hate you, and whatever resentment I’ve got will definitely go if you can find a way back, alright?”

The Mink blinked, and then its starry eyes shone a little brighter, its chest puffing out and it gave him a small salute.

He chuckled. “Alright. Cool. Thank you, it does mean something to see that you’ll correct your mistakes.” His nose twitched as a familiar smell wafted up through the floorboards. He rolled his eyes. “Well, it looks like dinner is ready. I wonder what it could be?”

The Mink huffed, and swam up, before using manipulation to open the door for both itself and him. They made their way downstairs where the Rotting Hills members gave them suspicious glances. It didn’t matter to him. His thoughts were far more interested in what he said to the Mink. If it is really a child…then maybe I’m asking too much of it? He frowned. Well…it IS a magical creature, who knows what the story is. Maybe I should just ask? He sat down to a plate of food, and looked over at the animal gorging itself. I’ll talk to it at the next opportunity.

After they’d finished, the Mink fell asleep on the table, leftovers scattered in its wake. He shook his head, and stood up. He looked at Gomorra. “I’m going to stay one more night, but I’ll sleep in a different house. I’ll definitely come round to say goodbye to the little critter though.”

She nodded easily. “You’ll be able to wave us goodbye then. It’s surprisingly been a pleasure to host you Jason, although considering where you're from, maybe I shouldn’t be.” She finished with a smile, but his mind was racing too fast for him to really register.

“You’re leaving tonight?” He said while trying to keep his voice level.

She bobbed her head. “That’s right, it’s finally time.”

He exhaled. “Right, well, I better get going then.” He fractionally tilted his head to her surprised face, before getting ready to go.

“What's the rush?” She called.

“Wouldn’t want to get in your way, and besides…” He thought about what he should say. “...there's something I’d like to do before all the Goblins go.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t be foolish now, Jason. There are many of us who could crush you like an ant.”

He let out a high-pitched noise in agreement, before freezing, and flushing in embarrassment. She blinked, and then barked out a laugh. “Well, if you’re that concerned, then I have nothing to worry about – Goodbye Jason.” Her voice was almost fond, and he jerked his head at her.

“See you Gomorra,” and then he swiftly turned, exiting through the front door.