Don woke once again to the alarm clock of squeaking gobs. A quick check of his status confirmed less than a day remained before his crippled status effect would wear off. He didn’t move around much in the City but he’d found there was a huge difference between not moving and not being able to move. He itched with the desire to follow the gobs out of the cave, or maybe the itch was from gob spit and dried mud. He missed his recliner and it’s nightly auto-wash. Dragging his leg behind him, he set off for Grey's alcove.

Grey was already grinding away. The accident-prone gobs made sure their stock of ingredients never ran out but they also depleted the stores of finished potions almost as fast as Grey and Don could produce them. Don got comfortable and pulled bits of plants down to produce more of the antidote potion he learned to make the day before. Hours later he received another skill up in Alchemy. He was waiting for a point of DEX next when something entirely unexpected happened.

Living in near-darkness for days on end has manifested a skill! You have unlocked Night Vision basic 1 5% increased ambient light when in a low light environment.

The alcove was instantly just the slightest bit brighter. He was able to see the plants and gourds more clearly and some shadows seemed less deep. The skill leveled twice more before the gobs returned increasing the effect by 1% each time. None of his other skills had leveled that quickly before and he was thrilled with the helpful skills rapid progress.

In the last hour before his crippled effect wore off Don couldn’t help but check his status page after every potion he made. The information was useful but it wasn’t exact. It only gave the hour when the effect would disappear. When it finally was gone from his status page Don whooped. Grey looked over at Don and watched as he scooted out of the alcove to test his newly restored mobility.

Don tested his leg gingerly. The status page had been accurate when it came to his hunger but he wasn’t in a rush to fall over again. His leg was stiff, hardly reacting when he tried to use it but it held his weight. He took a few tentative steps around the cave and could have run outside right then if Grey didn’t call him back.

“Make healing potion” she commanded. Don thought about ignoring her for a moment but the moment passed quickly. Grey had been feeding and teaching him for the last two days and Don wasn't about to just run off on her. Don removed the bandage and tossed it into the fire pit, glad to be rid of the itching vines. He settled back into the alcove and took a few glorious seconds to scratch at his healed knee.

“Thank you” He squeaked to Grey.

“Kat say you know spells,” he continued “Can teach me?” He had learned this phrase from Kat the previous night and was waiting for the right time to broach the subject.

“No” Grey responded flatly as she scooped powder into a mixing bowl.

Don was taken aback by the quick negative. He had seen how Grey started the fire now and was determined to learn some spells. She took a clawful of grasses, leaves, and twigs. After saying a word which wasn’t gob-squeak or humie she blew into the vegetation. It immediately started smoking. After another breath, the grass curled and the leaves were consumed by embers. A third breath set a small flame dancing in her palm which she used to ignite the fire-pit. Maybe he should have waited for a better time to ask but he was excited by his renewed mobility.

“Why” Don wasn’t about to give up so easily.

“I not want to” Grey responded swirling the mixing bowl and paying more attention to its contents than the conversation. Don was surprised by the simple and honest answer. He tried to think of ways to continue the conversation. He was limited by his basic language skills however and settled on a direct approach.

“What you want?” He asked. Grey finally seemed interested in Don. She gave him a considering look, her mixing bowl lying forgotten.

“I want -skree-” The last squeak was one Don didn’t know.

“What -skree-” Grey pointed at her leaf coverings and then at Don’s loincloth. Don hoped she was referring to clothing in general. Don wasn’t willing to part with his only article of clothing. He would rather add to his collection. It wasn’t a huge deal because he was surrounded by gobs with nothing more than a covering of mud most of the time but he would love to have his old jumpsuit. It just felt wrong to be going around in nothing but a loincloth.

“I find clothes, you teach spells?” don asked

Grey considered for a moment, picking a scab on her nose before agreeing to Don’s terms.

Quest Alert! You have received the quest Warlocks Wardrobe. For every piece of clothing you provide to Grey, you will be taught a magic spell.

Don didn't expect a prompt confirming their deal. He had no idea where he would find more clothes but anything that could fit Grey would be too small for him so there was no downside as far as he could see. He would just have to keep the quest in the back of his mind.

With the deal struck, they both went back to brewing potions until the gobs returned. Don took more pleasure than he thought he could by walking to the entrance of the cave. His new night vision skill made it easier to appreciate the looks of shock on the gobs faces too. This was their first time seeing him upright and he towered over his small tribesmen. The skill also made it easier to watch whatever it was that let Grey determine which gobs needed potions.

Through continuous observation, a skill has manifested! You have learned Diagnose basic 1 You can now detect ailments in target creature Cost: 1 mana Range: touch +1 WIS

Another basic skill! Don tried it out immediately, touching a gob and saying “diagnose”. He was rewarded with a prompt.

Nothing appears to be wrong.

Don tried the skill a few more times earning a skill up before he got a meaningful result.

This patient is suffering from “scratches”

Don was a little letdown. The scratches were obvious just from looking at the gob. He was still too excited about his new skill though and kept using it. He even used it multiple times on each gob to see if the results would change. Many of the gobs he didn’t detect issues in were stopped by Grey and given a potion. She was clearly better at this than Don was. Before long, Don got light headed and it felt like he was trying to see through a fog. He summoned his status screen and checked his mana levels. “Status”

MANA: 22/60

He hoped that the negative effects of low pools wouldn’t kick in so soon. He used “diagnose” a few more times but as soon as his mana dipped below 30% a headache began pressing at his temples. Don decided to leave the rest of the gobs to Grey and waited for his mana to recover. It took five whole minutes for his mana to increase by a point and for his headache to fade. Don expected his MANA regeneration to be much faster, he would have to be careful in the future. He struggled through some basic math. It was surprisingly difficult with his strained mana pool. He eventually found that each point of WIS granted one point of mana per hour. He hoped CON had a better effect on stamina regeneration but he would have to wait to find out for sure.

Kat soon joined the stream of gobs and the pair went back to the alcove to sort plants with Sik. The ill-looking gob had warmed up to Don over the last two days. It seemed like he was happy to be outside, exploring the forest, finding useful plants instead of being stuck inside under the iron rule of Grey's spoon. Once Don could talk with him he proved to be a veritable fountain of knowledge. Don learned the names for ironbark, knotweed, bloodmoss, and silver frond as well as where they tended to grow. The picture Kat and Sik painted of the forest outside made Don want to jump out of the cave and start exploring right up until the gobs told stories about the dangerous animals that came out while the gobs hid in their cave. From the way they told it, the forest was filled with hidden, teeth, fangs and claws just waiting for a careless gob to shred into bloody gobbets.

Don was justifiably worried. His number one priority was to stay alive. He wanted to avoid being sent back to that crypt at all costs but sorting the plants gave him time to think. What kind of life would he have if he stayed inside the cave, making potions for the clan, avoiding eye contact in case it sparked another challenge? No, if Don wanted to stay alive he had to get stronger and the best way to do so was to get some levels. He would have to go outside to find rabbits and take their exp. He also wouldn't find any clothes for Grey and he really wanted to learn some magic. If Don was being totally honest he might have admitted how his newfound love of barbeque fed into his decision-making process. Regardless of the reasoning, Don was resolved to leave the cave the next day.

Sik was not happy to hear the news. His short vacation was over and he would be back at the mercy of the tribe’s matriarch for the foreseeable future. Don’s marginally improved DEX allowed him to separate the plants faster than before and they finished their sorting with some time to spare before dinner. Don listened to their stories of the forest, the smells and the colors, the dangerous beasts, and close calls. It seemed like a common theme was running away heroically. To the gobs, just getting away was treated as a victory. Thinking about all the immortal people who wanted Don’s blood, he agreed with this philosophy. An increase in the volume of squeaking by the fire signaled the start of dinner and they moved to get their share before it was all gone.

Don found it much easier to secure some of the food now that he could stand. He plucked a piece of rabbit from the fire and held it out of reach of the gobs. They couldn’t even reach his elbows to jostle them. One brave gob started climbing Don only to be pushed back to the ground. Emboldened by his success, Don reached for a second piece. When he started eating it, he noticed Gat and his gang, now one gob larger moving aggressively towards him.

Not wanting another fight with the little spitfire and his cronies, he tossed the meat to one of Gat’s minions who was quickly set upon by his jealous leader. Before they could remember whatever reason they had to hate Don, he retreated back to his customary spot by the wall. He was soon joined by Kat and Sik. They passed the time giving Don advice for his excursion the next day until they fell asleep.

Spoiler: Don's stats and skills to date STR 10 AGI 10 DEX 13 INT 12 WIS 12 CON 21 END 10 skill Rank Level Effect Punching Bag Apprentice 7 17% unarmed resistance Training Dummy Apprentice 4 14% training increase (when not resisting) Alchemy Apprentice 3 3% potion effectiveness (when administered personally) Goblin Language Apprentice 5 Basic concepts and short sentences Night Vision Basic 3 7% increased light Diagnose Basic 4 assess the targets visible injuries