[ Time until next wave: 6d 12h 3m 36s ]

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Tanuki arrived next to the Gaia Core. He held onto Maduka's hand, so she could teleport away with him.

The goblin immediately headed for their berry supplies and began munching down on it, while Tanuki stayed next to the obelisk, inspecting his hands. The thought of teleportation bewildered him to such an extent that for a moment he lost his grip on reality.

"Did this… really just happen?"

It was a one-way teleport, so he had no way of making sure this sensation was actually true. He didn't feel any pain, nor anything special. All of it happened in the blink of an eye.

Maduka didn't care about any of that magic stuff. She poured down almost all of their supplies, then handed Tanuki a half-full mug with some remaining juice.

"You want dis?"

Tanuki needed a moment to snap out of his thoughts and answer the gobbo.

"No. Thank you."

"Alrighty!" She said before drinking the remaining juice with a smile on her face.

Tanuki had many questions on his mind. It felt like every step on the path of understanding opened up a new branch of questions, which then repeats the same thing an infinite amount of times.

"There are entire societies living under our feet, yet their homes didn't even exist until today. They have their own history, traditions and even technologies, and all of that just formed out of nowhere."

This was an incredible thing to comprehend and something that made him even more fearful about opening the Gaia Core's system interface. He knew that the moment he approaches that obelisk, another set of questions will fall on his back, pushing him deeper down the bubbling swamp of confusion.

But he had to be strong. There was no going back now. What he saw is a truth he has to live with, or else he'll get pushed down the spiral of insanity and die without getting to understand the secrets of this world.

He approached the Gaia Core.

[ Congratulations! ]

[ Your Gaia Core has Leveled Up! ]

[ The Diplomacy interface has been unlocked! ]

[ 1 Expansion Points have been rewarded! ]

Just like that, something new appeared.

"Level up? Why did it level up?" But this time, instead of asking more questions, he refocused on what he has already known. "W-Wait, hold on Tanuki! Remember the [Missions] menu? It gave you EXP, experience points, as reward for completing a mission. This is fine. I understand why this has happened."

When he opened the interface, there was one new option present, [Diplomacy]. Choosing it offered him nothing new, just an overview of his relationship with every tribe he has met. As of now, there was only one present.

[ Tribe of the Sati ]

[ Relationship: Very Bad ]

[ Effects: -10% Gemstone Power, –5% Mining Speed ]

Relationships were displayed as a scale with five different parts, ranging from Very Bad and Bad, to Neutral, Good, and Very Good. Being on good terms with the tribe seemed to bring positive boons while being hated by them brought the exact opposite.

"So, either I befriend or eradicate the Sati Tribe in order to get rid of this debuff…"

For a moment, even if he wasn't that kind of person and he knew he wasn't that kind of person, his heart wavered and bent towards the latter option. Deep down, he wanted to rain fire and destruction upon the satis. What they've done to them, the treatment they had to suffer was unacceptable. There's no way he could care about their pink infestation, nor is there even a glimpse of hope he'd lend his power to help the survival of that tribe.

But deep down he wasn't the kind of person who'd seek revenge, was he?

Tanuki clenched his fists. He bit down on his tongue and, once again, forgot about the pain that came with it. A black fire of hate blazed in his heart.

"Nuki?" Maduka approached the boy. "Hey Nuki!"

Once again, he was slow to react.

"Jeez, Nuki! Is ya' tired?"

"Oh, sorry. Yes, I'm feeling a bit tired."

"Okie-dokie! Because the sun is about to set and Maduka is scared." She put her index fingers together in embarrassment. "She wanted ya' to defend her while she sleeps."

The sun was about to set. Its orange lights danced over the forest to bring shadows that stretched over the field.

As tired as he was, Tanuki knew that going to sleep now would only bring them nightmares. He approached the Gaia Core, opened the [Expansion] menu, and chose to place something new.

"Say, Maduka, did you ever go camping with your family?"

"Maduka has no family. Maduka dunno what camping is."

"Alright, then tonight is special! I'm going to teach you what camping is all about!"

Maduka cocked her head to one side. She had no idea what Tanuki meant by that, but after a short silence, she realized that something new appeared behind the purple obelisk.

"Ah, Nuki!" She pointed towards the thing. "Look! New thingy appeared!"

Unbeknownst to her, it was Tanuki who placed a [Lake] tile behind the Gaia Core. And despite his expectations, it was more like a large pond.

But it was beautiful. Water lilies danced around the surface, shining with pink light. Frogs played around the lily pads and fireflies buzzed around the lone willow tree that towered above the pond.

Tanuki went inside the water. It was lukewarm, just the right temperature to cool off after a long day of work. Maduka was hesitant to follow him, but when he offered her his hand, the goblin just couldn't refuse.

They left their clothes by the obelisk. Tanuki kept on his shorts, while Maduka hid her womanly parts with the same dirty rugs she stole from the goblin tribe.

"Feels nice, doesn't it?" Tanuki lay back and washed his hair.

Maduka was trembling with fear. The touch of water made her anxious.

That was until something swam by her legs. Like a wild animal jumping onto prey, Maduka plunged herself underwater and returned with a blue fish in her hands.

"Gahh!" She growled as she tore open the animal's throat.

She began munching on its raw flesh and Tanuki was left without words by how fast the girl's behavior changed. Then he realized just how lucky he was.

"Wait, Maduka!" He swam closer to the gobbo. "Don't eat that!"

"But da fishy is tasty and Maduka is hungry!"

"Why would you eat it raw when we could cook it?"

"Cook?" Maduka repeated his words, curious as to what the boy meant by that.

After they left the lake, Tanuki gathered twigs and stones from around the base. He brought those next to their tent and made a campfire with the help of some dry grass.

The sight of fire was still unfamiliar to Maduka. She's met a torch before, but a campfire was something she's only seen from afar while spying on her tribemates.

Tanuki used Kurohyou to cut up the fish. He impaled tiny flesh cubes on top of two sharp twigs. One was put in Maduka's hand, while he kept the other for himself.

"Alright, Maduka! My parents used to do this with marshmallows, but I guess they weren't on the brink of starvation."

"What are we doing?"

"We're cooking the food!" Tanuki smiled, then continued after a moment. "You know what cooking is, right?"

Maduka looked away from Tanuki's questioning gaze.

"Y-Yes! Maduka… knows…"

"It's fine to admit if you don't."

"B-But…" She gulped anxiously. "Nuki won't beat Maduka?"

Tanuki recoiled upon hearing her question. He knew why she was fearful of him and he knew it was all thanks to the horrible past she had to suffer through.

Yet he couldn't help but feel bad.

"Why would I hurt you? You're my friend, Maduka! Didn't we fight alongside each other? And if it weren't for your boldness back in the courtroom, we would've been killed by those stupid scorpion people!"

Maduka looked up at Tanuki, but she still remained silent.

"Yeah, you're not perfect and you had some pretty awkward moments back there, but isn't that normal? Aren't we all just awkward people who try their best not to be awkward?"

"Nuki…"

"Don't tell me you believe I could hit you then live on with the guilt of hurting my best friend! Jeez, Maduka, we still have a lot to learn about each other… But even from the little I know about you, I can tell: You're the coolest little monster in this entire world!"

To a regular person, these would've been the most average compliments and they would've most likely remained unphased by any of Tanuki's words. But Maduka was different.

She gasped from the shock. How could anyone be so kind to her? She thought it was impossible, especially after the brutal treatment she suffered from her previous tribesmen.

Even after their death, she could still hear their sadistic voice mock her for even thinking of achieving Tanuki's admiration.

"How could anyone love you?"

"You're a worthless piece of trash!"

"All you're good for is being a punching bag!"

No. That's not true.

Tanuki said it. It was him, his words, coming from his own mouth, bearing the cleanest form of truth a person could tell.

"Nuki…" She repeated his name, though this time with a smile on her face and tears forming in her eyes.

Tanuki was expecting this kind of reaction, but he was still surprised by it. He scratched the back of his neck and looked away in embarrassment.

"Hey, don't look at me with those eyes––"

Smoke. The stench of burning flesh. He forgot about the fish and overcooked his food.

Maduka couldn't help but laugh while Tanuki cursed at the top of his lungs.

"NO, WAIT–– I was so ready to eat fish and now it's ruined because of my own stupidity! I'm… I'm just… GOD DAMN IT, I'M SO STUPID!!!"