Silver Ranked Nightream

Some Convincing

Chapter 2

I swam through the Mist Hidden wall.

I headed straight out to sea toward the middle of the goblin fleet. As I moved through them, goblins hollered on deck. Pointed at me. Called for the harpoons. I knew they wouldn’t attack me. The freebooter captains knew better. None wanted to risk Gloom-glower’s ire.

Especially when Gloom-glower himself came on deck to check on things. His presence commanded silence from the goblins aboard his ship. Though they bailed nonstop, I could just hear Gloom-glower over the splash of water.

“The Thrush monster,” Gloom-glower hollered. “Hope you haven’t come around to raise prices.”

“Not unless you’re interested in paying us fair compensation,” I said.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Looking for Slime-tooth. There’s something I want from him.”

“You’re at the right ship. He’s below deck. Working on beer-and-grounds. Come aboard.”

A peg ladder dropped to the sea. I climbed it and goblins reluctantly helped me aboard. Gloom-glower’s smile was a glint.

“Long time no see, Thrush monster. I don’t remember the antlers.”

“Moose,” I said.

“Ok. Whatever. I’ll lead you below deck. I’m sure Slime-tooth will appreciate the company. He’s been asking about Barnacle-eyes lately.”

“Lead the way,” I said.

Gloom-glower’s pristine boots smacked against the deck. I followed him and his guard below deck. We navigated tunnels whose constructions had been forced through the ship. Tunnels that should have been corridors. Tunnels that went diagonally. Tunnels that went sideways. Tunnels with ladders that rose through several levels.

Goblins snickered in my peripheral as we wound our way through the depth of the ship until we came to a cozy room filled with black barrels and a small table. Slime-tooth hunched over that table. He had a tankard in each hand. When we entered, he was just in the middle of muttering to himself.

“Slime-tooth,” Gloom-glower said. “We’ve got an esteemed guest here to see you. Afterwards, I’d like some more grounds delivered to Stub-toes in the deckhouse. See to it.”

Gloom-glower and his guard left.

Slime-tooth was wide-eyed. His eyes looked to have been zapped with lightning. Full of energy.

“Thrush monster,” Slime-tooth said.

“I smell coffee,” I said.

“Still working on a good beer-and-grounds brew for Gloom-glower. Just can’t get it right.”

“Hawkin would be able to help.”

Slime-tooth spat at his own feet, then said, “This is something for goblins, by goblins. I’m happy to leave him out of it.”

“What if Barnacle-eyes could help?”

Slime-tooth softened then. He braved eye contact with me. He fidgeted.

“How is Barnacle-eyes?” He said after a beat.

“Well. She got promoted.”

“Promoted?” Slime-tooth nearly shouted. He smiled and looked off as though seeing hope in the distance. “Wow. Well I’ll be.”

“Promoted a few times,” I said. Slime-tooth reacted to that. I continued. “She’s got a brand new colorful dress. Even got a Fable Stone. She’s an Admiral now. Built her own sloop.”

Slime-tooth’s knees buckled. I caught him by the collar before he fell to his knees. I lifted him onto the head of one of his black barrels. He hunched over and wiped his eyes.

“Well, I’ll certainly be,” he said. “Barnacle-eyes. Admiral. She did it. I’m so proud of her.”

“I think she misses you,” I said.

“Me? Slime-tooth?”

I nodded.

Slime-tooth opened. Took me down memory lane. Shared his stories of Barnacle-eyes when she was a little snot. When she battled for her first pair of pliers. When she bailed water for the first time.

“I gave her a thumbs up that day,” Slime-tooth said. “She was so happy. It felt good to see her happy. And the very next day, she got picked to be part of a raiding party on human shores. She came back pretty beat up, but with a whole sack of cheese and an apple. The cheese went to Gloom-glower of course, and she was allowed to keep a wheel of cheese and the apple. She gave me the wheel of cheese as thanks for the thumbs up. Since then, we’ve been very close. She’s like a daughter to me.” Slime-tooth smiled at his feet for a moment. A wistfulness passed across his eyes. “Still proud of her. I’d give her a thumbs up if I could.”

I grunted. Mostly to let Slime-tooth know I was listening.

“Anyways,” Slime-tooth continued. “I’m sure you didn’t come here to hear about all that.”

“No,” I said. “I’m here to see if I can buy some extra ptooey from you.”

“Ah, yes, of course—wait, has Hawkin run out already? I know he’s been steadily increasing his production, but a whole barrel seems like a sudden jump.”

“It’s for me. I’m diversifying my trades between humans, besties, and goblins to help break into silver rank. Apart from earwax candles, there’s little else I’d be willing to trade for.”

Slime-tooth was happy to part with an extra barrel of ptooey, but wanted to do some quality checks before handing it over. While he worked, I suggested he come to Hawkin’s camp with me to spend some time with Barnacle-eyes.

“I’d love to, but there’s so much work for me to do. Gloom-glower will have my head if I fall behind schedule.”

“I’ll tell him we need your help with increasing production. Something about ptooey. Buying that barrel from you will make it extra authentic. I guarantee he’ll let you spend time ashore.”

Slime-tooth’s eyes bounced around as he rubbed his chin.

“If you can convince Gloom-glower that I’ve got to go with you, I’ll go,” he said at last.

Then he dipped a reed-made thief into a black barrel, then lifted the tube to his lips and slurped. He smacked his lips for a few moments. Nodded. Then turned to me with a smile.

“Good to go,” he said. “Not a sick batch.”

I drew out negotiations with Slime-tooth for as long as he was patient. We exchanged items, coin, and high-fives until my Inventory Management finally reached 999. My other Merchant skills trailed the skill by about 50 levels, but I was so close to reaching silver.

When Slime-tooth got grumpy, we ended our trade and I paid him an extra 5 gold as a thank you.

“I’ll be right here. Let me know how it goes with Gloom-glower,” he said.

Gloom-glower was moody about it, but I convinced him to let me borrow Slime-tooth for as long as I wanted. The goblin king’s moodiness was for show, but I let him have his show.

Slime-tooth was beyond excited to see Barnacle-eyes. We borrowed a crude canoe and paddled through the Mist Hidden wall. I wasn’t able to pass through with Slime-tooth on the same canoe so I had him sip a key beer. He hated it. Kept spitting as we paddled up to port.