6 Escalation

While the goblin continued to grin at me, eagerly awaiting some food, I activated my "Create Food" spell. I didn't target any spot in particular, because of an instinct I had that this spell could be used as an untargeted one. The fact that it was listed as a targeted one didn't deter me. I focused on the spell for a few moments and then I willed it outward, unprepared for what came next.

The second I activated my power a new textbox appeared in my mind's eye. This one didn't spring into view with text prewritten. I was able to watch the message that it'd eventually contain be written out, letter by letter. While the textbox was being filled I momentarily wondered if mortals saw as many textboxes as I did.

[What sort of food would you like to create?] The textbox asked me, written in an impressively direct vernacular.

I considered thinking for longer than I did but I knew that it was better for me to move quickly so I almost immediately informed the system that I'd like to create something simple yet delicious: an apple. Another half a second passed and then I felt a sudden and unimpressive weight materialize in one of my hands.

I turned my head to look at the object that had just come into being in my left hand and was not particularly surprised to see an apple sitting squarely in my until just now empty had. I quickly wrapped my fingers around the thing and admired it. It was a golden-skinned apple, one with a healthy sheen that reflected sunlight one that my instincts informed me couldn't exist naturally.

The object in my hand was massive for an apple, and it gave off a warm golden glow. The minute the goblin saw it his eyes went wide. He was still while he processed what he saw, but a second later he lunged for the apple. This took him off the now disabled bear trap, where he had stayed during the last few minutes of interaction he and I had shared even when I had freed him from it.

When he was a few moments away from reaching out and snatching the apple I moved it closer to him and let him begin to scarf down the beautiful fruit I had just created. I heard his little fangs and uneven teeth tear into the apple, as I received an important notification.

[System-created explanation: Influence

"Influence" was a term among deities that meant different things in different contexts. Among the deities of old, when they spoke amongst themselves of "influence" it almost always referred to the domains and subdomains they had power over and the degree of their power over those domains and subdomains.

"Tiers of influence" was a term that was used by deities to quantify how much control they had over domains and subdomains. Right now you have one "tier of influence" over the following domains and subdomains:

Domains: Knowledge, Chaos, Nature, Faith, Minds, Dreams, Civilizations, Magic.

Subdomains: Healing, Vermin, Earth, Agriculture, Corruption, Purity.

Once you've completed the tutorial the system has you in you'll unlock all sorts of divine abilities related to these domains and subdomains. You'll also gain powers related to your vice and virtue, and as you gain tiers of influence over the subdomains of corruption and purity you'll be able to add increase the number of vices and virtues under your control.

With regard to how the term "influence" is used when talking about mortals, it has a similar meaning. "Influence" when talking about mortals refers to how influenced by the deity the mortal in question can be or is and how in awe of them the mortal is.

You'll learn how to increase your influence over mortals over time and on your own, but we hope that now you're a little less in the dark about the language used by the system. Influence can also drop over time if you do not at least attempt to increase it until a creature begins to worship you at which point that creature becomes an Althonian, a member of your currently undefined faith.]

I read the notification and then was again shocked when it went away. It was followed up by another notification, but thankfully this one was shorter.

[Alert: Troik has begun consuming an apple you created. This means that he has unwittingly opened himself up to your influence and will forever be easier for you to influence.

Troik is a goblin, and of below-average intelligence for a goblin. His unimpressive intelligence renders him more susceptible to actions that nab influence via magic or agricultural activities and attempts to gain influence over him that rely on strength are less impressive to him than they would otherwise be because of his low intelligence and high levels of self-confidence.

The fact that you saved him and are about to heal him are also factors that affect how much influence you have over the tiny goblin and how much influence you can gain over him at this moment.

Influence over Troik: 1%]

I was surprised that giving the creature a single apple made my influence over the thing go up to a whole 1%. I was also excited by that revelation. But I didn't let myself get distracted by that, and I began to heal the little goblin's wounds.

"Hey there, I'm going to heal you now okay?" I asked the goblin, looking the thing in the face. He paused his munching of the apple and looked at me cautiously. But after a few seconds, he nodded at me, giving me permission to use my magic on him. I grinned at the small creature and put my hands together. I then opened them up, with my palms facing him.

I readied my "Restore Health" spell and smiled at the goblin for a second so that he had time to ready himself. I waited a few moments and then unleashed my spell.

Golden energy began to radiate out of my hand and sailed lazily towards him. When the energy hit him I watched it surround and seep into him.

Before my very eyes, I watched as the creature's eyes went wide and as the bleeding of his leg came to an abrupt end. A second later radiant golden light began to shine onto specific spots on the goblin's skin, and among the spots were the areas where the jaws had pierced into his leg.

"Wow..." The goblin uttered, awe audible in his little voice. I didn't say anything but I agreed with his rather efficient assessment. The golden light on the creature's yellow skin was a beautiful sight.

The light that was shining onto his skin began to heat up, and smoke began to waft off of Troik's flesh. But somehow the creature didn't look to be in pain. There was actually a smile on the beast-like humanoid's face. A delighted, childlike smile.

This bizarre phenomenon lasted for perhaps five seconds, after which the light dissipated into nothingness almost instantly, and the goblin was left staring at his unremarkable, completely healed leg. There wasn't even a scar in the wake of the light's disappearance.

"Troik is healed!" The goblin exclaimed, his accent and word-choice both being simplistic but also mildly charming in their own way. His eyes were glued to his leg, and he quickly began to touch where the jaws had once torn into his lower limb. He didn't wince at all as he tacitly explored the healed appendage and seemed genuinely euphoric after what he had just gone through.

I waited and watched the goblin for a few moments before recasting "Prognosis" on the goblin. Not much had changed from last time, aside from the fact that he had received an appropriate change to his hitpoints, bringing them up to their maximum, and that his condition wasn't frenzied like it had been before. Instead, it was now changed to "Fascinated".

I chuckled and used "Restore Stamina" on him which resulted in both he and I being able to witness another impressive show of lights but this time the lights were silver instead of gold. They surrounded his entire body, encircling him before slowly entering him and infusing the goblin with energy.

"Yah!" He shouted, the sound one of delight and confusion when the light had surrounded him. When they entered him and restored his stamina points to their maximum number he began to bounce around uncomfortably like he was a child in a candy store.

It took him several minutes to stop jumping around, even when I asked him to stop. When he stopped I finally had a chance to chat with him. And I was determined to use it to get some answers.

________________________________________________

"Troik, how are you feeling?" I asked the diminutive humanoid. We were now sitting down not far from the bear trap. I was curious about it, and I wanted to know Troik's story.

"I... good." The goblin told me, its yellow and catlike eyes focused on mine. I nodded at the creature, appreciative of its candor and for now operating under the assumption that the thing was being forthright with me.

"That's great!" I told it happily, allowing my joy at having healed the thing to be audible in my voice. This made the goblin smile, and it seemed that this made him have some questions of his own.

"Can... ask too?" It asked, speaking to me in a way that left me uncertain as to what it was asking. I paused for a second before I received a brilliantly timed message from the system.

[Oh goodness, let us explain what's going on. The goblin is speaking to you in the language of humans, and that is not its first language. We're gonna go ahead and unlock a divine power you have courtesy of a wild trait. It's called "Omniglot" and it grants you the ability to understand, read, write, and speak in any and all languages including the languages of non-humanoids.] The system told me, sounding exasperated at what was going on. This was followed by a brief notification.

[Alert: Omniglot.

Omniglot is an intuitive, passive divine power that makes you omnilingual. Being omnilingual means you can speak any and all languages. For now, you will speak the language of goblins and when you return to Comillas you will speak in the language of humanity. This automated process can be controlled manually if you wish.] The notification read, shortly before blinking out of existence.

I smiled at Troik and began to speak to the little fellow. "Here... why don't we try to talk like this?" I asked, hearing no difference in my words compared to before but hoping that it worked.

Troik began to smile a smile that not only curled his lips upward but went up to his eyes. He impishly clapped his hands together and laughed. The sound was as highly energetic as he was, and before he next spoke numerous peals of laughter escaped his lips.

"Yes, yes! The words of my people, not the words of big, mean humans. That is much better." He said happily. I chuckled at his casual display of hostility towards humanity. That gave me one more question to ask him.

"So Troik... tell me about your tribe." I said to the lively little thing. The goblin looked at me and there was a flash of fear in his eyes.

"My... tribe?" He asked, sudden apprehension blazing to life in his gaze. His voice was filled with fear as he said that, and it made me curious. I immediately wondered if his earlier anti-human comment indicated a fear of humans and thus of what I, a magic-user, could do to his peers, or if he had done something to merit being out here alone. And that inspired me to momentarily close my eyes.

I closed my eyes and left them shut. Darkness was all I could see, or rather I had willingly and temporarily blinded myself to be able to gain a bird's eye view of the demographics of the forest. In a split second the same massive map that allowed me to find Troik had reappeared in my mind.

I wasted no time, because I knew how odd this must have looked to my companion. "Can I use this to search for specific kinds of creatures?" I asked the system, speaking solely in my mind.

Before I received an official response I heard a sound in my mind that was equal parts delighted and impressed. It almost made me smile. Almost. And then the system replied to my message.

[Yes you can. Just think about the species you'd like to find. For now, that's the only way you can track something on your mini-map but as you gain more tiers of influence in the right sorts of domains you'll increase the number of filters you can apply to this mini-map to make it even more useful. And yes, you can use it to find specific plants as well.] The system informed me, before telling me something incredibly useful that I didn't doubt I'd have asked it about later. I grinned.

I refocused after grinning like a dummy for two seconds and immediately focused on forest goblins. I put them at the front of my mind and made them all I thought about for a solid five seconds. And then the mini-map noticed and immediately made all non-goblin markers on the mini-map transparent. I couldn't see their colors due to their newly gained transparency.

The remaining fully illuminated and colored markers were various colors but all of them were circles.

Many of them, over two dozen of them, in fact, were clumped together in close proximity. That was revealing and allowed me to know with certainty that there was a community of sorts that existed in this forest for goblins.

There was something odd here though; the figure at the center of this cluster wasn't a goblin. Its marker was faded and transparent like all the other non-goblins' markers were. And it was located right in the center of a bunch of the little, beast-like humanoids according to my power.

Internally I grinned now at the fact that I knew the goblins had a community in the area, feeling much wiser already. This information would certainly be something I circled back too But my investigation wasn't done just yet. Something about the different colors that adorned the minimap was irresistibly begging me to investigate it.

Out of curiosity, I clicked on one red circle, one blue circle, and one green circle. These were not the only colors visible on the map at the moment but they were the most common. And the next notification I received was one that was apparently onto my extremely unsophisticated attempts at investigating how my powers worked.

[Alert:

Nearby entities detected. Confusion in *tremorsense* user detected. Multiple entities with different relational statuses to you detected. Creating a legend for your future reference and understanding...

Red: For any number of reasons this entity is either an active enemy of yours or would become one if they detected you. For sapient beings, this tends to be a convertible status but there are creatures in existence who will always be hostile towards you and thus will always be red when picked up by your mini-map.

Blue: These are entities that are neutral towards you at the moment. Or who would be neutral towards you if they detected you. These creatures can be transformed into allies or even friends if approached correctly.

Green: These are entities that are in need of assistance. Approaching someone who the map has identified in this way will present you with an opportunity for a new quest. The quest system is part of the grander system which is why we can detect if a creature has a quest for you or for someone else.

Enemy status identified.

The selected enemy is a level one warrior. The enemy is a forest goblin. The enemy is currently out on a patrol and is hostile towards any non-goblin humanoids she sees believing that confronting and killing them would net her great honor in her tribe.

Individual in need of assistance's status identified.

The selected individual in need of assistance is a level one alchemist. She is a forest goblin. She is currently out scavenging for rare ingredients for the assortment of potions and other handy magical items she creates for her tribe. If approached intelligently she may offer a quest to help her acquire rare ingredients in exchange for a few samples of her goods.

Neutral individual's status identified.

The neutral individual is a level one ranger. He is a forest goblin. He is currently out on patrol but he has better sense than to be needlessly aggressive. He is one of the older goblins in the area.]

Though what I had just learned was incredibly useful it didn't give me any answers on its own. So I opened my eyes and refocused on the goblin in front of me. Only a handful of seconds had passed so I didn't feel like me doing what I did was all that suspicious.

"Yes Troik. Your tribe. I want to learn about them." I repeated, smiling at the end of my statement in an attempt to placate the fearful creature.

"My tribe is big! And strong! And... scary!" The goblin said, almost mewling at me while he did so. I pretended to be surprised and to believe this, nodding at him as if to showcase that I knew he meant business.

He studied my face, skeptically narrowing his eyes as if making his vision worse would help him determine how sincere I was being. After he spent a few seconds applying his own version of studious skepticism to me he nodded in satisfaction and appeared to believe I was sincere in my reactions. He quickly kept talking, all while gaining an undeserved bravado.

"Yes! And our orc chieftain is powerful. Even his pet panther, Hunahpu, is mighty!" The goblin warned, evidently assuming that I knew far more than I actually did including, more than likely anyway, the name of this orc chieftain since he did tell me the panther's name but not the orcs. But for now, I knew better than to correct the little guy.

He seemed happy to talk and assume I knew enough about what he was saying to make sense of it. I didn't. That said, I carefully played along and let my newest friend talk.

But I know knew two things: Troik's goblin tribe was ruled over by a strong orc chieftain, and this chieftain had an intimidating looking panther pet. I also had a feeling that I now knew the general location of the goblin's lair, but I didn't know that for sure, at least not yet.

And while I was lost in thought, thinking about what I knew for sure, I heard something change in the goblin. I heard him sit upright, correcting his impressively bad posture, and up-close I could have sworn I heard a subtle sound of his tiny bones creaking.

That was when the goblin opted to take control of the conversation. He locked eyes with me and used the same bravado from earlier, but less false this time while asking me a personal question.

"What are you?" The goblin asked, showing uncharacteristic bravery. There was an edge to his gaze and his question that didn't befit someone who had just gotten healed, and it annoyed me a bit. It was also completely new and unlike the fearful little creature he had been before he was healed. I smiled politely at him and responded as civilly as I could.

"Do you mean 'Who am I?', I'm Althos." I explained, my lips contorted into a civil and perfectly passable smile fit for high society. I even extended my hand forward for a handshake. The goblin's lips edged upwards but not into a smile. The expression on his face was a lot closer to a sneer than a smile and his eyes began to flare and transform.

His eyes, which until now had been the yellow eye color of a cat began to change and shift under my gaze. The yellow remained unchanged, it was the dark little slit in the middle of the gaze that transformed. That black slit went from being a thin line of darkness to a blood-red and bold line that parted his eye down the middle, like a snake.

"Hello Althos. It's nice to meet you. Why are you healing a goblin? That is... very unlike a human. Are you a human?" The goblin said, speaking to me in a voice that was very clearly not Troik's. I was silent for a few moments while I considered what to say.

A small part of me wanted to lie and say that I was, while another part of me wanted to be bold and tell this strange creature what I was just to see its reaction. I carefully considered what to do in this situation, all while I kept my eyes locked on my companion. I had just healed him and I didn't want the little guy to get bruised and beat up just because some enemy wanted to use him as a meat suit.