Bonus Chapter [Vol.1] – In which the readers are treated to a chapter from Glace’s point-of-view from right around chapter sixty-three.

Bonus Chapter [Vol.1] – In which the readers are treated to a chapter from Glace’s point-of-view from right around chapter sixty-three. AnnouncementI've already begun writing the next book and as promised, I'll be posting a few goblin PoV chapters sporadically until I'm far enough ahead to begin posting Volume 2. I'm sure a lot of you are curious about Glace, right? Well, I do hope you enjoy! There will be a part two to this coming soon featuring our adorable little Button!

~~** Interlude | Glace **~~

No matter how many times I jump worlds, I never seem to get used to it. Although I admit this is the first time I’d been aware of myself while gestating in a womb instead of immediately after being delivered. Barring my initial existence, that is.

There were a few things about this time that were bothersome right off the bat, the first being that I am constantly aware of my mother’s emotional state. I know that she’s deeply in love with my father, or at least the asshole who she keeps letting knock on the entrance to my private suite!

Hey! Keep it down out there!

The second is that I discovered I had the ability to communicate with her a little bit. I believed I understood the reason for being able to, at least. This body contained a ridiculous amount of Mana. If I hadn’t gained an intuition for sensing mana after my third world hop, I might have actually died of boredom while waiting to be born. I also believed it was due to my father constantly injecting mana, as well as that other stuff that makes me glad I have a placental barrier to keep it out, that I was somehow awakened long before I should have been.Rread latest chapters at novelhall.com

My mother seemed to be some kind of magician, though her control and understanding of mana was at a very basic level. My mother also held the thought that showing my father she could use mana would make him love her more. With that being the case, I thought I’d go ahead and be a good child, doing my part by quietly helping my mother grow and synchronize her mana together with her body. It was easy enough to do, and it’s not like I had anything else to do while gestating.

I had no idea what kind of existence I’d be this time around, only that I was fully organic, and until I was born, I would be bereft of my System.

Judging from the pattern of mana activations my mother used, I felt it was safe to conclude that the magic system of this world must be combustive, using active invocations to create causality effects intended to defy the natural laws of physics. Which meant I was likely being born into some medieval hellscape. Did they burn witches as heretical entities here, or were they revered and heralded instead?

At any rate, I was just hoping for one thing. Please give me a decent name once I’m born.

I’d love to have my original name, Grace. It could be so exhaustive growing up with an unnecessarily stupid sounding name. Serendipity, Caerwylan, Moragriph, Nekses Five... yeah, it’d be nice to just be called Grace again. There's just something simple and charming about it. Almost... pure.

I also realized my body was maturing quickly. Which meant I either wasn’t a human, or somehow I was in a place with significant bio-tech capabilities. Was it a magi-tech society? I didn’t get the feeling it was, because hasting births didn’t usually involve allowing a male partner to introduce potentially unsanitized detritus into a vaginal cavity.

It remained a curiosity until I felt nature take its course, at which point an overwhelming desire to escape overtook my higher functioning mind. It must be some kind of genetic call of nature. I’d like to say that having to claw my way out of a hooch is something I would prefer to never experience again. I had no idea what kind of barbaric birthing practices this world has, but landing on my head is not my idea of a good time. Also, my umbilical cord is stuck to my former home which is still inside of my... mother.

Hm. Green skin, clawed fingers, mostly naked, pointed ears...

From the look of things, mama is a goblin, I believe.

Having existed in darkness since coming to, I now looked at my hands and realized that the same must apply to me. I’m also a goblin.

Looking around, I saw three other people in the room. One appeared to be some kind of goblin midwife with a nasty looking scar across her chest. The other goblin seemed like she was on her way to being a crone, and the third was a really handsome looking human. He also seemed to be happy to see me, so, was this guy my father?

Usually humans and goblins do not establish friendships, let alone marital relations, so what was the deal here?

I tried giving my umbilical cord a tug, but I hadn’t enough strength to budge it. I decided to see if the human was willing to help, since he looked the strongest. I pointed at the cord and hoped he’d figure it out.

Hey, uh, handsome papa! Can you help me out here?

Oh, is he going to? Ah! It’s out! Good job, papa! My hero!

“Glace.”

Glace? Glace!?

It’s GRACE! How can you possibly mess up the name Grace!?

Glace!? Am I a sugar coated frosting or something!?

Ugh! I couldn’t even correct him because my voice wouldn’t come out! So, I got mad and fired off a huge chunk of ice at what looked like a dais next to my mother.

KLINKOOOM!

I stared right at him smugly afterwards and stated mentally, since I had no other option, that my name was Grace. He said something after, but I, sadly, know he couldn’t understand my frustration. Actually, using that much mana was kind of taxing on this little body. I went back to nursing to replenish the mana I just used up while papa talked with the midwife goblin.

She ended up leaving and papa wound up cleaning off both mine and mama’s body. I guess he’s a good guy, just a little bit slow to action. When he spoke again, I could finally make out something.

“Move... cave-hole...?”

Oh, do we have a residence? I gave papa the O.K. sign and he scooped mama and me up and carried us to a smallish room without a door at the far side of the cave we were in. Once he laid mama and I down onto a straw bed, he disappeared for a moment and came back with a blanket of some kind. Draping it over us, papa stayed with mama and me, and stroked my small body with a very pleased look on his face.

Well, at least it seems that my mother and father are in a loving relationship, even though it’s interspecies and I look more like my mother. I could have definitely ended up in a worse situation. With papa asleep snuggled up with mama, I was finally free to take stock of my current situation!

Hey, System! Open Status!

System WindowName:GLACESex:Race:Bloodmaw GoblinClass:Star Shaman 1☆Mother: Vera (Goblin) 3◎Father: Ark (Human) 2☆Quantified StatusPower:3Athleticism:4Stamina:2Knowledge:19Mentality:36Talent:99Skills and AbilitiesSoul MemoryLv.MAXLanguage SyntaxLv.MAXSubtle TelepathyLv.2PrecognitionLv.2MeditationLv.3Danger SenseLv.3Mana SenseLv.4Disease ResistanceLv.4Mana ControlLv.5Runic KnowledgeLv.5

Hmm. So I’m a Female Bloodmaw Goblin, with a class of Star Shaman. I don’t quite get what the Circles and Stars are about, but I’m sure that will be clarified in time. My physical stats are on the lower end, but my mental abilities and talent potential are good, I think. I should get a baseline for what’s normal around here as soon as possible so I know where I stand.

I have a few decent skills. Telepathy is new, and so are Danger Sense and Precognition. I guess being in such a filthy environment makes having Disease Resistance a boon. Soul Memory and Language Syntax haven’t changed at all in the last couple world hops.

I am curious about the Runic Knowledge skill. Let’s investigate it.

Runic KnowledgeCurrent Level: 5Individual Rune AttenuationPower3%Decay3%Fire3%Water3%Wind3%Land3%Light3%Void3%Cold3%Metal3%Push3%Pull3%Charge3%Wide3%Tone3%????%

Hmm. Rune Attenuations? Could this be an index of my Glyph Affinities? 3% across the board? Is that good or bad? What is the mana-to-energy conservation rate? System, why are you such a piece of antiquated junk!?

Man, being born really takes it out of you.

Letting out a yawn, I wrapped my mouth around my mama’s teat and let my body’s natural instinct take over. I’m sure I’ll have a clearer mind to figure things out in the morning. But damn, mama, you sure got lucky getting a pretty boy like papa to marry you. Let’s just hope he isn’t a bad guy and cheats on you. I know your personality already, and you’re the kind of woman who’d let a man walk all over you if he just snuggled up to you and whispered sweet things in your ear once in a while.

Let’s have a wholesome family life together, okay?

Nighty-night~