He won't risk it yet

Helga had just made him her servant. Overstepping his bounds now would be a fatal mistake and quite truthfully, quite the moronic one. Once he gained Helga's trust, he was sure he'd be able to convince her to let him join her in a bath, instead of simply peeking at her. Besides, his imagination was enough to picture her in the nude without problems for now.

He couldn't wait to grasp and knead those sizable breasts of hers while taking her snatch all for himself. For a moment, he wondered if there was a little patch of red hair adorning her loins and Kazex inhaled deeply, acutely aware of the gradual hardening of his cock within his leather pants that came with such thoughts. For a moment, he was really tempted to throw caution to the wind and try to spy on Helga anyway, but he **** himself to return to his area on the tower's ground floor with a great deal of will and start preparing his tools for gathering ingredients from the forest.

‘All in due time.’

He wasn't a simpleton goblin who couldn't think past breeding the next sow most of the time. He had intelligence on his side and that's what would win him Helga. Her and any other women he came across that he deemed suitable to give birth to the members of his future tribe; in fact, restraining himself now would make his future conquests all the more sweeter. Good things come to those who wait, after all.

With a bit of luck, taking some time away from the tower would cool down his thoughts and let him think with a clearer head. There was also the fact he had to find a way to cover up the birth of goblin children from the people of nearby towns in case he knocked some of them up. He'd much prefer if his breeding partners were especially desirable in other areas beyond mere looks, like Helga, but Kazex knew beggars couldn't be choosers.

That other human woman, Mariska, was a good example. Her blonde locks and generous figure would be adequate for birthing children, but her flustered behavior once she saw Kazex hadn’t allowed him to get a good impression of her actual character. He wasn’t really sure of the standard from the townsfolk, but if most women from the neighboring town fell considerably below Helga, he’d be disappointed. If possible, he'd prefer if the mothers of his children were more intelligent than what he was used to interacting with... not that such a thing was saying much.

Oh well, thoughts for later.

With a bag not unlike Helga's and equipped with all the necessary tools to gather ingredients without spoiling them, Kazex left the tower determined to have a productive outing, making sure to take his spear with him.

It paid off to be cautious in the forest below.

Helga's tower stood as the only building on the side of the mountain that towered over the region. From their vantage point, the tower had a perfect vision of all the forest that grew below.

Climbing down the mountain into the forest, Kazex went west, going deeper into an area of the forest where the trees grew thicker and the sunlight rarely pierced the canopy overhead. Though this part of the forest was considerably more dangerous, many valuable ingredients could be found within and their effects were noticeably more potent than the ones from other reagents. Despite this, Kazex had only rarely ventured into the area; the beasts that could be found within were certainly vicious and the forest was big enough that he never felt the need to to venture into it that much.

In his years of life, his former kith, his tribe, had never encountered Helga before so their forest was definitely huge.

As he made his way deeper into the trees, the usual sounds of the forest dulled into a faint buzz that Kazex had to strain to hear, before they faded altogether and the area grew completely quiet and still. Anyone else would've been unnerved by the deafening silence around them, but Kazex knew the risks of his area of choice - he wasn't about to back out now.

With steely resolve, the goblin alchemist started his task. Drawing his knife, he set out to look for any important plants and herbs that might be useful for his potions. First, a couple of fresh Shade's Kiss, several stamens from Pale Light, petals from Red Life, some ovaries of Itching Spiners...

As focused on his task as he was, Kazex didn't let his guard down and kept his trusted spear close to him at all times.

'Damnit, I should have thought about asking Helga to enhance it with her magic somehow,' he thought with a sigh.

Time passed quickly; though there wasn't much light in this area and he couldn't give an accurate guess, Kazex estimated he'd been in this area well over an hour. His expert hands had picked plenty of materials already, so he decided to only take a few more before returning. Helga should have finished her bath with plenty of time to spare by the time he got back.

Just as he decided it, he picked up on a faint sound coming from... somewhere near him. He froze, trying to locate where it was coming from. Had it not been for the stillness of the area he'd never have noticed it. It was a rustling of leaves, but there was something else to it... a slight swooshing of displaced air - above him.

Kazex slowly tightened his grip on his spear. There had been the possibility of this happening, he was ready. Giving himself a few seconds to gather his bearings, he waited for his attacker to get overconfident, his body still hunched over a half-way cut plant. The slight hissing sound that pierced the silence was his cue to move and Kazex turned fast as lightning, ready to strike his would-be killer with a steady spear arm...

Only to stare in mild surprise as the massive spider that had crept up behind him from above slumped dead onto the ground with a well placed arrow firmly lodged inside it's skull, monstrous face split open by it.

Before he could even utter a word, a female voice to his left made itself known, no doubt belonging to his savior.

"What an odd sight, I just saved a goblin of all people from being a spider's next meal," it marveled.

Snapped out of his shock, Kazex looked towards the source of the voice. Only the treetops stared back in silence.

"Though I was aware of the spider's presence, I still thank you for your assistance. Will you come out of hiding so I may meet my protector?" he still politely asked. Considering the archer had just saved him a great deal of fighting, he figured he might as well give her his thanks properly

"A well-spoken goblin? Now I know I've seen everything," the female voice spoke up with clear disbelief in her tone before falling silent for a moment. "Alright, I'm coming down, but no funny business."