Tonight We Prepare.

Astreaus looks past the Goblin Queen, he realises very quickly he has no idea what he’s really capable of for combat. He has used his hud for some things, but it only really seems capable of giving him nudges. Like right now, it’s suggesting in bold red letters to practice his Ice Magic. He agrees, saying to the goblin queens surrounding him.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
“If this is the plan, I should prepare for the fight, I’ll be back before sunset.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
He moves to stand, and the gobliness on his shoulder slides off with a whimper. The others sit up and watch him move. Their eyes locked on his hips. He does his best to ignore it, trying to calm his nerves and focus his mind. He moves to leave and Gella grabs his arm just as he leaves the circle, saying to him.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
“Join me in the red tent after you’re done practicing.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
Astreaus gives her a confused look. She puffs up her chest in response, stepping a little closer to him. His confused look turns to an understanding small smile and then a nod. Grabbing her hand and kissing it before leaving back into the lonely columns of stone surrounding the tent city. Salt clung to every surface, catching the light of the evening sun with oranges and reds. Each surface sparkling with fire. He keeps walking till he’s as close as he can be to the edge of the cave. Cold cool seaspray hitting his body and face making his body shine in reds and oranges.

He examines these small beads of water, admiring the color with which they shine, and closes his eyes to focus, mustering the idea of ice in his mind. He opens his eyes and observes ice forming in the palm of his hand, slowly a slush of ice and water forms in his hand, making him feel annoyed and disappointed. He tries again, and the same ball forms again much faster. With a frustrated groan he forms more and more, a sizable pile appearing beside him, each ball forming faster and faster than the last. But each is useless in this form. In his mind he wants hard, sure, clear ice. He frustratedly picks up one of the balls and throws it into the ocean, it explodes into orangey-red sparkling mist in the air. He looks at the pile, exhaling angrily. He moves his hand over the pile, and as his hand moves, he imagines spikes forming. The cold energy crawls along his body, and leaves him to bring his idea into reality. Large razor sharp blades of ice form and pierce the air. He seems to understand now, he needs to form the material, then make the form.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
Again and again he practices this, ice blade after ice blade clatters to the floor. Shields and spears. Quickly his pride is reassured, he’s surrounded by deadly sharp blades. He holds the best of his work in his hand, watching the sunset just a little longer, the energy he felt from succeeding so effortlessly filling his mind with an anxious excited rush. He wanted to revel in it, feel the pride bounce around his mind and feel the cold ice resist even its nature in his hand. Remaining perfectly formed, unmelting and sharp in his hands. It’s hard edge sparkling red and orange, as if to defy the fire itself from the sun, and make it it’s own.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
He looks to the large pile of ice weapons and spikes, supposing one last thing to try would be to make them move outside of his reach, to control them in the air. He focuses on the one in his hand first, and it eventually starts to rattle and then hover in his palm. It feels uniquely odd, he can feel the blade itself as if it were part of him, much like his hands, and can move it as he sees fit, even in ways he would not normally be able to move a limb. He twirls it faster and faster, until the blade sings as it spins. Slicing air, he launches it as fast as he can, and it eventually is ripped from his control as it sails far into the distance, landing in the ocean below.

He looks to the pile itself, wondering if there’s a limit to how many blades he can control at once.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
Delight fills him from his stomach to his head as the blades he had formed move like a cloud, floating, gently clinking and moving as one off the ground. Each blade feels like a digit of his body, and each blade moves as he wills it, eventually he flings all of them at once into the ocean, satisfied in his mastery over his element for now, he leaves, back towards the village.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
Slowly, Astreaus is surrounded on all sides by tents and much quieter groups of goblins, each settling in for the night with food clutched in tired, worn out hands. Each huddled around a fire, eating, some look to him and nod, others ignore him entirely. He pauses at the edge of a particularly hot fire. His mind lost in a trance as he watches the flames dance. Eventually his mind drifts to a particular thought.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
What is stronger, my magic or fire?

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
He moves into the circle, sitting down amongst them, the one to his right shuffles over to give him room, but the others watch intently as he summons ice magic. Their faces lit in the eerie blue glow of his body reacting to the mana in his core.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
With his leg covered in thick ice, he slides it suddenly into the fire. Some gasp, rushing into action, and dropping their food to move behind him. They grab his shoulders to start pulling him away, though he easily resists their attempts to draw him away. Long enough for the others to take notice. One crying out.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
“No look! His foot! It’s fine.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
It was. At least it wasn’t too painful. So long as he maintained focus on the ice, it wouldn’t relent to the intense heat, even at the core of the fire, his toes brushing up against the dry crackling wood, which instantly shattered and shot out clouds of sparks into the air at the temperature difference. Astreaus pulled back his foot, the brief moment where his focus shifted to moving his body made his body jump from the pain. As he held the hot metal of his foot, he realised none of his ice magic remained. It was only a temporary lapse in focus but it was enough to render his defense useless.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
He surmises this is a victory, the others patting him on the shoulder and apologizing quietly to him for doubting him. He shakes his head in response and stands. He nods at the fire, noticing it’s dimmer than before.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
“Sorry for that.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
He leaves the camp as others call out to him, offering reassurance. He has a focus now however. He promised he would visit the goblin queen in her red tent after. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Most were decorated in some red, he persisted. Wandering from cluster to cluster, until in the deepest part of the encampment he spotted it.

A tent completely made of red fabric. It was far larger than the others. For once, he didn’t have to bow to get inside of it, moving the flap aside to reveal the Goblin Queen inside.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
Naked.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
He somehow didn’t expect it, yet, here she was, looking up at him with a mischievous smile, her hands above her head in a comfortable pose. One leg bent, the other stretched out, her soft green skin getting gently darker between her legs. His eyes fell on her breasts, orange sized round mounds of flesh that greeted her ribs with timid hugs. Their shape defying gravity to keep away from her chest, nearly perfect teardrop shaped. Topped with large, round areola that seemed to entirely encompass her nipples. Hiding them from view. He chewed his lip and smiled, lying down beside her on his side. His eyes moving to meet hers as she blushed a deeper red, his hands touching her arm and supporting his own frame. He asked softly.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
“Is this… you seducing me?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
She playfully shrugged, rolling onto her side. His body shocked by just how warm she felt when she pressed her body against him. She in turn was shocked by how firm and cold he was by comparison. They both sighed a soft sigh in unison. Making her laugh. She regained her composure and uttered in a timid voice.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
“I… want goblinkind to have a chance, if we fail tomorrow. So… this is me, asking for an heir, from you?”