Iris had to admit she was a little amused by the pair’s attempts at employment being shot down. She was also a little relieved she would not be left behind by them as they studied under an expert mage. She decided to not ask why a mage would make an artificial being look like an 8 year old as she was far too busy absorbing everything else he was saying, particularly his comments about Yggdrasil and her gift.

She was certainly interested in how it would possibly expand in future, talking to nature certainly sounded interesting though she was unsure as to what tales a tree would tell. She was also interested in the prospect of Yggdrasil’s guidance, though as the pair had demonstrated with their attempts at gaining apprenticeship it was likely she would need to become something worth tutoring before she approached the mighty nature monster.

”Quick question, why did you call Yggdrasil a freak?"

It was interesting that the artificial boy would insult Yggdrasil yet still recommend her to seek him out. She imagined she could get better info about the lord of the forest from the chief and Aya, but the homunculus might have something of an outside perspective that might come in handy.

There was also the fact that they all had that otherworldly information within them, a strange thing indeed. All with gifts, all with forin info and all…

”Oh and I don’t know how useful the info is but we were all asleep for a few days after being born. That might be sign someone has otherworldly info like us"

"Eh?"

A mock sort of surprise flitted across the homunculus's face at Ivy's question, which then shifted into amusement. "What sort of question is that? I call it a freak because it's a freak. It's like Father's always said, calling whatever it is a tree is off the mark. The Adventurer's Guild officially has it classified as a tree-class monster with a mutation that gives it abnormal spiritual strength, which makes its poisons and its control domain off the charts, on top of letting it control magical energy inside that domain. But, here's the snag, it doesn't matter how strong your spirit is, creating a domain that controls the world within a specific area like that is impossible with methods like that. Doing the impossible, what else do you call that but a freak?"

Shrugging haplessly, Two let out a chuckle under his breath, an unseemly look for one of his apparent age. "If you ask Father, though, then it's not that Yggdrasil has that spiritual strength because it's a mutation, it's that it has that spiritual strength because it's the only one that's not mutated. As for what that means, only Yggdrasil and Father know. My Total Appraisal might be at the peak, but I don't have the insight needed to make perfect use of it, like owning a library but only knowing a handful of languages."

At Iris's other remark, though, he nodded slightly. "...hm, yeah, that probably has something to do with it. Injection by a foreign source, divine intervention maybe, who knows. It's probably nothing special though, so don't go getting a bloated ego; I said We've seen this before, after all, and the last person We saw who had that sort of information got full of himself, grabbed a sword, and went charging into that dungeon that not even Yggdrasil knows the contents of, despite it being in his forest. Don't be like that idiot. Also probably stay away from Father's tower. I'll be reporting this all to him, so if you decide to visit, odds are he'll make you an experiment in an attempt to work that information out of you."

---

"Ah, I see..." Kluuto responded to the boy's answer. Now she felt dejected. She realized that she really didn't have that much in a way of employable skills. It would be hard for her to get the job she wanted at her current state. She formed a plan in her mind however. If she couldn't get employed, then at the very least, she could frequently visit the library and visit the books there. Who knows? With enough knowledge, perhaps she would gain the needed criteria to evolve. Probably to some bookworm creature but as long as it could cast magic, she didn't care. Sure, she preferred to have a humanoid evolution, but knowing magic was the most important thing now.

Kluuto then watched as the others got their examinations as well. It seemed like their results were mostly the same, though of course they had differing gifts. However, he remarked that it was strange for a bunch of the goblins to be born with souls like them, with information that even he couldn't grasp. Well, she couldn't argue with that. She had a feeling that they were a special bunch.

Iris then asked why he thought of Yggdrasil as "a freak". He answered with a pretty good explanation, how it was pretty much a really strong tree monster and how it managed to do something that should be impossible with its methods. She didn't understand it very well, but now she knew just how strong Yggdrasil was.

Hmm, so there were others like them as well. That felt somewhat comforting. They weren't the sole ones with this oddity after all. The boy then warned them not to get cocky. Of course they won't, or at least she won't. She had no plans to go out there and fight monsters. Her evolutionary route and her gift preferred a nonviolent approach after all.

Yep, duty noted. Won't go near this boy's father's tower.

Well she supposed that was a somewhat reasonable reason to call Yggdrasil a freak, though it was still rather rude in her opinion. Still, his information was certainly interesting, though she wasn’t entirely familiar with all of the concepts. While she could sit here all day asking follow up questions she decided against badgering the mage for any more information. Plenty of time to find out what control domains and the like where in future.

As for the info that they were not the only ones who had that foreign inforamtion thing, well, that wasn’t that surprising. There was a whole brood of them with that same status, the odds of them being the only ones like that seemed slim. She took his advice of not getting full of herself or going to his father's tower to hart and then turned to Sabu.

”So what’s next on the tour?"

Everything the homunculus before her was saying was interesting in part, leading Lyminia to not really speak up for a minute as the other Goblins asked questions of him. From curiosity about this "boy"'s creator, to why he had mentioned the name of a god in what she assumed was the human tongue whilst using his "Total Appraisal" ability on her, there were perhaps more questions than answers for her right now. Indeed, she perhaps wanted to know more than she had time to ask about, especially with one of the other females asking about where they would head next on the tour of the city. While the rejection of a job left her simply shrugging in response before, as she was admittedly and unskilled Goblin, Lyminia did want to ask a few things real quick to make sure she had the info she needed.

"Hey, i have just a few more quick questions just to make sure of some stuff, since everyone else got a chance to ask," she said aloud, moving forward slightly and taking her turn to quickly throw in a few things she wanted to hear the answer for before the group might leave to their next destination, "One, am i able to learn magic even with that weak fire elemental essence affinity of mine? Two, would training in Yggdrasil's forest or such have any value for me? Three, what is a way to try to contact the gods, if there is one for even a little goblin like me? In essence, would there be any use trying to pray to any of the gods, or would that just be stupid on my part if i tried it? And four, why did you mention Vaish when appraising us?"

It was a lot, but she did not want to leave without getting some more answers. She wanted to understand some thing before moving on, so at least she would have a better idea of things. Whether to try to learn magic or not, if attempting to contact the gods would work at all in the manner she was thinking of, if training in a place like the forest of 'that freak' would be of any use since volcanoes and such would get her killed this early on, and the like. That would help shape what she would be doing with herself in the future, anyways.

---

@Moonlit Sonata@Hammerman@DracoLunaris@Leotamer

"Gahaha! Glad you asked!" Sabu spoke up sharply at Iris's question, seeming glad that someone had asked him specifically for something instead of the homunculus. "The options are practically infinite! A human restaurant for a meal that dwarfs our tribe's creations, the Adventurer's Guild, the Mage's Academy, the library, the military outpost, the marketplace, the only limit is your imagination!" He remarked, letting out another laugh as he leaned his torso back slightly.

Meanwhile, Two didn't seem to change his expression even slightly in reply to Sabu's outburst. "One, of course you are. So long as your soul's strong enough, you can at least try to learn magic, affinities aside. Having the affinity means you can train in that specific element, but even if you didn't have an affinity, there are countless forms of nonelemental magic. All of you can train in magic to some extent thanks to your souls, it'll just take some effort. Two, not any more than any other place. Its domain is ideal for things like earth, air, and water elemental essences. Like I said, volcanoes are your spot of choice. Three, there isn't. Even if there was, why would they listen to you? There are two to three humans in the world who the gods bother with at all, and that's because they're the peak of humanity. As four four..." He trailed off for a moment, shrugging slightly. "Who knows? It's just the incantation, plenty of them invoke gods and most of them are meaningless in doing so. Besides, almost all information on Vaish was lost in the Great War anyway."

---

Cold.

Blackness.

A sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

...She felt utterly alone. The inky blackness that swirled in her vision greeted her like an old friend, but at the same time it felt so distant. She tried to move, but it felt like something heavy was weighing her down. She her noises and voices out in the distance, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Goblins or something or another? That sounded silly. She wasn't a goblin she was a...a something. Who was she, exactly? She couldn't recall.

As more and more of her senses returned, the goblin managed to finally shake off the sleep that plagued her. She managed to push herself to her feet, immediately noticing that there were other...goblins? That's right, she was a goblin. And her name was Silana. Odd, she could have swore...no matter, then. The second thing she noticed, she was a lot shorter than the others. Well then. Leave it to her to have the short end of the gene pool. What, was she a runt or something? Hah. That was funny.

Well, even if she was she'd...do something. She didn't know what, she wasn't a clever goblin yet. Instead of speaking and trying to say something like most of her brothers and sisters though, she simply remained silent and quietly observed. Walking wouldn't be too much of a problem...probably. Maybe the first few initial steps, but that's always the way it was in anything. First steps were the hardest and all that. That said...it seemed the rest of her brothers and sisters were still sleeping. Not much to observe, was it?

"..." She turned her head to what she believed would be someone who maybe had an inkling of what was happening here, blue eyes blinking as she observed them. Now...what would she do? She was curious as to what was going on.

She wanted to learn.

As Silana remained there in the darkness of the cave, the shadows cast at the point where the cave's darkness met the outside light shifted.

The form of its body was roughly similar to that of Silana and the Goblins near her, but save for that, this being was certainly no goblin. Clawed hands, dense musculature, mottled grey skin, height that towered above hers, and those yellow eyes that glinted with the ferality of a predator were all sure signs that this party was far distinct from her. And yet, it gave off nothing that could be called killing intent; indeed, the only pressure that seemed to emanate from it was from a primal fear that originated in Silana herself, rather than from anything the other was actually doing.

"Ah, another one's awake. It's fortunate I decided to stop by to check up on all of you when I did." The being remarked, its words every bit as comprehensible to Silana as they had been to the other newborn goblins. "Child, welcome to the world. I am Kichi, leader of the goblin tribe of this Ironwood Forest that you have been born into." He introduced simply, gesturing for the younger goblin to follow him outside of the cave. Ordinarily he'd have been a bit more accommodating to one who had only been conscious for a net total of five seconds, but given the mental acuity that the others in this group of newborns had demonstrated, he saw it fit to be fairly straightforward.

"Your siblings woke up shortly before you, and have left to explore the place where a group of beings called 'humans' live, accompanied by my son. You're no doubt disoriented from just having awoken, but if you like, I will take you there to join them. You may also choose to stay here and get a bearing for this forest, if you so desire."

Thankfully, any questions she immediately had were answered in a swift fashion by Kichi. So she was a late bloomer, so to speak? Wherever that expression came from she hadn't a clue. Seemed apt, at least. She listened intently to the older goblins words. Curious, she could understand him despite everything, but what was odd about that? She was a goblin and she should be able to understand him, after all. She followed him outside of the cave silently as she usually would be from now on, laying eyes on the forest outside for the first time. Iron wood forest. That was her home...the goblins home, that is.

As he went to explain where the others had went, a small smile crept across Silana's features. This was so...exciting, wasn't it? She was extremely curious as to what this forest...this, Ironwood had in store for her. Plus, her siblings as well! She was curious to meet them. She wondered what they were like.

"Silana." She said, turning her head to Kichi. "Meeting my siblings sounds like fun."

Kichi gave a slight nod in reply. Good, so this one seemed to be as quick to pick up on everything as the others had. For a brief moment, the clan chief's eyes lit up slightly, a sort of immaterial pressure pushing out from them before fading an instant later. It seemed that this one had a Gift as well, curious. Strictly speaking, there was nothing to say a generation of Goblins, all of them having Gifts, was impossible, but he couldn't help but question what sort of cause laid at the root of this.

"Very well, then. You'll be shown around this forest at a later time, but for now it's for the best that you get the chance to know your siblings." He stated simply, moving to exit the cavern without another word. "Truth be told, my experience with the humans isn't as great as my son's, but it should still be fairly simple to find where they've gone off to. Come, follow me. If you feel any disorientation from your body, though, let me know and we will wait for that to subside."

"Very well." Silana nodded, electing not to say anything as Kichi led her out of the cave.

What had...he just done? Some sort of pressure or something - he seemed to be looking at her fairly intently or some reason. Pervert? Was something wrong, perhaps? Maybe she should have asked to stay around the forest instead? Well, it didn't matter. Meeting her siblings would be much more fun anyways. For the most part though she remained silent. She felt fine, more or less - though she did feel awfully small compared to the older goblin. Would she get taller once she got older or something? Being short forever would be annoying.

For the most part, unless Kichi asked something she would continue following in silence. It would likely become increasingly clear she wasn't going to be much of a talker.

Evidently, Kichi wasn't much of a talker when not being asked questions either, so the net result between the two wound up being a very silent walk out of the forest, and towards a settlement that was presumably the aforementioned space of the humans, a notion made all the more reasonable by the strange pink-skinned certainly-not-goblin things stationed out in front of the settlement. A few words in an unfamiliar language were exchanged between Kichi and the humans at the city gate. Presumably this had something to do with figuring out where in the city the others had gone off to. Without warning, Silana felt a momentary sting on her skin, albeit one that faded just as quickly as it appeared, before the not-goblin-things granted herself and her clan elder access to the city.

As had been mentioned during the other's group escapade through the city, the sight was one a touch overwhelming to a newly-conscious goblin. Countless people, countless sounds, countless scents. The only real difference worth mentioning was that, rather than being greeted enthusiastically as Sabu had been, the civilians seemed to grant Kichi something of a wide berth, few calling out to him as he walked the streets. Evidently, he carried quite a different reputation among the humans compared to his son.

Regardless, the walk through the city went without issue, and before long the Bugbear and goblin had arrived outside of a small wooden building. "Given what the humans said Sabu had mentioned, they're likely in here with...that one."

The human city absolutely fascinated Silana. Overwhelming as it was, she absolutely loved it. She watched the humans with her usual passive gaze, studying them. How did she know they were humans? Well, Kichi said they were going to a human settlement. It was quite a logical conclusion, since they most certainly weren't goblins. She had to wonder why they were staying away from Kichi, though. Were they scared for some reason? That seemed appropriate, so she didn't entirely know why. Perhaps Kichi was just that powerful? She didn't get long to muse on it, though. Silana tilted her head to the side in a curious fashion. She felt somewhat nervous, though it didn't display on her face.

Well, no sense in wasting time or hesitating. That'd be silly.

Without a word, Silana walked into the building, ready to greet her siblings.

”Hmmmm"

Choices choices so many choices. She presumed knife ears probably wanted to go to the library. Lyminia might still want to check out the marketplace? She had no idea what the bloody goblin wanted, which wasn’t much of a change of pace. As for her:

”I could go for lunch right about now"

Hopefully the 3 areas were close together, she would rather not hang around in a library full of books she couldn’t read.

She vaguely listened in on the answers to Lyminia’s questions, noting the disinterest of the gods in people like them. A shame, but not unexpected. Then again there was the chiefs suspicion that one of the gods had something to do with their gifts, so perhaps they were watching, even if they weren't going to respond to questioning. Not that that gave much comfort, the gods watching her while she crashed and burned wasn’t going to get her out of any dangerous situations.

She was pulled from once again wondering which god might be responsible by the appearance of a new goblin who looked to be the same age as them. Pretty short too. She wondered how she got here.

”Hi there" she greeted them ”did ya wake up after us?"