Norn, even if he could barely considered a functioning human being, was still a male.
Thus, lying in one "bed" with such an alluring character as p.. Erika made him feel uneasy.
It was his first time something like this happened.
As such, he couldn't sleep properly.
Never mind the goblins that didn't seem like creatures that needed sleep at all.
Some of them fought for a better spot near the camp fire, screaming from time to time.
Norn didn't mind their behavior, as he was too busy concentrating on whatever was infront of him...
It was a real woman! One that he could not only see, but touch as well!
However, since he thought it was not his style, he wasn't being too forceful.
Yeah, from time to time he "accidentally" touched her as he moved around, but that was the extent of it.
Erika didn't react to it at all, and if Norn looked at her right now he wouldn't be able to see anything since it was dark.
But if he could see her, he would see nothing on her face. It was just an expressionless face of a seemingly dead person.
Norn already suspected that it was the case. It was hard for her and it was obvious even for him.
As such, he wanted to do something for her.
Why did he chose her and not any other women goblins already had?
Well, he had a certain kink for elves and anything that was a humanoid, but not a human.
As such, things like orc ladies, demon ladies and *insert random race =/= human* ladies in general were prioritized by him.
And since Lady Fate delivered such a beautiful woman right to him... Why not use that opportunity?
Oh, right. How good looking Erika was?
Well, compared to models Norn eh... that he liked to observe in his previous life she looked like that one girl from an anime or a random manga that most of the "people" like him had a crush on.
How good it is, exactly? She was 12/10 in his eyes.
She was taller than him, her breasts were big, her legs, even though were broken, still looked big enough...
Her face? Well, it was as if his favourite artist drew her exactly for him!
She was just perfect!
As such, Norn didn't want to appeal bad or do anything bad to her.
To him, even talking to such a girl was once-in-a-lifetime chance.
He wanted to approach her from his good side, as he thought protecting her from other goblins and giving her food was already good enough.
Healing her legs? Well, she might try to run away or something... He still needed to do that sooner or later, but it's not like he could right now.
Thus, he focused on being a "good boy" near her.
It wasn't too big for him since he already had experince in that.
In his previous life he had many failed attempts in such things.
He didn't even know if those methods worked since women always rejected him... But it was the best he could do.
After some more thinking he finally fell asleep, hugging his pig leg tightly. He imagined that it was Erika.
...
As Norn opened his eyes again he was confused. He wasn't lying on his "bed" anymore!
He was on the ground and something soft was under him!
Bad thoughts immediately assaulted his mind...
"What if i grew too big and squashed Erika!?"
With panic in his eyes he quickly jumped on his legs and looked back...
He was lying on his pig leg, he exhaled, as if the worst didn't happen.
However, in the next moment he noticed another problem... Erika was nowhere near him!
As such, he immediately started looking around frantically.
He didn't see too well since it was dark for some reason, but soon he heard a gentle voice from somewhere...
"Looking for me?"
WHen Norn looked in the direction the voice came from he exhaled once more, it was Erika.
She was sitting near the campfire, it was still burning for some reason.
For a second he thougth that he didn't even sleep, since the campfire should've burned out already!
But, before he solidified that theory in his mind...
"You like to sleep, dont you? Dont worry, i've told other goblins to bring more branches to feed the fire"
Her voice was somewhat weak, but even weaker than it was Norn's understanding of the situation.
First, for how long did he sleep that Erika had time to befriend other goblins and even learn their language?
Second - why did they even listen to her in the first place? What exactly was going on here?
Third, and most important... Why the hell wasn't he on his bed!? He couldn't even locate it anymore, it's as if it disappeared completely!
Thus, he started solving problems one by one.
He didn't have a mirror or anything reflective enough for him to examine his new body, but he felt... Different.
As such, he came closer to Erika and sat near her, asking:
"Do i look different from before i went to sleep?"
To his own amazement his voice sounded deeper! It was as if he was a real man and not an angry 10 year old anymore!
It was too drastic of a change, he just went to sleep and his voice was finally manly!
If only it was that easy in his previous life... maybe more women would've talked to him online?..
"You are bigger and look like a small orc now"
Erika chuckled as she said it. As if there was a reason to laugh at him.
Norn didn't understand it and checked his status window immediately:
Name: Norn
Age: 0
Sex: Male
Race: Half-Goblin (4/6) Half-Elf (2/6)
Titles:
Achievements:
Skills: [I want to speak!], [Training Expert]
Stats:
ATK: 4
DEFALL: 2
AGILITY: 8
STRENGTH: 8
ENDURANCE: 8
INTELLIGENCE: 3
MAGIC: 6
WILL: 21
SOUL: CANNOT BE READ
FATE: 3
LUCK: 12
OVERALL POWER LEVEL: 4
...
It was amazing! He indeed was stronger, he even gained a new skill! Even his "Race" parameter advanced by a bit!
He was now... what? A bit more elvish that goblinish or something? Why did that even change?...
He couldn't wrap his head around it, you can understand the reason if you look at his "Intelligence" stat.
Another strange thing in his status window was that his "Soul" stat didn't show a value.
At first, Norn didn't mind it too much, he thought that it'll change later, as he just reincarnated so it was normal if the system didn't work right.
Why did he think like that? Well, beats me, his logic is way above my level of understanding.
As he praised himself for attaining a new skill, he wanted to check out what exactly it did, but he couldn't find a way.
When he tried to touch the name of the skill on that window before him norhing happened, when he tried saying stuff like "Show skill [Training Expert]" in his mind... nothing happened either!
He tried several times but failed every single attempt of his, giving up eventually.
He too bothered with it, as it clearly gave him a bonus if he trained, judging by it's name, at least.
What the bonus was, exactly? Who cares? A bonus is a bonus, after all. Even if it was just 1% it was already better than nothing...
After some more useless thinking with his goblin brain he spoke.
"Have any of the goblins touched you?"
He looked at Erika with a "conserned" gaze. In reality it looked like jealously more than anything.
"No, they seem afraid of me"
She shaked her head smiling as she said it.
It was the first time she has shown anything but a blank expression on her face.
It made Norn feel warmer inside. Maybe it was because of the campfire that he was sitting too close to, maybe it was something different, but it did happen.
"Did you eat anything?"
Norn asked once more, trying to show concern for her well-being.
"Goblins brought me some berries earlier"
She answered and looked at Norn immediately afterwards...
"Why are you doing this?"
She asked with a somewhat pitiful expression.
She couldn't understand why he, a goblin, would try to show concern for her.
She didn't cry about it, but it was out of the line for goblin to actually be... like that.
"I... Feel bad for you..."
Norn couldn't think of a better answer than that, in his mind it was both mysterious and graceful, like a cherry on a rose!
Erika, however, simply laughed because of his answer. It would've been pleasant if Norn heard it in any other situation, but now it was just... sad.
"Do you... want me to take you to a nearby city or something like that?.."
He gave up. He didn't know what exactly she felt, but he could understand that she wasn't very happy with him.
Maybe it's not like that and she really did find him different and maybe better than some other people that she knew, but...
In Norn's mind, that was filled with ridiculing gazes of others and just utter disappointment in himself... It was a sign that she didn't like him.. at all.
After saying it Norn simply put his head down, he was feeling strange.
It was another life of his... Then why is his sadness still here!? He's supposed to be happy!
He was isekaid, it was his lifelong dream to be in a world of magic and beautiful girls!
Now, look at thim! Was he happy!? Was he feeling good!?
The fucking opposite, he was even more miserable!
His dream went down crushing on his own head!
One thing is when you have a dream you cant achieve, or a car you cant get...
Another one is understanding that even if you got it wouldn't do you any good, since you yourself is the problem of your life!
As such, in Norn's mind he was given that dream car of his. He crushed it 15 minutes later.
...
They sat in the same position for several minutes.
Erika was silent, she was thinking about something complex, as her face changed expressions from time to time.
Norn, however? He was crying in his mind. He didn't want to show it on the outside.
No, he wasn't crying. His mind was just... blank. He wasn't thinking about anything, he simply accepted the fact that he was his biggest problem.
However, as he was about to make an important decision regarding Erika, a goblin came in running...
"FOUND HUMAN! WEAK!"
Goblins all around the cave immediately cheered, but with time they went silent.
They didn't see Norn cheer with him. Since he was the strongest - he decided whether or not they attacked.
He didn't know that, however, and simply stared at the campfire with a blank gaze.
Erika touched his right hand as she said:
"Are you alright? You look strange..."
Her voice wasn't particularly caring or anything like that, she simply decided to ask him about it since it was too silent and none of the goblins dared to get closer to him.
She was afraid of things that could happen to her if he lost his leader position... His protection was crucial for her survival, after all...
"No, it's fine"
However, any person with even a quarter of a brain would understand that he lied.
Hell, even goblins around him understood that something wasn't right with him!
His gaze was blank, his face wasn't like it was before.
If earlier he showed emotions on his face frequently... now it wasn't moving at all.
His voice? It was as if instead of talking he used a program that read out text instead of him! Very old one at that!
"You go attack human, i not go"
He didn't even bother to look at them as he slowly wandered off in the night.
He didn't know where exactly he was going, as he simply wanted to walk.
It wasn't important where he would end up, as his main problem - he himself, would always be with him.
It was a tad too late for him to understand the fact. He needed to change himself to make the world around him better.
Sadly, changing the world around the person wasn't always helpful. It didn't give immediate results.
...
Some time later Norn finally arrived somewhere. It was dark all around him, but he could see dim light, presumably coming from a weak campfire.
He didn't care what it was exactly, he simply looked at the dim light while he just stood there, alone.
After a second or so he heard something. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear many weak footsteps.
He understood that he must've accidentally ended up near the humans that the scout goblin reported previously.
He didn't know whether it was just an accident or something led him here, but he starting walking towards the light to observe the situation.
After 30 or so seconds he was around 20 meters away from it. Goblins have already attacked the sleeping people.
Norn didn't understand why they didn't even put someone to guard them while they were sleeping, or maybe goblins already dealt with that person?
If so, why were they still asleep? It was too complicated for him to think about.
He didn't bother, it wasn't meaningless in the end.
After some time he decided to show himself to other goblins.
As they heard footsteps they immediately stood on guard, but when Norn came closer so they could see him properly they cheered silently.
Some of the goblins even carried items they found in the camp. Some brought swords, bows or weapons in general.
They saw that their leader didn't have one, and since they had a chance to appeal to him... Why not do that?
He didn't accept any of those, he wasn't in a mood to play hero or a proper person like he liked to...
However, one of the things that a certain goblin brought piquied his interest.
It was an empty bottle that smelled foul. He didn't know what was in there, but it couldn't be a good thing...
Then, he suddenly placed pieces of puzzle corrently... It was poison or sleeping potion!
Why else wouldn't they wake up when they were attacked!?
They didn't defend at all! Every single person here died in their sleep!
It also explained why the campfire was still burning while they were in the open, any sane person, from Norn's point of view, would've extuinguished it!
It drew in too much attention from things around, and could even burn you if something went wrong with it!
However, who would posion seemingly unimportant people...
More so, what if that person was still around?
However, Norn decided that it was too much problem for nothing. It could as well be some feud between bandits or something like that.
As he walked around the camp he tried to find some clothes.
Surprisingly, he did find them.
There was a bag full of womens clothes. Different dresses and small jackets were packed.
But... there were no women here?...
Were they just perverts or something?
"God knows, and i am no god."
He thought before taking the bag with him. He then looked for some other clothes that would fit him.
It didn't take long. As he could see some of the people were as big as him, and since goblins simply slashed their necks?..
He undressed those that were similiar to him and took their clothes, putting it on his shoulder.
"Listen, take clothes! Wear clothes to look good and warm!"
He commanded other goblins...
"Take what you can take, bring to cave!"
After another command he departed, not forgetting to take a sword with him.
It's not like he knew how to use it properly, but it wouldn't hurt to have one.
He didn't look too much at things in the camp as he knew that goblins would carry it back to the cave anyway, why bother?
As such, a lone goblin walked towards his new home, lonely and depressed.