"Please be a goblin please be a goblin..."
As Norn wake up it was the only thought in his mind.
He didn't want to think that it really was just a dream.
When he finally dared to open his eyes... He was the happiest person alive!
He really was back in the cave!
As he glanced around to see if something has changed he found himself covered in a blanket.
Even thought he was not near the campfire anymore, which is strange, he was kept warm.
The blanket wasn't anything great as it was literally made of random clothes sewn together.
Look like he slept for a long time, since Erika even had time to find something to stuff it with.
It felt nice and cozy.
However, after another quick glance he couldn't locate the most important person in this cave - Erika.
She wasn't in his bed, not near the campfire and not even close to it... Where, then?
As he quickly got up he glanced around. He could only see goblins, they looked at Norn with strange gazes.
He didn't understand the reason behind his gaze, simply asking:
"Where my female"
It wasn't loud or quiet, it was just a normal question.
Many goblins looked at each other, none dared to talk. Not even the elder ones who were usually talkative in such situations.
However, a brave one finally appeared:
"Female walk away"
Norn looked with an angry gaze towards the goblin that said it, little one thought that he was going to die just from it alone.
"When where, she say anything?"
He tried to mimic the way goblins spoke, even thought it wasn't entirely correct it was much easier for them to understand. At least that's what he thought.
In their eyes however he looked stupid, since he couldn't even speak proeprly, but was so strong!
Why such a stupid goblin was strong? Why was it not them?
"Not long, female left before but was back"
One of the older goblins chipped in.
"That's good then, seems like she's not trying to run... For whatver reason."
It wasn't an asnwer to the goblins but to himself, even though he said it outloud.
He didn't waste much time as he quickly got out of the cave and tried to think where Erika could go to.
It was obvious that she either scouted something or wanted to get some stuff.
Why was it obvious? Well, because if she wanted to run away she would've done so the first time, but since one of the goblins said that she ventured but returned?
Well, whatever it was Norn's main mission for now was to look for her, it's not like he wanted to be close to her at all times, he needed to learn some healing spells from her.
Just in case he swapped bodies whenever he went to sleep. It was crucial for him to have two normal ones, because if he didn't?...
It would be a pity if he could only move whenever he was in a body of a goblin, more than that, he could use the opportunity to rise in both lives, this world had lots of opportunities, but if he could use two to amass his knowledge?
...
Some time later Norn decided not to do anything stupid, it was just pointless for him to go look for her, he wasn't proficient it that.
She might be back soon anyway, so why bother getting himself lost in the forest?
If she didn't however?.. Well, guess he will have to find another woman to use.
Norn decided to use this time to train, even thought he had to train for twice as much time if his theory is right, he would profit immensely from it.
Just think about it, who else but him had the ability to train all day long without any rest? No one!
Even if he collapsed from exhaustion, so what? He has another body that he can use!
As such, he decided to first check his stats, maybe he got another skill or something like that?..
All of it was the same as before, with just one small exception:
Race: Goblin (???)
"What the fuck?"
Did he lose his elf origin or something?
How could that even happen? He simply went to sleep for a while, and now he's of a different race?
More than that, none of his stats actually changed, he was still the same even thought something did happen.
Whatever was behind this change Norn was too stupid to understand it even a little.
Who cares if his race is some bullshit Higher God Breed ELf (6000 power) or Sucker Goblin (born to die)?
He was still himself, no matter who he was on the outside.
That was the only good thing about it, however.
If his race changed that meant that something DID change, since when it did so last time he got a huge boost in his magic stat and lesser boost in physical one.
That means that race is tied to your stats, so what did this particular one give him?
It couldn't be that it's just nothing...
As he thought about it he continued doing excercises. It wasn't too hard for him, for some reason.
His fatigue went away really fast which allowed him to do more and more each time.
Even though his actual endurance stat didn't go up, he could feel some progress.
...
After an hour or so Norn decided to start training magic again, none of his muscles were working properly anymore and it felt like they were made of stone.
As such, he started thinking of a way to make a spell that would allow him to move at least a bit.
It was insanely hard as even after thinking for a whole day in his other body he couldn't make it.
However, he understood perfectly well tha it was all due his lack of mana. Here he had much more freedom to test out his ideas.
Even if it was a bad one, so what? Maybe he was too stupid to see if it's a good one or not?
As such, testing was necessary. Even if it was a bad idea.
Of course, most of his ideas were insanely bad, last time he tried something new he almost killed himself...
But who said that he's going to test it on himself now? He had lots of stuff he could try to move now!
Random rocks, sticks, goblins... Whatever he wants to!
And so, half-insane half-idiotic experimenting began.
It wasn't anything great, on the contrary, if any proper mage saw what he was doing he would first be amazed that a goblin can use magic, only then realising how awful it was.
Compared to actual spells Norn's way of using magic was based entirely on his imagination. Forget about proper formulas and such things, he simply imaged something and basically "told" mana to make it come true.
It was indeed a good way to use it like that, but sadly Norn was too stupid to realize that he lacks experience and knowledge.
For his method to work he needs to imagine what exactly would happen, if in his head a big-ass sword just attacked something, but nothing actually happened to it's target - the same would happen in reality, the sword would lack what it needs the most.
However, if he mage a proper construction behind a spell, imagining the whole way it should go and aftermath of it's hit?
It would work. Of course, the power behind it wouldn't be as strong if he imagines that the whole world collapses as he spits on the ground, but at least it would try to do so.
As such, Norn's method was only half-correct. Prior experience and knowledge was necessary, but if we only count the fact that he came up with that with just a simple hint? He's doing pretty well... for a goblin.
...
After some more "training" he's done he was exhausted both mentally and physically.
He wanted to sleep badly, but he wouldn't risk going back to another body of his.
He couldn't be sure how it worked yet, and he still had things to do here.
As he was lying before the cave, chilling and sightseeing, he heard some noises coming from the bush nearby.
He quickly stood up as he prepared to defend or attack, he didn't have his sword, but he wont give up that easily!
However, before he could start imagining who it could be the figure emerged. It was Erika.
She glanced at a goblin in a stupid pose infront of her before saying:
"Norn! You woke up! Did you sleep well?"
She looked happy that he finally woke up.
Without even thinking for a second she ran towards him and hugged.
One thing to point out, she was... Well, let's just say that Norn was around 150 cm now, and Erika was 175 or so.
Just so you know what part of her body his head ended up in.
It's not like he didn't like it, it's just that it was somewhat sudden.
Erika, however, didn't seem to mind it at all.
"Where have you been? Found anything good? Also, congrats with having an ability to walk again."
Norn decided to not sew discord between them and just ask normally, as if he never even suspected that she would run away after she healed her legs.
"I was trying to find where the goblins attacked me, i was with a merchant caravan that day, but it looks like it's already looted. As for my legs? They're not completely healed yet, but it will not be a problem, i wont be a nuisance to you anymore."
She answered with a somewhat disappointed face.
In her mind, something must've been left after the attack, but sadly, she couldn't find anything of use there.
"You're not a nuisance though. Also, can you teach me some healing spells and spell that can allow me to move things using them?"
He looked at Erika as if it was a casual thing to ask.
Even thought the first one was somewhat common, the latter was a rare type of magic that none really practiced.
It was due to it being... Well, useless? On the paper it did sound cool, but it reality it was too much of a bother.
Of course, if you had a melee weapon that you lost or something you might use it, but other than that?
It's only useful for waiters or to show off on some banquet.
"Oddly specific but sure, when do you want to start?"
Contrary to what Norn thought Erika didn't even ask why he needs those spells.
Did she have some type of blind trust in him or something?
Norn wasn't thinking that it's bad, just somewhat unusual to him.
It was his first time when people didn't actually look at him like he was shit and were eager to help.
Even if it was just Erika and some idiotic goblins... It was better than nothing, way better.
"First of all, healing spells should be targeted at exact location of whatever you want to heal..."
She started slowly explaining it as they both sat near a tree, kinda romantic if you ask me.
"... Healing magic basically given your body enough energy to speed up the process of regeneraton, so after using it you will feel hunger, because only top tier spells actually heal, in reality it's just regeneration..."
After saying it she lifted her dress, showing Norn awful scars on her legs.
They were so bad that one would think that those legs were made from several pars of different ones.
Norn, didn't care, he even interrupted her, as she clearly wanted to continue:
"Damn, it's a good thing the rest of your body is so beautiful that such a small thing wont make you look any worse, on the contrary, it's a charming addition."
Of course, it's not his own idea to put it like that. He modified it a little, but he heard that bullshit line "yesterday".
It came from a melodrama on the TV that he couldn't switch.
At least it was somewhat useful, not only giving him brain damage but some ideas to appear nicer to ladies.
Erika didn't react at his words at first, but later a slight blush could be seen, she didn't adress it however, simply continuing to talk.
"Eh... Right, your second request is a bit harder, the principle is the same as with all other spells, but generally you just need to imagine an arm that moves whatever you want to move..."
It indeed was that simple and even Norn understood it.
He tried using a finger or two to move his head, but they didn't have enough power.
"... Of course, you can use whatever you want to move things, but an arm is a more popular and simple method than the rest..."
After that she continued to explain some basics of both, even demonstrating how it worked and all that.
Some time later when she was talking about regeneration once again:
"Wait, where's that pig that i brought?"
Norn suddenly remembered, he didn't see it in the cave, where the fuck was it?
"Uh... Well, i ate half of it because you were sleeping for so long, and the rest was taken by other goblins..."
Norn's face became blank.
What the fuck does she mean taken by goblins.
He immediately stood and ran inside the cave, screaming angrily:
"GO HUNT PIG OR I KILL WHO ATE MINE!"
It was a direct threat to the goblins. It was risky since if they were to rebel against him...
Would he have any chances? It didn't matter, he wasn't even thinking about such a possibility...
Goblins, however?
Some screamed, some woke up and some tried to hide inside the empty cave. Morons.
"I SAY GO HUNT PIG AND BRING ME! YOU STEAL MY PIG, YOU BRING NEW PIG!"
When he saw that none of the goblins moved to do something he repeated his threat...
"Goblin already look for pig, walk long ago, will soon get pig."
One of the elder ones interrupted Norn's screaming...
"They took pig, tried to say female they get new, but female not understand, they tell later and took pig."
It was a mess of a sentence but the general idea behind it was understood by Norn.
They took half of the pig and will bring back a new one for him, as they were hunting right now.
It wasn't a bad trade, and Norn thought so too:
"Good, i wait."
He left the cave walking back towards Erika again...
"You ran too fast, those goblins tried to tell me something but i didn't understand, i gave it to them in the end, thinking that they would attack..."
Erika quickly explained as she saw that Norn wasn't all that happy now.
"Yeah, they wanted to get the pig, the goblin said that they're hunting for a new one right now, they will give it to us."
He answered as he sat down next ot her once again, it wasn't too big of a deal to Norn, he just wanted where it went.
"Oh, that's good then. Try not to fall asleep this time, i want to eat together with you..."
It sounded somewhat awkward when Erika said it, as if she was trying to get on a date with him.
"Okay, please continue, i want to focus on spells now... The theory behind them, at least."
Norn wasn't angry or anything, it's just all that was pointless talking.
He needed to focus on learning more and more now, his time could be limited.
He was just a damn goblin, what if his lifespan was the same as of other goblins?
Will he look like he's 80 in 5 years or something?
It wasn't something he wanted, he needed to imrpove as fast as he could.
"Okay, but promise to eat with me before we continue!"
It was just a statement from her, but Norn felt really... good because of it.
Which girl would force him to eat with her?
"That's out of the question, if you are making a demand then make it good, i will eat together with you whenever you want."
He looked her straight in the eyes as he said it. Of course, it was another thing he saw on some bullshit TV show or something like that.
But so what? If it worked for certain people, why would it not work for him?
If she acted like she liked Norn, why would he not try to appeal to her even more by saying such things?
Erika was taken aback by his statement. It was a bit too shocking for her, as she couldn't imagine that he would say such things!
It was just too strange for a goblin to speak such words, as if he was some Duke straight out of a novel.
Her "shock" didn't last for long, as she quickly got back to her usual self and started explaining the theory again...