It's not easy being green

Mackenzie's eyes widened with disbelief. "You... really did it?" Her voice was soft, tinged with a hint of shyness.

I scratched the back of my head, feeling a bit self-conscious. "Well, the system says that there won't be any repercussions from not completing the missions, but the Goddess obviously has some expectations of me, otherwise she wouldn't bother saving us and bringing us here, right? So, I'd rather not risk angering her, for now at least."

Pausing to think about what I said, seemingly coming to a decision. Looking away, a deep blush settled across her face as she replied, "That makes some sense. BUT! If you get any more missions like that, just ask me first, okay?"

My heart skipped a beat at her words, and I nodded, trying to hide my surprise. "Of course, I promise to check with you first." Mackenzie's shyness seemed to fade just a bit as she smiled back at me. "Good. Now, um, let's focus on what we should do next."

  ---

After trekking through the forest for a while, Mackenzie and I came across a well-worn game trail. Squatting down, looking at the tracks, I saw several small humanoid footprints. Confused, I thought, "Hey AI, do you have any idea what would make tracks like these?"

{User, based on the knowledge of the world I was given when the goddess made me, these tracks should belong to one of the smaller races. Considering that we are deep in a forest, it is probably goblins.}

Relaying what the AI told me, I said, "We should start heading back now, there is no way for use to tell when the goblins will be coming back." A hint of concern in my voice.

Noticing the serious tone, Mackenzie simply nodded before turning back around and starting to walk back. On the way, I suddenly took off my shirt and began tying one side shut to make a sack.

"What... what are you doing?" Mackenzie stammered, blushing and turning her head. "Well, we need a bag," I said with a shrug.

Mackenzie and I took a winding path back to the cave, trying to gather anything that might be edible. Relying on my survival knowledge and asking the system whenever we came across something we didn't recognize, leaving anything that was unknown alone. Mackenzie seemed to have a real gift for detail, noticing various edible plants peeking out from between the surrounding trees and foliage.

Along the way, I stopped at a tree covered in sap. Pulling out my knife, I began to scrape the sap onto a leaf. Standing next to me, Mackenzie curiously asked, "Why are you collecting that stuff? Can you eat it?"

"Nope," I chuckled, "it can be used as glue. Since we know that there are monsters close by, I thought that making a longer weapon wouldn't be the worst thing."

Mackenzie looked at the collected sap with wide-eyed. "Glue, huh?" She tilted her head slightly, her curiosity overcoming her shyness for a moment. "I'm sure whatever you make will be amazing." Her gaze then shifted back to their surroundings, keeping an eye out for danger.

Eventually, we made it back to the cave, the sun already past its zenith. We sat down and began eating the stuff we gathered, consisting mainly of nuts and berries. After we finished our meal, Mackenzie said, "I am going to go down to the stream to rinse off. No peeking!" before running off.

I called after her, "Be careful; the goblins might be close by," before turning to get to work. I grabbed one of the larger branches of hardwood that wasn't burned last night, whittling it down into a paddle shape and carving a groove along the edge.

Next, I grabbed the flint I found yesterday and began chipping off thin, sharp flakes, then carefully shaping them into rough triangle shapes. Restarting the fire, I placed a bit of the dry sap I collected on my knife and heated it up on the fire. Soon, it began to soften and become gummy. Carefully, I smeared it in the groove I carved in the paddle, then firmly pressed the flint flakes into the sap-filled groove, holding it until the sap cooled and hardened. I repeated the process until the entire edge of the wooden paddle had razor-sharp flint spikes along it.

Shortly after I finished, Mackenzie returned, still wet from bathing in the stream, her dress clinging to her body, accentuating her developing curves. Momentarily awestruck, I stared at her without realizing it, until she suddenly blushed, turning her body. She mumbled, "You don't need to stare so hard."

"Sorry, I was momentarily overwhelmed by your charms," I replied, flashing a smile. Mackenzie's blush deepened, reaching all the way to the top of her ears, before marching to the fire and plopping down next to it.

Grabbing the club I made, I sat down next to Mackenzie, staring at the flames as the sun set. After she calmed down, she took note of the wooden club next to me and asked, "What is that?"

"It is technically a war club, but I glued sharp pieces of flint along the edge to make it better at cutting. I based it on a weapon I read about that was used by the Aztecs called a Macuahuitl, but I don't know how well it will work," I replied.

Talking about what we should do and how we should handle the goblins, Mackenzie sheepishly scooted next to me. Eventually, we drifted off to sleep.

  ---

Adam awoke in the dimly lit cave, disoriented and groggy from his sleep. As he shifted, he realized that Mackenzie was still curled up beside him, her breathing slow and steady.

But something was different. There was an eerie silence in the cave, broken only by the faint rustling of leaves outside. Adam's instincts went on high alert. He carefully extricated himself from Mackenzie's embrace and sat up, scanning outside the cave.

And then, he saw her.

A female goblin stood at the cave's entrance, her presence almost ethereal in the early morning light. Her skin was a light shade of green, long, pointed ears poking out from her long black hair, and her large, round eyes pleading. She wore tattered leathers, her clothes barely containing her breasts, disproportionately large for her minute frame.

The goblin's voice was low and trembling as she spoke, struggling to communicate, "Human... please, you must help. Bugbear... took over tribe, getting mad, killing goblins… stop him before everyone dead." Her desperation was clear.

Grabbing the club, I walked out of the cave, replying, "Why should I help you? Even if I were willing to, what would I get out of this?"

Taking a moment to make sense of what was said to her before responding, she said, "I give you… anything…. everything, I was leader before bugbear…. whatever you want, just save tribe."

{Ding! New mission available}. With a sudden bad premonition, I concentrated, thinking of the mission tab, and suddenly a window appeared in front of me.

[Missions]

  [Going Green: Have sex with a Goblin]

  [Time Limit: 5 days]

  [Reward: 250 PP]

Sighing, I walked backward until I was next to Mackenzie and nudged her with my foot; she murmured, "five more minutes." Nudging her harder, I said, "Wake up; there is a goblin outside." Mackenzie suddenly sat up, looking around confused. I calmly explained what had happened and asked, "What do you think we should do?"

"You would be putting yourself in danger, I don't like it," Mackenzie said as she glared at the goblin girl.

"Even if we don't help, the bugbear would still be a serious threat to us. But if we do help, we can attack with the goblins, boosting our chance of winning. Also, we need help, and the goblins would owe us." Whispering, I added, "I also got a mission involving goblins."

Still glaring, Mackenzie yelled, "Fine, do whatever you want. See if I care," before laying down and turning away from me with a huff. Kneeling down, I whispered in her ear, "I promise to come back safe," planting a quick kiss on her cheek, and then I quickly made my way back out of the cave.