Chapter 5: Introductions

"Joy." Centi called out.

"Centi!" Joy called back.

"Gob." He wanted to be involved.

"Gob!" Joy included him.

  Centi groaned. This wasn't what she meant to do. All she wanted was to ask the little pink infant a question. Now it has turned into a game where Joy and Gob are just saying things on their mind. Centi thought that the little potion goblin would be more conflicted about helping his village but nope. Here he was collecting ingredients for more potion brewing with Joy helping him as they continued to yell out random words.

"Quiet!" Centi yelled, shocking Gob and Joy into falling over into a bush.

"What's the big idea Centi?" Gob asked confused.

"What's big idea Centi? Joy repeated in her childish voice, also confused.

"Joy. Who is this Friend of yours that wants bones?" Centi got to the point immediately.

"Friend is Friend." Joy explained as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

  If Centi had hands she would be using them to palm her face right now.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that. Can we see your friend Joy?" Gob asked.

"Okay!" Joy agreed without a problem.

  This made Centi realize she would have to choose her words more carefully when talking to the child. The exiled and ridiculed goblin of all monsters got the information she wanted easier than she did. How embarrassing.

"He coming to say hi!" Joy told them.

  Centi and Gob watched as Joy's back began to undulate like a snake trying to shed its skin. The sound of ripping flesh scratched against their ears. The back of Joy's body tore open and a slithering white object climbed from out of her body. The bones that came out of her body started to shape itself into something resembles a goblin. Centi and Gob couldn't help feeling unnerved and agitated staring into that skeleton goblin's empty eye sockets looking back at them. They felt as if they met the superior predator.

"Hello, my host's 'Friends'. I suppose this is our first meeting isn't it, Goblin? Centipede, we've met." Its chilling voice nearly sent them both into fight or flight mode.

"Friend! Meet Friends! Gob is Gob and Centi is Centi!" Joy walked over and introduced them all to one another despite both Gob and Centi being frozen in fear.

  Centi wanted to resist her natural instincts and fight back against the immense pressure the being was placing on her. Centi doesn't do submission. And she didn't plan on starting now. She reinforced her entire body using her mana, slightly offsetting the weight. Centi's mana drained quickly but at least now she could lift her head up high and glare at the strange monster inside Joy's body.

  Gob couldn't resist his natural instincts. He froze like an ice cube when he felt that force. The thought of resisting rose in his mind but he was just a lowly goblin. One of the weakest monsters inside the Woodlands. Could he even resist against something like that? Something so terrifying and oozing with magical power?

  At first, he believed that it was impossible. It was how the world worked. Goblins stayed at the bottom and others ruled over them. But when he saw Centi forcing herself to stand up and not bow her head against this monster, it sparked something inside him. A thought, a feeling that maybe Goblins didn't have to stay on the bottom and be everyone's prey. This spark ignited into something more that empowered him. Who said that goblins were weak and had to be bullied by every other monster?!

  Gob would prove that thought wrong. He might be a measly weak little goblin right now but who is to say he won't become something greater?! He will break that stereotype for goblins and become something far greater than just a mere goblin. And his first challenge is being able to stand up to this monster.

  Gob reached into his bag and took out a vial filled with an icy blue liquid floating inside. He popped off the top and gulped the whole thing in one big gulp. The others saw his skin turned bright red and his cheeks turned rosy pink. Gob's steps became uneven and even his speech started to slur.

"I-I'm not... Hic! Scared of you!" He slurred with confidence.

  This was one of Gob's accidental potions. The village berated him on creating such a useless potion but look at him now! He's able to stand up to a superior monster with just his nerves alone! He planned on calling this potion the Confidence Potion! It would be perfect for monsters that have confidence issues or need to stand up against someone stronger than them. His old village really knew nothing about anything.

"You two might not be as worthless as previously thought... Very well. Continue to protect my host and your bones won't be devoured by me. Oh, and before I go, you can refer to me as Agony." The goblin-shaped skeleton went back inside Joy and her small body recovered back to normal.

  Joy looked at Centi and Gob with sparkles in her eyes.

"What does devoured mean?" She asked.

  It took Centi and Gob a second before they were brought back to reality.

"To eat." Centi answered.

"Agny! You can't eat friends! Friends don't eat friends!" She reprimanded the parasite. For some reason Centi looked away when she said this.

'As long as they do as I say, it won't come to that.' Agony responded.

"Oh okay." Joy believed that Agony wouldn't eat her friends anymore.

"So that thing's inside of her?" Gob asked, his confidence potion wearing off.

"Yep." Centi replied.

"Why did it look like a goblin?" Gob asked another question.

"How am I supposed to know? Just so you know little potion maker, I haven't been with her for very long. I've only met her a couple of hours before you did." Centi cleared up.

"Oh, it looked like to me you two been together way longer than that." Gob shared.

"Yeah, no."

"Centi! Gob! Cave!" Joy pointed out to her friends excitedly.

  She was about to rush over as if there were countless treasures inside that cave and they were the first to discover it. Gob managed to pick her up before she could run over there, causing another groan to escape from Centi when she thought about how Joy loves looking for trouble. Joy looked up at Gob in confusion with her round black sparkling eyes.

"Wait a second Joy. I have to prepare a few potions before we go inside. I'm sure Centi also needs some time to recover her mana. In the meantime, you can help me brew these potions." Gob said.

  Centi took a spot near the two and curled herself into a relaxing position. Gob pulled out several tools from his large backpack. Joy inspected every one of them with interest and wonder. Gob chuckled seeing the curious little girl and got ready to set up his brewing station. He placed a large stone bowl on the ground and propped it up with some stone rods so that it was elevated off the ground. Joy asked him at every moment what was he doing and why was he doing that particular thing. It would've drove Centi nuts but like she said before, the little goblin is very patient in comparison to her. When it came to potions, he was happy to explain everything about it. Joy seemed happy to learn or at least watch the exuberant goblin make potions.

"And this is where the magic happens!" Gob snapped his fingers and threw in some plant into the boiling pot, creating an explosion of colors that blew Joy away and caught Centi's interest a little bit. But that only lasted for a moment, before the colored water inside the pot started bubbling to dangerous levels.

"Hit the floor!"

  Gob grabbed Joy and dove away from his pot. Centi curled herself in a way that if anything came at her it would hit her hard exterior. The bubbling pot continued to shoot out explosions of colors, slowly building up to an even larger explosion.