She flicked her hand and electricity began to crackle and dance around it wildly. The Goblin looked at her, eyes wide with surprise and horror. He pointed at the now closed book sitting on her lap with a pout on his face.

"Not done! Not done reading! You didn't read!"

The girl sighed and shook her head at him. Her eyes glanced at the electricity in her hand then back to the Goblin's yellow eyes.

"I can't teach you magic if you don't know the basics of mana control."

She lifted her hand and showed him the small ball of lightning floating above her palm. The Goblin stared at it for a moment, then he looked back at the Mage casting the spell.

"The [Heal] you managed to cast earlier was powerful, but it's clear to me that your control of mana is..."

She paused for a moment and looked at the confused Goblin beside her.

"Terrible."

The Goblin frowned and looked at his empty hands. She didn't want to use that word but it slipped out by mistake.

"Oh. So my magic not good?"

"It's not that it's not good. It's inefficient and I think you're wasting so much mana to compensate for it."

"So what do?"

"You just need to practice. For now, I recommend that you cast your spells through a medium."

"Medium? Not big, not small?"

"What? No!"

She chuckled softly at the confused Goblin while he folded his arms at her. The ball of lightning disappeared with a wave of her hand and she reached out for the staff beside her.

"Something like this. Staffs are common and the standard medium for casting spells. Although there are a few Mages and Sorcerors out there that use other things like rings, gloves, or other things as a medium."

"Ohhhh! So staff! Use staff then?"

"Yes. But it also depends on the type of magic that you're casting. If it's not compatible with the medium's material then the spell might not work."

"Hmm. Okay."

"For now, you should focus on practicing without the use of a staff or anything else and focus on controlling your mana more efficiently. Do you know spells like [Light] or [Flame]?"

His ears perked up at the words and he nodded his head excitedly.

Riel watched with anticipation as the Goblin raised a finger began to cast the 1st Tier Spell, [Light]. The light from the spell was dim and instead of floating in the air, it was emitted from the tip of his thin claw. Sure, he could make it brighter or dimmer, but it wasn't that impressive for her. The fact that this Goblin is capable of magic while not being a Goblin Shaman is more interesting for her.

"Hmm. You have the potential for magic but... You really don't have a solid control of your mana."

"Sorry."

"No, no. It's fine. Most people have trouble with that as well."

"What should I do?"

Her hand flickered with light and a few dozen orbs appeared around her.

"The goal, for now, is to make one orb of light float around you. If you can do that, then we can move on to doing this!"

"Woah!"

She smiled proudly while the orbs of light swirled and danced around them. He got up and closely examined one of the orbs while imitating the hand gestures Riel did to conjure them.

It was the first time she taught someone what she knew about magic although it still felt strange to be teaching a Goblin of all things. Riel still felt uneasy around him, but she didn't hate this particular Goblin. He wasn't a Shaman since he didn't belong to a tribe and he wasn't a Hobgoblin either since he wasn't a hulking monster like all Hobs And he wasn't a monster like all the other Goblins. He was just, strange.

He moved around and walked like a Goblin, but he wore clothes and kept himself clean. He wasn’t fluent in the Common Tongue, but she could tell he'd been studying up on it. Even though he would never be able to use it. In fact, she could tell that this particular Goblin enjoyed studying and learning as much as any other person.

The last word made Riel uneasy. A Goblin, a Goblin, acting like a person. And she even considered him as a person now. She shook her head and shuddered at the thought of acknowledging the monster behind her as a person. Sure, he didn't try to kill them, and they are intruding in his home-

"Oh! Did it!"

"What?"

The Goblin turned towards her with a smile and a ball of blue bobbing up and down in the air over his hands. She felt her jaw drop and the Goblin tilted his head at her.

"Something wrong?"

"N-No..."

"So I did right?"

"Yeah. It's good."

Too good. He wasn't supposed to learn how to control mana in a few minutes. It took her a year at most to learn how to do it, and she wasn't even a master at it now! She watched the Goblin cast another [Light] spell, then another, and another...

The air was now filled with his own mana orbs, and he was making them swirl around him like it was nothing. A small part of her wanted to feel happy for him, but seeing a Goblin do these kinds of things irked her. Her own magic faded from the air while she watched the Goblin do some tricks with the orbs of light around him.

"I am happy. Could feel magic get better now."

"Yeah..."

"Mhm. I will keep in head."

Her eyes widened when the Goblin waved his arm in a similar manner to her and every orb of light that circled around him abruptly disappeared.

"How?! How did you do that?"

The Goblin raised a brow at her.

"I watch you. I learned."

He beamed at her, revealing the set of sharp and pointy teeth underneath his lips. But she didn't feel happy seeing his smile.

She gave him a shrug and sat back down with a sad look on her face. He turned around and began to practice with another spell, [Flame]. Riel watched the Goblin summon a small ball of flame before playing around with it nonchalantly. She couldn't accept the scene playing out in front of her. She just taught a Goblin something she had to spend years studying and mastering only for him to learn it within minutes. That sounded dangerous, and it probably is but Riel didn't care about that.

His back was turned towards her, and that was good. She would've probably smacked him over the head if he was a normal person, but he isn't a normal person. And that's the thing! She didn't know how to feel about him right now. He's a prodigy in magic, but he's also a Goblin. He's clearly a nice person, but he's a Goblin. He saved them all from dying, but he's a Goblin! She taught him magic and it was nice seeing someone learn something from her but he's still a Goblin!

He isn't a person. He's a Goblin.

Monsters that destroy villages. Things adventurers have to hunt regularly due to their gruesome nature. The same things that slaughtered her village, her family. She clutched the hem of her robes and scowled at him. No, she scowled at what he is and what he is not.

The Goblin in front of her is smart, and Goblins who are smart are dangerous. But he is also a nice Goblin and he was a lover of knowledge. Riel knew he isn't a monster, but he is a monster. In time, he could have the potential to become a bigger threat. He could become those fabled fiends of old, the villains of various tales meant to scare children into bed. She could be looking at a future Goblin King.

Her eyes turned towards Stefan and Semilia, who was still busy drinking from the fountain at the opposite side of the room. If the three of them rushed him right now, he wouldn't see it coming and they'd probably have no issue taking him down right now. But the problem is-

"Done practicing."

The Goblin waddled towards the chair beside her and sat down. He was sweating, but he didn't look tired at all. He looked content and happy with himself.

"That fast? How did you do it?"

"Read how to do it in one book. Also saw how you do it. I copy and I do it."

"Oh. Was it hard to do for you?"

"Yes. Very hard!"

He nodded his head excitedly, his sweat splattering everywhere in the process.

"Would never learn without you."

She gave him a weak smile and looked away. He was talking about something, but she wasn't too keen on listening right now.

"...Mana hard to control, but can be lead. Mana feels like water, but also like rock."

So he's talking about the mana flow within the body, which she already knew about. Riel already knew how that works, but it feels weird hearing such a complex process be explained in such a simple way.

"Riel! Are you doing okay there?"

Just like that, Riel felt relieved for Stefan's help. The Goblin went silent and looked at the man walking towards them.

"Yeah, I'm good. How about Sem?"

"She's still busy trying to map out where we came from."

The two were now ignoring the Goblin completely. Of course, the two of them knew he was just beside them, but they didn't want to talk to him right now.

It was fine for him, of course. A Goblin he may be, but he's not the typical dumb Goblin. It was clear to him that the three of them clearly distrusted him. Even the girl called Riel clearly hated him for some reason, but he didn't know why she kept looking at him with those hateful eyes from time to time.

He sat there quietly, watching the pointy-eared girl sift through one of the treasure piles in his room. She's clearly looking at the enchanted bow in the corner but at least she's trying to be discreet about it. He let out a quiet sigh as he dragged himself up from his chair and towards the fountain.

The man called Stefan was talking about when to escape and how to leave the dungeon. Of course, he knew that this person wanted to kill him, but who wouldn't want to kill him? He's a Goblin! He's used to people wanting to kill him, but what miffed him is how they talked about it in hushed whispers and behind his back.

"...But Stefan! You saw how the maze worked! It was a miracle that we even made it out of there!"

"Then what are we supposed to do? Stay here with this-"

The Goblin looked at him, waiting for him to finish the sentence.

"Unlikely savior."

Stefan glanced away from him, clearly unnerved by the words he just said.

"Anyway, we need to get out of here."

"Yes. But how do we even get out of here?"

His ears twitched at the sound of coins being toppled over by the pointy-eared girl.

"The corridors are trapped and filled with monsters beyond our level. And we don't even know where we are in this damn place!"

"I have to agree with Semilia here. It's too risky to go out now."

The Goblin snorted at them while he looked around the room. He could tell Stefan and Semilia pocketed a few gold coins while he wasn't looking, but at least it's just gold coins. He didn't really need all of the treasure in this room, but it was nice to have some lying about in case of emergencies. But his main focus right now is getting rid of his three guests.

They weren't just troublesome for him, they're also a liability. The mushrooms he ate as food won't be enough for the three of them, and they're clearly thinking of killing him for the treasures he owned. Riel's also pretty smelly but he didn't really care that much. Out of the three of them, she was the only one nice enough to talk to him like a person. Even if she did glare at him the entire time they talked or whispered mean things behind him. Riel was nice.

While the three of them argued at the table, he sneaked his way towards one of the bookshelves. This particular one is special compared to the others in the room. This one didn't contain any magical treasures or powerful artifacts, in fact, it had no trace of magic within it. It was a regular, wooden bookshelf he made out of the scraps he would occasionally find in the dungeon.

It had a small bottle of water, a doll, a pair of worn-out shoes, and a bag with the most important items inside this room. He reached out for the bag and held it close to his chest. It still smelled like the dirt and grass he used to sleep on when he was homeless and it still had whiffs of that particular scent close to his heart.

"Roses."

He muttered out silently as he fished something out of the bag.

After a moment, he pulled out a small, leather-bound book and a strange pen given to him by a person he met during his travels. He pressed the top of the pen and the tip popped out of the other end with a sharp click. He smiled and turned back towards the three still arguing at the table.

"We can probably retrace our steps through the corridors if we-"

"No. You will die."

His sharp words cut through the air like a knife and the room went silent immediately. The poin- Semilia was clearly fazed by him suddenly speaking but the other two just looked at him anxiously.

"Many monsters. You also know nothing of dungeon."

He walked over to the table and placed the book down on the table. Their eyes narrowed on the old and worn thing in front of them while he continued to speak.

"Want to escape? You need to go down to go up."

"What?"

"Excuse me?"

"......"

The three adventurers shot him a strange and confused look, but he ignored them. Instead, he opened his small book and showed them one of its pages.

It was hastily written, dirty, and heavily smudged. But what was on the yellowed pages was clear to everyone in the room. The scribbly and crooked lines as well as the strange writing and arrows pointing to various boxes and circles made it obvious. In front of them is a map of the dungeon. Badly drawn, incredibly messy and confusing, and filled with words written in the Goblin's language.

But it was the largest and most detailed map of the dungeon they have ever seen.

"Shit."

"No! No shit here! Very dirty!"

The Goblin glared at Stefan angrily as he looked at the brown smudge at the edge of the page. That was mud that splattered on him while he was making the map.

"It's a map! A map of the dungeon!"

Semilia exclaimed excitedly as she reached out for the book. Her hand was slapped away by the Goblin's green hands and he scowled at her.

"No touch! Very valuable!"

Semilia returned his glare with a glare of her own, but Stefan nudged her from the side and frowned at her.

"Sorry about Semilia. Mister Goblin, that is the map of the dungeon written by you, correct?"

The Goblin turned his head towards Stefan after breaking away from the tense staring contest with Semilia and nodded.

"Sorry for hitting as well. Also, yes. I write map after exploring. All floors and rooms of dungeon in this book."

He flipped to the other pages as well and showed them more detailed maps for each floor of the dungeon. Everone paled as the Goblin showed off his work proudly.

"H-How many was the estimation again?"

Riel asked nervously, her voice quaking slightly as she tried to count the pages she saw in her mind.

"Twenty levels at most."

"And how many pages did Goblin here show us?"

Their heads turned towards the Goblin, his head tilted quizically at them.

"I draw... 57 floors. There are three more but too dangerous."

The Goblin then flipped back the pages. He pointed at one of the encircled rooms.

"We are here. We go here..."

He flipped to the next page and pointed at another room. This one with many arrows pointing towards it.

"Exit to dungeon. Leads to first floor."

"And how do we get there, Mister Goblin?"

The Goblin blinked at Stefan, then his eyes looked down at the maps in front of him. He grinned at the nervous-looking man, exposing his sharp teeth. His yellow eyes gleamed with excitement while a claw tapped the spot on the map where they needed to go.

"I will bring you there. But we need to make deal."

"What are your terms?"

The Goblin's grin widened while the three of them felt even more uneasy. His eyes narrowed on the three of them and he leaned in a bit closer to them.

"I want to be friends."

"...Excuse me?"