Melinda.
The young goddess's eye twitched with a mounting degree of concern as she watched her goblin, standing amidst the trees all starry-eyed and—yup…
She was touching herself.
Ohhh boy, did Mindy have her work cut out for her.
"I mean, I've seen crazy," the goddess muttered, still staring at the scene and the rather obvious but strange, given her surroundings, expression clearly plastered across her face.
Obsessive devotion.
It wasn't the first time Mindy had noticed that look, and nor was it the first time it had been directed her way. And, for better or worse, the most that she could do was puff out her imaginary cheeks and let out a long stream of air…
For a moment, Melinda wondered if she'd accidentally broken the poor creature. Ravaging the girl before altering her very foundations in an entirely forcible manner that had irreparably wrecked her psyche.
Admittedly, she'd sort of found it a little darkly humorous when her eldritch champion kicked the lights out of her peer, looking entirely like a badass demonic gymnast, which, given her own interests, really reverberated within her.
It helped that Mindy had, upon occasion, wished 'she' could shove her boot in someone's mouth to shut them up. And the fact that Gube had done so in an entirely alternate, if not still awesome, manner was, of course, awesome, but also fairly unimportant to the grand scheme of it all.
Amazingly, she was so much better than she'd been expecting her to turn out if that little display of strength and finesse was anything to go by!
Honestly, the girl had hardly seemed as though she'd meant half of what really happened, which only spoke towards good things going forward!
All the same, when she'd dragged the corpse away with her, Mindy had begun to suspect there might just be a screw loose inside the other girl's head.
Then, when she'd gotten a good look at her new form through the interface and subsequently melted, seemingly within a stew of her own vanity, all before pleasuring herself like some lecherous tramp while a still cooling body was resting at her feet, Mindy had questioned if she'd chosen the—ahem, 'right' goblin for the job.
What job was that job exactly?
W-well, to be fair, Mindy was sort of still brainstorming that tidbit.
However, when she noticed her devotion bar beginning to flash less and less with its glaring, angry red, she hesitated in wondering if she'd need to 'do' something about her voluptuous devotee.
It was slow, hardly even a sliver of a fraction emerging over the course of hours, but it was increasing all the same. More, focusing on it offered her a rather reasonable breakdown of cost versus gains…
Nothing seemed to actively drain her devotion resource, but she now appeared to have something of a passive income, which stated she had two new believers, neither of which were supplying her with an equal amount of power for their individual worship.
Additionally, there was an infinitesimal 'blip' of a percentage that she could only attribute to the not-exactly unfortunate demise of Gube's comrade. A little less than two percent of her total had been replenished for his demise.
Which, of course, begged the question of just how much of her power she'd actually spent messing around with Gube…
"If seventy-five percent of a goblin's soul is only worth that, then is Gube like—supercharged?" She wasn't entirely sure; however, she was beginning to suspect the energy put towards the goblin's alterations had been exorbitant.
Mindy, on some level, definitely regretted how frivolous she'd been without really knowing what was going on, though, whether the cost had been so restrictive by way of the physical modifications or her ability scores, the goddess could only theorize.
In truth, she was leaning towards a combination of both, and, possibly even wondering if her 'creating' an entirely new subspecies had played a considerable role.
That one sort of felt like a biggie, all things said and done.
She really wished she'd taken the time to pay attention to the damned glowing bar sooner! But, alas, there were no takesies-backsies. Not that she'd have had the heart to do it, mind you, not with the way Gube was muttering to herself.
The other girls' somewhat ardent love and praise for her 'dark lady' was just too adorable to chastise or take away the gifts given. In fact, the more she watched the goblin venerate her name, the worse the goddess felt about her actions.
Well, if nothing else, Mindy had a pretty kick-ass, devoted worshiper who seemingly was taking it upon herself to rectify her own god's mistakes.
The woman had turned into a machine once realizing that 'death' was a direct path to tangible power for herself.
Already, she'd manifested several skills relating to hunting, trapping, and stealth, all of which were increasing at a prodigious rate.
More, the goblin had already reached level three by the time she'd hauled several carcasses back to her people, a bear dragged with all the ease of a mother tugging along an uncooperative toddler, two deer on stripped saplings, several dozen squirrels she bagged with frighteningly accurate thrown stones. One or two birds and, well, so much 'meat' that there wasn't any possible way her clan could eat it all!
Yet devour it they did…
The clan feasted like kings over the roasting, sizzling flesh of her quarry, all while Gube ensured to 'forcibly' remind all those present that the bounty that they were indulging in was in no part a gift from herself.
Everything, every pelt, bone, and sweltering shank, all of it, Gube asserted was a blessing from her goddess, which, as it happened, was Melinda.
Slowly, she found that her passive income was multiplying by the hour until she had nearly thirty believers who were rather quickly refilling the bar. A few more days, maybe a week, and Mindy thought she'd be all topped up again.
That was, of course, accounting for the influx of souls Gube had provided.
Honestly, the girl was a quick study, flatly pressing the two points she'd received from leveling into intelligence without so much as a second thought…
And, in doing so, it felt as though the goblin was trying to learn everything she possibly could about the world around her.
Every scrap and iota of information just seeped into her mind, which was equally adept at recalling what she'd come across in her past life as it was adapting to new concepts at an alarming rate.
"Guess that's what sixteen intelligence gets someone… I wonder if she's close to managing an eidetic memory or, maybe, a photographic one? Can someone have both? Maybe… I mean, the way she's just soaking it all up, I might have created a monster. But, at least she's my monster…"
Even as Mindy contemplated her, Gube was preaching a sermon over the meal, standing sentinel to guard the many delectable barbarian treats on display while serving each individual goblin who desired more—personally.
She was goalkeeping the fleshy treasures while wishing her lady's dark graces upon them and demanding an appropriate reply lest they face her wrath.
By now, most had learned of Sharp-knee's fate, yet some still tested their tall and statuesque kindred, only to find she was as ruthless as she was philanthropic.
One moment, Gube was stripping goblin hide from bone for her kin daring to so much as breathe too close to her, let alone the broken fingers she left when the truly bold tried to touch her.
The next, she dispensed her goddess's blessings of cooked meat to the unwashed masses, hosting her kin as though the very roof atop their heads was naught but her god's 'divine' intervention.
Gube captivated her starving audience, using the promise of hot food against the starving, yet controlling its allotment so they might be forced to stay and listen to her sermon if they desired more.
The woman was a natural-born salesman, it seemed…
Her ploy was working so well that Mindy's believers stretched to nearly the whole population of the entire cavern!
There were, of course, notable exceptions.
Two, to be precise, and perhaps another two more who might just have been too stupid to understand what was going on.
One of the holdouts, Strong-arm, the ramshackle and broken clan's official leader, had barged to the front of the line, serving himself before sneering at Gube, staring down at her as if daring the girl to do something about his assertion of dominance. Yet the latter of whom displayed a truly ominous and foreboding degree of visible self-restraint when compared against her thus far typical responses.
Not picking a fight with the big guy, not even making a scene beyond what the warrior-prince turned chieftain had already made himself.
Darkly cataloging the insult to both herself and her god before moving right along with her designs as though he weren't but a fly on the breeze.
Melinda rather thought the large lug held an expression of slight confusion as he'd stomped away, perhaps having thought he'd have to overpower this latest rise in the ranks to keep her in line.
He might, under different circumstances, even have pursued such a course and have even taken things a step further, but Mindy suspected his stomach made a tactical decision for him, the seemingly unpopular chieftain lumbering back over to his stump-made chair to lord over his people and devour his due.
He rarely took his eyes off of Gube, who, given the lack of resources, was still very naked. That said, after she'd made her point that suitors were neither to be considered nor welcome, the issue of her 'state' of dress was more an afterthought, which, funny enough, became an undeniable asset to her cause.
Her audience was captivated by her stoic story made biblical! Even if it was short and hardly filled with enough for a more modern environment…
Yet, for the hapless and weak goblins, her brief time as a chosen of her dark lady seemed to hit them with all the gravitas of the Iliad itself!
Gube pitching the great power and beauty that would be shared with all, should they simply throw themselves at Melinda's feet, humble their existences, and beg and grovel before god and priestess both, the latter of whom was, as she explained it, the very 'reincarnation' of her dark lady's own visage!
Hell, even Mindy was convinced of her own greatness by the time people started murmuring prayers through the cave!
Every goblin noted what Gube's patron had brought them, seeing the power and magnificence offered to her chosen, and from that perspective, it was sort of hard to argue against it.
Knowing how destitute and desperate they had been before their angelic savior was reborn and had begun offering her kin the gifts of bounty, no doubt, also played a considerable role.
As did Gube, asking nothing in return for all that was promised, 'save' for their undying devotion.
For a people who had nothing, Gube's words rang true within each and every one of their hearts…
Longing gazes watching a seemingly tireless Gube explain how her goddess had come to save them all, how she would grant them the power to avenge their fallen fathers and mothers, sisters and brothers!
Riling them up, championing them to her cause!
Before long, they didn't gaze at Gube with little more than a baser instinct born of desire but as a redeemer, as a beacon of hope! Their loyalty purchased in full within the span of a single evening, and all at the hands of her little nightmare, and the skillful application of fresh meat and honeyed promises…
"Oh god," Mindy whispered, a terrible realization settling in. "She's got a mind for politics!"
Shaking her head ruefully, Melinda couldn't help but smile at her enthusiastic co-conspirator… The woman's zeal and certainty, her blind trust and love for her god, well, it was so touching that Mindy found herself kicking her own ass into gear!
"Alright, alright, Gube's been writing some checks here, and my girl needs to know she can cash them… How can we make that happen, Mindy?"
The problem, unsurprisingly, was that she needed more power. And, of course, a means to produce results… But how to achieve it? How could she show them that she was real, that she was listening, and that, in a way, Mindy was 'technically' on their side?
Clicking her tongue, the young goddess thought she had an inkling of an idea…