The foblins got dressed. It wasn’t appropriate for sammals to walk around naked, so Arvena and her guests were expected to wear clothes, as it was a mere, basic requirement that any civilized society would demand. It was so basic, that even this civilization of goblins insisted to uphold this social standard, even though they weren’t the spiffiest of creatures to begin with. They insisted for the better!

  Anyway, the team walked over to the guard’s barracks in order to get dressed, and this part was a bit annoying, because this building was about one-hundred meters away from them, or from the sea shores! They were very capable of walking a hundred meters, yes, but it took them about ten mio do so, because they were all pretty short-statured, and this was mainly what ahem. The team took their time, they didn’t rush, all for the sake of their sanity.

  They did get dressed up eventually, and that was what mattered the most. The guards within these barracks were pretty friendly too, as they happily weled any fellow, unproblematic goblins, so they helped the team dress accly. The social principles that these goblins had, kept them from harassiher Arvena, or her guests, sexually, which was impressive because the four of them were butt-naked, and this would irouble uher circumstances, yet it didn’t endahe team here. One could learn a lot from these goblins, and the principles that they withheld so proudly!

  Regarding armor, Skendus and Arvena got dressed with iron armor, because they could carry it, they were big enough to do so. However, Ortana and Timothy were smaller in parison, so they were suited with leather armor instead. There were metallic ptes embedded on the leather, yes, but the ptes were located on important pces only, such as on their shoulders and on their knees, so these ptes were few by hey weren't so heavy either.

  “This looks pretty smart, cuz I don’t want to get stabbed on my fug knees!” Tim mumbled, and he could imagihe crippling pain of such a knee injury. Though he was scared of the idea, he was still happy to worry about his knees again, because such specific worries were human traits, above all.

  Anyway, this leather coatihe two of them more exposed in parison to their friends, but it was for the best, because they weren’t strong enough to carry arou kilos of iron, no, evewo kilos of this lighter material felt like a lot to them. Tim only weighed twenty-two kilos while in this goblin form, so much wasn’t expected of him in terms of physical strength. The browher was suitable enough for him.

  Anyway, after they suited up, they were given the opportunity to pick a on of their choosing. These ons weren’t as heavy, because they were desigo serve the average, three-foot tall goblin, so even Timothy could choose a good, dependable on for himself. He was ready to carry a det-sized sword.

  “Let’s see…” He pondered.

  Now it didn’t seem so natural fic-bearing creatures to be equipped with cold, iron swords, but in this universe it was seemingly necessary. Goblihe dominant creatures around here, there were several species of them, and a lot of them were armed to the teeth too, so it wasn’t so smart to walk around without a solid on. Shields would be very useful here as well, because as it would happen, there weren’t many spells that could deflect a warhammer's bone-breaking blow!

  Anyway, Tim picked up a sword that was a whole foot long, and he fell in love with it. It was made out of iron, and it didn’t bear the greatest quality, no, but by all ats, a man was always the happiest while behind a sword! He took a few swings with it, and the whistling sounds that came from his swings, made him happier than the sea ever did!

  He was happy, but then he also had an important question, so he asked. “Not that I’m pining, but why is iron so important here? This universe is supposed to be a haven of free mana and shit like that.”

  The question that he asked was solid, and ih. This goblin body has made him smarter, by thirty whole IQ points because he had a bigger head now, so he couldn’t help being analytical about a lot of things. Civilization-oriented questions like this one, were especially easy for him to formute.

  Arvena was first surprised by this question, because she simply couldn’t picture a goblin without a on, it was unheard of! But then, she remembered that these guests were initially fish, so they didn’t see the importance of iron as much as a goblin did. It took her a moment to collect her thoughts, but theried to answer from a ral stand-point, for the sake of crity.

  “I’m no historian, but ons have been used here since forever.” She answered, and then she followed along. “For example, we use our swords here to el our destructive powers, and that method is really effective, because a fireball that’s backed by hot iron will always burn a little bit more! So yes, we’ve been using swords and stuff like that since forever, regardless of what magical realm we were in. Iron is as old as magic here, it’s cultural to wield both of them.”

  Tim appreciated that answer, because it really helped him paint a picture of what to expect from the civilizations, and or smaller unities of this micro-universe. By being able to picture it, he also started plotting ways to protect himself better, in the occasiohey get attacked. He was sure that they were going to get attacked across this nd, very often, so it was best to be prepared.

  Anyway, Ortana listened in to their versation, and came up with a simpler, a more practical way to appreciate these ons. She was really expressive about her uanding too!

  She said, “You fot to mention that this sharp stuff be more dependable than magic. Mana run out pretty quickly, but it isn’t as expeo swing a sword around, it’s basically free. Also, cutting through bastards is really effective, trust me, I’ve seen a lot of tribal wars ba the day, and the blood they spilled could paint a whole ke red! Of course, I was just a messenger bird back then, so I never swung a sword up until now, but I’d be happy to behead a bunch of goblins here on your nd, haha. A sword, and a good arm will keep our enemies below the ground, dead and food!”

  The input that she added was both practical, and terrifying. She was the shortest here, as she only stood two-feet tall, a she mao terrify everyohin the viity, effortlessly. The guy who was handling the armory’s iory here, seemed especially terrified.

  He subtly added, “We’ll have to keep an eye on you… but hey, as long as you don’t en down, you have as many swords as you carry. Feel free to pick!”

  “You’re sweet,” She answered.

  Then, she just grabbed a small, five-inch long dagger, rather than anything huge, and she also grabbed a tinher scabbard, to sheathe her dagger. This felt like the best on for her to carry around, so now, she felt pleted, prote-wise!

  Skendus chose a two-handed warhammer. He was a huge goblin, even when pared to the guards in the viity, so a heavy warhammer befitted him the best. He was a huge beast, and was eager to deal damage accly if the future circumstances dema so!

  Arvena carried a short-handled, but heavy battleaxe. It was the on of her choosing, and it seemed to fit her well.

  Anyway, after the four of them got dressed and armed, they were ready to hit the road. The barracks here were made of sto was a huge, and f pce, but they had to leave it behind. Barracks, and the colle of guards and or soldiers that it housed, weren’t ideal if one wao expand their magical arsenal. These buildings were just pced strategically, to protect the nd, and that was all there was to them. In order tress, the team had to be on the move.

  Arvena spoke of a pce where mana was really de was oozing freely, for ao grab and manipute. The pce was called Aqumus (and or the Aqumus Ruins), and it was far away from here! However, if they were to reach it throughout their journeys, then the progress that was to follarding the improvement of their mana quality, was swift and vigorous!