Red was halfway to reaching Level 8. If there was nothing wrong, he would reach level 8 in a few days, a week at most.
Thanks to the Mana Forging and Mana Refining, he seemed to become more sensitive toward mana. His Mana Sense grew up to level 12. That showed how much he had used his mana with Mana Forging, Mana Refining, and Fireball.
It was hard to grow Bleeding as he rarely triggered the skill. It was a miracle that he managed to raise it to level 2 in two weeks.
"Are you still playing with that metal ball?" Darla came out of the kitchen with a steaming pot and a bowl.
Again, Red didn't fully understand what she said, but he was able to perceive what she said. It was the words playing, metal, and ball. She had seen him working on the metal ball almost every day.
She placed the pot on the table and scooped something from it. It was different from the gruel he ate in the main kitchen. She called it rabbit stew, and it was one of his favorites ever since she introduced it to him.
Red nodded while his eyes locked on the bowl. Darla always smiled when she saw this expression from Red, shaking her head. She liked to see the excitement in Red's expression when he ate her food.
"Eat slowly. No one is going to take it from you."
Red just nodded even though he didn't understand what she said. He would nod as long as he could get to eat as soon as possible.
He grabbed the bowl as soon as she put it down on the table, taking a gulp right away. A frown formed at first, trying to process the taste of his first gulp. It was different from the usual stew; there was this fire kicking in his tongue.
He didn't hate it, but it was the first time he tasted something like this, something that burnt in his tongue. It was not as bad, but unique. He slowly turned toward Darla, looking confused.
"How is it? Do you like this spicy food?"
Red blinked his eyes a few times, then he stuck out his tongue, "Spicy?"
Darla nodded, "Yes, spicy. Do you like it?"
He was unsure if he liked it compared to the normal stew, but he didn't hate it. He took another gulp, and the fire kept growing on his tongue. The first taste, he was confused. The second taste, he didn't dislike it. The third time, the taste grew in him. By the time he finished the bowl, he concluded that he liked spicy food.
Red raised his thumb, "Like! More!"
Darla gave the ladle to Red, "I need to check the fish."
He finished the whole pot, and his lips got even redder as his face was covered in sweat. His tongue was burning, but he liked it. He would keep eating if there was more, but he finished them all.
Darla came back at the right time, bringing three grilled fish with him. The crimson scales darkened and charred, and it gave off an appetizing smell.
She put two fish in front of him and took one for herself. "Can I have one?"
"Can!" Red nodded as he looked at the fish.
He gave Tob one fish before, but this was actually his first time eating fish. He didn't know how to eat it. He observed Darla first.
She peeled off the meat, and the meat was white. She peeled the meat from the bone, only eating the meat and the charred skin.
Noticing his gaze, she looked up, "Be careful of the bone. I am not sure about goblins, but the bone will hurt my throat if I accidentally swallow it."
He didn't understand what she said, but he followed what she did. It was quite easy as the meat crumbled in his hand, and he put it into his mouth quickly. The meat was soft, and then it was followed by a complicated taste.
The meat itself was sweet, a different kind of sweet from the potato. Then it was followed by spiciness and saltiness, blending together in his mouth. It tasted good, but it was not filling as he thought it would be.
He finished the two fish at the same time with Darla. After having his dinner, he left for his usual creek. Even though he had a new house, he kept visiting the same creek to clean the sweat from his body.
The sweat didn't really bother him. He could live with it for a week, but he felt much better after cleaning his body. It was more comfortable and better that way, so he never missed his night bath.
*** ***
It was routine that Red left to clean himself after dinner. It was a routine that Darla quickly noticed three days after living together with Red.
Darla looked at his back as he left the house. There was confusion in her mind right now. She thought Red would bed her the moment they lived together, but Red never touched her even one time after living together for two weeks.
The only request was to teach him her language and to cook for him. That was it; he didn't try to sleep with her. They were sleeping in the same room, but they slept in separate beds.
She knew Red was different from the other goblins. He had an intelligence that the other goblins didn't have, not blindly following his primal instinct. He was gentler, much gentler than the other goblins. It made her wonder that Red might not actually be a goblin, with how different they were.
She had heard about a monster variant, but Red looked similar to the goblin, a little bit more good-looking, but with a similar trait.
"Is it because of that old goblin?"
The old goblin that was in charge of the kitchen, who owned her before, might be the reason why Red didn't want to touch him. It made sense that Red didn't want to touch after that old man.
'Wait! Why do I want him to make a move on me? Isn't my current situation much better?'
Her face turned, and she quickly grabbed the plate, the pot, and the bowl before dashing toward the kitchen.
*** ***
On a creek, at a corner of the goblin village. Red was staring at his own crotch. It was standing tall and uncomfortable. The creek's cold water helped him calm down. That was one of the reasons why he kept going out to take a bath at the creek every night.
He had a weird urge to pounce on Darla, but he managed to hold back. He was concerned that Darla hated it and disrupted his efforts to learn the human language.
Human language was a key for him to understand more about the status. It was the key to exploring more options on what he could do. He was not going to follow the other goblins' path, following what they were told blindly.
"But I need to find a solution for this, too."
The cold water could calm him down, but it didn't get rid of the discomfort. He was not going to join the other goblins to relieve themselves with half-passed or even half-death female humans, but he needed a solution for this.